“Somebody get the wheel!” Will shouted as Finley felt the vomit beginning to rise in his throat. He was so dizzy, he could no longer make sense of what was Space, what was rocket and what was human. Just when he thought he would certainly lose consciousness, they were unexpectedly pulled level and out of their spin. He collapsed against the wall, breathing deeply to steady his stomach as he waited for his giddiness to subside. His vision came back to him and he saw Lois, clasping the steering wheel in her shaking hands.
“Lois, you saved us,” Emily said with surprise.
“Allance is getting away, though,” Lois panicked, pointing to his rocket now several miles into the distance.
Will rushed over and took the wheel from her, putting the spacecraft into the highest gear it could take and setting off at full speed.
“Will, maybe we should go back,” Emily said with worry. “We don’t know how much oxygen we’ve got left.”
“We have to catch him,” Will shook his head. “We need proof.”
“Is there some way we can communicate between the two rockets?” Lois asked, struck by sudden inspiration.
“There’s a radio system somewhere in the control panel, but I’m not sure how to work it. What good would it do, though?” Will replied.
“Get hold of the Admiral and get him to confess,” Lois commanded, tapping on her Personal Device with fury.
“What? Why?” Will asked with confusion.
“Just do it,” she asserted. “Emily, can you work the radio?”
“Bottom right of the control pad,” Will instructed Emily as she hastened forwards. “There’s a button that controls the frequencies.”
Emily set to work, twisting and turning the button as she navigated through the static white noise on the radio.
“I’ve got him!” she cried victoriously.
“Allance!” Will called through the frequency. “Can you hear me?”
There was a brief crackling noise, followed by the sound of the Admiral’s voice projecting into the rocket.
“It’s no use, boy, I’m not going to stop” he hissed.
“Why are you running? There’s nowhere for you to go,” Will responded. “It doesn’t matter where you are, the Captain will find you.”
There was a moment of silence where it seemed the Admiral was contemplating Will’s words. Capitalising on the opportunity, he continued.
“Just turn yourself in,” Will pressed. “The Captain is a decent man. I’m sure he’ll show you mercy if you do the right thing. Surely anything’s better than dying out in here in Space.”
The Admiral laughed, the cold hollow sound sending chills down Finley’s back.
“If I turn myself in, I’ll be executed,” he snapped back. “Perhaps I should just kill you all and then continue with my plan.”
“Plan? What plan?” Will demanded.
“Only a little agenda myself and my kind have to take over the Mayfly,” the Admiral snickered.
“Take over the Mayfly?!” Will scoffed. “Do you really think you could manage that? Do you know how many Guards there are, how much security you’d have to face just to even get close to the control room?”
“But that’s the most brilliant part,” the Admiral continued. “Mr. Holt and his partners at I-Tech have been developing a very interesting piece of technology. The computerized weaponry allows you to control the minds of any living organism of your choice. Imagine it. An army full of Academy students storming the Mayfly! Do you really think the Captain and his high-ranking friends would give the orders to shoot and kill their own children? We would be unstoppable!”
“You can’t do that!” Finley cried. “It’s sick.”
“Don’t you worry my boy,” Allance laughed. “Your peasant family will be safely down on Floor Seven. They’ll do nicely as slaves when the Vacuous are in charge.”
“Why now?” Will asked him. “You’ve had thirteen years to take over the Mayfly. Why wait this long?”
“We had to blend in,” the Admiral answered. “Wait for an opportunity. Jarvis Holt’s technology provides just that.”
“You won’t get away with it,” Will warned him.
“How cliché,” the Admiral taunted. “Are you sure about that, child? Who do you propose is going to stop me? So long as nobody knows my plan, I will succeed. After I’ve killed you, no one else is going to find out what’s happening until it’s too late.”
“It’s already too late,” Lois spoke suddenly.
“Stupid girl, what are you talking about?” the Admiral guffawed.
“I’ve been recording this entire conversation on my Personal Device,” Lois replied. “It’s being sent in a live stream to my father as we speak. I should imagine his forces will be here in, what, five minutes?”
Suddenly, the Admiral’s rocket stopped ahead of them, suspended statue-still in the star-strewn sky. The protective seal across the roof came down and the Admiral stood up, his foot poised on the edge of the spacecraft as he prepared to fling himself overboard.
“Wait!” Will shouted, but it was no use. With one final look of contempt in their direction, the Admiral jumped out, floating at an almost comically slow speed as he drifted into the never-ending abyss of Space. The four of them watched as floated away, his human form fading as he transformed into the dreadful creature he truly was. His slender, white body heaved as it gasped for air it would never find and his terrible empty face twisted into an expression of anguish. After a moment, his elongated arms fell by his side and he became still, drifting into the distance and out of sight.
“Why would he do that?” Finley asked Will breathlessly after the shock of what he had just witnessed subsided.
“I suppose he knew it was over for him anyway,” Will shrugged, turning their rocket around and speeding back towards the safety of the school, just as the first of the Captain’s fleet began to appear as tiny silver dots in the distance.
