The Twin Powers Read Online Free PDF Page B

the garage so the drone wouldn’t spot them. We pulled the shades in the kitchen and living room.
    As usual, Ronnie was wearing clothes big enough for someone twice his size. You’d never think Eddie’s little sidekick was the daredevil driver who had helped us escape from the insane asylum the year before by crashing through fences and construction barriers and running over one of Dr. Traum’s hologram thugs. Ronnie did it even though his feet couldn’t reach the pedals!
    Alessa banged a glass on the table. “Okay, guys, what now?” She was in her usual take-charge mode. I had a funny thought:
Ronnie is a little blond boy who looks like a doll and Alessa is a big black girl who acts as if she has all the answers, and they both hide themselves in clothes as big as tents.
I was so into that thought that Alessa had to yell at me.
    â€œEarths to Todd Britzky! Helloooo!”
    â€œIt’s pretty obvious,” I said, stalling for time.
    â€œObvious that you’re brain-dead,” said Tom. He can’t resist jabbing the needle. Just can’t help himself.
    â€œIt’s obvious that Todd thinks before he speaks,” said Eddie. Nice guy.
He
can’t help himself.
    â€œWe have to give Tom and Eddie a chance to work on their powers,” I said. “And Tom has to get a crewcut like Eddie, just in case someone spots him.”
    â€œLet Eddie’s hair grow in,” said Tom.
    â€œWe don’t have a lot of time,” said Grandpa. “And it’s very important that no one sees Eddie and Tom together. That’s our big secret. Human beings can’t know that twin halfies exist.” Grandpa sounded serious. “Dr. Traum and the Primary People’s Council are meeting. It looks like they’ve decided that the Earths need to be destroyed before they get a chance to destabilize the universe with extreme weather or nuclear explosion.”
    â€œWhen?” I said.
    â€œThe clock is ticking,” said Grandpa. “It gets worse. There’s a federal agency here on EarthOne, like the one that went after Eddie on EarthTwo, that does nothing but look for aliens. They’re the ones who sent the drone. Whatever you decide to do, it has to be soon, before they know too much about us.”
    â€œAny ideas?” said Alessa. She was looking at me. We’d been discussing this, but just between us.
    â€œWell, Alessa and I’ve been talking,” I said. “How about what we did last year, Tech Off! Day? Only this time, we’d make it into more than just a day. Like a campaign. Petitions, marches, things like that.”
    â€œWhat’s that going to do?” said Ronnie.
    â€œIt’s an old spy trick,” I said. “It’s called hiding in plain sight. If everybody is watching us, it will be harder for the government to kidnap us and put us away somewhere. Like they tried to do with Eddie.”
    Tom gave me a thumbs-up. I was glad he thought it was a good idea. Tom is smart.
    â€œThen what?” said Ronnie.
    â€œPeople will see kids trying to make things better and they’ll want to do it too,” said Alessa.
    â€œMeanwhile,” I said, “we can figure out how to rescue your dad. And when the aliens and the feds come after us, we’ll see who they are, maybe figure out how to take them down.”
    â€œYeah, right,” said Ronnie sarcastically. “Like we’ve been doing.”
    â€œSo don’t come along—stay here,” I said.
    â€œNot on this stinking planet,” said Ronnie. “You can see the air. The water’s dirty.”
    Eddie held up his hand and Ronnie shut up. Ronnie grabbed Buddy and held the dog on his lap.
    â€œFirst things first,” said Tom. “Eddie and Ronnie need to get phones so we can stay in contact all the time.”
    Uh-oh.
I could see where this was going. “That’s tech,” I said.
    â€œDuh,” said Tom. “This is