The Kid Kingdom (5 page)

‘We made it exactly the same as Earth's anti-comet cannons,' Kal explained. ‘WorldCorp provided the design. We have a missile to fire at the comet when we're ready. But the surface kids have been mucking around with water bombs, so we've hardly had time to practise. Our water expands and the other kids think it's hilarious.'

‘Your water expands? That's amazing!' exclaimed Kip. ‘So
that's
why the water bomb that came through the wormhole was so enormous!'

The Destroyer - Anti-comet Cannon

‘In any case, none of us can get the aim right,' Kal said.

Finbar squinted at the gunsight. ‘Nothing wrong that I can see,' he said.

Kip looked into the gunsight too. With a simple turn of the cannon on its rotating base, he lined up the comet immediately. Someone loaded a missile into the machine. The target seemed impossible to miss.

So what's going wrong?
he thought, staring around at the Undergrounders as he tried to crack the problem.

The Undergrounders stared back at him, their three eyes wide with tension.

Wait...three eyes...

The Undergrounders had copied the design of cannons on Earth. Cannons that were designed to be fired by people with
two
eyes. With three eyes, the aliens couldn't aim straight! Kip explained his theory to the Undergrounders.

Kal slapped a hand to her forehead. ‘Of course!'

‘I've got two eyes. Plus, I've been trained to fire all kinds of weapons,' Kip said. ‘Do you want me to fire the cannon for you?'

Kal nodded. ‘You'd better hurry,' she said quickly.

‘Right,' said Kip. ‘Load the missile.'

Kal and the Undergrounders loaded a huge missile into the cannon.

‘Now, keep the surface kids away from here,' said Kip. ‘The last thing we need is a hoverboard crashing into the cannon.'

Kip positioned himself in front of the gunsight. His finger, trembling slightly, rested on the trigger.

He was just about to fire when a voice behind him broke his concentration.

‘What do you think you're doing, Earthling?' Fergus growled. ‘You think you can just come here and start ordering us around?'

CHAPTER 9

Anger boiled inside Kip. Every second wasted brought Yufe closer to danger!

‘We're saving your planet,' Kip said shortly. ‘Otherwise, that comet will crush you all!'

Fergus's eyes glittered. ‘You and your wolf can't come here acting like you're in charge,' he growled.

So this is what Ker meant when he said Fergus
looks after the details
, Kip thought angrily.
Ker has fun and stays popular – while Fergus
makes sure no-one's threatening his leadership!

‘I'M TRYING TO HELP YOU!' Kip exploded.

‘You're trying to steal Ker's leadership and so's Kal,' Fergus snapped. ‘We don't need your help. Ker's the leader around here, and I'm the alpha wolf.'

‘Wolves are pack animals,' Finbar whispered. ‘Fergus thinks we're acting out of turn, because he's the wolf in charge.'

‘Whatever.' Kip rolled his eyes. This was no time for wolf politics. He had to blast that comet.

But Fergus snarled at Finbar. He was definitely picking a fight!

‘Sixty seconds to stop it!' shrieked one of the Undergrounders.

The comet still looked a way off, but it was moving super fast.

Fergus circled Finbar, teeth bared. He was about to attack! But Finbar stood his ground.

Fergus lunged!

Finbar grabbed Fergus firmly by the shoulders, making him squeak in surprise. It looked very strange, like the two wolves were dancing.

Finbar locked eyes with Fergus.

He stared hard. Then suddenly...

Fergus whimpered and dropped to his knees.

‘Thirty seconds!' yelled the kids.

Kip swung back to the Destroyer. He got the comet in his sights and fired!

The missile hurtled through the sky towards the comet, then...

KA-BOOOOM!

There was a flash of white. A moment later, debris from the exploded comet rained down on them.

The missile had hit the comet dead-centre. Yufe was saved!

At the sound of the crash, the surface kids came running towards the Destroyer. Ker led the way. For once, he wasn't grinning.

‘That was a really close one!' he said to Kal, surprised. He even looked a little sheepish. ‘I'm sorry I didn't believe you about the comet. I thought you were trying to stop my fun. And Fergus said you wanted the leadership.'

