Battle for Earth (24 page)

“Oops,” said Johnny, coming to his senses, as the Queen howled with rage somewhere in his head.

“Oops?” said Louise. “Is that all? You were about to shoot people.”

“Of course I wasn't,” Johnny replied. “Look, I don't want to talk about it.” The voice inside his brain was frightening him.

Louise let it go and, by the time darkness had fallen and they were waiting, hidden in the shadows surrounding the wide open expanse in front of the Opera House, the afternoon's events appeared forgotten. Not knowing Sydney, this had seemed an obvious place to suggest they meet, but standing there now it felt terribly exposed. The last performance had finished over an hour earlier and the area was deserted. It was a case of hoping the scientist would come, but wouldn't bring the cops with him. They didn't have to wait long.

A lone figure in a wide-brimmed hat, carrying what looked a very heavy battered suitcase, was walking toward the Opera House. Johnny and Louise waited, watching for signs of police hiding in the shadows. As he came closer, Johnny was pretty sure he recognized the figure. Professor Bond, wearing a long beige raincoat, stepped under a nearby streetlight, breathing heavily and plunking his case on the ground. It was covered in stickers naming different destinations around the world.

“I'll go first,” said Johnny. “If anything happens, call Alf and he
will
come get you.” He stepped out of the shadows and strode more confidently than he felt toward the scientist.

“You're not leaving me again,” said Louise, sticking by his side.

As they approached, the professor lifted his hat in greeting. Johnny wondered if it was a signal for hordes of police to come swarming into the open, but the large paved area of waterfront remained quiet and peaceful.

“Greetings,” said the professor, his voice shaking a little.

“I'm sorry about the police last night—I didn't know who you were.”

“I'm Johnny … Johnny Mackintosh, and this is my friend Louise. I'm sorry about your computer,” said Johnny, before nodding at the scientist's luggage on the ground and asking, “What's in the suitcase?”

“Everything that's precious to me,” Professor Bond replied. “All my life I've longed to go to the stars—I want you to take me with you … back to your homeworld.”

It took a moment, but then Johnny understood. “We're not going anywhere,” he said. “This is where we're from.”

“I don't understand,” said the scientist. “Those designs … the equations on my computer … the changes you made. If you're just a boy … no offense, but how? You
have
to be aliens.”

“It's a long story,” Johnny replied. “There are aliens here and they're trying to wipe out humanity—that's why we need your help. We want you to take the spec I gave you to Earth's governments so they can build a fleet before it's too late. They won't listen to … to someone who's ‘just a boy.'”

“The designs on my computer?” said the professor, shaking his head. “It will be hard to convince others when I'm struggling to understand them myself. Rocket design isn't purely theoretical—it's physical. You need to feel it.”

“Well, maybe you can feel it too,” said Johnny. “There is a ship here—a lot more advanced, but the same basic principles.”

Professor Bond's eyes darted beyond Johnny and Louise in the hope of happening upon the spaceship.

Louise laughed. “It's well hidden,” she said, before looking at Johnny and adding, “hopefully. Come on.”

Johnny was relieved to find the sleek craft exactly where he'd left it, apparently undisturbed. Its appearance was so alien not
even Professor Bond realized what it was, until Johnny pointed it out. The scientist reached forward with a shaking hand—he couldn't quite touch what appeared to be the sides, but the air rippled around his fingers and there was a faint but reassuring hum that barely hinted at the incredible power concentrated within. He turned to Johnny and said, “Just one trip—let me see the stars as they were meant to be seen.”

Johnny nodded—he understood. He turned to Louise, who was smiling.

“Just promise me you won't be long,” she said.

“Thanks,” he replied. “I promise.”

The shields on the Imperial Starfighter were designed differently from the
Spirit of London
's shuttles, which was just as well. Johnny didn't want to overwhelm Professor Bond even more by turning him invisible as they sped skyward at breathtaking speed. Behind him, Johnny heard the professor say, “Strewth.”

Confident they couldn't be detected, he buzzed the International Space Station, before heading onward and outward. In seconds they traveled from Earth's largest artificial satellite to its natural one.

Nowadays, plenty of people had gone into low Earth orbit, but it was only when you traveled further out that Earth shrank, becoming a beautiful blue and white marble, held by the force of gravity against the blackness of the cosmos. Johnny wanted to show the professor just how spectacular it was, but also how fragile and vulnerable.

As they flew, he told Professor Bond about the trip to Mars, where bodies were being taken and devoured, and that the Krun were on the verge of taking over Earth. He wasn't sure the professor was really listening as, between whoops and gasps, the Australian pressed his face right up against the
force fields protecting them, taking in the view of the dark side of the Moon and saying, “I see,” and “Deary me,” but in all the wrong places.

Around the other side so quickly, the Australian cleared his throat and asked, nervously, if it was possible to see another star system close up, especially a triple one—if they could go to Alpha Centauri. He was more than a little surprised when Johnny said, “It's not there anymore.”

“But I saw it this evening,” said the professor, “when we were at the Opera House.”

“A few months ago, one of its stars went Star Blaze—sorry, supernova,” Johnny replied. “We'll see it on Earth in about three and a half years.” Johnny accessed a countdown that he'd set up on his wristcom to give the exact figure.

