They Came From Planet Q by Laura Dower Page A

shoved it right into the lock. Like magic, the key clicked.
    As the door opened wide, a swirl of red dust blew into our faces.

CHAPTER 13
    THE INCREDIBLE FIREQUARTZ QUEST
    â€œAfter you,” I said to Damon, fanning the dust away from my eyes.
    Some of the dust was probably firequartz, but most of the dust was just old cobwebs and floor dirt. This place hadn’t been explored in forever. All the dust that had been unearthed during the filming of They Came from Planet Q was now whirling through the air like a mini-tornado. It was hard not to cough and sneeze.
    â€œUm . . .” Damon stammered, pinching his nose. “After you. ”
    â€œI knew there was no way that chicken-boy would go step into the untested unknown first!” Stella cried.
    â€œEnough!” I cried. I went in first.
    After all of our bad luck before entering the mall, we’d really lucked out finding the reel and the red dust in the same store! We were on a roll.
    A rock and roll , actually.
    Stella and Jesse crowded behind me as we stepped onto the shadowy, stone staircase that (we hoped) led to the firequartz. It was hard to see going down the stairs. Good thing Jesse and Damon had gathered a few supplies, like flashlights—and we still had that penlight.
    We went slowly. The red dust left a thick coating on all of the stone steps, which made them slippery.
    â€œNo footprints in the dust,” Jesse commented. “That means no one else has been here, at least not for a whi—”
    CCCCCCCCRASH!
    ZZZZZZZZZZZZPPT!
    BLOOOOOONK!
    â€œWhat was that ?” I stammered. But I knew what it was. And so did everyone else.
    The bots were still coming. They sensed the rock. We had to move.
    When we got to the bottom of the stairs, Jesse shined the flashlight around.
    I couldn’t believe the walls. Everything— everything— seemed to glow red down here. But this was just a room filled with red dust residue—traces of firequartz long gone.
    The only source of power in the room was one slab . . . the one Leery had described to us . . .
    â€œHey, look at Stella!” Damon cried, laughing out loud. Jesse had his light trained on Ninja and she was covered from head to toe in red dust.
    â€œUgh,” Stella said, coughing. Then she pointed at Damon and Jesse and me, too. “Looks like we’re all covered in firequartz dust, bozo.”
    We all laughed.
    â€œWait!” Stella cried. “Do you feel that?”
    We all paused.
    â€œFeel what?”
    â€œAir!” Stella said. “I feel fresh, cool air. Where is it coming from?”
    Jesse noticed a crack in the wall and the ground. We traced it with the flashlight.
    â€œI bet this crack came from the tremors before the bots got here!” Jesse guessed. “And that’s probably when all the red dust swirled around, too! And now that the bots themselves have begun drilling, looking for the last piece of firequartz . . .”
    There were jagged cracks in the darker rock. We flashed the light all around to see if the cracks had done more than open a passage for air. Had the cracks created a break in the rocks where we could actually go outside? We might have found an alternate exit from this dark place!
    And then, right there, between two of the split slabs, I saw it. It was hardly even noticeable at first, but after a moment or two . . .
    The hunk of firequartz rock was right there!
    No one knew what to say or do.
    â€œGET IT!” Stella said, assuming her karate pose.
    â€œYou get it,” Damon grumbled.
    We all just stared. It wasn’t very big—just like Leery said. It was hard to believe it had much power. But we knew it did. We had to get it out of here . . .
    â€œGrab it and go,” Jesse said.
    I finally raced over and plucked it out. “We found you!” I cried to the slab of firequartz. It was about the size of a door.
    I could have kissed it!
    â€œSo now what?” Damon cracked.
    â€œWhat if . .