Chasing Stars (24 page)

‘Why don’t you go back to school and finish your high school education?’ said Belle. ‘Lakeborough High is a very good school. You would have more choices if you got your diploma first.’

‘Maybe.’

‘The colleges in New Hampshire are good as well,’ said Antoine. ‘That’s why none of us are moving away. Peg and I are at the Academy in town. Lyra and Belle are at the university here. Those would both be options for you.’

‘You don’t have to rush into a decision,’ said Belle. ‘Why don’t I try and fix you up with a job at the theatre? The sooner you get into a routine, the easier it will be to . . .’ Her words faded away into nothing.

They’d given up. Every one of them had simply accepted it was over for Ryan.

‘We have to do something to help Ryan,’ I said, trying – and failing – not to raise my voice.

‘There’s nothing we
can
do,’ said Lyra.

‘When Travis – the cleaner – killed me, Ryan stole a time-ship and travelled through time to save me. He didn’t just give up and settle into a routine to make it easier to forget!’

‘And didn’t that plan work out well for the two of you?’

‘I’m alive, aren’t I?’ I said, looking at Lyra. ‘He didn’t accept my fate – he worked to change it. He saved my life. I’m not going to let them send him to the moon for the rest of his.’

‘Eden,’ said Belle gently. ‘If there was anything we could do, we would. But he’s just been convicted by the highest court in the world. There’s no appeal process. I don’t see what we can do to help him.’

‘We have to help him escape,’ I said. ‘Before they send him to the moon.’

Lyra rolled her eyes. ‘With all due respect, Eden, you have no idea what you’re talking about. This is the Space and Time Institute, not the public library.’

‘Nothing is impossible. If Ryan can steal a time-ship and travel back a hundred and eleven years to save me, surely I can find a way to break him out of the Institute.’

There was a knock on the door. Peg opened it and let room service bring the various drinks to the table. There was beer and wine, as well as mineral water and orange juice. Peg pushed what was left of the bread rolls and fillings to the edge of the table.

‘He’s going to be at the Institute until Tuesday,’ I said, once room service had gone. ‘And then he gets transported to the spaceport for twenty-four hours. Then it’s the moon.’

‘Even if we did plan something crazy, that doesn’t give us much time,’ said Belle.

‘He’s just been convicted of a crime in the Time Court,’ said Antoine. ‘His face is all over com-screens all over the world. Where would he go, even if you did manage to help him escape?’

‘We’d find somewhere. That part is easy,’ I said.

‘It
wouldn’t
be easy,’ said Lyra. ‘With retinal scanners and fingerprint locks and port-com security, he’d get picked up.’

‘I’m not letting them send him to the moon.’

‘You can forget the spaceport and the moon,’ said Belle. ‘You’d never even get close to them. And you can’t just walk into the Institute with a gun and shoot your way to Orion’s cell.’

‘I know that,’ I said. ‘We’d need a plan.’

‘There’s no time for a plan,’ said Antoine.

‘I’m going to try and rescue him,’ I said. ‘With or without your help.’

The sandwiches and drinks were reduced to a few crumbs and a tray full of smeared, empty glasses. Belle and Antoine had spent the last ten minutes telling me about the trip they were planning to take to the mountains at the weekend. Peg had said nothing. He just sat on the couch, absently rubbing Lyra’s leg and staring out of the window.

‘What do you think?’ asked Belle. ‘It would do you good to get away from town.’

‘Probably not,’ I said.

‘There’s no way we can rescue him from the moon,’ said Peg, lifting Lyra’s leg and placing it on the couch. He stood up. ‘It’s a maximum security prison with no free air to breathe. If we’re gonna have any chance of rescuing Ryan, it’s gonna be the Institute or the spaceport.’

I felt the tiniest flicker of hope: Peg wanted to help.

‘The Institute is the best option,’ Peg continued. ‘For obvious reasons.’

‘Right,’ I said. ‘So we’re going to rescue him from the Institute. And we have less than one week to do it. Where do we start?’

