by Julie Sykes
See you around. What did that mean? As I stared after him I was aware of a tall boy with a head of thick, curly, chestnut-brown hair approaching. His lean body was as fluid as a leopard’s. His brown eyes were thunderous and his face contorted into a scowl as he planted himself in front of me. ‘You made it then. Where’s Nell? Is she inside?’
‘Nell…’ I hesitated, choosing my words with care. ‘Nell’s not coming.’
‘Oh?’ He was unimpressed. ‘Come on then. Follow me.’
Nardo had a rich, gravelly voice but the tone and the cold glint in his eyes made my toes curl. He was clearly displeased and I had no idea why.
‘Nardo,’ I said hesitantly, but he hadn’t waited for an answer. I had to run to catch him before the crowd swallowed him too.
Nardo strode along, dodging tourists like a professional, until the shops thinned and, eventually, so did the people. As we approached the outskirts of town there was sufficient room on the pavement to walk alongside him. ‘Where are we going?’
‘Back to ours.’
That wasn’t helpful. I didn’t dare ask where ‘ours’ was because I probably should have known. Several paces later I began to panic. We’d passed the last building and the only piece of civilisation left was a car park full of cars and motor homes. Was Nardo taking me somewhere by car? After this morning’s episode I really couldn’t face another journey into the unknown. I stopped suddenly and caught hold of his sleeve. ‘Is Tor at yours?’ I blurted out.
Nardo looked at me strangely and nodded.
‘Can we talk? Now, while we’re still on our own.’
‘We have no secrets. You know that, Amara.’
The formal way he spoke reminded me of the lady in my flashbacks. It wasn’t an auspicious start. My stomach clenched and I forced myself to breathe slowly before the panic took hold completely.
‘Yes, but this is different. I really need to talk to you first, to explain.’
Nardo whipped round to face me and for a second I’m sure I saw fear in his eyes. ‘What have you done?’ he whispered. ‘In the name of our mother, please tell me you haven’t broken the Confidentiality Decree.’
Suddenly I was fearful too. What in hell’s name was the Confidentiality Decree? What if I had broken it? Then I remembered how, according to one of my flashbacks, I was responsible for the safety of the world.
What if I’d failed my responsibilities?
Nardo was looking at me in disgust. He drew himself up and in a clipped voice said, ‘Once we are away from the town and all these people, we will stop somewhere private. Then you can explain.’
To get away from the town, and its people, we had to walk until we’d left even the tourist trails behind. As the ground underfoot became more rugged I wished Nardo had thought to tell me to wear proper hiking boots, like his sturdy brown ones, instead of my flimsy trainers. Or should I have known that? My inappropriate footwear made me stumble over the loose stones. It didn’t help that I couldn’t concentrate. All I could see was the expression on Dan’s face when I’d pushed him away. I followed numbly in Nardo’s footsteps until, after walking for thirty minutes, he stopped at a fast-moving stream that passed under a rock face. The stream tumbled down the mountain and its frothy spumes sprayed us with a fine mist of water. Trails of vegetation hung from the rocks like green curtains of hair. Nardo stepped off the bank and waded upstream for a few paces, until he reached a slab of rock that jutted halfway across the water. He pushed aside a swath of green fronds, ducked his head then disappeared.
With great reluctance I rolled my jeans up to my knees then, gritting my teeth for courage, I followed in his steps. The water dragged and splashed at my legs until even my rolled up jeans were soaked. I dipped down under the rock and found myself in a small hollow. It was dimly lit and apart from the occasional drip of water trickling off the walls it was very quiet. You couldn’t even hear the stream as it rattled by.
Nardo was perched on a stone and I sat on a smaller one by his side.
‘Well,’ he said, his voice tight. ‘You didn’t waste time. Who’s the boy?’
I stared at him in surprise as I realised that he’d switched from English to a foreign language with a soft lyrical quality. I couldn’t have named it, but I had no trouble translating it. I replied in the same tongue.
‘Just a friend.’
