National Geographic Kids USA – September 2019

SCOTT PLUMBE (MAIN ILLUSTRATION); ДМИТРИЙ УДОВИЧЕНКО / DREAMSTIME.

26 NAT GEO KIDS^ • SEPTEMBER 2019 (BOOK PAGE BACKGROUND); ANTONIO JAVIER CAPARO (BOOK COVER ART)

In this excerpt from

Explorer Academy:

The Double Helix,

Cruz and his classmates

are attending a party.

The CAVE, or Computer

Animated Virtual

Experience simulator,

has virtually morphed

their ordinary-looking

classrooms on the ship

into a haunted house.

A blindfolded Cruz is

playing a game in which

he must identify virtual

but touchable (also called

holo-thermal) versions

of everyday objects using

only his hands. He’s all alone

in the game room ... or is he?

FROM

THE

PAGES

OF

Explorer^ Academ

y

student^ Cruz^

Coronado^ is^ on^ a^

globe-trotting^ m

ission^

aboard^ the^ ship^ O

rion.^

A^ shady^ company

called^ Nebula^ ha

s

been^ tracking^ th

e

12 - year-old^ to^ st

eal^ a^

formula^ develop

ed^ by^

his^ dead^ mother—

and^

they’ll^ do^ anything

to^

get^ it^ from^ him.

BY TRUDI TRUEIT

C

ruz dipped his fingertips into the box until he felt something soft. Cold. Squishy.

He slid his hand along the slimy surface, just to be sure, then closed the top.

“Spaghetti noodles,” he said clearly.

He waited. Would something pop up to tell him if he was right or wrong?

Hm. The instructions had said if he was right he would get to continue, so either the box

would open again for him or it wouldn’t, right?

Cruz reached for the lid. It opened. He put his hand inside.

“Candy corn.”