‘I knew there was no point. Nobody ever listens to me.’

Suddenly it was pouring fat, heavy raindrops. Within seconds everyone was drenched and shivering uncontrollably, their hair plastered to their heads. Nicola felt raindrops running icily down the back of her clothes. Thunder boomed and lightning cracked like a whip, illuminating their wet, frightened faces. The basket rocked so hard everyone lurched clumsily about trying to keep their balance. Shimlara’s elbow collided with Greta’s nose.

‘OW!’

‘It’s not my fault!’

Nicola imagined how their hot-air balloon must look from the ground. Probably like a helpless butterfly being tossed about against the huge backdrop of the sky. Philippe was no doubt laughing his head off at their predicament. Would they survive? And what would happen to Katie if the rest of them were killed in a ballooning accident?

Tyler yelled over the noise of the rain, ‘We’ve got to put our bubble-jackets on like the notice says!’

Sean crouched down and pulled red jackets from a box beneath the balloon’s burner. He handed one to each person. They looked like puffier versions of ordinary life jackets. Nicola tugged hers over her head and tied the straps around her waist.

The others were crouching around the edges of the basket with their heads bowed against the rain and the wind.

She wedged herself between Greta and Sean.

Greta leaned over and spoke into Nicola’s ear. ‘I’ve always found you pretty annoying, Nicola.’

‘What?’ Nicola wasn’t sure if she’d heard right.

‘You know, the notice said to tell people how you really feel.’

Nicola couldn’t respond because suddenly the wind grew so strong it was difficult to breathe. The basket jerked back and forth, swooped up in an arc, plummeted down and then soared back up again. Without thinking, Nicola reached for the hands of Sean and Greta. Both of them grabbed at her hands and held on tight. She looked up briefly and saw that all the Space Brigade were holding hands, their foreheads pressed against their knees, a huddled, terrified circle on the floor of the basket. Nicola pressed her face back down against her knees as well.

The howling of the wind sounded horrible. A whooooohooooo-ooooo sound like a ghost screaming.

Or was it Shimlara screaming?

Or was it herself screaming?

Or was it all of them screaming?

And then the balloon turned into a merry-go-round on fast-forward. Round and round and round it went, faster and faster and faster.

Nicola opened her eyes and saw the side of a mountain looming impossibly high above them like the side of a ship.

She heard Sean say, ‘Oh, no. Oh, no. Oh, no.’

Sean’s and Greta’s hands were torn from her grasp.

The basket flipped upside down, tipping out the Space Brigade like marbles from a jar and sending them plunging thousands of feet to the mountain below.

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