Camp Alien Read Online Free Page A

that. There
were
thosealien powers I’d discovered earlier. Since then I’d tried not to think about them, because they freaked me out. Actually the climbing hadn’t been too scary, but what freaked me out was that it
didn’t
scare me. It came perfectly naturally. Not for the first time, I wondered what my real species was like. I shrugged the thought away. Basically I was human—with just a few odd additions.
    Quietly, I slipped to the foot of my bunk where it butted against a wall. Trying to keep my mind blank, I grabbed the rough logs and scrambled down like Lizardman.
    I left the cabin with everyone still asleep, then hurried toward the latrine. Smell hung around the place like a cloud, but Opal wasn’t there yet. I hoped maybe she’d forgotten, but soon I heard her crunching up the path. Definitely not spy material.
    She jumped when I stepped out of the shadows, but she recovered quickly and said, “OK, Zack, tell me what your friend needs help with.”
    I had my story ready. “Like I said, these evolved dinosaurs stay away from humans, except for people they trust, like my dad and me. This one was in charge of moving a nursery of dinosaur eggs away from where people were building new houses. But there was an accident, and the eggs spilled over a mountainside near here. So my friend needs help collecting them.
    â€œWow!” Opal was silent a moment. “You can talk with her?”
    I nodded. My ear still hurt from the translator. “Dad taught me their language. I’ll have to translate for you.” At least Opal wouldn’t be able to hear what that nasty-tempered alien was really saying.
    â€œCome on,” I said as I headed off through the dark and rather spooky forest. Shadows moved jaggedly in the wind, and the only sounds were creaking branches and hissing pine needles. “Maybe she’s there already,” I said, trying to hurry Opal along. “Dinosaurs are short tempered. They don’t like to be kept waiting.”The same could be said for grouchy aliens, but I kept that to myself.
    But Vraj wasn’t there. We were alone on the open hillside except for the big tree, rustling night creatures, and a whole lot of stars overhead.
    â€œLook, there’s Andromeda!” Opal said.
    My head swiveled around. Not another camper! Then I noticed Opal was pointing into the sky.
    â€œYou hardly ever get to see her in a city. Too much light. And there’s Pegasus above her, that big square.”
    Constellations. Actually, I kind of wished I knew something about them, since I apparently came from out there somewhere. Maybe Opal could …
    My thoughts were snapped back to earth by a cracking twig. Vraj bounded up to us, scales glinting in the starlight. Opal shrank back against me.
    â€œWhat’s this?” the alien growled in her language.

    â€œOpal saw you, Vraj,” I said in English, using what I hoped was a calm, soothing voice. “And she wants to help. I explained how you are an
evolved dinosaur
hiding from humans and that you lost a bunch of
dinosaur
eggs and need help finding them.”
    Vraj’s face crinkled into an expression I was glad I couldn’t read. “This infant thinks I’m an extinct primitive reptile?” Her snarl was untranslatable. “Well, what’s done is done. But she’d better keep quiet about this.”
    â€œOpal’s promised not to say a word,” I said loudly.
    â€œRight,” Opal quavered timidly from behind me. I was glad she was only getting my end of the conversation. “I can keep secrets.”
    Vraj growled at me. “She’d better. Remember, neither of us can afford to have this mission fail.”
    Though I still didn’t know exactly what the danger was, Sorn had made it clear these Duthwi were a threat to Earth. Was Vraj so uptight about the mission because she was aCadet trying to prove herself? Maybe this was her first mission. If she