‘OK. This summer Connor discovers the existence of a planet.’
I thought back to what Ben had just said about planets being discovered all the time.
‘Lots of planets are being discovered,’ said Ryan, as if reading my mind. ‘But they are almost all gas giants. Even those initially thought to be Earth-like, turn out not to be. But the one Connor discovers is a habitable, Earth-like planet. A planet with water and a breathable atmosphere.’
‘I saw a photo in that book. Connor surrounded by pink cliffs and a river and what looked like jungle.’
‘The planet he discovers has life,’ said Ryan. ‘Plants and animals. Even now, when I come from, Eden is the only planet we’ve discovered that has life.’
‘It looked beautiful.’
‘It is beautiful,’ said Ryan, nodding. ‘Very beautiful. And very deadly. It looks a lot like Earth; it has evolved like Earth in lots of ways.’
‘Does it have humans?’
‘No mammals. Just birds and insects and lots of plants.’
‘How is it deadly?’
‘A microscopic parasite lives on Eden. It’s harmless to life on Eden. But back on Earth it’s deadly. When trade ships moved between Eden and Earth, they inadvertently transported the parasite with them. It was so hard to identify that our quarantine procedures didn’t detect it. Within months of transporting resources from Eden to Earth, entire habitats on Earth started dying off. It took decades before the parasite was discovered. By then, it was too late. Most of the globe had been infected. Many parts of the Earth are uninhabitable.’
I shook my head. ‘That’s terrible.’
Ryan shrugged. ‘Earth is dying. Most of the trees have gone. So many plant species have died out.’
‘What about people?’
‘The parasite doesn’t hurt animals directly. But by destroying plants, it destroyed the habitats of many animals. Including humans. Do you know how many people there are on Earth now?’
‘About seven billion?’
‘When I’m from, the population is less than one billion. The rapid reduction is due to global famine. Many people think the human race will be finished in less than fifty years.’
I stared into my coffee cup. ‘Can’t you find a way to destroy the parasite?’
‘It’s too widespread.’
‘What about moving people to Eden? Can’t the inhabitants of Earth relocate?’
Ryan shook his head. ‘Eden only has a very small habitable region. Most of the planet is too hot or too cold. It’s not an alternative to living on Earth.’
Suddenly everything was clear. ‘So you’re here to prevent Eden from ever being discovered.’
‘That’s right. Eden is beautiful, but it’s lethal to life on Earth.’
My coffee was getting cold. I drained the mug and tried to take in the enormity of Ryan’s purpose here. ‘If Connor doesn’t discover the planet this summer, won’t someone else discover Eden? I mean, if it’s there, surely someone will discover it eventually. You can’t prevent that.’
‘And you said you don’t believe in Fate.’
‘I don’t. All I’m saying is that if Connor discovered it, it can’t be that hard to find. No offence to Connor, but he’s not exactly a genius.’
‘Eden is actually very hard to detect from Earth. It’s possible to detect for a few hours this summer and then not again for more than seven hundred years. Connor discovered it by chance. But if Connor doesn’t discover it then, we’re safe for centuries.’
‘Why can you only see it once every seven hundred years? Surely it’s either there or it’s not.’
‘Eden orbits a tertiary star system. That means three stars. From our vantage point here on Earth, Eden passes in front of one of those stars for just a few days every seven hundred and three years. It’s hard to detect. The sky has to be clear, obviously. But it also has to be dark and it doesn’t get that dark at this time of year. If Connor misses this opportunity, we’re safe for a very long time.’
‘No one will ever know the planet exists,’ I said slowly. ‘But you know, and Cassie and Ben know. And now I know.’
‘And we must never tell.’
I let that sink in. ‘If you’re successful, only four people will know that there’s a planet out there that has life on it.’
Ryan grimaced. ‘Five, actually. There’s one more person. Our clean-up agent.’
‘What’s that?’
‘A clean-up agent, or cleaner, is an agent that accompanies a time trip to police the mission. They arrive before us and leave after us. It’s their responsibility to ensure that nothing goes wrong. So, for instance, if we had crashed on arrival, our cleaner would have removed the evidence. Or if Ben went AWOL, our cleaner would find him and bring him back to his time. They also ensure the cover story, if needed, is watertight.’
‘Who is your cleaner?’
‘We’re not allowed to know.’
I frowned. ‘There are five of us that know about Eden. And three of you were sent back to change history. You’re just a seventeen-year-old boy. How on earth did you end up on this mission?’
‘Ben’s not my real dad. My real dad is an admiral at the Space and Time Institute. He’s very powerful. His father invented four-dimensional travel. And my mum’s family are all environmental campaigners. My mother lobbied for this mission. They needed someone who could pass for a sixteen-year-old student, so I volunteered.’
‘Slow down,’ I said. ‘Let’s just back up to the part about four-dimensional travel.’
‘Eden . . .’
‘I don’t want to hear any crap about Temporal Laws,’ I interrupted.
‘How did you know I was going to say that?’
‘The look on your face.’
He laughed. ‘So I’m guessing you want to know how four-dimensional travel works.’
‘Exactly.’
‘Many years ago, probably around the time you start getting a few grey hairs and crow’s-feet around your eyes,’ he began.
I shoved him and he fell back against the bed, laughing. ‘I’m just trying to give you an idea of the timescale.’
‘Fine. Give me a date. No more comments about wrinkles and grey hair.’
‘OK, OK,’ he said, holding his hands up. ‘2044. My grandfather, Nathaniel Westland, discovered how to create short cuts through space so that we can travel to distant stars in minutes instead of light years. The same technology allows you to travel through time.’
‘Are there lots of people from the future living among us?’ I whispered, suddenly wondering if all the people who claimed they’d seen flying saucers might actually be right.
Ryan sat up again. ‘No. Just Ben, Cassie, me and our cleaner.’
‘How can you be sure?’
‘Like I said, time travel is owned exclusively by my father’s company. And it is strictly regulated.’
‘But why? It would be amazing to travel back in time and see Charles Dickens in Victorian London or Catherine Howard at her execution.’
‘Gruesome choice.’
‘Just an idea. I’d have thought people would be queuing up to take a journey into the past.’
‘Imagine the terrible things people could do,’ said Ryan. ‘The neo-Nazis travelling back in time to help Hitler win the war, for instance. Altering the timeline. Time travel is the ultimate weapon of mass destruction.’
A dull pain began to throb at the back of my eyes. I rubbed my forehead. ‘I have so many questions.’
‘I’ve told you a lot this morning. And you can never tell anyone what you know. The more I tell you, the more difficult that’s going to be for you. I’ve told you enough for you to understand why I’m here and what I have to do. Why our mission is so important.’
I nodded. ‘I could help you.’
He smiled. ‘I was hoping you’d say that.’
‘What can I do?’