19.
Homecoming
The days after Admiral Allance’s death were a chaotic blur. The Space Academy grounds had become swamped with Security from the Mayfly within hours and a full investigation into Allance’s crimes had been ordered by the Captain. Will, Emily, Finley and Lois were subjected to extensive interviews with various high-ranking Guards, who probed them on what they had witnessed until they were completely exhausted and sick of repeating their story. By the time their part in the proceedings was declared over, they were deeply relieved to be sent back to their lessons and return to normality, concentrating on their final projects and end of year results.
In the final week of term, rumours that a body had been pulled from the lake began to circulate amongst the students, with the identity of the victim being heavily speculated upon. Fortunately, Will’s classmates had enough sense not to question him or the others on the matter, despite their involvement in the saga being incredibly well-documented. Even Rudy maintained a respectful silence, giving Will the occasional dirty look but otherwise keeping his distance. The teachers also seemed to have been given instructions not to discuss the incident, conducting their lessons without a single mention of Allance or the murder that had taken place on school grounds. On several occasions, however, Will caught some of them staring at him with concern, as though expecting him to break down at any moment. Indeed, the only person who was brave enough to mention the situation at all was Mr. Krecher, who pulled Will into his office after Alien Studies one day and forced him into an armchair, thrusting a hastily made cup of tea into his hands.
“Are you alright, my boy?” he asked, as soon as the first sip had slid down Will’s throat.
“I’m okay Sir,” he replied with a weary smile for added conviction.
“No use starting that ‘Sir’ business with me now,” Krecher told him. “’Mr. Krecher’ will do fine.”
“Sorry,” Will said with embarrassment. “Force of habit from all the interviews with the Guards.”
“Ah yes, of course,” Krecher frowned, beginning to p
ace around his office. “I don’t suppose you mentioned anything about the Looking Glass in those interviews, did you?”
“No, I didn’t,” Will replied honestly. “I’m not sure how I’d explain something like that when I don’t fully understand it myself.”
“I see,” Krecher’s face filled with relief. “That is good news. I’ve been beside myself with worry. If the Guards find out I’ve got an unregistered alien artefact, I’d be in all kinds of serious trouble. Not to mention the fact it would be confiscated from me. Such a device could do a great deal of damage if it fell into the wrong hands.”
“Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” Will promised.
“We?” he repeated. “You mean there are others who know about the Looking Glass?”
Will’s cheeks flushed crimson.
“Yes. My friends Lois, Emily and Finley do,” he confessed. “I brought them back here one night and we all went in together. It was after we had seen the Vacuous and we thought we could find some answers in the past. I’m sorry.”
“Lois is the Captain’s daughter,” Krecher fretted. “What if she tells her father?”
“She won’t,” Will shook his head vigorously. “I trust her.”
“If you’re certain…” Mr. Krecher replied.
“I am,” Will assured him, then seizing upon the opportunity to speak to him alone, added, “there is something I wanted to ask you, Mr. Krecher.”
“Yes, what is it?”
“When we were in the Looking Glass, we saw Alfie and my parents talking. They said they’d gone to you for help about the Vacuous and that you’d seen them too. Is that true?”
Krecher sighed.
“Yes, I must confess they did rope me in to it all. They joined my Alien Studies class, you see, shortly after they encountered the Vacuous for the first time. Once they had decided they could trust me, they showed me images they’d caught of it, asking if I recognised the species. I told them that I didn’t and that these aliens were unknown to humankind. Afterwards, I became intrigued by the entire thing, hunting the Vacuous by myself in secret. They were terrible creatures, horrifying beyond anything I’d ever seen. It drove me a bit mad after a while, trying to work out what they were and what they wanted. I gave up my research when we left Earth. I never dreamed there’d be a Vacuous here at the school,” he frowned.
“You didn’t know about Allance then?” Will confirmed.
“No, no, of course not,” he denied. “If I had I would have contacted the Captain straight away. They don’t like to speak to me anymore, he and your mother. I suppose I remind them of things they’d rather forget, but had I known what was going on, I wouldn’t have hesitated to involve them.”
“There’s something else that’s bothering me,” Will frowned. “All of this happening… it means that my dad was right about everything.”
“Forgive me, I don’t follow?” Krecher replied.
“My dad’s belief in the “Great Conspiracy”, Will explained. “He knew the Mayfly was unsafe and he suspected the Vacuous had something to do with it. He was right all along and no one believed him.”
“Your father was a very passionate man,” Krecher reflected. “Once he got something into his head, there wasn’t much that could make him let it go. At least you have the comfort of knowing that you succeeded in exposing the Vacuous. The Captain won’t rest until he’s certain he’s stopped them all. Your father’s work to uncover the truth has been continued through you.”
“The Great Conspiracy might have been real, but I still can’t forgive my dad for what he did,” Will said slowly. “He abandoned me and my mum, not knowing whether we’d live or die. Nothing can ever change that.”
