Out of This World

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, incidents, and dialogues are products of the author’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2012 by Douglas E. Richards

  eBook Published by Paragon Press, 2012

  ParagonPressSF@gmail.com

  E-mail the author at doug@san.rr.com, Friend him on Facebook at Douglas E. Richards Author, or visit his website at www.douglaserichards.com

  ISBN: 978-0-9853503-3-8

  All rights reserved. With the exception of excerpts for review purposes, no part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.

  First Edition

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Douglas E. Richards is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the adult science fiction thriller WIRED, and its sequel, AMPED. He has also written five middle grade/young adult novels widely acclaimed for their appeal to boys, girls, and adults alike. In 2010, in recognition of his work, he was selected to be a "special guest" at San Diego Comic-Con International, along with such icons as Stan Lee, Ray Bradbury, and Rick Riordan. Richards has written numerous feature articles for the award-winning magazine, National Geographic KIDS—some having appeared in a dozen languages in as many as sixteen countries—as well as for American Fencing Magazine. He currently lives in San Diego, California with his wife, his two children, Ryan and Regan (for whom the main characters in his PROMETHEUS PROJECT series are named), and his dogs Dash and Myla.

  ALSO BY DOUGLAS E RICHARDS

  Adult

  WIRED (sci-fi/technothriller)

  AMPED (the WIRED sequel)

  Middle Grade/YA

  The Prometheus Project: Trapped (Book 1)

  The Prometheus Project: Captured (Book 2)

  The Prometheus Project: Stranded (Book 3)

  The Devil’s Sword

  Ethan Pritcher, Body Switcher

  Out of This World

  Douglas E. Richards

  CHAPTER ONE

  The Amazing Zacharini

  Zachary Lane carefully scooped up the deck of cards in front of him on his bedroom floor and held them against his forehead. He shut his eyes and squinted in pretend concentration. “And now,” he whispered mystically, “the Amazing Zacharini will use the power of his colossal mind to find the card you picked. Using brainwaves alone.”

  He opened his eyes and stared intently into the hazel eyes of his sister, Jenna, two years younger, seated on the tan carpet across from him. Her face had a smattering of light freckles and she had shoulder length, brownish-blonde hair.

  Jenna was unimpressed. She produced an exaggerated, pretend yawn. “Can you wake me up when this is over, Amazing Zucchini?”

  “Zacharini” he shot back, annoyed. “You know, like Houdini.”

  Jenna rolled her eyes. “So you're gonna figure out which card I picked by brainwaves alone, huh?” she said skeptically.

  “That's right.”

  “Don’t you have to have a brain to do that, Zucchini?” she said with a smirk, trying to get under his skin. Not that she had much chance of succeeding. No one was as sure of himself as Zachary. Her brother thought there was nothing that he couldn't do. And what annoyed Jenna the most was that he was probably right. Her parents were both scientists with minds sharp as razors, but she was pretty sure that her brother Zachary was even sharper.

  “Really, Jen? That’s the best you’ve got?” he said, shaking his head in pity. “Ten minutes from now, after I’ve pulled off something truly amazing,” he added, raising his eyebrows, “I want you to remember that you said I was the one without the brain.”

  “You’re not as amazing as you think you are, Zucchini,” said Jenna. “You know what magic trick I’d really like to see?” she added.

  “Let me guess,” said Zachary without hesitation. “You’d like to see me disappear.”

  Jenna winced before she could catch herself. She hadn’t really wanted him to give her an answer—especially the right answer. “No. That wasn’t what I was going to say at all,” she lied, but she was sure she had said it so pathetically that her brother wouldn’t be fooled for a second. Still, there was no turning back now. “You couldn’t be more . . .um . . . wrong. You’d better check those magic brainwaves of yours.”

  Zachary shook his head. “If you’d let me get on with the trick,” he said impatiently, “we could all find out just how magic my brainwaves turn out to be.”

  Jenna frowned. As usual, her attempts at insulting him hadn’t worked at all, and may have even backfired. She nodded. “Okay, Zucchini, show me your dumb trick.”

  Zachary removed the deck of cards from his forehead and held them about a foot off the ground, so all of the cards were facing down. His blue eyes sparkled with amusement as he flipped over the top card and dropped it face-up on the carpet between them. It was the Five of Diamonds.

  He ran a hand through his short, light-brown hair and massaged his own head for a moment as if trying to stimulate his brain. “No,” he said finally, shaking his head. “That's not your card.”

  He flipped over the next card from the top of the deck, revealing its identity, and placed it beside the Five. It was the Ace of Spades. He studied it carefully. “No,” he said once again.

  Jenna tried to act bored but was fascinated despite herself. She watched her brother lay six more cards, face up, beside the first two, each time shaking his head and repeating the word, “No”.

  And then the moment of truth arrived. Zachary turned over the King of Clubs. The King of Clubs. This was the card she had chosen and then returned to the deck. This was the card whose identity she had written down on a piece of paper, now shoved in her pocket, so there could be no cheating. Jenna was careful not to change her expression in any way.

