The ship gave a sudden lurch, and the phone tumbled out of Lena’s hand. Sarina retrieved it and handed it back. Lena took it, then passed it back to Sarina. “Sorry, Sarina. I hid Daddy’s photo on here from everyone. I was scared Professor-Daddy would take it away. You won’t take it away, will you?”
Sarina shook her head.
“You can look at the other photos if you want, but most of them didn’t come out. I don’t think whoever took them knew how to use the camera properly—there’s lots of smeary ones taken with a flash at night-time, but you can’t see the people.” She thrust the phone at Sarina again.
Another pitching roll of the ship had them reach their hands to the floor to steady themselves, except Rona, who jammed on her brakes. Sarina felt her tummy doing more air-jumps, and passed the phone to Nathan. “Here. If I try to look at this while the ship is rolling around, I can’t guarantee I’ll see anything except my own lunch.” Not that she’d even had any. But Nathan got the idea and took the phone, while she steadied herself.
He flicked through the photos, then held his thumb down on one; waited for a while, then tapped the screen. He peered at something. “Holy moly.”
“What is it?” Rona looked over at the phone, and Nathan turned the screen for her to see. Rona’s face flickered in surprise, then she looked over at Sarina with a distinct look of panic.
“What? Tell me!”
Nathan looked at her with pained eyes. “It says the last photo in that series shot with the flash was taken at exactly 3:16 pm on June 17. Eighteen minutes before the moon was deliberately shifted.”
~ 32 ~
That's Not Your Daddy
Sarina’s head was spinning, and not from the ship’s motion. She had caused the moon’s orbit to change. Not the scientists. She’d done it. The moment she and Nathan had thought was their greatest triumph in reversing the rem-loss had precipitated a catastrophic event. She looked at Rona and then to Nathan. Her chest was tight and she opened her mouth to try to talk. “I ... I ...” She stood up in a daze, and looked around unsteadily. Her vision was unfocused, verging on double-vision. She walked in slow motion to a dark corner and slumped against the wall, ignoring the muffled voices that implored her to stop, that it was alright, it wasn’t her fault.
But it was her fault. She drew her knees up, put her head on them and wrapped her arms around her legs. How could life change so quickly? From the time they had returned from Paolo’s world, everything had been so brilliant: the switch to the London School of Art, having Rona as a mentor, not having any more blackouts. A pang of annoyance at the Professor flashed past at the thought of the rem-spikes making her think she had gone mad, just like that crazy old doctor relative of Nathan’s had done to her great-aunts. And now here she was. The world’s most wanted criminal. According to Captain Ilia, one way or another, the entire world would go to war over the moon’s changes. She looked up at the children, most of whom had adjusted to the ship’s lurching and rolling. In her effort to save the world for kids like them, she had triggered its demise. She slumped back down. Not even tears would come, only a hollow ache that had taken up residence.
A small arm snaked around her shoulder, and she felt Lena snuggle up. “It will be okay. Daddy said so.”
It took a little while to register Lena’s words, seeping their way into her brain. She lifted her head enough to see Lena’s face. “Did you talk to the Professor? How does he know?” Her brain refused to make any connection through the fog of thoughts.
“No, silly. My real daddy.”
The fog started to clear. “You mean Professor Malden?”
“Yes.”
“I don’t understand.” She was tired of trying to unravel everything. How did Lena’s deceased father—who had a passing resemblance to Makthryg—talk to Lena? Had Lena created an imaginary friend? “Tell me again, Lena. I’m very tired and upset. How is Daddy telling you it will be alright?”
Lena laughed. “You are tired. In my dreams, of course—just like you did with Paolo. I knew I could find him, but”—her face fell—“I don’t know exactly where he is right now. Ever since the nasty men brought me here I haven’t been able to make him appear in my head. But he knows about the silly machine. He thinks it’s making the weather in their world go crazy. He says he’s trying to find it.”
Sarina tried to shake off her gloom to make sense of Lena’s story. “Lena, are you sure this is not just your imagination? You know what happened to your daddy, don’t you?”
