Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
The C.I.A. Files
Prof. McMoo’s Timeline of Notable Historical Events
Chapter One: Terror Times Two!
Chapter Two: Hot on the Trail
Chapter Three: Friends, Foes and Fiends
Chapter Four: Olympian Danger
Chapter Five: A Slip of the Dung
Chapter Six: The Games Begin
Chapter Seven: The Ox Factor
Chapter Eight: Wrestling with Disaster
Chapter Nine: Pat Attack
Chapter Ten: The Moo-lympians
Chapter Eleven: A Fighting Chance
Chapter Twelve: Moo-lympic Gold
About the Author
Also by Steve Cole
Copyright
BEEFING UP THE OLYMPICS!
Genius cow Professor McMoo and his trusty sidekicks, Pat and Bo, are star agents of the C.I.A. – short for COWS IN ACTION! They travel through time, fighting evil bulls from the future and keeping history on the right track . . .
When Pat and Bo are cow-napped and taken to ancient Greece, McMoo discovers two ultra-tough ter-moo-nators planning the biggest time-crime EVER. Battling evil ox athletes, strange cow-gods and deadly dung beetles, the C.I.A. must take part in the craziest Olympics in history – and if they can’t win, evil cattle will take over the world . . .
It’s time for action. Cows In Action.
Born in 1971, Steve Cole spent a happy childhood in rural Bedfordshire being loud and aspiring to amuse. He liked books, and so went to the University of East Anglia to read more of them. Later on he started writing them too, with titles ranging from pre-school poetry to Young Adult thrillers (with more TV and film tie-ins than he cares to admit to along the way). In other careers he has been the editor of Noddy magazine, and an editor of fiction and nonfiction book titles for various publishers. He is the author of the hugely successful Astrosaurs, Cows in Action, Astrosaurs Academy and Slime Squad series.
Riddle of the Raptors
The Hatching Horrow
The Seas of Doom
The Mind-Swap Menace
The Skies of Fear
The Space Ghosts
Day of the Dino-Droids
The Terror-Bird Trap
The Planet of Peril
The Star Pirates
The Claws of Christmas
The Sun-Snatchers
Revenge of the Fang
The Carnivore Curse
The Dreams of Dread
The Robot Raiders
The Twist of Time
The Sabre-Tooth Secret
The Forest of Evil
Earth Attack!
The T-Rex Invasion
The Castle of Frankensaur
Destination: Danger!
Contest Carnage!
Terror Underground!
Jungle Horror!
Deadly Drama!
Christmas Crisis!
Volcano Invaders!
Space Kidnap!
The Ter-Moo-nators
The Moo-my’s Curse
The Roman Moo-stery
The Wild West Moo-nster
World War Moo
The Battle for Christmoos
The Pirate Moo-tiny
The Moogic of Merlin
The Victorian Moo-ders
The Moo-lympic Games
First Cows on the Mooon
The Viking Emoo-gency
The Udderly Moo-vellous C.I.A. Joke Book
Slime Squad Vs The Fearsome Fists
Slime Squad Vs The Toxic Teeth
Slime Squad Vs The Cyber Poos
Slime Squad Vs The Supernatural Squid
Slime Squad Vs The Killer Socks
Slime Squad Vs The Last Chance Chicken
Slime Squad Vs The Alligator Army
Slime Squad Vs The Conquering Conks
For older readers:
Z. Rex
Z. Raptor
Z. Apocalypse
THE MOO-LYMPIC GAMES
AN RHCP DIGITAL EBOOK 978 1 448 17484 3
Published in Great Britain by RHCP Digital,
an imprint of Random House Children’s Publishers UK
A Random House Group Company
This ebook edition published 2013
Text copyright © Steve Cole, 2010
Cover illustration © Andy Parker, 2010
Interior illustrations copyright © Woody Fox, 2010
First Published in Great Britain
Red Fox 9781862308848, 2010
The right of Steve Cole to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
This ebook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorized distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author’s and publisher’s rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.
RANDOM HOUSE CHILDREN’S PUBLISHERS UK
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THE RANDOM HOUSE GROUP Limited Reg. No. 954009
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
For the one and only
Woody Fox
Cows from the present – Fighting in the past to protect the future . . .
In the year 2550, after thousands of years of being eaten and milked, cows finally live as equals with humans in their own country of Luckyburger. But a group of evil war-loving bulls – the Fed-up Bull Institute – is not satisfied.
