Alien Rain

by Ruth Morgan

  I crept along the corridor and as I approached, the door of Halley and Nisien’s bedroom drew back without a sound. Halley’s bed was nearer the door. It was empty, the bedclothes hanging off the edge of the bed as though he’d left in a hurry. If Halley couldn’t sleep either, that was perfect: the two of us could while away the hours chatting, maybe go up to the common room and gaze at the moonlit view.

  There weren’t many places he could have gone so I began searching as quietly as possible with only the blue emergency lights for company. When I stepped into the third-floor corridor, I heard voices and recognised them as Halley and Doc Carter’s. They were coming from Doc Carter’s room. A light was showing but the door was closed. When I realised the two of them were in an argument I stopped. Doc Carter’s voice rose and fell sharply as though he was struggling to restrain himself. For an SSO scientist to be scrapping with a mere student was unheard of, but I guessed what it was about. Halley had miscalculated wildly, thinking he could plead his case to return to the Museum with me while Doc Carter was still furious about the canal incident. I couldn’t hear what they were saying from where I stood near the stairwell so I edged my way along the wall until I reached the door, taking care not to trigger the sensor to open it. They were speaking more softly now and I could only make out the occasional word.

  ‘…impossible, your behaviour … dangerous … no alternative…’ said Doc Carter.

  ‘Trust me … contribute … work on the dragomansk project…’ Halley countered.

  Poor Halley, Doc Carter wasn’t budging. I would have more success in a couple of days’ time, especially if I promised to keep a close eye on Halley and make sure he didn’t get up to any more stupid stunts. Why hadn’t Halley left this to me? I was sure I could get the Doc to do anything now. I didn’t feel comfortable eavesdropping and was just about to head back to the stairwell when something Halley said stopped me.

  ‘…if I tell Bree the real reason?’

  Alert now, I strained to hear more. I didn’t have to wait long before the argument escalated again. Before my perfect bubble of happiness burst.

  ‘So you’d tell her, would you?’ Doc Carter was enraged and trying in vain to keep a hold of himself. He sounded like a recording of someone shouting with the volume turned halfway down. ‘Tell her and jeopardise everything?’

  ‘Yes,’ Halley retorted. ‘If you don’t let me back out there, I’ll tell her.’

  ‘That’s blackmail,’ said Doc Carter.

  ‘Call it what you like.’

  ‘And how do you think she’ll take it, Halley? How do you think your friend is going to feel when you tell her she was chosen for this mission because she was just plain stupid? Because I required a lesser intellect that wouldn’t fight the celephet and block it? The weaker the brain the better for this particular job and hers has been perfect. Do you really think she’s going to thank you for telling her that?’

  I didn’t hear Halley’s reply. My head was swimming. Here it was, the real truth at last; the awful worm of truth writhing around in the rotten apple of lies that they’d fed me. Hadn’t I always known it, deep down? Hadn’t I always known how fundamentally stupid I was? I felt faint. Doc Carter carried on and on, grinding home the truth almost as though he knew that I was standing outside and it was giving him some kind of sadistic pleasure.

  ‘At the moment, she’s willing to comply. We only need a few more days’ data, I’m absolutely sure of that. And it’s perfect. She’s perfect!’ He laughed unpleasantly. He’d obviously got the better of Halley and was enjoying the fact that he’d cut him down to size. ‘There’s no need to tell her any more than I have. She thinks these amazing “empathy skills” of hers are helping the celephet work. I mean really, she does. It’s priceless.’

  ‘You should see the poems she writes, they’re really good,’ protested Halley.

  ‘I don’t care about her damn poems, what have they got to do with it?’

  ‘She’s not as stupid as you think.’

  ‘Then why’s the celephet working as well as it is, eh? The channels through her mind are like a clear highway. The celephet’s working because it’s unimpeded by the slightest intellect. A trained monkey might have done just as well.’

  I slid down the wall, silent tears slipping down my cheeks.

  ‘You’re afraid if I tell her, she won’t help you anymore,’ said Halley.

