Authors: Helen Douglas
‘Yes?’ she asked, without looking up from her port-com.
‘I have lunch for the prisoner Orion Westland,’ I said. My voice was too thin, too feeble.
‘He’s not here.’
I cleared my throat. ‘Then I’ll wait. The captain ordered me to hand his meal directly to him.’
The guard finally tore her eyes away from her port-com. ‘Wait as long as you like. I have no prisoners scheduled to arrive today.’
‘But the captain told me that he would be arriving this morning. He insisted I hand deliver his lunch.’
The woman shrugged indifferently. ‘You want me to page the captain?’
‘No! He’ll kill me for messing this up.’
The woman squinted at me. ‘Who are you? I don’t recognise your face?’
‘I’m new,’ I said, backing out of the room. ‘I made a mistake. Sorry.’
I hurried out of the prison office and down the corridor to the restroom where Peg was hiding.
‘What happened?’ asked Peg.
‘He’s not there. The guard said she has no scheduled prisoners today.’
Peg sighed. ‘Why can’t something go our way just once?’
I put the tray on the floor. ‘What are we going to do?’
‘Just leave the tray here. Change out of your uniform and we’ll go to the bar. Perhaps Lyra will be there by now.’
The Space Bar was shaped like a wedge of pizza, with the entrance at its narrow pointed end, and windows on the curved wider edge. The bar itself bisected the room. Although it was daytime, the sky outside was as black as night, the stars steady and unblinking. Two men were sitting alone at the bar. There were a couple of pilots sitting at a table by the window. At the end of the bar closest to the pilots, Becca and Nikki were each nursing a glass of wine and talking too loudly. But there was no sign of Lyra.
‘Maybe his ship was delayed,’ I said.
‘Let’s see if we can find a com-screen. If the ship’s been delayed, it will be on the news.’ He began walking towards the exit.
‘Unless,’ I began, grabbing Peg’s arm. ‘What if they bypassed the spaceport and went directly to the moon?’
Peg stopped. ‘That doesn’t seem likely. It’s a long haul to the moon. There are rules about flying hours and scheduled breaks, not to mention security clearance.’
‘What time is it?’
‘Twelve fifteen.’
Nikki shrieked with laughter, a high-pitched, attention-seeking laugh. I turned to look at her. And that was when I saw him. From behind I hadn’t recognised him, probably because I wasn’t expecting to see him here. But he had turned towards Nikki as well. His expression was one of pure irritation.
I grabbed Peg’s elbow.
‘What is it?’
‘Clarence.’
We both stared. He had his back to us again and was tucking into a plate of food.
‘If he’s here,’ I whispered, ‘that must mean the ship has docked and the passengers have cleared security.’
‘Let’s go,’ said Peg quietly. ‘If he sees us, he’ll know we’re up to something.’
It was too late. Nikki laughed again and Clarence turned his head. Peg and I were just in his line of sight. He stared.
‘Crap,’ I muttered under my breath. ‘We just lost the element of surprise.’
‘Eden?’ Clarence had hopped off his bar stool and was walking over to us. ‘What the hell are you doing here? With him?’
‘Good to see you too,’ said Peg.
‘I got Pegasus a job here on the spaceport,’ I said, my brain rushing ahead of my mouth, pulling ideas from everywhere.
‘She knows Benjamin Hansen, the captain,’ said Peg.
‘Peg’s helped me out a lot. I’m just pleased I could do something for him,’ I said.
‘But why are
you
here?’
‘Ben invited me to come along for the ride. Say hello and introduce the two of them.’
‘Right.’ He narrowed his eyes. ‘Because the captain of the Inter-Planetary Spaceport has so much free time on his hands. I’m not buying it.’
‘And I don’t give a damn,’ said Peg.
Clarence ignored Peg and stared at me. ‘Is there something I should know about the two of you? I’m not going to be jerked around.’
