Astra Norte - Space Cadet: Log entry 1

by David Elvar



  ASTRA NORTE

  Space Cadet

  David Elvar

  Copyright 2009 David Elvar

  ~oOo~

  Space.

  The final frontier.

  These are the voyages of the starship…What?…What do you mean, it’s been done before?…Really?…Oh. Okay.

  Hi. I’m Astra. Astra Norte. And I’m a Space Cadet. Yeah, I know what you’re thinking. Astra Norte, Space Cadet, blah—blah—blah. Blame my mum and dad. With a surname like Norte, they thought it would be REALLY FUNNY to name me Astra when I was born.

  ANYWAY, I’m on this starship and I’m on this lo-o-o-ong voyage to another planet as part of a school exchange scheme. You know what I mean: I go there and one of their students goes to my school. I got the place because I’m really good with electronics and machines and stuff like that, and that’s proved to be pretty useful on the voyage so far.

  This is my space log, and you’ll see what I mean as you read…

  1: THE SPACEPORT

  I couldn’t believe the size of the place when I got to the spaceport. It was big. No, I mean BI-I-I-IG. If you want some idea of what I’m talking about, take an area the size of a football pitch, multiply it by a hundred then double it then treble it and see what you end up with. Yeah, that big.

  One thing an overgrown football pitch doesn’t have, though, is a coffee shop, and that’s where I was sitting with my mum and dad as we waited for my starship’s gate number to be called.

  ‘Now, you be a good girl and do your very best,’ my mum was saying as she brushed a cake crumb off my cheek.

  ‘That’s right,’ my dad was adding. ‘You mustn’t let the family name down.’

  For some reason, they seemed to find that really funny and burst out laughing.

  ‘I’ll be fine,’ I retorted irritably. ‘I mean, it’s only the same as going to school here, just on another planet.’

  ‘Which is where I think you spend half your waking life already,’ said my mum, ‘what with all your projects and inventions and things.’

  ‘But I like inventing things!’ I protested. ‘Inventing things is what got me onto this exchange programme in the first place.’

  ‘Don’t remind us!’ groaned my dad. ‘If you ask me, I think the school were glad to see the back of you.’

  ‘That’s not fair, Wayne, and you know it,’ said my mum. ‘It was an unfortunate accident, that’s all.’

  ‘And the hospital did say the headmaster would make a full recovery,’ I added weakly.

  ‘And that’s perhaps just as well!’ my mum snapped. ‘So while you’re away, you be on your best behaviour! Understood?’

  ‘And that means no inventing stuff and no taking things apart to see if you can make them work better,’ my dad added.

  ‘Yes, mum,’ I said. ‘Yes, dad.’

  I think they were getting wound up for a second go at me so it was really lucky that the tannoy system boomed out a message that the next flight back to London would be leaving in ten minutes and all passengers were to blah—blah—blah.

  ‘That’s us,’ said my dad, getting up.

  ‘Now, remember what we said,’ said my mum, also getting up. ‘Stay out of trouble, have a nice time and we’ll see you at half-term.’

  They tried to give me a kiss and I tried to resist and I didn’t quite manage it and I really don’t think you want to hear the rest. But anyway, they were gone and I was left sitting alone, which I didn’t mind because it meant I didn’t have to listen to any more lectures. But I wasn’t going to be left in peace. Oh no, I’m not that lucky!

  I first heard this sort of shout.

  Then I heard this sort of scream.

  Then I heard this sort of CRASH!

  It was then that I thought that maybe I ought to take a look to see what was happening.

  It was a courtesy trolley. You know, the little buggy-type things used to cart luggage and old people from terminal to starship. And this one wasn’t speeding along with a happy load sitting smugly in the back watching the rest of us walking. On no, this one was perfectly still with its front end firmly wedged in the cake counter of the coffee shop.

  There were jam doughnuts everywhere, and the driver was spluttering some excuse about the brakes failing and he couldn’t stop and the spaceport would pay for all the damage and it was at that point that I thought I’d like to take a look at this trolley, maybe find out what had gone wrong. Well, why not? I mean, I know what my mum and dad had said but I wasn’t really inventing and stuff, just…well…taking a look.

  While the driver was scraping cream cake off the waitress, I lifted the flap covering all the working bits. And immediately, I could see what the problem was.

