The Shrinking Race Read online

  SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH

  THE SHRINKING RACE

  BY H. BADGER

  ILLUSTRATED BY C. BENNETT

  The Shrinking Race

  published in 2010 by

  Hardie Grant Egmont

  85 High Street

  Prahran, Victoria 3181, 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 © 2010 H. Badger

  Series, illustration and design copyright © 2010 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Cover illustration by D. Mackie

  Illustrated by C. Bennett

  Design by S. Swingler

  Typeset by Ektavo

  Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  CONTENTS

  CHAPTER 1

  CHAPTER 2

  CHAPTER 3

  CHAPTER 4

  CHAPTER 5

  CHAPTER 6

  CHAPTER 7

  CHAPTER 8

  CHAPTER 9

  CHAPTER 10

  CHAPTER 1

  Kip Kirby sat at his school desk, swinging his legs.

  He was meant to be taking a Health and Nutrition test, like the other 999 kids in his class. But Kip’s mind was elsewhere.

  He was thinking about his after-school job. It wasn’t an easy one, like being an ePaper Boy. That just meant uploading the morning paper into the electronic slot in people’s front doors.

  Kip’s job was way harder, but heaps more fun. He had been specially chosen by the massive corporation WorldCorp to be a Space Scout.

  Earth was so crowded that it was running out of room. Another Earth was needed – fast! It was the Space Scouts’ job to find it. So Kip got to explore unknown planets beyond the Milky Way in a high-tech black starship.

  Kip glanced at his school desk. It was a new Thoughtomatic. The test questions flashed onto the desk’s built-in screen:

  Kip sometimes watched low-gravity sports comps broadcast live from Mercury.

  Those low-gravity gymnastics are easy-peasy. Humans weigh 62% less on Mercury, Kip remembered. After his time in Space Scout training, Kip’s space knowledge was impressive.

  Also, Kip was an expert hoverboarder. He knew for a fact it was very, very hard work, even harder than waterless surfing.

  The answer’s got to be (b), Kip thought.

  But he didn’t need anything as outdated as a pen to answer the question. Kip just had to think the answer, and (b) was highlighted on the screen.

  Still, Kip wished his mum could think his answers for him. She was a Health and Nutrition whiz. It seemed like it, anyway. She was always telling Kip to eat his artificial vegies.

  Kip knew that in the olden days, vegies were grown on farms. Now everything was created in labs.

  Kip had read in his history downloads that kids had never liked vegies. But now vegies tasted worse than ever – just like the fluff in his spacesuit cuffs!

  The next question flashed up on the Thoughtomatic screen:

  BurgerMousse was Kip’s favourite snack. It was yummiest when sprayed out of the can straight into your mouth. According to Kip’s mum, BurgerMousse was definitely unhealthy. So were lollies.

  The answer’s got to be (c), Kip thought, just as the bell rang. The bell was polyphonic, and it played a different tune every day. Today’s was a folk song from the moons of Saturn.

  Soooooo uncool, Kip thought, grabbing his stuff. He bolted out of the classroom. He had to leave on a Space Scout mission straight after school.

  ‘See ya, Jett,’ Kip yelled to his best friend on the way out. He raced to the school gate, which was made of invisible lasers. He cleared it in a single jump.

  Where’s my UniTaxi? Kip wondered, scanning the street. All he could see were Nannybots. These robots picked up kids after school and looked after them while their parents were at work.

  When Kip needed to travel to the Intergalatic Hoverport, WorldCorp often sent a UniTaxi. UniTaxis were flying vehicles used for high-speed travel within Earth’s atmosphere.

  When Kip wasn’t on a mission, his starship docked at the Hoverport, about 10 kilometres off the ground. His starship was called MoNa 4000.

  Better call WorldCorp and find out where the taxi is, Kip thought to himself. He flicked on his SpaceCuff. SpaceCuffs were thick silver wristbands with mini screens. Space Scouts used them to talk with WorldCorp and their starships when on missions.

  There was already a message waiting on Kip’s SpaceCuff.

  ‘Inconvenient? They’re risking Earth’s future!’ Kip snorted. ‘Hopeless.’

