The spaceship was rocking. No, it wasn’t passing through an asteroid field. Elbow had cranked up the volume on the stereo, and now The Space Aliens—not the ones who kidnapped Candace and Margaret—were demonstrating the very latest in intergalactic rock and roll. They weren’t exactly The Grateful Fred, but what do you expect from a planet called Dork? Then again, they weren’t bad.
It was a good thing that Elbow had turned up the music, because when Melvin ripped open the hatch, no one inside heard the noise. Not even Candace and Margaret. They were both pretty upset about being kidnapped and being gagged with smelly alien socks, but they both had to admit The Space Aliens had talent. In fact, Margaret was snapping her fingers.
Candace saw this and realized that the stun gun had worn off. “Psst, Margaret, it’s time to make our move.”
The problem was, of course, what move would they make? They were in outer space, for crying out loud! Neither of them knew how to fly a spaceship, or how to find Earth again. They were also inside some kind of glass cage with no door.
“That’s weird,” Margaret said.
“What is?” Candace asked.
“We’re in this glass enclosure with no door. How are we able to breathe?”
“Haven’t you ever heard of suspending your disbelief?”
“What?”
“Never mind. Let’s get out of here.” Candace threw herself against the glass.
Nothing happened. She kicked it. No change. She tried her famous karate chop. The glass stayed intact.
“We’re in trouble,” Candace said with a worried look. “Those were three of my best moves.” She was an expert at breaking down doors and crashing through walls, but this time they didn’t work.
“Two superheroes are better than one,” Margaret said, getting to her feet. “Let’s try it again. On three … THREE!”
Two superheroes are indeed better than one, but in this case it wasn’t enough to break through the alien glass.
“Now what?” Margaret asked.
“I wish Melvin and James were here.”
The boys, of course, were a few million miles closer than Candace thought.
After ripping off the door and climbing inside the spaceship, Melvin and James found themselves in some kind of transition room. There were strange-looking space suits hanging on hooks. On the far wall there was a door with a window.
Melvin crossed the room and peered through it. Then he carefully opened the door and stepped out, waving for James to follow. They stood in a long hallway with many doors. The music was loud and Melvin began snapping his fingers. He wondered if The Space Aliens ever toured Earth. They were almost as good as The Grateful Fred. Almost.
“Now to find the girls,” Melvin said.
They crept down the hall toward the music. And that’s when they smelled it—stinky alien feet! Someone, or something, was coming their way.
“Quick!” Melvin said, pointing to the room they’d just come from. “Back in there—hide.”
They sprinted down the hall to the transition room and closed the door behind them. The smell got worse—closer, stinkier, like a rotting alien corpse on a hot day, like moldy lunarfish sandwiches, like—
“Enough already!” Melvin said.
Some people have no patience for quality description.
“Now what?” James asked.
Melvin pointed to the space suits hanging on the wall. “There!” It was the only place to hide. They climbed into the suits … just in time. Just in the nick of time, to be exact.
An alien face appeared in the window. Then the door swung open and there stood Monkey Wrench.
Melvin held his breath. So did James.