'Thank you for saving me from the river,' said Nicola. Quicksilver chirped softly, his liquid brown eyes filled with sadness.
Nicola brushed away tears. 'I'll never forget you! I'll come back and visit one day, I promise!' Then she turned and ran, without looking back. Even Sean had suspiciously red eyes when they all returned from saying goodbye to their ShobGobbles.
A crowd of well-wishers gathered around as Tyler set up the spaceship.
'We've got something for you,' announced Topaz. (She was already wearing a badge that said VOTE 1 TOPAZ!) 'It's a gift from the people of Shobble.'
Four Security Thugs lugged over a gigantic jewel-encrusted treasure chest and placed it in the spaceship's storage compartment.
Topaz lifted the treasure chest's lid so they could see its contents. 'It's not the one Enrico offered you, but it's pretty good.'
'There's a lifetime supply of ShobbleChoc,' said Serena.
'And some leftover cold hizza from last night,' said Joshua. 'Tastes even better the next day.'
'And just a few spare weapons we thought might come in handy for the Space Brigade's next mission,' said the Thug leader. 'Like Micro Mirth Missiles - they make your enemies double up laughing. Surprisingly effective. Oh dear, I'm getting all emotional.' The Thug flapped his hands around in front of his eyes and sniffed noisily.
Horatio Banks shuffled over, together with his wife Bertha, and pointed at a small jar tucked away in the corner of the chest. 'I've given each of you a Limited Edition Gold Button. They have some unusual functions you might appreciate one day.'
'Katie! Oh, Katie! We'll dedicate the rest of our lives to keeping your memory alive!' The members of the Katie Hobbs Fan Club threw themselves face down in the snow at Katie's feet.
'Oh, for heaven's sake,' sighed Katie.
'I think it's time we got out of here,' said Nicola.
There were handshakes and hugs, slaps on the back, tea
rs and jokes as each member of the Space Brigade said their goodbyes and climbed into the spaceship.
Finally it was just Nicola left standing on the snow.
She gave Topaz a hug and said, 'It's been an honour to know you, Topaz Silverbell.'
'Likewise, Nicola Berry.' Topaz's voice cracked and she said, 'Oh, I hate goodbyes.'
'We could never have done it without you!' Serena threw her arms around Nicola.
Joshua went to shake Nicola's hand, changed his mind and hugged her instead. He said, 'You're the nicest evil Earthling I've ever met.'
Nicola couldn't speak. She smiled through her tears and before she could embarrass herself even more, she turned and climbed quickly into the spaceship.
Quietly, the Space Brigade strapped themselves into their passenger-pods.
Tyler said, 'Prepare for take-off,' punched the red button, and the spaceship shot up into Shobble's atmosphere.
Nicola looked down through the arches of the rainbows and saw that the people of Shobble had organised themselves into lines and formed the message THANK YOU! in huge letters across the snow.
Nicola glanced at the rest of the Space Brigade. They all had their mouths full of chocolate and blissful expressions on their faces.
'No trouble, Shobble,' said Nicola softly, as she turned back for one last look at the tiny glittering planet. 'No trouble at all.'
PS A couple of last things that might interest you . . .
Nicola stood under a gum tree in her great-grandmother's backyard and looked up at the stars. The sounds of Grammy's one hundredth birthday party drifted out from the house. Nicola and Sean had given her a giant gift box of ShobbleChoc and a CD of Silent Fred's hit song, 'Rock Around the Choc'. It had proved to be the most successful present of the evening. Grammy had the box of chocolates on her lap. She was refusing to share them with anyone and was nodding her head in time to the music.
As Nicola looked up at the Milky Way, she wondered what her intergalactic friends were doing right now. Was Topaz busy handing out leaflets and giving speeches trying to convince the people of Shobble to vote for her? Was Shimlara sunbathing under Globagaskar's two cherry suns and swimming in her fizzy pink pool with Georgio, Mully and Squid? Fortunately, when they'd got back to Earth they'd found that only three hours had passed thanks to Time-Squeeze speed. It felt like they'd been gone for months.
She wondered also about the Space Brigade's next mission. Would there be another mission? It might be nice to have a little rest for a while, without fighting off deadly Biters or flying hot-air balloons in hurricanes. Yes, it would be good not to deal with anything scarier than Mrs Zucchini's maths tests for the time being.