‘We need a map of the interior,’ said Peg, ‘and a map of the grounds.’

‘You can get a satellite image of the grounds,’ said Antoine. ‘The interior is a different matter.’

‘Antoine, Belle. Your mother is a test pilot for the Institute. Can’t we use that as a way into the building?’ asked Peg.

Belle shook her head. ‘Mum has an office at the Institute, but she’s never there. She spends most of her time at the Westland Space Centre.’

‘But she does have an office at the Institute. That’s good. I mean, we might be able to use that somehow.’

‘I’m not sure how useful it would be,’ said Belle. ‘She only goes to the Institute for meetings and briefings. Her office is just a desk and a few books.’

‘Do you know your way round the inside of the Institute?’

‘No. I know how to get from the administration entrance to her office, but that’s it. Antoine and I have only been there a handful of times.’

‘Eden, do you remember anything from when you arrived?’ asked Peg.

‘It’s such a blur,’ I said. ‘The inside of that place is a labyrinth.’

‘Damn,’ said Peg. ‘Antoine, is there any way you can get your mother to draw you a map?’

‘Sure. I’ll just tell her we need a map because we’re planning a break-in,’ said Antoine.

Peg sighed. ‘I know that was a stupid suggestion.’

‘I’ll check through her computer,’ said Antoine. ‘It has a link-up with the Institute. Maybe I can find a map of the interior that way.’

‘Antoine, you’ll never be able to do that,’ said Belle. ‘The login and password security will be impossible to hack. Even for you.’

‘I’ll give it a try,’ said Antoine. ‘We can wait until she’s working. Then I’ll run into the office and tell Mom you’ve burned yourself or something. She’ll run out to make sure you’re OK without bothering to log off and I’ll go through the Institute file database.’ He smiled.

‘So I have to injure myself, while you just have to lie.’

‘Belle, who’s good with computers – you or me?’

Belle rolled her eyes. ‘Fine. But I’m not deliberately burning myself.’

‘This entire conversation is stupid,’ said Lyra. ‘Even if you have a blueprint of the Institute and the grounds, how are you going to get him out of a locked cell? Or out of the building? Or off the grounds? It really is heart-warming that you all want to help Orion, but really?’

‘I don’t think it’s such a crazy idea,’ said Antoine. ‘It’s not a prison. It was never meant to be one. It has a few holding cells that are designed for short term stays. The main reason for security at the Institute is to protect VIPs from crazy gunmen and to protect information. It would be much harder if we were trying to bust him out of a real prison.’

‘That’s right,’ said Peg. ‘The Institute has public rooms and a residential wing. Lots of the building is designed for public access. I’m not saying it’ll be easy, but there must be a way.’

‘Is there any way we can get on to the grounds?’ I asked. ‘To look around?’

‘Sure,’ said Belle. ‘There’s a museum open to the public. If you visit the museum, you can also look around the grounds. They even have pedaloes for hire on their lake.’

‘I can do that tomorrow,’ I said.

‘I’ll come with you,’ said Peg.

Lyra pushed herself to a standing position. ‘Eden, could you help me get some ice?’

I grabbed the ice bucket from the table and held the door open for Lyra as she limped through it. She said nothing as we made our way along the corridor to the ice machine by the lift. I placed the ice bucket under the spout and she pressed the button for extra frozen.

‘Pegasus really likes you,’ she said.

The machine clanked and shook as a torrent of white ice tumbled into the bucket.

‘I like him too.’

‘He likes you too much.’

The ice torrent stopped. I cradled the bucket.

‘He’s trying to impress you,’ she continued.

‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ I started walking back to my room. Lyra grabbed my arm and a couple of ice cubes spilled on to the floor.

‘I’ve seen the way he looks at you.’

‘You’re imagining things, Lyra. Ryan is his best friend. He wants to help him. That’s all.’

‘He’s always been reckless, but this is crazy. You can’t let him try to break Orion out of the Institute. It won’t work.’

