If she didn't jump, the others never would.
She didn't let her mind think anymore.
She just jumped.
CHAPTER 9
F . . . r . . . i . . . z . . . z . . . l . . . e ! That was the word like a long, silent scream in Nicola's mind as she plummeted through the night sky toward the volcanoes below, hot air blasting her face, a roaring sound in her ears. She wasn't floating on her stomach in a neat star shape like the parachutists she'd seen on television. She was flailing about, her hands clawing at the air, as if she could hold on to something, or somehow climb back onto the spaceship.
Rip cord.
She needed to pull her rip cord.
She grabbed at her shoulder and felt nothing. Panic exploded in her chest. She felt again, and there it was. She pulled.
There was an enormous tugging sensation, as if a giant had grabbed her by the shoulders and wrenched her upright.
The roaring sound stopped abruptly like a switch had been turned off. She looked up. Her parachute was purple silk, rippling silently above her. She was safe. Her dress fluttered around her legs. Mmmm, her dress and parachute matched quite well. What a strange sight she must have made, parachuting above volcanoes in the middle of the night dressed for a birthday party.
Nicola could see Sean, Shimlara, and Tyler, not far behind her. Their parachutes had all opened and they were all smiling with the same blissful relief that Nicola felt.
Katie and Greta had only just jumped. The Royal Spaceship was flying off into the distance behind them.
To Nicola's chagrin, she saw that Greta looked like an absolute skydiving professional. She was floating in a star shape and, as Nicola watched, she calmly reached for her rip cord and her parachute opened.
Katie, on the other hand, looked much like Nicola had probably looked. She was tumbling crazily through the air, arms and legs in every direction.
Okay, pull your rip cord now,thought Nicola.
Katie kept falling.
Nicola could hear a faint, eerie sound that she thought might have been Katie's scream.
Pull your rip cord. Katie, please, please pull your rip cord.
Katie continued to fall like someone pushed from the side of the cliff. She flew past Nicola. Nicola saw only a flash of gaping mouth and bulging eyes.
"Katie, pull your rip cord, you silly, silly . . . !" screamed Nicola and she'd never heard her own voice sound like that: violent with terror.
She could hear the rest of the Space Brigade screaming at Katie, too, and just when she thought she was about to see her best friend die right in front of her, Katie's parachute burst open like a blossoming flower. It was quite possi
bly the most beautiful thing Nicola had ever seen.
Nicola's eyes filled with tears. She was going to be very angry with Katie when they landed.
Landing. Right. That was the next thing to accomplish.
XYZ40 had told them that the Royal Spaceship would drop them as close as possible to a red hut with 3A on the roof that would be easy to spot from the air.
"The Volcomanians color-code everything," she'd said. "It makes it quite convenient to get around. Of course, you'll find it's quite a different story when you get to the Planet of Whimsy."
Nicola looked down beneath her. It didn't matter that it was the middle of the night because the constant explosions from the volcanoes lit up the landscape like daylight. Everywhere she looked she could see erupting volcanoes.
It was quite beautiful in a frightening sort of way.
Goodness! Was that a city perched on the side of that volcano? Nicola tried to imagine living her daily life on the side of an active volcano.
She suddenly remembered her teacher, Mrs. Zucchini, telling them about an ancient city in Italy that had been buried under ash after a volcano erupted. The city was called Pompeii, and when Mount Vesuvius erupted, the ash preserved everything--even the bodies. The city was frozen forever like a time capsule. Apparently you could still see the terrified expressions on some of the dead victims' faces.