  ‘Now, look!’ Doc Carter switched to sounding angry again. ‘Let me remind you why you’re on this mission. You’re no grade A mega-starred student yourself. It was only the fact that you were willing to befriend Bree and spy on her for me that earned you your place. And the girl just does as she’s asked so you’ve actually had a very easy job. She won’t like finding out about that either, will she? More to the point, you ruin my experiment now and I will ruin your life, Halley. Not just here but back at school too. You’d better stop and think about that.’

  Something slammed into something, maybe a fist against a table, and I scrambled to my feet and made it round the corner before the door to Carter’s room opened and Halley came storming past. He didn’t see me but for a split second I saw him in profile. His features were so strained, he didn’t look like himself at all. But why would that surprise me? The Halley I knew was gone forever. The Halley I knew had never really existed.

  I had to get away but where could I go? I didn’t want to risk meeting Halley on the stairs. After checking that Carter wasn’t about to emerge from his room, I crossed the corridor and headed for the back stairwell. I made it down to our corridor and was thankful to find it empty.

  I dressed quickly, feeling as though I was going to be sick. I didn’t know what time it was but outside the moon and stars glittered in the space-black sky. All I knew was that I had to get out of the building and away from everyone before I cracked up completely.

  How many rules was I breaking, taking a class one and going off by myself in the middle of the night? Did it matter? Before starting off, I saw that the dim light was still on in the Doc’s room on the third floor. He’d forgive me whatever I did, there’d be no punishments for me. He’d act a bit annoyed, then pat me on the head and tell me what a clever girl I was. What had he said? A trained monkey could have done just as well?

  I set off, driving fast. When a single dragomansk appeared overhead I didn’t stop, I simply ignored it and fortunately it ignored me. I was heading for the only place I could go where I could be alone and let go of the feelings that were boiling inside me. I headed for the canals.

  I cruised along until I found the cul-de-sac where Robeen and I had sat that afternoon watching butterflies. I retracted the roof and pulled off my visor and hood. Then I let go, unable to hold on any longer. I could howl my head off, there was no one to hear besides the canal’s watchful, hidden inhabitants. They wouldn’t tell.

  I didn’t know which was worse: knowing the real reason I’d been chosen for the mission or the knowledge that Halley had betrayed me. All that time, his friendship had been nothing but an act. I’d fallen for it so easily. I was stupid. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

  As my crying subsided into heaving sobs, I became more aware of my surroundings. The canal was very different at night. I turned the amphibical 180 degrees so I was facing the junction, with the giant tree root blockade behind me. The air was cooler than in the daytime and there were fewer insects on the wing but the sound of chirruping bugs echoed loudly in the enclosed space. The moon was bright and a few silvery shards of light broke through the canopy and reflected on the dark wavelets slapping against the roots and walls of the buildings. Every so often a gust of wind swept down the passageway.

  My insides feeling completely hollowed out, I climbed shakily from the vehicle and balanced on one of the roots, something I’d never attempted before. I was still crying, not really knowing what I was doing. As I stood there, gripping the tree with my fingertips and with my boots slithering about on the moss, I wished Doc Carter could see me. I could break as many rules
as I liked, couldn’t I? I jumped into the water and waded out into the middle of the canal. It was hard work but I got a long way, as far as the main Queen Street junction. I sat on another root and thought about my situation, or tried to.

  The only small thing I had on my side was that Carter and Halley didn’t know I knew the truth. I’d have to return to Base and get back into bed before anyone realised I was gone. I lifted my hair and ran my finger over the hated celephet which was thoroughly embedded in my skin. When I pressed down hard I could just feel the flimsy edge of it. With my thumbnail, I picked at the bottom. I sat there picking for a good, long time until it felt sore, but to my awful delight, a small area did feel looser. I could snag my thumbnail under it ever so slightly. When I pulled the nail away, it was sticky with blood.

  Even as upset as I was, I didn’t underestimate the seriousness of what I’d just done. Covering the celephet with my hair, I decided it was time I returned to Base.

  ‘You’re quiet.’

