by H. Badger
Then suddenly, the entire city began to rotate under Kip’s and Finbar’s feet! Once again, it was turning to match the changing direction of the wind.
Kip stumbled. His feet scrabbled, trying to get a foothold on the shifting ground.
The lead alien loomed up behind him in the dark.
‘Come on, MoNa!’ Kip yelled at the sky. ‘What’s taking so –’ Then suddenly, the entire city lit up. It was like two bolts of lightning had struck at once.
At last! A pair of Scramblers beamed down from MoNa high up in Neron’s atmosphere.
Kip ran towards them, shielding his eyes. After being in the dark for most of the mission, the bright light stung his eyes badly.
Kip leapt into his Scrambler Beam. Finbar tried to do the same. But before he could make it safely, the lead alien reached out and grabbed at Finbar’s whiskers.
‘FIN!’ Kip screamed.
If the aliens snatched his WhiskerMic, the evidence against them would be lost.
But then Kip’s world began to scramble in front of him. His particles were being mixed up and beamed through space. Kip could do nothing to help Finbar now…
Seconds later, Kip found himself alone on the floor of MoNa’s landing bay. His particles had reassembled perfectly, but he was frantic.What had happened to Finbar?
Kip paced up and down the bay.Without his 2iC, it was eerily quiet. The seconds dragged by. And then –
‘What’s up, Kip?’ said a voice behind him.
Kip swung around. It was Finbar!
‘You made it!’ Kip yelled, giving Finbar a bear hug.
Or would that be a wolf hug? he thought, relieved.
Finbar looked like his normal self, except he was missing all his whiskers on the right side.
‘The aliens ripped them out,’ Finbar said, rubbing his cheek. ‘Those floppy fingers are surprisingly powerful.’
Kip winced. He didn’t have whiskers, but he imagined pulling them out would really hurt!
‘I managed to get free, though,’ Finbar finished.
‘And the recording?’ Kip asked nervously.
Finbar chuckled. ‘Luckily I keep the WhiskerMic on the left,’ he said, pulling out a whisker that was a tiny bit thicker than the rest.
Finbar filled Kip in on every detail as they headed to the Bridge. When they got there, Kip flopped into his captain’s chair. He couldn’t wait to tell the Intergalactic Enforcerbots about Neron’s aliens.
Kip punched the number for the Enforcerbot command centre into his SpaceCuff.
An Enforcerbot answered on the first ring. His picture shot up on Kip’s screen. His eyes flashed red and blue as Kip told him all about the illegal activity on Neron.
‘We wondered how that planet got so rich,’ the Enforcerbot said. ‘The answer was trading in illegal substances and, from the sound of it, environmental vandalism.’
Satisfied, Kip hung up.
His mission was complete…almost.
‘No relaxing yet,’ chimed MoNa. ‘You’ve got a mission report to write.’
It was a WorldCorp rule that Space Scouts had to file a report as soon as they’d completed a mission. MoNa loved rules, and she made sure Kip stuck to every one.
Turning to the holographic console, Kip scrolled to the screen he needed.
Kip shivered. Even thinking about Neron’s dark atmosphere was enough to make him feel cold and gloomy.
Luckily, WorldCorp had recently installed a MoodBeach aboard MoNa.
After long flights, Space Scouts tended to feel a bit cooped up. Being inside all the time, away from natural light, was known to put humans in a bad mood. The MoodBeach was WorldCorp’s solution.
Kip and Finbar headed for MoNa’s top deck, where the new MoodBeach was located.
A circular door slid open, revealing a perfectly blank white room beyond.
Finbar looked disappointed. MoNa was one of the newest starships in WorldCorp’s fleet. Normally her gadgets were the coolest available.
‘Not much of a beach,’ he grumbled, his remaining whiskers drooping.
‘Not yet,’ Kip grinned, grabbing a touchscreen remote from the wall.
Using the controller, Kip could customise the indoor beach just the way he wanted it. For the sky, he chose 91% blue with 9% puffy white clouds. Immediately, Kip’s perfect sky popped up on the ceiling.
Then he set the temperature to ‘Tropical Island at Midday’. When he twiddled the bird control, the sound of gulls filled the room.
‘Gulls? Booor-ing!’ laughed Finbar. ‘How about Martian Macaws instead?’
Kip changed the bird setting so the indoor beach was flooded with macaws singing.
When Kip adjusted the sand and water controls, the floor slid away to reveal fine white sand and turquoise water. There was just the number of gentle, lapping waves Kip had requested.
Finally, Kip played with the sunlight controller. He knew that back in the 2000s, people used to go to the beach to get suntans.
Can’t believe anyone did anything so dangerous! Kip thought to himself. In the year 2354, it was impossible to go outside without Factor 10,000 sunscreen all over your body.
Anyway, Brilliantans are so much cooler than ordinary suntans, Kip decided.
Brilliantans were one of WorldCorp’s weirder inventions. They allowed indoor beach users to select what colour they’d like their skin to turn.
All colours were available – blue, pink, orange and even a sickly shade of green. Special light rays reacted with a pigment in human skin, turning your body a different colour all over.
‘Think I’ll go blue,’ Kip said. His mum wouldn’t be too impressed, but oh well. Good thing Brilliantans were only temporary!
Kip yanked off his spacesuit. Underneath, he had on the T-shirt he’d worn to the One Moon Shopping Mall. It seemed like light years ago he’d been checking out the micro-rhinos with Jett!
Kip settled back on the sand. Almost at once, he felt warm, happy and relaxed.The MoodBeach was definitely working. Plus, Kip’s skin was already a light shade of blue.
He’d make quite a splash next time he went virtu-surfing!
THE END
The DarkWorld
published in 2011 by
Hardie Grant Egmont
Ground Floor, Building 1, 658 Church Street
Richmond, Victoria 3121, Australia
www.hardiegrantegmont.com.au
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means
without the prior permission of the publishers and copyright owner.
A CiP record for this title is available from the National Library of Australia
Text copyright © 2011 H. Badger
Illustration and design copyright © 2011 Hardie Grant Egmont
EISBN: 978 1 92175 977 2
Cover illustration by D. Mackie
Illustrated by D. Greulich
Series design by S. Swingler
Typeset by Ektavo
