SPACE RATS

Jacqueline Kirk


Published by Jacqueline Kirk at Smashwords


Copyright 2011 Jacqueline Kirk


www.jacquelinekirk.com


Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.




Prologue
“Strap yourselves in!” Mary Argonaut shouted to the two children who stood staring with wide-eyed terror at the screen as their pursuer came closer. Their mother struggled to control the damaged ship as they tried to escape.
She punched a button on the console in front of her, “Rob! Can you fix it?”
A voice came back over the intercom sounding very worried, “There’s too much damage! I can’t fix it here!”
“I’ll have to land on the planet! It’s our only chance!”
“They’re firing!” a voice said behind her.
“I said strap yourselves in!” Mary shouted over her shoulder.
The two boys scrambled to their seats and quickly fastened their safety straps just before the ship was knocked sideways.
“Rob!” Mary shouted over the intercom, “Rob?”
“Is Daddy okay?”
Mary looked round at her two sons, two sets of blue eyes looked fearfully at her from under their mop of black curls.
“I’ll have to land on the planet, hold on tight,” she said, turning back to the helm.
“But what about Daddy?” her youngest asked.
“Troy!” Tristan said, “Let Mum concentrate!”
Mary grasped the helm and steered the crippled ship towards the planet’s atmosphere as fast as it could. Tristan leant forward as far as his straps would let him to peer at the monitor.
The massive ship that had decided to use them for target practice was closing fast but they managed to stay ahead long enough to get to the planet’s atmosphere. The large ship veered away, too big to attempt a landing, and Tristan sighed in relief.
But landing a space ship, even one as small as Star Chaser, was tricky. But landing a badly damaged one was almost impossible. Mary Argonaut was a brilliant pilot, however, and she had her children to save.



ONE
Troy sleepily poked his head out from under the duvet as a noise from the window woke him. He’d tried to stay awake and catch his brother as he snuck out but he had fallen asleep after twenty minutes. He had woken up in time to see his brother quietly sliding the window back down and turning to go to his own bed.
“Where have you been?” Troy demanded as loudly as he dared, looking round at the other beds in the dormitory.
Tristan jerked in surprise, “Why are you still awake?”
“Waiting for you,” Troy retorted, “So, where were you?”
“None of your business!”  Tristan hissed irritably.
“Oh, come on!” Troy said, getting out of his bed and following his brother, “Every night you sneak out of here for hours. If Calhoun catches you we’re all in trouble!”
“He won’t catch me!” Tristan said as he started undressing, “And I’m not going to tell you, so go away! I need to get some sleep before breakfast.”
“But…” Troy started.
“Go back to bed before you wake the others!” Tristan said with all the superiority of his extra three years then climbed into his own bed.
Troy hovered as he debated whether or not to keep on at his brother but a noise from one of the other beds made his mind up. With a sigh he turned back to his own bed, promising himself to find out tomorrow what his secretive brother was up to.
Morning came only a few hours later. The usual alarm sounded with a soft, feminine voice sounding over the tanoy system announcing that it was 7AM. Lights came on automatically with a soft hazy glow that gradually grew brighter. The children grumbled as they sleepily pulled on their clothes.
As well as Tristan and Troy there were six other children in this dormitory. Troy’s bed was by the window furthest from the door; across from his was Tristan’s. Next down the line on Troy’s side was his friend Ziggy.
Troy’s best friend was the same height as him but his slightly plumper frame made him look bigger. The one difference Troy had noticed straight away about Ziggy was the four short digits he had instead of the five slender ones of humans. But the best difference in Troy’s mind was Ziggy’s great strength. Many times the boys had got into trouble because Ziggy had forgotten how strong he was and broken something. Although Troy had asked the adults no one knew where Ziggy was from. No one there had seen his like before. His hair was a red-gold colour and continued in a line down his spine. His golden brown eyes were always bright and merry. There wasn’t much that got Ziggy down.
Opposite Ziggy was William Poe, an older boy who delighted in sucking up to Calhoun and trying to make the other kids’ lives a misery. If it weren’t for Tristan, who was the oldest, he would have succeeded.
Next down the line was Poe’s cronies Bill and Bob. That wasn’t their real names but the other kids called them that because they were too hard to pronounce. They were tall and thin and looked almost identical except one had red hair and the other blond. Their cheekbones stood out sharply and their fingers were extra long, something that was common of Uldanians.
Uldania was a planet not too far away that was populated with tall, thin humanoids that lived in high, narrow houses made of a strange dark stone only found there. It was a cold planet that had a thriving mining community with people from all over wanting the strange iridescent gems they could find there. It was a rich planet with people that doted on their children and yet no one had claimed Bill and Bob.
Two eight year olds that had recently been moved into the older boy’s dormitory from the nursery occupied the other two beds. They had been excited at first but a couple of run-ins with Poe and Co had subdued them somewhat until Tristan had stepped in and now they hero-worshiped him much to his embarrassment.
Troy tried to question his brother again but Tristan was dressed and out the door before he had his trousers on. He hurried as fast as he could, urging Ziggy to be quick. The younger boys had already run out of the door with the insatiable appetites of the young. 
“What’s up with you?” Ziggy asked, hurrying after Troy while pulling a t-shirt over his head.
“I tried to catch Tristan last night when he came in but he wouldn’t talk to me.”
“So you don’t know where he was?”
Troy looked at his friend and said, “No, I just said, he wouldn’t talk to me!”
Ziggy looked at his friend apologetically and Troy couldn’t help grinning at him. They went into the dining room and Troy looked about for his brother ready to tackle him again.
Fairfax Home for Displaced Children on the planet of Goramir was a large house on the outskirts of the town of Andrea. It was home to about forty children and a Sir Andrew Fairfax who very rarely visited owned it and when he did the children were warned not to say anything to him. Marcus Calhoun who ran the place and he was a vindictive sadist who seemed to hate children.
Apparently he got the job because he had saved the life of Sir Fairfax’s son during some war and he made sure that he ingratiated himself every time the owner was here. The children knew that half of the money that was given to the home never made it to them.
Calhoun fed them enough so they weren’t starving and their clothes were kept clean if not mended as often as needed. He devised punishments that didn’t physically harm the children, since they would be too easily detected, but he had a way of making sure they stayed afraid of him. Bullies were also given free rein, as they were usually Calhoun’s pets. If it weren’t for the other two members of staff there would be no joy in the place.
These two were Patience and June, sisters, who had been there for many years and they took great delight in thwarting Calhoun as much as they could. They never made it obvious because he would have them fired but did it in ways he wouldn’t notice. They mainly minded the little ones but there were not many children in the home that they took care of all of them and everyone loved them.
The dining room had several tables and Troy could see his brother sitting at one of the far away ones, he grabbed Ziggy’s arm and dragged him over. Before he got there, however, a tall blonde girl had sat down beside him with her plate and they began talking in hushed tones.
Troy stopped and sighed in annoyance. He couldn’t question Tristan when Krista was there too. Now that he thought about it, Tristan and Krista were together an awful lot these days, always whispering and talking quietly.
Sighing again he turned towards the kitchen where Patience was serving out the food. Sir Andrew always insisted that growing children needed fresh food prepared for them and Patience especially was a brilliant cook. He took his plate of food with a smile for the cheerful Patience and he and Ziggy sat down at the end of the nearest table.
It wasn’t long before a girl with very long silky black hair of their age and a girl of about ten joined them. The ten-year-old, Orla, was a very unique looking girl. She had long silvery blonde hair and large violet eyes that watched everything and missed nothing but she hardly ever spoke, only to say ‘thank you’ to Patience or June. The only other person she spoke to was Lena, the black-haired girl, who had adopted her as her little sister and Orla went everywhere with her.
Lena was a dark contrast to her adopted sister. Her hair and dark brown eyes stood out starkly against her pale skin so that she looked like a doll. Some of the older boys found her very pretty but she was more likely to give them a bloody nose than a kiss.
“So?” Lena said as soon as she sat down across the table from them.
“So what?” Troy asked her, frowning.
“So,” Lena repeated leaning in closer, “What has he been doing?”
Troy frowned again but this time at Ziggy who blushed and shrugged his shoulders, “It just slipped out, honest.”
“It’s none of your business,” Troy told her, “Keep your nose out of it!”
Lena tutted and rolled her eyes. “This place isn’t that big! It’s only a matter of time before Calhoun finds out and then we will all be in trouble! So I think it is my business!”
Troy opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again. Lena was right; he knew it was only a matter of time before his brother would be caught. He was surprised Poe and Co hadn’t found out already and told on him.
“He wouldn’t talk to me. Now he’s with Krista again. I think she must know what he’s doing, I just can’t get him to talk to me these days.”
Lena and Ziggy looked at each other as Troy played with the food on his plate. They knew what was bothering him most even though he had never said it. Since he and Tristan had arrived here three years ago after they had practically crash-landed they had been inseparable. It had been particularly hard for little Troy. Their father was already dead but their badly injured mother had lived for a week before she too passed away and then it was just the two of them.
They had learned after arriving at the home that the man responsible for the death of their parents was called Red Raven. An infamous criminal who was well known for being particularly violent and for attacking lone spaceships, robbing them of everything. He had recently been in the news quite a bit because of an attack on a small space station not too far away. Troy had tried to talk to his brother about Red Raven but Tristan didn’t seem to want to.
But lately, for the past two months or so, Tristan had been sneaking out of the Home and hadn’t been telling his little brother, and his friends knew that it was this that got to him most. Lena played with her food for a while watching Troy as he ate silently. Ziggy watched him too, his usually bright open face subdued as he tried to figure out how to help his friend.
“You know,” Lena said, “You could follow him, see where he goes.”
“What?” Troy said, “Are you crazy? How can I follow him? I’d be seen!”
“You just need to make sure Poe and Co don’t see you,” Lena said.
Troy looked at her as if she was mad but then Ziggy spoke, “We could drug them I suppose.”
Both Troy and Lena looked at him completely shocked. “What?”
Ziggy blushed as he saw their faces. “I didn’t mean with real drugs! But what about June’s cough syrup, it always makes me sleep like a baby!”
Lena and Troy looked at him then looked at each other. At the same time they began to grin and quickly they thought up various ways of doing it until they finally decided on the perfect one.
The plan worked remarkably well. They kept it simple not wanting to make it too complicated in case something was forgotten. Having tasted some of June’s cough syrup they knew it tasted like Patience’s famous Jam Roly Poly so they decided to persuade her to make it for the evening dinner.
Lena offered to help so they could somehow get the cough syrup in with the jam. It was very easy, Patience being the jolly, trusting person that she was. All Lena had to do was tip in the medicine as she stirred the pot.
Of course it meant that they couldn’t eat it themselves and luckily Tristan found it too sweet so never ate it which meant he was wide awake for his midnight escapade. Troy watched his brother slip out of the window then looked over to Ziggy. Sighing, he got out of bed and shook his friend awake. Ziggy grunted and tried to roll over but Troy just shook him harder.
“What?”
“You were supposed to stay awake!” Troy whispered in disgust.
Ziggy blushed slightly, “Sorry, I got tired!”
“Come on!”
They tiptoed to the window then froze as a whimpering noise came from behind them. One of the younger boys was having a nightmare, thrashing about in his bed.
“He might wake the others!” Troy hissed to Ziggy.
Ziggy hurried over to the youngster and crooned softly to him and he quickly quieted and snuggled into his blankets. Ziggy noted the look on his friend’s face and shrugged self-consciously.
Poking his head out of the window Troy saw his brother heading out the gate and down the street. Looking out over the nearby rooftops he could make out the neon lit network of roads that a few cars glided along easily in the town centre. Troy quickly clambered out of the window and climbed down the drainpipe. He only paused long enough to make sure Ziggy was keeping up.
As they ran out of the gate they saw Tristan turning the corner up ahead and they went as silently as they could to keep up. Peeking around the corner Troy watched his brother as he slipped down an alleyway into the darkness.
“What’s down there?” he whispered to Ziggy.
Ziggy thought for a moment. “As far as I can remember that alley only leads down to the docks.”
“The docks? What would he be doing at the docks?”
“The ship yard is down there.”
Troy looked at Ziggy who was doing his best not to look at him. “You think he’s been going to the shipyard?”
Ziggy shrugged, “I can’t think of any other reason, can you?” 
Troy stood undecided as to what to do. He knew what was at the shipyard but he wasn’t sure if he was ready to see it again. Ziggy, watching him with a worried expression, forced a smile on his face.
“Come on!” Troy said finally.
Tristan by this time had disappeared but as they knew where he was probably going they didn’t need to follow him. Ziggy led the way as he knew the streets better having lived here all his life so it wasn’t long before they reached the gates of the local shipyard. 
“How do we get in, it’s locked?” Troy asked.
“You followed me,” a voice said behind them.
They spun around in fright to see Tristan standing watching them, arms crossed over his chest and a frown on his face.
“Do you realise what will happen if they find you missing?” he continued.
“They won’t,” Troy said hurriedly then frowned, “Besides, you snuck out too!”
“Having three people missing is a lot different than just one! Someone will notice!”
“No they won’t, we made a plan so no-one would know.” They explained their plan and Tristan seemed genuinely impressed.
“I wouldn’t have had to follow you if you had told me what you were up to!” Troy said accusingly.
Tristan sighed and looked at his younger brother who was scowling at him. “I was going to tell you eventually. In fact, I was going to tell you tomorrow because I’ve finished.”
“Finished what?” Troy asked suspiciously. He could see his brother was excited about something from the way he grinned as he spoke and the gleam in his eyes.
“Come on, I’ll show you!”
He led them around the side of the yard until they came to a small hole in the fence. Pushing the plank of wood beside the hole Tristan made it large enough for them to squeeze through into the yard. He took them along the fence past huge dark crates and strange metallic shapes until they came to a large open space and Troy came to an abrupt halt as he saw what stood there.



TWO
A spaceship, small compared to a lot of the ships out there, was parked at the back of the shipyard. Troy felt his throat tighten and tears came to his eyes. His stomach clenched and he couldn’t decide whether he was going to cry or throw up.
It was such a familiar sight as he had spent his first nine years of life inside this ship while his parents explored planets and star systems. It was also where his father had died and his mother had been so terribly injured. The image of his mother slumped over the console, her blood seeping over the control panel flashed in his mind and he gasped. He had kept that memory firmly buried but standing this close to their old home brought it raging to the forefront of his mind and he struggled not to become overwhelmed.
Tristan watched his little brother, aware of the different emotions chasing each other over his face. He knew what he was feeling, he had felt it too and his heart went out to him. He squeezed Troy’s shoulder in sympathy.
Ziggy hovered behind not really knowing whether he should be here or not. He knew how Tristan and Troy had come to be here and knew Troy had never been down here since they’d landed. Looking at the spaceship he thought it looked quite pretty.
It was a teardrop shape slightly flattened with a long cylindrical shape attached at either side. Four chunky feet held it off the ground. It had a shimmering silver colour and painted along one side of it was a picture of a shooting star in red and yellow and in blue lettering the name Star Chaser.
“You’ve fixed her,” Troy noted in a flat voice.
“Yeah,” Tristan said, unable to stop the pride from creeping into his voice. “I’ve been coming down here every night and working on her with Old Ted helping me.”
“Who’s Old Ted?” Ziggy asked curiously.
“He works nights down here as a guard but he used to be a mechanic for the police, a really good one actually,” Tristan told them smiling.
“Why?” Troy asked so quietly they almost couldn’t hear him.
“Because Star Chaser is our home, not here!” Tristan said frowning at his brother, “Because Mum and Dad would have wanted it this way! Do you want to stay here for the rest of your life?”
Troy looked at his brother finally understanding what he had been doing, “Are you planning on leaving Goramir? On Star Chaser?”
“We’re leaving Goramir,” Tristan corrected, “Troy, we can’t stay here! This isn’t home - up there is!”
Troy looked up to where Tristan pointed and noticed how bright the stars were away from the streetlights. They shone like beacons and for the first time since arriving on this planet Troy realised how much he had missed them. Being able to look out of his window and see the stars sliding past was how he used to fall asleep and he realised with a jolt he wanted to see that again.
“Can Ziggy come too?” he asked.
Tristan grinned and slapped his brother on the back. “Of course, Krista is already coming – she’s brilliant with computers! I’ve fixed the engines and made a few improvements as well!”
“Krista’s coming?” Troy said frowning slightly.
Tristan sighed, “We can’t run the ship ourselves, we need others. I’ll be the mechanic, fixing the engines and such. Krista will handle the computer and all the other systems.”
“What will I do?” he asked Tristan.
Tristan grinned and placed his hand on his shoulder, “You’re the pilot of course!”
Troy’s jaw dropped slightly and it was a moment before he could speak, “What? You want me to pilot Star Chaser?”
“Why not?” Tristan shrugged, “You were always the one up with Mum, watching her and getting her to let you pilot. Plus you’ve been playing that stupid computer game!”
“What’s that got to do with it?”
Tristan sighed again, “Haven’t you noticed that it’s very similar to the controls on Star Chaser. She’s a great little ship but she is pretty old and basic.”
Troy looked from his brother back to the ship and tried to think of a reason he couldn’t do it. His heart went a little faster at the thought of once more being amongst the stars and away from this place and he couldn’t stop the grin from spreading over his face.
“Okay, let’s do it!” he said, “What about inside? Have you changed it much?”
Tristan hugged his brother quickly and Ziggy sniggered behind them. Troy scowled at him as his brother pulled a small black disc out of his pocket and pointed it at the ship. There was a whooshing noise and just underneath the nose a hatch opened and came to rest on the ground. Just as they started up the ramp a voice cried out behind them.
“Wait! You’re not going without us!”
Lena came running up dragging a sleepy Orla behind her. She stopped just before the ramp and glared at Troy.
“You were going to leave without us? After all the help I’ve given you – I thought we were friends!” Lena tried to look angry but the hitch in her voice at the end proved she was more upset than anything.
“We’re not!” Troy said then hastily added at Lena’s incredulous expression, “We’re not leaving that is! I’ve only just found out myself!” He looked round at his brother who had a disgusted look on his face. 
“Is there anyone you didn’t tell about this?”
Troy smiled weakly, “Lena and Orla helped us with the plan. I don’t suppose they could…?”
Tristan flung his hands in the air and said, “Why not? Might as well ask everyone!”
“Don’t be silly!” Lena said sharply, “The ship isn’t big enough!”
Tristan scowled at her and asked, “I don’t suppose there is anything useful you can do?”
“Oh yes!” Ziggy exclaimed, trying to help, “Lena’s very good at…um…she’s good at…well, she’s good at fighting!”
Troy groaned inwardly and looked at Tristan. But his brother just stared at Ziggy then turned away shaking his head as he continued up the ramp. Troy hurried after him followed closely by the others.
They entered into a large open space that was the cargo bay that had a flight of stairs at the opposite end directly in front of them. Beyond the stairs they could see doors lining the corridor and one at the far end.
“These are the sleeping quarters,” Tristan explained to Ziggy, Lena and Orla, “Beyond the bedrooms at the end of the corridor is the engine rooms which I would rather you stayed out of, if you don’t mind!”
Tristan led the way up the stairs eagerly followed by everyone except Troy. He was feeling a whirl of emotions, a mix of grief and happiness.
He was happy to be back in the one place he had always thought of as home but dreaded seeing it at the same time. He walked slowly up the stairs and barely heard Tristan telling the others where the kitchen and the bridge were. He turned towards the bridge alone and stepped into the doorway.
He gazed around at the familiar seats and panels with their flashing lights, buttons of all different sizes and little screens that told you how the ship was operating. Of course, the ship was shut down just now with only the doors and the overhead lights powered up so they could see.
He walked slowly over to the front and stopped just in front of his mother’s chair. Looking down at the console he could see it had been replaced with a different control panel but in his mind’s eye he could remember what it looked like the last time he had seen it.
“I had to replace it,” his brother said quietly behind him, “I couldn’t bring myself to try and….you know.” Tristan shrugged.
Troy looked up at his brother and knew he had meant he couldn’t bring himself to clean the blood off. Their mother’s blood. Looking down at the console again he ran his hand over it.
“It’s almost exactly the same,” he said in wonder, “Where did you find it?”
Tristan grinned, “There’s another ship here almost identical to Star Chaser! Same engine systems, same electrical…!”
“Okay, okay!” Troy smiled, “So you took parts from that ship and put them in Star Chaser?”
“That’s right!” Tristan said, his chest visibly expanding with pride, “Old Ted helped me some but I managed to get everything either repaired or replaced. I did have to spend some of our money that was hidden in the cargo bay though, for some parts and fuel.”
Troy nodded and said, “I’m glad you did.”
“Really?” Tristan said placing a hand on his shoulder, “Are you going to be okay? It took me a while to feel comfortable about this, especially since all the damage was still here.”
Troy looked around the bridge and nodded slowly, “I’ll think I’ll be okay.”
“Good,” Tristan smiled, “There’s one other thing though. If all these kids are coming with us we’re going to have to clear out Mum and Dad’s room.”
 “I don’t think Mum would mind,” Troy said thoughtfully, “I think they would like it that Star Chaser was someone’s home again.”
 Tristan stood thinking for a moment while watching their friends walk towards the bridge while looking around at everything with wonder. Indicating for his friends to stay on the bridge while he and Tristan stepped out into the corridor, Troy smiled reassuringly and closed the door for some privacy.
“Seriously Troy, what are all these kids going to be doing? It’s going to be hard enough to keep the fact a bunch of kids are flying a space ship without us having to baby sit as well.”
Troy nodded thoughtfully, “I’, sure we can find something for them to do. We’re going to be living here so there will still be chores needing done, like cooking and cleaning!”
Tristan nodded in agreement, “True, I guess some chores you just can’t get away from!”
Troy grinned, “Yeah, but we can get someone else to do them for us!”
Tristan laughed and patted his brother on his arm, “I like the way you think. Okay, I guess this is it! Everyone will have their own assigned duties but we all still need to work together when needed. Agreed?”
Troy nodded then asked, “Shouldn’t we run this by the others first?”



