TWELVE
Just before they ran out of the emergency exit, Troy paused for a moment to look behind them. There were two security guards running towards them and beyond was a group of people watching the proceedings with open curiosity, including Bill and Bob. Troy caught a brief glimpse of Lena before he continued running after the other two boys, dragging Ziggy along with him.
‘What will we do?’ Ziggy panted beside him as they ran.
Troy chanced a quick glance behind him and noted the guards that still pursued them. He looked forward and grimaced slightly, ‘What can we do?’ he replied, ‘we have to follow these two until we can get away otherwise the guards will catch us and we’ll get blamed!’
Pierre and his brother suddenly ducked down a small side street and Troy and Ziggy quickly followed. They almost stopped in surprise when they turned the corner and the other two boys were nowhere to be seen, and then suddenly Pierre appeared from a tiny opening along the base of the wall. Without stopping to think about it Troy pushed Ziggy into the opening and scrambled in after him.
As soon as Troy was in Pierre lowered the grating that he had been holding and the opening became just another ventilation grate. Pierre grinned at them as the guards ran past without even stopping then he gestured for them to follow as he crawled past them and along the narrow tunnel.
‘Where are we going?’ Troy demanded.
“We’ll take you to our hide-out until the commotion dies down. They’re quite strict with security on this station so it’s best to lie low for a while.”
Troy stopped for a moment and frowned at the two boys. “We don’t have time to ‘lie low’, my brother will start to get worried soon. And what about our friends back there?”
Pierre sighed, “What choice do you have? You don’t know this place, we do. We’re only trying to help but you can do it yourself if you want!”
When Troy remained silent Pierre turned away and continued on.
They followed the ventilation shaft for a few minutes; turning along side tunnels a couple of times before reaching another grate. Pierre looked cautiously out and then with a sharp pull the grate swung open and they all quickly scrambled out into a deserted alley. A low whistle from Stint and four other boys came out of hiding to join them, grinning at Troy and Ziggy and looking at them with open curiosity.
Pierre gestured towards the boys who stood expectantly, “This lot will go with Stint to find your other two friends and to keep an eye on those two freaky looking boys.”
Troy frowned at Stint and said, “Those two are pretty dangerous. They’re a lot stronger than they look so be careful.”
Stint continued grinning and gave him a mock salute before scampering off with the other boys.
They continued on following Pierre. Troy didn’t know how long they had been running for but he was now well and truly lost. Phoenix Space Station was really a huge place and with all the little streets and alleyways it was almost like a city in space.
They turned into what looked like any other small alley they had been down but this one ended in a wall. To the side of this, obscured from view was another ventilation grate but this one was larger than the rest and opened up almost like a door. Ducking inside they only had to hunch over a little to move along the shaft and it was only a short walk before they came out of it and into some kind of basement.
‘This is the old Arabelle Theatre,’ Pierre explained to them, ‘It’s been abandoned for years ‘cos people think it’s haunted! The upper floors are too dangerous but down here it’s okay and there’s loads of space for us all.’
‘All?’ Troy couldn’t help asking.
‘Yeah, all us kids that have got nowhere else to go. This is our home!’
As they had talked Pierre had been leading them along a short corridor and as he opened the door at the other end it ended in a large room that had more children inside, either running around or engaged in some other activity.
Troy looked around in open-mouthed astonishment as they walked into the room. There were all sorts of strange machines that filled one corner of the room, making whirring and beeping noises and tended by a small group of children that sat at the computer screens and every now and then would tap at the keyboards in front of them.
‘That’s our security system and also provides the power we need to keep warm and all that,’ Pierre explained, ‘It’s quite sophisticated really, it was all scavenged from various places and put together by Dylan – he’s really clever!’
‘Dylan?’ Troy repeated, too overwhelmed to say anything else.
By now the other kids had noticed their presence and had stopped what they were doing to crowd behind them and whisper amongst themselves. With all the kids crowding around them they couldn’t see much of the room but Troy did manage to see that certain areas had been curtained off and beyond these there seemed to be sleeping areas.
‘How come you’re here?’ a high-pitched voice spoke from somewhere near his elbow.
Troy looked down to see the dirty face of a small boy with large, golden eyes watching him expectantly. Troy blinked at the sight of such unusual eyes but it was the long, pointed ears poking through his unruly hair that really surprised him. He looked at all the other kids that were following them, all waiting for his reply with eager faces.
‘Someone was chasing us so Pierre helped us,” he replied.
“Why were you being chased?” the boy asked.
‘Quit asking questions!’ Pierre snapped and the boy scurried away.
