Diary of a Super Spy: Space! : (A hilarious adventure for children aged 9 - 12) Read online

  Diary of a Super Spy:

  Space!

  Peter Patrick

  William Thomas

  What happens on the mission, stays on the mission…

  Diary of a Super Spy: Space!

  (Diary of a Sixth Grade Super Spy: Book 4)

  Peter Patrick, William Thomas

  Copyright © 2016

  2nd edition

  First Published 2015. This edition published 2016

  Published by Run Happy Publishing. All rights reserved.

  No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher.

  This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to any person, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

  For Ethan, Chelsea, and Sophie.

  Also in the Diary of a Super Spy series:

  Diary of a Super Spy

  Diary of a Super Spy: Attack of the Ninjas!

  Diary of a Super Spy: A Giant Problem!

  Diary of a Super Spy: Evil Attack!

  Diary of a Super Spy: Daylight Robbery!

  Diary of a Super Spy:

  Space!

  Peter Patrick

  William Thomas

  Chapter 1

  Math Class

  Another math test…

  I bet teachers lie in bed at night and dream up new ways to torture their students. This time, Mrs. Jackson has developed the ultimate torture – a ten-page math test on everything we have studied this year.

  Oh man…

  My name is Charlie Chucky, I am in the sixth grade, I love playing Minecraft, and I am learning to become a Super Spy.

  My Dad is the world’s best Super Spy, and he is starting to teach me all his tricks. Lately, I’ve been battling invisible giants, crazy zombie teachers, and super ninjas!

  Life has been pretty crazy, and I’ve enjoyed every second of it.

  My best friend Harley is different to me. He doesn’t want to become a Super Spy. He doesn’t want to battle bad guys and save the world each week. Nope. He wants to sit indoors and stare at numbers all day. Harley’s dream is to become the world’s greatest math professor.

  He loves school, he loves studying, and he absolutely loves math tests.

  He goes mad for them. It is the one thing he is really good at. He just loves numbers.

  Numbers are like candy for him – he can’t get enough of it. He even asked Mrs. Jackson for extra math homework last night. Mrs. Jackson then decided to give the whole class extra math homework. Let’s just say Harley wasn’t that popular after school.

  This is Harley.

  Mrs. Jackson always says that someday math will save our lives, but I can’t see how it will.

  Maybe one day, four giant numbers will attack our school, and I will defeat them using an algebra equation… or maybe the numbers in my textbook will go bad, and start attacking all the words on the pages, and I will stop them using a calculator!

  Maybe.

  Or maybe not.

  About halfway through the math test, I lose concentration and stare out the window, dreaming about all the crazy things I get to do. I wonder what I will get to do today? Maybe I’ll battle chocolate frogs, or an ice-cream monster. That way, I could defeat them by eating them for dessert. Hmmm… they would be the best bad guys ever.

  As I stare out the window at a cloud that looks like a giant hotdog riding a toy elephant, I see something in the sky.

  It looks like some sort of spaceship.

  And it is falling.

  Fast.

  Really, really fast!

  That is so cool!

  A spaceship! Or a UFO! Or a flying saucer! Or a space cup!

  Whatever you want to call it, it is cool!

  But…

  CRASH!

  Whatever has fallen from the sky has crashed into the ground at a really fast pace!

  That looks totally dangerous.

  Wait a minute…

  It looks like it has crashed right next to my house!

  Chapter 2

  The Crash Landing

  After the bell rings to end the school day, I throw my half-completed math test at Mrs. Jackson, and then race out the door to get to my house.

  “How much fun was that math test?!” Harley yells in excitement as he follows me. “I loved it! I really loved question 10. What a great question! You know, the one about-”

  “It wasn’t fun at all!” I yell back. “It was torture! How could you find a test about numbers fun? Math will never be useful in real life! Teachers only make us do it so they can torment us!”

  “I thought it was fun. I asked Mrs. Jackson for an extra copy so I can do it again on the weekend,” Harley sighs. “Hey, why are you running?”

  “When I was looking out the window during the math test, I saw something fall from the sky into my backyard, and I want to know what it is. Now, keep up!”

  “Looking out the window?” Harley is running beside me now. “When did you have time to look out the window? I was too busy doing my math test, and then checking my answers twice. I even wrote some math questions for Mrs. Jackson on the last page. She loves it when I do that. Last time I did it, she called me a ‘smarty pants.’ She thinks I am so clever that even my pants are smart! I think she really likes me.”

  “Um, ok,” I roll my eyes. “Just keep up.”

  Harley and I race all the way back to my house, sprinting down the street to see what happened.

  When we arrive, we dash into the yard to see what has crashed.

  My Super Spy Dad is already studying it.

  “Cool!” Harley yells.

  But Dad looks worried.

  Very worried.

  “What is it?” I ask Dad.

  “What sort of question is that, Charlie?” Dad looks at me. “It’s clearly a spaceship.”