‘Clearly, from the way you had your arms around him. This isn’t a game, Amara. Have you forgotten your training already?’
I shook my head in protest, but Nardo was too angry to notice my misery.
‘Mariel will love this. She almost didn’t let you go. She said you weren’t old enough to appreciate the danger, let alone handle the responsibility. I argued in your favour. She wouldn’t sign for you until the day before we left. You didn’t know that did you? I thought you were ready, but clearly Mariel was right. You’re too young. How bad is it? Have you compromised the whole operation or just yourself? Please tell me you haven’t dragged Nell down with you.’
Fear almost suffocated me. ‘Stop,’ I gasped. I covered my ears with my hands. ‘It’s not my fault. Nell’s dead. She died in a car accident. I don’t know how. I don’t remember anything. Not you, or Nell, or Tor, or your stupid Confidentiality Decree.’
The colour drained from Nardo’s face until he was whiter than a corpse. His anguished expression was more than I could bear. I bit my tongue and wished that I could go back in time and break the news again, more gently. Nardo stared at me. It was an eternity before he spoke. In a quiet voice he said, ‘You’re my sister. Amara Belle. For the love of Pietra! Have you really forgotten your name?’
I nodded miserably.
Nardo swallowed, then slowly he wiped the back of his hands across his eyes. ‘Does anyone know about you? That boy, does he know how different you are?’
‘No,’ I lied instinctively.
‘Good, that’s one less person to deal with. Tell me everything, from the beginning. What happened? Where did you go after the accident? What have you been doing?’ Nardo’s voice cracked and he paused. He breathed deeply then continued with his questions. ‘What happened to Nell’s body?’
I didn’t hear any more. Nardo wasn’t the only one reeling with shock.
That’s one less person to deal with.
What did he mean? Until I knew I wasn’t giving anything away.
‘This language we’re speaking?’ I asked. ‘Is it Italian?’
Nardo shook his head. His expression was weary. ‘You really don’t remember, do you? We come from Pietra, a planet in a parallel universe to Earth. Do you understand, Amara? We’re not from this world. We’re aliens.’
Sixteen
Aliens! From the planet Pietra! I studied Nardo closely. Was he teasing me? It didn’t look like it. His dark brown eyes were deadly serious.
‘Why are we here?’
‘To study humans and monitor their activities.’
‘Why?’
Nardo sighed and ran a hand through his dark curls. ‘It’s complicated. The short answer is, we came because of the verboles.’
The verboles? I knew the word, but my brain was smothered in a dense fog and I couldn’t find the information I needed.
‘Wormholes,’ Nardo supplied me with the English translation. ‘A verbole is a passage through space and time.’
Of course it was. I remembered that now. ‘So Pietra and Earth, they’re linked by a verbole?’
‘They are linked by many verboles. There are two in the United Kingdom, Europe has three and there are four in the Americas. Africa and Asia have one each, and so does Australasia. In Pietra there are also several verboles that link us to small, uninhabited planets, only they’re not a problem.’
‘But the ones that link Earth to Pietra, they are a problem?’ I’d only just stopped myself from saying the ones that link us to Pietra. ‘Is th
at how we got here, not by a spaceship but through a verbole?’
A ghost of a smile graced Nardo’s lips. ‘Sorry to disappoint you, Amara. There aren’t any spaceships. Pietra doesn’t have any. We came through the verbole in travel suits.’ Nardo stared at me intently as if I might suddenly get my memory back. When I didn’t say anything he continued. ‘Pietra is very special. If humans discovered it, they would surely invade. In no time they’d spoil our planet, in the very same way they’ve spoiled Earth.’
‘Have they spoiled Earth?’
‘Amara!’ My reaction startled and upset him. ‘That’s why we’re here. It’s a tragedy how badly humans have ruined Earth. It’s overpopulated. They’ve plundered its natural resources. They’ve caused mass extinction of many animals and plants. They’ve also caused terrible pollution. The pollution is now so bad that the effects of it will ultimately result in this planet’s destruction.’
