Dogs in Space!: Astro's Adventures

By Susan Day

Come on! How hard can it be to find a replacement for the moon? Just head into space with a Moon Detector and it should be easy, surely? Well, maybe not for our heroes. They are after all dogs and prone to, well, shall we say, ‘little’ accidents. For example, knocking the spaceship off course; heading directly into the sun, being attacked by aliens... eating all the food supplies in the first hour!
And there’s more!
Down on planet Earth things are going well either. Speed Bump Charlie, the most wicked cat in all the world, has hatched a plot so extreme and so heinous it cannot be recorded here. If you have read the other books in this series you’ll know that he does not like dogs. They spoil his freedom by chasing him up trees and they get far too much attention from their owners. Worse still they leave slobber in his food bowl. This time Speed Bump Charlie and his side kick, Furball, think they have the best device in the world that will rid the world of dogs forever!
Can Astro and the gang really find a replacement for the moon? Can Speed Bump Charlie use his ingenious device to lure every dog in the world to their doom? And can, Alfie really ‘blow’ the spaceship back on course?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Susan Day
• Release date: Jan 12, 2015
• ISBN: 9781311161819

Susan Day

Susan is an author, canine behaviourist, and a storyteller. She lives with her family and dogs, in particular, Rocky the Border collie and Stella, the blind dog. She spends her time blogging, writing and illustrating; training and counselling dogs and being bossed around by the family cat, Speed Bump Charlie and his sidekick, Furball (see Dogs in Space). Susan travelled around the world twice before she was seven years old. It seemed only fitting that the wonderful events she experienced and the places she visited on these journeys be recorded for history. Thus, her story telling skills began. Firstly, to Rupert Bear, her lifelong companion, and then to a host of imaginary friends and finally to her pet dog once the family finally set down roots in Australia. Susan is passionate about children's literature and wants to inspire children to be better people and encourage them to follow their dreams. She runs workshops for children teaching them how to form the wonders of their imaginations into stories. Susan lives in a small country town where there are more kangaroos than people. She shares her country property with four dogs, three cats, three rescue guinea pigs and a very large fish and her patient husband. More about her adventures are reflected in Clarence the Snake from Dunolly.

Book preview

Astro’s Adventures: Dogs in Space

by

Susan Day

SMASHWORDS EDITION

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PUBLISHED BY:

Susan Day on Smashwords

Astro’s Adventures: Dogs in Space

by

Copyright © 2015 by Susan Day

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Astro’s Adventures: Dogs in Space

DEDICATION

This book is dedicated to all the dogs of the world that don’t have a warm bed to curl up in,

toys to play with or a cat to chase. Proceeds from the sale of this book will go to rescue shelters to help you all.

Dogs in Space

Chapter 1

Floating in the middle of the ocean was an old alley cat. He was struggling to free himself from the seaweed that bound his paws. He squirmed and twisted until the seaweed loosened. Then he pulled his front paws free one at a time. After that it didn’t take long to free his back paws. He bobbed up and down in the water for a while. He looked up at the sky and checked his location on the GPS tracking system built into his watch.

This is the spot, he said confidently and took a deep breath. He dove into the water and swam deep into the sea.

Just as he had guessed Neptune, the great god of all the oceans and the seas, had forgotten all about his chariot. It didn’t take long before Speed Bump Charlie spotted it lying on the seabed. He glanced around quickly to see if there were any nasty creatures lurking nearby. There were no sharks, stingrays, bloat fish or pirate catfish.

Phew! The coast is clear. How lovely! he cried. I knew that silly god was more interested in getting his Trident back than his chariot. Also, he’s forgotten how I tricked him into bringing this lovely treasure to me in the first place. I nearly got control of the Trident and all the oceans and seas but that was until those pesky dogs spoilt my fun. Still, here is the chariot and it has all this fabulous treasure piled inside it. Neptune has forgotten all about it. He can keep his Trident and his stinky oceans. The treasure is now mine, all mine!

Speed Bump Charlie threw his head back and laughed.

He grabbed the reins and began to drag the heavy chariot. His destination – the coast of Australia.

Shouldn’t take long at this rate, Speed Bump huffed as he dragged the chariot over rocks and coral. According to my watch it’s only about 4,695 miles.

Speed Bump Charlie strained against the reins and pulled hard. His toes dug into the sand but he chuckled to himself. Imagine what I could do with all this treasure! The robots I could build; the mayhem I could wreak and the dogs I could destroy! Now, that’s a thought, the old cat stopped and scratched his chin. I just need that stupid Astro and his pesky friends to be so far away they don’t cause me any trouble at all. Be nice if they were on the Moon! He laughed at the idea and continued with his journey.

Meanwhile, in another part of the ocean, Astro and the team were feeling very pleased with themselves. They had managed to find Neptune’s Trident and return it to the great god himself. Now, they were on their way home for a well-earned rest. Unfortunately, the ocean liner they had been sailing on had been destroyed by a meteor shower and now they were bobbing up and down in a lifeboat.

All the dogs belonged to The Organisation. It was a special group that saved dogs from neglect. Their job was to find dogs left in backyards or tied on chains and set them free. Then they helped find new homes with caring owners. Once they saved all the dogs from an animal shelter called the Check Out. It is a terrible place where all manner of poor creatures are sent and never returned.

Suddenly, Commander Rocky, head of The Organisation, received a signal from headquarters. It had been sent to his microchip. Microchips had been implanted in dogs by humans so they could easily find them if they were lost. The Organisation had cleverly reprogrammed them so they could communicate with any dog anywhere in the world. It was genius!

Sir? the voice from headquarters called. Did you understand the message? It was Dotty, a young Dalmatian who was in charge of the Communications Room.

Can you repeat it? Commander Rocky couldn’t believe his ears.

NASA wants The Organisation to find a replacement for the Moon. They are saying it’s our fault it was destroyed, well, sort of. They said without the Moon there will be no tides. If there are no tides there’ll be no fish and no beaches. It could mean the end of the natural world!

Astro looked up at his Commander and then at the rest of the dogs. The Moon? What happened to the Moon?

It’s been destroyed by three large explosions, Commander Rocky explained.

How is that our fault? Alfie protested.

Yeah, Digger agreed. We’ve been under the water searching for Neptune’s Trident for a long time.

And battling sharks, octopuses and other cool creatures, Indy nodded her head remembering the fun she had play-fighting a sword fish.

I bet I know, said Stella D’oro quietly. She looked up at the rest of the dogs. Do you remember when Speed Bump Charlie was trying to find out how the Trident worked and he zapped three lightning bolts straight up into the air?

Yeah! That was just before he tried to turn me into toast! Astro rubbed his paw where the wicked cat had singed the hair on his toes.

Stella nodded and continued. Neptune’s Trident is very powerful. I bet that it was those three lightning bolts that destroyed the Moon.

And NASA wants us to fix it? asked Astro.

But how are we going to replace the Moon?!! We’re just a bunch of dogs! This is crazy! Commander Rocky snorted.

The voice from Commander Rocky’s microchip said, They haven’t given us any more details but NASA has a spaceship waiting for you at Cape Canaveral.

Commander Rocky shook his head and let out a long sigh.

Turn the lifeboat around, Indy, he ordered, Looks like we’re going into space!

Chapter 2

Speed Bump Charlie was small as far as cats go. He was old too. No one was quite sure how old he was but there