Alien in My Pocket #5: Ohm vs. Amp (7 page)

Losing the Room

“H
ello,” Olivia called out from somewhere outside my second-story window. “Where are you guys?”

Her head now appeared and I saw her examine with some curiosity the hole in my screen.

“Shhh! Why didn't you just come to the front door?” I whispered.

“I did,” she said, a little more quietly. “But your mom said you were grounded and I couldn't come back until you had grown a beard. What'd you do?”

“It's hard to explain,” I said. “These guys almost became cat food.”

She reached through the hole in the screen. “Here, put this on,” she said, handing me a bulky plastic watch. “It's set to go off when we hit the launch window. It'll beep for one minute and these guys have to take off during that minute, or it'll be too late. I have one, too,” she said, holding up a smaller, sparkly pink watch that was now on her wrist.

I slipped on the heavy watch and then proceeded to tell Olivia all about my ball-thrower idea.

She was quiet for a few seconds. “You want to launch them into outer space with Smokey's ball thrower?” Olivia snickered, shaking her head. “That's the dumbest idea I ever heard.”

“This crude mechanism might work,” Ohm said without much enthusiasm. “Maybe.”

Amp gave me a sideways glance and hopped up onto the ball thrower. “Actually, Olivia, this device uses the law of leverage to increase a human's throwing power. Kind of ingenious, for a primitive civilization.”

“You seriously think this could work?” Olivia yelped, apparently jealous of my brilliance. “You've got to be kidding me, Amp!”

“Zack, demonstrate your throwing motion for Olivia,” Amp said.

“Why?” I said.

“Just do it,” Amp said. “If not for me, then for science.”

I pretended to throw with the ball thrower, but I felt silly.

“Without the atlatl, you are limited by your size,” Amp said. “The arc—or radius—you are able to make with your arm is actually quite small. But this atlatl device of yours increases the size of the radius your throwing motion makes.”

“What's the size of my throwing radius have to do with anything?” I asked.

“The power your arm generates is constant,” Ohm explained, “but by using a lever, you increase the velocity or speed of the ball, which increases the amount of kinetic energy you can generate, which makes the ball go farther.”

Ohm said into his wrist device,

“Note to Erdian Council.”

“Oh, please, not now,” I begged, pressing a thumb on each of my temples.

“The law of the lever appears to be a foreign concept to these young earthlings. I will instruct: A lever is a movable bar that pivots on a fulcrum, like a seesaw. As a lever pivots on a fulcrum— which is the thing the lever is attached to—the points farther from the pivot move faster than parts closer to the pivot. If your elbow joint is the pivot in this case, and your arm the lever, holding this device will move the ball farther from the pivot, amplifying the force. Now do you understand?”

“I think my tiny brain just burst into flames,” I said to Olivia.

She still seemed irritated by the simple brilliance of my idea. “No offense, Zack, but this idea has epic failure written all over it.”

“It does?” Ohm exclaimed, carefully examining the ball thrower. “Where?”

I rolled my eyes and grunted at Olivia. “Oh? And what have you come up with, Twinkle Fairy Pants?”

“I'm building a giant marshmallow launcher for Ohm's ship.”

“Really?!” both Erdians shouted excitedly, clapping their tiny hands. “Let's see! Let's see!” they peeped like baby birds.

“What?” I yelped. “When? Have you even tested it?”

“C'mon, I'll show you guys,” Olivia said, ignoring my questions. The Erdians jumped into her backpack. “You too, Zack.”

I didn't budge.

“No thanks,” I said stubbornly. “My idea rocks. I'm going to modify it for Ohm's ship, so it's ready when you guys come crawling back to me for help.” I made a face at Olivia.

“Suit yourself,” she said, sinking back down the ladder into the darkness. “We'll come get you before the launch, which is now less than three hours away.”

“Oh, you'll be back all right!” I called after them. “You'll see who's got the brains around here!”

Don't Move

M
y eyes flew open. I gasped. My room was dark.

The glowing numbers on my clock showed it was 11:57 p.m.!

I had fallen asleep—stupid wormy salami sandwich dream AGAIN!

“I did not mean to wake you,” my Erdian friend said, startling me.

I turned my head on my pillow and it took a few seconds to realize it was Ohm standing on my chest, just inches from my chin. In the weak light, I could see him give me an unsteady, gap-toothed smile.

“I knew you guys would come crawling back!” I said, my heart starting to gallop. “I got an old tuna can out of the recycling and duct-taped it real good to the ball thrower! You should see it.
It's perfect! Your ship is in it and it's all ready to go. I think we should just—”

“Not so fast,” Ohm said quietly. “We decided to go with Olivia's clever spring-loaded launcher. We took my ship while you were doing your dreams.”

With a sense of dread, I realized I couldn't move a muscle. “Ugh,” I grunted. It felt like a car was parked on top of me. “What did you do?” I said, panic rising in my voice. “Is this some kind of twisted Erdian mind trick?”

“This is for your own good,” Ohm said, struggling to stay upright on my chest as I wriggled my body.

I peered down and could see that Ohm had tied me down to my bed. As my eyes focused, I saw that I was being held down by a crazy assortment of cords, shoestrings, dental floss, ribbons, bungee cords—even the belt from my bathrobe!

“You tied me down?” I growled, pulling at the two dozen restraints that now pinned me to my bed. “Dang it, Ohm, I need to say good-bye to Amp. It's our last chance to—”

“I don't want this departure to get messy. I could see how emotional you were about your atlatl idea.
Plus, it's obvious Amp has grown too attached to you. It's better this way. Less emotional. This is the Erdian way.”

“The Erdian way is to tie a guy up? That is the dumbest thing I ever heard,” I hissed at him. “This cannot be happening!”

That's when the alarm on the clunky plastic watch still strapped to my wrist started beeping.

“Oh no,” I whispered.

“This is good-bye, I guess,” said Ohm urgently. “I've got a flight to catch. Thank you for looking after my scout!”

I watched him make his way over to the window and jump out, disappearing into the darkness.

I was left alone, tied up, like a boat ready for a hurricane, watch beeping, tears building up in my eyes.

A movie Amp and I had watched several times flashed in my mind. It was an old black-and-white movie about the magician Harry Houdini and how he had become famous. I learned his fame wasn't the result of pulling rabbits out of a hat or making elephants disappear. He got famous by escaping from traps just like the one I was now in.

He was an escape artist.

So I just started doing what Houdini always did in the movie.

With all my might, I started flopping like a fish on the bottom of a boat, like bacon in a frying pan, like a guy who grabbed the end of a live wire. The beeping continued as I huffed and grunted and struggled like the great Houdini.

They made it look so easy in the movies!

But soon enough, my right leg freed itself and I started flopping and wriggling even harder. Soon both my legs were free, and I scooted myself down the bed until the rest of me escaped the assorted strings, belts, and cords holding me down!

I jumped off the bed and scrambled to my window, just in time to see Ohm's spaceship fly off Olivia's roof after a loud
CLACK
sound.

“NO!” I croaked.

Then I watched in horror as it turned end over end, making a lazy, soaring arc in the air. IT WASN'T HIGH ENOUGH! Not even close. It hit the tallest branch of a tree in my backyard and fell like a dead bird into the bushes near the fence.

I couldn't breathe.

“Epic fail,” I whispered in shock.

The beeping continued.

There was still time!

I grabbed my modified ball chucker, clenched it in my teeth, and practically dove out my second-floor window.

I just hoped the ladder was still there.