THREE
The next day Tristan, along with Krista, explained the rest of their plan to the others. Krista had been surprised at the presence of more than Troy but readily accepted and even seemed to be pleased that there was going to be more than just the three of them.
While they listened to Tristan, Troy wondered at how they had come up with such a scheme. They had not only thought about how they were escaping but also how to make sure the children that were left behind weren’t made to pay for it.
“Krista, like I said before,” Tristan was saying, “is brilliant with computers and we’ve come up with a way to get us some money and get back at Calhoun. We all know that Calhoun has been keeping a lot of the money that was meant for the home for himself. Well, Krista was able to hack into his accounts and find the stolen money so we documented all the details and sent it off to Fairfax. In fact, he should be getting it about now!”
“Now!” Lena exclaimed, “When were you planning to leave?”
“Tonight.”
“Tonight! That doesn’t give us much time!” Troy exclaimed.
“We don’t need more time,” Tristan said patiently, “When Fairfax realises what Calhoun has been doing he’s going to be straight down here. Plus, with a strategically timed fire alarm Calhoun will be too busy to notice our escape.”
“How have you managed to find some money?” Lena asked suspiciously.
Tristan grinned, “I stole from Calhoun.” he explained, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously, “I set up an account under a false name and took half of his money! Not only is he going to have to explain the stolen money, he’s going to have to explain why half of it can’t be found!”
Troy smiled at the thought of how Calhoun would be squirming in his seat at that but then he frowned, “But shouldn’t all that money be left for the home?”
Tristan sighed and rolled his eyes, “Come on Troy, old man Fairfax won’t let anything happen to these kids now he knows what a slime bag Calhoun is! If he has any sense he’ll put Patience and June in charge. Don’t worry, he’ll make sure they are okay!”
“Calhoun is going to be really mad when he finds out we’ve not only run away but took half his money too!” Ziggy said quietly.
“He won’t know for sure it was us,” Tristan reassured, “he can only guess. I was careful, the account is totally untraceable.”
They sat in silence for a while, some excited at the prospect of escaping while others felt a mix of excitement and fear. Lena looked around the room and sighed softly.
“What’s wrong?” Troy asked her.
She shrugged, “It wasn’t always bad here, there were some fun times when Calhoun wasn’t about.”
“That didn’t happen too often though,” Ziggy muttered.
“Okay guys, listen up,” Tristan said, “Gather together all your stuff – only what you really need – and put it in the old janitor’s cupboard in the basement. If there is anything else you think we might need grab it, but don’t take any risks – we cannot get caught! I’ve already gathered up a few bits and pieces and put them on Star Chaser, we just need to get a little food to last us until we can get to a space station!”
“A space station,” Lena breathed in awe, “I can’t believe we’re really going to be leaving! It just seems so unreal! Somebody pinch me….ow!”
“You said to pinch you!” Troy grinned.
“One thing Lena,” Tristan said softly and his voice was very serious, “Does Orla understand what we’re doing?” He quickly raised a placating hand at Lena’s suddenly fierce scowl and added, “I know she’s not an idiot but she doesn’t say much about what is really a big deal!”
Lena looked at Orla who watched Tristan silently with her strange violet eyes, “She understands, don’t worry.”
“Well, let’s get started,” Tristan announced, “Be careful people! Remember, as soon as you hear the alarm go straight to the basement, stop for no one!”
They separated to go to their own dormitories, Troy and Ziggy hurrying to keep up with Tristan. He paused at their dormitory door and turned to them.
“I’m going to go and get a bag to hold all our stuff. Just gather it up but try not to let anyone see you. Everyone should be down in the common room or the garden at this time of day.”
They stepped into their dormitory that was indeed empty and hurried to their beds. Opening his small chest of drawers, Troy hurriedly pulled out the few clothes he had and laid them in a pile on the floor. In the bottom of the top drawer were the few belongings he treasured.
He carefully wrapped a photo of his parents standing smiling outside Star Chaser on one of the hundreds of planets they had visited and added it to the pile. He also had a deck of hologram cards; a few things that he had saved from his cabin on Star Chaser, at least the ones he had been allowed to keep and a long metal tube.
The metal tube had been his mother’s and contained maps of the star systems that they had visited. Every time they visited a new system she added another map to the tube. He couldn’t have left it behind in case it had been stolen, he intended to keep adding maps just like his mother.
He finished emptying his belongings on to the floor and looked at the pile. It wasn’t very big, a few clothes and some bits and pieces. He looked over to Ziggy and was surprised to see how large his pile was. Walking over to his friend he looked at the mound of clothes, toys, bits of paper and various other things.
“What is all this stuff?” he asked incredulously.
Ziggy blushed slightly as he finished emptying his drawers and said, “Well, I never like to throw stuff away, you know, just in case. I’ll never know when I might need it again…”
He trailed off at the look on Troy’s face and shrugged, “Maybe I should leave some of it?”
“At least some of the clothes! Most of these must be too small for you by now!”
“Just some,” Ziggy muttered almost defensively.
Troy sighed, “Just take what you need, that’s all.”
Ziggy quickly sorted out the clothes and stuffed everything that was too small back into the drawers. Just as he had finished Tristan came in carrying a large cloth bag and quickly went to his own bed.
He put everything he had into the bag then crammed Troy and Ziggy’s piles on top, raising his eyebrows at Ziggy’s still ample mound. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he headed for the door.
He turned back to them, “I’ll take this down to the basement, Krista is getting the girls’ stuff. We can’t all go down it would look suspicious.” He poked his head out into the corridor then back to them, “It’s clear, anything else you can find shove into a bag and we can grab it later!”
Troy sat down on his bed as his brother left and stared into space. He looked across at Ziggy who was also sitting at the end of his bed staring at Troy with large eyes.
“Doesn’t seem real, does it?” he said.
Troy shook his head and tried to smile but the truth was he wasn’t sure this wasn’t all a dream.
“Are you okay about…you know…being back on Star Chaser where your parents…you know…?” Ziggy blushed as he fumbled through his question.
Troy thought before he answered, “I didn’t really want to see it again, to be honest. But now all I can think of is being amongst the stars again. Tristan’s right, this isn’t our home.”
Ziggy nodded, visibly relieved he hadn’t upset his friend, “I’m quite looking forward to being out in space! I’ve never been off this planet since…”
Troy looked away at the look on Ziggy’s face when he had stopped himself from saying ‘since my parents dumped me here’. Even though he was an orphan himself he had at least known his parents and known he was loved. He couldn’t begin to imagine how Ziggy must feel about being so unwanted he was left on a doorstep on a planet to which he didn’t belong.
To cheer his friend up he told him tales of their travels through the systems, some true and some so wildly made up Ziggy was roaring with laughter until a voice from the doorway caught their attention.
“Well, well ,well,” William Poe drawled from the doorway, “If  I’m not mistaken, you two should be outside finishing off that fence.”
Troy cursed inwardly. He had forgotten it was his and Ziggy’s turn to paint some of the fence, part of the scheduled chores all the children had to do. He got off his bed and stood facing Poe.
Poe stood with a malicious smile curling the corners of his mouth. His pale face had a pleased expression as he looked at Ziggy and Troy with a superior air. It was hard for someone as small as Poe to look superior to others but he always seemed to manage it. He always dressed as neatly as he could with his red hair always brushed into place, of course his clothes were better than everyone else’s because Calhoun liked him.
Bill and Bob hovered behind him, their tall thin frames looming over their friend. Their dark eyes watched Ziggy and Troy unblinkingly. Sharks eyes Ziggy always said they looked like and Troy had to agree, they just had no personalities.
“We’re just on our way,” Troy said mildly, “If you would let us pass.”
Poe smiled and shook his head, “First, I want to know what your brother is up to.”
Troy stepped forward and frowned at Poe, “What are you talking about? Tristan isn’t up to anything!”
“Isn’t he? Then what was in that bag I saw him carrying?”  Poe glanced away from Troy to Ziggy who was standing behind him, “Perhaps I should ask Ziggy if he knows. He was always a terrible liar!”
Troy groaned inwardly and glanced quickly over his shoulder at his friend who was standing with a worried look on his face. The one thing Ziggy couldn’t do was lie convincingly, you just had to look at his face.
“Leave Ziggy alone, Willie!” Troy spat. He knew Poe hated that nickname and it was guaranteed to cause trouble but he couldn’t let him question Ziggy. It didn’t help that Ziggy was now laughing.
Poe went scarlet with rage and pushed Troy aside as he stepped toward Ziggy. Troy started to grab for Poe but found himself being held by Bill and Bob. They held each arm and grinned down at him and Troy almost expected to see a mouthful of sharp, pointed teeth.
“What are you laughing at?” Poe seethed, “I would have thought that someone like you would be careful who he laughs at. He might find that no one wants him here.” He paused and an evil smile came to his face, “But that’s how you got here anyway, isn’t it? Even your mother didn’t want you and who could blame her, you must have been a really ugly baby!”
“Ziggy! Don’t lis…” Troy started to say but a hand clamped over his mouth.
Usually when Poe was being this incredibly nasty Ziggy would either turn and run or cry but today he did neither. In fact, Troy had never seen Ziggy look so angry. A flush crept up his neck and over his face and his eyes went as hard as stones as he glared at Poe.
Even Poe seemed to realise and actually looked scared himself. He made to step back but Ziggy grabbed the front of his clothes and heaved him above his head. Poe had obviously forgotten about Ziggy’s strength.
Bill and Bob dashed forward to rescue their friend but Ziggy had already thrown him across the room. Luckily, for Poe he landed on Troy’s bed and bounced off the other side. Bill and Bob had paused to watch Poe fly across the room but then they turned to Ziggy.
With one punch Ziggy sent Bill – or was it Bob – flying into the wall and the other crumpled at his feet after he butted him on the chin.
Tristan ran into the room just then. “What’s going on? I can hear you down the hall!”
Troy gestured around the room but didn’t know what to say. Poe was getting to his feet while Bill and Bob still lay prone on the floor. Ziggy was breathing hard and still looking a bit wild but he seemed to be calming down a bit.
Before anyone could speak Calhoun appeared behind them. He stood surveying the room with an annoyed look on his face. His small brown eyes came to rest on Ziggy and Troy held his breath but he just looked for a long moment then turned to Poe.
“What are you doing? I thought I told you to go to my office,” he said angrily.
Poe’s mouth dropped open at this uncharacteristic dressing down, “But sir, these two weren’t outside and when I pointed it out to them this one attacked us for no reason!”
Calhoun sighed in annoyance and ran his hand over his thinning brown hair, “I don’t care! I have more important things for you to do! Move!”
As Poe stomped past Ziggy and Troy he shot them a venomous look. Calhoun looked at them once more then turned away. “Get those two to the infirmary!” he barked over his shoulder.
They watched in shocked silence as Calhoun disappeared out the door. Troy turned to look at Ziggy then they both looked at Tristan who was grinning from ear to ear.
“What was that all about?” Troy asked.
“Don’t you get it?” Tristan said excitedly, “He’s obviously heard from Fairfax! Couldn’t you see how worried he was! He’s scared, really scared!”
Tristan grabbed one of the unconscious boys, “Troy, you get his feet. Ziggy, you’ll have to manage the other one.”
“By the way Ziggy,” Troy said as he bent down, “You were great!”
Ziggy blushed, “I didn’t mean to lose my temper but he just made me so angry!”
“I just wish I’d been here to see it,” Tristan grinned, “I’m just glad you’re on my side!”
Ziggy blushed even more but he couldn’t help smiling under their praise. He hoisted Bill – or Bob - onto his shoulder and hurried after the other two.
It didn’t take them long to reach the infirmary and June fussed over the unconscious boys before shooing everyone out. She had raised an eyebrow at their story of how they had both tripped and fallen at the same time.
Outside in the corridor Tristan stopped and Troy looked at him as his brother stood thinking.
“What is it?”
Tristan looked up at them and said, “I think it’s time to go.”
“Now?”
“Yes, if Calhoun has heard from Fairfax he’s going to be too busy but Poe might be able to let him know we’re up to something. We can’t take that chance, we have to go now!”
“Okay! Let’s do it!” Troy said then looked reassuringly at Ziggy who was looking worried again.
Tristan nodded then ran to the nearest fire alarm, a few seconds later the corridors were filled with running children.



FOUR
“Come on!” shouted Tristan above the noise. They followed him at a run, trying not to push the other kids out the way while they made their way along the corridor. As the other children ran on they ducked down a side corridor until they came to the door to the basement.
Looking quickly around to make sure the coast was clear, Tristan opened the door and they ducked inside. Descending down the stairs inside as quickly as they could they ran to the old janitor’s cupboard.
“What about the others?” Troy gasped.
Tristan yanked open the cupboard and stepped inside, “We’ll wait for them here. They should be on their way. I told Krista if she heard the alarm it was time to go” He came back out holding two large bags and a smaller one.
A noise from the top of the stairs had them looking at each other in indecision. Tristan mouthed ‘hide’ to them both and they slipped behind a stack of boxes. Footsteps came hurrying down the stairs and straight towards them.
“They’re not even here yet!” Lena’s voice said.
Troy looked at Ziggy in relief and they came out of hiding. “Yes, we are!” he said, and then grinned when Lena and Krista jumped.
She glared at him while Orla gazed at them with a strange little smile and said, “See the stars!”
“That’s right Orla, we’re going to see the stars,” Lena smiled at her while everyone gaped at this uncharacteristic talkativeness.
“Let’s go!” Tristan exclaimed.
He walked behind the stack of boxes again and they followed curiously. Stopping in front of a large pile that stood against the wall he started to move them, gesturing for the others to help him.
“What are you doing?” Troy asked.
Tristan kept clearing boxes but explained over his shoulder, “When Krista was hacking into Calhoun’s personal files she came across a blue print for this building. It seems it was built to be used as headquarters for some army and there were several emergency exits. Here!”
When the boxes were cleared there was a small hatch in the floor that Tristan pulled open, “There’s a tunnel down here that leads out behind the home.”
“Where does it come out?” Ziggy asked.
“Behind the utility shed.”
“What’s it like down there?”
Tristan shrugged, “I don’t know, we’ve never been down it.”
“What!” Troy blurted, looking at his brother as if he was mad, “It could be blocked or anything!”
“True,” Tristan agreed, “But we better get going now. This is our best chance; it gets us out the back where we won’t be seen. Especially since it’s still daylight.”
With that he stepped onto the ladder and disappeared from view. The others stood looking at each other then Krista moved forward. She waited a little way down as Lena helped Orla onto the ladder and when she was safely down Lena scrambled in herself.
Only Troy and Ziggy were left and they stood undecided for just a moment until a noise from upstairs came and they both darted towards the hatch. Troy let Ziggy go first then he grabbed a hold of the hatch door and pulled it shut over his head. He noticed a bolt on the bottom side of it but it was too rusted to move so he left it and just hoped that no one would find the trapdoor for a while.
Tristan was holding up a small lantern to give them a little light to see by in the pitch black of the tunnel. When everyone was down he told them to get in single file and to hold onto the person in front. It was just a short tunnel he assured them.
Tristan was last holding onto Ziggy’s shoulder. From the dim light of the lantern that reached back to him he could see that the tunnel was made of red brick and the floor was plain grey slabs. He felt strangely disappointed by that. He would have expected a secret tunnel to have traps and other pitfalls just in case it was ever discovered. There weren’t even any cobwebs!
They turned a corner and a short distance in front there was a slight greying of the black as if there was a light attempting to penetrate the gloom. Tristan eagerly went forward and the others hurried to keep up so they wouldn’t lose their contact of the one in front.
Holding the lantern up higher they could see a metal ladder and at the top what looked like a drain cover. Tristan handed the lamp to Krista and clambered up the ladder. Easing the cover up slightly he peered out then removed it completely. They watched his slim frame disappear up into the circle of light then his head poked back in.
“Come on, quick!”
Krista followed quickly with Orla right behind her then Lena, Ziggy and Troy. When they were out Troy was surprised to find that they were on the street behind the home.
“What…” he began but Tristan cut him short.
“Let’s get going, the alarm has stopped, we haven’t got long!”
They ran up the deserted street and when they reached the corner Tristan abruptly stopped and the others nearly ploughed right into him.
“We have to be careful, there are still people about. Just walk as if we’re supposed to be here and hopefully no one will stop us. We just have to get across the road to the alley.”
They all looked at one another nervously but Tristan left them no time to worry as he had already stepped around the corner. 
There were not many people about as the day was getting late and everyone was heading home. No one gave them a second glance as they crossed the street and Troy started to breathe a little easier until he saw the policeman at the other end of the street.
He was talking into his radio and looking around. Troy told himself it wasn’t anything to do with them he was just paranoid. But then the policeman saw them and abruptly stopped talking and began coming their way.
“Tristan!” he hissed.
“I see him,” Tristan muttered back, “We’re almost at the alley, once we get there run!”
Troy watched in horror as the policeman came closer, his eyes fixed on the children and a determined look on his face. Finally they were at the alley and they quickly ducked into it then began to run as fast as they could.
Troy looked behind him as they ran expecting to see the policeman but he wasn’t there – yet. Lena was dragging Orla whose shorter legs were finding it hard to keep up until Ziggy grabbed her other hand and they practically carried her.
“Oi!” a loud voice suddenly shouted behind them and Troy looked over his shoulder in horror.
The policeman had finally reached the alley and had begun to run after them. They sped out the other end of the alley and turned down the street that led them to the docks. 
This street was a bit busier than the one they had just left as the dock workers were heading home. There were a few annoyed cries as the children ran through their midst.
Looking back Troy couldn’t see the policeman but then suddenly he appeared out of the alley. Red-faced and angry he stopped for a moment to look for them, Troy ducked down as he ran.
“Stop them!” a voice rang out behind them but they were already around the corner.
Tristan was holding the plank of wood by the hole in the fence and the others were nimbly clambering through. By now they were getting quite a few curious looks and Troy dived through the hole followed closely by Tristan who quickly pulled a box over to block it.
They ran after the others, Tristan fishing in his pocket while he ran. Troy skidded to a halt just before he crashed right into Ziggy and the others as they stood in front of Star Chaser.
“Sorry!” Troy gasped.
Tristan opened the hatch then looked around as a small, bald old man came hurrying up to him.
“Troy, this is Old Ted,” Tristan said hurriedly as he ushered everyone on, “He helped me with Star Chaser.”
Old Ted grinned toothlessly at Troy who smiled back uncertainly. “Here, boy,” Old Ted said to Tristan, shoving a small cloth bag into his hand, “Take this,”
Tristan hugged the old man, “Thanks, Ted!”
Old Ted held on to Tristan’s arm to prevent him from moving away and spoke quietly, “I’m sure it’s nothing but do you remember me telling you I like to frequent Faraday’s Bar the other side of the docks?”
Tristan frowned a little, not sure the old man understood how much of a hurry they were in.
“Well, I overheard an interesting conversation,” Old Ted continued, “Some weird looking guy was asking about a ship just like this one. Wondering what had happened to its cargo and its crew.”
Tristan looked in confusion at the old man while Troy felt a cold shiver down his spine.
“Who would be interested in Star Chaser?” Tristan asked.
The old man shrugged, “I couldn’t say, but if you ever come across a man with some kind of bird tattoo on the side of his neck, avoid him.”
Tristan smiled, still confused and said, “We will Ted. Thanks again for everything!”
Old Ted nodded and smiled sadly as Troy and Tristan disappeared up the ramp. With a final wave as the hatch was shutting Tristan shouted goodbye then darted to the engine room.
Troy ran for the bridge. He stopped at the door for a moment to catch his breath. Krista was sitting on the right hand side of the console at the computer; she had already got it online, while the others sat in the passenger seats behind.
Troy looked at them and could see how scared they were – all except Orla who was calm as always. At that moment it suddenly occurred to him that this would be the first time that any of them had left the planet, let alone been in a spaceship.
A loud hum started and Troy realised his brother had got the engines up and running and he smiled at the familiar sound. Hurrying into his seat – the pilot’s seat – he quickly checked his console and pressed a few buttons. Lights came on and screens flickered into life.
He grinned and looked over to Krista who smiled back even though she looked a little daunted herself. Pressing the intercom button he spoke to his brother.
“Everything okay down there?”
“Ready when you are!” Tristan called back, “I hope you remember how this is done!”
Troy smiled and looked back at Lena and Ziggy who suddenly looked ten times as scared. “Don’t worry,” he reassured them hurriedly, “The ship practically does it herself. It’s all computerised, I just have to keep her on track.” He smiled again but they only looked slightly convinced.
Only Orla smiled and nodded as if this was all an everyday occurrence.
Turning to Krista he said, “Start launch sequence.”
Krista nodded and tapped away on the computer pad. “Launch sequence activated,” she said, then grinned.
“Here we go!” Troy cried, grasping the helm.
Star Chaser shuddered slightly then began to lift off the ground. As Troy looked out the windshield he could see Old Ted waving and behind him the policeman came running up. Troy could see his lips moving as he shouted something but he couldn’t hear any of it.
Star Chaser’s velocity built up fast until they could feel themselves being pressed back into their seats. The tops of the skyscrapers disappeared and the clouds flew past as the ship climbed higher and higher until the planet’s atmosphere began to disappear and the stars began to show themselves.
The roar of the engines died down as they cleared the planet and everything became silent. The only sounds were the occasional beep from the consoles and the breathing of the children.
“We did it!” an awed Lena breathed.
Troy swivelled around in his seat and looked at his friends as they stared open-mouthed out the windshield at the stars. Their faces were transfixed as if they thought it was all a dream.
Troy looked out at the stars himself and couldn’t help smiling. He was home, he thought.



