by Erin Downing
“Maybe so,” Athena said coldly, not at all disappointed that they hadn’t seen Geela herself while they were on set. “Thank you for having us.”
The rest of the band echoed their thanks, shook hands with Tam (Juno and Athena), gave hugs (Hera), exchanged cheek-kisses (Luna), and high-fived (Rhea), before heading off set. As the girls wandered through the studio to pack up their things and make their way to the tour bus, a familiar voice called out to them from down a long hall. “Juno! Luna! SPACEPOP!!!”
Spinning around, the girls watched as Bradbury—the group’s self-proclaimed “biggest fan”—raced toward them. The chubby alien’s fluffy puff of hair bounced as he lumbered down the hall. Bradbury waved, then flicked a tiny lever on the side of his glasses (the glasses also served as video screens and cameras). “Hey, guys!”
“Hi, Bradbury,” they called out. By now, the band had gotten used to Bradbury turning up in the most unusual places. The popular vlogger was well-known in the galaxy—and his popularity had grown by leaps and bounds after launching the SPACEPOP fan site and essentially introducing the band to the world. Bradbury seemed to have unlimited access to planets and sets and arenas that normal creatures would never get to step foot or tentacle on.
“I was hoping I could do a follow-up exposé for my vlog—ask a few of the questions Tam didn’t have time for tonight?” Bradbury grinned at the girls, blushing when his eyes came to rest on Juno. As she had been all night, Juno was still scowling … but that didn’t seem to change the way Bradbury felt about her. He was positively smitten with rough-and-tough Juno, though he would never have the guts to admit it aloud. The two of them came from very different planets. “I’ve dug up some pretty great stuff about you girls, and I want to verify everything before I reveal your dirty little secrets!”
“Oh,” Rhea said, trying to come up with some excuse to say no. The girls were all exhausted from the show, and they desperately needed to get back to the ship to plan their next mission. They had already spent far too long avoiding unpleasant questions from Tam, so further questions from Bradbury sounded very unappealing. But if Bradbury had dug up dirt of some kind, they really needed to deal with it. “Um…”
Bradbury grinned. “Please?”
“For you, Bradbury,” Luna began sweetly. She had proved once again tonight that she was an expert at dealing with fans and press. “Anything!” She winked at the other girls, then said, “But we’re all about to collapse, we’re so tired. Could we possibly ask you for a huge favor and postpone our conversation until tomorrow? I promise it will be better for everyone.”
Bradbury looked crushed, but a second later he seemed to brighten. He spoke quickly, his words pouring out as he said, “Actually, tomorrow would be okay! But if it’s tomorrow, I have a favor to ask you in return. I’m hosting this private party on my home planet—Pallomo—and it would mean so much to me if you would consider coming by to play a few songs. I wouldn’t usually ask, but there are going to be a few big concert promoters there, so it’s good exposure, and Pallomo is really close, so it’s maybe on the way to wherever you’re going next. If you say no, which I hope you don’t, I can’t promise that those secrets I found out about you won’t be spilled to the world sooner than you might like…” He took a deep breath and trailed off.
“Pallomo?” Athena asked, trying to hide her enthusiasm. Pallomo was one of the planets the Resistance suspected of housing Geela’s Dungeon of Dark Doom! The other four princesses seemed to realize this a few seconds after Athena did. Juno’s face split into a smile for the first time all night. Attending Bradbury’s party would be the perfect excuse to slip onto the planet and do a little exploring! “We would be honored.”
“Really?” Bradbury screamed. “Yay! Yay, yay, yay, yay! I’ll get a travel authorization over to Chamberlin just as soon as I can, okay? And I promise you, we’ll have a great time!”
CHAPTER 6
“What kinds of secrets do you think Bradbury has dug up?” Rhea asked later that night while the girls were all relaxing before bed. She was stitching a new skirt that had some sort of strange plastic tubes sticking out all over the place.
“With Bradbury, you can never be sure.” Juno looked up from her sketch pad. She had been working on new designs for the front of her bass drum, since she liked to make her kit look a little bit different for every performance. “I still don’t totally trust the guy.”
