Space Rats

by Jacqueline Kirk

  FOUR

  “Come on!” shouted Tristan above the noise. They followed him at a run, trying not to push the other kids out the way while they made their way along the corridor. As the other children ran on they ducked down a side corridor until they came to the door to the basement.

  Looking quickly around to make sure the coast was clear, Tristan opened the door and they ducked inside. Descending down the stairs inside as quickly as they could they ran to the old janitor’s cupboard.

  “What about the others?” Troy gasped.

  Tristan yanked open the cupboard and stepped inside, “We’ll wait for them here. They should be on their way. I told Krista if she heard the alarm it was time to go” He came back out holding two large bags and a smaller one.

  A noise from the top of the stairs had them looking at each other in indecision. Tristan mouthed ‘hide’ to them both and they slipped behind a stack of boxes. Footsteps came hurrying down the stairs and straight towards them.

  “They’re not even here yet!” Lena’s voice said.

  Troy looked at Ziggy in relief and they came out of hiding. “Yes, we are!” he said, and then grinned when Lena and Krista jumped.

  She glared at him while Orla gazed at them with a strange little smile and said, “See the stars!”

  “That’s right Orla, we’re going to see the stars,” Lena smiled at her while everyone gaped at this uncharacteristic talkativeness.

  “Let’s go!” Tristan exclaimed.

  He walked behind the stack of boxes again and they followed curiously. Stopping in front of a large pile that stood against the wall he started to move them, gesturing for the others to help him.

  “What are you doing?” Troy asked.

  Tristan kept clearing boxes but explained over his shoulder, “When Krista was hacking into Calhoun’s personal files she came across a blue print for this building. It seems it was built to be used as headquarters for some army and there were several emergency exits. Here!”

  When the boxes were cleared there was a small hatch in the floor that Tristan pulled open, “There’s a tunnel down here that leads out behind the home.”

  “Where does it come out?” Ziggy asked.

  “Behind the utility shed.”

  “What’s it like down there?”

  Tristan shrugged, “I don’t know, we’ve never been down it.”

  “What!” Troy blurted, looking at his brother as if he was mad, “It could be blocked or anything!”

  “True,” Tristan agreed, “But we better get going now. This is our best chance; it gets us out the back where we won’t be seen. Especially since it’s still daylight.”

  With that he stepped onto the ladder and disappeared from view. The others stood looking at each other then Krista moved forward. She waited a little way down as Lena helped Orla onto the ladder and when she was safely down Lena scrambled in herself.

  Only Troy and Ziggy were left and they stood undecided for just a moment until a noise from upstairs came and they both darted towards the hatch. Troy let Ziggy go first then he grabbed a hold of the hatch door and pulled it shut over his head. He noticed a bolt on the bottom side of it but it was too rusted to move so he left it and just hoped that no one would find the trapdoor for a while.

  Tristan was holding up a small lantern to give them a little light to see by in the pitch black of the tunnel. When everyone was down he told them to get in single file and to hold onto the person in front. It was just a short tunnel he assured them.

  Tristan was last holding onto Ziggy’s shoulder. From the dim light of the lantern that reached back to him he could see that the tunnel was made of red brick and the floor was plain grey slabs. He felt strangely disappointed by that. He would have expected a secret tunnel to have traps and other pitfalls just in case it was ever discovered. There weren’t even any cobwebs!

  They turned a corner and a short distance in front there was a slight greying of the black as if there was a light attempting to penetrate the gloom. Tristan eagerly went forward and the others hurried to keep up so they wouldn’t lose their contact of the one in front.

  Holding the lantern up higher they could see a metal ladder and at the top what looked like a drain cover. Tristan handed the lamp to Krista and clambered up the ladder. Easing the cover up slightly he peered out then removed it completely. They watched his slim frame disappear up into the circle of light then his head poked back in.

  “Come on, quick!”

  Krista followed quickly with Orla right behind her then Lena, Ziggy and Troy. When they were out Troy was surprised to find that they were on the street behind the home.

  “What…” he began but Tristan cut him short.

  “Let’s get going, the alarm has stopped, we haven’t got long!”

  They ran up the deserted street and when they reached the corner Tristan abruptly stopped and the others nearly ploughed right into him.

  “We have to be careful, there are still people about. Just walk as if we’re supposed to be here and hopefully no one will stop us. We just have to get across the road to the alley.”

  They all looked at one another nervously but Tristan left them no time to worry as he had already stepped around the corner.

  There were not many people about as the day was getting late and everyone was heading home. No one gave them a second glance as they crossed the street and Troy started to breathe a little easier until he saw the policeman at the other end of the street.

  He was talking into his radio and looking around. Troy told himself it wasn’t anything to do with them he was just paranoid. But then the policeman saw them and abruptly stopped talking and began coming their way.

  “Tristan!” he hissed.

  “I see him,” Tristan muttered back, “We’re almost at the alley, once we get there run!”

