Triple Trouble Read online

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  First published in 2012 by MACMILLAN EDUCATION AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

  15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, 3141 Australia

  Visit our website at www.macmillan.com.au/primary

  Visit the Star Girl website at www.stargirluniverse.com

  Associated companies and representatives throughout the world.

  Copyright © Louise Park 2012 (text)

  Copyright © Macmillan Education Australia 2012 (illustrations) All characters and names in the Star Girl series are fictitious and not based on persons living or dead.

  All rights reserved.

  Except under the conditions described in the Copyright Act 1968 of Australia and subsequent amendments, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the copyright owner.

  National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry Park, Louise, 1961-Triple trouble / Louise Park.

  ISBN: 9781420293838 (pbk.)

  Park, Louise, 1961- Star girl ; no. 14.

  For primary school age.

  A823.4

  Series conceptualised and created by Louise Park Packaged by Paddlepop Press Pty Ltd in conjunction with Jaclyn Crupi Professional Editorial Services Designed by Natascha Lenz

  Cover illustrations by Jo Thompson and internal illustrations by Jo Thompson and Melanie Matthews, based on previous character visualisations.

  Printed in China

  Papers used by Macmillan Education Australia are natural, recyclable products and made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

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  These electronic editions published in 2012 by Macmillan Education Australia Pty Ltd 15–19 Claremont Street, South Yarra, 3141 Australia.

  All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

  Star Girl Book 14: Triple Trouble

  Louise Park

  Adobe eReader format 978-1-42029-617-4

  EPub format 978-1-42029-625-9

  Online format 978-1-42029-609-9

  Macmillan Digital Australia

  www.macmillandigital.com.au

  Visit www.macmillan.com.au/primary to read more about all our books and to buy both print and ebooks online. You will also find subject catalogues, teacher support material and news of professional development events.

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  Students in the space-training program at SEAS complete space missions on planets in outer space that are in danger and need help.

  All of the third year students at SEAS are agents-in-training. They are in their last year at the space agent boarding school. Students who make it through this year become fully trained space agents.

  Only the best students will go on to

  become space agents. They will need to earn more than 100 mission points in total to succeed.

  Addie Banks must make it through to

  become a space agent. Outer space needs her.

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  Addie was walking towards the entrance of Crystal Orbit Shopping Galleria with Olivia, Miya and Grace. ‘Lara, Hannah and Louisa are going to be late,’ she said to them. ‘They had to take the space-tube because Valentina took their space buggy and left early this morning to meet up with someone at the Galleria. I told them we’d meet them at the Milky Way Snack Bar in half an hour.’

  ‘I’m going to order a Mushy Slush Bomb

  drink!’ Olivia said with a grin.

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  ‘I hear the ones at the Milky Way have even more surprise flavour bombs in them than the ones at the Comet Café.’

  ‘Did you know that you can get Mushy

  Slush Bomb ice-cream now?’ Miya said, giving Olivia’s ponytail a little tug. ‘It comes in a tall sundae glass and is filled with little balls of ice-cream. They all look like vanilla ice-cream but every ball is a different surprise flavour.’

  ‘Let’s go there now!’ Olivia exclaimed.

  ‘We’ve got half an hour before we’re

  meant to meet them, Liv,’ Addie said. ‘We’ve got shopping to do.’

  ‘Let’s get the Easter eggs at the

  Chocolateria,’ Grace said. ‘They have the best selection of Easter eggs. But first I have to go to 1O

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  the toilet.’

  ‘Me too,’ Olivia chimed in. ‘We’ll catch up with you guys outside the Chocolateria in a sec.’

  Grace and Olivia raced off and Addie

  and Miya headed down the main arcade and stopped outside the chocolate shop’s windows.

  ‘Oh no,’ Addie groaned. ‘Look who’s

  inside. Let’s come back later.’

  ‘No,’ Miya said firmly. ‘You can’t avoid Aziza forever, Addie. So what if she’s in there.’

  ‘It isn’t Aziza so much as Valentina,’

  Addie said. ‘I’m glad Aziza got suspended for taking my dress and mask and going to the agent’s ball in my place. I don’t care if she hates me but I really thought Valentina was my friend.’

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  ‘She did say she was sorry for telling Aziza what you were wearing to the ball,’ Miya said gently. ‘She’s tried to make it up to you, too.’

  Addie shrugged, watching the little

  chicks playing in the straw. ‘Every time I see her now I get butterflies in my stomach.’

  ‘It’s not like you to hold a grudge, Ads,’

  Miya said, giving her friend a nudge. ‘Maybe you should talk to her about it. Try and sort it out.’

