Stanley’s pod hovered over the top lane, where the traffic was moving fastest. Then the pod dropped down into it, causing some kind of flying bus behind to slam on its breaks, swerve and beep its horn. At least Stanley assumed it was its horn which sounded, because the entire sky was so full of beeping and swerving and revving engines that it was difficult to work out which sound was coming from where.
Row by row, the pod descended, past the cloud ships, to the slowest lane, which ran just above the top of the skyscrapers that covered the entire planet’s surface. It reminded Stanley of what Jupp had said about the hologram of Therapia before the makeover looking like Armoria.
Even though it had been daylight when he entered the atmosphere, this far down, below the layers of traffic buzzing overhead, it felt like dusk. In order to counteract this, the huge buildings had bright lights on the top, shining down on the outside areas and giving those in their rooftop gardens the impression that it was a bright sunny day.
The escape pod broke from its lane and headed down towards one of the buildings.
‘Landing location within range. Please prepare for landing. This vessel will self-destruct twenty seconds after landing. Please ensure you are a safe distance from the vessel to avoid injury or death,’ said the computer calmly.
‘What?’ exclaimed Stanley. There wasn’t room to move any distance away on the tiny roof garden where they were coming in to land.
‘Landing location within range. Please . . .’
‘Yes, yes, what was the bit about self-destructing?’
‘She said the vessel will self-destruct in twenty seconds,’ said Spore, clearly proud of himself for remembering this correctly. ‘What is self-destruct?’
‘It means that it will blow up.’
‘Why it blow up?’
‘I don’t know.’ The pod was getting close to the rooftop. ‘Why are you going to blow up, computer?’
‘Self-destruct setting selected.’
‘It must be something Captain Flaid did so he couldn’t get followed,’ said Stanley. ‘Computer, can I unselect it?’
‘Unable to deselect self-destruct setting. Apologies for any inconvenience,’ said the computer.
The pod hovered above the roof garden. Stanley could see a set of glass doors, and through the glass Professor NomVeber standing in a room full of strange apparatus and bubbling concoctions.
‘Prepare for landing,’ said the computer.
‘Spore, climb into my pocket,’ said Stanley. ‘When we land we’ll have to get inside the building as soon as possible.’
‘OK.’
Spore climbed in as the pod landed softly on the roof.
‘Landing successful. Door opening.’
The hatch popped open and Stanley rolled out.
‘Twenty seconds until self-destruct.’
Stanley ran to the glass doors and banged on them. ‘Professor NomVeber!’ he shouted, but the professor didn’t react. The doors must have been soundproofed to cut out the noise from the traffic above.
‘Fifteen seconds until self-destruct. Please clear the area.’
‘Professor NomVeber, please . . .’ yelled Stanley.
The professor still had his back turned. It looked like he was muttering to himself, but Stanley couldn’t hear him.
‘Spore, what are we going to do?’ said Stanley, but Spore didn’t respond either. Stanley looked inside his pocket. Spore wasn’t there. ‘Spore?’ He looked back at the pod.
‘Ten seconds until self-destruct. Thank you for flying with this Series 64,000 escape vessel. We hope your experience has been a pleasant one.’
‘Spore?’ screamed Stanley. He must have fallen out of his pocket when they landed. But where was he now? He was about to run back to check the pod when he felt a hand land on his shoulder. He turned round.
‘Stanley Bound! Well, I never. Lovely to see you,’ said Professor NomVeber.
‘Five seconds to self-destruct.’
‘We need to get inside,’ said Stanley.
He pushed Professor NomVeber back into his lab and the door slid shut just in time for them to watch the escape pod explode and bits of it bounce soundlessly against the window.
‘Where’s Spore?’ said Stanley desperately.
‘I here,’ replied the small voice. ‘I climb in through smaller hole to tell the professor to let us in. This good plan, yes?’
Stanley smiled. ‘Yes, Spore. That good plan.’
.
40
‘We have some big decisions ahead of us, decisions that will define what kind of planet we are’
‘How nice of you to pop in. Everyone was most intrigued by your sudden disappearance on Therapia,’ said Professor NomVeber.
The room was packed with bubbling tubes and beeping machines.
‘We were taken by the beaky people but we escape,’ said Spore.
‘What happened to Quil and General P’Tang? Were they arrested?’ asked Stanley, although he was thinking mostly of Jupp.
‘Oh no, that would have incurred far too much paperwork for Commander Kevolo,’ replied the professor. ‘For all his big ideas of states of emergency, arresting a native Therapian and his house guests with nothing more than one unreliable eyewitness would have been an extremely lengthy process.’
‘I saw on the news that he’s standing for president.’
‘Yes, I saw that too.’ Professor NomVeber picked up a test tube and examined the contents. Replacing it, he jotted down his findings in a notepad.
‘Don’t you think it’s a bit suspicious?’ asked Stanley.
‘Why would I think it was suspicious? Jax Kevolo has always wanted the president’s job. Everyone knows that.’
