“Our new band name is definitely super cute,” Luna said after dinner that night, while the princesses enjoyed a dessert of Pop Rocks over ice cream. Chamberlin claimed it was a Borana specialty … but it was also all they could scrounge up. “The Space Princesses of the Pentangle is adorable and totally catchy when it’s shortened to SPACEPOP. But I’m wondering if we want to consider a couple other options? Like Luna and the SPACEPOP or Luna and the—”
Rhea cut her off. “No.”
“No?” Luna snapped. “Who made you the boss?”
Chamberlin, who had been busy clearing away the dinner dishes, looked across the kitchen with a start. “What’s this now? A band?”
Athena nodded and said matter-of-factly, “Yes, we’ve decided to form a rock band.”
“The five of you?” Chamberlin asked, his voice getting shrill. “A band?”
“You have a problem with that?” Juno said, raising an eyebrow.
“I most certainly do have a problem with that,” Chamberlin said, fumbling as he loaded the dishes into the transport’s wash pod. “What is the point?”
Hera explained, “We all feel really helpless just sitting here on Borana while that meanie Geela holds our planets and parents hostage. We want to do something to help. To inspire our people.”
“I’ve already told you, the most important thing you can do to help your people is keep yourselves safe,” Chamberlin said, clearing his throat—then he cleared it again. The girls had begun to grow fond of some of Chamberlin’s nervous tics.
“We’re going to go crazy—and possibly kill each other—if we just sit here in this space transport for the next however many months and do nothing,” Juno said. “So the other princesses and I have been talking, and we’ve decided that we’re going to go out on tour. We want to write songs that will inspire people to take action. Freedom songs.”
Athena nodded, her new pink hair swirling around her head like an enormous space helmet. “Geela has taken over the media networks, and she’s trying to brainwash our people into thinking her dictatorship is a good thing. We want to encourage the residents of the planets of the Pentangle to fight back.”
“The citizens of our galaxy have been living in peace for so long,” Hera continued with a sigh. “But now that Geela has come in and taken over, we’re worried about our planets beginning to fight among themselves. Someone has to remind the people of the Pentangle that staying unified in love and harmony will be better for everyone!”
“And also, we want to fight,” Juno added. “To take Geela down.”
Rhea flashed a charming smile at Chamberlin and said, “You have to admit … our rock star makeovers are fab, yeah? We totally look the part.” She waved a hand in front of each of the other girls, urging Chamberlin to admire their new looks once again. “You must be happy we all look really different than we did yesterday! Operation: Disguise Princesses was a full-on success.”
Chamberlin held a hand over his eyes. “I forbid you to form a band,” he said quietly. He peeked at the girls through his fingers. They all smiled back at him, saying nothing. “You’re not going to take no for an answer, are you?”
“Not a chance,” Rhea said.
“Nope,” agreed Juno.
“No offense, Chambermaid…” Luna said with a smile. “But you’re totally out of your league here. It’s five against one, and princesses always get what they want.”
“Be a part of the solution, Chamberlin,” Hera pleaded. “You’re either with us … or against freedom.”
Chamberlin groaned.
Athena strode across the kitchen, put her hands on Chamberlin’s shoulders, and looked him in the eye. She pleaded, “Help us fix this, Chamberlin. The sooner we overthrow Geela, the sooner we all get to go home. Don’t you miss the comforts of Athenia?”
Chamberlin shook his head. “I was given very specific orders to keep you here, out of harm’s way. Your parents—and Rhea’s royal protectors—put me in charge,” he muttered. “Why do I suddenly feel like it’s the other way around?” He shuffled out of the kitchen. A moment later, the girls heard his bedroom door swoosh closed.
“That went well,” Rhea said, grinning at the others. “I think he’ll come around.”
“I think we’d have an easier time convincing him that this band is a good idea if we actually sounded like a band,” Athena said matter-of-factly. “Let’s write a song and show him we’re serious.”
Leaving the rest of their dishes on the table (the girls’ pets had grown fond of cleaning leftovers off the dirty plates after every meal), SPACEPOP retreated to their common room. Athena sat primly in front of her keyboard, Rhea flopped onto her bed with the guitar resting on her belly, Hera stood in a corner of the room hugging her bass, Juno settled in at the drum kit with a fierce look in her eyes, and Luna stood smiling in the center of them all.
“Where do we even start?” Rhea asked, plucking a few chords. “I’ve done plenty of composing on my own, but I’m not much of a songwriter.”
Juno began pounding at the drums, taking out all her frustrations on the homemade instrument. “Let’s just bash it out!” she screamed.
“Whoa,” Athena said. “You’re going to break something—relax, Juno.”
“I made these drums out of recycled trash,” Juno growled. “If they break, I’ll fix them. I’m furious about what’s happening, so why not use my emotions for musical inspiration? Isn’t that the whole point of making music? To express yourself?” She looked around at the other girls, who all looked skeptical. “Let’s all try to bang something out. It feels good to throw your anger out there. And I think once we let all our energy out into the room, something good will come to us. Seriously.”
