by Julie Sykes
‘You can sit in here. It won’t be for long,’ he reassured me. ‘As soon as the night shift have gone to work there’ll be a free bedroom for you.’ He’d gone on to explain that there were two teams of Guards. ‘Tor’s in charge of the day team, I’m his second in command. Leesa is in charge of the Night Guards. Her second is Ando. The bedrooms sleep two guards and are shared by both shifts. You can sleep in mine and Tor’s room once Leesa and Ando have gone to work.’
In one day I’d been kidnapped, held prisoner, escaped twice and discovered the truth of my identity. I was physically and emotionally shattered, but sleep was the furthest thing from my mind. I’d have been happy to spend the night in the store cupboard. Nardo had given me a hand-held illuminetta and one of the beanbag chairs. It was cosy and the chair was very comfortable. I settled down and immediately thought about Dan. The way we’d parted in Balochry still troubled me. I wanted to explain to him why I’d pushed him away. I considered ringing him, but was too scared to in case anyone heard me. I could send a text, though. Then Dan would know I was safe and thinking about him. I tapped his number out on my phone keypad. Now, what should I say?
Words formed in my mind but each time I committed them to the screen they sounded all wrong. I deleted message after message until finally I settled for,
Miss you. Back tomorrow. Ax
It wasn’t much but it would have to do. I pressed the send button and watched the lengthening blue line track the progress of my text. As the line and message finally disappeared I gripped the mobile. Would Dan text me back? My breath quickened as the mobile vibrated. I’d got an incoming message. Warmth spread through me. Dan had been waiting for me to call. Then, as I glanced at the screen, my hopes were dashed. My own message flashed on the screen along with a red line and two dots, to indicate that it had failed to send. I should have seen that coming. I was hiding in a cupboard deep in the Highlands. Of course I wouldn’t get a signal. I bit back my disappointment and put the phone away.
A long while later Nardo came and moved me to the room he shared with Tor. It was bare and impersonal, with bunk beds and a small wardrobe. There was a square window and, like the ones downstairs, it didn’t have curtains – as night fell the glass darkened with it.
‘The top bunk’s mine,’ said Nardo. He handed me a clean blanket. ‘The bathroom is the first door on the right. I’ll wake you at six so that we can be out of here before everyone else gets up. Sleep well, Amara.’
I doubted I’d sleep at all. There was too much going on in my head. I’d hoped that when I learned my identity I’d have choices: to either go back to my old life, or to continue with my new one. But I was a Pietran and, from everything I’d learned so far, a Pietran’s choices were limited. It wasn’t fair. I liked being Amber. I wasn’t convinced that I’d like being Amara. Granted, she sounded amazing. She was the youngest Watcher ever. She was clever, competent and brave. At sixteen she’d travelled a universe to spy on humans. She hadn’t come to Earth to make friends or meet a cute boy.
Was that the real Amara, though? What if she’d had an ulterior motive? Her home life didn’t sound a bundle of fun. Say she hadn’t really wanted to be a Watcher, but saw it as a chance to escape. What then? The more I thought about it the more I wondered. The Confidentiality Decree bothered me too. Nardo couldn’t have made its importance any clearer. We lived and died by it! Tor had been sympathetic to my situation. He recognised that I couldn’t break rules when I didn’t remember them. His words played back in my head, ‘These are not normal circumstances. If you have failed the decree you will be spared the consequences. It’s important you tell me the truth. Have you broken the Confidentiality Decree?’
Only I hadn’t told him the truth. I’d lied to save Dan. I didn’t regret it. There was no way I’d put Dan, or any of my close friends, through memory reassembly. It didn’t matter how small the risks were. I wasn’t prepared to take them. Tor or Nardo would never understand how strongly I felt about this. How could they? They hadn’t lost their memories.
I went along to the bathroom. It had a shower and a people drier, a metal plate in the ceiling with holes that blew warm air over you. It was a luxury that I’d missed. Nardo had even thought to find me some clean clothes from the emergency pool, a pair of khaki coloured jeans, a green T-shirt and a dark green hoodie. The clothes were unique. None of the Guards wore uniform.
