'YEAH!' yelled Sean.
'YEAH!' yelled Tyler, although not quite as enthusiastically. Nicola hoped he didn't smash his glasses trying to impress the other boys.
'I bet I can beat all of you with my gymnastic skills,' said Greta.
'I've never heard of gymnastic skills but give it your best shot, Earthling!' Joshua looked delighted at all this new competition.
Nicola was left standing on the side of the lake next to a tall, frizzy-haired girl who had joined them on the hunt for Shimlara. Topaz had introduced her as Serena Golddust. Serena seemed to be a quiet, serious girl with a soothing sort of stillness to her that was a marked contrast to the characters of both Joshua and Topaz.
As they watched Topaz skating across to Shimlara, Nicola said, 'I hope you don't mind me asking, but is Topaz okay? She seems sort of depressed.'
Serena kept her eyes fixed on Topaz and didn't say anything for a few seconds. Then she sighed. 'Yes, she is depressed. It's partly because she's got a bad cold but other things have been getting her down. People keep telling her it's not worth fighting Enrico and that we're only making things worse for the people. They'd rather spend their lives reading about what the hairities eat for breakfast. Also, one of the marshmallow miners had an accident and it was our fault. We all felt terrible about that.'
'What happened?' asked Nicola.
'Well, we broke into one of the marshmallow mines and exploded a Fizz-Bang Bomb. They're perfectly safe. It's just a lot of noise and red smoke.'
'I think we saw that,' said Nicola, remembering the explosion at the marshmallow mine when they'd first arrived on Shobble.
'We just wanted to hold up production a bit. We left behind a big sign saying, MARSHMALLOW MINERS SHOULD BE PAID FOR THEIR WORK. It all went really well except that two miners who were blinded by the smoke collided and broke their noses. Topaz's mother said it was irresponsible of us and someone is always going to get hurt if we keep doing that sort of thing, but how else do we get noticed? And we already knew that Enrico had arranged for some Earthlings to try and kill us - well that's when Topaz started saying we might as well give it all up.'
'But Enrico shouldn't be allowed to get away with it!' said Nicola.
'I know,' said Serena. 'But what can we do? My father drilled for chocolate for over forty years. He worked on the most dangerous chocolate rigs where they drill for the rarest, sweetest chocolate at the bottom of the sea. His teeth have rotted from breathing in pure chocolate fumes every day of his life. And he has never been paid a single gold coin. Do you know how much they charge for ShobbleChoc in far-off galaxies? The profits are huge. And my dad just says, Oh, well, the hairities know best. I say, Dad, having long brown hair does not mean you've got a brain, it just means you've got long brown hair, and he says, Yes, Serena darling, whatever you say, and that's the end of that.'
As Nicola watched, Topaz popped Shimlara's bubble-jacket. Shimlara staggered and Topaz caught her. They talked for a few seconds and Nicola saw Shimlara's face light up with joy.
'Nic, it's Topaz!' called out Shimlara, as if Nicola hadn't figured this out already. 'We've found Topaz!'
'I know!' called back Nicola.
But it seemed finding Topaz wasn't the answer to their problems at all.
32
'Welcome to headquarters,' sniffed Topaz. 'Not that it's going to be headquarters for much longer.'
The Space Brigade, Topaz, Joshua and Serena were standing in front of a large boulder on the side of the mountain. Topaz kicked at something in the snow beneath her feet and the boulder slid back to reveal an enormous cave divided into two sections by a rocky wall. The left-hand side was a small stable where three ShobGobbles were snoozing contentedly. 'We did some flying this morning,' explained Joshua. 'They're exhausted.'
The right-hand side had a long table in the centre, scattered with pens, newspaper clippings and pieces of strange-looking equipment. Old placards were lined up against the walls of the cave with slogans like: THE TROUBLE WITH SHOBBLE IS ENRICO! and A HAIRITY WHO CARES IS A RARITY! and SHARE SHOBBLE'S PROFITS WITH THE PEOPLE!
There were three cots lined up against the walls where Topaz, Joshua and Serena obviously slept. There was also a small stove and a basket full of food supplies. It was clearly a place where people worked hard.
Topaz made her way straight to one of the beds. Her face was flushed and her teeth were chattering. 'Sorry, but I'm going to bed,' she said. 'I think I've got a temperature.' She got in, pulled the blankets over her shoulders and turned to face the wall.
