The Lost Home World

by Jones Cerberus

  And probably hungry, too, Amelia thought. She had no idea what he’d been eating out here in the bush, but she doubted it was gumleaves. Maybe he’d been attracted by Mallan’s delicious fragrance.

  Maybe, because as Lady Naomi smiled at him and said to Mallan, ‘Go on, hold out your hand and let him smell you,’ Grawk licked his lips with a huge purple tongue.

  Mallan flinched, but he did as his sister asked and walked three or four cautious steps toward Grawk. She came with him, murmuring encouragement.

  ‘Here, boy,’ he said doubtfully, holding out a hand that trembled slightly. Behind him, James grimaced in sympathy.

  Grawk flicked his tail once more, but stretched out to sniff Mallan’s knuckles. Amelia held her breath. Whether or not Mallan knew it, this would be a bigger proof of his identity than even a million holo-videos of family. They just proved that he was Lady Naomi’s brother; Grawk would decide whether he was a good one.

  Grawk sniffed, blinked, and crept forward another half-pace. Mallan stiffened, but Lady Naomi stood calmly beside him, and he stayed where he was.

  Grawk sniffed again, and then sneezed violently. He looked so shocked at himself, Amelia almost laughed. He sniffed once more, his ears pricked forward now and his tail slightly wagging, though his eyes were confused. He whined, then leapt back and started sneezing helplessly.

  ‘Oh, Grawk, you poor thing,’ Lady Naomi said. ‘Look at what you’ve done, Mallan – you’ve given him hayfever.’

  Mallan laughed with her. ‘Sorry, buddy,’ he said to Grawk. ‘I didn’t mean to, well, get up your nose like that. No hard feelings, eh?’

  Grawk, wracked by sneezes, could only wag his tail feebly, his ears back. Amelia considered what that meant. She didn’t think that Grawk liked Mallan, but he seemed to have accepted him.

  Maybe that was all that any of them had to do. After all, it would be hard to really like anyone who took Lady Naomi away from them, but as long as Lady Naomi was happy, what did it matter? Knowing that all her years of research had ended with the greatest possible discovery, knowing that she would be reunited with her family at last – well, that would have to be enough for them.

  Sophie T was no huge fan of Grawk’s and had no interest in discussing his odd behaviour with Amelia at school the next day. She wanted to hear only about Mallan. ‘I wish I could meet him,’ she sighed. ‘He sounds gorgeous.’

  Amelia grimaced and looked to Charlie for help.

  ‘You could come up to the hotel with us,’ said Charlie, which was not only the polite thing to say, but also the best way to get Sophie T to drop the subject. She’d made it pretty clear that she never wanted to go near the headland or its gateway ever again.

  When they got home that afternoon, Amelia realised there was no time for Sophie T to visit anyway. Going in to Tom’s cottage to drop off some anchovette spread and laundrette soap, they found that Lady Naomi’s farewell had already begun.

  ‘So you’re going tomorrow, then?’ Tom was saying, concentrating on the holo-emitter he was working on.

  ‘Mallan thinks so,’ said Lady Naomi. ‘Obviously the wormholes are unreliable at the moment, but yes … by nightfall tomorrow, he says.’

  James spun the cogs on his new gadget for calculating wormhole arrivals, and frowned down at his charts. Amelia saw him write in his notebook, pull out more charts, and frown again.

  ‘I’d like us to spend the day here, if we can,’ Mallan smiled at Tom, but all his blinding handsomeness just bounced off the top of Tom’s head. ‘Naturally, Oriana wants to be with you as much as possible before we leave, and I don’t want to risk missing the connection.’

  Tom grunted, then looked up at Lady Naomi. ‘I’ll sort out your registration with Control. They usually like a couple of weeks to process identity documents and run background checks, but I know Ms Rosby will help us rush it through.’

  It was hardly the most sentimental speech, but Amelia knew how much Tom meant by it. Although it was breaking his heart, he would help Lady Naomi to leave.

  Mallan must have understood that too, because he caught Amelia’s eye and nodded toward the door. She nodded back: he was right – she and Charlie should get out of there for a while and give Tom some time alone with Lady Naomi.

  She tugged on Charlie’s elbow. They tiptoed toward the door, trying to avoid attention. James, taking the hint, bundled up his charts and followed them out. Amelia was surprised to find that Mallan had come too.