I ignored her and pulled free from her grip.

‘He’s expendable to you,’ she said. ‘You just see him as a means to an end. But if he gets caught, he’ll get the moon too. It’s not just a life sentence, Eden. The mines. They work them all day in heat like you can’t imagine. And the temperature at night is so cold, people die of hypothermia in their beds. It’s not a life sentence, it’s a death sentence. No one has ever lasted more than five years.’

‘Is that supposed to make me feel better?’

She shook her head. ‘Peg will do whatever you ask him to. But you shouldn’t ask him to do this. It’s too much. Orion can’t be helped.’

‘God, Lyra, you went out with Ryan for a year. You must have cared about him once.’

‘Some people are a lost cause.’

I ignored her and strode back to my room, making sure she couldn’t keep up. I didn’t believe what she’d said about Peg. But even if it was true, I’d use anything I could to save Ryan.

‘Do you promise to help me?’ I asked Peg, as I came through the door, needing an answer before Lyra caught up with me.

‘I already said I would.’

‘But do you promise?’

‘I promise.’

‘Time to hit the road,’ said Antoine, as Lyra walked into the room. ‘I can give everyone a ride.’

‘Go without me,’ said Peg. ‘My car is outside.’

Antoine nodded. ‘Shall we meet here tomorrow afternoon? See what we have?’

‘Meet at mine,’ said Peg. ‘Eden’s checking out of the Lakeview tonight and moving in with me.’

‘Moving in with you?’ said Lyra.

Peg rubbed the back of his neck. ‘Yeah. She’s a minor. And – believe it or not – I’m now her legal guardian.’

‘Antoine,’ said Lyra. ‘Please take me home.’

Chapter 16

As soon as Peg was done with work, we drove to the Institute. For the sake of appearances, we took a quick tour of the museum and purchased some gifts in the shop. Peg picked up a pen with the Space and Time Institute logo on the side and I bought a snow globe, with the Institute sitting in the middle of a big green lawn.

‘Let’s buy ice creams,’ said Peg, as we set off across the real lawn.

All around us families were sitting in the shade enjoying picnics, while little children ran around pretending to be spaceships.

‘I’m not hungry.’

‘It will look more convincing if we’re eating ice creams.’

I let him buy me a vanilla cone, though I was much too nervous to have an appetite. Slowly we strolled across the neat green grass, heading towards its outer perimeter. I took a quick lick of my ice cream, but it was sickeningly sweet. Peg was eating his in large bites. I watched him out of the corner of my eye as my ice cream melted and then dripped down my hand to my wrist and inside the sleeve of my shirt.

‘You want mine?’ I asked, as he shoved the end of his cone into his mouth.

He nodded, took the ice cream and waited while I wiped my hand clean on the grass.

‘Once we get him out of the building, we have to get him off the grounds,’ said Peg, looking around. ‘We can’t go through the main entrance because of the gate and security. We’d be stopped, obviously.’

I looked around. The Institute was surrounded on all sides by a vast lawn which was bordered by forest to the east and west, a small lake to the north and a car park and guarded entranceway to the south.

‘It has to be through the forest,’ I said. ‘We can’t escape using a pedalo!’

‘Let’s go and check it out.’

We continued walking across the lawn till the grass began to thin and we reached the edge of the forest.

‘Won’t it look a bit suspicious if we just wander into the woods?’ I said.

‘I don’t think so. This area is open to the public so we’re not doing anything wrong. We just have to look like we’re having fun, not checking out the grounds for an escape route.’

The shade was a welcome respite from the thick humidity on the lawn. We walked deep into the trees until we reached a high metal fence and the lawn was just a hint of bright green in the distance.

‘Damn,’ I said, staring at the fence. ‘This could be a problem.’

Peg leant close to it. ‘It’s electrified. Not good.’

‘So even if we get him out of the Institute, we can’t escape through the forest . . .’

‘Maybe there’s a break in the fence somewhere.’