Deborah Hockney (4 page)

‘I see, so just because I’m up – and only because you two
woke me
– you think you can bustle in here and climb through my window? Hmm? Isn’t it a bit dangerous though?’ she continued, shifting her gaze to David. ‘Climbing along the roof on a damp night, especially when your whole future’s ahead of you. What if you fall, or get caught by the Prowlers?’

That was the nickname given to the security patrols who supposedly kept watch over the premises at night.

‘They’d never catch us,’ Will retorted. ‘They couldn’t catch a laser missile even if it was aimed straight at them. They’re just a bunch of amateurs – remember when Slimey Joe painted the walls fluorescent pink last April fool’s day, and they hadn’t got a clue about it? I mean, come on, who other than Slimey Joe would have painted the walls pink? Now, nothing for you to worry your pretty little head over Miss Jocasta,’ Will mimicked in the voice of the caretaker Fred. ‘We’ll be quite safe, you wait and see.’

‘Well I certainly hope so,’ replied Jocasta. ‘Because I don’t want my career ruined by you two!’

‘Ooo-oooh,’ the boys echoed in unison. ‘So it’s career now, is it?’

Jocasta was just pleased that they hadn’t been able to read her thoughts, and share her vision of the ambassador’s uniform,
that
would have certainly led to even more mimicry.

‘Well if you’re really going to risk this mad climbing expedition, you’d better go now, because it’s getting late and I’m extremely tired,’ Jocasta remarked, peering out of the open window.

‘I’ll go first,’ Will told them. ‘Better make sure the coast’s clear, no vampires or werewolves on the prowl!’

He eased his rather large frame out of the open window. Although by no means overweight, Will was a tall adolescent and was sturdily built with a fondness for all those physical sports, like rugby and kick boxing, that the authorities were always trying to ban because they said they were too dangerous. Of course, this only made them more appealing to people like Will. His real expertise, however, was in the martial arts and he had black belts in both Taekwondo and Karate. Will also liked to experiment with hairstyles, usually copying whoever was his favourite sportsman of the day. At the moment it was fashioned into a short, spiky style with one side shaved close to his scalp.

He squeezed his body upwards through the narrow opening so that he could grip onto the guttering and pull himself towards the overhanging ledge. Jocasta could hear it creaking under the strain and was petrified that it might give way or that the noise would be sure to wake someone in the neighbouring rooms. Just as he managed to throw his leg onto to the ledge, David and Jocasta heard an almighty ripping sound and a loud curse from Will.

‘What’s the matter Will?’ David whispered into the gloom.

‘Split the…. seat of my trousers,’ came back the muffled reply, ‘but I’ve made it onto the ledge, so hurry up Dave and get your backside up here quick, so you can cover mine.’

‘Since when has modesty been high on your list of priorities?’ David chortled back, making no effort to hurry himself.

‘From five minutes ago when Jocasta informed us we might ruin her career in the Elite; how could I possibly let such a potential high ranking officer have such a view of my underwear? ’Specially as I can’t remember the last time I changed them?’

This set them both into a giggling mood but David still managed to haul himself through the window and with a helping hand from Will, pull himself up onto the ledge. Soon they’d disappeared completely from Jocasta’s sight, although for a few seconds she could hear them shuffling along the roof until, at last, even though she strained her ears to listen for any mishap, the only sound was the distant screech of a barn owl calling to its young.

Well, that’s a relief, she thought to herself, as she snuggled down under the duvet. I’m sure I would have heard the crash if they’d fallen off. Hope they managed to get inside safely at the other end. Otherwise they’ll be knocking on my window in a few minutes time…

Jocasta drifted off to sleep, not dreaming about Mars, but with the image of David and Will shuffling backwards and forwards across the roof, trying to find an open window to climb through. Then ending up either being captured by the Prowlers or falling off the roof and landing in a heap on top of Officer Delaney.

