'So what are you doing?'
Nicola sighed. She was in no way perfect but she'd never lie to her parents. She knew it would hurt their feelings too much.
'We're taking the spaceship to the planet of Shobble. The Commander-in-Chief has asked the Space Brigade to go on a mission for him.'
Her mother blinked rapidly. Then she burst out laughing. 'You had me for a second there. Oh, you've got a wonderful imagination, Nic! I think you must get it from me. Your father has no imagination whatsoever. Well, have fun.' She left the room, calling back merrily, 'Don't get into trouble on Shobble! Wear plenty of sunscreen!'
Nicola was slightly offended. Was it really so unlikely that they'd be going on another mission? Oh well, it was fortuitous that her mum didn't believe her, because now she could leave for the planet of Shobble with a clear conscience.
5
At 10 am on the dot the Earthling members of the Space Brigade were standing next to the rusty old swing set in Nicola and Sean's backyard.
'Right,' said Nicola to Tyler. 'Let's set up the spaceship. Do you know what to do?'
'I think so,' said Tyler. He squatted down next to the small silver briefcase he'd brought along with him. Printed on the side were the words MINI EASY-RIDE SPACESHIP. Tyler pressed a tiny square button that said ACTIVATE and moved away. 'Give it some room,' he said tersely, and they all took a few steps back.
The suitcase didn't do anything.
'You've done something wrong,' said Greta.
'He has not,' said Katie.
'Shall I give it a good thump?' asked Sean.
'Patience,' said Nicola grandly, 'is a virtue.' Everyone stared at her, impressed. Sometimes things like that just came into her head.
The suitcase began to twitch and wobble as though there was a puppy inside trying to escape. It lifted off the ground and spun in circles, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, until it was just a streaky whirl of colour.
Everyone stepped back again. There were clunks and clangs and a high eeeeeeee sound. Sparks flew.
Crash. Thud. Crash.
And there it was, glowing silver and gold in the sunlight - their spaceship.
'Ha! Ha ha!' cried Tyler. He ran around the spaceship giving it loving little pats. Nicola thought that if he was on his own he'd probably have thrown his arms around it.
After a moment he realised they were all watching him. He stopped and coughed loudly to cover his embarrassment. 'Okay, everybody, no need to get too excited. It's just a spaceship.' He saw their broad grins, shrugged and said, 'Well, it's pretty amazing, isn't it!'
'It is,' said Nicola. She clapped her hands and said, 'Okay, let's go!', then felt a bit stupid for accidentally clapping her hands like a teacher.
Tyler beamed and held up a big silver key. He inserted it in the lock on the back of the spaceship. The glass bubble on top rolled back smoothly and a ladder slid down to the ground. One by one they climbed up and settled themselves into the passenger-pods around the pilot's seat.
Nicola handed Tyler a piece of paper with Shimlara's address on Globagaskar on it so he could type the address into the spaceship keyboard. She wondered if the others were thinking about how when they left Globagaskar last time he accidentally typed in 'ARTH' instead of 'EARTH'. They didn't realise they were on the wrong planet until they'd left the spaceship and they were all nearly killed by hungry Arth-Creatures who thought they looked like a tasty, home-delivered lunch.
'Don't worry,' said Tyler, who must have been remembering the same thing. 'I'm being careful.'
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'Oh,' said Nicola. 'I just thought of something. Can we fly this spaceship at Time-Squeeze Speed so our parents won't worry about us?'
She was remembering how Shimlara's dad had used 'Time-Squeeze Speed' when he flew to Earth from Globagaskar. It was an amazing device that used intergalactic molecular conversion to compress time on the planet you were leaving behind. It was fantastic because it meant you could travel to another planet with time up your sleeve. They could spend a whole day on Shobble and only a few minutes of time would pass on Earth.
'Um, let me see.' Tyler pulled out the instruction manual and his gaze moved between it and the panel of buttons, flashing lights and levers in front of him. 'Here it is!' He pulled a lever and a robotic voice said, 'You-have-switched-to-Time-Squeeze-Speed.'
'Right,' said Tyler. 'Please prepare for . . .' He punched one fist on a large red button. '. . . take-off!'
The spaceship shot straight into the air.