‘You’ve already left school. No wonder you keep getting top marks in all your English assignments.’
Ryan laughed. ‘Brilliant. I tell you I’m from the future and you’re annoyed that I’m better than you at English.’
‘You’re not better than me,’ I argued. ‘You studied the course before.’
‘I have studied
‘You studied writers who haven’t even been born.’
He shrugged one shoulder. ‘Yeah.’
‘But Shakespeare is still on the syllabus?’
‘We had to study pre-2050 literature.’
Outside, the wind changed direction and the rain started pelting against the window.
‘Nice weather you have down here,’ said Ryan. ‘It’s supposed to be summer.’
I shrugged. ‘Good try, changing the subject. What’s the weather like on Eden?’
Ryan smiled. ‘Nice try. But I can’t tell you about Eden. It’s forbidden by the Laws of Temporal Integrity.’
‘The laws of what?’
‘Temporal Integrity. Laws of time. One of the most important laws is that nothing of the future is ever to be revealed to inhabitants of the past.’
I gave a short laugh. ‘Bit late for that.’
Ryan sighed. ‘I’m already in more trouble than you can possibly imagine.’
‘I know you’re from the future,’ I said. ‘And I know you’re here because of Connor. Connor discovers a planet.’
‘Which he calls Eden after you.’
‘Eden is an obvious name for a planet. It probably has nothing to do with me.’
Ryan laughed. ‘Maybe I’m jumping to conclusions here, but Connor’s best friend is called Eden. And Connor names his planet Eden. Of course it could be a coincidence.’
I rolled my eyes. ‘It doesn’t matter why he called the planet Eden. What matters is that you’ve travelled back in time and I want to know why. It’s to do with Connor, isn’t it?’
Ryan sipped his coffee. ‘I can’t tell you why I’m here.’
‘Ryan, I don’t care about your “Temporal Laws” or whatever they’re called. Like I already said, it’s a bit late for that.’
‘Eden, this is serious. Backwards time travel is more or less prohibited. In the few instances it’s allowed, the rules are clear. Do not communicate anything about the future to the inhabitants of the past. Knowing the future can change the future.’
‘I already know the future.’
‘You do. But I can’t risk telling you anything else.’
‘You don’t trust me?’
‘It has nothing to do with trust. Even in my own time, nobody will know the real reason for my mission. There will be a cover story.’
I sipped my coffee. ‘How do I know you’re a good guy and not a bad guy if you won’t tell me why you’re here?’
Ryan frowned. ‘You think I might be a bad guy?’
‘I know that Connor isn’t.’
Ryan sighed deeply. ‘Connor isn’t a bad guy. But neither am I.’
‘You expect me to just accept that because you said so?’
He hesitated. ‘You’re right. You do know too much already.’ He looked into my eyes. ‘But you have to promise me that you will never, ever repeat what I tell you.’
‘I can keep a secret.’
‘OK. This summer Connor discovers the existence of a planet.’
I thought back to what Ben had just said about planets being discovered all the time.
‘Lots of planets are being discovered,’ said Ryan, as if reading my mind. ‘But they are almost all gas giants. Even those initially thought to be Earth-like, turn out not to be. But the one Connor discovers is a habitable, Earth- like planet. A planet with water and a breathable atmosphere.’
‘I saw a photo in that book. Connor surrounded by pink cliffs and a river and what looked like jungle.’
‘The planet he discovers has life,’ said Ryan. ‘Plants and animals. Even now, when I come from, Eden is the only planet we’ve discovered that has life.’
‘It looked beautiful.’
‘It is beautiful,’ said Ryan, nodding. ‘Very beautiful. And very deadly. It looks a lot like Earth; it has evolved like Earth in lots of ways.’
‘Does it have humans?’
‘No mammals. Just birds and insects and lots of plants.’
‘How is it deadly?’
‘A microscopic parasite lives on Eden. It’s harmless to life on Eden. But back on Earth it’s deadly. When trade ships moved between Eden and Earth, they inadvertently transported the parasite with them. It was so hard to identify that our quarantine procedures didn’t detect it. Within months of transporting resources from Eden to Earth, entire habitats on Earth started dying off. It took decades before the parasite was discovered. By then, it was too late. Most of the globe had been infected. Many parts of the Earth are uninhabitable.’
I shook my head. ‘That’s terrible.’
Ryan shrugged. ‘Earth is dying. Most of the trees have gone. So many plant species have died out.’
‘What about people?’
‘The parasite doesn’t hurt animals directly. But by destroying plants, it destroyed the habitats of many animals. Including humans. Do you know how many people there are on Earth now?’
‘About seven billion?’
‘When I’m from, the population is less than one billion. The rapid reduction is due to global famine. Many people think the human race will be finished in less than fifty years.’
I stared into my coffee cup. ‘Can’t you find a way to destroy the parasite?’
‘It’s too widespread.’
‘What about moving people to Eden? Can’t the inhabitants of Earth relocate?’
Ryan shook his head. ‘Eden only has a very small habitable region. Most of the planet is too hot or too cold. It’s not an alternative to living on Earth.’
Suddenly everything was clear. ‘So you’re here to prevent Eden from ever being discovered.’
‘That’s right. Eden is beautiful, but it’s lethal to life on Earth.’
My coffee was getting cold. I drained the mug and tried to take in the enormity of Ryan’s purpose here. ‘If Connor doesn’t discover the planet this summer, won’t someone else discover Eden? I mean, if it’s there, surely someone will discover it eventually. You can’t prevent that.’
‘And you said you don’t believe in Fate.’
‘I don’t. All I’m saying is that if Connor discovered it, it can’t be that hard to find. No offence to Connor, but he’s not exactly a genius.’
‘Eden is actually very hard to detect from Earth. It’s possible to detect for a few hours this summer and then not again for more than seven hundred years. Connor discovered it by chance. But if Connor doesn’t discover it then, we’re safe for centuries.’
‘Why can you only see it once every seven hundred years? Surely it’s either there or it’s not.’
‘Eden orbits a tertiary star system. That means three stars. From our vantage point here on Earth, Eden passes in front of one of those stars for just a few days every seven hundred and three years. It’s hard to detect. The sky has to be clear, obviously. But it also has to be dark and it doesn’t get that dark at this time of year. If Connor misses this opportunity, we’re safe for a very long time.’
‘No one will ever know the planet exists,’ I said slowly. ‘But you know, and Cassie and Ben know. And now I know.’
‘And we must never tell.’
I let that sink in. ‘If you’re successful, only four people will know that there’s a planet out there that has life
