 
Astro's Adventures: Dogs in Space

by

Susan Day

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Susan Day on Smashwords

Astro's Adventures: Dogs in Space

by

Copyright © 2015 by Susan Day

Smashwords Edition License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the author's work.

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Astro's Adventures: Dogs in Space

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the dogs of the world that don't have a warm bed to curl up in,

toys to play with or a cat to chase. Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to rescue shelters to help you all.

# Dogs in Space
Chapter 1

Floating in the middle of the ocean was an old alley cat. He was struggling to free himself from the seaweed that bound his paws. He squirmed and twisted until the seaweed loosened. Then he pulled his front paws free one at a time. After that it didn't take long to free his back paws. He bobbed up and down in the water for a while. He looked up at the sky and checked his location on the GPS tracking system built into his watch.

"This is the spot," he said confidently and took a deep breath. He dove into the water and swam deep into the sea.

Just as he had guessed Neptune, the great god of all the oceans and the seas, had forgotten all about his chariot. It didn't take long before Speed Bump Charlie spotted it lying on the seabed. He glanced around quickly to see if there were any nasty creatures lurking nearby. There were no sharks, stingrays, bloat fish or pirate catfish.

"Phew! The coast is clear. How lovely!" he cried. "I knew that silly god was more interested in getting his Trident back than his chariot. Also, he's forgotten how I tricked him into bringing this lovely treasure to me in the first place. I nearly got control of the Trident and all the oceans and seas but that was until those pesky dogs spoilt my fun. Still, here is the chariot and it has all this fabulous treasure piled inside it. Neptune has forgotten all about it. He can keep his Trident and his stinky oceans. The treasure is now mine, all mine!"

Speed Bump Charlie threw his head back and laughed.

He grabbed the reins and began to drag the heavy chariot. His destination – the coast of Australia.

"Shouldn't take long at this rate," Speed Bump huffed as he dragged the chariot over rocks and coral. "According to my watch it's only about 4,695 miles."

Speed Bump Charlie strained against the reins and pulled hard. His toes dug into the sand but he chuckled to himself. "Imagine what I could do with all this treasure! The robots I could build; the mayhem I could wreak and the dogs I could destroy! Now, that's a thought," the old cat stopped and scratched his chin. "I just need that stupid Astro and his pesky friends to be so far away they don't cause me any trouble at all. Be nice if they were on the Moon!" He laughed at the idea and continued with his journey.

Meanwhile, in another part of the ocean, Astro and the team were feeling very pleased with themselves. They had managed to find Neptune's Trident and return it to the great god himself. Now, they were on their way home for a well-earned rest. Unfortunately, the ocean liner they had been sailing on had been destroyed by a meteor shower and now they were bobbing up and down in a lifeboat.

All the dogs belonged to The Organisation. It was a special group that saved dogs from neglect. Their job was to find dogs left in backyards or tied on chains and set them free. Then they helped find new homes with caring owners. Once they saved all the dogs from an animal shelter called the Check Out. It is a terrible place where all manner of poor creatures are sent and never returned.

Suddenly, Commander Rocky, head of The Organisation, received a signal from headquarters. It had been sent to his microchip. Microchips had been implanted in dogs by humans so they could easily find them if they were lost. The Organisation had cleverly reprogrammed them so they could communicate with any dog anywhere in the world. It was genius!

"Sir?" the voice from headquarters called. "Did you understand the message?" It was Dotty, a young Dalmatian who was in charge of the Communications Room.

"Can you repeat it?" Commander Rocky couldn't believe his ears.

"NASA wants The Organisation to find a replacement for the Moon. They are saying it's our fault it was destroyed, well, sort of. They said without the Moon there will be no tides. If there are no tides there'll be no fish and no beaches. It could mean the end of the natural world!"

Astro looked up at his Commander and then at the rest of the dogs. "The Moon? What happened to the Moon?"

"It's been destroyed by three large explosions," Commander Rocky explained.

"How is that our fault?" Alfie protested.

"Yeah," Digger agreed. "We've been under the water searching for Neptune's Trident for a long time."

"And battling sharks, octopuses and other cool creatures," Indy nodded her head remembering the fun she had play-fighting a sword fish.

"I bet I know," said Stella D'oro quietly. She looked up at the rest of the dogs. "Do you remember when Speed Bump Charlie was trying to find out how the Trident worked and he zapped three lightning bolts straight up into the air?"

"Yeah! That was just before he tried to turn me into toast!" Astro rubbed his paw where the wicked cat had singed the hair on his toes.

Stella nodded and continued. "Neptune's Trident is very powerful. I bet that it was those three lightning bolts that destroyed the Moon."

"And NASA wants us to fix it?" asked Astro.

"But how are we going to replace the Moon?!! We're just a bunch of dogs! This is crazy!" Commander Rocky snorted.

The voice from Commander Rocky's microchip said, "They haven't given us any more details but NASA has a spaceship waiting for you at Cape Canaveral."

Commander Rocky shook his head and let out a long sigh.

"Turn the lifeboat around, Indy," he ordered, "Looks like we're going into space!"

Chapter 2

Speed Bump Charlie was small as far as cats go. He was old too. No one was quite sure how old he was but there were events in history that only he could remember as if they were yesterday and these events happened a very long time ago.

For example, he could remember the Great War when cat battled dog on every street corner for supremacy. He remembered one particular fight where ten dogs held up a fish van that was destined to deliver supplies to the front. And how he, alone, slipped under the truck and managed to fight one dog after the other until each one ran away with its tail between its legs squealing. 'Those were the days,' Speed Bump smiled to himself.

He stopped several times on his journey to catch a snack. Mostly, it was a small fish that had wandered too far from its friends. However, one time he nearly ended up being the snack when an over enthusiastic octopus mistook him for its next meal.

"It's a dangerous place is this ocean," Speed Bump Charlie muttered to himself. "I'll be glad when me four white paws are safe on hard ground again."

Speed Bump Charlie had been dragging the chariot for several days and the strain was beginning to show. He patted the red stone that hung around his neck. "Thank goodness those silly dogs didn't take this off," he muttered. "I wouldn't have been able to breathe under water without it. Another gift from Neptune," he laughed looking back at the glittering treasure.

He was about to check his GPS when he noticed that his ears were really warm. He quickly darted his eyes to see if the warmth was caused by the breath of another hungry octopus or even worse, a shark! Or even worser than worse – the shark he tricked into carrying him half way round the ocean.

"If he gets hold of me, I'll be toothpicks in no time!" he old cat grimaced.

He looked over his shoulders and under his feet. He was alone. He reached up and touched his ears and his paw began to feel warm too.

"What's going on?" he declared and he looked up.

When he realised what was causing the heat he smiled.

"Silly old cat," he said to himself walking on. "We have reached the shore. Your ears are sticking up out of the water and the sun is burning them, ya daft puss!"

Speed Bump Charlie was right. He had dragged Neptune's chariot half way across the Pacific Ocean to the deserted shores of Northern Australia. He tipped his face out of the water and stared at the beach.

"Land at last!" he said and pulled the chariot with more determination and force. "Not long to go now."

Three seagulls were sitting in a palm tree close to the edge of the water.

"What's that?" one said pointing his wing at the cat.

"Dunno!" said another.

"If my name's not Reginald Makepeace Albertson I'd say that was a cat pulling a chariot out of the water!" Reginald Makepeace Albertson said.

"What would a cat do that for?" the first seagull cried. "And stop using your fancy name. We aren't all ex-show birds from SeaWorld, you know. You're just showing off again!"

"I am not!" Reginald Makepeace Albertson declared. "It's not my fault you lot are just ordinary seagulls without a proper name."

The second seagull lifted up his wings and placed them around the shoulders of the other two. "Now, now, you two, let's not squabble over silly things like names. Not when there's a cat pulling a chariot out of the water and look," he pointed to the chariot. "It's full of blinking treasure!"

The three seagulls nearly fell out of the tree in surprise. "What's he doing with that?" the first one cried.

"I dunno but I'm going down to find out!" Reginald Makepeace Albertson squawked and he swooped down from the tree and landed on the sand.

The others joined him. They stood around and watched the cat.

Speed Bump Charlie had done it. He had dragged the chariot full of treasure to the coast of Australia. He had arrived at a particularly empty beach and apart from some annoying squawking seagulls he thought he was all alone. He dragged the chariot up the beach and pushed it under the cover of some trees.

"Now, to find a place to bury my treasure," he said.

After several minutes of foraging around in the scrub Speed Bump found a secluded spot that was surrounded with lots of trees.

"This will do," he said and he began to dig quickly with his paws.

The three seagulls followed him and were watching him intently.

He was very fast and it didn't take too long before the old cat was standing in a hole. It was large enough for the treasure and the chariot. He scrambled out and pulled the chariot over to it. He didn't care if anything got damaged so he put his shoulder under the chariot and pushed. It seemed heavy at first but after a while it moved and the chariot began to slowly tip forward.

The treasure began to trickle out so Speed Bump gave it a hard shove and it quickly poured out. Then he tipped the chariot over into the hole. He wiped his front paws together and nodded. He was very pleased with what he had done.

"Now to cover it up," he said.

Speed Bump Charlie bent over and scooped dirt between his back legs and into the hole. He had seen a dog doing this once to remove dirt from a tunnel. He used this same method and his treasure was soon completely covered.

He wiped the sand and dirt away from his coat and began to stamp on the ground where he'd buried his treasure.

"Whatcha doin'?" a voice squeaked.

Speed Bump Charlie jumped out of his skin. He thought he was alone on the beach.

"Who's that?!" he declared harshly. "Show yourself or you'll feel the blades I have hidden in my paws." He held up one paw and released the long, sharp claws hidden inside it.

There was a shuffling and then a scratching noise coming from one of the bushes. Speed Bump Charlie stood on guard.

"Reveal yourself!" he demanded loudly.

Only an inch from the ground a tiny face appeared. It smiled broadly at the old cat. Then it crawled out from under a bush and stood up.

"You're a kitten! Just a little kitten!" Speed Bump cried. "You gave me a fright, you silly thing. What are doing hiding in there?"

The little kitten stepped forward and looked at the pile of dirt under Speed Bump's feet.

"What am I doing? I think the question should be, what are you doing?" he remarked.

Speed Bump looked at the tiny kitten and frowned. "What a cheeky little imp you are! I am clearly doing as I like." He stopped and looked down at the dirt. He began to tap it with his feet. "I am simply covering up poop. That's what we cats do, don't we?"

The kitten looked at the large pile of dirt. "Must be some poop!" he raised his eyebrows.

"Well, I've finished now and you can shove off," Speed Bump Charlie declared rudely. He pushed past the kitten and checked his watch. "The nearest town is..."

"About three hours walk away," the kitten added. "But I know where it is. I'll show you where you can get a lift."

The old alley cat turned and looked down at the kitten. He decided to take a closer look. The kitten had the same grey-green body with black stripes and he had a white face and four white feet. He even had a cute pink button nose.

"You look familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?" Speed Bump Charlie asked.

"I think you're my daddy!" the kitten smiled broadly up at the old cat.

Chapter 3

The team of dogs soon arrived at the launch pad. They reported for duty and changed into their space suits. Then they were called into a meeting room. The dogs sat around the table and Commander Rocky sat at the top with the head of NASA. They were shuffling pieces of paper about. Rocky seemed to be signing most of them.

Alfie, a large Doberman, leaned over to Astro and whispered, "What's he doing?" Alfie was very strong and could pretty much break down any door or wall with his head. The team at NASA had to get a helmet especially widened to fit it.

Astro whispered back. "I think he's signing something. Autographs perhaps?"

"I bet it's a form saying if anything happens to us they're not responsible," Digger whispered. Digger was a stout little terrier who wore a green beret. He was the tunnelling expert on the team.

Alfie's eyebrows shot up. Astro was also surprised although it was hard to tell because his shaggy hair hung over his eyes.

Indy, a stocky Blue Heeler, growled under her breath. "I'm ready to fight any alien or space creature that threatens our mission." She drummed her paws on the table. The others looked at her. She was the bravest dog in the team and no one doubted she would fight anything or anyone that got in her way.

Stella D'oro sat opposite them quietly. She was a small Cocker Spaniel and was said to be hundreds of years old. She was very wise and knew things were going to happen before they did. She could read minds and could send messages to other creatures by just thinking about them. She was also blind.

Stella cleared her throat. "Not long to go now," she told the others.

Commander Rocky stood up. "Canines!" he addressed his team. "As you are aware Speed Bump Charlie has destroyed the Moon and we have been asked to find a replacement."

He looked around at his team and took a very long breath. They were loyal and dedicated. He knew they would do anything he asked but, apart from Stella, they weren't very smart.

"You have been fitted with your spacesuits and our spaceship is ready for take-off. Are there any questions?" Rocky asked.

"How far do we have to go?" Digger asked.

"Will it take long?" said Astro.

"Will we be back for lunch?" Alfie rubbed his empty belly.

They all stopped and looked at Alfie. "What?" he declared. "I'm just a bit peckish, that's all. It's only been 13½ minutes since my last meal. A dog could starve to death on these missions!" he slumped back in the chair and sulked.

Commander Rocky ignored Alfie. "We are required to fly to the far reaches of the Solar System. The NASA experts say there are some extra moons floating around either near Jupiter or Saturn. It is our mission to bring one of them back. They say there's a moon-detector on board that will be able to tell us if a moon we find is the right size."

"Is that all we have to do?" Astro asked. "Sounds simple," he smiled broadly.

Indy smiled. "Will we find any aliens or space monsters on our trip?"

"I wouldn't think so, Indy," Commander Rocky said. "It seems like a simple trip out to space and then back again, with a new moon in tow."

Digger wasn't so convinced. "Nothing is simple on our missions!" he declared. "Remember when we tried to save Christmas and the sleigh got stolen right from under our noses?! And the time monster rats were destroying the airport? And the ghost that lived in that creepy house?" he shuddered just thinking about it.

"No danger at all, you say?" Indy sighed and slumped back in her chair. "That's a shame."

The head of NASA stood up and addressed the dogs. "There's nothing to worry about. I can assure you that the spaceship is completely safe and that my team will have full control over the mission from right here in this building," he said.