  “What’s a spaceship doing in our backyard?”

  “I was trying to fly it by remote control, but it flew out of range. That’s why it has crashed in our backyard. It tracked the original signal back to the location of the tracker. We have designed all our Super Spy spaceships to behave like that. But I didn’t want it to come back here.”

  “It doesn’t even look damaged?” Harley says.

  “Yes, Harley,” Dad says as he kicks the side of the spaceship. “All our spaceships are designed to be extra cushiony, so if they crash, they are not damaged by the impact.”

  “But why were you trying to fly a spaceship?” Harley questions.

  “Because there’s a giant meteor heading towards Earth that will crush us all into tiny little pieces if it isn’t stopped,” Dad says calmly.

  “A meteor?!” Harley begins to panic. “Coming to Earth?! Our Earth? But I don’t want to die. There is so much I haven’t done yet – like learn Modularity Theorem!”

  “What is Modularity Theorem?” I ask.

  “The theorem states that any elliptic curve over Q can be obtained via a rational map with integer coefficients from the classical modular curve (N) for integer N and is a curve with integer coefficients with an explicit definition. If N is the smallest integer for which the parameterization can be sourced, then it may be defined in terms of mapping generated by a particular kind of modular form of weight two and level N! This, of course, is an integer q-expansion, and can be followed by an isogeny. Der! How could you not know that, Charlie?”

  “Um, yep. Sure, Harley. I totally knew that. The old Modularity Theorem. I
am totally all over that theorem. I studied that theorem along with the, um, er… The Star Wars Theorem. You know, the one where r2 = d2 and dd = ee, and qq = 56,” I reply, trying to sound smart. I made up that last theorem. I think Harley knows that.

  “There is no Star Wars Theorem in math, Charlie. But Modularity Theorem is widely regarded as the hardest math theorem in history! And if a meteor crashes into Earth, then I will never get to learn it! I must go home now, and start studying it!”

  “Calm down,” I grab Harley by the arms. “A meteor isn’t going to crash into Earth. My Dad wouldn’t let that happen. And nobody is going to die. You’ll have plenty of time to read your precious mathematic books and study the theorems of models and catwalks.”

  “I wouldn’t be so sure of that, Charlie,” Dad mumbles as he looks at the spaceship. “We have been trying to stop this meteor for months, but nothing has worked. We’ve sent up rockets, explosives, dinosaurs, and tracking missiles. Nothing has stopped that meteor racing towards our planet. Everything we send up there just comes back to Earth. This ship was our final hope of stopping the meteor crashing into us. There is nothing to stop it now.”

  “Why don’t you just blast the meteor out of the sky? You could use one of those mega-powerful rockets to smash it to pieces. That would be easy.”

  “We have tried that, Charlie, but there is a major problem. The meteor appears to have a force-field around the outside protecting it from any attack we make. Nothing we have sent up there has been able to break through the barrier of that force-field.”

  “A force-field? Is that normal for a meteor?” Harley asks. “That seems quite strange. I haven’t learned about force-fields on meteors at school.”

  “It isn’t normal,” Dad replies. “Meteors don’t usually have force-fields. What it means is that someone is protecting the meteor. It is likely that the force-field is being generated by a piece of equipment on the surface of the meteor. We don’t know why.”

  “Do you know X?” Harley attempts to make a math joke.

  “No,” Dad replies, not getting the joke about x and y. “We invented this special spaceship for situations exactly like this. This spaceship has been specifically designed to break through any force-field that exists. If we were able to break through the force-field, then we could blast the meteor out of the sky.”

  “Then what’s the problem?”

  “The range is too far for the remote control of this spaceship. This spaceship can only travel a short distance via remote control before the signal is lost. We would have to wait until the meteor is very close to Earth, and by then, it would be too late.”

  “So why don’t you just climb into the spaceship and fly up there?” Harley asks.

  “Because this is only a prototype spaceship, Harley. It was designed to be an experimental spaceship before we built the real one. However, we don’t have enough time to complete the real one. If we don’t stop that meteor, then it will hit Earth tomorrow!”

  “That’s bad,” Harley comments.

  “It’s just too small! Look, I don’t fit! I can’t fly it into outer space if I can’t fit inside!” Dad attempts to climb inside the small spaceship.

  “But it’s not just about the force-field,” Dad adds. “We have encountered this sort of dilemma before. On the other side of the force-field is likely to be two alien guards defending the force-field generator machine.”

  “Alien guards?”

  “Yes, Charlie. Alien guards. They are like normal guards, but they are alien. We had this issue back in 1963, but we negotiated with the guards, and they agreed to turn the meteor around if we donated trousers to them.”

  “Trousers?” Harley asks.

  “Yes, Harley. Trousers. You know, like pants.”

  “Oh, right. Why did they want trousers?”

