Simon began to feel uncomfortable. What was Cutler getting at? ‘Yeah, that’s right, sir,’ he said.
Cutler took a disk in a paper sleeve from his desk. ‘We received a message today. From your father.’
Simon blinked. ‘How?’
‘It came right up in front of us on the Operations Screen. Another one of his smart tricks!’
‘Wh-what does it say?’
‘Well, there were two messages really. There was one for us. And this one is for you.’ Cutler tapped the disk. ‘Your father informed us that, after he disappeared from the twenty-fourth century, he made one trip to the twenty-first century. To our time. In the last forty-eight hours.’
‘Here? Why?’
‘To see your mother and sister. But what I have to tell you, Simon,’ said Cutler, leaning against the desk, ‘is that your mother and sister have disappeared.’
‘What do you mean, sir? Where?’
Cutler shrugged. ‘I only wish we knew. Your father simply tells us that they’re with him. Wherever he’s gone.’
‘He’s, like … taken them!’
‘Yes. You could say that. Although they went willingly, we presume.’
‘Didn’t we pick up the timeline, sir, before or during his arrival?’ Simon asked.
‘No. It seems that your father’s developed a cloaking device for timelines. We can’t find the one to the house in Bristol where your mother and sister lived. We can’t uncover the one to wherever he’s gone now. Not yet.’
The news sunk in slowly.
I have to think like they think in the Bureau, Simon told himself. Think strategically. Don’t panic. Don’t fly off the handle.
How could he best help his father, his mother and Lil? They were more important to him than anyone in the Time Bureau. It was because of them that he’d come to the Bureau in the first place.
It was a full minute before Simon spoke again. ‘Sir, what are my options?’ he asked.
‘Spoken like a true Bureau man,’ Cutler replied. ‘Well, you can return to Bristol, and live with your grandparents. It’s not Australia, I know, but it would be something like a normal life.’
Suddenly the unfairness of the whole situation hit Simon. This was more than anyone should have to cope with at thirteen. He should be worrying about schoolwork, surfing and girls, not about a fugitive father who was battling to stay free of people who wanted to control his ideas. Or about the Time Bureau people who pretended to care about Simon, but who really wanted to use him against his own father. But if he walked away from it all, he might never see his family again. He decided to hear what Cutler had to say.
‘Yes, sir. I could go to Bristol. Or …?’
‘Or … you can help us find your mother and sister. And help us find your father. Stay in the Bureau. Become one of us.’
Simon thought it over. He already knew too much. How safe would he be back in civilian life? Would the Bureau simply let him walk away? Or would he be found dead one day? From some sort of accident? It didn’t matter. His priority was Lil and Mum … and Dad. He had to stay in the Bureau in order to find them.
‘Sir, I want to stay,’ Simon said.
‘I was hoping you’d say that,’ Cutler replied, ‘but the search could be long and difficult. Can we count on you?’
‘One hundred per cent,’ Simon said.
‘Then I’m authorised to give you this.’ Cutler handed him the disk. ‘It’s the message from your father.’
‘Thank you, sir.’
‘Normal duties resume tomorrow morning. Six a.m. Sharp!’
‘Sir! Yes, sir!’
35
In Simon’s room, Hale’s face appeared on the screen of his laptop. Simon zipped up the volume and clicked PLAY.
His father smiled.
‘Simon, I hope the reception is okay. I know that if you are watching this, then the Time Bureau has seen it, too. However, I had to get a message to you.’ He paused. ‘I didn’t mean to surprise you like this. By now you’ll know about Mum and Lil. Sorry, I couldn’t tell you. I couldn’t let anyone know of my intentions. All I can tell you is this: we’re in another place and we’re safe and we’re well.’ His gaze flickered away momentarily to something beyond the camera, and then back again.
‘Well, we’re okay for now. As I told you, I have uncovered some of the great secrets of time and how it works. But I have to protect these secrets. Simon … find me if you can. There are clues if you look closely enough. And if you choose to follow them.’ Then he smiled again. ‘Find me, and maybe some of my secrets will be yours, one day. Farewell, son. I’m proud of you. Live well!’
The image faded.
Simon slumped onto his bed. He was still dog-tired from the mission and he needed another long night of deep sleep. He had never felt so hollow or lost. But he knew he had to get over it or he might as well give up now.
He glanced up to the wrinkled photo on the noticeboard … the smiling faces of a once-happy family. Simon picked up his clock, set the alarm for five-thirty and listened to its rhythmic tick.
