The Slime Volcano

by H. Badger

  SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH

  THE SLIME VOLCANO

  BY H. BADGER

  ILLUSTRATED BY D. GREULICH AND S. SPARTELS

  The Slime Volcano

  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

  Illustration and design copyright © 2010 Hardie Grant Egmont

  Cover illustration by D. Mackie

  Illustrated by D. Greulich and S. Spartels

  Series 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

  Why hasn’t someone invented an easier way to do chores? Kip Kirby grumbled to himself. After all, it IS the year 2354!

  Kip was twelve – old enough to stay home alone during the school holidays while his mum and dad were at work. But while they were away, Kip had to do chores around the apartment for his pocket money!

  Kip was used to working hard, though. As well as going to school, he had a job as a Space Scout.

  Space Scouts explored unknown galaxies in deep space. They were searching for Earth 2.The current Earth was running out of room, and another planet was needed for humans to live on. No other planet in the Milky Way had water or the right atmosphere.

  Being a Space Scout was an honour, but a huge responsibility. Earth’s future depended on Kip and the 49 other scouts.

  Kip was due to leave for his next Space Scout mission in an hour!

  In his apartment on the 2,342nd floor, Kip squirted cleaning liquid onto the bathroom mirror. It was the latest Best-U model. Instead of showing your actual reflection, the Best-U suggested cool new hairstyles and outfits.

  That day, Kip’s reflection had short, blond hair with a blue spiky fringe. His outfit was a sparkling gold spacesuit.

  Gold’s my colour, Kip decided, imagining when he might get to wear a gold spacesuit for real.

  The Shield of Honour presentation ceremony, he sighed. If only…

  After finishing a mission, Space Scouts earned one Planetary Point. Important discoveries on new planets earned two points. But the Space Scout who actually discovered the next Earth won the ultimate prize – the Shield of Honour.

  Kip wanted to win it more than anything. He pictured himself holding up the shield while the other Space Scouts cheered. There were also other prizes for the winning Space Scout, like a brand-new Turbo RoboHorse to ride on Earth 2. Of course, saving humanity would be awesome, too.

  Suddenly the doorbell rang, interrupting Kip’s daydream. It was Jett, Kip’s best friend from school. He lived on the 1,698th floor of Kip’s apartment building.

  ‘Check this out!’ Jett grinned, holding a microphone with flashing blue and yellow lights.

  WorldCorp Turbo RoboHorse 8000

  ‘No way!’ Kip said. ‘Your parents got you a Pro-Planet Star Mic?’

  Pro-Planet Star Mics were the latest craze at Kip and Jett’s school. You simply sang into the microphone and it recorded you, instantly adding backing vocals and a band.

  The microphone then beamed your performance to big screens on Earth, Venus, Mars and Mercury. Local aliens on each planet voted on the best singers. If they liked you, you could be in line for immediate interplanetary fame!

  ‘They love me on Venus,’ Jett said modestly.

  ‘Give me a go!’ Kip begged.

  Kip launched into one of his favourite hard rock songs, ‘Space Junk’. Then Jett had a turn, singing ‘Sun Spots’.

  Next, Kip belted out a rocking version of ‘Meteor Strike’, with air guitar and headbanging moves. But no matter what he did, Kip couldn’t get the aliens watching on Mercury to vote for him.

  ‘They must prefer boy bands on Mercury,’ he muttered.

  ‘Ewww,’ Jett said. ‘Gross!’

  Then Kip remembered that he was supposed to be finishing his chores before he left on his next mission. He quickly flicked on his SpaceCuff.

  SpaceCuffs were thick silver wrist cuffs with mini-supercomputers built in. Space Scouts used them to communicate with their starships on missions.

  He checked the time. It was 16:58 hours already!

  Kip had to leave for his mission in two minutes. A UniTaxi would be waiting for him on the roof of his apartment building to take him to his starship, MoNa 4000.