Commander Rocky stated firmly. "See, nothing to worry about. I'm sure that everything will be fine, Digger."

Stella dropped her head and thought to herself. "I wouldn't be too sure about that," she muttered to herself. She was sure no one had heard her but Rocky shot her a worrying glance.

Chapter 4

Speed Bump Charlie froze on the spot. Every hair on his body stood on end and every whisker shot out straight. He didn't move. He just stared down at the little kitten in shock. The kitten just kept smiling.

Speed Bump Charlie regained his composure and glared. "What nonsense! You just look like me, that's all. I am not your father! Now, get lost! I'm on an important mission and I don't need a squawking kitten at my feet." Speed Bump Charlie turned around and walked away.

"What's your mission?" the kitten asked following behind him.

"None of your business," Speed Bump said without looking back.

The kitten had to run to keep up with the old cat. "Has it got something to do with the treasure you just buried or the fact that Astro and the others are being sent into space because you blew up the Moon?"

Speed Bump Charlie stopped. "How do you know about the treasure?" he scowled. "Who have you been talking to?" He turned to walk on and then stopped. "Astro? The others? Sent into space?" he looked down at the kitten. "What are you talking about?"

The little kitten explained what had happened. The old cat scratched his chin. "How do you know all these things?"

The kitten pointed towards the seagulls sitting in the tree behind them. They had been following them. "They're the biggest gossips on the coast. Everything they see they chatter about all day long. It is boring most of the time but every now and then they reveal some pretty interesting stuff."

Speed Bump Charlie looked up at the birds and shook his head.

"Well, gossips or not, I am not your father and you can run off – preferably under a bus – because no one would believe the meows of a kitten, especially one as small as you."

Speed Bump continued to walk through the bush. He came to a road and looked up and down it. He decided to head south.

"I can help you," the kitten said. "I know stuff. I could be your helper. Like an assistant or a junior or something."

"I don't need anyone, Furball. I am, and always will be, the evil genius who devises fantastic plans to spoil the work of those stupid dogs."

"But I am clever and very smart," the kitten pleaded.

"Don't care; buzz off."

The kitten trotted after Speed Bump Charlie in silence for a while.

"And I'm strong." The kitten flexed his bicep muscles to show Speed Bump. The old cat just rolled his eyes, tutted loudly and kept walking.

The kitten ran ahead and stopped abruptly in front of Speed Bump Charlie. He held out two paws and stopped the old cat in his tracks. Then he nodded his head towards the ground. "Shhh," he whispered. "Don't move a muscle!"

Speed Bump Charlie shook his head and ignored the kitten. He went to walk on but then a snake shot across the road in front of them. Speed Bump Charlie jumped back in fright.

"It's a Northern Yellow-bellied Cobra," the kitten whispered. "You were lucky it didn't bite you. It would have done had you kept walking. You nearly stepped on it."

Speed Bump Charlie looked down at the kitten. "That snake shot out of the bushes. There is no way you could have seen it coming," he said. "How did you know it was going to slither in front of me?"

The kitten shrugged his shoulders. "I can hear other animals talk," he admitted quietly. "Not just birds and squawkers like mice but other animals too. It's a gift, sort of. The snake was whispering about being cold," he explained.

Speed Bump Charlie didn't believe the kitten.

"What about the bird over there with the long legs; what's he thinking about?" questioned Speed Bump.

The little kitten scrunched up his nose and breathed deeply. "The heron is worried about how she's going to feed her clutch of three chicks," he answered.

"And that cricket, sitting over there on the log, what's he or she thinking about?" Speed Bump asked.

"That's easy," laughed the kitten. "He is looking for a special bush so that he can gobble his favourite leaves."

The cricket leapt off the log and disappeared into the undergrowth. "He's also thinking about finding a mate. You know the sort of things crickets always think about." The kitten smiled broadly at Speed Bump Charlie.

Speed Bump Charlie scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Well, maybe you would be handy to have around," he mused. "Well, until I reach my headquarters."

The kitten smiled. "Oh, that would be great, Dad!"

Speed Bump Charlie froze on the spot again. "I told you, I'm not your dad! Don't call me that again! You can call me Mr Speed Bump. What's your name?"

"Don't have one," the kitten sniffed back a tear. "I am an orphan."

"Boo hoo!" Speed Bump Charlie rolled his eyes. "Well, I think you're super-annoying and a stupid little kitten but that's too long a name for anyone. Fur Ball? Furry Rat? Pest? Hairball? They're all good names. No, I like Fur-Ball. That'll be your name."

"That's a stupid name. What about 'Son of Speedie' or 'SOS' for short? I'm sure I'll be able to save you at some point," the little kitten jumped up with excitement.

"NO!" Speed Bump Charlie declared. "Definitely not!"

"It's Furball or nothing!" And with that he walked down the road and left the kitten standing on the gravel on his own.

Chapter 5

The dogs walked into the elevator carrying their space helmets under their arms. The elevators were only designed to carry three or four astronauts not six dogs so there wasn't much room. Digger found himself being squashed by Astro. Alfie had to hold his tail tight so it wouldn't get caught in the door. And Indy threatened to bop the next person who stood on her toes with her hunting bone. No one did.

When the elevator reached the top of the tower they all pushed and scrambled out. Alfie fell flat on his face because he was nearest the door. Rocky and Astro tripped over him but managed to stay upright. Digger tripped and dropped his helmet while Indy jumped over Alfie's squirming body. Then she dropped to the ground and body rolled along the gang plank. Stella D'oro just waited and when they were all gone she stepped out and over Alfie's body. Then he scrambled to his feet.

"There was no need to push me, you know!" he yelled after the others but his protests fell on deaf ears. The roar from the wind and the thunder from the spaceship's engines were too loud. No one could hear a thing.

A pair of NASA technicians helped each dog into their seat. They fitted the helmets on and made sure that their seatbelts were nice and tight. Commander Rocky was shown what all the instruments were for. Then Stella and Astro, just in case something happened to Rocky. Alfie was busy searching under his seat for the menu and he didn't notice Digger shaking. Indy leaned over and patted the little dog on the back.

"You'll be okay," she tried to reassure him. "I will protect you."

"It's just so scary!" the little dog whimpered. "I've never been this far away from my home before."

"You'll be fine, Diggs," Alfie interrupted. "It's just another great adventure we're all going to have together. It'll be another tale to tell the grand-kiddies!" and he slapped Digger hard on the head. It wasn't clear if it was the terror Digger was feeling or the hard knock to his head but he fainted.

Indy looked over to Alfie. "Look what you've done, you clod!" she growled at him.

Alfie leaned forward and gently nudged Digger's arm. Then he sniffed him all over. "He's fine," he reported. "My nose can pick up every tiny particle of stinky stuff for miles. Digger always smells like talcum powder and flowers." He sniffed again, "Now, he smells of old lizards but it doesn't matter. I can hear him breathing."

Indy thought about reporting Digger's condition to Commander Rocky but thought better of it. Digger would come around soon and she didn't want to be sitting next to him if he was going to scream and cry. It would spoil the thrill of taking-off and flying into space.

Astro sat on the other side of Indy. "Alfie, you'll have to be more careful. If any of us get injured on this trip it could be really serious. It's not like we can just call the vet!"

"Don't worry," Alfie said. "I'll be gentle."

"Well, I'm just saying," Astro began to drum his paws on the arm rests nervously. "Just saying," he repeated again. "It's a long way and my owner won't want anything to happen to me," he let out a long sigh. "I am after all her cutie, wootie pie." Astro tried to sniff back a tear.

Alfie and Indy just stared at him with raised eyebrows.

Stella sat near a window and closed her eyes.

"That's a waste," thought Indy. "She's blind. Why is she sitting near the window?"

Stella didn't move but Indy heard her voice inside her head. 'Because, Indy, I can reach the emergency brake from here.'

Indy jumped with fright and swallowed a lump in her throat.

The men left the spaceship and shut the airlock door tight. Commander Rocky looked around at his team.

"Are we ready?" he asked.

"Yes," they all responded.

"Are there any questions?" he added.

"No," they all chimed together. Then Alfie said, "Well, just one Commander..."

"No, Alfie, we are not having lunch soon!" Commander Rocky replied.

Alfie sat in silence. Then he leaned over Digger and whispered to Indy. "I thought Stella was the only one who could read minds?"

Indy shook her head. "You're too predictable, Alfie. That's your problem."

"I am not!" he said folding his arms across this chest. "I can't help it if I'm hungry all the time."

Indy didn't have time to respond. A voice boomed into the cabin. "Canines from Australia! This is Admiral Wright from NASA Headquarters."

"Did he say, 'I'm always right'?" Alfie asked.

"No! His name is Admiral Wright," Indy said crossly.

"Sounded like 'I'm always right' to me," Alfie muttered.

Admiral Wright continued, "I will be talking to you throughout your mission. As discussed, you will hear the countdown. Then we will launch the spaceship from our headquarters where it's nice and safe." He chuckled. "Just sit back, relax and enjoy the view! You won't see anything like it again in all your lives!"

Alfie squealed with delight and Indy smiled. Astro checked and double checked his safety gear and crossed his legs, uncrossed them, then crossed them again. He moved his helmet around on his head and let out a long sigh. The visor fogged up. "Blast!" he said and while he was trying to rub it clear the countdown began.

10

All the dogs joined in.

9

8

7

6

"What' next?" Alfie asked.

5

4

3

"Oh, yeah, I remember!" Alfie said.

2

Ignition

"That's not right," Alfie protested. "Isn't it number...?"

1!

You Have Lift off!

Alfie and Indy cheered.

The spaceship shuddered and rocked. The dogs bounced about in their seats. Digger woke up and stared about him. Alfie nudged him with his elbow and said something but he was drowned out by the deafening roar of the engines.

The spaceship took off.

They all stared out of the large front windscreen. The Earth quickly dropped away and the bright blue sky was turning darker and darker.

Indy couldn't contain her excitement any longer. "Yippeee!!" she cried and threw her paws up into the air. Sadly, one connected with Digger's chin and she knocked him out.

"Whoops!" she said nudging Digger.

Alfie leaned over. "Now, look who's clumsy!" he said.

Astro heard what had happened but he hadn't let go of the armrests and was too scared to look away from the window to see if Digger was okay.

Stella just shook her head. 'It's going to be a long trip in more ways than one,' she muttered to herself.

Chapter 6

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball made their way to a truck stop.

"We'll get something to eat and then we'll hitch a ride south. It's far too hot for my old bones here," Speed Bump Charlie said.

Furball looked around the buildings and the trucks. "I've been here before. Follow me!" he said and he darted behind a long red truck. He made his way to the backdoor of the kitchen and began to sniff about at the garbage. When Speed Bump Charlie caught up with him, Furball was trying to climb up the sides of the steel bins.

"Get down from there," Speed Bump Charlie said swiping the kitten off the bin. Furball fell to the ground.

"Whatcha do that for?" he cried. "I was just getting us some tucker. The cockroaches that live in that bin are having a feast. I can hear them talking about it. Mind you, they're talking with their mouths full so I'm only able to hear half of what they are saying. Still, it sounds delicious!"

Speed Bump Charlie shuddered and looked at the bin. It was hard to tell if it had once been painted green or blue. It was so dirty and dusty. You could see where the cockroaches had scrambled in and out because they had left little track marks. There was rust on every corner and it smelt really bad. The lid was bent and twisted from being banged about by the trucks that came to empty it.

"How disgusting," he said. "No, we're going to do this my way. Find me an old cloth and some red sauce," he ordered.

Furball bared his teeth and thought about scratching the old cat with his claws but he did as he was told. He found an old rag and a half empty tomato sauce jug.

Speed Bump Charlie ripped up the cloth to look like bandages. Then he wound them around Furball's head. He squeezed some red sauce onto the bandages and stood back.

He smiled broadly at his handy work.

"Eww! What happened to your teeth?" Furball cried reeling back from the old cat.

Speed Bump Charlie stopped and leaned down closer to the kitten. "I lost most of them after I was flung from an electric fence."

"Really?" Furball's eyes nearly popped out of his head. "How did you survive?"

"I fell face first onto a truck. It stopped my fall," Speed Bump Charlie smirked.

He grabbed the kitten by the scruff of the neck and plonked him outside the kitchen door. He hid himself behind some boxes and nodded. "Go on, beg for food!" he ordered.

Furball took a deep breath. 'This old cat thinks I'm just a dumb kitten. Wait till he sees this,' he said puffing out his chest. He scratched at the door and waited.

Nothing.

"Do it again!" whispered Speed Bump Charlie.

Furball scratched deeper into the wood and let out a high pitched squeal.

Someone in the kitchen dropped a saucepan.

"Did you hear that, Bev?" a voice said.

"Sounds like the dingo's got his paw trapped in the bin!" Bev replied. She grabbed a rolling pin from the drawer. "He won't be doing that again. I'll make sure of it this time."

Bev and her kitchen hand, Tony, crept towards the back door. Bev held the rolling pin up high and Tony picked up heavy wooden spoon.

Very, very carefully Bev opened the door and they both stared out.

"There's nuffin' there," Tony said.

"I could have sworn I heard something!" Bev said.

A very small squeak came from the doormat.

They both looked down and jumped back in fright.

"Oh, my goodness, me!" screamed Bev. "Will ya look at this little tacker? Isn't he cute?"

"And he's covered in widdle bandages, too" Tony cooed.

They both dropped their weapons and bent down.

"Give him to me!" cried Tony and he pushed Bev out of the way and gently picked up Furball. He stroked him gently and kissed him on the top of the head.

"He's hurt his widdle head!" cried Bev touching the bandages.

Furball purred loudly and smiled at them both.

Tony gasped. "We should get him to a vet, a-sap!" he cried.

Furball stopped purring. He didn't know exactly what a vet was but he had heard bad things about them.

He meowed and rubbed his belly.

"He's hungry!" sobbed Bev. "Have you ever seen anything so bewtiful in your life?"

"Let's give him something to eat first," suggested Tony.

"I'll see what we've got in the fridge." Bev said.

