by Pam Harvey
Judy looked at Rod. ‘Well,’ she said slowly, ‘it’s part of a satellite.’
‘What part of the satellite?’
‘Like to know everything, don’t you?’ Rod tried to smile at Hannah but it came out more like a sneer. ‘To tell you the truth, those lights everyone saw in Teasdale the other night were from one of our satellites. It was hit by a meteorite and had a hasty return to Earth.’
‘And this is part of it.’ Judy closed her hand around the gadget and tucked it away into her top pocket. ‘And there you have it.’
‘But you haven’t told me what part of the satellite it is.’ Hannah paused then said, ‘It looks like it might be a type of recorder.’
‘Oh, no,’ said Judy, with a short laugh. ‘No, it’s nothing like that. It’s a section of the titanium frame that held the dish. Satellites are extremely expensive and so to retrieve any part of it after it’s gone through the atmosphere and nearly burnt to a crisp is a minor miracle. Our boss will be very pleased. We should give you a reward for finding it. Rod?’
‘Yes,’ Rod said, looking quickly around the van. ‘A reward.’ He reached up and opened a small cupboard that was just under the roof. He pulled out a bag and handed it to Hannah. ‘Have these.’
‘And thank you again,’ said Judy, steering Hannah towards the open door and down the steps. ‘Sorry for being a bit rude but we’ve had trouble before with strangers trying to get in the van and so we were a little…upset…when we found you inside.’
‘That’s okay,’ said Hannah, relieved to be in the open. ‘I suppose you’ll have to move the caravan again now.’
‘Well, now that we’ve found the bit of titanium, we can pack up and go home.’ Judy patted her pocket. ‘It was the last bit we had to find.’
‘Bye bye,’ said Rod. ‘You found your way here so I imagine you can find your way back.’
‘Yes, I’ll be fine,’ said Hannah. ‘Bye.’
She pointedly walked past the rocks where E.D. was hiding, clutching the plastic bag, and started to follow the track back to their collection point. After a minute, pounding footsteps told her that E.D. was catching up.
‘What happened?’ he panted. Hannah kept walking, telling him the story as they went.
‘So what do you think the picture on the screen was?’
Hannah shook her head. ‘I don’t know, E.D. I really don’t. They were like people but…I don’t know. The way Rod and Judy acted when they found me! I thought they were going to lock me up there and then.’
‘I tried to warn you! I did my bird call.’ E.D. squawked again, loudly and for too long.
Hannah grimaced until he stopped. ‘You know, E.D., that’s a pretty bad imitation.’
‘The other magpies loved it.’ E.D. grinned. ‘They started dive bombing me.’
‘I don’t blame them.’
When they reached the pick-up point, Hannah sat down heavily next to the seed box. ‘Well, at least we know one thing.’
‘What?’ E.D. said, peering into the plastic bag that Hannah had opened.
‘We know what they eat.’ She pulled out a silver packet and shook its dehydrated contents. ‘Astronaut food.’
CHAPTER 12
Tuesday late p.m.
‘They’ve got the silver thing back,’ Hannah said, as soon as she entered Gabby’s house.
‘I don’t think Sean is going to be too pleased about that. What happened?’ Angus asked.
‘We found the caravan—’
‘In a different spot,’ E.D. interrupted.
‘So I snuck inside and managed to find the machine. There was this narrow slot and the device fitted it perfectly.’ Hannah noticed that she even had Gabby’s attention.
‘And?’ Ling said.
‘And I saw this really weird footage of…’
‘Of what?’ Gabby snapped, impatiently.
‘Well, I don’t exactly know. It was of a street and then these strange figures appear in the shot. They were sort of floating and gliding and then they disappear. A little while later a dog wanders by, and then nothing.’
‘Hannah, what on Earth are you talking about?’ Gabby asked, exasperated.
‘Interesting choice of words, Gab,’ E.D. said.
‘What do you mean?’
E.D. shrugged. ‘Well, I didn’t see the footage myself but it sort of sounds a bit alien-like to me—as in not from Earth…’
‘Oh, don’t be stupid, E.D. Hannah said she saw a dog. Whoever heard of an alien dog?’ Gabby got up suddenly. ‘Mum’s home,’ she said, heading out of the room. Hannah slumped down into a chair.
