Dr. Gray turned to me and put a hand on my shoulder. “We believe the eggs fell all the way from Mars, Dana. There was a big storm on Mars. Two years ago. It set off something like a meteor shower. The storm sent these eggs hurtling through space.”
My mouth dropped open. I gazed down at the quivering yellow blob in the shoe box. “This—this is a Martian?” I stammered.
Dr. Gray smiled. “We think it came from Mars. We think the eggs flew through space for two years.”
“But—but—” I sputtered. My heart was racing. My hands were suddenly ice cold.
Was I really staring at a creature from Mars?
Had I actually touched a Martian?
Then I had an even weirder thought: I found it. I picked it up from my backyard.
Did that mean it belonged to me?
Did I own a Martian?
Dr. Gray bounced the creature—my creature—in the box. Its veins pulsed. Its black eyes stared back at us. “We don’t know how the eggs made it through the earth’s atmosphere,” the scientist continued.
“You mean they should have burned up?” I asked.
He nodded. “Most everything burns up when it hits our atmosphere. But the eggs seem to be very tough. So tough they weren’t destroyed.”
The egg creature made a gurgling sound. It plopped wetly against the side of the shoe box.
Dr. Gray chuckled. “This is a cute one.”
“You have a lot of others?” I asked.
“Let me show you something, Dana.” Holding the box in front of him, Dr. Gray led the way through a large metal door. The door clanged heavily behind us.
A long, narrow hallway—the walls painted white—led past several small rooms. Dr. Gray’s lab coat made a starchy, scratchy sound as he walked. At the end of the hall, we stopped in front of a wide window.
“In there,” Dr. Gray said softly.
I stared into the window.
Then I stared harder.
Was he crazy? Was he playing some kind of joke on me?
“I—I can’t see anything at all!” I cried.
15
“Hold on a second. I forgot something,” Dr. Gray said. He stepped over to the wall and flicked a light switch.
A light above our heads in the hallway flashed on. And now I could see through the window.
“Oh, wow!” I exclaimed as my eyes swept over the large room on the other side of the glass. I stared at a crowd of egg creatures!
Dozens of them.
Yellow, eggy blobs. All pulsing and quivering. Green veins throbbing.
The egg creatures huddled on the white tile floor. They looked like big globs of cookie dough on a baking sheet. Dozens of tiny, round black eyes stared out at us.
Unreal!
As I stared at them in amazement, I kept thinking they were like stuffed animals. But they weren’t. They were alive. They breathed. They shook and bounced and bubbled.
“Would you like to go in?” Dr. Gray asked.
He didn’t wait for me to answer. He pulled out a small black control unit from his pocket. He pushed a button, and the door swung open. Then he opened the door wider and guided me inside.
“Whoa!” I uttered a cry when I felt a blast of cold air. “It’s freezing in here!” I exclaimed.
Dr. Gray smiled. “We keep it very cold. It seems to keep them more alert.”
He held the shoe box in one hand. He motioned to the egg creatures with the other. “Once they hatch, the creatures don’t like heat. If the temperature goes too high, they melt,” he explained.
He lowered the box to the floor. “We don’t want them to melt,” he said. “If they melt, we can’t study them.”
Leaning over the box, he lifted my egg creature out gently. He placed it beside three or four other egg creatures. All of the yellow blobs began bouncing excitedly.
Dr. Gray picked up the box and stood back up. He smiled down at the new arrival. “We don’t want you to melt, do we?” he told it. “We want you to be nice and alert. So we keep it as cold in here as we can.”
I shivered and rubbed my arms. I had goose-bumps all over my skin. From the excitement? Or from the cold?
I wished I had worn something warmer than a T-shirt!
The egg creatures bobbed and bubbled. I couldn’t take my eyes off them. Real creatures from Mars!
I watched them start to bounce toward us. They moved surprisingly fast. They kind of rolled, kind of inched their way forward. They left slimy, yellow trails behind them as they moved.
I wanted to ask Dr. Gray a million questions. “Do they have brains?” I asked. “Are they smart? Can they communicate? Have you tried talking to them? Do they talk to each other? How can they breathe our air?”
He chuckled. “You have a good scientific mind, Dana,” he said. “Let’s take one question at a time. Which would you like me to answer first?”
“Well—” I started to reply. But I stopped when I realized what the egg creatures had done.
While Dr. Gray and I talked, they had all moved quickly into a circle.
And now they had the two of us surrounded.
I spun around.
The egg creatures had moved behind us. They blocked the door. And now they were closing in on us, bubbling and throbbing, leaving a trail of slime as they slid forward.
What were they planning to do?
16
In a panic, I turned to Dr. Gray. To my shock, he was grinning.
“They—they’ve trapped us!” I stammered.
He shook his head. “Sometimes they move like that. But don’t be scared, Dana. They’re harmless.”
“Harmless?” I cried. My voice came out shrill and tiny. “But—but—”
“What can they do?” Dr. Gray asked, placing a comforting hand on my trembling shoulder. “They’re only blobs of egg. They can’t bite you—can they? They don’t appear to have mouths. They can’t grab you. Or punch you. Or kick you. They have no hands or legs.”
