Brain juice

Goosebumps (R) Series 2000 No. 12
BRAIN JUICE
by R.l. STINE
Copyright 1998 by Parachute Press, Inc.


BOOK JACKET INFORMATION
Goosebumps No. 12
APPLE FICTION
A mind is a terrible thing to drink.
Welcome to the new millennium of fear
Goosebumps (R) SERIES 2000
Carefully, the alien poured the purpleliquid into the bottle. "Our only supply ofBrain Energizer Fluid," he muttered."Let's hope it works. "Hurry, Morggul," he said, giving his fatpartner a push with all four tentacles. Morggul gazed at the purple bottle. Hislower mouth frowned. His upper mouth said, "Nohuman has ever drunk this formula. How do weknow what side effects it will have? Maybe it willkill them!"
SCHOLASTIC INC.RL4 008-012
BRAIN JUICE
Prologue
"We are wasting our time here, Morggul," thetaller alien whispered. His lower mouth turneddown in a tight frown as his upper mouth spoke thewords. "Gobbul, you are always so impatient," hispartner scolded. The two aliens were green and wet-skinned. Theywore no clothing. Their bell-shaped bodies hadfour slender tentacles poking out of the sides.Two flat, webbed feet--eight curled blacktoes on each foot--rested at the end of short,stumpy legs. Froglike heads bobbed on top of the short,fat bodies. The aliens' faces were ugly andcruel. Two wet yellow eyes bulged overtwo jagged-toothed mouths. Purple pods throbbed and pulsed up and downtheir four coiling tentacles. The pods looked likedeep wounds. They opened and closed, making asoft sucking sound, as the aliens breathed through them. Gobbul, the taller one and the leader, hadsilvery tusks, much like walrus tusks, thatcurled over his two mouths. Morggul was fatterand slow-moving. His four tentacles were alwaystwisting slowly through the air as if he were swimming. The two aliens had been hiding in the home ofDr. Frank King, in Maplewood, NewJersey, for nearly a week. When they weren'tspying on the famous scientist, Morggulslept, snoring through both mouths. And Gobbulworried. "We cannot spend any more time on this planet,"Gobbul whispered to his partner. "Someone will findour spaceship. The humans will drag it awayto study it. And we will be stranded in this horribleplace forever." "It's well hidden in thick woods,"Morggul reminded him. "I don't want to be stranded here!" the tallerone exclaimed, licking his tusks with bothtongues, as he always did when he becameexcited. "Can you imagine having to live in aplace where they kill their food before eating it?!" "We knew they were primitive people," Morggulreplied. "We knew they were not very smart." "Yes, yes. I know. That's why we've comehere." Gobbul groaned. "The humans shouldmake excellent slaves. But so far, itdoesn't look promising." All of Morggul's pods opened at once ashe yawned. The breath that burst from his body shookthe boxes and jars in the little pantry behind the kitchenwhere they were hiding. "Shhh. Cover your pods when you yawn,"Gobbul scolded. "We don't want Dr.Frank King to discover us--do we?" Morggul snickered. His fat, shiny, wetbody jiggled as he laughed. He narrowed his twoyellow eyes. "I'm not afraid of the human.If he spots me, I'll jam one tentacleinto his chest, pull out his heart, and eat it." Gobbul frowned with both mouths. "Don'tmake me hungry." "Are you sure we are in the right house?"Morggul demanded. "Yes," Gobbul answered without hesitating."He is the smartest of all humans. You readthe sign above his front door: DR. FRANKKING, EXPERIMENTAL SCIENCE LABS. Yousaw his name. King. Dr. Frank King. Thatmeans he is the king of all the scientists!" "I know," Morggul groaned, bouncing up anddown on his stumpy legs. "That's why we'rewatching him. Because he is the king of the scientists.But he and his wife don't seem that smart to me.And they are not young enough." "We may have to use the Brain EnergizerFluid," his leader whispered. "We must bringtwo human slaves back to our homeland. Andthey've got to be young and strong and smart--smart enoughto be good slaves." "But where will we find them?" Morggul wondered. Gobbul opened his mouths to speak--but stopped atthe chime of the doorbell. "Shhh. Dr. King has visitors,Morggul. Quick--back in the cabinet. Hide."




1
Nathan Nichols pressed the doorbell andtook a step back off the straw welcome mat.He heard the chime inside his uncle's house. Nathan turned to his stepsister Lindy."Are you sure we're doing the right thing?" Lindy twisted a strand of her long,copper-colored hair. "If Uncle Frankcan't help us, no one can," she murmured. Shegazed up at the brass sign over the door: DR. FRANK KING, EXPERIMENTALSCIENCE LABS. "But maybe Uncle Frank will just thinkwe're stupid," Nathan groaned. "Well ... so does everyone else," Lindysighed. "But what can he do for us?" Nathan demanded."You and I ... we'll never be one of the smartkids." "Uncle Frank is the smartest person weknow," Lindy replied, tangling and untangling thestrand of hair around her finger. "He'll help us.I know he will." They heard footsteps approaching inside thehouse. Lindy let go of her hair and tossed it overher shoulder. Nathan cleared his throatnervously. He shoved his hands deep into thepockets of his baggy khakis. Nathan and Lindy were both twelve. With hisdark eyes, black-rimmed eyeglasses,short, curly black hair, and solemnexpression, Nathan looked older. Lindy was tall and thin. She had long,straight auburn hair that she constantly playedwith, and sparkling green eyes. Her mom told hershe was pretty. But Lindy complained that her nosewas too flat and her face was too round. Lindy's mom had married Nathan's dad whenthe kids were in third grade. They had been asclose as any real brother and sister ever since. Too close, Lindy thought. We're toomuch alike. Why couldn't one of us have been smart? The front door finally swung open. UncleFrank's eyes bulged with surprise and his roundcheeks turned red. "Well! What a nicesurprise!" He was a big Santa Claus of a man.White hair, unbrushed, sticking out inall directions over a chubby-cheeked, smilingface. He had broad shoulders and big hands and a bigbelly that bounced when he laughed. He almost always wore white. Whitesweatshirts over white running pants. Whitehigh-top sneakers. White lab coats when hewas working. "Hey, Jenny! Come see who cameto visit!" he boomed to his wife. He steppedback to allow them inside. Nathan smelled food from the kitchen. Aroast, maybe, or a chicken. "Are you still eatingdinner?" he asked his uncle. "No. Just finished. Your aunt Jen iscleaning up." He turned and called again."Jenny? Jen?" Placing a big hand on each kid's shoulder,he guided them into the cluttered living room."Nathan? Lindy? What's going on?" heasked. "What brings you all the way over here?" "Well ..." Nathan hesitated. Heglanced at his stepsister. Lindy sighed. "It's kind of a long story,"she said.

Their bad day started when Mr. Tyssling, theirteacher, asked them to stay after school. "But we didn't do anything!" Lindyprotested. "I know," Mr. Tyssling replied with astrange smile. John Tyssling was a tall, lanky young manwho always looked as if he needed a shave. Hewore jeans and sweaters torn at the neck, and alot of kids thought he was really cool. Nathan and Lindy liked him too. But theyalways seemed to be on his bad side. Mr. Tyssling made Nathan and Lindy sitin front of his desk while he thumbed through testpapers. "Yes. Here," he grunted, pulling outtwo papers. He scratched his dark hair and narrowed hiseyes at them, peering over the tests. "You bothflunked the semester math test," he announced. Nathan swallowed hard. Lindy groaned andlowered her eyes to the backpack at her feet. "I can't believe you both did sobadly," the teacher said, shaking his head. "Imean, you had to be cheating to do this badly! Youcouldn't have done it on your own!" Nathan and Lindy didn't utter a sound. Mr. Tyssling laughed, a dry laugh. "Thatwas a joke, guys," he said. "I was tryingto keep it light. I know you didn't cheat." "Oh," Nathan murmured softly. Lindy played with a thick strand of her hair. Mr. Tyssling waved the test papers infront of them. "So what happened?" "We--we're just not good at math," Lindyblurted out. "The test was too hard," Nathan said. "I gave you review sheets," Mr.Tyssling said, lowering the tests to the desk. "Didyou use them to study?" "Yes," Nathan and Lindy replied inunison. "We studied a lot," Lindy insisted. "It was just too hard," Nathan repeated. The teacher gazed at Nathan, then at Lindy."Do you need extra help?" he asked. "Didyou ever talk to your parents about a math tutor?Think that might help?" "Maybe," Lindy muttered, twisting herhair. "We're just not smart enough," Nathan sighed. "What did you say?" Mr. Tyssling cried.He leaned across the desk. "Nathan, don't eversay that again. Of course you're smart enough.Don't get down on yourself like that. You just have to workharder and study better." "Yeah. Okay," Nathan uttered, startledby the teacher's reaction. A few minutes later, he and Lindy werewalking home. It was a blustery winter day. Astrong gust of icy wind blew Nathan'sgreen-and-white Jets cap off, and he hadto chase it across the street. He heard kids laughing. He spun around andsaw Ellen Hassler, Wardell Greene, andStan Garcia--three kids from his class--hooting and pointing. The Smart Kids, Nathan thought bitterly. He tugged the cap low on his head. Then hekept one hand on it as he ran back across thestreet to his stepsister. Ellen, Wardell, and Stan got nothing butA's. Mr. Tyssling was always callingon them, always asking them to come up to the chalkboardand solve problems. The three of them always seemed to be together. Likesome kind of Smart Club, Nathan thought.Only smart kids can hang out with us! "Why can't we be smart too?" he muttered asthe wind blew the Jets cap into the street again. Lindy narrowed her eyes at him. "Excuseme?" "What I said to Mr. Tyssling was right,"Nathan said. "We're just not smart enough. Whycan't we be like those kids over there?" He pointedacross the street. "They're all geniuses!" Lindy shrugged. She zipped her red-and-bluewindbreaker. "I don't care about being a genius.I just don't want to fail math!"
They opened the front door to find Brenda,Lindy's five-year-old sister, waiting for them.Brenda looked like a small version of Lindy.She had the same green eyes, pale skin, andauburn hair. "What took you so long?" she demanded sharply,crossing her arms in front of her slender chest.She was on her knees on the carpet with colorfulpieces of plastic strewn around her. "We had to stay after school," Lindy sighed,tossing her backpack onto an armchair. "What are you doing down there?" Nathandemanded. "What is all that junk?" "It isn't junk." Brenda sneered. "It'smy new dollhouse. I've been waiting forLindy to come help me put it together." "Huh? Lindy?" Nathan felt insulted."Why do you want Lindy to help, Brenda? Whydon't you want me?" "Because you're stupid," Brenda replied withouthesitating. "Hey!" Nathan protested angrily. Lindy laughed. "You can't build anything," Brenda accused,arms still crossed. She uncrossed them to tug ata strap of her denim overalls. "Remember thatmodel car you tried to build?" "It had too many pieces," Nathangrumbled. "Yes. And you glued most of them to your desk!"Lindy chimed in. She and Brenda laughed. "I couldn't help it. There was a hole in thetube of glue!" Nathan cried. "Well, I want Lindy to help me,"Brenda declared. And then she added, "Mom said youwould." "Okay. Okay," Lindy sighed. Shedropped down to the carpet beside her sister."Let's see what we have here. Wow. There are amillion pieces." Nathan slid into an armchair to watch. Hedraped his legs over the side of the chair."Okay, genius," he called to Lindy."Let's see you build it." "Shut up," Brenda told him. "You shut up!" Nathan snapped back.He felt really annoyed that his little stepsistercalled him stupid. He thought she looked upto him. Lindy unfolded the instruction sheet. Shescanned it quickly, turning it over, glancing atthe complicated drawings. "So many pieces ...," she murmured."Brenda, are you sure this is just onedollhouse?" "Hurry up! Build it!" Brenda insisted,impatiently punching her fists against her thighs."Hurry!" Lindy studied the instruction sheet. Sheunfolded it until it was bigger than a roadmap. "I ... I don't know where to start," shecried. "This looks like the floor," Brenda said. Shehanded Lindy a long, flat rectangle. "Okay. We'll start with the floor." Lindystruggled to find it on the chart. Then she locatedtwo yellow walls. "These should fit into thefloor," she murmured. "But how?" She tried sliding the walls into narrowgrooves on the ends of the floor. But theydidn't fit. Then she tried fitting in two other pieces. "No--those are ceilings!" Brenda protested. Nathan laughed gleefully and slapped thesides of the armchair. "Okay, Mr. Smartguy." Lindygroaned. "I give up. Come over here and helpus." Nathan stood up and slowly made his wayacross the room to them. "This looks pretty easyto me," he boasted. "No problem." He dropped onto the carpet and took thefloor piece from Lindy. The two of themstruggled to find walls that fit. Then Lindysuggested they start with the roof and work down. But the roof came in three pieces of redplastic. And they couldn't figure out how to fitthem together. "This is kind of hard," Nathan confessed,scratching his curly black hair. He pulledoff his glasses and blew a speck of dust offone lens. Then he turned back to the floorpiece. "Look. The walls have little tabs," he said."I think if you push real hard--" Lindy and Brenda both cried out at the soundof the CRAAAACK. "You broke it! You broke it!" Brendawailed. Nathan stared down unhappily at the floorpiece, cracked jaggedly in two. "You're stupid!" Brenda shrieked, jumpingto her feet. "I'm telling Mom! You're bothstupid! Stupid idiots! Stupid! Stupid!" She ran crying from the room. Nathan let the broken floor pieces slipfrom his hands. He turned sadly to Lindy. "Welet her down." "I can't read these instructions," Lindycried, holding them up again. "They're just toohard!" She furiously balled them up and heavedthem across the room. "And we're too stupid."
"And that's why you came to see me?" UncleFrank asked, leaning forward in his chair. Hiseyes moved from Nathan to Lindy. "Because you thinkyou're stupid?" "Yes," Nathan agreed, pushing his glassesup on his nose. He and Lindy hadn't touched the brownies andmilk their aunt Jenny had brought in. They bothsat stiffly in chairs across from Uncle Frank,their hands clasped tightly in their laps. "Maybe we're not really stupid," Lindychimed in. "But we're not really smart, either." "We're not smart enough," Nathan said. Uncle Frank cleared his throat. Henarrowed his eyes thoughtfully. "And what do you wantme to do?" "Well ..." Nathan hesitated. "You're the smartest person in our family,"Lindy spoke up. "And you're a scientist,right?" Uncle Frank nodded. "And you do scientific work about the brain, right?"Nathan added. Uncle Frank nodded again. "So ..." Nathan continued. "We thoughtmaybe you knew some way Lindy and I could getsmarter." "Isn't there anything you can do?" Lindypleaded. "Any way at all to make ussmarter?" Uncle Frank rubbed his chin. "Yes," hereplied finally. "Yes, I do have something that mightwork." "What is it?" Nathan and Lindy asked inunison.

