Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

‘You’re all dead,’ Igor said to the three of them. And Jesse looked up in confusion. He realized that Dr Golinsky’s look of terror had vanished.

‘What?’ Harry asked.

‘You’re too slow,’ Commander Sheppard said. Igor pressed a button on a remote he was holding and the alarms fell silent, leaving a ringing absence in Jesse’s ears.

‘It was just a drill,’ said the doctor.

Jesse wasn’t sure whether to feel relieved or angry. He’d been given his life back. His heart was still galloping in his chest, and his legs felt weak under him.

‘Juno.’ Sheppard turned to her, his brow furrowed. ‘What were you doing? When you hear the alarm you come straight here.’

‘But,’ Jesse protested, ‘she couldn’t hear the alarm. She was sleeping in the Atlas module. It’s not her fault. The speaker must be switched off in there.’

‘Good to know. We need to get that repaired tomorrow,’ Sheppard said. ‘That’s the reason we do drills. To learn about hazards like that.’

Harry clenched his fists. ‘I didn’t know we were scheduled a drill. I’m commander-in-training. I should have been informed, at least.’

‘Oh?’ Igor growled, marching forward. ‘I’m a six-time Mars veteran. I can tell you that when there’s a technical failure, a hydrazine leak that leads to a fire or when you are hit by a meteor, when the pressure goes down, there’s no prior warning. No one informs anyone, even you. Disasters can happen at any time and no email is sent round in advance. You kids think that now you’ve made it up here you’ve got to the safe part. That you’re in the home stretch. But I can tell you that the danger has just begun. Don’t get too comfortable.’

He spat the last sentence through gritted teeth, his own fists clenched. Solomon Sheppard put his hand on Igor’s shoulder and laughed into the silence.

‘Okay,’ he said, ‘that’s enough. Is everyone all right?’

Jesse looked around at the shell-shocked crew. Both Astrid and Juno had tears in their eyes. Eliot was clutching his stomach as if he was about to be sick, and Poppy was leaning against the door of the shelter as if it was all that was keeping her upright. Solomon Sheppard smiled sympathetically.

‘I think we all learned a few lessons to take away. I want you to think about how we could have made that evacuation more successful and come to our tutorial tomorrow morning with three recommendations. But, for now, crew, get to bed.’

Chapter 12 ASTRID

^27.05.12

IT WASN’T THE FIRST of her Terra dreams.

When Astrid opened her eyes, her cheek was pressed against wet sand and the sunlight burned. Above her head shone one amber sun, big as a dinner plate. The other, an ivory speck, small enough to cover with a thumbnail at the end of an outstretched hand.

When she sat up, the roar of the waves filled her ears. She watched them crest and then crash against the beach, sending tepid foamy water up the backs of her calves and sucking the sand back to sea. The smell of the water and the silver light glittering across it was no surprise. She had been here before. She had swum right along this stretch of beach, wriggling in delight as colonies of red anemones recoiled from her touch. And, even this afternoon, as she climbed unsteadily to her feet, it was as if she had dug her heels into this shore before.

Across the stunning expanse of water, she could make out the rings of distant planets, arcing against the sky like crescent moons drawn in chalk. After almost a lifetime on the ship, it was a relief to see a horizon. Water vapour rose up off the surface of the sea in billowing clouds and behind her vegetation waxed. Green and yellow plants sprang up in the shadows of alien trees, their hanging vines heavy with strange, beautiful fruits that ripened in the shade.

Even if she wanted to, she could never leave, because rising above the canopy of trees was the gleaming belly of the lander. The one they had used to tear through the atmosphere and crash onto this new and welcoming Earth.

The planet was beautiful. The air was warm, sweet and spiced with the flecks of golden pollen that blew off the blossoms. The sand gave under her feet. Hers were the very first footprints. Astrid smiled as if this brilliant stretch of land had formed just for her. And perhaps it had. She was home, and she could feel it right to the marrow of her bones.