  Kip grabbed his custom-made World-Corp spacesuit, which was rolled up in his school backpack. The spacesuit was bright green and made of extra strong meteor-repellent fabric.

  He jammed on his green spaceboots, the latest Humming-bird Pros. His matching helmet had glittering flames on the side.

  Kip would have to find his own way to the Hoverport!

  CHAPTER 2

  Kip raced towards the school’s shelter sheds. They were silver waterproof pods at the back of the school.

  He scanned the shelter sheds for Jett’s Junior Flyer. It was Kip’s old one. Kip had given it to Jett when he became a Space Scout. A Junior Flyer just didn’t compare to piloting MoNa 4000.

  WorldCorp Junior Flyer

  Hope he doesn’t mind if I borrow it back! Kip thought, jumping on.

  Junior Flyers had two wheels and a carbon-fibre frame. The helicopter blades behind the seat were pedal-powered.

  Kip started pedalling like crazy. He had to get to the Hoverport quickly. Plus, it’d ruin his Space Scout image if anyone saw him on a Junior Flyer!

  Blades whirring, the Junior Flyer rose from the ground. Kip leant hard to the left and swooped out of the shelter shed.

  Outside, the sky was full of Nannybots flying their SnapDragons. SnapDragons were bigger than Junior Flyers, but only slightly cooler.

  Kip flew higher, dodging the traffic with skill. The wind was picking up. It nearly blew him straight into a Nannybot!

  He was panting so hard that his helmet fogged up. Luckily, Kip was ultra-fit. To make it as a Space Scout, he had to be.

  At last, the Hoverport loomed up ahead. The Hoverport looked like a multi-storey carpark hovering in mid-air. Starships of all shapes and sizes were docked there. Most were small spacecraft that didn’t fly further than Neptune’s icy asteroid belt.

  Only bigger starships like MoNa could explore deep space beyond the Milky Way. MoNa was a glossy black starship with curved thrusters and glowing lights underneath.

  Arriving at the Hoverport on a Junior Flyer, Kip cringed. MoNa will never let me live this down!

  MoNa thought Kip was too young to be a Space Scout. After all, at 12, he was the youngest of the 50 Space Scouts. And MoNa loved teasing him.

  Kip took a sharp left and pulled up outside MoNa’s landing bay. He tapped the Communicate button on his SpaceCuff. ‘Kip Kirby to MoNa 4000,’ he puffed. ‘Lower the landing bay door.’

  ‘Is that you, Kip?’ laughed MoNa’s computerised voice. ‘I thought it was the ePaper Boy. Must be that Junior Flyer you’re on.’

  ‘Very funny, MoNa,’ Kip muttered as the landing bay door lowered.

  Kip zoomed into the landing bay and screeched to a stop. The landing bay was a huge, empty grey space on MoNa’s lowest level. He pulled off his helmet and wiped his sweaty face with his spacesuit sleeve.

  The main landing bay door closed wit
h a sucking, hissing noise. At the other end, an airlock opened. Kip’s second-in-command Finbar stepped through.

  Finbar was part-human, part-arctic wolf. He walked on his hind legs and stood two metres tall. Finbar was an Animaul, a creature that’d been specially cross-bred to protect Earth in case aliens invaded.

  ‘What’s up, Fin?’ asked Kip. ‘Er, are you OK?’

  Normally, Finbar’s fur was soft and pure white. But today he looked all sweaty and grubby. ‘WorldCorp installed a MagnaSweep,’ Finbar replied. ‘I’ve been run off my paws guarding it.’

  When not on missions, Finbar lived on MoNa and kept her safe. But playing guard-wolf wasn’t his favourite part of the job.

  Finbar became Kip’s second-in-command (or 2iC for short) after failing Animaul training for being too gentle. His intelligence made him an awesome 2iC, even if he wasn’t as brave as Kip. Plus, he had a wolf’s super vision and hearing.

  ‘The MagnaSweep’s magnetic field is impressive,’ Finbar continued eagerly. ‘It sweeps space debris for metal and clears it before it can get stuck in MoNa’s thrusters.’

  ‘Enough chit-chat,’ MoNa cut in crisply. She heard everything Kip and Finbar said.

