War on Whimsy (Space Brigade 3)

"You can be my assistant," said Greta. "That means you get me cups of coffee and do my photocopying and faxing."

Shimlara raised her eyebrows. "Seeing as I've never even heard of the words coffee, photocopying, or faxing, I don't think I'd make much of an assistant."

"You can be our bodyguard," said Nicola. "It makes sense seeing as you're so much taller than us."

Shimlara liked that idea immediately. She lifted her fists like a fighter and spoke in a deep, weirdly accented voice. "You wanna take me on? Do ya? Well, do ya?"

She chuckled as if she'd just said something that they would all agree was hilarious. Then she saw the rest of the Space Brigade staring at her blankly. "You know! It's a line from that movie Galaxy Bust! You know, the part where the bad guy is talking to himself in the mirror? You must have seen it. I've seen it fourteen times. Every single person I know has seen Galaxy Bust!"

"We don't get to see movies from other planets on Earth," explained Nicola.

Shimlara dropped her fists. "Well, anyway, I'll be your security guard, no problem. You're all under my protection. No one gets hurt on my watch."

"I don't need you to protect me," said Sean.

"It's just a role, Sean," said Nicola. "It's not real. Remember?"

"Yeah, I know that," muttered Sean. "I'm just saying . . ."

Shimlara winked at Nicola over Sean's head.

"I saw that!" said Sean.

KABOOM!

There was another explosion from outside the cave. It was even louder than the ones they'd heard before.

"I think I miss the volcanoes," said Katie.

"Shhhh." Tyler held up his hand. "Did you hear that?"

"The explosion?" said Sean. "A bit hard to miss."

"No," said Tyler. "It sounded like someone calling for help."

"I can't hear anything," said Greta. "You're imagining it."

"I am not imagining it," said Tyler. Nicola had never seen him speak so assertively. "Be quiet, all of you, and listen!"

Everyone stopped talking. There was silence. The bombs had stopped and they could hear the birds singing again.

Nicola went to speak and then she heard it. They all heard it.

It was someone screaming. A woman's voice, raw with panic.

"Help! Please!"

The Space Brigade ran.

CHAPTER 20

Tyler took the lead.

"This way!" he called, running out of the cave and around the shore of the lake.

The voice rang out again. "Is anyone there? I need help!"

"We're coming!" called Tyler.