Secret of The Red Planet

by Chris Hawley

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  RAINY TUESDAY

  The next morning I woke up to the sound of rain beating against the window panes. It was barely light. I took my pillow and settled myself in the place I had chosen for meditation. So far I had not managed to make contact with Michu and I was feeling a bit depressed. Would I ever be able to connect with her? In that frame of mind I doubted it. After thirty minutes I gave up. All I could think about was my meeting with Albert Smith and Sonia’s distress. I would go to the library as soon as it opened to see if she had got back the things from her father.

  I had breakfast in the kitchen with my mum. I sat most of the time in deep thought and she said I had changed ever since Friday and was it all to do with all those strange things that had happened that morning. I tried to make light of it, saying I had a lot of work and that’s why I was quiet. She knew very well I never worried about my school work. Whether I worked hard or not, I always came top in exams. No, there had to be something else, she said. Was it that ginger-haired girl? Mum still believed I had got her into trouble, however much I tried to tell her it was nonsense.

  The rain slanted down, blown by a strong South-Westerly wind, stinging the face. I put my head down and pulled the lapels of my raincoat as high as I could. I put my hands in the pockets and strode off in the direction of the library. I could feel my mobile phone vibrating in my pocket but I just let it ring. It crossed my mind that it could be Sonia’s father, threatening me with death for stealing back my things but at that time I was too busy battling the strong wind to worry about that.

  I reached the library, thankful for the refuge, and removed my raincoat, shaking it free of as much water as possible. I wiped my face with my handkerchief and entered the reference section. Sonia was at her desk, stamping the inside cover of a book.

  ‘Hello Bill,’ she said as she saw me come through the door. I could see from her expression that the news was not good.

  ‘Well?’ I said.

  ‘No luck, I’m afraid. I’m sorry, I did try.’ I could see she really meant it.

  ‘Tell me what happened.’

  She put down the stamp and closed the book, turning on her high stool to face me.

  ‘The tunic is at the laboratory. He says he’ll pick it up later. I hunted for the letter but he must have hidden it and the flash drive as well. I tried to open his computer to delete the letter in case he has copied it but he has a password and he’s never told me it.’ She shrugged her shoulders and screwed up her mouth.

  ‘And my photo?’

  ‘Nothing! He had the phone in his pocket all the time. There was no chance for me to take it. I slipped into his room in the middle of the night to see if he had left it out but I couldn’t see it and I was scared in case he woke up.’

  ‘Tonight, Sonia! You must get the tunic tonight! That reminds me, someone was ringing me when I was on my way here, but with that rain I couldn’t answer it.’

  It was Ben. I called him back. He said they were on their way to the library.

  ‘Okay Sonia?’

  ‘I will try.’ She looked unhappy about it. ‘I have never seen my father like this. He went on last night about being rich and famous and you were the key to his future. But he talked about you as if you were something to be used and then thrown away. I can’t exactly describe it but it gave me a very bad feeling.’

  ‘He intends to use me to get what he wants and then…dustbin. That settles it, Sonia. I won’t agree to his plan, no matter what he does to me. He can sell my letter to the world and I’ll just insist it’s a fake.’

  ‘I’ll support you all I can,’ she said, putting her hand on mine and squeezing it gently. ‘It must be hard for you.’

  ‘Very hard. If only I could make contact with Michu. She must know something is wrong: it’s hard to keep thoughts from them.’

  ‘You’ll just have to make do with me, won’t you?’ said Sonia.

  Sonia was jealous of Michu, I could tell.

  Before I could tell her off, Ben and Tim walked through the door, shaking the water from their heads.

  ‘What a day!’ said Ben. ‘It’s all that global warming.’

  ‘So let’s go for coffee,’ said Tim and get wet inside as well as out!’

  ‘You three go,’ said Sonia. ‘Some people have to work for their living!’

  ‘You call this work?’ replied Tim, ‘looking at books all day.’

  ‘Tim is much more at home on the rugby pitch than in front of books,’ I said.

  ‘Well, I’ll just ignore his stupid remark,’ said Sonia crossly.

  Tim laughed. Getting girls angry was his favourite pastime.

  We left the library and battled our way to the nearest coffee shop. It was not as popular as MacDonald’s but it was not so far. We took our seats and ordered our drinks. Tim ordered cocoa. He said it was better for athletes than coffee.

  ‘Now, Bill,’ began Ben. He wore his most serious look and I knew he had something on his mind. ‘We came visiting on Saturday, after Tai-kwon-do.’

  ‘I know, my father told me. So?’

  ‘Why did you tell him you sold the spaceship to us?’ asked Ben, searching my face for the answer.

  ‘Because I had to say something quick,’ I said. ‘I had to explain somehow why it was in the shed on Thursday afternoon and Friday morning it was not.’