I still didn’t get why we were here. Wouldn’t it have been safer to stay in Pietra and guard the wormholes from there?
‘The first verbole in Pietra was discovered over 200 years ago,’ Nardo continued. ‘The planet that it linked us to was uninhabited, as were all the subsequent planets we visited when further verboles were discovered. Then, about a 100 years ago, we discovered Earth. It was a shock to find a planet that not only supported life, but in a form so similar to ours. Naturally, the discovery led to us conducting a study of humans.
The study concluded that Pietrans were physically the superior race but, and to our amazement, human technology was far more advanced. Our telekinetic skills had made us lazy. We’d neglected to progress in other areas. We started visiting Earth regularly. We’ve learned much from humans, especially from their mistakes. They have shown us how easy it is to ruin a planet through pollution and wars. Humans sought to build bigger and better, then fought each other to take control. We have concentrated on working together peacefully as one world. We’ve strived to ensure sustainability in all areas of our lives. As a result of our endeavours, Pietran technology is now far superior to Earth’s. Our world is a better place to live in. The air is pure. The ground there is still rich in minerals and gems.
Another major step we took was to rid our planet of weapons. We unanimously decided on a ‘no kill’ rule. It’s written into our constitution. In short, we have continued to come to Earth to study humans, but we also come to guard the verboles. There are Pietrans who live in this world solely to safeguard the security of ours. Humans are on a course of self-destruction. They’ll continue to pollute and plunder Earth until eventually it will be unable to sustain life. The wiser humans know that already. But too few of those that govern will listen. When they finally face up to the facts it will be too late. Then, they will panic and look for somewhere else to colonise. It’s imperative that they don’t discover Pietra. If that happens, our studies lead us to believe that they will invade and take what we have.’
I sagged on my rock, numb from information overload. After his long speech Nardo lapsed into a tense silence. I counted the drips of water splashing on the floor. After a while I said, ‘If Pietrans have learned from the mistakes of humans, and human technology has helped to advance Pietran technology, then don’t we owe them something? We should offer them help and show them how to conserve their world.’
‘No!’ Nardo slammed his fist into the palm of his other hand. ‘We’ve seen wars start when one country interferes with the affairs of another. We can’t let them even suspect our existence. The risk would be too great.’
That seemed harsh and somewhat misguided. Pietra would only be offering advice not enforcing it. I wasn’t going to argue the point now though. There were other things I needed to know first. ‘So why am I here?’
‘You’re here to observe humans. You’re a Watcher, the youngest Watcher ever. You were talent-spotted at school. You spent a month at the training centre being assessed. After a series of competitive tests you were one of fifteen applicants who were selected to be Watchers. There were over 700 candidates who’d applied for the job. Your official training lasted a further six months. Nell trained alongside you. She was to pose as a single mum and you were going to be her daughter. You were bound for Glasgow, where Nell was going to get a job and you were going to enrol at a college. Your Earth posting was for nine months.’
Relief welled inside me. I wasn’t a criminal. I was a spy. A spy who wants to learn, not one who uses the information to harm.
‘So Nell’s not really my mother?’
‘No.’ Nardo shook his head and my heart leaped. That was such good news. ‘Nell was Tor’s wife. They only married last year. They were devoted to each other. Tor and I came here as Guards, to protect the entrance to the verbole.’
‘I’m sorry about Nell.’ It sounded both trite and insincere. I wanted to hug Nardo, but I was too shy. He didn’t feel like my brother yet, more like an instructor.
‘What about our mother? I’m surprised she let us come here together. It’s a dangerous job, isn’t it?’
Nardo’s long fingers gripped my hand. ‘We don’t have a mother. I’m sorry, Amara. She died when you were a baby. It was completely unexpected. She went out jogging, early one morning, and she never came back. She suffered a heart attack. It seems that she had a rare, undiagnosed heart defect.’
‘Oh!’ For a second I couldn’t breathe. I so badly wanted to meet my mother. Why did she have to be dead too?
