Star Blaze Read Free

but he had to press on for the meeting.
    Far below, the outline of the west of Africa was clearly visible. He took the
Jubilee
down into the thin layer of atmosphere that protected Earth. If Nymac could turn the Sun into a supernova, all this would be boiled away into space. One day, when Earth’s local star swelled to become a red giant, it would happen anyway, but astronomers weren’t expecting that to be for another five billion years—roughly speaking. Johnny was determined to do everything in his power to ensure they were right.
    To that end he’d put Clara in command and the
Spirit of London
would, for the first time, be journeying through space without him. He hated being away from Sol, but she was off to the dwarf planet Pluto, on the fringes of the Kuiper Belt, where Clara and Alf would start work on an early-warning system. If the Andromedan Navy came calling, Johnny wanted as much notice as possible.
    He reached over and stroked Bentley’s invisible coat as he took the
Jubilee
down through the clouds. They emerged over London and his mind, almost unconsciously, directed the small craft northeast toward the Essex town that was their final destination. Luckily, Barnard Way was free of traffic so the shuttle was able to land, light as a feather, on the tarmac. As it did so, the
Jubilee
’s ingenious shields changed so the invisiblespaceship again became a black taxi, and anyone looking from the pavement would have seen an ordinary cab driver with a single passenger in the backseat. They would have seen the taxi turn into the driveway of Castle Dudbury Railway Station and come to a halt in the taxi rank alongside a row of trees opposite the main entrance. They might then have been a little surprised to see a thirteen-year-old boy and a gray and white Old English sheepdog clamber out and run across the station carpark toward the children’s home located in the far corner.
    Johnny glanced at his wristcom and saw he was already five minutes late. He opened the gate that led into the backyard of Halader House, tied Bentley’s long leather lead to the side of the dog’s kennel, ignored the sheepdog’s offended whine and hurtled through the back door. He raced down a windowless corridor past the computer room and the kitchen–dining room and then jumped up the stairs, three at a time, onto the first floor. Soon he found himself at the very end of the corridor in front of a wooden door on which a brass plaque read “Manager’s Office.” He took a last deep breath and knocked.
    The door was opened by a striking woman with gray and black striped hair, wearing pointed glasses that made her eyes appear huge and owl-like. Through them Mrs. Irvine, the children’s home manager, was staring disapprovingly at Johnny making him feel just a few inches tall. In a sing-song Glaswegian accent she said, “Jonathan, you’re late.”
    She held the door open, allowing Johnny to duck underneath her arm and pass through into the spacious office. Behind a modern wooden desk, one floor-to-ceiling window made up the entire far wall, looking out across the carpark toward the train station. In the distance, Johnny could see the
Jubilee
. To either side of the desk were tall bookshelves full of dusty volumes that didn’t look as though they’d been read in a very long time. In front of the desk was a circular, wood-effect table around whichsat three familiar faces.
    Miss Harutunian, Johnny’s red-haired American social worker, smiled as he entered, said, “Hi, Johnny,” and tapped the vacant seat next to her.
    On the other side of the empty seat was Mrs. Devonshire, Headmistress of Castle Dudbury Comprehensive School, which Johnny still attended as often as he could. Miss Harutunian was wearing jeans and a green T-shirt, while Mrs. Devonshire sported a stripy pink jumper and flared white trousers. She, too, gave Johnny a smile, but there was no warmth behind