The Robot King by H. Badger Page B

overhead. ‘You’re late!’
    It was MoNa. She heard everything Kip and Finbar said.
    Kip pulled a face. ‘Only by four minutes! But I’ll head to the bridge and download the mission brief,’ he added quickly.
    â€˜You’d better,’ said MoNa. ‘Or else I’ll tell WorldCorp about your little RocketBoard stunt.’
    Kip rolled his eyes. MoNa would be such a cool starship if she weren’t so bossy!

CHAPTER 3
    Kip and Finbar left the landing bay together.Walking through MoNa’s glowing blue corridors, they passed the Sensory Cinema. Inside, you could not only watch films, but touch and taste the things in the films as well.
    They soon reached the bridge, MoNa’s control centre. It had sloping walls and wide windows for a windshield.
    In the centre of the bridge were two padded chairs. Kip and Finbar sat down. Kip waved his hand in the air above him.
    Instantly, their chairs were surrounded by a cylinder of blue light. The blue light had dials, screens and a keyboard projected onto it. It was Kip’s holographic consol.
    He downloaded the Mission Brief.
    CLASSIFIED

    SPACE SCOUT
KIP KIRBY
MISSION BRIEF
    WorldCorp’s super computers have detected a wormhole leading to a planet called Arboria.
    Arboria is thought to have water and aliens that are similar to humans. The planet could be an ideal Earth 2.
    Kip flipped to the writing pad projected on his consol. He scribbled a message to Finbar with his finger. That way MoNa wouldn’t know what he was saying.
    Will you be OK in the wormhole?
    Finbar nodded.
    Normally, Finbar was the wise, calm one. But he hated travelling through wormholes! Kip didn’t want MoNa to know in case Finbar was embarrassed about it. MoNa already thought she was better than Kip and Finbar combined.
    Kip programmed the wormhole’s co-ordinates into his consol. As soon as he hit the Enter button, MoNa shot out of her dock at the Hoverport.
    MoNa had a useful auto-pilot function. She often flew herself, but not when travelling through wormholes.
    Wormholes were unpredictable, so it was dangerous for a computer to fly through them. Kip’s training, intelligence and instincts were needed.
    MoNa rocketed upwards, trailing flame and smoke behind her. She quickly left Earth’s atmosphere behind. Soon, they were in the inky blackness of outer space.
    Up ahead, Kip spotted a swirling mass of clouds streaked with red light. The wormhole was exactly where the co-ordinates said it would be.

    â€˜Engaging mega-drive,’ Kip said, his hands a blur across the holographic controls. He was about to pilot MoNa through the wormhole.
    At once, MoNa jumped forward. The stars became streaks outside the window. MoNa shot into the wormhole with a sucking sound. Kip’s skin prickled and his eyes throbbed. They were travelling billions of kilometres at the speed of light! It felt like riding six giant rollercoasters all at once.
    A second later, MoNa popped out the other end of the wormhole.
    â€˜Are we there yet?’ Finbar whimpered.
    Before Kip could reply, a voice echoed through the starship. ‘Welcome to Arboria’s airspace, MoNa 4000,’ it said warmly.
    â€˜Er, thanks,’ said Kip, tapping the Communicate button on the consol.
    â€˜Please land your ship on our planet,’ the male voice continued. ‘We love visitors.’
    He must be the galaxy’s friendliest air-traffic controller , Kip thought. He even speaks our language!
    MoNa usually didn’t land on foreign planets. Instead, Kip and Finbar were teleported down by Scrambler Beams. These scrambled every particle in the body and beamed them through space. Then the particles were rearranged back into normal form on the surface of the new planet.
    Kip was torn. Most planets would never invite a strange starship to land. Kip was unsure what might be waiting for him on Arboria. But the voice sounded so friendly, and it was his mission to explore Arboria.