The Shrinking Race (3 page)

But Kip didn't have time right then to wonder why Candy was at HQ. He wanted to get a feel for Cobalt.

Arriving on a new planet was Kip's favourite part of Space Scouting. He was the first human ever to see the blue, grassy field in front of him. In neat rows along the fields were bushes with oddly-shaped fruits hanging from the spindly branches.

Gleaming silver buildings stood around the field. The buildings didn't seem to have any windows or doors.

Next to Kip, Finbar groaned as his particles slotted back into place. He picked himself up just as Kip spotted something.

A blue figure stood nearby, trimming the strange bushes. Kip's Space Scout training had taught him to notice every detail.

The figure was about 15 centimetres tall. He was human-like with blue skin and pale blue hair. He wore coloured shorts and a matching singlet.

The aliens of Cobalt are so small!
Kip thought.
Humans could easily share their
planet if they agree.

‘Let's introduce ourselves,' whispered Kip to Finbar.

‘Greetings!' Finbar said to the tiny blue man. ‘We're from planet Earth.'

The blue man looked up in fright. Then he dived under the nearest bush!

‘I bet we look like freaky giants!' Kip whispered.

‘We're not going to hurt you,' Finbar politely told the blue man.

Kip hoped that Finbar's calm tone would reassure the blue man. But still the man didn't come out.

‘Let's give him a present to show we're friendly,' Kip suggested to Finbar.

In his backpack, Kip had just what he needed to impress an alien. Chocanos!

Chocanos were the best lolly in any known galaxy.They were candy-coated and shaped like tiny volcanos. As you sucked, the centre erupted through the candy. You ended up with a mouthful of warm melted chocolate.

Kip walked towards the bush, an unwrapped Chocano in his hand. ‘Please, take it,' Kip said, super-friendly.

He pointed to his mouth to show the gift could be eaten.

The blue man peeked out of the bush. Cautiously, he crept towards Kip.

With both hands, the blue man heaved the Chocano off Kip's hand. It was a quarter of the size of the blue man's head. He opened his mouth wide. He could only just fit the Chocano in!

WorldCorp Chocanos

The blue man sucked. Warm chocolate dribbled from his mouth. His eyes crinkled with pleasure.

The blue man held out his tiny hand. Kip shook it with his fingertip.

No-one can resist a Chocano!
Kip smiled.

The blue man began talking. His soft voice was strangely powerful.

Kip switched his SpaceCuff to Translate. This function used well-known alien languages to guess the meaning of what new aliens said. Kip and Finbar understood the blue man easily.

‘I'm Blutor, and I'm a Baltian,' he said. ‘Please accept this sugarmelon lolly as a gift.' Blutor picked a bright pink melon-shaped fruit from a nearby bush.

In Kip's hands, the melon was tinier than a gumball. He popped it into his mouth using the special airlocked compartment in his helmet. Flavour exploded on his tongue. His mouth filled with fizzy pink juice. The lolly was thousands of times sweeter and more delicious than a Chocano!

‘Mmmm!' said Kip. He had an instant craving for another sugarmelon.

When Blutor handed him some more, Kip wanted to eat them all at once. He forced himself to save one as a sample for WorldCorp's scientists.

‘You love sugarmelons as much as we do,' smiled Blutor. ‘Our scientists first grew them on trees about two years ago. Now, no-one eats anything else.'

If I lived here, I'd pick lollies off the trees
all day long
, Kip sighed to himself.
Much
yummier than LabFresh vegies.

Finbar tried a sugarmelon. Kip could tell Finbar didn't like the lolly, even though he was trying to be polite. Because he was part-wolf, Finbar didn't have a sweet tooth.

‘Hope they've got good dentists,' Finbar whispered to Kip.

But Kip wasn't going to ask Blutor about dentists. They seemed to be making friends.
Maybe now's the time to tell Blutor
about our mission,
he thought.

CHAPTER
5

Kip didn't have time to explain anything to Blutor, though. At that moment, a figure rushed towards them. She looked like Blutor, except she was younger and had long pale blue hair.

‘There's been another accident!' puffed the little blue girl. ‘Someone has fallen down a drain.'

‘They're smart enough to grow lollies on trees,' Finbar whispered to Kip. ‘So why would they build drains big enough for someone to fall down?'

Kip shrugged. Finbar had a point.

‘Our ropes aren't long enough,' the blue girl added.

‘We'll help!' said Kip.

Cobalt could be Earth 2,
Kip thought.
If we
save the day, Blutor and his people might share
their planet in return
.

