‘We haven’t been walking in circles!’ Annalie said fiercely, but before anyone else could respond, Graham spoke up. ‘Something coming.’
‘Oh, what now?’ Essie moaned. ‘Giant man-eating desert lizards?’
They drew closer together, afraid that Sundia was about to throw some new danger their way.
‘There!’ Blossom pointed.
A wavering, sinister shape was silhouetted on the top of a dune, long-legged and impossibly tall. For a moment it seemed their worst fears had been realised; then Annalie said, ‘Is that someone on a camel?’
The camel galloped down the dune and began coming towards them; a second and a third followed.
‘Should we be running towards them, or away, do you think?’ Will said warily, remembering that Sundians liked to throw foreigners in prison.
‘Too late now,’ Annalie said. ‘They’ve seen us.’
None of them had the energy to run any further. Cold, exhausted, thirsty, they stood and watched in resignation as the camel train came towards them.
The lead rider drew up in front of them. The camel knelt. A slight figure stepped lightly from the saddle and said, ‘Which one of you is Annalie?’ It was a woman’s voice.
Hope flared in all their hearts. Annalie stepped forward. ‘I am.’
‘I’m Sola—Sola Prentice. How did you get out here?’
‘It’s a long story,’ Annalie said.
‘You can tell us back at the Ark,’ Sola said. ‘I’ve got someone here who’s been dying to see you.’
As she spoke, the second camel knelt and they saw its rider step down onto the sand, his parrot’s crest of silver hair shining in the moonlight.
‘Spinner!’ Annalie cried. She and Will launched themselves into his arms, almost knocking him sideways.
‘Steady on!’ he said, laughing, hugging them to him as tight as could be, and for a few long minutes they were all hugs and laughter. Graham spiralled above them, letting out huge ripping shrieks, before he sailed down to land on Spinner’s shoulder.
‘Bad Spinner,’ Graham said. ‘Spinner went away.’
‘I know,’ Spinner said, stroking him. ‘I didn’t want to. But it had to be done.’
‘You’re lucky we found you,’ Sola said. ‘There’s a lot of desert out here to get lost in.’
‘She said we weren’t lost,’ Will said, poking Annalie.
‘We weren’t,’ Annalie said.
Spinner smiled. ‘Let’s get you back to the Ark.’
The Ark
The rest of the journey was something of a blur. Camels were produced for all of them, and they lurched through the night, lulled into a half-doze by the animals’ rolling gait. The Ark, when they reached it, appeared little more than a huge dark shape rising out of the desert before they were whisked inside, and found drinks and food and beds, where they all collapsed into desperate slumber.
The next morning, they were all awake within minutes of each other. They were in a bunkroom, clean, tidy, utilitarian, but windowless.
Spinner soon appeared in the doorway.
‘We didn’t get a chance to do proper introductions last night,’ he said, giving a twinkly-eyed smile to Essie, Pod and Blossom. ‘I’m Spinner.’
‘I’m Essie Wan. Me and Annalie met at school.’
‘I’m Pod. These guys rescued me. This is my sister Blossom.’
‘I’m new,’ Blossom said.
Spinner laughed, then turned to Will and Annalie, trying to look stern. ‘I’ve got a bone to pick with you two. What are you doing in Sundia? I thought I told you to go home. You promised me you’d go home.’
‘We promised we’d stay safe,’ Annalie said.
‘Not that we’d go home,’ Will said. ‘It’s different.’
‘It doesn’t sound like you managed that either,’ Spinner said. ‘I get to Sundia and my shell’s full of messages about kidnappers and ransoms.’
‘You were the one who went to Brundisi,’ Will said. ‘We only went there because we were following you.’
Spinner gave them a squinty-eyed look. ‘All right, well, don’t make a habit of it. From now on, you do what I say, right?’
Will and Annalie looked at each other and giggled.
‘You think I’m kidding?’ Spinner said, but didn’t follow through on the threat. ‘Who wants some breakfast?’
Spinner took them to the Ark canteen, which had an extensive breakfast menu. Sola soon joined them and encouraged them to order whatever they liked. Will ordered everything.
‘Are we allowed to be here?’ Annalie asked, looking nervously at the other people in the canteen. They were the first Sundians they’d seen; the ones in the canteen had bronze-brown skin, dark hair and eyes, and, like their gods, were mostly built on a monumental scale. Some of them had nodded and smiled at the children when they came in; none of them seemed particularly troubled that they were there.
‘It’s fine,’ Sola said. ‘They know you’re with me.’ She paused, then added, ‘The Ark isn’t like the rest of Sundia. Anywhere else, you’d probably be arrested—there are big rewards for anyone who catches a foreigner. But this is still an international research station, at least in theory. We don’t mind the odd foreigner here.’
‘So are you Sundian?’ Annalie asked.
‘Half Sundian,’ Sola said. She was slight and smiley, with big dark eyes and a sweep of long straight dark hair. ‘I was born and raised in Dux, but my mother was born here, and I still have family here. When we all went on the run, this seemed like the obvious place to come. My cousin works here and she got me a job—first as a gardener, which was fun, actually. But then they found out what I could actually do—’
‘What’s that?’
‘Advanced computer system engineering. So now I work in operations keeping the Ark going.’
‘What is the Ark anyway?’ Essie asked.
‘After breakfast, I’ll give you the tour,’ Spinner said.
Their food arrived, and for a while, no one said anything. When the eating finally slowed, Spinner said, ‘So tell me, what’s this about an Admiralty ship following you?’
‘It’s the same one that came after you in Dio,’ Will said. ‘I recognised it straight away.’
‘An Admiralty ship can’t be here,’ Sola said. ‘They wouldn’t dare enter Sundian waters.’
‘This one did,’ Will said.
‘And you think they’re following you?’ Spinner asked.
‘It sure looked like it,’ Annalie said.
Spinner turned to Sola. ‘Then we need an exit strategy.’
‘I’m on it,’ Sola said,
