Terra's World Read Online Free PDF Page A

towards the school’s other principal misfit, a chubby sci-fi nerd called Billy.
    Now, it seemed, they – whoever they were – had found Terra again. Time to move. ‘Okay,’ Mr Bradbury said grimly, ‘I’ll call the Agency.’
    ‘No, Dad, not this time,’ said Terra, with a maturity he’d never heard before.
    Mr Bradbury got to his feet. ‘What do you mean?’ he asked.
    ‘I’ve found its ship, Dad. I’ve found its ship, and I think I can fly it.’
    * * *
     
    Terra wriggled uncomfortably in the ship’s command chair. It was designed for someone much taller and thinner (and with four arms, judging by the arrangement of the controls). She held her slate in one hand, waving it over the console and letting its optical translation program decipher the markings and readouts. Her other hand held her phone – or rather, her infralight comm, which while on Earth also worked as a phone – to her ear.
    ‘What?’ Terra’s father’s voice, though amplified only by the comm’s tinny little speaker, was audible throughout the ship. Billy, who was sat on another equally uncomfortable chair across the poky cabin from Terra, flinched at the squeak of alarm.
    ‘Listen, Dad. Those things are just going to keep coming unless I can figure out what they’re after. We’ll be running for the rest of our lives. You and Mum will never get any peace. And it’s me they want. You’ll be safer with me out of the way.’
    ‘That’s not the whole reason, though, is it?’ Mr Bradbury’s voice was calm. ‘It’s not like I don’t know where you’re thinking of going.’
    Terra paused, then said quietly, ‘I’m sorry, Dad. But you understand. Of all people, you must understand. I have to find out what’s happened. I have to see if he’s all right.’
    There was a pause. The only sound was the hum of the ship’s gravity engines starting up.
    ‘I’ll come back,’ said Terra at last. ‘As soon as I know what’s going on, I promise I’ll come back.’
    ‘It may not be up to you,’ said Mr Bradbury quietly.
    ‘Then we’ll just be back where we started, won’t we?’ said Terra.
    Another pause. The hum was building. Billy was pretending not to listen. Terra wasn’t paying attention to him, anyway.
    ‘I’ll call,’ said Terra.
    ‘You’d better,’ said Mr Bradbury.
    ‘I love you,’ said Terra.
    ‘What am I going to tell your mother?’
    ‘Tell her I love her too.’
    Neither Terra nor her father said anything else. There was nothing else to say. After a few seconds Terra switched off the comm and exhaled heavily. She slumped back in the command chair and regretted it instantly as the ridged back support dug into her ribs.
    Billy spoke at last. ‘You didn’t say goodbye.’
    ‘And I never will,’ said Terra.
    Billy pointed at the comm. ‘Can I call my dad before we leave?’
    ‘We left about three minutes ago,’ said Terra, turning to the control console.
    ‘What?’ yelped Billy. He scampered across to the only porthole he could see in the ship’s walls. Earth, a half-lit crescent, was receding from view already.
    ‘That’s the thing about gravity engines,’ mused Terra. ‘You don’t really notice you’re moving.’
    ‘But I wanted to call my dad,’ muttered Billy.
    Terra glanced at her comm. ‘I’ve still got signal.’
    ‘Up here? What sort of phone is that?’
    Terra handed it to Billy, and he turned it over in his hands.
    ‘An alien one, obviously. Make it quick, we’ll be out of range soon.’ Terra turned back to the console.
    As Billy examined the comm, its screen configured itself into a keypad, with familiar Earth digits. He tapped in his home number, adding the international dialling prefix. (He thought this was probably a good idea.)
    ‘Hello?’ His mum’s voice.
    ‘It’s Billy, Mum. Is Dad there? Could you put him on?’
    Billy sank back into his chair. Terra noticed that Billy’s chair, unlike her own, had sturdy-looking restraints built into the armrests and base.