‘Does not make sense,’ Alkemy said. ‘We go to visit our parent but do not arrive. Now we are two weeks overdue, but they do not come to look for us.’
‘Those two,’ Ludokrus snorted. ‘Probably forget we even go to visit.’
‘No, Alkemy’s right,’ Albert said. ‘Something’s wrong. Krilen wouldn’t suddenly go beyond reach of comms, not without leaving a message for me, even if he was taken ill. After all, he organised this mission and knows how important it is.’
‘Who is that Administrator Meli?’
‘I’ve never heard of him before, but I’ve done some checking on the public databases. I can’t do much more till we dock, but what I can tell you is that he has strong links to the Military Council.’
The ship gave a lurch and shifted to another lane. As they rose above the bulk of the freighter ahead, they saw Eltheria properly for the first time. A blue-green planet with two polar ice caps, but a very different landmass. Instead of several continents like Earth, there was just one that circled the equator, extending thousands of kilometres either side of it. This was Belt. As they moved and the planet rotated, a five hundred kilometre-wide break in it came into view, an area of scattered islands known as Buckle Gap where the northern and southern oceans merged. An area of wild storms and massive tidal surges, especially when all three moons aligned.
On the western side of the gap was the planet’s capital city, Theia, nestling at the end of a long elliptical bay, its lights winking out as it emerged from shadow of the terminator zone and into the light of a new day.
The ship’s speed increased steadily, overtaking the massive freighter and the string of other ships in front of it, and the view of the planet grew steadily larger. Soon they could make out a series of broad circular discs dotted at regular intervals around the equator, floating a hundred kilometres or more above the surface. At the edge of the planet, they caught sight of one side-on as sunlight glinted off the filaments trailing below it, seeming to go all the way down to the surface.
‘Is that a space elevator?’ Norman asked.
‘Yup.’
‘Wow!’
‘A what?’ Tim said.
‘It’s like ... It’s only a theory back home, but if you had a really, really long cable, you could anchor one end to the ground, put a counterweight on the end out in space, and the planet’s spin would keep the cable tight.’
‘What benefit is that?’
‘It means you can go back and forth along the cable. No need for rockets to get into orbit.’
‘Oh. Wow!’
‘That thing on the end must be a space station then.’
They watched as the huge structure grew steadily larger and the single strand resolved into more than a dozen separate ones, each with cable trains rushing up or down.
‘Selene Station,’ Alkemy said. ‘Almost home.’
There was a faint pop from somewhere and Albert came online. ‘I’ve just overloaded Knock Knock’s listening circuits. Before we arrive, we need to talk. We’ve got about five minutes.
‘Remember what I told you about our real mission? With the exception of Krilen and your parents, everyone on Eltheria thinks Alkemy and Ludokrus went away for the summer holidays and simply got lost due to my bumbling miscalculations.
‘It’s important we stick to that story. If anyone asks, say we ended up in Tarkav.’ The image on the main display vanished, replaced by a star map of nearby systems. One was highlighted. ‘It’s remote, desolate and known for unpredictable meteor storms. We’ll say we were caught in one, sustained some damage, and that delayed our return. Understood?’
Alkemy and Ludokrus nodded.
‘That leaves us with two problems: my physical absence, and the presence of three aliens.’
‘Earthlings,’ Coral corrected.
‘Or course. Excuse me.
‘The first is easy to explain. I’m having the bots in the workshop prepare a facsimile of my body, rather like the one you made back on Earth. It’ll contain a receptacle for my memory bulb. When we dock, move me to it and seal me inside. It’s a radiation casket. I’ll say I received a massive dose of gamma rays while making repairs and require decontamination. That can only be done on Eltheria, so you’ll have to take me down with you.
‘The second problem is more difficult. We have to get the Earthlings off the ship without anyone discovering them.’
‘Wait, wait,’ Ludokrus said, ‘I do not understand. Our mission was a big success, no? You learn many things we do not know before. Also, you make a huge discovery about using spare time. Why top secret?’
‘Because things have changed here while we’ve been away. I’ve been scanning the news archives. There’s no time to explain it all now, but it seems the Science Council has been purged and ransacked. Until I can determine exactly how things stand, let’s just stick with our cover story.’
Tim thought of the recordings they’d seen on Earth. How the Military Council would classify Albert’s secret abilities as a weapon of war, and perhaps use him for destructive purposes.
‘I think it’s significant that we’ve been given priority docking at the planet’s busiest space station. That sort of thing is usually only reserved for visiting VIPs.’
‘You are right. Even Uncle Krilen would not do this.’
‘It suggests someone’s very keen to see us. We need to be careful.’
‘What about the second problem?’ Tim said. ‘Us. What do we do?’
‘That,’ Albert said, ‘is a good question.’
‘We need to find the answer, quick.’ Ludokrus pointed to the docking timer on the console. ‘We arrive in twenty minute.’
While they were still thinking about what they could do, the ship came back online.