Arctic Adventure

by Axel Lewis

  First published in 2013 by Curious Fox,

  an imprint of Capstone Global Library Limited,

  7 Pilgrim Street, London, EC4V 6LB

  Registered company number: 6695582

  www.curious-fox.com

  Text © Hothouse Fiction Ltd 2013

  Series created by Hothouse Fiction

  www.hothousefiction.com

  The author’s moral rights are hereby asserted.

  Cover illustration by Spooky Pooka

  Cover design by Mandy Norman

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  ISBN 978 1 78202 054 7

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form or by any means (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner.

  ebook created by Hothouse Fiction Ltd

  With special thanks to David Grant

  Chapter 1 - Destination Unknown

  The vast steel door of the airship clanged shut and the airlock sealed it with a hiss and a metallic thud. The robot racers were on their way.

  Jimmy Roberts hurried to one of the tiny circular portholes. He headed past the workstations where each of the racers’ teams were working feverishly on their state-of-the-art robots. Jimmy’s own robot, Cabbie, was already updated and his grandpa, Wilfred Roberts, was sat next to him with a celebratory cup of tea.

  By the time Jimmy got to the little round window, they were way above the ground.

  He peered down from the airship at his little house. He could just about make out the garden shed where Grandpa had built Cabbie out of a rusty old taxi cab and bits of scrap material.

  It had been nearly two months since Lord Leadpipe had announced that he would be opening up his world-famous racing championship to children for the first time. In a whirlwind few days, Jimmy had learned that his jolly old grandpa was actually a genius robot inventor who used to work for the most secret department of the Secret Services. Grandpa had built Cabbie for Jimmy so that he could compete in the Robot Races against some of the best robots in the world.

  And now, here they were, on their way to the third stage of the competition.

  Jimmy could hardly believe he was a robot racer, no matter how many times he thought about it. Even when he said it out loud.

  The house and garden shed got smaller and smaller as the airship climbed, until Jimmy’s hometown of Smedingham was so far away that it looked like a toy town. The cars driving along the busy streets seemed to crawl over them like tiny bugs. And then they were high in the clouds and Jimmy could see nothing at all.

  “Hey, Jimmy!”

  Jimmy turned to see Sammy walking towards him. Sammy – Samir Bahur from Egypt – was one of the other competitors.

  Jimmy grinned and gave his friend a high five. “Hey, Sammy, how’s it going?”

  “Good, thank you,” said Sammy in his strong North African accent. “And how are you? Have you recovered from our adventure in the jungle?”

  “I think so,” said Jimmy with a smile. “And I’m ready for another one.”

  “In the jungle?” asked Sammy.

  “Wherever we’re going,” said Jimmy.

  Jimmy, Sammy and the other robot racers had competed in the dark depths of the South American jungle in their last race – on a track that had introduced them to scary creatures, lakes of quicksand and even an ancient underground temple.

  Jimmy noticed Sammy looking over his shoulder at Cabbie, his eyebrows lifting in surprise. Jimmy reckoned his friend was checking Cabbie out, looking for modifications or new gadgets. While Sammy was busy looking at Cabbie, Jimmy snatched a glance over Sammy’s shoulder to see what changes had been made to his robot, Maximus, since the jungle race. The vast hoverbot looked just the same – although it was a lot cleaner now that the jungle mud and swamp splats had been hosed off. Maybe the enormous propellers that powered the hoverbot were slightly larger than before... And was that a new hatch on the front, concealing some amazing new gadget?

  “You have been practising your driving?” asked Sammy.

  “Well...” said Jimmy. He didn’t want to say that he had driven Cabbie just once since he and Sammy had roared to a shared victory in the Rainforest Rampage leg of the championship. But there just weren’t that many places in his home town of Smedingham where a kid could take a rocket-powered robot for a spin.

