Invasion of the Insects Read online

  CONTENTS

  Chapter 1 Quit Bugging Me!

  Chapter 2 Dr. von Naysayer

  Chapter 3 Bug-Size Zapped

  Chapter 4 To the Rescue

  Chapter 5 Don’t Look Down!

  Chapter 6 A Buggy Plan

  Chapter 7 Beetles and Termites and Bees, Oh My

  Chapter 8 March of the Ants

  Chapter 9 Spider Attack!

  Chapter 10 Dr. B.’s Busy Bees

  About Ada Hopper and Sam Ricks

  Chapter 1

  Quit Bugging Me!

  * * *

  The hot sun shined in through the open tree house window.

  “Ugh, guys, I can’t take this heat.” Cesar sprayed himself with water from a squirt bottle.

  “Me either,” said Olive, swatting away a mosquito. “Or these bugs.”

  It was a Saturday morning in Newtonburg. Gabe, Laura, Cesar, and Olive—otherwise known as the DATA Set—were hanging out in their tree house. Normally the tree house was awesome. But the swarm of bugs flying around made things decidedly unawesome.

  “Well, it’s kind of cool,” said Gabe. “I like studying bugs.”

  “Normally I do too,” said Olive. “But I draw the line at stinkbugs. There were seven in my bedroom this morning. And it’s true—they really do stink!”

  “I woke up with an enormous queen bee in my hair,” said Cesar.

  “That must have been royally annoying!” Olive joked.

  “Hey, good one!” Cesar laughed. “Oh, oh, I got one. Why did the bee keep secrets?”

  Olive shrugged. “Why?”

  “None of your beeswax!”

  Olive and Gabe burst into laughter as Cesar added, “Or none of your Bzzzzzzzzz-ness!”

  “Hey guys, can you quiet down? I’m almost done repairing the air conditioner,” Laura said. She was tinkering with a circuit board.

  “Sorry, Laura. I can close the window to keep the bugs out,” Olive offered.

  “No, don’t. This tree house is made of metal,” Laura snapped. “The heat will be unbearable if there’s no airflow.”

  “Sorry.” Olive plopped down next to Cesar. “I . . . umm, didn’t mean to bug you.”

  Cesar chuckled, but Laura didn’t think anything was funny.

  “If you guys would let me focus, I could cool down the tree house already,” she said.

  “Hey, don’t blame us. Blame these buzzy bugs!” Cesar shooed a fly away, but the insect chased him around the tree house until he bumped into Laura’s table.

  SHATTER!

  “Oh no! Cesar!” Laura cried. The magnifying lens lay in pieces on the floor.

  “Sorry, Laura,” Cesar apologized. “I was just trying to escape that fly. Guess I turned out to be the buzzkill.”

  Laura wasn’t amused.

  “Now I need to go get another lens from Dr. B.,” she said with a huff.

  “We can go,” suggested Gabe.

  “No thanks,” said Laura as she stepped into the elevator. “You’ve done enough already. I need some fresh air.”

  The friends watched Laura ride down and stomp away from the tree house.

  Chapter 2

  Dr. von Naysayer

  * * *

  “They just don’t get it,” Laura explained over at Dr. Bunsen’s. “They’re goofing off while I’m trying to work!”

  “Yes, yes.” The doctor fiddled with an oversize contraption. Flies buzzed around his head. “Quite a buggy problem!”

  “Exactly!” said Laura.

  The doctor sighed. “Why, my Bug-Away-400 just won’t work!”

  “Huh?” Laura asked, confused.

  Dr. Bunsen motioned to his invention. “My Bug-Away-400. It’s supposed to keep all these insects far away. But alas, there are more bugs in Newtonburg than ever.”

  Dr. Bunsen pointed to a line of ants crawling across his desk. “A buggy problem if ever there was one!”

  Nearby, a dragonfly flitted in front of a small television playing a news program.

  “That’s not what I meant—” Laura started, but she was interrupted by the reporter.

  “This just in: Dr. von Naysayer has made a giant discovery in the fertilizer industry with his newest brilliant invention!”