  ‘She’s been grumpy since we heard the rumour,’ Finbar whispered in Kip’s ear.

  ‘What rumour?’ Kip asked. The Space Scout intranet constantly buzzed with gossip.

  MoNa jumped in. ‘Everyone’s saying that another Space Scout’s discovered Earth 2.’

  A jealous flush rose on Kip’s cheeks. Someone else was about to win the Shield of Honour?

  WorldCorp ranked Space Scouts on the Planetary Points Leader Board. After each successful mission, Space Scouts earned one Planetary Point. Two were awarded for a promising discovery.

  The Space Scout who discovered Earth 2 would win the ultimate prize – the Shield of Honour.

  Kip wanted to win the shield more than anything. Partly for the glory, but also for the prizes. The successful Space Scout would be given a mansion on the new Earth, with the latest StarFlight Personal Transportation Module in the garage!

  It’s just a rumour, Kip told himself. There’s no way I’m giving up on that shield yet.

  CHAPTER 3

  The rumour had shaken Kip. But one of his best Space Scout talents was bouncing back. Now he was extra-determined to get on with his mission.

  In silence, Kip and Finbar strode to the bridge to download their mission brief. The bridge was MoNa’s command centre, located in her nose cone.

  At the door, Kip’s eyeball was scanned with a security laser.

  Inside, the bridge had huge windows looking out over Earth. The entire floor was a lit-up map of the known universe. In the centre were two padded chairs.

  Kip sat down and waved his hand in the air above his head. Instantly, a cylinder of blue light shot down from the roof. The light surrounded Kip and Finbar’s chairs.

  Complicated dials, buttons and screens were projected onto the light. This was Kip’s holographic consol.

  MoNa had a useful auto-pilot mode. But Kip’s piloting skills were vital, too. He was an expert at flying. He had an unbelievable ability to concentrate on heaps of things at once.

  Kip touched a holographic button that said Download Mission Brief. The brief appeared, projected in mid-air.

  CLASSIFIED

  SPACE SCOUT

  KIP KIRBY

  MISSION BRIEF

  WorldCorp’s telescope has discovered a new galaxy in the universe’s Far West Quarter.

  Scientists calculate a wormhole is opening soon. It leads to a blue planet named Cobalt. Nothing is known about the planet, except that it is nearly the same size as Earth.

  Kip’s stomach flipped. A little while ago, a Space Scout called Candy Montenegro had made a promising discovery in the Far West Quarter. Now Kip had a chance to explore a new planet nearby!

  ‘Depart Hoverport for wormhole to Cobalt,’ Kip commanded MoNa.

  ‘Look out the window, genius,’ sniffed MoNa.

  Kip had been busy reading the mission.

  He hadn’t noticed MoNa was on auto-pilot. She’d left the Hoverport and guided them into deep space.

  Focus, Kip, he told himself irritably. This isn’t the way to beat that other Space Scout.

  ‘There’s the wormhole,’ said Finbar, pointing to a mass of blue cloud up ahead.

  A wormhole was a shortcut from one galaxy to another. Using wormholes, Space Scouts could travel billions of light years in seconds.

  Kip snapped into professional Space Scout mode. Taking MoNa’s controls, Kip steered them to the wormhole. MoNa was sucked inside instantly.

  Kip’s skin prickled. His eyes throbbed in their sockets. Travelling faster than the speed of light was tough.

  ‘Rogue asteroid heading this way!’ yelled Finbar suddenly.

  A massive craggy rock whizzed towards MoNa’s left window. If it hit the window, the air pressure in the bridge would change radically. MoNa could explode!

  ‘Engage Anti-Matter Cannon,’ Kip commanded. He was trained to stay cool under pressure. At once, MoNa’s Anti-Matter Cannon rose up from her roof.

  Kip pressed the Fire button. Faster than light speed, the Anti-Matter Cannon shot hot pink plasma at the rock. The plasma stream smashed into the rock and vaporised it. There was nothing left but mist.

  A second later, MoNa popped out the other end of the wormhole. Kip took a deep breath and leant back in his chair.