  ‘Hey!’ yelled a voice. ‘What do you think you’re doing!’

  I glanced up. It was the driver. And he didn’t look very pleased about something.

  ‘Um…just taking a look,’ I said. ‘And I’ve found what caused your crash.’

  ‘Oh, really?’ he said like he didn’t believe me. ‘You’d know about such things, of course.’

  ‘As it happens, yes I would!’ I retorted. ‘The sproggett on the manifold is loose. That’s why you lost your brakes.’

  ‘Here, let me have a look,’ he said. He had a look. ‘Well, I’ll be…’

  ‘Told you,’ I said.

  ‘Yeah, yeah, okay. But finding what’s wrong is one thing, fixing it is quite another.’

  ‘Hey, leave it to me!’ I said. ‘I know about these things.’

  ‘Really?’ he said uncertainly.

  ‘I just said so, didn’t I?’ I said, and I reached for my bag and took out my trusty adjustable spanner. A few quick turns and the sproggett was nicely tight again. ‘There you are! Good as new.’

  ‘Well, you’re a useful sort of girl to have around,’ he said. ‘Lucky you happened along.’

  ‘Oh, I didn’t just happen,’ I said. ‘My parents brought me here. I’m supposed to be taking a starship to the planet Sygnus 3.’

  ‘You’ll want Gate 72, then,’ he said. ‘It’s not been called yet but I’ve just delivered some stuff there so I sort of know that.’

  ‘Gate 72,’ I repeated. ‘Is that far?’

  ‘A bit of a way. But hop on, I’ll give you a lift.’

  I hopped on. As we went, he started chatting about his job and what he did and it was all a bit Ya-a-a-a-a-awn! so I just looked at all the starships lined up and getting ready for takeoff. They were all sleek and shiny and I couldn’t wait to get on board and into space in one of these fabulous ships and flash through the galaxy like they do in all the sci-fi films.

  ‘Impressive, huh?’ I heard him say.

  ‘Very!’ I agreed. ‘Which one is mine?’

  ‘I’ll show you. It’s a bit of a way yet but not far on one of these things.’

  ‘Well, come on! Put your foot down, get some speed out of this crate!’

  He laughed and floored the throttle. We flew round the corner and—

  ‘LOOK OUT!’

  —straight into someone. We didn’t see him, honest we didn’t. He was just sort of…well…there! And now he was there and just sort of…well…sprawled in a heap on the floor.

  He had a bald head and a big beard, and looked as though he’d put his face on upside down. And not only did he look as though he’d put his face on upside down, he looked cross. I mean, really cross. Like, well, someone had just told him he’d put his face on upside down. Or like someone had just crashed into him with a courtesy trolley.

  He got up, brushed himself down, picked up his briefcase and looked at us sternly.

  ‘What’s wrong with your brakes?’ he thundered. �
��Are they faulty or something?’

  ‘They’re not faulty!’ I said. ‘I just repaired them!’

  ‘Well, you didn’t do a very good job of it, did you!’

  I knew I had and I knew this accident wasn’t my fault but I couldn’t tell him that so I did what I always do when I can’t tell a grown-up something wasn’t my fault. I changed the subject.

  ‘I’m looking for the captain of the starship that’s going to the planet Sygnus 3,’ I said. ‘Do you know where I can find him?’

  ‘That’s me,’ he said shortly.

  ‘You?’ I said weakly.

  ‘Me,’ he said sternly. ‘Now, what do you want?’

  ‘Um…well…I’m an exchange student and I’m coming with you on this trip.’

  ‘Are you?’ he said, and I didn’t like the way he said it. ‘Are you, indeed? What’s your name?’

  ‘Astra Norte,’ I replied, knowing he would just burst out laughing. But he didn’t, he just looked even crosser.

  ‘No!’ he thundered. ‘I asked what you’re called, not what you do!’

  ‘That is my name!’ I pleaded. ‘First name Astra, second name Norte!’

  Now I knew he really would laugh but he didn’t. He just sort of grunted and turned away, tossing a snarled ‘Follow me!’ back over his shoulder.

  I followed him, watching his bald head bobbing up and down as he strode along. He didn’t like me, I could tell that already, and I had to wonder just what I’d let myself in for.

  2: ON BOARD