  The Pro-Planet Star Mic had completely distracted Kip from his chores. His parents would kill him if he didn’t finish them. Plus he’d miss out on his pocket money. All the same, he couldn’t abandon the mission.

  Saying a quick goodbye to Jett, Kip raced to his bedroom. He yanked on his spacesuit, which was bright green and custom-made to fit him perfectly.

  His matching helmet had glittering flames on the side. Kip’s space boots were brand new Cometchasers. According to gossip on the Space Scout intranet, Cometchasers were even better than Kip’s old boots, the Hummingbird Pros.

  It was time to leave.

  I’ll just have to do my chores when I get home, Kip decided. Whenever that is!

  CHAPTER 2

  Kip jumped into the lift outside his front door. The lift hurtled up a thousand floors in 0.2 seconds.

  Kip raced onto the roof and spotted the waiting UniTaxi. It was green and pod-shaped, with a clear roof that opened automatically as Kip got closer.

  He jumped inside and punched in the co-ordinates for the Intergalactic Hoverport, where all space flights departed. The self-piloting UniTaxi rose into the air. In 2354, all spacecraft took off vertically. There wasn’t room for runways on Earth.

  The UniTaxi sped the 10 kilometres up to the Hoverport, where MoNa was docked.

  Every cell in Kip’s body buzzed with excitement. He loved heading into space. After all, not every kid got to explore unknown planets.

  Soon, Kip could see the Hoverport looming up ahead. It looked like a giant car park floating in the air. But instead of old- fashioned cars, it had rows of starships.

  Kip’s starship was one of the biggest. MoNa was gleaming black with a pointed nosecone and powerful thrusters. She was custom-built for extreme long-distance space travel.

  ‘Please open the landing bay door, MoNa,’ Kip said into his SpaceCuff.

  ‘NOW you decide to turn up?’ said MoNa grumpily.

  Kip rolled his eyes. I’m not even that late! he thought.

  But he said nothing to MoNa. She was very bossy. Plus, she liked to think she knew everything about space travel. Kip preferred to ignore her bad moods.

  MoNa’s external door slid open and the UniTaxi flew in. Kip leapt out into the landing bay.

  ‘Welcome back!’ said a friendly, growly voice. It was Finbar, Kip’s second-in-command (or 2iC for short).

  Finbar was part-human, part-arctic wolf. He had fluffy white fur, ice-blue eyes and fangs peeping over his lips. He walked on two paws and towered over Kip.

  You’d never know that Finbar is such a softie, Kip grinned to himself.

  Finbar was an Animaul, bred
to protect Earth in case of alien invasion. But he’d failed Animaul Basic Training for being too gentle. Finbar’s wolf senses, agility and intelligence made him an ideal 2iC. Plus, Kip was plucky enough for both of them.

  When not on missions with Kip, Finbar looked after MoNa.

  Finbar looked exhausted. ‘I’ve been cleaning MoNa all afternoon with my new Suckerbot,’ he explained.

  WorldCorp Suckerbot

  The Suckerbot was a cleaning robot with a nozzle shaped like lips. It could suck dirt out of the smallest corners.

  It circled around Finbar making soft buzzing sounds. Kip could tell it was one of those clingy robots.

  ‘Time for some real work now,’ MoNa snorted. She saw and heard everything Kip and Finbar did.

  Kip sighed. MoNa was impossible!

  ‘Download your mission brief,’ MoNa continued. ‘I’ll pilot us into space.’

  ‘I thought I was captain of this starship,’ Kip joked.

  Still, he knew it made sense to let MoNa’s autopilot handle the easy flying tasks. For more complicated flying, Kip’s skills would be needed. He’d spent months in Space Scout training learning to fly a starship.

  Kip and Finbar strode through the glowing blue corridors toward the bridge.

  The bridge was MoNa’s command centre.

  The Suckerbot rolled along at Finbar’s paws, slurping at them as he walked.

  Located inside MoNa’s nosecone, the bridge had two giant windows looking out to space. The floor was a lit-up map of the Milky Way.

