He joined them, setting the tray of chipped mugs and a carton of doughnuts on the floorbetween the beds. He sat on the bed next to Liam.
‘And you’re Madelaine Carter, and you’re Liam O’Connor.’ Henodded towards the top bunk. ‘The girl up there’s Sal Vikram. She’s onlyyoung, thirteen. The poor girl will be terrified when she comes to. Here.’ He handedLiam and Maddy a mug of coffee. ‘You could both probably do with a littlepick-me-up.’
‘Mr Foster, is it?’ asked Liam.
He smiled. ‘Foster… Mr Foster, I’m not fussed.’
‘Mr Foster, where are we?’
Maddy nodded. ‘I should be dead. There’s no way youcould’ve got me off that plane. No way.’
Foster turned to her. ‘Time travel, remember?’
She narrowed her eyes. ‘But that’s impossible.’
‘No, it’s not — ’ he shook his head — ‘unfortunately.’
‘What’s
Maddy cocked her head at him. ‘You’re kidding me, right?’
‘Go easy on the lad,’ said Foster. ‘He’s from 1912. They didn’thave much in the way of sci-fi shows and comics back then.’
She turned back to Liam, looking more closely at his clothes: not a waiter, but aship’s steward. She spotted
‘1912? You’re serious?’
‘Very,’ added Foster. ‘Liam here was aboard the
Her mouth flopped open.
‘What?’ Liam looked confused. ‘Why’re you staring at me likethat?’ he asked her.
‘Because, Liam,’ said Foster, ‘you’re from Ireland a hundred yearsago.’ The old man laughed. ‘And she’s from New York, the year2010.’
Liam’s dark eyebrows lifted in unison.
‘And Saleena Vikram, up there on the top bunk, she’s from Mumbai, India, theyear… 2026.’ Foster offered a grin that made his old face crinkle like greaseproofpaper. ‘And as for me, well — ’ he smiled — ‘let’s say Icome from Never-neverland.’
Maddy leaned forward. ‘Oh my God, come on, when? The twenty-second century? Furtheron?’
His smile told her nothing.
‘Do they have spaceships in your time? Has mankind colonized the solar system? Has warpdrive been invented yet — ?’
He held a hand up to shush her. ‘Another time, perhaps. Right now there are moreimportant things to attend to.’
Before either of them could reply, they heard a stirring from the bunk bedabove them.
‘She’s coming round,’ said Foster. ‘She’ll be even moredisorientated, more frightened, than either of you.’
Maddy slurped a hot mouthful of coffee from the mug in her hands. ‘I seriously doubtthat.’
The girl’s murmuring turned to a frightened whimpering that quickly intensified. Fosterstood up and leaned over the top bunk.
‘Shhh… it’s OK, Saleena,’ he cooed reassuringly. ‘It’sall over. You’re safe now.’
The girl’s mewling voice became a sudden shrill shriek as her eyes snapped open and shesat stiffly upright on the bunk.
Foster held her narrow shoulders firmly. ‘Saleena.’ He spoke quickly and softly.‘You’re safe; no one can hurt you here. It’s over.’
The girl’s breath came in short stuttering gasps. Her eyes, thickly rimmed with darkeyeliner, widened behind a drooping black fringe that slanted across her narrow face. Theydarted from one thing to another, for the moment it seemed making sense of absolutelynothing.
‘It’s over, Saleena,’ said Foster again. ‘You’re safenow.’
Her gaze settled on the old man. She flicked her fringe away from an almost ashen face; hercoffee-coloured skin was drained to an almost corpse-like grey.
Liam stood up and peered over the edge of the bunk, cocking a bemused eyebrow at her strangeappearance: a dark hooded top with some scruffy wording splashed in neon orange across it;thin drainpipe jeans ripped and patched, with patches on top of patches; and boots that lookedtwo sizes too big for her, laced up past her ankles… And a small stud pierced her upperlip.
‘Uh…’ He did a double take before extending a hand in greeting. ‘Myname’s Liam O’Connor. Pleased to — ’
‘Give her a moment, Liam,’ said Foster. ‘Just amoment… her extraction was particularly traumatic.’
‘Is it you?’ Her voice was small, shaken, uncertain. ‘The man… theman in the flames.’
‘That’s right.’ He smiled warmly. ‘It’s me, Saleena.’
‘Sal,’ she replied. ‘Sal… Only my mum and dad call meSaleena.’
‘Sal, then,’ he said, helping her up. She swung her legs over the side of thebunk and silently studied the other two: a boy dressed like a hotel porter, and a lank-hairedteenage girl with glasses.
‘Hey,’ said Maddy, ‘welcome to Weirdsville.’
‘Just give her a bit of room there. Let her catch her breath.’
‘You got an odd accent, so you have,’ said Liam curiously to Sal.
‘That’s rich,’ snorted Maddy, ‘coming from you.’
‘She’s from a city called Mumbai, in India, Liam. You’d know it asBombay.’
‘But she speaks
‘Well, duh,’ said Maddy, rolling her eyes, ‘they all do. It’s abilingual nation.’
CHAPTER 6
2001, New York
The coffee was gone and one last unwanted doughnut sat in the box.
‘We’ve been… did you say
‘Yes, that’s right. You’re working for the agency now.’
Liam leaned forward. ‘Uh… Mr Foster, sir, what exactly is
‘Let me go through everything I need to say first. Then you can all ask as manyquestions as you like. It’ll be much quicker if we do this my way.’
They nodded.
Foster pointed out at the darkness beyond the alcove. ‘I left the other lights off inhere so you wouldn’t see it all — this place, the equipment — and beoverwhelmed by it. Right now let’s just pretend there’s only this little brickarchway, that light bulb, the four of us and these beds… and that’s whereI’ll start.’
He took a deep breath.
‘Time travel exists, boys and girls.’
He left that statement hanging in the air for a few moments before continuing.
‘A theoretical physics paper demonstrating the possibility was written in 2029. Thefirst successful prototype machine was constructed in 2044.’ He sighed. ‘Now thatwe’ve opened that can of worms we can’t close it.’
He studied them with deep stern eyes hidden between furrowed eyebrows andsallow cheeks etched with criss-crossing wrinkles.
‘Mankind was
There was a faint tremor in his rasping old-man’s voice.
‘Time travel is a terrifying weapon, far more powerful than anything ever beforeconceived,’ he said grimly. ‘Mankind just isn’t ready for that kind ofknowledge. We’re like children casually playing toss and catch with an
