War on Whimsy (2 page)

“You didn't forget the spaceship, did you, Tyler?” said Nicola.

“You're dealing with a professional here.” The lenses of Tyler's glasses glinted in the moonlight. He pointed to the familiar silver briefcase with the words MINI EASY-RIDE SPACESHIP stamped discreetly on the side. He'd strapped it to the back of his bike.

“I was nervous riding my bike over in the dark,” said Katie, trying to smooth down her glossy brown hair where it was sticking up in the back. Nicola had to laugh when she thought of what Katie had been through on their last mission. Maybe it was easier to be brave on a planet other than your own.

“If this turns out to be a wild goose chase, I won't be impressed,” said Greta. You wouldn't have thought she'd been in bed when they called. She looked as neat as a pin. “Sometimes Shimlara can be a bit of a drama queen.”

This was true, but Nicola immediately jumped to her defense.

“She wouldn't be dragging us all the way to the other side of the galaxy if it wasn't an emergency.”

“Okay, guys, stand back.” Tyler picked up the briefcase.

He pressed a button marked ACTIVATE on the side. As usual, nothing happened for just long enough for Greta to snap, “Is it broken?” Then, suddenly, it began spinning rapidly, until it was nothing but a streak of whirling color. Within seconds, the briefcase had been transformed into a compact, but impressive-looking, spaceship.

“Wha dat?” said a voice.

Nicola spun around.

It was their youngest cousin, Jessie. She was wearing pink pajamas and staring with wide eyes at the spaceship.

“Go back inside, Jessie,” said Nicola, in what she thought was a firm, kindly parental voice.

“No,” said Jessie in an equally firm, kindly voice. “Wha
dat
?”

“It's a spaceship,” said Sean. “Now scoot off, kiddo.”

Tyler unlocked the spaceship. The glass bubble on top hinged back and a ladder slid down to the ground.

“Jessie come for a ride!” Jessie's voice rose to alarming levels.

“Can't you control her?” said Greta to Nicola. “Isn't she, like, a
relative
of yours?”

Nicola shrugged. She had no idea how to handle naughty children except to just give them whatever they wanted. Katie bent down beside Jessie. She was good with children because she had four very naughty little brothers.

“If you quietly go back inside, we'll bring you back something really special from our trip,” said Katie. “Would you like something pink or yellow?”

Jessie put her finger to her lip. “Ummm, I think, pink. No, yellow. Pink!”

“I don't think you should bribe her,” said Greta. “She'll get unrealistic expectations about life. Do as you're told and go inside, little girl.”

Jessie stomped her feet and screamed, “No!”

A light went on inside the house.

“We'd better hurry,” said Sean.

“What's going on out there?” called out a voice from inside.

Frizzle,
thought Nicola. (
Frizzle
was the Berry family's own private swear word.)

“Go, go, go!” she said. The Space Brigade began scrambling up the spaceship ladder.

Jessie screamed like both her legs had been broken. “Me come, too!”

“We'll bring you back something pink, honey!” Katie ran to the ladder.

Jessie got a firm grip on the hem of Nicola's dress. (She was wearing a floaty, floral summer party dress to please Grammy.)

The front door of the house swung open.

“Oh, please let go, Jessie,” begged Nicola. She staggered to the spaceship with the little girl dragging along the grass behind her.

“Prepare for blastoff,” said Tyler.

Nicola's foot was on the second rung of the ladder. Jessie was clutching her leg with both fat little hands.

A voice from the front porch said, “What in the world . . . ?”

Jessie's grip loosened. Sean and Katie leaned out of the spaceship and pulled Nicola inside. She strapped herself into her passenger pod. Through the glass bubble lid of the spaceship she could see her crazy Great-aunt Annie striding across the front lawn toward Jessie, her mouth moving rapidly. Nicola couldn't hear what she was saying, but she had a feeling it wasn't, “Have a great trip in space, kids!”

Tyler twisted around to look at her with questioning eyebrows.

“Blast off
now
!” she ordered him.

