Earthling Ambassador (Space Brigade 1)

"So, how do you swim around them?" Shimlara looked worried. "Don't they get in your way?"

"I would think they must be very annoying," said the princess imperiously.

"Nah, they're great! You just dive under them," said Sean. "I'll show you."

He ran straight into the water and dived under a wave. He came up with his hair plastered flat against his head, grinned, and dived under another one.

"Oh, no, I can't do that." Shimlara held her palms up and started backing away from the water.

"You don't have to dive under them," said Katie. "You can jump over them, or you can kick your legs and float gently over the top of them."

"Or if they're too big to jump over, you can hold your nose and duck," said Tyler.

"Come on,Tyler and Greta, let's do a demonstration," said Katie.

"Yes, well, I was just about to suggest that myself," said Greta.

They ran into the water. Greta ducked under a wave pointing at her head, while Katie floated over it with her arms up like a ballerina, and Tyler jumped through the middle of it.

"The way the nice Earthling did it looks quite easy," said the princess thoughtfully.

Aha, thought Nicola, so the princess thinks Katie is nice--that's something.

"Oooh!" Shimlara squealed and gurgled as a bigger wave splashed up past her knees. It is like taking little kids to the beach, thought Nicola. Just really, really tall little kids.

"Let's all go in together," she said.

"Okay!" Shimlara grabbed Nicola's hand and, after a second's hesitation, the princess grabbed the other one.

Together they walked into the ocean.As the water frothed around her waist, Nicola tried to imagine what it must be like for Shimlara and the princess. It was probably like the first time she went cloud-swimming: an entirely new experience that had been both incredibly exciting and incredibly scary.

Luckily, the first wave was a small, gentle one. Shimlara and the princess both obediently held up their arms like ballerinas, exactly as Katie had done, and Nicola tried to keep a straight face.

"That was fun!" Shimlara trod water, a huge smile on her face.

"I suppose it's an interesting sensation," said the princess coolly as they floated over another one. "Oooh, this one looks big!" She clutched Nicola's arm, nearly pushing her under.

An unexpectedly huge wave was coming their way. Before it reached them, it curled over and broke into a frenzy of white water.There was no way they could float or even jump over it.

"You're going to have to duck under it!" shouted Tyler.

If the princess gets dumped, thought Nicola, it will be the last straw. The mission would be lost.

"Take a breath! Curl up like a ball!" she yelled. "You'll be--"

There was no time to say "okay." Just before she ducked, she caught a glimpse of Shimlara and the princess both holding their noses tightly, their eyes big with fear.

Nicola ducked down as low as she could.The water grabbed hold of her and shook her back and forth and around and around like a shirt in a washing machine. She opened her eyes and all she could see was white, swirling water.Which way was up? What was happening to the princess and Shimlara?

She popped back up and the water was calm and sparkling. She looked around frantically.Where were they?

"WHOA!" Shimlara's head broke through the water and she gasped for air. "I ducked straight under that gigantic wall of water! Did you see me, Nicola?"

"Umm--well--"

"WHOA!" It was the princess, her wet hair plastered over her face like seaweed, but her tiara, amazingly, still on her head. She pushed her hair out of her eyes impatiently. "I did it! Did you see me? Did you see

what I did?"