Uncle Frank leaned forward in his chair.He started to reply--but suddenly swung around andstared at the doorway to the kitchen. "What's wrong?" Nathan asked. Uncle Frank turned back to them. "Didyou hear something? Probably just Jenny." Heshook his head. "Funny. I've had thestrangest feeling that I'm being watched." "Weird," Lindy muttered, glancing to thedoorway. She didn't see anything unusualthere. Uncle Frank shrugged. "I guess allscientists have that feeling when they're working onsomething top secret." He tugged down thesleeves of his white sweatshirt. He seemedto be thinking hard about something. "So ... do you really think you can help us?"Lindy asked eagerly. "Yes. Yes, I do," her uncle repliedafter a long moment. Nathan slapped the arms of the chairexcitedly. "You mean it? Something to make ussmarter?" he asked. Uncle Frank nodded. "Yes. I have beenworking on something. But ..." He glanced to thedoorway again. "It's very top secret. And verydangerous." Nathan gasped. Lindy swallowed hard. "I don't know. Maybe it's toodangerous," Uncle Frank said softly. "But--if it will work ..." Nathan urged. "Oh, it will work," the scientistreplied. "It will definitely work. I've testedit out. I wouldn't even try it on you if Ihadn't tested it out." "So ... can we try it?" Lindy asked. "Can we?" Nathan cried. Uncle Frank frowned. Once again, heseemed lost in thought. Then he startled the kids by jumping quickly to hisfeet. "Okay!" he declared enthusiastically."Okay. Okay. Let's try it."
The scientist left the kids in the livingroom. Humming to himself, he disappeared into hislab. A few minutes later, still humming, hemade his way into the kitchen. Jenny looked up from the kitchen table where she waswriting a grocery list on a long pad. She wasa pretty, blond-haired woman, with softbrown eyes and a warm smile. "What's up,Frank? Did you and the kids finish your topsecret, private talk? Can I go out and seethem now?" He motioned for her to sit still. "Poor kids,"he muttered. He opened a food cabinet andbegan rummaging through bottles and jars. Jenny came up beside him at the kitchen counter."What's wrong? Why did they come to see you?" Frank grunted as he found what he wassearching for. He pulled out a small bottle ofpurple grape juice. Then he turned to his wife. "Nathan andLindy somehow got it into their heads that they're notsmart." Jenny raised her eyes from the grape juiceto her husband. "Excuse me? Not smart?" Dr. King nodded. He examined the purplebottle. "The two of them are really upset.They came to ask me if I had anything to makethem smarter." Jenny's mouth dropped open. "And what didyou tell them? I hope you told them that they areboth very smart. That they shouldn't worry about--" He raised a finger to his lips. "I'm goingto do something to build up their confidence," hewhispered. "That's their whole problem. They have noconfidence. They don't believe in themselves." "What are you going to do?" his wife askedsuspiciously. "I think this will do the trick," the scientistreplied. "I went into the lab and made alabel of my own on the computer." Dr. King set the grape juice bottle onits side on the counter. Then he held up thelabel he had printed: BRAIN JUICE. Jenny frowned at the label. "What on earthis Brain Juice?" Dr. King chuckled. "I'm going to tell themit's a secret formula that will make them smarter.You'll see. It's only grape juice, ofcourse. But it really will help them. If theybelieve they are smart, they really will be smart." Jenny sighed. "Worth a try, I guess."She hurried to the living room to talk to the kids. Dr. King turned back to the bottle. He
carefully stuck the BRAIN JUICE labelover the grape juice label. Then he turnedthe bottle in his hand, making sure that the grapejuice label didn't show through. Perfect, he declared to himself. Perfect. Youcan't see the old label at all. It's now abottle of Brain Juice. Pleased with his clever idea, Dr. King smiledto himself. Still admiring the bottle, he started to theliving room with it. The phone rang. The phone in his lab down thehall. He set the bottle down on the counter beside thepantry door and hurried to the lab to answer it. As soon as the kitchen stood empty, the twoaliens squeezed out of their hiding place. Theybounced out of the pantry, leaving a wet stain on thefloor behind them. "Our chance, but we must hurry," Gobbulwhispered, eyeing the doorway. "Did you see those humans in the other room?"Morggul replied excitedly. "They look youngand strong. If we can make them smart enough, theycould be the slaves we have come for." "Perhaps," Gobbul replied. He wrapped agreen tentacle around the grape juice bottle."We shall see. We shall see. ..." He unscrewed the top of the bottle. Morggul's body made a wet slapping soundon the floor as he moved closer to his leader."If we take the children as slaves, I wantto eat the scientist. And his mate. I wantto eat them alive, while they're still fresh.Food tastes so much better when it's screaming." Gobbul pushed his partner back. "Stopthinking only of your stomachs," he scolded."We have work to do." Morggul made a spitting sound through thepurple pods up and down his arms. Gobbul raised the Brain Juice bottle andpoured the grape juice down the sink. Then hepulled another bottle of purple liquid from apouch in his upper stomach. Carefully, he poured his own purple liquidinto the Brain Juice bottle. "Our onlysupply of Brain Energizer Fluid," hemuttered. "Let's hope it works." He cappedthe bottle and placed it back on the counter. "Hurry, Morggul." He gave his fatpartner a push with all four tentacles. "Backinto the pantry. Before the scientist Kingreturns." Morggul gazed at the purple bottle. Hislower mouth frowned. His upper mouth said, "Nohuman has ever drunk this formula. How do weknow what side effects it will have? Maybe it willkill them!" Gobbul gave his partner another shove."Maybe," he replied. "We'll see. ..."

Dr. King returned to the kitchen. He pickedup the purple bottle and started to take itto Nathan and Lindy in the living room. "Hey--" he muttered in surprise when hisshoe slid on something on the floor. He glanceddown at several small puddles. With a groan, he bent down and wiped twofingers through it. "Sticky," he muttered. "Kindof slimy. Jenny must have spilled something." He heard his wife and the two kids laughing aboutsomething in the other room. With another groan, hestood and lumbered out of the kitchen. "Here," he said, rejoining the kids. Heheld up the bottle. "I think this will help youtwo." He handed the bottle to Lindy. She examined the label. "Brain Juice?"She narrowed her eyes suspiciously at heruncle. Uncle Frank nodded. "My own formula.I've been working on it for many years." Nathan took the bottle from Lindy. "Thisstuff will make us smarter?" he asked. "Howdoes it work?" Uncle Frank dropped beside his wife on thecouch. "Much too complicated to explain," hetold them. "It has to do with neurons andprotons. And the electrical impulses in thebrain." "It--it's going to change our brains?"Nathan asked, staring down at the bottle in hishand. "No. It won't change you," UncleFrank replied. He and Aunt Jennyexchanged glances. The kids didn't see himwink at her. "To put it very simply, the chemicals in myBrain Juice formula knock down theroadblocks in your brain. We want to open upthe highways to your memory. The Brain Juicemakes the electrical impulses flow morefreely." Nathan and Lindy both gazed at the purpleliquid in the bottle. "So what do we do?"Lindy asked. "How much do we drink?" "You have to drink it all," Uncle Frankreplied. "Do it tonight when you get home.Divide the liquid in half. Each of you shoulddrink half a bottle." "And then?" Lindy demanded. "And then, forget about it," Uncle Frankinstructed. "Don't think about it again. And don'tworry about getting smarter. Just study as hard asyou can. Work harder than ever at your schoolwork." A smile spread over his round, pink cheeks."And then you'll see what happens. And I thinkyou'll be very happy." "We ... we'll be really smart?" Nathanstammered. A horn honked outside. Two shorthonks, then a long one. "That must be your parents," Aunt Jenny said."They've come to pick you up." She crossed to thewindow and waved to them. Uncle Frank held the Brain Juicebottle as Nathan and Lindy pulled on theircoats. Then he handed it to Nathan as they madetheir way out the door. "Report back to me with theresults," he said solemnly. "And remember,this is a top-secret experiment. Don't tellanyone." Nathan and Lindy agreed. They thanked theiruncle, then hurried to the car. Nathan hid the bottle deep in hiscoat pocket. He and Lindy were dying to telltheir parents about it. But top secret meant topsecret. As soon as they got home, Lindy broughttwo drinking glasses into Nathan's room. Theycarefully poured out the purple liquid, dividingit in two. Nathan gulped. "I can't believe it," hesaid. The bedroom door was shut and locked, but hewhispered anyway. "Do you think this stuff will reallymake us geniuses?" Lindy stared down at the glass in her hand."Uncle Frank is a genius," she whispered."He wouldn't lie to us." Nathan burst out laughing. "It ... it's goingto be so awesome!" he cried. "I mean,we'll be the smart kids! Everyone in school willstart thinking of us as the smart kids. How coolis that?" "Cool," Lindy agreed. They raised their glasses. They clinked themtogether the way their parents always toasted each other. The purple liquid shimmered thickly in theglow of the desk lamp. "I hope it tastes okay," Nathan said,hesitating. "Just drink," Lindy instructed. They tilted the glasses to their mouths anddrank. Nathan lowered the glass with about an inch ofliquid still in it. "It's so thick," hemurmured, making a face. "Drink it all," Lindy urged. She pushedhis glass back up to his face. "Drink itall, Nathan. You want to be as smart as you can,don't you?" He held his breath and swallowed the rest. They set the glasses down. Lindy lickedsome purple liquid off her lips. "Tastes alittle like licorice," she said. "Tastes like medicine," Nathan grumbled."Yuck." He swallowed several times, tryingto get rid of the taste. "I have to get some gum orsomething." "Do you feel any smarter?" Lindy asked. "Duhhh ... yeah," he replied. "Spell licorice," she demanded. "Huh?" "Spell licorice, Nathan. Go ahead." They both knew that Nathan was the world'sworst speller. He hesitated, thinking hard. "Uh ...like-i-knowledge--No. Like-i-can-knowledge--" "Stop," Lindy said, shaking her head. "TheBrain Juice isn't working yet." "It isn't supposed to be instant!"Nathan declared. "I just hope it works by Wednesday." Lindysighed. "Huh? Why Wednesday?" "That's the next math test." Nathan yawned loudly. "Wow. I suddenlyfeel so sleepy." "Me too," Lindy admitted. "So sleepyI can't keep my eyes open." Yawning, she said good night. Then she shuffledto her room across the hall, the strange licoricetaste lingering in her mouth.
The two aliens bobbed up the stairs, leavingpuddles of dampness on the carpet behind them. By thetime they reached the second floor of the Nichols'shouse, they were gasping for breath, the pods on theirtentacles opening and closing like fish mouths. "It's the atmosphere on this awful planet,"Gobbul whispered. "It makes us five times asheavy." Morggul's tentacles writhed and wriggled.Waves of thick perspiration rolled off his fatbody. "Maybe we shouldn't have landed in NewJersey. Maybe there are nicer places." "Too late for that now," Gobbul replied withhis upper mouth. His bottom mouth was turned downin a tight sneer. "It took so long to get to this house,"Morggul complained. "Keeping in total darkness.Hiding every time one of their vehicles rolled by.It's nearly morning, Gobbul." "Sssshh. Do not wake anyone." Gobbulran his tongues over his tusks. "We had to cometo their house. We have to make sure they drank theformula." Their bodies slapping the carpet wetly, thetwo aliens made their way down the dark hall.They stopped outside Nathan's bedroom andpeered inside. "The boy," Gobbul whispered. He motioned withall four tentacles for Morggul to follow him. They stopped beside Nathan's desk. Gobbulgazed at the two empty drinkingglasses on the desktop. He lowered atentacle and sniffed the glasses with his pods. "Yes," he whispered. Smiles spread overhis two mouths. "Yes. Two emptyglasses." He turned to find that Morggul had stepped upto the bed. He was rocking on his short legs,studying the boy. The boy slept soundly, silently on hisback on top of the covers. He wore onlypajama bottoms. One pajama leg hadrolled up. His arms were crossed over his barechest. "Morggul--come away," Gobbul called ina loud whisper. "Don't wake him. Come awayfrom there. We've seen all we need to see. Weknow that he drank the formula." "But, Gobbul--" Morggul protested."Something is wrong! Something is terriblywrong!" He waved frantically for Gobbulto join him. "Ssssshhh," Gobbul hissed. "What is thematter?" "The boy--" Morggul gasped, his facecreased in horror. "He ... isn't breathing!"

