"No."
"Exactly."
CHAPTER 30
It was difficult figuring out what to do with Greta. She was frozen so solid, it was impossible to bend her in half to sit her in one of the seats. In the end, Sean suggested strapping her down in the section for baggage at the back of the spaceship.
"I'd say we've only got about two minutes before she starts to thaw," said Shimlara. "She's going to be in a bad mood."
"Yeah, she'll blame you, Nicola," said Tyler as he very carefully typed the letters "B-U-D-D-Y B-E-A-C-H, A-US-T-R-A-L-I-A, E-A-R-T-H," while Katie looked over his shoulder to double-check there were no mistakes this time.
"Speaking of unfreezing ..." The princess pointed with her chin out the window. The first Arth-Creatures they'd frozen were starting to twitch and the big one the princess had knocked out was sitting up and shaking its huge head. "You'd better hurry up."
"Esteemedpassengerspreparefortakeoff!" garbled Tyler. He slammed the red button and once again they hurtled across a star-spangled sky, leaving the Arth-Creatures a million light years behind them.
"Ah, spaceship travel." Sean stuck his feet out and tipped his head back comfortably against the seats. "This is starting to seem as normal as catching the school bus."
"No chewing gum under the seats," said Katie.
"I can soon fix that," said Sean.
I hope we get the right planet this time, thought Nicola as she closed her eyes, just for a second. I'm too tired to battle any more creatures.
"WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?! WHY CAN'T I MOVE? WHY AM I LYING ON THE FLOOR? WHY AM I ALL WET ... AND MUDDY . . . AND ITCHY, ITCHY, ITCHY!"
Nicola's eyes flew open.What a pity, Greta's mouth was starting to thaw before the rest of her.
"NICOLA BERRY! This is all your fault!"
"Told you," said Tyler quietly.
"Actually, Greta," said Shimlara. "It's all your fault for dropping the freeze-grenade. I think you have a word on your planet, is it Butterfingers? Well, Butterfingers, it's just lucky that Katie stepped in and saved the day, otherwise some Arth-Creature would be eating Tyler on Toast right now."
Sean snorted.
"I'M ITCHY!" moaned Greta.
"Don't worry, Greta," said Nicola. "I'm getting Tyler to take us to Buddy Beach, so we can all have a swim and wash off the mud."
"Pfff! Tyler will probably land us on a snowfield on Mars!"
"Well, Earthling, I'm sure he'll do a better job flying the spaceship than you did throwing that freeze-grenade," said Princess Petronella. "Your mistake nearly cost your friend his life."
Tyler and Nicola exchanged surprised glances at this unexpected show of support. Greta seemed to be struck dumb.
Tyler cleared his throat. "Right! Well, esteemed passengers, please fasten your seat belts for landing. I'm pretty sure this time we're heading down toward Earth. If you look to your left, you'll see our beautiful planet just beneath us."
Nicola craned her head and caught her breath.
There was Earth--silent and majestic, round as a marble, floating in space like an exquisite Christmas tree decoration. That's my planet, thought Nicola, and she was filled with a strange, teary, proud feeling. It was interesting how she'd felt proud of her family before (when they weren't embarrassing her) and proud of her friends. She'd felt proud of her soccer team when it scored a goal and proud of her country when it won Olympic medals--but she'd never ever thought to feel proud of her planet. Katie spoke up, and Nicola was surprised at how strong and confident her friend sounded. "Princess Petronella," she said. "See those patches of blue? Those are oceans.That's what we'll be swimming in."
"That's an ocean?" said the princess. "It's not like I imagined!"
"Wait till you see an ocean up close," said Nicola. She tried to think of the right words to describe it. "It's so huge and beautiful, and when the sun shines on the water, it's like a carpet of glittering diamonds stretching out as far as you can see."
"Really?"The princess sounded excited and bubbly, like a normal girl on vacation.
"YIKES!" Suddenly Tyler swerved the spaceship to one side as a tiny silver pellet streaked toward them like a bullet. "We only just missed it!"