Using time machines and deadly ter-moo-nator agents, the F.B.I. is trying to change Earth’s history. These bulls plan to enslave all humans and put savage cows in charge of the planet. Their actions threaten to plunge all cowkind into cruel and cowardly chaos . . .
The C.I.A. was set up to stop them.
However, the best agents come not from 2550 – but from the present. From a time in the early 21st century, when the first clever cows began to appear. A time when a brainy bull named Angus McMoo invented the first time machine, little realizing he would soon become the F.B.I.’s number one enemy . . .
Security rating: Bravo Moo Zero
Stand-out features: Large white squares on coat, outstanding horns
Character: Scatterbrained, inventive, plucky and keen
Likes: Hot tea, history books, gadgets
Hates: Injustice, suffering, poor-quality tea bags
Ambition: To invent the electric sundial
Security rating: For your cow pies only
Stand-out features: Luminous udder (colour varies)
Character: Tough, cheeky, ready-for-anything rebel
Likes: Fashion, chewing gum, self-defence classes
Hates: Bessie Barmer, the farmer’s wife
Ambition: To run her own martial arts club for farmyard animals
Security rating: Licence to fill (stomach with grass)
Stand-out features: Zigzags on coat
Character: Brave, loyal and practical
Likes: Solving problems, anything Professor McMoo does
Hates: Flies not easily swished by his tail
Ambition: To find a five-leaf clover – and to survive his dangerous missions!
“Nothing ever happens here,” Little Bo Vine grumbled. “I wish we didn’t live on Farmer Barmer’s farm – it’s the most boring place ever!”
“Well, I think it’s nice to have a rest between adventures,” replied her young brother, Pat Vine. “We’re normally up to our necks in danger.”
“Better than being up to my udder in boredom,” Bo retorted. “I haven’t punched anyone in ages.”
Pat frowned. “You punched me yesterday!”
“Yeah, but I didn’t even knock you out,” Bo complained. “I’m losing my touch!”
Pat sighed. He was a light-brown bullock and Bo was a rosy-red milk cow. They were different in so many ways, but were both Emmsy-Squares – a special breed of super-clever cattle. Both Pat and Bo were about a hundred times smarter, braver and tougher than your average cow, which was part of the reason they’d been recruited by an elite squad of time-travelling cattle from the far future, the C.I.A. – better known as the Cows In Action.
The other part of the reason was a certain Professor Angus McMoo . . .
“Pat? Bo?” An imposing, reddy-brown bull burst out of a rickety shed in the next field. “Anything going on? I’m bored stiffer than a concrete ironing board!”
Pat smiled. “Not you too, Professor!”
Neither the professor nor his shed were entirely what they seemed. McMoo looked like an ordinary bull – apart from the glasses he wore – but he was in fact a genius inventor, an expert in history and a lover of fine teas. He had combined all his skills to turn an ordinary cow shed into a super-fantastic Time Shed, an incredible machine that could travel anywhere in the world to any point in time (with a built-in kettle and a stash of tea bags hidden under a haystack).
“Oi, Prof!” called Bo. “If you’re feeling fed up, why don’t you take us on a time-trip somewhere?”
“I’d love to,” McMoo admitted, “but I promised Director Yak we’d be on twenty-four-hour alert to help the C.I.A. with their latest time-crime investigation. Apparently the F.B.I. is up to something very big . . .”
Pat shivered. F.B.I. was short for Fed-up Bull Institute, and its evil time-travelling members were always plotting new ways to rewrite history so that cruel cattle ruled supreme. “Sounds like we should enjoy this break while we can.”
“Enjoy it? No way!” Bo yawned and stretched. “I want to be a Cow In Action again – being a Cow In A Field is pants.”
But even as Bo spoke, a large cloud of black smoke appeared from nowhere, just behind her. Pat stiffened and the hairs on his coat stood on end. He’d seen smoke clouds like that before. They signalled that an F.B.I. time machine was about to materialize – and with it, a deadly F.B.I. agent . . .
“Bo!” McMoo shouted as a towering shadowy figure formed inside the sudden smog.
Bo turned to find a sinister bull-like creature striding towards her. It had glowing steel horns and green eyes that were alive with evil. Gleaming bronze armour covered its white hide. In place of hooves it had huge mechanical claws. T-266 was emblazoned on its chest.