  ‘Missing you, that’s all.’

  I made myself look at Halley, straight into his eyes, and I made myself smile. I’d got up early to have breakfast by myself but he’d obviously had the same idea and he looked about as tired as I felt. His face was ashen.

  ‘How’s Robeen?’ he smirked. ‘Charming as ever?’

  ‘She’s all right, actually,’ I said. ‘Do you remember the room where we found all those musical instruments? I took Robeen there and we discovered an old cello, so she can practise to her heart’s content now. Whenever we’re at the Museum – it’s too big to fit into a class one. It’s really cheered her up. Surprisingly enough we’re getting on fine.’

  ‘Oh?’ Halley looked thrown.

  ‘I showed her the canals too. They took her breath away. She was really grateful to me for showing her.’

  ‘But you’re still missing me? You’re still going to ask Doc Carter if we can partner up again?’

  ‘Oh. Yes.’

  Halley frowned. ‘Well, you’re the golden girl. If anyone can change his mind, you can.’

  The golden girl. The golden girl who was stupid enough to think you were her friend? I just managed to keep the words balanced on the tip of my tongue.

  ‘Of course,’ I said instead. ‘But we’d better leave it awhile, I think. He won’t have calmed down yet. Not after the dragomansk episode.’

  ‘I guess not.’

  A small fly was dying on the table between us, its final act to push itself round and round in a circle on a leg no bigger than an eyelash.

  ‘Why did you do it?’ I asked. ‘You still haven’t told me.’

  Halley started ripping his breakfast wrapper up into tiny pieces, a habit I’d previously found endearing. ‘I don’t know really,’ he said. ‘I just wanted a better look at it. They wouldn’t let us look at the other one, the one in the lab. I don’t know, I hate all the secrecy here. I hate having things kept from me.’

  You and me both, I thought. I wondered how to fill the silence that followed, watching while the small fly died at last.

  ‘How’s Nisien’s project coming along?’ I asked.

  ‘Super boringly,’ said Halley, making balls of torn-up wrapper and flicking them up in the air with his thumbnail. ‘My brain’s turning to mush.’

  ‘Poor you.’

  ‘You have no idea how obsessed with vehicles he is.’

  ‘Not so different from you and the dragomansk.’

  ‘I guess.’ He blew out some air and looked round the empty room. Only nine of us remained at Base now, including us four. Most of the scientists had left to survey different sites around the country.

  ‘At least Nisien’s obsession is likely to end up being useful,’ I said. ‘You seem to admire these monsters, these weapons. Why?’

  ‘All I wanted was to see one up close, that’s all. And I want to find out about those pictures on the gallery walls. The dragomansk is like some last surviving dinosaur from a whole world of man-made insect monsters we’re not being told about. The dragomansk will soon be gone. We’re amongst the last to see them.’

  ‘You think they’ll be gone soon?’

  ‘I imagine they’ll find a way, yes.’

  I’d have loved to have asked him more but was afraid of making him suspicious. Better to play dumb – which was all anyone was expecting of me anyway.

  ‘Halley, you mainly want to see a dragomansk because you’re not allowed. If someone says you can’t do something, you have to go and prove them wrong. Isn’t that the truth?’

  ‘There may be something in it.’ He half-smiled but then went on earnestly, ‘Look, I can probably stand being with Nisien another couple of days but no longer than that. Please, Bree, go to Doc Carter and beg him if you have to. It’s driving me crazy hanging around here all day long. I won’t do anything ridiculous again, or dangerous, I promise. Say you’ll do this for me, please?’

  What a lying, worthless piece of dirt, I thought, but naturally I promised I would and he looked relieved.

  I had another go at the celephet while I was waiting for Robeen to get ready. It was painstaking and painful work but I picked at it for as long as I could stand. I’ll spare you the details but by the time I’d finished, there was a definite wound which bled more than before. I washed and dried it carefully, scattered on some regulation medicating powder which we carried at all times and covered it with my hair. I knew full well I was going to get into proper trouble for this, but I didn’t care. Once I’d managed to get the celephet off, Doc Carter probably wouldn’t allow me back to the Museum, but I couldn’t help that either; I didn’t feel like writing any more poems anyway.

