Chapter 1 A Winter Thrill

  “The current temperature is thirty degrees,” Gabe said as he finished his calculations.

  “Tir-ty!” squealed his little sister, Juanita.

  “Wind is at perfect velocity,” Gabe added.

  “City! City!” repeated Juanita as her winter hat slipped down over her face.

  “Not city. Ve-lo-ci-ty.” Gabe smiled and helped her lift her hat. “Velocity means the speed and direction of an object.”

  “Gabe, she’s only two,” Laura said. “Don’t you think she’s a little young for a physics lesson?”

  “It’s never too early to learn,” Gabe declared.

  Fluffy white snow blanketed all of Newtonburg. Gabe, Olive, Cesar, and Laura were enjoying a rare snow day in Gabe’s backyard. The four whiz kids were eager to test Laura’s new sled that she designed. They weren’t known as the DATA Set for nothing, after all.

  “Did your mom really let you babysit Juanita?” asked Olive.

  “Nah,” admitted Gabe. “She’s watching by the window, but she thinks we can’t see her.”

  “That tracks,” said Cesar. “At least we get an extra cool test driver.”

  “Extra! Extra!” shouted Juanita.

  “Okay, we are all set!” said Olive.

  She proudly presented two snow mounds she had just finished building.

  “This little one is the Cricket,” Olive explained. “It’s the perfect slope for Juanita, so she goes fast, but not too fast. And this slope is the Brain Scrambler. It’s SUPER fast.”

  “Let’s do this!” cheered the friends.

  Juanita was up first. Gabe gave her a gentle push down the small hill.

  “Weeeeeeee!” cried Juanita. “Again, again!”

  “Sorry, little Cricket.” Cesar straightened his crooked glasses. “But it’s time to get scrambled. And I’m not talking about eggs.”

  Cesar carried Laura’s sled up to the very top of the Brain Scrambler. He took a deep breath and pushed off.

  “SCRAMBLE!” he shouted.

  The DATA Set’s eyes grew wide as Cesar sailed through the air for a long time before crashing back down to the soft snow.

  KA-BOOM!

  “Oh no!” exclaimed Laura. “Did my sled explode—with Cesar ON it?!”

  Olive and Laura hurried to check on their friend.

  From underneath the snow, Cesar popped up with a huge grin. “That—was—EPIC!”

  “What was that loud explosion?” asked Olive.

  Cesar shrugged. “Wasn’t me. My brain may be scrambled, but it didn’t blow up. Oh, we should build a hill called the BRAIN EXPLODER!”

  Gabe climbed to the top of the the Brain Scrambler and pointed. “I think I found our answer.”

  Chapter 2 Snowball 2

  A small cloud of smoke hung over the teetering old Victorian house that loomed at the end of the street. It was the home of their slightly mad scientist friend, Dr. Gustav Bunsen.

  After dropping Juanita off with Gabe’s mom, the DATA Set rushed over to Bunsen’s house and hurried to his secret laboratory.

  “Dr. B., are you okay?” Laura called.

  Dr. Bunsen popped out from behind an unusual-looking invention. It looked like a large metal ring with a picture of a snowy cave scene inside. The doctor wore full winter gear. His hair was its usual messy orange mop.

  “Ah! Just the fearless foursome I was hoping to see!” he exclaimed.

  “We heard an explosion,” Laura said. “Is everything okay?”

  “Oh yes, quite all right,” the doctor assured them. Though the DATA Set knew that Dr. B. had a different definition of “all right” than most scientists. A T. rex could be thundering toward him and Bunsen would joyfully count its teeth.

  “Did the boom come from this thing?” Olive asked.

  The DATA Set gathered around it curiously.

  “Indeed! It was just a slight malfunction with my Habitat Breakaway 4000.” Bunsen pointed to his invention. “Behold! A door to different environments all over the world!”

  The friends watched in amazement as the winter scene inside the ring switched to an image of a desert, then a rain forest.

  “Cool!” Cesar said. “I bet you could see all kinds of animals through this… uh… spying thing?”

  “It looks more like a portal,” Gabe said.

