After about half an hour, he found that he actually won a race, much to Peter’s irritation. Pacing the floor, the boy kept saying “It’s only a game. It doesn’t matter if you don’t win” over and over but looking as though he’d lost his favourite toy. As Will was simply trying to do his best and actually survive the course, he found this faintly amusing, not realising just how competitive a seven-year old could be.
As the results became more evenly matched, Will was somewhat relieved when Kate came into the room and announced that it was dinner time and told both Peter and Will to clean up and move to the table for dinner.
Whilst the smell pervading the apartment of cooked food reminded him that he was hungry, Will was a little nervous about having dinner, as it would give Kate an opportunity to quiz him. At first all went well and Will started to relax and enjoy the meal. Without warning, though, as they were finishing a rather tasty dessert of a selection of ice-creams, Kate asked innocently “What’s the Tharl system like, Will?”
Having never even heard of the system before today, he knew he would have to be somewhat vague about his response. At the same time, he knew he could neither lie outright, nor admit the truth.
“I gather that it’s much the same as this system. The main planet in the system, though, Ohio, is very similar to New Oregon. Because I have a job that keeps me off-planet a lot of the time, I’ll also be living on a space station, called Shackleton. Whilst it has a lot in common with Columbus, it seems slightly smaller and is much less brightly coloured. I would even go so far as to say that it’s a bit drab in comparison.” replied Will.
“One thing intrigues me, though. One of my cousins is in the navy and has to have a regulation haircut and has to be clean shaven, so I’m intrigued by your long hair and beard” responded Kate.
Will knew this would come up, so was able to answer with the reply that had been worked out on the Sea Lion “The Ohio planet-dwellers are deeply religious and men must wear their hair long and have a full beard. Women have to wear their hair long as well. When the base was first opened, one or two men did go down clean shaven but it seemed to offend some of the locals, to the extent that there were some serious injuries to naval personnel, so it was decided that we should try to blend in as well as we could. Any new male recruits to the base are only allowed to go down to the planet once they have at least a passable beard. If anyone’s hair isn’t long enough, male or female, they can be fitted with wigs until their hair is long enough to go without. Men are allowed to wear what they call a full set in the Navy, but these days few do. I was told to let my hair grow long when I got the transfer, to speed up my ability to go planet-side once I get there” He hoped that his “explanation” would sate her curiosity.
Whilst Peter had been very quiet throughout the brief discussion, he suddenly asked if Will could play another game with him before he had his pre-bedtime shower. Will and Billy were both relieved by the distraction and, before Kate could speak, Billy said “Sure, Peter, until your mum and I have finished the dishes but be kind to him. He’s had a tiring day.”
Peter grabbed Will’s hand and dragged him back into the living room, before thrusting the game controller into his other hand. As they sat down, Will asked Peter what he had been doing that day.
“Being cute” was the odd reply.
Slightly bewildered, Will replied “Okay, I guess that makes sense. So, what are you expecting to do tomorrow, apart from going to school?
“I don’t know. I can’t tell the future!” was the slightly incensed response.
Bemused and amused, Will had mixed feelings about playing another game with the excitable youngster but at least it staved off any further awkward questions from Kate for a while. A short while later, when Will was starting to feel the pressure of playing the unfamiliar racing game with Peter, Kate entered the room and said to Peter “When this race ends, dear, it’ll be your bedtime. It’s already later than normal and you have school tomorrow.”
Whilst he didn’t deliberately crash, Will tried hard to let Peter win without the young boy realising it. A few minutes later, a reluctant seven year-old was led away. Before he had gone more than a couple of feet, though, he asked if Will could read to him once he was in bed.
“If he doesn’t mind, dear” replied Kate “Then it will be lights out and you settle down for sleep, though. You’ve had plenty of excitement this evening. Is that OK?” she asked him. “Yes, mummy” he said, unsure whether to be pleased or not, as he normally played quietly in his room until he was actually tired, rather than because it was bedtime.
Realising he needed to say something, Will said that he would be happy to read to Peter.
After about ten minutes, the pyjama-clad boy came into the living room and pulled Will towards his room. It had been a long time since Will had been into such a room. He had thought his room was unkempt but realised that, in comparison with Peter’s, it was positively tidy. The main problem, in Will’s limited experience of such things, was simply the sheer quantity of stuff that Peter had in there. Almost every surface, including most of his bed, was awash with a wide variety of toys and books.
After looking round briefly, Peter picked up a book ‘The Adventures of Space Explorer Jim’ then pushed it into Will’s hands. Quickly reading the synopsis, Will discovered that it was about a boy who had accidentally found himself alone in a spaceship, without any adults around. On his adventures he met several aliens and made lots of new friends, as well as getting the better of some space pirates, before returning safely home. He made sure there was a clear space for him to sit down on the bed, then invited Peter to sit next to him, so that he could read the story to him.
Whilst the story was quite long, he finished reading it after about fifteen minutes and then called Kate and Billy into the room, so that they could make sure that Peter actually went to bed. As he left the room, he saw a reluctant child crawling under the bedclothes and put his head on his pillow. “Goodnight, Peter” he said. “Goodnight, Will. Thanks for reading to me” replied Peter.
Feeling suddenly quite weary, Will left the others and went into the living room to sit down.
He awoke with a start. The room was dark and he was covered with a duvet. He had obviously been more tired than he had realised and either Billy or Kate had covered him. He looked at the clock and discovered that it was 02:00. He’d been asleep since 20:00.
He laid down and snuggled into the cosy bedding and promptly fell asleep again.
Chapter 4
Mel was making good progress with the repairs. Apart from a few isolated problems, he was almost in a position to test the final circuits and systems to make sure that everything was working again.
After a couple of hours, Mel decided that it was time to go through what he hoped was the final set of tests. Before he did, though, he realised just how hungry he was, so decided that it made sense to have a break and something to eat before he started the tests. It would also make sure that he was feeling fresh and mentally alert. With that, he went to the food cabinet and withdrew a meal pack and peeled back the lid. Within seconds, his meal was hot and ready to eat. Deciding he wanted a drink with it, though, he went back to the cupboard and took out a bottle of peach flavoured water. A quick twist of the lid was all that was required to open it.
After the meal, he sat relaxing for a few minutes before picking up the empty containers and putting them in the recycler.
“Right, better get started. Then I can get home” he said, to no one in particular.