Nikki pulled a face that evidently summed up her opinion of the library, and the two of them went into the bathroom.
I pulled the plastic wrap off one of the kitchen tunics and put it on. It was made of a soft green cotton and hung to just above my knees. The sash that went with it was a darker green. Quickly I tied it around my waist. The final part of the kitchen uniform was a hat designed to cover your hair. I bundled my hair into a ponytail and coiled it on top of my head, pulling the hat over it to hold it in place.
I was just about ready. All I needed to do was put on my necklace – the one with my mum’s wedding ring attached – for good luck. Rummaging through my backpack for it, I noticed the penny I’d found, seconds before leaving 2012. I tucked it into my tunic pocket; I’d need all the luck I could get.
Peg was waiting for me out in the passageway. He smirked. ‘You look lovely in a utilitarian sort of way.’
I looked up and down the passageway. There was no one around. ‘I have an idea,’ I said in a low voice. ‘I’m going to head down to the kitchens and say that I’ve been sent to get lunch for the prisoner. I’ll take it up to the holding cell.’
‘That might get you in,’ said Peg. ‘Then what?’
‘You’ll be waiting outside. Last time I passed, there was only one guard. As soon as she unlocks the cell to let me deliver the food, you come in. I’m going to try and get something hot – soup maybe – to throw in her face. Between us we can overpower her and free Ryan. Then we dress him in one of your uniforms, hit the alarm and head for the evacuation shuttles.’
‘It could work,’ said Peg, unravelling the map. ‘There’s a restroom close to the holding cell. I could wait in there with a spare uniform for Ryan. Why don’t I head up to the bar to meet Lyra and find out if Ryan’s in the cell yet?’
‘Good idea. I’ll meet you in the restroom in twenty minutes,’ I said. ‘Wish me luck.’
The kitchens were down on C Deck. I smelt them long before I reached them. Steam and grease, the lingering fishiness of seaweed. Then came the clanging of pans and the clattering of dishes, voices calling. Lunchtime. Everyone would be busy. Perfect.
‘Are you the new girl?’ a red-faced woman barked at me. ‘You’re late.’
I was about to tell her that I wasn’t scheduled to begin until tomorrow, but she thrust a platter of steamed rice into my hands and ordered me to deliver it to the canteen. I carried it swiftly to the serving table, feeling more and more like a worker and not an imposter. The canteen was already busy with workers in for the early sitting. I squeezed the platter of rice on to the end of the table, next to a tureen of steaming hot soup.
At one end of the table was a pile of plates and bowls. The workers each picked up a plate and shuffled along the line, buffet style, helping themselves to what they wanted. I grabbed a plate and spooned some rice onto it.
‘Hey, you!’ said one of the kitchen staff, a young boy with a face full of spots. ‘What do you think you’re doing?’
‘The captain asked me to bring a plate of food to him,’ I said.
‘The captain doesn’t eat down here. You get the captain’s food up on A Deck.’
‘He specifically asked me to come down here and fetch him a bowl of the soup. It’s his favourite.’
The spotty boy accepted my explanation. I filled a bowl with soup, placed it on the tray next to the rice and put a cover on top. Then, to make it look realistic, I added a bottle of water. I walked carefully, wishing I hadn’t filled the soup bowl so high, out of the canteen and down the passage to the lifts. Thankfully the lift was empty. I plastered a bland, bored look on my face and pressed the button for A Deck.
The lift opened with a ping on B Deck and Nikki and Becca came in. Nikki had changed into a dress and was using her hands to explain to Becca all the different ranks on board the spaceport. My heart began to race. They knew I wasn’t due to begin until tomorrow. I ducked my head and turned away, staring down at the tray.
‘There are ten men for every woman on the spaceport,’ Nikki was saying. ‘The officers all eat and drink up on A Deck.’
‘OK,’ said Becca. ‘I’ll come with you just this once. But I’m here to save money, not to spend it.’
The lift slowed and stopped and the door slid open. Keeping my head bowed, I let them leave first. I pressed the button to hold the door until I heard their voices fading as they made their way towards the bar, and then took the other direction, towards the restrooms and cells. Just before I reached the holding cell, a door opened a crack and a voice hissed at me. ‘Hey! Eden!’
I stopped. It was Peg. ‘I’m in here. OK?’
I nodded and used my hip to open the door fully.
‘Did you see Lyra?’ I asked.
‘No. She’s not there yet.’
‘We must be too early. I should wait. What time is it?’
‘Half eleven.’
‘I’ll give it ten minutes,’ I said. The tray was heavy; I put it on the floor and stretched my arms.
‘There’s always the possibility that she won’t be able to get to the bar,’ said Peg. ‘Milo said it was an expedited transfer. They’re only here for three hours. They still have to have security clearance and clear quarantine. That doesn’t leave a lot of time for anything else.’
‘She’ll do everything she can to help us, though?’ I said.
‘Of course she will.’
Hanging around in the restroom, just waiting, wasn’t helping my nerves. ‘I’m going to go now,’ I said.
Peg picked up the tray and put it in my arms. ‘Good luck.’
I edged out of the restroom and continued on my way, fear trickling through me as I approached the holding cell. The door was open just as it had been the day before. The same security guard was sitting behind the desk, reading something on her port-com. Using my elbow to push the door open wide, I took a deep breath and stepped inside.
I scanned the room quickly. There were four barred doors, each leading to a cell. Now that I was closer to the guard, I realised she was solid-looking, all muscle. She probably had a weapon on her somewhere, but for now she was sat behind the desk.
‘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.