Stanley wasn’t sure whether to tell the professor what he had overheard in Captain Flaid’s cabin. Since his time on board the Black Horizon he was beginning to wonder whether he could truly trust anyone, but it wasn’t Commander Kevolo that concerned him right now. There was something else he needed to do. ‘I’d like to find out more about President Vorlugenar,’ he said.
‘Well, you’re welcome to use the information service. As a contributor, you see, I get a free subscription but it’s no use to me. That’s the problem with being so clever – there really is very little left to learn. That’s why I was so pleased when you introduced me to your little mushroom friend here. I’ve been thinking a great deal about him, and there is something I can do that may help unlock the mystery. Perhaps you could leave him with me while you avail yourself of the information service.’
‘Spore stay with Stanley,’ said Spore.
‘I have a new packet of Solar Fruit Twisties I’ve just opened. Are you hungry, Spore?’
‘I hungry, yes.’
‘There we are then. We’ll be through here. Do you remember how to activate the infogram?’ Stanley nodded and the professor left with Spore.
Alone in the room, Stanley said, ‘I don’t understand.’
A hologram of the overly tanned Vik Noddle appeared in the centre of the room. ‘Hey, there. Welcome to Armorian Information Services. What can I help you with today?’
‘I want to know about President Vorlugenar,’ replied Stanley.
‘Sure thing. Please make yourself comfortable and we’ll begin.’
Stanley found a stool and sat down to watch as Vik Noddle presented him with a series of documentaries, interviews, speeches and political debates that took him through President Vorlugenar’s career. He learnt that, from a young age, Vorlugenar was a charming and intelligent man, who grew up to become the most popular president in Armoria’s history. He was even liked by many of the inhabitants of other planets. There was a news item about his attempt to give Armorian moon dwellers fairer rights and to increase the numbers of non-Armorians in positions of power in the AIP force.
But it was one particular interview given weeks before his death that stood out for Stanley. President Vorlugenar sat in a moodily lit studio opposite the interviewer, who had two heads, one of w
hich nodded sympathetically every time he spoke, while the other wore a look of disbelief.
‘I believe that we Armorians should question some of our core values,’ said President Vorlugenar. ‘Take the Planner, for example. Are we sure that evolution acceleration is a good thing?’
‘Are you suggesting that the machine hailed by most as the best invention in our history is not a good thing?’ exclaimed the interviewer’s right head.
‘No, I’m simply saying we should examine these things. Complacency is an ugly trait.’
‘That’s a very interesting point,’ said the interviewer’s left head.
‘Interesting? It’s borderline insane,’ said the other head. ‘The Planner has been helping Armorians achieve their potential for generations. It’s the chief reason why our planet is the single most successful planet in the universe.’
‘This is true,’ said President Vorlugenar. ‘The Planner has been a tremendous gift and its contribution is irrefutable, but I want us to examine any negative effects. It seems to me that it cuts down individual choice. For example, until the point you were told you were destined to become an interviewer and grew your extra head I imagine you could have done lots of other things. How did you feel about having your options limited?’
‘He’s got a point. At the time we wanted to be a stratoski instructor,’ said the head on the left.
‘This isn’t about us,’ said the head on the right. ‘It’s about whether the president is permanently taking the Planner out of use.’
‘Are you?’ asked the other head.
‘At this stage it has been taken out of use subject to a detailed review of its role in Armoria’s future.’
‘What about the AIP force? Some have suggested that you plan to reduce its size.’
‘These are all matters I am considering. I believe we are at a new stage of our development. We have some big decisions ahead of us, decisions that will define what kind of planet we are. Should we be looking to increase our control in the universe, or should we have other priorities?’
‘What kind of priorities?’ asked the interviewer’s left head.
‘Perhaps there are more important things than domination and power?’
‘And how does Commander Kevolo feel about the threat to his police force in view of the increase in intergalactic crime?’ asked the right head.
President Vorlugenar smiled. ‘Jax Kevolo and I don’t always see eye to eye, but I’m sure he understands and respects my point of view.’
‘Well, sadly we’re out of time,’ said the left head. ‘President Vorlugenar, many thanks.’
The interview ended and Stanley dismissed Vik Noddle. He wondered what it all meant. President Vorlugenar was intending to cut the size of the AIP force. Wasn’t that the perfect reason for Commander Kevolo to have him killed? Also, Kevolo had always wanted Vorlugenar’s job and he needed a way to get rid of him that would increase his own popularity. What better way than to have him killed and then catch the killer himself? It was perfect.
Stanley needed to talk to someone about it and decided that he would simply have to trust the professor. He went to the door where Professor NomVeber and Spore had gone and pressed the button next to it. It slid open, but it wasn’t the professor who stood on the other side. It was Commander Kevolo with two AIP officers on either side and a journobot hovering behind him with a camera pointing in his direction. Stanley turned round, looking for an escape route, and saw a shiny AIP shuttle loom into view on the other side of the window. He looked back at Commander Kevolo, who was wearing a wide grin.
‘Stanley Bound, you are under arrest for jumping bail, resisting re-arrest and, of course, for the murder of President Vorlugenar.’
.
PART FOUR
‘How did they find you?’ asks DI Lockett. She hadn’t meant to interrupt the story, but this latest twist has taken her by surprise.