“He’s harmless,” Luna said, waving her off. She pulled a brush through her hair, glancing up every few seconds at a small holo-screen that was replaying all the day’s vlog and blog uploads that included SPACEPOP. Luna kept close tabs on the band’s social media presence and made sure they were always quick to respond to any kind of press that popped up. “I’m sure it’s something silly, nothing to worry about.”
Athena sat down at her keyboard and played a few notes, once again trying to work out the melody and lyrics for the new song they had been struggling with for days. “But what if it’s not? What if he knows something about our actual pasts and is planning to reveal the truth to the galaxy? Tonight he said he was planning to blackmail us if we’d said no to playing at his party.”
“Yeah,” Hera said, looking up from her downward dog. “That was kind of weird. Blackmail isn’t very nice.”
Luna shrugged. “Look on the bright side. No matter how it all went down, we now have a free ticket to get onto Pallomo. We get to explore the second planet and search for our parents.” She paused, her brush mid-stroke. “Oh my Grock! Hansome is going to be so excited. Can I be the one to tell him we’re going to Pallomo tomorrow?”
“Fine.” Rhea shrugged. “But you have to wait until morning, so he doesn’t have time to swoop in and ride along again. He’s much more of a liability than an asset.”
“Agreed,” said Athena. “But we certainly do need to tell him before we go. I’m sure the Resistance will have some intelligence that will be useful to us in our search.”
“We’d be fools to go in blind,” agreed Juno. “And I’m not a fool.”
Hera finished up her final sun salutation, muttered “Namaste” at no one in particular, and then said, “Speaking of smart, we all ought to get into bed now. We have a big day tomorrow, and proper rest is essential for keeping our wits about us.”
Rhea snorted. She and Luna were both night owls, so it would be hours before either of them would be ready to curl up under their covers. Both of them were usually especially wired on performance nights. On the other hand, Hera, Athena, and Juno were all usually out early and up with the sun. It caused more than a few problems, considering the tight space on the bus. The walls weren’t exactly soundproof. When they slipped out to go to the bathroom late at night, they could always hear Chamberlin snoring through the closed door to his bedroom.
“I don’t think I can go to bed until I have at least a few lines of our new song down,” said Athena. “I’m so worked up right now, and I want to use some of this energy to try to figure out something.”
“I’ll help you,” Luna said, wrapping her hair up into a giant French twist. She pressed a pin into her mass of hair, then settled in next to the keyboard, closing her eyes as Athena tapped out a string of notes.
Suddenly, Luna began to sing. “When I am low…” Athena nodded, urging her to continue. Luna opened her eyes and smiled at Hera, then sang on. “… I know just who to call on.”
“That’s really pretty,” Hera said, gently rubbing the soft fur under Roxie’s ears. She pulled out her camera and snapped a few shots of Luna in action while Athena continued to tap out notes. Then Hera set her camera down and exclaimed, “How about something like this for the next line: Wherever I go, I know I got someone to count on.”
Luna grinned, singing along as Hera picked up her instrument and layered on a bass line. The girls’ collection of pets began to beatbox along, proving that what they had done on air during The Geela Hour hadn’t been a fluke. “That’s so cute,” Luna said, clapping. “We should really make
them a regular part of our shows. Our fans will go crazy!”
Luna, Athena, and Hera picked up where they had left off. Rhea strummed along, following Athena’s lead on the keyboard. Juno tapped out a beat, waiting for her moment. After a few wordless minutes, Athena quietly sang out, “And I know I’ll be all right, ’cause I got you by my side…” She looked up and flashed one of her rare smiles. “This sounds pretty good.”
They had been working for nearly half an hour when Juno—who was still tapping on the rim of one of her drums—suddenly asked, “Do you really think we’ll find our parents during one of these missions?”
Silence fell over the room. For a long moment, no one said anything. “Yeah,” Luna finally whispered. “I do.”
“What makes you think so?” Juno asked, her face stony as she tried to hold back her tears. “Is it just because you have so much faith in your beloved Captain Hansome?”
