"Megan, you asked me what you're supposed to help me with, remember?" I say, interrupting her. Man, this girl never stops talking!
"Oh, did I? Sorry," she says.
“Well, we have to turn off the space station’s force field so that the station will break up during re-entry,” I explain.
She looks at me blankly as we climb out of the passageway into another module that is a living space for the crew. It has four sleeping compartments, a fridge, a view screen, mechanical arms, webbing packed full of wrapped packages, and wires and cables all over the place.
Megan spots a metal thermos fixed to a wall and tries to pull it off. The clockwork butterflies swarm around her hands as though they're trying to help.
I am about to warn her to be careful, but jump backwards in fear when something mechanical scurries into the module from the far side.
It's about the size of a small dog but looks like a clockwork spider. It has eight legs and I can see a large spring coiled up inside its skeletal abdomen. It's carrying a large steel bolt in its metal mandibles.
“Look out!” I shout in alarm.
Megan spins around and gasps when she sees the mechanical spider.
The spider ignores her and scuttles over to me. It suddenly pauses and uses its hind pair of legs to rewind the winder that sticks up from its abdomen. When its spring is tightly coiled, the spider bounces closer to me.
I try to dodge away, but I'm backed up against the wall and have nowhere to go.
The mechanical spider drops the steel bolt it was carrying in front of me and backs up slowly, wagging its abdomen from side to side.
I look at the bolt and at the spider. I don't understand what's going on.
“It wants you to throw the bolt,” Megan says.
Without taking my eyes off the spider, I bend down, pick up the bolt, and throw it out of the module into the passageway beyond.
The machine rushes off after the bolt and disappears into the passageway.
Thinking that’s the last we’ll see of the strange little thing, I turn back to Megan. “Come on, we have to keep moving. We have less than an hour to find this force field and turn it off.”
“Whatever you say,” Megan says as she bounds over to me with a big smile. She grabs my arm with her hands and rubs her cheek on my shoulder. The clockwork butterflies flit closer – so close I can hear them ticking.
“Stop that!” I say as I peel her hands off me. What’s with this girl, anyway?
"Okay," she says with a grin and bounds away with the butterflies chasing her.
"Where did you find the butterflies, anyway?" I ask.
"I didn't: they found me. One minute I was walking around, minding my own business while waiting for you, and then suddenly they were there. They're so friendly: they follow me everywhere, and when I hold out my hands, they land on them. It's like they think my hands are flowers and they're looking for nectar. It really tickles, you know, when they land on you, but I don't mind."
Chapter Five
I try to shut out Megan's voice and look at the two passageways leading out of this module. "I just wish I knew which way to go," I say to myself. I don't know why the orb sent Megan to help me. It's pretty obvious she's not going to be of any help.
"Where do you want to go?" Megan asks.
"I told you. We have to find the force field and turn it off."
"This force field thingy, what does it look like?" she asks as she jumps to the closest wall and does a handspring so that her feet rest on the wall and her hair hangs down.
"The orb said it is a big bronze machine with a core of bright blue-white energy," I say to Megan's upside down face as I step towards one of the module's two exits.
"Oh!" Megan exclaims as she springs back to her feet. "I know where that is."
"You do?"
"Yeah, I saw it when I was exploring the space station. You know, it's a big place and it can be pretty hard to find your way around. Not for me, though, because I've got a really good sense of direction and I never forget something once I've seen it. In fact, I never get lost. There was this time – two years ago I think, or was it three, no two, I'm sure of it – when I got separated from my family in this big shopping centre full of hundreds and hundreds of people, and..."
"Can you find it again?" I ask, interrupting her.
"Easy peasy," she says, but doesn't move. In fact, she's squatting down and is trying to peel some insulation tape off the floor.
"Well, come on then, lead the way!"
"Huh?"
I rush forward and pull her back to her feet. "Take me to the big bronze machine full of blue-white energy."
"Oh! Okay, follow me," Megan says as she regains her feet and leads me towards the opposite passageway.
So, she really does know where to go. That causes me to feel guilty for what I was thinking about her a moment ago. She is going to help me after all.
"How long have you been here?" I ask as we hurry along.
"I don't know. A few hours, a day, a couple of days? It's a bit hard to tell. I don't have a watch and there aren't any clocks and there are no teachers or parents to tell me what to do. I've just been doing whatever I want, wandering here and wandering there, looking at things and playing with these little butterflies," she replies as we hurry through the passageway and into the module beyond.
"Aren't you hungry and thirsty?"
"Nah, there are plenty of food bars and bottles of water if you know where to look," she explains as we go.
I hear metallic feet clacking on the metal floor behind us and I turn around, thinking the Mechanical has caught up to us. But then I smile, for it's just the little clockwork spider. It darts over to me, drops the bolt at my feet, and backs away while wagging its abdomen. I notice it's got eight little red eyes that look like tiny camera lenses.
"He really likes you," Megan laughs.
I pick up the bolt and toss it ahead of us. The little machine races after it, its eight legs clacking noisily on the floor.