  Kip and Finbar took their seats in the middle of the room.Touching the air above his head, Kip activated his holographic consol.

  A cylinder of blue light shot down, surrounding Kip and Finbar. MoNa’s controls were projected on the cylinder.

  Kip touched the ‘Download Mission Brief’ button in mid-air.

  SPACE SCOUT

  KIP KIRBY

  MISSION BRIEF

  Using its latest long-range intergalactic telescope, WorldCorp has discovered a new solar system. The largest planet has been named ‘Grimor’.

  Grimor has a single moon close by, just like Earth. This makes WorldCorp think Grimor could have Earth-like conditions.

  A wormhole to Grimor will soon open.

  Your mission:

  Land on Grimor and work out if this unknown planet could be the next Earth.

  Grimor, Kip echoed. Doesn’t exactly sound like paradise…

  Still, Grimor might be the answer to all of Earth’s problems.

  As well as my chance to win the Shield of Honour! thought Kip.

  CHAPTER 3

  When Kip looked out the window, he saw they’d left the Hoverport behind. A bright cloud mass swirled in the inky sky ahead. The wormhole to Grimor!

  Wormholes were shortcuts between galaxies. Space Scouts used them to travel billions of light-years in seconds.

  Kip took over MoNa’s controls. He accelerated to warp speed and plunged the starship into the wormhole.

  Instantly, Kip’s guts felt like they were bursting through his skin. Travelling long distances that fast was tough.

  They quickly popped out the other end of the wormhole. They were in a new galaxy, never visited by humans. Ahead lay a large, brown planet with patches of blue.

  ‘Looks filthy,’ Finbar murmured, smoothing down his whiskers.

  The Suckerbot nuzzled at him, and Kip saw Finbar sneak him a handful of space-dust. Kip rolled his eyes.

  ‘There’s a lot of sulphur in the atmosphere,’ said MoNa, who’d taken the controls again. ‘It’s so dirty. I can’t see a clear spot to aim the Scrambler Beams.’

  Kip and Finbar travelled to the surface of each new planet via Scrambler Beam. The beams jumbled up Kip and Finbar’s particles, shot them through space and put them back together on a planet’s surface.

  ‘I’ll have to guess,’ MoNa continued. ‘Hope you don’t land in anything yucky!’

  Kip’s training had prepared him for any situation. Gritting his teeth, he led the way back to the landing bay.

  Kip stepped into a pair of footprints painted on the floor. Finbar stood on a pair of pawprints beside him. The Suckerbot watched Finbar anxiously.

  Two Scramblers shot down, and a nanosecond later, Kip and Finbar’s particles were whizzing through space!

  Kip opened his eyes. Finbar was beside him. Their particles had reassembled on Grimor.

  Then Kip heard a little whirring sound. He glanced down. Finbar’s Suckerbot was there too! He must have sneaked into his scrambler beam at the last minute.

  ‘Er, Finbar,’ Kip said, nudging him.

  Finbar shrugged apologetically, but he also looked pleased. ‘A cleaning robot will come in handy on this planet.’

  Kip looked around. The surface of Grimor was a dingy brown-grey colour, with soaring craggy mountains covered in vines. There were pools of a strange, electric-blue slime everywhere, and the sky was a dim green colour.

  The first thing Kip noticed was how heavy his body felt. Just lifting up his hand was harder than on Earth.

  The gravitational force here must be stronger than on Earth, he guessed. It feels like I weigh twice as much.

  The slime pools crawled with wriggling creatures as long as Kip’s fingers. They looked like ugly centipedes, with lots of legs and thick shells outside their bodies.

  The Suckerbot circled the pool, dying to suck up the slimy liquid. But just as it reached down with its nozzle-lips, one of the creatures snapped at it with dagger-sharp fangs.

  The Suckerbot jumped back, cowering. Finbar scooped it up hurriedly. He didn’t want his new robot getting damaged by alien creatures!

  Kip shuddered. Those little worm things are gross.

  Suddenly, he felt a weird rumbling under his feet. The air began to stink of toilets, even through Kip’s helmet. A nearby mountain began to blow steam.