  Jimmy’s one test drive around the back streets of his estate had ended with a neighbour’s garden fence on fire and some nasty burn marks on their patio umbrella, thanks to his upgraded rocket-boosters. Jimmy grimaced at the thought. Luckily the Fire Brigade had arrived quickly – and while they were there, they’d rescued the neighbour’s terrified cat, which had run up a tree and was refusing to come down. Grandpa and Jimmy had agreed he should lay off the driving practice for a while.

  As Jimmy and Sammy talked, all the other competitors came wandering over. There was Princess Kako from Japan in her signature silver leathers, her hair scraped back and tied in a neat bun, straight-faced and silent as usual. Beside her, Chip, an African-American boy, strode along in his usual T-shirt, jeans and baseball cap. He was chatting to Missy, the loud Australian, who was shouting back at him at her usual deafening volume. Her wild, red curly hair hung loose around her shoulders and Jimmy could see the usual grease smears on her denim dungarees and face, showing the hard work she’d been doing to improve her robot racer, Monster.

  “Hey, Jimmy!” she bellowed. “How’s it going?” She thumped Jimmy on the back so hard he stopped breathing for a few seconds.

  “Fine,” wheezed Jimmy. “Thanks for asking. How are you?”

  “Couldn’t be better, mate!” yelled Missy, thumping him again.

  Jimmy tried to speak but ended up just nodding.

  “Good to see you all again,” beamed Chip, looking around the group of drivers. “Hey! Where’d Horace go?”

  A sudden blast from Cabbie’s horn made them all turn sharply. They spun round to see Horace jumping away from Cabbie. He had blond hair and tanned skin from all the holidays he went on with his wealthy parents, and perfectly straight, white teeth which he used to pull a smug grin whenever he had the chance.

  Jimmy and Horace had gone to school together back in Smedingham, but they’d never been friends.

  “Ha,” Horace laughed nervously, trying to pretend he hadn’t been spying on someone else’s robot. “What a charming horn that is.” He strolled back to where the other drivers stood. “Hello again, Jimmy.” He grinned, his white teeth gleaming. “Scabbie’s looking like he’s ready for the scrapyard, as usual.”

  “Had a good look, did you, Horace?” asked Jimmy.

  “There wasn’t much to see,” sneered Horace.

  “So where do you think we will be racing this time?” asked Sammy, interrupting them before they could argue any further.

  “No idea,” said Jimmy, turning his attention back to the others.

  “I am hoping for some sand,” smiled Sammy. “A nice desert, perhaps.”

  “Or a beach in the Caribbean!” suggested Chip. “Miles of white sand, clear blue sea...”

  “I’d like a big city,” said Princess Kako. “Smooth, wide, floodlit city streets are much better than the dark and mud of the jungle. And also the shops and restaurants and hotels...” she added with a faraway look in her eyes.

  “Don’t be soft!” bellowed Missy, rubbing her hands together excitedly. “I want somewhere a bit more excit
ing than that. Up a volcano or down a mineshaft or—”

  “Yes!” said Jimmy, his brain fizzing with excitement. “Or through some underground caves. Or over the Himalayas!”

  “What about you, Horace?” asked Chip. “What do you want?”

  “Zoom can cope with any terrain,” sneered Horace. “And my NASA engineers are prepared for anything. So, unlike you losers, I don’t really care.”

  “As long as there isn’t any quicksand, eh, Horace?” giggled Missy.

  The others burst out laughing, remembering how Horace had found himself in a sticky situation during their last race.

  Horace didn’t join in with the laughter. He narrowed his eyes and gritted his shiny teeth. Jimmy couldn’t help but think that the Australian girl would pay for that comment. Horace was definitely one competitor who knew how to hold a grudge.

  “Hey, Jimmy,” said Sammy, “maybe we will have another adventure together like last time.” He laughed. “But I am hoping not. I think this race would be better if we don’t see so many snakes, no?”

  “I thought we were going to spend the rest of our lives stuck in that ruined temple,” replied Jimmy with a grin.

  “And the rest of our lives would not have been a long time,” said Sammy. “When you are in a booby-trapped temple and the walls are trying to squash you, it is not so good for your health.”

