by R. L. Stine
“Here,” Gobbul said sharply. “Here is the cleaning 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 the other. “One is right and one is left,” she murmured. “But how are we supposed to remember which is which?”
“Stop that! Come this way!” Gobbul cried. He shoved them into a large, bright room. Long silvery tables filled the middle of the room. Along the walls, green aliens busily worked at strange electronic equipment. Their tentacles moved rapidly over dials and silvery keyboards.
The walls stretched up for miles. Clumps of aliens walked along a catwalk up close to the mirrored ceiling. The equipment buzzed and whistled. Groups of aliens moved rapidly along the tables, their tentacles curling and uncurling.
Gobbul stepped up to another tall alien with tusks. He said something to the alien in a different language. It sounded like “Whummp whump whummmp” to Nathan. The other tusked alien replied with a lengthy “Whummmmp.”
Gobbul turned back to Nathan and Lindy. “The emperor is waiting to see his new slaves,” he told them. “First, we must clean you to make you worthy of being in the emperor’s presence.”
Two fat, walrus-like aliens pulled long hoses from the wall.
Nathan and Lindy gasped. The hoses were huge, wide as fire hoses. They had big silver nozzles the size of lunch box thermoses on the end.
“Which-what are you going to do with those?” Nathan stammered.
“We must clean out your insides,” Gobbul replied. He motioned to the two aliens. The aliens pulled the hoses closer.
“Open your mouths,” Gobbul ordered. “We must do a deep cleaning. The hoses must go all the way down.”
Nathan froze in terror. He stared at the big silver nozzles, the huge hoses. “You’re going to put those down our throats?”
“It may be a little uncomfortable,” Gobbul replied. “But after half an hour or so, you’ll get used to it.”
“No!” Nathan screamed.
The alien dragged the hose closer. The big nozzle 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, they were running. Running alongside the silvery tables, down the middle of the room. Past gawking aliens.
“Whump whump whummp!” Alarmed cries rose up around the huge room. Aliens shouted and pointed down from the catwalk on the ceiling.
Nathan glanced back to see Gobbul and Morggul chasing after them.
Pulling Lindy, he burst out of the room. Into the gleaming, mirrored hall. So bright. So bright, his eyes watered.
“Where are we going?” Lindy cried in a tiny, breathless voice.
“I—I don’t know,” Nathan gasped. “I can’t even see!”
They stumbled forward blindly. Nathan cried out as he ran straight into a wall.
“Ohhh.” He felt something wrap around his leg. Some kind of cord? A plant tendril? A snake? And then another one wrapped around his waist.
“Noooo!” He let out a scream. Struggled to free himself.
But they held him prisoner. He turned to see Lindy beside him, held tight against the shining wall. Held there …
Held by long green tentacles.
The tentacles stretched out from the squares in the wall. Wrapped around them. Held them prisoner. Purple pods opening and closing rapidly. Hot, sour breath blowing around them.
Gobbul and Morggul stepped up quickly, tentacles waving excitedly in the air. Their four 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 from here!” he exclaimed.
Gobbul turned back to the aliens at the door to the cleaning room. “Prepare the hoses,” he ordered. “The deep cleaning will begin—now!”
Two tall, tusked aliens pulled Nathan and Lindy back into the cleaning room. Two other aliens dragged the hoses over and raised the nozzles to the kids’ mouths.
The other aliens stopped their work to watch. Aliens gazed down from the high catwalk. The room grew silent, except for the buzz and whistle of the equipment.
“We … won’t survive,” Nathan whispered. “We’re doomed.”
Lindy let out a choked sob.
The alien pressed the nozzle against Nathan’s mouth. “Open wider,” Gobbul ordered.
The silvery nozzle felt cold against Nathan’s tongue. It filled his mouth. Started to tickle the back of his throat.
“Turn on the cleaning acid!” Gobbul commanded.
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 the hose starting to fill.
Acid?
He shut his eyes.
A voice boomed through the vast room: “WHERE ARE MY NEW SLAVES?”
Nathan opened his eyes as the nozzle was pulled from his throat.
“The slaves are being deep-cleaned,” Gobbul called, his eyes on a silvery loudspeaker on the wall.
“SKIP THE CLEANING!” the voice boomed, so loud the loudspeaker appeared to shake. “BRING THEM TO ME—AT ONCE!”
“We’re saved,” Lindy whispered.
“For how long?” Nathan whispered back.
The emperor’s chamber was bathed in a pulsing white light. Brighter than any room the kids had seen.
Nathan cried out and covered his eyes with his arm. He waited for the shock of the pain to fade. Then he slowly uncovered his eyes. Squinting, he struggled to adjust to the blinding, throbbing light.