FIVE
Tristan appeared, breathless and grinning, on the bridge. Troy leapt from his seat and hugged his brother joyously.
“We did it! We did it!” he yelled.
Tristan slapped his brother on the back and turned to the others. They still sat strapped in their seats and gazing out at the stars, their expressions a strange mix of fear, incredulity and delight.
“You can unstrap yourselves if you like guys, we only need to strap in on take-offs and landings. Any other time we can wander about as we please,” Tristan told them. He turned to Krista, “Krista, keep checking for any pursuit for a while and check for what’s around here. We need to stop and get some more fuel before we can go any great distance.”
“You don’t think we’ll be followed do you?” Troy asked.
Tristan shrugged, “I doubt it. Calhoun will be too busy with Fairfax to bother chasing runaways but it’s better to be safe than sorry.” He turned back to the door; “We’d best sort out where everyone is staying so they can make themselves at home.”
They followed him down the stairs to the sleeping quarters. With the ship up and running the interior of Star Chaser was much more cheerful. The outside of the ship was a silver colour with Tristan’s repairs in a darker grey from the other ship he had scrounged parts off of. The interior was a warm bronze colour with lighter copper embossing here and there of strange Celtic designs that Mary Argonaut had lovingly added herself to make it more homely.
“Troy,” Tristan began, “You and me have our old cabins. Ziggy you can have the one next to mine and Krista has the end one. I thought Lena and Orla might want to be in the same cabin,” Lena nodded at this, “ So, I thought maybe they could have the one next to you.”
“Mum and Dad’s room,” Troy said quietly.
“We won’t take it if you don’t want us to!” Lena said hurriedly, “I know this must be hard for you being the first time you’ve been back on your ship since…” She broke off quickly, flushing slightly at her tactlessness.
Troy smiled at her, “It is a bit weird,” he admitted, “but there is no point in wasting the room if someone needs it. It’s the biggest cabin, the others would be too cramped for both of you.” He paused, thinking; “Besides I think Mum would like the idea of someone living in it instead of it going to waste.”
He looked at Tristan who smiled in agreement. Tristan pointed to the bags that had been dumped at the bottom of the stairs and suggested they sort out what was whose while he and Troy sorted out their parents’ stuff.
Troy paused at the threshold while his brother walked straight in. He looked sadly about the cabin his parents had slept in and couldn’t stop the tears that sprang to his eyes. Even though their clothes and personal effects had been packed away and now sat in boxes on the floor their other possessions still lay on the shelves and bookcases.
Strange rocks, pieces of art or other bits and pieces that they had acquired on all the different planets that they had been on decorated their cabin.
“Help me move these boxes into the spare cabin,” Tristan was saying to him but he didn’t hear just kept gazing around the room until his brother’s annoyed voice broke through his reverie. “Troy! Help me move the boxes!”
Troy blinked rapidly to clear his eyes then set to work helping his brother. There weren’t many boxes and before long they were standing looking at all the stuff lying about.
“What about this stuff?” Troy asked, “Should we move it too?”
Tristan thought for a moment then suggested, “Why don’t we take what we want to keep ourselves then the rest can just stay where it is or maybe go around the ship to decorate it. It would be a shame to get rid of it.”
Troy thought that sounded good and immediately went to one of the bookcases and picked up a large rock cluster of varying hues of blue that his mother had particularly liked. It was quite big and took two hands to lift it.
“Do you mind if I have this?” he asked his brother.
Tristan shook his head as he picked up a long metallic tube that had been used many centuries ago to see distant objects. It wasn’t long until they were helping Lena bring her and Orla’s belongings in.
“There are clean sheets in here,” Tristan told her, opening a hidden door that turned out to be the wardrobe, “They should be clean.” With a smile he left while Ziggy and Troy helped her to make the bed. Something they were all used to doing since it was a standard chore at the home.
“This is a lovely room,” Lena said as she gazed about at all the knick knacks still dotting about, “Are you sure you don’t mind us being here?”
Troy smiled and said, “Of course I don’t mind. Besides, it’s the practical thing to do and my mother was always one for doing the practical thing!”
He grinned and Lena smiled back until they heard a thud behind them and they looked around to find Orla had dropped a round crystal. Troy picked it up while Lena scolded Orla for touching things that didn’t belong to her.
“It’s alright Lena, she didn’t break anything,” he reassured.
“What’s all this stuff?” Ziggy asked curiously. He had been quietly looking at all the various objects about the room and found them fascinating.
“My parents were scientists. They loved collecting the different rocks and crystals we found from the planets we visited. They were trained geologists but loved archaeology and history and all that kind of stuff! They worked for a company back on Harmenta – that’s where we come from – to find rare minerals and ores for trade. It meant we were travelling most of the time but we all loved it!” Troy told them what each thing was and where they had found it, forgetting the time until he caught Orla yawning tiredly beside Lena.
“We’d better go and sort out our own cabins,” Troy told Ziggy leaving Lena to put a sleepy Orla to bed.
Ziggy seemed to be pleased with his cabin and Troy helped him bring in his large pile of belongings then left him to it. He went to his own cabin and stood in the doorway, looking around at the familiar surroundings.
His bed looked as if it had never been made since the last time he had slept in it. Above his bed was his favourite picture of Earth and her neighbouring moon.
He had never seen the real Earth. People had left it long ago, leaving it almost spent and barren. But the scientists had stayed to try and save humankind’s old home. They were succeeding too. The rainforest was slowly recovering and growing, plants and animals were thriving again.
Many of the plant and animals species had been wiped out by man and his quest for advancement, which is why humans had begun exploring space and terra-forming suitable planets; building space stations and habitats. When humans had met their very first alien life form that had been a historic day but now hundreds of years later it was commonplace.
Troy would have loved to visit Earth but it was now a Natural Reserve and no one was allowed to step foot on it without permission for fear of upsetting the fragile ecosystem they had carefully nurtured back to health. One day humans would be allowed to live there again.
Troy sighed and picked up all his stuff that he had dumped outside his door and placed it on his bed. It didn’t take him long to put his things away and he sat on his bed for a while feeling as if he was home at last. He contemplated changing his bed sheets and getting clean ones but decided that the clean ones that had been in storage all this time would probably smell the same. At least this was the reason he gave himself for not bothering.
“Can everyone come to the bridge,” Tristan’s voice spoke over the intercom system.
Troy stepped out into the corridor to be faced with a worried looking Ziggy. Lena was quietly shutting her cabin door and quickly turned to him.
“Nothing’s wrong is there?” she asked fearfully.
Troy shrugged non-commitally, “I don’t know, I don’t think so. He didn’t sound worried.”
The other two didn’t look comforted at all and quickly followed on his heels up the stairs to the bridge. Tristan was standing behind Krista and they were both looking at her screen, talking quietly.
He smiled when he saw the others and gestured them forward.
“There is a planet not too far away called Alandra. We can stop there and get supplies and fuel.”
“Is anyone following us?” Lena asked worriedly.
“No one,” Krista told her, “I monitored for a while but nothing. Not even Fairfax has left the planet yet.”
“Looks like Calhoun is in really deep water!” Tristan smirked.
The others visibly relaxed and Troy slapped Ziggy on the back.
“Troy,” Tristan gestured him to his seat, “I need you to take her off automatic pilot until we get the co-ordinates of Alandra punched in.”
Troy nodded and sat in his seat. He smiled to himself; it was amazing how quickly he thought of it as his seat. It didn’t take him and Krista long to set the new co-ordinates and then they all trooped to the kitchen.
The kitchen was small and basically a long rectangular shape. Along the wall were two rows of silver panels that opened with a touch to show cupboards with plenty of utensils and other appliances. At the far end was a counter with a shiny black surface that Tristan told them was the cooker. Another counter that ran opposite the cupboards finished off the kitchen.
Past the counter the room opened up and there was a large table with chairs around it.
“Not much here I’m afraid,” said Tristan apologetically, “I meant to get some food from the home but didn’t have time so it’s just what I could grab at breakfast.”
He put some bread rolls on the table along with a chunk of cheese and some fruit. They looked at the meager fare but were too hungry to complain and ate hungrily. Lena put some of it aside for Orla for when she woke.
“When will we get to Alandra?” she asked Tristan.
“Probably early tomorrow morning,” he told her.
Troy nodded then suddenly thought of something, “What did Old Ted give you?”
“I don’t know,” Tristan shrugged, “let me go and get it.”
He disappeared downstairs then returned clutching the bag Old Ted had shoved into his hands before they had left. Opening it he peered inside then carefully pulled out what was inside.
It was a small metal plaque in the shape of a star fixed to a wooden base. Engraved into the grey metal was a small inscription:
TRISTAN ARGONAUT
CAPTAIN OF STAR CHASER
Tristan laughed softly and handed it to Troy who looked at it thoughtfully.
“Don’t mind do you?” his brother asked.
“Mind what?” 
Tristan gestured towards the plaque, “That he called me captain?”
Troy thought for a moment then shrugged, “No, not really. It was you who spent all this time fixing her up and organising the escape. You deserve to be captain, besides we need someone to be serious while we have all the fun!”
Tristan laughed at that last bit and took back the plaque and placed it back in the bag. 
“I need everyone to make a list of what they need supply wise. We’ve got enough money just now so we might as well get everything at once just in case we can’t find somewhere to stop after Alandra for a while.”
“Just remember to get lots of hygiene stuff,” Lena told him, “It’s a small ship and we will be living in close proximity to each other!”
Tristan held up a hand before Troy got all indignant at the implication that he smelled and said, “Don’t worry. We used to help our parents with things like supplies so we know what we need. Also, food-wise mention any allergies you might have because doctors will also be few and far between.”
This last had Ziggy looking extremely worried until Troy reassured him that they wouldn’t need a doctor that urgently and Krista added that she had been trained by Patience and June about First Aid so they were covered for anything that they might come across. Ziggy looked a little relieved but they could tell he was still a little worried. They talked for a while longer until they were all yawning.
“I’m going to bed!” Troy said, standing up.
“Doesn’t someone need to stay up? To keep an eye on the ship or something?” Lena asked, puzzled.
“No,” Tristan told her, “The ship is on automatic pilot and if anything happens or something comes too close we’ll hear an alarm. Don’t worry, she might not look like much but she’s a good ship, she’ll keep us safe!”
Not completely reassured Lena nodded then they all went to their own cabins. Troy lay down on his bed and gazed out his window at the stars. After three years of sharing a dormitory with others he wasn’t used to the complete silence. The only sound was the low hum of the engines that finally lulled him to sleep.



SIX
The planet of Alandra loomed in front of them coloured with plenty of green and yellow. It was a small trading world with lots of traffic on and off the planet. Among its oceans of emerald water and lands of dusty-coloured grass, there was also the occasional large forest of strange spindly-limbed trees that afforded very little respite from the harsh sun.
They had found out very little from their computer databanks about Alandra. Only that it was the best place for refuelling this far away from the more civilized planets.
“Now,” began Tristan as they all gazed at the planet, “We’re going to have to convince these people that we’re not alone on Star Chaser. A ship load of kids is going to draw a lot of attention and they will investigate, which would be bad!” He took something out of a drawer beside Troy that looked like a flat golden hoop. It had small diamond studs dotted around one side of it and a hinge and lock. “This is going to help us fool the shipping customs people when it’s our turn to request permission to land.”
“What is it?” Troy asked, never having seen it before.
“It’s a Holo Hoop,” Tristan explained, then when he saw their blank faces he demonstrated by unlocking the hoop and placing it around his neck and closing it again. “You put it on like this and then press the button – here.”
He pressed somewhere underneath it and suddenly his face and hair completely changed. Instead of his closely cropped black hair it was now longer and a brown shade. His eyes were now brown instead of blue and he looked a lot older than his fifteen years.
“Wow!” Troy and Ziggy said simultaneously.
“How does it work?” Lena asked.
“It’s a hologram,” Tristan explained, “you clip this on and activate it then you look like someone else. Good, isn’t it?”
He grinned at them and Troy thought it looked really weird on this new face. It sounded like Tristan but it was weird hearing Tristan’s voice coming from different lips. Freaky! is what he kept thinking.
“But what about the voice?” Krista asked, “You don’t sound much like an older guy!”
Tristan frowned at her, or at least the brown-haired and brown-eyed Tristan frowned at her. “Are you trying to say that I sound like a girl?”
The others giggled at that and Tristan turned his frown on them. “Will you please take that off!” Krista said in annoyance, “It’s really weird hearing you sound the same but looking different!” Troy whole-heartedly agreed. “What I meant was,” Krista continued, “You don’t sound very old and that face is of someone a lot older, try and make your voice a bit rougher sounding.”
Tristan switched off the Holo Hoop and instantly he changed back to normal. Taking it off he said, “It doesn’t matter what I sound like anyway, Troy’s the one who will have to wear it.”
“What?”  Troy spluttered.
Tristan handed the hoop to his brother and explained, “You’re the pilot, Troy, and it’s you that has to speak to them!”
“But…but…,” Troy began but couldn’t think of a good enough excuse and just looked at his brother helplessly.
Tristan shoved the Holo Hoop into his unresisting hands and turned to the door, “You better hurry and practise that voice, we’re coming up to Alandra’s security point!”
Troy looked to the others who were looking a little worried now that they had to face not just adults but official adults. He looked to Krista who was sitting at the computer tapping away on the keyboard.
She turned back to Troy, “We’re in the queue for processing.”
“How many before us?”
She turned back to the screen and said, “About five.”
Troy sighed, “Okay, you three get strapped in. You can help me with the voice while we wait.”
Troy clipped the hoop around his neck and switched it on, instantly brown-haired and brown-eyed.
“Won’t they notice that your body doesn’t match your head?” Ziggy asked curiously.
“No, I can adjust the screen so they will only see my face.” Troy explained.
He checked that the ship was properly on course and began trying out a few voices but only managed to sound as if he had a cold. Lena suggested he stop trying so hard and keep it simple, pointing out that not all men had really deep voices. Just in time he managed a fairly convincing grown-up’s voice as Krista got a message on the computer.
“They’re requesting contact,” she told him, an edge of worry in her voice.
Troy could feel his heart hammering in his chest and his mouth was suddenly dry. Taking a deep breath he nodded to Krista who pressed a button on her console. Instantly a bored-looking man appeared on the screen in front of him. He waited for a heartbeat to see if the man detected anything but the bored expression remained on his face.
“Star Chaser requesting permission to land, sir,” he said in his false voice.
“For what reason?” the bored official asked.
“For fuel and supplies.”
“What cargo do you have?”
“Nothing at the moment.”
The man looked at Troy via the screen for what seemed a long time but then finally said, “Permission granted.”
Before he could say thank you his screen had gone blank and there were audible sounds of relief from behind him. Troy breathed a bit easier himself and quickly took off the Holo Hoop and placed it back in its drawer for safekeeping. Pushing a button he informed his brother that they were going to land and grinned at the whoop of joy his brother made.
“That was easy!” Lena exclaimed.
Troy shrugged, “These out of the way planets are not particularly strict. They have lists of who to watch out for but really, if you don’t cause trouble, they won’t notice you!”
The descent through the planet’s atmosphere went smoothly and they cruised above the landing site until they were guided into a suitable dock.
Lena and Ziggy craned their necks to see out the front at all the other space ships. There were some small ones like Star Chaser of various shapes and colours, some beautiful ships with smooth arcing bodies and even smoother running engines that seemed oddly out of place. Then there were the junkers, the ships that looked as if they would fall apart at any moment. Star Chaser was old but at least she looked competent.
Troy landed the ship with only a slight jolt. He hadn’t wanted to tell the others that he had never landed a ship before but was extremely relieved when it went relatively smoothly. As soon as they set down Tristan came up to the bridge.
“Okay, here’s what we’re going to do. Krista and I will go and get the fuel and a couple of parts I need. You lot will go and get the supplies. Here’s a list and a card to pay for it.” Tristan told them handing over a slip of paper and a small metallic card.
Troy looked at the card noting the strange silver hologram imprinted on it. There was also a name on it – John Atlas.
“Who’s John Atlas?”  he asked.
“That’s us,” Tristan told him, “We couldn’t put the account under any of our own names or under Star Chaser, it might have been traced so we came up with John Atlas.”
“Won’t someone need to stay with the ship?” Ziggy asked.
Tristan shook his head, “No, there is security that patrols here. Besides this way we will get everything a lot faster and be away before we can draw attention to ourselves.”
Troy smiled at Ziggy reassuringly but he still looked slightly worried. He could see that Lena was trying not to bounce up and down with excitement at the thought of going shopping on a new planet. Orla merely stood at her side watching everyone with her usual silence.
Opening the hatch door they paused for a moment before heading down the ramp and stepping on to the planet’s surface. Troy looked behind him to find Lena and Ziggy staring open-mouthed at all the people.
“Hey guys,” he said, “try not to look like such bumpkins!”
They quickly stopped staring and Lena even scowled at him as if she would never do such a thing. Tristan and Krista strode off after he had secured the ship and warned them to be careful.
“Come on,” Troy said as he started walking.
“There are so many people here!” Lena exclaimed.
She couldn’t help staring at a very slender woman as she stood in front of her open ship. The woman was a lot taller than a human, her skin was a soft lilac colour and her hair a luminous white. Her robes were of a strange metallic material that shimmered pinks and purples.
“Do you think she’s some kind of queen!” she breathed in awe.
Troy snorted in amusement, “Her? No way. She’s a Decadian. They’re all merchants of some kind. They don’t even have a government – ‘everyone for themselves’ that’s their motto.”
Lena looked slightly disappointed but still thought the alien woman was beautiful anyway.
“What about Captain Tightpants there?” Ziggy asked him.
Troy looked to where Ziggy was pointing at a tall man wearing a long brown coat, behind him was another much larger man carrying a gun.
“Smugglers,” Troy said confidently.
“Really?” Ziggy said looking with fascination as they passed them, “What about them?”
They amused themselves as they walked through the ships by trying to guess what the ships were for. Some were just usual transport ships or merchant vessels but others were pirates, smugglers or worse. They had one ship and its black swathed captain down as assassins and couldn’t help sniggering as they went past until the so-called assassin turned to watch them. They quickly scurried away.
Leaving the ships behind they turned into a busy main street and paused for a moment to figure out which way to go.
“Where exactly are we going for this stuff anyway?” Lena asked as she perused the list. Tristan had written down a variety of different foods along with other stuff including blankets, toiletries, medicines and clothes.
“Why do we need suits?” Ziggy asked, “We all have our own stuff.”
Troy took the list and read it. Near the bottom of the list Tristan had written ‘3 suits’. Troy smiled and explained that Tristan meant three space suits, one for each of them except Orla. Tristan had already explained that he and Krista would use their parents’ old suits and Orla could probably manage with Troy’s old one but Troy himself and Lena and Ziggy would need one of their own.
“Are we really going to need one?” Lena asked horrified.
“We might,” Troy replied, “It’s always better to have one in case we have to land somewhere that has an unbreathable atmosphere.”
Lena gulped, she had never thought of that possibility and felt slightly queasy at the thought.
Troy looked up and down the street and spotted a sign for a market. They headed towards it, all eager to spend some money.
Even though Troy could remember coming to such places before, the memories were vague and so he enjoyed the sights and sounds of the market just as much as the others who had never experienced anything like it before. 
The market was more like a long, wide street with shops down both sides and stalls clustered in the middle forming their own network of pathways and alleys. The smells as they passed some of the food stalls had their mouths watering but Troy urged them onwards, pointing out that they needed to get their supplies first before they could get anything to treat themselves with.
Getting the supplies was relatively easy, the only hitch being they needed to buy a cargo cart to transport all the bags and boxes they had already acquired and in no time they had it almost full.
Much to Troy’s surprise Lena had turned out to be a very good haggler and more than one vendor or shop keeper had been left shaking their heads at what they were sure was a deal not in their favour. When it came to getting the propagation equipment she needed for her plants she excelled herself, managing to get not only the equipment and seedlings for a knock down price but also some extra plants and spare parts.
They had done such a good job on buying the supplies that they had quite a bit of spare cash so Troy led the way back to some of the food stalls they had passed earlier. They bought some fruit pies and biscuits, sticky buns and cream cakes but their main goal was the sweet stall they had all drooled over when first entering the market.
They were on their way back to Star Chaser when Troy noticed a man standing some distance away at the edge of the docking area. He was too far away for Troy to see clearly but there was definitely some kind of marking on the man’s neck. From the way he was studying Star Chaser Troy knew the man recognised the ship. What it meant for them he dreaded to think.



