Spilling Secrets
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First published in 2012 by MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, 3141 Australia
Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au/primary
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Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.
Copyright © Louise Park 2012 (text)
Copyright © Macmillan Education Australia 2012 (illustrations) All characters and names in the Star Girl series are fictitious and not based on persons living or dead.
All rights reserved.
Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.
National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Park, Louise, 1961-Spilling secrets / Louise Park.
ISBN: 9781420293821 (pbk.)
Park, Louise, 1961- Star girl ; no. 13.
For primary school age.
A823.4
Series conceptualised and created by Louise Park Packaged by Paddlepop Press Pty Ltd in conjunction with Jaclyn Crupi Professional Editorial Services Designed by Natascha Lenz
Cover illustrations by Jo Thompson and internal illustrations by Jo Thompson and Melanie Matthews, based on previous character visualisations.
Printed in China
Papers used by Macmillan Education Australia are natural, recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.
These electronic editions published in 2012 by Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd 15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, 3141 Australia.
All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.
Star Girl Book 13: Spilling Secrets
Louise Park
Adobe eReader format 978-1-42029-616-7
EPub format 978-1-42029-624-2
Online format 978-1-42029-608-2
Macmillan Digital Australia
www.macmillandigital.com.au
Visit www.macmillan.com.au/primary to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find subject catalogues, teacher support material and news of professional development events.
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Students in the space-training program at SEAS complete space missions on planets in outer space that are in danger and need help.
All of the third year students at SEAS are agents-in-training. They are in their last year at the space agent boarding school. Students who make it through this year become fully trained space agents.
Only the best students will go on to
become space agents. They will need to earn more than 100 mission points in total to succeed.
Addie Banks must make it through to
become a space agent. Outer space needs her.
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Miya, Grace and Olivia were all in Addie’s room at number 5 Star Cluster Avenue. It was their new home away from home at SEAS.
‘Five is a lucky number you know,’ Miya said as she put the last little sticker onto Grace’s fingernail. The girls were doing each other’s nails using the nail polish kit that Miya had been given for Christmas.
‘Really?’ asked Grace, admiring her glitter polish and stars. ‘I don’t know about five but I know that four is a pretty unlucky number.
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Well, in China it is and look at who’s next door to us in number 4!’
Olivia laughed. ‘Ha! What a group to
have next door. Aziza, Molly and Sabrina.
Well, Sabrina’s really nice but the others can be pretty nasty. Aziza’s gone so mean and weird. I know she was horrible to Grace when you went on that mission to Cavernellus but since then she’s gotten so much worse! Hey, can I have the silver gemstones and pink glitter polish on my nails please, Miya?’
‘I’m doing your nails!’ Addie said
grabbing Olivia’s hand. ‘And I know what you mean about Aziza. She’s trouble! And she’s changed even more since that mission to the GDC space station.
1O
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You know that group has barred Valentina.
They wouldn’t even let her be in their dorm pod. I feel sorry for her. They’re meant to be her friends.’
Miya passed the pink glitter polish to
Addie and said, ‘Aziza barred her, I reckon.
The rest of them would have just gone along with it.’
‘I don’t think Sabrina would have
though,’ said Grace. ‘But the others only liked Valentina when she was the best and pretty mean as well.’
‘You’re right,’ agreed Miya. ‘Now they
have a new number one: Aziza. Valentina’s lucky she’s in a dorm pod with Lara, Louisa and Hannah, if you ask me.’
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‘And Aziza thinks she knows everything about the GDC after that last mission when we went to the GDC space station,’ Grace commented. ‘I was behind her in line when we were having the tour of our new space station.
She kept going on about how the GDC had better this and that. Drove me nuts!’
‘She got excited when she saw Crystal
Orbit Shopping Galleria though,’ said Addie.
‘But you’re right, Grace. She didn’t even care much about our new dorm pods,’ added Miya.
‘Well I do,’ Olivia said dramatically.
‘I LOVE having my own room that I can
decorate however I want and I love how the dorm pods all connect together.
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And I LOVE that we have Louisa, Hannah and the others on the other side of us in number 6.
The whole agent training village is amazing!’
‘I’m with you, Liv!’ Grace agreed. ‘And what about Planet Xtreme? Did you see the rides in there? That’s one serious theme park. I can’t wait to go there.’