Outside Speed Bump Charlie was jumping up at the window to see what was going on. 'He's not supposed to be inside getting something to eat. He was supposed to bring it out here! This is not how the plan was supposed to work!' he moaned under his breath.

Bev checked each shelf. "Cheese, milk, lettuce, tomatoes, ah, here we are. Yesterday's lamb roast! How does that sound little kitten?"

Furball purred loudly and he jumped about in Tony's arms.

"Just relax," Tony laughed. "There's plenty there. Cut a bit off for him, Bev."

'A bit?!' thought Furball. He meowed loudly and let out a small hiss.

"I think he wants more than just a bit," laughed Bev.

She laid the platter on the floor and Tony put the kitten next to it. Without hesitation, Furball began to devour chunk after chunk of the delicious meat.

Speed Bump Charlie had managed to find an old potato crate to stand on. From it he could see Furball scoffing what was supposed to be his supper.

"I'm gonna get that little rat," he hissed between his teeth.

Then he got an idea.

Speed Bump Charlie grabbed a broom and banged it onto some old tin drums. He made a terrible racket.

"What's that?" Tony asked looking out of the window.

"We better go and check," said Bev. "There might be more little fellas like this one out the back starving to death."

They both ran out of the kitchen door and into the car park. Speed Bump Charlie had flattened himself onto the wall right by the door. As Bev and Tony ran out he ran in and bolted the door behind him. Furball wasn't paying any attention at all. He was too busy demolishing the roast lamb.

"Nom, nom, nom," he moaned. "This is delicious..."

"Is it really?" a gruff voice growled behind him.

Furball stopped but he didn't look round. Not straight away, anyway.

"Is that you Mr Speed Bump?" he asked quietly. "I was just about to bring you some," he lied wiping gravy from his chin.

"No you weren't!" Speed Bump Charlie roared. "Trick me, will you? I don't think so! I'm going to eat the rest of that." And he pushed the kitten out of his way.

"Get some milk out of the fridge, now!" Speed Bump Charlie ordered.

Furball made a face behind Speed Bump Charlie's back but he did what he was told. He understood that Speed Bump Charlie was a true genius who had a mind so evil and so wicked he could devise the vilest plans. The old cat was mean and horrible to everyone even his dedicated followers. Furball understood that but he was sure that one day Speed Bump Charlie would conquer the world and he wanted to be there beside him when he did. Sure, he'd had some setbacks but Furball had every faith in him. Speed Bump Charlie was his hero just not a very nice one.

Chapter 7

The spaceship shot up into the sky and disappeared beyond the clouds. As it climbed bits of it kept falling off.

Alfie looked over to Indy and Astro. "Is that supposed to happen?" he asked pointing to a long cylinder plummeting back to Earth.

Indy nodded but Astro was too scared to look.

It didn't take long when a light came on and flashed "It is safe to remove your seatbelts," it said.

Commander Rocky turned around to his crew.

"We have a bit of distance to travel, team," he began, "So, I suggest that you relax. You are welcome to move around the cabin. There are games to play and books to read in the cupboard behind you."

He turned and looked at Alfie. "And yes, before you ask Alfie there is a mini kitchen at the back. Help yourself."

Alfie let out a loud whoop and a cheer which woke up Digger.

"What happened? Where am I?" mumbled Digger. He leaned forward and peered out of the window. "Holy Moly, we're in space!" he cried.

"And there's a kitchen full of yummy food at the back!" laughed Alfie. "C'mon, Digger, you can help me. Are you coming, Astro?" Alfie added.

Digger slowly and carefully stood up. Indy went to the front and stood beside Commander Rocky. He was staring into space. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he said.

Indy agreed but she was concerned that their mission would be trouble free. 'No point in traveling across the Solar System if you can't bop an alien or two on the head,' she thought to herself. 'I've had more exciting adventures crossing the highway at home.'

Stella went over and sat next to Astro. "You don't have anything to fear, Astro," she said patting his paw reassuringly.

"It just doesn't seem natural," he moaned. "Dogs in Space? It's not normal."

"When have any of our missions been normal?" she laughed.

He turned around and managed a smile. Then he looked around at the others. She knew what he was thinking.

"Do you want to tell me something?" she asked him.

"Only if you promise not to tell the others?" he whispered.

"Of course," Stella said.

"It's just that I miss my," he looked around again to make sure no one was listening to him. "My, blankie!"

"You don't have a blankie," Stella reminded Astro. "You're an adult dog and you belong to a secret organisation that doesn't have blankies."

Astro thought about it for a second and looked at her. "I know but I'm scared!"

"Of course you are, Astro. We all are in our own way. I'll tell you what to do. When you're scared imagine you're in the one place where you feel safe. Think about that and it will make you feel better," Stella said.

"When I was a puppy I had a thick green blankie. I chewed it into a thousand pieces but I still remember it well. I used to hide under it when I was scared and I was scared a lot!"

"What did your owner do when you ripped up your blankie?" Stella asked.

"Just got another one. We had hundreds in the cupboard. All were green and all were soft and yummy!" Astro closed his eyes and remembered them.

Stella raised her eyebrows. "Would you like to play a game? Dogopoly? Scramble? What about cards?" she asked trying make Astro think of something else.

Astro nodded. He thought playing cards was a good idea and he loved playing Dogopoly. It was like the game Monopoly that his owner played only you bought up places that dogs liked. If you landed on 'Jail' you had to spend your turn at the dog pound. To win you had to buy all the luxury dog motels and dog parks such as Marybone and Park Canine.

At the back of the cabin a fight broke out between Alfie and Digger.

"I am not eating all the sausages, Diggs!" Alfie protested. "I've left you one!"

"One? One? There were fifteen packets!" Digger yelled.

From the front of the cabin Rocky asked, "Did he leave one packet?"

"No! Just one blinking sausage!" roared Digger holding up the sausage to show everyone.

"Alfie! That's enough! The food has to last us a long time. What if we go off course and we can't find our way home? What will we eat then?" Commander Rocky said.

"We'd eat Alfie!" Digger sneered. "You'd be the first to go!" he said pointing his paws into Alfie's fat tummy.

Alfie was upset. "I'm sorry," he said. "I won't eat much more, I promise."

He leant down and went to pick up a box of Happy Yappy Shapes.

"No, you don't!" Digger said and he grabbed the box out of Alfie's paws. Alfie hung on tight but the little terrier's sharp tunnel-digging nails tore the box open. Biscuits went everywhere.

Alfie jumped up to eat them but Digger shoved him out of the way. They pushed and pulled at each other trying to gobble up the biscuits as they floated in the air. They knocked over the Dogopoly board and bounced off the walls.

"Will you two stop that?" barked Commander Rocky but they didn't listen.

When there was only one biscuit left they both hurled themselves towards it. It was floating straight for the instrument panel. Indy jumped forward and tried to catch it but she didn't make it. Before anyone could stop it the biscuit hit the Autopilot button and it blinked twice and then turned off.

Commander Rocky gasped and tried hitting it over and over again. Nothing happened. All the dogs rushed to the instrument panel. They were shocked and not one of them knew what to do.

Alfie picked up the biscuit and popped it into his mouth. Then he leaned forward. "What does this button do?" he said hoping to fix the problem he'd caused.

"NO!" yelled Commander Rocky but it was too late. Alfie had hit the orange button. The booster rockets let out a roar and the spaceship turned in the opposite direction and shot off into space.

They all looked at Alfie.

Commander Rocky was furious. "What did you do that for?" he yelled. "We're going in the wrong direction now!"

Alfie looked around at the other dogs. "Whoops!" he said meekly. "Sorry, didn't mean to do that. It just looked like the right button to press." He shrugged his shoulders.

"Go to your seat and do not move!" Commander Rocky ordered. Then he turned to Indy. "Contact NASA. They'll know how to fix it."

Indy tapped the microphone and flicked the receive switch. "NASA? Admiral Wright? NASA, are you there?"

They all listened but there was no response.

She tried again. "Admiral Wright? Can you hear me?"

Nothing.

She looked over at Commander Rocky and shook her head. "There's no response, Commander," she said. "They can't hear us! We're all alone in space and we're heading in the wrong direction."

Chapter 8

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball demolished the entire tray of roast lamb, three bottles of milk and a block of cheese. Then they slipped quietly out of a side window and escaped. All before Tony and Bev realised that they had been tricked.

The cats crept into the car park.

Speed Bump Charlie whispered to Furball, "We need to get onto one of these trucks. It'll save us a lot of time but how do we know which one is going south?"

Furball wasn't sure either but he loved a challenge. "I'll find out, Mr Bump!" he declared proudly and trotted away.

Speed Bump Charlie watched him dash under the large trucks and skip quickly out of the way of the tyres. He winced a few times as Furball dodged and weaved dangerously around the wheels. 'If he's not careful he'll get run over,' Speed Bump Charlie thought. 'I'd hate anything to happen to him, well, not until he's out lived his usefulness anyway.'

Furball trotted back to Speed Bump Charlie proudly holding his tail up high. "I found one," he smiled. He pointed towards a large green truck. "There are couple of rats hanging out inside the trailer. I heard them talking about going south for the cooler weather. That truck is heading all the way down the highway and isn't stopping. There's a dog cage underneath it. It's unlocked, I checked, we just gotta jump in and we'll be on our way."

"A dog cage!? Are you out of your hairy little mind?!" Speed Bump Charlie cried. "I can't travel in a dog cage!"

"But it's a special one fitted behind the driver's cabin. It's got air con, a bed and a mini TV," Furball explained. "Mr Bump you're gonna love it, I promise. It's made for some spoilt rotten mutt." He smiled again but Speed Bump wasn't that entirely happy. "Top of the line luxury, that's what it is, promise!"

"Alright, but if they shove a dog in there I'm gonna feed you to it!" Speed Bump Charlie threatened.

Once inside the cage Speed Bump Charlie pointed to the bed. "Make yourself comfortable, rat," he said to Furball. "Watch all the TV you like. I'm going to sit over here by the door and plan our next move."

"What are you going to think about, Mr Bump?" Furball asked.

"While I was hauling the treasure back I began to devise a way to rid the world of dogs forever. Not just for a few weeks or days but for all time. That way we cats can roam the streets and the neighbourhoods without being disturbed by any stupid mutts. Can you imagine, Hairball, um ... I mean Furball, how fantastic that will be?

Then, once all the dogs are gone forever, I will become ruler of the pet world and not only cats, but guinea pigs, gerbils, rabbits and birds will have to obey my every command!"

"What about fish?"

"Yes, even fish, but I might eat them all up," Speed Bump Charlie said thoughtfully.

"You could eat the birds too," Furball suggested, "And the pet mice and rats. I suppose you could even eat the gerbils and the guinea pigs, if you wanted."

"Yes, but what would be the point of being the world ruler of all pets if I ate them all?" Speed Bump Charlie sighed and shook his head. "Who would be my minions? Who would do my bidding? Who, apart from you, would be my slave? If I ate every animal I would have no one to rule over. What would be the point? You sure have a lot to learn about taking over the world."

"But what about Astro and the others? When they come back they'll stop you and save the dogs," said Furball. He began to knead the bed to make himself comfortable.

"Don't worry, my little furry friend, I have a plan for them too!" Speed Bump Charlie began to chuckle. "It's quite brilliant really. You know, I'm extremely clever and I am one hundred and ten percent positive that Astro and the other stupid dogs won't be able to spoil it."

"Now, leave me alone. I need to make a few phone calls. The quicker we can get this plan off the ground the better!" Speed Bump Charlie pulled his phone out of his pocket and began tapping the screen.

He lifted it up to his ear and spoke, "CHD? I need you to pick up a load of buried treasure and deliver it to 123 Meow Muse, Cat Town. I'll text through the details. Do you understand? Yes. Purrfect? Oh, I see. Ha, Ha! Very funny!"

Speed Bump Charlie put his phone away. He stared off into the distance smiling. The road whipped away below them. Furball watched him for a while but he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. Curled up on a soft warm mattress the little kitten dreamt of sleeping on a velvet cushion at the foot of the throne of the most perfect evil genius the world had known, his dad, Speed Bump Charlie.

Chapter 9

The dogs all sat in silence staring at Alfie. Their spaceship was hurtling out of control and they had been cut off from all contact with planet Earth.

"What are we going to do?" gasped Astro. "We'll be lost forever. I've seen this happen on television. We'll be lost in space; trekking through the universe with no hope of knowing where we are - There'll be no way back! I'll miss my home!"

"Me too," whimpered Digger. "I'll never get to roll in freshly cut grass again!"

"Or get tummy rubs," Astro moaned.

"And I won't taste the sweet, sweet flavour of Yappy Happy Snacks again," blubbered Digger.

"It can't be that bad, surely?" Alfie offered.

"Not that bad? Not that bad?" Indy cried. "Is your spacesuit on too tight, Alfie?"

Alfie looked at Commander Rocky and Stella for help. "Surely, there is something we can do?" he pleaded.

Stella was staring out of the front windscreen. "I'm afraid it's going to get hot in here soon," she said. "Really hot."

They all looked at her and then followed her line of sight out of the windscreen.

Indy rushed forward and leaned over the controls. "What's that bright light heading towards us?"

Digger and Astro ran up too. "Oh, I don't like the look of that!" Digger exclaimed.

Rocky read the scanner. "It's the sun! We're heading towards the sun!"

"We'll be burnt to toast!" cried Alfie.

"What are we going to do?" Indy said.

"This is a terrible disaster!" wailed Digger. He bent his head over the controls and wept into his paws.

"Now, team. We've been in some pretty tight pickles in the past and we've always come through," Commander Rocky said. "This one is just a bit bigger than any of the others. That's all. I'm sure we'll think of something."

There was silence. No one could think of anything to say.

The ship was zooming through space towards the sun and there was nothing any of them could do.

Digger quickly lifted up his head and wiped his tears away. "Alfie, how many sausages did you eat?" he asked.

"15," Alfie muttered.

"Just 15 single sausages or 15 packets with 12 sausages in each packet?" Digger stood up and walked towards him.

"15 packets," Alfie sighed deeply. "I said I was sorry..." he started to explain.

Digger held up his paw to silence him. "Astro, how many sausages is that altogether?"