He didn't even need to look back at the controls. He slammed one fist against the big red button.

The spaceship shot up like a firecracker. Nicola peered down and saw her crazy great-aunt Annie scoop Jessie into her arms and point a warning finger into the sky that Nicola was pretty sure meant: “I'm going straight inside to wake your parents.” Poor Mom and Dad, snoozing happily away on their comfy bed.

Then Grammy's house, street, and suburb melted away into a patchwork quilt of glimmering lights. Seconds later they could see the massive curve of Earth's surface.

“I've never felt so unprepared for a mission.” Nicola gestured at her pretty dress and held up empty palms.

“It's not like you were fantastically prepared for the other missions,” said Greta.

“Luckily, your genius of a big brother
is
prepared.” Sean grinned smugly and held up a backpack. “Guess what's in here?”

“Your dirty old sneakers?” guessed Nicola.

Sean opened the bag and pulled out a long, gold-wrapped chocolate bar that was instantly familiar.

“ShobbleChoc,”
breathed Katie.

Their last mission had been to the planet of Shobble, home of the most exquisitely delicious chocolate in the galaxy. Sean handed around bars and everyone took huge bites.

“I've also got the Micro Mirth Missiles,” said Sean. “We just throw them at our enemies and they'll go weak with laughter.”

The people of Shobble had been so grateful for the Space Brigade's help overthrowing an evil commander in chief, they had presented them with a treasure chest full of chocolate and weapons.

“Why did you have the backpack with you at Grammy's party?” asked Nicola. (She wished
she'd
been the one with the chocolate and weapons. It would have made her look so capable.)

“I've been taking it everywhere I go,” said Sean. “Just in case.”

“At least we've all got our buttons,” said Katie. She pulled at a large, shiny, gold button hanging around her neck.

The people of Shobble had also given each of them a “limited edition gold button” telling them it had “unusual functions they might appreciate one day.” Katie had threaded each button onto a thin chain and they had all agreed to wear the buttons around their necks at all times. The buttons had become like Space Brigade membership badges.

“Pity we don't have any idea what they do,” said Greta. “If anything.”

“We'll find out one day,” said Nicola.

“I've been thinking about Georgio and Mully,” said Katie thoughtfully.

Georgio and Mully were Shimlara's parents. Everyone in the Space Brigade was fond of them. Georgio was a zany university professor with a huge mustache, who was full of enthusiasm for anything and everything. Mully was lovely and full of surprises (for example, she was an ex-officer of the Globagaskar army). They appeared pretty much like normal parents except for the fact they were close to twelve feet tall. This was because people on Globagaskar were about twice as tall as Earthlings. Even Shimlara's little brother, Squid, who was just three years old, was the same height as Nicola's dad.

“Remember when we picked up Shimlara before our last mission?” said Katie. “Georgio took a phone call and came back looking all serious. I wonder if that call has something to do with why they've gone missing.”

“That's a good point. I'd forgotten about that,” said Nicola.

Now Katie was showing her up. Nicola was suddenly filled with insecurity. Maybe she should ask the others if someone else would like to be leader this time? She was about to speak, when Tyler said, “Prepare for landing, folks. That's Globagaskar just to your right.”

Goodness. He sounded like he'd been piloting spaceships all his life. Everyone else was becoming more confident with each mission, whereas Nicola appeared to be
losing
confidence.

As the spaceship raced through Globagaskar's glittering outer atmosphere, Nicola caught her first glimpse of the planet's two suns radiating beams of cherry-colored light across majestic snowcapped mountain ranges. She remembered her first trip into space, after Georgio had picked
her
as the Earthling Ambassador.

Now Georgio was in trouble and he needed her help. Nicola took a deep, bracing breath. This was no time for insecurity. This was a time for
action.

After Tyler deftly landed the spaceship in the Gorgioskio backyard, they all went inside to look for Shimlara.