Will stared at the Looking Glass standing innocently in the corner and began to relive the horrific scene of his father’s death that it had showed him.
“Visiting the Looking Glass can be incredibly difficult” Krecher sighed. “You’ve seen much more than a boy your age should. My advice to you now is that you move on from all this. You’ve done your part. Leave the rest to the Captain and his forces.”
“Trust me, Mr. Krecher, after the year I’ve had I’ll be happy to spend the holidays as a normal teenager. No more Vacuous and no more trips into mirrors,” Will replied sincerely. Krecher smiled to himself and then dismissed him, bidding him to take care until they met again.
With the announcement of final results came a much welcome distraction for Will, and he was both shocked and delighted to find that he had passed the year, receiving an overall “2” grade along with a formal invitation to return the following September. Despite facing two separate attempts on his life, Finley had managed to obtain a “1” for his results, an achievement which was celebrated by an evening of playing Earth Wars in Will’s room at Finley’s request.
All too soon, the morning of their final day at the Academy was upon them and they found themselves trailing their suitcases across the grounds gloomily, their hearts heavy with the prospect of leaving their new home for ten whole weeks. Waiting in line with the other deflated first years, Will studied his surroundings with precision, his eyes drinking in every detail of the main school building and the grounds as if he would never see them again. Even the fake grass that covered the floor suddenly felt like a novelty that he would deeply miss. He only hoped that come next year he would be able to truly appreciate studying in such a unique and wonderful place, with no distractions from murderous aliens or, indeed, dead fathers.
The Shuttle journey back to the Mayfly seemed to pass twice as quickly as it usually did and in the blink of an eye they had reached the platform, unloading en-masse into the waiting crowds of parents, who were even more anxious to see their children’s safe return than usual. Will was surprised to see his mother standing with Finley’s family and Emily’s parents. They were all huddled together in a stance of mutual concern, except for Emily’s father, who stood haughtily in the background, appearing deeply embarrassed to be present. When they saw their children, the mothers rushed forwards, pulling them into bone-crushing hugs as they babbled incoherently about how worried they’d been. After a few minutes of being suffocated, Will was released by his mother, who kept her grip firmly on his arms as she bent down to address him.
“Will, my darling,” she said frantically. “I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through. Alfie told me what the Headteacher looked like when they found his body in Space. He’s an alien that we’ve seen before back on Earth, but we had no idea how dangerous they really were! If only you had told me what was going on, I could have helped you. I feel so terrible you had to do all this alone!”
“I wasn’t alone,” Will smiled, looking towards the others.
“We didn’t know the aliens could take human form!” she cried. “It’s awful. Derek’s been arrested. Apparently, he was one of them.”
“I knew there was something wrong with that man!” Will exclaimed.
“Alfie’s going to make a speech in a moment about everything they know so far,” Elsie continued. “Is Lois with you? He asked me to pick her up and bring her with us.”
Will pointed to where Lois was standing, holding her arm awkwardly as she watched the intimate embraces of the parents and children around her. He called her over and she looked relieved to have been noticed, accompanying Will and Elsie as they manoeuvred towards the exit, Finley and Emily’s families following close behind.
They walked briskly down the corridor and loaded into the lift, riding it all the way down to the lobby where a colossal crowd had gathered around the exceptionally huge screen that hung there. A Guard escorted them to near the front of the ensemble, standing protectively nearby as Alfie’s face appeared in gigantic proportions on the screen in front of them.
“Good morning, citizens of the Mayfly,” his voice boomed over their heads. “I am making this important address in light of the recent events that occurred at the Space Academy, of which I am sure you are all aware. I know that many of you have questions a
nd I hope to provide you with as many answers as I can by sharing what we have found so far through our investigation.
“As you may have heard, Admiral Allance, the school’s renowned Headmaster, was discovered to be a rare species of alien in disguise. His body was retrieved from Space and examined in it’s true form, the results of which have been studied. When I saw his appearance, I realised that he belonged to a species that I had, in fact, encountered personally on Earth. Back then, we referred to the specimens as “Vacuous”, a name which describes the empty features that are characteristic to their breed. This name has now been officially registered and the Vacuous have been added to our database of known alien creatures.
“We have discovered that the Vacuous are capable of taking human form, something which has been unprecedented amongst alien beings until this point. A specially trained team have been assigned to try and work out how their transformation may be possible. A full-scale enquiry has also been launched across the Mayfly, and several Vacuous have been caught already. Through special means of interrogation, we have managed to determine their motive. They had plotted to take control of the Mayfly and follow that, Novum itself. Their false identities were so elaborate that many of them could be traced back for years on Earth, attending Colleges and working in high-profile jobs in order to gain places on our ship. “Most shocking of all our discoveries is that two adolescents, going by the human aliases of ‘Kyan Smith’ and ‘Josie Jones’ turned out to be Vacuous’. These young aliens were students at The Space Academy, positioned there, we believe, to help Admiral Allance with his plot, until Josie attacked a fellow student and forced him to expel her to cover their tracks.”
The Split Page 23
