by Susan Moore
“We’d better go up. That’s my ride to the airport,” he said, heading out into the passageway. Out in the bay a silver torpedo-shaped vessel sat menacingly on the water, its engines rumbling. Henry was leaning over the side, holding NutNut.
“Ku Rocketboat!” he said, turning around.
“Indeed,” said Jamuka, signalling the driver to pull in closer.
“Mum’s never let me go in one. She says they’re too dangerous.”
He turned back to let NutNut continue filming.
“Be good, Bao Bao, until I return,” said Jamuka, wrapping Nat up in a bear hug.
“I’ll miss you,” said Nat, fighting back the tears that came welling up.
He let go and sprang off the deck like a cat, dropping easily into the Rocketboat.
“Remember to look after Gobi,” he shouted up.
Nat nodded. He waved. The driver opened up the throttle and the engines let out a deafening roar. The Rocketboat peeled away from the Junko at speed, its sparkling hull lifting up out of the water.
“Wow!” said Henry.
Nat didn’t feel it was wow. Her heart felt heavy. Gobi started to chirp from her cage across the deck. She looked down at the star jar in her hands. Unscrewing the lid she peered in at the damp cloth containing the petal.
“Fizz, call Wen,” she said.
Chapter Sixteen
WATCHEM
Nat stood Fizz on the sunken-deck dining table and flopped down on to the bench. His wings opened and Wen’s face appeared on screen, grinning into camera. She’d had her fringe cut so it zigzagged across her forehead. Stranger still, her hair colour was now tangerine.
“Heya, Nat! Good timing. My shopping expedition with Granny Tang has just ended. Look!” She held up a huge gold bag. “Ronin jacket in here. Remember the one that was super ding? The one with the birds’ wings on the back?” Her face disappeared from screen. “Wow. Mito jeans fifty per cent off.”
“Jamuka’s gone to the airport. He’s going to Mongolia without me.”
Wen’s face popped back. “He’s gone where?”
“Mongolia!” piped up Henry, jumping down next to Nat. “A big red petal arrived in a jar covered in stars. His Clan are sick, so he’s had to go and help them!”
“Hey!” said Nat, pushing him out of camera.
“Are you serious?” said Wen.
Nat nodded. She held up the star jar so Wen could see it. “There’s a weird red petal inside. Would your mum take a look at it?”
“Ding jar. I’ll call her. She’s at the lab. Hang on.”
The screen went dark. The words “On Hold” started to flash across it.
“Yep. She can see you as long as you’re quick,” said Wen, reappearing. “She’s got a meeting at two. Want me to meet you there?”
Nat breathed a sigh of relief. “Yes, please.”
The Watchem Pharmaceutical Company was housed in a skyscraper on Po Wah Street. Its neon-pink sign hung over the main entrance. Nat pulled her Slider into the underground car park and found a spare parking slot. With Henry in tow she took the stairs up to the lobby and came out into a gleaming marble reception. A man in a white coat was standing behind the desk.
“We have an appointment with your chief scientist, Doctor Tang,” said Nat. The man peered at them through thick bottle-end glasses.
“Names?” he said.
“Natalie and Henry Walker.”
He picked up a lens from the desk. It was attached to a thin cable.
“Step forward. Look at camera.”
“Hai, Lok. No need for that, they’re with me,” said Wen, cruising in through the main entrance on her Slider.
She parked up next to the desk, stepped off her board and tugged off her helmet. She put her head upside down to shake out her orange hair. “Follow me.”
The doors to the lift swooshed closed. Wen hit the button for the fiftieth floor. “Now, tell me exactly what’s going on.”
By the time the doors opened into a long, brightly lit corridor, Nat had finished her story.
Wen let out a long, low whistle. “Wolves? Mana? It’s like a movie. You know you can always come and stay with me.”
“No, you should come and stay with me. We could hang out loads and I won’t have to ride on Prissy’s Slider,” said Henry.
Nat really wanted to scowl at Henry but he looked so earnest that she folded her arms, nodding her head as if seriously weighing up his offer.