SEVEN
When they got back to Star Chaser with their heavily laden cargo cart Troy was a bit annoyed to find that Tristan wasn’t there yet and they would have to stand around waiting. But the others were quite happy to watch the comings and goings of the other spaceship crews around them although the most noticeable thing was that there were no more kids about, which left them feeling a little incongruous and very noticeable.
So it was with some relief that Troy saw his brother and Krista hurrying towards them but the look on his brother’s face worried him. When Tristan reached them he didn’t even say hello he simply opened up the bay door and ushered them in quickly.
When they were inside Troy turned to his brother and demanded to know what was wrong.
“It seems Calhoun is a bit cleverer than we gave him credit for, he’s sent a description of all of us out to all the nearby planets that we might have stopped at – including this one!”
“What!” Troy, Lena and Ziggy all said at once.
“But don’t worry, I think we’re okay just now. They only just sent them so hopefully the authorities haven’t got around to doing anything about it!
“Hopefully?” Troy asked aghast.
Tristan put a reassuring hand on his shoulder, “We’ve got everything we need and now we’re leaving. So no need to worry, okay?”
Troy nodded in agreement then turned towards the cargo cart. “We had to buy this to carry all our stuff,” he informed hi brother, “but we got it at a really good price!”
Tristan grimaced slightly, “That’s fine. I never thought of it myself!” He looked at the stacked boxes and packages with a shocked look on his face. “Just how much stuff did you get?”
Troy pulled himself up proudly, “We got everything on the list with a little extra too! We didn’t even go over the limit you set!” He gestured at Lena, “She’s really good at haggling, Tristan! We got everything for the plants at a really good price so that meant we could buy a few more supplies and get some treats for everyone too!”
He picked up a large bag and opened it up triumphantly, showing Tristan the brilliantly coloured selection of sweets they had bought. Tristan leant forward and dutifully looked into the bag then sighed loudly.
“I hope you also got new sonic toothbrushes!” he remarked.
Troy frowned but then smiled when Tristan laughed. They secured the cargo cart then everyone went up to the bridge to ready for take off. Before Tristan went off to the engine room Lena asked how they had found out about their descriptions being broadcast.
Troy looked at his brother expectantly but it was Krista who replied. “While we were paying for our fuel I suggested to Tristan that while he went to get those parts he needed I might find a computer somewhere and try to find out if there was anything about us.”
“You mean you hacked into the official computer systems?” Lena asked appalled.
Krista shrugged with a slight smile, “It’s easy enough to do and if you’re careful you can go undetected. Particularly in a rather sloppy security system these kind of planets have!”
“So what did you find?” Lena asked her.
“What Tristan told you. Our descriptions have been circulated and a vague description of Star Chaser too but obviously Calhoun isn’t too familiar with spaceships!”
“Yeah, but the name isn’t exactly common,” Troy remarked.
“That’s why I changed it!” Krista said with a smile. “I didn’t have the time to change our descriptions but I thought I could confuse things enough by changing the name and description of Star Chaser!”
Troy thought for a moment then had to smile too. “I guess that just might confuse things enough to work!”
“For a little while anyway,” Tristan agreed, “Now let’s get out of here!”
As Tristan left the bridge Troy hurried after him so they could speak alone.
“Remember the weird looking man Old Ted mentioned? I think I saw him outside in the docking area looking at the ship.”
Tristan looked at him sharply, “Did you see if he had a tattoo?”
“I could see something but we were too far away to see clearly.” He paused for a  moment, licking his lips nervously, “Tristan, you do realise what bird the tattoo could be?”
“Troy,” Tristan began but stopped, thinking, “I thought it too. That maybe the tattoo is a raven and this man works for Red Raven. He’s been in the news so much lately it’s hard not to think of him. But, Troy, why would Red Raven be interested in Star Chaser?”
Troy sighed and shook his head. He had no answer to give his brother. Every time he thought of the man responsible for their parents’ deaths he felt a mix of fear and anger.
“Look,” Tristan said, putting a hand on his shoulder, “Let’s not think about it just now, we have got more important things to think about.” He started to turn away then looked back at Troy. “I really think Mum and Dad wouldn’t want us thinking about getting revenge. Especially Mum, she would just say it was a waste of our lives. We have a chance for all of us to find better lives than we had on Goramir.”
Troy nodded and Tristan went to the engine room while everyone got strapped in and they waited for processing to leave. This took a little longer than it did for their landing and Troy began to worry that just maybe they had been found out but eventually the command came through and they were on their way. Troy looked at his friends behind him and noticed they didn’t look as worried this time and he even got a thumbs up from Ziggy.
The take off went smoothly and in no time at all they were away from the planet Andala and on their way. Setting the controls to autopilot Troy followed his friends down to the cargo bay where they began to unload their provisions.
It took three trips each to get all the foodstuffs up to the kitchen where it was decided that a proper clean up was needed before the goods could be put away. Even though the cupboards were all cleaned out at the shipyard everything got a good scrub, amidst lots of throwing of wet cloths and laughter. Finally the kitchen was done, everything gleamed and the cupboards fairly bulged with food containers, along with a fridge and  freezer that practically overflowed.
Tristan looked around when it was all done and shook his head in disbelief. “I don’t think we could get any more into these cupboards!”
Troy grinned, “I told you we did well!”
Tristan slapped his brother on the shoulder and said, “At least we won’t have to worry about stocking up for a while!” He turned to Lena and Orla who were washing their hands. “We’ll help you get your stuff up to the spare cabin and you can set everything up.”
Lena smiled eagerly and rushed ahead of the others. All except Ziggy who wanted to start something for dinner although he wouldn’t tell them what he had planned only that it was a surprise.
It wasn’t until they had begun to carry up Lena’s equipment that it dawned on them that they hadn’t cleared the room first. Thankfully this particular cabin had never been used regularly so there was a minimum of furniture in it. With a little swearing and a lot of effort they moved the bed and the rest of the furniture, namely a wardrobe and a dresser out into the corridor then down to the cargo bay to be stored.
Once Lena had everything in the room she shooed them out with a distracted air before she began to sort through the equipment, seeds, plants and soil. They weren’t even out the door before she was sorting and moving it into place.
“I didn’t know she was into gardening,” Tristan mused.
Troy shrugged, “She’s mentioned it before but I never really paid attention, to be honest! It’s kind of boring!”
Tristan laughed and said, “I don’t care how boring it is. If it means we get something fresh to eat instead of preserved stuff I’m all for it!” He wandered off to the engine room whistling merrily.
Troy went back down to the cargo bay and took out the last few packages from the cart then made sure it was secured properly. Carrying the packages to the kitchen he went to the small dining area and dumped everything onto the table and began to sort through it, separating what was who’s into separate piles and then putting them into their own bag. 
While he was doing this he surreptitiously watched Ziggy and smiled to himself when he saw how happy his friend was as he pottered about in the kitchen. Whatever he was making the aromas were making Troy’s mouth water. 
“Glad you came along?” he asked a busy Ziggy.
Ziggy paused in what he was doing and looked up with a big grin, “Oh yes! There’s no way I would have stayed behind! And anyway, I thought that…” He stopped a moment and looked at Troy, blushing slightly, “I thought that maybe we might find others.”
“Others?” Troy asked but he knew what Ziggy meant, he just didn’t know what else to say.
“You know … others like me,” Ziggy explained quietly.
Troy looked at his friend and struggled to find something to say. He knew Ziggy really meant he was hoping to find his parents, find out why they hadn’t wanted him but he just couldn’t find the right response.
“You know, Ziggy,” Troy mused, “there are places we could go to that would have records of all the different races out there. I’m sure in no time we could find out something to tell us where you’re parents are.”
Ziggy looked up from what he was doing and Troy had never seen such a serious look on his friend’s face. “I really just want to know where I’m from, to find others with as many fingers as me!” He grinned as he waved his four-fingered hands at him the grew serious. “I don’t think I want to find my parents.”
Troy shifted uncomfortably, “Don’t you want to know why they left you there?”
Ziggy shrugged and Troy could see he was upset by this. “I don’t know if I want to find out it’s true they didn’t want me.”
Troy opened his mouth and closed it again without saying anything. In truth, he didn’t know what to say.
Ziggy flushed again when he realised he had made his friend uncomfortable and held up the spatula he was using and waved it merrily at Troy. “You’ll be pleased to know that I actually know what I’m doing so it should be edible!”
Troy grinned, silently relieved the subject had been changed. “I’ve sorted all this stuff, ”he explained, “so I’m going to dump this lot in everyone’s rooms and I’ll be back to help if you want?”
Ziggy looked around the kitchen at the progress of his preparations and said cheerfully, “Nope, I think I’ve got everything under control here. You could maybe set the table for me?”
Troy smiled and assured him he would be back then made his way to the sleeping quarters to put the last of their stuff away. He looked with interest around Krista’s room in the hope of finding something he could tease her about but it wasn’t particularly girly. It was very neat with everything packed away already and the bed all made. The personal effects were practically zero, all he could see was a hairbrush and an old mirror hanging on the wall above her dresser. He put the bag of her stuff down on her bed next to another bag that was already there, obviously left by Lena. He was tempted to take a peek but didn’t really want to know what ‘girl stuff’ was in there so left quickly. 
Ziggy’s room was much as he thought it would be, clothes dumped in a pile on the floor as if they had been put on the bed and then pushed off. He shook his head with a smile and dumped the bag on the messy, unmade bed. 
Lena and Orla’s room was tidy but there were a lot more personal effects in here than in any of the others, including his and Tristan’s who still had some of their old things in them. In amongst the crystal and rocks that had been moved to a set of shelves along one wall were the cute faces of a variety of cuddly toys and dolls. Troy looked it over and decided that it was quite disturbing to look at so left quickly, vowing to never step foot in the room again.
With everything put in the rooms now he went back to the kitchen and set the table while laughingly telling Ziggy how creepy all those toys looked amidst the crystals and rocks making his friend so curious he then had to go and look for himself.
The rest of them came into the kitchen to hear Troy and Ziggy laughing uproariously and making up horror stories about killer teddy bears. They all sat down while Ziggy and Troy brought the food over and they helped themselves to the heaped dishes in front of them, enthusing over the sights and smells of the small feast Ziggy had prepared until he blushed furiously.
After the initial hunger pangs had been sated Tristan asked everyone if they had any idea as to where they should be heading. This got a few confused looks from around the table but it was Krista who spoke up first.
“I’ve been wondering what we’re actually going to do? I mean, we can’t just travel around indefinitely, our money just won’t last forever so we need to be able to make a living somehow. Or we won’t be flying for much longer!”
“Krista’s right,” Tristan agreed, “We have a lot of supplies and plenty of fuel for now, but then what? We’ve used over half of our money to get this lot and it will last a while. But there will come a time when we will need to earn some more, so – any suggestions?”
“We’re just kids,” Lena pointed out, “Who is going to hire us? I mean, none of us are even trained in anything!”
Tristan frowned at her but he couldn’t argue with them just being kids. He was about to say something when Troy spoke up. “What about our parents’ old work? We could contact their old bosses and see if they have any work. They never even had to meet the people they just sent in their findings and got paid automatically. They didn’t even have to land!”
Tristan nodded slowly as he thought, “That might work, and we won’t even have to change our names I wouldn’t think as the people there never knew much about us. They were only interested in what our parents could find.” He ate some more as he thought then put his fork down to look at everyone. “Okay, well, that’s one idea to try out but just in case things have changed there, has anyone got any other ideas?”
“The most simple idea would be as a delivery service,” Krista said, “That way we travel around and stay one step ahead of whoever might be looking for us.”
Ziggy looked from her to Tristan and then to Troy, “How long do you think it will be before they give up looking for us?”
Troy looked at his friend’s worried face but it was Tristan who answered him. “It depends. I really don’t think it will be very long though, we left so much for them to deal with back on Goramir that they probably won’t bother looking for long.” He paused a moment in indecision. “Calhoun might be a different matter though. We did stuff him pretty good with Fairfax and he’s just the sort of person to hold a grudge.”
They ate in silence for a while, the good mood ruined by a worried pall that covered them all, until Lena loudly clattered her fork down onto her plate and sighed loudly.
“There’s no point in worrying about Calhoun until or if he actually finds us! And we can’t put everything on hold until he does so there’s no point in worrying about it! Let’s make a plan and stick to it! If Calhoun finds us we’ll find some way to get rid of him I’m sure!” She crossed her arms defiantly and looked around the table.
“She’s right,” Krista said after a moment of silence, “We have to get on with what we need to do if we want to stay on this ship. We’ve no choice, there’s no one else to help us but ourselves.”
Tristan sighed, “Yeah, you’re ri….”
Suddenly an alarm sounded and Tristan and Troy stared at each other for a brief moment before diving for the doorway. “Proximity alert!” Troy shouted behind him in explanation as he headed for the bridge right behind his brother. The others followed in a rush, fear making them clumsy as the chairs got knocked aside.
On the bridge Tristan and Troy dashed to the control console and punched a few buttons to bring up on the screen in front of them an image of another vessel approaching them rapidly. It wasn’t  a large ship but it was larger than Star Chaser and from the looks of it, it was also armed.
“Who is it?” Lena asked fearfully.
“Don’t know yet,” Tristan said distractedly as he pushed a few more buttons on the console. “I’m scanning them now to see if there is a signature.”
“Signature?” Ziggy asked, confused.
Troy turned to his friends to explain when Tristan remained silent. “Every spaceship has to be registered to be able to fly, which means that when it is scanned people will know who the owner is.”
“Doesn’t that mean when we’re scanned people will know who owns this one?” Lena said in alarm.
“I fixed that too,” Krista interrupted, “If we get scanned the name of John Atlas will be in the signature. Just like our cards!”
They smiled in relief at this but the smiles quickly disappeared when Tristan turned to them.
“It’s Calhoun!” he said in shock, “He’s found us!”



EIGHT
There was a brief frozen moment when everyone stood staring out the front window as if they could see Calhoun right in front of them. It was Krista who made the first move as she rushed to her seat, breaking the spell that held them.
Troy practically threw himself into his seat. “Strap yourselves in!” he yelled over his shoulder to the others except for Tristan who had already disappeared to the engine room.
“He’ll be on us in under five minutes,” Krista informed them, surprisingly calm.
“Any chance he hasn’t detected us?” Ziggy asked hopefully.
“Afraid not,” Krista told him with a slight shrug.
A loud beeping came from the system in front of Krista and she looked down at it and then to Troy, wide-eyed, “It’s a communication. Should we accept it?”
Troy chewed his lip in indecision. “Go on, let’s hear what he has to say!”
“Troy, no!” Lena cried, clutching Orla’s hand where she sat beside her.
“He’s going to come after us anyway! We might as well hear what he has to say!”
There was a brief moment of silence and then Calhoun’s face appeared on the small screen in front of Troy. His round face was red with anger and his eyes were almost lost in the folds of his eyelids as his face screwed up into a look of sheer menace. The others had been craning their necks so they could see too but shrank back when Calhoun began to speak.
“You brats better turn around and get back to Goramir! I swear I will shoot you out of the sky if you don’t!” he spat out, flecks of saliva beading the corners of his mouth he was so angry.
“Can he see us?” Ziggy whispered and Krista shook her head.
“What’s the matter, Calhoun,” Troy retorted with false bravado, “Get into a little trouble when we left?”
Calhoun’s face went a deeper shade of red but he managed to keep his voice even, “Don’t think you can get away from me! I will hunt you down like vermin! You can’t get away from me!”
“Make up your mind!” Troy chastised, “First you want us to go back and now you want us to run away? What’s it to be?”
Troy laughed out loud when Calhoun’s face contorted into a mask of sheer hatred and then just as he was about to start shouting at them the screen went blank.
“What happened?” Lena demanded.
“I cut him off,” Troy explained, “There’s no point talking to the man. He can’t go back to Goramir, I guarantee it! He was breaking the law and he should be in prison by rights! He’s on the run!”
Krista turned in her chair and looked at the others, “He’s right, you know. He doesn’t want to take us back – he wants revenge.” She looked to Troy. “Now what? Can we outrun him?”
“We could try, I suppose,” Troy said, not feeling very confident. He pressed the intercom for the engine room. “Tristan, we’re going to have to try and outrun him. What are our chances?”
There was silence and just as Troy thought that maybe there was something wrong with the intercom his brother replied.
“I made some modifications to the engines but if we are at full power for a long time there is a chance it’ll blow the engine!”
“So, our chances are good?” Troy asked.
An irritated sigh was heard over the intercom then Tristan said, “Yes, but not for long!”
Before he could get to full speed though, Ziggy raised his hand and pointed out of the window, a terrified look on his face.
“It think that’s him!” he croaked.
“I see it!” Troy cried as he piloted them away just as an object streaked towards them.
“He’s firing at us!” Lena cried, clutching the arms of her chair in terror.
“Hold on!” Troy warned them and suddenly he was heading straight for Calhoun’s ship.
“What are you doing!” Ziggy cried in alarm, “You’re heading straight for him!”
“Could everyone be quiet and let me fly!” Troy retorted, fear making him snippy.
The others fell into silence, Troy could still sense how afraid they were but didn’t have time for reassurances. Particularly since he was feeling more than a little afraid himself but didn’t have the luxury of letting someone else pilot the ship and keep them alive. The pressure of which only added to his anxious state.
Calhoun’s ship loomed closer and another missile was fired their way and this time it managed to clip the very edge of Star Chaser before it exploded causing the smaller ship to shudder in the aftershock. Krista reassured everyone no damage had been done and Troy flew straight under Calhoun’s ship and beyond them forcing their former caretaker to turn around.
Troy used all of his concentration to get Star Chaser to full speed. He hoped that his little manoeuvre had bought them some time. Glancing at his monitor he could see Calhoun’s ship had turned faster than he had hoped. 
He grimaced and silently willed Star Chaser to go faster still. It felt as if the whole ship was humming with the effort of keeping up such speed.
Behind Troy the others kept a fearful silence, not wanting to break his concentration. Lena couldn’t help letting out a frightened squeak when a laser blast went streaking past, just missing them.
“Krista!” Tristan’s voice yelled over the intercom.
Krista jumped but quickly answered.
“Deploy a signal flare!” Tristan continued.
“What good will those do?” Krista exclaimed, “A flare won’t do anything!”
“At close proximity it will blind them for a few moments! It’ll buy us time!”
Krista looked at Troy who shrugged and nodded before turning his attention back to flying.
“Okay,” Krista said, “here goes!”
The flare shot out behind them and exploded close to Calhoun’s ship causing a bright flash of light.
“I think it worked!” Ziggy exclaimed, leaning forward to look at the monitor.
Calhoun’s ship did slow down a bit but not for long before it sped up again. This time it seemed to be catching up a lot quicker than before. Another laser blast had Star Chaser rocking slightly and an alarm sounded from the control panel.
“What does that mean?” Lena demanded fearfully, “Have we been hit?”
Troy quickly switched the alarm off before saying, “I think it just skimmed us otherwise we wouldn’t still be flying.”
Suddenly there was a flash of light from the monitor that was keeping Calhoun’s ship in view.
“What was that?” she croaked in mounting fear.
“I think,” Troy began then hesitated, “I think someone just fired on Calhoun.”
“Who was it?” Ziggy asked.
Troy pressed as button and the image from the monitor appeared projected on the windshield. There was Calhoun’s ship and behind that was a much larger one that, once again, was firing on the smaller one.
“Who is that?” Lena asked.
Troy felt his throat constrict and he stared disbelieving at the large ship that had somehow come to their rescue. He was taken back to the last day he saw his parents alive and the ship that had been responsible for changing everything. The same ship that was now helping them.
“Troy!” Krista cried bringing his attention back to the here and now, “let’s go! While Calhoun is busy!”
Troy focused on the screen and couldn’t believe it when Calhoun’s ship fired back at its attacker. “He must be crazy!” He muttered then vanished the image back to the monitor and concentrated on escaping.
“Troy!” Tristan said over the intercom, “You have to slow down! The engines are starting to overheat!”
Troy checked the monitor and could see that they were no longer being chased but it was a few moments before he began to slow down. The high-pitched hum from the engines began to subside and everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Looking at one another they all smiled then laughed, giddy with their close escape. 
They all stood and drifted back to the kitchen where they had been so rudely disturbed before. All except Troy, who stayed behind on the bridge to get a little time to himself. His emotions churned and he felt as if he couldn’t breathe properly. He needed to talk to his brother to try and sort everything out. Why would Red Raven save them from Calhoun? The same man who had caused the deaths of his parents was now responsible for their escape from Calhoun. These thoughts kept spinning around in his mind and he sat with his elbows on the console and his head cradled in his hands. It was only a slight noise behind him that made him look up.
“Oh, hey Orla,” he said with a smile as the girl came to stand beside him.
He started to say something but the words died in his mouth as Orla merely stood staring at him, her large violet eyes brilliant from the starlight. Troy put a hand out to steady himself as a slight dizziness came over him and then he blinked and Orla was smiling at him. Putting the weird light in her eyes down to the reflection off the console he smiled and stood up, suddenly feeling much better.
“How about going to join the others?” he asked her and she nodded with a smile.



NINE
Troy led Orla back to the kitchen where everyone had returned and sat down, Lena and Ziggy were tidying away what was left of their abruptly ended meal while Krista was putting the dishes through the sonic cleaner.
“There wasn’t any damage really,” Ziggy told him, “Just a cup and an old bowl that must have got knocked to the floor when that big rock hit us.” 
Lena just gave him a sharp look when she saw Orla with him but didn’t say a word, just carried on clearing the last of the dishes off of the table. The rest of the table was taken up with a map Tristan had pulled from its protective tube and was now studying.
As Troy sat down heavily in his chair the others also came over and sat down too. He needed to get his brother alone to tell him about Red Raven. When Tristan continued to ignore everyone and study the map Troy frowned and leant forward so he could see the map too.
“What are you looking for?” he asked Tristan.
“Trying to find somewhere to dock so I can repair the ship of course!” Tristan told him as if he was an idiot.
“What repairs?” Troy demanded hotly as if Tristan was blaming him for whatever was wrong.
“That last blast damaged the outside hull and a couple of circuits,” he looked up and noted everyone’s worried expression so quickly added, “It’s nothing to worry about just now. The shields absorbed most of the impact but they can only stand so much! I’d like to get it fixed sooner rather than later though! Especially since we’re not too sure where we might be – I’d rather be safe than sorry!”
Troy nodded, mollified at his brother’s explanation but also slightly annoyed at his constant practicality. “So,  where do you have in mind?”
Tristan tapped the map in front of him and the image zoomed in to where his finger was. “We’re here right now,” he told them, “Over here is where we should go.”
He lifted his finger from the map and it zoomed back out to the original image and then placed his finger on a spot just beneath where he had pointed before and the image of a large space station appeared. The others leaned forward but it was Krista that spoke first.
“What is that place?” she asked.
“That is Phoenix Space Station,  one of the bigger space stations, lots of people live there!” Tristan told them.
Troy stared at his brother waiting for him to go on but when he didn’t he said, “But?”
“But,” Tristan repeated, “it’s also quite well policed. It might not be so easy to get permission to dock than it was at Andala. And if we do, there’s the problem of staying undetected long enough to check Star Chaser over and repair her if necessary.”
He sat back taking his finger off the map, leaving the others to look at an image of a large tract of stars and space. 
After a brief silence it was Lena that spoke up first. “If this ship needs to be repaired I’d rather take the chance here than be out in the middle of nowhere when something goes wrong. I think it’s worth the chance.” She bit her lip and they could see she was trying not to grin. “Besides, it would be interesting to visit a large space station like this.” The wide-eyed, innocent look she gave Tristan didn’t fool him for a moment although he did smile at her feeble attempt.
“What about everyone else?” He asked, looking at the others, “Do you think we should chance it? Stop playing with the map!”
Ziggy snatched his hand back from the map he had been studying and blushed slightly when he noticed everyone looking at him. “Umm, yeah, I agree with Lena. Better now than sucked out into space later!”
Troy sniggered at his friend’s words but could tell that the decision had been made. “I’ll set a course for Phoenix Space Station then,” he said cheerfully and headed back to the bridge.
The next morning found them dropping out of hyperdrive within close proximity to Phoenix Space Station where they stopped for  a moment to go over their plan one more time. But first they all stared in awed wonder at the sight of the space station in front of them.
“It’s like a big spinning top with lots of lights!” Ziggy breathed, mesmerised.
Troy looked at his friend and was about to say that this wasn’t the biggest he’d seen when travelling with his parents when it struck him again that this was his friend’s first time off planet. Looking back at the space station he tried looking at it as if seeing something like this for the first time and had to admit to himself that it was quite a sight.
Phoenix Space Station did look a little like a big spinning top, all lit up with multi-coloured lights. There was a large oval shape that seemed to make up the bulk of the station and just beneath this there was a long, round tube that ended at the bottom with another oval shape half the size of the one above. Above the main oval there was another long tube but this time it ended with a large disc that revolved slowly.
“It’s the bottom area we need to head for,” Tristan told them, “that’s the docking area. There’s no other way to get on to the station except from there. So, everyone clear on what they’re doing?”
They all nodded then settled into their seats in preparation for their approach, the nervous tension in the air was almost palpable. Krista was busy at her computer, tapping keys and checking her monitor. 
“We’re in the queue,” she told Troy who nodded not trusting himself to speak without his voice giving out he was feeling so nervous. His heart was hammering so loudly that he was sure the others must be able to hear it.
Taking deep breaths he closed his eyes and concentrated on nothing else but his breathing until he felt as if he was a little more in control. He retrieved the Holo Hoop from one of the drawers beside him and set it in place so he was ready when it came to their turn. He went over in his mind what Tristan had made him memorise in case he was asked certain questions.
“It’s our turn,” Krista said, the worry evident in her voice.
Troy jumped at her voice but quickly drew a steadying breath and switched the Hoop on. Indicating to Krista to put the station through he nodded to the woman who appeared on his screen. “Freighter Star Chaser, registration 065283.14 requesting permission to dock,” he said in as professional a voice as he could manage.
“For what purpose?” the woman asked as she went through their details.
“Repairs. We…” he started to explain how they had been caught in an asteroid shower but realised he would sound like he was rambling so stopped. Thankfully the woman on the other end didn’t seem to notice as she was too busy on her own console to pay full attention to him. 
His heart constricted as she frowned and he thought they had been discovered but she merely continued to tap on her console and then she smiled. “Permission granted for twenty- four hours. Go to Level 22, Dock 46 and welcome to Phoenix Space Station.”
The screen went blank as she terminated the connection and Troy was left staring at it for a moment. He looked at Krista who grinned at him in delight.
“We did it!” she said, “Whatever registration documents Old Ted got for us must have worked!”
Troy grinned back at her then began the short flight to the docking area. When they arrived inside they stared open-mouthed at what looked like chaos. Little ships were flying back and forth while they could see level upon level of docked ships that seemed to go all the way around. The ship in front of them began to fly upwards and then suddenly one of the little ships appeared in front of them and they could see it wasn’t exactly a little ship. It was more like a robotic ball that floated in front of them.
Krista looked at her screen for a moment then turned to Troy, “They’re requesting control of the ship and they will take us to our docking port.”
Troy looked confused for a moment then smiled, “I get it! They’re little automatons that park the ships! I suppose you can’t just have people flying everywhere.”
“Uh, yeah,” Krista replied, “They’re getting insistent.”
“Oh, right,” Troy looked sheepishly at her then pressed a series of buttons on his console, “Sorry.”
He sat back and the automaton guided the ship up to Level 22 where they glided along until they reached Dock 46 whereupon they were gently placed inside and the little automaton then zipped away for the next ship on it’s list.
Inside Star Chaser there was silence as they looked out the window in front of them to see a wall with the number forty-six lit in brilliant neon. The silence was broken when Tristan joined them and looked around with a frown when he saw they were just sitting there looking slightly dumbfounded.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
Troy swung round in his chair and looked in surprise at his brother. “We did it. We got through. I just thought it would be a lot harder or we would be caught – something! It just seemed too easy.”
Tristan grinned, “Old Ted really came through for us! Those registration documents did the trick! He used to be a policeman you know” He rubbed his hands together gleefully then noticed the others were still sitting quiet. “Come on, why are you just sitting there? Let’s go!”
Lena looked at Ziggy and grinned, quickly unstrapping herself and helping Orla then practically running after Tristan. The others quickly followed, their excitement building as they realised they had a whole space station to explore.
They congregated in the kitchen while Tristan rummaged in one of the cupboards, pulling out a little metal box. He brought it to the table and then unlocked it with a key from his pocket. They all crowded around to have a look inside when the lid was lifted to see coins and notes filling it almost to the brim.
“I saved some proper cash just in case we went somewhere where they don’t take cards.” He explained to them, “But I also thought it would be handy for small things – like snacks and stuff.” He counted out some of the notes and coins then closed the box, locking it again.
He shared out the money between them although Troy frowned when he noticed Lena getting a larger amount than he and Ziggy got. “Hey, how come she’s getting more than us?”
Tristan looked to Lena’s side where Orla stood as quiet as ever, “For Orla? She has to eat too you know!” 
“Oh,” Troy said feeling a little foolish and looked at Orla who smiled at him happily.
It was sometimes easy to forget about her because she was so quiet. Not just quiet in the fact that she didn’t talk much but she also moved quietly as if she was gliding instead of walking.
“Okay,” Tristan leant on the table as he spoke to them, “I think that you four should really stick together. This is a busy place from what I remember and it’s easy to get lost!”
“You’ve been here before?” Ziggy asked surprised, looking at Troy.
“A long, long time ago,” Tristan explained, “I barely remember, I don’t think Troy will at all.” Troy shook his head with a slight shrug and Tristan continued, “Everything is set out like a small town, it has streets and such and there are a lot of people who make their home here so it can get really busy.”
“What are you and Krista going to be doing?” Troy asked his brother.
“I’m going to have a quick look at the ship, see what damage there is and then I might take a quick look around too. Krista is going to help me.” He frowned at their knowing looks but didn’t say anything.
With excited smiles they ran to get ready.
Stepping out of Star Chaser they left the docking area through the exit and found themselves in a brightly-lit corridor that was busy with people who all seemed to be going in the same direction. With a quick warning from Troy to hold on to each other he led the way into the crowd, going with the flow until they reached a set of lifts at the end. Waiting their turn it wasn’t long before they were inside the lifts going upwards until it came to a stop and the doors slid open.



