Chasing Stars

by Helen Douglas

  ‘We’re flying over the Arctic Ocean right now,’ he said. ‘Once we get close to Greenland, we’ll have to head home. We don’t want to be mistaken for a hostile.’

  ‘What’s going on in Greenland?’

  ‘The Greenland War. The Federation, Scandinavia and Russia are still disputing territory there.’

  ‘I thought Greenland was just a pile of snow and ice.’

  ‘With valuable fuel deposits. Much cheaper to extract fuel from Greenland than mine it on the moon.’

  My stomach rolled over. The mines on the moon were where Ryan could end up if the Time Court found him guilty. I didn’t want to think about that.

  ‘Do you come here often?’ I asked, to change the subject.

  ‘I’ve clocked up several hours.’ He glanced at me. ‘This is the first time I’ve brought someone with me, though.’

  As we rolled over the globe, Earth grew darker. A band of deep yellow and orange hugged the surface of the planet. Above that, a thin band of pink and blue. And then there was nothing but the unending blackness of space.

  ‘Take a last look out the window,’ said Peg. ‘I’m going to land her in thirty seconds.’

  There was the sensation of moving backwards for a few moments and then the speck of light appeared at the end of a dark tunnel. We hurtled towards it. Just as the white light filled the screen in front of us, it shrank to nothing and we were back in the dark shipyard.

  Chapter 14

  I sat next to Ben in the gallery. Although the court had been closed during the trial – and each witness appeared separately – the court was open to close family, witnesses and reporters for the verdict. Admiral Westland was in the front row with his wife and sons. Travis Deckard’s widow was there with her two children. And I spotted Lauren, the cleaner from the most recent mission.

  ‘This will only last for a few minutes,’ Ben said to me in a low voice. ‘The admiral will announce the verdict, and if he’s found guilty, the sentence. That’s it.’

  There was a hush as Ryan and his lawyer entered the room. An usher directed Ryan to the front bench. I watched him scan the gallery until his eyes rested on me. He smiled; I smiled back, doing my best to convey good luck and all my positive energy his way. He scanned the gallery again, this time his eyes resting on his mother.

  And then Wolfe came in. Everyone stood.

  ‘Be seated,’ said Wolfe.

  He began by telling us all that it was a troubling case, that time trials are never easy because only a select few are privy to the full details of a time mission.

  ‘However, there are several things that have caused me grave concern,’ he went on. ‘Any time mission must be authorised by the Guardians. Only then can we be certain that all possible permutations have been duly considered. The theft of a time-ship and an unauthorised mission to the past – whether performed with good intentions or not – is a breach of our most sacred law.

  ‘There is one exception to this rule. And that is if the Clemency Protocol applies. The Protocol may only be invoked in “exceptional circumstances” when a participant has made an “unusual and vital contribution to a mission”. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is the point of debate.

  ‘I have listened with great care to the testimonies of all those involved in both missions,’ Wolfe went on. ‘And I have reached my verdict.’

  Ryan and his lawyer stood. Ben squeezed my arm.

  ‘Mr Westland claims that he thought that it was morally right to save the life of the young woman who assisted his mission. To that end, he presented his concerns to a panel of the Guardians.’ Wolfe checked his notes. ‘Admiral Philp and Admiral Shastri were the Guardians who considered his case. They did not agree that it was necessary and correct for the mission outcome to be altered in any way. At that point, Mr Westland should have accepted their decision, unless he considered that he had a duty to act under the Clemency Protocol. Mr Westland did not convince me that was the case. I believe that he stole a time-ship and travelled without authorisation for personal reasons rather than altruistic reasons. As a consequence I find Orion Westland guilty as charged and an Enemy of Time.’

  There was a gasp from the gallery.

  ‘Furthermore, I do not believe Orion Westland was acting alone,’ Wolfe continued. ‘The difficulty in acquiring a time-ship, along with the expense of procuring enough fuel to make the journey, persuade me that he was assisted by another or others. I will be opening an inquiry into what amounts to a conspiracy against time forthwith.’ He paused and ran his eyes across the members seated in the gallery. ‘And now to sentencing.’

