‘Shh! The radio — listen!’ said Jason suddenly. ‘It sounds like a message.’ Jason and Zanya listened. ‘Tcan’t hear it, it’s too quiet,’ said Jason. ‘IB4E — can you show us the message on your computer?” ‘I don’t know,’ IB4E answered. ‘It’s very difficult to understand.’ 4 hat are we going to do?’ said Zanya. ‘Our class is tomorrow morning. We have to write ten pages about “The dangers of pollution’ — and we haven’t started yet’ ‘Tm thinking,’ replied Jason. ‘Thinking won't help. We need a planet to write about. I’m sure the other students have found one.” Zanya looked out of their spaceship, but she could only see a large, boring, grey planet. She turned to IB4E. He was the android who always travelled with them. ‘Can you write it for us, IB4E”’ ‘Not possible. Your teacher said that you and Jason must do all the work,’ ‘Thanks, [B4E,’ said Zanya. ‘Thanks a lot.’ + Look at the computer. What is the message?‘T think | ean read it!’ said Jason. ‘Tt says, ‘Help us please. Everyone on our planet is dying. Come quickly to Planet Centram.”’ ‘And look,’ said Zanya. ‘Planet Centram is only six minutes away in our spaceship. Let's go!” ‘Wait a minute,’ said Jason. ‘This sounds dangerous. Shall we call the space police?’ “There's no time!’ Zanya replied. “These people are in trouble — we must try to help them.’ Jason, Zanya and IB4E looked inside. ‘Everyone's asleep!’ said Zanya with surprise. ‘No, they’te unconscious,’ said IB4E. ‘And they'll die in six hours, forty-two minutes if nobody can help them.’ ‘But what can we do? said Jason. ‘No one here can tell us.’ Six minutes later, they arrived on Planet Centram. ‘Where is everyone” said Zanya. ‘I don’t know,’ answered Jason. ‘Well, let’s look around,’ said Zanya. ‘Come on, Perhaps there’s somebody in that building.’ * Look at the picture. Somebody has left a message. Where is it? 4‘Look,’ saidl Jason. ‘There's something on the paper under that computer.’ ‘Let me see,’ said Zanya. Femenlaiaaimactec YU. e S WE ARE ALL Dyt, © IS 700 MUCH POL a BE © WE HAVE A SPECiay' hy ie py} | ee eA o CLEANS THE AIR. BUT fr. aH an ance Se is never WORKING, * i buy or See " Ka s cAPURNICU oe” eo don’t know what xarkon is,’ said Jason, ‘or where to look for your computer tell us?” Bone) oe” fourse,’ replied IB4E. ‘Look.’ N need to look at a map,’ said Jason. ij res one here, on this desk,’ said Zanya. ‘We can take it with IKATUS 3 ©reon {help them,’ said Zanya, running to the door. ‘We must xarkon. And we've only got six hours and thirty-five , * Look at the map. What is the nearest planet which has xarkon? cite tae“Aldius is larger than Romula and smaller than Tkatus 3,/ said Jason, s green. We need to go to ‘and it’s very near to Centram. Ah — but it’ ... et, ..- Planet Zog!” Zanya, Jason and IB4E ran back to their spaceship. ‘Planet Zog, here we come!’ shouted Zanya as they left. ‘Jason, hold the map.’ ‘all right. But don’t tell me what to do all the time. And don’t go too fast, it’s dangerous.’ Suddenly, the spaceship began to shake. T told you not to 6 too fast,’ said Jason. ‘Vm not,’ cried Zanya. ‘It’s an asteroid storm.’ ‘Oh no! We're going to crash,’ cried Jason. ‘IB4E, what can we do?’ That's a very interesting question,’ replied the android. “You see some asteroids are made of gas. They are all right to travel through.’ 8 et na ‘Which ones?’ shouted Zanya. ‘You mean, which ones are made of gas?’ said IB4E. The spaceship began to shake more. Yes!’ shouted Zanya and Jason together. ‘Quickly!’ ‘Oh, the red ones - if theyre not square. And the black ones, too - if they're not round.’ + Look at the picture. How can the spaceship escape from the asteroid storm?‘Tcan’t watch,’ said Jason. He looked out of the window of their spaceship and saw another asteroid fly past. b.. was a narrow escape,’ said Zanya. “Yes, Jason agreed. ‘We nearly crashed — twice.’ ‘But we didn’t,’ said Zanya. ‘And we must be very near to Planet Zogby now. When are we going to arrive?’ Jason didn’t answer. ‘Jason?’ ‘Hr, .., I'm not sure,’ he said at last. ‘What do you mean?’ ‘Well, don’t shout at me = but I'm afraid we're lost.’ ‘Lost?’ shouted Zanya, “Yes. You see, when we went through the asteroid storm, I didn’t watch for a few seconds, Sorry.’ “So where are we now” asked Zanya. Jason thought for a minute. ‘Well, let’s look at the map,’ he said. ‘That large, red planeton the left is Capurnicum. And that blue planet on the right with three moons looks like Ariadnum. Hmm . . . * Look carefully at the map on page 7 again. Where are they? And where is Planet Zog?