TEN
The first thing that struck them was the noise – music played out from hidden speakers but was almost lost amidst the hubbub of the crowd, the blaring advertisements from brightly lit neon billboards and traders hawking their wares.
The little band of children stood transfixed inside the lift for a moment in shock but were quickly pushed out with the other people in the lift on their way out. Troy quickly led them along the wall until they were in a quiet spot where they could get their bearings.
The lane they had came out on to was wide and bustled with people who seemed to know where they were going or at least did a good impression of knowing. Colours from the brightly flashing neon lights washed over the crowds giving the whole place an almost festive look. The advertising billboards were placed up high and overlooked the streets one after the other so there was a bombardment of images wherever you went trying to persuade you to buy all sorts of merchandise from noodles to the latest interstellar cruiser.
“I never expected it to be so….” Ziggy started but couldn’t seem to find the right word as he gazed about himself in amazement.
Troy nodded in agreement knowing exactly what his friend was trying to say. Even though Tristan had said they had been here before Troy couldn’t remember anything like this. The sights and sounds were almost overwhelming and looking at Lena he could tell she was thinking the same, right then he was tempted to suggest they just go back to the ship. Only Orla seemed to be unaffected by it all, she simply stood gazing at everything with large curious eyes.
Taking a deep breath Troy said, “Okay, let’s see where this direction takes us,” he pointed to his right, “Just remember that shop over there with the ramen noodles sign in the window and we should find our way back okay.” They all looked across the street from the lift to the shop Troy had pointed out and nodded.
They slowly made their way along the street, staying close to the edge and found when they reached the end that it opened up into a square where the crowds were not as dense. They paused again and noted they had just been on Osaka Street and were now in Tokyo Square.
Out of the smaller streets it was a lot more impressive and they couldn’t help standing in silence simply looking about. Above the Square several feet above the crowd’s heads were two glowing lines that seemed to be some kind of track and small hover cars glided along with some of their occupants leaning out and waving to the people below. These tracks ran around the Square and branched off down several of the larger streets. 
“Let’s move into the middle and get out of the crowd a little and then hopefully we can see a bit more,” Troy suggested.
Making sure to stay close together they moved away from the walls and made their way to the centre of the square where the crowds were considerably thinned out. Here they could stop and look around at all the billboards, pointing out some of the funnier ones to each other and frowning in puzzlement at some of the weirder ones. 
Above their heads and all along the streets were glowing tracks that allowed small hover cars to travel above the throng of people. The glow of the tracks cast a bluish white glow over everyone below.
‘Look,’ Lena said suddenly, ‘I think that could be a map over there. Let’s find out where we are!’
She took off to the very centre of the square where small individual screens were placed in a circle around the statue of a very serious looking man. Troy looked for a plaque to see who it was supposed to be but there was nothing so he just shrugged and turned his attention to the screen Lena was studying.
It seemed to be an interactive touch screen giving details, history and ‘Fun Facts’ about the station. Lena ignored most of these as she scrolled through a few screens to finally get a layout of the station. Pressing the screen a few times she got the image to zoom in on where they were standing right at that moment and they all crowded round to get a good look.
‘Here’s where we are now,’ she pointed to a place on the map that was highlighted in red and then pressing the screen again it zoomed out a little more. ‘If we go down this street here,’ she pointed to the screen again and then raised her finger to point off to their left where a busy street led off the square, ‘it takes us to this main boulevard that circles this whole square. As long as we stick to it we shouldn’t really get lost.’
Troy studied the screen for a moment more and then shrugged with a smile. ‘Okay, let’s go,’ he said.
They made their way over to the street Lena had pointed out and found that sticking to the centre was the best way to keep from being jostled too much while still being able to see the shops  even if they had to crane their necks to see over the top of the other shoppers. The shops themselves were as brightly lit as the billboards and some even had their own robots standing out on the street trying to encourage people to enter.
One such robot suddenly appeared before them and they had no choice but to stop or run into him. He was smaller than a human adult and was shaped in the likeness of a human crossed with a dog, with blue and yellow markings on his metal shell.
‘Come and see the wonderful selection of pets we have for you in Varney’s Virtual Pet Store!’ the robot said in a cheerful mechanical voice while waving it’s arms around, ‘For one day only all Felines and Canines are half-price! That’s right folks, half-price!’
‘All what?’ Ziggy asked quietly, unable to take his eyes off the gyrating robot.
‘Cats and dogs,’ Troy replied just as quietly while trying to see if there was a way around the robot without getting slapped by a flailing arm.
Before they could think of how to reply the thing was off into the crowd and they could hear its cheery voice advertising the half-price sale to someone else. Looking on either side of the street Troy couldn’t see the virtual pet store the robot was talking about and began to think that perhaps it was lost.
He was proved right when a red-faced portly man came rushing past them in the direction of the robot’s voice. There followed some shouting and then a clatter as if the robot had fallen over. Abruptly the crowd began to part and the man passed them again with the robot flung over his shoulder. He was apologising to the spectators, explaining it was malfunctioning but perfectly harmless and he was sorry for any inconvenience caused. The robot was still waving its arms and shouting.
Troy looked at Ziggy who was grinning at the sight of the man carrying the defective machine and he couldn’t help smiling at the absurdity of it himself.
‘Wonder if there really is a sale on?’ Lena mused to herself.
‘Who cares!’ Troy said, ‘Even at half-price those things are still really expensive!’
Lena sighed in disappointment and followed the others as they continued on their way. Looking at Orla who was holding her hand she couldn’t help noticing the way the younger girl was chewing her lip, something she did when she was worried.
‘What’s wrong, Orla?’ she asked her, ‘Did the robot scare you?’
Orla nodded, her wide eyes searching the crowds around them. ‘Don’t worry, the man took him away! We won’t see him again!’ Lena reassured her.
‘Hey guys!’ she called to Troy and  Ziggy who were in front, ‘Do you think we could stop somewhere and get something to eat?’
Ziggy’s face brightened immediately and Troy nodded. Looking around for any signs they found a small café that sat just off the main boulevard and didn’t seem too busy.
They found a table by the window and sat down quickly so as not to draw attention to themselves. Troy couldn’t help noticing Lena fussing over Orla as they made themselves comfortable.
‘Is she alright?’ he asked, looking at the little girl in concern.
‘Oh, she’s fine!’ Lena said with a wave of her hand, ‘The robot gave her a fright, that’s all.’
Ziggy snorted and said, ‘It gave me a fright! Freaky looking thing, so it was!’
Orla giggled and Ziggy grinned at her before turning his attention to finding a menu. They all tried to search without looking as if they were searching but it couldn’t have worked as a woman appeared by their table.
‘Can I help you?’ she asked with a polite smile.
‘Um,’ Troy said, feeling suddenly foolish, ‘We can’t seem to find the menu.’
The woman’s smile softened to something more genuine and she quickly pointed out the buttons beside each of them. When pressed a small panel slid back before them and a computer screen unfolded itself with a list of the food available along with a photo of what it looked like.
‘Cool!’ Ziggy cried and the woman laughed a little.
‘Now, when you’ve decided what to order just press the image of it and it’s automatically ordered. When you’re done just close the screen and it slides back into place. Okay?’ She smiled when they all nodded and left them to it.
‘It all looks so great!’ Ziggy said, going through the menu.
‘It all looks expensive too!’ Troy said quietly.
Lena leaned forward a little and said quietly, ‘I think everywhere will be expensive on this station. Tristan gave us enough, don’t worry.’
Troy felt strangely comforted by her words and relaxed enough to enjoy looking through the menu. Finally they had all decided, Troy had paid for it with the card Tristan had given him and the screens were back down under the panel. Looking around the café he noted that it wasn’t as brightly lit as the other places they had passed, in fact it had an almost old fashioned feel to it, something that seemed oddly out of place amidst all the neon.
The other customers seemed to be regulars as they spoke quite easily to the staff as if they knew them. Nobody paid them any attention, which Troy was thankful for and he turned his attention out the window to the street beyond it.
The people going past the window were always hurrying, nobody seemed to be interested in what was around them. Even though it was a working station, Troy assumed that they would also get a lot of visitors coming for the merchandise they could find on these streets. He wasn’t familiar with space stations so he didn’t know if this was considered a good one or not.
It was while he was pondering this he noticed the two boys standing hidden in the doorway of a closed shop just across from them. They were slightly older than he was but were dressed in what looked like hand me down clothing that was too big for them and also needed a good wash.
What brought them to Troy’s attention was the fact that they were watching him and his friends but when they noticed Troy watching them back they left the doorway and slipped down the street. Troy frowned slightly then shrugged putting the incident out of his mind when their food came.
Looking down at his plate he inhaled deeply, savouring the smells and smiling up at his friends. ‘Smells just like June’s cooking,’ he told them.
The others smiled and began eating, commenting every now and then on how good the food was. Tristan had warned them that the food on these places was all food cubes or made in a replicator but this place obviously believed in cooking the food from scratch and Troy suddenly didn’t care how expensive he thought it was.
They took their time as they didn’t feel like going back out into the crowd just yet and the woman who had helped them before had grinned when she had come to collect the empty plates and Ziggy told her how great the food was. 
Large bowls of ice cream were next and by the time these were finished Troy wasn’t sure he would be able to get up off his chair. Even Ziggy was struggling at the end.
‘I think we need to get up and walk some of this off,’ Lena said, patting her full stomach, ‘but first me and Orla are going to the bathroom.’
Troy sat forward after they had gone and looked across the street to where the two boys had been standing watching them but the doorway remained empty. Just before Lena and Orla came back the waitress was back at their table with a bag in her hand.
‘This is compliments of the chef,’ she said as she handed the bag to them, ‘I told him how much you had liked the food and he insisted on giving these to you. He doesn’t get to cook for many kids so they tend to get spoiled when they come in!’ She said this last quietly as if she was telling them a secret.
They thanked her and waved to the chef who was standing at the door to the kitchen who grinned and raised a hand in reply. When Lena and Orla came back they got up and left with another wave to the waitress who smiled back.
‘What’s in the bag?’ Lena asked when they were outside.
Troy waited until they were out of sight of the café and then looked inside the bag with Ziggy and Lena leaning in close to look too. There were cookies, gingerbread men and some other little biscuits that had obviously all been handmade and the smells were making their mouths water despite having such full bellies.
‘Wow,’ Lena remarked, ‘this guy cooks better than June, maybe we should give him her address!’
Troy and Ziggy laughed at that and they happily made their way back to Cherry Blossom Boulevard and continued making their way along it. The crowds were still as busy but they took their time, feeling much better after their meal and even stopped at a few shops to browse around but never buying.
. It was Orla that drew their notice to a small sign for some kind of zoo that was down another of the little side streets. It didn’t take long for them to decide to go and they followed the street until they came to a building that didn’t look like the others. It was dark and only had the name Newton’s Mechanical Zoo in neon on the outside. There was no other sign, no windows to look through and yet there seemed to be a steady stream of people going in and out so they decided to go in too.



ELEVEN
The inside of the building was surprisingly bright after such a dull exterior and everything looked smooth and new. There were quite a lot of people wandering around, mostly families by what they could see. Stepping further inside they noticed the woman behind the desk to the side of the small corridor that led into the main building. From the small queue of people they figured that must be where they paid to get in.
After Troy had paid for the four of them they eagerly went forward into a large hall that had an incredibly high ceiling that seemed to glow with a soft light. On the far side they could see two glass lifts that appeared to be unattached to anything and yet they moved up to the top level and back down again as if they were.
‘Why don’t we start at the top and make our way down?’ Troy suggested, unable to take his eyes off of the lifts.
Ziggy was looking at them with less enthusiasm but they all agreed and so made their way through the other zoo visitors to the other side where the lifts were. Troy couldn’t help trying to get a closer look but was warned by an attendant not to get too close so had to be content with watching them while they waited in line.
As they stepped inside the lift car Troy made sure he was at the side so he could see out the glass wall without being obscured by the adults. The glass, he noted, looked quite thin in places but when he put his hand on it and gave it a push while no one was looking he could feel how strong it was. Not wanting to draw attention to them by giving the wall a good kick just to check its strength he contented himself with looking at each floor as they glided upwards.
He noted each floor seemed to have a theme and when they got off the lift at the top he noticed that this topmost floor had all the flying creatures and birds. Right in front of them was a glass enclosure that had a large tree in the centre and when the children looked closer they could see that it was actually made of metal. The trunk and branches were made up of large plates of interconnecting metal while each individual leaf contained tiny sections of metal and the whole tree moved and swayed as if stirred by a gentle breeze.
The light glittered and glowed off the leaves as it moved, casting tiny beams of light around the enclosure making it look almost magical. In amongst the branches and in the foliage that surrounded the tree on the ground there were dozens of small birds and butterflies.
Lena gasped in astonishment as one of the birds landed on a perch close to where she stood and she could see the intricate metalwork of each individual feather while tiny glass eyes watched the observers on the other side of the barrier. 
‘Wow!’ she breathed in awe as it took wing and flew to the top of the tree.
They stood for a few moments more as the birds of all different colours flew amongst the just as brightly coloured butterflies before slowly moving away to the other exhibits on this floor.
Ziggy particularly liked the Meruvian Firewyrms that looked like tiny wingless dragons with long bodies that undulated as they flew making it look as if they swam through the air. Their enclosure was made to look like a small rocky desert that was their natural habitat and they would dive into the sand to burrow underneath before bursting out of the sand further along to play in the air again. Tiny red bodies reflecting the light with a shimmer of scarlet gold.
Lena was similarly intrigued by the mechanical peacock that merely stood with its rainbow coloured tail feathers fanned out in a semi-circle behind it. It turned from side to side, letting the light ripple over its feathers in a hypnotic wave. The pattern of the colours on its tail making it look as if dozens of eyes were watching the crowd as they watched it. Lena laughed in delight when the eyes all blinked in a wave from one side of the tail to the other It took Troy a while to persuade her to move away to look at the other exhibits.
There were strange hairless creatures that looked like winged cats; furry bat-like things that had every individual hair made from whisper thin wire and an enormous full-sized Griffin that had a plaque explaining the mythology that had created it.
The Griffin had Orla mesmerised and she was practically pressed against the glass from head to toe. It was magnificent to look at, Troy had to agree. The golden hide of its lion body complimented perfectly the scarlet and purple of its bird parts. The wings, when it unfolded them were the scarlet and purple on top with pale gold undersides fading to almost white at the tips. Its beak shone as if it was made from gold and as Troy looked closer he was pretty sure it was.
Using the escalator this time they moved their way through the level below that housed all kinds of weird and wonderful insects and reptiles, much to Lena’s horror. Spiders with long, segmented legs moved purposefully up walls or along branches; snakes slithered through undergrowth and over rocks while strange bulbous things with a single eye on an antennae that waved on top of their round bodies blinked curiously at the people.
Orla was particularly interested in these unusual looking creatures and had great fun blinking back at them. It amused the surrounding people when more of the little mechanical creatures crowded on the other side of the glass from her and all started blinking rapidly which caused Orla to giggle. They were so taken with her that they followed her as far as they could in their enclosure and Troy couldn’t help wondering if that was normal for mechanical things to do but promptly forgot about it when he came across a huge mechanical Sceptiman Salamander.
The huge lizard was made up of intricate interlacing metal segments that seemed to undulate and move almost like a real lizard. The startling blue and yellow colouring made it one of the brightest creations on this level and even its forked tongue that flicked out of its mouth every now and then was a vivid blue. It wasn’t as big as the griffin but was still huge and moved surprisingly fast as it ran around the perimeter of its enclosure, disappearing into the undergrowth just to appear a moment later. It stopped every now and then to stare at the people then would start its circuit again.
The next two levels were all the other kind of animals that either lived on the ground or burrowed underneath it. Some of the stranger ones were from planets none of them had ever heard of while others were just the commonest types that were found everywhere. But all of them were made with such great skill that they marvelled at each one.
They particularly liked the enclosure that had dozens of long-bodied furry creatures that ran about on four legs, always seeming to be in a hurry. They would dash about making high-pitched squeaking noises, grab a stick or something else they found lying about and carry it around for a while before dropping it and picking something else up. The flurry of activity as the pale furred creatures ran around for no apparent reason had a lot of the crowd entertained.
Lena had found another creature she loved. This time it was a large cat with the blackest fur they had ever seen but it wasn’t its sleek black coat that had them staring. It was the creature’s eyes that were large and round, seeming to be every colour of the rainbow that slowly whirled in a blaze of jewel colours. It lay on a rock with its head on its paws just watching everyone, its eyes almost hypnotising as the colours changed and spun in a lazy circle.
Back on the Ground Level Troy and Ziggy decided to go to the side that had a sign saying ‘Monster Section’ while Lena took Orla to the other side that had a small petting zoo. Promising to not take too long the boys hurried excitedly to find out what monsters they could see.
It wasn’t as busy in here as it was in the other areas. The lighting was a bit more subdued giving it a more atmospheric look with the brighter lit enclosures running around the walls of this large room.
They stopped at the first window and couldn’t help smiling at the first monster there. It was round like a ball but had half-a-dozen tentacles sprouting from the top of its head with an eye at the end of each. The eyes all blinked at different times giving it an oddly surprised look that the boys found very amusing.
Moving on to the next window they couldn’t at first see anything then suddenly something flew at the window, veering away at the last minute to perch on a nearby branch. Ziggy shrieked in surprise and jumped back while Troy could feel his heart hammering at the fright he had got. Ziggy stepped back beside Troy and they looked at the creature that stood watching them balefully.
It had leathery looking wings like a bat and looked very similar in other ways but its mouth had very sharp protruding teeth that reflected the light off of their silvery surfaces. Troy looked closer at its wings.
‘I wonder how they made the wings?’ he mused, stepping closer to the glass but jumping back when it flew at the glass making a loud chittering noise.
‘Freaky little thing,’ Ziggy commented while they moved along to the next window.
They moved along the perimeter of the room stopping at each window, laughing and joking at each exhibit. There was only a couple of more times when they got a fright – when a large worm-like creature suddenly slithered up over the window and again when a swarm of what looked like winged scorpions flew at the window hitting it with loud metallic bangs.
It wasn’t until they had only a few windows left that Troy noticed the other two boys that were in the monster room with them. By this time there were only a handful of other people there too so it wasn’t difficult to see that the boys were more interested in him and Ziggy than they were in the monsters.
Ziggy hadn’t noticed them so Troy didn’t say anything, just kept an eye on their unwanted observers. He wasn’t really worried as much as he would have been if they had been adults. With adults there was always the possibility of them being law enforcement officers, something they most definitely did not want.
Looking at the two boys on the other side of the room he couldn’t help noticing that there clothes seemed to be mostly too big while the taller of the two was wearing a sweater that was obviously too small. They looked well fed if a little on the scruffy side so Troy wasn’t sure if they were street kids or not.
‘They’ve been watching us for a while now,’ Ziggy said quietly.
‘What?’ Troy said stupidly, looking back at his friend.
‘Those boys,’ Ziggy explained quietly, ‘they’ve been here a while. I think they’re following us.’
Troy smiled at himself for thinking his friend would never have noticed something so obvious and said, ‘Yeah, I noticed them too. I think I saw them when we were at that café too!’
‘What should we do?’ Ziggy asked as he pretended to look at the monster on the other side of the glass.
Troy shrugged, ‘Nothing. We just need to wait and see what they will do. I don’t think we need to worry about them calling the police or anything like that – they don’t look as if they would want to get involved with the police either.’
Ziggy looked at him seriously for a moment and said, ‘That’s not really comforting!’
Troy sniggered quietly at the look of disgust on his friend’s face but then a voice behind him made him stop and turn around.
The two boys that had been following them stood behind them with an expectant look on their faces. Troy couldn’t help noticing that they looked alike with the same shade of brown hair and eyes.
‘I said,’ the taller of the two spoke more firmly, ‘Who are you?’
Troy glanced at Ziggy and then back to the two boys in front of them. ‘We’re just visitors here, we’ll be leaving soon.’
The boy who had spoken scowled and stepped a little closer, ‘You didn’t answer my question.’
Troy looked up at the taller boy and said firmly, ‘No, I didn’t. But then you never introduced yourselves either.’
Troy expected the other boy to get angry but he grinned suddenly and stepped back to stand beside his companion. Flinging an arm over the smaller boy’s shoulder he said, ‘This here is my brother Stint and I’m Pierre. We live here on the Station with some friends. We noticed you and your other two friends and were just curious – you don’t seem to be with any grown-ups.’
He stood watching Troy and Ziggy with an expectant look, waiting for them to speak. Troy looked to Ziggy who just shrugged so he turned back to Pierre and introduced himself and Ziggy but said nothing about being on their own.
‘Who are the girls that are with you?’ Pierre asked.
‘That would be Lena and Orla,’ Troy explained, ‘They went to the petting zoo section to have a look.’
Pierre nodded and studied them for a moment but didn’t ask any more questions. Looking around at the exhibits he gestured at them with his hand. 
‘They’re really something aren’t they?’ Pierre commented, ‘I’ve always wanted to see how they were made but it’s a secret apparently! No one is allowed to see how they are constructed!’.
‘It would certainly be interesting to see them being made,’ he agreed.
At that moment Ziggy gasped so loudly Troy turned automatically to his friend who had suddenly gone pale.
“Ziggy,” Troy said, grabbing his arm, “What is it?”
Ziggy turned with a fearful look on his face and said, “I just saw Bill and Bob! They’re here!”
“That’s impossible!” Troy laughed, “They would be back on Goramir.”
“What if they were with Calhoun?” Ziggy persisted.
“Yeah, but …” Troy stopped. He couldn’t say it was impossible and he couldn’t say that Calhoun was definitely destroyed.
Moving quickly to the room exit he cautiously looked out into the main hallway. At first he couldn’t see anything in the crowd of people and he almost turned away. Then he saw two tall thin figures, surprisingly pale, looking around searching for something.
Troy felt frozen with uncertainty. He couldn’t believe they were here even though he was looking right at them. Before he could disappear back into the room one of them turned in his direction and he felt a jolt of fear when their eyes met.
“Wow, They’re freaky looking!” Stint said behind him as Pierre nodded in agreement.
Troy hurriedly moved back into the room to where Ziggy was standing looking worried. He looked around the room but couldn’t see any other way out.
Turning to Stint and Pierre he asked, “Do you know of any other way out? Can you help us?”
Pierre looked to his brother and nodded. Stint grinned at Troy and Ziggy then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it at the window of the exhibit in front of them. It stuck to the glass with a sticky thump against the glass.
‘I would duck if I was you,’ Stint suggested.
Looking at the blob on the glass Troy could see it was beginning to smoke and then the glass exploded inwards, showering the robot inside with shards of glass. An alarm sounded immediately and Troy and Ziggy looked in horror at the other two boys who were grinning in satisfaction.
‘Come with us,’ Pierre was saying as he started to back away towards an emergency exit that was hidden in the narrow space between two exhibits.
Troy hesitated for a moment but heard running feet behind that spurred him into action. Without even looking to see if it was Bill and Bob or security guards that were coming for them he grabbed Ziggy’s arm and ran after their new friends.



