H. Badger - The Big Freeze

SPACE
SCOUT

SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH

The Big Freeze
published in 2010 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 2010 H. Badger
Series, illustration and design copyright 2010 Hardie Grant Egmont

Cover illustration by D. Mackie
Illustrated by C.Bennett and A. Mackie
Design by S. Swingler
Typeset by Ektavo
Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

SPACE
SCOUT

THE BIG FREEZE

BY H. BADGER
ILLUSTRATED BY C. BENNETT AND A. MACKIE

Contents

It was the year 2354, and Kip Kirby was busy packing for a trip to space.

Got your portable meteorite detector? his dad asked.

Check, said Kip, patting his backpack.

Powdered broccoli?

Packed it, Mum, Kip replied, trying not to gag.

Kip wished his parents would relax, but that wasnt going to happen. Not when Kip was starting work as a WorldCorp Space Scout today.

WorldCorp was the only corporation left on Earth. It was all-powerful. WorldCorp to search for a planet hired Space Scouts to search for a planet that could become Earth 2.

They needed a new planet because there were over a trillion people on Earth they were running out of room!

There were 49 Space Scouts already searching the galaxies. Every Space Scout wanted to find the perfect planet first.

Im so proud WorldCorp picked you, sniffled Kips mum. The youngest ever Space Scout! She took a SnotSucker from her pocket. SnotSuckers automatically sucked the snot from your nose without you needing to blow.

Kip tried not to roll his eyes. Instead, he glanced at his pet minisaur Duke, who lay basking in the sun on the carpet. Minisaurs were knee-high brontosauruses. They were bred as pets from fossil DNA.

WorldCorp Minisaur: Duke

Being cold-blooded, Duke basked as often as he could. It was how he got energy.

Scratching Dukes scaly head, Kip gazed out of his bedroom window on the 2,342nd floor of his building.

Earth was so crowded that apartment buildings were thousands of storeys high. There was no room for back yards or swimming pools.

Suddenly, there was a loud beep. It was the alarm on Kips SpaceCuff, telling him it was time to leave.

The SpaceCuff was an essential piece of Space Scout gear. It was a thick silver wristband, and had an in-built computer for communicating. There was even a laser pocket-knife function.

WorldCorp SpaceCuff

Id better go, Kip said to his parents, his excitement rising. After three months of Space Scout training, Kip couldnt wait to leave Earth for his first mission.

A nervous look crossed his mums face.

FACT FILE

NAME: KIP KIRBY

AGE: 12 years and 3 months. This is 8 years younger than any other Space Scout. WorldCorp has made an exception because of Kirbys impressive skills and love of risk-taking

LOOKS: Brown hair, hazel eyes innocent look will not threaten aliens

INTELLIGENCE: High, but has not reached dangerous nerd level

STRENGTH: Good genes from athletic parents

ICE-CREAM FLAVOUR: Choc-Cicada Crunch suggests adventurous personality

PETS: Minisaur called Duke

SCHOOL: 23 choir rehearsals missed excuses show creativity and pluck

Made with 100% biodegradable resinPAGE

Ill be fine, Mum. Ive got the skills I need, said Kip. Otherwise WorldCorp wouldnt have picked me.

Kip grabbed his helmet and smoothed his green spacesuit. The gleaming heat-proof suit fit him perfectly.

Kip and his parents stepped into the lift in their apartment. The lift shot 1,158 floors to the roof of the building in 0.2 seconds. It was just enough time to see one of WorldCorps super-fast MicroAds on the lifts 3D TV.

The circular lift doors opened. A WorldCorp UniTaxi sat on a launch pad in the middle of the roof. Shaped like a jellybean, the UniTaxi was green with a clear roof. As Kip walked towards the taxi, its door automatically slid open. He hugged his parents goodbye and quickly got into the taxi before his mum got teary.

Space Scout #50: Kip Kirby

Time to grow upor at least act that way, Kip thought.

Kip was a Space Scout now. He couldnt have his parents freaking out just because this was his first solo trip into space.

Kip settled into the taxi, his backpack at his feet. He put on his helmet. Underneath him, the UniTaxis algae-powered engine purred.

Kip checked the Intergalactic Positioning System on the UniTaxis trip computer.

DESTINATION:
Intergalactic Hoverport
ASSIGNED TRANSPORT:
Starship MoNa 4000

Kip couldnt believe he was about to take off on his first Space Scout mission. It would have been a perfect moment, except for one thing. Since Kip was younger than the other Space Scouts, WorldCorp had decided he needed a second-in-command on his missions, or a 2iC for short.

A calm, wise and knowledgeable individual. Thats how WorldCorp had described his 2iC back in Space Scout training.

Yuck, Kip thought. Sounds like one of myTeacherbots from school!

The UniTaxi shot into the air, slamming Kip back into his seat. It was on auto-pilot, and was programmed to fly Kip to the Intergalactic Hoverport.

The Hoverport hovered high in the sky, 10 kilometres into Earths atmosphere. All space-craft travelling long distances left from the Hoverport.

All kinds of ships were docked there, mostly for short trips to Mars and Venus.

As the UniTaxi sped away from Earth, Kip turned around to check out the view.

He thought about the first time hed been to space. Hed gone on a family holiday to Venus. Bit of a dud holiday, he remembered. It was too hot to take off ourheat-proof spacesuits.

All the solar systems planets were too hot, too cold or too gassy to replace Earth. Finding another planet for humans meant searching way beyond the Milky Way galaxy. And only Space Scouts were allowed to travel that far.

Kip turned back and looked through the UniTaxis windscreen. He couldnt see them yet, but there were zillions of planets to explore out there.