Gobbul's mouths opened in alarm. He pulledhis body quickly over to the bed. Did the formula kill the boy? Morggul bent over the bed, staring atNathan's bare arms. "Do you see?" hewhispered. "Not breathing!" Gobbul leaned closer. He studied the boyfor a long moment. Then he shut his eyes. When he opened them, his expression was angry."Morggul, you fool!" he rasped. "Humansdo not breathe through their tentacles as we do." Morggul raised himself and turned to his leader.He made a wet, swallowing sound. "Huh?They don't?" "Humans breathe through those two holes on theirfaces," Gobbul explained. "Lookcarefully. The boy is breathing steadily." The fat alien turned back to the bed, leanedclose to the boy's face, and watched him breathe."Gross," he murmured. He raised his tentacles and sucked in largeamounts of air through his purple pods."Humans are so gross and disgusting." Gobbul nodded in agreement. "But if we cansmarten up the boy and his sister," he whispered,"then they will be what we came looking for--young andstrong and smart. They will make excellentslaves for our leader." "And if the formula doesn't work?" Morggulasked. "If it doesn't make them smarter?" Two smiles played over Gobbul's face."Then, Morggul, you can kill them and eat theirhearts," he whispered. "My treat." A thick gob of yellow drool ran downMorggul's chins and spattered on the carpet athis feet. "How long do they have to get smartenough?" he asked hungrily. "How long will wegive them?" "Not long," Gobbul whispered. "Let'sgive them a week. Maybe two. Then ... theyare dinner."

"Nathan! Lindy! Rise and shine! Rise andshine!" Mrs. Nichols's voice rang through the houseas it did every school morning. Nathan yawned and stretched his bare arms overhis head. He shivered. "Cold in here," hemurmured, his mouth dry from sleep. He opened his eyes and remembered he couldn'tfind his pajama shirt the night before. It wasn'tin the pile of clothes he had tossed into thecloset. So he had slept without it. "Rise and shine! Rise and shine, you two!" How can Mom sound so cheerful every morning?Nathan wondered. He stretched his arms again andlowered his feet to the floor. "Yuck!" What did I step in? He squinted down at the yellow gob under hisright foot. It was warm and wet. Nathan gazedup at the ceiling. Had something dripped down from theattic? No. He raised his foot and examined it. The thickyellow liquid stuck to his foot. "Guess I squashed some kind of bug," hemurmured. A bug in the middle of winter? Hehopped on one foot over to his dresser andgrabbed a hunk of tissues to wipe thegunk off. "How's it going?" Lindy called in to him onher way to the bathroom. "Not a good start," he replied.
The day didn't get any better on theschool bus. Nathan took a seat by himself nearthe front. Lindy headed to the back to join GailMatthews and Erika Jones and some other friends. Nathan swung his backpack onto his lap andstared out the bus window. It was a gray winter day.Wisps of fog clung to the trees and hedges.Gathering clouds threatened snow. Nathan turned and saw Ellen and Wardell inthe seat across from him. He groaned to himself. They wereshowing off, as usual. Doing The New YorkTimes crossword puzzle. They asked each other every clue as loudly aspossible so that everyone on the bus would see they weredoing the puzzle. No one else in our class can do that puzzle,Nathan thought bitterly. It's way too hard.So Ellen and Wardell have to do it every morning on thebus to make us all feel like morons. "Hey, Nathan!" Wardell's voice burstinto his thoughts. "Nathan, can you help us with thisone?" Ellen grinned across the aisle at him."We're stumped," she said. Nathan squinted at them suspiciously. Theywant my help? "It's a six-letter word," Wardell said, hiseyes on the puzzle grid. "The clue is,oafish and dull." "What kind of fish?" Nathan asked. Ellen and Wardell laughed. Nathan felt his face turning red. "That was ajoke!" he declared quickly. "Yeah. Right." Ellen rolled her eyes. "Oafish and dull," Wardell repeated. "Canyou think of anything? Six letters. We just can't getit." They both shook their heads and frowned at thepuzzle. Nathan thought hard. Six letters ... six letters... This is my big chance to look cool, he thought.They never asked me for help before. He suddenly remembered the bottle of BrainJuice. How long would it take that stuffto start working? I could really use some brainpower now, hethought, thinking hard, repeating the clue over and overin his mind. If only Uncle Frank'sformula would work now! "Oafish and dull," Wardell repeated,watching Nathan. "Uh ... well ..." Nathan blanked out.He couldn't think of anything. "Oh, wait! I've got it!" Wardellcried. He lowered his pencil to the newspaper andstarted writing. "The answer is Nathan.Not-A-That-Have-A-Not!" He and Ellen tossed back their heads andlaughed. Several other kids burst out laughingtoo. With an angry sigh, Nathan slid low in hisseat. He stared out the window at the fog-coveredlawns, the heavy gray sky. I'm soooo stupid, he thought. I'm such amoron. I'm not even smart enough to know when kids areplaying a joke on me. I don't even know how to spell oafish! hethought miserably. And then he heard Lindy's cry from the backof the bus. "I don't believe it!" He turned to see his sister running up theaisle, her hands pressed against her cheeks,eyes wide with alarm. "Lindy? What'swrong?" he called. "My backpack! I left it at home! Ileft all my books, all my stuff athome!" She lurched up to the driver. "Can we goback? Can we turn around? I left mybackpack!" "Sorry," the driver, a plump woman in agray uniform with a toothpick dangling from herlips, muttered without turning around. "But I need my stuff! I'll flunk!I'll flunk!" Lindy wailed at the top ofher lungs. "Sorry." We're both so dumb, Nathan thoughtunhappily. It's a miracle that we get througha day. At least today can't get any worse, hetold himself. He was wrong again.
"Nathan, would you like to tell the whole classwhat is so funny?" Mr. Tyssling lowered thechalk to his side and turned from the chalkboardto view Nathan sternly. Everyone in class also turned to stare. Nathan tried to stop laughing. But his friendEddie Frinkes had passed him the funniest,grossest drawing of Mr. Tyssling with longblack worms coming out of his nose. PICK ME, Eddie had captioned thedrawing. Eddie is an artist, Nathan thought.An artist! But how dumb was it to burst out laughing like ahyena while the class was silent, watching Mr.Tyssling write a long equation on thechalkboard? Real dumb. Because now the teacher was striding across the roomtoward Nathan, his eyes locked on the drawing inNathan's hand. And now he grabbed the paper from Nathan's handand was admiring PICK ME close-up. Nathan swallowed hard and gazed up at Mr.Tyssling. The teacher wasn't smiling. The class grew even silenter than silent. "Did you draw this?" Mr. Tyssling askedNathan in a voice just above a whisper. "No," Nathan managed to reply. His facewas burning. He knew it must be as red as atomato. "Well, who drew it?" Mr. Tysslingdemanded softly. "Uh ..." No way Nathan could squeal ona friend. "I don't know," he said. "Is it supposed to be me?" the teacher asked. "I ... don't know," Nathan replied. Andhe burst out laughing. He couldn't hold it in. Dumb. So dumb. Everyone was laughing now. Everyone exceptMr. Tyssling. He waited for the laughter to die down. Then hehanded the drawing back to Nathan. "It isn't verygood," he said. "My hair is longer than that.And my nose is a lot shorter." Oh, wow. He's not going to give me a hardtime, Nathan realized. He let out a sigh ofrelief. Too soon. "Since you're getting such a big kick out ofclass today, Nathan," Mr. Tyssling said,"why don't you go up to the chalkboard and showeveryone how to solve the equation." "Huh? Me?" Nathan's heart pounded as he climbed up fromhis desk and made his way to the front of the room.His eyes blurred behind his glasses as he staredat the equation. It was a mile long! He scratched his head and started to read it from thebeginning:
x equals a minus c plus 125ggx plus y) ...
Once again, Nathan thought of the BrainJuice. Wasn't it time for it to start working? Wouldn't it be wonderful to know how to solve thisproblem? Nathan asked himself. Wouldn't it bewonderful to solve it in front of Mr.Tyssling and all the kids who thought he was amoron? The Brain Juice. If only ... If only ... And then, staring at the chalky letters and numbers,Nathan suddenly felt different. As if a wave of electricity had shot throughhim. He could feel the hairs stand up on his arms. It suddenly appeared so clear. So perfectlyclear. The numbers seemed to leap off thechalkboard at him. Leap together as a singleunit. I can do this! he realized. I can do this equation! "Well, Nathan?" he heard Mr.Tyssling's voice, impatient, behind him. Nathan's eyes swept over the shimmering,gleaming numbers and letters. "Would you like me to solveit for x or y?" he asked the teacher. Laughter burst out across the classroom.Scornful laughter. Nathan didn't care. "I'll solve it firstfor x," he announced. He picked up a piece of chalk and beganwriting. Scribbling numbers and letters. Scratchingthem furiously across the board. Row after row. Number after number. He wrote so frantically he broke thestick of chalk. Half of it went flying across theroom. But Nathan kept writing, keptfiguring. His heart pounded. He'd never felt this waybefore in his life! Finally, he finished with a gasp. And turned,grinning, to Mr. Tyssling. "Well?" hedemanded, pointing to his final solution. "Well?What do you think?" Mr. Tyssling gaped at Nathan'sscribbles that covered the board--and his mouth droppedopen in amazement.

The teacher ran both hands back through his thick,dark hair. His eyes swept over thechalkboard. "I'm amazed," he murmured. "I'm blownaway." Nathan grinned at him. Mr. Tyssling swallowed and narrowed his eyesat Nathan. "You didn't get one thing right!"he declared. "Not one part of it." "Excuse me?" Nathan choked out. The teacher shook his head. "You wrote andwrote and wrote. You really had me fooled,Nathan. I thought you knew what you were doing. But..." His voice trailed off. "It's ... wrong?" Nathan gulped. Hisvoice cracked. "Totally wrong," Mr. Tyssling saidsadly. "Wrong from beginning to end." Nathan slumped, like a balloon deflating.At least no one is laughing, he told himself.They all feel too sorry for me. Too sorry for the dumb guy. "Can anyone give Nathan a hand up here?"Mr. Tyssling asked. "Lindy, can you help yourbrother with this problem?" "No ... I can't," Lindy repliedquietly. "I ... left my book at homethis morning. I haven't read this chapter."
Hidden by tall evergreen bushes, two greenfaces peered into the classroom window fromoutside. His mouths tight with disgust, Gobbul turnedto his partner. "They are both stupid, stupid,stupid," he spat, through four rows of jaggedteeth. "I guess the Brain EnergizerFluid doesn't work on humans," Morggulreplied. He watched through the dust-smeared glassas Nathan trudged unhappily back to hisseat. "Humans are a low species," Gobbulmuttered. "Well ... since the fluid isn't working,"Morggul began, his eyes lighting up, "do we haveto wait any longer? Can I kill them and eat theirhearts now?" Gobbul sighed. "Yes. Go ahead," he said."Enjoy."

"The Brain Juice isn't working, UncleFrank," Lindy moaned. "We aren't any smarter at all," Nathanagreed. They were in Nathan's room. He had his phonepressed to his ear. Lindy was using the portablephone from downstairs. "I told you to be patient," UncleFrank said at the other end. He had to shout overthe roar of some kind of lab machinery. "But we drank it all, and nothing happened,"Nathan insisted shrilly. "I had a horribleday in school, and--" "We think maybe we got a little dumber,"Lindy added. Hunched on top of the desk, shefrowned at Nathan across the room. "Brain Juice doesn't work overnight,"Uncle Frank shouted. "You have to give it timeto get into your bloodstream. I told you both--" The roar stopped in the background. "What was that noise? Some kind of labexperiment?" Lindy asked. "No. The blender," Dr. King replied."I'm mixing up some carrot juice." "Well--when will we get smarter?" Lindydemanded. "The math test is tomorrow, and we were hopingwe'd be able to get a good grade." "Or at least pass it," Nathan groaned. "Of course you'll pass it," UncleFrank replied. "Don't you remember myinstructions? You're supposed to study harder thanyou ever studied. And don't think about the BrainJuice. You'll see. It will work. You'll dogreat on the test tomorrow." "But ... shouldn't it be in ourbloodstreams already?" Nathan asked, scratchinghis curly hair. "Forget about the Brain Juice. Just gostudy," their uncle instructed. "Call me tomorrow.I'll bet you will have good news for me." They thanked him and said good-bye. "Good news," Nathan muttered bitterly.He kicked his backpack across the floor. "Howcan we have good news? We don't understand a singlething about these math equations." Lindy sighed. "I don't even know whatchapters to study." "Maybe we should call one of the smart kids,"Nathan suggested. "Maybe Ellen orWardell or someone would come over and study for thetest with us." "Are you kidding?" Lindy sneered. "Those kidswould never study with us. They'd be afraid ourdumbness would rub off on them!" "I guess ...," Nathan replied sadly.He kicked his backpack again. "Yikes! Ihurt my toe!" Lindy slid off the desktop and straightened thebottom of her sweater. "Well, let's getstarted. You heard what Uncle Frank said.We've got to study." "You pull out the math book," Nathanreplied. "And the review sheet. I'll go downand get a couple of Cokes." Lindy grabbed his backpack and started to unzipit. Nathan headed past her, out into the hall. He turned the corner to the stairway-- --and cried out as a sharp pain shot into hischest. "Owwww! My heart!"