  A stiff-looking scientist appeared on the screen. “Yes, thank you. I am quite proud,” the man said. “My new fertilizer will keep pests away, guaranteed. I make sure my inventions are one hundred percent bug free, unlike some scientists.”

  “Ugh.” Dr. Bunsen groaned. “Speaking of bugs, turn that off.”

  “Who is that? You know him?” Laura asked.

  “He was my old partner, Dr. von Naysayer.” Bunsen tossed his tools onto the lab table. “He always thought my ideas were mad. He liked to play it safe and hated taking risks. One day I decided I could not work with such a naysayer anymore. I told him we needed to work together or I would leave. He refused, so I left and haven’t spoken to him since.” Dr. Bunsen shrugged. “It’s okay though. All I need is science. And, of course, my lab in this lovely old Victorian house!”

  “Right . . . ,” said Laura.

  “It’s also splendid having four science-loving kids around. You make a great team,” Bunsen said with a smile. “But anyway, what was it you wanted?”

  “A magnifying lens,” Laura said.

  “Ah, yes,” replied the doctor. “I have just what you need.”

  Bunsen bounded into a storage room. While he was gone, Laura glanced around the laboratory. Inventions whirred and clicked. The large swarm of bugs approaching the bug-deterrent machine was growing larger. The buzz was unsettling.

  Laura suddenly felt bad about snapping at her friends.

  “Dr. B.,” she called. “I’ll come back later. I’m going back to the tree house to talk to the others.”

  The doctor didn’t reply.

  “Dr. B.?” she repeated. There was a ton of noise coming from the storage room. Laura moved forward to get a better look, but as she walked away from the desk, she bumped into an odd contraption that looked like a reverse microscope.

  “Hmm, what does this thing do?” Laura wondered aloud.

  The machine began to glow blue, then red, and then . . .

  ZAP!

  Chapter 3

  Bug-Size Zapped

  * * *

  “What’s happening!” Laura cried as the room whirled around her. Everything in the lab was growing bigger and bigger!

  Plop! She landed on Bunsen’s desk. It was the size of a football field. In fact, all the lab equipment had become enormous. She was surrounded by giant microscopes. Giant goggles. Giant flasks. Even a giant flying creature was zooming right toward her. . . .

  “AHHHHH!” Laura screamed. She dived behind the goggles just in time. She peeked out to see an enormous dragonfly!

  WHOMP! WHOMP! It hovered so close that she could hear its beating wings and feel the wind in her hair.

  Wait. How is that dragonfly as big as I am? Laura thought.

  “Oh no.” She let out a groan. “I’ve shrunk to the size of a bug!”

  Suddenly, booming footsteps made the desk begin to shake.

  “DOOOOCTOOOR BEEEEEE?” a thundering voice called.

  Gabe, Olive, and Cesar entered the lab. Laura couldn’t believe her eyes. They were huge!

  “Gabe! Down here!” Laura cried, waving her arms wildly. But her friends couldn’t hear her.

  Dr. Bunsen emerged from the storage room. “Well, if it isn’t the rest of the young DATA Set!” Dr. Bunsen was holding a new magnifying lens.

  “Where’s Laura? We thought she was here,” Gabe said.

  “I can see why she left.” Cesar cringed at all the bugs in the room. “Uh, Dr. B., when was the last time you
cleaned this place?”

  Dr. Bunsen scratched his head. “The cleaning service was just here.”

  A roach scurried up the wall next to Cesar. “Yeah, I’m gonna say they didn’t do a good job.”

  “It looks like you’ve invited every bug in town here!” said Olive.

  “I’ll go get some bug spray,” Dr. B. said. He placed the magnifying lens on the table.

  Meanwhile, Laura still tried to get her friends’ attention.

  “DATA Set! HELLLLLP!!!” she yelled.

  “Hey, did you hear something?” Gabe asked the others.

  “You mean other than a million bugs buzzing and crawling around?” Cesar asked.

  Laura huffed. She needed to find a way to get their attention. With a running leap, she jumped and pinched Gabe’s hand.

