Aliens for Breakfast (4 page)

When he reached for the door of the pizza parlor, Richard’s hand disappeared. He looked down at his feet. They weren’t there either. He was invisible!

6
.

Being invisible was a little scary. Richard couldn’t see or feel himself. So he couldn’t tell where he began or ended. As he walked into Pizza World, he moved his arms and legs very slowly. He was hoping he wouldn’t bump into anything. But even though he was really careful, he did. When he passed a table of four teenaged girls, he knocked over all their empty soda cups. Ice cubes and paper cups went flying. The girls screamed. Richard froze.

“Keep going!” Aric’s voice boomed inside
Richard’s head. “Have you never been invisible before?”

“Are you kidding?” answered Richard. “I’m human. We can’t do that.”

Aric gave a tiny snort. “Well, then,” he said, “just sit down quietly. Try not to move around a lot. At least no one knows that we are here. The Drane is too busy with his food.”

Dorf and Henry were sitting at a table covered with pizza pies and soft drinks. Richard held his breath. Then he sat down quietly beside Henry. It looked to Richard as if the pizzas were the house special—Death by Pizza. They had peas, carrots, onions, cheese, and wheat germ on them. Death by Pizzas were famous on the mall. No one had ever died from eating one. But people had come close.

“Just before Dranes divide they build up their power by eating a lot,” said Aric. Richard’s heart sank. There were seven pizzas on the table.

“Hey, these look really good!” Dorf licked his lips. “And isn’t it great being here without that little nerd Richard?”

“Yeah. It’s great, Dorf,” said Henry in a spaced-out voice.

Richard felt like giving Dorf an invisible punch. “Maybe Dorf will die from the pizza,” he said to Aric.

“No,” said Aric. “The pizza will simply help him to divide faster.”

Dorf picked up a glass shaker of red-hot pepper flakes and poured it all on one of the pizzas. He breathed in clouds of red dust. A big smile broke out over his face. Then he reached over to an empty table and grabbed another glass shaker. He poured pepper flakes over a second pizza.

Suddenly Dorf sprang up. He went from table to table, picking up all the pepper shakers. When his arms were full, he came back and sat down. He lined all the shakers up in front of him. Henry looked puzzled.

“What are you doing, Dorf?” he asked.

“Eating!” Dorf turned his widest smile on Henry. “I’m hungrier than I thought.” One by one, he emptied all the shakers onto the pizzas. Henry gulped and turned green.

“What is in the bottles?” Aric asked Richard.

“Red-hot pepper flakes. The hottest stuff in the world. I can’t believe he can eat all that and not explode.”

“That is it!” shouted Aric. “Red pepper! I knew I would remember! That is the weapon!”

“Great!” Richard watched Dorf closely. He could hardly wait to see what the pepper flakes would do. But nothing happened. Dorf wasn’t dying. He wasn’t even looking sick. He was enjoying himself! He devoured slice after slice of the pizza, eating faster and faster.

Henry nibbled on the edge of a piece. Then he ran gasping for water. Dorf paid no attention. He ate and ate. His fair skin turned pink. His blue eyes flashed purple. A terrible greedy smile spread over his face, which was now covered with cheese and bits of carrot.

“How come it’s not working, Aric?” asked Richard. “I mean, if it’s the weapon, shouldn’t he be getting weak or something?” Then Richard had an awful thought. What if Aric was wrong? What if the pepper flakes didn’t work against Dorf?

“I am not wrong!” snapped Aric. Too late, Richard remembered that Aric could hear his thoughts. “It is all coming back to me now. The weapon is pepper flakes. Dranes cannot resist it. Once they start eating it they cannot stop. And then they explode.”

“Then how come he’s so happy?” asked Richard. If anything, Dorf looked stronger now than before.

“If he were eating just pepper flakes, he would indeed die soon,” said Aric. “But he is eating pizza also. And that is giving him strength.”

“What can we do?” asked Richard.

“We must feed him pepper flakes. And only pepper flakes,” said Aric. “Enough to destroy him. And we must work quickly.”

“Okay, I’ll give it to him,” said Richard. “Tomorrow. At school.”

“Very good,” said Aric.

By the time Henry came back, Dorf was on his last pizza. His face was bright red. Henry was staring into his empty cup. He looked sick.

“I don’t feel so good,” he said.

“Have another slice,” said Dorf.

“Could we go home now? I think I’d better lie down.”

“I’m almost finished. I feel really great. There’s nothing like a pizza to get your blood flowing!” shouted Dorf. “How about running around the mall a few times?”

“Maybe later,” mumbled Henry. Then he jumped up and ran off to the bathroom.