“Then that's it,” said Professor Bond. “It doesn't matter if these Krun take over or not. When the blast hits, all life on Earth will be wiped out anyway.”

“We'll be OK,” said Johnny. “The Emperor of the Galaxy's protecting us, so there are massive shield generators in orbit—if we can stop the Krun, it'll be quite a show.”

“Why doesn't this Emperor stop them?”

“Bram … the Emperor's not here anymore. He's left the galaxy. We're on our own.”

Earth grew rapidly as they sped home. The professor was suddenly taking things a lot more seriously and started asking Johnny to demonstrate the Starfighter's capabilities, to give him a better feel of the ship and what it could do. Johnny hated keeping Louise waiting, but wanted to do everything he could to convince the Australian and have him agree to the fleet design. The journey that had taken the Apollo astronauts three days was still over in seconds but, instead of returning straight to the Opera House, Johnny took a detour. There could be no better place to contemplate the fate of Earth than from the
observation platform where Nicky had once taken him. In geosynchronous orbit, above the eastern United States, the Imperial Starfighter landed with a reassuring thud on a solid but invisible surface 36,000 kilometers up.

“What's happened? Please tell me I've not broken it,” said the Australian. Johnny smiled and turned off the force field above their heads. Then he climbed out of the cockpit and offered the wide-eyed professor his hand.

“It's perfectly safe,” he said.

Professor Bond peered over the side, looking far from convinced. Then he opened his mouth, sucked in the oxygen miraculously around them, and smiled. “So long as you don't hold your breath, it's said you can survive for thirty seconds in the vacuum of space, but I'm glad we don't have to find out.”

Johnny smiled and jumped backward, landing a little awkwardly as he couldn't tell exactly where the surface was. Overbalancing, he ended up in a heap. The professor laughed and climbed down to join him, helping Johnny up. Together they walked to the very edge of the platform where they both sat, their legs hanging over the side.

“Strewth—that's what I call a view,” said Professor Bond.

Johnny was impressed by the man's head for heights, and couldn't help but think again of Clara and how she feared them so much she'd even felt ill at the sight of Peter up Nelson's Column. He thought of Nicky too, buried face down in the snow. “My brother brought me here,” said Johnny. “He liked the view too.” He tried hard to stop his eyes watering.

“Listen, kid—Johnny, isn't it? I looked at your plans. Believe me, I studied them pretty damn hard, and now I've been inside one of the things I kind of understand it. Well, maybe like a kangaroo understands a television, but I sort of get the picture. The bottom line is, we can't build your ships.”

“What? Why not?”

“They're just too advanced.”

“But they're not like the Starfighter—I simplified them.”

“And you did a great job,” said Professor Bond. “Really terrific. What we've flown in is … well, I don't know where you got it, but it's so far beyond my imagination that it's hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of years ahead of us. But the designs you gave me—maybe in five hundred, a thousand years, we can actually build those.”

“But I've shown you how,” said Johnny. “I've given you the blueprints.”

“But they're not worth a pair of dingo's kidneys without the money. It's about economics, Johnny. Imagine in the Middle Ages if someone had the plans to build a space shuttle. Just because they knew how it should work, there wouldn't have been enough money in the world to get close. I don't think there's enough now to make more than one of your ships, and you said we need a fleet.”

A chime sounded from the middle of the platform behind them and Johnny turned to see the doors of an ornately carved wooden elevator beginning to open. “Oh no,” he said.

“What the devil is that?” asked the professor, rising to his feet.

“Space elevator,” said Johnny, attempting to pull the Australian to the floor.

“Let go,” said Professor Bond. “I just have to see this.”

Out of the elevator stepped Stevens and several other Krun, all in human form. A black sphere settled on the platform, right beside the Imperial Starfighter.

“You're like a bad penny, Johnny,” said the suited Krun, swiveling around and pulling a blaster from the holster inside his suit jacket. “Always turning up in the wrong places. Who's your friend?”

“None of your business, Bugface,” Johnny replied.

“Of course, it hardly matters,” said Stevens. “You see I have a funny feeling he's about to become your ex-friend. Just as you're about to become an ex-Johnny. Hands up.”

“Now look here. I'm Professor David Bond of the Sydney Space Science Research Institute. I'm sure there's been a misunderstanding,” said the Australian, walking forward with his arm outstretched.

“And it's you who's making it, professor. I said, ‘Hands up.'” The professor stopped. Stevens walked toward him, pointing the blaster, with the other Krun spreading out behind. Professor Bond stepped backward to alongside Johnny, who saw no option but to stand and raise his hands in the air. “Such a shame you'll never witness our moment of triumph. While the senile Emperor and the Nameless One do battle between the galaxies, our Queen will inherit this one.”

“So you're just going to shoot us, Bugface? Doesn't your Queen prefer live ones?” It was a terrible thought, but Johnny was desperate to stay alive as long as possible.

“I can't say I'm not tempted,” said Stevens, “but soon she will come here and have a whole planet to feast on.” Johnny and the professor swapped horrified glances. “So, yes, I'm just going to shoot you.”