Nathan grabbed his chest and sank back against thewall. He glared down at his sister. "Brenda--youhit me with that dart!" Brenda nodded and laughed gleefully. "Where did you get the darts? You're not allowedto play with darts!" Nathan cried angrily."You--you could have killed me!" "They're only Nerf darts," Brendareplied. "It really hurt! You hit me in the chest!"Nathan complained. "That's fifty points," Brenda said,picking the dart up from the hall floor. "The headis a hundred points, stomach is fiftypoints, arms and legs are ten points." "Just go away," Nathan groaned, rubbing hischest. "You're not funny. You're a totalpain." "Don't you want to play?" Brenda asked.She held up a Nerf dart for him. "No way!" he replied angrily. "Goaway, Brenda. I have a math test to study for." He turned and stomped away. And let out a loud cry of pain as a dartslammed hard into his back. "Fifty points!" Brenda declared.
The next day, Lindy came up to Nathan afterthe math test. "The test wasn't so hard," shesaid. Nathan shrugged. "At least I got all theway through it. That's a good sign." "I had to guess a few times," Lindyconfessed. "And the third equation had me totallyconfused. But I tried to solve it anyway." "I might have passed it," Nathan said."Maybe. I'm not sure." Behind them, they heard Wardell talking to Stan."Too easy," he said. "I aced it too," Stan replied. They slapped each other a high five. "Can't you make them any harder?" Wardellcalled to Mr. Tyssling. "Maybe next time," the teacher called back. "How did you do, Nathan?" Wardell asked,grinning. "Great!" Nathan replied quickly."Awesome!" He flashed them a thumbs-up. Wardell and Stan left the room laughing.
"I'm going to pass back your math testsnow," Mr. Tyssling announced the next afternoon.He walked through the rows of desks, handing out thetest papers. "Overall, I'm very pleased," he said. "Itwas a very hard test, and most of you did very well." He stopped at Stan's desk. "Good job,Stan," he murmured. "Impressive work. AndI liked the work you added for extra credit." How did I do? Nathan wondered, claspingand unclasping his hands on his desktop.Did I pass? That's all I want. I justwant to pass this one. He glanced at Lindy across the room. Shehad both hands in her hair, nervously tangling anduntangling strands. Please. Please, let us both pass,Nathan prayed. Mr. Tyssling finished handing back the testpapers. "Uh ... I didn't get mine," Nathancalled out in a trembling voice. Mr. Tyssling turned and his smile faded."Yes, I know, Nathan," he said sharply."I need to see you and Lindy after school." Oh, no, Nathan thought. Oh, nooooooo. This is bad news. Very bad news. After school, Mr. Tyssling waited for theroom to clear out. Then he called Nathan andLindy to his desk. Gripping their test papers,he frowned at them. "I'm sorry, you two," he said softly."But I'm very disappointed in you both."


Nathan sighed. Lindy lowered her eyes to thefloor. "We--we flunked?" Nathan asked in atiny voice. Mr. Tyssling didn't reply. He strodeangrily to the window and stared out at the cloudygray sky. "I guess it's partly my fault," he said,his back to them. "I put a lot of pressureon you two to do well on this test." He spun around to face them. "But I neverdreamed that you would cheat!" he declared. "Huh?" "Cheat?" "You both got perfect scores," the teachersaid, holding up the test papers. "You solved everyproblem." He tossed the papers at them. "Whydid you do it? Did you think cheating was the onlyway to impress me?" "But--but we didn't!" Nathan cried. "We just studied really hard," Lindyexplained. And we drank Brain Juice, shethought. But she couldn't tell the teacher that. Wow, Lindy said to herself, her eyes sweepingdown the perfect test paper. Wow. Wow. Doesthe Brain Juice really work? Are Nathan andI really smart now? She raised her eyes to the teacher. "I like youtwo," he was saying. "So I'm not going to send youdown to the principal. I'm going to give you one morechance." "But--but--but--" Nathan sputtered. "We didn't cheat. Really!" Lindyprotested. Mr. Tyssling rolled his eyes. He raiseda finger to his lips. "Sshhh. It's okay.I understand why you did it. Look. I'm goingto tear up these tests and give you a different onetomorrow." "But--but--" "Study real hard tonight, guys," he said."I'm sure you can do well enough to pass. Andwe'll forget this ever happened."
Nathan and Lindy practically skipped thewhole way home. "We're geniuses! Geniuses!" Nathandeclared gleefully. "Uncle Frank is the genius," Lindycorrected him. "He made us smart. Just think,Nathan. He can sell Brain Juice and makeeveryone in the world smart!" "I don't care about everyone in the world,"Nathan declared. "I only care about us! Do yourealize how awesome it will be to get straightA's?" "Whoa." Lindy's smile faded. "Maybeit's too early to talk about straight A's.Maybe we just got lucky on that test.Remember, we have to take another one tomorrow." "We'll ace that one too!" Nathanexclaimed. "We don't even have to study." With aloud, joyful WHOOOOP, he tossed hisbackpack high in the air and caught it. Theyraced the rest of the way home. Brenda was playing in the living room when theyentered. She was down on the floor moving around theplastic pieces of the dollhouse. "Are you still fooling around with that thing?" Lindyasked. "No one will put it together for me," Brendapouted. "Mom and Dad are too busy.And you and Nathan are too stupid." "I'll do it for you," Nathan volunteered.He dropped down beside Brenda. "No. I'll do it," Lindy insisted. "We can both build it," Nathan said. Hepicked up the big instruction sheet and beganripping it into pieces. "Stop it! What are you doing?" Brendacried, trying to grab it away from him. Nathan laughed. "We don't need theinstructions." He and Lindy began sliding pieces together.The living room rang out with the CLICKCLICK CLICK of plastic tab Afitting into plastic tab B. A few minutes later, the walls and floorsand roof had all been fitted together. Brendagaped in amazement at the finished dollhouse."How did you do that?" she cried. "Easy," Lindy replied. "We're geniuses," Nathan added. He and Lindy tossed back their heads andlaughed out of sheer happiness.
After dinner, Nathan and Lindy were sprawledon the floor of the den, watching Jeopardy.Mr. and Mrs. Nichols sat behind them on thecouch, reading magazines. "Who was Queen Victoria?" Lindy shouted. "Who was Isabella of Spain?" Nathanshouted, a few seconds later. And Lindy, a few seconds later, "Who wasGeorge the Third of England?" Mrs. Nichols looked up from her magazine."You're calling out the answers?" "Ssshhh," Lindy replied, leaning closerto the TV. "The category is Monarchs inHistory." "But how do you know all those?" her mom demanded. "What is the element zinc?" Nathan shoutedout. "What is iron?" Lindy answered the nextone. "They changed the category," she told hermother. "But how do you know chemical elements?" Mrs.Nichols demanded. "And--you're calling out theanswers before he even asks the questions!" "They're fooling you," Mr. Nichols chimedin, lowering his magazine. "They've seenthis show before. It's a rerun. That's how they knowall the right answers." "Is that true?" Lindy's mom asked."You've seen this show before?" "No. We haven't seen it," Lindyreplied, without turning around. "Ssshh." "What is the Spanish Armada?" Nathancalled to the TV screen. "What is the Lusitania?" he and Lindyboth shouted in unison. "We've cleared the board!" Nathanexclaimed. "We got every answer right." They both pumped their fists over their heads astheir parents looked on in astonishment. "We're ready for Final Jeopardy!"Lindy declared.
"Final Jeopardy," Gobbul murmured,watching the two kids through the den window, hidden by thedarkness of the winter evening. "Final Jeopardy.Yes, I think that describes what those twohuman kids are about to face." Morggul bobbed up and down on his fat, wetbody, peering through the fogged-up window. "I am so glad I changed my mind,"Gobbul said. "So glad I decided not to let youeat them." A sly smile spread over Gobbul'smouths. "Yes. Now they are young and strong--andsmart enough. Morggul," he whispered, "I thinkwe have found our slaves."

"Uncle Frank, you won't believe it!"Lindy declared into the telephone. She could hear her uncle chuckle at the otherend of the line. "What won't I believe?" "Nathan and I got perfect scores on themath test!" Lindy exclaimed excitedly. "Thedrink you gave us--it worked!" Uncle Frank laughed heartily. "Maybeyour studying and hard work had something to do with it," hesuggested. "No. We're geniuses!" Nathan declared,grabbing the phone from Lindy. "The Brain Juicemade us geniuses! You have to bottle it, UncleFrank. You have to sell it in stores. You'llmake a fortune!" "Well ... I'm glad it helpedyou," their uncle replied. "But don't forgetto keep studying hard. That's the most importantthing." Dr. King chatted with the two excited kids awhile longer. Then he hung up and turned to hiswife. "They got perfect scores on their mathtest," he said, chuckling. "This shows what a littleconfidence will do for kids. I gave them abottle of grape juice to drink, and now theythink they are geniuses!"
The next morning, Lindy stopped Nathan beforethey climbed onto the school bus. "Don't showoff," she warned him. "Really. You have to actcool. We don't want everyone to know what'shappened to us." But Nathan couldn't act cool about his newbrainpower. He had waited so long to be oneof the smart kids. He watched Wardell and Ellen across theaisle, showing off as usual, working on TheNew York Times crossword puzzle. Hewaited for them to turn to him. "Hey, Nathan," Wardell called out with thatsuperior smirk on his face. "What's asix-letter word for dumbbell? It begins with ann." Ellen giggled. Several other kids laughed. "Let me see that," Nathan said. Hegrabbed the folded-up newspaper from Wardell'shand. He lowered his eyes to the puzzle. "What are you doing?" Ellen demanded. "Givethat back." "I think I can help you," Nathan replied.He pulled out a ballpoint pen--and, writing asquickly as he could, filled in every word in the puzzle--in ink! "Huh? Let me see that!" Wardell cried.He grabbed the paper back. He and Ellenstudied the puzzle, their faces twisted in shock. Ellen eyed Nathan suspiciously. "Howdid you do that?" Nathan shrugged. "Crosswords are easy, ifyou have a good vocabulary."
Later that morning, Mr. Tyssling gave themthe math test while the rest of the class worked onreading projects. "Take your time," heinstructed them. "And skip over any problems youhave trouble with." Nathan and Lindy took the tests back to theirdesks. "And be sure to show your work, guys," Mr.Tyssling added. "I want to see what you understandand what you don't. Then we can work extra hardon the things you don't understand." Nathan and Lindy nodded. Ten minutes later, Lindy carried her testpaper up to Mr. Tyssling. It took Nathantwelve minutes because he worked one of the problemsthree different ways. Mr. Tyssling gazed up at them insurprise. "What's wrong?" he asked. "Arethe problems too hard for you?" He gazed quickly down their papers. Hisexpression changed. He studied their answers again, reading moreslowly. "People-perfect scores again!" he stammered."I'm really impressed. You two must have studiedreally hard." "We didn't study at all," Nathanbragged. "Math is easy."
After school, Nathan and Lindy played agame of catch with Brenda in the backyard. Thesun had come out after weeks of gray skies. Theair felt warm, more like spring than winter. "I did all my homework before the end ofschool," Lindy told Nathan. She bounced therubber ball over the grass to her little sister. Brenda missed. She chased the ball to thehedge in front. "I did tomorrow's homework too," Nathanreplied. "I memorized the GettysburgAddress." "I finished all the problems in the mathworkbook for the rest of the year," Lindy said, catchingBrenda's throw. She bounced the ball backto Brenda. "Me too," Nathan told her. "We'll haveto ask him for extra work. Maybe we can start onnext year's math." Brenda heaved the ball hard. Nathanwasn't looking, and it bounced off his chest.Brenda tossed back her head and giggled. Lindy grabbed the ball and rolled it across theyard to Brenda. "You've got to stop correctingMr. Tyssling," she scolded Nathan."Every time he made a mistake today, your hand shotup." "Well, he made too many mistakes,"Nathan grumbled. "He spelledMassachusetts wrong on the chalkboard.Somebody had to tell him." "But, Nathan--" "And the Articles of Confederation were signed in1781--not 1778," Nathan continued. "How couldhe make a mistake like that?" "Kids began to groan every time you raised yourhand," Lindy warned him. "I really think you shouldkeep your corrections to yourself. Even Mr.Tyssling was starting to look annoyed." "Get the ball!" Brenda's cry interruptedLindy's lecture. "Get the ball!" Brendacalled, pointing. "It went into the bushes." Nathan spotted the ball under a clump ofevergreen shrubs along the wall of the house. Hestarted to run to the shrubs--and then stopped. "Hey, Lindy--look." He pointed downto the ground in front of him. Lindy hurried over. "What?" "Weird footprints," Nathan said. "Get the ball! Get the ball!" Brendacried impatiently. "In a minute," Nathan called. Hesquatted down to examine the deep ruts in thewinter-hard ground. "Wow," Lindy murmured beside him. "Theprints are so big. And so round. What kind ofanimal makes footprints like these?" Nathan shook his head. He moved to the nextprint. Then the next. "Eight toes," heannounced. "Look. More than one set ofprints. And they seem to be heading up to thehouse." "It's not a dog or a cat," Lindy saidfretfully. "It must be something really big andheavy. Look how deep the footprints are." "Eight toes," Nathan repeated. "Eighttoes. Weird." They followed the line of prints to the house.They appeared to lead up to the den window. "Thebushes--" Nathan cried out. "The bushes areall trampled." "See the ball?" Brenda called, jumpingup and down impatiently. "Throw me the ball." Nathan reached under the flattened bush for theball. "Yuck!" He jerked his hand out. "What's that slimy stuff?" Lindy demanded. Nathan held his hand up. Thick yellowslime oozed over his fingers. "Oh, wow. Itsmells awful!" he moaned. He dropped to his knees. And saw wetpuddles of slime under the den window. Brenda'sball had rolled into one of the puddles. "There are smears on the window," Lindydeclared. "Look. Two smears. Like somecreatures pushed their faces against the glass." Nathan climbed to his feet. He examinedthe sticky goo on his fingers. Then he raised hiseyes to the smears on the window. "Do you think someanimals were watching us?" "But what were they?" Lindy cried. "Why werethey here? Why were they outside our window?" She shivered. "I'm scared, Nathan. I'mreally scared." A week later, Nathan stood at hislocker, filling up his backpack, preparing to gohome after school. "Hey, how's it going?" hecalled to his friend Eddie Frinkes at a lockeracross the hall. Eddie nodded. "Want to come hang out at my house and playcomputer games?" Nathan asked. Eddie made a face. "No. I don'tthink so." "Come on. Why not?" Nathan pleaded. Eddie shrugged. "I can't play any gameswith you. You're too smart. You always win." "But--" Nathan started. Eddie slammed his locker shut and hurriedaway. Before Nathan could chase after him, Stan andWardell and three other guys came around thecorner. They stopped when they saw Nathan andformed a circle around him. "Hey, Nathan--recite the GettysburgAddress for us!" Stan said with a sneer. "Tell us some Greek myths!" Wardelldemanded. "Tell us about all the mistakes you found in themath book!" "Tell us how you reprogrammed all thecomputers in the computer lab!" "Give me a break," Nathan pleaded. "Did you really memorize the whole historybook?" a kid asked. "Well ... yes." Nathan could feel hisface growing hot. "I read it, and it just kind ofstayed with me." "Are you really doing ten book reports forextra credit?" Stan demanded, bumping up againstNathan menacingly. "Well ... maybe." Nathan tried to backaway. But he was already up against the lockers."Hey--give that back!" he cried as Wardellgrabbed his backpack. Wardell spun around and took off down thehall, holding Nathan's backpack in frontof him. Laughing, the other guys went running afterhim. "You're such a brain," Wardell called."Figure out how to get it back!" Nathan sighed and started after them. Buthe stopped when he saw Lindy come slumping aroundthe corner. Her auburn hair was tangled andfell in clumps over her forehead. Her eyes werered-rimmed. "Lindy, what's wrong? were you crying?" hedemanded, hurrying over to her. "I guess." She turned away,embarrassed. Her chest was heaving up and down. Ittook her a few seconds to catch her breath. "What happened?" Nathan asked softly. "Oh ... it's Gail and Erika," Lindychoked out. "They ... they don't want to hang outwith me anymore." "Huh?" Nathan gasped. "They're your bestfriends. What is their problem?" "They said I'm a freak," Lindy told him,her voice breaking. "They said I'm too weirdnow that I'm so smart. They said ... they saidthey're afraid of me!" "But that's stupid!" Nathan protested. "Justbecause you're smart--" He stopped in midsentence. And stared across thehall. "Huh?" He and Lindy both gasped in shock as twofigures stepped quickly from the shadows.