"Why don't you give it a name?" Megan suggests.
"How about 'Spidey’?" I ask.
Megan doesn't answer, though, because she has dropped to her knees and is trying to pick up a shiny piece of red metal we can see through a fist-sized hole in a strange looking contraption that's fixed to the floor. Or is it the ceiling? Or a wall?
"Just leave it: don't get your hand stuck," I tell her.
"Uh, too late," she says as she tries desperately to pull her hand out of the contraption. The clockwork butterflies have realised something is wrong, for they have gathered around Megan's arm and are beating their little wings frantically. "Brad, help me – I can't get my hand out!"
I kneel beside her and give her arm a tug.
"Ow! You're hurting me," she complains.
"Try to make your hand like a knife and then pull," I say.
"I'm doing that, but it's still stuck!"
"Why did you have to go and stick your hand in the hole in the first place?" I say, getting angry. What was wrong with her? Why can't she concentrate for even a minute?
"I saw something shiny and I wanted to pick it up," she says.
"But why now? We're in a hurry, you know?"
The sound of gears meshing and heavy metal feet hitting the floor behind us stops our argument.
The Mechanical is coming.
The butterflies go into a frenzy, attacking the metal contraption as though they are trying to dig out Megan's hand.
"Help me!" Megan squeals.
Chapter Six
The sounds of metal feet on the floor are growing louder.
I lean closer and try to get my fingers into the contraption so that I can squeeze Megan's hand thinner and pull it out. But I can't get my fingers in there: the hole is too small. Looking about, I notice that the contraption is bolted to the floor. If I had a spanner, I could undo the bolts and pull the contraption off the floor. Then I could get her hand out.
Spidey chooses that mo
ment to run up to me and drop the bolt at my feet.
"I'm a little busy, Spidey!" I shout.
Spidey scurries off without waiting for me to throw the bolt. Strange little thing. Maybe it's got a screw loose or something.
I see some movement from the corner of my eyes, so I look up and see the Mechanical in the passageway outside the module. We don't have much time left!
"Forget about me, just go!" Megan says as she begins to cry.
"I can't leave you here!" I reply.
"Yes, you can, now go, before it gets here!"
"I won't leave you here," I tell her, and I start to cry too.
The Mechanical is getting closer. I can see the glow of its red eyes in the passageway.
Spidey suddenly runs back into the module and drops something at my feet. Something that makes a solid thunk. I look down and see an adjustable spanner.
"Good job, Spidey!" I say as I wipe the tears from my eyes with the back of my hand.
I grab the spanner, fit it to the first bolt on the contraption and adjust it to make it a tight fit. The bolt is tight so I kick the spanner and the bolt loosens. I remove the bolt in no time and then attack the other three.
The Mechanical reaches the module and starts to pull itself inside. It reminds me of a black house spider emerging from its funnel-shaped web to grab its prey.
With a flick of my wrist I remove the last bolt. I quickly pull the contraption off the floor, put one hand underneath it, and then squeeze Megan's hand into a knife shape.
"Pull!" I shout as I watch the approaching Mechanical.
Megan pulls and her hand comes out.
"Let's go!" I say as I yank her to her feet.
Hand in hand, we dart from the module into the next passageway. Spidey and the swarm of butterflies follow close behind. I notice I'm still holding the spanner. I think I'll keep it; who knows when it will be useful again.
I slam the hatch and spin the lock, and just in time, too. The Mechanical bangs against the hatch in frustration, and then lifts up its blowtorch and begins to cut through the metal.
We run through passageways and modules until we are out of breath.
"You sure you know where you're going?" I ask.
"I'm taking you to the room with the force field thingy you told me about."
"Doesn't seem like we're going in a straight line," I say.
"Oh, we're not. I don't know where it is, I just remember where I went after I saw it, so I'm retracing my steps. We don't have much further to go."
"But you said – argh...Megan, why are you like this?" I say, so frustrated that I want to explode. She told me earlier that she knew where the force field generator is.
"Why am I like what?" she asks.
"So...crazy!" I exclaim. "You can't concentrate: you get distracted over nothing and you never stop talking."
"I've got ADHD," Megan says as she holds out her hands to let the clockwork butterflies land on them. She starts giggling.
"What's ADHD?" I ask.
"It tickles!" Megan laughs as more and more butterflies land on her outstretched hands.
I tap her on the shoulder. "Focus, Megan. What's ADHD?"
"What? Oh. It's attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. I've always had it, mum says. Hey, did you know I heard the teacher telling mum I should take medication for it? She said the medication will calm me down and help me concentrate. She said it's not fair for the class, my family, or me, to let me be like this. But mum told her that our family is coping just fine and that there's nothing wrong with me. She said there are better ways to treat ADHD than drugs – that's what she calls the medications. She says drugs are given out too quickly to too many kids, and that they don't always work and can have unpleasant side effects. She says the drugs could make me feel down all the time or change my character, and she'd never do that to me. She told the teacher that she needs to take my disorder into account instead of trying to change me."