One by one, each of the princesses began to play. It was a mess of chords and angry screaming and pounding drum beats. At first, they just sounded like a mess of noise. But after a few minutes of insanity, the band members all began to calm down and listen to one another. Rhea and Hera moved to stand side by side. Athena and Juno slowed down and layered their sound on top of the others. Then Luna began to sing, “We ’bout to start something big…”
She trailed off. But the other girls nodded, urging her to continue. Luna’s beautiful voice carried over the sound of the other instruments, clear and pure. “Don’t know where … as long as we get there.”
Rhea chimed in, layering on another line. “We ’bout to start something huge…”
“Right here, right now!” Juno screamed.
“Right here, right now!” the other girls echoed.
They all quieted down, grinning madly at each other. The collection of pets returned to the room, obviously curious about what was happening. “That sounded pretty good,” Hera cheered.
“It really did,” Athena agreed. “Should we try it again, from the top? Let’s all sing the last line together, okay?”
They began to play again. Luna sang: “We ’bout to start something big … Don’t know where, as long as we get there.” She nodded at Rhea, who sang the next line. “We ’bout to start something huge…”
They all sang out, “Right here, right now!”
Then Athena dropped in the next line: “We ’bout to start something new! Something you can’t put in a…” She paused, frowning.
“Box?” Hera suggested.
“We ’bout to start something new … something you can’t put in a box!” Athena sang, laughing.
“We ’bout to start something real!” Rhea went on.
Juno yelled, “Can’t stop, won’t stop!” She waved her drumstick in the air and cried out, “Everyone, sing that line with me!”
They repeated the verse again, trying the last line together again. It was long past midnight when they finally had a complete draft of their first song. Each of the girls collapsed onto their beds, exhausted. Athena quickly grabbed a pen and an empty notebook and wrote down the full song so they wouldn’t forget it:
((Refrain))
We ’bout to start something new
Don’t know where, as long as we get there!
We ’bout to start something huge
Right here, right now!
We ’bout to start something new
Something you can’t put in a box!
We ’bout to start something real
Can’t stop, won’t stop!
((Verse One))
Wishing on a shooting star, isn’t gonna get you far
There’s so much we gotta do … stick together, see it through
Why be just an average girl?… You can go and change the world
Right here, right now!
((Refrain))
((Verse Two))
Though the journey may be long … learning what is right or wrong
We just wanna sing our song … with each other we are strong
Why be just an average girl?… You can go and change the world!
Right here, right now! Can’t stop, won’t stop!
We ’bout to start something big!
“I think we have our first song,” Athena said, looking up.
“How about we call it ‘We ’Bout to Start Something Big’?” Luna suggested. There were murmurs of agreement from each of the other girls.
“I think,” Chamberlin said, stepping into the girls’ bedroom, “that song fits your situation nicely.” He smiled. “I’ve been listening to your rehearsal tonight. Though I think this rock band silliness is a terrible plan and goes against absolutely everything I’ve been instructed to do, I must say: you sound rather lovely together.”
“Really?” Juno said, smiling. “That’s quite a compliment, coming from an old-school guy like you.”
The curmudgeonly butler sighed, then went on, “While you were practicing tonight, I did a bit of research to see what this little rock band project of yours would entail. If you really are serious about pursuing it, we have quite a lot we’ll need to do—to travel, we would need to turn our transport into a stylish tour bus. Then there’s the matter of designing a band logo, finishing your costumes to ensure you’re properly disguised…”
“I’m on that!” Rhea said. “Costumes will be done tomorrow, I think. There are just a few finishing touches to do on each one, but they’re looking good. Right, girls?” The other four girls nodded. Rhea really had a knack for fashion design.
“I can handle the band logo,” Juno chimed in. She shrugged and added, “I love graphic design and art. Never get much time to fiddle around with my art back home, but I’d love to give it a shot.” The others gaped at her. “What?” Juno demanded.
Athena smiled reassuringly. “Nothing. We’d love for you to design our logo, Juno.”
Chamberlin shook his head, clearly overwhelmed by how much there was to do, and how little control he had over the girls. “It also seems I may need to hire something called a roadie to help with some of the heavy lifting if and when we go out on tour. There is a qualified candidate—a chap by the name of Rand—here on Borana that we could talk to. I’m certainly too old for this nonsense, and I doubt very much that you girls will be willing to haul your own gear. We can make a bedroom for him in one of the storage closets, if need be.”
“A roadie?” Luna cried. “You’d hire a roadie for us?”
“Chamberlin, you’re the best!” Rhea said. “You know, I heard you say, ‘when we go out on tour…’ You love this band idea, don’t you? We’re totally doing it!”
“We knew you’d come around,” Juno said, winking.
“Thank you for supporting us, Chamberlin,” Athena added.
“Now, now,” Chamberlin said, waving his hand. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. We’ll see if we can make it work. But it will take a lot of preparation, hard work, and planning.”
Before he could say anything more, Hera put her hands in the air and declared, “Let’s celebrate the creation of our beautiful and inspiring new band … with a group hug!”
Laughing, the girls raced over and surrounded Chamberlin. The butler coughed in protest. “Oof!” he groaned, pushing them away. “Hands off your butler! If you squeeze me to death, someone else will have to drive this bus!”