"Mom! Dad! What are you doing here?"Lindy cried. Their parents crossed the hall toward them, theirexpressions grim. Nathan felt his stomach tighten in dread."Is something wrong?" "Maybe you can answer that question," Mr.Nichols replied, eyeing Nathan sternly."Mr. Tyssling called your mom and me in for ameeting." "Are you two in trouble?" Mrs. Nicholsasked. "Trouble? No. I don't think so," Nathanreplied, thinking hard. "We haven't done anything!" Lindyprotested shrilly. "Well, come with us," Mr. Nichols said."We're supposed to meet in Mrs. Lopez'soffice." "Mrs. Lopez?" Nathan cried. "Why dowe have to meet with the principal? What'sgoing on?" A few seconds later, they stepped into thefront office. The front room was empty. Itwas nearly four o'clock, and the secretaries had gonehome. Mrs. Lopez greeted them at the door to theback office. She was a short, plump womanwith black hair piled high on her head. Kidsliked her because she had a warm, friendly smile andknew the name of every kid in school. But she wasn't smiling now, Nathannoticed. She led them all inside and motioned forthem to take seats at the long wooden table in thecenter of the room. Mr. Tyssling was already seated at one end.He stood up and greeted Mr. and Mrs.Nichols. Then he introduced Mr.Haywood, the school guidance counselor. Mr. Haywood nodded solemnly to Nathanand Lindy. He was a pale, balding man,straight as a needle, who seemed to wear the samegray suit and thin blue tie every day. Mrs. Lopez closed the office door behindher and stepped up behind the chair at the head of thetable. "Thank you for coming in, Mr. and Mrs.Nichols," she said. "I'm afraid we have astrange problem on our hands." "Problem?" Mrs. Nichols asked. Shefrowned across the table at Nathan and Lindy. "Have these two been acting up?" Mr.Nichols demanded. Mrs. Lopez slid into the chair and pulled itup to the long table. She clasped her pudgy handsin front of her on the tabletop. "No. It's nota discipline problem," she replied. The principal glanced at Nathan and Lindy."I don't know quite how to begin," she said. "But Iguess I should just say it." Mr. Tyssling fiddled with a loose thread onhis sweater sleeve. Mr. Haywood cleared histhroat and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Nathan and Lindy are upsetting the otherkids," Mrs. Lopez began. "And I'mafraid they're upsetting their teachers too." "But--wait!" Nathan started. Mrs. Lopez raised a hand to silence him."Your two kids appear to be geniuses," shecontinued. "We don't know why we didn'trealize this sooner. But in the past couple ofweeks, it became very clear." "Geniuses?" Mr. Nichols rubbed his chin,staring at Nathan and Lindy. Mrs. Lopez nodded. "They get perfectscores on every quiz and test. They'vememorized all of their textbooks. They readbook after book after book. They writetwenty-page essays for extra credit." "But ... that's wonderful!" Mrs. Nicholsdeclared. "I know they've been studying really hardevery night." "I regret to say it isn't wonderful,"Mrs. Lopez replied softly. "Nathan andLindy are constantly correcting their teachers.They find mistakes in the textbooks. The otherkids are very upset by their actions. They feel theycannot compete with Nathan and Lindy. I believeother kids feel that something weird, something ...unnatural is going on." "Nathan and Lindy don't mean to causetrouble," Mr. Tyssling chimed in, leaning forwardover the table. "But they can't help it. They knowtoo much. Much more than any othertwelve-year-olds on the planet! And this isruining school for everyone else." "I've noticed that kids stay away from them,"Mr. Haywood added. "I'm sorry to sayit--but I think a lot of our students areafraid of Nathan and Lindy." Suddenly, Nathan realized that all eyes wereon Lindy and him. Nathan's heart pounded. Isthis really happening? he wondered. Are we reallyin trouble because we're too smart? A chill ran down his back and made himshudder. Am I some kind of freak? he asked himself. I have no friends. The kids all hate me. And I guess the teachers hate me too. What is going to happen to me? He glanced at Lindy. Her head was lowered.Her hands were clasped tightly in her lap. Heknew she must be having the same sad, frighteningthoughts. "We can explain it!" Lindy cried, suddenlysnapping back to life. "We can explain itall." "Lindy, wait--" Nathan grabbed her arm."We promised Uncle Frank we wouldn'ttell anyone." "We have to tell!" Lindy insisted. Shepulled her arm free. "Tell us what?" her mom demanded. "We drank Brain Juice!" Lindyblurted out. "Lindy, please--" Nathan begged. But Lindy wouldn't be stopped. "UncleFrank gave us a bottle of Brain Juice.To help us get smarter. We drank it--and ...it worked. The Brain Juice turned usinto geniuses!" Mrs. Nichols's mouth dropped open. Mr.Nichols narrowed his eyes at Lindy, studyingher in silence. Everyone remained silent for a long moment. Then Mrs. Lopez broke the silence with asigh. "I don't know what kind of magicformula turned you two into geniuses," she saidsoftly. "But I know one thing for sure. You haveto leave this school. We cannot have you here anylonger."

A few days later, Nathan and Lindy satglumly in the den, watching themselves on the TVnews. "These two kids are in a battle with the schoolboard," the reporter was saying. "Are they toosmart to go to school? The school says yes. Theirparents say no. And so the fight continues. ..." Behind him, Nathan could hear his stepmom on thephone in the hall. "Well, our lawyer sayswe have a good chance," she was saying. "Of course,we're looking into private schools too. No.No ... their Uncle Frank is in Sweden withhis wife. Out in the wilderness. No way to reachhim." The front doorbell chimed. Nathan jumped up to answer it--but stopped. Probably another reporter, wanting to askthe same questions. He and Lindy had beeninterviewed at least a dozen times! He always thought it would be exciting and fun to beinterviewed on TV and radio. But it wasn'tfun at all. Not when people thought you were freaks. Not when you had to stay home from school because peopledidn't want you there. Not when you didn't have anyfriends to watch you on TV. That Brain Juice ruined my whole life,Nathan thought bitterly. And now, everyone in theworld knows about it! He crept into the front hall and listenedto his stepmom arguing with the woman at the frontdoor. "No. No way," she was telling thewoman. "We're not interested in a BrainJuice fruit drink. Yes. Yes. I'msure your company makes very good, healthy drinks.But my kids don't want to sell drinks onTV commercials." Nathan slunk back into the den. Over thedrone of the TV, he could still hear his stepmomarguing with the woman. "Who is out there?" Lindy asked lifelessly. "Someone else who wants us to sell something,"Nathan groaned. The day before, a man came to the house, sayinghe wanted to be their agent. He had big plans--a Smart Kids line of sneakers, aSmart-Treat candy bar, Sugar Corn Smartscereal. ... Maybe a Saturday morningcartoon show. "We can make a fortune!" Nathan hadcried. "We'll be famous!" "But we'll be famous freaks," Lindy hadcomplained. "People will point at us. And make jokesabout us. We'll never be normal again." "But we'll be rich!" Nathan argued. Tears brimmed in Lindy's eyes. "I ...I just want to go back to school," she wailed."I just want to have my friends again." The family decided to wait. To be careful.Not to sign up for anything, at least until theschool fight was settled. But that didn't stop people from calling. Reporters... agents ... salespeople ... kids whowanted help with their homework ... strange people whosaid they were desperate and needed advice--neededsomeone smart to tell them what to do. And later that afternoon, Nathan and Lindy wereamusing Brenda in the backyard when a blacktruck pulled up the driveway. They stoppedtheir Frisbee game to watch two tall,dark-suited men stride up to the front door. Nathan dropped the Frisbee to the grass andfollowed Lindy to the house to see what theywanted. "Mrs. Nichols, we spoke to your husbandabout the tests," one of the men was saying. "Tests?" Mrs. Nichols frowned. "Yes," the man replied. "We're from theuniversity research lab downtown. Weneed to take your son and daughter to the lab. Wewant to give them a round of tests. Intelligencetests. Other tests." The other man glanced at Nathan and Lindy."We want to see just how smart you kids are.Maybe you could be useful to the government. You'd liketo serve your country, wouldn't you?" Nathan and Lindy didn't reply. They juststared back at the two grim-faced men. "I--I'm not sure about this." Their momhesitated. "We will only need them for a few hours," oneof the officers replied. "We'll give them thewritten tests. Then they'll be interviewed by somedoctors. Oh. And, of course, the surgery." "Surgery?" Mrs. Nichols cried. "Yes. We'll need to take a fewsamples of brain tissue."