‘Uniforms are for armies,’ Nardo told me with a shiver. ‘In Pietra no two outfits are the same. Here in the field things are slightly different though. Our clothes have to be similar as Guards need to blend in with the scenery.’
I was too hot in bed and the blanket stuck to me like cling wrap. I stretched out my feet to search for a cool spot. There wasn’t one. I kicked the blanket off but I still couldn’t get comfortable. I lay awake for ages while a million thoughts scrambled for a space in my mind. A million thoughts that all led back to the same place. Dan. I didn’t want to return to Pietra. I wanted to stay here and get to know him properly.
I slept eventually, in that awful, wide-awake way where your brain doesn’t shut down. My thoughts were muddled up with my dreams and I knew I’d be shattered, come the morning. When there was activity outside my room, terse whispers and the slow tread of feet coming up the stairs, I woke immediately.
‘Careful, keep his arm up. He’s still losing blood.’
‘Does Milo know?’
‘Yes, he came back ahead of us to get the cura casa ready.’
Cura casa. That meant medical room. Someone was hurt. I climbed off the bunk, tiptoed to the door and silently opened it. Tiny lights illuminated the stairs. They reminded me of landing lines on a runway. In the semi-darkness I saw two men carrying a third up the stairs. Nardo and Tor brought up the rear.
‘He took us by surprise,’ said Tor wearily. He ran a hand over his forehead. ‘He must have been following Amara for ages. Luckily we caught him before he got back to Balochry. He told us he’d called the police. He was lying. We checked his mobile afterwards. We guessed he’d be armed, but the weapon took us all by surprise. It’s one thing to see a gun on the graphoria during training, but when you’re staring into the barrel of a real one… By the love of Pietra, it was surreal!’ There was a tremble in Tor’s voice. ‘Amara’s been much braver than we realised. Hern screamed when the bullet hit him… it was… I thought he’d been killed. Why didn’t I stop it? I can bend metal. I could have distorted the barrel of the gun so that the bullet hit the ground. There was no time to react, though. Johnny was quick. He shot before we realised that he wasn’t bluffing. It was total chaos.’
I held my breath, silently pulling the door shut, as the injured man was carried past. When I reopened it, just a crack, Nardo and Tor were standing outside.
‘You did everything you could,’ said Nardo quietly. ‘Look how quickly you got Hern back here. He’ll be fine. He’s young and he’s tough.’
‘It’s a bad wound. The bullet only just missed a main artery. He’s lost a lot of blood. I wish we could get him home, but he’s not strong enough to make the journey.’
‘Milo will see him right. He’s an ambizia medicio.’
‘I don’t doubt Milo’s capabilities. That’s why he’s here, but he doesn’t have the same medical facilities available to him as he would in Pietra.’
The injured man was carried into a room at the end of the corridor. Nardo and Tor went in and closed the door. I stepped out of my room with the intention of continuing my eavesdropping – well, I am a Watcher, but Tor and Nardo came straight back into the corridor. Silently I retreated.
‘Where’s Johnny now?’ asked Nardo.
Tor sighed heavily. ‘No one knows. He took off into the mountains. I sent six Guards after him. I couldn’t spare any more. We’re already five down, that’s Hern and the four it took to carry Robert back to town. He’s sleeping like a baby. The Guards left him a short way off the tourist path with
an empty bottle of spirits. He’ll feel like he has a major hangover when he wakes.’
Tor and Nardo laughed together and I had to bite my lip not to shout at them. Memory reassembly just wasn’t funny.
‘What now?’ Nardo’s voice grew louder as he walked my way.
‘I need your help to find Johnny. We can’t let him go. He’s seen too much. When he ran off, he was shouting about the government, aliens and a conspiracy theory.’
At once I stepped out of the room. ‘I’ll help too.’
Nardo’s face was full of approval but Tor said firmly, ‘No. It’s too risky.’
‘Why?’
‘You should know why.’
‘You don’t trust me?’
‘I’d have sent you home by now if I didn’t trust you, but you’ve lost your memory. Mess this up and you can wave goodbye to our world. You’ll stay here.’
