They Came From Planet Q Read Online Free Page A

in the parking lot.
    Now I’m not an A+ science student like Jesse, but I knew this much: Whatever B-Monster was on its way had a herculean magnetic force. I felt all twitchy just watching it. If we didn’t confirm this B-Monster soon and figure out a way to stop it, the entire town of Riddle would probably turn into one giant magnet.
    â€œWe ruled out Robototron and Dr. Disaster already,” Stella said. “So what magnetic B-Monsters are left?”
    â€œDid anyone mention Escape to Skull Island ?” I asked. “Wasn’t that island magnetic?”
    â€œNot really,” Jesse replied. “It was radioactive and I suppose it probably might have had increased levels of magnetism, but . . .”
    â€œForget Skull Island , brainiac!” Damon blurted. “I swear our B-Monster is from They Came from Planet Q . Those robots came down to Earth from the sky.”
    â€œRight!” I said, looking up.
    â€œYou are right, Damon,” Jesse said. “We know the B-Force is coming from the sky. Good work.”

    We left the parking lot together and walked down the street to my big, old Victorian house with blue shutters. Damon filled us in with the many things he remembered about the They Came from Planet Q flick. The detail that intrigued me the most was that the hero in the movie carried a simple-looking camera that had secret powers.
    Mom must have seen us race up the walkway. She greeted us with my usual snack, popcorn and juice, even though she didn’t really know who my Monster Squad friends were.
    She said she’d heard the sirens at the mall, but had no idea what was going on there. I guess Dad didn’t want Mom to freak out, so he hadn’t called to tell her about the mass evacuation of the mall or the ceiling that wasn’t. The whole crisis hadn’t been broadcast by the news yet, either. It was hard to believe she’d been missing all the action, but she had. And I wasn’t about to let on that I knew anything unusual.
    Once inside the house, I told everyone to follow me quietly down to the basement.
    â€œWOW!” Stella said once we got downstairs. “That looks like a darkroom.”
    â€œThat’s because it is a darkroom,” I said, grinning at Stella.
    Everyone glanced at my camera.
    â€œRight! Let’s develop the photographs you took at the mall with your new camera!” Jesse said.
    â€œMy thoughts exactly,” I said.
    â€œMaybe you have a photo of the B-Monster in there!” Stella said.
    â€œMy thoughts exactly,” I said again, grinning.
    I hoped this camera had somehow captured some image that would confirm the identity of our latest B-Monster.

    The other Monster Squadders helped me pull down the trays for the different developing chemicals.
    â€œLet’s see what develops,” I said, as we got to work setting it up.
    Once the safety light was on, I removed the film from my camera and cut the negatives. Then I transferred those images onto photo paper. Gently, I dipped each sheet of photo paper into one tub with chemicals, and then the next one, and finally rinsed off a fully developed photo and hung it on the line. I repeated the process for all the shots. Stella, Jesse, and Damon helped.
    Each time a photo image began to sharpen in the final developing tub, I felt butterflies of anticipation. We all did.
    â€œLook! It’s the fountain!” Jesse cried.
    And then, “Too bad it’s blurred!”
    I had taken so many shots. Most of the fountain photos came out fuzzy because of the moving water. Most photos of the parade from Toy Mania came out blurred, too.
    But there was one amazing—and revealing—shot.
    â€œLindsey!” Jesse said, looking closely at the photo. “You got it!”
    â€œGot what?” Stella looked very close. “Are those spots from the developing fluid?”
    â€œI don’t think so,” I said, shaking my head. Then I grabbed a