“I don’t care what anyone says. It’s real—like you and Paolo. Anyway, Lucio also told me they were going to look for the machine. He said to say hello”—she scratched her head—“and something else. Oh yes. He asked if your wrist had healed okay.”
Sarina’s head jerked up. Lena knew about Lucio, because Sarina had told her Lucio had glimpsed her through the portal when they’d tried to make it the first time. But Lena had never known about Sarina’s broken wrist, or that Lucio had played such a big part in helping her heal. “Lena, what else can you tell me?”
The girl thought for a moment. “The other men had put Daddy and his friend in a prison, but his friend escaped. Then Daddy persuaded the men to help him find the machine. I think he is worried about his friend.”
Worried about his friend alright. Makthryg was hatching a plot—and Valkrog had escaped! And the machine was in Paolo’s world. What if they could make contact with Paolo and Lucio, and get them to destroy the stupid machine before Makthryg got hold of it? Would it be enough to stop the moon? She had no idea. Better that she didn’t try to guess, after her last disaster. Maybe the best idea was still to try to get the thing back to Professor Harrison, and let him fix it.
She heaved a sigh. Young girls weren’t supposed to have these problems. Or be the world’s most wanted environmental criminal. Perhaps she should give herself up. She looked at Lena. The collider had turned out to be the girl’s father’s most dangerous invention, and because Lena wanted to believe that her father was still alive, she’d mistakenly made contact with Makthryg. She sighed again. If Professor Malden really was around, they could sure use his help. Between him and Professor Harrison, they’d probably kick the moon back into place and everyone would live happily ever after.
Not.
A thought sparked in her head. She sat up, alert.
Now they weren’t confined to the lead-lined hold, maybe there was something she could do after all.
She let the thoughts arrange themselves until she was certain, and then took several determined deep breaths.
“Excuse me a moment, Lena. I have to talk with Nathan and Rona in private. Do you mind?” The girl shook her head. “Thank you for telling me about Lucio and your daddy. It might help us get out of here.”
“Will I be able to talk to Daddy again?”
“I don’t know, Lena. I hope so.” She couldn’t bring herself to tell the girl the truth: that she’d mistaken a malicious sorcerer for her father. But as far as helping them get out of this mess? She wasn’t sure yet. But she would try.
She untangled herself from Lena and stood up somewhat shakily. The ship rocked from side-to-side, and she was still seeing double. She swayed across the floor, aiming at her friends, who had helpfully turned into two Nathans and two Ronas.
They both eyed her with a cautious expression.
Rona spoke. “You know, it wasn’t your fault. You were doing what you thought best.”
Sarina looked Rona squarely in the eye. “It was my fault. Same as the scientists who create devices that can be used as weapons. We shouldn’t mess with mother nature, unless we’re prepared to face the consequences.” She held up her hand as Nathan opened his mouth to speak. “It was my fault, and I’m going to do something about it. With your help. I accept the awful consequences of my actions, however unintentional, but I think I can at least try to right the wrong.”
“How?” Nathan said, staring at her. “We can’t exactly bring Professor Malden back from the dead and
uninvent the collider.”
“In a roundabout way, I think he might already be doing that. Lena’s mistaking of Makthryg for her real father has helped her make a connection to Paolo’s world.”
“Not to Makthryg himself, surely?” Nathan looked horrified.
Sarina nodded. “Thankfully she’s also made contact with Lucio. She told me Valkrog escaped and Makthryg has managed to persuade some townsmen to help him find Valkrog and the collider. Which confirms where it is, at least. Apparently it’s causing problems with their weather.”
“I’d rather have weather problems than moon-crashing-to-Earth problems.”
She fixed her gaze on him. “It’s no joke, Nathan. I meant what I said before—we need to find the machine and bring it back here.” But that was before I became the world’s most wanted criminal. She dismissed the thought. “And I’ve changed my mind about giving its secrets to everyone, at least not until we’ve done what we need to do—it’s too dangerous. First I need the Professor to help me fix whatever problem I caused with that thing. Luckily, thanks to Lena, we can now pinpoint where it is. All we need to do is grab it back here, and get the Professor to stop the moon falling in on us before World War Three starts.”
