The ship rolled over. The sphere unravelled and we were travelling through a tunnel again. The shed, space, the green lawn were all gone.
‘What’s the destination?’ asked Ryan.
‘August,’ Lauren said, hitting buttons on the dash. ‘Or close to August. I’m going to land at the Institute.’
‘We’re going to make it,’ said Ryan, squeezing my hand.
‘Ten,’ said Lauren.
The bright light at the end of the tunnel faded.
‘Five.’
Colour returned to the edges of my vision and the curved tunnel we’d been travelling through opened out. Ahead of us was a large green field with curved white buildings in the distance. The tunnel collapsed into a pinprick and we had arrived.
‘Where is this?’ I asked.
‘SATI headquarters,’ said Lauren. ‘Space and Time Institute. Not our original destination, but with the portal collapsing I had to make adjustments.’ She turned around to face us. ‘You two had better say your goodbyes. Orion will be arrested the second we open these doors. You have ten seconds.’
‘Where will they take you?’ I said.
‘They’ll put me in a cell for a few days,’ said Ryan. ‘I’ll be OK. Try to find my friend, Pegasus. He’ll take care of you.’
‘Pegasus,’ I said. ‘OK.’
He pulled me into a tight hug. ‘Everything’ll be fine.’
There was a sigh as the doors unlocked. We clambered out of the ship. Waiting for us on the grass was a man in a charcoal grey uniform, flanked by four heavily armed guards.
‘Mission complete,’ said Lauren. ‘We have repatriated the remains of Travis Deckard and brought you Orion Westland. The girl is here both as a witness and a precaution.’
‘You will need to be debriefed,’ said the man in uniform. He nodded to the guards. ‘Take these two to Central Holding.’
Chapter 6
Lakeborough, Summer 2123
The room was small. As wide as my outstretched arms and not much longer than the metal bed – stained mattress, no blankets or sheets – that provided the only seating. Behind the bed was a toilet, a half-used roll of toilet paper and a small bottle of antibacterial hand gel.
When we had first arrived at Central Holding for processing – fingerprints taken, retinas and faces scanned, personal belongings removed and logged – I had hoped we would end up in the same cell while they decided what to do with us. A small part of me even hoped they would just let us go. But of course that didn’t happen. Ryan was going to have to stand trial and I was going to be questioned. We were put in separate cells.
I looked through the barred window set into the door, but could see nothing except for a long white corridor and a large analogue clock on the wall opposite. A single guard, dressed in a khaki uniform, stood outside my cell. A large gun was strapped across his body and a bunch of keys hung from a loop on his belt. I banged hard on the window. The guard turned, looked at me briefly, then turned away. I banged the window again.
‘Where am I?’ I yelled. ‘What country? What year?’
He didn’t turn around again.
How could it be that just a few hours ago I was in my bedroom in Penpol Cove and now I was over one hundred years in the future, standing in a prison cell?
I was about to bang on the door again when I was overcome with a sudden tidal wave of weariness. It poured over me, gradual at first, then rapidly, until I had no choice but to sit on the filthy mattress and rest my head in my hands. A part of my brain warned me that I should be plotting my next move, my testimony, something. But my eyelids fluttered shut and my mind was pulled deeper and deeper towards sleep until I was gone.
It felt like I had slept for several hours when the hard clank of metal scraping metal woke me. I sat up to see the guard unlocking my cell. A tall man in a charcoal uniform came in and stood before me, his arms crossed in front of him.
I pushed myself up, embarrassed to have been caught sleeping.
‘So,’ said the uniformed man, running his eyes the length of my body and finally resting on my face. ‘You’re what this is all about.’
‘I’m not sure what you mean, sir?’ I said, rubbing my sleep-bleary eyes.
‘You’re the reason my son broke the Temporal Laws, stole a ship and ruined his family’s reputation.’
‘You’re Mr Westland?’
‘Admiral Westland.’
He looked me over again and I was reminded of the fact that I’d spent last night sleeping in my clothes, I hadn’t had a shower for two days and my hair was a tangled mess. Not the sort of first impression I’d hoped to make with Ryan’s family.
Admiral Westland shook his head and looked away. ‘What was he thinking?’
I swallowed. ‘I guess there’s no accounting for taste.’
He looked up sharply. ‘That’s not what I . . .’ he began. ‘Never mind.’
‘Have you seen him? Is he OK?’
‘He’s in a lot of trouble.’ He sighed. ‘And all for nothing.’
I stood up. ‘It wasn’t for nothing. He saved my life. That might mean nothing to you, but it’s pretty damn important to me.’
Admiral Westland raised an eyebrow in a way that reminded me of his son. ‘What do you mean?’
‘I was dead.’
The admiral sat on the edge of the bunk. ‘Tell me everything.’
I wasn’t sure how much I should say. ‘Ryan and his team were sent back to stop something from happening,’ I said, choosing to be vague with the details.
‘Miss Anfield,’ he said, interrupting me, ‘I am one of the five Guardians of Time. Every time mission has a Guardian to oversee it. I was the Guardian for the mission known as “The Eden Mission”. I put together the team – including my son – who travelled to the past to work on it. I know what the mission set out to do. You don’t have to be concerned about what you say.’
‘They didn’t stop it happening,’ I said. ‘Connor was about to discover something he shouldn’t.’
‘A planet,’ said the admiral. ‘I know about the planet.’
‘I stopped Connor discovering it. And then, after Ryan left, the mission’s cleaner killed me. When Ryan found out, he came back to save my life.’
A distant smile crossed his face. ‘That changes everything. It wasn’t merely an impulsive love trip. It wasn’t just a selfish whim.’
I shook my head. ‘It wasn’t selfish at all. He gave up everything he has here in his own time – and everyone – to travel back and save me.’
Admiral Westland touched my arm. ‘I need you to say all this in your statement. Make sure they understand why Orion did what he did. There is an old protocol that we might be able to use in Orion’s defence.’
I nodded.
‘Another Guardian is waiting to debrief you. Come along with me.’
‘Do I need a lawyer?’ I asked.
‘No. You’re not in any trouble. He will just want to ask you a few questions.’
Admiral Westland escorted me a short distance to a conference room. A tall man with grey hair and a full grey beard met us at the door.
‘Thank you, Admiral Westland,’ he said. ‘I’ll take it from here.’
Westland nodded at me, turned and strode back down the corridor.
An oblong table sat in the centre of the conference room, with about twenty chairs arranged around it. Lauren was sitting in one of the chairs, her back ramrod straight, her hair and make-up polished and professional. She caught my eye but didn’t smile.
‘I hope you haven’t experienced too much discomfort?’ the man asked. ‘The Institute was never designed to hold prisoners, but the prison in New Marseilles is full. Our holding cells are very basic, I’m afraid.’
I shrugged, more uncomfortable now than I’d been in my cell. There were no windows in the room, but a low hum suggested some sort of climate control. I shivered, wishing I had my hoodie to pull over my T-shirt.