H. Badger - The Shrinking Race

SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH

THE SHRINKING RACE

BY H. BADGER
ILLUSTRATED BY C. BENNETT

The Shrinking Race
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

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

CONTENTS

Kip Kirby sat at his school desk, swinging his legs.

He was meant to be taking a Health and Nutrition test, like the other 999 kids in his class. But Kips mind was elsewhere.

He was thinking about his after-school job. It wasnt an easy one, like being an ePaper Boy. That just meant uploading the morning paper into the electronic slot in peoples front doors.

Kips job was way harder, but heaps more fun. He had been specially chosen by the massive corporation WorldCorp to be a Space Scout.

Earth was so crowded that it was running out of room. Another Earth was needed fast! It was the Space Scouts job to find it. So Kip got to explore unknown planets beyond the Milky Way in a high-tech black starship.

Kip glanced at his school desk. It was a new Thoughtomatic. The test questions flashed onto the desks built-in screen:

Kip sometimes watched low-gravity sports comps broadcast live from Mercury.

Those low-gravity gymnastics are easy-peasy. Humans weigh 62% less on Mercury, Kip remembered. After his time in Space Scout training, Kips space knowledge was impressive.

Also, Kip was an expert hoverboarder. He knew for a fact it was very, very hard work, even harder than waterless surfing.

The answers got to be (b), Kip thought.

But he didnt need anything as outdated as a pen to answer the question. Kip just had to think the answer, and (b) was highlighted on the screen.

Still, Kip wished his mum could think his answers for him. She was a Health and Nutrition whiz. It seemed like it, anyway. She was always telling Kip to eat his artificial vegies.

Kip knew that in the olden days, vegies were grown on farms. Now everything was created in labs.

Kip had read in his history downloads that kids had never liked vegies. But now vegies tasted worse than ever just like the fluff in his spacesuit cuffs!

The next question flashed up on the Thoughtomatic screen:

BurgerMousse was Kips favourite snack. It was yummiest when sprayed out of the can straight into your mouth. According to Kips mum, BurgerMousse was definitely unhealthy. So were lollies.

The answers got to be (c), Kip thought, just as the bell rang. The bell was polyphonic, and it played a different tune every day. Todays was a folk song from the moons of Saturn.

Soooooo uncool, Kip thought, grabbing his stuff. He bolted out of the classroom. He had to leave on a Space Scout mission straight after school.

See ya, Jett, Kip yelled to his best friend on the way out. He raced to the school gate, which was made of invisible lasers. He cleared it in a single jump.

Wheres my UniTaxi? Kip wondered, scanning the street. All he could see were Nannybots. These robots picked up kids after school and looked after them while their parents were at work.

When Kip needed to travel to the Intergalatic Hoverport, WorldCorp often sent a UniTaxi. UniTaxis were flying vehicles used for high-speed travel within Earths atmosphere.

When Kip wasnt on a mission, his starship docked at the Hoverport, about 10 kilometres off the ground. His starship was called MoNa 4000.

Better call WorldCorp and find out where thetaxi is, Kip thought to himself. He flicked on his SpaceCuff. SpaceCuffs were thick silver wristbands with mini screens. Space Scouts used them to talk with WorldCorp and their starships when on missions.

There was already a message waiting on Kips SpaceCuff.

Inconvenient? Theyre risking Earths future! Kip snorted. Hopeless.

Kip grabbed his custom-made World-Corp spacesuit, which was rolled up in his school backpack. The spacesuit was bright green and made of extra strong meteor-repellent fabric.

He jammed on his green spaceboots, the latest Humming-bird Pros. His matching helmet had glittering flames on the side.

Kip would have to find his own way to the Hoverport!

Kip raced towards the schools shelter sheds. They were silver waterproof pods at the back of the school.

He scanned the shelter sheds for Jetts Junior Flyer. It was Kips old one. Kip had given it to Jett when he became a Space Scout. A Junior Flyer just didnt compare to piloting MoNa 4000.

WorldCorp Junior Flyer

Hope he doesnt mind if I borrow it back! Kip thought, jumping on.

Junior Flyers had two wheels and a carbon-fibre frame. The helicopter blades behind the seat were pedal-powered.

Kip started pedalling like crazy. He had to get to the Hoverport quickly. Plus, itd ruin his Space Scout image if anyone saw him on a Junior Flyer!

Blades whirring, the Junior Flyer rose from the ground. Kip leant hard to the left and swooped out of the shelter shed.

Outside, the sky was full of Nannybots flying their SnapDragons. SnapDragons were bigger than Junior Flyers, but only slightly cooler.

Kip flew higher, dodging the traffic with skill. The wind was picking up. It nearly blew him straight into a Nannybot!

He was panting so hard that his helmet fogged up. Luckily, Kip was ultra-fit. To make it as a Space Scout, he had to be.

At last, the Hoverport loomed up ahead. The Hoverport looked like a multi-storey carpark hovering in mid-air. Starships of all shapes and sizes were docked there. Most were small spacecraft that didnt fly further than Neptunes icy asteroid belt.