I stepped between the two of them and lowered my voice. ‘Peg has a thing for Lyra Thornhill. Is she here? I know he’s hoping to see her.’
‘Good luck with that. She got a nasty bout of space sickness on the way here. She’s in the ladies’ room cleaning herself up.’
‘Which ladies’ room?’
Clarence pointed behind him.
‘I’d better check on her. Try not to fall out with Peg.’
Lyra was standing by the basins, splashing water on her face. Her skin had a yellowish tinge to it. I quickly checked the stalls to make sure they were empty.
‘Clarence said you were sick,’ I said.
‘I’ll live.’
‘Where is he?’
She met my eye in the mirror above the sink. ‘They’re not letting him off the ship.’
‘Why not?’
‘I don’t know. They brought the quarantine doctor on board to clear everybody. I think Wolfe wants to get this done as quickly as possible. Just a crew change and we’re on our way.’
‘We’ll never get him through security,’ I said. ‘We need him in the holding cells for our plan to work.’
‘That’s not going to happen, Eden. Wolfe has about twenty reporters on board the ship with him. They’re documenting the whole thing. Wolfe’s been answering questions all morning. Posing for photos. It makes me sick.’
‘How’s Ryan?’
‘He’s scared. But he’s also being incredibly stubborn. Refusing to answer all questions except mine.’
I allowed myself a smile. ‘Good for him. Who else is on board apart from the media?’
‘Just Orion, Wolfe and a security guard.’
‘We have to get those reporters off the ship,’ I said.
‘You’ll never be able to do that,’ she said. ‘Orion’s story is huge. No one is going to walk away from that.’
‘What if there was another story?’ I said. ‘A bigger one. A story about the son of a Guardian who crashed his car because he was drunk, let someone else take the blame for him and stole fuel from his father’s depot? Do you think they might want to hear that?’
‘What about Peg?’
‘He’s another witness. He’ll back up your story.’
‘That’s not what I mean. Remember what I said to you about him getting into trouble for covering up the truth.’
‘No one knows Peg helped Ryan but us. And we’re not telling. Come on. He’d want you to do this.’
Peg was waiting for me just outside the ladies’ room.
‘Where’s she going?’ he asked me, as Lyra rushed past.
‘She’s going to get all the reporters, and Admiral Wolfe, to come in here.’
‘And how’s she going to do that?’
‘Tell them she’ll be holding a press conference about Clarence Wolfe and how he helped Ryan with the fuel. Wolfe believes that the children of the rich and powerful shouldn’t get special treatment, so it’ll be interesting to see what he has to say when he finds out about his own son. I wonder if he’ll choose to make an example out of him.’
Peg glanced at Clarence, who was back at the bar finishing his food. ‘I almost feel sorry for him.’
‘Don’t.’
‘Then what?’
‘I’m going to put my kitchen tunic back on and try to deliver Ryan’s food to him on the ship. If Lyra does her part, it will just be Ryan and his guard left on board.’
‘How are you going to get Ryan off the ship and through security?’
‘I haven’t worked that part out yet.’
Clarence turned around then and saw me.
Peg pulled a face. ‘You’d better go and cosy up to Clarence or he’s going to know we’re up to something. I’ll get your uniform for you and meet you in the restroom where you left the food.’
I swung myself on to the stool next to Clarence. ‘Peg’s gone to take care of Lyra.’
Clarence finished chewing and put his knife and fork down on his plate. ‘What are you really doing here, Eden?’
‘I thought you’d be surprised,’ I said, playing for time.
‘You’re right about that.’
‘You’re not pleased to see me?’
He dabbed at his mouth with a heavy cloth napkin. ‘I don’t trust you.’
I raised an arm for the waiter and asked for water.
‘You have no idea how hard it’s been for me, moving through time,’ I said.
‘What’s that got to do with anything?’
‘There are only two people alive that I’ve known for longer than two weeks. One of them is about to be sent to the moon for the rest of his life. And the other one is Ben Hansen, the captain of the spaceport. He’s like a dad to me. When I asked him if he could offer Peg a job, he invited me to visit. I had to come, Clarence. I needed to see someone who knows me from back then.’
