Chip Blip Read online

  Oscar nods and wags his tail. I must be onto something! I hunt around the room for any kinds of tools that could help us reverse the power. There’s absolutely nothing ... except for someone’s hover-scooter leaning against one of the walls.

  I grab it and start pulling it to pieces. Oscar puts his tail back into spin-cycle to help me pull out the screws.

  In a few seconds, the scooter falls to pieces. I only recognise one part - a magneto-electro-zingerboo converter. It’s a standard part in all hover-scooters. I have no idea how it works, but I do know that it bounces energy back down to the ground to keep the scooter in the air.

  I find myself wondering if the converter might be able to bounce electricity back up towards the solar panels and de-power those laser cages. It’s a long shot, but I ask Oscar to unscrew one of the thick wires from the wall. Fortunately, it’s only attached to its battery by a click-linker - an attachment that safely connects high-power wires to machines. I unclick the link and press it against the converter from the scooter. When it makes contact, all the lights in the room go out. And then, the room starts to get quite hot all of a sudden!

  I look up and see that the metal in the ceiling has started to melt. It drips to the floor in big silver blobs, and the middle of the ceiling starts to peel back like the skin of a banana. I’m now looking up at open sky.

  ‘We’ve done it!’ I yell to Oscar. ‘Give me a high-five!’

  Just before my hand touches his paw, I hear a commotion somewhere below us. I’m sure it’s the robo-dogs running free, until the door bursts open and three security guards, including our friend from the ground, storm into the room.

  ‘Stay right there!’ she screams.

  I grab Oscar and jump onto a desk. I want to dive onto the roof, but the edges of the ceiling are so hot they’re still dripping blobs of molten metal onto the floor. Before I know what’s happening, Oscar leaps out of my arms and over one of the melted edges. I look over and see him clutching onto the roof by the edge of a tile.

  ‘Hold on, Oscar!’ I yell.

  There’s nothing I can do to help him. All I can do is stand on the desk and wait for the roof to melt down a bit lower. Just as one of the guards reaches up to grab me by the foot, I leap into the air and tumble over the edge. Somehow, I manage not to touch the molten metal, but before I know it, I’m sliding down the side of the pyramid at bullet speed. As I slip downwards, I see a shiny silver ball above me. It looks like Oscar is on his way down too!

  It’s lucky there’s a garden bed on this side of the building. I hit the ground in a nice soft pile od soil.

  Oscar lands beside me a second later. Soil and pebbles fly around us in every direction. We both have to dig ourselves out and shake ourselves off.

  ‘Well,’ I say, wiping the dirt off my face. ‘I’m not sure if our pyramid invasion was a success or not. What do you think, Oscar?’

  Oscar seems to think it was a very big success. He laughs and smiles and points up towards the top of the pyramid. I look up and see a rusty old beagle-bot sliding down towards us. He’s followed straightaway by a poodle-bot and a digital-dalmatian. We step away from the garden as more and more robo-dogs – and even a few cyber-cats – tumble down the tiles and plop into the same garden bed.

  ‘Wow,’ I say to Oscar, ‘for the first time in my life I can say it really is raining cats and dogs!’

  We take another step back and keep watching as hundreds of cyber-creatures tumble down the side of the building, all looking extremely happy.

  Oscar looks rather happy too. I scratch him on the head. ‘We’re a pretty good team, aren’t we?’ I say to him.

  We stand there for a few minutes, laughing and cheering as the escapees run off happily in all directions. At least we know they won’t be harvested for spare parts anytime soon.

  I’m just about to walk Oscar to the nearest Skyburb Up-station when I see a glimmer of light in the hole left by all the falling robo-pets. I step closer and see a section of an electrical control panel glinting in the morning sun. I climb into the hole for a closer look, and Oscar joins me. He leaps in front of me and starts digging. In a matter of seconds, he’s looking up at me with a white plastic collar in his mouth. I feel my own mouth drop open.