Troy looked around at the kids still watching him and Ziggy, noticing the strange boy that had spoken to him was now standing close to a smaller child and by the fact of her having the same strange features he knew it must have been his little sister.
‘They’re Shee’ans,’ Pierre told them with a note of scorn in his voice, ‘They haven’t been here long. Keep saying their parents will be coming back for them.’
He said this last with some disgust so Troy asked, ‘Won’t they? Their parents I mean?’
Pierre shrugged, ‘Doubt it! Once kids get left here they don’t usually see family again.’
‘Why are so many kids here?’ Troy asked looking around in disbelief.
‘Some were just dumped here, either because they weren’t wanted anymore or because something happened to their families. We get a lot of smugglers coming through here – you wouldn’t believe it!’ He grinned then carried on, ‘And also some were born here, they’re runaways mostly but we’ve made a home here.’
Pierre looked around with pride at their home then gestured for them to follow. Troy and Ziggy followed Pierre into what passed as a kitchen down here. A small room had a few ill-matching cupboards that ran along one wall and a counter along the back wall. A pipe with a tap fixed to the end of it jutted out from the wall in the corner and had a bucket placed on the floor beneath it.
Pierre approached the tap after grabbing what looked like a flat-bottomed metal ball with a handle off the counter.
“We have a food replicator here,” he explained while filling what they surmised must have been a kettle with water, “but if we want any hot water then we have to do it the old fashioned way.”
He walked over to a section of the counter that lit up as he passed a hand over the surface and a blue ring glowed softly where he quickly placed the kettle. He turned back to them with a smile and gestured to the stools that were at one end of the counter.
Before anything else could be said a strange rumbling could be heard as if an angry voice was talking loudly on the other side of the door. It took a moment to realise it was a voice and who exactly it was that was angry.
“Well, where are they?” a very angry sounding Lena was demanding as they hurried out of the kitchen.
Troy couldn’t help grinning when he saw a very surly looking Stint trying to get loose from Lena’s grip on the back of his collar. Lena was holding him tightly and giving him a shake every now and then while threatening him if her friend
s were in the least bit harmed.
“Lena!” Troy called out, finally taking pity on Stint.
Lena let go of Stint with a little shove and stalked over to where Troy and Ziggy were, Orla trailing behind her.
“What did you think you were doing?” she demanded, “Breaking that window and then running off and leaving me and Orla behind!”
“We didn’t!” Troy quickly replied, “These two broke it so we could get away from Bill and Bob!”
Lena nodded, “Yeah, we saw them in the commotion after you left. They didn’t see us, thankfully! We were going to head back to the ship when these boys accosted us.”
Pierre spoke up then. “I was the one who sent them to get you.” He paused a moment as he looked behind her to his friend. “Stint, what’s wrong with your eye?”
Stint pointed a finger at Lena and for the first time Troy noticed that his eye was swollen almost shut. “It was her,” Stint retorted, “She’s mad she is! Didn’t even give me a chance to speak! Just started hitting me! She’s crazy!”
“Oh yeah?” Lena said, raising her fist threateningly, “How about I give you a matching pair?”
“See?” Stint practically squeaked as he ducked behind some of the other children.
Troy heard Ziggy sniggering quietly and looked around to see his friend pretending to scratch his nose while covering his mouth to smother his laughter. Troy couldn’t help smiling too as Lena tried to get to Stint who was shrieking and using the other kids as shields. It was during this commotion when the other kids were also laughing at the spectacle that Troy noticed the two Shee’an children were watching Orla with almost an awed look on their faces.
What surprised Troy even more was when Orla approached and spoke to them in a language he had never heard before. It was obviously the Shee’an language as the children listened avidly and the little girl began to cry softly while Orla patted her on the shoulder.
Orla came to stand beside Troy and Ziggy to watch Lena being held back by Pierre and another boy. She looked up at Troy and smiled, pointing to Lena as she did.
“Lena’s having fun,” she remarked.
Troy didn’t know what to think about this strange girl so just smiled back and said, “I suppose we should stop her before she really hurts him. Don’t know if she’ll listen though.”
Orla looked thoughtful for a moment and then drew in a deep breath, letting it out in a piercing scream. She then began to cry piteously but her tactic worked as Lena immediately stopped trying to maim Stint and rushed to her side.
“What did you do?” she demanded of Troy.
“Me?” he said in surprise, “It was you that was frightening her!”
Lena looked as if she might argue further but a quiet sob from Orla had her turning back to the younger girl and hugging her while murmuring words of comfort. Troy shook his head and grinned at Orla as she winked from the safety of Lena’s shoulder.
