Space Rats

by Jacqueline Kirk

  THREE

  The next day Tristan, along with Krista, explained the rest of their plan to the others. Krista had been surprised at the presence of more than Troy but readily accepted and even seemed to be pleased that there was going to be more than just the three of them.

  While they listened to Tristan, Troy wondered at how they had come up with such a scheme. They had not only thought about how they were escaping but also how to make sure the children that were left behind weren’t made to pay for it.

  “Krista, like I said before,” Tristan was saying, “is brilliant with computers and we’ve come up with a way to get us some money and get back at Calhoun. We all know that Calhoun has been keeping a lot of the money that was meant for the home for himself. Well, Krista was able to hack into his accounts and find the stolen money so we documented all the details and sent it off to Fairfax. In fact, he should be getting it about now!”

  “Now!” Lena exclaimed, “When were you planning to leave?”

  “Tonight.”

  “Tonight! That doesn’t give us much time!” Troy exclaimed.

  “We don’t need more time,” Tristan said patiently, “When Fairfax realises what Calhoun has been doing he’s going to be straight down here. Plus, with a strategically timed fire alarm Calhoun will be too busy to notice our escape.”

  “How have you managed to find some money?” Lena asked suspiciously.

  Tristan grinned, “I stole from Calhoun.” he explained, his blue eyes twinkling mischievously, “I set up an account under a false name and took half of his money! Not only is he going to have to explain the stolen money, he’s going to have to explain why half of it can’t be found!”

  Troy smiled at the thought of how Calhoun would be squirming in his seat at that but then he frowned, “But shouldn’t all that money be left for the home?”

  Tristan sighed and rolled his eyes, “Come on Troy, old man Fairfax won’t let anything happen to these kids now he knows what a slime bag Calhoun is! If he has any sense he’ll put Patience and June in charge. Don’t worry, he’ll make sure they are okay!”

  “Calhoun is going to be really mad when he finds out we’ve not only run away but took half his money too!” Ziggy said quietly.

  “He won’t know for sure it was us,” Tristan reassured, “he can only guess. I was careful, the account is totally untraceable.”

  They sat in silence for a while, some excited at the prospect of escaping while others felt a mix of excitement and fear. Lena looked around the room and sighed softly.

  “What’s wrong?” Troy asked her.

  She shrugged, “It wasn’t always bad here, there were some fun times when Calhoun wasn’t about.”

  “That didn’t happen too often though,” Ziggy muttered.

  “Okay guys, listen up,” Tristan said, “Gather together all your stuff – only what you really need – and put it in the old janitor’s cupboard in the basement. If there is anything else you think we might need grab it, but don’t take any risks – we cannot get caught! I’ve already gathered up a few bits and pieces and put them on Star Chaser, we just need to get a little food to last us until we can get to a space station!”

  “A space station,” Lena breathed in awe, “I can’t believe we’re really going to be leaving! It just seems so unreal! Somebody pinch me….ow!”

  “You said to pinch you!” Troy grinned.

  “One thing Lena,” Tristan said softly and his voice was very serious, “Does Orla understand what we’re doing?” He quickly raised a placating hand at Lena’s suddenly fierce scowl and added, “I know she’s not an idiot but she doesn’t say much about what is really a big deal!”

  Lena looked at Orla who watched Tristan silently with her strange violet eyes, “She understands, don’t worry.”

  “Well, let’s get started,” Tristan announced, “Be careful people! Remember, as soon as you hear the alarm go straight to the basement, stop for no one!”

  They separated to go to their own dormitories, Troy and Ziggy hurrying to keep up with Tristan. He paused at their dormitory door and turned to them.

  “I’m going to go and get a bag to hold all our stuff. Just gather it up but try not to let anyone see you. Everyone should be down in the common room or the garden at this time of day.”

  They stepped into their dormitory that was indeed empty and hurried to their beds. Opening his small chest of drawers, Troy hurriedly pulled out the few clothes he had and laid them in a pile on the floor. In the bottom of the top drawer were the few belongings he treasured.

  He carefully wrapped a photo of his parents standing smiling outside Star Chaser on one of the hundreds of planets they had visited and added it to the pile. He also had a deck of hologram cards; a few things that he had saved from his cabin on Star Chaser, at least the ones he had been allowed to keep and a long metal tube.

