The Moon Platoon
They’re not on Earth anymore. And they’re not alone…An action-packed, high-stakes new adventure series for fans of Rick Riordan and STAR WARS.In the year 2085, Benny Love is pretty used to surviving on what he and his family can scavenge on Earth. But when he wins a scholarship for a life-changing trip to visit the Lunar Taj, the first-ever resort on the Moon, Benny thinks he finally has a chance to give his family a better life.Benny can’t wait to fly his very own Space Runner, practice reverse bungee jumping, and explore craters on the dark side of the Moon. But he gets more than he expected when he and the other kids discover the Moon has secrets no one else knows about. Benny is a long way from home – and soon there might not be an Earth to go back to, unless they can find a way to defeat the oncoming alien invasion…
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First published in Great Britain by HarperCollins Childrenâs Books in 2017
HarperCollins Childrenâs Books is a division of HarperCollinsPublishers Ltd,
1 London Bridge Street London, SE1 9GF
The HarperCollins website address is: www.harpercollins.co.uk
Copyright © Full Fathom Five, LLC 2017
Cover illustration © Jacey
Jeramey Kraatz asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
A catalogue copy of this book is available from the British Library.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins.
Source ISBN: 9780008226404
Ebook Edition © 2017 ISBN: 9780008226411
Version: 2017-04-06
For anyone who has shot for the Moon,
ended up in the grass, and tried again.
Contents
Prologue
On behalf of the Elijah West Scholarship for Courage, Ambition, and Brains (EW-SCAB), I am pleased to inform you that, out of the millions of applications we received this year, you have been selected to receive an all-expenses paid two-week trip to the Lunar Taj â the galaxyâs first (and only!) off-world resort. Located on five hundred acres of prime Moon real estate overlooking the Sea of Tranquility, the Lunar Taj offers countless opportunities for adventure, including zero-gravity sports, scenic Space Runner treks across the dark side of the Moon and access to the latest in cutting-edge virtual reality technology. Ever wonder what it would be like to play weightless basketball? Youâre about to find out! Itching to explore craters no human has ever set foot in? Join one of our off-resort expeditions! There may even be an opportunity to meet the legendary adventurer and inventor Elijah West himself!
And, of course, the fun doesnât stop on the Moon: upon completion of your two-week holiday, youâll receive an EW-SCAB trust fund of one million US dollars!
To begin the enrolment process, weâll need a biometric signature from your parent or guardian. In addition, please upload heat-scan measurements so we can begin work on your custom-made space suits right away! Donât delay â your Space Runner will be launching soon!
Congratulations on this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,
Pinky Weyve
Executive assistant to Mr. West
ABOUT THE SCHOLARSHIP
Since 2080, Elijah West â philanthropist, innovator, and Timeâs Man of the Millennium â has opened the doors of his preeminent Lunar Taj to the best and brightest of Earthâs youth. Recipients of the EW-SCAB have gone on to earn early acceptance to top-tier universities, find success in burgeoning Space Runner racing leagues and even land coveted positions as full-time staff members at the Lunar Taj. Despite the amount of entries received every year, Mr. West alone selects each scholarship recipient.
Benny Love was three-quarters of the way to the Moon when he discovered his holographic spider was missing.
âAw, man,â he murmured into his open rucksack, âI had such big plans for you!â
Heâd been practising with the spider for the better part of a year. Or, more specifically, mastering the controls of the tiny hover-mech that flew around projecting the arachnid onto whatever surface Benny saw fit â most of the time someoneâs shoulder or the ceiling of his familyâs RV in the middle of the night. He was good at it, and had hoped to show off his skills by pranking some of the other scholarship winners. So much for that idea. He wondered which of his little brothers had swiped the spider from his bag the night before, because he definitely remembered packing such vital gear. They were probably playing around with it now, getting sand in the hover-mechâs delicate parts. He made a mental note to figure out a way to repay them when he got back to Earth. Maybe with a terrifying story about the three-headed child-eating aliens he encountered at the Taj, or by infecting them with an incredibly contagious case of imaginary lunar flu.
He tried not to dwell on the spider and instead looked out of the passenger window just in time to see a satellite fly by â a shining speck against the black backdrop of space that quickly disappeared among the pinpricks of stars located light-years away. He glanced at the readouts on the dashboard. His Space Runner was travelling at just under fifty thousand miles per hour.
