Earthling Ambassador (Space Brigade 1)

Nicola gripped the sides of her seat.The helicopter nosedived toward the ground.They were all going to die and it would be Nicola's fault.

"THIS IS ALL YOUR FAULT, NICOLA!" yelled Greta.

"ISH MISH GFUG GLIG, GLIG, GLIG!" That was the princess.

"WHOOOOEEE!" cried Sean.

"YOU'RE DOING A GREAT JOB, SHIMLARA!" screamed Katie.

"SWITCH BACK TO NORMAL SPEED!" cried Tyler.

CRASH!

BANG!

SMASH!

And then there was silence.

CHAPTER 24

Nicola opened her eyes. Her shoulder ached and she thought her knee might be bleeding, but otherwise she was definitely still alive.

"Is everybody alive?" she demanded.

"I am," said Sean.

"So am I," said Tyler.

"Me too," said Katie.

"I'm fine," said Shimlara. "Although my arm sort of hurts."

"No thanks to you, but yes, I'm alive," said Greta.

"Ishgo mishgo ed!" said the princess.

"Where have we landed?" asked Nicola.

"WHAT IN THE GALAXY IS GOING ON HERE?"

It was Georgio's voice. Nicola could see him marching toward the helicopter. His hair was all mussed up and he was wearing bright green pajamas. Pajamas were so funny on Globagaskar. Georgio looked like a gigantic baby with a mustache.

"I think we might have landed right on top of Dad's aero-car." Shimlara pressed a button to lift the dome of the helicopter. She was holding her right arm at a strange angle. "Hi, Dad."

"Don't you 'Hi, Dad' me! It's the MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT! I was sound asleep enjoying a particularly pleasant dream, when I heard this terrific bang on the driveway.We nearly jumped out of our skins!"

"I'm sorry, Georgio," said Nicola. "It wasn't meant to work out this way.Things just got out of hand."

Mully appeared behind Georgio, rubbing her eyes. Her pajamas were bright pink.

"Is everybody all right?" she asked. "I thought you were all sleeping nice and snug in your sleep-pouches! Nicola, your parents are going to be so angry with me. Shimlara, what have you done to your arm? It looks--OH MY STARS AND MOONS! Georgio, over there, it's--"

With one hand over her mouth, she nudged Georgio and pointed wordlessly at Princess Petronella sitting between Sean and Greta.

Georgio was still busy checking out the damage to his aero-car. "I mean, Bounce-a-Guard can only do so much," he muttered as he squatted down and ran a finger across the paintwork. "It wasn't designed to have a helicopter full of wicked children landing smack-bang on top of it!"

"Georgio!" Mully tugged at the back of Georgio's pajamas and he stood up.