When he could finally focus, he saw a crowd of green aliens. They jammed the room from front to back. Tall aliens with tusks. Shorter, fat aliens—all glistening with sweat. All murmuring in their strange language, their tentacles pointing excitedly at the two humans.
Nathan huddled close to Lindy, who still blinked painfully in the stunning brightness. Squinting, his eyes swept over the vast room. Over the gleaming mirrored walls. The silvery columns. He gazed up at a domed ceiling miles above. The dome glittered as if covered with diamonds.
And then, Nathan saw the emperor standing in front of a silvery throne.
Nathan recognized him at once. The emperor was taller than the other aliens. He stood very erect, sweat rolling thickly down his emerald body. His tusks were thick and long. At least two feet long, they curled out at the sides like a broad mustache.
Nathan raised his eyes to the crown on the emperor’s head. The crown was the same silvery color as the tusks. And as the emperor bowed his head, Nathan could see that the crown hadn’t been placed on the emperor’s head. The crown grew out of the emperor’s head!
Behind the emperor stood two stern-looking guards. Each carried a long, white, tubelike weapon. They stood at stiff attention, eyes moving over the crowd.
Once again, Nathan gripped Lindy’s wrist. His hands were cold and trembling.
Nathan and Lindy hung back as Gobbul and Morggul stepped forward. Gobbul had a pleased grin on both of his mouths.
He bowed low to the emperor. Morggul did a strange, awkward curtsy.
“One and Only, your human slaves,” Gobbul announced.
The emperor’s eyes bulged as he stared hard at Nathan and Lindy.
They’re all staring at us, Nathan saw. Hundreds of aliens. Staring at us as if we’re some kind of zoo animals.
Or alien slaves.
Nathan shivered.
“Well … they are not very handsome. Let us see if these humans are smart enough!” The emperor ordered Gobbul, “Prove to us that your Brain Energizer Fluid worked on them.”
“It will be my pleasure, One and Only,” Gobbul replied with another bow. He turned to the two kids. “Move to the wall behind you.”
Nathan squinted at him. “Behind us? Which way is that?” he a
sked.
Lindy shook her head fretfully. “Where do you want us to go?” she asked, looking very puzzled.
“Behind you! Behind you!” Gobbul cried impatiently.
Nathan stepped forward. Lindy turned.
And they bumped heads.
“Ow!” Lindy rubbed her forehead. “Watch where you’re going!”
“WHAT IS THE PROBLEM HERE?” the emperor boomed. He grabbed his long tusks with two tentacles. His eyes locked angrily on Gobbul.
“Ha ha. Just a game the humans play,” Gobbul explained, forcing a broad smile.
“You claimed you made these humans smart!” the emperor challenged.
“Yes,” Gobbul agreed quickly. Beads of thick sweat ran down his body. He was suddenly standing in a puddle of sweat. “They are smart. They are brilliant!”
“Brilliant?” Nathan cried. He scratched his head. “Is that some kind of insult?” he asked Lindy.
“Nathan, be quiet!” Lindy scolded. “Don’t let them know we’re not smart anymore.”
“WHAT DID YOU SAY?” the emperor demanded. His voice echoed off the silvery walls.
The room filled with the whispers and excited murmurs of the aliens looking on.
“But I can’t help it! I’m stupid!” Nathan protested to Lindy.
“Sshhh. Me too!” Lindy declared. “But we have to pretend—”
“I’m stupider than you!” Nathan declared.
“You are not!” Lindy cried. “I’m twice as stupid as you are.”
“Twice?” Nathan stared at her. “Is that more or less?”
“ENOUGH!” the emperor exploded. He raged at Gobbul and Morggul. “Did you think you could FOOL me? These humans are morons!”
“No—” Gobbul started to protest.
He didn’t utter another sound.
The emperor gave a signal to the two guards. The guards raised the long white tubes.
Nathan saw two bright flashes.
Gobbul and Morggul stood frozen for a moment. Then their heads tilted back. Their tentacles dropped lifelessly to their sides.
Nathan gasped as the two aliens appeared to 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 pointed to Nathan and Lindy. “Disintegrate them too,” he ordered.
“Noooo!” Nathan let out a terrified cry.
He grabbed Lindy by the shoulders—and shoved her to the floor.
He dropped down beside her.
Two streaks of white light shot over their heads.
Gasping for breath, he scrambled to his feet. His eyes frantically swept the room, searching for a way to escape.
Nowhere to run …
If we run into the crowd, we’ll be captured instantly.
If we stand here …
“Duck!” he shrieked.
Two more white blasts whirred past them. Nathan felt the burning heat from the blasts on his shoulder.
“This way!” Lindy cried. She hurtled toward the emperor, her red hair flying behind her.
Nathan hesitated for a second.
The two guards swung their white tubes around.
Nathan plunged after his sister. They ran right at the startled emperor.
All four of his tentacles flew up above his head. He opened his mouths in a bellow of rage.