Astro drew in his breath and began to calculate in his mind. He tapped his fingers on the control panels. "180," he answered.

"180," Digger said. "180 fat juicy sausages, Alfie."

"So?" Alfie was becoming confused.

"What are sausages full of, Alfie?" Digger continued.

"Meat, I suppose," Alfie answered nervously.

Stella already knew what Digger was thinking and she smiled. Commander Rocky and Indy stood up and moved towards Digger. They were all forming the same idea in their heads at the same time.

"Are you suggesting what I think you're suggesting?" Commander Rocky asked Digger.

"180 meat filled, fatty sausages causes a lot of gas, Commander!" Digger smiled.

Rocky smiled. "It sure does!"

"Brilliant idea!" Indy grinned.

Astro smiled too. "Oh, I see," he nodded.

They all walked towards Alfie. He had no idea what they were thinking. "Okay guys, you're really scaring me now," he said. "What's going on?"

"Prepare the escape hatch," Commander Rocky ordered Indy, "And put Alfie in it."

"You're not going to shoot me into space?" cried Alfie.

"You'll just do as you're told," said Digger.

They all bundled Alfie up into the escape hatch. "I don't want to be shot into space," he cried. "Don't I get a last meal or even something to snack on?"

"Just hold tight and stop complaining," Indy said waving her fist at him.

Indy pushed Alfie's large body into the escape hatch and screwed the door shut behind him. Commander Rocky sat at the control desk. He grabbed the microphone and hit the button labelled 'Escape Hatch'.

"Alfie, can you hear me?" he asked.

"Yes," a voice whimpered.

"Good. Now, listen carefully," Commander Rocky said. "In about two minutes we are going to be so close to the sun its gravity will pull us in and we're going to be fried and burnt to death. If we don't act now we will all die. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Alfie whimpered again.

"Do you see the anchor point on the wall?"

"Yes."

"Well, hook yourself onto it now. Have you done that?"

There was a scuffling noise and they could hear Alfie sniffing back tears. "It's done," he said.

"Good. Soon, I am going to open the escape hatch door and you are going to do what you do best, Alfie," Commander Rocky continued.

"What's that?" blubbered Alfie.

"Fart! You are going to fart like you've never farted before. And you are going to fart towards the sun. Do you understand?"

"Yes," said Alfie, "But I don't get it."

Digger grabbed the microphone. "After 180 sausages, Alfie, you should be able to create enough gas to propel the spaceship back on course again. Do you understand?"

"Yes," Alfie answered. "Then can I come back inside?" He stopped crying.

"Of course!" Digger laughed.

"If it works," Indy muttered under her breath.

"Are you ready, Alfie? Turn your butt towards the door and prepare yourself!" Commander Rocky said, his paw hovering over the 'Open Door' button.

"Yes," Alfie said but much more bravely this time. "I will give it my best shot!"

Commander Rocky took a deep breath and looked at his team. If this didn't work this would be the last time he would see them. He had rather hoped that his last minute would have been spent curled up in front of a fire with his tummy full of treats but this would have to do.

"Ready?" he whispered to his crew.

They all nodded.

He hit the button.

They felt the ship rock as the door slid open.

Then they heard the most deafening roar of all. It was worse than a thousand lion's roaring or the growls from a hundred T-rex dinosaurs. It was a deep rolling sound that echoed around the Solar System – moons trembled in their orbits; stars shuddered and several hundred meteorites where shaken off course.

The spaceship jolted then tipped then spun around and headed away from the sun.

It had worked!

All the dogs cheered and Commander Rocky hit the 'Close Door' button.

"Digger," he commanded. "Go and let Alfie in. He's done a great job and saved our lives."

Chapter 10

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball arrived in Cat Town just as a CHD van pulled up in the driveway behind them.

"Got a large package for a Mr Speed Hump Charlie," the driver said.

"Speed Bump Charlie!" Speed Bump Charlie corrected him.

The driver shrugged his shoulders. "Where do you want it?" he barked.

"'Round the back in the shed," Speed Bump Charlie ordered.

Furball watched the driver and scratched his chin. He looked up at the van and read the sign painted on the side.

"'scuse me, Mr?" he said. "What's the 'C' stand for in CHD?"

The driver pulled up his shirt collar and pulled down his hat. He was trying to hide his face. "I dunno, kid," he answered. "I just deliver the packages, if you know what I mean."

Furball looked at him closely. "You sure are a funny looking human. You're all hairy," he said.

The driver pushed past him. "Mind your own business," he growled under his breath.

Furball tried to tell Speed Bump Charlie what he had seen but Speed Bump Charlie was too busy telling the driver where to unload the treasure. He signed the form and the driver jumped back in the van and sped away.

"I still think he looks suspicious," Furball said but Speed Bump Charlie still wasn't taking any notice.

The shed was full of machines and tools. There was a wall of electronic screens and monitors. Computers hummed and lights flashed.

"Wow, this is fantastic!" Furball said forgetting the suspicious delivery man immediately.

In the middle of it sat the chariot full of treasure. He had never seen such a beautiful thing before. In it gold and jewels sparkled. He walked around the chariot and ran his paws over the shapes carved into its sides. There were mermaids, sea monsters, sharks and octopuses. He hopped up onto the side and touched the gold coins with his paws. "What are we going to do with all this gold?!" he gasped.

"Never mind that," Speed Bump Charlie said. "I'm going to need your help." He was busy scribbling on a notepad. He tore off a sheet and handed it to the kitten.

"Welding machines are hot and dangerous. One wrong move and you could burn your paw off. Know how to use one?" Speed Bump Charlie asked.

Furball shrugged his shoulders. "Not really but I'll give it a go."

"Good!" said Speed Bump Charlie. "You get to cutting up this old steel. I'm going to melt all the gold coins."

"What? What are you going to do that for?"

"To set a trap for those stupid dogs!" Speed Bump Charlie laughed. "Now, get to work!"

Meanwhile, at the secret headquarters of the dogs a loud beep came from a computer in the Communications Room. Dotty, a young Dalmatian, ran over and answered it.

"Yes, Buster? What did you find out?" she asked.

"I just dropped the treasure off at Speed Bump Charlie's house," he explained. "He's got it hidden in a big shed. I don't like the look of it. The shed is full of machines and some pretty high-tech equipment. He's definitely up to no good."

"Did he notice you were a dog and not a human?" Dotty asked him.

"I don't think Speed Bump Charlie did but he's got a kitten with him. He's a cheeky little scamp and he looks exactly like the old cat. He started asking me all sorts of funny things," Buster answered.

"Like what?" Dotty asked.

"He wanted to know what the 'C' stood for in CHD and why I was so hairy."

Dotty thought about it for a few seconds. "Let's hope they haven't picked up that the 'C' stands for Canine and the 'HD' stands for Home Delivery," she said. "I'll get a report together for Commander Rocky when he returns."

"When will that be? Have you heard from him?" Buster asked. "We've been watching Speed Bump Charlie for some time now. We know he's up to something but what?"

"I don't know but if we keep an eye on him we are bound to find out. When we get all our information together Commander Rocky will know what to do," Dotty said. "Whatever that horrid cat is up to you can bet your buttons Commander Rocky, Astro, and the others will save the day."

Chapter 11

Alfie was welcomed back a hero. No one mentioned the incident again but, just as a precaution, he wasn't allowed near the kitchen. Well, not on his own anyway.

The ship was flying smoothly through the air. Commander Rocky checked the control panel and Indy stared ahead admiring the view. Stella was using braille to read the on-board ship's computer.

"Wow! Look at that tiny planet," Digger said, "It looks funny."

"That's the planet Mercury," Stella said, "Closest planet to the sun."

"Who lives there?" Astro asked.

"No one, I would think," Indy said. "It looks empty. I can't see any trees or hills."

"No trees?" cried Alfie. "There wouldn't be any birds to chase. Or cats, where would the cats run to hide? And where do the dogs pee?!"

They all laughed.

"I don't think there are any birds, cats or dogs on Mercury, Alfie," Stella said. "Scientists say that nothing can live there. It just has large bumps on the surface that are like cliffs. I suppose you could run up and down them."

Alfie thought about it for a few seconds.

"Nah, I'd get bored by that. What's that over there?"

"Wow, we are really traveling fast," Indy said looking down at the control panel. "According to this map that's Venus, the second planet from the sun."

"Any trees?" Alfie asked.

"Or bushes?" Astro added.

"Cats or birds to chase?" queried Digger.

"Well, there are some things down there but mainly volcanoes. I'm afraid you'd probably get burnt if you tried to run along the surface or even fly through the air," Stella told them.

"It would be no good if you wanted to chase tennis balls then?" Digger asked.

"No, they'd melt," Stella laughed, "Even before they hit the ground!"

Astro looked at Alfie and Digger. "I've got a scientific question for you," he said. "What would melt first a tennis ball or a Frisbee?"

Alfie and Digger thought about it for a second.

"Tennis ball!" answered Digger. "The fur would catch fire."

"Nah, it'd be a Frisbee," yelled Alfie. "They are made of plastic and that melts really quickly."

Astro thought about it too but he didn't have an answer. They were both good points. "I think we'll have to look that one up when we get home," he said.

The spaceship tore through space.

"What's next?" Astro asked. He was feeling much more comfortable now.

"Next is planet Earth," Commander Rocky announced.

"Are we going home?" Alfie asked. "Where tennis balls and Frisbees don't melt in the air. Where you can run up and down as many hills as you like without exploding into flames. And where there are trees, lovely big trees to pee on!"

"No, sorry Alfie, but we are going to see if we can get through to NASA," he said.

Planet Earth whisked by quickly. All the dogs looked at the oceans of blue and the great land mass of green and brown and they thought it was the prettiest thing they had ever seen.

The microphone beeped.

"Can you read me, Commander Rocky? It's NASA here."

"We read you loud and clear!" Rocky replied. "I don't think I've ever been so pleased to hear a human's voice. Ever!"

"What happened? Where did you go?" NASA asked.

They all turned and looked at Alfie. He looked down.

"Just a misunderstanding," Rocky explained. "It's all been fixed now. The most important thing is we're back on track and heading in the right direction."

"You should be heading towards Mars soon," NASA informed them.

"The red planet?" asked Stella.

"Yes, that's right," NASA answered.

"Oh, there it is!" said Indy. "It really is red!"

"It's all the volcanoes," explained Stella.

"No tennis balls down there either," Digger thought out load, "How boring!"

There was a bright blue box sitting in the middle of the control panel. It was about as big as a shoe box and it had a green triangle sticking out of the back. It began to hum. A green light flashed on top of it. Commander Rocky leaned down and picked it up.

"Is that the Moon Detector making that noise?" NASA asked.

"Yes, it's flashing green. No, wait, now it's blue," Rocky said.

All the dogs gathered around the box.

"Point the triangle towards Mars," NASA instructed.

The Moon Detector became louder and a light glowed from the point of the triangle. A screen appeared on the top. It read, "Mars: Moons = Phobos) and Deimos): Insufficient size."

Then it blinked and turned off.

"What happened?" asked Digger.

NASA answered, "Mars has two moons, Phobos) and Deimos), but they are too small. If the moon isn't the right size it won't pull the tides like the old one did. It has to be the same size or as close as you can get. You'll have to keep going until you get to the Outer Solar System. Good luck, Canines." The microphone beeped and went quiet.

All the dogs sat and stared into the depths of space. There were stars millions of miles away and every now and then a meteorite sailed past the ship.

"Will it be long before we get to the next planet?" asked Alfie.

"Yes, a bit further than the others," Commander Rocky answered. "It's a big place is space!"

They all nodded.

Commander Rocky decided they should all rest. They could take it in turns to sleep and keep watch. He would take first watch and then Indy. While he sat at the control panel his crew curled up on their seats and fell asleep.

Several white lights blinked on the screen and the control panel spoke, "The ship is entering the Asteroid Belt: force field activated." Rocky could hear a whirling sound but nothing changed. He looked out of the windscreen. "Must be see-through," he muttered.

Chapter 12

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball worked well into the night. While most other cats were curled up asleep in front of the fire, these two tapped, banged and rapped for hours. A yellow glow seeped under the door and through the rips in the blinds. Every now and then, an orange flash was followed by a yell or a curse word. By morning they had finished and they were both very pleased with what they had done.

Speed Bump Charlie rubbed his eyes with the back of his paws. His face was dirty and he wore band-aides where he'd burnt or cut himself. Furball had black singed spots where the welding iron had gotten too close and burnt his fur. He also wore his fair share of band-aides.

"Open the door, Furball," Speed Bump Charlie commanded. "It's time to unleash our creations!"

Speed Bump Charlie began a hideous, long howl that built up and up into a deep, deep laugh. "This is the most fantastic thing I've ever done!" he roared with laughter until his belly jiggled.

"We!" Furball corrected him, "We've ever done!"

Speed Bump Charlie ignored him. "With these ingenious devices I will lure every one of those stupid dogs out of their home and into my trap. They won't be able to resist the temptation and before you know it, every dog in the world will vanish; disappear forever; gone; vamoose! Do you know what that means?"

Furball nodded then he stopped and thought about it. "Well, no, why are we getting rid of all the dogs?" he asked.

"So that we cats can go wherever we please, that's why!" Speed Bump Charlie cried. "And world domination. Imagine being able to jump a fence, any fence and not have to worry if there's a silly dog on the other side ready to bite you. Imagine being able to stroll through the park and not have to worry about being chased up a tree or worry if you're going to get hit on the head by one of those stupid Frisbees! Imagine the total freedom all cats will have."

Furball smiled. "And then what?" he asked.

"Then what?" Speed Bump Charlie rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Young kittens today! I don't know! Imagine if all the dogs went missing and all the cats could do whatever they wanted. They would need a leader wouldn't they? Someone bold and intelligent. Someone who wasn't afraid of making the hard decisions and working long into the night to achieve them."

Furball scratched his chin. "You might have something there, Mr Bump," he thought out loud. "You're bold and intelligent. You make hard decisions and, by jingo, you can work hard. You could be that leader all cats want and need."

Furball smiled. "And that leader would need someone to take care of things for him. Like a general, wouldn't he?"