The egg creatures moved their circle closer. I watched them, my throat still tight, my legs shaking.
I knew that what Dr. Gray was telling me was true.
But why were they doing this?
Why did they form a circle? Why were they closing in on us?
“Sometimes they form triangles,” Dr. Gray told me. “Sometimes rectangles or squares. It’s as if they’re trying out different shapes they’ve seen. Maybe this is a way they’re trying to communicate with us.”
“Maybe,” I agreed softly. I wished the egg creatures would back up. They were little, wet blobs. But they were really giving me the creeps!
I shivered again. My breath steamed up in front of me.
It was so cold, my glasses started to fog!
I stared down at the egg creature I had brought. It had joined the circle. It bobbed and bounced with all the others.
Dr. Gray turned and started to the door. I turned with him. I wanted to get out of that freezer as fast as I could!
“Thank you for bringing that one in,” Dr. Gray said. He shook his head. “I thought I had collected them all. What a surprise that I missed one.” He scratched his hair. “You say you found it in your backyard?”
I nodded. “It was an egg. But then it hatched in my dresser drawer.” My teeth chattered. I was so cold!
“Does that mean it’s mine?” I asked Dr. Gray. “I mean, does it belong to me?”
His smile faded. “I’m not really sure. I don’t know what the law is about alien creatures from outer space.” He frowned. “Maybe there is no law.”
I glanced down at the little blob. The green veins along its side were bulging. Its whole body was throbbing like crazy.
Was it sorry to see me go?
No way. That’s really dumb, I told myself.
“I guess you’ll want to keep it for a while and study it,” I said to Dr. Gray.
He nodded. “Yes. I’m doing every kind of test I can think of.”
“But can I come back and visit it?” I asked.
Dr. Gray narrowed his eyes at me. “Come back? Dana, what do you mean by come back? You’re not leaving.”
17
“Excuse me?” I choked out. I knew I hadn’t heard him correctly.
My whole body shook in a wild shiver. I rubbed my bare arms, trying to warm them.
“Did you say I’m not leaving?” I managed to ask.
Dr. Gray locked his pale blue eyes on mine. “I’m afraid you can’t leave, Dana. You must stay here.”
A frightened cry escaped my throat. He wasn’t serious! He couldn’t be serious.
He can’t keep me here, I told myself.
No way. He can’t keep me here against my will. That’s against the law.
“But… why?” I demanded weakly. “Why can’t I go home?”
“You can understand—can’t you?” Dr. Gray replied calmly. “We don’t want anyone to know about these space aliens. We don’t want anyone to know that we’ve been invaded by Martians.”
He sighed. “You don’t want to throw the whole world into a panic—do you, Dana?”
“I—I—I—” I tried to answer. But I was too frightened. Too startled. Too cold.
I glared angrily at Dr. Gray. “You have to let me go,” I insisted in a trembling whisper.
His expression softened. “Please don’t stare at me like that,” he said. “I’m not a bad guy. I don’t want to frighten you. And I don’t want to keep you in this lab against your will. But what choice do I have? I’m a scientist, Dana. I have to do my job.”
I stared back at him, my whole body shaking. I didn’t know what to say. My eyes moved to the metal door. It was shut. But he hadn’t bolted it.
I wondered if I could get to the door before he did.
“I have to study you too,” Dr. Gray continued. He tucked his hands into the pockets of his lab coat. “It’s my job, Dana.”
“Study me?” I squeaked. “Why?”
He motioned to my egg creature. “You touched it—didn’t you? You handled it? You picked it up?”
I shrugged. “Well, yeah. I picked it up. So what?”
“Well, we don’t know what kind of dangerous germs it gave you,” he replied. “We don’t know what kind of germs or bacteria or strange diseases these things carried with them from Mars.”
I swallowed hard. “Huh? Diseases?”
He scratched his moustache. “I don’t want to scare you. You’re probably perfectly okay. You feel okay—right?”
My teeth chattered. “Yeah. I guess. Just cold.”
“Well, I have to keep you here and study you. You know. Watch you carefully. Make sure that touching the egg creature didn’t harm you or change you.”
No way, I thought.
I don’t care about strange germs from Mars. I don’t care about egg diseases. I don’t care about science.
All I care about is getting out of here. Getting home to my family.
You’re not keeping me here, Dr. Gray. You’re not studying me.
Because I’m outta here!
Dr. Gray was saying something. I guess he was still explaining why he planned to keep me prisoner in this freezing cold lab.
But I didn’t listen to him. Instead, I took off.
I ran toward the big metal door.
The circle of egg creatures blocked my way. But I leaped over them easily. And kept running.
Gasping for breath, shivering, I reached the door.
I grabbed the handle. And glanced back.
Was Dr. Gray chasing after me?
No. He hadn’t moved.
Good! I thought. I caught him by surprise.
I’m gone!
I turned the door handle. Pulled hard.
The door didn’t open.
I pulled harder.