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 friends 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.



THIRTEEN
Simon wasted no time in heading back out the theatre and to a flight of stairs that led up to where they could see neon lights. They could hear faint street noises and they crowded behind Simon but he stopped them and went up the last few steps alone, peering over the top of the wall cautiously. After a moment he waved them up and they hurried up the last few steps on to a deserted side street.
They paused for a moment, searching the area around them for anyone that might stop them. Both ends of this little side street opened up onto another street that had only a few pedestrians on each.
“Can you remember where you came up on the lift?” Simon asked them.
Troy turned to Ziggy with a slight frown as he tried to remember the name of the street. A sigh behind them had them turning to look at Lena. “Osaka Street,” she told them in exasperation, “honestly, you never remember anything.”
“Osaka Street?” Simon repeated then stood thinking for a moment. “This way would be better I think!”
He took off at a trot, holding his sister’s hand, while the others ran along behind them. They paused at the corner to the next street and did a furtive sweep with their eyes to make sure the coast was clear before heading along at a slightly slower pace.
“Osaka Street is on the other side of the Station,” Simon informed them, “But it shouldn’t take long to get there!”
The little group moved quickly through the streets, not too fast that they would draw attention.
They hadn’t gone far when Troy suddenly stopped, grabbing Simon and Grace by the shoulders to halt them. He quickly shoved them into a narrow alley, making sure the others followed him.
“What is it?” Ziggy asked, looking at him worriedly.
They huddled against the wall of the alley, all looking at Troy expectantly.
“It’s Calhoun,” Troy told them, hardly believing it themselves.
“What!” Lena exclaimed then sighed in annoyance. “I suppose if bill and Bob are here it only makes sense that Calhoun would be too.”
Troy cautiously peered around the corner of the building to see where their pursuers were doing. He had only managed to spot them before because Calhoun had been standing on something to raise him above the crowd. When Troy had seen him he had been looking the other way but he couldn’t be sure about Bill and Bob whose pale heads he’d only managed to get a glimpse of.
As he searched the street he could see that Bob was heading their way, scanning the crowds with his dark, shark eyes.
“One of them’s coming this way,” Troy explained looking desperately behind his friends but couldn’t see any other way out of the little alley they were in.
“What will we do?” Ziggy asked, slightly worried.
Troy thought furiously for a moment, peering around the corner again to see where the older boy was. Ducking back in again he turned to his friends and said, “I think we’re going to have to ambush him and drag him down the back here to hide him. Anybody got anything we could tie him up with?”
The other children shook their heads but Ziggy had his hand in his pocket and was feeling around inside it. With a triumphant smile he pulled out a small ball of rolled up string.
“Umm,” Troy began, “I don’t think that is going to be enough.”
Ziggy gave him an amused look and unrolled some of the string. Troy looked closer at it and noticed the slight metallic shimmer it had and reached out a hand to touch it.
“Is that Venus String?” Lena asked as she too reached out to touch it.
“Yep,” Ziggy said with a little pride in his voice, “I traded for it back at the home.”
Troy grinned at his friend then peered out again. He flattened himself back against the wall and waved the others back too, mouthing the words ‘he’s coming’ as he did so.
It was only a moment more when Bob appeared and Troy grabbed his arm and hauled him into the small alley. Bob was so startled to be yanked sideways that he lost his footing and fell heavily to the ground where the rest of them piled on top of him to hold him down. 
Before their victim could cry out Lena had stuffed an old cloth into his mouth and only muffled words could be heard. It took Troy a little longer to get a hold of the boy’s arms from amongst the tangle of limbs from his friends but eventually he managed to get Ziggy’s string tied around both wrists.
They all stood back to observe their handiwork with triumphant smiles on their faces, which slowly faded as Bob struggled to get to his feet with an very angry look on his face. Before Troy could do anything Lena had stepped forward and punched him on the jaw.
They didn’t catch him as he fell but stood motionless as he slumped to the ground unconscious then looked at Lena.
“What?” she asked them, shaking her hand.
Troy told them to grab the unconscious boy and they carried him down to the back of the alley and tucked him into the corner so it would look like he was just sleeping in the hope no one would notice him for a while or at least until he woke up.
“Come on!” Troy said, “We’ve got to get to the ship! If they already looking for us I don’t see the point of hiding, we need to get there as quickly as possible!”
The others nodded and followed him out of the alley and back into the street that was thankfully quiet as no one had seen their little ambush and assault incident. Troy hurried along the street and the others jogged to keep up.
“What about Calhoun?” Lena asked behind him.
Troy hesitated for a moment then stopped to turn to face the others. “We’re going to have to run.” he turned to Simon when she nodded, “How about Grace? Will she manage?” Simon hesitated as he looked at his young sister so Troy added. “Tell you what, how about I carry her and you lead?”
Simon grinned and turned to his sister, persuading her to climb on to Troy’s back and to hold on tightly. Looking back he noted that Lena and Ziggy were on either side of Orla just to make sure the younger girl kept up.
“Let’s go!” he cried and took off after Simon as the smaller boy began to run.
The pace was hard but they managed to settle into a comfortable rhythm after a few steps. They carried along the street, ducking around the few other pedestrians they came across until they could see Bill up ahead, obviously looking for his brother but there was no sign of Calhoun..
So far, he hadn’t heard them and Troy hoped they might be able to get past him without that happening but the sound of running feet had caused the boy to turn around curiously. Troy swore under his breath and told Grace to hold on tightly as Bill grinned when he saw them and stopped in the middle of the street.
Before Troy could think of anything Ziggy went hurtling past him, straight at the older boy who stood in their path. Bill smirked as Ziggy ran at him but that quickly changed when Ziggy lowered his head and with a sudden burst of speed rammed him in the stomach. He fell heavily with Ziggy on top of him and lay on the street clutching his stomach and groaning.
Ziggy jumped up with a grin and started running again as the others ran past. They continued along this same street for a bit longer and then Simon took them along a series of small alleyways and side streets until they came out at a much larger street.
“This is Cherry Blossom Boulevard, “ Simon told them as they paused for a moment, “This should lead you to Tokyo Square.”
Troy looked in the direction Simon was pointing and nodded. He turned back to the small boy and said, “Why don’t you come with us?”
Simon shook his head and helped his sister down off Troy’s back. “Our parents will be back for us and we need to be here when they do.”
Troy was about to argue further but could tell it wouldn’t be any use, so instead he said, “Well, thanks for getting us here. Good luck, I hope you get home soon!”
Simon and Grace smiled in thanks and Troy reluctantly said goodbye to them, as did the others but Orla spoke to them again in that strange language that had both Shee’an children nodding happily.
When the two Shee’an children ran off and disappeared into the crowd Troy looked at Orla and asked, “What were you saying to them?”
Orla smiled but didn’t say anything so with an annoyed sigh Troy led them off down the street before Calhoun could find them.
They hurried along the street trying not to draw too much attention to themselves on this busier street. Dodging around the other pedestrians they tried to keep an eye out for Calhoun but so far they hadn’t seen him, which Troy found a little worrying.
“Do you think Tristan has been looking for us?” Ziggy asked, panting slightly.
“Probably,” Troy replied without turning around, “we were supposed to be back three hours ago! It’s not like he can go to the authorities!”
Ziggy and Lena cast anxious looks at his back and to each other but stayed silent, concentrating on getting to the ship safely.
They had to slow down when they once again encountered the malfunctioning robot from the pet shop that they had seen before. This time a crowd of people had gathered around it as it gyrated and beeped wildly while loudly declaring a one hundred percent sale of everything. Troy and his friends slowly made their way through the crowd that was spread across the whole street. Suddenly Troy stopped as he saw Calhoun on the other side of the crowd watching them with angry eyes.
The press of the crowd meant they couldn’t move quickly and Calhoun was between them and their way back to the ship. However, between Calhoun and them was a malfunctioning robot.
Troy turned to the others and said quietly, “Get ready to run!”
He turned to face Calhoun who he realised was restricted by the crowd just like they were. Stepping forward he kept his eyes on Calhoun, something that was hard to do with the robot flailing its arms in erratic circles. Just as he’d hoped though, Calhoun also stepped forward and before he could think about it Troy rushed forward, shoving the robot.
Calhoun went down in a tangle of metal and limbs as Troy staggered backwards. He waved to his friends to start running and they took off through the crowd.
The people that had been watching the robot were now laughing even harder at the infuriated man that had become entangled with it. Troy grinned at the spectacle before darting off after his friends, Calhoun’s enraged shouts sounding behind him.
It didn’t take him long to reach Tokyo Square and he frantically searched as he ran across it, trying to see anything familiar. He caught a flash of pale hair amongst the crowd and ran for it, hoping it was his friends. 
Just as he thought he had lost them again Ziggy appeared, waving him on frantically. He sprinted toward his friend, ignoring the angry cries of those he jostled on the way past and only slowed down when he rejoined Ziggy and the girls.
“It’s here!” Lena cried, pointing to the opening of Osaka Street.
They barely slowed down as they darted into this smaller street. Troy led the way frantically looking for the Ramen Noodles sign while Lena and Ziggy came behind with Orla.
“There!” Troy cried as he saw the familiar sign and the doors across from it.
They slowed down as the crowds got denser here and went through the doors to the corridor beyond that took them to the lifts. The lift doors were just opening on one and the occupants spilled out while the children waited anxiously. Troy watched the end of the corridor as the lift emptied catching sight of Calhoun as he stepped through the doors but luckily the crowd of people hid them and as soon as they had room they slipped around them and into the lift.
There was an agonising wait as others entered the lift also, seeming to take forever to walk the few paces it took to get through the door. Troy could feel a knot in his stomach as he watched the corridor beyond and could see Calhoun getting closer and closer. The man hadn’t yet seen them but it was only a matter of time as there was only one way in and out of this corridor.
Suddenly there was a shout from Calhoun as he saw them in the lift and he began to run. But he was too late. Troy and the others heard a bang on the other side of the doors just as they closed in time.
Troy sagged back against the wall, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. A nudge in his ribs had him standing up properly and looking curiously at Ziggy who was staring in alarm at someone in the lift. Curious, Troy looked to where Ziggy was staring and almost cried out in shock. On the other side of the lift was a man in an official looking uniform with an embroidered patch on the shoulder of his sleeve that said ISF.
“Stop staring!” Troy hissed at Ziggy.
“Is he police?” Ziggy asked him in a choked voice.
“No,” Troy replied, “he’s Interstellar Security Force. It’s a bit like the army but for space stations and the like.”
Troy could tell that this did not comfort Ziggy at all and he just hoped they could get back to the ship without drawing any more attention to themselves. Just as he was thinking this the man in the uniform turned his head slightly and looked directly at them. Ducking back slightly he managed to get out of his line of sight.
It seemed to take the lift forever to get to their floor as it had to stop to let other passengers off on their floors. The ISF officer was still there and when they eventually got to their floor he also stepped out behind them.
Trying not to hurry they made their way along the corridor to where their ship was docked but before they could step through the door a voice behind them stopped them.
Troy’s heart sank as he turned to face the ISF officer. The man was smiling pleasantly at them but Troy could tell his eyes were taking in every detail he could see about them.
“Excuse me children,” the man repeated, “Forgive my intrusion but I was led to believe there was a Class 3 Blue Dragon docked here.”
Troy licked his lips nervously before he answered, “That’s right, she’s called Star Chaser.”
The man nodded in encouragement when Troy said no more then he asked, “I would very much like to see it, if I may?”
Troy looked at his friends in desperation but they only looked at him mutely so he nodded slightly and led the way through the door to where Star Chaser was. The ISF officer followed closely behind and then past them so he could walk along the side while studying the ship with a small smile on his face.
“She’s in good shape for her age,” he remarked, not taking his eyes off the ship.
“She’s just had some work done to her recently,” Troy explained hoping it would be enough information.
“Where?” the ISF officer asked.
Troy pointed out several places on the ship that had been replaced or repaired and the ISF man laughed in genuine amusement before saying, “I meant on what planet or station was the work done?”
“Oh,” Troy stammered a little, flushing at his mistake.
Before Troy could think of an answer the cargo bay door began to open and Krista stood just inside. “Come on you lot,” she said, waving them on the ship, “We have to get going!”
With smiles of relief they began to make their way up the ramp and into the ship when the ISF officer stopped them. “Are you children alone on this ship?” he asked them, his voice calm and official sounding.
“Of course not!” Krista exclaimed with a slight laugh, “Troy’s father is the captain! We all have our parents’ permission to be here! It’s all in the ship’s records.”
The officer nodded thoughtfully for a moment then stepped forward on to the ramp and asked, “I’d like to speak to your captain if I may?”
Troy looked in panic towards Krista but she merely stood shaking her head, “I’m sorry, we’re in the middle of preparing to leave – our time is up. But you could speak to him through our intercom?”
The officer nodded and stepped into the cargo bay where Krista was pressing buttons on the computer monitor to contact the bridge. Peering through the gap between the two Troy could see the brown-haired, brown-eyed image of the Holo Hoop looking out of the screen and almost laughed aloud.
“Captain Atlas here, officer,” Tristan spoke in his normal voice which was deeper than Troy’s so sounded more natural for an adult.
“Captain Atlas,” the officer said, “Sorry to bother you when you are in the process of getting ready to leave. I just needed to verify that the children were under supervision!”
“Of course,” Tristan replied, smiling in understanding, “You’re just doing your job. Well, if that’s all?”
“It is, thank you Captain,” the officer said and then turned to the children behind him. “Thank you for letting me look at your ship,” he said with a smile, “she really is beautiful. I wish you a safe journey wherever you’re going.” He paused a moment to reach into the breast pocket of his jacket and pulled out a small disc, handing it to Troy. “Take this. If you ever come back here maybe you could contact me and give me a tour of the inside? I actually grew up on a ship just like her and I’m curious to see if the inside is the same.”
Troy smiled and took the disc, thanking the officer and watching with relief as he went back down the ramp and Krista closed the door. There were groans of relief all round when they finally felt safe.
“Where have you been?” Krista demanded angrily, “We’ve been looking everywhere for you!”
Troy was so relieved to be back on the ship he wasn’t the slightest bit bothered about Krista shouting at them. “We’ll tell you later!” he told her while heading for the bridge, “let’s just get out of here!”
His brother was not so easily put off, however, and when they reached the bridge he was already shouting and demanding to know where they had been. 
“It wasn’t our fault!” Troy protested.
“Oh really,” Tristan scoffed, “who’s fault was it?”
Troy took a deep breath and told his brother about Calhoun being on the station. Being found by Bill and Bob and the children who helped them.
Although Tristan was surprised at his news Troy got the feeling there was something bothering his brother and then a thought struck him.
Wait,” he looked around in confusion, “Why are we leaving so soon? W e have another day.”
Tristan eyed the others who were talking to Krista and not paying much attention to them before steering him out into the corridor.
“Remember the weird guy with the tattoo on his neck? Well, he was here. He approached me and Krista when we were checking the damage to the ship.”
“What did he want?” Troy whispered.
Tristan shook his head, “I don’t know. He was asking what cargo we took; what planets we had been to and then he was asking if we had picked up any unusual rocks.”
“Rocks?” Troy repeated, baffled.
“I don’t know what he was going on about but one thing I know for sure – he works for Red Raven!”
Troy sighed, not at all surprised. “I just don’t understand, Tristan! First he kills our parents and then he saves us from Calhoun! What does he want with us?”
Tristan hugged his brother, unable to answer as he didn’t know either. He pushed Troy away but left his hands on his shoulders saying, “We have to leave now and try to get as far away as possible. We can talk about this later.”
Troy nodded and turned back into the bridge while his brother went to the engine room.
“Everybody get in their seats!” he told the others as he sat down.
“Wait,” Ziggy said with a frown, “Are the repairs done already?”
Krista turned from her computer and said, “Tristan said there wasn’t much damage after all. He replaced a panel and it was done!”
They all quickly seated themselves and Troy started the exit procedure with the little robot guide back to help them navigate the way out.
Getting off the Station was almost as complicated as being allowed to get on in the first place. They had to answer questions while checks on their ship records were made again then finally they were allowed to leave with a ‘Thank you for your visit and come back soon’.
When they were far enough away that they could relax Troy took the disc the ISF officer had given him and studied it. The disc was the same dark blue as the officer’s uniform and in gold lettering it said ‘Captain David Lin’ and had a contact number beneath that. Not sure why he would ever need it Troy put it away in one of the drawers beside him and turned to Krista who was still doing some checks on the computer but turned to Troy when he spoke.
“Krista, back on the base there were two children that helped us escape. They said they were waiting for their parents to come back and get them. Could you check?”
“Sure, I could do that,” Krista replied, “What are their names?”
“That’s the thing,” Troy said with a slight frown, “we don’t know. They were called Simon and Grace but that wasn’t their real names. They were Shee’an if that helps?”
Krista turned in surprise to Troy and the others, “Shee’an? Really? You really saw two Shee’an children?”
Troy was surprised at the eager look on her face but nodded in answer. “Wow,” Krista breathed, “you are so lucky! Shee’ans usually avoid other races!”
“So, do you think you can help them?”
Krista turned back to her computer and began to tap on the panel before her. “I should be able to,” she assured them, “Shee’an children are even less seen than the adults. It’s rather surprising that they were there on their own at all!”
While Krista worked Troy chewed his lip in thought then reached back into the drawer for the disc. Handing it to Krista he asked, “Could you send an anonymous message to this officer?”
“Easily,” Krista replied then asked curiously, “Why would I want to?”
“Tell him that there are a bunch of kids living underneath an old abandoned theatre and that maybe they could use some help.”
Krista watched him a moment then turned back to her computer after taking the disc.
Troy turned to Lena and Ziggy who were smiling at him in obvious agreement with what he had asked Krista to do. He didn’t know if the children they had met would appreciate his interference but he was sure some of them would.