Both Rona and Nathan’s jaws had dropped open.
“You’re kidding me,” Nathan said. “So we’re going to escape from the bad guys who wanted to blow us up, somehow make a portal and magically appear at some unknown location, steal the collider from under Makthryg’s nose, bring it back here, avoid the bad guys again who want to weaponise it, get it to the Professor, who will press a few buttons and reset the moon?”
Sarina smiled. “You do understand me! But you forgot one thing. After the Professor fixes the moon thing, he’s going to share his discoveries with everyone. No more haves and have-nots. Then they’ll have nothing left to fight over, will they?” She smiled sweetly at Nathan.
“Oh boy.” He looked at Rona. “You see what I have to put up with?”
~ 33 ~
Bulkhead Graffiti
By the time they had finished talking about how they would combine Sarina’s plan with Nathan and Captain Ilia’s, it was already late. Though since they couldn’t see outside, Sarina had no idea how late. She yawned and glanced at Nathan, who was fidgeting. “You’re jumpy.”
He gave her a don’t-you-question-me look. “Just a tiny bit nervous about saving the world, that’s all.” He sighed. “And I’m a bit worried Captain Ilia hasn’t come through with the encryption gear yet. We really need to contact the Prof if we’re going to make this all work. We don’t have much time.”
She pursed her lips. Nathan was right, time was not on their side. “Didn’t you tell me once some secret thing the commandos do when they are in-between battles?”
“It’s not a secret. But it is hard to do. I think I read it in a book where the author was making a point that soldiers often don’t get enough sleep in combat, and the smarter soldiers know if they sleep better than their enemy, then they might outwit them in the heat of battle. Getting good sleep is just another weapon. Maybe sometimes a secret weapon.”
“Then that’s what we should do while we wait.”
“Easy to say. Harder to do, like I said.” He lay down on his mattress, and turned to face her. “It really isn’t your fault. You look like you’re carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders.”
“Thanks. I know you mean well. But I know what I’ve done, and I’m going to fix it. I won’t be known as the girl who started the third world war.” She lay down herself and stared up at the roof. Lead-lined, Nathan reckoned. Which was why Lena couldn’t make contact with Makthryg or Lucio in here. And proof that the people who had paid the Russians to kidnap them knew more about the Dreamer Kids than they should. The ship shuddered briefly. Her vision hadn’t quite recovered—everything still appeared double-edged and blurry. She peeked at her friend, who looked like he’d already succumbed to sleep. Lucky him. She wished his great-great-grandfather had never discovered the stupid wormholes in the first place. But at least she’d managed to stop blaming Nathan. Thinking about Dr Rosen jogged her memory. The research trip the three of them had taken to find out more about her great-aunts was a distant memory, yet it had only been a matter of a few days. Perhaps one day she would get the chance to practise more of those wild court sketches. She wondered which criminal she would practice on first, then smiled to herself. A self-portrait. She imagined herself looking like a rough-cut criminal, rings around her eyes, teeth missing and a growly-looking face. Then she remembered Lena’s photo—or more correctly, Nathan’s photo—of Makthryg. She imagined drawing him, then Valkrog, held accountable for their actions in court. The images swam in front of her as sleep began to take over, but for one moment, the two of them got muddled up together. She could see why Lena had been taken in. There really was a strong resemblance to Professor Malden, even though she’d only seen one missing-persons poster of him in the labs.
Sleep won, and by the time she awoke, those thoughts were ancient history.
~~~
“Then we have to ask the Captain.” Sarina was insistent. There was still no word about the encrypted computer setup, and now they were all jumpy about the dwindling time-frame. “We need to ask him to let us try above deck. At the very least, we might make a connection to Lucio and ask him to tell Andreas what to do.”
Rona and Nathan nodded.
“But you’ll have to ask,” Nathan said. “The Kapitan trusts you like his daughter. I’m just a ‘clever boy’.”
“Fine. It’s my idea anyway. But you have to believe we can do it, Nathan. You know what it takes.”
