I do know that Albert the Amazing All Zeenods wear protection protection when playing johka on Jhaateez The Jhaateezians however are so agile they avoid injury Unit D handed him one more item New footwear Remember that johka fields on Jhaateez are set in craters of ice Your cleats will allow you to run on the field as normal normal However the icy sides of the crater that surround the field are skateable and your boots have cleats and blades that can emerge or retract on voice command Please practice before we land The fact that johka had evolved with different elements on each of the planets in the Fuigor Solar System was overwhelming especially because some of those elements seemed so dangerous dangerous But this idea of a ring of sloped ice around the field that was actually used in the game just sounded fun Albert had heard from Doz that the last Earthling Star Striker Lightning Lee had enjoyed playing on Jhaateez more than any other planet Following Unit D's directions Albert programmed his boots to respond to his specific voice commands and chose simple words Blade to make the blades emerge cleat for cleats and flat for just the sole And then he put the shoes on and tried out the system while sitting Blade he said Immediately he felt the change He crossed one foot over his other knee to look A blade had extended and the cleats had tucked in Cleat he said and watched as the cleats reemerged and the blade was sucked back in Flat he said and now the cleats sucked in and the bottom of the shoe was flat So cool He wished his shoes on Earth could transform on command He tried it standing up Blade Cleat Flat Blade Cleat Flat With each change he wobbled a little but he figured he'd get used to it As Unit D rambled on about the evolution of johka on Jhaateez Albert tuned out the lecture and thought about his skating skills 4
Over the years his grandmother had given him and his sister Erin ice skates and in line skates in their changing shoe sizes as birthday birthday gifts Every kid should have skates Nana had said And when she visited she would take them roller skating in the summer and ice skating in the winter According to Nana his dad had loved to skate but Albert couldn't remember that All through elementary school Albert and Erin had hosted their birthday parties at the roller rink But after fifth grade he had insisted he had outgrown it Now the thought of being able to switch to skating mode while playing soccer sounded like an exciting challenge Do you have any questions Albert looked up What No. I'm I think I'm good You are good Albert the Amazing I am honored to serve you Prepare for landing Wait Albert said Can I see my medal one more time Albert had wanted to bring home the gold medal from the first game and had promised to keep it a secret from everyone but had learned that the only item from the Fuigor Solar System that he had permission to take to Earth was the communication device known as his Z da Unit D unlocked the safe and Albert pulled the medal out and stared at it The word triumph flashed morphing into translations of the word in the different languages of the Fuigor Solar System System Albert held the solid gold disk in his hands grinning at the weight of it and then reluctantly handed it back The robot tapped the windows lifting the blackout screens and a dazzling scene leaped into view Albert's first flyover of Jhaateez the vast number of icy craters and dunes the frozen rivers and dark green forests and then the cities sparkling as if made with a mosaic of mirrors 5
Down there in the capital they were all waiting to greet him his teammates the officials the reporters and photographers and the presidents of both Jhaateez and Zeeno Albert pressed his nose against the cold glass and exhaled In the white fog that formed from his breath he wrote Albert the Amazing is here And then a chill rippled through him He had been so excited to return and train with his friends he had momentarily forgotten forgotten about the stakes The last time he had played johka someone had tried to kill him and hurt whoever else on the field had been close to him Someone had even tried to kill Tackle Loyal Tackle best dog in the universe Whoever wanted him dead was still out there maybe even waiting to strike again 1.1 Nose to the ground Tackle sniffed along the fence between the Patterson Patterson house and the Kinney house The earth was moist and the noon air still carried a hint of the wet chill from last night's steady rain The sun It had been hiding out like a coward all morning Worms and mushrooms were squirming or popping up all over the yard As a dog 6
it was Tackle's job to thoroughly sniff each and every one Couldn't be too careful Not with Albert off to Jhaateez practice to with the Zeenods Zeenods Some kind of new threat was likely and it could be anywhere The dog stopped and pushed his nose between the slats of the fence and sniffed the air near the Kinneys driveway He wished he could just live over there with Albert What a thought for a dog to have The Pattersons were nice enough He used to be happy being a part of their family But things were different now While Trey Patterson had changed and wasn't interested in his old dog anymore Albert needed him and appreciated him Thanks to the language translation implant Albert had received Albert could also understand him A car drove by and Tackle stood still watching until it turned the corner He had begged to see the new planet with Albert today the first day of training for game two He didn't trust the new chaperone with that out of the package smell but he understood why Albert had wanted him to stay home Albert could expect to have practices three times a week before the next big game in January If Tackle attended them all it would be too hard to coordinate and keep so many absences a secret And Albert had made another good point Tackle was needed here to be on guard to be on the lookout for spybots or poisons or anything that smelled or sounded or looked suspicious And those aliens could be clever That spy robot he had finally destroyed back in October That had looked like a squirrel and had fooled Whump whump Tackle's ears pricked A sound from the north He raced to the front corner of the fenced yard The double whump sounded like a sizeable truck rolling over the speed bump on Iris Avenue the street perpendicular perpendicular to theirs Sure enough a few seconds later a brown delivery truck appeared at the intersection of Iris and Oak and turned his way The truck slowed to a stop in front of the Pattersons house 7