  Troy watched in horror as the policeman came closer, his eyes fixed on the children and a determined look on his face. Finally they were at the alley and they quickly ducked into it then began to run as fast as they could.

  Troy looked behind him as they ran expecting to see the policeman but he wasn’t there – yet. Lena was dragging Orla whose shorter legs were finding it hard to keep up until Ziggy grabbed her other hand and they practically carried her.

  “Oi!” a loud voice suddenly shouted behind them and Troy looked over his shoulder in horror.

  The policeman had finally reached the alley and had begun to run after them. They sped out the other end of the alley and turned down the street that led them to the docks.

  This street was a bit busier than the one they had just left as the dock workers were heading home. There were a few annoyed cries as the children ran through their midst.

  Looking back Troy couldn’t see the policeman but then suddenly he appeared out of the alley. Red-faced and angry he stopped for a moment to look for them, Troy ducked down as he ran.

  “Stop them!” a voice rang out behind them but they were already around the corner.

  Tristan was holding the plank of wood by the hole in the fence and the others were nimbly clambering through. By now they were getting quite a few curious looks and Troy dived through the hole followed closely by Tristan who quickly pulled a box over to block it.

  They ran after the others, Tristan fishing in his pocket while he ran. Troy skidded to a halt just before he crashed right into Ziggy and the others as they stood in front of Star Chaser.

  “Sorry!” Troy gasped.

  Tristan opened the hatch then looked around as a small, bald old man came hurrying up to him.

  “Troy, this is Old Ted,” Tristan said hurriedly as he ushered everyone on, “He helped me with Star Chaser.”

  Old Ted grinned toothlessly at Troy who smiled back uncertainly. “Here, boy,” Old Ted said to Tristan, shoving a small cloth bag into his hand, “Take this,”

  Tristan hugged the old man, “Thanks, Ted!”

  Old Ted held on to Tristan’s arm to prevent him from moving away and spoke quie
tly, “I’m sure it’s nothing but do you remember me telling you I like to frequent Faraday’s Bar the other side of the docks?”

  Tristan frowned a little, not sure the old man understood how much of a hurry they were in.

  “Well, I overheard an interesting conversation,” Old Ted continued, “Some weird looking guy was asking about a ship just like this one. Wondering what had happened to its cargo and its crew.”

  Tristan looked in confusion at the old man while Troy felt a cold shiver down his spine.

  “Who would be interested in Star Chaser?” Tristan asked.

  The old man shrugged, “I couldn’t say, but if you ever come across a man with some kind of bird tattoo on the side of his neck, avoid him.”

  Tristan smiled, still confused and said, “We will Ted. Thanks again for everything!”

  Old Ted nodded and smiled sadly as Troy and Tristan disappeared up the ramp. With a final wave as the hatch was shutting Tristan shouted goodbye then darted to the engine room.

  Troy ran for the bridge. He stopped at the door for a moment to catch his breath. Krista was sitting on the right hand side of the console at the computer; she had already got it online, while the others sat in the passenger seats behind.

  Troy looked at them and could see how scared they were – all except Orla who was calm as always. At that moment it suddenly occurred to him that this would be the first time that any of them had left the planet, let alone been in a spaceship.

  A loud hum started and Troy realised his brother had got the engines up and running and he smiled at the familiar sound. Hurrying into his seat – the pilot’s seat – he quickly checked his console and pressed a few buttons. Lights came on and screens flickered into life.

  He grinned and looked over to Krista who smiled back even though she looked a little daunted herself. Pressing the intercom button he spoke to his brother.

  “Everything okay down there?”

  “Ready when you are!” Tristan called back, “I hope you remember how this is done!”

  Troy smiled and looked back at Lena and Ziggy who suddenly looked ten times as scared. “Don’t worry,” he reassured them hurriedly, “The ship practically does it herself. It’s all computerised, I just have to keep her on track.” He smiled again but they only looked slightly convinced.

  Only Orla smiled and nodded as if this was all an everyday occurrence.

  Turning to Krista he said, “Start launch sequence.”

  Krista nodded and tapped away on the computer pad. “Launch sequence activated,” she said, then grinned.

  “Here we go!” Troy cried, grasping the helm.

  Star Chaser shuddered slightly then began to lift off the ground. As Troy looked out the windshield he could see Old Ted waving and behind him the policeman came running up. Troy could see his lips moving as he shouted something but he couldn’t hear any of it.

  Star Chaser’s velocity built up fast until they could feel themselves being pressed back into their seats. The tops of the skyscrapers disappeared and the clouds flew past as the ship climbed higher and higher until the planet’s atmosphere began to disappear and the stars began to show themselves.

  The roar of the engines died down as they cleared the planet and everything became silent. The only sounds were the occasional beep from the consoles and the breathing of the children.

  “We did it!” an awed Lena breathed.

  Troy swivelled around in his seat and looked at his friends as they stared open-mouthed out the windshield at the stars. Their faces were transfixed as if they thought it was all a dream.

  Troy looked out at the stars himself and couldn’t help smiling. He was home, he thought.