job would be as a pilot on the Inter-Planetary Spaceport. It’s a long shot, though.’
‘How come?’
‘Very competitive. I’m on a good program, but I can’t afford the best training.’
‘How old are you?’
‘Eighteen. I have three more years before I qualify.’ He glanced at me. ‘How old are you?’
‘A hundred and twenty-seven.’
Peg smiled. ‘So you won’t be enrolling in the Academy then. Too bad. With all your experience, I bet you’d make a great time agent.’
‘I don’t really have much experience.’
‘You’ve come face to face with a cleaner.’
‘Two, actually.’
‘And travelled more than a hundred years through time. You have more experience than all of the cadets in our class put together. More than some of the instructors.’
I laughed. ‘Perhaps I’ll apply for a teaching position then.’
A few minutes past the school, the road grew wider, the houses were bigger, each sitting in a beautifully landscaped garden.
‘Ry’s family live in a house down by Hidden Valley Pond,’ Peg said, pointing towards my window.
‘This looks like a wealthy neighbourhood.’
‘His dad’s an admiral.’
‘What about you, Peg? Are you a rich kid as well?’
He smiled. ‘Not exactly. My mother died when I was a baby and my dad’s a miner. He’s living out on Titan now with his new wife.’
‘When you say Titan . . .’
‘Moon of Saturn. The Titan colonies have been around for twenty-five years.’
‘But Titan doesn’t have an atmosphere?’
‘There are domes on Titan. Huge domes, each one the size of a big city, with an artificial atmosphere.’
‘Why would anyone want to live in a place like that?’
‘Are you kidding? The chance to explore a new world? Imagine looking into the sky and there’s Saturn.’
I thought then of the planet Eden, a living breathing world with pink cliffs and blue skies. A world with an atmosphere just like Earth’s. Not a dead moon.
‘And the money of course,’ Peg continued. ‘Miners on Titan make a fortune. Most do ten years, then come home, buy a big house and retire.’
I shook my head. ‘I feel like I’ve ended up in a science fiction film. Are there any other planets or moons that have been colonised?’
‘Only the moon.’
‘That’s so strange.’
‘They say when you jump to the future the adjustment takes longer than travel to the past. They also say finding places that remind you of your own time helps. I hope you’ll like this place in the mountains. I doubt it’s changed one bit in the last hundred years. But to answer your question: I’m not rich. I have a full scholarship to Lakeborough Academy to pay for my tuition and flight time.’
We passed a sign that read Charge, Food, Lodging and Peg took the exit road.
‘We’ll need water,’ he said.
He pulled into what looked like a petrol station, though the drivers appeared to be plugging their cars into some sort of silver battery charger rather than filling their tanks. Peg ran into the shop to buy a couple of bottles of water and then we were back on the highway again.
The road began to climb. I touched a button to wind down my window. The sharp scent of pine poured into the car.
‘What do your parents do, Eden?’
‘They’re dead.’
He tore his eyes from the road and gave me an apologetic look. ‘Of course they are. Everyone you know is dead. Except Ryan.’
‘They died when I was six. A long time ago. My mother’s younger sister Miranda brought me up. She’s a legal secretary. I guess I should say she was .’
It was the first time I’d thought about Miranda since leaving my own time. My throat closed up. I forced myself to swallow.
‘It must be hard,’ he said quietly, ‘leaving everyone behind.’
‘Ryan’s dad told me to start building a new life, but it’s not easy when you don’t know anybody and things are so different it takes you two days to work out how to turn on the TV.’
‘What’s a “tee vee”?’
I sighed to
‘How come?’
‘Very competitive. I’m on a good program, but I can’t afford the best training.’
‘How old are you?’
‘Eighteen. I have three more years before I qualify.’ He glanced at me. ‘How old are you?’
‘A hundred and twenty-seven.’
Peg smiled. ‘So you won’t be enrolling in the Academy then. Too bad. With all your experience, I bet you’d make a great time agent.’
‘I don’t really have much experience.’
‘You’ve come face to face with a cleaner.’
‘Two, actually.’
‘And travelled more than a hundred years through time. You have more experience than all of the cadets in our class put together. More than some of the instructors.’
I laughed. ‘Perhaps I’ll apply for a teaching position then.’
A few minutes past the school, the road grew wider, the houses were bigger, each sitting in a beautifully landscaped garden.
‘Ry’s family live in a house down by Hidden Valley Pond,’ Peg said, pointing towards my window.
‘This looks like a wealthy neighbourhood.’
‘His dad’s an admiral.’
‘What about you, Peg? Are you a rich kid as well?’
He smiled. ‘Not exactly. My mother died when I was a baby and my dad’s a miner. He’s living out on Titan now with his new wife.’
‘When you say Titan . . .’
‘Moon of Saturn. The Titan colonies have been around for twenty-five years.’
‘But Titan doesn’t have an atmosphere?’
‘There are domes on Titan. Huge domes, each one the size of a big city, with an artificial atmosphere.’
‘Why would anyone want to live in a place like that?’
‘Are you kidding? The chance to explore a new world? Imagine looking into the sky and there’s Saturn.’
I thought then of the planet Eden, a living breathing world with pink cliffs and blue skies. A world with an atmosphere just like Earth’s. Not a dead moon.
‘And the money of course,’ Peg continued. ‘Miners on Titan make a fortune. Most do ten years, then come home, buy a big house and retire.’
I shook my head. ‘I feel like I’ve ended up in a science fiction film. Are there any other planets or moons that have been colonised?’
‘Only the moon.’
‘That’s so strange.’
‘They say when you jump to the future the adjustment takes longer than travel to the past. They also say finding places that remind you of your own time helps. I hope you’ll like this place in the mountains. I doubt it’s changed one bit in the last hundred years. But to answer your question: I’m not rich. I have a full scholarship to Lakeborough Academy to pay for my tuition and flight time.’
We passed a sign that read Charge, Food, Lodging and Peg took the exit road.
‘We’ll need water,’ he said.
He pulled into what looked like a petrol station, though the drivers appeared to be plugging their cars into some sort of silver battery charger rather than filling their tanks. Peg ran into the shop to buy a couple of bottles of water and then we were back on the highway again.
The road began to climb. I touched a button to wind down my window. The sharp scent of pine poured into the car.
‘What do your parents do, Eden?’
‘They’re dead.’
He tore his eyes from the road and gave me an apologetic look. ‘Of course they are. Everyone you know is dead. Except Ryan.’
‘They died when I was six. A long time ago. My mother’s younger sister Miranda brought me up. She’s a legal secretary. I guess I should say she was .’
It was the first time I’d thought about Miranda since leaving my own time. My throat closed up. I forced myself to swallow.
‘It must be hard,’ he said quietly, ‘leaving everyone behind.’
‘Ryan’s dad told me to start building a new life, but it’s not easy when you don’t know anybody and things are so different it takes you two days to work out how to turn on the TV.’
‘What’s a “tee vee”?’
I sighed to
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