  The metal tube had been his mother’s and contained maps of the star systems that they had visited. Every time they visited a new system she added another map to the tube. He couldn’t have left it behind in case it had been stolen, he intended to keep adding maps just like his mother.

  He finished emptying his belongings on to the floor and looked at the pile. It wasn’t very big, a few clothes and some bits and pieces. He looked over to Ziggy and was surprised to see how large his pile was. Walking over to his friend he looked at the mound of clothes, toys, bits of paper and various other things.

  “What is all this stuff?” he asked incredulously.

  Ziggy blushed slightly as he finished emptying his drawers and said, “Well, I never like to throw stuff away, you know, just in case. I’ll never know when I might need it again…”

  He trailed off at the look on Troy’s face and shrugged, “Maybe I should leave some of it?”

  “At least some of the clothes! Most of these must be too small for you by now!”

  “Just some,” Ziggy muttered almost defensively.

  Troy sighed, “Just take what you need, that’s all.”

  Ziggy quickly sorted out the clothes and stuffed everything that was too small back into the drawers. Just as he had finished Tristan came in carrying a large cloth bag and quickly went to his own bed.

  He put everything he had into the bag then crammed Troy and Ziggy’s piles on top, raising his eyebrows at Ziggy’s still ample mound. Slinging the bag over his shoulder he headed for the door.

  He turned back to them, “I’ll take this down to the basement, Krista is getting the girls’ stuff. We can’t all go down it would look suspicious.” He poked his head out into the corridor then back to them, “It’s clear, anything else you can find shove into a bag and we can grab it later!”

  Troy sat down on his bed as his brother left and stared into space. He looked across at Ziggy who was also sitting at the end of his bed staring at Troy with large eyes.

  “Doesn’t seem real, does it?” he said.

  Troy shook his head and tried to smile but the truth was he wasn’t sure this wasn’t all a dream.

  “Are you okay about…you know…being back on Star Chaser where your parents…you know…?” Ziggy blushed as he fumbled through his question.

  Troy thought before he answered, “I didn’t really want to see it again, to be honest. But now all I can think of is being amongst the stars again. Tristan’s right, this isn’t our home.”

  Ziggy nodded, visibly relieved he hadn’t upset his friend, “I’m quite looking forward to being out in space! I’ve never been off this planet since…”

  Troy looked away at the look on Ziggy’s face when he had stopped himself from saying ‘since my parents dumped me here’. Even though he was an orphan himself he had at least known his parents and known he was loved. He couldn’t begin to imagine how Ziggy must feel about being so unwanted he was left on a doorstep on a planet to which he didn’t belong.

  To cheer his friend up he told him tales of their travels through the systems, some true and some so wildly made up Ziggy was roaring with laugh
ter until a voice from the doorway caught their attention.

  “Well, well ,well,” William Poe drawled from the doorway, “If I’m not mistaken, you two should be outside finishing off that fence.”

  Troy cursed inwardly. He had forgotten it was his and Ziggy’s turn to paint some of the fence, part of the scheduled chores all the children had to do. He got off his bed and stood facing Poe.

  Poe stood with a malicious smile curling the corners of his mouth. His pale face had a pleased expression as he looked at Ziggy and Troy with a superior air. It was hard for someone as small as Poe to look superior to others but he always seemed to manage it. He always dressed as neatly as he could with his red hair always brushed into place, of course his clothes were better than everyone else’s because Calhoun liked him.

  Bill and Bob hovered behind him, their tall thin frames looming over their friend. Their dark eyes watched Ziggy and Troy unblinkingly. Sharks eyes Ziggy always said they looked like and Troy had to agree, they just had no personalities.

  “We’re just on our way,” Troy said mildly, “If you would let us pass.”

  Poe smiled and shook his head, “First, I want to know what your brother is up to.”

  Troy stepped forward and frowned at Poe, “What are you talking about? Tristan isn’t up to anything!”

  “Isn’t he? Then what was in that bag I saw him carrying?” Poe glanced away from Troy to Ziggy who was standing behind him, “Perhaps I should ask Ziggy if he knows. He was always a terrible liar!”

  Troy groaned inwardly and glanced quickly over his shoulder at his friend who was standing with a worried look on his face. The one thing Ziggy couldn’t do was lie convincingly, you just had to look at his face.

