The Kid Kingdom
SCOUTING THE UNIVERSE FOR A NEW EARTH
THE KID KINGDOM
BY
H. BADGER
ILLUSTRATED BY
D. 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 McPherson's 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 wasn't 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!
Kip's dad was unpacking the camping gear, kicking up gigantic clouds of lunar dust. âHow do you know when the moon's angry, boys?' he asked.
Kip and Jett shrugged their shoulders.
âIt shows you its dark side!' Kip's dad chuckled.
Underneath his space helmet, Kip rolled his eyes.
How did I end up with such
an embarrassing dad?
he thought.
Kip's 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?
âComing at you, Kip!' Jett yelled.
Kip kept his eyes on the volleyball, which was floating over the net towards him.
âGot it,' Kip replied, leaping three metres into the air to lob the volleyball back to Jett.
âNot the volleyball!' Jett yelled. âTHAT 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 moon's rocky surface. It broke open on impact and a wireless device floated out. It beamed encrypted data to Kip's 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.
âCool!' said Jett, who had read the message over Kip's shoulder. âWhere are they sending you?'
âI don't know,' said Kip. âBut I can't wait to find out! The 27 only thing is...how do I get to the Hoverport?'
The Hoverport was 10 kilometres above Earth â 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 dad's 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. Kip's dad never,
ever
let anyone fly it but him.
Space Stream Motor Home
âYou're not thinking what I think you're thinking, are you, Kip?' whispered Jett.
âI'd just be borrowing it,' Kip hissed back. âAs soon as I get to the Hoverport, I'll send it back here on auto-pilot. You guys can fly home to Earth, no problems.'
âYour dad's going to
kill
you!' Jett said, shaking his head.
Kip shrugged, but inside he was grinning. Secretly, he'd 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, Kip's dad insisted on sleeping in the great outdoors. Otherwise, he said, it just wasn't 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 Kip's dad was having trouble with the instructions.
Now's 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.
Kip's dad might be angry about the Space Stream at first. But Kip hoped he'd understand. He had to get to the Hoverport somehow. Earth's future could depend on Kip's 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, he'd 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.