Earthling Ambassador (Space Brigade 1)

"Nicola, I present your Space Brigade!" said Georgio. He flung an arm sideways.

Sean strolled into the room, wearing jeans and a T-shirt, a backpack slung casually over one shoulder. "Awesome!" he said, looking around him. "So you need my help, eh, Nic? Knew you would."

Tyler followed him, carrying a suitcase and adjusting his spectacles. "Hi, Nicola. I just want you to know this is the best thing that's ever happened to me in my entire life."

Katie was behind Tyler, lugging two overnight bags, one of which was Nicola's. She must have gone over to Nicola's place to get it. It was typical of Katie to remember that Nicola hadn't been given the chance to pack her own bag.

Katie's eyes were like saucers as she dropped the bags with a thud. "Is this really another planet?"

And then a very unexpected person elbowed Katie out of the way and marched into the room.

Nicola spoke through gritted teeth. "What are you doing here?"

CHAPTER 18

It was Greta Gretch.

Nicola couldn't believe it. Her Very Worst Enemy was here. It was preposterous. It made her want to shudder. "I never asked you to bring her!" she said to Georgio. She knew she sounded rude, but she couldn't help it.

Georgio frowned at Greta. "But I don't think I did bring her!"

"Greetings, aliens! My name is Greta Gretch." Greta lifted her nose proudly. She was wearing her Honeyville school uniform and carrying her school backpack. "I stowed away on the spaceship. I knew that I should have been the one picked for the mission, so I had to take the initiative. Obviously, you've failed, Nicola.That's why you had to send for your friends and your brother to help. So why don't you just admit that you don't have what it takes, step aside, and let me get on with the job?"

"What a horrendous little worm," sighed Georgio.

"There's a girl at my school just like her," Shimlara said sympathetically to Nicola.

"Ah, sir."Tyler practically saluted Georgio. "Do you think you could just take her straight back to Earth?"

"Well, ordinarily I could," said Georgio, "but Plum made me sign a contract promising not to disturb her again on her birthday. So we'll have to wait until tomorrow. I wonder where we can put her in the meantime?"

Sean was getting bored with all this talk.

"So, Nic, who do you want me to kill?" he asked. "Just point me in the right direction. I knew they should never have sent a girl to do the job of a warrior!"

"Now that's ENOUGH!" Everybody turned in surprise to look up at a red-faced Mully, her hands on her hips. "I'm not at all happy with this disrespect being shown to Nicola. She was chosen for this VERY DIFFICULT mission because she's the best person on your planet to do it. She has done an excellent job so far and now she's decided that she needs some help. She is the LEADER of this Space Brigade and you need to follow her instructions. If you can't do that, then you don't belong here and you can sit in my three-year-old son's time-out corner until it's all over!"

"Way to go, Mom!" said Shimlara.

"Yes, I was just about to say something along very similar lines myself," said Georgio.

"Tell me what you'd like me to do, Nicola." Tyler stood up straight and looked at Nicola so respectfully that she had to swallow a giggle. "I'm ready for action."

"I'm ready for, ah, action, too, Nicola." Katie looked terrified.

Everyone looked at Sean.

"Ummm." He shuffled his feet. Nicola knew this would be agony for him. "Yeah, okay, ummm, Nic's the boss. Whatever you think, Nic."

"Now, Nicola," said Mully. "What would you like to do about Greta? Do you want her on the Space Brigade or not? If not, she can just wait here with Georgio and me until Plum is ready to take her back to Earth."

Greta raised her chin and didn't say anything, but Nicola noticed she was biting her bottom lip hard and her knees were shaking. She obviously wanted to be on the Brigade very badly. It made Nicola feel slightly sick to have that much power to make somebody happy or sad. Should she give her a chance? After all, Greta did have some pretty good ideas sometimes, even though she was generally pretty despicable.

Give the despicable worm a chance. She might surprise you.

It was Georgio's voice, but he hadn't spoken out loud. In fact, he was looking up at the ceiling and whistling a tune, as if all this had nothing to do with him.

Sorry! Just temporarily talking inside your head for reasons of privacy! Won't happen again! So, what are you going to do?