In this New York Times bestselling novel the moon base commander has gone missing and Dash Gibson is on the case. The second mind-boggling mystery of the Moon Base Alpha series from beloved author Stuart Gibbs. There’s nowhere to hide on the world’s first moon base. After all, it’s only the size of a soccer field. So when Nina Stack, the commander of Moon Base Alpha, mysteriously vanishes, the Moonies are at a total loss. Though he may be just twelve years old, Dashiell Gibson is the best detective they’ve got. But this confusing mystery pushes Dash to his limits. Especially since Dash accidentally made contact with an alien and has to keep it a secret. With the fate of the entire human race hanging in the balance, will Dash be able to solve the mystery of the missing Moonie? “Life on the moon can be a drag . . . but it’s never dull.” ― Booklist Online "The book is filled with scientific information, humor, and an appropriate amount of noxious gasses." ― School Library Connection Stuart Gibbs is the author of five New York Times bestselling series: Spy School, FunJungle, Moon Base Alpha, Charlie Thorne, and Once Upon a Tim—as well as the new nonfiction series Spy School Secret Files. He has written screenplays, worked on a whole bunch of animated films, developed TV shows, been a newspaper columnist, and researched capybaras. Stuart lives with his family in Los Angeles. You can learn more about what he’s up to at StuartGibbs.com. Spaced Out EXTRATERRESTRIAL MOVIE NIGHT Earth year 2041 Lunar day 216 Bedtime If I hadn’t made the mistake of showing Star Wars to an alien life form, I never would have ended up fighting Patton Sjoberg with the space toilet. But then, being friends with an alien had been one problem after another. It was far more difficult than I had ever imagined. For starters, there was no end of things I had to explain. Every single aspect of my life was strange and unusual to Zan Perfonic. She wanted to know the reasons for everything I did. But it turns out, there’s not much reason behind half the things we humans do. For example, blessing someone after they sneeze. One day, Zan overheard me do this for my sister, and later she asked why I’d said it. I had to think for a moment before admitting, “I have no idea. It’s just something we humans do. It’s supposed to be good manners.” “Like when you use napkins to blot partially eaten food off your faces?” “Kind of.” “What does ‘bless you’ mean?” “Um . . . that you want good things to happen for someone. I think.” “So every time someone involuntarily blasts snot out of their nose, you humans tell them you want good things to happen to them?” “Er . . . yes.” “Do you say ‘bless you’ for other involuntary actions? Like when someone burps?” “No.” “Or farts?” “Definitely not.” “Why not?” “I guess because farting is considered rude.” “And yet, is also considered funny?” “Not by everyone.” “Your sister seems to think it’s funny.” “Well, she’s six.” “Your father does too. He’s not six.” “Good point.” “So why do some people find involuntary emissions of noxious gases from their rectums funny while other people find it rude?” “I don’t know.” “Do you think it has something to do with the sound?” It went on like that for twenty minutes, with Zan asking me to try to explain everything from whoopee cushions to “pull my finger” until I was mentally exhausted. For this reason, I’d taken to showing Zan movies whenever I could. They made life easier. I’d used them to help explain everything from dinosaurs to World War II to professional sports. I know I sound like a crazy person with all this talking-to-an-alien stuff. Like the kind of lunatic who stumbles through the streets babbling gibberish and wearing a tinfoil hat. But I’m not crazy. My name’s Dashiell Gibson and I’m a totally sane twelve-year-old boy who happens to live on the moon. You’ve probably heard of me. All of us up here are pretty famous, seeing as we’re the first families to colonize someplace that isn’t earth. There’s so much coverage of us down there, you might think you know everything about us. But you don’t. You only know what the government wants you to know. And a lot of that is lies. Like when you hear that Moon Base Alpha is a really amazing, incredible place? Or that we’re all getting along great up here and having the time of our lives? That’s all a big, steaming pile of garbage. Plus, there are things we all keep to ourselves. Like being in contact with aliens from the planet Bosco. Zan’s planet wasn’t really called Bosco. But I couldn’t pronounce its real name. When Zan said it in her native language, it sounded like a bunch of dolphins who’d sucked the helium out of a Macy’s balloon. It was so high-pitched it made my ears hurt. So we went with “Bosco” instead. No one else at MBA knew I was in contact with Zan. I was the only one who could see her. Or hear her. Or speak to her. There was a perfect