One UFO to Go
Nancy listened carefully. Suddenly she heard a loud creaking sound.
“The garage door is opening,” Katie said.
Nancy froze. She gripped her ice-cream cone so hard it almost cracked.
“W-w-what’s happening?” Bess stammered.
The door lifted and a powerful beam of light shot out. Nancy covered her eyes with one hand. Bess, George, and Katie did the same.
“It’s the spaceship!” Katie screamed. “Don’t let the aliens take us!”
Contents
Chapter 1: Calling All Space Queens!
Chapter 2: Prove It . . . Or Else!
Chapter 3: Take Me to Your Leader
Chapter 4: 2 Earth 2 Soon
Chapter 5: Lester the Spy
Chapter 6: X Marks the Spot
Chapter 7: Buried Treasure
Chapter 8: Back to Earth
1
Calling All Space Queens!
Is anybody tired yet?” Katie Zaleski asked. It was Saturday night. Katie was having a sleepover party.
Eight-year-old Nancy Drew shook her head. “No way!” she said.
Nancy loved sleepovers. She loved it especially when her two best friends, George Fayne and Bess Marvin, were there.
“I’m glad you’re not tired,” Katie said. “We’re going to stay up all night, no matter how tired we get. Right?”
Nancy glanced at the clock on Katie’s night table. It was already nine o’clock. “I’ve never stayed up all night before,” Nancy said.
“If we’re going to stay up the whole night,” George said, “what are we going to do until morning?”
“Let’s try on Mrs. Zaleski’s makeup,” Bess said. She twirled the ribbon on her pink nightgown. “We can pretend we’re supermodels.”
“Yuck!” George groaned.
Bess loved pretty clothes. Her cousin George was just the opposite. George preferred flannel pajamas and bare feet to frilly nightgowns and fuzzy bunny slippers.
Lester, Katie’s parrot, bobbed his colorful head up and down. “Yuck, yuck, yuck. Squaawwwk!” he said from the top of Katie’s bookshelf.
Katie had taught Lester to talk. Now he repeated whatever he heard.
“Hi, boy,” Nancy called up to Lester. “Do you want to sing a song?”
Lester walked sideways on the shelf. “Sing, sing, sing!” he cackled.
Katie shook her head. “The only thing Lester will be singing is a lullaby. It’s almost his bedtime.”
“Bummer!” Lester screeched.
Bess wiggled her fuzzy slippers in the air. “If we can’t sing with Lester, what should we do instead?”
“I know,” George said. “Let’s call snooty Brenda Carlton and hang up.”
“I have a better idea,” Katie said.
“What?” Nancy asked.
Katie’s eyes gleamed. “I’ll tell you. But first we have to sit in a circle on the floor.”
Bess grabbed a big stuffed bear from Katie’s bed. “No scary stories,” she said. “Please!”
Nancy, Bess, and George sat crosslegged on the blue-and-white rug. Katie wiggled between George and Bess. She had a newspaper in her hand.
“What is that?” Nancy asked.
“It’s the National Snooper,” Katie said.
“I’ve seen that in the supermarket. It’s usually at the checkout counter, right next to the bubble gum and candy,” George said.
“I was about to put it in Lester’s cage this morning,” Katie said. “That’s when I read the front page.”
Nancy stared at the headline. She read it out loud: “‘Queen of Planet Zagon to Visit Earth!’ ”
George’s dark eyes opened wide. “A space alien?” she said. “That’s cool!”
“I thought you weren’t going to tell scary stories!” Bess cried. She covered her face with the stuffed bear.
Katie flipped open the National Snooper. There was a picture of an alien with a very large head. The alien was wearing a jeweled crown. Her eyes were like huge black pools. Her green fingers were long and stringy.
“Read it out loud, Katie,” George said. “And don’t skip a single word.”
George leaned over Katie’s shoulder. Nancy sat up on her heels. Bess peeked out from behind the bear.
Katie began to read. “‘The queen of planet Zagon is expected to be on her way to Earth at the present time—’ ”
“You mean right now?” Bess gulped.