"Wow, sorry, I had no idea," I say, feeling very guilty for getting angry with her and asking what was wrong with her.
"Do you think I should take the medication?" Megan asks. She looks at me keenly.
"I'm sure your mum knows what she's talking about," I say.
"But you think there's something wrong with me. You said I'm crazy," she says, and starts to cry.
"Look, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. Honestly, I think you're great just as you are, " I say as I mentally kick myself. I really need to be more careful what I say to people! I wasn't thinking when I said those mean things to her. I didn't want to hurt her feelings.
"You're just saying that!" she says.
"No, I mean it: you're cool. And the orb chose you to help me. It could have chosen anyone else in the whole world, but it chose you. That means you're pretty special, yeah?"
"You think so?"
"Absolutely."
"Wow, okay, thanks," Megan says, sniffing back her tears.
Chapter Seven
A loud BANG sounds through the space station.
"Sounds like the Mechanical's got the hatch open," I say. "Quickly, take me to the force field generator."
"Okay, this way," Megan says and rushes off excitedly.
I think she's forgotten the terrible things I said to her already. I hope so. I charge off after her, with Spidey clattering along the floor beside me.
Megan takes us to a large round hatch at the end of a small passageway labelled AIRLOCK.
"We have to get in here," she says.
"That's an airlock!" I reply, shaking my head.
"So?"
"So, it will open into outer space, where there's no air and it's below freezing," I explain.
"Oh no, it just opens into another passageway," she says.
"A passageway with air and lights in it?"
"Yes."
"And you walked through it?"
"Yes, I did!"
"Megan, what you’re saying doesn’t make any sense. That’s an airlock!” I say. I turn from the airlock and I consider going back the way we came.
"Let me show you," Megan says as she slaps the OPEN button beside the airlock. The hatch opens wide and reveals a small round airlock that is longer than it is wide. The astronauts could float into it, but we'd have to crawl in. I notice it’s just big enough for the two of us.
"I’m not going in there,” I declare firmly. “Because even if the airlock opens into a passageway like you say, it will suck out all the air before it allows us to open the outer hatch. We’ll suffocate before we can get out!"
"But this is the way I came."
"I'm sorry, Megan: I know you believe what you're saying, but I say we go back and look for another way."
"You have to believe me!" she says, getting upset.
I start heading back.
"Why are you always so mean to me, Brad?"
"I'm not doing this to be mean," I say as I stop and turn back to her.
"I'm talking about how you treat me at school."
"How do I treat you at school?"
"You always ignore me in class or when we bump into each other in the playground. You never say hello back to me when I say hello to you," she explains with tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry if I treated you like that, but like I said, I don't remember anything about my life before I woke up here less than an hour ago."
Megan comes a step closer. "I haven't got to the worst bit yet. When we do sports, the teacher always selects you as one of the two team captains. But when you choose your team, you never choose me. I'm always left until last, and even then, you still don't choose me. Do you know what that feels like? Do you know how much that hurts my feelings?"
I look at Megan and I'm sad. I'm sad that I treated her like that at school, but even more so, I'm sad that I was such a mean person. Right now, standing here, I don't feel like a mean person, but what she's telling me about my behaviour at school is bad. And that means deep down I'm not a nice person. And I don't like that.
>
"I'm sorry I treated you that way," I say, and I mean it.
"Then prove it. Believe me when I tell you that going through this airlock is the way to get to that force field thingy. Believe me when I tell you that I went through an airlock on the other side and walked through a passageway. When I got to the end it led to this airlock," she says, standing with her hands on her hips.
“If that’s really what happened, how come you didn’t suffocate when the airlock sucked out all the air?” I ask.
Before Megan can say a word, the Mechanical's jointed legs appear and it pulls itself into the passageway.
"Quickly!" Megan says as she climbs into the round airlock. Spidey climbs inside too, as do the butterflies.
I don’t follow her, though. I just stand there glancing between her and the approaching Mechanical. I don't want to be caught by the Mechanical, but I don't want to suffocate either.
“Hurry up!” Megan says as she grabs my hand and pulls me inside. When I'm in, she slaps the CLOSE button and the airlock hatch swings shut with a loud clang.
Chapter Eight
Megan reaches for the button to open the outer airlock door.
"No, wait! We’ll suffocate," I shout as I try to stop her.
Something heavy begins banging on the hatch behind us – short taps and longer thuds. But faster this time. Why does the Mechanical do that? It gives me the creeps!
"No, we won’t: the butterflies will protect us. Now, quickly, get out of the way: the Mechanical's trying to open the hatch!" she says.
The clockwork butterflies suddenly swarm the outer airlock hatch, bouncing themselves off it again and again. Spidey even joins in, tapping his little legs against it.
"See, they know the way!" Megan says as she shoves me aside and hits the OPEN button. The air starts to get sucked out of the airlock. A timer above the door shows two minutes and begins counting down the seconds.
I draw in a big mouthful of air, but to my complete surprise, half of the clockwork butterflies fly over to cover Megan’s nose and mouth and the other half cover mine.