The Space Mission Adventure Read Online Free PDF Page A

will come in handy when I explore the moon and send my report back for cable news,” Ziggy told the others as he was strapped in next and began to jump.
    â€œOr maybe when you try out for the ballet!” Jerome called out. “You look like a dancer.”
    Ziggy just grinned and used his toes to push himself even higher and take larger leaps that helped him soar. He swayed his arms gracefully. “I should have been born on the moon!” he cried out. “This is too cool!”
    â€œThere are no hamburgers on the moon, Ziggy,” Neil called out.
    â€œOr pizza with pickles!” Rashawn added.
    â€œI don’t care, mon! I was born to fly!” Ziggy bounced to the side, leaped forward and back, reached toward the ceiling, and jumped higher thanhis own height. He was a picture of movement—arms, legs, hair—gracefully flowing across the room. He sidestepped and swayed and swerved, almost twirling with delight.
    Ziggy didn’t want his turn to be over. But Samantha reminded him that everyone deserved equal time, so Ziggy reluctantly let himself be unstrapped and returned to the world of normal gravity. He knelt down to retie his tennis shoes, which had come unlaced in all the jumping. Lying on the edge of the artificial moon surface, caught between the moonscape and the wooden floor, was a small, oddly shaped, shiny object.
    â€œWhat’s this?” he whispered. He reached over, grabbed the item quickly, and stuffed it into his pocket.
    When he got back to the benches where the others were waiting their turn, he took a seat in the back. He took the glossy, stonelike thing he had found out of his pocket and examined it carefully. It was a dark, shimmery green color—like the color of grass after a rainstorm—totally smooth on one side,and rough to the touch on the back. It was about the size of Ziggy’s thumb. He rolled it around in his hands, a slight frown on his face.
    â€œWhat’s that you got, Ziggy?” Rico asked as he walked back to where Ziggy was sitting. “Can I see it?”
    Ziggy handed it to him. “I think it’s not from this world,” Ziggy said with a serious expression that was unusual for him.
    â€œWhat makes you say that?” Rico asked as he peered closely at the object.
    â€œIt looks hard, but it feels a little soft. It looks like it would be cold to the touch, but it feels warm. I think it’s something left by a space traveler.” Ziggy spoke as if he meant it. For once, he wasn’t laughing.
    Rico didn’t make fun of Ziggy’s observation. Instead, he said, “Let’s approach this scientifically, Ziggy. Let’s talk about all the things it could possibly be before we decide it’s from outer space.”
    Ziggy nodded, but he didn’t seem convinced. “It looks like the back of one of those insects you find in the summertime—all shiny and metallic-looking,” he said.
    â€œAre you sure it’s not just a piece of dead bug?” Rico asked thoughtfully.
    â€œWhat’s that you said about bugs?” Jerome asked as he joined them. “I got bug spray in my backpack, you know, just in case.”
    â€œYou won’t need spray for this, mon,” Ziggy said, “unless this is a space creature that can come back to life.”
    â€œWhat are you talking about?” Rashawn asked as he joined them. The other members of the team were taking their turn on the chair.
    â€œZiggy thinks he found a space artifact,” Rico explained. The four of them took the object and examined it.
    â€œIs it a piece of some kind of plant?” Rashawn asked as he sniffed it.
    â€œIt’s too hard, I think,” Ziggy said.
    â€œCould it be broken off one of the pieces of equipment in this room?” Jerome offered. “They’ve got all kinds of space simulators in here. Maybe this is part of one of them.”
    â€œMaybe, mon,” Ziggy said. “But I got