Katie went on. “‘The queen may look and act like an Earthling, but don’t let that fool you. She has many powers.’ ”
“That probably means she has X-ray vision,” George said. “She could also have eyes in the back of her head—like the aliens in the movies.”
“Peekaboo!” Lester screeched.
“I think this story is made-up,” Nancy said with grin.
“You mean you don’t believe it?” Katie asked.
“It’s an interesting story,” Nancy said. “There’s no proof that it’s true, though.”
“No wonder you’re a detective, Nancy,” Katie said with a laugh.
Nancy was the best detective at Carl Sandburg Elementary School. She had a blue notebook in which she wrote all her clues.
George sat down on Katie’s bed. “I hope the story is true. I would love to meet a real-life space alien.”
“Even if she has a huge head, green skin, and stringy fingers?” Bess asked.
George nodded, then grinned. “Those are the best kind!”
Katie put the newspaper back on her desk. “I think the queen of planet Zagon could turn up anywhere. She could even be here in River Heights.”
“Queen of Zagon! Queen of Zagon!” Lester called out. “ARRRK!”
Katie reached for her pet. “We may be staying up all night, Lester, but you’re going back to your cage.”
“Nighty-night! Nighty-night!” Lester squawked as Katie carried him to the den.
Nancy and her friends spent the next hour dancing to CDs. Then they played a few of Katie’s board games. Then they went to the kitchen to get some ice cream. After watching half of a movie, George pointed to the clock.
“It’s after midnight,” she said, brushing her dark curls out of her eyes.
“Way after,” Bess said, and yawned.
Nancy was tired, too. She began to unroll her sleeping bag. “Maybe we’ll stay up all night next time.”
Katie turned off the VCR. “Good idea,” she said.
The girls lined up their sleeping bags under the window. Nancy loved to look up at the stars before falling asleep.
“The sky looks pretty tonight,” Nancy said, snuggling into her sleeping bag.
Bess was already fast asleep.
Katie stared out the window. “Just think. Somewhere up there is planet Zagon.”
“And aliens,” George said. “Lots and lots of aliens.”
Suddenly a bright streak shot across the sky. It left a blazing trail of light.
“Whoa!” George gasped, then sat up in her sleeping bag. “What was that?”
Nancy looked out the window. “It’s the biggest shooting star I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s not a star,” Katie whispered. “It’s the queen of planet Zagon traveling down to Earth!”
• • •
On Monday morning Nancy, Bess, George, and Katie walked together to Mrs. Reynolds’s third-grade class.
Katie reached into her backpack. “Guess what? I brought in the article about the queen of planet Zagon.”
Bess wrinkled her nose. “Why?”
“For current events,” Katie said.
Nancy followed her friends into Mrs. Reynolds’s classroom. Their teacher was not there, though. Instead, a woman with shiny black hair
and a bright smile greeted them at the door.
Who’s she? Nancy wondered. And where is Mrs. Reynolds?
All the students took their seats. Nancy sat in the third row next to Bess. Katie’s desk was right behind Nancy’s. George sat farther back.
“Good morning, boys and girls,” the woman announced. “Mrs. Reynolds has a bad cold so she’ll be absent all week.”
Whispers filled the classroom. Mike Minelli raised his hand. “Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m your substitute teacher,” the woman explained. “And my name is . . .”
She turned to the board and began to write.
Nancy whispered as the letters appeared one by one. “Ms. Z-A-G . . .”
“Ms. Zigzag?” Bess giggled softly.
“Z-A-G-O-N,” Nancy read.
Suddenly Nancy’s blue eyes opened wide. “Ms. Zagon?”
2
Prove It . . . Or Else!
Oh, no!” Bess whispered to Nancy. “Our substitute teacher is the queen of planet Zagon!”
Nancy turned around in her seat to look at George.
“The queen of planet Zagon?” Katie gasped. “In our class? Eek!”
Ms. Zagon looked up from her desk. “Is anything wrong?” she asked Katie.
“N-no, Ms. Zagon,” Katie said. “I just have the, uh, hiccups.” Then she made the sound. “Hic, hic, hic!”
