The Jelly People by H. Badger Read Free Book Online Page A

humans.
    The source of the messages is unknown.
    Your mission:
    Explore Aquaron, find out what is being traded and collect samples. Work out whether humans could live on Aquaron.
    Go to the Intergalactic Hoverport and prepare for immediate departure.

CHAPTER 2
    WorldCorp wanted Kip to leave immediately. Kip guessed a wormhole to Aquaron must have opened unexpectedly. Wormholes were shortcuts from one galaxy to another. Space Scouts could travel millions of light years in seconds. But wormholes never stayed open for long.
    â€˜I’ve got to leave early,’ Kip apologised to the Teacherbot. A sad-face emoticon popped up on the Teacherbot’s screen.
    Once Kip and Duke got back down to ground level, Kip scratched Duke’s scaly head. ‘Go home, boy,’ he said.
    Duke trotted off towards Kip’s apartment. Kip couldn’t believe it.
    Maybe Dino-Training is working after all! he thought, racing to the nearest Rocket Bus stop. A Rocket Bus heading for the Hoverport would be along any second.
    All space flights left from the Intergalactic Hoverport. It hovered inside Earth’s atmosphere, about 10 kilometres above the ground.
    Rummaging in his backpack, Kip grabbed his spacesuit, boots and helmet. Luckily, he had them with him. He was supposed to drop them at WorldCorp’s cleaning department after Dino-Training.
    Kip’s spacesuit was green, as were his matching boots. Made of soft, meteor-proof fabric, the suit was designed to fit Kip perfectly. He got a new one every couple of missions. Kip’s helmet had sparkling red flames on the side.
    Making sure no-one was looking, Kip stepped into his spacesuit. As a Space Scout, Kip prided himself on always being in control. Getting changed at a bus stop didn’t quite fit that image.
    Kip had just finished changing when a bus plummeted through the air towards him.

    Space Scout #50: Kip Kirby
    Rocket Buses looked like old-fashioned buses, except they were standing on their end. The driver stopped smoothly, hovering half a metre above the stop. Kip climbed a ladder to get inside.
    Instead of seats, the Rocket Bus had harnesses on the walls. Kip locked his waist, neck and ankle straps into position.
    The bus shot up into the air so fast that Kip’s whole body was thrown against the wall.
    Awesome g-force! Kip thought. No matter how often he blasted into the atmosphere on a Rocket Bus, he never got sick of it.
    Kip was enjoying himself so much that he didn’t notice an extra passenger had sneaked on board. Until a scaly green shape shot past his nose…
    Kip blinked. Was that a flying minisaur?
    Then Kip realised. Instead of going home, Duke had followed him onto the bus.

    WorldCorp Rocket Bus
    Using every one of his carefully trained Space Scout muscles, Kip ripped his hands from the walls. He wriggled his arms free of the harness. Then Kip lunged for Duke as he flew past again.
    I’ll have to take him on the mission, Kip thought as he slipped his safety strap around Duke. He couldn’t miss the wormhole for one minisaur!
    The Rocket Bus was so fast that Kip soon arrived at the Hoverport.
    The Hoverport looked like a giant carpark floating in space. But instead of anything as low-tech as Rocket Buses, the Hoverport was filled with starships.
    The smaller starships travelled to nearby planets like Venus. The bigger ones, like Kip’s starship MoNa 4000, travelled far beyond the Milky Way.
    MoNa was a black, multi-level starship with curved thrusters and glowing lights underneath. When he saw her, Kip spoke into his SpaceCuff.
    â€˜Kip Kirby to MoNa 4000. Approaching Hoverport.’
    â€˜At last,’ grumbled MoNa.
    Kip grinned. As usual, MoNa was in a terrible mood.
    He pulled the cord and the Rocket Bus stopped right beside MoNa’s landing bay. It was freezing cold and the air was thin up here, but Kip would be fine with his spacesuit on.
    But what about Duke?
    â€˜Sorry, boy,’ he said, stuffing Duke into his