  ‘There’s Cobalt,’ MoNa said, clicking back to auto-pilot as though nothing had happened.

  Through the windows, Kip spotted a blue, Earth-sized planet. It was orbiting around a single sun, just like Earth. One side was sunlit. The other was in darkness.

  Kip and Finbar jumped up and headed back to the landing bay. There, Scrambler Beams would send their particles through space and rearrange them on Cobalt.

  Kip and Finbar put on their helmets. They checked their gloves and spaceboots were sealed to their spacesuits. The air on Cobalt might not be breathable, so they carried compact air-supplies called OxyGlobes on their backs.

  Finbar took ages to get ready. Kip knew that the Scrambler Beam made him space-sick. Kip practically had to drag his 2iC to the pair of pawprints marked on the landing bay floor.

  Kip stood next to him as two beams of light shot down from the roof. Before Finbar had time to whimper, their scrambled particles went shooting through deep space.

  CHAPTER 4

  Kip felt all tingly. Being reformed was a bit like having pins and needles all over your body! Scrambling was a seriously weird experience.

  Kip found himself lying on the ground. He sat up.

  Quickly, Kip flicked his SpaceCuff to Air-Analyser Mode.

  Kip figured that if humans lived on Cobalt, they’d need to breathe with OxyGlobes the whole time. The sneezing would be too annoying and gross, otherwise.

  Not perfect, Kip thought. But it doesn’t mean we couldn’t live here. After all, people took holidays to Venus all the time. Humans couldn’t breathe there either.

  Kip captured some air in a pressurised test tube. WorldCorp’s scientists could confirm the analysis later. Kip stashed the tube in his backpack as Finbar appeared next to him.

  Before flicking off his SpaceCuff, Kip noticed a message.

  But Kip didn’t have time right then to wonder why Candy was at HQ. He wanted to get a feel for Cobalt.

  Arriving on a new planet was Kip’s favourite part of Space Scouting. He was the first human ever to see the blue, grassy field in front of him. In neat rows along the fields were bushes with oddly-shaped fruits hanging from the spindly branches.

  Gleaming silver buildings stood around the field. The buildings didn’t seem to have any windows or doors.

  Next to Kip, Finbar groaned as his particles slotted back into place. He picked himself up just as Kip spotted something.

  A blue figure stood nearby, trimming the strange bushes. Kip’s Space Scout training had taught him to notice every detail.
r />   The figure was about 15 centimetres tall. He was human-like with blue skin and pale blue hair. He wore coloured shorts and a matching singlet.

  The aliens of Cobalt are so small! Kip thought. Humans could easily share their planet if they agree.

  ‘Let’s introduce ourselves,’ whispered Kip to Finbar.

  ‘Greetings!’ Finbar said to the tiny blue man. ‘We’re from planet Earth.’

  The blue man looked up in fright. Then he dived under the nearest bush!

  ‘I bet we look like freaky giants!’ Kip whispered.

  ‘We’re not going to hurt you,’ Finbar politely told the blue man.

  Kip hoped that Finbar’s calm tone would reassure the blue man. But still the man didn’t come out.

  ‘Let’s give him a present to show we’re friendly,’ Kip suggested to Finbar.

  In his backpack, Kip had just what he needed to impress an alien. Chocanos!

  Chocanos were the best lolly in any known galaxy.They were candy-coated and shaped like tiny volcanos. As you sucked, the centre erupted through the candy. You ended up with a mouthful of warm melted chocolate.

  Kip walked towards the bush, an unwrapped Chocano in his hand. ‘Please, take it,’ Kip said, super-friendly.

  He pointed to his mouth to show the gift could be eaten.

  The blue man peeked out of the bush. Cautiously, he crept towards Kip.

  With both hands, the blue man heaved the Chocano off Kip’s hand. It was a quarter of the size of the blue man’s head. He opened his mouth wide. He could only just fit the Chocano in!

  WorldCorp Chocanos

  The blue man sucked. Warm chocolate dribbled from his mouth. His eyes crinkled with pleasure.

  The blue man held out his tiny hand. Kip shook it with his fingertip.

  No-one can resist a Chocano! Kip smiled.