Kal turned to Kip. ‘Our older sister was leader – but when she grew young again, someone had to take over. Ker and I are twins, so we didn't know who it should be.'

Twins!
thought Kip.
No wonder they're
alike...

‘Seems like Ker got all the good-time genes and you got the serious ones,' Kip answered.

‘The kids wanted Ker as leader,' Kal said. ‘He's more fun than me.'

Ker looked at his feet. ‘I liked being popular,' he admitted. ‘But I can see a leader needs to be fun
and
serious sometimes too. Maybe Kal and I could lead together.'

‘You'd have to agree to open some schools so we can learn,' Kal said.

‘Will we have to go every day?' Ker asked, horrified.

‘Of course not,' said Kal. ‘Only on weekdays.'

Obviously it was going to take the two groups of kids a while to get used to each other again.

Reluctantly, Kip had to admit Yufe was not Earth 2. He couldn't imagine WorldCorp letting only kids move to a new planet. He wasn't even sure it was a good idea himself! But least he'd helped the kids on Yufe by blasting away the comet.

‘Come on, Finbar,' said Kip. ‘It's time to get going.'

But before Kip could call MoNa, he heard a familiar growl right behind him.

Fergus again! Except he didn't attack. He sat next to Finbar, wagging his tail.

‘Can I come with you?' he asked.

‘Why is he being so nice?' Kip whispered to Finbar. ‘What did you do to him?'

‘I just stared him down,' said Finbar. ‘And now he thinks
I'm
the alpha wolf. The only problem is, now he'll want to stay with us.'

Kip grinned. ‘WorldCorp's Gadget Design people sent me this yak-flavoured squeaky ball,' he said, pulling it from his backpack.

Finbar raised his fuzzy eyebrows.

‘It's motion-sensor activated,' Kip explained. ‘As soon as you catch it, the ball bounces off in another direction. It's a game of fetch that never ends! It's supposed to keep you fit on long space flights.'

Kip told Finbar to look away while he threw the ball. The ball was irresistible to wolves and Kip wanted it to work on Fergus, not Finbar.

Kip hurled the ball. Fergus's black ears pricked up and he bounded off after it.

That should keep him happy for a while!
Kip thought with a grin.

CHAPTER 10

Fergus reached the ball in a few powerful strides. His mouth closed around it, savouring the yak flavour. Then the ball flew out of his mouth and sped off in the opposite direction.

For a second, Fergus looked stunned. Then he raced after the ball again.

As soon as he saw his plan was working, Kip called MoNa.

‘I thought you were never going to explode that comet,' MoNa grumbled.

Ker overheard MoNa's loud voice through Kip's SpaceCuff. ‘Is that one of those mumsandads?' Ker asked, horrified.

‘Er…no,' Kip said. ‘That's my bossy starship. Mums and dads are normally nicer than that.'

Ker looked doubtful. Kip could tell he seriously wasn't ready to let grown-ups move to Yufe.

Two Scrambler Beams shot down from MoNa, who was hovering just beyond Yufe's atmosphere. Ker held out his hand for a goodbye handshake.

As Kip shook Ker's hand, he thought about how similar they were. Both were responsible for helping to keep their people safe. Ker spent most of his time having fun – and Kip knew that was important, but hard work was necessary too.

Next, Kip and Finbar said goodbye to Kal and the Undergrounders.

‘As soon as I get home, I'll send you an update on all of Earth's new technology via intergalactic satellite phone,' Kip promised.

The Undergrounders whispered excitedly. Their love of tech was on the geeky side. Kip hoped they'd learn to have fun too.

Before leaving, Kip filled his drink bottle from a nearby chocolate fountain. The bottle was computerised, so Kip could program in the temperature he wanted his drink. The bottle also had the latest Pumpastraw feature, so the drink pumped into Kip's mouth automatically.

Kal gave him a second bottle filled with water from Yufe. ‘Here's a sample for you,' she said. ‘Maybe your scientists can work out how to make the water on Earth expand too.'

‘Thanks,' said Kip, as he stepped into his Scrambler. Finbar did the same.

Seconds later, their particles had been scrambled and beamed through space. They were back on board MoNa.