Asteroid Crisis: Star Challengers Book 3 Read Online Free PDF

hard enough,” Dyl said.
    King sounded disappointed. “I think Mira’s just brainwashed. She wouldn’t be fighting against us if she understood the real story.”
    Song-Ye gave King a wry look. “I’ll bet she’s thinking exactly the same about us.”
    Tony crossed his arms over his chest. “Believe me, it’s best to be optimistic about the future.”
    “Optimistic, but realistic.” Zota stood from his desk. “Are you ready to learn about your mission?”
    “More than ever,” JJ said.
    ***

Four
    Zota ushered the Star Challengers from his office to the private briefing room where they got instructions for their missions. The ceiling sparkled with artificial stars.
    Considering the threat they had learned about at the end of their mission to the space station, JJ was not surprised when Commander Zota announced he would send the team forward on a mission to the asteroids. According to the astronomy studies King had done for Drs. Wu and d’Almeida, three of those cosmic rocks had been knocked out of their orbits and sent hurtling toward Earth.
    “In the future you’re going to this time,” Zota said, “the International Collaborative Space Agency will have run detailed calculations to map out their mission. I’m very curious to see how they plan to solve this crisis—and I’m sure you will help them to succeed. Let me give you some background to prepare you.”
    He seemed more subdued and grimmer than ever since recounting the horrors of the alien invasion and his own family’s death. Looking at the scar on his face, JJ could only guess at the terrible things the Kylarn had done to him—things even Zota wasn’t willing to talk about.
    “Before that, however, we need to continue your skill training,” Zota said.
    He spent an hour drilling the friends on simple Kylarn words and symbols before announcing that he had one more exercise for them. Though she knew that taking time to practice wouldn’t actually delay the mission—Zota’s time machine would send them to the correct time and place regardless of when they left here —JJ was impatient to get into the future.
    “Because space is such a hazardous environment, I want you to be familiar with remote controls and robotic assistance in order to complete operations.”
    “We used spacesuits on the Moon, and we trained for extravehicular activities at the space station. We can learn hands-on when we get there,” JJ suggested.
    “That isn’t always the best solution,” Zota said. “Not only are the risks greater to a person in a spacesuit outside the protection of a habitat, it often takes significant time and effort to put on a suit and exit an airlock. Robotic arms have been used for many work activities in space, ever since the ‘Canadarm,’ or the Shuttle Remote Manipulator System, flew as part of the second space-shuttle flight.”
    “You mean we get to play with the waldos?” Tony asked, referring to the nickname for the remote-control grasping arms. “Major Rodgers trained me to use a robotic arm on the ISSC to launch the Eye in the Sky satellite. I’m not too bad at stuff like that, if I do say so myself.” JJ hadn’t gotten to use the waldos on their school field trip to the Challenger Center and looked forward to it now. It would be fun to play with the joystick controls, moving the metal gadget on its three axes.
    The commander frowned at Tony. “Do you not wish to improve? To practice?”
    Tony flushed. “No, I didn’t mean that.”
    “Come on, you can be my partner,” JJ offered, smiling. “Since you’re so good at it, show me how it’s done.”
    Zota cleared his throat. Tony, JJ, and the other Star Challengers returned their attention to him.
    On the main screen on the front wall, the commander projected a diagram of the solar system. “I’m sure you’re all very familiar with the planets orbiting our Sun?”
    Tony spoke up. “My Very Elegant Mother Just Served Us Noodles. That’s the mnemonic I use to remember