“We had better go,” said Aric. “We are going to become visible again in about a minute.”

Richard got up. Very carefully he made his way around the chairs and tables. He opened the front door and slid out of Pizza World. Then he headed back to Mutant Splendor. No one would notice if a kid and a tiny alien materialized there. They’d think it was some new game or promotion or something. And that was exactly what happened.

7
.

The next morning Richard was up early. “Well, I guess today we save the universe,” he said nervously. Aric was curled up in an orange Frisbee. He yawned and stretched.

“It is not the universe. Just your little home planet,” he answered.

“I resent that,” said Richard. He pulled his socks on over his bandaged feet. “If it’s so small and unimportant, why are you here?” Richard’s head was pounding. Was that part of melting too? In any case he was sick of Aric acting like such a know-it-all.

“All right. All right. Your planet
is
important. If the Dranes take over Earth, who knows what they will do next? But it is bad luck to brag, and worse manners. Your mother should have taught you that.”

“She tried,” said Richard. He went into his closet and pulled out a five-pound box of pepper flakes. He felt so weak that it was hard to lift the box. And he had spent $17.52 on it—his life savings.

“I sure hope this works,” he said. “Do you think five pounds is enough?”

“It better be. Dorf will divide in exactly three hours and fourteen minutes. Then it is bye-bye, biosphere.”

Richard shuddered. “I guess we’d better hurry,” he said. “There’s no place else to go if we mess up, is there?”

“Negatory, my friend,” said Aric.

“Richard!” called Mrs. Bickerstaff. “Time to get up!”

Richard put Aric into his shirt pocket. He zipped the box of pepper flakes into his backpack. Then he walked into the kitchen. His mother, in her bathrobe, was opening and closing all the cabinets. “Where did the tea bags go?” she said. “I could swear they were in here yesterday.”

“Gee, Mom, I sure don’t know,” said Richard. He and Aric had cleaned up the kitchen the afternoon before in a big hurry. They probably should have been more careful.

“You’re up early this morning,” said his mother. “How come? Something special going on at school?”

“No. Just felt like getting an early start,” said Richard.

“Good for you! What would you like for breakfast? Some more of that nice new cereal?”

“No!” Richard croaked. He never wanted to see another box of Alien Crisp in his life.

Richard’s mother peered at him. “Are you all right, honey?” she asked. “You look pale.”

For a second Richard felt like a little kid again. He wished he could tell his mother everything. “I’m fine, Mom,” he said. He sat down at the table. “Really.”

“Well, at least have a good breakfast,” said his mother. She smoothed back his hair. “How about an egg?”

“Sure,” said Richard. To his mother’s surprise he ate everything on his plate. Then he kissed her on the cheek and left to wait for the school bus right on time.

Richard was glad Henry wasn’t on the bus. If he saw Henry, he wasn’t sure he could keep quiet about Dorf. And he knew that saying anything would ruin Aric’s mission. Then again, it was pretty clear that Henry was under
Dorfs control. “He probably wouldn’t believe me if I did tell him,” thought Richard.

He walked into school and stood near the boys’ bathroom. A second later Dorf and Henry came walking down the hall. They were both wearing red cowboy shirts and string ties. Dorf was talking, and Henry was nodding at everything he said. As usual.

“Remember. Do not look at Dorf’s teeth when he smiles,” said Aric. “And step back after you give him the flakes. Dranes can get violent before they explode.”

Richard got hot. Then cold. Then slightly dizzy.

“Do not be afraid,” said Aric.

“I’m not afraid. I’m terrified,” said Richard. But even as he said it, he was stepping away from the wall. He stood in front of Dorf and Henry. “Hi, you guys,” he said.

“Hi, Richard,” said Dorf. “How are you doing? You don’t look so good, buddy.” Then he smiled one of his amazing smiles right at Richard. Just in time Richard remembered to look away. Then he said, “I was hoping I’d run into you before class, Dorf. I’ve got
something I think you’ll
really
like. Come on in here. I’ll show it to you.” He led them into the boys’ bathroom, which was empty. Then he set his backpack down. It took all his strength to pull out the box of pepper flakes.

“Here. This is for you,” Richard told Dorf. He opened the box. “Want some?”

Dorf looked at the pepper flakes. Suddenly his face was wet with sweat. He smiled a hungry smile. His breath came fast and hard, and his eyes gleamed. His face turned bright pink. He grabbed the box away from Richard. Then he poured a heap of pepper flakes into his hand. He stuffed it into his mouth as if he were eating popcorn. Only he didn’t chew it. He simply swallowed it. Then he swallowed another handful. And another.