H. Badger - The Kid Kingdom

SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH

THE KID KINGDOM

BYH. BADGER
ILLUSTRATED BYD. GREULICH

The Kid Kingdom
published in 2011 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 2011 H. Badger
Illustration and design copyright 2011 Hardie Grant Egmont

Cover illustration by M. Deeble
Illustrated by D. Greulich
Series design by S. Swingler
Typeset by Ektavo
Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

CONTENTS

Kip Kirby was puffed. He was trying to put up a volleyball net. It wasnt easy, because Kip kept floating into the air. So did the net!

Not surprising, Kip grinned to himself. I am on the moon.

Kip and his best friend Jett were camping with their dads. It was the year 2354 and the moon was a popular weekend getaway spot. It was too crowded on Earth to go camping.

Kip and Jett were excited about playing lunar volleyball. The low gravity on the moon made it perfect for awesome jump serves and spikes!

Kips dad was unpacking the camping gear, kicking up gigantic clouds of lunar dust. How do you know when the moons angry, boys? he asked.

Kip and Jett shrugged their shoulders.

It shows you its dark side! Kips dad chuckled.

Underneath his space helmet, Kip rolled his eyes. How did I end up with suchan embarrassing dad? he thought.

Kips image was especially important because he had a job as a Space Scout. Space Scouts explored distant galaxies to find a new planet to live on. There were so many people on Earth that they needed more room.

At 12 years old, Kip was the youngest of the 50 Space Scouts.

Kip loved his job. How many other kids had seen the awesome stuff he had on his missions?

Coming at you, Kip! Jett yelled.

Kip kept his eyes on the volleyball, which was floating over the net towards him.

Got it, Kip replied, leaping three metres into the air to lob the volleyball back to Jett.

Not the volleyball! Jett yelled. THAT THING OVER THERE!

Kip turned to see a black football-sized capsule hurtling towards him.

Red-hot flames spewed from the back of the capsule, which was fitted with powerful mini-rockets. Splashed on the side in big letters were the words:

With a second to spare, Kip ducked out of the way. His spacesuit was made from the latest ultra-light heat-resistant fabric, of course. But a sizzling hot capsule could still put a hole in it.

SMACK!

With a sickening crack, the capsule smashed into the moons rocky surface. It broke open on impact and a wireless device floated out. It beamed encrypted data to Kips SpaceCuff in seconds, and the SpaceCuff automatically decoded it.

A SpaceCuff was a communication device, translator and gaming console all rolled into one. Space Scouts would be lost without them.

Cool! said Jett, who had read the message over Kips shoulder. Where are they sending you?

I dont know, said Kip. But I cant wait to find out! The 27 only thing is...how do I get to the Hoverport?

The Hoverport was 10 kilometres above Earth a quick trip by Space Scout standards. But getting there from the moon was trickier.

Kip glanced around for inspiration. His eyes settled on his dads brand-new Space Stream flying motor home.

The Space Stream was sleek, silver and decked out with extras like multi-galaxy cable TV and a rooftop waterless spa. Kips dad never, ever let anyone fly it but him.

Space Stream Motor Home

Youre not thinking what I think youre thinking, are you, Kip? whispered Jett.

Id just be borrowing it, Kip hissed back. As soon as I get to the Hoverport, Ill send it back here on auto-pilot. You guys can fly home to Earth, no problems.

Your dads going to kill you! Jett said, shaking his head.

Kip shrugged, but inside he was grinning. Secretly, hed always wanted an excuse to fly the Space Stream.

Kip looked over at his dad, who was staring at their camping gear, bewildered.

Even though the Space Stream had the latest vertical hammocks, Kips dad insisted on sleeping in the great outdoors. Otherwise, he said, it just wasnt a proper camping trip!

Instead of tents, moon campers needed special inflatable structures with built-in airlocks. They were supposed to pop up in one go. But Kips dad was having trouble with the instructions.

Nows my chance! Kip thought.

He felt a little guilty about sneaking off. At home, Kip had to do what his parents said, like any kid. It was only on Space Scout missions that he had complete control.

Kips dad might be angry about the Space Stream at first. But Kip hoped hed understand. He had to get to the Hoverport somehow. Earths future could depend on Kips next mission!

With a goodbye wave to Jett, Kip sneaked aboard the Space Stream. It was docked a little way from the campsite.

He jumped straight into the cockpit and commenced launch sequence.

As an experienced Space Scout, Kip was confident flying most vehicles. Besides, hed watched his dad piloting the Space Stream heaps of times before.

With the roar of rockets powering up, the Space Stream took off into the air.

Through the windscreen, Kip saw his dad look up from the camping gear. His expression quickly went from surprised to mega-cranky.

Ill look after it, Dad, Kip called. Space Scouts honour!

The Space Streams powerful engine throbbed as Kip hit the throttle. He understood why his dad loved flying it! It wasnt long before Kip left the moon far behind. And only a short time later, he arrived at the Intergalactic Hoverport.

All intergalactic space flights left from the Hoverport. Thats why Kips starship, MoNa 4000, was docked there. MoNa was a huge, glossy black ship, with a pointed nose cone and extra noisy thrusters, specially designed for extreme long-distance space travel. She was the ideal starship, apart from her bossy personality.

Kip expertly piloted the Space Stream into the massive landing bay on MoNas lowest level.

MoNa had a team of maintenance robots aboard. Straight away, the bots began refuelling the Space Stream so it could return itself to the moon.