“That’s really kind but I’m happy on the Junko with Ah Wong.”
Wen, who was already headed down the corridor, stopped in her tracks.
“Ai yah! That’s impossible. Ah Wong’s the most miserable person on the planet.”
Nat shrugged. “Maybe, but I want to be at home, on the water.”
As she walked along, Nat glanced at the digital advertising posters for Watchem’s prescription drugs. In one, a boy on a bicycle was riding happily along a forest trail: “Sacropill saved my life.” A mother and baby on a park bench on a sunny summer’s day: “Without Watchem’s Lifotabs I’d never see my baby grow up.”
She paused, looking from the mother’s smiling face to the gurgling baby in her arms. It was the life she had lost: the one in which her parents were alive, watching her grow up.
“Hurry up, Nat!” called Henry from the other end of the corridor.
Nat tore herself away from the poster and followed.
Chapter Seventeen
MYSTERY
Doctor Tang’s office was sparsely furnished with a shiny desk and glass table surrounded by several metal chairs. It took a moment for Nat to recognise Wen’s mother. At home, Doctor Tang wore Mito jeans, Sako shirts, bright-red lipstick and her long hair loose, swishing about her face. Today it was scraped back into a bun, and she was wearing a white lab coat and carrying protective glasses. She looked like a serious scientist.
“Lovely to see you, Nat,” she said, giving her a hug.
“Anyone want a can of Popko?” said Wen, her head stuck inside a wall-mounted fridge in the corner.
“No, thanks,” said Nat.
Ever since the package had arrived she hadn’t felt the slightest bit hungry or thirsty.
“Ku!” Henry had his nose pressed up against a glass wall on the far side of the office.
Below lay a spotless room the size of a football field. Red and green buttons flashed on pieces of shining equipment. Scientists in lab coats were huddled over microscopes and Petri dishes.
Doctor Tang smiled. “The lab is where we do all our drug research and design. Now then,” she said briskly. “I’m pressed for time, I’m afraid, so if you’d like to show me the petal I’ll take a quick look.”
Nat took the jar out of her backpack and placed it on the table. She unscrewed the top, pulled out the damp grey cloth and unfolded it to reveal the red petal.
“Oh, that would make a ding hair-colour combo,” said Wen, seeing the deep red with electric blue.
Doctor Tang pushed a button. A snake light lowered from the ceiling, coming to rest just above the table. She pulled an eyepiece from her lab-coat pocket, along with a pair of transparent nano-gloves.
“Nat, please switch off your T-shirt so that it doesn’t interfere with the light,” she said.
“Zoinks, sorry,” said Nat, reaching up to press the microdot sewn into the neck of her Smart T-shirt.
The kung fu-kicking Scowler and the monster of Mars movie scene that had been playing across the front vanished.
“This petal is unusual. Its texture feels rough, which is strange given its smooth appearance.” Doctor Tang’s voice was soft and precise. “The blue in it is surprising. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”
She paused, staring hard at the petal as if trying to solve a puzzle.
“Scan,” she commanded.
A clicking sound came from the overhead light. Doctor Tang looked up.
“I’m checking against our database now, which will tell us more,” she said.
Nat
caught sight of NutNut’s head popping up out of Henry’s shirt pocket. The squirrel’s eyes snapped wide open, its ears turned, to record. She reached over and pushed its nose. NutNut disappeared back into Henry’s pocket.
“No,” she hissed.
Doctor Tang removed the eyepiece and peered at the petal. She pursed her lips tight together.
“Most strange. There is no match in our database and yet we have access to the Global Botanical Registry, which contains a record of every known species of plant. You say it came from Mongolia?”
Nat pointed at the star jar. “In this, through the post. The Clan wrote on the cloth that it came on the wind.”
“Hey, maybe it blew in from outer space,” said Wen, grinning.
Doctor Tang raised an eyebrow.
“Thank you, Wen.”
“Well, you always say that we should be open to all theories, Mum.”
Doctor Tang ignored her and turned the petal over in her fingers. “It’s winter there now. Temperatures are sub-zero. The plant that this came from could not survive unless it was in a heated greenhouse.”