  ‘Hey guys!’ Sabrina called as she stepped out of Pretty Penny opposite the Chocolateria.

  ‘Isn’t this place fab? I just got the best dress to wear to the Easter party tomorrow.’ She opened her bag to show them her dress.

  ‘Yes, Crystal Orbit’s great,’ Miya agreed.

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  Sabrina looked at Addie, who was staring through the shop window again watching

  Valentina and Aziza laughing together. ‘You don’t look like you’re enjoying yourself much, Addie,’ she said. She studied Addie for a moment, deep in thought, and then said, ‘I think you try too hard sometimes. You should just forget what happened. Aziza still hasn’t gotten over being suspended, you know. She’s really mad about it. Says SEAS is a joke.’

  ‘It’s just that . . .’ Addie sighed. ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter.’

  ‘It’s just what?’ Sabrina jumped in. ‘That you thought you and Valentina were friends?’

  Addie pushe
d her hair back behind her

  ears. ‘I guess so,’ she answered. ‘Dumb. I 14

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  know. It’s only about the third time I thought that only to find she isn’t my friend after all.’

  ‘The thing is,’ Sabrina said, ‘I know she actually does like you. I can tell.’

  ‘She sure has a funny way of showing it,’

  Addie said. ‘What she did really hurt. It seems to have got her what she wanted, though.

  She’s back in with Aziza by the look of things.’

  Sabrina gave Addie a knowing smile. ‘I

  don’t know about that. Today, maybe. Who knows about tomorrow!’

  Addie straightened herself up. ‘You’re

  right. Thanks, Sabrina,’ she said with a small smile. ‘We’re meeting the others at the Milky Way Bar for a Mushy Slush Bomb Sundae. Do you want to come with us?’

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  ‘You bet!’ Sabrina said.

  Just then Grace arrived back from the

  toilets alone. ‘Poor Liv got called to the FlyBy,’

  she said. ‘She’s pretty grumpy about missing out on the Milky Way Bar.’

  ‘And she really wanted to get some

  bangles to wear to the Easter party tomorrow too,’ Miya said.

  Grace patted her pocket. ‘She’s given me her money. She wants us to buy her family’s Easter eggs for her because she won’t get another chance before we all go home for Easter break tomorrow night.’

  ‘We’d better do the Easter egg shopping now,’ Addie said, stealing herself to go inside the Chocolateria.

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  ‘Excellent idea!’ Sabrina said, grabbing Addie by the arm and thrusting her through the door. ‘Do you know what you want to get for your dad?’ she asked as they crashed into Aziza and Valentina, who were just leaving.

  ‘Oh, sorry,’ Sabrina said to them with a smile.

  Aziza coolly stepped around them. ‘So

  you should be,’ she replied.

  ‘Hi guys,’ Valentina said quietly. ‘There’s some great stuff in there. It’s hard to pick what to buy.’

  ‘Hurry up, V,’ Aziza snapped. ‘We haven’t got all day. We don’t want to waste time.’

  Talking to us? Addie thought. That’d be right. Buzz off then the pair of you. I don’t want to waste my time either.

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  Most booths in the Milky Way Bar were taken by the time Addie and her friends got there.

  ‘There are some free stools by the

  window,’ Grace said. ‘You guys grab them and I’ll put our Easter eggs in the bag bay so they won’t get knocked and broken. Order me a sundae?’

  ‘Sure,’ Miya said, climbing up onto a

  stool. ‘Do we all want sundaes?’ she asked as she scrolled through the menu on the

  self-serve computer.

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  ‘Yes please!’ Addie and Sabrina both said.

  Miya selected Mushy Slush Bomb Sundae,

  put ‘four’ into the quantity box beside it and then pressed send. Immediately her order appeared on the screen and the amount to be paid. ‘Two dollars fifty each,’ she said to the girls.

  Grace flopped down onto a stool next to Addie. ‘Done,’ she said. ‘This time tomorrow we’ll be at the Easter party and then heading home for Easter holidays.’

  ‘There’s going to be a surprise for us at the lunch tomorrow I heard,’ Sabrina added.

  ‘Isn’t it the games and stuff?’ asked Addie.

  ‘I heard we’re going to be given something,’

  Sabrina said. ‘But I don’t know what.’

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  ‘Here come our sundaes,’ Miya said.

  ‘Yum! I feel so sorry for Olivia. She’s missing out on everything.’

  ‘I know,’ said Addie scooping her first ice-cream bomb up with her spoon. ‘We’ll have to make a list of every flavour we get and show her.’