There was a cold edge to his voice that I didn’t deserve. I felt awkward, like a little girl that’s been caught in the act of dressing up in adult clothes. Tor swept down the stairs. Nardo shot me an apologetic smile as he hurried after him. Minutes later I heard the front door slide open and then shut again. Silence followed. My breath stuck in my throat. It was stupid, but I was disappointed that Nardo hadn’t come back to see me before he left. He was my brother after all. It reinforced how little I remembered of him. The room seemed suddenly darker especially in the corners where the shadows lay thick and black. The minutes crept by, one slow second at a time. I was going mad waiting and not knowing what was going on. Eventually, for something to do, I got up and went downstairs for a drink. The kitchen was in darkness. For few futile moments I searched for a light switch, before I realised that all I had to do was to wave my hand in front of the illuminetta to switch them on. I poured myself a mug of water and stood at the window with it. It was unnaturally quiet. There were no weird gurgling noises, the signature tune of an Earth hot water system, or the hum that accompanies electrical devices. The silence made me homesick for Waterside. I rested my head against the window and enjoyed the cool touch of glass on my burning forehead. Outside a light flickered through the trees. I waited for Tor, Nardo, or another Guard to appear. No one did. My heart beat too quickly in my chest. It made me breathless. Who exactly was creeping around outside?
The copse of trees remained blacker than pitch. I continued to stare out of the window. There was nothing to see and gradually my heart slowed. I’d been mistaken. I gave a shaky laugh, embarrassed by my neurosis. I drained my mug of water and as I poured myself another one, a thought skewered me to the spot. What would happen when Tor caught Johnny? Would he reveal that Dan had been with me during the car chase and knew about my special skills? Tor and Nardo would be furious with me. They’d see me as a traitor for not telling them about Dan. I’d be sent back to Pietra in disgrace, instead of the victim of a terrible accident. And what of Dan? I didn’t care what they did to me. But I cared about Dan.
Tor had only ordered Amara to stay put. But I was Amber too and, as Amber, I had to find Johnny before anyone else did. I left my mug on the counter and made my way to the front door. Another unwelcome thought crash-landed in my head. How would I stop Johnny from giving Dan away? Somehow I didn’t think that appealing to his better nature would work. Go on, I goaded myself, admit it. I was going to use the memory drug on him. The thought appalled me. But what choice did I have?
Twenty
The first pale streaks of dawn nudged at the night sky as I left the portacasa. I didn’t have a clue where to start looking for Johnny, but I guessed he would head for town, so I went in that direction. I hadn’t gone far, just to the edge of the copse of trees, when I had a sudden, inexplicable urge to turn around and go the opposite way. I couldn’t explain it but the desire was too strong to be ignored. The fresh morning air was potent and it made my head reel. Soon, I was very dizzy. I let my feet take control and they hurried me up a stony track. The surrounding land was deserted, but I knew I wasn’t the only person out here looking for Johnny. The thought spurred me on. A mountain rose before me, grey and shadowy in the half-light. It was so cold. My eyes hazed with tears until I couldn’t see anything and had to stop climbing. Even then my legs didn’t want to stand still and I found myself jogging on the spot. I rubbed my eyes with my fists. That was better. Now I could see more clearly. Suddenly, I was aware of something moving on the slope above me. I ducked down beside a bush. A tall, athletic figure moved stealthily across the mountain. My jaw literally dropped and my mouth opened. No. It couldn’t be.
‘Dan, you idiot,’ I silently cursed him. I was furious and deliriously happy at the same time. My Dan, always the hero! He’d cared enough about my safety to follow me for a second time. Oh Dan, if only you knew of the danger you’d put yourself in. I broke into a run, moving as silently as possible over the stone-strewn ground, until I stumbled. Stones sprayed down the slope, clattering loudly as they gathered speed. I fought to regain my balance and when I looked up again Dan had vanished. Where had he gone? I stared across the slope but there was nowhere to hide. Had I imagined seeing Dan? If I was honest I wasn’t feeling great. My head was still spinning. I wanted to lie down but my feet were wired and they wouldn’t stop moving. They propelled me forward until in desperation I planted them wide. I bent over and put my hands on my knees in an attempt to physically anchor myself to the ground. Any minute now I was going to be sick.
There was a sharp click then something hard was pressed between my shoulder blades.