‘I really want to go to Crystal Orbit
Shopping Galleria,’ Olivia whined. ‘Why does it have to be a special weekend pass thing?’
‘Beats me,’ Addie shrugged. ‘But I thought it was good that any third-year students who didn’t get an invite to the Agents’ Masquerade Ball tonight got a weekend pass to the Galleria.
They’ll be the first to go there. That’s pretty neat. But I’m just so totally excited about the 14
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ball t
onight. I still can’t believe I got asked.’
‘Me neither,’ Miya agreed. ‘Tonight
will be so much fun. Hey, Addie, did you know that Aziza’s been offering her weekend Galleria pass to anyone who’d tell her who Space Surfer asked to the ball or what his partner would be wearing?’
‘What?’ Addie looked up from Olivia’s
nails in shock. ‘Why? And what does it matter to her who he asked? She doesn’t know it was me, does she?’
‘No,’ Olivia jumped in. ‘But Hannah said she was super-angry about not getting invited.
She’s been saying that ever since the mission to the GDC station when she was on Space Surfer’s team, they’ve been best buddies.
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I guess she just expected to get asked since she was number-one captain at the end of last year and all. And since they’re “best buddies”
she must have thought he’d ask her. She was stomping around and throwing tantrums in the pod next door for days they said!’
Addie had a bit of a giggle at Olivia’s description of Aziza. Then she frowned.
‘What’s with her? Anyway, the agents can only ask one person each and they could ask people they know from home as well as
third-year agents-in-training. So some of us were bound to miss out. But hey, it’ll be us next year having the ball and asking someone!
If we make it through this year, of course.’
‘We’ve made it this far,’ Olivia said,
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holding her finished nails up so everyone could see them. ‘I’m a bit scared of our final exams at the end of this year though. But how hot are my nails, guys?’ she asked, jumping from one topic to the next as only Olivia could. ‘These will match my butterfly mask perfectly tonight. Thanks heaps for letting us use your nail kit, Miya.’
‘They look good,’ Miya agreed, as she
jumped off the bed and walked over to the dressing table where Addie’s mask hung over her mirror. ‘Your mask covers most of your face, Ads. When you put the wig on with it no one will be able to pick who you are at all.’
‘That’s the plan,’ Addie said, smiling at Miya, who had put on the mask.
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She was totally hidden behind it. ‘No one’s supposed to know. Not till 10:30 when
everyone’s handed in their “Guess who’s behind the mask” cards and taken their masks off. I haven’t told a single person other than you guys what I’m wearing and who I’m going with. Have any of you?’
‘No way!’ exclaimed Miya.
‘Just Lara,’ Grace said with a small smile.
Before Olivia could give her reply, their dorm pod holo-doorbell rang. All four agents raced out into the hallway eager to see the 3D
hologram that showed them who was at their door.
‘It’s Valentina with my ball dress,’ Addie said. ‘Hide our masks while I get the door.’
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Grace gathered up the masks and put
them carefully inside the hall closet.
‘Hey,’ Valentina said as she stepped
inside. ‘What are you guys up to?’
‘Just doing our nails,’ Addie said, smiling.
‘Thanks for lending this dress to me, Valentina.
Did anyone see you leaving with it?’
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‘Nope,’ Valentina answered. ‘Hannah and Lara are at horse riding lessons and Louisa’s gone shopping at the Galleria with some of the other girls.’
‘Would you like me to do your nails for tonight, Valentina?’ Miya offered.
‘Thanks, Miya, but I’ve already done
mine,’ Valentina said, following the girls back into Addie’s room. ‘I brought some shoes for you too, Addie. Just in case.’
‘Oh, how nice!’ Addie said looking at the shoes. ‘I do have a pair but these ones are so pretty. I hope they fit.’ But before she got to try them on her SpaceBerry sounded, along with Valentina’s.
‘This better not be Aziza again,’ Valentina 2O
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said taking her phone from her pocket. ‘She’s offered me just about everything to let her go in my place to the ball tonight. She wants to go badly!’
‘Mine’s a mission text message,’ Addie
said. ‘And it says if I’m going to the ball tonight that I should bring my dress and mask with me to the FlyBy in case we get back late.’
‘Same,’ said Valentina. ‘I’d better go get my ball stuff.’