As they walked into the strange, futuristic house with its circular rooms, confusing murals, and unfamiliar technology, Nicola realized she'd never been there before without the whole family. It seemed like any minute Georgio would surely come bounding down the hallway, or Mully would appear offering them cookies the size of dinner plates, or that Squid would run in, his security blanket clutched close, his thumb in his mouth.

But this time the house was eerily silent.

“I hope Shimlara hasn't disappeared now, too,” said Nicola, as she pushed open the door of Shimlara's bedroom and found it empty. She realized her heart was beating fast.

She walked into Georgio and Mully's room. Nothing. A curtain rippled in the breeze from an open window. Nicola shivered.

Next was Squid's room. There was someone curled up in his bed.

It was Shimlara. She had pulled her knees to her chest and was cuddling Squid's ragged, old, blue blanket. Her face was puffy from crying. Her long, dark, curly hair was a tangled mess. When she saw the Space Brigade all gathered at the bedroom door, she sat up and carefully adjusted the gold button hanging around her neck.

“Please help me find them,” she said.

First Shimlara showed them what she'd discovered so far.

There was the tray bobbing around in the pool with the half-drunk cups of tea and a cookie with a single bite taken from it. “Dad would never leave an almond cookie like that,” said Shimlara. “Unless something really terrible happened to interrupt him.

There was the piece of torn notepaper Shimlara had found lying in the backyard, in Georgio's handwriting. It said, HELP, SHIML—as if he'd been interrupted.

There was the fact that the Gorgioskios's aero-car was still sitting in the garage.

And there was Squid's security blanket, which was really the most compelling evidence of all.

“They don't go anywhere without Squid's blanket,” said Shimlara.

“Maybe your parents decided it was time he grew out of it,” said Greta. Shimlara just stared Greta down until she muttered, “Or maybe not.”

Now they were all sitting around the Gorgioskio dining-room table, trying desperately to think of what to do next.

“I've called every single person Mom and Dad know,” said Shimlara. “None of them have any ideas. One of Dad's friends at the university muttered something like, ‘I
told
him not to get involved.' When I asked him what he meant, he hung up.”

“I wonder if—” said Nicola. She stopped, trying to piece her thoughts together. She was thinking about the circumstances that had led to her first meeting the Gorgioskio family. The king and queen of Globagaskar had gone on vacation, leaving their daughter, Princess Petronella, in charge. Unfortunately, Princess Petronella had taken it upon herself to turn Earth into a giant garbage can. That's when Georgio and Mully set up the Save the Little Earthlings Committee
.

“Maybe Georgio and Mully are trying to help another planet,” said Nicola. “Like they helped Earth. Have they talked about anything like that lately?”

“They're
always
trying to help other planets. I zone out. I'm not really into current affairs.They go on about
injustice.
It's so boring.” Shimlara suddenly looked embarrassed. “Although of course it wasn't boring when they were trying to save Earth. That was different. That was really interesting.”

“Your parents are good people,” said Katie to Shimlara. “They're an inspiration!”

Shimlara nodded miserably. “They even won this award for ‘Services to the Galaxy' from the United Aunts.” She pointed out a big gold plaque hanging on the wall, engraved with Georgio and Mully's names. “It's a really big deal.”

“Who are the United Aunts?” asked Nicola.

“It's a universal organization of wise aunts,” explained Shimlara. “There are representative aunts from every planet. Their goal is to ‘encourage peace and love and good manners throughout the galaxy.' ”

“It must be like the United Nations on Earth,” said Tyler. “Except, um, without the aunts.”

“Mom and Dad were so thrilled to get to shake hands with the aunts,” said Shimlara. “I should have been more excited for them. I was saying, ‘Who cares about some boring old aunts?' And they were so excited for me just because I won third place in a spelling bee!”

“Maybe your parents keep some paperwork about the different causes they're involved with?” suggested Nicola, anxious to change the subject as Shimlara was looking so upset and guilty.

Shimlara stood and they all looked up at her. When she was sitting down, Nicola forgot that Shimlara was as tall as a basketball player. It gave her a start. Yet on Globagaskar, Shimlara was the shortest girl in her class.