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Attempting to work out where they might be going, Arthur had tried to keep track of their route by searching for familiar landmarks on the ground. But no sooner had the aircraft climbed through several large banks of cloud than he’d completely lost his bearings. What he didn’t fail to spot, though, was that after less than an hour in the air, they were no longer flying over land! The words of the blogger had immediately rung in his ears.
And so it was that for the next seven and a half hours their course continued to take them out over open water, finally hitting land again a little after nine o’clock UK time. By now Arthur had worked out with some certainty that wherever it was they were going, it was most definitely in the northwestern hemisphere, because had they been flying east, then it would already have been dark outside. Nose pressed up against the window, he’d watched as a landscape of forests and mountains unfolded in front of them, stretching away to the horizon. In places, it was already buried under blankets of early winter snows.
In between dozing and covertly checking on the cat, who didn’t seem to be having any trouble sleeping the whole way, Arthur had spent quite a large portion of the flight seriously regretting having allowed his mum to talk him out of taking his mobile phone with him. Not only did it have all his games on it, but all his music, too.
‘If you leave it there, then you’ll probably never get it back. And don’t think for a minute that we’ll be buying you another one any time soon if you do. In any case, your father will have his, and a few days away from those games of yours won’t do you any harm, either,’ had been the speech.
As a result, he’d been forced to listen to hours of the general and his father discussing world affairs, all of which seemed to be so far removed from his own life that the only interesting moment had been when his father had attempted to badger him into finally telling them where they were going. The general, though, had smiled apologetically and said that it was top secret.
And so, it wasn’t until the plane had finally begun its descent that Arthur got his first chance to learn something about it. Resembling a kind of town, it was much bigger than he’d been expecting and dominated by several very large buildings, which were themselves flanked by tall tower-like structures. Linked together by networks of over-ground walkways, the whole base, from what he could make out, appeared to have been constructed around a central glass dome. Trying to take in as much of it as he could, he barely noticed that they had landed.
‘So, here we are then. Welcome to T8,’ said the general, as the minivan which had been waiting for them on the tarmac came to a stop inside a hangar. Two soldiers ran up and snapped to attention as he got out.
‘Sir, everything in order, Sir,’ said one of them.
The general nodded.
Stuffed full of racks and containers, the hangar had all manner of vehicles parked along its edges, including, to Arthur’s surprise, several light tanks. A door clanged shut at the far end, and a small group hurried over.
‘Ah, Maria Nikolaevna. A pleasure to see you again,’ smiled the general to the lady dressed in a grey flight suit and cap. ‘Arthur, Maria is going to be your guide and assistant during your stay here. So, if you need anything at all, she’ll be the person to ask.’
‘Hello, Arthur, I am very glad to meet you,’ she said, shaking his hand.
‘And here beside her we have Dr Rubenstein, our head of development here at the facility. You will be working with him on all things concerning the box from this point onwards.’
The elderly, slightly blading man, who was wearing a white technician’s coat with its top pockets crammed full of coloured pens, held out a hand for him to shake. ‘Nice to meet you, young man. Tomorrow will be an exciting day, I’m sure.’
Smiling shyly, Arthur shot a glance at the girl standing behind them. Wearing jeans and a hooded sweater, she had long brown hair and was, he guessed, about his own age.
‘And finally,’ said the general, ‘I’d like to introduce you to my daughter, Sky.’
For an awkward moment the two of them stared at each other, neither one quite sure what to do next.
‘Hey!’ said the girl, the first to react, stretching out a hand.
‘Hi!’ he replied, shaking it.
‘I thought that while you’re here with us that it might be good for you to have someone your own age to talk to. My daughter lives with me at the facility, and I’m sure she gets tired of hanging around with old dogs like me all day.’
‘Oh, you’re not such a bad old dog, Papa.’
‘Yes, well, we wouldn’t want that becoming general knowledge now, would we?’ He winked. ‘So then, now that we’ve all been introduced, I will leave you both in Maria’s very capable hands and give you a chance to rest up before tomorrow. Dr Rubenstein, if you would be so kind as to accompany me, I have a few things which I need to go through with you.’
‘Certainly, General,’ replied the doctor.
‘Follow me, please,’ said Maria, and led Arthur and his father out of the hangar, through a security checkpoint, and into a brightly-lit warren of stairs and ultra-clean corridors. Technicians in white coats like the doctor had been wearing hurried to and fro, barely paying any attention to them.
‘Green is for Propulsion Systems,’ she said, noticing that they were staring at a coloured sign-board at the end of one of the corridors. ‘Red is for Astrophysics, blue is for Biomechanics, and so on. It’s confusing for everyone at first, so don’t worry too much if it feels a bit intimidating.’
‘Yes, it’s quite the labyrinth you have here,’ commented his father.
