by Rob May
The internet was on, but it was slow; the meteors must have been hitting switching stations all over London, and it would take time to re-route around the outages. Brandon went straight to the news sites to check what was going on. It looked as if hundreds of meteors had fallen within a twenty kilometre radius around Highgate, damaging cars and property all over London. Outside the capital, the largest meteor of the day had flattened The Grand Hotel in Brighton.
I’m not at the lab, his mother had said. Was she even in London?
Scientists and army chiefs were debating on whether to try using lasers or missiles to shoot down any future meteors, and whether to try and destroy or just deflect them. The ATLAS station had spotted an enormous asteroid that was two-hundred metres across: big enough to destroy London. Thankfully its velocity would take it on a path that missed Earth by just under three times the distance to the moon. It was impossible to detect how many smaller meteoroids were still on their way.
There was no mention of the fact that three meteors had hit Highgate cemetery, or indeed any suggestion at all that the meteors were anything other than a natural catastrophe.
Brandon read on. The meteor that had taken out his family’s home had created a deep crater. Thirty houses in total had been destroyed completely. People had died, there was no doubt about it: neighbours and kids that he knew. Xander Jones lived in the street behind Brandon. Was he now dead and buried under a pile of rubble?
Brandon logged into Octopus, a site that consolidated all his messaging and social networking accounts. The first thing that he noticed was that Gem was online. The next thing he saw was that his last log-in time was given as thirty minutes ago.
That was impossible!
brandon! Gem wrote, you okay?
yeah. you? you got internet?
yep. still flying. james has special access. where are you?
Special access? Brandon had heard that the military could take control of London’s communications network in a crisis. How did James qualify for access?
i’m somewhere safe, Brandon wrote after a pause. He was worried now that meteors falling on his head weren’t his only problem. He heard footsteps in the corridor outside. That was fast!
Brandon hit the log-out button and spun his chair to face the door. The shape that appeared behind the glass window in the door was too tall to be Jason or Kat. Brandon carefully rolled his chair to one side, aware that any sudden movement would be visible to whoever was outside. He was halfway to cover when the door opened.
It was Doctor Kang, their science teacher.
‘Oh. Brandon. Hello,’ he said. ‘Did I lock you in after detention at the end of term?’
You could never tell with Doctor Kang if he was joking or not. He was considered eccentric by both pupils and staff. He always wore his lab coat out of school hours, and his Sikh turban seemed—to Brandon at least—at odds with his scientific credentials. There was talk that he had lost a post at University College London because of his odd approach.
‘I was just bored sitting around at home,’ Brandon replied. ‘I hate the holidays. What are you doing here, Sir? Catching up on marking?’
‘No, no. Just a bit of my own personal research. I’m examining a very interesting piece of celestial debris that I came across earlier today.’
Celestial debris? It took Brandon a few seconds to work it out.
‘A meteorite?’
Several minutes later, all four of them were gathered around Doctor Kang’s desk in his classroom on the second floor. All the lights were off except for three Anglepoise lamps set at different corners of the desk. They illuminated a lump of metal that was about the size of a fist. Doctor Kang had found it at Highgate Cemetery, shortly before the army had moved in and cordoned off the scene.
‘Notice anything unusual about it?’ he asked them, looking at Brandon.
‘It’s metal, not rock,’ Brandon said. ‘That’s quite rare.’
‘It is,’ Doctor Kang agreed. ‘I found fragments of regular meteoric rock around the crater too. But the strangest thing of all is that this particular chunk isn’t composed of meteoric iron; it’s actually a titanium and aluminium alloy.’ He tapped it with his Sikh ceremonial dagger; it tinged.
There was a few seconds silence.
‘Which means?’ Jason prompted impatiently.
‘The space shuttle was made of a similar alloy,’ Brandon said. ‘Which means that this isn’t a meteor at all—it’s a spaceship.’
‘Aliens!’ Kat exclaimed. ‘I knew it!’