  For the first time I started thinking that the dragomansk might not be so bad. It was about the only thing standing in the way of Earth’s destruction. Did I really want to hasten that? It was a scary thought, a traitorous thought. I didn’t give a damn about that either.

  When Robeen and I arrived at the Museum I was in no mood to head straight for the Origins of Earth, so I sat and listened to her play for a bit before going to explore elsewhere. I found my way down to the first basement level and was amazed by the tunnel-like corridors which opened up before me, the rooms crammed floor to ceiling with the most extraordinary treasures. I guessed exhibits from the upper galleries had been moved to these lower levels to protect them in the war. There was so much down there, maybe a lot of art had been moved to the Museum for safekeeping.

  In one room I came across a large, ornate bed covered with piles of heavily framed pictures. The cover of the bed caught my eye, the sumptuous golden tapestry glistening as my tilelight swept over it. I ran my fingers across the cover ever so lightly, only to feel it disintegrate beneath my touch. A few golden fibres clung to my fingertips. I imagined a lot of the treasures would be this way: seemingly well preserved until they were touched, when they simply fell to bits. All gone, forever.

  There were suits of armour piled crazily on top of couches and jewelled cabinets. There were rolled-up carpets and yet more statues. There were pictures, pictures everywhere, darkened by age or mould, but here an eye peeped out at me, there a mouth grinned or a hand fluttered. These basement rooms were noticeably colder and damper than the ones at ground level. I could still hear Robeen playing in the distance. The music only made me sad. I felt wretched. I wanted to talk to someone and there was no one, absolutely no one. Halley, my one friend and ally, was gone and in his place was a stranger I hated.

  I removed a stack of bowls from the seat of a finely carved chair and sat down, feeling the material tear beneath my weight. It was probably a thousand years old. My tilelight shone at the floor and cast large, vague shadows onto the ceiling. I didn’t feel scared and I didn’t care what might turn up to bother me because it couldn’t possibly make me feel worse than I already did. If the face started shouting at me again, I was going to shout back. My sobs made the giant shadows dance all around me as though they were laughing and jeering at me. Stupid girl.

  Gradually I
became aware that there was someone else in the room with me and it felt as though the person – I sensed a single person – was very close. My chair stood on one side of a narrow gangway and opposite was a larger high-backed chair, piled with books.

  To my stirring horror, the book on the top started to shuffle forwards on its own ever … so … slowly until it was teetering on the edge, rocking to and fro teasingly. When it fell, its pages fluttered open before it hit the ground with a soft slap. I jumped, but before I could react further, the next book began to work its way forward. It fell and the next one and the next. An unseen hand was pushing the books off the chair one by one. The exaggerated shadow of the chair on the wall rose and fell, rose and fell as the chair began to rock backwards and forwards and I could hear the soft bump of the wooden feet on the ground. Finally, the rest of the books avalanched onto the floor, thumping one on top of the other until the last one fell and there was silence. The chair tipped back into an upright position.

  I could hardly breathe. That same unfamiliar fear of the unknown fastened me to my seat.

  I could not make out any shape in the chair and yet I knew someone had sat down on it and was sitting so close that I could have reached out and touched them. Slowly, slowly the air seemed to harden within the chair, that’s the only way I can describe it. I felt no threat this time but I did feel scared, too scared to shine my tilelight directly on to the chair, yet absolutely terrified of turning it off. I was almost too scared to blink, in case in that shaved second the dark matter in the chair might suddenly coagulate into my nightmare.

  So I sat and it sat. I didn’t know if it wanted me to do anything and I certainly wasn’t going to ask. Presumably the celephet was asking its question, but how long before the thing in the chair got fed up with that and screamed at me to go away again, or worse? Of course I wouldn’t shout back at it as I’d boasted to myself. I couldn’t trust a thing Carter said and I only had his word that this energy, or whatever it was, wouldn’t hurt me.