“No!” shouted a few Graxians.
“What’ll they taste like?” screamed Boobrik.
There was a puzzled silence.
“Buttons?” suggested someone.
“No, no, no!” Boobrik raged. “They’ll taste like jellybeans, you fools!” He waved the package above his head. “Jellybeans!” The crowd surged forward in a frenzy. Richard and Henry were carried along. Suddenly they found themselves exactly where they wanted to be—right at the edge of the platform.
“Get the XTC-1000, boys,” came Aric’s voice. Richard grabbed it.
Boobrik stood there with his mouth hanging open as the XTC left his claws and seemed to hang in the air.
“Let’s go!” said Richard, wishing he could see Henry. Then, suddenly, he could. At first he was so surprised that he just stood there holding the package. But he recovered fast. He had to—Graxians were coming at him from all sides. And they all wanted one thing—to get that package away from him.
“Celery!” he shouted to Henry. Luckily Henry was faster than the Graxians. He whipped the celery out of his pocket and held it high above his head.
For an instant nothing happened. Then there was one very loud, shocked gasp from all the creatures in the throne room, and hundreds of large rushing bodies thudded to a dead halt.
Boobrik turned bright yellow at the sight of the celery. He screamed very loudly and lurched toward Henry. Richard’s heart thumped. Boobrik was dangerously close to Henry. But Henry, looking very pale, stood his ground. He even managed to wave the celery in Boobrik’s face.
At this, Boobrik fell. And almost as if it were a signal, all the other Graxians fell, too.
“Awesome,” said Richard, his voice shaking. And then they ran.
“Celery! I still cannot believe it!” Aric exclaimed. “I never knew it had such power over the Graxians. This information must go into the Brigade manual.” He was sitting at the control panel of the cargo ship with Richard and Henry. The package of XTC-1000 was safely in Richard’s lap, and they were only minutes away from Threll. It looked as if their mission was finally a success. Aric had gotten them to the ship and then blasted off into space in record time. He had even gotten through to Threll with the message that dessert was on the way. But he was not really happy.
“How could I have made such a terrible mistake about the weapons?” he said. “If it had not been for you, the Interspace Brigade would be in disgrace. And of course Earth would be in ruins.” His face was deep pink with embarrassment. “I owe the two of you a great deal.”
“Oh, that’s okay,” said Richard. He hated to see Aric feeling bad. “We had a really good time. I’ll never forget how Boobrik screamed when Henry flashed the celery at him. Or how Wali Dood’s eyes kind of rolled around before he passed out. And the way all those crazed Graxians just … fell. It was great. Right, Henry?”
“Really,” said Henry. “Besides, after this Richard won’t laugh at me every time I say I like vegetables.”
Suddenly the lights on the control panel started blinking. “We’re coming into Threll’s orbit,” said Aric. “Hold tight for landing. And keep your fingers crossed. Threllians get very angry when they are kept waiting. And dessert is definitely late.”
But the Threllians weren’t angry. They were overjoyed. Once they had their XTC, they couldn’t do enough for Aric and the boys. Of course, they called off the invasion of Earth immediately. Then they threw a huge party for them called the Festival of 1,000 Desserts. They flew them to Thrillia, an entire continent of theme parks, rides, and video games, and gave them unlimited free tickets.
Best of all, they took them to the zoo. Unlike any other zoo in the universe, the Threllian Zoo contained extinct animals from many other worlds, including Earth. So Richard and Henry got to see live dinosaurs and even got to ride on them. Richard rode a brontosaurus that was as friendly as the wamu. Henry rode a triceratops that was much nicer looking than Boobrik.
Then, they all realized, it was time to go home. Aric was eager to get back to the Brigade. Henry didn’t want to miss Star Trek. And Richard started to wonder about his mom.
“Do you think she’s back yet?” he asked Aric. “I wouldn’t want her to worry about me.”
“No problem,” Aric told him. “We’ve only been gone a few hours in Earth time. She won’t even know you were away.”
“That’s a relief,” Richard said.
“I hope the Brigade can call on you again,” said Aric. He was guiding the cargo ship out of Threll’s orbit and into space. “You have been wonderful.”
“Thanks,” said Richard. “Any time.” He meant it.
“Ditto,” said Henry.
“Good,” said Aric. “And now are you ready?” Richard and Henry knew what to do. They stood up and closed their eyes. As they clasped each other’s hands, Richard called, “Good-bye, Aric. I’ll miss you.”
But if Aric answered, Richard didn’t hear him. First he was in deep space. And then he was home.