  Zachary stared into the King's face intently. He squinted. His forehead creased with concentration. “No,” he said finally, shaking his head. He placed the King face-up on the floor with the rest of the cards, and immediately shifted his gaze back to the top of the deck still in his hand.

  No? Jenna fought to suppress a smile, but the corners of her mouth turned up slightly even so. He had said no. Hah. He didn't know the King was her card, which meant he had botched the trick. He wasn't infallible after all. She fought to hide her excitement. She could hardly wait for the Amazing Zucchini to guess the wrong card so she could rub it in.

  Zachary continued turning over cards from the top of the deck, one by one, and staring intently at each. Five more times he said “no” before adding each card to the ever-growing number spread out on the carpet.

  He went to flip yet another card, but when he touched the top of the deck his hand jerked back explosively, as if he had received an electric jolt. “Ah-ha,” he announced triumphantly. “This was the sign I've been waiting for.”

  He returned his hand to the deck and lifted the top card in preparation to flip it over and reveal its identity. He stared intently at his sister. “I'll bet you a dollar that the next card I flip over is your card.”

  Jenna's breath caught in her throat. She had no idea what card he now held in his hand, but she knew one thing for sure: it was not the King of Clubs. She had him.

  Or did she?

  She paused in thought. She had bet with Zachary two other times within the last year. Both times he offered her ridiculous bets he couldn’t possibly win. Not in a million years. She had been absolutely certain about this: right up until the time that he did, in fact, win. Both bets.

  She had better be careful.

  Her mind drifted back t
o a cold, dark night seven months earlier. He had called her into his bedroom and put his hand on the light-switch that controlled his only light. “I’ll bet you five dollars that I’m fast enough to turn off this switch and make it to the stairs before my room gets dark.”

  “What? You’re out of your mind.”

  “Nope. Just superhumanly fast. You know, to go along with all of my other superhuman qualities.”

  Jenna glanced at the stairs, which were a good fifteen feet away. Saying nothing, she moved her hand to where his had been and flicked the light-switch down. She and her brother were instantly plunged into total darkness.

  “Impossible,” she said simply.

  “Then make the bet,” he challenged.

  “It’s impossible, Zack. You’d have to use some kind of trick.” She tilted her head in thought. “What did you do, rig a remote control to turn off the lights? So you can do it while you’re already standing on the stairs?”

  “Jen,” he said, pretending to be offended. “That would be cheating. I would never do that. I’ll stand right where you are and flip the switch with my own hand. Really.”

  Jenna tested the light switch a few more times and then shrugged. “Okay,” she said at last. “You’re on. Five dollars.” She stepped aside. “Go ahead, Zack. Flip the switch and make it to the stairs before it gets dark. I can’t wait to see this.”

  Zachary grinned. “Funny that you say that, Jen. Because I’m afraid you’re going to have to.”

  “Have to what?”

  “Have to wait. You didn’t think I was going to do this right now, did you?”

  Jenna’s eyebrows came together in confusion.

  “I never said I was going to do it now. That was never part of the bet. I’ll let you know when I’m ready.”

  The next morning, Zachary was ready. He opened his window shade and his room was immediately flooded with sunlight. He then calmly switched off the room light, which in broad daylight did not, of course, cause the room to get dark, and walked slowly, deliberately, from the light-switch to the stairs. This impossible bet had turned out surprisingly easy for him to win.

  Four months later he removed three enormous glasses from the cupboard and filled them to the brim with water. He bet her he could finish drinking all three giant glasses before she could finish drinking a tiny paper cup full of water. There was only one catch: she had to let him finish his first glass and begin to drink his second before she could start.

  Jenna remembered the light-switch bet and vowed not to be fooled again. It only took a few seconds for her to figure out his plan. He would knock over her cup while he was getting his head start and claim victory when she wasn’t able to drink all of the spilled water. Not this time, she thought to herself. This time she’d make sure his plan backfired.

  “Okay,” she said as innocently as she could. “You have a bet.”

  “Great,” said Zachary, reaching for his first glass.

  Jenna blocked his hand. “Wait just a second,” she said, smiling slyly. “I have a condition. We can’t touch each other’s glasses. Whoever does loses instantly.”

  Zachary looked horrified. “What?”

  “You heard me. What’s the matter, Zack? You weren’t planning to spill my cup were you? You weren’t planning to cheat?”

  Her brother gulped. “No. Of course not.”

  “Then you shouldn’t have any problem with this.”

  Zachary grimaced, and Jenna could tell he was frantically searching to find a way to escape her trap. But there was no way out. He was the one who had proposed the bet, and he couldn’t possibly argue that her condition was unreasonable.

  “Well?” pressed Jenna.

  Her brother considered for a moment longer and then nodded miserably.

  “That’s more like it,” she said happily. She waved her hand toward his large glasses of water and grinned. “Let’s get started.”

  Zachary reached for his first glass and slowly began drinking. And he didn’t look happy. Jenna readied herself to snatch her tiny cup and drain it the moment her brother began to drink from his next glass, as they had agreed.