  “You’re both correct,” said the doctor. “I’ve been sending my Bunsen Buddy Bots to study animals all over the world. But one of them just came back with a very strange message.”

  Suddenly, a robot penguin waddled out from behind the doctor. It was just a little taller than a regular penguin, with a metal body and blinking laser-red eyes. It also had a small screen that flashed messages across its tummy.

  HELLO! HELLO! it read.

  “Awwww!” cooed Laura.

  “Meet Snowball 2,” Dr. Bunsen said proudly. “My Antarctic explorer. Each Bunsen Buddy Bot is designed to blend in with the local creatures.”

  Snowball 2 waved hello with its metal flipper. Its tummy message changed from HELLO! TO HELP! HELP! HELP!

  “That doesn’t look good,” Laura said. “Does it need an oil change?”

  “Actually, that’s the strange message I was talking about,” Dr. Bunsen admitted. “Snowball 2 has been flashing it ever since returning from Antarctica. But I’m not quite sure why.”

  Gabe leaned down to inspect the robot more closely. “Can’t you just ask?”

  Dr. B shook his head. “It has limited language function so it can blend better in with the real penguins. At least, better than… the one before.”

  “The one before?” Olive asked.

  “Oh, nothing!” The doctor quickly looked away. “Anyways, I’ll have to upload Snowball 2’s data to my computer to understand what it needs. It may take a few hours.”

  “We can help,” Gabe offered.

  The penguin flashed an angry face on its tummy. NO TIME.

  Suddenly, Snowball 2 reached out a mechanical flipper and zapped the Habitat Breakaway. It was now a scene of an icy cave. Without warning, Snowball 2 hugged Gabe and hopped into the portal. A second later, the winter scene changed to a tropical beach.

  The DATA Set gasped. Gabe and Snowball 2 were gone!

  Chapter 3 March of the DATA Set!

  “No way!” exclaimed Cesar, pulling at his hair. “Gabe’s been penguin-napped!”

  “Dr. B., we have to go after him!” cried Laura.

  “Right!” exclaimed the doctor. He picked up a controller and gave the Habitat Breakaway 4000 a good zap. The invention flipped through a few scenes before landing on a quiet, snowy landscape.

  “That doesn’t look like the same snow cave from earlier,” Olive said.

  “Are you sure?” the doctor asked. “Surely it can’t be too far off.”

  “Isn’t Antarctica more than five million square miles?” Cesar asked. “I remember that from my book report.”

  “Indeed,” Dr. B. said brightly. “We’d better hurry along.”

  Luckily, the Data Set was already dressed for the journey. Snug in their winter gear, they took a step forward.

  “One step for the DATA Set. One giant leap across the world!” Dr. B said. “Now, focus very clearly on stepping through the portal. All together now, quickly!”

  The kids took a deep breath. “One… two… three… JUMP!”

  They hopped into the wintry scene but didn’t arrive there in a single leap. Instead, they fell through a dizzying tunnel of flashing colors and lights.

  “My brain is getting scrambled again!” Cesar cried.

  Almost as soon as it had started, the spinning stopped. They landed in a heap of fluffy snow.

  “Now that’s what I want my sled to feel like!” Laura exclaimed. She scooped out the snow that had gathered in her hood.

  Next to her, Olive shivered. “It’s so c-c-c-cold. I don’t think our snowsuits are meant for Antarctica.”

  Cesar popped out of a snow mound. “It’s like living in an ice cream f-f-f-freezer!”

  “Never fear!” Dr. Bunsen reached into his pocket and revealed four snowflake-shaped pins. “Put these on your coats and you’ll feel as toasty as, well, toast.”

  With shaking hands, they clipped the pins to their jackets. Instantly, a pleasant warmth spread throughout their snowsuits. It was like wearing their own personal heaters.

  “That’s better,” Olive sighed, feeling cozier. “But what about Gabe? I don’t see him anywhere.”

  “And I don’t see footprints,” Laura observed.

  But Dr. B. didn’t look worried. “Snowball 2 is equipped with a spare snowflake pin,” Dr. B said. “I am perfectly sure Gabe is in great hands. I mean, flippers.”

