Colin Meets an Emu Read Online Free PDF Page A

goodness knows, how many grandchildren? And little Sammy must be nearly 1,000 years old in doggie years!
    His thoughts were interrupted by the arrival of the waiter, who asked, “Are you ready to order now?”
    Olivia murmured to Colin, “We mustn’t forget Sammy and M.” To the waiter she said,” One Doggy Dinz and two large ice-cream sundaes.”
    Colin added, “For me the Space Special and a bottle of the Martian Red.”
    Olivia decided to have the same as Colin and just as the waiter was leaving she asked him, “What time do we arrive at Planet H?”
    â€œSince we are travelling by Micro-Wave Black Hole Time Warp Speed 2, we will be there in about 45 Earthminutes. Just time to enjoy your meal, madam.” He snapped his fingers and a younger waiter brought the food to their table.
    Of course M, unseen by nearly all, soon finished off his two huge ice-creams. He had taken a great liking to them since pinching some at the fair recently. Or was it 100 years ago?
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    It seemed like in less than no time they had landed on Planet H, as everyone called it, and they were being escorted off the gigantic, dark blue space-ferry. Colin had often wondered what it would feel like to set foot on another world. Now he was about to do just that. In his right hand he was carrying a slim, lightweight case made of some futuristic silver material. Olivia was carrying Sammy. M slipped on ahead. Hand in hand Colin and Olivia stepped onto the new world. The ground under their feet was just like that on Earth. The bookmark glowed in Colin’s pocket, as they walked about 80 metres to a low-slung hover-vehicle, which was made of sparkling fibre-glass. It was like sitting in a large travelling window, as they sped across the beautiful landscape that shone with a tinge of pink. Olivia felt herself unable to resist taking lots of pictures and video clips on the mobile phone.
    There was no driver on board the fully computer-operated hover-vehicle, but every so often a recorded voice told the passengers what they were passing. “On your right you can see the beautiful Needlepoint Mountains. They look just like snow-covered needles, don’t they? In fact they are nearly 3,000 metres higher than our own Mount Everest. Look to your left and you will see an incredible view of the sparkling pink waters of the equally beautiful Tingle Lake. See how the mountains are reflected in it. The lake is named after the Anglo-Australian explorer Sir John Nightingale. Everybody calls him by his nickname Tingle, so he said it was O.K. for the lake to be called that as well.”
    Olivia had picked up a brochure about Planet H and learned that it had been developed as a holiday destination for people from Planet Earth. It had an almost identical atmosphere and gravity. There were two mini-suns and two moons, so that there were plenty of places you could have night or day or both at the same time. Really? One of the reasons people from Earth liked visiting was that its moons cast this other world into varying shades of either pink or blue. Usually the weather was good, although short fierce rainstorms were not uncommon.
    â€œI hope we’ve brought the right kind of clothes with us,” remarked Olivia.
    â€œI’m sure we have,” replied Colin. The bookmark throbbed once, as if to agree.
    Within twenty Earthminutes they arrived at their hotel, the Tingle Tingle Little Star. The building was white with gold trimmings, and the roof was shaped like the spikes of the Needlepoint Mountains.
    â€œWow!” said Colin.
    â€œMmm!” murmured Olivia uncertainly. She had noticed that something was wrong. “What are those black things moving about all over the place?” she whispered.
    M was staring hard at them and Sammy was tense, pulling at his lead. Some of the hotel staff in their smart white uniforms came rushing out of the main entrance. They were being chased by one of the squat black