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Back The Shocking Trouble on the Planet of Shobble Save as PDF
Chapters (47)
  1. COVER
  2. ABOUT L. M. MORIARTY
  3. ALSO BY L. M. MORIARTY
  4. TITLE PAGE
  5. PROLOGUE
  6. 1
  7. 2
  8. 3
  9. 4
  10. 5
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  47. 42

Her mother blinked rapidly. Then she burst out laughing. ‘You had me for a second there. Oh, you’ve got a wonderful imagination, Nic! I think you must get it from me. Your father has no imagination whatsoever. Well, have fun.’ She left the room, calling back merrily, ‘Don’t get into trouble on Shobble! Wear plenty of sunscreen!’

Nicola was slightly offended. Was it really so unlikely that they’d be going on another mission? Oh well, it was fortuitous that her mum didn’t believe her, because now she could leave for the planet of Shobble with a clear conscience.

5

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At 10 am on the dot the Earthling members of the Space Brigade were standing next to the rusty old swing set in Nicola and Sean’s backyard.

‘Right,’ said Nicola to Tyler. ‘Let’s set up the spaceship. Do you know what to do?’

‘I think so,’ said Tyler. He squatted down next to the small silver briefcase he’d brought along with him. Printed on the side were the words MINI EASY-RIDE SPACESHIP. Tyler pressed a tiny square button that said ACTIVATE and moved away. ‘Give it some room,’ he said tersely, and they all took a few steps back.

The suitcase didn’t do anything.

‘You’ve done something wrong,’ said Greta.

‘He has not,’ said Katie.

‘Shall I give it a good thump?’ asked Sean.

‘Patience,’ said Nicola grandly, ‘is a virtue.’ Everyone stared at her, impressed. Sometimes things like that just came into her head.

The suitcase began to twitch and wobble as though there was a puppy inside trying to escape. It lifted off the ground and spun in circles, slowly at first, and then faster and faster, until it was just a streaky whirl of colour.

Everyone stepped back again. There were clunks and clangs and a high eeeeeeee sound. Sparks flew.

Crash. Thud. Crash.

And there it was, glowing silver and gold in the sunlight – their spaceship.

‘Ha! Ha ha!’ cried Tyler. He ran around the spaceship giving it loving little pats. Nicola thought that if he was on his own he’d probably have thrown his arms around it.

After a moment he realised they were all watching him. He stopped and coughed loudly to cover his embarrassment. ‘Okay, everybody, no need to get too excited. It’s just a spaceship.’ He saw their broad grins, shrugged and said, ‘Well, it’s pretty amazing, isn’t it!’

‘It is,’ said Nicola. She clapped her hands and said, ‘Okay, let’s go!’, then felt a bit stupid for accidentally clapping her hands like a teacher.

Tyler beamed and held up a big silver key. He inserted it in the lock on the back of the spaceship. The glass bubble on top rolled back smoothly and a ladder slid down to the ground. One by one they climbed up and settled themselves into the passenger-pods around the pilot’s seat.