Joshua and Serena raised their eyebrows at each other.
'She'll bounce back to her old self as soon as her cold goes away,' said Joshua. 'She's not serious about giving up the cause.'
'I am so serious,' said Topaz, without turning her head from the wall.
'Of course you are,' said Joshua, while silently shaking his head.
'I am,' said Topaz. Her voice began to drift off. 'I've - had - just - about - enough.' Seconds later, she was snoring.
'A nice long sleep will do her a world of good,' said Nicola. Oh, why did her mother's voice keep coming out of her mouth like that!
Luckily, before Sean could tease her mercilessly, Joshua mentioned food and distracted him.
'I've made some hizza,' he said. 'Who wants some?'
'What's hizza?' asked Sean suspiciously.
It turned out that 'hizza' on Shobble was exactly the same as pizza on Earth - and it was fantastic, with a thin crispy crust, a thick, tasty topping and lots of melted cheese.
'This is pizza, dude,' said Sean, taking his fifth piece. 'And it's very good.'
'It's hizza,' said Joshua. 'And I know it's good. I'm going to be a chef one day - once we've overthrown Enrico.'
'Well I don't mean to be negative,' said Greta. (Here we go, thought Nicola.) 'But how are you ever going to overthrow Enrico when your leader has given up and gone to bed? We've come all this way to find you so we could work together to fight Enrico, and so far it's been a big waste of time.'
'Greta,' said Tyler, 'if it wasn't for Topaz we'd still be stuck in our bubble-jackets.'
'Well, if it wasn't for Topaz we wouldn't have been here in the first place. And meanwhile Katie is stuck in Enrico's clutches and we're all just sitting here on the other side of the planet eating hizza!'
Nicola had to admit she had a point.
'Hey, we didn't ask you to come here,' said Joshua, starting to look angry. 'We did our best to stop you when we arranged for your ShobGobbles to be put to sleep.'
'Speaking of which, I hope that didn't hurt our lovely ShobGobbles,' said Shimlara. 'That was a pretty mean thing to do to poor defenceless animals!'
'It's perfectly safe, and anyway, we thought you were coming to kill my sister!' Joshua slammed his fist on the table. 'We thought you were scary creatures from another planet!'
'Oh, we can be scary,' said Sean, looking fierce, although the blob of tomato sauce on his nose spoiled the effect.
'Who is Katie?' interrupted Serena.
Nicola explained the whole story to Serena and Joshua.
When she'd finished, Serena and Joshua were shaking their heads.
'Every time I think Enrico couldn't get any more evil, he does,' said Joshua. 'And you say he's planning to burn all your tongues like he did to Silent Fred? How did you find that out?'
'I read his mind,' explained Shimlara. 'I'm from Globagaskar. We can read minds there.'
'Oh sure!' said Joshua. 'You can read minds. What am I thinking right now?'
He crossed his arms and closed his eyes.
Shimlara looked at him and Nicola saw her cheeks go pink.
'You're ummm . . .'
'I knew you couldn't do it!'
Shimlara looked down at her lap with a little half-smile. She said, 'You're wondering if all the girls on Globagaskar are as pretty as me.'
Sean guffawed and Joshua's face turned scarlet. 'How did you do that? Don't do that again! I won't be able to think anything
private!'
'I only read your mind because you asked me to,' said Shimlara. 'I won't do it again. It's bad manners to read people's minds.' Nicola had never seen her look so flustered.
'So anyway,' said Nicola, deciding it was a good time to change the subject. 'On our way here we met an interesting old man named Horatio. He told us about a clause in Shobble's Constitution that says if you get enough people to sign a petition the length of a rainbow, the Commander-in-Chief has to resign.'
'Really?' Serena looked interested, but then her face dropped. 'All Enrico would have to do is get his Thugs to tear up the petition.'
'Horatio also told us that Enrico used to have all these phobias when he was a boy,' said Nicola. 'I was thinking maybe we could use those phobias in some way.'
'He was frightened of the colour yellow, music, buttons and peanut butter sticking to the roof of his mouth,' said Tyler, counting them off on his fingers.
'That was when he was a little boy. He might have grown out of those phobias by now,' said Greta.
