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- Herausgeber: Nosy Crow
- Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
- Serie: Cosmic Creatures
- Sprache: Englisch
- Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2022
On a faraway planet, cute alien animals need help! Luckily, Charlie and her robot friend, Random, are ready for any rescue adventure... Something has been stealing the humans' food on planet Vela! Charlie discovers the thief - it's a cheeky, fluffy, hungry rumblebear! The rumblebear has lost its family, and Charlie is sure she can help it find them. But first, she'll have to hide the rumblebear from the angry mayor, and it's not easy to hide something that roars like a lion and won't stop eating! Fans of Zoe's Rescue Zoo and Holly Webb will love Cosmic Creatures! Beautifully illustrated throughout by Sophy Williams, Cosmic Creatures is perfect for animal-mad readers aged 5+. Look out for the other Cosmic Creatures stories: - The Friendly Firecat
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The creature nestled in Charlie’s arms. Its fur was as soft as the fluff on a newborn chick and the stripe on its back seemed to glisten like a river of silver in the soft evening light.
“That’s what I’m going to call you,” Charlie decided. “Silver. That’s your name.”
Chapter One
The Vanishing Apples
Charlie looked up at the tall white tree. Its top branches were bowed down with sparkly blue shimmer-apples.
“Come on, Random,” she called out. “Let’s get picking!”
But Random the robot wasn’t paying any attention.
His ball-shaped body floated above the ground. His metal arms were stretched out wide and his silver eyes flashed with 2concentration. His hands twirled as five shimmer-apples bounced between them.
Charlie grinned. “That’s very clever,” she said. “But we’re here to pick the apples, Random. Not juggle them.”
Random tried to stop juggling, but the apples were flying too fast for him. His arms began to whir madly and his body spun like a top.
Finally the apples went flying and splatted to the ground.
3Random came to a stop, floating upside down. “Oops,” he said.
Charlie laughed. Random was her best friend but sometimes his wiring could be a little wonky. “You know you shouldn’t play with your food!” she said.
The robot righted himself and looked at Charlie sheepishly. “They’d already fallen from the tree,” he said. “And I really thought I could do it.”
“I know,” Charlie said kindly. “But we can’t afford to waste anything since those crops went missing.”
Three times in the past week, the contents of an entire storage barn had vanished. Not a berry, a bean, or an ear of corn had been left behind.
A short time ago, it wouldn’t have mattered. The people of First Landing had brought their Make-o-Mat machine with them from Earth. It could create any kind 4of food they wanted, from comet-candy to Martian meatballs.
But the machine had broken down months ago, and the next repair ship wouldn’t arrive on Vela for a long time. So for now they had to rely on whatever food they could forage or grow themselves in the soil of their new home.
Luckily there were lots of plants on Vela that were good for humans to eat. It was one of the reasons they’d chosen this planet in the first place. Also, they had special super-grow powder to make sure the plants grew faster. But it was still hard work making sure everyone was fed.
And now someone – or something – was stealing their crops!
There was a sudden loud rustle and Random whirled around. Charlie followed his gaze and – just for a moment – she thought she saw the grass of the 5orchard waving, as though something had just vanished into the undergrowth.
“Did you hear that?” she asked Random.
The robot rocked back and forth – it was his way of nodding.
“It could have been the wind,” he said.
Charlie frowned. She could feel a breeze blowing, though it didn’t seem strong enough to have made such a loud and surprising noise.
She kept listening, but the noise didn’t come again. She grabbed her basket and shrugged. “Whatever it was, it’s gone now,” she said. “So we’d better get picking.”
Right at the very top of the tree she could see a cluster of shimmer-apples, sparkling in the sun. “Can you lift me up?” she asked. “I’ll pick the trickiest ones first.” 6
“Good idea,” Random said, and he began to make a deep humming noise.
The robot was surrounded by a force field that kept him floating above the ground. If he made it larger, he could wrap it around Charlie too.
She felt a familiar tingling as her feet 7left the ground. She floated upwards until she was level with the top of the tree. From there, she could see right across the colourful jumble of roofs that made up the town of First Landing. She could see silver hover-carts gliding through the winding streets, and if she listened carefully, she could even hear the chatter of voices from the main square.
Beyond the town she could make out the huge starship that had brought them to Vela. Its silver-black dome rose above all the other buildings, and its giant rockets stood out against the violet sky. A crescent moon peeked above it like an emerald jewel.
8This is the most beautiful planet in the universe, she thought happily. I’m so lucky to live here.
Charlie had arrived on Vela two years ago, along with her parents and her little brother and three hundred other people. They were the first humans to settle on this faraway planet, with its twin suns and five moons. Their mission was to study the local plants and animals, without interfering with the planet’s delicate natural balance.
Her memories of the long journey to get here had already started to fade. So had her memories of Earth, the planet where she’d been born ten years ago. She wondered if she would ever go back there again.
Charlie plucked a handful of shimmer-apples, placing them gently in her basket. They smelled so delicious that she could 9hardly resist taking a bite. But she knew the rules: every scrap of food had to be shared equally among the settlers. It wouldn’t be fair for her to tuck in.
She saw a blue sparkle through the branches and reached her hand out for the apple. The leaves brushed her face as she stretched further, as far as she could, held up by Random’s powerful force field.
Suddenly she felt something. But it wasn’t an apple.
It was warm.
And furry.
And moving.
Charlie yanked her hand back in surprise as the branches parted and two green eyes stared at her. Then the leaves swung back and the eyes disappeared. The tree shook, branches stirring as something moved around inside.
“Random!” she called. “Bring me down!”
10