Chapter Four

Next morning Jocasta woke early and with a panic realised that she had only days before she and David would leave the academy and travel by train to the space station at Kazakhstan. They’d been given permission to host a farewell party in the Mercury Room and there
were decorations and refreshments to organise. With a surge of energy, she jumped out of bed and quickly washed and dressed before hurrying down to the refectory in search of David and Will. She presumed that they made it safely back to their room as there had been no midnight commotion or sounding of alarms to disturb her sleep.

Jocasta spotted them at once; a group of girls had gathered around a table where Will was recounting the previous night’s adventure. She made her way towards them just as he began the part about knocking on her door and, since Will liked to embellish the truth a little, she thought she’d better intervene. She certainly didn’t want him retelling her daydreams. Luckily she managed to catch his eye and he moved the story along, omitting, she noticed, the part about his torn trousers. She silently thanked him and whispered a brief ‘hello’ to David before making her way to the serving bar.

After a hectic day of preparations the party was a great success, although by the end of it Jocasta felt exhausted and fell into bed still wearing the fancy dress outfit that her friends had made for the occasion. It was green and shiny and
supposed
to make her look like an alien from Mars. Although as David had pointed out, if little green Martians looked like her, no-one would have wanted to stay there in the first place. He received a mock punch to the nose for that remark. Jocasta had also forgotten to remove the identity ring from her nose and woke with a squeal of pain as she managed to catch it on the bedclothes.

The sun shone warmly through the windows as she’d left the curtains drawn back again and so she decided to make the most of her last day and start it off with a swim in the pool. She grabbed her wristcom to check the time, then looked for a swimsuit; after several minutes of searching she eventually found one tucked away at the back of a cupboard with her towels. Pushing them into a sports bag along with some goggles, Jocasta made her way down the service section at the back of the building towards the leisure area.

Standing outside the main door she tried to take everything in; the trees still lush and green, her favourite oak tree in the centre of the grass, with its strong thick trunk and almost perfect, symmetrical shape with its leaves fluttering gently in the soft breeze. Her eyes wandered to the wooden benches at the edges of the lawn and the roses behind them just coming into bloom; and there at the bottom of the long straight drive the large, ornate gates that were never closed. They remained pushed back to the walls at either side of the drive and the determined weeds that threaded themselves through the rusty iron bars and curves looked like they would soon cover it completely.

Jocasta took a deep breath and closed her eyes so that she could imprint the picture on her memory; she let the soft perfume of the morning flood her senses and felt the bits of gravel infiltrate her open toed sandals. It seemed difficult to comprehend that she would never stand there again as a pupil of Woodbridge Academy and with a little sigh she continued on her way towards the outdoor pool.

She was relieved to find that there were only a couple of other early risers using the pool, one of the female teaching staff, who Jocasta only knew by sight, and Caspar Brown; who’d been the one to summon her to Mr Stratton’s office on that eventful day, just two weeks ago. It seemed so much longer ago than that, she pondered musingly. She slipped into one of the poolside cubicles and quickly changed into her swimsuit and adjusted the goggles around her head.

Both of the swimmers were oblivious to Jocasta and also to the automated life guard who kept a watchful robotic eye on them from the side of the pool. Its head moved slowly from side to side to take in the whole length of the pool and every so often it would jerk momentarily upwards as a house martin swooped towards the underside of the building. Then it would return its gaze to the pool where, unknown to them, the two swimmers continued their front crawl stroke in perfect symmetry.

Jocasta waited until they were both at the far end and dived into the pool, feeling the cold water tingling her arms and torso before the sensation reached the tips of her fingers and the end of her toes. It was just the most exhilarating feeling of freedom that she could imagine, apart from, that was, being in the open sea; that always had the edge on the swimming pool experience. The pull of the waves and the taste of the salt water imbued a sense of danger that always added to the thrill of the swim.

After twenty lengths of fairly intensive crawl, Jocasta noticed that the pool was empty and flipped over on to her back to do a few more leisurely lengths of backstroke. Just as the sun’s rays were beginning to creep onto the water at the far side of the pool and she was thinking how lucky she was to have the place all to herself, a raucous call interrupted her thoughts.