  ‘I don’t think Tom needs me around right now,’ he smiled sadly. ‘I should have realised it before I came – of course Oriana would have a whole life here on Earth.’

  ‘Not much of a life,’ said Charlie. ‘All she ever does is her research out in the bush. She never leaves the headland at all, not even to surf.’

  ‘Ah, but she has people who care for her – who’ll miss her,’ Mallan countered. ‘People who, even though they’re glad she’s found her answers, must be distressed that one of those answers will take her away.’

  ‘We’re not really angry with you,’ Amelia blurted out. Then she realised she’d basically admitted he was right: she resented him. She blushed.

  Mallan gave her one of his most blazing smiles, one that made her tingle all the way through as though she’d been given an electric shock, and said, ‘You can’t imagine how happy I am to know that Oriana is so loved.’

  He put a hand over his face, as though overcome with emotion, then blinked away any lingering tears and gave another, rather wobbly, smile. ‘We were so frightened.’

  ‘Eh?’ said Charlie. ‘Of what? Us?’

  ‘No – we were frightened that you didn’t exist. We always hoped Oriana had landed somewhere safe, but we could never quite believe she had. For all we knew, that helpless baby landed in a warzone –’

  ‘She did,’ said Charlie, but Mallan went on.

  ‘Or a desert, or in the middle of an ocean. And sometimes, we almost wished she had, because what if something even worse had happened to her instead? What if people did find her and keep her alive, but not to be kind – what if they were cruel, or kept her as a slave?’

  ‘That’s awful!’ said Amelia.

  Out of the corner of her eye, she saw James open his mouth to say something, but Mallan said, ‘But it wasn’t awful! It so easily could have been, but look at this place!’ He beamed at the landscape. ‘It’s dry and hot compared to Chloros, but so beautiful. And perhaps it has been a lonelier life for Oriana than it would have been in our mountains, but she has had a family here. I can’t tell you how glad that makes me.

  ‘Anyway,’ he went on cheerfully. ‘It’s not like I’m taking her away forever, is it? The wormholes to Chloros aren’t super-frequent, but Oriana will definitely be coming and going between her homes.’

  ‘About that,’ said James, holding up a chart. ‘I still can’t figure out which wormhole connects to Chloros. We don’t seem to have any record of it here.’

  Amelia and Charlie stared at James, but Mallan was unruffled. ‘Of course not. We’re on a completely different hub. To get to Chloros, we have to travel to one of the three planets with the two gateways we need: one that connects to the Earth hub, and one that connects to the Janys hub. It’s like … it’s like …’ He searched for a comparison.

  ‘No, I get it,’ said James, still frowning. ‘You’re basically just changing trains halfway.’

  ‘Exactly!’ Mallan grinned.

  ‘OK,’ said James. ‘That makes sense, I guess.’

  ‘Well, it makes travel more complicated, certainly.’

  ‘But will we see you again?’ Amelia pressed. ‘You and Lady Naomi? You definitely will come back?’

  ‘Better than that,’ Mallan said. ‘I’ve heard rumours that things are starting to change at Control. If that’s right, the whole non-stellar planet category could be scrapped.’

  ‘You mean –’

  ‘Yes. Earth could be allowed to know about the gateway and you could start using it yourselves.’


  Amelia and Charlie hardly dared believe their ears.

  Mallan leant down, his wonderful grey eyes becoming even more angular as he grinned. ‘Perhaps you won’t have to say goodbye to Oriana when we visit next. Perhaps instead you will be able to come back with us and see Chloros for yourselves.’

  Amelia stared, too overwhelmed to speak. All her reserve about Mallan, all her dread of Lady Naomi going, and all her jealousy that Mallan had straight away been more special to Lady Naomi than Amelia would ever be – all of it suddenly seemed not just petty or mean, but irrelevant. She was being invited to Chloros!

  She breathed in his sweet smell, and was entranced by the vision his words built in her mind. She imagined herself, ordinary old Amelia Walker, being led out by Mallan and Lady Naomi into a green world where butterflies soared through the sky like eagles.

  Maybe we’re not losing Lady Naomi after all, she marvelled. Maybe we’re all getting to be part of something bigger instead. Something better than any of us imagined.