‘Did you notice anything else?’ Ling asked, gently.
‘Well, that’s when Punch and Judy turned up to spoil the fun. Hannah didn’t recognise my warning magpie call and got caught.’
‘And so they took the device?’
Hannah turned to Ling. ‘I gave it to them. They said it was part of a satellite. Actually, theywere very relieved. They were really angry when they first discovered me there but that sort of changed when I gave them the satellite bit.’
‘If it is a satellite bit,’ E.D. said.
‘Hannah, did they see you looking at the footage?’
Hannah thought for a moment. Finally she shook her head.
‘I don’t think so. I mean, there may be some way of them telling that the machine I used was accessed at a time when they were outside. I just don’t know.’
‘Do you kids want something to eat?’ Mrs Hunter asked, poking her head around the door. ‘I would have got home sooner but there’s some sort of commotion going on in town.’
‘What do you mean?’ Ling asked.
‘Oh, some nutter taking up half of Robson’s Road outside the mall prattling on to anyone who’ll listen about an alien abduction. I only stopped for a moment. It’s all a complete load of rubbish if you ask me. Aliens!’ Mrs Hunter snorted her disapproval.
‘What did the man look like?’ Hannah asked, glancing at E.D.
‘Oh, well he was really quite non-descript. Smallish sort of man, a little on the plump side, greasy black hair. Needs a good hair cut if you ask me.’
‘Byron,’ Hannah whispered, getting to her feet.
‘You know him?’ Mrs Hunter asked, trying to hide her surprise.
‘Didn’t you know, Mrs H? He’s Hannah’s very best friend,’ E.D. laughed.
‘Shut up, E.D. Byron Watts is the guy we’ve been looking for. Mrs Hunter, do you think you could run us back into town?’
‘Hannah, what about some food first?’ E.D. suggested.
‘Of course I can. Do you all want to go?’ said Mrs Hunter.
Hannah glanced at Gabby but was unable to read her face.
‘Are you going, E.D.?’ Gabby asked.
‘Um, well, I think I might head home and see how Sean’s getting on. But let me know what happens, okay?’
‘Whatever,’ Gabby said, sighing. ‘I’ll just go and get changed.’ Hannah bit her tongue. Telling Gabby that a change of clothes was totally unnecessary would be the last thing she’d want to hear.
‘Not quite the crowd that was here half an hour ago,’ Mrs Hunter said, parking opposite the mall. Hannah could see Byron talking to about 30 people. Even as she watched, a small group pulled away, thinning his audience.
‘Thanks for driving us, Mrs Hunter,’ Hannah said, climbing out of the car. She walked across the street, not caring if the others followed. By this time the gathering had shrunk even further, and Hannah made her way to the front of the small group.
‘I know it sounds crazy and maybe I’ve said some weird stuff before but this time it’s true,’ said Byron, looking in earnest at his audience.
‘Bloody idiot if you ask me,’ Hannah heard someone mutter. She turned around to see three men amble away, hands in their pockets.
‘What happened, Byron?’ Hannah asked. Byron drew in a deep breath and looked at Hannah.
‘I was sitting at home, minding my own business, when all of a sudden I’m engulfed by th
is blinding light. I can’t believe that no one else noticed it.’ He rubbed his arm thoughtfully. ‘There was this horrible, low humming noise buzzing in my ears. It was so loud I thought it was going to burst my ear drums. Not loud as in noisy loud, more sort of irritating. It was a vibration not a noise. It was inside my head.’ He paused, as a few others joined the group.
‘Then what happened, dear?’ an elderly lady asked.
‘Well, like I said, the whole house was lit up in this fiery white light. Then this wind starts blowing. I don’t know where it came from but suddenly it was there, blowing stuff everywhere. Chairs and tables, my computers and equipment—all tipped over and blasted up against the walls. The whole house was shuddering and shaking.’
Hannah recalled the mess they’d encountered when she and Sean had entered his home. Surely an alien hadn’t landed in Teasdale? she thought, suddenly feeling goose bumps on her arms. There had been a mess, but not everything was out of place. The kitchen table had been covered in breakfast items.
