Chasing Stars

Chapter 20

Lyra was waiting for me halfway down the hill from the Institute. Her car was parked against the kerb, under a tree. A faint glow from her port-com lit up her face.

I pulled open the passenger side door and climbed in.

‘Well?’ she asked, leaning towards the retinal scanner on the dash. The car purred to life.

‘He was gone.’

Lyra turned to look at me. ‘What?’

‘Everything went to plan. Clarence passed out, Peg and I got inside the Institute, but when we got to his cell it was empty.’

‘Where’s Peg now?’

‘He’s swimming back across the lake to Antoine and Belle. He couldn’t walk out of the main gate because he’s not registered as a guest.’

Lyra pulled away from the kerb. The avenue was empty of cars and pedestrians, but she drove slowly, her forehead creased.

‘They must have moved him early,’ I said.

‘No shit.’

‘I just don’t understand why. It’s only Saturday night now. He’s not due to leave Earth until Tuesday. How far away is the nearest spaceport?’

‘New Marseilles. It’s about two hours south of here on the expressway. They might have moved him to the prison there, I guess.’

‘Clarence said his dad was in New Marseilles tonight. That he’d gone there for work.’

Lyra shrugged. ‘Might be connected.’ She glanced at me. ‘I don’t know how you could stand to let Clarence Wolfe touch you.’

‘He didn’t touch me. Well, he held my hand, but that’s all.’

She shuddered. ‘You’re lucky he didn’t try anything with you. He doesn’t think the usual rules apply to him. If he’s spending time with you, it’s because he thinks he can use you in some way.’

‘His mother was in the room with us all evening. Until we went to the lake, anyway.’

‘Good move.’

Light rain began to fall. Droplets dotted the windscreen until the world outside blurred.

‘Wipers on,’ said Lyra.

‘Peg told me about you and Clarence,’ I said.

‘Told you what about me and Clarence?’ She made no attempt to hide her irritation.

‘About the accident. That he was drinking and crashed his car, but let Ryan take the blame.’

‘He thinks his family’s name and wealth can protect him. And he’s right. If the world knew the truth about Clarence Wolfe, he’d be kicked out of the Academy and facing a trial of his own.’ She gripped the steering wheel hard, her eyes burning with anger. ‘I wish I could tell the world about Clarence Wolfe.’

‘Why don’t you?’

She flashed her eyes at me. ‘Orion asked me not to. If I told about Clarence crashing the car, Clarence would tell about Orion travelling back to 2012. To keep one secret, I had to keep the other.’

‘Ryan’s not in 2012 any more. There’s no reason to keep his secret.’

‘I’ve thought about it. But I don’t want Peg to be implicated. Peg helped Orion steal the time-ship.’

We were in the heart of the city now. We sped past the Lakeview Hotel and then Lyra pulled off the wide main street and into the narrower streets of the market district. The rain had thickened and the ground gleamed under the streetlights.

‘Wipers full speed,’ said Lyra.

The slow rhythm of the wipers changed to a furious slash back and forth across the screen. For a moment I felt bad about leaving Clarence passed out on the picnic blanket in the rain. But then I reminded myself of the way he’d treated Lyra. That was nothing compared to a broken pelvis and leg.

Lyra made abrupt turns, sounding her horn against a lone pedestrian making his way slowly across the road.

‘Tell Peg to call me when he gets home,’ she said, pulling the car alongside a skip just outside the noodle bar. ‘I need to know he got out safely.’

I bought myself a tub of satay noodles and let myself into the flat. Before the rescue attempt, I’d been much too nervous to eat; now I was starving. I sat in the dark at the dining room table and shovelled food into my mouth with the cheap wooden chopsticks that came with the food. Through the windows, the last of the Saturday night party boats were sailing back to the dock. A bright half-moon floated in the dark sky.

My head spun with worries. So much planning had gone into this rescue attempt. There was almost no time left and I had to come up with a Plan B. How could I plan to rescue Ryan when I didn’t even know where he was? What if Lyra was right and he’d been transported to the prison in New Marseilles? The advantage we’d had when planning to bust him from the Institute was that it wasn’t a real prison. But the one in New Marseilles was the real deal. We’d need weeks or months to plan a rescue from a place like that. If he was even there.

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I mustn’t give in to sleep. It was now the early hours of Sunday morning. In just two days Ryan would be on the spaceport. If I was going to rescue him it would have to be either at the spaceport in New Marseilles or at the Inter-Planetary Spaceport between Earth and the moon. I knew nothing about the spaceport in New Marseilles. I knew two things about the Inter-Planetary Spaceport. First, Ryan would be there for twenty-four hours beginning some time on Tuesday. Second, my friend Ben was the captain of that spaceport. That was where I needed to be.

I flicked on all the lights. The flat was a mess. Peg’s schoolbooks were stacked haphazardly at one end of the dining room table, cast-off clothes were draped over chair backs and the floor, this morning’s breakfast dishes and crumbs were piled high in the sink along with a dirty pan from the night before. He was usually neat and clean. I brewed a pot of coffee – I needed all the caffeine I could get – and started tidying things up.