Speed Bump Charlie looked down at the tiny cat. "Let me think about it," he said. He much preferred to work alone. After all, whenever he tried to match up with another cat it never ended well. He had to admit, though, this tiny look-alike had come in pretty handy so far.

He smiled at Furball. "Are you ready?" he asked.

Furball nodded quickly. "I sure am, Dad!"

Speed Bump Charlie stopped quickly. "Don't call me that!" he shouted. "I'm not your father!" and he walked out of the shed and into the sunlight.

"You bring the iron box and I'll drag the Trap," Speed Bump Charlie snapped.

The iron box was about as big as a car. It had three pipes on the top and was painted to look like an ice-cream van. However, the paint had run and Speed Bump Charlie had left paw prints in the wet paint. It was very heavy and the small kitten struggled to push it out of the shed.

The Trap was just as heavy but it was bigger. Much bigger, in fact. It was as big as four buses long and three buses high. Speed Bump Charlie huffed and puffed but he managed to pull it outside too. It was covered with a dirty grey cloth.

"We need to keep the Trap covered just in case a nosey human gets suspicious and tries to stop us," Speed Bump Charlie told Furball.

"Now, let me check the controls," Speed Bump Charlie muttered. He picked up a small red box and began to twiddle the joy stick that sat on top of it. The box began to vibrate and then it beeped. A screen on the top said 'READY'.

"We'll release the contents of the iron box first then we'll set the Trap in just the right place," Speed Bump Charlie ordered.

Furball jumped up and down in excitement. "This is going to be fantastic!" he cried rubbing his front paws together.

Speed Bump Charlie grinned and moved the joy stick forward slightly. Quickly three tennis balls shot out of the iron box; one from each hole. They hovered in the air by themselves. Then Speed Bump Charlie tapped the joy stick and they began to whistle. They didn't whistle a tune like your granddad might do when he sees Christmas Dinner or whistle like the grocer does when a stack of oranges falls over. The tennis balls whistled like people do when they call their dogs! Pheww Wtt! And no dog on Earth can resist that call!

A dog in a nearby yard began to bark.

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball smiled at each other and nodded. "This is going to be a piece of cake!"

Speed Bump Charlie flicked the joy stick again and the three tennis balls flew off in different directions. Each one was programed to find a dog and then to whistle. This would get the dog's attention. Then it would bounce itself up and down outside the dog's house until the dog, enraptured with the desire to chase, would jump the fence and run after it. Each tennis ball was programmed to do the same thing. And there were hundreds and hundreds of tennis balls in the iron box to lure hundreds and hundreds of dogs to their doom!

Chapter 13

The dogs were all asleep. It was Alfie's turn to keep watch. Some of the asteroids had banged into the spaceship but no damage had been done. Alfie spent his time running from one side of the cabin to the other pretending to dodge and weave out of the way of the floating rocks. When one the size of a bus came hurtling towards the windscreen he thought he was a goner but luckily it bounced off the force field and shot off in another direction.

"Phew! That was close," he said.

"What was close?" whispered Astro still curled up on his seat.

"Ah, nuffin' really, Astro. Just a rock as big as the moon!" laughed Alfie.

They both looked at each other and then Alfie ran to the side of the ship to see if he could see it again.

"I hope it wasn't," said Commander Rocky yawning. "Or we could have gone home." He stretched and stood up.

Indy got up and checked the Moon Detector. "Nothing here," she reported.

"Then onward we go!" Stella smiled rubbing her eyes. "I think it might be time for breakfast!" she added yawning and stretching.

Alfie's eyes widened and his stomach rumbled. He moved towards the kitchen.

"I'll get it!" Digger said. "Alfie, you stand back here and wait."

Alfie sucked his bottom lip in and sat down.

"What planet is next?" Astro asked.

"Jupiter," Stella answered. "It's a very big planet. It's not as hot as the others we've seen but it's covered in gases."

"I'm good with gas!" Alfie laughed. "Can we land on it?"

"If it smells like your gas, I'm not going anywhere near it!" Digger shouted from the back.

"Me neither!" Astro added.

It didn't take Digger long to cook breakfast. Soon, the smell of bacon and eggs took everyone's attention away from the thought of Alfie's gas. They soon gobbled it up quickly.

The spaceship drifted closer to Jupiter. It rocked as it travelled through the layers of gas and clouds.

"Look at that red spot!" cried Astro. "What is it?"

"Some say it's a storm, would you believe?" Stella answered. "It's bigger than our Earth."

"It doesn't look like it," Astro said.

"What's that?" said Digger pointing out of the window.

"That's one of the moons of Jupiter," Stella explained.

Indy looked down at the control panel. "It's Ganymede," she said.

"It's a really big moon!" cried Alfie.

"Yes, it's the same size as the planet Mercury but it's too big for what we want."

"There are lots of moons!" Digger said. "Look at them all!"

"67 altogether," Stella explained.

"And that one is Io," said Indy pointing out of the window. "And in a few minutes we will have flown around Jupiter and we should see Callisto and then Europa, the other two big moons."

"This really is beautiful," murmured Digger staring out into space.

"Still, nowhere to chase tennis balls," Alfie reminded him.

Astro nodded.

"Look out there! We are seeing things that no other dogs have ever seen. It's magical! It's stupendous! It's brilliant! And there's more to life than chasing tennis balls, Alfie!" Digger protested.

"No, there's not!" Alfie laughed and Astro agreed with him. "In fact, Diggies, chasing tennis balls is the single most important thing a dog can do!"

Just as Indy described, the spaceship took them around the moons of Jupiter. They saw Io and lots of smaller moons. They were all hovering peacefully in space. Some were smooth and others were cracked and chipped. Alfie thought that one looked like a rubber ball he had had once. He'd bitten it so much there were holes and cracks all over it.

They were all transfixed by the things they saw out of the window. No one noticed the blue box had lit up. Its light went from green to blue then it went to red.

It started to flash, "Jupiter: Moon = Europa."

Then it flashed: "Perfect Match!"

"What!?" Indy jumped up and grabbed the box. "Look, Commander Rocky, the Moon Detector is saying Europa is a perfect match for our Moon. We've done it! Our mission is over!"

"U- what?" Alfie asked.

"Europa, Alfie!" Digger cried.

"U-rope-er?" Alfie tried to pronounce the world again.

"Yes! U-rope-er!" Astro laughed.

They all gave out a cheer. "Yippee!"

Commander Rocky ran to the control panel. "Soon, we'll be home!" he smiled.

"But before that we've got to do the most dangerous thing of all. We've got to lasso it and take it home!"

They all stopped cheering. No one moved. No one at all.

They stood staring at their Commander.

Digger was the first to speak. "Lasso a moon? With what?"

"Weren't you listening at the briefing?" Commander Rocky asked. "We have to go out into space with the long moon ropes. One goes around one side of the moon and the other goes around the other side. Then the moon ropes are hooked together at the back. That way we'll be able to tow Europa back to Earth. Once we get there the Earth's gravity will suck it in and hold it in place." He smiled at his team.

No one was smiling back.

"We?" Alfie asked.

"Well, I'm not going out there!" Digger said first.

"Me neither," said Astro.

Indy, who was normally very brave, shook her head. "I'd rather not go either," she told her Commander.

"Alfie?" Rocky asked. "Will you go?"

Alfie looked out of the large moon and back at his Commander. "No way!" he cried.

Commander Rocky let out a long sigh. "Well, Stella can't go on account of she's blind and I'm the Commander and the commander never goes so it's got to be two of you! I was hoping for volunteers."

Stella knew something had to be done, "Look, we'll settle this fairly and sensibly."

She turned her head towards Alfie and then Astro. "You two are nearly the same size. You are both very strong and you are both very good swimmers," she added.

"What's swimming got to do with it?" Astro asked.

"Moving through space is a bit like swimming," Stella smiled. "And you both love the water," she reminded them.

Alfie knew that the others had forgiven him for knocking the spaceship off course but he felt deep down inside that he should still make amends.

"Oh, alright! I'll go but only if Astro does too!" he declared.

Astro lifted up his top lip and growled, "Thanks for nothing, buddy!"

"Oh, cheer up! What could go wrong?" Alfie said slapping Astro on the back.

"What could go right, don't you mean?" Astro whimpered.

"You'll be fine," Commander Rocky reassured them. "Now, pop on your helmets and make sure your suits are fitted tightly. Indy and Digger, you'll have to stand in the escape hatch and make sure the moon ropes don't get tangled."

Indy and Digger didn't like the sound of that much either but it was better than floating about in space.

Within a few minutes the four dogs were ready. Commander Rocky and Stella stayed next to the control panel just in case there was an emergency.

Chapter 14

Speed Bump Charlie's plan was going splendidly. There were thousands of tennis balls zooming all over town whistling to dogs. The dogs couldn't help themselves. As soon as they heard the whistle they would stop and begin to bark. Then they saw the tantalizing sight of a bouncing tennis ball. It was all too much. Before long thousands of dogs were chasing thousands of tennis balls through the streets and down the roads.

"What's next?" Furball asked Speed Bump Charlie.

"Now, we install the Trap," Speed Bump Charlie smiled broadly patting the huge thing hidden under the dirty grey cover.

"Where?" Furball asked.

"We are going to set the Trap on the edge of a cliff," Speed Bump Charlie explained.

"Why?" Furball scratched his head.

"You'll see," Speed Bump Charlie smiled. "This is possibly one of the best ideas I've ever had."

There was a rope attached to the front of the Trap. He bent down and handed it to the kitten. "Here, you pull it along. My back is sore. It sure is hard work being this clever," Speed Bump Charlie sighed and he walked down the street.

"This way," he commanded.

Furball dragged the huge device behind him for what seemed miles. Every now and then he had to stop because a dog ran out in front of him. In fact, everywhere he looked dogs were frantically chasing tennis balls. They were going crazy. The balls were so fast no dog could catch them.

All but one. Lenny Longlegs Longmire the fastest greyhound in town had heard the whistle. And, like every other dog, he couldn't help himself. He cleared the backyard fence in one leap and set off after a tennis ball. The balls were programed to outrun the dogs but Lenny was special. He had been a grand champion racer who had won many cups and trophies in his time. Even though he was getting old, he still loved to chase things and he was still very fast.

Lenny shot after the tennis ball. It took him through the park and around the shopping centre. It dodged its way around parked cars and swooped under buses. Lenny was having a great time. His keen eyes never lost sight of the ball and he never slowed down.

It didn't take long before Speed Bump Charlie and Furball reached the sea. The salty air whipped around their faces and bent back their whiskers.

"What are we doing here?" Furball asked.

Speed Bump Charlie ripped the cloth that was covering the Trap and Furball stepped back in amazement. While he had been busy soldering and welding tennis balls, Speed Bump Charlie had created the best dog-trap the world had ever seen.

Before him, stood a 100 foot long and 45 foot high solid gold bone. It shone in the sun and Furball had to shield his eyes.

"Here, wear these," Speed Bump Charlie said handing the kitten a pair of sunglasses. Then he put on his own.

"I have created this trap to look like a dog's bone. After bouncing tennis balls, what dog can resist a bone? And just to make sure I made this one out of solid gold. How clever am I?" he said and walked around the back of the Trap.

"You see, there's a doggy door at the back of the bone," Speed Bump Charlie showed Furball. "When I hit this red button on the controls all the tennis balls will come here and bounce into the bone. None of those stupid dogs will be able to resist and each one will jump into the Trap."

"Won't they just be able to get out again?" Furball asked. "I was at a farm once and the dog went in and out through the same door. All it had to do was push its head through the flap."

"Not this door! This doggy door is set to open only one way. Once the dumb mutts go in, they will never come out!" Speed Bump Charlie smiled.

"What then?"

"Then, my little furry rat, when the Trap is full and every dog in the world is inside the giant bone you are going to push it over the cliff!"

Furball ran to the edge of the cliff and looked over. He whistled. "Sure is a long way down!" he said. "They're not going to like it!"

"I don't care what they like!" roared Speed Bump Charlie. "I have cleverly devised the most ingenious and evil plan to rid the world of dogs, stupid, slobbering, stinky dogs. Imagine how wonderful the world will be soon, little hairball, when there are no dogs, mutts, curs or canines to foil my splendid plans!"

"Now! Get behind those rocks and wait. I'm going to see if all the tennis balls have left. We don't want to leave any doggies out, do we? That wouldn't be fair. When I get back we will bring the stupid mutts here. Then you will run behind the Trap and push! After that, good-bye doggies forever!" Speed Bump Charlie laughed.

Furball ran behind some rocks and thought to himself, "Surely, I am the luckiest kitten in the world to have a dad that is so evil."

Chapter 15

The tennis ball Lenny was chasing became worried. It had tried everything it had been programmed to do to lead the dog astray but it wasn't programed for such a fast, determined dog. It zoomed into a park and hid behind a tree. Lenny darted after it and at first he ran past the tree. After a couple of steps he realized the ball was behind him and he spun around and barked at it. The ball shot away again and this time headed straight for the lake.

Lenny knew that even though he was the fastest dog on land he was a very slow swimmer. He stood on the edge of the water and watched the tennis ball. It bobbed up and down about a foot above the surface of the water. Lenny wasn't silly. Quickly, he thought of a plan.

He jumped into a small paddle boat and rowed out after the tennis ball. It didn't move. He got closer but when he was only a two feet away the tennis ball floated up into the air. Lenny rowed the boat under the ball and looked up at it. He stood up and swiped at it with his paws. The tennis ball bobbed up out of the way. Lenny tried again and again but each time the tennis ball kept just out of his reach.

Then Lenny did something very unexpected. Not only was he known as the fastest dog on Earth, he was also known as being one of the best jumpers – Lenny "the Leaper" Longlegs Longmire was his full name. So, with one jump, Lenny darted up into the air and grabbed the tennis ball in his mouth. He landed smoothly back in the boat. He shook the ball and growled. He had done it! He had been the only dog in the world to catch one of the bouncing tennis balls.

Unbeknown to Lenny, an old Labrador had been watching him. He sat on the shore and waited for him to return. He waited for Lenny to climb out of the boat then he walked up to him.

"I've been watching you," the old Labrador said. "You're the only dog who has managed to catch one of those balls."