“It has nothing to do with my faith in Hansome,” Luna said defiantly. She jutted out her chin and blurted, “I believe we’ll find them because I have faith in us.”
Again the room grew quiet. It was such a surprising sentiment, coming from Luna. For the first few weeks the princesses had spent together, Luna had been reluctant to consider herself a true member of the group. Even now, after they’d written a number of songs and begun to figure out how to coexist, she was usually so focused on what was best for Luna that it often seemed as if she was working toward an entirely different objective than the rest of them. But in that one simple statement, she had just solidified herself as one of the team.
“Luna’s right. We will achieve our goal,” Athena said finally. “It’s not a matter of if we will find our families and defeat Geela, but when.”
“Maybe we’ll even find them tomorrow,” Hera said hopefully.
“Or maybe it won’t be tomorrow,” Rhea added. “Regardless, we’re not giving up until we’ve found the Dungeon of Dark Doom and stopped Geela’s reign of terror for good. We have no choice but to destroy her and take back our lives. None of us is stopping until we’ve done that. We’re in this together.”
Luna leaned against Juno’s shoulder. The two girls—who had been raised worlds apart—rarely saw eye to eye. But that didn’t mean they hadn’t grown to care for each other. As much as they drove each other crazy, neither wanted to see the other girl suffering. “I know how much you’re hurting,” Luna murmured quietly. “Just know we’re all doing everything we can to bring you back to them. We understand; we’re all there with you.”
Hera chimed in, “And I hope you know you can lean on us whenever you need someone to cry on, Juno.”
Juno sniffled. She looked tough on the outside, but even the hardest shells developed cracks if they were hit hard enough. “Thanks, guys.”
“Group hug?” Hera suggested hopefully.
This elicited a giant groan from all the other girls. But finally, reluctantly, Juno held out her arms. “Go on, then,” she said. “Let me—” Before she finished speaking, Juno was knocked flat on her back as, one after another, each of the princesses’ pets launched themselves at her like a bunch of furry missiles. Then the rest of the band joined the little critters, and soon everyone was laughing and crying together in a mess of arms and fur.
CHAPTER 7
None of the princesses had been to the tiny planet of Pallomo before receiving the invitation to play at Bradbury’s private party. During their sheltered royal lives, they had each been tucked away behind gates, fences, and sturdy stone walls, focused on things that were happening on their own planets and not much else. Of course, they all had been invited to visit other planets in the galaxy for royal business—but none of them had done much of that before Geela’s takeover. Considering Pallomo was one of the smallest and least populated planets in the galaxy, it had certainly never warranted a visit from any of the royal families.
When their space bus landed, the first thing the girls noticed about Pallomo was just how much all the citizens of the planet looked like Bradbury. Nearly everyone—except the balding folk—had a similar fluffy tuft of hair, and the planet’s entire population was exceedingly short and stocky. Even stooped-over Chamberlin appeared tall next to most of the Pallomo citizens. Unlike most planets in the galaxy, which were teeming with a wide variety of alien life, Pallomo was very homogeneous—all the inhabitants looked as if they could be related. It was obvious not many residents who had been born elsewhere had chosen to relocate to Pallomo to make a new life.
The second thing they all noticed was the overwhelming presence of Geela’s Android Soldiers on the planet. The hulking metal beasts were discreetly stationed every ten feet or so, keeping a watchful eye on the seemingly peaceful residents who were going about their day. The planet’s only city was bustling with activity but nearly silent. It was almost as if everyone walking to and fro was nervous to speak aloud lest one of the guards notice them.
“I haven’t seen this many of those metal beasts in one place since Geela’s army invaded Heralda,” Hera said, shuddering. “Not something I’d been hoping to see again.”
“It seems weird that she would assign so many of her troops to this tiny planet. Maybe their presence is a good sign she’s hiding something important here,” Athena noted.
“Like the Dungeon of Dark Doom,” Hera agreed.
When the band received their travel authorization from Bradbury early that morning, their party host had told them to park the space bus right in front of Pallomo’s main government building, where he would be waiting for them. No one had considered why they would be meeting Bradbury at the government building—but perhaps they should have.