FOURTEEN
When they were a good distance from the station Troy joined the others in the lounge where they were sprawled on the couches.
Tristan stood up when his brother came in and said, “It’s actually the early hours of the morning, perhaps you should get to bed.”
“We’re not tired,” Troy objected.
“Really?” Tristan replied looking pointedly at the others.
Troy turned to find that Orla leaning against Lena’s shoulder with her eyes shut while the older girl looking as if she might fall asleep any moment. Ziggy was on another couch yawning widely. Seeing his friends so tired it suddenly struck Troy how exhausted he felt himself. The rush of trying to get away from Calhoun then getting back to the ship just in time had finally left him feeling drained.
“Yeah, I guess you’re right,” he admitted.
Saying goodnight to them all Tristan headed off to the bridge where Krista was. The rest of them slowly made their way to their rooms, uttering their own sleepy goodnights to each other.
Troy didn’t even bother to take off his clothes, simply kicked off his shoes and flopped down on top of the bed. Sleep came almost instantly and he was so tired that he didn’t even move from that position until he woke up several hours later.
Stumbling into his small bathroom he used the toilet then took a good look at himself in the mirror. He still had circles under his eyes from not enough sleep but he could live with that. Looking down at his clothes he noticed that they were dirty from crawling through the vents and running through alleyways. Stripping them off, he dumped them on the floor then had a quick shower, feeling much better and more revived.
Putting on some clean clothes he wandered out to the kitchen and got a glass of water, sipping it as he wandered to the bridge to see if anyone was about. 
The bridge was quiet and Troy noticed it was on autopilot. Checking Krista’s computer he noted the course they were on but didn’t recognise the destination. Stepping back from the computer he stood gazing out the front windshield and enjoyed the way the stars sped past the ship. Everyone back at the home thought that being out in space was only black and white but when you were up in a ship it would soon become clear that space was not simply black with white stars. There were blues and reds, purple, yellow, green and every other colour imaginable all from the debris of exploded planets or collapsed stars that could have disappeared thousands of years ago but little pieces still existed.
Troy found it very peaceful to just stand there and watch it all go past. The hum of the engines was a soothing background noise that didn’t interrupt his mood. The sound of approaching footsteps made him turn around, though.
“Hi,” Krista said as she saw him.
Troy smiled but didn’t say anything simply turning around to gaze back out the windshield. He heard Krista going to her computer console and punching a few buttons but didn’t pay much attention until she actually spoke.
“I was keeping an eye on the Station communications for as long as I could before we were out of range,” Krista began, turning to Troy. “It seems a Shee’an ship was seen approaching. Something that doesn’t happen very often so they made a note of it in communication logs.”
Troy grinned and exclaimed, “That’s great! So they’ll get to go home, at last.”
Troy continued to smile, feeling as if he had succeeded in something good, but he did worry about the other kids that had no one else to care for them. Sighing as his mood darkened a little he wandered back to his room where he gave his room a quick tidy. This consisted of kicking the dirty clothes into a corner and the rest of the junk under the bed.
By this time he could hear the others beginning to stir and went back to the kitchen where Ziggy was heaping a bowl full of cereal and emptying what was left in the carton of milk.
“Better take it easy there, Ziggy,” Troy advised, “Who knows when we can restock – don’t want the food running out!”
He sniggered at the look on Ziggy’s face as he stood staring at his large bowl of cereal and Troy knew he was trying to figure out how to put some of it back.
“Relax, Ziggy, I was joking!”
Ziggy smiled in relief then went to the table where he sat down before starting to eat. It wasn’t long before Lena and Orla were also seated at the table with their own bowls of cereal.
A few moments passed in peaceful companionship when Tristan came on the intercom telling them to come to the bridge. He hadn’t sounded worried so they didn’t panic but still hurried to the bridge where Krista and Tristan were looking out the front windshield.
Coming to stand beside them, Troy and the others gazed in wonder at the sight before them. Directly in front there was a large cloud that shimmered blue, red, gold and green while the stars shone through it, twinkling with various colours.
“What is that?” Ziggy asked as he tried to look at it all.
“It’s a nebula,” Tristan told them.
“What’s a nebula,” Lena asked.
“It’s a cloud of dust, hydrogen gas and plasma that becomes ionised so you can see the light bouncing off it. That’s why there are so many colours. I’ve always loved nebulas.” Troy said to them, adding the last comment quietly as if more to himself.
The others simply looked at him but when he said nothing more they continued to gaze at the rippling colours of the nebula. The cloud flowed and swirled gently making it look as if there were lights that changed colour constantly.
“What’s that?” Ziggy asked, pointing to the centre of the nebula.
The others looked to where he pointed but couldn’t see anything at first and then they did. In the very centre of the nebula there appeared to be dark shapes that looked as if they were swimming in the cloud but they couldn’t quite make out what they were.
“Hang on a minute!” Krista said before going to her console.
The front windshield changed to a computer screen and then zoomed in on the centre of the nebula where they could clearly see what was there.
“They look a bit like dolphins,” Lena remarked.
“What are dolphins?” Troy asked in confusion.
Lena looked at him in exasperation, “Weren’t you there when we did Earth’s history in class? Dolphins lived in the oceans of Earth and were thought to be quite intelligent.”
“So, they were fish?” Troy asked her.
“No, they were not fish!” Lena retorted, annoyed, “They were mammals! Anyway, I was just saying they look a little bit like them although these things have rounder noses and their flippers are bigger. What are they anyway?”
Troy looked at Tristan who shrugged. “I don’t know what they are, I’ve never seen anything like them before.”
“How can they survive out there anyway?” Ziggy asked in wonder. “I mean, what do they breathe?”
Troy shook his head and shrugged, “Maybe they can only survive in a nebula, maybe it’s got everything they need.”
They continued to watch the nebula creatures as they swam amongst the clouds of gas and dust, their movements graceful and acrobatic. Little swirls of colour followed them as they stirred the cloud around them causing flashes of gold and silver.
Troy pulled his attention away from the nebula to see that his brother and Krista were studying her computer screen intently and then Tristan abruptly stood up and stared out the front windshield. But Troy could tell he wasn’t looking at the nebula, he was staring so intently as if he could force himself to see beyond it.
“What is it?” Troy asked him curiously.
Tristan continued to stare out the windshield as if he hadn’t heard his brother. Troy began to feel a little tendril of fear as Tristan’s face turned cold and angry.
“Tristan?”
Finally, Tristan pulled his gaze away from the windshield and looked at Troy who almost stepped back from the anger and pain he saw there.
“It’s Red Raven,” Tristan said quietly.
Everyone turned to look at Tristan and Troy. They knew how the brothers had come to be at the Home for Displaced Children and they knew about Red Raven. The sudden spate of news stories about him had worried their friends who had no idea how to bring the subject up. It was Krista who finally spoke.
“You guys okay?” she asked, looking from one to the other.
Tristan held up his hands in reassurance, “Don’t worry, we’re not going to go on a revenge killing spree!” He and Troy laughed but the others looked a little shocked at his choice of words so they sobered quickly. “Anyway, we just don’t think it’s something our parents would have wanted taking over our lives.” He frowned as he thought, “But we also can’t sit back and let him hurt someone else if there might be something we could do to prevent it.”
When he paused for a moment Krista spoke up. “What are you wanting to do?”
“Red Raven is scum,” Tristan told them, “whatever he’s doing here we can be sure it’s no good! Krista, is there any way you could break into his communications and find out?”
Krista nodded and said, “I think I should be able to, it might take me a while.” With that she turned around and began to work on her computer, completely focused on her task.
“What can the rest of us do?” Ziggy asked.
Tristan thought for a moment then said, “I need you three to get everything stored away. The kitchen and the cargo bay especially, I don’t want any flying knives to hit something important!”
“Umm, why?” Ziggy asked, looking a little worried.
“Just in case we need to make a fast escape! Nothing to worry about!” Tristan grinned and then he disappeared to the engine room.
“Come on, guys,” Troy said to his friends, “Let’s get it done fast. There can’t be that much, we tidied it all away in the cargo bay, I know that. Lena, maybe you should check your plants?”
They hurried away to do as much as they could, not really knowing how much time they had to do it in. 
As it turned out they had a lot more time than they expected. It was taking Krista a long time to break into Red Raven’s communications as she explained to them when they all came back to the bridge an hour later.
“He’s got a really sophisticated security system on his network that I just can’t get past,” she told them as she punched a few more buttons. “I think I’ve figured out a way to get around … Ah! That did it!”
They all crowded behind her as she scrolled through Red Raven’s communication log. She flicked through various screens faster than the others could keep up.
“Hey, slow down!” Troy protested.
“There’s something here,” Krista told them, “It’s like a hidden screen. All these communications are just normal ship-to-ship notices for his fleet.”
“He has a fleet?” Lena asked, sounding a little worried.
“It says here that he has four other ships with him,” Krista explained, “Not much of a fleet, I know, but it is if they have enough fire power.”
Troy caught the look between Ziggy and Lena at the mention of fire power but Tristan was already speaking before he could say anything.
“What’s on the hidden screen?” Tristan was asking her.
“I don’t know yet,” she answered, sounding distracted. “I’m just looking for a back door – just give me a minute.”
They waited impatiently as she worked on the computer. Troy checked that they were still on the set course that would take them a bit closer to where Red Raven’s ship was when they first intercepted his communications.
Assured they were still heading the right way he turned back in time for Krista to give a cry of success, which made everyone crowd even closer. Leaning away from them, Krista couldn’t help laughing.
“Look, I’ll put it on the front screen so you don’t have to practically sit on my head!”
They all smiled a little in embarrassment and turned to view the front screen where all of Red Raven’s secret communications were displayed. Krista scrolled through to more recent ones and stopped so they could all see the dates and the messages themselves.
Tristan frowned and looked more closely at the screen and pointed. “Krista, click on that one.”
Krista did as he asked and the message expanded so they could see it fully. It didn’t take long for them to realise what it was Red Raven was up to.
“He’s going to rob the merchant line!” Tristan exclaimed.
“What merchant line?” Troy asked his brother.
Tristan explained to them all about the merchant lines that went from one galaxy to the next, exporting and importing goods from all over. It was a very lucrative business and these merchant lines could have cargo worth millions in their cargo bays. It was also very risky and there were a few times that attacks were made on them, usually with very little success but not always. It very much depended on the attackers and how well organised they were.
“Is there a specific ship they are going for?” Lena asked.
Scanning a few more messages Ziggy suddenly pointed and said, “There!”
“The Siren,” Tristan read out then frowned slightly, “That’s a passenger cruise ship. Why would he be going after that?”
“Maybe there’s someone on board he wants?” Troy suggested.
“No, it’s not a person,” Krista told them.
She was flicking through some more messages when she found one that contained details of The Siren. “See? The ship is carrying gold bars from Anastra.”
“From where?” Ziggy asked.
“Anastra is a planet that has the purest form of gold ever found anywhere. One bar is the equivalent of ten normal ones,” Tristan explained. Catching the look on Troy’s face he added, “It was Mum and Dad’s job to know these things!”
“Okay, but why put it on a passenger cruiser?” Troy asked.
Tristan shrugged, “I don’t know. So it wouldn’t be obvious to everyone what it really was? It’s probably been disguised in crates of something else.”
“So, if the gold has been secretly disguised as something else,” Lena mused, “that must mean that Red Raven has people working on board that ship. Maybe even in their security.”
There was a pause as everyone thought about that. What Lena had said was true. To know about the Anastran gold meant that someone who had handled it must have informed him.
“Krista,” Troy turned to her, “are we still in range of Phoenix Space Station?”
She thought for a moment then nodded, “I could boost the signal a bit more. Want me to contact that ISF guy?”
Before answering he turned to his brother. “We can’t do anything on our own. He could at least alert someone to the possibility of an ambush.”
Tristan looked thoughtful then looked at Krista, “Do it. But don’t let them know where it came from.”
Krista turned back to her screen and busily tapped on the keys. “Done!” she said triumphantly but then her face became pensive as she watched her screen.
“What is it?” Tristan asked her, not seeing anything out of the ordinary.
“I think someone is hacking our communications,” she said just as the front screen lost all of Red Raven’s messages and an image of a man appeared in their place.
Everyone froze, unable to believe that they had been found by none other than Red Raven himself. The face on their screen was scowling as piercing blue eyes scanned them all. A tattoo of a red raven decorated the side of the man’s bald head and a line of gold hoops went up the edge of one ear.
“Can he see us?” Ziggy whispered to Troy.
“Well, well,” Red Raven drawled, “What have we got here? A ship full of space rats!”
“I think that’s a yes,” Troy replied to Ziggy.
“It just so happens I’ve been looking for you,” Red Raven continued in a friendly tone, “There’s something on that ship that I want and if you’re very good I’ll let you fly away once I have it.”
Tristan took a step forward so he was in front of the others. Troy admired his bravery even though he could see he was shaking just as much as he was.
“We have nothing that belongs to you!” Tristan said firmly.
Red Raven smiled as if he had just heard something incredibly funny. “I didn’t say it belonged to me, I said I wanted it. Now, one of my men will come aboard, retrieve it and we’ll be on our way.”
“No way,” Tristan replied, “Not one of you pirates is getting on here!”
“Pirates?” Red Raven laughed, turning from the screen to say, “You hear that men, we’re pirates!” He laughed again then his face quickly changed to anger. “I want that crystal! If you don’t hand it over willingly I’m going to make you.”
Tristan swallowed nervously but continued on despite his fear. “Your not getting on our ship and that’s final!”
“Aren’t we rude!” Red Raven tutted in mock surprise before his face went almost blank he was so angry. “Well, children, time for a lesson in manners.”
The screen went blank and it took them a moment to get over the shock of seeing the very man they were trying to thwart. Krista quickly changed the front screen back to normal and they could see coming around the edge of a far off planet the shape of a large war ship.
“Stations!” Tristan shouted and ran off to the engine room.
Troy dived into the pilot seat while the others scrambled to get themselves strapped in. Switching the auto pilot off Troy swung Star Chaser around and flew away from Red Raven and his ship as fast as he could.
“Krista, we need somewhere to hide!” he cried.
“I’m on it!”
The ship suddenly lurched as something hit them from behind.
“Shields are holding,” Krista informed them, then added, “I don’t know for how long though!”
Troy took a deep breath to steady himself and get his focus. Keeping an eye on his console screen he managed to dodge the next two laser blasts that came their way but their pursuer was getting closer all the time. If they didn’t find some way to out manoeuvre them they weren’t going to last very long. 
“Here,” Krista cried, “There’s a cluster of small planets! We could lose him amongst them!”
“Wait!” Lena exclaimed, “What about the people that live there!”
“The planets are too small to sustain anything larger than insects and plants. We won’t endanger anyone.”
Troy ignored the background chatter as he flew his ship to the co-ordinates Krista had given him while trying to avoid Red Raven’s weapons. He was also trying to block out the memory of the last time that ship had been chasing them and fervently hoped this time the outcome would be different.
It wasn’t long before they reached the cluster of small planets and Troy flew right into the middle of them without even slowing until the last minute so he could turn the ship behind one of the larger ones. Such small planets had no real gravitational pull but he still had to be careful not to get very close or they would risk bouncing off the planet’s atmosphere.
Checking his screen he was relieved to see that Red Raven had slowed down. His much larger ship couldn’t manoeuvre too well but that didn’t stop him from blasting with his lasers.
Blast after blast came right into the middle of the planets and debris from the very small moons that circled the planets that couldn’t withstand such treatment showered them and they began to break up. It was only when one blast seemed to catch the small moon closest to them at just the right angle and it exploded with such force it threw them towards the surface of the nearest planet and it took all of Troy’s skill, half-dazed as he was from the explosion, to keep them in one piece.



FIFTEEN
It was several moments before anyone could gather their wits enough to see what was going on. Troy looked out the front window but all he could see was a dark swirling cloud that obscured everything. Lights were flashing on the console and he quickly checked to see what was damaged.
“Are we dead?” Ziggy said behind him.
Troy spun around in his chair to see that everyone appeared to be okay. Even Orla gave him a little smile, much to his relief.
Turning back to look out the front he said, “No, we’re not dead. We landed on one of the planets. I think that’s just dust that we threw up when we landed.”
The others looked up in confusion when he suddenly spun the chair around and bolted to the door only to come crashing into Tristan who happened to be entering at the same time.
“Hey!” Tristan cried, rubbing his chest where Troy’s head had struck it.
“Oh Tristan!” Troy said with a rush of relief, “I was just coming to check you were okay!”
Tristan grinned and ruffled his brother’s hair affectionately, grinning even more when Troy smoothed his hair in annoyance.
“I see everyone’s okay here,” he noted before looking out the front window. “Good landing.”
Troy frowned a little and said, “How can you say that? We can’t even see outside because of the mess I made with the landing! It’s going to take ages for this dust to settle enough for us to take off!”
Tristan patted him on the shoulder and explained, “I meant, that you got us down in one piece! Good job.”
“Oh,” Troy said a little deflated but then smiled with pleasure.
Krista was focused on her computer screen before turning around. “If my scanners are right, this whole planet is like this. It wasn’t our landing that caused this dust cloud, the whole surface is covered with it.”
They all looked out the window at the roiling cloud and tried to see if there was any way to see through it. Not even putting on their outside hull lights made that much of a difference. 
“Okay,” Tristan began, folding his arms across his chest, “I know we had a close escape but I still think we need to stop Red Raven. A passenger cruise ship has a lot of people on board and we can’t stand by and do nothing while he kills them all!”
There was silence for a moment and then Krista spoke, “I could modify the scanners so we can see any obstacles around us if Troy could manage to fly that way. We would at least be off this planet.”
Troy assured them he could do it then he looked to Lena and Ziggy who were sitting quietly while the rest talked over them.
“What do you guys think?” he asked them quietly.
Lena looked at Ziggy who nodded a little then said, “I think we should stop him if we can. I don’t know if we will be able to but we have to try! Orla smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Let’s do it!” Tristan exclaimed, returning to the engine room.
“Ready Krista?” Troy asked.
“Just give me,” Krista said slowly while tapping on her console, “one minute while I adjust the scan power level. There! That should do it!”
She pressed a button and the front screen showed a computer image of the surrounding area and Troy was grateful no one had suggested he try a take off blind. About twenty feet above them was a ledge that stuck out from the sheer mountainside they were up against. When Star Chaser had landed she must have slid along the ground to end up underneath the ledge like they were. If Troy had tried a take off they would have crashed immediately.
As it was, with Krista’s computer image on the screen he was able to glide out from under it until they had a clear take off path. Gathering velocity they noted that the covering of dust on the planet was quite high, almost obscuring their view all the way up to the edge of the atmosphere.
“Okay, Krista,” Troy said and she switched the computer image off and they were left with the normal view.
It only took Troy a few moments to navigate through the debris of the blasted moons and planets and back out into open space. Tristan appeared back on the bridge and they discussed their next move.
“We can’t take on Red Raven ourselves, obviously,” Tristan was saying, “but maybe we could create some kind of distraction?”
“Like what?” Troy asked him with a frown.
Tristan stood thinking for a moment but it was Ziggy who spoke first.
“We need to do something that gets the merchant ships on the alert. Make them think they are under attack before they actually are, it might make them notice Red Raven a lot sooner than they might have.” Ziggy looked around at his friends feeling a little self conscious for speaking up.
Troy nodded with a smile, “That’s not a bad plan Ziggy!”
“How do we make them think they are under attack though?” Lena asked, “We don’t have any weapons.”
They all pondered this new problem for a while until Troy finally suggested, “I could do a fly by?”
He looked at Tristan as he said this, his expression hopeful.
“That might just work,” Tristan said slowly, “If you can get as close as you can without actually hitting it them just maybe it will shake them up enough to go on alert.”
“Wait,” Lena said sharply, “You want to fly as close as possible to another ship? And hope we don’t hit it?”
Troy looked at her and grinned, “That’s right! Don’t worry so much, you’ll get wrinkles!” 
Lena stared at him open-mouthed, obviously not sure if he had finally gone mad or not. Looking at Ziggy for help she scowled to find him also grinning at her.
“Fine!” she retorted in annoyance, sitting back in her seat and making sure her straps were on correctly then doing the same for Orla.
“Troy? Just be careful, okay!” Tristan told him before leaving for the engine room.
“Okay, guys,” Troy said to the others, “Make sure you’re strapped in real tight because this might get a little wild.”
“You’re not making me feel any better you know!” Lena commented.
Troy laughed then sobered as he focused on the task at hand. He asked Krista for the co-ordinates of the merchant line and instructed her to keep an eye out for Red Raven. They didn’t want to run into him before they had even got to warn the ships.
It took them two hours to get within range of the merchant ships and they stayed back while they studied the fleet of ships in the distance.
Most of the ships were large and rectangular, simple cargo ships that carried the merchandise from one place to another. Amongst these were smaller ships that carried people as well as merchandise. They paid the organisers of the merchant fleet a fee to travel with them so they could benefit from the extra protection it provided.
This extra protection was also why sometimes cruise ships would travel along with them too, especially in this part of space that was a little less civilised than some of the larger galaxies. Besides, the rich people that could afford to travel by cruiser didn’t really think much about the extra cost of added security.
Looking along the line the children counted six large cargo ships; ten of the smaller privately-owned ships and the large cruise ship that glided along between them all, its gentle curves and beautiful design making it stand out amongst the less pristine transport.
“Wow, “ Lena couldn’t help saying, “What a beautiful ship!”
Troy snorted and said, “It costs a packet to get even a rubbish room on one of those!”
“Kind of stands out though,” Ziggy commented.
Troy explained about the merchant fleets being able to provide extra security in the less savoury parts of space. They nodded in understanding and went back to studying the ships.
“How are you going to get close enough to the cruiser to have any effect?” Krista asked, “The smaller ships will be on to you before you get near.”
Troy thought for a moment, chewing his lip as he did. Krista was right. The cruiser was in the centre of the fleet and if he even got close to just one of the ships, they would all be on him. 
“Does it have to be the cruiser?” Ziggy asked curiously.
Troy thought about that for a moment. “Actually, no, it doesn’t! We just need to get them on alert, so any of them will do really.” He looked at the ships thoughtfully and added, “One of the larger ones preferably!”
“Why not just the one at the front then?” Lena suggested.
The ship in front was one of the large cargo ships, clunky and not very manoeuvrable. Troy smiled and nodded in agreement.
“Krista, any sign of Red Raven?” he asked.
Krista checked her screen and shook her head. “Nothing. But it could just be he has some way of fooling the sensors. There’s nothing he can hide behind so it has to be something like that, unless…”
Troy looked at her when she had trailed off to see her frowning at her screen. “Unless what?” he asked impatiently.
“I don’t know really,” Krista said with a slight shrug, “I’ve been scanning the area and I don’t know if it’s because I had to adjust the scanners back on the planet or what, but I keep seeing this dark area here.”
She pointed to an area just to the right and forward of the merchant fleet where the stars were not quite as brilliant as elsewhere as if there was something in front of them. Troy squinted at the screen but just couldn’t see anything.
“Do you think he’s got some kind of way to camouflage his ships?” Krista asked him.
Troy stared out the front windshield and could see that the merchant fleet was approaching this blurred part of space and if he waited any longer it would be too late. Hitting the com button he told Tristan what was going on.
“I have an idea,” he continued telling his brother, “Instead of targeting the merchant ships, is there some way we could make Red Raven’s ship visible? Even if we’re wrong and he’s not actually there, we will still have got the fleet’s attention.”
There was a pause before Tristan answered, his voice sounding clearly over the COM system. “If you can get close enough I’ll do the rest, just give me a shout when you are as close as you can get.”
Troy nodded, forgetting he was on the COM system and turned the ship towards the area they hoped Red Raven was hiding. Telling Krista to try and pinpoint exactly where the edge of the blurring began he sped forward as fast as the ship could go.
It didn’t take long for Star Chaser to catch up with the end of the merchant fleet and as they continued to speed past Krista pointed out that some of the smaller ships were moving out to follow at a slightly slower pace. Obviously just to make sure the speeding ship wasn’t going to cause trouble.
“Krista?” Troy asked as they approached the front of the fleet and sped past the lead ship to the other side.
“Here!” she cried and gave him the co-ordinates, “That is the very front edge of it!”
Quickly looking down at his own small screen he could see that they had almost reached it and told Tristan to get ready. Leaving the com system open he concentrated as they sped onwards.
“At the very last minute I need you to do a complete turn around and head back to the fleet!” Tristan told him over the com.
“What?” Troy asked, completely bewildered.
“Just do it!” Tristan said forcefully, “Tell me the exact minute you’re about to turn!”
Troy said no more, trusting in his brother. Looking at his small screen on the console he could see they were just about there. “Okay, Tristan, get ready! I’m turning… Now!”
Just as he shouted out he turned Star Chaser as sharply as he could and flew back towards the fleet. He heard Krista gasp beside him but couldn’t spare the concentration to ask what had happened.
“Did it work?” Ziggy asked instead.
“I think so,” Krista replied with a smile.
“You hear that Tristan,” Troy called out, “What did you do anyway?”
“I dumped all our waste on him!” Tristan said cheerfully.
“Eww,” Lena said, “you mean like all our kitchen waste and stuff like that, right?”
There was the sound of muffled laughter, “Yeah, all that too!”
“Whoever was at the front got hit by it,” Krista told them, trying to keep a straight face. “It worked though! Whatever they had been using to camouflage themselves flashed as all the stuff Tristan dumped hit it.”
“And as you can see,” Troy added, focusing intently on his flying, “it seems to have worked!”
They looked out the front window and they could see not only the smaller ships but ISF ships they had not seen before that must have hidden themselves amongst the rest. These ships all sped toward them and all of a sudden a blast from behind flashed past them and scattered the smaller ships, which then regrouped and opened fire themselves.
“Umm,” Troy began as laser blasts flew past them from what seemed all directions, “This is bad!”
“You think?” Lena cried, gripping her seat tightly as the ship shuddered as one of the laser blasts bounced off their shield.
“What’s going on?” Tristan yelled over the com.
“Seems our little plan worked,” Troy shouted back deftly steering the ship around the large ship that had suddenly appeared in front of them. “But we didn’t reckon on getting caught in the cross-fire afterwards!”
He ignored whatever his brother had said after that. He needed to focus on getting them out of this safely but with ships and weapon fire going everywhere he feared that he wouldn’t manage it.



