B.U.R.P. Strikes Back Read online

  “C’mon,” he says to the rest of us. “He’s probably hiding out at the rink.” I smile. I’m getting better at this detective stuff!

  We race down to the rink. “He wouldn’t have had much time to hide,” Pockets notes, “so he should be pretty easy to spot.”

  And sure enough, when we get there we see the back of Thoster’s head sticking out from behind the skate rental booth. The only other person in the rink is Bloppy, who is standing beside his locker on the other side of the rink.

  “Freeze!” Pockets shouts. But Thoster does the opposite. He takes off across the rink, heading for the back exit door.

  “Quick, Bloppy!” Pockets shouts. “Do your thing!”

  Bloppy turns and looks from Pockets to Thoster. At first I can see his confusion. After all, this is the guy who let him win the contest.

  “He’s a B.U.R.P. agent,” I shout. “And he’s getting away!”

  Bloppy quickly glides onto the rink, letting loose a steady stream of goop as he goes. Thoster runs right into it! His boots fly up in the air and he lands square on his back with a loud “Oomph!” He tries to scramble to his feet but just keeps slipping and falling. Kurf and I have to put our hands over our mouths to keep from laughing. Bloppy circles around him, keeping him trapped.

  A little while later, after Thoster is safely in ISF custody, a small group of us gathers back in the ballroom—a freed Feemus, Bloppy, Hector, Dad, me, Graff and Kurf, and Pockets and his dad.

  “Before we all go our separate ways,” Pockets says, clutching something in his paw, “I figured out why I struggled to write my acceptance speech. It was because it wasn’t MY award to accept in the first place. Yes, I did go to planet Canis, but the mission was truly a team effort, and as proven again today, I have the best team.” He pauses and looks over at me and Dad, and then at Bloppy, who beams happily.

  “Some of the people who support me couldn’t be here today, but we know they’re thinking of us.” Pockets opens his paw now to reveal the plastic four-leaf clover Penny gave him! “So it is on their behalf,” he continues, “and for the brave ISF agents who stormed the spaceship Galactic with me and who are now escorting the criminal Thoster and his henchman back to Friskopolus, that I accept this award.”

  Pockets’ dad thumps him on the back. The rest of us wipe away tears while trying to pretend we have something in our eyes. Bloppy, however, is a slobbering mess. No one cries like Bloppy.

  “Hey, Feemus,” I ask, “did you happen to get that speech on film?”

  “Of course,” he says. “What kind of fan club president would I be if I hadn’t?”

  “Can you save a copy for me?” I ask. “There’s someone I want to show it to when she’s a little older.”

  “Certainly,” Feemus says. “Hey, wasn’t it spectacular how Pockets figured out the whole tuna thing? He’s so amazing. Just brilliant how he puts all the clues together!”

  I blink. It’s like Feemus didn’t even hear what Pockets just said about crime-solving being a team effort.

  But Feemus isn’t done. “And Pockets should get another award for freeing me and capturing the B.U.R.P. agent,” he says. “All single-handedly!”

  I sigh and walk away. Some things will never change.

  And you know what? I wouldn’t want them to.

  Three Science Facts to Impress Your Friends and Teachers

  1. The path an object takes in space as it travels around another object is called its orbit. The mass of the larger object keeps the smaller one from flying away. For example, the moon orbits Earth, while the planets in our solar system orbit the sun. Akbar’s Floating Rest Stop orbits the whole Milky Way galaxy! We have put all sorts of cool things into orbit around Earth, including satellites to track weather patterns and for communication, telescopes to take pictures of deep space, and one of humanity’s greatest achievements, the International Space Station, where astronauts and scientists can live for months at a time in order to conduct experiments in space.

  2. The International Space Station (ISS for short) floats in orbit 220 miles from Earth. It may not be as big as Akbar’s Floating Rest Stop, but it’s as large as a professional soccer field and weighs almost 400 tons! Each time a part needs to be added, it has to be built on Earth and launched into space, and astronauts have to attach it. The ISS is a truly international venture, with scientists from the United States, Canada, Japan, the European Union, and Russia contributing to it and performing experiments that will help all of mankind.

  3. Whenever Archie meets a new alien, he marvels at how different each species can be. This is also true on Earth, where there are so many different habitats (places where animals can live) that creatures have adapted the traits necessary to survive in that area. Scientists call this biodiversity. There is more biodiversity in the warmer parts of Earth than in the colder ones. So far scientists have found 1.7 million different species on Earth, and they estimate there may be as many as 50 million more! It’s important for humans to protect our planet’s biodiversity.

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  WENDY MASS has written lots of books for kids, including The Candymakers, a New York Times bestseller; Every Soul a Star; and Pi in the Sky. MICHAEL BRAWER is a teacher who drives space taxis on the side. They live in New Jersey with their two kids and two cats, none of whom have left the solar system.

  Copyright

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is coincidental.

  Copyright © 2017 by Wendy Mass and Michael Brawer

  Cover and interior artwork by Keith Frawley, based on the art of Elise Gravel

  Author illustration © 2015 by Elise Gravel

  Cover design by Kristina Iulo

  Cover © 2017 Hachette Book Group, Inc.

  All rights reserved. In accordance with the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, the scanning, uploading, and electronic sharing of any part of this book without the permission of the publisher is unlawful piracy and theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), prior written permission must be obtained by contacting the publisher at [email protected] Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.

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  First ebook edition: January 2017

  ISBN 978-0-316-30838-0

  E3-20160930-JV-PC