Mr Snodbury looked over at George and his friends for a moment, then took a deep breath. “My name is Snodbury. What happened was that I deliberately sabotaged the space station. I caused the deaths of most of its crew, and the destruction of the station itself. I did it because MaxiBoost Spaceways paid me to do it. They lied to me about the effect my actions would have. They intended that MegaZone Corporation would lose business as a result.”
For a second or two, the news team were too stunned to speak. They weren’t used to someone accepting blame or being honest. Then a dozen people all started to talk at once, and Mr Snodbury was lost in a jostle of legs and voices.
George saw Commander Ferguson approaching him, and felt a fresh wave of nerves. The Commander sat down beside him.
“I want a word with you, George,” he said.
“Oh yes?” gulped George.
The Commander glanced around, taking in the scene. “There’s going to be a lot of fallout from today. MaxiBoost will be in big trouble. I’ll be asked a lot of questions. Before all that happens, there’s something I want to say to you.”
“Oh yes?” gulped George.
The Commander reached up to his shoulder, to where his Commander’s badge of rank was sewn to his uniform. Taking a firm grip on it, he tore it off.
“You saved nine lives today, boy,” he said. “You’re a hero. You kept your head, you took charge, and you got us home by throwing away the rule book. This belongs to you.”
He handed George the badge. It showed a logo of a ship zooming through the stars, and beneath it, in proudly silvery letters, were the words “V.C. Ferguson – COMMANDER – Berners-Lee Orbital Platform.”
“I’m sure you worked very hard to get this,” said George.
“So did you,” said Commander Ferguson.
“Thanks.” George smiled.
The Commander patted him on the back and walked away. George waited until the Commander was out of sight before he let his face show how much that pat had hurt his aching, battered muscles.
Amira was sitting on the stretcher next to George. “Just because you’re a hero and a senior officer of the space service,” she said, “it doesn’t mean you can start bossing us about.”
Josh was sitting the other side of George. “He’s going to be a right big-head now, isn’t he,” he sighed.
“He can be as much of a big-head as he likes,” said Dwayne, who was passing them on his way to the ambulance. George gave him another thumbs-up and Dwayne grinned.
“Well,” said Josh. “One thing’s for sure. Next year’s Year 6 are going to have real trouble topping today’s school trip.”
It was just gone six in the morning when the back door of Sam’s house was kicked in.
When Sam and Karen’s mum is dragged away by armed police, their whole lives change. With no clues apart from a cryptic message screamed as she leaves, the kids find themselves in a dangerous race against time to stop a bomb from exploding and save their mum’s life!
£4.99
ISBN 978 14081 3110 7
Winner, Portsmouth Book Award 2012
“Mr Snitcher is an alien! Pass it on …”
Nobody knew where the rumour came from. Most of the boys think it’s a joke. But the more Joe and Harry and their friends think about it, the weirder Mr Snitcher starts to look. Is he really an alien? And how about the rest of the teachers?
£4.99
ISBN 978 14081 5267 6
Finn doesn’t want to move to the spooky old house in the first place. Soon the strange goings-on and mysterious noises are driving him crazy – and he’s driving his family crazy about it. Then he sees the creature that’s been hibernating in the wardrobe…
It’s a Gorgle. A bit like a moth, a bit like a hornet, and a lot like a ten-foot-tall monster from your worst nightmare. It’s awake. It’s hungry. And Finn is the only one who can stop it!
£4.99
ISBN 978 14081 7413 5
This electronic edition published in January 2014 by Bloomsbury Publishing
Copyright © 2014 A & C Black
Text copyright © 2014 Simon Cheshire
Illustration copyright © 2014 Adrian Stone
First published 2014 by A & C Black
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The right of Simon Cheshire and Adrian Stone to be identified as the author and illustrator of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyrights, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
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You may not copy, distribute, transmit, reproduce or otherwise make available this publication (or any part of it) in any form, or by any means (including without limitation electronic, digital, optical, mechanical, photocopying, printing, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of the publisher. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
eISBN: 978-1-4081-9688-5
A CIP catalogue for this book is available from the British Library.
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