They Came From Planet Q Read Online Free

shook.
    â€œLindsey!”
    I heard Dad’s voice and then he was next to me. Just like that. Somehow, in the muddle of the darkness, he found me.
    â€œLindsey, honey, are you okay?” Dad whispered softly. He’s just as good at being sweet as he is at being firm. “Look, I want you to stay calm. There have been these faint tremors all week at the mall and just a little while ago, security reported a crack in the atrium ceiling, but we have a backup . . .”
    Brrrrrrrrrrmmmmmmmmmm.
    Just like that, a motor surged and hummed and the overhead mall lights buzzed on. I could see again! What a relief! I never thought I would be glad to see Damon Molloy’s ugly face, but at that moment, few things could have made me happier.
    I glanced around. Most ordinary people in the mall had left or been escorted out. The place was crawling with security.
    â€œIs everyone okay?” Dad said. “I knew the backup power would kick on so we could see.”
    â€œSpeaking of backing up . . . er . . .” Damon said. “ I’d like to back up all the way to the mall exit.”
    â€œBut we can’t go!” I said. “We haven’t found the—”
    I pressed my hand over my own mouth.
    Dad gave me this quizzical look. “Lindsey, is there something you’re not telling me?” he asked. “You and your friends are acting awfully . . .”
    â€œNo, no, no,” Stella said. “We’re fine. And we’ll go. We’ll go right now, Mr. Gomez. Let’s shuffle, Big Wally!”
    None of us wanted to leave (well, except for Damon),
but there was nothing any of us could say that would change my father’s mind. And before we knew it, Big Wally was leading us through the mall. And there was no arguing with Big Wally.
    By the time we got to the parking lot, the crowd was going crazy. People were pushing and shouting and crying—it was pretty scary.
    â€œStay safe, kids!” Wally called out before turning back inside.
    Safe? I thought. Yeah, sure thing, Big Wally.
    We elbowed our way through the crowd to get to the mall entrance. But there was no way back in! Dad had security guards posted at every single entrance to the building. Our Monster Squad mission had reached its first major detour.
    Now what?
    â€œWhat now?” Stella whined. “Everything we desperately need is in there !”
    I glanced around and thought hard. I snapped a few photos and then smiled at my camera.
    If I’ve learned anything from being a photographer at large it’s this: A camera can sometimes see things the eye can’t.
    â€œNot everything .”

CHAPTER 5
    LET’S SEE WHAT DEVELOPS
    â€œI guess it’s time to come up with another plan,” Jesse started to say.
    â€œYou mean a plan B ?” I cracked.
    â€œOh, come on!” Stella cried. “This is really not a time for jokes, Lindsey!”
    â€œDo you three want to come over to my house for a little while?” I suggested. “It’s just up the street . . .”
    We headed around one parking lot and into another. I’d never seen this place so busy. And then we saw something even weirder than the spouting coin fountain or the hole in the ceiling.
    At least five sports cars had been stacked like blocks, one on top of the other. The pile looked ready to topple over, but it didn’t. Something was keeping the cars stacked and stuck.
    â€œExtreme magnetic force!” Jesse cried.
    I snapped a few photos of the car pileup.
    Then Damon noticed there was another pile of metal objects . . . and another. Toys from Toy Mania, steel beams, chairs, and anything else that was metal and not nailed down headed up into the darkening sky. As we stood there, a small yellow car was sucked from its parking space and deposited with a loud smash onto one of the piles.
    Where was an air traffic controller when you needed one? The objects were in some kind of magnetic holding pattern right here