“But Jamuka said his Clan live high up in the mountains and there’s no one else around,” said Nat.
“They’re goat herders and they live in tents,” added Henry.
Doctor Tang frowned. “Hmm, I see. To find out more I will need to do a chemical analysis on the petal.”
“How long will that take?” asked Nat.
“A couple of days,” said Doctor Tang, placing the petal into a clear sterile envelope.
A young laboratory technician in a white lab coat appeared through the door. Doctor Tang gave him a nod.
“Sorry, but I have to go. My meeting’s about to start.” She scraped back the chair and got to her feet. “As soon as I have news I’ll be in touch, Nat.”
Nat smiled, even though she didn’t feel like it. She didn’t want to have to wait. She wanted to know the answer now. “Thank you.”
Doctor Tang paused on her way to the door. “You girls have a sleepover tonight on the Junko, don’t you? If Jamuka’s away wouldn’t it be better for you to come to our house?”
“Ah Wong’s there to look after us,” said Nat.
Doctor Tang smiled. “That’s fine then. Wen, make sure you meet me at the dentist’s tomorrow at ten sharp.”
She walked out. Nat looked at the star jar on the table. The ear-piercing scream of the old woman in her nightmare replayed in her head. A chill ran through her. Deep down something inside told her this was only the beginning.
Chapter Eighteen
TUMEN VACHIR
They had just settled down to Ah Wong’s tea on the upper deck of the Junko when Nat heard a familiar rattle of heavy bracelets.
“Yoohoo!”
Gobi started to chirp loudly from her perch.
“Ai yah, not the dragon mother,” moaned Wen, looking up from the fashion pages she was viewing on Fu’s screen.
“I thought Prissy was picking you up?” said Nat to Henry with a frown.
Henry shrugged, his mouth stuffed full of Ah Wong’s cherry cake.
Nat pushed herself up from the cushions. The last thing she wanted was her aunt nosing around the boat.
“I’ll intercept her. Hurry up and finish that, Henry. You’ve got to go.”
She jumped down the wooden steps on to the main deck just as Aunt Vera appeared.
“My darling girl, when I heard the news from Prissy I just had to come myself to see if there’s anything I can do.”
To both Nat’s surprise and horror Aunt Vera opened her arms, drawing her into a bony embrace. Just when she thought she might suffocate from stinky Spice perfume she was released. Her aunt lifted her enormous owl-like sunglasses and peered closely at Nat’s face.
“It’s fine, thanks. Ah Wong’s here,” said Nat.
Aunt Vera raised an eyebrow. “How long is Jamuka going to be away?”
“Only a week at the most,” she said, trying to make light of it. The last thing she wanted was her aunt interfering.
“And what kind of emergency is it? Prissy said something about a family matter?”
Nat waved a hand vaguely in the air. “Oh, just something to do with his aunt, that’s all.”
“And why didn’t he take you with him?”
“Because it’s deep winter there.”
“Don’t you think it might be better if you came to stay with us?”
Nat took a sharp intake of breath.
“No,” she said quickly. “I want to be at home.”
Henry came bounding across the deck.
“Hi, Mummy!” he said, thrusting NutNut under her nose. “Can I buy this?”
A striped Slider helmet was showing on NutNut’s screen.
“No, darling.”
“But Wen says it’s the coolest thing that all ding boys are wearing.”
“Ding? What an awful word. And the answer’s still no.”
“Urgent call waiting from Mongolia,” announced Fizz from where he was standing, wings open, charging his solar batteries on the upper deck rail.
“I must take that,” said Nat.
“Do you think it’s about the pet—” began Henry, but before he could finish the sentence she pinched him on the arm. “Ow!”
“Not a word about anything,” she hissed in his ear. She turned to Aunt Vera. “Please excuse me.”
Her aunt nodded, her face full of concern. “Of course, darling girl. Now, do call us if there is anything, anything at all, that we can do.”
“I will.”
Nat sprinted across the deck, jumped up the steps and grabbed Fizz off the rail.