As the band made their way across a wide metal bridge toward the building’s arched entryway, every one of Geela’s Android Soldiers kept a close watch on the group. The creatures’ glowing metal eyes followed the girls’ every movement, though their metal-clad bodies remained motionless. As soon as they reached the front doors, Chamberlin scanned the area and whispered, “Do any of you find it strange that this government building appears completely deserted, except for Geela’s guards?”
Athena, too, looked around. She thought back to the conversation they’d had with Captain Hansome that morning, wherein the rebel leader shared everything the Resistance knew about the planet of Pallomo. “When we were discussing the mission, Hansome did say Geela has taken over the government building here on Pallomo. Perhaps she’s fired the staff and no one works here anymore?”
“I highly doubt that,” scoffed Juno. “That would mean she would have to figure out how to do the dull daily tasks necessary to keep the planet running. I’m certain she can’t be bothered to figure out all those pesky little details.”
“So where is everyone?” Hera asked. “Maybe it’s siesta time?”
“I also doubt Geela would allow anyone time for a midday nap,” Juno said.
“Walk carefully and do not stomp on a snoozing dragon…”
“What?” Rhea giggled. “Where did you get that saying, Chamberlin?”
“From the famous philosopher…” Chamberlin began. He muttered something that sounded like Bluh-blug-blah.
“Bluh-blug-blah?” Rhea echoed, an amused smile plastered across her face. “Who, exactly, is Bluh-blug-blah?”
“The wise philosopher who once said, ‘Walk carefully and do not stomp on a snoozing dragon.’” Chamberlin cleared his throat. “I just think we ought to be careful, is all.”
“Oh, Chamberlin,” Luna sighed. “We abandoned caution long ago. If we’re going to succeed in overthrowing Geela, we can’t afford to be careful.”
Chamberlin cleared his throat again—and then again. “Maybe you have abandoned caution, but I most certainly have not.”
Ignoring Chamberlin’s hesitation, the five girls—followed reluctantly by their “manager”—stepped into the expansive and run-down front hall of Pallomo’s government building. As promised, Bradbury was standing in the center of the hall, waving to them. “Hi,” he sque
aked. Something about his voice was off, and the look on his face was far less jovial than it usually was when he came face-to-face with his favorite band. “I hope you, uh, had a nice trip here? The weather on Pallomo is lovely today, is it not?”
“It’s great,” Juno said, giving him a funny look. “Everything all good for your party?”
“About that…” Bradbury’s voice cracked, and suddenly he turned very red. Thin rivulets of sweat rolled down his doughy face, and he started to blink quickly. “There’s been a slight change of plans.”
“What kind of change?” Athena asked, immediately on guard.
“Wonderful news all around!” interrupted an all-too-familiar voice. The band swiveled to face Geela, who swept forward from behind a pillar. “Instead of Bradbury’s pitiful party of nobodies, tonight you’ll be dining with me!”
CHAPTER 8
Bradbury stared hopelessly at SPACEPOP, looking as horrified as the band felt. Geela smirked at them all, her slippery smile as fake as the hair on her head. “I hope you’re not too disappointed, but I’ve hijacked Bradbury’s useless ‘private party’ and turned it into a lovely get-to-know-you for the five of you … and me!”
The so-called empress paused, letting the impact of this revelation sink in. “I’ve invited a few of my closest associates to join me at a special private event with the galaxy’s hottest new musical act.” She sneered, adding, “That’s you, apparently. Since I missed the chance to chat with you on the set of The Geela Hour last night, I thought it would be a good thing for the six of us to spend some time getting to know each other a little better.”
Rhea snuck a peek at Bradbury, whose eyes were now raining tears. No matter how much the poor creature had been brainwashed into admiring Geela, even he could see she was terrifying up close. It was unlikely that he would have arranged a private meet-and-greet between SPACEPOP and the so-called empress without asking the band first. Rhea was pretty certain their pal Bradbury had been forced to cancel his party and set up this bait-and-switch in its place. Instead of being furious, she felt bad for him.
