Zim turned away from the screen. "Computer, take me to the labs," he commanded. The floor opened beneath Zim, and he slid down the tube and landed in a chair. The chair wheeled itself over to the main screen. Zim tapped some symbols on the panel and camera feeds of his experiments appeared. He tapped another symbol and Irken text appeared over each image, displaying it's status.
Suddenly the entire room went dark, then the lights came back on. The screen lit up again, displaying the Irken emblem and a very slow load bar. "Computer, what just happened?" Zim growled.
"Power failure. The base's power stores are empty. We are now running off the city's power network,"
"Why wasn't I alerted to the low power stores?" Zim asked.
"You kept interrupting when I tried to tell you a week ago," the Computer replied.
"Fine, take me to the Voot bay, I'll have to collect more Plutonium from Pluto. I refuse to be limited by the human power network!"
"But you were with the Megadoomer," the Computer pointed out.
"Do not question me while I am ZIIIIIM!!!"
"But you're always Zim."
"SILENCE!! Just take me to the Voot bay!" Zim commanded. The section of floor Zim was standing on lifted up into the ceiling.
-
Dib wasted no time. He full out ran across the city, shortening a three hour walk to a thirty minute sprint. He needed to get to his laptop in his room and analyze this data. Not for space ghosts, but for something more dangerous. Something he'd run across before.
He finally reached his house and burst through the door. Professor Membrane and Gaz were sitting on the couch, Gaz playing her game and Membrane watching the credits of his show, 'Probing the Membrane of Science.'
"Hello son," Membrane said in his booming voice, "Why were you so late today? You missed the episode where I discovered the cure for the common cold!"
"Sorry Dad, I met up with Bill and he gave me some important data," Dib replied.
"Oh, him." Membrane's voice was disapproving. "Real scientific data? None of your paranormal nonsense?" he asked hopefully.
"Dad, paranormal study is a valid field of science!" Dib said defensively.
Membrane sighed. "Of course it is. Go analyze your data, son. I'm sure its important."
"It could be world saving, Dad!" Dib called as he ran upstairs.
"My poor, insane son," Membrane muttered as he changed he channel.
-
Dib entered his room and ran to his desk. He opened up his laptop and inserted the CD. The various files appeared on the screen. Radiation emissions, spectroscopic data, heat emissions, infrared readings, and mass estimations filled various graphs and readouts. He brought up another folder with similar files.
"Well, here goes."
He executed a program that compared the numerical data in each category side by side on a chart, the new files on the right and the previously recorded files on the left. The data in either column matched almost perfectly.
Dib felt his stomach tighten into a knot. He had taken the older readings from his "Battle of the Planets" with Zim. Gir may have got away with his cameras, but he had brought other equipment that had recorded technical and scientific data from the Mars and Mercury ships.
The object Bill found was Mars.
Dib had lost track of Mars when it flew out of the solar system. He knew for a fact that it didn't get caught in Jupiter's gravity well, which meant someone found it and brought it back. Maybe more Irkens.
"I've got to see this for myself. Maybe my high powered telescope can help me map out Mars' course and ETA," Dib pondered aloud.
He jumped out the window and slid down a pole into the backyard. But his telescope wasn't there. "That's odd," He scratched his head, puzzled. "How do you misplace a ten foot long, three hundred pound telescope?" He walked inside, trying to figure out where it could be. "Hey, Gaz!" he called from the living room doorway. Gaz was still on the couch, but Membrane was gone. "Have you seen my telescope?" he asked.
Gaz opened an eye to glare at him. "Yes," she answered, then she refocused on her game.
Dib tapped an impatient foot. "Well, where is it?"
Gaz shrugged. "Somewhere in Greenland. I sold it on the internet."
Dib's eyes widened. "What?! Why?!" he shouted, unable to say anything else.
Gaz waved her game in the air. "How else would I get the money for Doom Monkeys 4?" She resumed her game once again.
Dib's mouth hung open in disbelief. "How could you do that?!"
Gaz glared at him. "I do it all the time," she said as though it were common knowledge. "Looks like I finally took something you'd miss." She grinned to herself as she got up and went upstairs, shielding herself from more dumb questions.
Dib gritted his teeth and banged his head on the wall repeatedly, making strange noises as he did so.
"This is terrible!" he cried out once his episode was over. "There's no way to guard against something I can't see coming! Another telescope. I need to find another telescope!" He placed a finger on his chin and thought a moment. "Wait, I've got it!" He excitedly rushed out to Membrane's basement lab.
-
"Rest assured, once my plan is set in motion, the entire Irken Empire will benefit." The figure sat in a dark room, the only illumination coming from the screen displaying Tallests Red and Purple.
"Whatever you say pal. If you can pull this off, we can get you whatever you want! Snacks, armies, your own planet!" Red exclaimed.
"My own planet, eh?" the figure replied, amused.
"Yeah, we can do that, we're the Tallests!" Purple added.
"So you are," the figure responded. "You won't be disappointed. Signing off." The screen went dead, and once again the room was pitch black.
"Cyclops," the figure summoned. A single red eye lit up in the dark. "Initiate Phase One." The eye vanished, and a door could be heard opening and closing.
"My own planet-" The figure stroked Mars' navigation console. "-indeed."
A/N: I'd like to think that this is shaping up to be pretty suspenseful. Hope you guys like it so far. Some feedback would be nice, but I'll keep this going regardless of reviews. Check back tomorrow or Wednesday for chapter four.