‘Was everything in the house blown about?’ Hannah asked. Byron slowly turned his head.
‘No,’ he said, finally. ‘That was the weird thing. It was as if they were looking at particular items. Anyway, my first thought was to get out of the house so I raced to the back door, but there was this dark, shadowy figure standing in the doorway, blocking my way so I spun around.’ Hannah could see a trickle of sweat on Byron’s brow.
‘The humming suddenly intensified. It was hurting me so much that I just sort of fell to the floor. Then I felt something touching my skin.’ Byron rolled up his shirt sleeve and held his arm out.
‘They did that?’ a small boy asked. Byron’s arm was covered in tiny puncture wounds.
‘There are 11 marks,’ Byron said, staring at his arm. ‘None of them are deep but each of them bled.’
‘Do they hurt?’
‘What did it?’
‘Did they get you anywhere else?’
Byron held up his hands. ‘One at a time, please. Okay. No, they didn’t really hurt much. It was like being bitten by a whole lot of mosquitoes all at once. That was the last thing I remember clearly, though I have this vague recollection of being strapped up against a silver hollow in a wall and having something flat placed on my head. I don’t know. Maybe I passed out and dreamt that bit.’
‘Cool,’ the small boy said. ‘Can you show us your arm again?’ Byron obliged.
‘Have you checked to see if there’s a pattern on your arm?’ Hannah spun around. It was Ling, with Gabby just behind her.
‘Yeah,’ Byron nodded. ‘I mapped the spots on a piece of paper but it’s no shape I can figure out.’ He pulled a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket and opened it up.
Someone to the left of Hannah let out a low groan. ‘Mad,’ the man said, taking a step back.
‘I’m not mad!’ Byron shouted indignantly. ‘Everything I’ve said is the truth. It’s not my fault that aliens pick on me. It’s because I’ve got all that equipment in my house. I think they’re attracted by the electrical energy.’ The man muttered something incoherent and walked away.
‘Come along, Trent. You’re going to have nightmares if you keep listening to all this.’ The small boy took a last look at Byron, his eyes wide with intrigue and excitement, then reluctantly took his mother’s hand and headed off. Others followed.
‘I’m going to have a proper press conference tomorrow,’ Byron said, rolling down his sleeve. Folding up the piece of paper, he turned to go.
‘Byron, wait!’ Hannah said.
‘No more questions,’ he replied. ‘I’m really tired.’
‘Please? I think this could be really important.’
Byron paused, looking curiously at Hannah. ‘How so?’
Hannah had the impression that he was keen to get away. She thought carefully about how to find out what she wanted to know. ‘I have some information that has come to me recently concerning something of an extraterrestrial nature.’
Byron was looking more and more incredulous with every word that Hannah spoke. ‘What information? Where from?’ The two had edged away so that only Ling and Gabby were within earshot.
‘I can’t say too much at the moment,’ Hannah said, her voice hushed. ‘But can you describe the thing you saw in the doorway in more detail? Or draw a picture?’
‘I guess,’ Byron said, hauling a canvas bag off his shoulder. He pulled out a notebook and pencil and started his sketch.
‘Hey—’ Ling stopped suddenly.
‘What, Ling?’ Gabby asked.
‘Oh, nothing.’
Hannah was wondering if Byron, too, had somehow seen the alien images she’d viewed on the film and might use them as the basis for his drawing. But she quickly realised that Byron’s alien looked nothing like the shadowy shapes she’d seen on the video in the caravan earlier that afternoon. Her shapes had been kind of loose and fluid: human-like in their freedom of movement. Byron’s alien was taking on the form of some metallic creature: all sharp corners with a strange antenna-like protrusion extending from the top of its head.
‘That’s what you saw?’ Gabby exclaimed, trying to stifle a laugh.
‘Hey, I never said I was a good drawer.’ He closed the notepad suddenly, his eyes darting about.
‘No, no,’ Ling cried. ‘It’s really interesting. Could we borrow that picture?’
‘Forget it,’ Byron muttered, shoving the pad in his backpack and shuffling off.
‘Well, that all ended in a hurry,’ Hannah muttered, watching Byron scurry off into a narrow laneway.