Nathan and Lindy dove behind his broad, gleaming throne—as another burst of white light whistled over their heads.
Protected by the throne, they searched the back wall—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 led the way, running full speed over the shiny mirrored floor.
Angry cries and the thunder of racing footsteps echoed behind them. The whole room seemed to bounce and throb as the emperor and his followers chased after them.
Nathan and Lindy burst through the open doorway together.
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. “We ran right into a closet!”
“Let’s get out of here!” Nathan choked out.
Too late.
The emperor filled the doorway. His eyes moved from Nathan to Lindy, and broad smiles— smiles of victory—spread on both of his mouths.
“Let us go!” Lindy cried, her voice cracking.
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 lever on the wall. He pulled the lever down.
“Nooooo!” Nathan uttered a terrified howl as the floor slid away beneath him.
Nothing to grab hold of …
No floor … no floor …
He felt himself falling. “Ow!” He landed hard 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 echoed through the darkness.
Suddenly, light poured over them. Nathan saw a hatch open below them.
They slid through the hatch. Landed hard, in a sitting position on a mirrored floor.
Bars slid around them. A door slammed shut.
A prison cell? A cage?
His heart pounding, his throat sore from screaming, Nathan squinted into the white light. Slowly, his eyes began to focus.
“Where are we?” Lindy asked in a whisper. “Are we dead?”
Nathan shook himself as if trying to force away the terrifying feeling of falling. He struggled to clear his head.
He heard a rumbling beneath them. The silvery bars began to vibrate. The floor shook.
He turned to Lindy. “We’re back on a spaceship,” he said. “We’re taking off.”
Lindy swallowed hard. When she turned to Nathan, her eyes brimmed with tears. “Do you think they’re sending us home?” she asked. “Do you think we could be that lucky?”
Two days later, they were at Uncle Frank’s house, desperately trying to describe what had happened to them. Both talking at once, talking without taking a breath.
“Whoa. Slow down. Slow down,” Dr. King pleaded. He scratched his red cheek. “One at a time, okay?”
He hugged them both for the twentieth time. “I’m just so glad you’re okay. Jenny and I took the first flight back from Sweden. We were so worried when you disappeared.”
“We never thought we’d see home again!” Lindy cried.
“But they didn’t want us,” Nathan explained. “We weren’t smart enough. So they rejected 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 in unison.
“We became stupider and stupider,” Nathan said. “And then, as soon as we returned home, we became normal again.”
Uncle Frank clapped his hands together. “Wow. This is an amazing story!” he exclaimed. “We must call the newspapers. We must call the TV news! We have to—”
“No!” Nathan and Lindy insisted. “No way!”
He squinted at them. “What are you saying?”
“We just want to be normal!” Nathan declared. “We don’t want to be freaks. We don’t want people staring at us. Not believing us. Giving us a hard time because we’re different.”
“Nathan is right,” Lindy said. “We want our friends back. And we want to go back to our school. We want our normal lives back. We don’t want to tell anybody about being kidnapped 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 I can get back to work on this impossible equation,” he said, shaking his head.
They heard the teakettle begin to whistle in the kitchen. “Sit down, kids,” Dr. King said. “I’ll be right back with that hot chocolate I promised.” He hurried from the room.
Nathan wandered over to the chalkboard. He picked up a piece of chalk. He studied the long equation for a moment.
Then he began furiously writing numbers and letters. “There,” he said, after a few seconds’ work. “I solved it.”
“Nathan!” Lindy gasped. “Erase it! Hurry!” She ran up beside him and shoved the eraser into his hand. “Hurry! No one is supposed to know—remember? Everyone has to think we’re normal now.”
“I know. I know,” Nathan groaned. He began to erase his solution to the equation. “I can’t help it,” he whispered. “It’s almost impossible not to use my brain. Back on that weird planet, it was so hard to pretend to be stupid!”
“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 we want normal lives, we can’t let anyone know we’re the smartest people on earth!”
Nathan erased the last numbers just as Uncle Frank returned to the room, carrying a tray with their drinks on it. “Here you go,” he said. He handed Nathan and Lindy steaming white mugs of hot chocolate.
“What’s that you’re drinking?” Nathan asked, pointing to the tall glass in Uncle Frank’s hand.
“This?” Uncle Frank held up the glass and grinned at Nathan and Lindy. “It’s grape juice. Same brand I gave you. I’ve been drinking it eight times a day. Can’t hurt—right?”
About R.l. Stine
R.l. Stine is the most popular author in America. He is the creator of the Goosebumps, Give Yourself Goosebumps, Fear Street, and Ghosts of Fear Street series, among other popular books. He has written over 200 scary novels for kids. Bob lives in New York City with his wife, Jane, teenage son, Matt, and dog, Nadine.
THE END