  Addie popped the creamy white ice-cream into her mouth and smiled. ‘Ha! Cola!’ She laughed and then looked up to see Valentina walking past. Valentina paused and looked at the group in the Milky Way window, then she dropped her head down and walked on.

  ‘I wonder where she’s off to?’ Sabrina

  asked.

  ‘And what happened to her new best

  2O

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  buddy, Aziza?’ Miya added.

  ‘I don’t know but she looked pretty

  grumpy,’ Grace said.

  Addie groaned. ‘That would be me.’

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  She took her SpaceBerry

  from her pocket. ‘I guess

  I’m not going to get to look

  around the Galleria today

  either. Mission call. I’ll take

  the space-tube.’

  Addie took the moving pathway up to the Galleria’s space-tube platform and found Samantha and Valentina standing together.

  Samantha waved. ‘Hi, Addie!’ she called.

  ‘Hi Sam,’ Addie said as she stepped off the pathway and onto the concourse. ‘Have you been called to the FlyBy too?’

  ‘Yes,’ Samantha said. ‘Maybe we’ll finally get to go on a mission together.’

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  The girls stepped into the empty pod and sat down.

  Addie looked out the window wishing

  she was back in the Milky Way Bar and a long way from Valentina when Samantha asked,

  ‘Are you okay, Addie? You look a bit upset.’

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  ‘Oh,’ Addie said, looking over at Samantha. ‘Sorry Sam, I was off with the fairies, as my mum used to say.’

  Valentina sat fidgeting with the fringe on the end of her scarf not saying anything.

  Samantha looked from Addie to

  Valentina and back again. ‘Are you two having a fight or something?’ she asked. ‘I think I might move down the back.’ She stood up to go but Addie grabbed her arm.

  ‘Don’t go,’ Addie said. ‘The FlyBy’s next anyway. And yes, I guess we are having a fight but that’s not your problem. Sorry. Again!’

  Addie cringed. Hopefully I’ll be going on mission with Olivia, she thought.

  ‘Well this is us,’ Samantha said leaping 24

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  from her seat as the pod doors opened. She raced out ahead of the other two girls.

  ‘I think we made her feel pretty

  uncomfortable,’ Valentina said.

  ‘We!?’ Addie exclaimed but before she

  could say any more Valentina raced down the concourse and caught up with Samantha, who was already placing her hand on the FlyBy’s security wall. She quickly placed her hand beside Samantha’s.

  Addie watched as the rippling vortex

  started and the two agents-in-training began to sink slowly through the ground. Fine, she thought. I’m happy to go through on my own.

  Just as long as I don’t have to go on another mission with you, Valentina.

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  Addie dropped down from the vortex onto the FlyBy’s big trampoline to find Professor Le Strange waiting for her. ‘Professor!’ Addie called. ‘You’re back on missions and without crutches! How’s
your broken leg?’

  ‘Simply smashing, thank you, Star Girl,’

  the professor said, having a chuckle at her little joke. ‘Breaking it on that mission to the GDC space station was a bit silly of me, wasn’t it? It’s completely healed now.’

  Addie jumped down from the trampoline

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  and the professor put her arm around Addie and guided her gently towards Docking Bay 3.

  ‘As has our special friend Asasi. He’s flying again. Did you know that?’

  ‘I did,’ Addie answered enthusiastically. ‘It was really touch and go for a long while after we brought him back from that horrible testing lab on the GDC space station. Will he be able to go home to Planet Savannator soon?’

  ‘Perhaps,’ the professor said thoughtfully.

  ‘He doesn’t seem to want to go home just yet though. Pop in on him at the Alienarium when you come back if you get the chance. It might be just what he needs before you all go home for Easter break. Now, we need to get you off to Planet Petalbeet quick smart.’

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  ‘Oh no!’ Addie cried. ‘Not that planet

  with the green poisonous environment!’

  ‘Pale aqua green to be precise.’ The

  professor smiled. ‘A lot like the dress you were going to wear to the ball. Everything alright after that unpleasant episode?’

  She obviously knows something, Addie thought. So no point in pretending everything’s fine. ‘No,’ she said quietly. ‘Not quite.’

  ‘Oh dear.’ The professor raised her

  eyebrows. ‘Trust is most important on

  missions, Star Girl, but you already know that, don’t you, dear? Well, here are your buddies for this mission. Now let’s get organised.’

  Addie turned into the docking bay and

  found Valentina and Samantha standing

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  beside a small jet that Addie had never seen before. She drew in a sharp breath, then recovered and said, ‘Agent Orbital 2 was called as well. I thought maybe . . .’