The Alien Brainwash (7 page)

He clicked on the latest Space Scout leader board.
I'll be right down the bottom,
he thought glumly. But when the board finished down-loading, Kip gasped.

Space Scout Leader Board

#1
Blake Nagoda

#2
Danika Treasure

#3
Kip Kirby*

* For accepting and completing a rescue mission without
complaint, 2 honorary Planetary Points awarded.

Kip flushed with pride. Getting on with the rescue mission without making a fuss was definitely the right decision.

‘I'm scanning for wormholes to Earth,' announced MoNa. ‘It might be a while before one opens up.'

Kip shrugged. He was in no hurry to get home. What if his parents had another family outing in mind?

‘Let's show Zara the Hobbytron,' Kip suggested quickly.

MoNa might have been grumpy, but she made up for it with cool new features like the Hobbytron.

The Hobbytron was shaped like a huge upside-down bowl. A digital display seemed to float on its glossy black sides.

Kip, Finbar and Zara stepped inside. ‘I'll set it to Random Hobby,' Kip said, adjusting the controls.

MoNa 4000: Hobbytron

‘Cool,' said Zara. ‘My starship doesn't have one of these! What do I do?'

‘Stick these on your head,' Kip told Zara. He pointed to a bunch of electrodes dangling from the roof.

They stuck their electrodes on. At once, lights flashed inside the Hobbytron.

‘Generating hobby…' said a smooth digital voice.

Suddenly, a powerful smell of flowers filled the Hobbytron. Virtual reality flowers sprang up all around.

Kip leant down and tried to pick one. Although it was digital, a thorn on the stem pricked him. Kip started bleeding! Virtual reality was getting more real every day.

‘Today's random hobby is…flower arranging,' said the Hobbytron voice.

Kip and Zara rolled their eyes at each other. As if two top Space Scouts would spend their time off practising flower arranging! Anyway, they'd had more than enough flowers for one mission.

‘What about extreme trick hover-boarding instead?' Zara said.

‘As long as we set the skill level to “death defying”,' Kip agreed.

Finbar's ears went flat. ‘I might sit this one out,' he said, shaking his head.

Kip grinned at him. Some things were best enjoyed by Space Scouts only!

THE END