  “OW!” yelped Gabe. “I think a bug just bit me!”

  As Laura toppled down, Olive caught a glimpse of her blue shirt.

  “That’s a weird-looking bug,” Olive said. She picked up the magnifying lens Bunsen had left and peered through it.

  “Holy caterpillar!” she cried. “It’s Laura!”

  The DATA Set crowded around the lens.

  “What happened to you?” asked Cesar. “Why are you so tiny?”

  Laura urgently pointed over to the shrink ray.

  “Are you dancing?” Cesar asked. “You danced yourself tiny? You’re a tiny dancer?”

  Laura smacked her head. Then as she ran toward the shrink ray, there was a familiar sound.

  WHOMP. WHOMP.

  This time there was nowhere to hide. The dragonfly snatched Laura and flew out the window!

  “Laura!” her friends cried.

  Chapter 4

  To the Rescue

  * * *

  “We have to go after Laura!” exclaimed Gabe. “Before that bug eats her!”

  “Maybe it won’t,” said Cesar. “Maybe it only eats leaves.”

  Gabe shook his head. “Dragonflies definitely eat other bugs. We need to get outside now.”

  When the three friends turned to leave, Cesar accidently bumped into the shrink ray.

  The machine began to glow blue, then red, and then . . .

  ZAP! ZAP! ZAP!

  It shrunk all three kids!

  “Um, what just happened?” Olive cried. She looked around the giant room.

  “We’re tiny like Laura!” said Gabe.

  “Ohhhhhh, so that’s what Laura meant. She didn’t dance herself tiny. That invention turned her tiny,” said Cesar. “Boy, I have really got to stop bumping into things.”

  “Dr. B. can help us,” said Olive as the hulking doctor came back to the room.

  “Dr. Bunsen!” the kids all yelled at the top of their lungs.

  But the doctor couldn’t hear them. Instead, he looked around the lab. “Now the rest of the DATA Set has run off too?” He shook his head. “These blasted bugs are driving everyone away!”

  Bunsen narrowed his eyes as he sized up the bugs. “Well, my creepy-crawly friends, you may not be repelled by my Bug-Away-400, but this bug spray is one hundred percent guaranteed to keep you away! Huzzah!”

  The doctor sprayed every corner of the lab.

  “Oh no. Get out of the way!” Gabe cried as he covered his mouth. Bunsen had aimed right at them!

  “Dr. B., stop!” cried Cesar.

  “He can’t hear you,” Gabe said. “Just like we couldn’t hear Laura.”

  “Then what are we going to do?” asked Olive.

  A determined look spread across Gabe’s face. “We need to find Laura first. It’s going to get dark soon.”

  “Uh . . .” Cesar looked uncertain. “Are you sure it’s a good idea to go outside? You know—since we’re all bug-size, we probably shouldn’t go looking for reasons to get eaten. There must be another way.”

  Gabe shook his head. “Laura’s out there alone. She needs us! Come on, guys. The DATA Set always sticks together. Are you with me?”

  Cesar and Olive looked at each other and then nodded.

  “Good, because our rides are leaving!” Gabe yelled. “Let’s go!”

  As three bugs flew past, the DATA Set hopped on and hoped for the best.

  Chapter 5

  Don’t Look Down!

  * * *

  “Ahhhhhhhhh!” screamed Cesar. “I really don’t think this was a good idea!”

  The kids sailed out the window and high into the air. They each rode on their own bug.

  “You’ll be fine! Just don’t look down!” called Gabe.

  “How do we find Laura?” Olive shouted.

  “With some DATA Set luck,” said Gabe as he pointed ahead.

  The dragonfly held on tight to Laura as they hovered low to the ground.

  “Laura!” the three friends cried as they flew to her side.

  “DATA Set?!” she exclaimed. “What are you doing?”

  “Rescuing you!” cried Gabe.

  “But how did—ahhhhh!” Laura slipped and fell into the grass!

  “Laura!” her friends screamed.

  “We need to jump,” exclaimed Gabe. “On the count of three!”