Stanley looks into her eyes. For a moment he wonders whether she actually believes him. He knows the story he is telling is pretty unbelievable but he is telling it because she asked him for the truth. Besides, it helps to put it in order in his own head. He is seeing the clues that he failed to pick up on at the time.
He certainly doesn’t expect anyone to believe it. He knows that the psychologist is looking for a hidden meaning behind his story, but he decides to answer DI Lockett’s question because he thinks there is a part of her that wants to believe him.
‘Professor NomVeber called them,’ he says.
‘The professor gave you away?’ she exclaims.
PC Ryan coughs, clearly embarrassed by his superior’s behaviour.
DI Lockett ignores him and says, ‘I thought he was one of the good guys.’
‘I’m not sure I believe in good guys and bad guys any more,’ says Stanley.
‘Fascinating. Absolutely fascinating,’ says Dr McGowan, leaning forward. ‘There is certainly a moral ambiguity in many of your characters. For example, I felt that you painted quite a sympathetic picture of Captain Flaid when his men turned against him.’
‘They were picaroons, not men, and I never said I felt any sympathy for him.’
‘But you did appear to like the character Hal,’ says Dr McGowan, consulting his notes. ‘And as Captain Flaid pointed out, he was the one who kidnapped you.’
‘Yes,’ says Stanley.
‘Sorry, I shouldn’t have interrupted you,’ says DI Lockett, who finds Dr McGowan’s comments annoying. ‘Please continue.’
‘Yes, please do carry on. It’s a fascinating story,’ says Dr McGowan.
Stanley is unnerved by the psychologist’s intense stare and the way he knits his fingers together. Stanley knows that he uses the word story because he believes it is made up, but he doesn’t care. One of the things his adventure has taught him is that there are some people who won’t believe anything until they are faced with indisputable evidence.
.
41
‘In matters of security it is up to the commander responsible to assign a prosecutor and judge to a case, based on the most qualified person available at the time’
After his arrest, Stanley didn’t see Commander Kevolo again until they were was back on board the AIP Bucket. On the shuttle ship he was put under the constant surveillance of a large group of Yeren guards, who refused to answer any of his questions so he was unable to find out what had happened to Professor NomVeber. Before being thrown into a small squalid cell, which may or may not have been the same one as before, he was thoroughly searched and his watch was confiscated. He was glad that Spore wasn’t with him to be found but, sitting alone in his cell that evening, he missed his company.
On the TV in the corner of the room Stanley was headline news again. Watching the footage of his re-arrest, Stanley realised how rehearsed Commander Kevolo’s line sounded. For him it had been yet another photo opportunity.
‘Once again, political analyst Lawn Waxy joins us in the studio to discuss this latest development. Lawn, what effect has this had on Commander Kevolo’s chances of becoming the next president?’ asked the newsreader.
‘The latest figures put the commander way ahead in the polls.’ A graph behind him illustrated this.
‘It certainly seems that Commander Kevolo can do no wrong, but what kind of president would he be?’
‘A crooked one,’ mumbled Stanley at the TV.
‘I think we can expect a change of approach,’ said Lawn. ‘Whereas President Vorlugenar was in the process of softening Armoria’s approach to intergalactic policy, I think it’s safe to say that Kevolo as president will be planning to assert its position of dominance in the universe.’
‘In fact, he has previously suggested pushing Armorian boundaries even further beyond this galaxy, hasn’t he?’
‘That’s right. In a speech last year he mentioned certain pre-contact planets in other galaxies that were ready for inclusion.’
‘Yes. In fact, Stanley Bound is from one such planet, isn’t he?’
> ‘He is indeed – a planet called Earth that has not yet had intergalactic contact.’
The newsreader laughed. ‘Talking of which, the trial starts tomorrow. Don’t miss our constant coverage on AISN, the channel that brings you the news as it happens.’
So that’s it, thought Stanley glumly. He had been set up to give Commander Kevolo an excuse to subject Earth to the same treatment as Gusto and Yerendel and all those other planets that Armoria claimed to have discovered.
The cell door opened and a guard said, ‘Come on, you’re wanted in the commander’s office.’
Commander Kevolo’s office was a stark contrast to every other part of the Bucket that Stanley had seen. It was carpeted, clean and didn’t smell of body odour and rotten vegetables.
Three of the four walls were covered in certificates, honours and photos of Commander Kevolo shaking hands with apparently important people. The fourth wall was transparent and revealed behind it the infinite constellations of outer space.
The commander sat behind a large desk, watching the news. He grinned at Stanley as he entered. ‘Have you seen this? Your escape attempt has made me even more popular. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were on my side.’ He laughed.
Before Stanley could respond the door slid open and Eddie Skulk entered, with Dram Gurdling close behind him.
‘This is an outrage, Kevolo,’ proclaimed Eddie.
‘By that I presume you’re referring to you and moonboy here barging into my office without permission?’
Dram’s eyes turned a vivid scarlet colour but he let Eddie respond.
‘You know perfectly well what I mean. Tomorrow you will be acting as prosecution. Therefore private consultation with the accused could be seen as an attempt to intimidate him prior to the trial.’
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