‘4 those planets are Capurnicum and Ariadnum,’ said Jason, looking, at the map, ‘then Planet Zog is behind us.’ Zanya turned the spaceship round. ‘There it is!” she cried. Just then, they heard a voice on the radio. . . ym Zanya, Jason and IB4E arrived on Planet Zog. ‘Can you help us?’ Zanya asked a Zoggian. ‘We need some xarkon. It’s very important.’ ‘There's a xarkon factory in Maggon,’ he replied. ‘How do we get there?’ Jason asked. ‘Well, it’s a long journey. The train is too slow. You need to take the sky bus, but it doesn’t stop here.’ . | * Look at the map. How can they get to Maggon | quickly?Another Zoggian looked at their passports. This stamp shows when you arrived,’ he said. ‘You can only stay on the planet for twenty-four hours.’ ‘But the policewoman said that we can’t leave,’ said Zanya. ‘Look, don’t give me any trouble,’ replied the Zoggian angrily. ‘That's $48.50 each for the stamps. Next!” TB4E paid the money and they waited for the train to take them to Ratvick. After twenty minutes, three trains arrived at the same time. ‘We're at Zog Central,’ said Jason. ‘So we go to Ratvick by train. Then we take the sky bus to Maggon.’ ‘And let's hurry,’ said Zanya. ‘We've only got five hours and forty- four minutes.’ Just then, a Zoggian policewoman arrived and asked Zanya for the key to their spaceship. Zanya smiled, and gave it to her. ‘And when we want to leave, you'll give it back, won’t you?’ she asked. The policewoman smiled too. ‘Oh no. Nobody can leave the planet - not before we've caught the dangerous thief. I'm keeping the key.’ ‘But .. ., but. . .,’ said Zanya, ‘but we must get back to Planet Centram, or everyone there will die.’ ‘Im only doing my job,’ replied the policewoman, and walked away with the key.They arrived in Maggon, and soon found the xarkon factory. ‘Here's the door,’ said Zanya. ‘Quick, follow me! No, wait. It's locked.’ “Yes, we know,’ said Jason. ‘Tt says, “To open, put coin in lock”. It's all right. I’ve gota coin. Hmm. . . but only one.’ “Don’t make a mistake, then,’ said Zanya. ‘Look, do you want to do it?’ asked Jason, angrily. Just hurry up,’ Zanya replied. Zanya, Jason and IB4E got on the train to Catarax. “This one goes through Ratvick,’ said Jason. ‘We can change to the sky bus there.” Soon they were on the sky bus, hundreds of metres above the dark Wambizi Woods. They flew over the Caprian Desert and across the Meridian River. They could just see the Maggon Mountains to the West. Zanya began to talk to a passenger. ‘We need to buy some xarkon,’ she explained. ‘Do you know where the factory is?” “Yes, replied the Zoggian. ‘Can you tell us?” ‘You'll see it when we arrive in Maggon,’ he said. ‘Thanks,’ said Zanya. + How can Jason open the door? Which hole: put the coin in?Jason carefully dropped the coin in hole ‘B’ and waited. Nothing happened. ‘Oh no!’ cried Zanya. ‘I told you ~’ But before she could finish, there was a loud noise and the doors opened. Jason smiled and looked at Zanya. ‘Sorry,’ she said. The three travellers went inside the huge building. ‘Wow! There’s a lot of xarkon,’ said Zanya, picking up a big piece of it. Suddenly, a Zoggian man shouted and ran across to them. ‘Aha! I've found you at last!’ he cried. “What do you mean?’ said Zanya, dropping the stone quickly. ‘What have I done?’ ‘Don't try to be clever,’ said the Zoggian. He held Zanya by the arm. ‘I know you're the thief. You've already stolen more than 500 kilos of xarkon this week.’ ‘That's not true! Jason, tell him I’m not a thief.’ ‘She's nota thief,’ said Jason. ‘We’ve come to buy xarkon, not to steal it,’ ‘Hmm. I don’t believe you. You'll have to come with me, young woman.’ ‘Wait,’ said Jason. ‘I can show that she isn’t the thief.’ » What is Jason going to show the Zoggian? How does it show that they arrived on Planet Zog today?‘The passports!’ said Jason. ‘Give him the passports. Look — this stamp shows that we arrived on Planet Zog today. We haven’t had time to steal all that xarkon.’ ‘Hmm,’ said the Zoggian, looking at their passports. ‘All right, I believe you. You can go now.’ ‘But we can’t go yel,’ said Zanya. ‘We need to buy some xarkon and take it to Planet Centram. How much is this piece?’ The Zoggian thought for a while. ‘How much money have you got?” “A hundred and twenty-four dollars,’ said Jason. ‘Give it to me,’ said the Zoggian. “All of it?” “Yes, all of it. Now, take your xarkon and go.’ ‘Well, we've got the xarkon,’ said Jason, ‘Thit we can’t leave the planet, because they haven't caught the dangerous thief yet.’ ‘But they will catch him soon,’ said IB4E. ‘He's here in the factory ~ and I can see him." + Look carefully at the picture. Do you remember what the Xarkon thief looks like? Can you find him?‘It’s the man who sells drinks,’ said IB4E. ‘You can see the small black mark below his left eye.’ ‘Stop that man!’ shouted Zanya. ‘He's the thief.’ ‘The man tried to run away, but a Zoggian stopped him. ‘And look’ said Jason. ‘That’s how he stole the xarkon.’ Zanya, Jason and IB4E caught the sky bus to Ratvick, and then took the train to Zog Central. At Zog Central they found the policewoman and asked her for the key to their spaceship. ‘Here itis,’ she said, with a smile. ‘And your spaceship is in that building. Somewhere. Good luck.’ “But the building is huge!’ said Zanya. ‘We'll have to look for hours to find our spaceship.’ “No we won't,’ said IB4E. ‘This notice will tell us which floor it’s on,’ + Which floor is their spaceship on? 22 —_—_————————————————————— *Zanye ‘Ate we too late?’ Jason a} ‘No, they're still alive,’ ani F But they les and twenty-two sect © don’t find the} cleans air quickly.” ‘It's on the third floor,’ said Zanya. ‘Let’s go and find it.’ ‘And quickly,’ said Jason. ‘We've only got one hour and forty-four minutes to get back to Planet Centram.’ ‘They found their spaceship a few minutes later, and soon they were ready to leave the planet. ‘It’s lucky that you remembered about the passports,’ Zanya said to Jason, as they left. “It wasn’t luck,’ he replied. ‘It’s called “thinking”. It does help sometimes.” + Can you find the five-letter word that will unlock the door?‘Read the instructions,’ said Zanya. ‘T can’t,’ replied Jason. ‘I don’t underatand them.’ ‘One minute and twelve seconds,’ said [b4E. ‘Five minutes,’ said IB4E. ‘Sh! Be quiet, I'm thinking,’ said Jason. ‘Four minutes and fifty seconds.’ ‘Hurry!’ cried Zanya. ‘Tam hurrying.’ ‘No, I mean that’s the word — “hurry”.’ When they pushed the letters H-U-R-R-Y, the door suddenly opened. “There’s the machine,’ cried Jason. ‘Quickly, give me the xarkon stone. Now, what do I have to do?’ 4 + What do the instructions say? 26“Put — stone — in — square — hole,’ said Zanya, slowly reading the instructions. “Push - large — button - twice.” That's what it says — now let's do it!’ said Jason. ‘Eighteen seconds,’ said IB4E. Zanya put the xarkon stone in the square hole while Jason pushed the button. The machine made a loud noise and began to shake. ‘1 don’t think it’s working,’ said Zanya. ‘IB4E, what has Jason done?’ ‘Look!’ said IB4E. Zanya and Jason looked. 28 ‘Everyone is waking up,’ said Zanya. ‘I’ve done it!’ ‘You mean, “We've done it’,’ said Jason, angrily. Just then, a woman from Planet Centram spoke. ‘You have stopped our planet from dying,’ she said. ‘How can we thank you?’ ‘We don’t want anything,’ said Zanya. ‘We were happy to help, weren't we, Jason?’” ‘Well, yes. But there is one thing,’ said Jason. ‘Could you write something about the pollution on your planet? Just a few pages — about ten, perhaps?’Glossary android a machine which looks like a person asteroid very small planet button something you push to turn ona machine coin round piece of money computer a machine that holds information and gives answers quickly gas something that you cannot feel or hold, e.g. oxygen huge very big instructions words that tell you how to use or do something machine something with many parts that move together map plan of a town, country, ete. Answers to the puzzles page 3 Help us please. Everyone on our planet is dying. Come quickly to Planet Centram. page 5 There is a piece of paper with writing, under the computer. It has the word ‘Help’ on it. page 7 Planet Zog page 9 Gee illustration on the next page.) page 11 Planet Zog is behind them. 30 page 23 page 27 mark (n) shape or spot on The third floor Put stone in square hole. Push something or someone page 25 large button twice. message information that one H-U-R-R-Y: hurry person sends to another person notice (n) information that you put ona wall for people to read page 9 planet something in space that moves around a star pollution when the air or sea is not clean spaceship machine for travelling from star to star stamp (n) writing in a passport which shows when and where you have travelled unconscious like asleep, but when you are very ill or hurt page 13 They take the train to Ratvick and the sky bus to Maggon. page 15 The train to Catarax page 17 Hole ‘B page 19 ‘The passport: it has today’s date on the stamp. page 21 His description is on page 12. He has long black hair, and he is behind IB4E.