‘And look at these markings,’ Doctor Kang pointed out. ‘The patterns look a bit like circuitry. Maybe they are some kind of technology; perhaps a controlling function …’
Brandon pulled the mysterious cylinder out of his pocket and put it on the desk. ‘Look at this,’ he said. ‘There are no markings on this, but the metal is similar. It’s not aliens though. This is from my mum’s work.’
Their teacher’s eyes lit up as he handled the cylinder. Kat watched him with interest. ‘Doctor Kang, do you know what this might be all about?’
‘Not exactly, no,’ he admitted, handling the cylinder with care, ‘but I’ve known Brandon’s mother since Oxford. She’s always been very … protective of her work. Hmm, whatever this is there are no obvious joins or moving parts …’
‘I didn’t know that you knew my mum,’ Brandon commented.
The conversation was brought to a halt by a loud hammering noise from the ground floor. Then the sound of glass smashing and things breaking. Finally they heard what sounded like several pairs of feet stamping about.
Brandon instinctively grabbed the cylinder from Doctor Kang. ‘Who have you sent after us?’ he asked his teacher.
‘What? Nobody!’ Kang insisted. ‘I had no idea that you’d bring that thing here!’
‘Then we’d better hide,’ Brandon said. They all hurried to the back of the classroom and crouched behind the last row of desks, which were solid with built-in cupboards. Jason suddenly rushed back to the front, turned off the three lamps, grabbed the meteorite chunk, and quickly ran back to join the others behind cover again.
‘Something’s coming up the stairs!’ he said urgently.
‘Shhh!’ Kat hissed. There was the sound of a noisy group stomping about in the corridor outside. Brandon found himself holding his breath. He wished that it was darker; it was the kind of early-evening gloom that you could see in, but that strained your eyes.
Almost immediately the door to the classroom creaked open. From behind the solid desks, they couldn’t see anything, but they could hear clearly enough: a heavy animalistic panting and sniffing.
Brandon’s armpits were soaking with sudden sweat. He felt like how he imagined a wild animal might feel, hiding from a predator. Clumsy footsteps started across the room, and it sounded like a heavy body was banging against the desks with each step.
Time seemed to slow down as Brandon’s mind sped through all their options. They only had one chance to try something unexpected. He decided to take a risk. ‘Jason! Fight!’ he yelled, passing the cylinder to Kat. Almost as one, the two boys leaped across the top of the desk.
The thing they faced was terrifying: a tall muscular humanoid with a horrific beastly face. Brandon saw fangs, a broad bare grey-green chest and what looked like combat trousers and boots. Jason threw the meteor chunk at the thing’s head. The creature just blinked as it took the hit right between the eyes. Then it flung out its wide arms and sent both boys flying. It grabbed Jason around the neck and started to squeeze the life out of him.
Brandon picked up a stool and smashed it against the creature’s back. The stool bounced off and hit Brandon in the shoulder. Jason was clawing and punching at the thing’s face with no effect.
Brandon realised after a while that fighting this thing was futile. He felt awful about it, but they would just have to run and leave Jason. There was nothing else to do.
‘Brandon, if you’d just move to one side please,’ a voice
behind him said. Brandon stepped away from the creature.
Doctor Kang was aiming a fire extinguisher. He let it off and a torrent of water hit the monster in the back. The thing kept on strangling Jason though—until Kat lobbed a ripped-open bag of white powder into the stream of water.
The creature howled as chemical burns seared across its body. It dropped Jason and stumbled sideways, crashing into some stools and falling to the floor, prone. Jason picked himself up and rubbed at his neck.
‘Wow, Kat,’ he croaked. ‘Don’t tell me … water and … sodium hydroxide!’
‘Nothing like a practical demonstration to drive the lesson home,’ Doctor Kang said. ‘Now come on, hurry!’
Kang hurried them all out of a door at the back of the classroom that led into a small staff room. ‘My notes,’ he suddenly remembered, and ran back into the classroom that they had just fled. Brandon and the others didn’t wait around for him—they opened another door that took them back to the main corridor. As they stepped out they saw two more of the large grey-green-skinned creatures enter Doctor Kang’s classroom.
