Earthling Ambassador (Space Brigade 1)

"What was it?" asked Nicola.

"I think it was space junk!"Tyler looked delighted. "It's all this stuff left over from old space missions, like nuts, bolts, and old satellites from fifty years ago! It might even have been an astronaut's old glove! I've read there are over one hundred thousand pieces of space junk. It's like a huge orbiting piece of garb--oh." Tyler bit his lip and stopped talking. He obviously didn't want to say the word "garbage" in front of the princess and remind her of her plans for Earth.There was silence on the spaceship as everybody tried to think of a new, safer topic of conversation.

The princess spoke again and this time she didn't sound bubbly at all. "Don't think I've forgotten that this is a KIDNAPPING. I've been reading all your minds, and I know you think once I see your pathetic little excuse of a planet, I'll have a change of heart about using it for an intergalactic garbage can. But you might be interested to know, I have never changed my mind about anything in my whole life. Never have, never will."

CHAPTER 31

With a few deft twists of the controls and a slight frown between his eyes,Tyler landed the spaceship as gently as a bird gliding to the ground.

"I think you're just as good a pilot as Plum now!" said Shimlara.

"Let's see which planet we're on first," said Tyler modestly.

Sean unbuckled his seat belt and leaped to his feet. He pulled the lever on the door.

"Welcome to the planet of ... ORTH!"

"Ha, ha, very funny." Nicola shoved him aside so she could see out.

Golden sunlight flooded the spaceship.This time, the smell that filled her nostrils was something delicious and familiar. It was a mixture of salty ocean, French fries, and sunscreen. It was the smell of the beach.

"Check it out, Nic." Sean pointed at a familiar old battered wooden sign in the distance. It had a picture of a smiling lobster with a speech bubble saying:

WELCOME to buddy BEACH!

The Berry family had spent every vacation at Buddy Beach since Sean and Nicola were very little.They slept in a trailer that they kept permanently on a grassy patch of land right at the end of the beach. Nicola had always said it was her favorite place in the world. Now, after the horror of Arth, she thought it might be her favorite place in the galaxy.

"What's the plan?" Sean asked Nicola quietly.

"I don't know." Nicola brushed some dried Arth mud from her face and lowered her voice so the others couldn't hear. "I just thought we could give the princess a typical Earth experience.Take her swimming, toast marshmallows for her, that sort of thing.Then I'll ask her one more time. I don't know what else to do. Mully said I needed to become friends with the princess, but I don't know if that's possible."

"You're doing a great job, Nic," said Sean.

"Um ... thank you."Wow. Even if they didn't save the world, one good thing to come out of this was that her big brother actually seemed to respect her now.

"Oh no, look over there!" Sean grabbed Nicola's shoulder. "It's the guards from the palace and a pack of Arth-Creatures!"

"What?"

Nicola spun in the direction he was pointing, banging her elbow against the side of the spaceship.

Sean fell about laughing. "Ha! Made you look, made you look!"

Hmmm. Maybe not much had changed after all.

"Come on, everybody," she said. "Let's go have a swim and wash off this mud."

Everybody unbuckled their seat belts and stood up.

"Actually," said Nicola carefully. "I think the princess should go first."

"Hmmmph," sniffed the princess. She tucked a curl of limp, muddy hair behind her ear, straightened her dirty tiara, and even though she was wearing muddy pj's she walked regally to the door as if she were at a ball.

This is it, thought Nicola. This is our last chance to save the planet.

She stood back and gestured toward the open door.

"Princess Petronella ..." She spoke in a loud, formal voice. "Welcome to our planet.Welcome to Earth."