  “I have no idea, Harley. In 1963, we sent our best Super Spy to the meteor, and she negotiated a deal with them. We haven’t seen a large meteor like this since.”

  “Alien guards defending a force-field machine on a speeding meteor? Wow. That’s well crazy, Dad,” I say. “What are we going to do?”

  “We need someone to fly the spaceship through the force-field, defeat the alien guards, turn off the force-field generator machine, and steer the meteor away from Earth.”

  “How would you steer it away from Earth?” Harley asks.

  “This steering control panel will allow us to steer the meteor any direction we want,” Dad holds up a small machine. “But it won’t work if the force-field is on. We need to find someone small enough to fly this spaceship, travel up to the meteor, and turn off the force-field first. We need someone about half the size of an adult human, someone who is able to fit inside this spaceship…”

  Then Dad looks at Harley and I.

  Here we go…

  Chapter 3

  The Spaceship

  “I’ll do it!” I jump at the chance to fly into outer space.

  Ever since I first looked at the stars and realized that they are enormous, bright spheres of very hot plasma gas radiating energy from the process of nuclear fusion by burning hydrogen to make helium, I’ve always wanted to go into space.

  “Sorry Charlie, but this small spaceship requires two people to fly it,” Dad says. “You can’t fly this spaceship alone. You will need another volunteer before you can fly it.”

  “Harley will come too!” I volunteer Harley to come with me.

  Harley isn’t the bravest boy going around. He would much rather sit at home, play computer games, and read math textbooks.

  Spiders on the television usually scare him. Last time he saw a spider in real life, he froze in shock. It was two days before he moved again.

  “Harley,” Dad looks over to him. “Do you agree that you will fly into outer space, risking your life to save the Earth?”

  “Um-”

  “Yes!” I interrupt him before he can refuse. “Harley would love to do it! He loves to do really, really dangerous things! He would love to come with me into space!”

  “Um-” Harley mumbles.

  “Then it’s a done deal,” Dad says. “It is up to the two of you to stop that massive meteor crashing into Earth. I have faith that you can complete this very dangerous, risky, treacherous, and hazardous journey. I am proud of you boys for agreeing to risk your lives to save Earth.”

  “But I don’t-” Harley tries to argue with us.

  “There is no time to waste!” Dad says. “We are running out of time, and we need you to stop that meteor. It is due to crash into Earth tomorrow morning, so you have to move now. Hop in.”

  Dad throws a spacesuit into our hands and pushes us towards the spaceship.

  “But I don’t-” Harley continues to protest.

  “There is no time for that nonsense,” Dad interrupts Harley. “You’re the Earth’s last line of defense against this meteor. You must fly up to the meteor, go through the force-field, defeat the alien guards, turn off the force-field generator machine, and then turn that meteor around! You can do it!”

  “But I-” Harley says.

  “If you don’t stop that meteor, then nobody will be here to teach you math,” Dad convinces Harley to go. “You must hurry!”

  Dad pushes hard as he squeezes Harley and I into the tiny spaceship.

  “There are certain things that I need to tell you about directing this spaceship. Firstly, do not open the doors of the spaceship until you have landed. That is important. And before you land, you must press the red colored button, followed by the auburn colored button, followed by the scarlet colored button, followed by the crimson colored button, followed by the rose colored button, and then the red colored button again. Do not get the order of those buttons wrong. If you do not press the buttons in that order, you will smash heavily when you land. The spaceship is crash-proof, which means that it will bounce rather than crash, but it will still hurt if you don’t get the landing right.”

  “Um, ok,” I look at the buttons on the spaceship
, but they all look like the same color red to me. “Sure thing, Dad. No worries.”

  “And you must only squeeze the particle accelerator motion switch when you are exactly 114.63 miles from the meteor. If you press the switch any later, you will not land safely. If you press it any earlier, you will miss the meteor. Once the particle accelerator motion switch has been activated, you must desensitize the spaceship by initiating the triple-double-quad water sprinkler. If this is done accurately, then you will land safely. If you get this wrong, your landing will be very dangerous.”

  “Sure, Dad,” I reply. I look over to Harley, hoping that he is taking notes about how to fly the spaceship, but he is busy adjusting his helmet.

  “And when you land, you must find the force-field generator machine, turn it off, and put this steering control panel in the middle of the meteor. You must then activate it by rubbing the side electronic panel using only your middle finger.”

  “What does the steering control panel do?” I ask.

  “This will give us control over the meteor. By using the magnetic force of the machine, we will be able to steer the meteor away from Earth, but it won’t work with the force-field still on. The force-field interrupts any signal that we send. Now, you’d better hurry, Charlie – we are running out of time. You must go now.”

  “What did your Dad just say?” Harley asks me. “I couldn’t hear him because I was putting my helmet on correctly.”

  “Oh, he didn’t say anything important,” I shrug. “Just that we have to push the red button, followed by a switch, and then turn on the sprinklers for our yard. Nothing essential.”