  She remembered that hopefulness she’d felt when Mallan first stepped through the gateway, and sighed.

  It really is going to be all right.

  Amelia and Charlie didn’t even try to sleep that night. Mary had agreed to let Charlie stay over so he could say goodbye to Lady Naomi in the morning before school, just in case she and Mallan left before they got home again in the afternoon.

  Charlie was on the old spare bed in Amelia’s room, and Amelia was sprawled on her huge four-poster, but neither of them had bothered to change into their pyjamas, let alone get into bed. They were both too worried that Lady Naomi and Mallan’s plans might suddenly change, and they wanted to be ready to spring up without delay. Plus, there was so much to talk about –

  Like whether everyone on Chloros was as stunning and charismatic as Lady Naomi and Mallan, or whether they were as freakishly perfect at home as they were on Earth. And whether the gravity would be different there. And what the food would be like. And whether they’d have to wear holo-emitters to fit in and understand the language, or whether Lady Naomi would be patient enough to help them learn it for themselves. And, most importantly to Charlie, whether you could train one of their giant butterflies to carry you in its legs like a living hang-glider.

  They were just getting started on whether or not they could take Grawk with them when they heard footsteps pounding along the corridor outside Amelia’s bedroom, and then someone thumping on Mum and Dad’s door.

  Leaping off their beds, Charlie flung open the door, and they saw James getting ready to knock again. He looked utterly frantic.

  Mum opened the door. ‘What? What is it? No – don’t tell me out here, come in. And be quiet, will you? We do have six rooms booked in the guest wing.’

  She ushered James inside, then caught sight of Amelia and Charlie – so prepared for action, they were actually wearing shoes – and sighed. ‘You too. Might as well let you in on it from the start, eh?’

  Grinning to themselves, Amelia and Charlie scampered into Mum and Dad’s room. Dad was still in bed, wearing a faded old Kiss the Cook T-shirt, but no glasses.

  ‘What’s the emergency?’ he asked, feeling around on his bedside table for glasses.

  ‘There’s no Chloros!’ James said. ‘I’ve checked and re-checked all the charts, all the records, even all the Control catalogues of all known stellar planets – there is no Chloros!’

  Mum frowned. ‘But it’s just a name, James. I mean, we say Germany, but Germans say Deutsch-land. We say China, but Chinese say Zhongguo. Control could easily call Chloros something else.’

  ‘No! It’s more than that!’ James was trying so hard not to shout, but his eyes were wild. ‘I can’t find any mention of Karaskon, their system’s sun, or –’ He rushed on before Mum could make the same argument. ‘– of any galaxy called the Great Oriana.’

  ‘Hmm,’ said Mum.

  ‘And it’s not just about the names. I checked out the co-ordinates of the planet Mallan showed us.’ James waved his notebook at them. ‘It doesn’t have a gateway. In fact, in the planetary catalogues I found in Tom’s storeroom, that planet is in what Control calls a dead galaxy.’

  Dad jerked in surprise. ‘A galaxy without a single gateway!’

  James nodded, looking relieved that Dad at least was following him.

  ‘But James, are you sure?’ Mum asked. ‘I mean, some of those charts and books of Tom’s are ancient – much older than Control. What if they use a different system of co-ordinates? Maybe you missed something. Like not understanding something is written in Fahrenheit instead of Celsius.’

  ‘Right,’ James agreed. ‘Which is why I called Control.’

  Mum spluttered, then realised there were bigger issues here than James going over his parents’ heads and getting mixed up with Control.

  ‘And?’ said Dad, bracing himself.

  ‘The co-ordinates are right. Mallan’s so-called home world is a dead planet in a dead galaxy.’

  Mum looked at Dad for confirmation that James had really proven his argument. ‘Scott?’

  ‘Mum! Call Control yourself if you don’t believe me,’ snapped James.

  ‘I believe you, James,’ said Dad. ‘But I still don’t understand why Tom or Lady Naomi haven’t picked up on this for themselves.’

  James waved his hands in exasperation. ‘Why? Have you seen them, Dad? Tom’s practically gone zombie over Lady Naomi leaving, and Lady Naomi is so happy, I doubt she’s thinking about anything except meeting her granny.’

  ‘Fair point. So you haven’t told Tom?’