  Determined, Dr. Bunsen pulled out his controller and adjusted a few knobs. It began beeping loudly.

  “Huzzah!” the doctor exclaimed. “The Bunsen Buddy Bot tracker has picked up their signal.”

  “Is it…,” Cesar gulped, thinking of the continent’s giant size, “… five million miles away?”

  “Only half a mile!” cheered the doctor. “This way!”

  The friends squinted out over the blinding white landscape. A flock of penguins marched single file over a frozen hill.

  “Penguins!” Olive exclaimed. “Maybe Snowball 2 took Gabe to where the penguins are going.”

  “Fantastic observation, Olive!” cried the doctor. “Explorers—march on!”

  Chapter 4 Follow That Penguin

  Head still spinning from the portal, Gabe sat u p slowly.

  “Ugh… where am I?” he muttered. It was dark all around him… except for a red laser shining in his face.

  “Whoa!” Gabe jumped back, bumping into a snowy wall.

  The red light blinked, then backed away. Gabe breathed a sigh of relief. It was just Snowball 2’s laser eye. The penguin had extended it to study Gabe where he sat.

  They were inside an icy cave.

  Gabe hugged himself. “It’s freezing in here! How are you able to function at such a low temperature?”

  Then he realized he wasn’t actually that cold at all. “Okay, now I’m freaking out. Why am I so warm?”

  A mechanical clicking echoed in the cave as Snowball 2 approached Gabe. With a flipper, it tapped on something attached to the front of Gabe’s coat. There was a snowflake-shaped pin Gabe had never seen before.

  PIN. PIN. PIN. The words flashed across Snowball 2’s belly. WARM. WARM. WARM.

  Gabe frowned. “You mean, this tiny pin is keeping me warm? Whoa! Sounds like one of Dr. B’s genius inventions.” He stood and looked around at the emptiness of the cave. “But how come you brought me through the portal?”

  A familiar message flashed across Snowball 2’s belly in the dark. HELP! HELP! HELP!

  “How?” Gabe asked. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m not from Antarctica. I don’t even know if I’ve ever tried speaking to a penguin before.”

  Snowball 2 didn’t answer. Instead, it began to waddle deeper into the cave. Gabe followed close by, surprised at how beautiful the snowy cave turned out to be.

  They passed by rooms made of ice with icicles forming decorations on the walls. Tiny, frozen snowflakes hovered in the air. It was the closest thing to a winter wonderland that Gabe had ever seen. It was like art.

  “Whoa,” Gabe marveled. “You can’t find this in Newtonburg, that’s for sure. Snowball 2, is this what you need help with? Making… ice art?”

  The penguin only sped up its pace down the long tunnel. Before long, they reached a fork in their path.

  “Which way?” Gabe asked. “Left? Or right?”

  Instead of turning any which way, Snowball 2’s flipper feet suddenly retracted inside its body. Two penguin-sized skis popped out in their place. The screen on its belly became a large flashlight.

  Snowball 2 leaned its body forward and slid down the icy tunnel on the right.

  “Wait!” Gabe cried. “You’re taking all the light with you!”

  Gabe followed the Bunsen Buddy Bot deeper into the cave.

  Chapter 5 Arctic Attack!

  “Look at them,” Olive marveled. “There are so many!”

  The DATA Set crouched behind a snowdrift, observing the huge crowd of penguins. The birds squawked and waddled. It was a giant penguin party!

  “Those are emperor penguins,” Cesar explained. “This must be their nesting site.” He pointed to a group of smaller, soft-gray penguins. “Oh, and those are the babies!”

  “This is all really cute, but I still don’t see Gabe,” said Laura. “Or Snowball 2.”

  Doctor Bunsen flicked his controller. “These readings are very odd. See how the tracker keeps disappearing? Wait—it’s coming closer now!”

  Olive looked over Dr. B.’s shoulder and frowned. “Uh—isn’t it coming in fast?”

  The friends watched the blinking red light approach faster than any penguin could waddle.

  “I don’t think that’s Snowball 2…,” Cesar said slowly.

  The team looked up. The beeping became faster just as a huge creature with massive paws appeared on the hilltop!