"NO WAY!" Nathan and Lindy cried inunison. They both spun away from the front steps andran across the yard. "Hey--aren't you going to throw the Frisbee?"Brenda called after them. They didn't turn back. Running sideby side, they leaped over the low hedge that dividedtheir yard from the next--and kept going. Past the neighbors' house, they turnedsharply and headed to the back. Nathan could hear thetwo men calling after them. He lowered his head like afootball fullback and plowed through a narrowopening in the neighbors' tall picket fence. Without slowing, without saying a word, Nathan andLindy tore through backyards. Then down a narrowalley. Across the street that led toward the mainstreet of town. And through more backyards. Finally, four or five blocks from home, theystopped, gasping for breath. Nathan bent over,pressed his hands against his knees, and struggledto catch his breath. "Where are we?" Lindy choked out. "Are thosetwo men coming after us?" Nathan glanced around. "No. I don't thinkso." The gray shingle house ahead of them lookedfamiliar. "Hey--that's Wardell's house!" Without hesitating, they ran up to the backdoor. Nathan pounded on the glass."Hey--anybody home?" A few seconds later, Wardell pulledopen the door, his eyes wide with surprise."Hey--what's up?" he asked. "Can we come in?" Lindy asked breathlessly.She glanced behind her. "Someone may be chasing us." "Well ... yeah." Wardell stepped backto allow them in. Ellen and Stan were at the kitchentable, which was cluttered with books and papers. Theyboth looked up in surprise. "Lock the door!" Lindy instructedWardell. "What's going on?" Wardell demanded. Nathan shrugged. He unzipped his downjacket. Despite the cold of the day, his foreheadwas drenched with sweat. "We had to get away," Lindy said. "It'sa little crazy at our house right now." They walked over to the table. "What's up?"Nathan asked, gazing at the papers and books. An awkward silence. "Studying for the historytest," Ellen finally replied. "It's a toughone. It covers the whole semester." Stan blew a large pink bub7um bubble,then sucked it back into his mouth. "You guys comingback to school?" he asked. "Maybe," Nathan answered. "We don't know," Lindy said. Another awkward silence. Nathan jammed his hands into his jeanspockets. "Uh ... what's going on inschool?" he asked. "Nothing much," Wardell said. He was still staringat them as if they were Martians. "Same old stuff," Ellen muttered. "I saw you on the news," Stan said. "That waspretty cool." He blushed. "Actually, Imean ... I thought you got a bad deal." "Yeah. Me too," Ellen said softly,lowering her eyes to the table. "We really want to come back," Lindy toldthem. "I can't believe Mrs. Lopez did that,"Ellen said, shaking her head. "Want a Coke or something?" Wardellasked, moving to the refrigerator. "I've gotapple juice. Gatorade." "Maybe we should use your phone and callhome," Nathan said, gazing out the kitchen window. "Yeah. Sure," Wardell said. Hepointed to the phone on the kitchen wall. "You know... uh ..." He hesitated. Nathan and Lindy waited. "Sorry if I gave you a hard time inschool," Wardell muttered, speaking rapidly."I really didn't mean anything. I was just goofingaround. You know." "No problem," Nathan told him. "Itwasn't your fault we got kicked out of schooland our lives got so messed up." His voicebroke. He suddenly felt so sad, so upset. It's nice being with friends, he thought. Beingnormal. What if those men really do take us to their laband slice open our brains? Then what? He grabbed the phone off the wall and calledhome. His stepmom answered on the second ring."Nathan--where are you?" she demanded. "IsLindy with you?" "We're at Wardell's house," hereplied. "Are they gone? The men from the lab?Did they leave?" "Of course they left," she replied. "Itold them to go away." "You mean ... they're not going to cut open ourbrains?" "No. No one is going to touch your brains,"she assured him. "Why did you run away like that?You knew I would never let those men take youaway." "I ... I guess we just panicked,"Nathan stammered. He turned around. Wardell,Stan, and Ellen were all staring at him. "We'll be right home," he told hisstepmom. "Yes. Hurry," she said. "I need youto take care of Brenda. Dad and I have to go seethe school board." "Okay. See you in a few minutes." He replaced the phone on the wall."Everything is okay," he told Lindy."They're gone. Come on." He started to the door. "Thanks, Wardell." "See you guys," Wardell replied. "Wish we could study with you," Lindy saidsadly. "Good luck," Ellen called. "Yeah. Good luck," Stan and Wardellechoed. Zipping their jackets against the cold wind,Nathan and Lindy made their way out the kitchendoor and began jogging side by side through thebackyards and alleys. They were halfway home when two aliensstepped out from a hedge to block their way.

Nathan stopped short as the two creaturesstepped forward. Lindy had her eyes on the groundand nearly ran into them. Nathan grabbed her arm and tugged her to a stop. Lindy finally looked up--and let out a screamof terror. Nathan opened his mouth to scream--but the soundchoked in his throat. They're so ... ugly! he thought. I'venever seen anything so ugly! The big green creatures moved closer. Theiryellow eyes glistened wetly. Their double mouthswrithed and twitched with excitement. And as the mouthsopened, Nathan saw four rows of jagged teeth. Their shimmering, wet tentacles uncoiledrapidly and spread out to trap Nathan andLindy. The tentacles were covered with disgustingpurple pods that opened and closed like mouths. The taller one had curled tusks. Helicked them excitedly with two fat purpletongues. The fatter one bobbed up and down on hisstumpy legs, his green belly slapping thegrass. "Which-who are you?" Nathan choked out. "Are those... costumes?" Lindy huddled close to Nathan, her eyeswide with fright. They both watched gobs of sweatslide off the sleek green bodies onto thegrass. "Why would we wear costumes?" the fatter oneasked his partner. The tusked one shook his head. "We do not comefrom your planet," he said, yellow eyes trainedon Nathan. "So we do not look like you." "Thank goodness!" his companion muttered. Lindy's mouth dropped open. "This is ajoke--right?" she whispered to Nathan."Please--" Nathan stared straight ahead. Trembling, hestudied the two bobbing, sweating creatures. "Nojoke," he whispered back. "They're... real!" Nathan took a deep breath. "We have to gethome," he told them, trying to sound strong. Buthis voice cracked on the words. "No. You will not be going home," the tall onereplied softly. His tongues lapped at histusks. "What do you mean?" Lindy cried, hervoice rising in fear. "What do you want? Whoare you?" "We are your new masters," the tall onereplied flatly, speaking with his top mouth. "You are going to be good slaves for ouremperor," the fatter one gurgled. "Slaves?" Nathan stared at them, franticthoughts whirring through his mind. "This is a joke--right?" "We do not joke," the tall one repliedcoldly. "If you come from another planet, how come youspeak English?" Lindy demanded suspiciously. "Your language is a crude, primitivelanguage," the tall one said, sneering with bothmouths. "It took us only an hour or twoto learn it. It is so simple. Our alphabethas seven hundred letters!" "Our language has four hundred words forhello," the fatter one bragged. "They've got to be kidding," Lindy whispered."Don't they?" Nathan didn't reply. His heart thudded inhis chest. He had a heavy feeling of dread in thepit of his stomach. "I don't believe it," he choked out. "Ijust don't believe it." The fatter one glanced up at the tusked one."Go ahead," the tusked one said. "Prove itto him. Show him that we really are from anotherplanet." Nathan gasped as the fatter one turned to thetree behind him and whipped one of his tentacles into theair. The tentacle slapped a bird off thebottom limb. The bird let out a squeak--as the fatcreature wrapped a tentacle around it, raisedit to his bottom mouth, and bit its head off. He made a loud swallowing sound as the birdhead slid down his throat. Then he jammed therest of the bird into his mouth and chewed. Feathersspilled over his chin and floated to theground. "Ohhhh, gross." Lindy let out a moanand buried her face in Nathan's jacketsleeve. "Do you need any more proof?" the taller oneasked. He didn't wait for an answer. With one quick motion, he slid out a hot, wettentacle. Wrapped it tightly around Lindy.And began pulling her toward his open mouths.

"NOOOOOOO!" Lindy's scream of horror echoed over thebackyards. "Help us!" Nathan shrieked. "Somebody--help us!" He dove at Lindy. With both hands, hemade a desperate grab for the tentacle that heldher. He squeezed his fingers around it--and tugged. Tugged with all his strength. His hands slipped on the sweaty, wet skin. Slowly, the tentacle loosened and slid awayfrom Lindy. She staggered back a few steps, then droppedto her knees. "You can get up. And stop carrying on like that.We're not going to eat you," the taller creaturesneered. "Not yet," the fatter one added, chuckling,bouncing up and down like a trained seal. "We wouldn't waste our Brain EnergizerFluid," the tall one announced. "You are nowtoo smart for us to eat you." "Excuse me?" Nathan cried breathlessly.Alien sweat stuck in thick gobs on his hands.He wiped them on the legs of his jeans. "Brain--what?" Lindy gasped, climbingslowly to her feet. The tentacle left a widewet spot around her coat. "The liquid we gave you," the tusked oneanswered. "To make you smarter." "But Uncle Frank--" Lindy started. Both creatures shook their smooth heads."He gave you grape juice. We gave you thereal thing." "But--why?" Nathan choked out. "To make you smart enough for the emperor," the tallone replied. "The emperor wants hisslaves to be quick and sharp. He doesn'tbelieve that humans can be smart enough to be slaves.He sent us here to see if it was possible." "If you two work out well, we will come backto your planet," the other one said. "And we willtake thousands and thousands of slaves." Hepulled off a bird feather that clung to his chin. "I am Gobbul," the tusked one announced."And this is my helper, Morggul. We will be yourmasters until we deliver you to the emperor." No, Nathan thought, gazing up at the twougly alien creatures. No ... no ... Thiscan't be happening. "You will come with us to our spacecraft," Gobbulordered. He pointed to the woods. The purplepods up and down his tentacles let out a whooshof sour air. "It is a long journey to ourplanet. We must leave at once." No ... no ... The word repeated inNathan's mind. He glanced at his stepsister. Lindy's handsqueezed Nathan's arm. She didn't evenrealize she was doing it. Her whole bodytrembled in terror. No ... no ... I can't let this happen. Think, Nathan, he ordered himself. Think of aplan. Think of a good plan to escape thesecreatures. He took a deep breath and lowered his mouthto Lindy's ear. "Run!" he whispered. She nodded. They spun away from the aliens--and took off.

Nathan lurched forward. He ran about threesteps--and felt a thick tentacle wrap around hisleft ankle. "Noooo!" He let out a furious cry ashe stumbled. The tentacle tightened around his leg. He fell forward. Fell hard to the ground.Landed on his elbows and knees. "Nooo!" Pain shot through his body. But heignored it and rolled onto his back. He kicked out both legs. Kicked free of thepod-covered tentacle. Scrambled to his feet.And, gasping for breath, leaped over a clump oflow bushes--and kept running. He could see Lindy up ahead,running through winter-dead flower beds, leaping over alow fence, then charging down a narrow alley. Running full speed, arms stretched in frontof her as if grabbing for safety, her auburnhair flying behind her like a pennant. Running interror. Not looking back. They both reached their backyard, gasping forbreath, leg muscles throbbing, holding theirsides. Mrs. Nichols stood on the back steps,car keys in one hand, the other hand pressed againsther waist. "What took you so long?" shesnapped. "We ... we ..." Nathan struggledto speak. But his lungs felt about to burst! "I told you I was in a hurry. I toldyou I needed you to watch Brenda," Mrs.Nichols said angrily. "More-monsters!" Lindy cried. "Two aliens!" Nathan uttered breathlessly."They want to kidnap us!" Mrs. Nichols scowled and shook her head."You'll have to do better than that. There's no wayI'm going to buy that excuse!" "Mom--listen!" Lindy begged. "We're introuble. We--" "I know you're in trouble," her motherinterrupted. "That's why I have to go talk to theschool board." She pointed to the house. "Getin there. Brenda is waiting for you. I'mterribly late." "But--" Lindy protested. Her mother disappeared into the car and slammed thedoor. "Mom--we're not kidding!" Lindy wailed. "They're going to take us away!" Nathancried. Mrs. Nichols called out something through thewindshield. They saw her mouth moving. But theycouldn't hear her. "Listen to us!" Lindy pleaded. But her mother turned her head and backed the cardown the driveway. With an unhappy sigh, Nathan opened thekitchen door and led the way into the house. Helocked the door carefully behind him. The kitchen smelled of chocolate. Mom musthave been baking brownies, Nathan thought. "Brenda, where are you?" he called. "In here!" Nathan started to follow her voice to the livingroom. But Lindy held him back. "What arewe going to do?" she whispered frantically. He shrugged. "I don't know. We have to think.But ... let's not scare Brenda." She nodded in agreement. "Maybe we can gether to watch a video or something. Then we canthink. Think of a plan, someone to help us." They stepped into the living room. Brenda was onher stomach on the floor, surrounded by herBarbie dolls. "Where were you?" she demanded. "Iwant you to play dolls with me." "Well ..." Nathan hesitated. "We thought you might like to watch that newvideo," Lindy suggested. "The one about the girlwho moves to--" "No!" Brenda interrupted. "I told you.I want to play dolls." "But Lindy and I--" Nathan started. That's as far as he got. He heard a loud CRASH. And knew atonce what it was. The sound of the kitchen door being smashed open. "What was that?" Brenda cried. No time to answer. The two ugly aliens slid into the room. Theiryellow eyes gazed at Nathan and Lindy.Eyes cold as ice. Their mouths were turned downin tight scowls. "Yuck!" Brenda exclaimed. "Who arethey?" "Slaves, we need you to come with us," Gobbulboomed. "We don't plan to chase you all overthis planet." "No!" Lindy screeched. "We're not going!" Nathan cried. "We'renot!" Gobbul sighed through all of his purpletentacle pods. "I guess we will haveto persuade you." He nodded to Morggul. Morggul moved quickly. He bounced across theroom and lifted Brenda off the floor in twotentacles. "Put me down!" she wailed, kicking herlegs, thrashing her arms, trying to hit the bigcreature. "Help me, Nathan! Lindy!Make him put me down!" Nathan started across the room to help Brenda. But Gobbul swung a tentacle aroundNathan's neck and started to tighten it. Nathan stopped short. He struggled to breathe. "What are you going to do?" Lindy shrieked. "Persuade you to come peacefully with us,"Gobbul replied calmly. He turnedto Morggul. "Go ahead and eat the little one," hesaid. Morggul's purple tongues slid outhungrily. Thick saliva splashed the floor."Yes. Good!" he gurgled. "Save me a leg," Gobbul said. "You knowI like legs." Brenda screamed and kicked. But Morggul raised her easily over him.As he lowered her to his face, his mouths stretchedwide ... wider. ... "Stop!" Nathan gasped. "Please!" "Don't swallow her!" Lindy begged."We'll go with you. Promise! We won'trun. We'll go with you. Just don't eat her!" A cruel grin spread over Gobbul'smouths. "Too late," he whispered.


