H. Badger - The Jelly People

THE JELLY PEOPLE

BY H. BADGER

ILLUSTRATED BY C. BENNETT

The Jelly People
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
Design by S. Swingler
Typeset by Ektavo
Printed in Australia by McPhersons Printing Group

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CONTENTS

Kip Kirby hated not being good at things. And he especially hated being the very worst in the class!

It was Saturday morning and Kip was at Dino-Training class. His pet minisaur Duke just wouldnt roll over.

Minisaurs were knee-high brontosauruses. They were bred as family pets from fossil DNA. A giant company called WorldCorp had invented them a while ago, back in the year 2328.

Kip sometimes wondered what it was like in the olden days. Kip had read that back then, kids had dogs and cats as pets.

Bet a dog wouldnt chew two pairs of expensivespaceboots in one week, Kip thought.

Roll over, Duke! he said. Come on!

But instead, Duke jumped into Kips arms. He licked Kips face with his slobbery dinosaur tongue.

I know your brains smaller than a freeze-dried pea, Kip laughed. But this is ridiculous!

It was hard to stay mad at Duke, even if everyone in the AirPark was staring at them.

The AirPark was a huge area covered in fake grass. It was high up in the sky, on top of a sky scraper.

AirParks had replaced ground-level parks ages ago. With a population of over a trillion people, there just wasnt room on Earth anymore.

Over the excited roaring of the class of minisaurs, Kip heard the Teacherbot call out.

Time to practise using your sonic leashes, the Teacherbot chirped.

The Teacherbot was a basic worker robot with special patience software installed. This one was as tall as Kip, and was made of soft, waterproof plastic to protect against minisaur bites and slobber.

Kip grabbed his sonic leash from his pocket. He clipped the flashing collar around Dukes neck. Then he flicked on the remote-control unit.

Unlike old-fashioned leashes, there was nothing joining Dukes collar to Kips hand.

If Kip selected Turn Right on his remote control, the collar would make a high-frequency sound only Duke could hear. Then Duke would turn right. At least, thats what was supposed to happen

Tell your minisaur to walk straight ahead! called the Teacherbot.

Kip selected Walk Straight Ahead.

Duke started scratching the fake grass.

Kip rolled his eyes. As much as he loved Duke, Kip just didnt have time for this. Between school and his job as a Space Scout, he was super-busy all the time.

At 12, Kip was the youngest ever Space Scout. Tests showed Kips bravery, intelligence and physical fitness were better than 99.9999% of those tested.Thats why hed been hired by WorldCorp to explore the galaxies for a second Earth to live on.

Kip wanted to discover Earth 2 more than anything. And so did the 49 other Space Scouts. Discovering Earth 2 would win a Space Scout the ultimate prize the Shield of Honour.

Kip often imagined how brilliant winning would feel. As well as the glory, Kip loved the sound of the other prizes that came with the Shield like a mansion on Earth 2! And WorldCorp had just added another awesome prize an extra day off school or work every week.

The Teacherbot interrupted Kips daydream. Tell your minisaur to walk faster!

Kip turned up the speed dial on his sonic leashs remote control. Of course, Duke chose that exact moment to fall asleep.

But Kip hardly noticed. His SpaceCuff was buzzing!

A SpaceCuff was a thick silver band worn on the wrist. It had a built-in screen. Space Scouts used SpaceCuffs to communicate with their starships and WorldCorp.

Kip pressed the Open Message button on his SpaceCuff.

It was a mission brief. Excitement shot up Kips spine. He was off to space again!

SPACE SCOUT
KIP KIRBY
MISSION BRIEF

Message from: WorldCorp Mission Control

WorldCorp has received coded messages about an unexplored planet called Aquaron. It seems Aquaron is trading something very valuable with other planets.

Therefore, WorldCorp believes Aquaron has natural resources that may be useful to 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.

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.

Ive got to leave early, Kip apologised to the Teacherbot. A sad-face emoticon popped up on the Teacherbots screen.

Once Kip and Duke got back down to ground level, Kip scratched Dukes scaly head. Go home, boy, he said.

Duke trotted off towards Kips apartment. Kip couldnt 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 Earths 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 WorldCorps cleaning department after Dino-Training.

Kips 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. Kips 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 didnt 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.