Free Chasing Stars by Helen Douglas

the tunnel we were travelling through began to narrow and curve. I could see the blackness of deep space, the farmhouse shed we’d left behind and a bright green field all at the same time, as though looking at a marble. A light on the dashboard began to flash and an alarm began to sound. My nausea started to grow and I slammed a hand across my mouth.
    ‘The portal’s collapsing!’ Ryan shouted.
    ‘Hold on!’ said Lauren as she frantically tapped away at the screen on the dashboard. ‘We’re going to have to make a slight adjustment.’
    The ship rolled over. The sphere unravelled and we were travelling through a tunnel again. The shed, space, the green lawn were all gone.
    ‘What’s the destination?’ asked Ryan.
    ‘August,’ Lauren said, hitting buttons on the dash. ‘Or close to August. I’m going to land at the Institute.’
    ‘We’re going to make it,’ said Ryan, squeezing my hand.
    ‘Ten,’ said Lauren.
    The bright light at the end of the tunnel faded.
    ‘Five.’
    Colour returned to the edges of my vision and the curved tunnel we’d been travelling through opened out. Ahead of us was a large green field with curved white buildings in the distance. The tunnel collapsed into a pinprick and we had arrived.
    ‘Where is this?’ I asked.
    ‘SATI headquarters,’ said Lauren. ‘Space and Time Institute. Not our original destination, but with the portal collapsing I had to make adjustments.’ She turned around to face us. ‘You two had better say your goodbyes. Orion will be arrested the second we open these doors. You have ten seconds.’
    ‘Where will they take you?’ I said.
    ‘They’ll put me in a cell for a few days,’ said Ryan. ‘I’ll be OK. Try to find my friend, Pegasus. He’ll take care of you.’
    ‘Pegasus,’ I said. ‘OK.’
    He pulled me into a tight hug. ‘Everything’ll be fine.’
    There was a sigh as the doors unlocked. We clambered out of the ship. Waiting for us on the grass was a man in a charcoal grey uniform, flanked by four heavily armed guards.
    ‘Mission complete,’ said Lauren. ‘We have repatriated the remains of Travis Deckard and brought you Orion Westland. The girl is here both as a witness and a precaution.’
    ‘You will need to be debriefed,’ said the man in uniform. He nodded to the guards. ‘Take these two to Central Holding.’

Chapter 6
    Lakeborough, Summer 2123
     
    The room was small. As wide as my outstretched arms and not much longer than the metal bed – stained mattress, no blankets or sheets – that provided the only seating. Behind the bed was a toilet, a half-used roll of toilet paper and a small bottle of antibacterial hand gel.
    When we had first arrived at Central Holding for processing – fingerprints taken, retinas and faces scanned, personal belongings removed and logged – I had hoped we would end up in the same cell while they decided what to do with us. A small part of me even hoped they would just let us go. But of course that didn’t happen. Ryan was going to have to stand trial and I was going to be questioned. We were put in separate cells.
    I looked through the barred window set into the door, but could see nothing except for a long white corridor and a large analogue clock on the wall opposite. A single guard, dressed in a khaki uniform, stood outside my cell. A large gun was strapped across his body and a bunch of keys hung from a loop on his belt. I banged hard on the window. The guard turned, looked at me briefly, then turned away. I banged the window again.
    ‘Where am I?’ I yelled. ‘What country? What year?’
    He didn’t turn around again.
    How could it be that just a few hours ago I was in my bedroom in Penpol Cove and now I was over one hundred years in the future, standing in a prison cell?
    I was about to bang on the door again when I was overcome with a sudden tidal wave of weariness. It poured over me, gradual at first, then rapidly, until I had no choice but to sit on the filthy mattress and