‘Oh, you have no idea. And this is only what you can see above ground.’
‘Is that right? I wonder what goes on down there then.’
‘I honestly couldn’t tell you,’ she said, smiling at him. ‘That information’s way above my pay grade.’
Taking them up several flights of stairs, she led them down a side corridor and stopped in front of a glass door. Pressing a key card against a sensor, it swished open to reveal a plain but cosy looking entrance hall.
‘Arthur, this is going to be your room over here,’ she said, indicating one of three closed doors. ‘And Craig, your’s is that one there.’ Opening a third set of doors, she stepped aside to allow them to get a look inside. Consisting of a kitchen and table at one end, and sofa, TV, and soft chairs at the other, it was a simple but comfortable living area. ‘As you can see, pretty much everything you could need, so make yourself at home and feel free to help yourself if you get hungry. Provisions have already been prepared for your arrival, and you’ll find them in the refrigerator… Also, there’s a telephone you can use, as your mobile phones, if you have them, won’t work here. Just press the red button on it if you need to get in contact with me for any reason.’
‘Red button,’ repeated his father. ‘Got it.’
‘Now, I hope you’ll understand that, given the nature of this facility, you will not be permitted to leave these rooms without an escort. I apologise if that sounds a little draconian but it’s for your own safety as much as anything.’
And telling them that she would return at 9am the following morning, she wished them a good evening and left.
‘Right, well, here we are then,’ said his father after the door had shut behind her. ‘Why don’t we go and get ourselves sorted out and then meet in that living area in a bit? I don’t know about you, but I’m getting kind of hungry.’
Agreeing, Arthur opened the door to his room. Small and lightly furnished, it had a built-in wardrobe on one side and a double bed and side tables on the other. A window at the far end looked out directly onto a concrete wall opposite. Dropping his pack on the floor, he flopped heavily on to the bed.
‘Ouch! Hey – watch it, will you! I’m not a sack of flower, you know.’
‘Oh my God, sorry,’ he replied, rolling over and unfastening the top of it to let the cat out.
‘Go on, admit it, you forgot I was in there, didn’t you?’ meowed the cat, jumping out and stretching himself.
‘Well no, not really. Anyway, I said I was sorry, what more do you wa… ‘Woah! Cat—we’re back!’ he cried. ‘We can talk!… And it has to be because we’re close to the box again, doesn’t it? What do you think?’
‘What do I think!? I think that first thing tomorrow morning you need to get yourself over to wherever it is that they’re keeping it, and offer to buy it off of them! And don’t take no for an answer, either! It can’t cost much – it’s only small. And if they ask why you want it, you’ll just have to explain to them that you’re not very useful without it.’
‘Me? Nice one, Cat. But I seriously doubt that the box is for sale. There’s no way they’ve gone to all this trouble to simply let us take it away again. Ah! Which reminds me, you’re going to need to remember to stay out of sight from now on. No one knows you’re here, and we should probably keep it that way. I can’t imagine what they’ll do if they discover I brought you with me.’
The cat, who’d just started cleaning a paw, glanced up at him.
‘So, why did you bring me?’
‘What do you mean, “why did I bring you?” I told you. It was a feeling, like you needed to be here.’
‘What do you mean you told me?’
‘When we were in my room. When we were all about to leave. I told you that you needed to come, too.’
‘And what, you thought that I somehow magically understood you?
‘Well, I don’t know – yeah, I guess. Why’d you get into my backpack, then, if you didn’t?’
‘Because I saw you were going somewhere with that general and wanted in on the action.’
Arthur gazed at him and then shrugged.
‘Fair enough, I suppose,’ he said, getting up. ‘Well, now you’re in on it, just stay quiet and hidden, ok?’
‘So, first impressions of the T8 facility?’ said his father, as Arthur joined him in the living area. He had just finished warming up the rice and fish that had been left for them, in the microwave. ‘Mmm, yum… tastes pretty good actually. Here, this one’s yours.’
Taking the plate he was offered, Arthur sat down at the little square table, which his father had already laid.
‘I don’t know. Pretty cool, I guess. It’s much bigger than I thought it would be.’
‘You can say that again. Did you get a look at those towers on our way in? I reckon they must be where they assemble rockets and such like. You know, ever since I was your age, I’ve always wanted to see a real space rocket.’
‘Do you reckon they’ll let us see one?’
‘Maybe. Who knows. I don’t see why not. Anyway, no harm in asking, is there? It’s the least they can do, all things considered.’
7
The Experiment
‘Hey, come on, rise and shine already!’ meowed the cat. ‘You don’t seriously think that you can hide under those sheets forever, do you?’
‘Ugh… I do actually… Now go away.’
‘Nope, not gonna happen. Come on, up, up, up.’
Arthur groaned and opened his eyes.