'I don't think so,' said Serena slowly. 'When Enrico first came into power he introduced the Quiet-Please decree. It bans music of all forms - singing, musical instruments, even humming!'
'And he brought in the Anti-Yellow legislation,' said Joshua. 'The penalty for wearing yellow on Shobble is life imprisonment.'
'And then there's the Button-Free regulation,' said Serena. 'All clothes have to be made without buttons - only zippers allowed.'
'And we're a Peanut-Butter-Free planet,' said Joshua. 'I thought Enrico had a peanut allergy but he's just scared of it sticking to the roof of his mouth!'
'So the question is,' said Nicola, 'could we use all those phobias in some way to help overthrow Enrico?'
'We could organise a big protest march,' began Tyler slowly.
'And everyone could wear yellow clothes,' said Sean.
'And we could all be singing or playing musical instruments,' said Joshua.
'And eating peanut butter sandwiches!' said Serena.
'I'm allergic,' said Greta.
'Okay, well not everyone,' said Serena.
'Don't forget the buttons,' said Nicola.
'We could all be wearing yellow buttons!' said Shimlara.
'We could present the petition as long as a rainbow at the same time,' said a voice from the other side of the cave.
They all looked around. It was Topaz, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes.
She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed.
'This could work,' she said. 'If we got every single person on the planet of Shobble to march, this could totally work.'
Joshua tipped his chair back, clasped his hands behind his head and looked smug. 'Told you she wasn't serious about giving up the cause,' he said.
33
Topaz stood at the whiteboard writing down people's ideas as they called them out excitedly. She had to keep stopping to blow her nose and she was sucking on a (chocolate-flavoured) cough lolly, but her depression seemed to have lifted. The vibrant girl in the photo was back. Nicola admired the unselfconscious way Topaz led the group. She wasn't too bossy but at the same time she didn't try too hard to make people like her. When Sean and Joshua started yawning and throwing things at each other while Greta told a long involved story about a gymnastics competition that was meant to demonstrate some point, Topaz calmly told Sean and Joshua to stop it and Greta to hurry up. Everyone seemed to respect her. Was it simply because Topaz didn't have any self-doubt? Was being a leader like handling a ferocious dog? 'Never let the dog see your fear,' Nicola's dad always told her.
'Oh, I'm sorry, Nicola.' Topaz caught her eye. 'You should be up here too. You're the leader of the Space Brigade. I'm such a bossy boots.'
'Oh, no, that's okay.' Nicola felt shy.
'No, no. You and I will be joint leaders of this operation,' insisted Topaz. 'If it wasn't for you, I'd still be lying in bed feeling sorry for myself.'
Nicola went up to the front and took the whiteboard marker that Topaz handed her.
'Okay, what do you think we've forgotten?' asked Topaz.
For a moment, Nicola's mind went blank. FOCUS, she told herself. Katie's encouraging face appeared in her mind, saying, 'You can do it, Nic.' Nicola realised how stupid it was to be worrying what people thought of her when Katie was being held hostage, for heaven's sake! That was all that mattered. Rescuing Katie. Her mind became sharp and clear.
'All right,' she said. 'We need to figure out a way to let as many people as possible know about the march. How do we do that?'
'Newspaper,' contributed Serena. 'It would be great if we could get an article in the newspaper, telling everybody where and when to meet.'
'Excellent!' said Nicola and wrote the word newspaper up on the whiteboard. She managed to ignore Sean, who was making a cross-eyed face at her, and said, 'So how do we get an article in the newspaper?'
'Oh! Oh! Me, me! Pick me!' Shimlara waved both arms around in the air as if Nicola was a teacher.
'Shimlara?' said Nicola, trying to keep a straight face.
'Your pocket! Your pocket! Look in your pocket!'
'My pocket?'
'Your pocket! Your back pocket!'
Nicola didn't know what she was talking about. She gave Topaz an apologetic look as if to say Sorry about the Space Brigade's wacky behaviour and slid her hand into her pocket. She pulled out a small white card.
Nicola looked at it without recognition.
It said:
JENNY JENKINS
REPORTER
THE SHOBBLE TIMES
TIX NO: 993-98080891083409840983098340893091
48130043
Suddenly Nicola remembered the reporter at the gates of Enrico's house. Jenny Jenkins. Wasn't that the name of the person who had written the article about Katie? She was obviously prepared to stand up to Enrico. She would be perfect.