SIXTEEN
Troy was trying desperately to keep Star Chaser ducking and weaving amongst the fighting, avoiding getting too close to any of them. The strain of watching the ships and trying not to get blasted themselves was hard and Troy was so focused he never heard the shouts and cries coming from the others as they yet again narrowly missed a laser blast.
They weren’t always lucky though. Twice now the ship had received a direct hit and Krista worriedly told them that the shields were beginning to fail. Troy never heard her.
The smaller ships of the merchant fleet and the ISF were flying in swooping patterns as they avoided the weapon fire coming from Red Raven’s fleet, which consisted of four other ships. These four were not as large as Red Raven’s war ship but they were equipped with laser cannons that continually blasted at the smaller ships.
The whole battle was an intricate pattern of weaving ships and lethal laser fire. It was a wonder that the enemy ships had not managed to shoot each other as they tried to keep track of the smaller ones that continually bombarded them with their own laser blasts. 
It was only a matter of time before a co-ordinated effort from the ISF ships left one of the larger enemy ships in flames and it careened out of control to smash into the side of one of its companions.
There was a cheer from behind Troy at the sight of two enemy ships destroyed but the mood was short-lived as they realised their path was taking them toward the flaming wreckage.
“What are you doing?” Lena cried.
“Trying not to get shot!” Troy shouted, “Red Raven is right behind us!”
The children gasped and craned their necks to look at the screen on Troy’s console that showed him what was behind. There, filling the whole screen, was Red Raven’s large spearhead-shaped vessel coming directly towards them, seemingly unaffected by the laser blasts that peppered its hull.
Troy quickly formed a dangerous plan that would get rid of Red Raven, while also hopefully getting them away from the fight they had got caught up in. The wreckage of the two enemy ships was slowly spinning towards them scattering the smaller ships out of their way except for Star Chaser. 
“Troy, no!” Lena called out.
“Yes!” 
“No!” both Ziggy and Lena called out.
But too late. Troy steered the ship between the two flaming wreckages, skilfully avoiding pieces of twisted metal as he did so. Flames washed over the front windshield from both sides but Troy gritted his teeth and pushed the ship faster. For one horrible moment as the flames continued to burn them he thought he might have made a mistake but suddenly they were past and out into open space.
“Yes!” Ziggy shouted in joyful relief.
Troy sagged in his seat, briefly letting go of the helm so he could wipe his sweating palms on his trousers. He looked over his shoulder and grinned at his friends but that grin disappeared quickly when he checked his screen and saw Red Raven’s ship still following.
“Oh no!” he said to himself.
“What?” Ziggy asked.
Troy looked around at them. “He’s still following us!”
A warning shout from Krista had him turning to the front again and he just managed to avoid the laser blast that came their way.
“Tristan! We need more power!” Troy shouted in to the COM.
“I’ll try!” came the reply.
“Krista?” Troy said but Krista had already been checking her computer.
“There’s nothing close enough,” she told him, “Nowhere we can take cover! The only place we can go is back the way!”
“Back to the fight?” Lena asked incredulous, “Are you mad? We barely got out of there alive!”
“We can’t,” Troy said quietly.
“What do you mean?” Ziggy asked him.
“He’s stopping us,” Troy explained as he avoided another weapon blast. “He’s not even trying to hit us that much. All he has to do is keep chasing and eventually he’ll catch us. His ship has much more power than ours. It’s just a matter of time.”
No one spoke after Troy’s little speech. There was nothing they could say.
Troy continued to push Star Chaser as much as he could and they felt the little ship beginning to shudder as the strain began to get too much. Suddenly Troy began to slow down slightly and the others looked at each other worriedly as Red Raven’s ship loomed in Troy’s screen as it came closer.
“What are you doing, Troy?” Krista asked him.
“He has more power,” Troy explained, “but we can manoeuvre a lot better. All we need is the chance to get behind him and we should get away.”
Keeping an eye on his console screen Troy reduced the speed slowly so as not to make it too obvious. Easily avoiding the occasional laser blast, Troy let Red Raven get closer still. Suddenly his screen hissed and Red Raven appeared once again, his face twisted with anger and hatred.
“So, little space rat, did you really think you could escape me?” Red Raven demanded, saliva flecking his lips in his anger.
“Yeah, we did,” Troy replied calmly and almost laughed aloud at the look on Red Raven’s face at that answer. 
He had obviously been expecting them to plead and cry but Troy wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Red Raven’s face smoothed as he put on an almost friendly expression.
“Why don’t you come on board and we can talk,” he cajoled, “Someone of your ingenuity would be handy on my crew.”
“No, thanks,” Troy replied reasonably letting his speed drop a little more.
Red Raven looked angry and then he smiled maliciously, “Tell me, children, where are your parents?”
Troy paused only a moment before answering, “Why do you want to know?”
“So I can kill them after I’m finished with you!” Red Raven laughed, a spiteful noise.
Troy looked at Red Raven directly, “Sorry,” he said mildly, “you already killed them.” 
Leaning over he switched off his screen and with a sudden burst of speed he twisted the helm sending Star Chaser spiralling over the top of Red Raven’s ship. The two were so close that Troy was positive he heard the high-pitched shriek of metal upon metal.
There was a moment when the guns had swung around to try and get them that one of them had nearly swung right into the front of the ship but a deft move of the helm had them flying over the top and off back to the merchant fleet.
Quickly switching his console screen back on he smiled when he saw how Red Raven’s ship had indeed taken a lot longer to turn around and they had a good lead. But Red Raven seemed to no longer want to capture them. Blast after blast came their way  and it was all Troy could do to avoid them.
Suddenly the little ship was struck on the back and side from a blast that came too quickly to avoid, spinning her out of control. Lena screamed, clutching the arms of her seat tightly and closing her eyes. Ziggy was pale but seemed to be keeping calm, watching Troy as his friend battled to get the ship back under control.
No sooner had Star Chaser straightened out than her speed began to slow dramatically and the engines were making a strange whining noise. Leaning forward Troy shouted into the com while watching Red Raven’s ship get closer and closer.
“Tristan! Can you hear me? Tristan?” Troy felt his breath catch as he remembered another time like this.
In the engine room Tristan lay unconscious on the floor. Orla stepped inside and glanced at him before turning her attention to the engines. She had never been in here since they had first come on board and gazed at the large sphere that dominated the room.
Its glowing blue light was flickering and the engines were still making a whining noise that grated on the ears.
She placed both hands against the sphere and closed her eyes. At first nothing seemed to happen and then the flickering stopped and the light intensified. It began where Orla’s hands touched it and quickly spread through all of it. The sphere glowed so brightly no one would have been able to look at it and Star Chaser leapt forward.
Back in the bridge there were cheers as Red Raven slowly fell behind.
“Thanks, Tristan!” Troy cried gratefully.
The little ship sped along with Red Raven still behind them but they were at least out of range of his weapons. 
“Wait!” Lena suddenly cried, unbuckling her straps, “Where’s Orla?”
Just a she jumped out of the seat Orla came wandering back into the bridge.
“Had to go to the bathroom,” she explained casually, clambering back into her own seat.
Lena fussed with her straps and then her own to hide her moment of panic but Troy and Ziggy didn’t say anything. It had all been scary and wasn’t over yet.
Troy was so occupied with keeping an eye on what was behind him that he never noticed what was coming towards them until Ziggy spoke.
“What is that?” Ziggy asked squinting out the front windshield.
At first Troy couldn’t make anything out but then as they got closer he could see several small ships heading their way. Before he could decide if it would be wise to avoid them as well they were already past and he could see on his console screen that they had engaged Red Raven in battle.
Without his other ships Red Raven was finding it hard to keep the small ships at bay and it wasn’t long before their concerted effort had the large ship disabled and a glowing security net had been placed around it.
“Maybe we should get out of here,” Krista suggested when they had stopped cheering.
“Good idea,” Troy agreed but before he could steer Star Chaser away her engines died and they were held in place by a traction beam.



SEVENTEE
“What’s happening?” Ziggy asked worriedly.
Krista was pressing buttons on her console to no effect, turning to Troy with a hopeless look on her face. Looking at his console he could see that it was a larger ISF ship that was drawing them ever closer.
“Looks like they’ve over-ridden our controls, Ziggy. They’ve got us!” He turned to the intercom and said, “Tristan you better get up here!”
When there was no answer he tried again and this time there was a faint groan that could be heard. Jumping out of his seat he hurried to the engine room followed closely by the others.
Troy hurried to his brother’s side as Tristan slowly sat up, holding the back of his head and groaning in pain.
“Tristan!” Troy cried, “What happened?”
Tristan turned to lean against the wall and Troy knelt down beside him while the others remained standing, watching anxiously. Krista had disappeared back to the kitchen to get the first aid kit.
Tristan pulled his hand away from his head and they could see the blood on it before he put it back over the wound.
“That last blast we got knocked me into the wall,” Tristan told them, “I don’t remember anything after that really.”
Troy frowned a little and said, “But you got the engine’s working again! You even gave us a burst of speed so we could get away from Red Raven!”
Tristan’s brows came together as he tried to remember. “I did that?” he finally asked, “I honestly can’t remember! There was something though…”
His voice trailed off as he tried to grasp the memory that just wouldn’t come to mind but then Krista came running in with the first aid kit. While she administered to Tristan’s head wound Troy told him what was happening with the ISF ship pulling them in.
Tristan blew out a deep breath and shook his head earning a scowl from Krista as she firmly held him still. “There’s nothing we can do,” he told them quietly, “Just don’t panic! Maybe by some miracle we can bluff our way out of this. Help me up.”
Troy and Krista grasped an arm each and pulled Tristan up, holding him steady as he swayed slightly. He gestured for Troy and the others to go ahead while Krista put his arm over her shoulders and helped him make his way to the bridge after the others.
When Troy had settled himself back into his seat he checked the console screen and could see that they had almost been drawn into the ISF ship’s docking bay. Tristan sat down in Krista’s chair while she stood behind him, leaning over every now and then to check her computer screen.
The children watched as the view of space slowly became a rectangle surrounded by shining metal and they were pulled smoothly down a tunnel, which then opened up into a huge docking bay area where smaller ISF ships were parked.
Personnel were seen going about their various jobs but it was the sight of a small group of armed guards that seemed to be waiting for them that caught the children’s attention and they could feel the dread building.
“Wait a minute!” Troy suddenly exclaimed, “Isn’t that the officer from Phoenix Space Station? The one I asked Krista to contact?”
Lena and Ziggy strained to see clearly as they slowly went past the men who could now be seen clearly through their front windshield. They told him they thought so too and Troy thought furiously for a moment.
“Maybe he will let us go,” he said hopefully, “I mean, he did back on Phoenix. We just helped the ISF catch Red Raven. That must count for something right?”
He looked around at the others but they only smiled and said nothing. Obviously not as sure of Captain Lin as he was. All other conversation was interrupted as a voice came from outside the ship.
By now Star Chaser had come to a stop and the group of armed men along with Captain Lin could be seen standing at the front.
“This is Captain Lin of the Interstellar Security Force requesting permission to come aboard,” the Captain’s voice rang out clearly.
“What do we do?” Troy asked his brother.
Tristan shrugged and said, “What can we do? They didn’t exactly ask us if we wanted to come on board in the first place. Even if we refuse now, they’ll just force their way on. I think it would be better just to comply for now.”
Troy nodded then placed a hand on Tristan’s shoulder as his brother started to get up. “No, I’ll go,” he told him, “You’re hurt and besides, he’s met us before.”
He indicated with a nod of his head for Lena and Ziggy to come too while Tristan, Krista and Orla stayed on the bridge. They could hear the Captain’s voice again and hurried down to the cargo bay to lower the ramp.
Before he pressed the button for the ramp he looked around at his friends. “Remember,” he told them, “keep calm.”
When they nodded he turned and pressed the button to lower the ramp. As it made its way down they positioned themselves at the top so they stood right in the centre. Troy was in the middle with Ziggy and Lena on either side.
When the ramp touched the ground there was a silent pause as Captain Lin studied the children at the top with a neutral expression on his face. The moment stretched out and Troy could feel Ziggy beginning to fidget and quietly told him to stop.
Captain Lin took one step forward and asked, “Permission to come aboard?”
Troy was a little surprised at being asked so politely but nodded and the Captain turned to speak to the guards behind him. Stepping on to the ramp he approached them alone while the guards stayed where they were although they still looked very alert.
When the Captain stopped in front of them he looked at each of them with friendly curiosity. “My name is Captain David Lin of the ISF. I believe we met on Phoenix Space Station?”
Troy licked his lips nervously and replied, “That’s right, Captain. I’m assuming you got our message about Red Raven?”
Captain Lin inclined his head slightly, “Indeed I did. It was cutting it a bit close but we seemed to have gotten here just in time.” He smiled at the children who smiled back a little unsure. “So, how about that tour now?”
Troy stepped back and Captain Lin stepped up beside him, walking alongside as Troy took him along the corridor to the engine room first of all.
“Interesting,” the Captain said as he looked at the sphere that was only glowing slightly while the engines were off.
“What is?” Troy asked studying the sphere himself and not seeing anything different.
“Oh, “ the Captain waved a hand towards the sphere, “I haven’t seen a Tachyon drive for decades. They’re adequate but not if you want some real power.”
Troy frowned, feeling a little insulted. “It’s fine for us!” he retorted.
“I meant no offence,” the Captain said while he looked around the rest of the room. “There’s some damage here,” he noted.
“Yes, the last hit we took nearly knocked out our engines completely. My brother was hurt but he’ll be okay.”
“Hurt you say?” the Captain looked at him sharply, “Well then, we’ll have the medics look him over to make sure he is okay.”
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” Troy said hurriedly.
“Oh, I insist!” the Captain said with a quelling look.
Troy’s heart sank and he ushered the Captain up to the upper level of the engine room where there were just a lot of panels with flashing lights and other monitors that had never held any real interest for Troy so he didn’t know what they were all for but the Captain seemed to find them interesting and spent a few minutes looking at everything.
Troy turned to Lena and Ziggy who were lurking behind him. “Why don’t you two go on to the kitchen and wait there?”
They nodded and with a last look at the Captain headed off so they could stay out of the way. It took the Captain a moment to notice that it was only Troy and himself in the engine room.
“My apologies,” the Captain seemed genuinely embarrassed, “Old ships are an interest of mine!”
Troy wanted to say that Star Chaser wasn’t that old but decided it would be better not to argue with the man so instead he led him down the corridor and to the bridge, passing Lena and Ziggy who were sitting with Orla at the table in the kitchen talking quietly.
When they entered the bridge Tristan stood up while Krista steadied him.
“Please, sit down,” the Captain said, “I believe you were injured?”
Tristan sat down and glanced briefly at Troy before replying, “It was just a knock on the head – nothing to worry about.”
“Still, I’ll have the medics look at you – just to make sure.”
Before Tristan could protest Captain Lin had turned away and was looking at the console before him. Studying it with interest he finally turned to Tristan and Troy.
“This was your parents’ ship, was it not?” he asked quietly.
Troy looked at Tristan who looked just as shocked as he did. During the awkward moment Krista excused herself and went to join the others in the kitchen.
“How did you know that?” Tristan finally asked.
“May I?” the Captain asked indicating one of the seats, sitting down when the brothers nodded. “When we met back on the station there had been a report about some children that had stolen a spaceship…”
“Stolen!” Troy interrupted angrily.
“Troy!” Tristan said firmly and Troy sat down himself but still seethed at the accusation.
“As I was saying,” the Captain continued with a smile, “there was a report of a stolen spaceship with children aboard. However, we didn’t really have any details so when I saw you I was suspicious but had no real proof.” He paused a moment before continuing. “Anyway, just after you left a Marcus Calhoun demanded to speak to the ISF immediately.”
“Calhoun?” both Tristan and Troy said at the same time.
Captain Lin smiled at their astonished faces. “His ship was so badly damaged I was surprised he made it to Phoenix at all. He said that you had attacked his ship and then went on to explain all about the Home and how you had stolen a ship.”
Tristan looked at Troy then back to the Captain, “So, what did you do?”
“I knew there was something not right with the story but didn’t know what so I did a little digging. Turns out there is an arrest warrant out for Mr Calhoun, something about embezzlement?”
The two brothers couldn’t help grinning at that and the captain laughed. “Yes, I thought that might amuse you.” He sobered and continued on, “I also found out all about your parents and how they died.” He paused for a moment as he considered what to say next, ““Would you believe this ship used to be my home too.”
“You mean, the same kind of ship?” Troy asked, a little confused.
Captain Lin laughed slightly, “No, I mean this very same ship. I recognised it immediately, it’s hard to forget your very first home. My parents sold it when me and my siblings had grown so they could buy a smaller one.”
“That’s,” Troy hesitated as he tried to think of the right word, “weird.”
The Captain laughed and said, “I like to think of it as lucky. I’m glad this ship was someone else’s home. She’s a good little ship!”
Troy looked down at the floor for a moment then back at the captain. “So, what happens now?”
Captain Lin pursed his lips together and thought for a moment. Finally he said, “If it wasn’t for your message, Red Raven would have escaped and the fleet would have been destroyed. He’s plagued this part of space for years and we had no idea that he could camouflage his ships like that. Thanks to you we got him and it’s obvious you can take care of yourselves.”
The Captain sat looking thoughtfully out the front windshield and the brothers could tell he was trying to come to some decision. Abruptly the Captain stood up and rubbed his hands together.
“What happens now is that the medics are going to look at your brother; my mechanics will fix your ship and then you can be on your way!”
Troy looked dumbfounded at Tristan who looked equally surprised and then grabbed the Captain’s hand and shook it vigorously.
“Thank you so much!”
The Captain smiled and gently removed his hand from Troy’s grip. “Think of it as a thank you! This is my ship and my men are loyal to me but make no mistake, if the ISF finds you they will arrest you and take you back to the home. So, let’s get this done quickly and you can get some distance from here.”
They stood up and followed the Captain as he walked out of the bridge and into the kitchen where the others were waiting anxiously. Troy smiled at them in reassurance and then a thought suddenly came to him and he stopped the captain.
“What about the Home?” he asked him, “What happened to the children there?”
“Oh, well,” the Captain smiled, “It seems it was time for a major upgrade. The whole building is being renovated and it’s now being run by two sisters – old staff members, I can’t remember their names!”
He smiled as the children all cheered and laughed at this news then excused himself to go and give out his instructions.
True to his word the Captain made sure the ship was quickly repaired and some modifications were made much to Tristan’s delight who had been given the all clear from the medics. The children were amazed at their good fortune and couldn’t be happier about being allowed to go on their way. With a final few words of caution Captain Lin wished them well and watched them go off into the distance.
Troy felt elated and calm at the same time as Star Chaser glided along smoothly. Looking around he smiled at his friends behind him and at his brother who was standing in the doorway. 
“What?” Tristan asked when he caught his brother’s look.
Troy shrugged and smiled even wider. “Nothing,” he replied, “I’ve just realised something.”
“What’s that?”
Troy paused a moment and looked around at everyone before saying, “I’ve realised that we can go anywhere we want!”
“This is true,” Tristan agreed, “So where do you want to go?”
Troy turned to the front and looked intently out at the stars and said simply.
“Home.”

########


About the author:
My name is Jacqueline Kirk and I live in the south west of Scotland with my two children. I love to write and fantasy and science fiction are my favourite genres to write in - and read in! I have lots more in store for the crew of Star Chaser and I hope you will carry on reading their adventures!

Connect with me online:
Website

Facebook

Twitter

My Smashwords page