Brenda Carlton turned around. “Stand on your head and drink a glass of water,” she said. She looked at her best friend, Alison Wegman, and giggled.
Ms. Zagon held up a pile of colorful papers and some black markers. “I’d like you all to make name tags for your desks,” she said. “I’ll know your names by the end of the day.”
While Ms. Zagon passed out the supplies, Nancy and her friends leaned across the aisle and whispered.
“She is the queen of planet Zagon,” Katie said. “I just know it.”
“Why else would her name be Ms. Zagon?” Bess added.
“She can’t be from outer space,” Nancy said. “Ms. Zagon seems nice.”
“So was E.T.,” Bess murmured.
After all the kids had finished their name tags, Ms. Zagon walked to the board. “Mrs. Reynolds left a list of new spelling words she wanted you to learn,” she said.
Nancy watched Ms. Zagon write ten new words on the board.
Ms. Zagon is just an ordinary teacher, Nancy thought as she copied down the words. She’s just like Mrs. Reynolds.
After spelling, the class did some math problems. Soon it was time for lunch.
“Now we can talk more about Ms. Zagon,” Katie said as the four friends walked into the lunchroom. They sat down at their favorite table by the window.
“I like Ms. Zagon,” Nancy said, pulling a peanut butter sandwich from her lunch box.
Katie smiled. “Don’t you see? That’s her trick, Nancy. She wants us to like her, so it’ll be easy to take over our planet.”
George glanced from side to side. Then she whispered, “What we know about Ms. Zagon should be our secret. Don’t tell anyone, especially Brenda.”
Bess nodded as she opened her flowered lunch box. “And don’t tell any boys.”
“I wonder where Ms. Zagon keeps her spaceship,” Katie said.
“I wonder why Ms. Zagon doesn’t have antennas?” George asked.
“She probably keeps them hidden under her high hairdo,” Bess answered.
“I once saw a movie where an alien made all the animals on Earth grow bigger and bigger,” George said. She spread her arms wide as she spoke.
“Even the worms got bigger?” Bess asked.
Nancy smiled. Bess really hated worms. “Don’t worry, Bess,” Nancy said, taking a bite of her sandwich. “Ms. Zagon isn’t an alien.”
“Who’s not an alien?”
The girls looked up to see Brenda Carlton.
“I said, who’s not an alien?” Brenda repeated, taking a seat next to Nancy.
“Nobody’s an alien,” Nancy insisted.
“If you won’t tell me, Nancy,” Brenda said, clunking down a container of strawberry yogurt, “I know who will.”
Brenda leaned over the table and stared at Bess. “Guess what, Bess?” she asked sweetly. “I’m writing a new article on your favorite subject—worms!”
“W-w-worms?” Bess gulped. “Eeeww!”
Uh-oh, Nancy thought. Brenda’s trying to worm the information out of Bess.
“Quit it, Brenda,” George ordered.
Brenda went on. “I’m writing about all kinds of worms. Fat worms, skinny worms—”
George put her hands over Bess’s ears, but it was no use.
“Even worms that wiggle in and out of tuna fish sandwiches!” Brenda shouted.
Bess dropped her tuna fish sandwich on the table. “Stop it!” she begged.
“I’ll stop—as soon as you tell me who the alien is,” Brenda said. Then she began to sing. “The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out—”
“Our substitute teacher is the queen of planet Zagon!” Bess blurted out.
Brenda’s mouth dropped open. “Ms. Zagon is from another planet?”
“No, she’s not,” Nancy said.
“Yes, she is,” Katie insisted. Then she told Brenda everything.
“There goes our secret,” George mumbled as she peeled a banana.
“Wow!” Brenda said. “A real-life space alien right here at Carl Sandburg. What a great story for the Carlton News.”
The Carlton News was the newspaper that Brenda wrote at home.
“Brenda, you can’t write a story about Ms. Zagon,” Nancy said.
“This story is too hot not to write, Nancy,” Brenda said, sticking out her chin.
“But it’s probably not true!” Nancy cried.
“Then prove it’s not true,” Brenda snapped. “If you prove that Ms. Zagon isn’t an alien, I won’t write the story.”