School started a few days later. Richard, who was wearing his Interspace Brigade T-shirt, looked around the classroom. George, he saw, wore a shirt with tropical flowers all over it. Jennifer wore a dolphin pin from Ocean World. And Leroy had on a brand-new Baseball Hall of Fame jacket. Finally Henry showed up. He was wearing an old sweatshirt.
“Hi,” said Richard. He looked closely at his friend’s face. “What’s that pink mark on your cheek?” he asked. “And how come you’re not wearing your Brigade T-shirt?”
“I was wearing it,” said Henry. “Until this girl from the sixth grade ran up and kissed me. Ugh! So I took it off and put my sweatshirt on. I’m not ready to be irresistible to women!”
Mrs. Marshall came into the classroom and sat down at her desk. “Good morning, everyone,” she said. “It’s so nice to see you all again! What did all of you do on your vacations?”
“I went to Ocean World and played with a dolphin,” said Jennifer.
“I went to the Baseball Hall of Fame and saw Babe Ruth’s baseball bat,” said Leroy.
“I went to this island called Tortola,” said George.
“Is that in the Virgin Islands, George?” asked Mrs. Marshall.
“I’m not sure,” said George. “But it sure was hot. My whole back is peeling from sunburn. Wanna see?”
“Don’t be gross, George,” said Celia Drummond. She was wearing a Minnie Mouse watch, Richard noticed. As he looked at her, she smiled at him. She had hardly ever even noticed him before.
“And how about you, Henry?” asked Mrs. Marshall. “Did you do anything interesting?”
“Uh, not really,” mumbled Henry, who was a terrible liar.
“Well, what did you do?” asked Mrs. Marshall.
Richard knew Henry needed help. He raised his hand.
“Yes, Richard?” As Mrs. Marshall called on him, her eyes fell on Richard’s T-shirt for the first time. Suddenly her voice and expression changed. They both got very sweet, and a dazed look came into her eyes.
“Henry and I took a trip together,” said Richard.
“How nice! I hope you had a good time.” Mrs. Marshall was practically cooing at Richard.
“We did,” said Richard. “We met a lot of interesting, uh, people. We ate some really … unusual food. And we helped out a friend. That was the best part, right, Henry?”
Henry smiled at his friend. “Right,” he said.
“Well, I think that’s just about the nicest thing I’ve ever heard, Richard,” said Mrs. Marshall with a huge smile. “Perhaps you’d like to do a special report on your vacation in front of the class … we could invite the principal!” She was beaming as though she had just given him a medal.
“Uh … thanks, but no, Mrs. Marshall, I—”
Just then the bell rang. Before it had stopped ringing Richard was out of the classroom. He raced to the bathroom and pulled off his Interspace Brigade T-shirt. Luckily he had a sweater in his backpack that he could wear instead.
“Boy, that was clos
e,” he said to Henry, who was waiting for him in the hallway. “You were right. Those Tshirts are dangerous!”
Henry smiled. “But we could wear them every now and then. Like when Mrs. Marshall is making out report cards.”
“I always knew you were a genius,” said Richard. And they walked down the hall to science class.
About the Authors
JONATHAN ETRA was a humorist, playwright, and journalist, as well as a children’s book author. He lived in New York City until his untimely death in 1991.
STEPHANIE SPINNER is a children’s book editor and writer. She lives in New York City and has always wanted to go to Ganoob.
About the Illustrator
STEVE BJÖRKMAN is an illustrator whose work often appears in magazines. He notes, “I have been drawing ever since I was a kid. I was often reprimanded for doodling in class and now find it a great relief to do a drawing without having to hide it from the teacher.” Steve Björkman lives in Irvine, California.
Text copyright © 1991 by Jonathan Etra and Stephanie Spinner. Illustrations copyright © 1991 by Steve Björkman. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto.
www.steppingstonesbooks.com
www.randomhouse.com/kids
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Etra, Jonathan.
Aliens for lunch / by Jonathan Etra and Stephanie Spinner ; illustrated by Steve Björkman.
p. cm.
“A Stepping Stone book.”
SUMMARY: When their bag of microwave popcorn explodes and a space alien emerges, Richard and Henry join him on a top-secret interstellar mission to save the desserts of the universe.
eISBN: 978-0-307-75857-6
[1. Extraterrestrial beings—Fiction. 2. Science fiction—Fiction.] I. Spinner, Stephanie. II. Björkman, Steve, ill. III. Title.
PZ7.E854Ap 1991 [Fic]—dc20 90-39417
RANDOM HOUSE and colophon are registered trademarks and A STEPPING STONE BOOK and colophon are trademarks of Random House, Inc.
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