Sean crouched down and pulled red jackets from a box beneath the balloon's burner. He handed one to each person. They looked like puffier versions of ordinary life jackets. Nicola tugged hers over her head and tied the straps around her waist.
The others were crouching around the edges of the basket with their heads bowed against the rain and the wind.
She wedged herself between Greta and Sean.
Greta leaned over and spoke into Nicola's ear. 'I've always found you pretty annoying, Nicola.'
'What?' Nicola wasn't sure if she'd heard right.
'You know, the notice said to tell people how you really feel.'
Nicola couldn't respond because suddenly the wind grew so strong it was difficult to breathe. The basket jerked back and forth, swooped up in an arc, plummeted down and then soared back up again. Without thinking, Nicola reached for the hands of Sean and Greta. Both of them grabbed at her hands and held on tight. She looked up briefly and saw that all the Space Brigade were holding hands, their foreheads pressed against their knees, a huddled, terrified circle on the floor of the basket. Nicola pressed her face back down against her knees as well.
The howling of the wind sounded horrible. A whooooohooooo-ooooo sound like a ghost screaming.
Or was it Shimlara screaming?
Or was it herself screaming?
Or was it all of them screaming?
And then the balloon turned into a merry-go-round on fast-forward. Round and round and round it went, faster and faster and faster.
Nicola opened her eyes and saw the side of a mountain looming impossibly high above them like the side of a ship.
She heard Sean say, 'Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.'
Sean's and Greta's hands were torn from her grasp.
The basket flipped upside down, tipping out the Space Brigade like marbles from a jar and sending them plunging thousands of feet to the mountain below.
29
Once again, Nicola's arms and legs flailed as she plummeted through the air, only this time she wasn't going to land in an icy river. This time she was going to land face-first on that icy, snow-covered mountain rushing up to meet her. This time there was no way she could survive (and by the way, how dare Greta say she was annoying? Now she would never have the chance to answer her back!). This time her nose was probably going to be smashed to smithereens, which would presumably be EXTREMELY painful. This time -
KERPOW!
Before any part of Nicola actually hit the ground, something exploded all around her. Something huge and rubbery and damp-smelling.
She held her breath, waiting for the terrible pain.
Which part of her was hurt or broken?
No part, as far as she could tell . . .
She was fine. She was alive!
I just survived a fall from a hot-air balloon.
Nicola took a shaky breath.
I JUST SURVIVED A FALL FROM A HOT-AIR BALLOON! It was unbelievable.
Her whole face had been scrunched up tight in preparation for hitting the ground. Slowly, carefully, she unscrunched it and opened her eyes.
Her bubble-jacket had been transformed into a gigantic round rubber ball from which only her head protruded like a tortoise. The ball was rolling backwards and forwards on the spot. She tried to move her arms and legs and found that she was trapped within the ball, exactly as the notice had said she would be. Well, she couldn't complain. The bubble-jacket had done its job and saved her life.
She looked up and saw she'd landed underneath some sort of rocky ledge that protected her from the hurricane. She could hear the wind still howling and the rain pounding. She wondered where the others had landed. Were they all safe? Had all their bubble-jackets worked? She hoped Shimlara had put hers on properly. Sometimes she could be a bit slap-dash with that sort of thing.
Her nose was itchy and because her arms were trapped she couldn't scratch it. She tried to drop her face forward to rub it on the edge of the ball, but she couldn't bend her neck far enough.
Well, it was only an itchy nose. She could cope with an itchy nose.
Oh, but this was unbearable.
She twitched her nose and shook her head.
It was excruciating. It was worse than the Biter wound on her arm (which was now aching quite painfully thanks to all the smashing about in the hot-air balloon). If she didn't scratch her nose within the next five seconds she would explode.
Her rubber ball rolled forward. Nicola glanced down and forgot all about her itchy nose.
Oh . . . my . . . goodness.
The ball rolled back again and Nicola wondered if she'd imagined what she'd just seen. She wished her hands were free so she could rub her eyes. She blinked and shook her head to clear it. Surely not. It couldn't be possible. I could not be that unlucky.
The ball rolled forward again.
Nicola looked down. She heard herself make a strange squeaky sound like a mouse being suffocated.
She hadn't imagined it.
She had landed on a rocky shelf on the side of the Cloud-Capped Mountain. Directly beneath her was a view.
