Tyler was flabbergasted. "You were getting a spaceship as a Christmas present. A spaceship!"
"Your father and I are too big to fit into a mini spaceship," said Mully. "Otherwise we'd fly it back to Earth for you, considering the recent demonstration of your piloting skills. But desperate times call for desperate measures. And you've flown your friends' spaceships a few times, haven't you, darling?"
"Yes," said Shimlara, but she looked pale and unhappy. "The only thing is--I think I've done something bad to my arm."
"Oh, Shimlara," said Mully, in exactly the same way Nicola's mom said, "Oh, Nicola," whenever she hurt herself. She gently examined Shimlara's arm, shaking her head. "I think you might have broken it.We'll have to get an instant cast on it right away. Well, you're in no condition to fly--one of the others will have to do it.Which member of the Space Brigade do you recommend, Nicola?"
That was easy.
"Tyler," said Nicola instantly.
"Hmmmph," said Greta. "Talk about favoritism."
"Although notice she doesn't favor her loving older brother," said Sean.
Tyler stood soldier-straight, his eyes glittering and the tips of his ears--always a giveaway--glowing pink. "I'll give it a go," he said.
"Of course, it is a mini spaceship," said Georgio. "So it's very slow. It will take you five long, boring minutes to get to Earth, but the advantage is that it's very easy to operate--or so the brochures say!"
"Fortunately, the palace guards are not the most intelligent creatures," said Mully. "So that should buy you a little time. And it's lucky Earth is such a large, populated planet.Tracking you down will be like looking for a needle in a haystack."
"Sean left the invitation to the pool party in the princess's bedroom," pointed out Greta. "If someone finds it, the guards will be heading straight to this address right now."
"HA!" said the princess through her taped-up mouth.
"I can feel the most terrible migraine coming on," said Georgio.
"Nicola, you need to get your people off this planet right away." Mully spoke in a rapid, deadly serious tone of voice Nicola had never heard her use before. "Georgio, take Tyler to the spaceship and start going through the instruction manual with him. Katie, go with Shimlara and she'll show you where to find the first-aid kit. I'll be there to help you with the cast in just a moment. Greta, you can collect everybody's luggage. Sean, help the princess--gently!--along to the garage. Nicola, come with me into my study. I need to have a very quick chat with you."
For a few seconds everybody stared in wonder at this new Mully. Even though she was still dressed in her funny pink pajamas, she seemed to be an entirely different sort of person.
"Mully was an officer in the Globagaskar Army when we first met," explained Georgio. He beamed proudly at his wife. "Isn't she impressive?"
"MOVE IT, MOVE IT!" barked Mully, and everybody hurried to obey her.
Nicola followed Mully into her study.
As she shut the door, Mully turned back into a normal mom. "Is that knee hurting you too much, dear?"
Nicola looked down at her grazed knee. "No, it's fine."
"I want to give you something," said Mully. "During my army days, I was in charge of weapons purchasing for a while, and the weapon manufacturers keep sending me free samples, in spite of all the letters I send telling them to take me off their mailing lists. I think this particular weapon might come in handy."
Mully pulled a silver briefcase from underneath her desk and placed it in front of Nicola. It had a round lock, like on a safe.
"The code is 55-77-99." Mully swiftly twisted the dial. "Don't tell anybody else the code. I don't want anyone making the decision to use these weapons except you, Nicola."
The lock clicked open and Mully lifted the lid. Nicola peered in, preparing herself not to flinch if she saw something horrible and scary, like guns or knives.
"Oh!" she said in surprise.
The case held a set of what looked like colorful tennis balls.They didn't look at all dangerous.
"They're freeze-grenades," explained Mully. She lifted one of the balls out of the case and showed it to Nicola. "They're extremely effective weapons. I've set them especially for use against the palace guards. If you throw one at any guard within a five-meter radius, he or she will be frozen solid for ten minutes, giving you plenty of time to escape. Being frozen by a freeze-grenade is not a pleasant experience. It feels extremely cold and once the thawing begins, very itchy. By the time one can move again, one tends to be extremely upset and angry. So if the guards catch up with you on Earth, my advice is to throw the freeze-grenades, dump the princess, and run for your lives."
"Right." Nicola nodded, trying to look like a cool-headed army major, as if the words "run for your lives" didn't fill her with jelly-knee terror.
"Remember, the grenades are for emergency use only against the guards," said Mully. "I recommend you do not tell your brother Sean about these, for obvious reasons."