  “Leave Ziggy alone, Willie!” Troy spat. He knew Poe hated that nickname and it was guaranteed to cause trouble but he couldn’t let him question Ziggy. It didn’t help that Ziggy was now laughing.

  Poe went scarlet with rage and pushed Troy aside as he stepped toward Ziggy. Troy started to grab for Poe but found himself being held by Bill and Bob. They held each arm and grinned down at him and Troy almost expected to see a mouthful of sharp, pointed teeth.

  “What are you laughing at?” Poe seethed, “I would have thought that someone like you would be careful who he laughs at. He might find that no one wants him here.” He paused and an evil smile came to his face, “But that’s how you got here anyway, isn’t it? Even your mother didn’t want you and who could blame her, you must have been a really ugly baby!”

  “Ziggy! Don’t lis…” Troy started to say but a hand clamped over his mouth.

  Usually when Poe was being this incredibly nasty Ziggy would either turn and run or cry but today he did neither. In fact, Troy had never seen Ziggy look so angry. A flush crept up his neck and over his face and his eyes went as hard as stones as he glared at Poe.

  Even Poe seemed to realise and actually looked scared himself. He made to step back but Ziggy grabbed the front of his clothes and heaved him above his head. Poe had obviously forgotten about Ziggy’s strength.

  Bill and Bob dashed forward to rescue their friend but Ziggy had already thrown him across the room. Luckily, for Poe he landed on Troy’s bed and bounced off the other side. Bill and Bob had paused to watch Poe fly across the room but then they turned to Ziggy.

  With one punch Ziggy sent Bill – or was it Bob – flying into the wall and the other crumpled at his feet after he butted him on the chin.

  Tristan ran into the room just then. “What’s going on? I can hear you down the hall!”

  Troy gestured around the room but didn’t know what to say. Poe was getting to his feet while Bill and Bob still lay prone on the floor. Ziggy was breathing hard and still looking a bit wild but he seemed to be calming down a bit.

  Before anyone could speak Calhoun appeared behind them. He stood surveying the room with an annoyed look on his face. His small brown eyes came to rest on Ziggy and Troy held his breath but he just looked for a long moment then turned to Poe.

  “What are you doing? I thought I told you to go to my office,” he said angrily.

  Poe’s mouth dropped open at this uncharacteristic dressing down, “But sir, these two weren’t outside and when I pointed it out to them this one attacked us for no reason!”

  Calhoun sighed in annoyance and ran his hand over his thinning brown hair, “I don’t care! I have more important things for you to do! Move!”

  As Poe stomped past Ziggy and Troy he shot them a venomous look. Calhoun looked at them once more then turned away. “Get those two to the infirmary!” he barked over his shoulder.

  They watched in shocked silence as Calhoun disappeared out the door. Troy turned to look at Ziggy then they both looked at Tristan who was grinning from ear to ear.

  “What was that all about?” Troy asked.

  “Don’t you get it?” Tristan said excitedly, “He’s obviously heard from Fairfax! Couldn’t you see how worried he was! He’s scared, really scared!”

  Tristan grabbed one of the unconscious boys, “Troy, you get his feet. Ziggy, you’ll have to manage the other one.”

  “By the way Ziggy,” Troy said as he bent down, “You were great!”

  Ziggy blushed, “I didn’t mean to lose my temper but he just made me so angry!”

  “I just wish I’d been here to see it,” Tristan grinned, “I’m just glad you’re on my side!”

  Ziggy blushed even more but he couldn’t help smiling under their praise. He hoisted Bill – or Bob - onto his shoulder and hurried after the other two.

  It didn’t take them long to reach the infirmary and June fussed over the unconscious boys before shooing everyone out. She had raised an eyebrow at their story of how they had both tripped and fallen at the same time.

  Outside in the corridor Tristan stopped and Troy looked at him as his brother stood thinking.

  “What is it?”

  Tristan looked up at them and said, “I think it’s time to go.”

  “Now?”

  “Yes, if Calhoun has heard from Fairfax he’s going to be too busy but Poe might be able to let him know we’re up to something. We can’t take that chance, we have to go now!”

  “Okay! Let’s do it!” Troy said then looked reassuringly at Ziggy who was looking worried again.

  Tristan nodded then ran to the nearest fire alarm, a few seconds later the corridors were filled with running children.