"So?" Lenny said. "It wasn't that hard." Secretly though he was very pleased with himself. He couldn't wait to tell his friends what he'd done.

The old dog continued. "There's something fishy going on here. Why, all of a sudden, are there tennis balls shooting about all over the place? Why are all the dogs chasing them? It seems suspicious to me, don't you think?"

Lenny thought about it for a second. "I dunno. Maybe they fell off a truck."

"At first, I thought they'd fallen off a truck," the Labrador continued. "You know, like a shipment that got broken but have you noticed the balls never touch the ground?"

Lenny looked puzzled. The old dog wasn't really listening to him. He just seemed to be talking to himself. Lenny thought about the tennis balls. "Maybe someone created them especially for dogs to chase," he suggested.

"Or, maybe someone created them especially for dogs to chase!" the old dog said.

Lenny was slightly confused with the old dog's behavior. "Do you think it's a trap?" Lenny asked.

"I think it might be a trap!" the Labrador shouted.

Lenny began to back away from this strange dog. "I should report this to The Organization," he said.

"I tell you what, young pup, why don't you report it to The Organization. They'll know what to do. I'm as deaf as a post; can't hear a thing. If I call in, I won't be able to hear what they say!"

"Well, that explains a lot," Lenny muttered under his breath. Without dropping the ball, Lenny scratched at his collar seven times to activate the microchip in his neck. He soon heard a beep and a voice said, "Welcome to The Organization. Your call is important to us. Please hold the line until one of our operators is free..."

Lenny told them everything that he had seen and how he had managed to catch one of the balls.

At headquarters, Dotty and Buster were very pleased. "Lenny 'the Leaper' Longlegs Longmire could you bring the ball into our secret headquarters so it can be inspected by our tech team?" they asked.

"Sure, why not," Lenny said and he trotted off. He turned to see if the old Labrador was following him but the old dog had found a family feeding bread crumbs to the pigeons and he had decided to help himself to some.

Chapter 16

Astro and Alfie stood in the escape hatch together. Each one held a clasp tied to one end of the moon rope in their paws. Astro looked at his half of the hook. He took it and linked it into the same hook that was tied to the end of Alfie's rope. It clicked together and held tight.

"Just testing," he said.

They both looked into each other's eyes. "You'll be fine!" Alfie shouted through this helmet. Astro put his thumb up to say he understood him.

They held paws and stepped off the edge of the spaceship together. They both hung in space. They both felt incredibly light and free. Alfie's tail began to wag.

"This might not be so bad after all," Alfie laughed. "C'mon, Astro!" he cried and he 'swam' off into space.

He didn't get far when he felt a tug on his leg. "You're going the wrong way!" Astro said shaking his head and pointing towards Europa.

Indy and Digger looked at each other from across the escape hatch. Indy rolled her eyes and Digger tutted. They were anchored in and couldn't float away. Each one was standing next to a huge roll of moon rope that was wound around a massive steel wheel much like a garden hose but bigger. They slowly unwound the rope. As you can imagine, the rope needed to tow a moon had to be very strong and very very long.

Alfie and Astro stayed close to one another until they got near to the surface of Europa. Then Astro signalled to Alfie to go around to the right while he went left. As Astro swam through space he looked down at the moon. It wasn't at all pretty like Earth was. And it wasn't full of craters and holes like the old Moon was. Europa was very smooth looking. It was a milky white colour and had red lines scratched into the surface. They could see craters and some mountains. There were no seas or oceans and he couldn't make out if there was land like Earth had either.

"Such a boring looking moon," he thought to himself. "I bet no one will miss it."

Commander Rocky and Stella were sitting at the controls. Rocky had been reading about Europa. "It says here that Europa is slightly smaller than our Moon and that it is made of rock. Its surface is composed of water ice and is one of the smoothest in the Solar System. It says that an ocean may exist under its surface and that extraterrestrial life could live there!"

"Aliens?" asked Stella. "I hope not."

"Yeah, aliens wouldn't be happy if their home was taken away," Commander Rocky joked.

Astro was beginning to think that he was lost. He had swam around one side of Europa but there was no sign of Alfie. He moved a little bit further out to see farther but nothing. He tapped the microphone switch on his helmet. "I think I might be lost. I can't see Alfie at all," he reported to Commander Rocky.

Rocky checked the controls. "He's not far from you," he said. "You should see him soon."

Astro didn't have to wait too much longer. He saw Alfie off in the distance. He was doing somersaults and ducking and weaving like a dolphin. Then Alfie began to dance. He slid through space doing the 'moon-walk'. When he saw Astro he stopped and waved.

"Hi Astro!" he called. "Isn't walking through space fun?"

"Have you danced your way around Europa?" Astro asked his arms folded across his chest. "This is not a game, Alfie. It's a very important mission and it's very dangerous!"

"Oh, relax, Astro. I have never walked in space before. I just wanted to enjoy myself. And, besides, I'm here now and our part is nearly over," Alfie added.

Astro was still angry. He grabbed Alfie's hook and snapped the clasps together.

"There, that should hold," he said. "Commander Rocky, we have attached the moon ropes," he reported.

Commander Rocky answered him, "Good. Now, I want you and Alfie to hook your safety belts to the rope and make your way back to ship. I will begin tightening the rope so the moon doesn't slip away."

Astro and Alfie did as they were told and were soon safely attached to the moon rope. They started to make their way back to the ship. Astro went first then Alfie. Before too long they had come around Europa and were heading back to the ship when Alfie let out a cry.

"Ouch! Something just bit me on my arm!" he cried.

"Don't be silly, Alfie. There's nothing out here except us," Astro shook his head. Alfie could be so silly sometimes.

Alfie stopped and looked down at the moon rope. "Ummm, Astro, are you sure we're alone?"

Astro eyes were firmly fixed on the spaceship and the safety it offered. He just wanted to get back to it and then head home.

"Ouch! There it is again. This time it's my foot!" Alfie cried.

Astro looked back and his eyes became wide in amazement.

"What are you looking at me like that for?" Alfie asked suspiciously.

Astro's mouth dropped open. He wanted to warn Alfie but no words came out of his mouth.

Running along the moon rope were things... funny shaped things. They were all different colours, red, blue, green and purple. They were holding up bows and arrows and they were yelling some strange words at Alfie.

"A... A... aliens!" Astro cried.

"What? I thought you said we were alone?" Alfie cried. "Ouch!" he cried again.

This time he looked down and saw a tiny arrow sticking out of his leg. "Where did that come from?" he cried.

"From them!" Astro screamed. "Alfie, we're under attack!"

Alfie looked back and laughed. "Aww, look at them. They're so tiny and kind of cute and... Ouch! Blighters, got me again!" he said rubbing his hand this time.

Alfie was right, they were tiny but the original inhabitants of Europa were not at all pleased with the fact their home was being taken away. Their leader wore a pointed hat and he had a very loud voice. He was bright orange and was taller than the rest of his tribe. They all had one eye and a wide open mouth. They had thin sticks for arms and legs and large balls for feet.

The leader yelled something at his army and they all stopped. Then one by one they sniffed the air and each one began to gasp for air and choke.

Astro looked at Alfie. "Alfie, did you fart again?"

Alfie bit his bottom lip. "I couldn't help it. I got excited. It sort of slipped out."

Astro looked at the aliens. "Well, it seems to have stopped them for now," he said. "Quick, let's get back to the ship."

Chapter 17

Both dogs unhitched themselves from the moon rope and swam like crazy back to the ship. Indy and Digger had seen what had happened and they leaned forward and grabbed the large dogs as they got to the hatch. With a lot of effort they managed to haul Alfie and Astro back into the spaceship. Then they quickly locked the door and ran back to the control centre.

"What are we going to do?" Astro cried. "There are aliens out there and they are not happy!"

"Now, relax, Astro. I'm sure there is something we can do," Commander Rocky said but really he wasn't sure at all.

"Is there something in the handbook? The NASA handbook?" Digger suggested. He crawled under the control console to look.

"Handbook? Let me go out there and bop them on the head with my hunting bone," Indy said.

"They're only small critters," Alfie said. "You can't bop them on the head. It wouldn't be fair."

"Alfie's right. We need to talk to them and work something out," Astro suggested.

Just then they heard a knocking sound coming from the front window. Slowly, the dogs turned around. They all stared and Digger let out a small cry of surprise.

Outside the windscreen were hundreds and hundreds of aliens. Some were all waving their fists while others were shaking their bows and arrows. Their leader was standing with his arms crossed and he appeared to be tapping his foot. He didn't look happy.

"What now?" Astro whispered to Commander Rocky.

"We should try and talk to them," Stella suggested. She was trying to communicate with them using her mind but she wasn't getting through.

Alfie waved his paw at them but this only seemed to make them angrier.

"They're not very big. Why don't we just fly off and leave them behind," Indy suggested.

They all looked at Commander Rocky. Indy was right. He nodded and started the engine. The ship began to vibrate and move slowly forward. The ropes tightened around Europa and it moved slowly along with them.

This made the aliens furious. They jumped up and down and began to bang their fists onto the glass. Some of them were banging the ends of their bows. The noise got louder and louder. Commander Rocky made the ship go a little bit faster. He turned around and looked back at his crew. He noticed Stella was missing.

"Where's Stella?" he asked.

Everyone turned around but she was nowhere to be seen.

"She was here a minute ago," Astro said.

Commander Rocky ordered, "Indy, Digger, get your suits on and look for her."

"Yes, Sir!" they said and clambered around to find their helmets.

"Don't bother," a voice said. "I'm outside with the aliens. I'm perfectly safe."

"That's Stella's voice," Astro said. "How did she get out there?"

"I'm learning to communicate with the aliens," Stella's voice said. "It's not easy but I'm getting the hang of it. I shouldn't be too much longer."

Commander Rocky turned the ship's engines off.

"Tell them we're sorry but we need to replace our Moon with theirs," Alfie yelled.

"And tell them we come in peace!" Digger offered.

There was silence. It seemed to be taking a long time. Indy, who was the least patient of all the dogs, moved towards Commander Rocky. "I believe the ship has rockets," she nodded towards the control panel. "We might be able to blast them away."

"You'll do no such thing!" Stella said. She had appeared safely back in the cabin but she wasn't alone.

All the dogs were pleased to see her but they could only stare in disbelief at what she was holding in her paws. It was the leader of the aliens.

"This is Mah-Rucky-Sac, the leader of the Tribe of Rucky Peoples of Saccie. That's what they call Europa," Stella said holding the leader up for the others to see. "I have managed to learn their language and I can interpret for you."

No one spoke.

Stella waited.

Not a word at all. None of the dogs had seen an alien before and weren't sure what to say. Alfie rubbed the spots where he had been shot with arrows. They were still sore.

"Well, I have explained what we are doing and Mah-Rucky-Sac is hoping for a compromise," Stella continued.

Mah-Rucky-Sac yelled and squealed and jumped up and down on Stella's paw.

"Oh, and he would like to know if the rest of his people could come inside the spaceship. It's very cold outside," Stella continued.

"Of course," Commander Rocky said slowly. He wasn't sure they were allowed to carry aliens but at this moment in time he wasn't sure of anything.

"Excellent! Shall I go and get them or do you want to open the hatch?" Stella said.

"No, we can open the hatch," Commander Rocky was still not sure. He spoke very carefully. "Indy and Digger, go down to the escape hatch and let them in."

"No worries," Digger said trotting out of the room.

Indy was very suspicious. She rubbed her hunting bone and began to formulate a plan just in case the aliens tried to take over the ship.

Stella popped Mah-Rucky-Sac on the control panel and he saluted Commander Rocky. Commander Rocky slowly saluted back. Then he smiled. Mah-Rucky-Sac yelled and jumped up and down waving his bow at Rocky. Then he pulled off his left leg and hit himself on the head with it.

"He's just thanking you," Stella explained.

Rocky jumped back in his chair. "Crikey. I'd hate to see what he does when he's upset."

Alfie looked down at his own legs and rolled his feet in circles. Then he began to tug at his leg. "Nope. Just as I thought. Stuck on tight," he mumbled to himself.

"Don't worry, Commander," Astro said. "I happen to know that just one small fart from Alfie will leave them choking and gagging for breath."

All the dogs looked at him.

"I'll check to see if there are any more sausages," said Astro running to the kitchen. "There might be more hidden at the back of the cupboard," he shouted over his shoulder.

Chapter 18

At the secret headquarters of The Organisation, Lenny Longlegs Longmire dropped the tennis ball into a specially made box. It was made of impenetrable steel and it had a special chute for the tennis ball.

As soon as Lenny dropped the ball in the chute the team of techies jumped on the box to make sure the ball didn't get away. It banged on the top and then the sides but it wasn't going anywhere.

"You did the right thing," Dotty told Lenny. "I'm sure our techies will be able to figure out what's going on."

"Do you think someone is using them as a trap?" Lenny asked.

"Yes, and we know who," Dotty explained, "But at the moment we don't know why."

"Who?" Lenny asked.

"An old, evil alley cat named Speed Bump Charlie," Dotty whispered. "He's been our arch enemy for a very long time."

"Oh, him," Lenny said. "I live near his workshop. I saw him and a kitten this morning with some funny looking equipment."

"Yes, that's right," Dotty said. "Buster said they were up to no good. What else did you see?"

"Well, there were two big machines. One had three holes in the top and was shooting out whistling tennis balls. They were awesome, you should have seen them. And the other was draped in a large cloth. I don't know exactly what it was but the old cat made the little cat drag it towards the cliffs," Lenny explained.

Just as he'd finished the tech dogs came back. "We managed to open up the tennis ball. It appears to have two set of signals programmed in it. The first one is designed to find and lure a dog but we're not sure about the second one," one of the dogs explained.

"Sure sounds strange to me," Lenny muttered. "Any-hoe I'm off for a quick walk in the park and then it's time for my dinner."

"Well, thank you ve..." Dotty said but Lenny was gone so quickly she didn't get time to finish.

Meanwhile deep in space several hundred aliens stomped into the cabin of a spaceship. They lined the chairs, the shelves and the floor. In fact, they all stood to attention, arms by their sides, on every surface and ledge. It didn't give much room for the dogs to sit down.

