Archie's Alien Disguise Read online

  “Hey!” I say to the new arrival. “Where have I seen you before?”

  The alien totally ignores me and hurries up to Pockets. He bows deeply. “You called for me, oh noble, glorious one! I always knew this day would come. How can I be of help?”

  And I thought Bloppy and that little black cat were fans of Pockets. They’ve got nothing on this guy! I admit, I’m a little jealous. He’s supposed to be MY cool cat!

  Pockets grimaces. “Hello, Feemus,” he forces himself to say through clenched teeth. “Do what you do best.”

  The alien salutes Pockets like he’s in the army. “Yes, sir!” he says. He turns his one-eyed gaze onto the crowd. Then a beam of red light shoots between his two antennae, and everyone except him, me, the horse, Pockets, and Hector stands frozen in the middle of whatever they were doing.

  Even a bird has stopped in midflight! The princess has one arm out, reaching for Feemus, who steps politely away.

  Pockets and Hector spring into action. Pockets slips the staff from the king’s hand and replaces it with one almost exactly the same size and shape. “Curtain rod from the haunted castle,” he explains with a wink. That cat thinks of everything.

  Hector grabs the two bad guys and somehow squeezes them into Feemus’s tiny spaceship. He then runs over to the frozen princess and pats her lovingly on the head. “I will miss you, little one,” he tells her. “You’ve got pluck and a natural curiosity. It will serve you well. Once the Staff of Power is gone from here, you shall be safe again.” He pulls out a jousting helmet from one of his pockets and tucks it under Viola’s arm. Then he grabs the stuffed bear Pockets had left with him in the shed and sticks it inside the helmet for her to find. With a final bow to the frozen king, he joins his prisoners in Feemus’s spaceship.

  “I don’t understand,” I say to Pockets, who is busy untying the horse from the cart. “How did the little red guy freeze everyone? What happens when they unfreeze and we’re gone?”

  “They won’t remember us,” Pockets explains. “Feemus has the ability to slow down time until it almost stops. He will replace their memories of the past day and then return them to their normal time frame.”

  I take one last look around. “Princess Viola won’t remember me at all?”

  “Sorry, but no,” he says.

  I hold my hand to my cheek. I will definitely remember her.

  Feemus approaches Pockets. “Are you ready, oh amazing one, oh great leader?”

  Pockets groans. “Please stop calling me things like that.”

  “But I am the head of your fan club,” Feemus says. “How can I not be thrilled to be in your presence?”

  “Fan club?” I repeat in disbelief. “You have a fan club?”

  “I don’t want to talk about it,” Pockets says. He turns around and hops up onto the horse’s back. He holds out his paw, I grab it, and he hoists me up behind him. I wrap my arms around his belly.

  “Wait twenty minutes and then unfreeze them,” Pockets instructs Feemus. “That will give us a chance to get back to our landing site and take off. Give the princess the memory that she wandered to the haunted castle and found some stray cats. Perhaps she will go back to feed them and will bring the gardens back to life. It may fulfill her need for adventure a bit.”

  Feemus bows again. “Yes, Your Wonderfulness. Thank you again for allowing me to be of service. You are truly the bravest, smartest, most—”

  I don’t hear what other compliments Feemus was about to give, because Pockets turns the horse around and begins to gallop toward the cornfield. I hold on tighter. They should make seat belts on these things!

  A memory comes rushing back to me. I lean into Pockets. “Now I remember where I’ve seen that guy! You wouldn’t let him sit with us for lunch at Akbar’s a few weeks ago. Why wouldn’t you?”

  “He’s always following me around,” Pockets says as we reach the town square. “It was kind of flattering in the beginning, but now it’s just embarrassing. He’s so… enthusiastic.” We pass at least twenty people, all frozen in the midst of eating, talking, shopping, or walking. I look for the boys, but they aren’t playing their game anymore.

  “I think he’s sweet,” I tell him. “I hope we see him again.”

  “Trust me, we will.”

  “Dad!” I shout, scrambling off the horse the second we arrive back at the taxi. I was half-afraid he’d be frozen like everyone else, but he’s not. He runs over and scoops me up while Pockets dissolves the camo-spray and makes the taxi reappear.

