At that moment Sean walked into the kitchen yawning and rubbing his eyes. ‘Why are you three up so early?’ he said predictably. He opened the fridge door and stood there for a few seconds, before turning around slowly. ‘Did you just say something about ringing up another planet?’

‘Yep.’ Nicola waved the letter at him. ‘The Space Brigade might be going on another mission.’

‘What?’ Sean slammed the fridge door shut and grabbed the letter from Nicola’s hand. He read it quickly. ‘YES! So have you called yet? Why not? Too scared, eh?’

‘How do you think Mum and Dad would like it if I called another planet?’

‘Oh. Good point.’

They were all silent as they tried to think of a solution. Suddenly, the phone rang.

Katie, who was the nearest, picked it up. Speaking in a bubbly, professional voice, entirely unlike her normal voice, she said, ‘Good morning! This is the Berry residence. How may I help you today?’ Katie had learned how to answer phones from her mother, who was a receptionist at a doctor’s office. If Sean had answered it, he would have said, ‘Yo,’ which always caused the person on the other end to say, ‘Ummm, pardon?’

After a pause, Katie said, ‘Nicola Berry? I’ll just check if she’s available. May I ask who is calling?’

Sean snorted.

‘Shhh.’ Tyler pointed a finger at Katie. Her eyes had become very wide.

‘What?’ said Nicola. ‘Who is it?’

Katie handed the phone to Nicola and said, ‘It’s the Commander-in-Chief of the planet of Shobble, calling for Miss Nicola Berry.’

3

‘Hello?’ said Nicola nervously into the phone. ‘This is Nicola speaking.’

Tyler was dancing silently around the kitchen, punching the air like he’d just won a boxing match, while Katie was beaming and giving her two thumbs up. Sean was busy writing on a piece of paper: DON’T MESS UP!

Nicola tried to ignore them all and listen to the person on the end of the phone. His voice was warm, deep and sweet, like honey drizzled on toast.

‘I do hope you don’t mind me calling you. Is this, perhaps, an inconvenient time for a chat?’

‘Oh yes, I mean no, um, this is a very convenient time,’ said Nicola. Pull yourself together, she told herself sternly. You’ve got to sound like the leader of a Space Brigade, not a bumbling idiot wearing an old summer nightie with pictures of koala bears all over it.

‘My name is Enrico Aloisio. Did you receive my letter, Nicola? May I call you “Nicola”?’ asked the Commander. ‘Please do call me Enrico.’

‘Yes, of course, ah, Enrico, you may call me Nicola,’ said Nicola grandly, in her poshest voice. ‘I did receive your letter. In fact I was just discussing it with some of the, ah, senior members of the Space Brigade.’

She glanced up to see Katie, Tyler and Sean all stifling their laughter over her posh voice.