  ‘It couldn’t be,’ I gasp. ‘Could it?’

  Oscar just smiles and nods.

  ‘Yes, it is!’ I scream. ‘Just wait till Jessie sees this!’

  I let out a crazy laugh, then pick Oscar up and squeeze him so hard it hurts.

  CHAPTER 6

  Tracker Tricks

  We’re standing in the mud, admiring the Cosmic Collar when I feel a strange buzz in my pocket. I reach in and realise that the rice-shaped microchip is suddenly vibrating.

  ‘This is weird,’ I say, showing it to Oscar. ‘It’s never done that before.’

  The smile fades from Oscar’s face. He opens up the panel on the side of his body and points a paw towards his GPS location unit.

  ‘Oh no. I hope you’re not telling me what I think you’re telling me.’

  Oscar nods. His eyes dart around in all directions.

  So ... our little chip is a GPS tracker too. I can’t risk keeping it with me, but I can’t just throw it down a drain - I’m sure Jessie needs it back.

  While I’m standing there thinking, Oscar takes action. For a reason I can’t figure out, he starts running down Pickle Street at top speed. I do my best to keep up, clutching the Cosmic Collar so tightly my hand goes numb.

  As I run, I realise there’s someone behind me. I turn around and see my greatest nightmare taking shape. Not only is Harvey Higgle running after us, he’s joined by a face I really didn’t want to see today or any other day - Captain Selby, from the Unclaimed Urchins Recapture Squad. It’s been his dream for the last two years to send me back to the Skyburb 7 Home for Unclaimed Urchins. It was hard enough to escape from the Home. There’s no way I’m going back.

  ‘The game’s up, Booth,’ he yells. ‘You’re not nearly as clever as you think you are.’

  ‘What makes you say that, Captain Smell-by?’ I puff back.

  ‘A more intelligent escapee wouldn’t carry a GPS tracker around the city. You’re getting careless in your old age, Booth.’

  ‘But how did you ...’

  Harvey cuts me off. ‘Leaving fingerprints all over Government property isn’t a good idea either,’ he yells, ‘if you don’t want people finding out you’re an escaped urchin. But drop that collar right now and maybe we can come to an agreement that suits all of us.’

  There’s no way I’m giving up the Cosmic Collar after all we’ve been through - not in a squillion years. All I can do is run after Oscar as fast as my feet can move.

  I take a quick look back. In Selby’s hand I can see a Project-a-Web gun - his favourite urchincatching device. If he gets close enough, he’ll be able to shoot a web out and catch us like a pair of oversized flies.

  For a while I assume that Oscar knows where he’s taking us. Then I realise I’m quite wrong about that. He takes a sudden turn and I realise why –there’s a robo-rat on the other side of the road, and Oscar’s desperate to catch him.

  ‘Oscar,’ I yell. ‘Now? Reeeeeally?

  I take another look back over my shoulder. At least for now, Selby and Harvey haven’t gotten any closer.

  At that moment, I have an idea. I know it’s a bad one, but it’s all I’ve got!

  ‘Yes, Oscar,’ I yell. ‘Get that horrible rat!’

  Oscar glances back with a puzzled look on his face. But then he runs even faster after the rat, and so do I. The rat leaps onto a rail that leads onto a shop roof, and Oscar scrambles up after him.

  ‘Yes, Oscar! Faster - get up there!’

  For the first time since Oscar and I became friends, I see him pounce like a cat and actually wrap his arms around a robo-rat. It’s a very strange sight. He’s always wanted to catch a robo-rat, but I’ve never known what he’d actually do with it when the day finally came. Oscar doesn’t seem to kno
w either. He leaps down to the ground and rolls across the concrete with the rat between his four legs. When they come to a stop, he just sits there staring at it. He obviously has no intention of hurting it.

  I don’t have long to act. With the rat safely tangled up in Oscar’s metal limbs, I take the chip from my pocket and slide it into one of the robo-rat’s ears. Then, I pick it up and carry it into a dark laneway. As soon as we get to the end of the laneway I let it run free.