“Hello,” she said, expecting Fizz to spread his wings to reveal Jamuka on screen.
Instead there was nothing.
“Hello.”
Still nothing. A wave of panic rose within her. The call had dropped. Jamuka had told her not to expect a call since he’d be out of any communication range already. So it could only mean one thing – bad news.
Nat felt something grasp her ankle. Looking down, she saw Fu’s furry paws wrapped around her leg.
“Shhhh,” said Wen, holding her finger to her mouth. She was lying flat on her stomach below sight level from the lower deck. “I thought you needed rescuing, so I called Fizz and told him to announce it was coming from Mongolia. Brainy move, eh?” she whispered.
Nat turned to see the top of Aunt Vera’s super-sprayed helmet of blonde hair disappear down the gangplank. She bent down and lifted Fu up. The moment Fu was eye level with Fizz, the little dragon-robot started to purr. Fu’s eyelids fluttered at his call.
“Stop that, Fizz! You’re only meant to purr at me,” said Nat, carrying them back over to the cushions.
Wen laughed. “I think they’ve had a crush on each other since we set them up to auto-greet.”
“Incoming call from Doctor Tang,” announced Fizz.
“Take it and record call,” Nat instructed.
“Looks like Mum’s on the case,” said Wen.
Fizz spread his wings. Doctor Tang appeared on screen. She was sitting at her office desk, wearing her white lab coat.
“Hello, Nat,” she said. “Well, we’ve solved one part of the puzzle.”
“Wow, that was quick.”
Doctor Tang smiled.
“You have our lab technician, Tenko, to thank for the swift response. He decided to run a test for an uncommon chemical that occurs only in a rare plant found in Mongolia. The result came back positive for phyrosine kinase.”
“Phyro what?”
“Phyrosine kinase. It is a reactor, a volatile chemical, very rare and hard to capture.”
“What’s the plant, Mum?” said Wen, leaning into camera next to Nat.
“Tumen Vachir, which roughly translates from Mongolian to ‘ten thousand thunderbolts’.”
Nat paused trying to take it all in. She’d have to get Fizz to play back the conversation later. Doctor Tang removed her glasses and pinched the bridge of
her nose.
“What is it?” asked Wen.
Her mother lifted her hand, holding up a holographic 3D version of the petal. “This petal is ten times bigger and brighter than those on a normal Tumen Vachir plant. The electric-blue jagged line is something I have never seen before. That’s why it didn’t match the database. It’s as if…” She paused. “As if someone’s been interfering with its development.”
“What do you mean?” said Nat.
Doctor Tang put her glasses back on.
“We’re running more tests. I will know more tomorrow.”
She ended the call. Nat stared at the blank screen. Jamuka’s ashen face flashed through her mind. Was this the danger from outside, or the devastation within?
Chapter Nineteen
BETRAYAL
Wen left the Junko early the next morning. She’d forgotten to bring her new hair colour, which she needed to go with her tiger-striped outfit. Nat was left to eat breakfast alone. Rather than eat with a grumpy Ah Wong in the galley she took her plate of plum pancakes up on deck.
Overnight the weather had closed in. Thick, dark clouds coated the sky, making the harbour water below a choppy, gunmetal grey. The air had a knife-edged chill to it that cut through Nat’s kimono. Her bare feet soaked up the cold dew that had settled on the wooden planks. All around smelled musty.
Gobi let out a low chirp from her cage, which hung on the mast.
“Ai yah, Gobi, I’m so sorry,” said Nat, seeing the songbird’s feathers fluffed up against the cold, her head buried underneath her wing.
She walked over and unhooked the cage.
“Sorry, but Wen couldn’t stand you chirping all night in the cabin.” She shivered. Fat droplets of rain started to fall. “Let’s head back to bed.”
Even with the porthole closed it was cold. Nat pulled a thick woollen blanket out from underneath her bunk and placed it over her bed. She put Gobi’s cage next to her and landed Fizz on top of it.
Gobi lifted her head and started to chirp through the bars at him. Fizz’s eyes flashed red. He started to snort like a pig.