His expression softened slightly and I began to think I might have convinced him, but I didn’t have time to find out because at that moment the door to the Space Bar opened and Lyra strode into the room, a line of reporters behind her.
‘What the hell?’ said Clarence.
Lyra stood by an empty table, one hand on her waist and waited while everyone filed in and found a space.
‘I’d like to make a statement,’ she said, her voice bright and clear over the clatter and chatter in the room.
‘What is she doing?’ asked Clarence.
‘I don’t know,’ I said.
‘As you all know, Orion Westland is being transported to the International Lunar Correctional Facility for breaking one of the Temporal Laws,’ she said.
‘Tell us something we don’t know,’ said one of the reporters.
Lyra ignored her and continued talking, her voice steady. ‘He broke the law to save the life of an innocent girl.’
‘That’s not what the court said,’ said the same reporter.
‘If you’re not interested in hearing what I have to say, I suggest you return to the ship,’ said Lyra. She took a deep breath. ‘Eden Anfield was killed by a mission cleaner, despite the fact that she had played a vital role in the mission. She should have been protected under the Clemency Protocol. So Orion went back to make things right.’
As the words left her mouth, I saw Admiral Wolfe walk into the bar.
‘He took his case to the Board and was turned down,’ said Wolfe. ‘This is not news. The Westland boy broke the law for personal reasons.’
‘We can agree to differ on his motives,’ said Lyra. ‘I’m more interested in how he made it happen.’
‘That’s a matter for the inquiry,’ said Wolfe. ‘Admiral Westland has been arrested and the matter will be tried in the courts.’
‘The thing is,’ said Lyra, ‘Orion Westland is a good friend of mine and I know how he made it happen.’
I slipped off my stool. Lyra had them captivated now. If I was going to sneak out of the bar without Wolfe seeing me, this was my best chance.
‘Where are you going?’ whispered Clarence.
‘To find Peg. I’ll be right back.’
I eased myself around the back of the reporters towards the door.
‘Orion Westland is a pretty resourceful boy,’ said Lyra. ‘He found out that his old ship was going to be scrapped and worked out a way to get his hands on it. Within a few weeks of returning from his mission to 2012, he had a ship and a plan. The only thing he didn’t have was premium grade fuel for a trip through time.’
‘Are you suggesting you know where he got the fuel?’ asked one of the reporters.
‘That’s exactly what I’m saying. But, for you to understand the story fully, I need to give you a little background.’
Lyra caught my eye. I needed to get out of there quickly and move on with my part. I slipped out of the door and ran down the corridor to the restroom where Peg was waiting.
‘We have a couple of minutes,’ I said, pulling off my shoes. ‘That’s all. Make sure no one walks in on me.’
There was no time for delicacy. I stripped off my clothes and pulled my kitchen uniform on.
‘The soup is cold,’ said Peg. ‘It’s no good to you. Let me come and help you.’
‘They’ll never let two of us through to deliver a meal,’ I said.
I straightened the cap over my hair and pinned my identification card to my uniform. ‘Give me your kitchen uniform and ID,’ I said. ‘I’ll hide them under mine. Maybe I can get him through security dressed as you.’
Peg helped me wedge them around my waist, held in place by my belt.
‘How do I look?’ I asked.
‘Well fed.’
A quick glance in the mirror confirmed that I looked like a plump kitchen worker. I picked up the tray.
‘Hey,’ said Peg as I was about to leave the restroom. ‘Whatever happens. Good luck.’
‘I’ll meet you in the emergency shuttle bay,’ I said.
I was trembling when I left the restroom and began the short walk to security clearance. I was running against the clock. Who knew how long Lyra would be able to keep Admiral Wolfe and the reporters entertained. And how was I to overcome Ryan’s guard with nothing but a cold lunch?