‘I don’t think so,’ said Serena slowly. ‘When Enrico first came into power he introduced the Quiet-Please decree. It bans music of all forms – singing, musical instruments, even humming!’

‘And he brought in the Anti-Yellow legislation,’ said Joshua. ‘The penalty for wearing yellow on Shobble is life imprisonment.’

‘And then there’s the Button-Free regulation,’ said Serena. ‘All clothes have to be made without buttons – only zippers allowed.’

‘And we’re a Peanut-Butter-Free planet,’ said Joshua. ‘I thought Enrico had a peanut allergy but he’s just scared of it sticking to the roof of his mouth!’

‘So the question is,’ said Nicola, ‘could we use all those phobias in some way to help overthrow Enrico?’

‘We could organise a big protest march,’ began Tyler slowly.

‘And everyone could wear yellow clothes,’ said Sean.

‘And we could all be singing or playing musical instruments,’ said Joshua.

‘And eating peanut butter sandwiches!’ said Serena.

‘I’m allergic,’ said Greta.

‘Okay, well not everyone,’ said Serena.

‘Don’t forget the buttons,’ said Nicola.

‘We could all be wearing yellow buttons!’ said Shimlara.

‘We could present the petition as long as a rainbow at the same time,’ said a voice from the other side of the cave.

They all looked around. It was Topaz, sitting up in bed and rubbing her eyes.

She threw back the covers and leapt out of bed.

‘This could work,’ she said. ‘If we got every single person on the planet of Shobble to march, this could totally work.’

Joshua tipped his chair back, clasped his hands behind his head and looked smug. ‘Told you she wasn’t serious about giving up the cause,’ he said.

33

Topaz stood at the whiteboard writing down people’s ideas as they called them out excitedly. She had to keep stopping to blow her nose and she was sucking on a (chocolate-flavoured) cough lolly, but her depression seemed to have lifted. The vibrant girl in the photo was back. Nicola admired the unselfconscious way Topaz led the group. She wasn’t too bossy but at the same time she didn’t try too hard to make people like her. When Sean and Joshua started yawning and throwing things at each other while Greta told a long involved story about a gymnastics competition that was meant to demonstrate some point, Topaz calmly told Sean and Joshua to stop it and Greta to hurry up. Everyone seemed to respect her. Was it simply because Topaz didn’t have any self-doubt? Was being a leader like handling a ferocious dog? ‘Never let the dog see your fear,’ Nicola’s dad always told her.

‘Oh, I’m sorry, Nicola.’ Topaz caught her eye. ‘You should be up here too. You’re the leader of the Space Brigade. I’m such a bossy boots.’

‘Oh, no, that’s okay.’ Nicola felt shy.