  “Archie! How was it? Did you find the princess before the king gave B.U.R.P. the staff?”

  “It turns out he didn’t even know they were after it,” I explain. “Hector the cat stopped the note before it got to the king, but I found the princess and she thought she was going to see a circus! And did you know Pockets has a fan club?”

  “Hector the cat?” he asks. “A circus? A fan club? Sounds like you’ve got a long story to tell me.”

  “It will have to wait for the ride home,” Pockets says. “We need to leave right now.” He jumps into the backseat of the taxi and settles in for his usual post-adventure nap.

  “Ahem,” Dad says, clearing his throat. “Forget something?” He waves his third arm in the air.

  “Oops,” Pockets says. He pulls out the Atom Assembler and zaps us both. It tingles just as much as last time. I’m going to miss my three eyes. It was kinda cool being able to see in the dark without those goggles.

  “Hey, Dad,” I ask as we climb in the front seat, “did you know we only had two toes on this planet?”

  He is busy admiring his full head of hair in the rearview mirror and doesn’t hear me. It will just have to be my little secret.

  Chapter Eight:

  Happily Ever After

  Once we are safely out of sight of Tri-Dark, we can finally relax. Pockets sends a message to his dad. He reports that the cat-loving boy in the black cloak is an important member of B.U.R.P. and that he is still on the loose. He makes sure to mention my role in helping on the mission, which is very nice of him. Then he puts away his screen and pulls out his pillow.

  Dad calls headquarters to check in. Minerva is finally back, but she is not happy.

  “Morningstar!” she shouts. “I just got a call from the taxi depot on Libra 6. They said your pickup—one Mr. Bloppy—never arrived yesterday. Explain?”

  “Didn’t you get my messages?” Dad asks. “We had to drop Bloppy at Akbar’s. I told you that we had an important mission and that I needed another driver to take him the rest of the way.”

  “I received no such message,” Minerva says.

  Dad and I exchange a worried look. “So he’s still at Akbar’s?” Dad asks.

  “I have no idea,” Minerva says.

  “We’re on our way,” Dad says.

  “I blame that cat,” Minerva grumbles.

  Dad switches off the com. I map out the fastest way to get there.

  When we arrive, Dad, Pockets, and I run all over Akbar’s calling Bloppy’s name. We keep asking, but no one has seen him, which is strange because he’s not someone you could easily miss. Plus, he’s wearing a name tag. Pockets ducks into Barney’s to grab us all some bagels (of course) while Dad and I keep looking. We wind up back where we started, in the gift shop. A sign on the wall catches my eye. It’s different from the one we saw last time.

  WHETHER YOU’VE GOT YOUR

  OWN WHEELS OR NEED

  TO BORROW OURS,

  VISIT AKBAR’S ROLLER RINK!

  WE NOW HAVE THE SHINIEST,

  SMOOTHEST FLOORS THIS SIDE

  OF THE VIRGO SUPERCLUSTER.

  SO ROLL ON IN AND TAKE

  A SPIN!

  The shiniest, smoothest floors! I know someone who can make a floor supershiny!

  Sure enough, we spot Bloppy as soon as we reach the roller rink. He’s standing in the center of the rink, dripping goop everywhere. Creatures with all number of legs skate happily around him. He breaks into a huge grin when
he sees us. He looks much happier than when we picked him up on Earth.

  “Sal and Archie Morningstar!” he cries out. “How lovely to see you!”

  We run onto the rink, slipping and sliding as we go. “We are so glad to see you, too,” Dad says. “I’m sorry! There was a mix-up and no taxi was sent to get you yesterday. But I can drive you now.”

  Bloppy’s smile doesn’t fade. “Your dropping me here was the best thing that could have happened. This is the perfect job for me. Everyone at Akbar’s is so nice.” He leans close to us and lowers his voice. “And I met a special someone.” He tilts his head toward the other side of the rink.

  At first I think I’m seeing Bloppy in the mirror, but this Bloppy is pink instead of orange and is wearing a pink bow on her head. I can’t read her name tag from this far away, but I can see she’s wearing one.

  Dad grins and slaps Bloppy on the shoulder. “Way to go, dude. She’s a keeper.”