It didn’t budge.
I tried pushing it.
No go.
Dr. Gray’s voice rang in my ears. “The door is controlled electronically,” he said calmly. “It’s locked. It cannot be opened unless you have the control unit.”
I didn’t believe him. I tugged again. Then I pushed again.
He was telling the truth. The door was electronically sealed.
I gave up with a loud cry of protest. I spun around to face him. “How long do I have to stay here?” I demanded.
He replied in a low, icy voice. “Probably for a very long time.”
18
“Step away from the door, Dana,” Dr. Gray ordered. “Try to calm down.”
Calm down?
“You’ll be okay,” the scientist said. “I take very good care of my specimens.”
Specimens?
I didn’t want to calm down. And I didn’t want to be a specimen.
“I’m a boy. Not a specimen,” I told him angrily.
I don’t think he heard me. He lifted me out of the way. Then he clicked the small remote unit in his hand. The door opened just long enough for him to slide through.
It made a loud click as it snapped shut behind him.
Locked in. I was locked in this freezer with three dozen Martians.
My heart pounded. I heard a shrill whistle in my ears. My temples throbbed with pain. My whole head felt ready to explode!
I’d never been so angry in my life.
I let out a cry of rage.
The egg creatures all began to chatter. I spun around in surprise. They sounded a little like chimps.
A roomful of chimps, chattering away.
Only they weren’t chimps. They were monsters from Mars. And I was locked in, all alone with them.
A specimen.
“Noooo!” I let out another howl and ran to the long window.
“You can’t leave me here!” I shrieked. I pounded on the glass with both fists.
I wanted to cry. I wanted to scream until my throat was raw. I’d never felt so angry and so frightened all at once.
“Let me out! Dr. Gray—let me out of here! You can’t keep me here!” I screamed. I banged on the window as hard as I could.
I’ll pound till I break the glass, I told myself.
I’ll break through. Then I’ll climb out and escape.
I beat my fists frantically against the glass. “Let me out of here! You can’t do this!”
The glass was thick and hard. No way I could break through.
“Let me out!” I uttered a final scream.
When I turned back into the room, the egg creatures stopped chattering. They stared up at me with their black, button eyes.
They didn’t quiver or bounce. They stood totally still. As if they had frozen.
I’m going to freeze! I realized. I rubbed my bare arms. But it didn’t help warm me. My hands were ice cold.
Icicles are going to form on me, I thought. I’m going to freeze to death in here. I’m going to turn into a human Popsicle.
The egg creatures stood so still. Their eyes were all locked on me. As if they were studying me. As if they were trying to decide what to do about me.
Suddenly my egg creature broke the silence. I recognized it by the blue veins down its front. It started to chatter loudly.
The other egg creatures turned, as if listening to it.
Was it talking to them? Was it communicating in some weird Martian chatter language?
“I hope you’re telling them all how I saved your life!” I called to it. “I hope you’re telling them what a good guy I am. You almost went down the drain—remember?”
Of course the egg creature couldn’t understand me.
I don’t know why I was shouting at it like that. I guess I was totally losing it. Totally freaked.
As the egg creature chattered on, I stared at the others. They all listened in silence. I started to count them. There were so many of them—and so few of me!
Were they friendly? Did they like strangers? Did they like humans?
How did they feel about being locked up in this freezing cold room?
Did they feel anything at all?
These were questions I didn??
?t really want to know the answers to.
I just wanted to get out of there.
I decided to try the window again. But before I could move, my egg creature stopped talking.
And the others started to move.
Silently, they huddled together. Pressed together into a wide yellow wedge.
And rolling faster than I could imagine, they attacked.
19
“Hey—!” I uttered a startled cry and backed up.
The wedge of egg creatures rolled forward. Their bodies slapped the floor wetly as they bounced toward me.
I retreated until my back hit the window.
Nowhere to run.
“What do you want?” I screamed. My voice came out high and tight in panic. “What are you going to do?”
I turned and banged on the window again, pounding with open hands. “Dr. Gray! Dr. Gray! Help me!”
Did they plan to roll over me? To swallow me up?
To my surprise, the egg creatures stopped a few inches in front of me. They twirled and bounced until they had formed a circle once again.
Then, moving quickly and silently, they shifted back into a big yellow triangle.
I stared down at them, shivering, my teeth chattering.
They’re not attacking, I decided.
But what are they doing?
Why are they forming these shapes? Are they trying to talk to me?
I took a deep breath, trying to calm my panic.
You’re a scientist, Dana, I reminded myself. Act like a scientist. Not a frightened kid. Try to talk back to them.
I thought hard for a few seconds. Then I raised my hands in front of me. And I formed a circle with my pointer fingers and thumbs.
I held the circle up so the egg creatures could all see it. And waited to see if they did anything.
The yellow blobs had formed a wide triangle that nearly filled the room. I saw their round black eyes go up to the circle I had formed.
And then I watched them bounce and roll—into a circle!
Were they copying me?
I straightened my fingers and thumbs into a triangle.
And the egg creatures formed a triangle.