In fact it was quite an impressive view of the planet of Shobble. She could see oceans and mountains and tiny doll's-house-sized villages. But views should be enjoyed from safe, comfy spots: like a window seat in an airplane, or while eating dinner in a revolving restaurant or taking photos from the top of the Eiffel Tower. Nicola could think of a million more suitable ways to enjoy a view rather than being encased in a huge plastic ball that kept rolling to a stop inches away from the side of a mountain top.
'Nicola! You're on the edge of a cliff!'
It was Sean's voice. Nicola was filled with relief. At the same time she was a bit irritated. Talk about stating the obvious.
She craned her neck with difficulty in the direction of his voice and saw that Greta, Tyler and Sean had all landed close together under a clump of trees a safe distance back from the cliff. All their bubble-jackets had inflated. There was no sign of Shimlara.
Nicola's ball rolled back under the ledge. Safe.
Then it rolled forward again. Not safe. Not safe at all.
Safe. Not safe. Safe. Not safe.
Each time the ball teetered on the edge of the cliff Nicola held her breath. Then she let it out in a whoosh each time it rolled back under the ledge. She was starting to feel dizzy. Could this go on forever?
Tyler's voice came faintly across the mountain. 'Don't worry, Nicola! We're working on a solution!'
Well, that was comforting. Maybe they'd worked out a way to get themselves out of their bubble-jackets.
'Actually, we've got NO IDEA what to do!' That was Greta.
Nicola could just imagine what was happening now. Sean and Tyler were saying, 'Why did you say that?' and Greta was looking stubborn and saying something like, 'Well, I don't see any point in giving her false hope.'
Safe. Not safe. Safe. Not safe.
'You may as well just give up.'
I know. It's not like anyone is just going to turn up. I mean who would take a stroll in a hurricane?
'It's all over. Just accept it.'
Well, that's maybe a bit overdramatic.
'ACHOO!'
'Bless you!'
Nicola realised with a start that she hadn't actually been having that rather depressing conversation in her own head with herself. There was a real person somewhere nearby!
She twisted her head around in the direction of the voice. It was a girl speaking. A girl with a blocked-up nose. 'All that work has been for nothing. NOTHING! Achoo! I may as well have just stayed in bed! Achoo! Everything is just pointless and stupid and I can't stop sneezing! Achoo! Achoo! Achoo!'
Finally Nicola saw someone just over her left shoulder.
Obviously this girl wasn't afraid of heights because she was sitting right on the edge of the cliff, her legs dangling, sneezing into a huge hanky. She was wearing only a plain sleeveless tunic that left her thin white arms and legs bare. Her head was uncovered and her hair was a
sodden mess. It made Nicola shiver just looking at her. She found herself thinking in her mother's voice, For heaven's sake! You're going to catch pneumonia dressed like that!
'Um, excuse me?' called out Nicola.
The girl blew her nose hard and continued talking angrily to herself. 'I may as well just move off this stupid planet and find somewhere else to live. I'll go spend a year backpacking around Earth! Achoo! I may as well. Nobody - achoo! - appreciates - achoo! - me anyway!'
Nicola's ball rolled forward again and this time it seemed like it would roll over for sure. Could her bubble-jacket protect her twice? It seemed unlikely. She panicked.
'EXCUSE ME! I THINK I REALLY NEED YOUR HELP OUT OF THIS THING!'
The girl looked up suddenly.
'Oh!' she said. 'I didn't see you there. Sorry. Did you come over on one of those hot-air balloons? They've really got to stop flying during hurricanes.'
She blew her nose one more time and stood up. 'Here. Let me help you.' As she walked towards Nicola she gave her a friendly sort of grimace. 'I guess you're not having a great day either.'
'Not really,' admitted Nicola.
The girl had that characteristic round rosy Shobbling face, snub freckled nose and round blue eyes, but there was something else familiar about her. It couldn't be her, could it? After all this time? Standing right here in front of her, shivering and sniffing?
'I'm Topaz,' said the girl. 'Topaz Silverbell.'
30
Topaz looked at Nicola expectantly, waiting for her to introduce herself.
'Well, hi there!' said Nicola brightly. 'Am I glad to see you! At first I thought I was talking to myself!'