‘So now can we go home?’ Gabby asked.
‘Sure.’ Hannah looked sideways at her friend. With Ling around, Gabby had seemed a bit better. Maybe she would finally find out what was bothering Gabby so much.
‘Ling?’ Gabby called, suddenly aware that her cousin wasn’t crossing the road with them. Ling looked up.
‘Yeah, coming,’ she said, catching up. They all got back into Mrs Hunter’s car.
Ling stared out the window, deep in thought, while Gabby, sitting in the front seat, talked quietly with her mother.
Hannah stared at the back of her head. Maybe it’s a swimming issue, she said to herself. And yet hadn’t Gabby been training today? Or was it something to do with her parents? Hannah certainly hadn’t detected anything in Mrs Hunter’s face to suggest that there were problems.
When they arrived back home, Hannah took Gabby’s hand as she got out of the car and held her back.
‘Gabby, I’m really sorry but I need to know what’s going on. You’ve been so strange lately—I can’t stand it.’
Gabby looked down at the ground but didn’t pull away.
‘Have I said something wrong? Have I done something to you?’
Gabby shook her head.
‘Is it something to do with your swimming?’
Gabby kept her head bent.
‘Are you injured? Won’t you make it to the Nationals?’
Slowly Gabby shook her head.
‘Are your parents getting divorced? Has your grandmother died?’ Hannah’s voice was rising and she gripped Gabby’s hand tighter. ‘Are you shifting away or something?’
At this, Gabby pressed a clenched fist to her mouth, uttered something unintelligible and ran sobbing towards the front door.
‘Oh, no,’ Hannah gasped. ‘Gabby’s moving!’ Suddenly it felt like the whole world had shifted sideways.
CHAPTER 13
Tuesday late p.m.
Although Sean had been having a great time at the De Lugios’, he was relieved when E.D. finally returned. He was getting hungry. Mrs De Lugio had asked him if he’d like a helping of her just-cooked lasagna a while back but Sean had said no, just to be polite. He wished he hadn’t. Lunch had been ages ago.
He had spent a fun hour with Mario racing around the makeshift bike track the boys had made, hanging on for all his life while Mario guided the bike effortlessly over the bumps and through the corners.
&
nbsp; Mario had then let Sean have a go by himself, turning it into a game so Sean didn’t go too fast by seeing if he could complete a lap in exactly 60 seconds. It was a game the brothers had played countless times over the years.
‘Easy!’ Sean scoffed, setting off down the back straight, promising he wouldn’t overdo the speed.
‘You did it in 54 seconds,’ Mario called, clicking a stopwatch. ‘That means you scored four points.’
‘Four points!’ Sean came to a stop in front of Mario. ‘But I beat 60 seconds.’
‘Exactly,’ Mario grinned. ‘Your target was 60 seconds. You were six seconds out. The closer you get to 60, the more points you get.’ It took a few minutes of explanation but Sean finally worked out the scoring rules.
‘Can we do it again?’
‘We can do it nine more times. If you want to get a medal, you’re going to have to finish in the top three. That means scoring about 80 points, which also means we’re going to need some very hot times, Sean.’
‘You got it,’ Sean cried, pulling down the visor on his helmet. Using his watch as a guide, Sean steered himself around the track, making sure he kept to the dry sections, especially in the corners, where he found it more difficult to control the bike. After seven laps he was within two seconds of his target time and on his ninth lap, he scored a perfect 60.
‘Good job,’ Mario called, pumping the air with his fist.
Tony had come out to watch, which made him even more determined to put in a perfect final lap. Sensing that he was ahead of time coming into the final straight, Sean eased back, checking his watch as he cruised across the line. It was close to another 60.
‘Nice going, Sean,’ Tony said, clapping. ‘Mate, you’re showing really good control there. I reckon we can reduce the target to 50 seconds next time. What do you think, bro?’
‘Definitely,’ Mario agreed. ‘That was another perfect lap, too.’
‘So did I get a medal?’ Sean asked.
‘Nearly,’ Tony said. ‘But I reckon you will next time.’
‘So how fast do you guys go?’
‘Well, E.D. has the record with 28 seconds, so when he plays, he’s looking to do 30-second laps.’