‘That’s it, a bit more… Almost there…’
‘Cat, zip it, huh? It’s way too early.’
‘Fine, but first let’s see how well you can sleep when you’re starving, now c’mon, look lively.’
‘Oh blast! I forgot to pack your biscuits, didn’t I?’
‘You did indeed! Lucky for you though, us cats are extremely versatile in these sorts of situations. So, if you could be so kind as to tot off to the kitchen and bring me back something tasty, I’d be ever so much obliged.’
‘Tasty?’ repeated Arthur, sitting up. ‘Like what?’
‘I don’t know. Like anything really. Well actually, anything except sausages.’
‘Sausages?’
‘Yep. Terrible things, sausages.’
‘Really? When have you ever been given them to eat?’
‘Well, never. But as none of you are any good at clearing away after yourselves, you’d be amazed at what I’ve tried over the years.’
Arthur grinned. It made sense when he put it that way.
‘Alright, fine, I’ll try and find you something,’ he said, dressing and heading towards the door.
‘And don’t forget to make sure it tastes good!’ the cat meowed after him.
‘Yeah, you said that already. And it shouldn’t look like a sausage—I know.’
‘Or taste like one!’
‘Morning,’ said his father, who happened to be standing right outside at the very moment he’d opened the door, making him jump. ‘What’s all this about sausages, then?’
‘Sausages? Oh, nothing,’ Arthur replied, feeling his face burning. ‘I was just, um, wondering if there’d be some for breakfast, that’s all.’
‘Were you indeed? And do you often talk to yourself about things?’
‘Me? No… Well, I don’t know, sometimes I guess…’
‘Is that a fact?’ He grinned. ‘Well, don’t tell your mother I said so, but I imagine that you get that from her.’
There were no sausages that morning. Breakfast was a much simpler choice of yoghurt, muesli and bread with cheese. Arthur, though, couldn’t bring himself to eat any of it. Constantly glancing up at the clock above the door, he was already far too nervous. Thoughts like: <<What if I can>>’<<t open it for some reason? What if it is all just a big waste of time?>> had begun to flood him with doubts. And unable to take his mind off them, he’d even ended up completely forgetting to fetch something for the cat. The cat, in turn, had threatened to start meowing at the top of his voice unless Arthur went back again and did exactly as he’d promised.
‘See, no sausages!’ said Arthur, returning and placing two bowls under his bed. ‘Now, don’t forget to hide in the pack if you hear someone coming, okay? And wish me luck! That lady’ll be here any second now.’
‘Yeah, yeah, sure, whatever,’ purred the cat, getting stuck into a bowl full of yoghurt.
Maria arrived, as she said she would, at nine o’clock on the dot, and escorted them through a series of walkways to a lab on the far side of the facility. Stuffed full of cameras and different arrays of equipment, the sense of excitement was palpable as they entered.
‘Good morning, good morning,’ said Dr Rubenstein, hurrying out of a side room to greet them. ‘And how are we all this fine morning? I trust that you both slept well. We’re just about ready for you, I think.’
‘Definitely a bit jet-lagged this morning,’ said his father, who was still nursing a large mug of coffee which he’d brought over with him.
‘Ah yes, of course. Plenty more of the black stuff in that room over there if you need it,’ said the doctor, indicating the room he’d just come out of. ‘Now, Arthur, as we’ve still got a few minutes before kick-off, why don’t I tell you what all of this is for?’ he continued, pulling a handkerchief from his pen pocket and mopping his brow. ‘So then, these sensor banks that you can see at intervals around the room, and all of those cameras which have been set up with them, are going to record not only what we’ll be able to see with the naked eye but also everything our eyes simply won’t be able to register. That data will then be processed by those big computer racks and sent for analysis in the control room on the other side of these glass panels over here.’
He pointed in the direction of a mirrored wall.
‘And how are you feeling in yourself? A little nervous? There’s really no need to be, you know. Just take your time and repeat whatever it was that you did to open the box in the first place. How does that sound?’
Arthur nodded. He wasn’t just feeling nervous – he was feeling completely nauseous.
‘Good morning, all,’ said the general, coming up behind them. ‘Everything set, Doctor?’
‘I believe so.’
‘Excellent, let’s begin then, shall we?’ And taking the box out of his pocket, he handed it to Arthur.
‘Right, two minutes please, everyone,’ announced the doctor, guiding him over to the square concrete platform in the middle of the room. Empty, except for a single chair in the centre. Arthur sat down on it and waited nervously.
<<Such a lot of trouble>>,<< >>he thought, turning the box over in his hands and gazing up at the mass of cameras pointing down at him from rails mounted to the ceiling. <<And all I>>’<<m supposed to do is say >>‘<<open>>’ <<three times. Unbelievable!>>