Peg’s clothes smelt of washing powder and cologne. I gathered them up and dumped them in the hamper he kept in the small bathroom. Lyra had seemed worried about him, but really there was no need to be. Ryan hadn’t been rescued. There was no reason for anyone to alert security or search the grounds. I wanted him home, though. I wasn’t sure how long I could bear to be alone with my thoughts.

I drank cup after cup of coffee, washed the dishes and swept the floor. Peg had done so much already. But I was going to need him to help me one more time if I was going to rescue Ryan from the spaceport. I couldn’t do this alone.

I scanned my thumb across Peg’s com-screen and typed in Ben’s number. His face flickered on to the com-screen and once the connection was established he smiled.

‘Eden. How are you? It’s the middle of the night.’

‘Did I wake you?’

‘No. I’m working late tonight.’

‘I need a job,’ I said. ‘On the spaceport. Right away.’

He frowned. ‘Is everything all right? You seem –’

‘I’m fine,’ I said, interrupting him. ‘You said you could probably get me a job on the spaceport and I would like to take you up on that offer. And I’d like to bring a friend as well.’

‘There are vacancies for kitchen staff. But they tend to get filled very quickly. How soon could you start?’

‘Right away.’

‘Let me just check the transport schedule.’ He moved away from the screen for a minute. ‘This is probably too soon for you,’ he said when he came back on-screen, ‘but there is a transport leaving at four o’clock tomorrow afternoon. The next one after that will be in two weeks’ time.’

Two weeks would be too late.

‘Tomorrow is good.’

‘You would need to be at the New Marseilles spaceport four hours in advance for medical clearance and security. And you’ll need papers.’

‘How do I do that?’

Ben scratched his head. ‘I can get temporary papers for you. You’ll be allowed to work for a couple of weeks until we get full security clearance. Kitchen work only requires low level security so it shouldn’t be a problem. I’ll ping the papers to New Marseilles for you right away. You’ll pick them up at Customer Services. What’s the name of your friend?’

‘Pegasus Ryder.’

I thanked Ben and hung up. It was going to be a tight schedule. I searched through the one closet in the apartment until I found a suitcase. It was old and battered, hidden under a pile of racquets and sports shoes. I pulled it out and dragged it into the bedroom and on to the bed. My pile of clothes was pretty small. There was plenty of room for Peg’s. Momentarily I considered letting him pack his own clothes, but I quickly changed my mind. He’d be exhausted by the time he got home. He’d want to sleep for a few hours before we drove down to New Marseilles. I’d need everything ready to go. I worked my way through his chest of drawers, blushing slightly when I reached his underwear, grabbing handfuls of clean clothes. I zipped up the case and left it by the foot of the bed.

It was three in the morning when Peg showed up. He stood in the doorway, his hair soaked, his clothes drenched. Water pooled on to the floor. The thin cotton of his white T-shirt was almost transparent; it clung to his skin so tight I could see the shape of his muscles beneath it.

‘You waited up,’ he said, a tired smile lighting up his face.

I nodded. ‘Of course.’

I grabbed a towel from the bathroom and threw it to him. ‘Dry off.’

Peg rubbed the towel over his hair and neck, then strode towards the bedroom, pulling his wet top over his head as he went.

While he changed, I paced the room nervously. He might take some convincing. My plan was sketchy at best. I wasn’t sure how many more favours I could expect.

‘Are you planning to kick me out?’ said Peg, as he came back into the living room. He was shirtless. ‘Or are you just stealing my clothes?’

‘Guess again.’

‘Well, my chest of drawers is empty and my clothes are in a suitcase by the bed. Are we going somewhere?’

‘We are,’ I said, trying to hide the smile from my face.

Peg looked at me doubtfully. ‘So where are we going?’

‘How would you like to work on the Inter-Planetary Spaceport?’

Weariness was written all over his face. ‘It’s the middle of the night. We just failed to rescue Orion. Why are you talking about jobs on the spaceport? Can’t we just sleep?’

‘There’s no time for sleep. We have to move on to Plan B. Ryan’s going to be transported to the moon via the spaceport, so we have to be on the spaceport if we’re going to rescue him.’

Peg sighed. ‘You don’t just show up at the spaceport and ask for a job.’

‘I have temporary work permits for you and me to work in the kitchens. And I have reservations for the two of us on a transport ship leaving New Marseilles this afternoon.’

‘Are you serious? How did you do that?’

I smiled. ‘I told you I have a contact on the spaceport. I asked for a favour. I thought our angle could be that we’re a new couple and we want to start over somewhere new where I won’t get hounded by the press all the time.’

He ran a hand over his face. ‘You don’t give up, do you?’

‘I’ll never give up.’

‘Why are you doing all this?’ he asked, his voice low. ‘Because you love him or because you think you owe him?’

‘Both.’ I bit my lip. ‘I don’t expect you to come with me. I just know I’ll have a bigger chance of success with you there as well. You said you wanted adventure.’

Peg collapsed on to the couch. ‘Tell me your plan.’