“Platypus to Newbrum control, we are down safe,” crackled the speaker. “Over.”
“Captain Quirinus, that is both the best and the worst landing I have ever seen!” replied the operator. “Welcome to Newbrum. Over.”
Endymion watched two fire rescue vehicles rush out onto the runway towards where the spacecraft had come to rest. Incredibly, the freighter was now moving again, turning around on its three good sets of wheels in a determined attempt to make it to the spaceport hangar under its own power. The smoke cleared and as the spacecraft approached the dome Endymion recognised it as a heavily-modified Mars-class interplanetary carrier in unusual purple and white livery. Having four wings instead of two was strange enough, but the craft also had a curious flat projection jutting forward from the curved bow of the cylindrical hull. As he watched, the wings began to retract into the hull, revealing a smaller than usual cargo door at the side.
“Strange-looking spacecraft,” Bellona remarked.
Endymion had to agree. “The name isn’t so silly after all,” he mused. “The flat bit at the front does make it look a bit like a duck-billed platypus.”
Upon learning that Miss Clymene was still at the spaceport, pestering off-duty flight crews in an attempt to find someone willing to accept a charter to Daode, Verdandi asked her to take charge of Endymion, Bellona and Philyra while she went to the arrivals lounge to meet the crew of the Platypus. When Endymion once again hinted they were in some way involved following their trip to the Eden Ravines, Verdandi reluctantly invited Miss Clymene and her students to accompany her. Endymion, Bellona and Philyra went with some trepidation, for their earlier jokes about aliens had settled uneasily upon their minds and imaginations were running wild as to what the visitors from the legendary colony ship would look like. As they walked, Bellona attempted to bring Miss Clymene up to date, but her teacher still had other things on her mind.
“Aliens, eh?” she mused. “Do you think they take charters?”
Ravana walked across the deserted arrivals lounge and paused by a window to gaze upon the neighbouring steel and glass dome of Newbrum city. Everywhere she looked inside the city’s protective shell she could see distant specks that were people: at the windows and balconies of the tower blocks, on the bustling walkways, in the vehicles plying the streets; all busy living their lives just like their ancestors on Earth had done for thousands of years. The main dome of Newbrum was no more than a kilometre wide and a fifth as much high and thus nowhere as big as the hollow moon, yet to Ravana it literally seethed with humanity. She found it hard to comprehend that so many people could live in such a small space.
The view across the coastal plains was something else. She had been to Ascension before, having previously accompanied her father on trading runs to the small community of Lan-Tlanto on the far side of the planet, so was used to seeing the bloated red sun hanging high in the sky. However, this was the first time she had set eyes upon the Tatrill Sea and the sight of so much water stretching to the horizon was awe-inspiring.
“Amazing,” murmured a voice behind her. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
Ravana smiled. Ostara, a slender Chinese woman just a few years older than herself, stood nearby, looking at the same view with a similarly stunned expression. She liked Ostara a lot and had been pleasantly surprised when she had joined them on this trip. A random selection process had recently awarded Ostara the dubious position of head of security on the Dandridge Cole and other than an ongoing investigation into some stolen laboratory equipment, the kidnap of Raja Surya was her first real test in the role. Quirinus and Fenris, the other half of their contingent, sat uneasily at the other side of the arrivals lounge under the watchful eye of a silent security guard.
Upon hearing the sound of footsteps, all four of them turned and saw two women enter the lounge, one of whom was accompanied by a boy and two girls of around Ravana’s age. Ravana guessed from her smart attire that the woman leading the group was in charge. Ostara stepped forward to greet her.
“Ostara Lee,” she said, holding out her hand with a hesitant yet calm confidence Ravana had not seen in her before. “Head of security on the Dandridge Cole.”
The woman took Ostara’s hand and shook it carefully. As Quirinus and Fenris came over, the woman’s smile faltered at the sight of the faded and old-fashioned flight suits the four visitors wore, all of which had a blank space at the shoulder where a space agency flag was usually displayed. Her companion and three young followers grinned nervously, perhaps out of relief that the four strangers from space were undeniably human.
“Administrator Verdandi, at your service,” the woman replied. She seemed relieved that Ostara at least was a natural speaker of English and not relying on the often-erratic wristpad translator. “Glad to see you made it down in one piece.”
“Thank you!” Ostara smiled. “This is Quirinus, pilot of the Platypus,” she said, indicating the pilot, who nodded. “Ravana, his daughter,” she continued, putting a hand upon the girl’s shoulder, “and this is Fenris, chief of staff to Maharani Uma.”
“Hello,” chirped Ravana, giving a little wave. Behind her, Fenris grunted.
“We are honoured,” said Verdandi, eyeing Fenris coolly. “This is Rosanna Clymene, one of our gifted tutors here at Newbrum, along with some of her students.”
“Rosanna!” The gleeful murmur came from the pale slim girl at the tutor’s side. Ravana smiled, recognising her surprise upon realising that even teachers had first names.
“This is an unexpected pleasure!” exclaimed Miss Clymene, sounding both apprehensive and genuinely excited. “This is Bellona, Philyra and Endymion,” she added, introducing each in turn.
“Please, take a seat,” Verdandi said, indicating the nearby chairs. “I had arranged for us to use the security office, but an incident with the fire sprinklers has left it full of some wet and very angry people. However, as you can see we have the lounge to ourselves.”
“Thank you,” said Quirinus. Ravana’s father seemed pleasantly at ease, unlike Fenris who had taken on the appearance of a wallaby caught in an oncoming shuttle’s landing lights.
The window next to the seats looked through to the dome’s hangar and the berthed Platypus. Settling into her seat, Ravana watched as a spaceport technician started hammering at the jammed undercarriage, trying to free the stuck wheel. Inside the lounge, the security guard stood quietly by the door to the hangar, his hand resting upon the grip of his regulation stun gun. As the others took their seats, Ravana became aware that Bellona was staring at her in a most unsettling way and self-consciously pulled her hair across to hide her scar.
“We were very surprised to receive your message,” Verdandi told Ostara, once they were all settled. “We had no idea anyone still lived on the Dandridge Cole, though we have suspected for a while it was possibly in use by smugglers.”
Quirinus dropped his gaze. “We do need to fly supplies to the hollow moon from time to time,” he said. “I admit we rarely seek official clearance for flights to Ascension.”
“A few of my staff did recognise your ship,” Verdandi remarked. “Though they tell me the illegal spaceport at Lan-Tlanto is your more usual port of call.”
“Illegal?” Quirinus raised a surprised eyebrow. “‘Independent’ is a better word.”
“But that’s not why we are here,” interrupted Ostara.