Alien in My Pocket #5: Ohm vs. Amp by Nate Ball Page B

skeptically. “Who would they send? Your mom?”
    â€œWhy on Erde would they send my mother? That would make no sense. Let’s just hope it’s not my—”
    Amp was interrupted by a thunderous whooshing sound coming from my window.
    â€œThe attack is beginning!” I squealed.
    I dropped Amp like a hot potato, jumped out of the closet, scrambled to my desk, and pressed my face to the window screen. I squinted as a fiery light lit up the backyard.
    â€œUh-oh,” Amp gasped from somewhere behind me.
    A spaceship just like Amp’s was flying in circles twenty feet off the ground in our backyard. A shower of orange and white sparks were spraying out of it, making it look like the Fourth of July had come to my backyard.
    Without warning, it turned sharply, like it had bounced off an invisible wall.
    â€œOoohhhhh nooooooo . . .”
    I dove to the carpet just as the thing exploded through my window screen.
    Just like Amp’s ship had done, the fizzing ball of metal crashed into the wall over my bed with a dull thud, just two feet from the dent Amp’s ship had made, which I had cleverly hidden from my family by covering it with a baseball poster.

    I was definitely going to need another poster now.
    I blinked as thick, stinging smoke filled my room. A burning rubber taste made my tongue tingle. And an eerie, glowing light pulsed from under my bed.
    â€œA million to one, he says,” I said, shaking my head in disbelief. Despite Amp’s claim that the invasion wasn’t starting, I wasn’t convinced. He had been wrong before. About practically everything.
    That’s when I saw Amp crouching on my bedspread. He had put on his helmet and was holding his tiny weapon out in front of him. Like a truly good friend, he was trying to protect me.
    Then he turned.
    But then I realized that wasn’t Amp on my bed.
    It was another Erdian. And he looked ready for a fight.

My Second Erdian
    â€œR eport to Erdian Council,” the strange Erdian barked into a little wristband recorder thingy.
    â€œHere we go again,” I sighed, rising to my feet. I’d seen Amp do this a million times. This was like getting the same headache twice.
    â€œAtmosphere on this planet is exactly as we predicted,” he continued breathlessly into his tiny bracelet. “Readings indicate seventy-eight percent nitrogen, twenty-one percent oxygen, and trace amounts of argon and carbon dioxide. It is, however, having a strange effect on my voice, which sounds very high. No sign yet of Scout First Class Amp. Stand by for more. Situation here is fluid and unpredictable.”

    Now that I had a better look at him, I did notice that this Erdian had slightly longer antennas than Amp and a big space in his teeth. Other than that, they were practically identical.
    I cleared my throat. “Uh . . . hi, I’m Zack,” I announced.
    He spun and faced me. “Do not move, Earth person,” the tiny creature commanded, his eyes growing wide with fear. He stumbled backward on my bedspread.
    I knew he was surprised by my size.
    When Amp had arrived so many weeks ago, he was surprised when he saw how big I was. And when he saw the size of my parents, he practically fainted.
    I sighed as I stepped over to my bed. “Okay, just take it easy, squirt,” I said. “I come in peace.”
    â€œYou come in peace?” he said. “But I’m the one who just got here!”
    Do all Erdians love to argue? “Listen, I am onyour side. Let’s be friends.”
    â€œOh, please, earthling, your weak mind tricks will not work on me.”
    â€œMind tricks? Hey, I’m just being friendly.”
    â€œThat won’t work either,” he said, pointing his little weapon at me, which looked like a tiny TV remote control.
    â€œWhoa there, half-pint,” I said. “Relax with the ol’ remote-controller-zapper thingy. Look, I know the whole Erdian invasion backstory. So take