  He paused again and I realised he was doing so in order to allow the photographers from the press the chance to get a good still image of him.

  ‘The sentencing guidelines are wide,’ said Wolfe. ‘However, Orion Westland is a young man from a considerably advantaged background. He has had the benefit of a top-class education, including a privileged position on the Elite Program at the Lakeborough Space and Time Academy. I believe that he wilfully and knowingly chose to disregard the sacred Temporal Laws so that he could pursue a personal agenda with a girl he had become infatuated with.’ He paused again and posed for the cameras. ‘Due to the seriousness of this case, I believe it is important that we make an example of this young man. I will be sentencing Orion Westland to life imprisonment on the International Lunar Correctional Facility.’

  For a moment, the room appeared to hold its breath. And then all hell broke loose. Ryan’s mother shouted something, but I didn’t understand what she was saying. One of his brothers yelled something. There was noise all around me. I said nothing. It felt as though my heart had stopped beating. Wolfe didn’t think my life was worth saving. He was punishing Ryan by depriving him of his. This was all wrong. Ryan looked at his parents and then at me. His expression was blank.

  Wolfe rapped his gavel on the bench. ‘I have arranged prison transport for next Tuesday. The defendant will remain in custody until that time. Family and close friends should head to Waiting Room B if they wish to say their goodbyes.’ He banged his gavel, stood up and exited the room.

  Ben and I were alone in Waiting Room B. I went over to the window. It looked out over the visitors’ lawn. Two children were laughing and chasing each other around a fountain. Adults sat on benches and picnic blankets, doling out food to their children. They had all the time in the world. Above them, a flock of tiny blue birds took flight from a treetop.

  Ben was buying two coffees from the drinks machine. I sat in one of the armchairs. And then I realised that in just a few minutes I would be with Ryan for the last time. Nervously I ran my fingers through my hair, smoothing it, tucking a flyaway strand behind my ear.

  ‘You look lovely,’ said Ben. ‘Don’t worry.’

  He put the hot drinks on the glass-top coffee table in the middle of the room. If it wasn’t for the drinks machine in the corner, we might have been in a sitting room in a private house. Ryan’s parents and brothers weren’t there. I guessed they were waiting somewhere else, the admiral’s office perhaps.

  Ben was called first. For the hundredth time I wished I’d bought a port-com. I could have called Peg. He’d want to say goodbye to Ryan. So would the others. It didn’t seem fair that only those of us present at the verdict had the chance to say goobye.

  When Ben came back he kissed my cheek. ‘Careful what you say in there,’ he whispered. ‘They’re listening to everything.’

  ‘Thank you,’ I whispered back.

  The usher led me to the same meeting room I had seen Ryan in before. A single guard was standing outside.

  ‘You have ten minutes,’ said the usher.

  The guard nodded and unlocked the door. Inside was a table with three chairs and a plastic jug of water in the middle. Ryan was sitting in one of the chairs, resting his head in his hands. Above, on the wall behind him, was a com-screen with a rolling newsreel. The sound was off.

  As soon as I came through the door, he stood up. He was still
wearing the suit he’d worn in the courtroom, but the jacket was slung over the back of a chair now. His eyes were red and his hair was too short, but when he smiled and his brown eyes crinkled, he looked like himself again. I ran across the room and hugged him tight, ignoring the bony ribs and sharp nodules of his spine. I reached up and touched his face. His cheekbones were prominent in a way they hadn’t been before. How could someone get so thin so quickly? Either they weren’t feeding him enough or he wasn’t eating.

  Ryan pulled away and held me at arm’s length, a wild desperation in his eyes. ‘God, you’re beautiful,’ he said.

  ‘Ryan,’ I began.

  ‘We don’t have long,’ he interrupted. ‘Let me speak first.’

  We were standing face to face. His arms on mine. It took every ounce of my self-control not to kiss him. But I had to let him speak. These could be the last ten minutes we ever had together.

  ‘No touching,’ said the guard.

  Ryan dropped my arms but held my eyes with his own. ‘I wish this hadn’t happened.’

  ‘It’s wrong.’