‘I’ll find you,’ he said to the photo. ‘I’ll get there first. I promise.’
36
At a late-night conference, Professor McPhee and Captain Cutler stared carefully at the Timeline Operations Screen in the Command Centre.
‘This next mission’s a dicey one,’ McPhee said. ‘And I want someone to go tomorrow.’
‘Where’s it to?’ Cutler asked.
‘France, fifteenth century. It involves a lot of soldiers, a lot of experts with the crossbow.’
‘Then we need someone who can get in and out quickly,’ Cutler said. ‘And who isn’t afraid to think on their feet.’
‘We need our best operative,’ McPhee said.
‘No question, then,’ Cutler said.
McPhee nodded. ‘We’ll send Simon Savage.’
Acknowledgements
In writing this book, I would like to thank the following people for their kind assistance and advice: Kory Hearn, Helen Nolan, Allicia Stadon, Bethany Watt, Fiona Carruthers, Belle and Larry Buttrose, Nerine Martini, Caroline Stanton, Rachel Skinner, Cheryl Tornquist, John Stephenson, Alex Paige and other esteemed members of the Carringtonians. I’d also like to thank Sigrid Jagusch and the food and coffee brigade at the Red Door Cafe, Leura. As always, the neighbourhood cat, Martin, has taken a keen interest in the progress of this book, and in my kitchen leftovers.
Thanks also to Rod Hare, Margrete Lamond, Kate Mayes and Libby Volke at Little Hare Books and to my agent, Rick Raftos. The author is grateful to Professor Geoffrey Blainey for his Very Short History of the World which proved a most useful resource on the epochs of humanity. The author now promises to become even more informed by reading the longer ‘short’ version.
Coming soon …
Return of the Black Death
Simon Savage, the temponauts and the Time Bureau are on full alert. The Black Death has started to appear in major cities around the world. There are fears of a global pandemic.
The plague has been carried to the present time by the fleas on rats from the fourteenth century. But who is behind this deadly scheme?
The Time Bureau has its suspicions. Simon, Danice, Ivan, Nick and Taylor face a long struggle across the eons with a sinister group of time travellers known as the Shadowers.
Meanwhile, Simon must find his family. Where have they gone? Will he be able to unravel the clues to their disappearance? Can he protect them from the Time Bureau itself?
The adrenalin-pumping action continues in Send Simon Savage—Return of the Black Death.
About the Author
Stephen Measday has spent his life writing books, scripts, plays and poems, and occasional advertising slogans for his father’s pharmacy.
Stephen’s ancestors voluntarily left Sandwich in England in 1854 and settled in South Australia where they helped out the barefooted by making shoes and boots.
Over a century later, Stephen grew up in a faraway countr
y town and went to work in Adelaide as a reporter, before deciding to take up full-time writing as a profession.
He now lives in the Blue Mountains, outside Sydney, where he collects books, goes bushwalking, watches cricket, reads about rare animals and dreams of safaris in Africa.
Stephen hopes that Measday will one day be recognised as the official eighth day of the week.
Send Simon Savage is his sixteenth book and he intends to write some more. So watch out!
Praise for Send Simon Savage
‘The whole book was a great read! To sum this book up in one word is easy: Brilliant.’
—Tiana Bryce
‘This book is totally random and mystifying. I hope there will be a second.’
—Jacob Harris
‘My son loved the book. I am going to have to read it, too!’
—a reader’s mum
‘A fast-paced read with all the gadgets (love the biodynamic suits), close calls and adventure any thrill seeker could want.’
—Steve Howard
‘… this fast-paced action thriller is hard to put down.’
—Bookseller+Publisher Magazine
‘Very similar to Matthew Reilly’s books, Send Simon Savage offers … plenty to share and enjoy.’
—Bookseller+Publisher Magazine
Little Hare Books
an imprint of
Hardie Grant Egmont
85 High Street
Prahran, Victoria 3181, Australia
www.littleharebooks.com
Text by Stephen Measday 2010
Text copyright © Pacific Century Media Corporation 2010
First published 2010
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication entry
Measday, Stephen.
Send Simon Savage / Stephen Measday.
eISBN 9781743581391
For primary school age.
Time travel—Juvenile fiction.
A823.3
Cover design by Xou Creative (www.xou.com.au)
Set in 11/15 pt Candida by Clinton Ellicott
Send Simon Savage #1 Page 18