Star League 5 by H.J. Harper Read Free Book Online Page A

because of my psychic animancer powers I can understand him and all animals perfectly.
    â€˜Oh, stop complaining,’ purrs a voice, ‘or I’ll give you something to complain about.’ I turn tosee the tiger slinking towards me.
    â€˜Hi, Amir,’ I say. ‘Nice acting back there. You’re very convincing as a bloodthirsty hunter!’
    Amir the tiger chuckles. ‘Thanks. Don’t tell anyone, but I actually prefer liquorice to human flesh!’
    â€˜Hey, Leigh, great scene!’ I glance up as we’re joined by Jay, Asuka, Connor, Roger and Sam. They look a little bit on edge around Amir.
    â€˜Don’t worry, he won’t bite,’ I tell them.
    â€˜Unless you’ve got liquorice,’ adds Amir. Chu, Amir and I laugh, but the joke is totally lost on the others, who don’t understand a word of it.
    â€˜So, if you’re done filming, we thought we’d take advantage of our free time,’ says Jay.
    â€˜Yeah?’ I ask excitedly. ‘What did you have in mind?’ In between filming movies and fighting evil villains with the Star League, I haven’t had much free time lately. After all the excitement of the past couple of months it’ll be good to relax.
    â€˜We were just heading next door to watch Aunt Petunia film her TV show,’ says Connor. ‘Want to come?’
    I frown. ‘Who’s Aunt Petunia? Is she a relative of yours?’
    â€˜You don’t know who Aunt Petunia is?’ asks Roger in surprise. ‘Have you been living under a rock?’
    Actually, Roger’s not far off. I’ve lived my whole life travelling around the world with my mother, an anthropologist. Most of the time she was off studying ancient tribes where electricity wasn’t used, so I never really watched TV. Ever since I can remember I’ve been able to understand animals, so instead of watching TV, I used to listen to their stories for fun instead.
    Thankfully, Sam steps in. ‘Aunt Petunia is the star of Le Nice Pets , a television show about training animals to be obedient. It attracts 3.2 million viewers a week on average.’
    I blink. ‘Is that good?’
    â€˜Sure is,’ says Jay. ‘It’s one of the most popular shows on TV, and they just so happen to be filming it next door. Come on!’
    I say goodbye to Amir and we head through the studio to another set. The first thing I notice is a little old lady with her pink hair done up in a bun. Since all of the cameras are focused on her, I’m guessing that she’s Aunt Petunia.
    â€˜Hello, my lovelies. So far on today’s episode of Le Nice Pets , you’ve seen me teach a parrot how to sing in Spanish and how to make a poodle do the hula hoop. And now, before I say goodnight, I’d like to introduce you to somebody very special. Sweetpea! Where are you, Sweetpea?’
    An enormous shape looms out of the shadows behind her. It’s as tall as a human but wider and more muscular. Not to mention the fact that it’s covered from head to toe in thick, black fur.
    â€˜It’s a gorilla!’ I gasp. I’ve never met a gorillabefore, so I’m really excited. I reach out with my animancer powers to say hello, but the gorilla doesn’t even turn in my direction. He just lumbers towards little old Aunt Petunia with a cold look in his eyes that makes me think something is wrong. I get a sick feeling in my stomach. What if he hurts her? He could easily break her in two!
    I close my eyes and try again to call out to the gorilla to tell him not to harm her. I call so loud that Chu winces on my shoulder, but it’s no good. The gorilla just keeps stomping towards Aunt Petunia with a menacing look in his eyes.

‘Stop!’ I yell. ‘Something’s wrong! That gorilla is going to hurt her!’
    But even as the words are out of my mouth, I realise that’s not going to happen. Sweetpea calmly waits at Aunt Petunia’s side