The Sky Is Falling

by Ada Hopper

  The alien reached out and touched Laura’s sleeve.

  “Right!” said Laura. “Me.”

  The alien tapped Laura’s radio and then touched her sleeve again.

  “Yup,” Laura said. “I made that.”

  “Here, Fave.” Cesar offered a piece of chocolate. “You must be hungry!”

  The alien sniffed the chocolate. It nibbled it.

  “Bzzzzphhhhbleeeeghhh!”

  Fave spit it out!

  “Not a fan of extra nuts, huh?” asked Cesar.

  “Try this.” Laura offered Fave a celery stick from her backpack.

  Fave gingerly tasted the celery. It liked that a lot!

  The alien touched her sleeve again.

  “Laura, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you have a new best friend,” Gabe said with a smile.

  Chapter 7

  Unexpected Visitors

  * * *

  The next morning, at school, the friends whispered at their desks.

  “I hope Fave will be okay in the tree house all day,” Laura said.

  “At least there isn’t anything in the news about the lights,” Gabe whispered. “No one seems to have found Fave’s spaceship.”

  “No one that we know of,” Cesar pointed out.

  Suddenly, Principal Stevens’s voice came over the loudspeaker.

  “Will Gabriel, Laura, and Cesar please report to my office?”

  “Ooooooooooooh,” the class echoed in unison.

  “We’ve never been called down to the principal’s office!” exclaimed Cesar. “This can’t be good.”

  A few minutes later, the friends found Principal Stevens waiting for them.

  “Is this about the science challenge?” Laura asked hopefully.

  The principal shook his head. “I’m afraid not. There are some men from the government here who would like to speak with you.”

  Gabe, Laura, and Cesar gulped. Behind Principal Stevens were three men in suits and dark glasses.

  “If you’ll each follow us,” the men said.

  “Gabe?” Laura called when she realized they were being led to separate rooms.

  “It’s okay.” Gabe tried not to sound as nervous as he was.

  Gabe followed his agent to an office down the hall. The agent closed the door.

  “Do you know this man?” He placed a photograph of Dr. Bunsen on the desk.

  “Oh, sure,” Gabe said, trying to sound casual. “That’s Dr. B.”

  “And have you ever noticed anything . . . unusual about him?”

  “Everything is unusual about him!” Gabe laughed awkwardly.

  The agent didn’t seem amused. “Tell me more.”

  “Of course we know Dr. B.,” Laura said in the next office over. “He has helped us with a few of our science projects.”

  “Yes, yes, we hear he’s quite the scientist,” said the agent. “What else has he invented?”

  Laura gulped. “Oh, you know, standard stuff. Bug zappers. Laser beams. Maybe a growth ray . . .”

  “Then there was this one time we went flying in his Omega moon-powered hover car!” Cesar explained excitedly to his agent. “The Midnight Rider 2.0. It happened right after we chased a tornado using his Cyclo-tronic Navigator. Boy, that was a crazy week!”

  After the agents finished questioning the kids, Gabe, Laura, and Cesar were allowed to return to class. They didn’t talk about it until the end of the day—with so many students around, who knew where it was safe to talk anymore!

  Finally, school let out. The DATA Set raced all the way home to the safety of the tree house.

  Fave was there, tinkering with Laura’s radio.

  “Those guys meant business,” said Gabe, out of breath.

  “I don’t think we can wait for Dr. B.” Laura was pretty worked up. “We have to figure out a way to get Fave home now!”

  “But it’s not like we can fix Fave’s spaceship,” said Cesar. “Fave was smart enough to decipher Dr. B.’s code, and even we don’t know how to do that.”

  “Dr. B.’s code,” Gabe said slowly. “Guys, I think I have a plan.”

  Chapter 8

  Gabe’s Stellar Plan

  * * *

  “This is never going to work.”

  Cesar peeked around the corner of the house.

  “Seriously. This plan has ‘not going to work’ written all over it.”

  Behind him, Gabe and Laura stood on either side of Fave. They had disguised the alien in a white lab coat and goggles. And for extra measure, they’d thrown a brown mop wig on Fave’s head.

  “We just have to get to Dr. B.’s lab,” said Gabe. “Then Fave can use the Bunsimmunicator 3000 to send a message home.”

  “Fave, I told you not to bring that.” Laura tried to wriggle her radio free from the little alien’s hands. But Fave stubbornly held on to it with a four-armed, twenty-fingered grip.

  Laura sighed. “Fine. Bring it. But let’s go.”

  Quietly, the friends snuck down from the tree house and around the corner.

  “There you are!”

  The DATA Set jumped. It was Cole! He skidded up to them on his bike.

  “I’ve been looking all over for you,” Cole said. “I know you’re into science and stuff, so you’re the perfect team to help me track down the light from the sky. I’m . . . Oh, who’s that?”

  Cole had spotted Fave.

  “Haven’t you ever met Dr. Bunsen?” Gabe said, thinking fast.