  Laura gasped. “Is that… a polar bear? In Antarctica?!”

  “It can’t be,” Olive said. “Polar bears live up north in the Arctic. Not Antarctica.”

  Squawk! Squawk! Squawk!

  The penguins rushed around in alarm as the polar bear thundered forward.

  “It’s going to crash into them!” cried Olive.

  But to their surprise, the giant creature wasn’t heading for the penguins. It was heading straight for the DATA Set!

  “RUN!” cried Cesar.

  Cesar, Laura, and Olive scrambled to their feet, slipping in the snow. But Bunsen ran straight toward the bear!

  “Dr. B., wait!” shouted Cesar. “You’ll get polar pounced!”

  The doctor and the bear both skidded to a sudden stop, staring into each other’s eyes.

  “He’s a goner!” moaned Olive.

  Then something odd happened. The polar bear nuzzled Dr. B.! Dr. B laughed and nuzzled it back.

  “Whaaaaa—?” The friends carefully made their way over.

  “Could someone please explain what’s going on?” Laura asked.

  The doctor joyfully scratched behind the bear’s ears. “DATA Set, meet Snowball 1!”

  “Snowball 1?” they repeated.

  Suddenly, the bear blinked and had laser eyes, just like Snowball 2.

  “But why is Snowball 1 a polar bear?” Laura asked, confused. “Aren’t your Bunsen Buddy Bots supposed to blend in?”

  “Ah, well, a slight mix-up was bound to happen.” Bunsen shrugged. “I have so many Bunsen Bots out and about. And you know how it is. Arctic. Antarctic. North. South. After a while, it all seems the same.”

  “Ooooookay…,” said Cesar.

  “I tried to bring it home,” Dr. Bunsen continued. “But Snowball 1’s beacon stopped responding. So I sent Snowball 2 in to find it.” The doctor fiddled with a panel on the polar bear’s back. “Aha! Just as I suspected. A piece of ice is lodged in the controls. This should do it!”

  The doctor pulled a sharp icicle from the panel on Snowball 1’s back. Instantly, its tracking signal beeped loud and clear.

  Squawk! Squawk! The penguins angrily flapped their wings at the noise.

  “You haven’t seen Snowball 2, have you?” Laura asked the bear. “Or maybe our friend Gabe?”

  “He’s just about my height, dark hair, super smart?” Cesar added.

  As if in response, Snowball 1 began plodding away in the snow.

  “It looks like Snowball 1 knows the answer,” Dr. Bunsen said. “Follow that adorable bear!”

  Chapter 6 Penguin Peril

  Gabe shielded his eyes as white light shone ahead. He had been following Snowball 2 through the cave tunnels for what seemed like forever.

  “Oh good,” he said in relief as his eyes adjusted to the light. “It’s the entrance. If we get out, maybe we can figure out a way to call for help.”

  Gabe took a step—and suddenly realized there was no snow beneath his foot!

  “Whoa!” he shouted.

  Snowball 2’s flippers reached out and pulled him back.

  “Thanks, buddy,” Gabe said, then looked down. Between him and the cave entrance was a giant trench in the snow. It looked like a valley between two steep slopes.

  “It’s a good thing we didn’t slip in,” Gabe said. “I wouldn’t be able to climb back out. How do we get across?”

  But Snowball 2 only flashed its help signal once again. That’s when Gabe heard faint squawks coming from below. Carefully, he looked over the edge of the ditch… and saw eight baby penguins trapped at the bottom!

  “Oh no!” he exclaimed. “They’re stuck! That must be why you needed us!” Gabe said. “How did they even get there?”

  Snowball 2 flashed a new message across its belly. ROAR. ROAR. ROAR.

  “You… want me to roar?” Gabe asked. “Won’t that just scare them? Um… okay.” Standing tall, Gabe roared as loudly as he could.

  Down below, the penguins all squawked in surprise. Then an unsettling cracking noise echoed in the cavern.

  TROUBLE! TROUBLE! flashed the penguin’s belly.

  Snowball 2 zipped behind Gabe, extended its flippers to wrap them around Gabe, and then pushed off. Together, they slid down the slope right toward the baby penguins.

 

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