  “All right, all right, you two,” shrieked Missy, cutting Sammy off with a playful nudge in the ribs. “We had to listen to this all the way back from the jungle. Don’t make us hear it all over again! We know you’re Sammy’s biggest fan, Jimmy, and Sammy thinks you’re the koala’s pyjamas. But remember, we’re all competing against each other here, eh?”

  “Don’t worry,” said Jimmy, rubbing his ribs where Missy had poked him. “You’ll all be eating my dust on the next race.”

  “I think not, slow bus.” replied Sammy. “I will be winning the next stage.”

  At that, the others burst out laughing.

  “I think you mean ‘slow coach’,” Jimmy told him.

  “Oops,” Sammy said. “My English is still a little rusty, I think.”

  As the rest of the group continued to chatter amongst themselves, Jimmy began to feel a thrill shooting up his spine at the thought of the next race. But then he remembered what Grandpa had said as they had waited for Lord Leadpipe’s airship to come and collect them.

  “You’re in first place on the leaderboard, but there are four more races to be run,” he had said, his white moustache bouncing up and down over his top lip. “And goodness only knows what ridiculous nonsense that old fool, Lord Loonpipe, has got rattling around in his tiny brain. He could have planned anything for this next race, so keep your wits about you and one eye on your rear-view mirror.” And then he had given Jimmy a big hug.

  The smile slowly faded from Jimmy’s lips, and instead he felt a jolt of fear squirming in his belly. Now, as he looked around at the other competitors, he started to worry. What if I’m not prepared? What if Cabbie can’t handle the conditions? Lord Leadpipe could have planned anything...

  A cold sweat spread up Jimmy’s back and suddenly his stomach climbed into his throat.

  Then his ears started popping.

  Jimmy realized that it wasn’t fear sending his stomach somersaulting around his body. It was the airship descending.

  “We’re landing!” shouted Chip.

  They each rushed over to one of the little round portholes around the edge of the airship’s enormous hangar and peered out.

  “I can’t see a thing,” shrieked Missy.

  “Me neither,” said Sammy.

  Jimmy stared out into the whiteness of solid cloud as the airship shuddered, and there was a thud beneath Jimmy’s feet which made him jump.

  “I think we’ve landed,” said Chip.

  “Nah,” said Missy. “I can still see clouds. We’re still in the air, for sure.”

  Jimmy pressed his face up against the window and tried to peer out, but his breath kept misting up the glass. All he could see was blank, white space.

  “Maybe we’ve landed on top of a mountain,” cried Chip. “A mountain so high that we’re racing up in the clouds!”

  “Perhaps Lord Leadpipe’s built a track in the sky!” cried Sammy.

  “You idiots!” sneered Horace.

  “So where are we then, Mr Clever Pants?” snapped Missy.

  Horace was just about to reply when he was interrupted by a creaking sound, a loud metallic groan.

  The vast steel door of the airship juddered.

  All six competitors stood and stared open-mouthed as the crack of daylight at the top of the door began to grow.

  “I think we’re about to find out,” said Jimmy.

  Chapter 2 - A Couple of Surprises

  Jimmy stared wide-eyed as the huge steel door of the airship was lowered on its huge steel hinges. He narrowed his eyes as the crack of white light got wider and brighter. Then a blast of freezing air hit him in the face and a flurry of white specks flew in, coating his eyebrows and hair in a fine white frost. Jimmy flinched, wiping the flakes out of his eyes. He peered again through the huge airship doorway into the whiteness.

  It’s not clouds, he thought to himself. It’s snow! Miles and miles of snow.

  As his eyes became more accustomed to the dazzling glare coming from beyond the hangar doors he could see the white surface more clearly as it stretched off to the horizon in every direction.

  Even the clanging and banging and shouting of the team mechanics stopped as they all put down their tools and came to stare out at the scene.

  Another sudden sharp gust of freezing air whipped through the doorway, sending a pile of paper blueprints flying through the air and flinging a stack of empty oil cans to the ground. Behind him, Jimmy could hear angry voices cursing, and several mechanics came scurrying past to clean up the mess. The poster that Jimmy’s team sponsor, That’s Shallot!, had pinned to his workstation wall was ripped loose. It fluttered around amongst the tools for a second, before another gust whisked it outside through the doorway.