  “I guess not.” Cole paused. “I always pictured him taller. What’s he carrying?”

  Cole reached out toward Laura’s radio, which Fave was gripping with all four hands!

  “Don’t!” said Laura. “It’s broken. Dr. Bunsen is going to help us fix it.”

  Cole looked confused. “But what is it?”

  “A toaster,” Cesar said. “And my bagels won’t be kept waiting. Sorry—gotta go.”

  The friends scurried off, leaving a very suspicious Cole staring after them.

  “That was close,” said Gabe. “Hopefully we don’t bump into anyone—”

  “Mi hijo!”

  Gabe groaned. His mom was running up to them, carrying his little sister, Juanita.

  “Could you drop this in the mail for me, cariño?” His mother handed him an envelope. “Juanita has a doctor’s appointment, and the post office closes in fifteen minutes.”

  “Uh, sure, Mom,” said Gabe. He watched in mild horror as Juanita reached out to play with one of Fave’s four arms. Fave slowly pulled its arm back inside the lab coat. Juanita giggled.

  “Thank you!” Gabe’s mom raced off with Juanita.

  Gabe sighed in relief. “Come on. Let’s go before the entire town stops by to say hello.”

  Moving as stealthily as they could, the friends crept toward Dr. Bunsen’s house.

  They were almost there, when . . .

  “Oh, no,” said Cesar. “You guys aren’t going to believe this!”

  Down the street were the government agents. And Cole was on his bike, pointing them in the DATA Set’s direction!

  Chapter 9

  A Message Home

  * * *

  The government agents walked straight toward the DATA Set. There was nowhere to hide!

  “We suspected we might find you three here,” the lead agent said. “Where’s Dr. Bunsen?”

  Gabe, Laura, and Cesar didn’t know how to get out of this one! But before they could respond, Fave raised its hand.

  “Dr. Bunsen, eh?” said the agent. He looked Fave up and down. “Strange. From the photo, you seemed . . . taller.”

  “Dr. B.’s not feeling well,” Gabe said hurriedly. “He has a really bad cold.”

  “We need to get him inside to rest,” said Laura.

  “Not so fast,” said the lead agent. “We need to have a word with Dr. Bunsen.”

  Suddenly, Fave sneezed all over them! Great green globs of alien snot goo dripped from the agents’ sunglasses onto their shoes.

  “It’s real
ly bad,” said Cesar. “Please come back tomorrow!”

  With that, the three friends rushed Fave inside the mansion and slammed the door.

  “Phew,” said Gabe. “Do you think they’ll leave?”

  “Let’s not wait to find out,” said Laura. “Come on—to the Bunsimmunicator 3000!”

  They clambered into Dr. B.’s lab. When they reached the Bunsimmunicator 3000, the screen lit up.

  Bzzz. Bzz-bzz. Beep-boop-beep!

  It was still sending out the Bunsen code on repeat into space.

  “Laura, can you program it so Fave can send a message instead?” Gabe asked.

  Laura’s fingers flew over the digital keyboard.

  “Access denied,” the computer said.

  “We’ll see about that.” Laura typed in a few more commands.

  “Passcode?” the computer asked.

  “Uh-oh,” said Laura. “I didn’t think it would be password protected. If I can’t get in, we can’t change the message.”

  Fave touched Laura’s sleeve. It held out her radio.

  “I’m sorry, buddy,” she said. “But I’m not sure what to . . .”

  Laura looked at the radio more closely. Her eyes lit up. “No way! I don’t believe it. Fave’s modified my radio! Check it out—it has a microphone now. We can hook it up to Dr. B.’s satellite and send a message using it!”

  “That’s why Fave insisted on bringing it,” exclaimed Gabe.

  Quickly, the friends hooked up Laura’s radio to Dr. B.’s satellite controls. Then Fave spoke into the microphone.

  “Guuughghhlggh cluggghhhhdsh favlooooovichhhh.”

  A minute later, the doorbell rang.

  “I’ll get it,” said Cesar, forgetting himself.

  “No!” cried Gabe and Laura.

  But it was too late. Cesar opened the door.

  FWOOSH!

  The friends were sucked up in a tractor beam, pulled out the front door . . . and into a UFO!

  Chapter 10

  Out of This World

  * * *

  The DATA Set and Fave huddled close together. All around them was bright, white light.

  Suddenly, two familiar, yet odd-looking figures approached.

  “BLEERRRRGHFFFLUGH!”

  Fave raced forward and into the arms of the two other aliens. The creatures looked just like Fave, except larger.

  “What’s happening?” Laura whispered to Gabe.

  “I don’t know,” Gabe whispered back.

  The aliens looked at the DATA Set. One of them held up a glowing orange orb.

  It spoke, but the friends heard English this time instead of Fave’s language. The orb was translating the words!

  “Thank you for bringing our son back to us.”

  “Your son?” Cesar asked in disbelief. “Fave’s a kid?”

  “Are you its, uh, his parents?” Laura asked.