  As dark as it is, I can see the robo-rat clambering up a drainpipe. As it darts upwards, I grab hold of Oscar. We leap into an old rubbish bin and pull the lid down over us. Just as the lid crashes down we hear footsteps in the laneway. We peep out and see Selby and Harvey looking around in confusion. Harvey seems to be holding some kind of tracking device in his hand.

  ‘The sensor says they’ve climbed up that drainpipe,’ he grumbles.

  ‘Well, what are you waiting for?’ barks Selby. ‘Get up that pipe and drag ‘em back down!’

  Harvey seems surprised by Selby’s rudeness, but he does as he’s told. As he starts climbing we watch on through the gap between the bin and the lid. Selby soon follows Harvey up the pipe, just a few feet below him. They’re not very good climbers, but eventually Harvey reaches the roof of the nearest building, about 15 metres up.

  Selby reaches the top too, and before long they’ve both disappeared from view, chasing after the very confused robo-rat.

  ‘Well,’ I say to Oscar, ‘I’m not sure what Jessie will think about us losing the chip, but hopefully she’ll forgive us when she sees what else we’ve found!’

  As I put the collar around Oscar’s neck for safekeeping, I hear the distant sounds of Selby and Harvey stomping across the roof. Their footsteps fade as they get further and further away.

  When their sound disappears completely, we climb out of the bin, run back to the end of the laneway and make our way to the Skyburb Up-station.

  CHAPTER 7

  Success for Sandy

  ‘So,’ I say to Jessie. ‘I’m afraid I’ve got some bad news for you.’

  Jessie’s face drains of colour.

  ‘We ... uh ... kind of lost the microchip.’

  ‘Oh no, Max. I really needed that thing. I just told the Museum about it. They’re already building a new display case for it.’

  ‘Well,’ I wink, ‘would it make you feel any better if you could give them a missing space collar instead?’

  Jessie’s hands start shaking. ‘Are you saying what I think you’re saying?’

  I reach into my pocket and pull out Sandy’s prized possession. The moment Jessie lays eyes on it, she squeaks like a mega-mouse. For a few seconds she can’t seem to breathe.

  ‘Tell the Museum to make a bigger display case - maybe even a whole new building!’ I yell.

  ‘You two are incredible! But - how? Where?’

  ‘Let’s just say, Sandy wasn’t just a talented astronaut - she was a great hole-digger too!’

  ‘This is going to be a sensation. But how can I make this up to you? I can’t even tell the Museum it was you and Oscar who found it.’

  I think in silence for a few seconds.

  ‘Actually, I can think of one thing you can do to thank us.’

  ‘What’s that?’

  ‘There’s a cloth shop down on Lippy Lane. It’s called Hannah’s Haberdashery and Fabulous Fabrics. The owner gave us some fluffy fabric yesterday, and a cloak too. We managed to ruin all of it, and lose her grandfather’s hat. It’s much too dangerous for me to go back with Selby on the prowl. If you can go down and pay her for it, I’ll feel a whole lot better.’

  ‘That’s the very least I can do for you,’ says Jessie. ‘Now, let’s call the Museum. I think there’s going to be Cosmic Cake for all of us!’

  Sleuth Truth - Pet ID chips

  In many places around the world, pets are implanted with microchips like the one in the story. The animal’s chip is implanted by a veterinarian, just beneath the skin, usually at the back of its neck.

  If a pet goes missing and ends up in a shelter, the staff can use a special scanner to read the chip through the pet’s skin. The scanner makes the chip produce a radio wave that sends out the chip’s special number. This number can then be used to identify the pet and find its owner’s contact details.

  Future chips

  Unlike the microchip in the story, today’s pet microchips can’t be tracked by GPS (Global Positioning System). This means that they can’t be used to trace a missing pet’s location. A chip with a GPS tracker would need to have a battery, which would have to be replaced every few years.