Alfie smiled at them but none of them returned the gesture.

"Well, thank you all for coming," Commander Rocky started. "While we are very sorry about your home..."

There was a terrible cry of anguish from each and every alien. Digger nearly fainted and Astro and Alfie moved slowly behind Indy for protection.

Commander Rocky cleared his throat and continued. "Yes, the situation is most unfortunate but we are determined to fix the problem for you."

Stella let out a garbled cry and then mumbled something under her breath. The Mah-Rucky-Sac nodded to show he understood.

Astro and Alfie stared at each other, eyebrows raised.

"To your knowledge, is there another planet where you'd like to live? Perhaps somewhere that's not so flat? Somewhere a little warmer?" Commander Rocky said.

"Mars," laughed Alfie.

"Yeah, and then we'd be neighbours, sort of," Astro added.

The chief shook his head. Then he took off his right arm and banged it into his left leg. Stella began to speak but Rocky put up his paw. "I'm guessing that's a 'no'", he said. She nodded.

"Well, is there somewhere else?" he asked.

From the back of the room one of the aliens made a funny squeaking noise. Mah-Rucky-Sac answered her in a similar noise. Then one by one all the aliens made the same noise and as they did they jumped on the spot. It was like a psychedelic Mexican wave. Alfie thought it was cool.

"Oh, dear," Stella muttered under her breath.

Commander Rocky looked at her for an explanation.

"Earth," she said. "That noise means Earth."

"Earth? Our Earth?" Indy asked "What a cheek! As if we'd take them back home."

Everyone stopped and looked at her. The chief frowned and stared threateningly at Indy.

"What Indy is probably trying to say is it's a very big place, much bigger than Europa, I mean Saccie, and nearly everyone and everything on it is bigger than you. You might get trampled or knocked over," Rocky explained.

"Or squashed under an elephant's big toe!" Alfie laughed. He drew a huge circle in the air. "They're this big if not bigger."

"So, that's Africa out," Digger said thoughtfully.

"What about China? There are lots of mountains and rivers in the west. It's very pretty," Astro offered.

Indy was not pleased. "Oh, yeah the pandas will love that! Hey, why don't we give them Alaska? Do you think the polar bears will mind?" she said sarcastically. "It's open and flat and it's really cold. Just like their home. They'd feel right at home!"

"We can't go giving other countries away," Stella said. "That's not our role. We don't have that sort of authority."

"Well, what are we going to do?" Commander Rocky asked. "We were instructed to find a moon to replace the one Speed Bump Charlie blew up. We weren't instructed to bring back any extra passengers."

Alfie had squeezed himself back into his chair and was trying to befriend the aliens that were sitting on the armrests. They were ignoring him but he kept offering his paw and asking one of them to jump onto it.

"Well, couldn't they just stay on their moon?" he said absentmindedly.

"What?" Commander Rocky asked.

Alfie turned and all the dogs and the aliens were looking at him.

"Just makes sense. They don't have to live anywhere else. We've just moved their home. We haven't blown it up. They could just live on it like they've always done," he smiled.

Stella and Rocky looked at each other.

"He's got something, hasn't he?" Rocky said.

Stella nodded.

"Ask the chief what he thinks," Rocky said to Stella.

She proceeded to make some funny squeaky noises and then she burped. Alfie and Astro giggled.

Mah-Rucky-Sac held his arms up and repeated the offer. Each one of the aliens turned to the other and began to discuss it. The chief made a loud noise and dropped his arms by his side. They didn't fall off. There was silence. He turned and addressed Commander Rocky. After several minutes, Stella told them what the aliens wanted.

Apparently, Earth was held up as a legend around the Solar System. It was well known for its beautiful seas, soft sandy beaches and lovely forests. It was one of the tourist hot-spots that all aliens wanted to visit. These particular aliens would love to live a few thousand miles away. That way they could visit whenever they wanted. It was a bit like living down the road from Disneyland, Stella explained.

Commander Rocky shrugged his shoulders. As far as he could see this was the best compromise. He agreed on behalf of all the people and dogs who lived on planet Earth that the aliens could live on the new moon or their old home as it really was. Mah-Rucky-Sac was so pleased he gave Commander Rocky and all the gang three cheers. Then he turned around and pointed out of the windscreen with an arrow. He let out a low grumble and then a short squeak.

"What's he saying?" Commander Rocky asked Stella.

"That way!" she said and they all laughed.

Chapter 19

Back at the cliff the weather had turned very cold. Furball had curled up tight and was trying to stay out of the wind. It didn't work. The wind whipped around the rocks where he was lying and rushed up and around his whole body. He peeked over the top of the rocks and looked for Speed Bump Charlie.

"Dad? Dad? Where are you?" he yelled but he got no response.

Seagulls were flying overhead. He cocked his head to one side and straightened up one ear to listen to what they were saying.

"Oh, is he now!" he said angrily and he stormed off in a bad temper.

Earlier while checking on the tennis balls, Speed Bump Charlie had seen a luxurious home. He made his way inside through a cat door at the back. It was fantastic. He found a giant scratching pole, lots of soft warm beds and not only a bowl of food but a self-filling bowl of food.

"Someone pinch me, I'm in heaven!" he declared.

A big white cat lifted up its head and looked at Speed Bump Charlie. Then it just drifted back to sleep.

He made his way to the food bowl and ate every last crumb. Then he sat back and watched the bowl refill itself. He ate everything it had to offer and he waited again. He did this four times before he felt full. Then he made his way over to the scratching pole where he dug his claws in and ripped and tore until there was no fabric left on it at all. After that, he went from one bed to the other until he found the biggest, softest bed of all.

"This will do nicely," he said and he curled up and went straight to sleep.

This is exactly where Furball found him.

"I thought you were going to see if all the tennis balls had been sent out," he yelled.

Speed Bump Charlie jumped in fright "What? What? Where am I?" he muttered.

"I don't know what this place is but it seems a bit suspicious to me," Furball said. "Look around you, Dad! There's everything a cat needs and more. I think it's some sort of trap."

"Now, listen to me. One, this is just a luxury cat home like the one I am going to live in one day and two, don't call me dad! Well, not in public anyway," Speed Bump Charlie said.

Speed Bump Charlie climbed out of the bed and rubbed his eyes. He pulled the remote control out of his pocket and checked the progress of the tennis balls.

"Ah ha!" he declared. "We are all set to go. Are you ready?" he asked the kitten.

Furball forgave Speed Bump Charlie straight away. "Sure am, Da.. I mean, Mr Bump," he said.

"Let's get back to the Trap immediately," said Speed Bump Charlie. "Then the real fun will begin!"

Standing behind the giant bone, Speed Bump Charlie checked the remote control. He shook it from side to side and put it up to his ear. Then he breathed on it and used his elbow to rub the mist away.

"Okay, it's ready," he said.

"Da...I mean Mr Bump, do you think I could do it?" Furball asked.

Speed Bump Charlie stared down at the little kitten. "Do what?" he said.

"Hit the button?" Furball asked. He was very excited.

"NO!" Speed Bump Charlie said firmly.

Furball looked down and began to bite his lip. He sniffed back a tear and then his bottom lip started to tremble. Speed Bump Charlie felt bad.

"Oh, okay, but I hope you know what a privilege this is for someone as insignificant and small as you to be a part of such a brilliant and wicked plan as this one," Speed Bump Charlie reminded Furball.

Furball smiled wickedly. "Oh, I know. Now, give it to me!" he demanded and snatched the controls out of Speed Bump Charlie's paw.

"Nasty little cat!" Speed Bump Charlie declared. "Perhaps we are related after all!"

Furball licked his lips and his eyes became wider. He gently held the knob with his paws and he sucked in his breath. Then with one quick movement he swiped it and the signal was released.

It didn't take long before they saw the first tennis ball coming towards them. It was bouncing slowly along and had a long-eared Basset hound plodding after it. The dog was obviously very tired and the tennis ball knew it. When it got to the back of the bone it let out another whistle and zipped through the swinging door. The Basset didn't even consider the danger. He just trotted through the door and disappeared.

After that came a young Jack Russell. She was still full of energy and the tennis ball tore away in front of her. She sprinted after it and when it whistled and flew through the door she quickly scampered after it.

Thirdly, came a Bulldog. He was rushing to keep up with the ball but it was too fast. He snapped at it with his slobbery mouth sending spit all over Speed Bump Charlie and Furball.

"Yuck!" Furball yelled.

"Disgusting animals," Speed Bump Charlie noted. "I can't wait to rid the world of them, every last one."

The Bulldog darted through the door and was soon followed by a Dachshund, then a Mastiff and a Chihuahua. After them came dog after dog, too many to record here. They were all shapes and sizes.

Speed Bump Charlie and Furball were very excited. It wouldn't be too long before every dog in the world had been trapped.

Chapter 20

The spaceship zoomed its way through the heavens. The dogs passed planets, moons and even raced against a comet. As they came closer to Earth, Astro asked a very important question.

"Are we going to tell NASA that the new moon is going to have aliens living on it?" he asked.

Commander Rocky looked at Stella. She raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders.

Astro continued, "If we tell them and they get cross they might send the aliens away."

"Well, that wouldn't be fair," said Alfie. "It is, after all, their home."

"Astro and Alfie are right, Commander Rocky," Indy said.

"We should tell them," Stella said. "It is better to be honest. Maybe we could put in a good case for the aliens to stay on Europa," she added.

"Yes, you're right," Rocky agreed, "But we had better think of something quickly we are about to reach Earth's orbit."

The spaceship slowed down and pointed its nose towards Earth. The dogs and aliens gathered around the windscreen. They all sighed at the same time. It looked beautiful.

A beep came from the communicator. It was Admiral Wright.

"Well, Commander Rocky and canines, we can see you have not only returned safely but you have brought our new moon back with you. That is good news! Well done!" his voice boomed through the cabin.

"Um, yes we have," Commander Rocky said slowly. "But there is something we need to explain," he added.

"What is it?" Admiral Wright's voice was very loud.

"Well, we met some resistance and we have extra passengers," Stella took over.

"Who?"

"Aliens," Stella said.

"But they're only little ones!" Alfie added.

"Yeah, really little ones," Astro said.

"And they are all different colours," Digger offered. "They'd be handy if you were having a party."

Indy looked at Digger. "How?" she asked.

Digger made a funny face. "Decorations? Moving decorations?"

Indy nodded. "Makes sense to me," she said.

"Aliens!" Admiral Wright did not sound pleased. "Not green, three eyed monsters?"

"Umm, no," Stella said.

"Not purple ones with blue spots? I hate those ones!"

"No. They're small and their leader is orange. He's called Mah-Rucky-Sac," she informed him.

The dogs could hear a lot of shuffling and hushed voices. Then they could hear someone say, 'Mr President...' but they couldn't hear the rest.

There was silence.

The spaceship had stopped.

A voice came back on. "Do you mean Mah-Rucky-Sac, the leader of the Tribe of Rucky Peoples of Saccie?" it said.

"Yes, that's right," Stella said. She was very surprised.

"What do they want?"

"The Peoples of Saccie want to live on their home which is Europa our new moon," Stella explained.

"Oh, that's alright then," Admiral Wright came back on. "We've known about the Tribe of Rucky Peoples of Saccie for some time. They are completely harmless."

"He obviously hasn't been shot by them," Alfie whispered to Astro rubbing his head.

Stella spent a minute or two explaining to Mah-Rucky-Sac what was going on. Then NASA took over the controls of the spaceship and lined Europa up to take the place of the Moon. The dogs watched as it was safely put in its place, orbiting the Earth. They all wondered if anyone would notice the difference.

Once Europa was safely sitting in the right spot, NASA sent a special shuttle up to take Mah-Rucky-Sac and his tribe back to their home. All the dogs watched as hundreds of little aliens marched into the shuttle. Mah-Rucky-Sac was the last. When he got to the door he turned around and saluted the dogs. Commander Rocky slowly saluted him in return and the other dogs waved.

Then the spaceship turned around and headed back to Earth.

"I can't wait to get home," Astro declared.

"Me too," smiled Digger. "A nice hot bath, a warm dinner and lots of belly rubs."

"A bath?! Not for me," Alfie said. "I'm going to the park and I'm going to run and chase tennis balls all day. I've been cooped up in this tin can for too long!"

"Yeah, I am looking forward to going on a twenty mile run through a crocodile infested swamp," said Indy thoughtfully planning her trip.

They all stared at her and thought how strange she was.

Just then a beep came from Commander Rocky's microchip. It was Dotty.

"Sir! Sir!" she barked wildly. "We've got a situation here!"

Commander Rocky scratched at his collar seven times to turn on the transmitter.

"What is it?" he asked.

Dotty took a very long breath and told him everything she knew about Speed Bump Charlie and the bouncing tennis balls.

"And," she continued, "We've got reports that all the tennis balls are leading the dogs out of town and towards the sea."

"What is going on?" Stella asked.

"We're not sure but we know it can't be good," Buster butted in. "You should have seen the equipment that old cat's got in his shed. It's really high-tech; the sort of thing you'd find at NASA."

The dogs all looked at each other.

"You had better give us the coordinates. We'll get the spaceship to drop us off as close as it can," Commander Rocky said.

Dotty relayed the coordinates to Rocky and he read them out to NASA. Within minutes the spaceship was flying over the sea towards the coast. From out of the window, they could see the giant gold bone and a stream of dogs disappearing inside it.

"So, that's his plan!" Commander Rocky said. "He's luring all the dogs into that bone trap!"

"But what's he going to do with them once they're all inside?" Indy asked.

"I don't know but we have to stop him before it's too late," Rocky said.

The spaceship slowed and began to drop slowly towards the ground. Booster rockets turned on and it gently lowered itself down.

"Look over there!" Astro shouted. "It's a circus. We could use the tent to land on. We could jump out and use it to soften our fall."

"That's a great idea," Commander Rocky said. He moved the controls of the spaceship until it was hovering over the circus tent.

"Now, everyone to the escape hatch," he ordered. "We won't need our spacesuits so we might as well leave them here. When I give the signal, jump one by one onto the top of the tent. Are there any questions?"