Plus, Kip was trained to always help friendly aliens in distress.

‘That's our city, Cobaltville,' said Blutor. He nodded at the silver buildings around the field.

‘I'll carry you there,' said Finbar, scooping up Blutor and the blue girl. ‘We'll get to the accident faster that way.'

Kip and Finbar raced across the sugar-melon field and into Cobaltville.

The red-paved streets were crowded with blue people talking about the accident. Everywhere, digital signs flashed updates. A tiny blue dog-like animal with horns yapped at Kip's heels.

More and more Baltians ran out of the silver buildings. The buildings had no doors, though. The walls looked like they were
melting
to let the people walk through them. Then they formed again, as though they were made of liquid-metal. It looked a bit like walking through a waterfall.

Kip made a quick mental measurement of the buildings. They were the perfect height for humans. Not Baltians.

His logical Space Scout brain couldn't make sense of it. Why would the Baltians build a human-sized city when they were so much smaller?

Kip felt like a gigantic horror-movie monster next to all the tiny Baltians.

Lucky Blutor's riding on Finbar's shoulder. Otherwise, the Baltians would be terrified of us
, Kip thought.

‘There's the accident,' said Finbar, spotting it with his sharp wolf eyesight.

He pointed to a crowd of tiny blue figures gathered around an open drain. The drain hole was no wider than Kip's backpack. But to the tiny Baltians, it was a bottomless pit.

Finbar gently put down Blutor and the little blue girl.

‘Fellow Baltians,' Blutor said. ‘Our Earthling friends are here to help with the rescue.' The crowd erupted in cheers and clapping.

Cobalt's hopes are riding on us,
thought Kip.
As if finding a new planet for Earth wasn't
enough!

Kip mentally ran through the contents of his backpack. He had safety gear like ropes and harnesses with him, of course. But the ropes would be too big for the Baltian to grab a hold of.

As he thought about what to do, Kip spun the glowing meteorite chip he wore around his neck. It hung from a chain made of extra-strength carbon fibre.

Kip was a master at making do with what he had. He prided himself on coming up with solutions on the spot, even when he didn't have the right gear.

With his gloved hands, Kip unclipped the chain around his neck and slipped the chip into his pocket.

He bent close to the drain.
It doesn't look
too deep
, Kip thought.
Hopefully this chain
will be long enough to reach the bottom.

Kip knelt. The nearby Baltians scattered away from Kip's giant feet.

Slowly, he fed the chain into the drain.

A crowd gathered, munching on sugarmelons. They watched as Kip fed the entire chain down the drain.

Doubt crept into Kip's mind.Would the chain be long enough? Could the Baltian take hold of the end?

He waited. Nothing.

Back in Space Scout training, Kip topped the class in Crisis Handling. The most important thing he learnt was:

The worst thing I can do now is doubt myself
, he decided.
I'll never beat the other Space Scouts to the Shield of Honour that way.

Just then, Kip felt something tug on the chain! But it was so soft that Kip wondered if he'd imagined it.

‘I'll pull you up,' Kip whispered. He didn't want to scare the Baltian down the drain with his booming voice.

Gently, Kip pulled up the chain.

The crowd watched. Everyone held their breath.

Kip knew they were all thinking the same thing.

Will the missing Baltian be hanging on the
other end?

CHAPTER
6

Kip pulled the chain out of the drain. And clinging tightly to it was the missing Baltian!

Kip held out a finger. The Baltian grabbed on. Carefully, Kip put the tiny blue boy down on the ground.

As Kip stood up, he saw two blue people run over to the muddy Baltian.They hugged him, crying.

That must be his mum and dad,
Kip thought.
Funny to think that even little blue
aliens have parents.

On the edge of the crowd, Blutor signalled to Finbar to lift him up.

Blutor spoke gravely to Kip and Finbar. ‘If only all rescue missions were this successful,' he said, shaking his head. ‘We've lost too many people to accidents.'

Kip paused, wondering how to answer. Blutor and his people were obviously smart. Kip didn't want to offend them.

‘Have you thought of building smaller drains?' Kip asked politely.

‘Our problem is more difficult than drains,' Blutor said sadly.

Kip shot a glance at Finbar. Neither knew what might come next.

‘Over the last two years,' Blutor went on, ‘our people have shrunk from your height to the size we are now.'

‘What?' Kip said, shocked. ‘How?'

He'd heard about all kinds of strange planets from other Space Scouts. But no-one had ever mentioned a shrinking alien race!