Oh, dear, Nicola thought. I'm babbling. But if Topaz thought that Nicola had been sent to kill her, wasn't there a chance she might just push Nicola off the cliff as soon as she said her name?
Topaz raised an eyebrow. 'And you are . . .?'
'I'm, er, I'm . . .' The obvious thing to do would be to make up a name but for some reason the only name Nicola could think of was Nicola.
'I'm Ni - Ni - um - Nilly!'
'Nilly?' frowned Topaz.
'Nilly,' repeated Nicola miserably. A million names now flooded her head. Anne. Sara. Louise. Diane. And all she could come up with was Nilly.
Topaz sniffed loudly. She took her handkerchief from her tunic pocket and blew her nose again.
She said, 'You're that Earthling, aren't you? Your name isn't Nilly. It's Nicola. Nicola Berry.'
'Yes,' agreed Nicola. 'But -'
'You're the head of the Space Brigade. Enrico hired you to kill me.'
'Yes, but -'
'Well go ahead.'
'Go ahead?'
'Go ahead and kill me.' Topaz sneezed again and wrapped her arms around herself. 'I was just thinking that someone might as well bump me off. So go ahead. Do your job. I won't even try to defend myself.'
'Oh, but Topaz!' Nicola remembered the photo she'd seen in Enrico's file. Topaz had seemed so full of passion and life. Now she seemed sick and miserable, her eyes flat, her voice bitter.
'Come on! What are you waiting for?'
'Topaz, I don't want -'
'Hurry up! Get it over with! I'm not afraid!' Topaz lifted her chin and closed her eyes.
Nicola almost laughed. She said, 'Well, it's actually a bit hard to kill you when I'm trapped in this ball.'
'Oh.' Topaz opened her eyes. 'But don't you have special Earthling powers? I was expecting you to shoot laser beams out of your eyes or something.' She almost seemed disappointed.
Nicola said, 'I don't have any special powers and, actually, if you don't help me out of this thing soon, I might die first.'
All the time they'd been talking her ball had continued rolling back and forth. Now it was teetering on the edge of the cliff once again. Nicola gritted her teeth.
'Oh, right.' Topaz sneezed again, and sighed. 'Okay, I'll help you out of there and then you can kill me - although I have to say, it hardly seems fair that I have to do my killer a favour. But then again, there isn't much justice on this planet, is there? Oh, no, not unless your name is Enrico. Of course, then it's a different story - then you get plenty of justice, and plenty of gold coins in your treasure account too, while the rest of us have zero treasure account balances - achoo! - but that's no problem, we don't mind living in poverty, and why try and change things, because that's just the way it is, and anyway, if Enrico catches you complaining he'll just arrange for your tongue to be burned so you can never speak again. Oh, but we all pretend that sort of thing doesn't happen, don't we? Let's all keep drilling and mining while the hairities get richer and we get poorer!'
All the time she was talking Topaz was rummaging through her pockets, pulling out and discarding an array of different objects: crumpled-up leaflets, tissues, a half-eaten ShobbleChoc bar, a hair band, a paperclip, a transistor radio and - finally - a pin.
'This ought to do the trick,' she said, and jabbed the pin into the rubber ball encasing Nicola.
There was a loud bang like a balloon bursting and a hiss of air.
Nicola found herself standing on firm ground, covered in shredded plastic.
'I've never understood why they don't just supply a pin with every bubble-jacket,' said Topaz. 'I bet it was designed by some stupid hairity. Okay, now are you ready to kill me? Hurry up, because I'm actually starting to change my mind. I might fight back. You don't look that scary.'
Nicola stepped away from the side of the cliff and back under the ledge. The rain was becoming softer and the wind had stopped howling. It seemed like the hurricane had just about blown itself out.
Desperate for Topaz to see that they were friends, not enemies, Nicola began to speak in a rush. 'We're not here to hurt you, Topaz. We're sympathetic to your cause! Enrico is holding our friend hostage. His plan was to get us to "eliminate" you and then keep all of us prisoners in a glass cage, so everybody will think he's the good guy. Enrico's butler, Joy, told us to find you and maybe we could help you overthrow Enrico.'
Topaz didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then she sighed and looked away. 'Well, I can't help you. I can't do anything. I'm giving up the cause. I don't care anymore. Enrico can do what he wants. I'm sorry about your friend, but there's nothing I can do.'
