"Thank you." Nicola climbed onto the chair and saw that the woman had a familiar red flower tucked behind her ear.
"I think our aero-cars bumped into each other on the way here," said Nicola.
"Oh, yes, that's right. I thought I recognized your face!" said the woman. "My name is Mrs. Gray. I'm pleased to meet you."
"Nicola Berry," said Nicola. "I'm pleased to meet you, too."
"Do you mind my asking if you're an Earthling?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"Yes, I am."
"I assume you're here to try to and convince the princess not to turn Earth into a giant garbage can." Mrs. Gray shook her head. "I read about it in Intergalactic Geographic. I signed that petition lobbying the princess to reverse her decision. My husband and I went to Earth to celebrate our wedding anniversary. It was so romantic! So quaint and old-fashioned."
"What are you seeing the princess about?" asked Nicola curiously.
"Oh," sighed Mrs. Gray. "It's a long shot, I'm afraid.
I'm a math teacher, you see, at least I was a math teacher, but when the king and queen went on vacation, the first thing Princess Petronella did was make all math teaching illegal. She hates math, you see, which I just find extraordinary.When I was a young girl I was just fascinated by mathematics!"
"Mmm," said Nicola, thinking that if she'd had the chance to outlaw math she might have taken it, too.
"I'm wearing this flower to show her that math teachers can be fun and a little funky, too!" Mrs. Gray tilted her head to show Nicola the flower behind her ear.
"What present do you have for her?" asked Nicola.
"It's a book called The Joy of Mathematics," said Mrs. Gray. "Wouldn't you love to get a gift like that?"
Nicola was saved from having to answer when Mrs. Gray looked over Nicola's shoulder and said, "Watch out, young man!"
A fair-haired boy in a T-shirt and jeans was walking backward toward Nicola's chair without stopping. He bumped straight into Nicola's shoulder, nearly knocking her out of her seat.
"Sorry!" he said, sitting in the chair on Nicola's other side. He had the number 4949 stamped on his forehead.
"Why in the world were you walking backward?" asked Mrs. Gray in a rather snippy teacherish voice, while Nicola rubbed her shoulder.
"Because Princess Petronella made a new law last Wednesday," said the boy. "All thirteen-year-old boys whose names begin with A have to walk backward everywhere they go until they turn fourteen. My name is Ardy and I'm thirteen, so unless I want to get thrown in jail, that's what I have to do. At first I thought walking backward everywhere was pretty cool, but I got sick of it after a couple of days, and I keep bumping into people. So I'm here to try to change Princess Petronella's mind."
"Did yo
u get her a present?" asked Nicola.
"Naaah," said Ardy."As you've probably noticed, I'm pretty good-looking, so I reckon she'll just fall in love with me and do whatever I want. A lot of girls are in love with me."
"You're very vain," said Nicola.
"Yeah, I'm pretty vain," said Ardy in a self-satisfied way, while Mrs. Gray and Nicola secretly exchanged grins.
A buzzer went off and a computer-generated voice boomed through the hall, "Calling number 3956! Calling number 3956!"
An older couple with matching green spiky Mohawk hairstyles jumped to their feet and went toward a diamond archway with a sign reading PRINCESS THROUGH hErE.They dragged a pink pony with a bow tied around its middle behind them.
"They'll be trying to get the Green Mohawk law changed," said Mrs. Gray. "The princess legislated that any couple with more than three children had to get their hair cut and colored into green Mohawks. It's not very seemly for middle-aged parents. Oh dear, I'm afraid the princess might like their pony a little more than my Joy of Mathematics book."
Ardy snorted and said sarcastically, "That sounds like a real awesome book."
"Math is very useful, young man," said Mrs. Gray. "For example, I've been developing an algebraic equation to determine which number will be called next."
"Have you worked it out?" asked Nicola.