‘Jocaaaaasta!’ The shout rang out across the pool. ‘Thought I’d find you here, when I couldn’t get a reply from your room.’

And with an almighty splash Imogen launched herself into the water, missing her sister by just a few centimetres, causing the robotic lifeguard to issue a curt warning about the dangers of jumping in too close to other swimmers.

‘Aww, shut up tin head!’ Imogen retorted. ‘I
needed
to get close to my sister; she’s abandoning me for Mars later today!’

With that remark she tried to push Jocasta under the water. Being a bit bigger and stronger, Jocasta easily twisted away and retaliated by grabbing Imogen under the arms and dragging her to the side of the pool, in a kind of self taught lifeguard’s hold.

‘Thanks sis, for interrupting my nice quiet swim,’ she reproached the spluttering Imogen, who was trying to respond, but had struggled so much during their manoeuvres to the poolside that she was still out of breath. ‘I just knew I could count on you,’ she continued, ‘to make a big noise for my farewell.’

‘Well,’ Imogen began.

‘Well?’ Jocasta mimicked. ‘What’s the problem?’

‘I was wondering if you’d mind terribly,’ Imogen continued, looking, Jocasta noticed, a bit bashful for once.

‘Mind what?’

‘If I didn’t come to the station this afternoon to see you off. Only I’ve been invited to Hannah’s for a few days and her parents are coming later this morning to collect us.’

‘Oh, have you indeed. More important things to do, I see.’ Jocasta sighed; actually feeling rather relieved, as she felt the fewer people there were to say her final farewells to, the better she would cope.

‘No, I’ll let you off the hook this time young lady.’ She smiled at her sister. ‘I’m really going to miss you, little sis, but I’ll keep you informed of everything that goes on. Well as much as I’m allowed to,’ she added thoughtfully. ‘Hopefully, in a couple of years you’ll be joining me, on Mars, as an Elite cadet yourself.’

‘Couple of months don’t you mean?’ shrieked Imogen, in mock outrage. ‘I’ve got plans!’

‘Bet you have,’ replied Jocasta, ‘but don’t tell me what they are; think it’s probably best if I don’t know.’

The girls quickly showered and changed at the poolside cubicles, then made their way to the refectory for breakfast. It was still fairly early and Jocasta was thankful that the tables were nearly all empty, she just couldn’t face the thought of having to say goodbye to her friends, all over again. Last night had been a good send off and although she had felt a bit emotional Jocasta had managed to hold onto her tears: she wasn’t sure if she would be able to do so again this morning.

Feeling extremely hungry after her swim, she piled a heap of scrambled eggs and toast onto her plate but only managed to eat a couple of mouthfuls before her stomach began making strange gurgling noises and her intestines felt like they were experimenting with somersault manoeuvres. Try as she might there was no way she could force down any more food without the likelihood of it all coming back up again. For once Imogen decided a bit of sisterly concern was needed.

‘Let me get you a calming cup of herbal tea,’ she offered. ‘You need to keep focused on the day ahead and not get over anxious.’

Jocasta nodded her head and Imogen dashed off to the drinks machine. ‘Anything but camomile!’ Jocasta called after her. ‘That stuff tastes disgusting, even when it’s sweetened with honey. So I don’t understand how it smells so nice,’ she added grumpily to herself.

Imogen returned with a large mug of rosehip tea, which Jocasta sipped carefully, trying to concentrate her mind on the excitement of the journey ahead and not the familiar people and places that she was going to miss. Imogen prattled on about some weird and wonderful aliens she’d been reading about on her latest download page. Some eminent scientist had predicted that they must exist and Imogen just
knew
they were waiting to be discovered, hopefully by her, when humanity eventually made it into the next solar system. She soon abandoned her sister, however, when her friends appeared at the doorway. She gave Jocasta an affectionate hug and was off for a second breakfast with them, her swim bag swinging from her shoulder and her damp hair bouncing on her shoulders.