The inside of the aliens' spaceship was silveryand bright, so bright Nathan and Lindy had to shieldtheir eyes at first. Squinting, Nathan saw dozens of smallcompartments. Like a honeycomb, he thought. Or theinside of a beehive. Before he could see clearly, Gobbul andMorggul shoved Lindy and him into a small,square compartment. Shimmering silver bars formed thewalls, floor, and ceiling. They heard theclick of the door being locked. "It's a cage," Lindy gasped. "Theylocked us in a cage." The two aliens disappeared into a silverypassageway. Nathan and Lindy leaned against thecage wall, waiting for their eyes to adjust, fortheir hearts to stop pounding. "This thing is going to take off soon," Lindywhispered. "We're never going to see home again.Never going to see Mom and Dad. Or our friends.Or anyone." A sob escaped her throat. Nathan shook his head sadly. "At least wesaved Brenda." "That sick, fat alien had Brenda's headall the way down his throat," Lindy uttered,her face twisting in disgust. Her whole bodyshuddered. "One more second and ..." "And he would have bitten her head off, just like thatbird," Nathan said. "If we hadn't beggedhim. If we hadn't promised to be good slaves..." His voice trailed off. Lindy groaned. "I feel sick. I reallydo. When he pulled Brenda out, and I saw herhead was covered in that yellow slime, like runnyegg yolks ... her hair all sticky and stuckto her head ..." "Stop talking about it," Nathan said sharply."We saved her. She's okay. Now ... whatabout us?" "Yeah," Lindy sighed, holding onto thebars. "What about us?" "We have to find a way out of here," Nathanwhispered. "If the ship takes off, we'll neversee home again." He swept his eyes around the glittery cage."I ... I can't even find the door!" hestammered. Lindy peered out. "All I can see is cageafter cage," she wailed. "Little squares piledon top of each other." Nathan slid his hand along the bars."Wait!" he cried. "I think I found thecage door." He tugged. He pushed. He tried to slideit--one way, then the other. "I can't move it," he sighed. "Maybe if we both try to push it," Lindysuggested. "It's solid metal," he told her. "Andit's locked. And I don't see the lock. Orthe latch." Lindy uttered a frightened cry. "We'resupposed to be geniuses--aren't we?" Nathan nodded. "Yes. We know we'resuper-smart." "So we should be able to think of something." Nathan peered out through the gleaming bars--and sawGobbul staring in at him. "We'll be taking offsoon," the alien announced. "Try to relax.And don't talk so loud. From the control deck,Morggul and I can hear everything you say." "Let us go!" Lindy pleaded. "Please!" "We won't make good slaves!"Nathan cried. "Your emperor will be veryunhappy. He'll be very angry. Lindy and Ihave an attitude problem! A bad attitudeproblem!" But Gobbul had vanished back to the controldeck. Clinging to the cage bars, Nathan and Lindyboth let out unhappy groans. "Was that our best try?" Nathan sighed."That was really lame." "Come on--" Lindy urged. "Think.We're geniuses. We should be able to use ourbrains to escape." She stared hard at Nathan. Nathan stared back at her. "Yes. Ourbrains," he repeated. "That's why they are takingus to their planet, right? Because of our brains?" Lindy nodded. They both remained silent for a long while,staring out at the silvery honeycomb in front ofthem. Then gazing thoughtfully at each other. "Think ..." Lindy murmured. "Think ofsomething." "Wow," Nathan said, shaking his head. "I... I can't think of anything. Not a singleplan." "I can't, either," Lindy confessed. "I can'tthink clearly at all. It's like my brain ison overload or something." Nathan swallowed hard. Behind his glasses, hiseyes grew wide as he turned to Lindy. "TheBrain Juice--I think it's wearing off!" hecried. Nathan grabbed the bars as the cage beganto vibrate and rock. He heard a roar beneath him.The whole spaceship rumbled and shook. "We're taking off!" he cried. "Nowwhat?"

"Maybe we can outsmart them when we getthere," Lindy said in a trembling voice."Maybe we can talk to them. Convince them to sendus home." "How?" Nathan asked weakly. He pressedhis forehead against the silvery cage bars. "Idon't feel smart anymore, Lindy. I can'tthink clearly at all." "I don't feel smart, either," sheconfessed. "But maybe it's just because we'refrightened. Maybe if we calm down ..." Hervoice trailed off. "They expect us to be super-smart," Nathansaid unhappily. "What will they do to us when theyfind out we're not?" Lindy didn't have time to answer. Morggul bobbed up in front of them. Hissmooth green skin glistened wetly under the brightlights. "Gobbul and I can hear your lies," hegrowled. "Our Brain Energizer Fluid is thebest in the universe. We know it cannot wear off!" "But it has!" Nathan started. "Ourbrains--" "Silence, slaves!" Morggul ordered. "Youcannot fool us." He shoved a stack of papers atthem. Nathan grabbed the papers. "What are these?"he asked the fat alien. "Puzzles," Morggul replied. "It's along trip. You need to keep your minds busy." Nathan stared down at the stack. "Crosswordpuzzles? How did you know we like these?" "We watched you carefully," Morggulreplied. He held several pencils in onetentacle. He shoved them through the bars atNathan. "Keep your minds busy," he said."The emperor wants his slaves to be sharp." "But--but--" Nathan sputtered. "You're making a big mistake," Lindycried. "Turn this ship around. We can't beslaves. You can't do this!" Morggul didn't reply. He turned andlumbered back to the control deck. "He--he doesn't believe us," Nathanmoaned. "He refuses to believe that the BrainJuice wore off." "What are we going to do?" Lindy wailed. Nathan stared down at the first crosswordpuzzle. He read a clue to Lindy."Opposite of go," he said. "A four-letterword." Lindy rubbed her chin. "Hmmm ..." Shethought for a long while. "What is the clue again?I forgot it." Nathan read it again. "Opposite of go.That's a tough one. ..." "Let's go on to the next one," Lindysuggested. "Family pet that purrs," Nathanread. "Three letters." They both thought in silence. "Try dog," Lindy said finally. "It shouldfit." Nathan lowered the pencil to the puzzle and beganto write in dog. "Do I write in the whitesquares or the black squares?" he asked. "The white squares, I think," Lindyreplied. "Try the white squares." "But--the pencil won't write!" heexclaimed. Lindy narrowed her eyes at him. "You'reholding the wrong end," she said. "You're tryingto write with the eraser." "I am?" Nathan stared at the pencil in hishand for a long time. "What's an eraser?" heasked. They stared wide-eyed at each other. Nathanlet the pencils and puzzles fall to the floor. "We're ... stupid!" he gasped. Lindy shuddered. A soft cry escaped herlips. "Yes. The Brain Juice wore off.And it made us dumber." Nathan shook his head, his expression tight withfear. "How are we going to escape? We'retoo stupid to think of anything." Lindy swallowed hard. "How are we goingto survive?"

They were both sitting on the floor, gazingblankly at the wall, when Gobbul and Morggulappeared at the cage door. "We have landed,"Gobbul announced. Nathan and Lindy shook their heads, as iftrying to wake up. "We didn't feel thelanding," Lindy murmured. "I didn't hearanything." "How long was the trip?" Nathan wondered outloud. "I lost track of time." Lindy stared at her watch. "I think you cantell time with these things," she told Nathan. "ButI don't remember how." Nathan grabbed her wrist and raised the watchto his face. He squinted at it. "Which is thebig hand and which is the little hand?" "We don't have time for this fakery!" Gobbuldeclared impatiently. "We know how smart youare." He pressed a tentacle against thefront of the cage. Nathan heard a loud click. A buzz. Andthen the cage door slid open. The two aliens were breathing hard. The pods upand down their tentacles pulsed and throbbed, openingand closing rapidly. "I'm so excited," Morggul declared. "Morggul and I are excited to present you to theemperor," Gobbul told them. "We're excited too," Nathan replied.He squinted at them. "What's an emperor?" Lindy scratched her head. "I used to know thatword, I think. Give us a hint." "No more stalling," Gobbul growled. "Come outnow. Follow us. We have landed our ship beneath theemperor's palace." "Beneath?" Nathan asked. "Is that above orbelow?" "Be quiet!" Gobbul snapped."Remember that you are slaves. You will speakonly when spoken to." "But--what will our jobs be?" Nathan demandedshrilly, his voice revealing his panic. "As the emperor's personal slaves, you will doall of his mathematics for him," Gobbulreplied. "You will do all of the difficultcalculations. You will--" "Mathematics? Does that mean numbers?"Lindy asked. "Of course!" Gobbul cried impatiently. "But we're too stupid to do numbers!"Nathan whispered to his stepsister. "Ssshhh." She raised a finger to her lips."Maybe we can fake it." Morggul turned to Gobbul. "Why are theydoing this?" "They're just frightened," Gobbul replied."Ignore it. We know how smart they are. Theemperor will see." "Here are your translators," Morggulannounced. He slid a silvery chain around eachof their necks. "They will allow you to understand ourlanguage." "Hurry," Gobbul ordered. "Follow us.We must take you first to the cleaning room." "Huh? The cleaning room?" Nathan gasped. The aliens led them out of the spaceship and thendown a long, silvery hall. Everything appearedto be made of chrome and mirrors. Like thespaceship, everything gleamed and glowed. Their footsteps echoed loudly as they made theirway. Nathan and Lindy had to hurry to keep upwith the two aliens. They stopped at shiny double doors. The doorsslid open. They followed the aliens inside asilvery box. "This elevator will take us up to the cleaningroom," Gobbul announced. "Remember that youare slaves. You will speak to no one." The doors slid shut. Nathan felt thepull of the elevator as it began to riserapidly. "No one will believe their eyes when they catcha glimpse of these two!" Morggul snickered."Only two arms. Only one mouth!" "Yes, they are disgusting to look at," Gobbulsneered. "But they will make excellent slaves." The elevator doors slid open. Nathan andLindy followed the aliens down an even brighterhallway. The glow from the walls, the smooth,shiny floor, and the mirrored ceiling were so brightNathan had to shut his eyes. He felt a chill of fear roll down hisbody. Panic suddenly froze him. He hadto struggle to breathe. We're on another planet, he thought. We've been kidnapped. We're going to be slaves. The long, shimmering, silver hallway madehim feel as if he were walking through a dream. Buthe knew it was real. The panic that froze hisbody told him it was real. The hall opened into a vast area. Nathangazed up at an immense wall of squares. Likecrossword puzzle squares, he thought.Hundreds and hundreds of them covering the walls. were they windows? Doors? Green tentacles wriggled out of many squares.Purple pods on the writhing tentacles openedand closed. "It looks as if the whole wall isalive!" he whispered to Lindy. She gazed wide-eyed at the tentacles in thesquares. Her mouth hung open. "Why are theydoing that? Do they live behind those squares?" A group of green aliens--fat and walrus-like--identical to Morggul, lumbered by. Theyturned and stared in shock at Nathan and Lindy. "What are those?" an alien gasped. "They are called humans," Gobbultold them, pushing Nathan and Lindy forward. "Ugh," one of the aliens muttered. "Faces like a bad dream," another aliensnickered. "Hurry," Gobbul urged the two frightenedkids. "We don't want to keep the emperorwaiting." They passed another wall of squares.Squares from the floor to the high ceiling. Greententacles twisted and curled out of dozens ofsquares. In the distance, Nathan could hear strangemusic. It sounded like the droning of bees, mixedwith the shrill whine of an electric saw cuttingthrough wood. "Here," Gobbul said sharply. "Here is thecleaning wing. Turn right." Nathan stopped. He stared from side to side."Which way is right?" he asked. Lindy raised her hands and gazed from one to theother. "One is right and one is left," shemurmured. "But how are we supposed to rememberwhich is which?" "Stop that! Come this way!" Gobbul cried.He shoved them into a large, bright room. Longsilvery tables filled the middle of the room.Along the walls, green aliens busily workedat strange electronic equipment. Theirtentacles moved rapidly over dials andsilvery keyboards. The walls stretched up for miles. Clumpsof aliens walked along a catwalk up closeto the mirrored ceiling. The equipment buzzed andwhistled. Groups of aliens moved rapidlyalong the tables, their tentacles curling anduncurling. Gobbul stepped up to another tall alien withtusks. He said something to the alien in a differentlanguage. It sounded like "Whummp whumpwhummmp" to Nathan. The other tusked alienreplied with a lengthy "Whummmmp." Gobbul turned back to Nathan and Lindy."The emperor is waiting to see his newslaves," he told them. "First, we must cleanyou to make you worthy of being in the emperor'spresence." Two fat, walrus-like aliens pulled longhoses from the wall. Nathan and Lindy gasped. The hoses werehuge, wide as fire hoses. They hadbig silver nozzles the size of lunch boxthermoses on the end. "Which-what are you going to do with those?" Nathanstammered. "We must clean out your insides," Gobbulreplied. He motioned to the two aliens. Thealiens pulled the hoses closer. "Open your mouths," Gobbul ordered. "Wemust do a deep cleaning. The hoses must go all theway down." Nathan froze in terror. He stared at thebig silver nozzles, the huge hoses."You're going to put those down our throats?" "It may be a little uncomfortable," Gobbulreplied. "But after half an hour or so, you'llget used to it."