What happened next was quick and violent. They heard their teacher cry out, followed by a ripping, squelching sound. Then something rolled out of the doorway and into the corridor, unravelling as it did so and leaving a vivid purple trail behind it.
It was Doctor Kang’s head unwinding from his turban.
They ran down the stairs and along the ground floor corridors of B Block, changing direction twice to avoid more groups of the strange muscled creatures. Kat skidded to a halt outside the boiler room door, unlocked it, and waved Jason to go through. But instead he turned around and blocked Brandon’s attempt to follow.
‘Are you going to just lead those things down here after us?’
‘Jason! Just let me in, please!’ Brandon said frantically.
‘Let him in, Jase,’ Kat said. ‘We can’t leave him out here. They’ll rip him to shreds!’
Jason relented and stood aside to let Brandon through the door. Kat locked it behind them, and they headed back down into the gloomy boiler room. The three of them gathered in the narrow space between the huge boilers.
‘Jason! Fight!’ Jason mimicked. ‘Great plan, idiot! You think it’s so easy to order me about? I only joined in to try and save your stupid skin.’
‘I’m sorry!’ Brandon said. ‘It seemed like a good idea at the time.’
‘We can’t stay down here now,’ Kat said. ‘We’ve got to keep moving.’
‘No,’ Brandon said emphatically. ‘No more running. I’m sick of running. Those creatures—mutants, aliens, whatever—killed Doctor Kang. We have to stop them.’
‘How?!’ Jason challenged him.
‘I’ve got a new plan: we’ll blow up the boilers … blow up the school.’
The twins’ jaws dropped open.
Brandon moved quickly around the boilers, closing valves and hobbling the thermostats. The ancient contraptions were due to be replaced, but the school still hadn’t got around to installing the proposed new biomass heating system.
‘Will this really work?’ Kat asked urgently. Jason was shoving some heavy lockers and worktops against the door at the bottom of the stairs. Their planned route of escape was a tiny window high up in the opposite wall.
‘I hope so,’ Brandon said. ‘Heating up the water really fast from cold will severely stress the system. Pressurised water can be pretty dangerous. When the water in these boilers turns to steam, the pressure will rocket, and if we close all the release valves …’
‘Boom?’ Kat said.
‘That’s the theory.’
Kat had been looking around for useful tools. She showed Brandon a fire axe she had found. He nodded and grinned.
Jason hurried over. ‘They’re coming,’ he said. He looked troubled. ‘Are you sure you want to do this? If this actually works and we blow up the school then we’ll most likely kill them, whatever they are. Are you okay with that?’
‘Not really,’ Brandon admitted. Who would have expected Jason to be the one with the moral conscience? ‘But you saw what they did to Doctor Kang. I think I’d rather regret killing them than regret getting killed.’
Jason shrugged. ‘Fine. But it’s your call.’
‘Alright then,’ Brandon said. ‘I think we’re just about ready.’ The boilers were shuddering and groaning. There was a banging from behind the barricade; the creatures had found the stairs. He handed Jason the fire axe. ‘Hit that gas pipe. You’re strongest.’
Jason wasn’t going to argue with that. ‘This is for Doctor Kang then,’ he said, raising the axe. ‘I hated the guy, but still … I hate school too.’
He brought down the axe and cracked the pipes. Gas started hissing out.
They all scrambled out of the high window, standing on a table to reach it. Emerging at ground level behind the kitchens, they ran across the yard and clambered over the school delivery entrance gates.
It was almost dark. The school was silent behind them. There was no sound of pursuit. Hopefully the creatures—aliens?—were still in the basement. They were too big to follow through the window.
Halfway down School Road they stopped running and turned back to look. The dark buildings were silent. They heard the sound of a door banging open.
‘It didn’t work,’ Brandon said.
Kat looked the most disappointed. ‘Maybe we should go back and throw in a match—’
Then Highgate Academy suddenly exploded. The boilers tore apart under pressure and ignited the leaking gas; the result was a devastating fireball that lit up the streets like a warzone.