Nardo let go of my hand. ‘Father wasn’t concerned about us coming here. Far from it! He was incredibly proud that we both were chosen. He’s a Polittica, someone who governs and makes decisions.’
I was pleased I had a father and slightly surprised I hadn’t wondered more about him. I shifted on the stone and wished there was more room, so I could get up and walk around. Over the weeks I’d imagined some pretty wild things about my past life but nothing like this. The relief that I wasn’t into something illegal was huge. Not that the UK government might see it that way. Technically I’d entered their country illegally.
Nardo watched me, his expression inscrutable. ‘Tell me about you,’ he asked suddenly. ‘Where have you been?’
‘Well,’ I said slowly, ‘I don’t recall arriving here, obviously, or the accident. The first thing I remember was when I woke up in hospital. A man called Jeff Marshall and his son, Dan, rescued me. They pulled me from the car just before it exploded. They tried to save Nell too but they couldn’t. Her seat belt was jammed. Nobody knew who we were. Nell was too badly burned to be identified and I was no help because I’ve got amnesia.’
‘Did they run many tests on you at the hospital?’
‘There were some X-rays, I think, to check that no bones were broken. After that it was just temperature and pulse.’
‘No MRI scan?’
‘No, I don’t think so.’ No one had mentioned giving me one of those.
‘Good. Our brains are different to those of humans. We have an extra lobe, the telechinatti, that’s responsible for the telekinesis. It’s detectable on a human MRI scan, if you know what you’re looking for. A doctor might spot it by accident, as it protrudes slightly from behind the lobotti temporali. What happened when they let you out of hospital?’
‘It was awful at first. They wanted to put me in foster care. Then I got lucky. Jeff and his wife, Mia, offered me a place at Waterside, their school of music. They run summer courses, so there were lots of students staying and plenty of room for an extra one.’
‘And the boy? Was that Dan?’
‘Yes, he’s a friend.’
‘Your amoretta? Your boyfriend?’ Nardo translated impatiently, when I gave him a blank look.
‘No!’ Not yet, but maybe now I knew who I was. People from different countries had relationships, why not those from a different planet?
‘And he thinks you’re just a regular girl?’
‘Yes, but Holly know
s I’m not. She’s seen me do things with my mind.’
Nardo sat bolt upright.
‘Who’s Holly?’
‘She’s a girl… how old am I?’
‘Sixteen human years. That’s nearly nineteen in Pietran ones. I’m nineteen here. That’s twenty-two back in Pietra.’
‘Then she’s the same age as me. She volunteers at the hospital. She brought me a drink but accidentally dropped it. When I caught it for her with my mind, she freaked out. She started to scream like I’d tried to kill her.’ I smiled, even though it definitely hadn’t been funny at the time. ‘That was when I realised I wasn’t like everyone else. Luckily the nurse in charge believed me when I said Holly caught the cup. I was very careful after that, until I ran into Holly again, at Waterside. She came for the summer school. She spied on me until finally she caught me out for a second time. Then she got me kidnapped. I was locked in an empty house by her father and uncle, until I managed to escape.’
‘What?’ Nardo’s voice rose to a shout. ‘You should have told me this when we first met.’
‘You didn’t give me a chance. Besides, I didn’t know if I could trust you. I’ve been having flashbacks, at least I think that’s what they are, of a woman. She’s smartly dressed with dark hair. In the flashbacks she’s always telling me things. She gave me the impression that I shouldn’t say too much.’
‘That must be Carinna. She’s a Trainer. Thank Pietra you remembered her.’ Nardo ran a hand through his curls. ‘Tell me about the kidnappers. I need to know everything.’
‘There’s not much to tell. Their names are Robert Jenkins, that’s Holly’s father, and Johnny Jenkins, her uncle. They locked me in a house. They were very interested in my telekinetic skills. They had plans to use me to make money. I think they wanted me to use my powers to steal things; they talked about a heist.’
‘Money!’ Nardo’s eyes flashed with anger. ‘There is no money on Pietra. There’s no need for it. Everyone who can work does, so goods and services are given freely.’