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Addie was in Valentina’s dorm pod waiting for her to collect her things for the ball.
‘I’ll bring my hair straightener,’ Valentina called from her room. ‘Do you have make-up?’
‘No,’ Addie called back. ‘We’ll be wearing masks for most of the night anyway.’
‘But we still want to look good when we take our masks off,’ Valentina said heading into the bathroom. ‘And if we don’t have enough time to come back to the pods and get ready with everyone else, we can still have fun 22
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getting ready together at the FlyBy.’
Addie smiled at that. ‘What a great idea,’
she said. ‘I was feeling a bit sad that I might miss out on getting ready with everyone else.
Have you got everything? We should really get going. Your dorm pod’s space buggy’s gone but we can take Jack.’
‘Jack!’ Valentina laughed. ‘You guys have given your space buggy a name?’
‘Yes. Jack,’ Addie said firmly. ‘So, have you got everything?’
‘Yep,’ Valentina answered and she closed the dorm pod door behind her.
‘Open hatch please, Jack,’ Addie said
as she approached the space buggy that was parked between the two dorm pods.
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As the buggy’s hatch opened a computer voice spoke from within the cabin of the buggy.
‘Hello, Space Agent Star Girl. Please advise your destination.’
‘We need to go to the FlyBy thanks, Jack,’
Addie said as she and Valentina climbed into their seats.
The buggy’s control panel flashed then
the computerised voice said, ‘Certainly.
Welcome, Space Agent Supernova 1. Nice to have you on-board.’
‘Oh! Thanks, Jack,’ Valentina said with a grin. ‘They’re pretty smart bugs these, aren’t they Addie?’
‘They sure are,’ Addie agreed. ‘It’s neat having our own space bug to take us places but 24
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I still like using the space-tube to get around the space station as well.’
When the agents were buckled in, Jack
said, ‘Thank you, Agents. Leaving dorm pods now.’ Then the space buggy zoomed out from the dorm pod port.
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‘Our first mission as fully fledged third year agents-in-training,’ Valentina said, looking out the buggy’s window as it flew out of the agents’ village towards the central area of the space station. ‘This time next year we’ll be proper space agents. All finished. Sort of weird in a way . . .’
‘Very weird,’ Addie said. ‘It’s gone so fast.
Remember when I first arrived and got put in your dorm ro
om?’
‘Oh boy.’ Valentina laughed and rolled her eyes. ‘We hated each other so much back then!’
Addie took a quick look at Valentina as she turned her back on Addie to look out the window again. She saw a pink blush creep up Valentina’s neck.
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No, Addie thought. It was just you who hated me and I should tell you so. ‘Are you still so ridiculously tidy?’ she asked instead.
‘Yep! And I know you’re still ridiculously messy. I saw your room. How do you find anything in that dump?’
‘Ha! Dump!’ Addie laughed. ‘I have a good system going. I know where everything is.’
‘Landing at the FlyBy port,’ Jack’s
computer said. Then the buggy slowed down and landed in one of the bays alongside two other buggies.
‘I wonder who else is here?’ Addie asked as she climbed out and stepped onto the port.
‘We’ll find out soon,’ Valentina said. ‘I can’t wait to try out the new FlyBy entry.’
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‘Isn’t it just the same rippling vortex but in a new spot?’
‘Well yes, but it’s different,’ Valentina answered. ‘We go through the ground.’
‘Oh, I remember,’ Addie said. ‘The FlyBy’s underneath us in the base of the space station and we log in by pressing our hands onto the recognition wall.’
‘Let’s do it together,’ Valentina said. ‘It can take four at a time.’
Addie frowned. ‘It’s just a plain white wall,’ she said as she placed her palm flat on the wall beside Valentina’s. Immediately text began appearing on the wall. ‘It reminds me of seeing movie credits playing after a movie,’
Addie said, reading about herself as more and 28
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more text came up on the wall.
‘And there are our agent ID photos,’ said Valentina. ‘Mine’s so gross. I want to get a new one done. I look so dumb in that one. It’s two years old!’
Suddenly the ground beneath them
began to soften. ‘Here we go!’ Addie said, letting go of the wall and grabbing Valentina’s hand. ‘This is so much weirder than the rippling vortex wall!’