  GPS tracking is very likely to be a feature of pet microchips in the near future. Before long, most people will be able to trace their missing pet’s location using their phone!

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Cameron Macintosh: full-time story-scribbler and laptop-tapper. Cameron spends more time in his pyjamas than he’d like to admit, but it seems to help him get things done! A huge fan of brownies, books and Beatles, he plans to open a book-filled, Beatle-tune-blasting brownie bakery when he grows up!

  Cameron has written more than 100 books, including plays, science-fiction and non-fiction. His books have been published in many countries around the world. Chip Blip is the fifth title in his popular Max Booth Future Sleuth series.

  ABOUT THE ILLUSTRATOR

  This is the story of an ordinary boy ... when he was a kid everyone thought he was quite odd. Always drawing qwerky things and talking in funny voices while he drew. Until one day he stumbled across a weird looking pencil stuck in a sharpener. On the sharpener it read: whom ever pulleth this pencil from theine sharpener shall be given special powers.

  Well ... With a grunt and a groan and maybe a little toot, the boy pulled the pencil from the sharpener. Boom, kablamo, blort! The magical pencil was his and he could feel its power surge through him. Now tasked with spreading the magic pencil’s awesomeness throughout the land, that little boy grew up to be ... Dave Atze

  If you have a map, you must know where you’re going ... right? Today, Max isn’t so sure!

  When Max and his brainy beagle-bot, Oscar, find a 400-year-old navigation unit, they’re shocked to discover that it still seems to work. They trace its owner’s last journey and find themselves on the road to very big trouble!

  Far from home, Max and Oscar cross paths with a bunch of bungling burglars, trying to zip away with a precious piece of old-tech art. Max and Oscar will need to map out a rapid plan to catch the thieves and navigate their way out of danger!

  Max and his robo-dog sidekick Oscar are out to solve another techno-history mystery!

  They’ve been asked to identify an object that’s baffling everyone - a 1980s cassette tape. But there’s more to the tape than meets the eye - or the ears!

  When devious Dr Grizzlowe tries to take credit for the tape’s rock-tastic recordings, Max and Oscar know they’re going to need all their future sleuthy skills to put things right.

  Max Booth Future Sleuth is back with more sci-fi adventure and another mystery to solve!

  Max has been handed an ancient mobile phone. It’s from the year 2017, which makes it more than 400 years old! What’s more, it’s full of photos - all of the same person!

  Max and Oscar learn that the photos hold a secret that could lead them to fame and fortune. But the secret gets out, and Max and Oscar face the fight of their lives to keep their discovery safe from some very greedy hands ...

  Max and his robo-sidekick, Oscar, are ready to sharpen their super-sleuthing skills yet again.

  A tiny piece of paper from the year 2019 might not sound very interesting to most people. But Max and Oscar - Bluggsville’s sharpest sleuths - aren’t most people! Max has a hunch that this ancient patch of paper might be valuable, and extremely rare.

  Max is right - this isn’t just any old piece of paper. It’s a strange, sticky thing called a postage stamp, and it’s more than 400 years old! It’s an exciting discovery, but bef
ore long, it leads Max and Oscar into some very sticky situations ...

  In the year 2424, it seems crazy that people once needed film to take photos.

  Max and Oscar - Bluggsville’s sharpest pair of sleuths - can’t believe their luck when they find a 400-year-old roll of film. They soon discover it contains a long-lost happy snap, and know they’ve found something super-special.

  Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones who realise how rare, and valuable, this photo could be. Max and Oscar are going to need all of their wiliest wits to keep it out of the wrong hands!

  PRAISE FOR MAX BOOTH FUTURE SLEUTH SERIES

  “A fun and futuristic junior fiction s

  eries kids will love.”

  — Just Write for Kids

  “This is a fun and fast-moving

  series packed with action.”

  — KBR

  “Futuristic, humorous, fun-filled chapters.”

  — Buzz Words

  “A great series for adults to read with kids.”

  — KBR