Do You Dream of Terra-Two?

‘I gathered that much. Why?’

‘Well – my dad’s a journalist, sort of. He does this documentary series called Undiscovered Earth, maybe you’ve heard of it?’ Juno nodded. She had come across a few episodes on the BBC. The kind of Sunday-night viewing that was comfortable to fall asleep in front of, as surprising vistas of far-flung places lit up the screen. It was difficult to imagine that the gaunt presenter was related to the handsome golden-skinned boy standing before her.

‘And he travels around a lot to research disparate communities and the effects of climate change, and my mum’s an author so she can work anywhere. Wanderlust, my parents are sick with it. They took me and my sister out of school for eighteen months to travel across east Africa. My dad taught my sister most of GCSe chemistry. For Christmas, we took a cruise down the Nile.’

His braided hair reminded Juno of the overly tanned white boys she’d seen at Kenyatta airport, sunburnt and peeling, blond locks in cornrows. ‘That sounds… amazing,’ she said. ‘My dad is a missionary, he travels a lot too. But we didn’t really get to go with him so often.’ She paused. ‘I feel bad, actually. I don’t think I’ve asked you anything about yourself. You sound like you’ve had an interesting life.’

‘So have you,’ Jesse said. ‘You’re an astronaut.’

Juno rolled her eyes. ‘We’re all astronauts,’ she said, mimicking his tone. ‘But you’ve been to all these places. Places I’ll never get to go.’

Jesse shrugged. ‘It had up- and downsides – travelling so much. When I was younger it seemed like a lot more downsides, if I’m honest. But I got to pick some things up along the way; a suntan, some passing phrases in Arabic, this shell…’

Juno ran her fingers along its blunt spines. ‘You must like Poppy a lot, since you’re giving this to her.’

‘I dunno. I’ve been wanting to give it away ever since Morrigan gave it to me. I mean, it’s pretty and all, and it made me feel like Ralph from lord of the Flies but – you’re going to think this is so dumb – when it was on my shelf I kept thinking about how big it was, and how big the thing that used to live inside it must have been. I felt a little guilty because it was once something’s home, and I also got a bit grossed out.’ He seemed to shudder at the thought of the soft slimy animal that made its home in the shell.

‘Maybe it’s evolution,’ Juno said, trying to hide a smile.

‘People frightened of invertebrates live longer?’ Jesse teased.

‘I’m sure I heard that somewhere,’ she replied, and they both laughed.

‘I don’t even know how this ended up in my box,’ Jesse said. ‘It’s kind of spooky actually. I feel as if I’m being followed.’

‘Imagine if we got to Terra and there were hundreds of them all over the beach.’

‘Exactly. So I’m glad I’m giving it to Poppy. Does that make it bad? Like, not really a gift?’

Juno thought. ‘Sometimes, for Lent, I’d give up tomatoes. But I’ve always hated tomatoes.’ He looked puzzled for a moment, so she continued. ‘It’s supposed to be a sacrifice.’

Someone coughed behind them and they turned to find Astrid standing at the door. ‘I found something,’ she said, and opened her hand to show Juno the bejewelled hair slide that looked worth more than the six pounds she’d paid for it in Camden. Now, it probably was.

‘Jesse’s got something too.’ She showed her sister the conch.

‘Wow.’ Astrid grinned, taking it from her sister and holding it up to her ear. Her eyes glazed over as if she could already see the crashing waves.

Chapter 23 POPPY

^15.07.12

SHE HAD NOT BEEN ready for the darkness of space. Other astronauts had warned her that it came as a real shock, the complete unilluminated blackness. But, at the time, Poppy had been looking backwards and not ahead. She had been looking back down at Earth at everything she was glad to leave behind, not ahead into the vacuum.

Sometimes she felt as if the blackness was actually inside her. As if space itself yawned inside her, and the cold of it had leeched into her bones.