  “You said don’t look down!” groaned Cesar. “Now you want us to jump?”

  “If we are as small as insects, then we’ll be fine!” said Olive.

  “If?” yelped Cesar.

  Gabe nodded and hoped Olive was right. “Ready? One, two, three!”

  They each let go of their bugs and plummeted downward.

  “I HATE THREE!!!!!” screamed Cesar.

  Pfff! Pfff! Pfff!

  The kids landed safely on the ground.

  “Is everyone okay?” Gabe asked.

  “Yeah, I guess that wasn’t so bad,” replied Cesar.

  “I told you.” Olive helped him to his feet. “Since we are tiny, our mass and weight are different from before. Falling through air at this size is more like falling through water. Simple physics.”

  Cesar looked at Gabe. “Did you know that would happen?”

  “I was pretty sure,” said Gabe. “Now let’s go find Laura!”

  The friends trudged through the maze of tall grass blades that seemed like trees in a jungle.

  “This is going to be impossible.” Cesar whacked a stem out of his way. The stalk swung back at him, raining down white fluff.

  “Achoo! Dandelions!” Cesar sneezed. “Can’t . . . breathe . . .”

  Gabe rolled his eyes. “Just brush it off and keep watch for Laura.”

  Cesar huffed. Gabe’s words stung like a bee. “Fine—after all, we always do what you say.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” said Gabe.

  “You always do this,” said Cesar. “You always insist we do whatever you say because you’re the leader.”

  Now Gabe’s feelings were hurt. “That’s not true!”

  “It is so true,” argued Cesar. “We are in this buggy trouble because of you—”

  “Guys, now isn’t the best time to fight,” said Olive as she looked around. “Hey! There’s something over that hill!”

  The friends clambered up and over a small dirt pile.

  There was Laura!

  Gabe and the others ran to her side. “Are you okay?”

  “Shhhhhhhhh.” Laura pointed toward a tall clump of grass.

  Staring back at them was an enormous grasshopper.

  And it looked hungry.

  Chapter 6

  A Buggy Plan

  * * *

  “Three words,” whispered Cesar. “Bug. Sized. Trouble.”

  “It’s okay,” Gabe said hesitantly. “Grasshoppers only eat plants.”

  The giant beast leaned down toward Gabe and opened its jaws.

  “Ahhhhh!” Gabe threw up his hands.

  CHOMP.

  The grasshopper took a big bite from a dandelion stalk.

  Munch. Munch.

  The DATA Set watched and held their breath as the grasshopper leaped out of sight.

  Laura turned to her tiny friends. “
Wow, am I glad to see you all! How did you get shrunk down?”

  “That was my bad,” said Cesar. “I bumped into Dr. B.’s shrink ray.”

  “Oh, Cesar.” Laura couldn’t help giggling.

  Olive smiled. “It all worked out, though, because we found you!”

  “Thanks for coming after me even though I ran away earlier,” said Laura.

  “About that . . . I’m sorry I broke your magnifying lens,” said Cesar.

  “Thanks, Cesar. I’m sorry too,” said Laura. “I got upset because you were all joking around while I was working.”

  “We wanted to help you, but we aren’t all great at fixing things,” said Gabe. “That’s what you bring to the DATA Set.”

  “Well, we definitely need to help each other now. What do we do next?” asked Olive.

  “We get back to Dr. B.’s house,” Gabe said. “And I think . . .”

  Suddenly, Gabe paused.

  “What?” pressed Olive.

  “Well, everyone might not like my idea.” Gabe glanced over at Cesar.

  “Aw, come on!” Cesar groaned.

  “What’s going on?” Laura asked.

  “Cesar’s mad because Gabe’s always the one with the plan,” Olive explained.

  “No, it’s because he always leads us into trouble,” Cesar said.

  “You didn’t have to come with us—” said Gabe.

  “Guys, come on!” Laura interrupted. “We can’t keep fighting.” Then she told the others about Dr. B. and his old partner. “If we don’t work together, then we could end up like them. I’m not going to give up on the DATA Set.”