The children that had witnessed all of this had quietened down too but were still grinning at Stint who was looking red faced and sullen. Pierre came to stand in front of them but kept a wary eye on Lena who was hugging a now quiet Orla.
Troy turned to Lena and said, “I’m glad you’re okay. I was hoping you might have made it back to the ship but at least you’re not wandering around lost up there.”
Lena sniffed and replied, “I wish we were back at the ship!”
Troy noticed that the other children had drifted away, back to what they had been doing before Lena’s dramatic entrance. All except the two Shee’an children.
They were still standing close to Orla but didn’t seem as focused on her as before. In fact, the boy was listening to what they were saying and seemed to be trying to come to some kind of decision.
Lena had finally noticed them and seemed particularly interested in their unusual features, crouching down to speak to the little girl who didn’t answer but shyly held Orla’s hand. The little Shee’an girl was a lot smaller than Orla so Troy guessed she must have been about four and as he watched the two he noticed similarities between them.
“You want to sit with us,” a voice said quietly.
Pulling his attention away from the girls Troy looked to where the Shee’an boy was standing and noticed he was a little closer. Troy looked at Ziggy who just shrugged and looked back at the boy.
“We’ve got a bed over here that we can go and sit on, better than standing around here,” the boy added.
They followed him to what was actually a mattress on the floor in a small alcove under some stairs. The space was rather cramped for all of them but it was more comfortable and private.
“What’s your name?” Troy asked him when they were all settled.
“They gave us names when we first got here because they couldn’t pronounce our real ones. They call me Simon and my sister Grace.”
“How did you come to be here?” Ziggy asked.
“It’s not true what Pierre says,” Simon said instead of answering the question.
“What isn’t?” Troy asked.
“That our parents didn’t want us and that’s why we’re here,” Simon explained a little defiantly as if they might argue with him. “There was some kind of riot here not so long ago, about two months ago I think, and we got separated from our parents. I don’t know what happened really but they never found us but I know they will be back!”
Troy nodded but didn’t say anything. To be honest, he didn’t know what to say but he could tell that Simon truly believed his parents would be back for them.
“There are some who run away from their families and are quite happy here but others just think they’ve got nowhere else to go.”
“Haven’t you tried to get back to your home planet?” Ziggy asked him.
“How?” Simon asked, “We can’t go to the police and there is nowhere else that we can go. This is the safest place for us right now.”
“Why can’t you go to the police?” Troy asked curiously.
Simon grimaced a little and he said, “It’s because we’re Shee’ans. Most places don’t like us and our parents told us that if ever we got separated from them we should never go to the police for help.”
“I still don’t understand,” Troy admitted.
Simon grinned suddenly and said, “Neither do I really! But they were very serious about it and made us promise! So, that’s why we’ve ended up here.”
Troy nodded thoughtfully and his attention drifted to where Orla and Grace were playing in the corner. He leant forward to Simon and asked quietly, “Why are you so interested in Orla?”
Simon blinked in surprise and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he spoke, “Don’t you know who she is?”
Troy looked at Ziggy then Lena who both looked as confused as he must have. “She’s Orla. She’s lived at the same home as us since she was a baby.”
“Yes, but, don’t you know where she’s from?” Simon asked sounding a little flustered.
Troy looked at Lena to explain this one as he really didn’t know. Lena shook her head a little and said, “Sir Fairfax brought her to the home when she was a baby. He never said where she came from as far as I know, he just gave her to with Patience and June and left.”
“Is she a Shee’an like you?” Troy asked, thinking this was maybe what Simon was trying to get at.
However, Simon laughed at that and shook his head, “No, she’s from a neighbouring planet!”
“I wonder how she knows your language if she’s lived on Goramir all her life,” Troy mused.
Before he could get an answer there was a small explosion near the door and all of a sudden there was a cacophony of sound as children shrieked and alarms rang out. Standing up they could see a lot of smoke coming from the corner near the doors where all the electrical systems were but he couldn’t see clearly with all the kids in the way.
“Don’t worry,” Simon told them, “its just another computer shorting out. It happens quite a lot!”
They chatted for a bit while the other children carried on with whatever they had been doing. It was just when Troy was starting to feel rather impatient about being stuck there that Pierre approached them.
Kneeling down he spoke quietly. “We’ve had some kids out looking and it seems the security guards are back at the zoo.” Gesturing to the kids at the computers he added, “There’s also no mention of you on the police lines.”
“How do you …” Ziggy began but Pierre raised a hand to quiet him.
“We monitor them for our own security.” He stood up and smiled, “Well, I’m glad we could help. These two will guide you back to the main street and from there I’m sure you can get back to your ship.” With a final farewell he disappeared out the door.
Space Rats Page 12
