The Dark World (5 page)

‘Good job, Earthling,’ screeched a chillingly familiar voice. It was the lead alien, alone this time. And he looked to be in tip-top health.

The lake beast gave a horrible grunt. Its beady eyes rolled in its head. With one almighty move, it bucked Kip and Finbar from its back. It thundered away, roaring in terror.

Kip landed with a thump on the ground.
Poor lake beast!
he thought.
Looks like I was right about the aliens treating him badly. He’s terrified of them!

Kip and Finbar picked themselves up.

‘I see you met Tiny,’ the alien smirked.

‘Why didn’t you warn us about him?’ Kip snapped.

‘Oh, Tiny’s normally so friendly,’ the alien chuckled. ‘We didn’t think you’d have any problems getting the berries from him.’

Kip rolled his eyes. It was obvious the alien was lying. It seemed there was no point in asking the aliens directly what they were up to. Kip would have to be cleverer.

Casually, he unzipped his backpack. ‘It’s great to see you’re feeling so much better,’ he said to the aliens. ‘I guess you won’t be needing this anymore.’

He tilted the bag, as if to pour the berries out.

At once, the alien coughed loudly. ‘Oh, no. We still need the miracle cure,’ he said quickly. ‘Our illness comes and goes.’

‘Still, it doesn’t sound life-threatening,’ Kip continued, pretending to tip the bag even further.

Suddenly, the alien tried to snatch the bag from Kip’s hand. But Kip was quick to pull it out of reach.

He could tell he was driving the alien crazy.

Suddenly, the alien snapped and began screeching furiously. ‘You’ll never be able to sell the berries, greedy Earthling. You don’t know the right people!’

Ah-ha!
Kip thought, as the alien ranted.
The aliens must be trading these berries illegally!

He quickly whispered his theory to Finbar, still holding the bag out of reach of the Neron alien.

Finbar nodded gravely.

‘WorldCorp heard rumours Neron was a trading planet,’ he whispered back. ‘The spaceport looked deserted when we landed. But if the trade’s illegal, that makes sense. Everything would be hush-hush.’

Everything Finbar said supported Kip’s theory. Now Kip needed to prove it.

‘I’m surprised you’re allowed to harvest those plants at all,’ Kip said to the aliens.

The waterways of Neron were eroded. It looked as if the Neron aliens had been pulling the whole berry plant out of the ground, rather than just picking the berries. Harvesting the berries this way was clearly an environmental disaster. There were tough intergalactic laws protecting planets’ ecosystems. Kip knew all about them because of Earth’s own problems.

The lead alien laughed scornfully, making Kip’s skin crawl.

‘We’re
not
allowed. That’s why the berries are so valuable.’

Kip and Finbar swapped glances.

‘Demand for the berries is unstoppable,’ the alien screeched.

‘But the plant only grows when fertilised by the lake beast’s snot.

It’s winter at the moment, though, and the beast is hibernating in the big lake.’

Kip shuddered.
Eww!

‘In summer, the beast leaves snot in the smaller ponds around Neron.We harvested the plants growing there ages ago,’ said the alien.

‘And there was one last plant growing in the beast’s nostril,’ Kip finished.

Finbar nodded with a smile on his whiskery face. ‘How interesting,’ he said encouragingly. ‘Go on.’

Kip glared at Finbar. Why was he being nice to the aliens now?

‘The other aliens in our dark galaxy believe that eating the berries improves their eyesight. It’s a load of space junk, of course. But the aliens pay heaps for them.’

The alien rubbed his spidery hands together greedily.

Environmental vandalism. An illegal trade in a fake medicine.That’s what made the aliens rich,
Kip thought, thinking of Neron’s Spinifex wind panels.

The Intergalactic Enforcerbots would be
very
interested to hear about this!

The Intergalactic Enforcerbots were space police, made up of custom-built all-terrain robots.

But before the Enforcerbots can charge the aliens,
Kip thought desperately,
we have to prove what’s going on here. Otherwise it’s our word against theirs!

Then Kip heard a surprising sound coming from Finbar’s direction. It was a hideous screech!

For a second, Kip couldn’t work out how or why Finbar was speaking theTranslate aliens’ Mode language. He checked his SpaceCuff for the translation.

Of course. Finbar’s WhiskerMic! It had secretly recorded everything the alien said. Finbar was simply playing it back.

‘Ha!’ said Kip to the alien. ‘We’ve got proof you’re breaking all kinds of intergalactic laws.’

The lead alien laughed nastily. Then he screeched. A group of his friends appeared from inside a building.

At once, the aliens lunged at Finbar.

Heads down, Kip and Finbar sprinted away from them. As Kip ran, he called MoNa on his SpaceCuff.

‘Send two Scramblers ASAP!’ he panted, glancing over his shoulder. The aliens were right behind them.

They’d done so much running already on this mission! Kip’s spaceboots felt like concrete.

Plus, running through the unfamiliar alien city was difficult in the dark.

Then suddenly, the entire city began to rotate under Kip’s and Finbar’s feet! Once again, it was turning to match the changing direction of the wind.

Kip stumbled. His feet scrabbled, trying to get a foothold on the shifting ground.

The lead alien loomed up behind him in the dark.

‘Come on, MoNa!’ Kip yelled at the sky. ‘What’s taking so –’ Then suddenly, the entire city lit up. It was like two bolts of lightning had struck at once.

At last! A pair of Scramblers beamed down from MoNa high up in Neron’s atmosphere.

Kip ran towards them, shielding his eyes. After being in the dark for most of the mission, the bright light stung his eyes badly.

Kip leapt into his Scrambler Beam. Finbar tried to do the same. But before he could make it safely, the lead alien reached out and grabbed at Finbar’s whiskers.

‘FIN!’ Kip screamed.

If the aliens snatched his WhiskerMic, the evidence against them would be lost.

But then Kip’s world began to scramble in front of him. His particles were being mixed up and beamed through space. Kip could do nothing to help Finbar now…

Seconds later, Kip found himself alone on the floor of MoNa’s landing bay. His particles had reassembled perfectly, but he was frantic.What had happened to Finbar?

Kip paced up and down the bay.Without his 2iC, it was eerily quiet. The seconds dragged by. And then –

‘What’s up, Kip?’ said a voice behind him.

Kip swung around. It was Finbar!

‘You made it!’ Kip yelled, giving Finbar a bear hug.

Or would that be a wolf hug?
he thought, relieved.

Finbar looked like his normal self, except he was missing all his whiskers on the right side.

‘The aliens ripped them out,’ Finbar said, rubbing his cheek. ‘Those floppy fingers are surprisingly powerful.’

Kip winced. He didn’t have whiskers, but he imagined pulling them out would really hurt!

‘I managed to get free, though,’ Finbar finished.

‘And the recording?’ Kip asked nervously.

Finbar chuckled. ‘Luckily I keep the WhiskerMic on the left,’ he said, pulling out a whisker that was a tiny bit thicker than the rest.

Finbar filled Kip in on every detail as they headed to the Bridge. When they got there, Kip flopped into his captain’s chair. He couldn’t wait to tell the Intergalactic Enforcerbots about Neron’s aliens.

Kip punched the number for the Enforcerbot command centre into his SpaceCuff.

An Enforcerbot answered on the first ring. His picture shot up on Kip’s screen. His eyes flashed red and blue as Kip told him all about the illegal activity on Neron.

‘We wondered how that planet got so rich,’ the Enforcerbot said. ‘The answer was trading in illegal substances and, from the sound of it, environmental vandalism.’

Satisfied, Kip hung up.

His mission was complete…almost.