  Zachary reached for his second glass. He was just inches from it . . . and then stopped.

  And then stopped.

  Instead of touching his second glass he picked up the first again, the one he had just emptied, and grinned at his sister. Raising his eyebrows mischievously, he turned the empty glass over and swiftly brought it down over Jenna’s paper cup. Then he calmly reached for his second glass and began drinking.

  Jenna shook her head in confusion. How lame. He had delayed her for a moment, but he still didn’t have a chance. She could drain this tiny cup in a single gulp before he even started on his third glass. She reached out to remove her cup from the prison of her brother’s overturned glass.

  “I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” warned Zachary, who had suddenly stopped drinking.

  “What are you talking about?”

  Zachary shook his head. “I can’t believe you would forget your own rule. Remember? We can’t touch each other’s glasses or we lose. You weren’t just about to touch my glass, were you?”

  Her face contorted into a mask of horror as she realized how completely she had fallen into Zachary’s trap, and how foolproof it was. He hadn’t broken any rules. His glass hadn’t touched her cup nor had he caused a single drop to spill from it—but he had left her with no way to reach her tiny container. Worse still, he had tricked her into setting the trap for herself. She had become snared on a rule that she had insisted upon.

  Jenna screamed in frustration as her brother calmly finished his third glass and held out his hand for payment.

  Even now, months later, the memory of these humiliating losses still stung; still caused her face to redden in anger.

  But that was then and this was now.

  She looked at the cards again and considered the bet her brother was offering. This situation was different from the last two. This wasn't a preplanned con. This was a stupid magic trick he was trying to teach himself. And he only wanted to bet a dollar, not five or more, which showed that he wasn't too sure of himself.

  And there was no way out this time.

  The next card he turned over couldn’t be hers because he had already turned hers over. This was her chance to get even with him for the last two bets. Maybe more than even.

  “Why just a dollar?” she asked. “Let's make this interesting.”

  Jenna Lane leaned forward and stared intently at her older brother. “I'll bet you a hundred dollars!” she challenged firmly.

  CHAPTER TWO

  A Winning Bet

  Zachary coughed. “A . . . a hundred bucks. Have you gone crazy?”

  “What’s wrong, Amazing Zucchini? Don’t tell me you’re losing your touch.”

  Her brother frowned. “You're insane, skunk-breath. Besides, you don't have a hundred dollars.”

  Jenna considered. He was right. He had been saving his allowance money for a long time, but she hadn’t. “Then you put up a hundred and I'll put up whatever you want. How about my bike?”

  Zachary shook his head. “What would I do with your bike? I'll tell you what: if I lose I'll give you the hundred. But if you lose, you have to do my chores for three months.”

  “Which ones?”

  “All of them. Whenever it’s my turn to do the dishes, take out the garbage, rake leaves—whatever—you have to do it for me.”

  Jenna glanced at the cards Zachary had already turned over for reassurance and was comforted to see the King of Clubs still among them. “You're on,” she said, barely able to contain her excitement. She trained her eyes on the deck in his hand and the card he was holding by its edge. “Flip it over and let's see.”

  Zachary smiled triumphantly. “You know something, Jenna,” he said. “After you've done the last chore for me three months from now, as a favor to you, I'm going to teach you how to stop making losing bets.”

  “Yeah, yeah, y
eah. The first thing I'm going to do with the hundred dollars I win is buy you a muzzle. Why don't you just turn over the stupid card already and quit stalling.”

  A wide grin came over Zachary’s face. “Okay, Jen. Whatever you want,” he said smugly. “You’re going to love this.” He paused. “I will now flip over your card,” he announced theatrically, using the voice of the Amazing Zacharini once again.

  He pulled the top card from the deck and moved it, its face still down, closer to Jenna. Then he began the motion as though he would flip it over—and then stopped.

  And then stopped.

  He brought the card back to the top of the deck and replaced it there. He lowered the deck and set it down on the carpet.

  And then, as Jenna's jaw dropped to the floor, Zachary reached forward, grabbed the King of Clubs where it had rested on the carpet between them now for several minutes, and flipped it back over the other way, so the card's back was all that could be seen.

  She gasped in surprise and horror. He had done it again.

  He had said that her card would be the next card he turned over. He had never said that it would necessarily be the one from the top of the deck he had been holding, just because all the others had been. And he had never said it couldn't be one he had already turned over.

  “I really, really hate you,” said Jenna through clenched teeth. “Not only that,” she continued, “but did I mention that I hate you?”

  “I’m sorry you feel that way, Jen. I’ve always thought you were . . . well . . . just the best,” he gushed sarcastically. “Especially now that you’re going to be helping me so much. I couldn’t ask for a better sister.”

  At that exact instant their mother walked into the room, just in time to hear Zachary’s last sentence. “Zack, what a nice thing to say to Jenna. It’s great to see you two getting along so well,” she said happily.

  Jenna fumed silently.