  ‘I don’t even know where he is! I was down in the cottage for hours working on this before I called Control. I was hoping he’d come back so I wouldn’t have to, but he still hasn’t.’

  Mum groaned. ‘He won’t. He came up just before dinnertime and told me Control HQ needed him to come down to sort out Lady Naomi’s paperwork in person before they could clear her to leave.’

  ‘But that doesn’t make any sense, Skye!’ said Dad. ‘If they needed anyone to see them in person it would have been Lady Naomi, not Tom.’

  ‘And in the middle of the night?’ Amelia put in.

  ‘All right!’ Mum retorted. ‘But I didn’t believe him. I thought he was just making an excuse to get out of town for a while. But now –’

  ‘Yes?’ said James.

  ‘Now it seems more likely someone wanted Tom away from the gateway.’

  ‘Mallan,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Right,’ said James.

  ‘OK, OK, let’s think.’ Mum closed her eyes. ‘Is Mallan really Lady Naomi’s brother? Irrelevant. Better question: are his intentions good? The evidence suggests not. He’s told lies about where he comes from and where he plans to take Lady Naomi, so although it’s possible he has a decent motive for hiding the truth from us, we need to assume –’

  ‘That he’s another creepy alien enemy,’ said Charlie.

  ‘Exactly.’ Mum’s eyes opened. ‘So, we organise. Scott, Mallan wanted Tom away from the gateway; you need to get down there now and guard it.’

  ‘Done.’ Dad slid out of bed, pulled tracksuit pants on over his pyjama bottoms and grabbed his boots.

  ‘You know Tom has a shotgun behind the front door?’ Charlie said helpfully.

  Amelia recoiled, but didn’t protest. The only thing worse than the thought of her goofy, gentle dad with a gun was the thought of him totally alone and unarmed in Tom’s cottage.

  ‘It’ll be fine, cookie,’ he said, kissing the top of her head as he walked out of the room.

  ‘Next, James,’ said Mum. ‘We need to work out which wormhole Mallan is planning on catching tomorrow: what time, what planet, and from that – hopefully – we can tell what this is about.’

  James shook his head. ‘I’ll try, but the charts have been so useless lately. I’ve checked over and over and I still can’t tell where Mallan came from.’

  ‘Keep trying. But not at Tom’s.’

  James was about to argue
, but Mum spoke over him. ‘I’m sorry, James, but it’s bad enough having Dad down there. I know there are more charts down there –’

  ‘And my calculating cogs!’

  ‘And those,’ Mum agreed, ‘but until we know what’s going on, I need you as safe as can be. Even if that’s not much safer.’

  ‘What about us?’ said Amelia.

  ‘You?’ Mum blinked. ‘Why, you stay in your rooms with the door closed, of course. Hide under the bed, if you need to.’

  ‘But –’

  Mum held up a hand. ‘No debating. We don’t have time. Just wait here with James until I check on Lady Naomi.’

  Oh, yeah, Amelia thought. We have to tell her what’s going on.

  Mum slipped out to the hallway, and was back all too quickly. ‘She’s gone. No-one in her room, and no-one in Mallan’s. This escalates things. We need to assume the worst and work backwards from there, and the worst-case scenario I can see is that Mallan has kidnapped Lady Naomi.’

  She bit her lip and thought hard. ‘OK, James – we last saw Lady Naomi at dinner. Widen your search to include any wormholes that have left since then. We may be too late to stop Mallan taking Lady Naomi, but if we can tell Control where he took her –’

  ‘On it,’ said James, but he was pale.

  ‘Now.’ Mum turned to Amelia and Charlie. ‘I know you hate this, but I also know you care too much about Lady Naomi to waste any time delaying me with arguments. I’m trusting you to go to your room, Amelia, and stay there until someone comes to tell you it’s safe. OK?’

  Amelia’s heart pounded with frustration. She knew they could help, and wouldn’t that make rescuing Lady Naomi quicker?

  ‘Amelia?’

  She shook her head, unable to answer, but to her shock, Charlie spoke for them both. ‘You can trust us, Mrs Walker. We know the right thing to do.’

  Amelia stuffed her hands into her pockets so no-one could see how tightly she was clenching her fists as Mum led her and Charlie back to her room.

  ‘We’ll let you know what’s happening as soon as we can,’ Mum said apologetically.