She knew they understood what it took to make a portal. Sarina would need to paint or draw somewhere, they’d all have to link hands. And be desperate enough. But could they do it on top of a wallowing freighter under threat of attack by mad kidnappers if the Captain had not managed to stall his customer? And what about the Professor? According to the Captain’s information, the Prof had promised a collider to the Customer last night.
Nathan looked at her. “I do know what it takes, thank you. But whether we can pinpoint a location well enough to get anywhere close ... I don’t know.”
She set her jaw. “Better start believing you will know when it comes to the time.”
“Alright, alright. Don’t get your knickers in a knot. Now go and find Captain-Daddy and make like you’re his special daughter.”
A tiny pang of loss greeted her when Nathan had said ‘Captain-Daddy’. She’d never called anyone ‘Daddy’, much less associated anyone alive with daddyness. She brushed the thought away, and headed up to the door and the crew member on duty.
“Remember to ask about the computer for encryption,” Nathan called after her.
In less than twenty minutes she was back.
“How did it go?” Rona looked nervous.
“He said we will need to be quick. They’re expecting the tidal buffeting to start again soon, and it’s going to be big this time. He said the top deck will not be a pleasant place to be holding hands and drawing graffiti.” Sarina looked at Nathan. “Your equipment is almost ready. Apparently Captain Ilia had his hands full stalling his customer. As far as he can tell, the Professor has also managed to stall them somehow, and they’re angry. Angry enough to order him to set sail with the kids.”
“Where to?” Nathan said.
“That’s how he managed to stall them. He refused to leave until they gave him a destination. Something about ‘cargo ship cannot make passage without logged route’.”
Nathan looked confused. “They didn’t have a destination?”
Sarina shook her head. “He thinks they made a mistake. He thinks they were planning to blow the ship up in open waters. They hadn’t realised they would need a destination port because ... well ... they hadn’t planned on one.”
“Nice people.”
“Yes. But the Captain thinks he only bought us some time. If he refuses anything else the
n they’ll be onto him—and us—so we have to play it carefully.”
Rona smiled at Sarina. “You’re turning into quite the secret agent, aren’t you?”
“I’d rather be painting, believe me. Speaking of which, let’s get a move on up top. We’ll need Lena too—Rona I think you’ve got some of the same ability, and the more power we have, the more likely we are to succeed. Lena can go with you on the crane, she’ll think that’s exciting.”
Rona’s secret agent comment had startled her, even though it was true. Somehow she’d managed to put to one side her fears and frustrations to concentrate on the task. But what other choice did she have?
She looked at Nathan. “Let’s go. We’ll be up there first and find a suitable spot.”
“You’ll need these.” Rona held out a few pastels.
Sarina smiled. “I should have known you’d have kept some of those just in case. See you up there.” She yanked Nathan by the hand. “Come on. We have a job to do.”
They raced up the stairs and were led out on to the wind-blown top deck by two more crew members, who showed them to an area where a bulkhead rose up in front of them. The super-structure of the ship was massive. Sarina scanned the bulkhead and noticed they were underneath the ship’s bridge. The bulkhead surface itself was painted in a dirty off-white gloss. Less than ideal, but usable. She rubbed a patch with her hand to try to clean it, then looked around for a rag.
“Here. Try this.” Nathan held out a sodden packing blanket he’d picked up from the deck. “Better than nothing.”
She hefted the wet blanket up but it was difficult to control in the strong wind. Nathan joined in, and between them they managed to clean a decent sized rectangular space. A bit smeary, but it would work. They’d have to make it work.
Lena and Rona appeared from around the corner. Rona looked up at the overcast sky, then wheeled herself across and to a halt in front of the bulkhead. “Nice work, you two. But we’d better hurry—it’s not just the tides that will be a problem.” She indicated the black clouds gathering off to one side. “The wind has picked up and I’d say we’re in for quite a storm.”
The Dreamer Chronicles Trilogy Boxed Set Vol I - III: A Sci-Fi Parallel Universe Adventure (The Dreamer Chronicles - Science Fiction For Kids And Adults) Page 80
