'Well, as it happens, yes!' said Enrico, with a little toss of his long brown hair, as if this was a matter for celebration.
Nicola thought about all those sweet-faced people they had seen walking back from the mines, their shoulders slumped with exhaustion. She could feel herself becoming angry. She pinched herself hard on the arm to stop the feeling that was rising in her chest. Normally when she lost her temper she ended up saying something stupid.
She took a deep breath and said carefully, 'It just doesn't seem very fair. It looked like the people we saw work very hard. They deserve to be paid!'
Enrico looked baffled for a moment. Then his eyes brightened, he tapped the side of his nose and pointed a finger at Nicola. 'I see what you're doing! You're trying to get into the enemy's head so that you can work out how to defeat her! Very clever - that's exactly the sort of rubbish Topaz sprouts. Well done!'
Shimlara spoke up. Her cheeks were pink. She said, 'Actually, I think everyone in the Space Brigade would agree that it's not fair that the workers don't get paid. How do they pay their bills?'
Josie and Joseph made pffff! sounds as if they'd never heard anything more stupid. Carmelita yawned slightly while Enrico raised his eyebrows in a superior manner.
'My dear, they don't have any bills! They live on chocolate. They make their own clothes. They are very simple folk and they understand that they simply don't have the intelligence to handle the corrupting influence of money. It's always been that way. There is no reason to change it. Topaz is simply creating trouble and distress for everyone. And that's why I have called upon the Space Brigade to help. Now, I assume it's obvious what I need you to do?'
'You want us to convince Topaz that the people of Shobble don't need money?' said Nicola. She was thinking, We'll just say, Sorry, we can't help.
'No, not exactly,' said Enrico.
Suddenly his face had lost all its charm and warmth. His eyes looked like hard black stones.
He said, 'I need you to eliminate Topaz.'
Nicola's heart pounded.
'Eliminate?' she croaked.
Enrico smiled the nastiest smile Nicola had ever seen.
'Kill her,' he said. 'I need you to kill her.'
12
Enrico, Carmelita, Josie and Joseph were all smiling the same terrifyingly cruel smiles. They looked like hungry, happy wolves about to swallow their prey. Nicola saw the other members of the Space Brigade reel back in their chairs as if to keep as far away as possible from this strange, awful family.
Suddenly Shimlara's voice was loud and clear inside Nicola's head, although her lips weren't moving. What are we going to do? These people are HORRIBLE!
I don't know, Nicola answered mentally. Read Enrico's mind. See what you can find out.
The other members of the Space Brigade were all looking at Nicola, clearly waiting for her to take the lead. There was that familiar drilling sensation in the middle of Nicola's forehead she remembered so well from the last mission. Sometimes she thought it might be easier if someone else took a turn as the leader of the Space Brigade.
She sat up straight, took a deep shaky breath and managed to look at Enrico without flinching.
She said, 'We don't kill people. We would never do a thing like that. Even if this Topaz really was a bad person, we wouldn't kill her - and it sounds like she's not bad. She's just fighting for what she believes in. We can't help you.'
Enrico smiled knowingly. 'This is a negotiating tactic, I assume? Rest assured, I'm fully aware of your reputation. The Brigade first came to my attention when I heard that you had survived a trip to the planet of Arth. I knew then that you must be formidable creatures indeed!'
'But all we did was freeze the Arth Creatures,' said Nicola. 'We're not killers!'
'LIAR!'
This time Enrico punched the table with both fists. Most of the goblets on the table fell over, spilling liquid everywhere.
'Daddy!' said Josie, mopping at her dress.
Enrico ignored her. 'I have PROOF that you are trained killers!' he shouted.
'Proof? What proof?' said Nicola. How could there be proof of such a terrible thing?
He pulled a faded newspaper from his pocket and shook it at them. Nicola caught a glimpse of the headline, NICOLA AND HER FRIENDS SAVE THE WORLD. It was the same clipping that was pinned to the noticeboard at home. Her heart sank as she remembered what it said.