Nicola's heart was sinking fast. Had they come all this way for nothing?
'But why are you giving up? What's wrong? Is it just because you've got a cold? Everything always feel worse when you're sick.'
'No, it's more than that. It's -'
'HEY! ARE YOU GIRLS JUST GOING TO SIT AROUND AND CHAT ALL DAY? MAYBE YOU COULD GET YOUR NEW FRIEND TO COME AND HELP US OUT TOO, NIC! GRETA NEEDS TO GO TO THE TOILET!'
It was Sean hollering from across the mountain. Nicola was mortified. Topaz was going to lose all respect for the Space Brigade! She could hear Greta yelling back at Sean, 'Hey! That was private information!'
'Is that the rest of the Space Brigade?' Topaz looked amused in spite of herself.
'Yes,' said Nicola. 'That was my brother. I guess I should go and let them out.' Suddenly she remembered Shimlara. 'Oh - and another friend of ours was with us in the hot-air balloon! I need to find out where she landed. I hope her bubble-jacket inflated okay.'
'Don't worry, I'll get my friends to form a search party,' said Topaz. From her pocket she took what looked to Nicola like a transistor radio and flicked a switch. 'Topaz to Joshua. Topaz to Joshua. Come in, Joshua.'
Immediately, a young boy's voice crackled forth from the radio. 'Yeah, Joshua to Topaz, where have you been? Everyone has been worried about you. I just got a message from Mum saying if you weren't resting, she was coming up the mountain to put you to bed herself. I didn't mention that you were curing your cold by going for a walk in a hurricane!'
Topaz said, 'Joshua, I'm fifteen years old.'
'Why are you talking in your trying-to-sound-cool voice? Is someone there with you?'
Now it was Topaz's turn to look embarrassed.
'Brothers.' Nico
la rolled her eyes sympathetically.
Topaz said, 'I'm here with Nicola Berry.'
Joshua's voice changed. 'The evil Earthling? Where are you? We're on our way!'
'It's okay, Joshua.' Topaz smiled at Nicola. 'She's not that bad. In fact, she's actually pretty nice for an evil Earthling.'
31
'There she is! Over there!'
It was Topaz's brother, Joshua, who finally spotted Shimlara. Joshua was a short, square-shaped boy who brimmed with so much energy Nicola couldn't imagine him standing still. He and Sean had quickly figured out that they were kindred spirits. As they'd tramped through the snow calling out Shimlara's name, Sean had been showing Joshua karate moves, while Joshua demonstrated a Shobble sport called Head Crunch. It seemed to involve running as fast as you could towards a particular spot in the snow and then diving at it headfirst while yelling HEAD CRUNCH! Sean thought Head Crunch was hilarious and Joshua thought karate was hilarious, and they had both become sweaty and elated.
'AM - I - GLAD - TO - SEE - YOU!' shouted Shimlara when she saw them. 'I - DON'T - THINK - I - COULD - TAKE - MUCH - MORE - OF - THIS!'
Nicola thought landing on the edge of a cliff had probably won her first prize for Worst Possible Place to Land in Your Bubble-Jacket, but Shimlara had won second prize. She'd fallen right into the middle of a frozen lake. The good news was that her bubble-jacket had inflated properly and saved her from crashing through the ice. The bad news was that Shimlara was now trapped in a ball that was turning on the spot like a spinning coin. Shimlara's face was green.
'IT - WAS - FUN - AT - FIRST!' she cried. 'BUT - NOW - NOT - SO - MUCH!'
Nicola was about to run to her when Topaz stopped her. 'Your shoes aren't convertible, are they?'
'Convertible?'
'It's a Shobble innovation for skating on our frozen seas.' Topaz reached down and adjusted something on her shoes. Blades sprang out from the bottom. Her shoes had suddenly 'converted' into skates.
'Don't worry, I'll get her.' Topaz glided smoothly across the ice towards the spinning Shimlara.
The rain had stopped, the sun was shining and Shobble's rainbows were once again shimmering above them. The air on top of the Cloud-Capped Mountain was so pure, Nicola wanted to drink it up in big refreshing gulps.
'OKAY! HEAD-CRUNCH CHAMPIONSHIPS START NOW!' cried Joshua.