  Hang on, thought Kip, that’s not a massive mountain.That’s a –

  ‘Volcano!’ Finbar yelled, clutching the Suckerbot under his arm.

  Heads down, Kip and Finbar tried to run. But each step was like running through liquid concrete!

  The ground shook. Smoke filled the air. But the volcano didn’t erupt molten lava. Instead, burning hot, electric-blue slime spewed all over the place!

  Kip’s spacesuit sizzled as slime shot through the air.

  Lucky we’ve got our Cometchasers on, Kip thought, as hot slime gushed at his feet.

  WorldCorp Cometchasers

  Kip’s spacesuit was heat-proof, but he wasn’t sure how long it would last in the boiling slime. They needed shelter – now!

  ‘Over there!’ Finbar yelled. He’d spotted a rock ledge with his super wolf vision. The slime flowed over the ledge, leaving a space to shelter underneath.

  Finbar dragged his feet towards the ledge, and Kip followed close behind.

  Splashing through the slime waterfall, they collapsed in the large, shadowy cave beneath the ledge. Kip’s legs ached.

  Finbar’s eyes adjusted to the gloom first. ‘I don’t think they’ve seen us,’ he whispered.

  ‘Who hasn’t seen us?’ Kip asked, following Finbar’s gaze.

  At the far end of the cave, near another entrance, a group of aliens was huddled together. They were grunting intensely at each other and gesturing wildly at the blue slime.

  The aliens were bigger than Finbar.They walked on two legs and had dirty, matted fur. Their curved fingernails were caked with scum. They looked pretty primitive to Kip.

  Suddenly, Kip felt nervous. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck on a planet with slime volcanoes – and a group of massive, dirty aliens!

  CHAPTER 4

  Keep calm, Kip, he told himself. Just because the aliens are dirty doesn’t mean they’re vicious beasts!

  Kip and Finbar ducked behind a rock to watch the aliens until they figured out what to do.

  If Kip listened closely, he could just make out the grunts of the two closest aliens. He switched his SpaceCuff to Translate
mode.

  Maybe I can understand what they’re saying, he thought hopefully.

  Translate mode used known alien languages to guess the meanings of new ones. It wasn’t always reliable. But these aliens were speaking a simple language, and Kip could pick up bits and pieces of what they were saying.

  After a moment, Kip nudged Finbar. ‘I think they’re complaining about the slime. But wouldn’t they be used to it by now?’

  ‘I guess they’re sheltering from the volcano too,’ Finbar said softly. ‘The big one looks upset.’

  ‘I think her name’s Zert,’ Kip whispered to Finbar. ‘That smaller alien there is her husband, Zorg.’

  As Zorg talked to Zert, Kip followed his SpaceCuff. He had it switched to silent, so the translations were displayed as text. He didn’t want the aliens to know he and Finbar were there yet.

  As Kip watched, Zorg suddenly knelt down and hugged his wife gently around the knees. It was weird, but it seemed to cheer Zert up.

  Maybe they’re not vicious after all, Kip thought. But they still seem a bit simple.

  Translate mode:

  ‘I think they’re planning on hunting something called Slime Crawlers when the eruption’s over,’ Kip whispered.

  Finbar’s snout wrinkled. ‘I bet they’re the things we saw in the puddles before.’

  ‘The aliens must eat Slime Crawlers. I haven’t seen any other food source,’ Kip said.

  Kip tried to keep an open mind about the aliens’ strange customs. As a Space Scout, that’s what he was trained to do. But he had to admit, Slime Crawlers didn’t look delicious.

  If Slime Crawlers were the only food source, Grimor wouldn’t make a good Earth 2. And after doing a quick analysis on his SpaceCuff, Kip could tell the air wasn’t safe to breathe either.

  The reasons why humans couldn’t live on Grimor were mounting fast. Kip explained his thinking to Finbar.

  ‘Let’s call MoNa and get going,’ Finbar suggested softly.