  ‘Yes it is, but we don’t have time to discuss that now. I want you to pass on some messages.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Are Peg and Lyra together yet?’

  ‘No. I don’t think that’s going to happen.’

  ‘She likes him. And I know he likes her. We’ve always liked the same girls.’

  Even though they were history, the thought of them together twisted my stomach. ‘Peg said it would be too weird because of you and Lyra.’

  Ryan rolled his eyes. ‘Could you remind Peg that I moved on some time ago. And I’m not exactly going to be around to make him feel uncomfortable. Tell him to get over himself and go out with her.’

  ‘OK.’

  ‘Peg’s my best friend. He’s a good guy. He’ll take care of you.’

  ‘He said I can stay with him.’

  Ryan nodded. ‘That’s good. He hates living alone. I’m going to get my dad to transfer some credit to Peg’s account. And to yours. You should decide on a school or college course. Anything. You could go to the Academy if you want.’

  ‘I don’t care about going to school,’ I said. ‘None of that matters.’

  Ryan shut his eyes, then pulled me in for another hug. I could tell by the rhythm of his breathing that he was on the edge of tears.

  ‘No touching,’ the guard said again.

  We ignored him.

  ‘Eden,’ he sighed into my hair. ‘I’m not going to be able to get out of this. Promise me you’ll move on with your life.’

  I said nothing.

  Ryan took a step back from me. His eyelashes were wet. ‘Please promise me that. When I’m up there, I don’t want to be worrying about you. I want to know that you’re happy and that you have friends.’

  ‘I promise,’ I whispered.

  He leant towards me, his breath gentle against my skin. And then his lips met mine. I knew this kiss. This kiss meant goodbye. It was desperate and painful; it was filled with a lifetime of lost opportunities. I wrapped my arms around his back and under his shirt, feeling the soft heat of his skin under my fingers. The rest of the world disappeared.

  ‘OK, people, your time is up,’ said the guard.

  Ryan and I pulled apart.

  ‘I love you,’ he said.

  I wanted to tell him I loved him too, but instead I leant in to tell him one last thing. ‘This is not goodbye,’ I whispered.

  Chapter 15

  Ben had a car parked just outside. ‘You want to get some lunch?’ he asked.

  I had no appetite, but I needed to talk to Ben.

  We drove in silence into town. I was empty and numb. Every second was a second further away from Ryan. I wanted to hold on to everything about him: the feel of his arms around me, the smell of his skin, the shape of his eyes. The thought that I would never see him again was unbearable. I’d totally believed that the court would find Ryan not guilty. Saving my life was so obviously the right thing to do from where I was standing.

  Ben chose a quiet restaurant at the edge of town. He ordered us both coffees and grilled cheese sandwiches.

  ‘Tell me about the Lunar Facility,’ I said.

  ‘It’s the worst place in the world.’ He laughed bitterly. ‘It’s on the far side of the moon; the face we never see from here on Earth. People say that it was built on the far side so that the prisoners never get to see their home planet. They mine helium-3. It’s our main fuel source these days.’

  The sandwiches arrived then, grilled cheese oozing out of two thick slices of toasted white bread.

  ‘I thought you’d like this place,’ said Ben. ‘It serves old-fashioned stodgy food, like they eat back in your time.’

  The smell of the toast brought my appetite rushing back to me. I took a huge bite and savoured the tangy hot cheese. A com-screen on the wall was showing a report about the verdict. Admiral Wolfe was addressing the reporters outside the Institute. Although the com-screen was set to mute, subtitles told the story. ‘The families of powerful, influential people should not expect preferential treatment,’ says Admiral Titan Wolfe after the sentencing of trainee time agent Orion Westland. ‘The Time Court must be tough on crime. And that means all criminals.’

  Ben poured cream into his cup and stirred it slowly. ‘I know it must be really hard for you right now. But you need to think about what you’re going to do next.’

  I stopped chewing and looked up at him. ‘The whole trial was a sham,’ I said. ‘Wolfe should never have been allowed to try the case. He’d decided the outcome before he even heard it.’

  ‘It doesn’t seem right,’ Ben agreed.