"No!" Nathan screamed. The alien dragged the hose closer. The bignozzle gleamed in the bright light. "We'll choke!" Nathan cried. He grabbed Lindy's wrist and spun away. And before he even realized what he was doing, theywere running. Running alongside the silverytables, down the middle of the room. Past gawkingaliens. "Whump whump whummp!" Alarmed criesrose up around the huge room. Aliens shouted andpointed down from the catwalk on the ceiling. Nathan glanced back to see Gobbul andMorggul chasing after them. Pulling Lindy, he burst out of the room.Into the gleaming, mirrored hall. So bright. Sobright, his eyes watered. "Where are we going?" Lindy cried in a tiny,breathless voice. "I--I don't know," Nathan gasped. "Ican't even see!" They stumbled forward blindly. Nathan cried out ashe ran straight into a wall. "Ohhh." He felt something wrap around hisleg. Some kind of cord? A plant tendril?A snake? And then another one wrapped around hiswaist. "Noooo!" He let out a scream. Struggledto free himself. But they held him prisoner. He turnedto see Lindy beside him, held tight againstthe shining wall. Held there ... Held by long green tentacles. The tentacles stretched out from the squares in thewall. Wrapped around them. Held themprisoner. Purple pods opening and closingrapidly. Hot, sour breath blowing around them. Gobbul and Morggul stepped up quickly,tentacles waving excitedly in the air. Theirfour mouths turned down angrily. "You cannot escape your cleaning, slaves,"Gobbul declared. "Where do you think you can run?" Morggul chuckled. "You can't run home fromhere!" he exclaimed. Gobbul turned back to the aliens at the doorto the cleaning room. "Prepare the hoses," heordered. "The deep cleaning will begin--now!" Two tall, tusked aliens pulled Nathanand Lindy back into the cleaning room. Two otheraliens dragged the hoses over and raised thenozzles to the kids' mouths. The other aliens stopped their work to watch.Aliens gazed down from the high catwalk. Theroom grew silent, except for the buzz andwhistle of the equipment. "We ... won't survive," Nathanwhispered. "We're doomed." Lindy let out a choked sob. The alien pressed the nozzle against Nathan'smouth. "Open wider," Gobbul ordered. The silvery nozzle felt cold againstNathan's tongue. It filled his mouth. Startedto tickle the back of his throat. "Turn on the cleaning acid!" Gobbulcommanded.

Acid? Nathan thought. A cold wave of terror swept over him.His knees buckled. He started to fall. He heard a rumbling sound. The sound of thehose starting to fill. Acid? He shut his eyes. A voice boomed through the vast room: "WHEREARE MY NEW SLAVES?" Nathan opened his eyes as the nozzle waspulled from his throat. "The slaves are being deep-cleaned," Gobbulcalled, his eyes on a silveryloudspeaker on the wall. "SKIP THE CLEANING!" the voice boomed,so loud the loudspeaker appeared to shake. "BRINGTHEM TO ME--AT ONCE!" "We're saved," Lindy whispered. "For how long?" Nathan whispered back.
The emperor's chamber was bathed in a pulsingwhite light. Brighter than any room the kidshad seen. Nathan cried out and covered his eyes with his arm.He waited for the shock of the pain to fade. Then heslowly uncovered his eyes. Squinting, hestruggled to adjust to the blinding, throbbing light. When he could finally focus, he saw a crowdof green aliens. They jammed the room from frontto back. Tall aliens with tusks. Shorter,fat aliens--all glistening with sweat. Allmurmuring in their strange language, theirtentacles pointing excitedly at the twohumans. Nathan huddled close to Lindy, who stillblinked painfully in the stunning brightness.Squinting, his eyes swept over the vast room.Over the gleaming mirrored walls. The silverycolumns. He gazed up at a domed ceilingmiles above. The dome glittered as if coveredwith diamonds. And then, Nathan saw the emperor standing infront of a silvery throne. Nathan recognized him at once. Theemperor was taller than the other aliens. Hestood very erect, sweat rolling thickly down hisemerald body. His tusks were thick and long.At least two feet long, they curled out at thesides like a broad mustache. Nathan raised his eyes to the crown on theemperor's head. The crown was the same silverycolor as the tusks. And as the emperor bowed hishead, Nathan could see that the crown hadn't beenplaced on the emperor's head. The crown grewout of the emperor's head! Behind the emperor stood two stern-lookingguards. Each carried a long, white,tubelike weapon. They stood at stiffattention, eyes moving over the crowd. Once again, Nathan gripped Lindy'swrist. His hands were cold and trembling. Nathan and Lindy hung back as Gobbul andMorggul stepped forward. Gobbul had apleased grin on both of his mouths. He bowed low to the emperor. Morggul did astrange, awkward curtsy. "One and Only, your human slaves,"Gobbul announced. The emperor's eyes bulged as he stared hardat Nathan and Lindy. They're all staring at us, Nathan saw.Hundreds of aliens. Staring at us as if we'resome kind of zoo animals. Or alien slaves. Nathan shivered. "Well ... they are not very handsome. Let ussee if these humans are smart enough!" Theemperor ordered Gobbul, "Prove to us that yourBrain Energizer Fluid worked on them." "It will be my pleasure, One and Only,"Gobbul replied with another bow. He turned to thetwo kids. "Move to the wall behind you." Nathan squinted at him. "Behind us? Which wayis that?" he asked. Lindy shook her head fretfully. "Where do youwant us to go?" she asked, looking very puzzled. "Behind you! Behind you!" Gobbul criedimpatiently. Nathan stepped forward. Lindy turned. And they bumped heads. "Ow!" Lindy rubbed her forehead. "Watch whereyou're going!" "WHAT IS THE PROBLEM HERE?" theemperor boomed. He grabbed his long tusks withtwo tentacles. His eyes locked angrily onGobbul. "Ha ha. Just a game the humans play,"Gobbul explained, forcing a broad smile. "You claimed you made these humans smart!" theemperor challenged. "Yes," Gobbul agreed quickly. Beads ofthick sweat ran down his body. He was suddenlystanding in a puddle of sweat. "They are smart.They are brilliant!" "Brilliant?" Nathan cried. Hescratched his head. "Is that some kind of insult?"he asked Lindy. "Nathan, be quiet!" Lindy scolded."Don't let them know we're not smartanymore." "WHAT DID YOU SAY?" the emperordemanded. His voice echoed off the silverywalls. The room filled with the whispers and excitedmurmurs of the aliens looking on. "But I can't help it! I'm stupid!"Nathan protested to Lindy. "Sshhh. Me too!" Lindy declared. "Butwe have to pretend--" "I'm stupider than you!" Nathan declared. "You are not!" Lindy cried. "I'm twiceas stupid as you are." "Twice?" Nathan stared at her. "Is thatmore or less?" "ENOUGH!" the emperor exploded. He ragedat Gobbul and Morggul. "Did you think you couldFOOL me? These humans are morons!" "No--" Gobbul started to protest. He didn't utter another sound. The emperor gave a signal to the twoguards. The guards raised the long whitetubes. Nathan saw two bright flashes. Gobbul and Morggul stood frozen for a moment.Then their heads tilted back. Their tentaclesdropped lifelessly to their sides. Nathan gasped as the two aliens appearedto melt. The green skin melted off their bones.And then their bones crumbled, crumbled to powder. A second later, there was nothing left. Nothing ... The emperor turned to the guards. He pointedto Nathan and Lindy. "Disintegrate them too,"he ordered.

"Noooo!" Nathan let out a terrifiedcry. He grabbed Lindy by the shoulders--and shoved herto the floor. He dropped down beside her. Two streaks of white light shot over theirheads. Gasping for breath, he scrambled to his feet.His eyes frantically swept the room, searchingfor a way to escape. Nowhere to run ... If we run into the crowd, we'll be capturedinstantly. If we stand here ... "Duck!" he shrieked. Two more white blasts whirred pastthem. Nathan felt the burning heat from the blastson his shoulder. "This way!" Lindy cried. She hurtledtoward the emperor, her red hair flying behind her. Nathan hesitated for a second. The two guards swung their white tubesaround. Nathan plunged after his sister. They ran rightat the startled emperor. All four of his tentacles flew up above hishead. He opened his mouths in a bellow of rage. Nathan and Lindy dove behind his broad,gleaming throne--as another burst of white lightwhistled over their heads. Protected by the throne, they searched the backwall--and saw an open doorway in one corner. "Can we get to it?" Nathan wondered out loud. "We have to try," Lindy replied breathlessly. Nathan took a deep breath and held it.Then, ducking low, running in zigzags, he ledthe way, running full speed over the shinymirrored floor. Angry cries and the thunder of racing footstepsechoed behind them. The whole room seemed to bounceand throb as the emperor and his followers chased afterthem. Nathan and Lindy burst through the open doorwaytogether. Nathan let out a cry and stopped short.Lindy couldn't stop herself and crashed into the wall. "A closet!" Nathan gasped. They spun around. "We're trapped!" Lindy sighed. "Weran right into a closet!" "Let's get out of here!" Nathan choked out. Too late. The emperor filled the doorway. His eyesmoved from Nathan to Lindy, and broad smiles--smiles of victory--spread on both of hismouths. "Let us go!" Lindy cried, her voicecracking. The emperor tilted back his head and laughed,an ugly, croaking laugh. "Okay," he said."You may go." He reached a tentacle up to a silver leveron the wall. He pulled the lever down. "Nooooo!" Nathan uttered a terrifiedhowl as the floor slid away beneath him. Nothing to grab hold of ... No floor ... no floor ... He felt himself falling. "Ow!" He landedhard on his back and started to slide. He and Lindy were both sliding, side by side.Screaming as they fell. Sliding down through darkness, faster. Faster ... A horrifying ride to their doom.

"Nooooooooo!" Their shrill screams echoedthrough the darkness. Suddenly, light poured over them. Nathansaw a hatch open below them. They slid through the hatch. Landed hard, in asitting position on a mirrored floor. Bars slid around them. A door slammedshut. A prison cell? A cage? His heart pounding, his throat sore from screaming,Nathan squinted into the white light. Slowly, hiseyes began to focus. "Where are we?" Lindy asked in a whisper."Are we dead?" Nathan shook himself as if trying to force awaythe terrifying feeling of falling. He struggledto clear his head. He heard a rumbling beneath them. The silverybars began to vibrate. The floor shook. He turned to Lindy. "We're back on aspaceship," he said. "We're taking off." Lindy swallowed hard. When she turnedto Nathan, her eyes brimmed with tears. "Do youthink they're sending us home?" she asked. "Do youthink we could be that lucky?"
Two days later, they were at UncleFrank's house, desperately tryingto describe what had happened to them. Bothtalking at once, talking without taking a breath. "Whoa. Slow down. Slow down," Dr. Kingpleaded. He scratched his red cheek. "One ata time, okay?" He hugged them both for the twentieth time. "I'mjust so glad you're okay. Jenny and I took thefirst flight back from Sweden. We were so worriedwhen you disappeared." "We never thought we'd see home again!"Lindy cried. "But they didn't want us," Nathanexplained. "We weren't smart enough. So theyrejected us. They sent us back." Uncle Frank narrowed his eyes at them."First you became amazingly smart," he said."Then the juice wore off?" "Yes," Nathan and Lindy replied inunison. "We became stupider and stupider," Nathansaid. "And then, as soon as we returned home,we became normal again." Uncle Frank clapped his hands together."Wow. This is an amazing story!" heexclaimed. "We must call the newspapers.We must call the TV news! We have to--" "No!" Nathan and Lindy insisted. "Noway!" He squinted at them. "What are you saying?" "We just want to be normal!" Nathandeclared. "We don't want to be freaks. Wedon't want people staring at us. Not believing us.Giving us a hard time because we're different." "Nathan is right," Lindy said. "We wantour friends back. And we want to go back to ourschool. We want our normal lives back.We don't want to tell anybody about beingkidnapped by aliens." Uncle Frank rubbed his chin thoughtfully."Okay, okay." He sighed. "I understand." He glanced at the chalkboard on the wall.It was covered with numbers. An endless equation. "Now that I know you two are okay, maybe Ican get back to work on this impossible equation,"he said, shaking his head. They heard the teakettle begin to whistle in thekitchen. "Sit down, kids," Dr. King said."I'll be right back with that hot chocolate Ipromised." He hurried from the room. Nathan wandered over to the chalkboard. Hepicked up a piece of chalk. He studied thelong equation for a moment. Then he began furiously writing numbers andletters. "There," he said, after a few seconds'work. "I solved it." "Nathan!" Lindy gasped. "Erase it!Hurry!" She ran up beside him and shoved theeraser into his hand. "Hurry! No one issupposed to know--remember? Everyone has to thinkwe're normal now." "I know. I know," Nathan groaned. Hebegan to erase his solution to the equation."I can't help it," he whispered. "It's almostimpossible not to use my brain. Back on thatweird planet, it was so hard to pretend to bestupid!" "Well, it got us home--didn't it?"Lindy replied. "It was a brilliant plan.But from now on, we have to be very careful. If wewant normal lives, we can't let anyone knowwe're the smartest people on earth!" Nathan erased the last numbers just as UncleFrank returned to the room, carrying a tray withtheir drinks on it. "Here you go," he said. Hehanded Nathan and Lindy steaming white mugs ofhot chocolate. "What's that you're drinking?" Nathan asked,pointing to the tall glass in Uncle Frank'shand. "This?" Uncle Frank held up the glassand grinned at Nathan and Lindy. "It's grapejuice. Same brand I gave you. I've beendrinking it eight times a day. Can't hurt--right?"

About R.l. Stine
R.l. Stine is the most popular author inAmerica. He is the creator of theGoosebumps, Give YourselfGoosebumps, Fear Street, and Ghostsof Fear Street series, among other popularbooks. He has written over 200 scarynovels for kids. Bob lives in New YorkCity with his wife, Jane, teenage son,Matt, and dog, Nadine.
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