“Don’t do it, Nancy,” George whispered.
Brenda went on. “You are the school’s best detective, aren’t you?”
Nancy took a sip of milk. She didn’t want to prove anything to Brenda. But she didn’t want her writing lies about Ms. Zagon, either.
“Okay, I’ll do it,” Nancy said. “And it will be a cinch.”
Brenda dipped her spoon into her yogurt. “Good. Because you have two days to prove that Ms. Zagon isn’t an alien. That’s when my next issue will come out.”
Katie counted on her fingers. “That’s by Wednesday!”
Nancy looked Brenda right in the eye. “And what if I don’t?” she asked.
“Then I print the story,” Brenda said, getting up from her chair. “On the front page.”
The bell rang. Nancy, Bess, George, and Katie finished their lunch and walked together to their classroom.
“Maybe Ms. Zagon will take Brenda back to her planet,” Katie told Bess and Nancy as they took their seats.
Bess and Nancy giggled. “That would be awesome!” Bess said.
Ms. Zagon walked to the front of the classroom. “Did you all have a nice lunch?” she asked the class.
“Yes, Ms. Zagon!” the kids replied.
“Good,” Ms. Zagon said. “Because now we’re going to study my favorite subject. She reached under her desk and pulled up a huge, colorful map of the nine planets.
“Let’s talk about outer space!”
3
Take Me to Your Leader
Outer space?” Katie whispered over Nancy’s shoulder. “Didn’t I tell you?”
There has to be a reason, Nancy thought. There has to be!
“I love the planets so much,” Ms. Zagon said, gazing at the map. “And I like to consider myself an expert on space travel.”
Brenda turned around and grinned at Nancy. “I told you so,” she whispered.
Mike Minelli called out without raising his hand. “I’m an expert, too, Ms. Zagon. My friends and I watch Moleheads from Mars on TV every Saturday.”
“You’re an expert because you and your
friends are all space cadets,” Brenda said. Everyone laughed.
Ms. Zagon just smiled, then she began the lesson. “Mercury is a very hot planet,” she began. She pointed to the planets one by one. “And Pluto is a very cold planet,” she said at the end.
Then she explained how all of the planets moved around the sun.
“How come they don’t bump into each other?” Andrew Leoni asked.
“That’s a very good question, Andrew,” Ms. Zagon said. “The reason is that they’re millions of miles apart.”
Wow, Nancy thought.
Ms. Zagon turned back to the board. She wrote down the names of the planets.
“Jupiter . . . Saturn . . .”
Nancy glanced across the classroom. She saw Jason crunching a spitball in his fist. He had a mean look on his face.
“Jason Hutchings,” Ms. Zagon called out as she wrote. “Please don’t throw that spitball.”
Jason looked surprised as he dropped the spitball on his desk.
How did Ms. Zagon know that Jason was about to throw a spitball when she was facing the board? Nancy wondered. Unless she has eyes in back of her head—just like an alien!
Ms. Zagon faced the class. “Phoebe Archer? Please take the candy bar out of your pocket and put it in your lunch box.”
“Okay.” Phoebe sighed. She pulled a half-eaten Panda Crunch bar from her shirt pocket.
How did Ms. Zagon know that Phoebe had a candy bar in her pocket? Nancy wondered. Unless she has X-ray vision—just like an alien!
Nancy shook her head. There must be an explanation for all this, she thought.
The afternoon went quickly. When the bell rang at three o’clock, Ms. Zagon smiled at the class. “I’ll see you all tomorrow. Class dismissed.”
“Did you see the way she looked at that map?” Bess said when they were outside. “It’s as if she was homesick.”
Katie grabbed Nancy’s arm. She pointed toward the street. “Look. There she is!”
Nancy saw Ms. Zagon stepping into a bright red car with a black top. “See?” Nancy said. “Ms. Zagon doesn’t drive a spaceship. She drives an ordinary car with four wheels.”
Katie gasped as Ms. Zagon began to drive away. “But look at her license plate.”
George read it aloud. “It says, 2 EARTH.”