  ‘He’ll have to appeal,’ I said. ‘He could argue that Wolfe was not an impartial judge.’ I brushed the crumbs from my mouth. ‘How soon will he be able to appeal?’

  ‘Eden, you can’t appeal against a decision made in the Time Court. It is the highest court in the world. Its decisions are final.’

  My appetite went. I pushed the plate to one side. ‘You mean . . .’

  ‘The sentence will stand.’

  The room tilted and swayed. I grabbed the edge of the table to steady myself.

  ‘Drink some water,’ said Ben, quickly pouring me a glass.

  I took a small sip. The panic turned to nausea. ‘What am I going to do?’

  ‘There’s nothing you can do.’

  Ben changed the subject then. He asked about the Lakeview Hotel and whether I’d found a legal guardian. Was I looking for work or did I want to finish my schooling? Had I met Ryan’s parents? What about his friends?

  ‘Are the reporters following you everywhere?’ he asked.

  ‘I try to give them the slip. I have a baseball cap that helps.’

  ‘You should move somewhere else where no one knows you. Start over. Or move to Penpol Cove.’

  Nothing would make me sadder. The thought of going back to Penpol Cove over a hundred years after I’d left – when everyone I knew was dead and buried – was unthinkable.

  ‘What about you? What’s this new job of yours?’

  ‘I’m not a time agent any more,’ he said. ‘I had to plan ahead. If Wolfe becomes president of the Institute, he’s planning to ban all time travel. I don’t want to be obsolete. I’m now in charge of the Inter-Planetary Spaceport. It’s like a border patrol for all ships entering or leaving Earth’s airspace.’

  ‘So will Ryan’s ship have to dock there on the way to the moon?’

  ‘Yes. His ship will dock for a crew change and for routine quarantine procedures. Typically a prison ship docks for twenty-four hours.’

  ‘Will you get to see him?’

  He nodded. ‘I’ll make sure I do. You have my contact details, Eden. If you wanted a job on the spaceport, I could fix you up with something. Food and accommodation come as part of the package. You can make good money, even as a cleaner or a waitress.’

  I had no interest in making lots of money working on a spaceport as a
cleaner. But I knew Ben was trying to help.

  It was two in the afternoon. My limbs felt restless. Back in my time, I would have gone for a run, but here in Lakeborough it was too hot. I wandered aimlessly along the road that led out of town. Away from the cooling breeze of the lakeside, the air grew hotter and sticky; the tarmac seemed to be melting under my shoes. Sweat beaded on my skin and scalp. I passed the old library and a few semi-derelict clapboard houses that had probably once been rather grand homes, past the timber warehouses, past the sliproad to the highway, until I was on the old road that led to the suburbs and the mountains.

  My head was spinning with worries. The mere thought of Ryan locked up for ever in a prison on the moon with no visitors and no hope of ever leaving was so distressing that every time my mind strayed in that direction, I pulled it back. And then there was me. I had enough credit to last a few more weeks. Moving in with Peg would help, but I was going to have to find some kind of job as soon as possible. I’d never had a job before, not even a part-time job, so I had no skills or experience to draw on. Was I going to stay here in Lakeborough? Did it really matter where I was if Ryan was on the moon? The only people I knew at all were Ryan’s friends and Ben. Should I go to the spaceport where Ben was captain? That was closer to Ryan than here on Earth, but not close enough. I had no answers.

  I hadn’t counted on it being this hot. I had no sunscreen, no hat, no water to drink. I was about to turn around and head back into town when I recognised the Lakeborough Space and Time Academy building. That meant I was no more than a ten-minute stroll from the road that led to Ryan’s family home. I decided to walk a little further, ignoring the dryness in my throat and the sweat that was trickling down my back.

  The road leading down to Ryan’s house was wide and tree-lined and I was able to stay in the shade all the way to the bottom of the hill. The air smelt like pine needles and hot tar. The houses were all different, each surrounded by a wide garden and a dense thicket of trees that allowed privacy between them. Instead of house names or numbers, each one had a sign announcing the name of the family who lived there. I followed the curve of the road past the Foxes and the Unterthiners, the Goldbergs, the Maudes and then finally the Westlands.