  ‘So what happened to it?’ Ben would make a good lawyer, I thought. He’s a brilliant cross examiner.

  ‘I sold it to someone else.’

  ‘Who?’

  ‘Ben! Why all these questions? Someone else, you don’t know him.’

  ‘Come on, Bill, it won’t do. Tell us, where did the spaceship go?’

  ‘To Mars, of course!’ My attempt to make it sound like a joke was not going to work, I could see by the expressions on the two faces in front of me.

  ‘To Mars! I thought so,’ said Ben and he sat back in his chair with a triumphant look, as if he had won an important court case.

  I made no attempt to deny it. What was the use?

  ‘It’s unbelievable but it’s true! It’s true, isn’t it Bill? You really did go to Mars, didn’t you?’

  It was no good trying to pretend any more. ‘Yes. It’s true,’ I said.

  ‘And that girl in the photo, she really is from Mars.’

  I nodded.

  My friends could only sit and stare at me, as if I was from Mars myself. Tim kept shaking his head from side to side. The waitress brought the drinks but none of us was interested in such paltry earthly pleasures.

  ‘So now you’d better tell us,’ said Ben.

  I sighed and sipped my coffee absentmindedly. Then I told them the story I had told Sonia the day before, but in less detail. I omitted the part about travelling back in time. It had been my idea since coming home to make a bet with them on the Test Match, to earn a few easy quid. I told them about my meeting with Sonia’s father and his threat to expose my letter.

  When I had finished we all sat quietly. Now three people knew my secret, the secret I had promised faithfully to keep from anyone. Where would it end? I promised myself I would tell no-one else, even under threat of torture.

  ‘What are you going to do now?’ asked Tim.

  ‘Fight! That’s what I am going to do, fight!’

  ‘I can fight,’ said Tim, clenching his fists and tightening his jaw muscles.

  ‘It’s brains that’s needed for this, Tim,’ said his brother.

  ‘I’ve got those as well, mate,’ said Tim hastily.

  We laughed together. At least now I had my friends with me and I knew I could count on them in the hour of need.

  ‘I have to meet Sonia’s father tomorrow at ten. He says he will bring the results of the tests on the material. He is expecting me to tell him I will help him make us both rich. He’s going to be disappointed because I’ll not tell him anything.’

  ‘Good for you!’ said Ben. ‘You can count on us. If you need us, just call.’

  ‘Right!’
Tim agreed.

  ‘Thanks,’ I said. ‘By the way, the Test Match starts Thursday. Will you be watching?’

  ‘Sure,’ said both of them at once.

  ‘I wouldn’t miss one ball,’ said Ben emphatically. ‘That is, if it’s not washed out.’

  ‘Do you think England will win?’ I asked.

  ‘Of course, with Michael Vaughan in good form they can’t lose.’

  ‘Pietersen will get a century on the first day,’ I said as casually as I could.

  ‘No chance!’ said Ben. ‘He’s all show. But Vaughan might.’

  ‘Want to bet?’ I said.

  ‘Why not! Ben replied. ‘My two quid says Vaughan will get a century.’ He took from his pocket a two pound coin and tossed it onto the table. We all watched it as it rolled around in ever decreasing circles, quivered for a few seconds and then settled on the table.

  ‘And my two quid says Pietersen will,’ I said.

  ‘Neither of them will,’ said Tim. ‘The four quid is mine.’

  ‘It’s a deal.’ We all shook hands on it.

  Ben paid the bill and we said goodbye. I walked back to the library, wondering how I would spend my winnings. The rain had stopped and the sun was shining weakly, but the wind was still gusty. The ground has time to dry out by Thursday, I thought.

  I spent the rest of the day reading about the great ice age and the debate about its sudden end 10,000 or so years ago. Although Zeris had clearly told me it was caused by giant asteroids hitting the Earth, the book didn’t even mention the possibility. The Martians knew a lot more about the history of our planet than we do, obviously.

  I set about thinking of the chances of such a thing happening again. Would God allow such a thing? Human beings are his chosen race, after all, at least that’s what we have been told to believe. But what about the other beings Michu told me about, the ones on Sonam for example? Were they not also chosen? There is much to learn and much to understand about our Universe, I decided.

  At 4.30 I said goodnight to Sonia and I wished her luck with her dangerous mission. Would she succeed? I collected the framed photo of Michu from the shop on my way home and hung it on the wall above my writing desk.

  In the evening I watched an interesting programme about our solar system. Sir Patrick Moore was explaining where in the sky to find the planets. He said that Mars would be overhead in the hour before dawn. I made a point to go into the garden and try to spot it before it was light.

  That night I tossed and turned. I dreamt that Albert Smith had discovered Sonia in his room and had beaten her up. I had tried to stop him but I was somehow tied to the bed and couldn’t move. I woke up in a pool of sweat.