Read Online The Twin Powers by Robert Lipsyte - Free Book Online Page A

climbed in and stomped on the accelerator.
    Ronnie blasted through the chainlink fence out to the street and took off.
    â€œFind a highway, and then we’ll ditch the car,” I shouted. “It probably has a GPS, so it’ll be easy to track.”
    â€œGPS?”
    â€œLater.” I twisted around so I could crawl down under the steering wheel and put my left hand on the brake and my right hand on the accelerator. Just like old times.
    Ronnie had really quick reflexes. He maneuvered that big SUV like a racecar, off the street and onto a road that fed into the highway, and then onto the highway with sudden moves, but smooth too, yelling down to me, “Gas . . . more gas . . . let up a little . . . okay, be ready . . . pedal to the metal!”
    He didn’t call for the brake much, which Grandpa always says is the mark of a good driver, always thinking ahead.
    Now
I
had to think ahead.
We ditch the car, but then what? Where do we go? Back to the wagon? Who will protect us there?
I couldn’t even get Eddie on the brain waves.
Who do I need to make contact with? The aliens? How do I do that? Am I totally on my own? Just what powers do I have, besides breaking windows? Wind power is pretty awesome but it isn’t going to be enough. Hearing voices and thoughts? That would help. But maybe I had just been imagining them. Humans are good at imagining things, even half humans.
    Every so often, I popped up to check for police cars, and not just the ones that would be coming after us. How long could we be driving around with a thirteen-year-old boy who looked ten at the wheel? Even if no cops spotted us, what about other drivers? Unless they were all too busy talking or texting to notice Ronnie.
    The radio started to crackle. “Enterprise Two, come in, Enterprise Two. This is Federation.”
    â€œGas . . . more . . . okay, we’re coming to an exit . . .”
    â€œEnterprise Two, where are you?”
    â€œThat doesn’t sound like a cop radio,” said Ronnie.
    â€œIt’s got to be a federal task force after the aliens.” I felt excited and scared. “Like a special unit. X-Files.”
    â€œWhat?”
    â€œAnd those call signs: Enterprise and Federation. Pretty cheesy. You’d think they could do better than
Star Trek
.”
    â€œWhat’s that?”
    â€œA TV show about looking for aliens. After your time.”
    â€œEnterprise Two, you are moving. We have you.”
    â€œOkay, Ronnie, off the highway fast. Gotta find, like, an underpass or a concrete building that might block the GPS signal.”
    I knew he didn’t fully understand what I was talking about, but the little guy knew just what to do. Ronnie took a screaming right onto a highway exit, yelling to me, “Gas, gas, all you got . . . okay, lift off the pedal . . .”
    I kept poking my head up from under the dashboard, taking quick peeks as we started weaving through side roads toward what looked like an old abandoned industrial park alongside railroad tracks overgrown with weeds.
    We circled the area, which was surrounded by a twenty-foot chainlink fence with barbed wire on top.
    â€œBrakes!” The SUV jerked to a stop in front of a gate too heavy to crash through. There was a massive padlock on the front.
    I leaned out the window and focused hard, thinking
wind, storm, gale force, cyclone, hurricane, tornado
. The fence was rattling and my head felt as though the padlock banging against the chain links was banging against my skull. But the lock and fence held. I fell back exhausted.
    â€œCan’t do it,” I whimpered.
    Buddy licked my face, hard, to get me going. It didn’t feel friendly.
    â€œYou can do it,” said Ronnie.
    I took a deep breath and stuck my head out again. This time I imagined a ray of sunlight shining through a magnifying glass focused on the padlock, imagined the ray narrower and narrower,