Ruby heard a slight cough and looked to her right. Her entire extended family was standing in the doorway, listening.

“Someone is getting coal for Christmas,” Cousin Finn said.

“Ruby Tallulah Peet!” Sarah cried. “You apologize this minute.”

Grandma Tina shook her head. “She’s right. We should head home. This is too much for you folks.”

“Mom, don’t you dare take a step toward that door,” Sarah said. “You are more than welcome here.”

“Ruby, I think you need to spend a little time in your room thinking about being rude to the people who love you,” Francis said as he slammed shut her bedroom door.

Ruby scooted the juice boxes off her pillow and threw herself onto her bed. She lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, bewildered by what she had just done. Sure, there were going to be something like fifty thousand people sleeping in her home that night, but why get so angry? Normally, she would have been thrilled with the chance to find a truckload of inflatable mattresses and quilts. She could have happily taken over the whole operation. So, why wasn’t she?

Was it really about her family’s bickering and the kids going through her sock drawers? No, she knew it wasn’t. Her messy room was just a reflection of her messy life. It felt like one layer of trouble was stacked on top of another, and then another, like a birthday cake of chaos.

And she had taken all of it out on her family. She needed to apologize.

She got up from her bed, ready to throw herself at the mercy of the entire Peet/Kaplan clan, when she heard a message alert coming from the computer in her backpack. She popped it open and found an encrypted e-mail from Duncan. She ran the decryption program and found a link to a video on a news website. A reporter stood in front of the busted fence outside the White House.

“Folks, this isn’t some big-budget Hollywood movie,” he said. “Superheroes are real. I’m here at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, the scene of a battle right out of a comic book. As we reported earlier, President Lipton was arrested for leading an assault on the White House. Rumors circulated that he was with a group of superpowered children. We can now confirm that those rumors are true. We’ve got footage of the event, and I assure you, this is the real thing.”

The reporter vanished and a video of the fight replaced him. Ruby’s heart sank, fully expecting to recognize her face or those of her teammates.

“As you can see, one of these so-called superkids can fly. The other seems to be able to create things with the braces on his teeth. Now here’s one who appears to be able to create sonic booms with her voice. But most shocking of all is an exclusive image of President Lipton commanding a boy to fire what appears to be exploding mucus at Secret Service agents.”

Ruby watched intently. She saw Flinch leaping into the air and Duncan spraying glue out of his fingers and her own poofy hair as she fought Tessa Lipton disguised as the president, but the camera was shaky. There wasn’t a steady shot of anyone’s face. Could they really have been so lucky?

The reporter’s voice returned. “As we’ve reported, there is no information on what prompted the president’s actions or where these superpowered children came from. We’ve been told that President Lipton is in custody at the Pentagon. Sources say he is refusing to cooperate with the CIA and the FBI. At the moment, we have no comment from the White House or from the First Lady, but it is assumed that Vice President James Stephenson will be sworn in as soon as possible.”

The video switched to a wrinkly old man with an angry face. He wore a suit and stood at a podium in front of a room of reporters.

“The Senate majority leader had this to say about the incident,” the reporter said.

“When I was a kid if we wanted to go somewhere we walked! Now the sky is overrun with flying children. Clearly, the president is behind this. Perhaps he was some kind of sleeper agent. These kids could be Russians, North Koreans, or even aliens from another planet. But I believe this wild act of violence and these superpowered children are a direct result of playing too many video games. With the beeps and the boops and the cranky birds. It rots their brains. I think the good people of this country are starting to realize that video games are the cause of all the world’s problems—that and rock music.”

Ruby closed her laptop and sighed. It was a miracle that the NERDS had not been identified. Maybe her life wasn’t falling apart after all.

Suddenly, her scalp began to itch. She leaped from her seat and swung her leg around, connecting with the man that stood next to her bed. She clipped his chin and he fell backward, knocking over a lamp.

“I’m allergic to being snuck up on,” Ruby said. “I’m also allergic to strangers crawling in through my bedroom window, creepy grown-ups, and being underestimated.”

“Are you Ruby Peet?” the man asked as he staggered to his feet.

Ruby leaped forward with fists clenched. She threw several punches, connecting with the man’s jaw and sending him into a shelf that held her trophies for Best Gift Wrapping.

The man was well trained. He threw his own punches, aiming for her chest and gut. She tumbled into her desk, knocking a piggy bank to the floor and shattering it. Change rolled all over the floor. That hurt—a lot. She knew if she didn’t want to feel another hit, she needed to calm down and let her allergies tell her what to do.

Her tongue was swollen, which meant he was about to deliver a knee to her face. She blocked it and kicked his other leg out from under him. A pronounced wheeze in her lungs meant he was going to put her in a bear hug, but she squirmed out of the way and clunked him on the head with her computer. A weepy eye told her that she needed to step to the right to avoid an uppercut. The man swung with all his strength, throwing himself off-balance. He slammed onto the floor with a thud and Ruby leaped on top of him, twisting his arm into a chicken wing.

“If you want to keep throwing that tantrum, you should be prepared to be grounded for two weeks, young lady!” her father shouted through her closed door.

“If you want to keep getting beat up, you’re going to have to do it more quietly,” Ruby hissed at her attacker.

“Kid, I’m not here to fight you. I work for the Secret Service. I know who you are. I know who you work for.”

“Who sent you?”

“General Savage.”

Ruby snarled.

“He just wants to have a conversation.”

“The general?”

“No, the president. Can you let me up?”

“The president doesn’t have security clearance high enough to talk to me,” Ruby said. “Besides, isn’t he in jail?”

“Yes, an innocent man has been arrested, and you’re involved. The very least you could do is go talk to him, kid.”

Deep within the Pentagon, the president sat in a bare room. His hands were cuffed together and he looked exhausted.

“So it’s true,” he said when Ruby sat down in front of him.

She frowned. “What’s true, sir?”

“This country has a spy organization made up of superpowered children,” he said. There was a manila folder on the table with the words TOP SECRET printed on it. He pushed it toward her, but she didn’t open it. She already knew what was in it and who had given it to him.

“Let’s talk about your daughter, sir.”

“Is she one of you?”

Ruby shook her head. “No, but she’s being led by someone who used to be a member of our team.”

The principal opened his folder and peered at a document inside. “Yes, the librarian—Viktoriya Deprankova.”

“We prefer to call her Ms. Holiday.”

“She’s now calling herself Miss Information, right?”

“I can’t tell you anything, sir.”

“I’m the president, young lady.”