  Jimmy gasped at the cold as the howling wind hurled snow in every direction. His teeth began to chatter and he wished he was wearing a coat.

  “Look!” said Chip.

  As the wind dropped, the snow thinned slightly and Jimmy could just make out the shape of a white dome against the grey sky.

  “It’s an igloo!” shrieked Missy. “A huge igloo!”

  “And look...” Sammy gasped.

  A figure was emerging from the little tunnel at the front of the igloo, slowly squeezing its way out into the frozen landscape. The person stopped for a moment and looked around, then headed straight for the airship, stamping along in heavy brown boots and a huge furry hooded coat.

  “Anyone speak Eskimo?” said Missy anxiously.

  “I think it’s called Inuit,” said Chip. “And, no. Not a word. Whaddya think he wants?”

  “Maybe he wants to know why someone’s parked an enormous airship next to his house,” said Princess Kako.

  “I think he’s angry,” whimpered Horace, crouching down behind Jimmy, his teeth chattering. “He’s getting closer!”

  Horace was right. The figure was coming straight for them.

  It even raised a hand and waved at them.

  Then it slowly pulled back its hood ... to reveal a man wearing a monocle, which glinted in the light from the blinding white snow. It was Lord Ludwick Leadpipe!

  “Greetings, competitors!” he shouted over the noise of the gale. “Welcome to the Arctic Circle. If you would like to get in your racers and join me out on the snow, I’ll tell you all about the next leg of the competition.”

  It took a moment for it to sink in. The competitors turned to each other, grinning in amazement, before hurrying off to their robots.

  “We’re in the Arctic!” said Jimmy as he hopped into Cabbie’s cockpit.

  “I-I-I-I-know!” stammered Cabbie, his pistons spluttering in the sub-zero
temperature.

  “You’ll soon warm up,” said Jimmy, wondering if his teeth were chattering from the cold or from excitement.

  The pit area echoed with the sound of engines roaring as the racers fired up their robots and prepared to head out onto the ice.

  Jimmy and Cabbie were out first. They eased out of their workstation and made their way towards the doorway. It was already gathering a thick layer of snow. Slowly they edged onto the steep ramp and Cabbie immediately began to slide. Jimmy stamped on the brakes, but it didn’t stop them hurtling down the slope.

  “Whoaaaa,” shuddered Cabbie, skidding out across the ice and spinning to a stop.

  “Erm, I think we’re going to need some different tyres,” said Jimmy, trying to keep calm.

  He watched the other racers follow them down the ramp from the airship. Missy and Monster shot out onto the slippery ground, Monster’s huge tyres spinning and spraying snow everywhere while Missy howled with laughter. Next came Chip and Dug, moving surely and slowly, his caterpillar tracks gripping the ice with ease.

  Sammy and his hoverbot, Maximus, sat nervously at the top of the ramp for a moment before gliding smoothly over the ice and coming to a controlled stop next to Cabbie and Jimmy.

  Princess Kako and her robobike Lightning followed very slowly and carefully, Kako adding extra stability by stabbing the sharp points of her heavy biker boots into the ice.

  Lastly Horace and Zoom rocketed down the ramp and across the ice, screeching to a dramatic stop as Horace pulled a handbrake turn.

  “This ice is no problem for the SuperGrip tyres my NASA team have developed!” he shouted out his window.

  Soon all the parents and mechanics joined the racers, wrapped up in padded coats and boots and scarves and gloves and fur hats. Herding them like a sheep dog was Joshua Johnson, the Robot Co-ordinator, dressed like a yeti in a brown furry jacket, brown furry trousers and brown furry boots. Joshua’s huge smile looked even bigger than usual, and Jimmy couldn’t help wondering if it had been frozen in position.

  Jimmy waved at Grandpa. At least, he thought it was Grandpa – it looked like his moustache poking out of the fur-lined hood.