Alfie put up his hand and began to speak but Rocky interrupted him. "No, Alfie, you can't take the left-over sausages with you. Now, go!"

The dogs huddled together inside the escape hatch. The circus tent had yellow and pink stripes and it was very big. They waited for Commander Rocky and then, one by one, they dropped down onto it safely.

Indy dove head first out of the ship with her arms by her side. When she landed onto the tent she did a double backflip and landed safely on the ground.

Digger jumped out holding his nose. He bounced three times before finding his feet. Then he stumbled to the edge of the tent and climbed down one of the guide ropes.

Stella stepped off the edge of the ship and then sat crossed legged all the way down. She landed and bounced a few times like Digger but then she gracefully slid on her bottom off the edge and landed on her feet.

Astro jumped out of the ship and hugged his legs and feet. He was curled up in a ball. When he landed he bounced and then rolled right off the edge of the tent. He landed awkwardly on his bottom.

Commander Rocky dove off the edge of the spaceship head first just like it was a diving board. He managed to turn himself around and land smoothly onto the tent. Then he slid down the guide rope.

Last to jump was Alfie. He was the heaviest and it was decided that he should be last just in case he wrecked the tent.

Standing on the ground Commander Rocky waved to the Alfie up in the spaceship. "You can jump now, Alfie, it's completely safe, I promise."

Alfie wasn't too sure but then he thought that the circus tent looked like a giant trampoline and he loved jumping on trampolines. He leapt and let out a long 'Yippee!' as he dropped down.

Sadly for Alfie, the weight of the other dogs had caused a small rip in the material of the tent. When Alfie hit it the tent tore open and he fell straight through it. The other dogs gasped and ran inside. Luckily for him the clowns were having a meeting in the middle of the ring and he landed right on top of them. It was not lucky for the clowns. They were not impressed at all!

"What is going on?" one screamed.

"Help!" another one yelled.

"Get this thing off me!" said a fat one shoving Alfie.

"What is that awful smell?" gagged another holding his nose.

Alfie got to his feet and brushed the sand from his coat. "Oh, I am so sorry," he said. "You see we've been on a mission to replace the moon and..."

"What are you talking about?" the head clown yelled at him. His name was Gozo.

"Well," Alfie began again but Commander Rocky and the others came rushing in.

"Commander Rocky here..." the clowns weren't listening at all.

"Look what you've done!" Gozo shrieked. "Look at the hole in our tent!"

Rocky looked up and tried to apologise but he could see the clowns were extremely angry. He also knew that they were in a hurry and had to save the dogs from Speed Bump Charlie.

"Let's get out of here," he ordered the other dogs and they all turned and fled.

"Come back!" Gozo yelled.

The clowns chased the dogs out of the tent but they couldn't keep up. They all wore such big shoes they actually began to trip and stumble. They were too slow to catch the dogs so, instead, the clowns began to throw things at them; juggling sticks, buckets of confetti and their very large shoes – just about anything they could get their hands on.

The dogs ran as quickly as they could away from the circus. As they got to a clearing Stella saw a massive gold shape.

She called out, "Look, over there," and she and the dogs rushed towards the giant bone.

Chapter 21

Speed Bump Charlie looked up and down the road. Then he checked the remote.

"Well, that's the last one," he said. "Lock the door, Hairball, before any of them escape."

Furball did as he was told. He put his ear to the side of the bone and he let out a long and mean laugh.

"You should hear them all," he told Speed Bump Charlie. "They're crying and sooking. Serves 'em right."

"I couldn't agree more!" Speed Bump Charlie laughed. "Now, for the fun part. Let's push them off the cliff!"

"Oh, I don't think so!" a loud voice boomed.

"What? Who? When?" Speed Bump Charlie cried.

He spun around to see Commander Rocky, Stella, Astro, Alfie, Digger and Indy standing behind him and they weren't pleased at all.

"How did you lot get here?! Go away!" Speed Bump Charlie yelled at them. "Leave us alone!"

"We're here to stop your evil plans," Commander Rocky said. "Now, release those dogs at once!" He was very cross.

"Get lost, mutt!" Speed Bump Charlie replied. "It's taken me a long time to put this plan together and I'm not going to be stopped by you, flea bait!"

"How are you going to stop us?" Astro declared bravely.

Speed Bump Charlie hesitated. He had no idea but Furball did.

"With these," Furball cried.

The dogs hadn't noticed but he had picked up a few tennis balls. He was waving them from side to side. Then he started bouncing them up and down. The dogs' eyes then their heads started to follow the balls. If the ball went to the left so did their heads. If the balls bounced up and down their heads nodded up and down together. The dogs were mesmerized.

Speed Bump Charlie looked around at Furball. "You are such a clever kitten, you know, I think we might be related after all," he said.

"Watch this, Dad," Furball said and he threw the balls up high and then proceeded to hit them one by one into the sea.

Alfie and Astro leapt forward and Digger began to follow. Indy dropped to her knees muttering, "I must resist. I must resist."

Even Commander Rocky was beginning to follow the balls. He just couldn't help himself. All the dogs were running to the edge of the cliff.

Furball and Speed Bump Charlie laughed and laughed. "Look! They're all going to drop off the cliff and die!"

Stella quickly figured out what was going on. She knew she would have to react quickly to save them from jumping off the cliff. She put her paws together and cleared her mind. Then she let out a humming sound that carried through the air and into the minds of the other dogs.

'Stop! Stop what you're doing,' Stella whispered into the dogs' minds. 'Stop NOW!'

Immediately the dogs stopped in their tracks inches from the edge of the cliff.

Speed Bump Charlie looked around. "Uh, Oh!" he muttered. "I think it's time to get out of here." He threw the remote up into the air and took off down the road.

"Wait! You can't give up now!" Furball yelled. "We can still beat them!"

"You're on your own, Hairball," Speed Bump Charlie said over his shoulders.

Commander Rocky shook his head and let out a long growl. "Get those cats! Get them both!" he ordered.

Without delay Indy and Digger pounced on Furball and held him tight. Astro and Alfie shot down the road and grabbed Speed Bump Charlie. They brought them back and stood them in front of Commander Rocky. He narrowed his eyes and stared at them both.

"So, we have you at last you wicked evil cat!" he barked loudly.

"Not for long," Furball replied.

"I think he's talking to me," Speed Bump Charlie shook his head.

"This time you won't get away unpunished Speed Bump Charlie and little catty thing," Commander Rocky continued. "Now it's my turn to think of a plan that will punish you and teach you a lesson! You'll never be able to defeat us dogs. We are the superior most favourite pet of all time!"

Furball squirmed and tried to be released from Indy and Digger's firm grip.

Speed Bump Charlie rolled his eyes. "You'll never stop me. For as long as I draw breath I will try and get rid of you stupid dogs!" he laughed.

"Release the hounds!" Commander Rocky cried.

Stella went to the back of the giant bone and lifted up the flap. Out ran hundreds and hundreds of dogs. "Go home," Stella told them. "Go home before the dog catcher finds you all!"

When the last dog left Commander Rocky looked at the bone and back at the two cats.

"Let's see," he said, "Here we have a perfectly good bone and two naughty cats. I think I know what to do!"

Speed Bump Charlie's eyes widened. "You wouldn't put us in there and push it over the cliff? That would be cruel not only to an old cat like me but the little fella here has his whole life in front of him!" he cried.

"She," Furball corrected Speed Bump Charlie. "I'm actually a she. I'm a girl."

"What?! Are you kidding me?!" Speed Bump Charlie was flabbergasted. "I thought you were a boy. You said you were a boy. Why didn't you say you were a girl?"

Furball looked at the ground and rubbed her toes in the sand. "I thought you wouldn't like me as much if I was a girl and I thought you wouldn't let me come along with you either," she said.

"I wouldn't have liked you whether you were a girl or a boy!" Speed Bump Charlie declared. "What a cheek! Fancy, tricking me like that!"

"I didn't mean any harm," Furball said. "I am just as mean and cruel as you are even though I'm a girl."

"That's true," Speed Bump Charlie considered Furball's point. "Still, we're a little bit stuck now, aren't we?"

Chapter 22

"Enough chatter!" Commander Rocky roared and Speed Bump Charlie and Furball's hair and whiskers blew back. "Put them into the bone!" he ordered.

Astro and Alfie dragged Speed Bump Charlie up the ramp and shoved through the door.

"Oh, it's dark in here and it's full of blinkin' tennis balls!" he complained.

Then Indy and Digger did the same with Furball.

"Let me go, you brutes, I'm only a little kitten!" she pleaded.

They closed the door on the two cats.

Stella moved forward. "You're not really going to push it over the cliff, are you? They could be killed if you do," she asked Commander Rocky.

"Well, no but I wouldn't mind! They are so naughty!" he shook his head. "They make me so cross! Can you imagine how all those poor dogs felt when they realised they'd been lured into a trap. And what about their owners. They must be frantic not knowing where they are!"

"What are we going to do with them?" Astro asked.

"I've got an idea," Alfie said. "Let's rock it backwards and forwards a bit and they'll think they are falling into the sea. It'll frighten them half to death!"

"I'm sure it would, Alfie, but no. I think we'll just leave them in there for a while to think about what they've done," Stella said.

"I'll get someone from headquarters to come and let them out tomorrow," Digger suggested. "That should give them enough time to have a good think and give up their wicked ways."

They all nodded and agreed.

"Well, we should head back ourselves. I've got one big report to file," Commander Rocky laughed. "Space travel, aliens and a giant gold bone – what a day!"

"What an adventure, you mean," Astro laughed.

Indy looked around and smiled at them. "I think I have one more parting gift for those wicked cats," she smiled. She reached down from her utility belt and unhooked a stink grenade.

"Oh, be careful with that thing!" Astro cried.

"Yeah, it stinks worse than me!" Alfie said.

"It is you!" exclaimed Digger. "The smell comes from your armpits!"

"Oh, yeah" smiled Alfie but no one heard him.

Indy had slipped the stink grenade through the door and started running. Seconds later the other dogs weren't far behind her. Only Alfie hadn't run away. He heard a gentle 'pop' and then the most awful, terrible, eye-watering smell hit his nostrils.

"Holy Moly!" he cried. "That is the worst thing in world! I'm outta here!" And he ran so fast that he overtook all the other dogs.

Back at the giant bone all that could be heard were choking and gagging sounds. "I'm going to get those dumb dogs one day!" coughed an old voice.

As the dogs ran down the road they noticed something very colourful up ahead. As they got closer they saw that it was a row of clowns. They were all standing on the road blocking the dogs' way. Each one had his arms folded across his chest and each one had a very angry look on his face.

Gozo was their leader. He wore large baggy clown suit that had coloured spots all over it. His hair was bright pink but there was only a tuft over each ear and a bit on top of his head.

"Uh, oh. I forgot about the circus tent," Commander Rocky said coming to a stop.

The others pulled up behind him.

Commander Rocky put up his paws. "Now, there's no need to be so angry. I'm sure we can come to some sort of agreement," he said.

"So, you admit you ruined our tent and our lives!" Gozo cried. "Our tent is ripped to shreds. We can't put on our show. No show equals no money. No money equals no food. Do you know how angry a hungry clown can be?"

Commander Rocky let out a long sigh. "No, I don't and I can't say I've met an angry clown before. Aren't you guys meant to make people laugh?"

"Commander, look behind you," Alfie whispered.

While Commander Rocky had been talking to Gozo a crowd of circus performers had gathered around them. There was Horace the Strong Man, Carol the Snake Charmer and a host of dwarfs, acrobats, gymnasts and a really grumpy monkey.

Commander Rocky smiled. "Look, I can explain," he started but he didn't get a chance to finish.

"Get them! Get them all!" Gozo screamed. "Don't let them get away!"

All the circus performers jumped forward and grabbed the dogs. Then they tied them up with a never-ending line of coloured scarfs.

"You're all coming with us!" Gozo cried. "We'll teach you for ripping up our tent!"

"But we can fix it," Rocky pleaded. "Let's discuss this calmly – clown to dog."

No one listened.

The dogs were pushed, pulled and prodded up the road until they reached the circus. Then they were put into a large cage that had wheels on it. It had steel bars on either side that were rusty. The paint was peeling off the walls and the ceiling.

"This is not too bad," Astro said. "At least we have straw to lie on and it's nice and dry."

Alfie sniffed at the air. "I can smell something," he said. "Cat. But bigger than a normal one."

"It's probably you," sighed Digger. "What a mess! I was so looking forward to going home and having a nice long bath."

Just then they all heard a deep, low grumble.

"That sounds like a lion to me!" Astro cried.

A door slid back and, sure enough, a big lion walked through. It stopped and sniffed at each of the dogs. They were terrified. They were bound so tight they couldn't move.

"Oh, I don't want to be a lion's dinner," moaned Alfie. "What are we going to do?"

"If I could just reach my hunting bone," murmured Indy as she twisted around in the ropes.

The lion spun around and growled. It bent down its head and rushed straight for her.

"Oh, crikey, it looks hungry!" Astro cried.

# The end!

For now...

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From the author:

Thank you for reading the eighth book in the series, Astro's Adventures. The dogs and cats in this book are based on real ones. The goal of these books is to raise awareness for the need for dogs to have lots of exercise and stimulation and to be cared for properly. A percentage of sales goes to our local animal shelter.

If you'd like to read more in this series please visit our website: Astro's Adventures

You are welcome to connect with my online. You'll find me floating around at:

Facebook – http://www.facebook.com/astrosadventures

Twitter – http://www.twitter.com/susandayauthor

Pinterest – http://www.pinterest.com/susandayauthor

Also, I keep an online diary of my writing where I share free ideas and activities to inspire children to be better writers. Please join me at: Susan Day Author

Yours in Paws,

Susan Day

EBook titles in the Astro's Adventures series (also available in print):

The Great Escape http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76524

Golden Treasure https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/85532

Rampaging Rats https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/238862

Major Dakota's Ghost https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/300649

The Gypsy Curse https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/307863

Christmas Calamity https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/386547

Neptune's Trident https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/452068

Other eBook titles written by Susan Day:

Understanding Your Dog http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/72942

Whispering Castle https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/76991

The Christmas Mouse https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/81084