Brandon, Jason and Kat flinched at the explosion, and held their arms over their faces to shield themselves from the rain of charred debris that fell down on them. As they peered through the dust and cinders that stung their eyes, they saw a hulking figure emerge from the ruin. It staggered drunkenly towards them. Jason hefted the fire axe, but then the creature collapsed face-down in the wreckage and lay still.
Brandon felt a sick feeling in his stomach. The thing stumbling towards them had looked almost human from a distance. Maybe it was some kind of human. Okay, so it might have been a killer … but now so was he.
They stopped running after that. Instead they walked calmly: away from the burning school; away from the growing crowds of people who were shouting and pointing, taking photos and making videos. ‘I need to go somewhere where I can think,’ Brandon said. The twins tagged along. Jason was still wielding the fire axe from the basement.
They wound up in the quiet of Waterlow Park. From here, they could see all of London laid out before them. Although it was now dark, the city was lit and busy, and the sound of confused voices carried across the park. The air was thick with clouds of dust. Helicopters equipped with powerful strobe lights surveyed the meteor craters, and some turned their attention to the remains of the school. Brandon wondered if Gem and James were up there somewhere, or if they’d flown far away from London.
He sat on a bench. Kat sat beside him, and Jason stood nearby looking moody. ‘Okay, so what were those things?’ Jason began. ‘Aliens? After everything you see in films, they end up looking like wrestlers with body paint and Halloween masks?’
‘Ask them if they have acid for blood next time you see them,’ Kat said.
‘There has to be a rational explanation,’ Brandon said, thinking out loud. ‘Those aliens, or whatever those creatures are, were after this,’—he held up the metal cylinder from the lab—‘and those meteors were missiles aimed at my family. Maybe they want my family dead, or maybe they just want to make sure that this thing gets destroyed. We need to find out what the hell it is.’
‘We?’ Jason questioned. ‘Are we still part of this, Kat? I never liked hanging out with you much at school, Walker. I like it less now that we’re getting bombed and harassed by … those brutes.’
Brutes. Brandon liked the description.
Kat sighed. ‘Maybe you should hand that thing over to the polic
e or the army, Brandon. They’ll protect you.’
Brandon shook his head. ‘This thing could be too important to give up. My mum insisted that I keep it secret. No, I need to stay hidden: off the radar. In fact I probably should leave London and keep moving. There could be some kind of tracking device in this thing that’s giving away its position.’
Jason looked around apprehensively.
Kat seemed to perk up though. ‘Where could we go?’ she asked.
‘Brighton.’ Brandon said. ‘I think that’s where my mum is. A meteor hit there today, round about the time she got cut off on the phone. I don’t know why she’s there—maybe there’s another lab—or even if she’s still alive, but she’s the only person who can help.’
Kat looked at Jason questioningly.
‘Go then,’ Jason told Brandon. ‘Kat and I will be safer going in the opposite direction to you. We’ll let the army know that you’ve got this mess under control.’
Brandon got up.
‘Wait,’ Kat said.
Kat gave Jason a look. What are you going to do, it seemed to say, if what I want to do isn’t what you want to do? Jason raised his eyebrows in disbelief. She stared him down. Eventually he sighed and shrugged.
‘Great. A trip to the seaside. Where’s my bucket and spade?’
They set off down the hill.
‘Are we walking to Brighton?’ Jason asked.
‘I’m thinking,’ Brandon said. In the distance he could see a bright light moving north along the Midland Main Line. ‘It looks like the trains are running again—the outbound ones at least. The fastest way to get out of London would be by train. What station do we need?’
‘Hmm … St. Pancras, I think,’ Kat said.
‘If the internet wasn’t down, we could have booked a ticket,’ Jason said.
‘Something tells me that every train out of London is going to be fully booked,’ Brandon said. ‘We’ll have to blag our way aboard. Anyway, let’s go—St. Pancras isn’t far. We can walk down through Kentish Town.’
