Earthling Ambassador (Space Brigade 1)

"This is how it will work." Georgio pulled a large shiny red notebook from his pocket. "I shall be asking ten questions. If your answer to any question is no, then you must sit down immediately. If your answer is yes, then you may remain standing. If, by some remarkable chance, there is still one child standing when I ask my last question, then he or she is the Earthling Ambassador!"

"THERE WILL BE NO CHEATING!" he boomed so ferociously that they all jumped. "I will KNOW if you are cheating!"

"First question! Do you have the letter r in your first or last name? Sit down if the answer is no! Middle names do not count! Nicknames do not count!"

After thinking furiously for a few seconds, about fourteen people slumped miserably back into their seats. Nicola thought happily about the two rs in Berry. At least she wasn't one of the first people to be eliminated.

Nicola guessed Katie was probably only pretending to be sad when she sat down. Katie didn't even like leaving Honeyville to go into the city on the train, so she probably wouldn't be much good on an intergalactic mission.

Bruno Ecclestson sat down, too, but since he was a nasty sort of a person, nobody bothered to remind him that Bruno had an r in it. (Afterward, when it was too late, one of the boys did tell him, and Bruno punched him in the nose.)

"Second question." Georgio raised two fingers. "Do you have at least three FRECKLES on your face?"

Nicola, who had always hated the seven freckles on her nose, suddenly became very fond of them.Tyler stood rigid, his freckled face stern and warriorlike. Lizbeth-Ann tried to convince Georgio that she had an extra freckle on her tummy, but Georgio just stared at her until she sulkily sat down.

"Is your birthday in one of the following months--December, March, April, or . . . June?"

Nicola thanked her lucky stars her birthday was when it was. If she'd been born even one day earlier, it would have been in November.Tyler's birthday was in September. He sat down quickly and gave Nicola a solemn smile. It was up to her now. She had to get as far as she could for poor Tyler.

There were now just seven people standing.

"Fourth question--do you own a pet fish?"

Nicola, who secretly found her goldfish a dull sort of a pet, decided she'd give Goldie an extra fish-food treat when she got home.

Four people were left standing.

"Fifth question--do you hate zucchini?"

That still left four people standing.

"Sixth question--can you perform any one of the following three tasks: one, walk a tightrope, two, dissect a rat, or three, Rollerblade backward?"

Nicola didn't know how to walk a tightrope or dissect a rat, but she could sort of Rollerblade backward, although she nearly always fell over. She wondered if it mattered how well you could perform the task.

"It doesn't matter how well you can perform the task!" cried Georgio as if he had read her mind. Nicola stared up at him and she thought--she wasn't quite sure because his face was up so high--that she saw the tiniest suggestion of a wink.

Now there were only three people left standing. Maybe I'm going to be the Earthling Ambassador! suggested a voice in her head. Oh, no you're not, said another sensible, prissy voice. Don't get your hopes up.You're not special enough, Nicola Berry! Nothing exciting ever happens to you!

"Seventh question--do you own a purple piece of clothing?"

Nicola couldn't think straight. Every piece of clothing she could think of was a color other than purple. Her red dress, her yellow sweater, her blue jeans--they all jumbled together in her mind.What color were her socks? Weren't they all white?

She was just about to give up and sit down when she noticed Katie on the other side of the classroom behaving very strangely. She was twirling her arms in circles and turning her head to one side and opening her mouth.

"Mmmm?" Nicola was halfway between sitting and standing.

Katie held her nose and jumped up and down. Aha! Katie was pretending to swim because Nicola's new bathing suit was purple! How could she have forgotten? She stood back up and gave Katie a grateful smile.

Now there were only two people left standing.

Nicola Berry. And Greta Gretch.

Sworn enemies.

It was like a football match.There were the Greta fans and the Nicola fans.

The atmosphere was electric.