Nicola gave Shimlara a grateful look and handed the card to Topaz. 'This reporter said to call if we needed anything. I'm pretty sure she's on our side.'
'Fantastic,' said Topaz.
'What's a tix number?' asked Nicola.
Topaz looked at her with surprise. 'They haven't invented the tix on Earth yet? It's an apparatus where you talk to each other through wires.'
'Wow,' said Nicola, impressed, until Tyler said, 'Um, Nic, I think we call that the telephone on Earth.'
'Anyway, it's not relevant,' said Topaz. 'Enrico cut all the tix lines for ordinary people years ago. Only hairities can use them. But don't worry, I'll send a message through the underground chute. It's a system my supporters use that the hairities don't know about. We use a network of old marshmallow mineshafts.' She held out the palm of her hand. 'Serena?'
Serena was already handing over a scroll of paper. She was just like a nurse handing over the right instruments before the surgeon asked for them. Mmmm, thought Nicola. Now that's leadership. She could just imagine Sean's face if she held out her hand and said, 'Sean?'
Topaz scribbled something on the piece of parchment. In the meantime, Joshua was addressing a label: Attention: Jenny Jenkins, Shobble Times. When Topaz finished writing she handed the parchment to Serena. Serena rolled up the parchment and put it in the tube, which she handed to Joshua. He stuck the label on the tube and walked over to the wall of the cave, moved aside a small rock and dropped in the tube. It all happened in a matter of seconds.
'You work pretty well together,' commented Tyler.
'It's all about teamwork,' said Topaz.
'Well the problem is,' said Greta, 'Nicola doesn't play any team sports. That's why the Space Brigade doesn't have good teamwork.'
'We kind of have a rule that we never say negative things about each other,' commented Topaz.
'Oh yes, but I don't think that could work for us,' said Greta airily. 'Some of us have a lot of things to improve, don't we, Nicola?'
Nicola's hand clenched so tight around her marker it flew from her grasp.
'Anyway,' said Topaz hastily
, 'moving right along. Now what about your friend Katie? How are we going to rescue her?'
'Actually, that won't be necessary.'
Nicola spun around so fast she sent the whiteboard crashing to the ground. There was someone standing at the entrance to the cave. Someone with a big smile on her face. Someone with short shiny straight brown hair.
If Nicola could have wished for one person in the whole world to be standing in that particular spot it would have been this particular person.
'Katie?' she whispered.
And then she yelled it: 'KATIE!'
34
'It's me,' said Katie. 'It's really me.'
There was a shocked pause followed by gasps, exclamations and a clatter of chairs and feet as the Space Brigade stampeded towards the cave entrance and Katie.
'I can't believe it,' everyone kept saying as they threw their arms around Katie. 'I can't believe you're here! How did you escape? How did you get here?'
Sean hugged Katie, ruffled her hair and smacked her vigorously on the back as if he was trying to save her from choking. Then he suddenly stood back and looked at her suspiciously. 'Hey, it really is you, isn't it? You're not about to peel off your face to reveal one of Enrico's Security Thugs?'
Katie pinched her cheek. 'There's only me in here.'
But she did look different. There were shadows under her eyes and scratches on her face. Her clothes were wet and dirty. Her new short hairstyle made her neck seem longer and changed the shape of her face. Even though she was filthy and obviously exhausted, she looked somehow more confident and mature than the old Katie.
'Nic, ask her a question only the real Katie could answer,' ordered Sean.
'Oh, um, I can't think of one.'
'Okay, how's this?' said Katie. 'When we were in kindergarten, Tyler, Nicola and I made a really embarrassing secret pact we've never told anyone -'
'QUIET!' shouted Tyler and Nicola at the same time. 'It's the real Katie!'
Nicola introduced Katie to Topaz, Serena and Joshua. '
I'm impressed that you managed to escape from Enrico's hostage room,' said Topaz.
'Oh, well, I had a lot of help,' said Katie.
'Have some hizza and tell us about it,' offered Joshua.
'Hizza!' said Katie. 'I was just thinking I could smell hizza!'
Gosh, thought Nicola. She sounds as if she's been living on Shobble for years. It gave her a sad, almost jealous feeling thinking of all the things Katie had experienced without her. Would their friendship be different now?