‘Don’t move,’ growled Johnny softly.
When someone has a gun to your back it’s probably a good idea to follow instructions, but I was beyond caring about my safety. Anger chased away my earlier nausea. I moved at the speed of lightning and crushed my heel into Johnny’s foot. He yelped. I felt the gun waver. I spun round to knee him in the groin. Then I reached out and took hold of the gun with my mind. Johnny knew that trick and was ready for me. His grip on the gun was so solid there was no way I could wrestle it from him. I remembered what I’d overheard Tor say, how he could shape things with his mind, and wondered if I could do that too. Again my mind reached for the barrel of the gun.
Bend.
Nothing! I could feel it in my mental grasp but the metal wouldn’t yield.
Bend.
I created a stronger picture in my head and imagined the gun distorting, until the barrel of the gun pointed at the ground. My head ached with the effort of maintaining the image. I forced myself to stayed focused, until finally I admitted that it wasn’t going to work. I could move things without touching them but I couldn’t alter their shape.
Johnny pushed the gun against my back. He edged round me until we were face to face. In one quick movement he gripped my arm and transferred the gun to the side of my head. A cruel smile played on his lips. ‘Don’t even think about the mind stuff. Try it and I’ll shoot.’
‘Okay,’ I gasped.
I dropped my eyes as if defeated.
‘Walk,’ he said. He pressed the gun to my skin in a warning.
‘Where are we going? What do you want?’ I asked.
‘Gold, lassie. That’s what you are.’
His rank breath made me gag. I forced myself to ignore it, to concentrate on escaping instead. Then I had an idea. I just needed a stone to make it work. I searched the ground until I located one that was small and round as a pea. Johnny began to mutter. At first I wasn’t sure if he was talking to me, or himself.
‘This whole thing is much bigger than I thought. You’re not alone. There’s a colony of you living up here in the mountains. Aliens, that’s what you are! Where’s your spaceship then? Show me. Show me, now. People need to know about this. Forget the police. I’ll go to the papers first. Yes! That’s what I’ll do. The nationals will pay a fortune for my story. I’ll need photos of your ship and I’ll take you along as proof. I’ll go for an exclusive. It’s got to be wo
rth six figures at least.’ His voice rose with excitement. ‘It’ll be so much easier than our original plan of getting you to steal for us. And better still it’ll be legal! I won’t have to keep looking over my shoulder for the police. I’ve always wanted a yacht, I can have one now. I’m going to sail to the Caribbean, or maybe I’ll get a condo in Vegas. Or both!’
I focused on the stone and lifted it with my mind. I watched it, out of the corner of my eye, until it was the same height as the gun. My head spun and I couldn’t focus properly to line up the stone with the gun’s barrel. I cursed silently as I overshot, but eventually I had the stone in the right place. It was a perfect fit. All I had to do now was to slide it forward and jam it in the gun’s barrel.
The crack of gunfire made me shriek. My stone exploded and fell to the ground in a thousand tiny pieces. Johnny grabbed me by the collar. He pressed the gun’s barrel under my chin. ‘No tricks,’ he yelled. ‘The next bullet’s yours. Now walk.’
He yanked my arm so high up my back I thought it might snap in two. I moved reluctantly in the direction he was shoving me. I felt weird and a pressure was building in my head. I dragged my feet and stones flew up from my shoes. Johnny yanked my arm higher. ‘Move it,’ he yelled, as he stumbled against me. ‘Faster.’
My head hurt so badly. I wanted to lie down in the dew-splattered grass until the pain had gone.
‘Stop that!’ Johnny’s mouth was right by my ear. His voice sounded distant, like he was shouting at me from the top of the mountain. I don’t know why but it made me laugh.
‘I said, stop it.’
‘Stop what?’ My words came out slurred.
‘You’re messing with my head.’
‘You’re messing with mine.’ I felt so light-headed it made me giggle. I kept remembering things, snippets of conversation, useless facts, something important that Nardo had told me about this very mountainside – but my thoughts were like dreams and they constantly shifted and drifted out of reach. What did it matter, anyway? I didn’t care any more. Everything was too weird. I tripped over my feet and bit my tongue, tasted the blood in my mouth, and then I remembered the something important.