  “I know,” Bloppy says, waving to the girl. She waves back with both arms. As she does, huge, gooey pink globs fall from her hands and splat across the floor. The skaters around her cheer.

  We promise Bloppy we will visit whenever we’re in the neighborhood. He hugs us both good-bye. I don’t know what Pockets was making such a big fuss about. It’s a nice, cozy, only mildly oozy hug.

  It’s dark again by the time we finally arrive home to our apartment on Earth. Mom gives me a huge hug and says I look older, which I’m sure I don’t, even if I did rescue a princess.

  Penny’s light is still on, so I go in to say good night. She looks up at me with big, sleepy eyes. “Story?” she asks.

  Even though I’m sooooo tired, I sit down on the edge of her bed and begin. “Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Viola who liked to joust. And when she ate beans, well, she could burp louder than anybody!”

  Penny giggles.

  “One day she met a group of circus performers and…”

  Penny snores. She and Pockets and Dad have a lot in common—they all fall asleep quickly and make a lot of noise when they sleep. The rest of the story will have to wait till tomorrow night. Unless I’m off on another adventure! For now, though, I’m happy to be back home. As I get up to leave, Pockets comes in, jumps onto the bed, turns in circles a few times, and then curls up and begins licking his paws.

  “Hey, Pockets,” I whisper. “Is that Feemus outside Penny’s window?”

  “Aaaaahhh!” He scrambles off the bed and zips underneath it.

  I’ll tell him I was only kidding in the morning.

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  Three Science Facts to Impress Your Friends and Teachers

  1. Light plays an important role in Archie’s adventure to planet Tri-Dark, where electricity hasn’t been invented yet. Light is made up of particles called photons, and they travel in waves, like the kind you’d see in the ocean. Each color of visible light has a different wavelength—purple has the shortest, and red has the longest. Light will bounce off a mirror or bend in water.

  2. Archie is not able to see many stars at home on Earth because of all the outside lights in the city at night. The light shines up into the sky, and then our atmosphere scatters it and sends it back down at us, blocking our view of the stars. Since there is no electric light on Tri-Dark, Archie is able to see all the stars clearly, as our ancestors would have been able to on Earth. Light pollution not only blocks our ability to see into space, but it causes migrating birds to go off course, and it confuses nocturnal animals that come out at night and need the darkness. Light pollution also wastes energy by sending light into the sky, where it is not needed.

  3. Archie’s dad uses night vision goggles so he can see in the dark to land his space taxi on Tri-Dark. There are two types of night vision goggles. The first type is called image enhancement, which is the type Archie, his dad, and Pockets use in the story. The goggles collect any available light reflected off an object (even infrared, which the human eye normally can’t see). The light is then passed through a series of lenses, allowing the person wearing the goggles to see in the dark. The other type of night vision goggles is called thermal imaging. This type detects light that is emitted by objects in the form of heat, and allows the wearer to see the images based on how warm something is. This would be helpful if Archie was trying to find Pockets in the dark.

  WENDY MASS has written lots of books for kids. MICHAEL BRAWER is a teacher who drives space taxis on the side. They live in New Jersey with their two kids and two cats, none of whom have left the solar system.

  Cover

  Title Page

  Welcome

  Dedication

  Chapter One:

  Hi, My Name Is Bloppy

  Chapter Two:

  Change of Plans

  Chapter Three:

  A Dark Landing

  Chapter Four:

  Is There Something Different About Me?

  Chapter Five:

  That Is the Biggest Cat I Have Ever Seen

  Chapter Six:

  I Didn’t Know Princesses Did That!

  Chapter Seven:

  The Great Escape

  Chapter Eight:

  Happily Ever After

  Three Science Facts to Impress Your Friends and Teachers

  About the Authors

  Copyright

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2015 by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer

  Illustrations by Keith Frawley, based on the art of Elise Gravel

  Cover art © 2015 by Elise Gravel

  Cover design by Kristina Iulo

  Cover © 2015 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

  Little, Brown and Company

  Hachette Book Group

  1290 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10104

  lb-kids.com

  Little, Brown and Company is a division of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The Little, Brown name and logo are trademarks of Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  The publisher is not responsible for websites (or their content) that are not owned by the publisher.

  First ebook edition: April 2015

  ISBN 978-0-316-24327-8

  E3