  “Yes,” the aliens said through their translator. “Our son heard your message and wanted to visit Earth. We told him ‘no,’ but he beamed down anyway.”

  “Beamed down!” said Cesar. “No wonder we couldn’t find a spaceship!”

  Fave looked sad.

  “He is very curious. We are grateful for your help in finding him and keeping him safe. We will send you back to your planet now.”

  Suddenly, Fave rushed back to the DATA Set. He tugged at Laura’s sleeve.

  “I think he wants you to come with him,” Gabe said.

  Laura smiled and shook her head. “I’m sorry, but I can’t, Fave. I have a family, too, on Earth.”

  Fave held her sleeve for a moment longer. Then he handed her back her radio.

  “Of course,” Laura said. “I promise to keep in touch.”

  The next afternoon, Gabe, Laura, and Cesar waited for Dr. B. to wake up from his experiment. They couldn’t wait to tell him about their alien adventure!

  But first they had to warn him about the government agents.

  “Maybe he can lie low until this whole thing blows over,” said Gabe.

  Dr. Bunsen’s experiment timer counted down.

  Three . . . two . . . one . . .

  The doctor woke up with a big yawn!

  “Why, hello, my curious DATA Set!” he exclaimed. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”

  Suddenly, the doorbell rang.

  “It seems I am quite popular!” cried the doctor.

  “No!” the DATA Set warned.

  But it was too late. Dr. B. opened the door. The government agents were there!

  “Dr. Bunsen?” they asked.

  “That is me!” cried the doctor.

  “You’re a hard man to get ahold of. We have a surprise for you. . . .”

  “Dr. B., run!” cried Gabe.

  But before anyone could move, the agent whipped out a glass plaque. “We’re here to officially present you with the National Invention Achievement Award for your contributions to science!”

  “That’s why you questioned us?” cried Laura, Gabe, and Cesar.

  Dr. Bunsen scratched his head in bewildered delight. “What a pleasant surprise.”

  “You’re looking better, too,” the lead agent commented. “And . . . taller. How do you feel?”

  The doctor grinned. “I feel . . . out of this world!”

  CHECK OUT THE NEXT DATA SET ADVENTURE!

  Giant robotic planes did loop-the-loops in the sky! Fireworks burst in the air! Mechanical arms clapped and cheered while a little boy hugged a robot puppy.

  “Gee, Sprocket,” the boy said. “The future is awesome!”

  “Arf, arf!” said the robot puppy in electronic barks.

  “That’s right, Timmy,” said an announcer. “The future is awesome. And . . . the future . . . is . . . NOW! . . . now . . . now . . . now. . . .”

  The announcer’s voice faded out as Gabe, Laura, and Cesar’s science teacher, Mrs. Bell, turned off the Smart Board.

  “And that,” said Mrs. Bell, “leads us into our chapter on robotics.” She began passing out assignment packets. “Your assignment this week is to invent your own robots!”

  Ada Hopper has been extremely inventive ever since she was little. There was nothing that a rubber band and some tweezers couldn’t fix, no question that couldn’t be answered by scouring the library, and no way she wasn’t escaping over that backyard fence! Ada loves reading and writing because of all the fantastical worlds a good book can bring you to. When not working, Ada enjoys karaoke, spending time with her family, and going on the occasional adventure or two.

  Sam Ricks is an illustrator for several children’s chapter book series. He grew up crafting stories about toxic fruitcakes, peanut butter–snatching aliens, and killer vacuums. Now he splits his time between illustration, art direction, hanging out with his family, and vacuuming. You can visit him at SamRicks.com.

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  This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author’s imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

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  First Little Simon paperback edition May 2016 • Copyright © 2016 by Simon & Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form. LITTLE SIMON is a registered trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc., and associated colophon is a trademark of Simon & Schuster, Inc. For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or business@simonandschu
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  Designed by John Daly. The text of this book was set in Serifa.

  Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

  Names: Hopper, Ada, author. | Ricks, Sam, illustrator. Title: The sky is falling / by Ada Hopper ; illustrated by Sam Ricks. Description: First Little Simon paperback edition. | New York : Little Simon, 2016. | Series: The DATA Set ; #3 | Summary: When Dr. Bunsen’s newest invention brings extraterrestrials down to Earth, can second-graders Gabriel, Laura, and Caesar, aka the DATA, keep their town from being space invaded? Identifiers: LCCN 2015027303| ISBN 9781481463102 (hardback) | ISBN 9781481463096 (pbk) | ISBN 9781481463119 (ebook) Subjects: | CYAC: Inventions—Fiction. | Extraterrestrial beings—Fiction. | Clubs—Fiction. | Adventure and adventurers—Fiction. | BISAC: JUVENILE FICTION / Readers / Chapter Books. | JUVENILE FICTION / Action & Adventure / General. | JUVENILE FICTION / Science Fiction. Classification: LCC PZ7.1.H66 Sk 2016 | DDC [Fic]—dc23

  LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015027303