Picked up another follow, so thank you to that person!


CHAPTER SEVEN

John, Stephen and Astrid teleported back into the Refuge's rec room. TPs came crowding around them instantly. "What happened?"Russell asked. "We were watching the news but we didn't hear anything."

John looked askance at Stephen but the younger man remained silent. "The spaceship's there,"John said. "We saw it."

"Unreal!"Russell exclaimed enthusiastically. Then he realised the mood of the trio. "Where are the others?"

"They're dead,"Stephen said bluntly. "Cara, Luca and Sophie…they're all dead."

There was a shocked murmuring from the assembled Tomorrow People. "But…they can't be!"Charlotte protested.

"Why not?"Stephen snapped. "You think we're immortal? We die the same as everyone else if we get ourselves in stupid situations that we can't handle."

"Stephen, don't take it out on her,"Astrid insisted.

John gave Charlotte a hug, looking around at all the other horrified faces in the room. "Stephen, we need to get everyone together. I don't know, make some sort of memorial…"

"You do it,"Stephen retorted, heading out of the room.

Astrid went after him. "Stephen, people need you here."

"Other people need me more,"Stephen replied. "I don't know how to contact Cara and Sophie's family but at least I can tell Mum."

Astrid fell silent, realising how hard that would be. "I can come with you?"she offered.

Stephen shook his head. "Stay here. Help John." Before she could protest any further, he'd teleported.

John looked at his friend. "Russell, can you help spread the word?"

Russell nodded. "Yeah. Sure, man. I can do that."


It felt strange for Stephen to be walking into the house. It was supposed to still be his home, but with the Refuge and Cara's flat as alternatives he rarely spent any time there. He wasn't sure how much time Luca spent there either. He wouldn't spend any there now.

Marla looked round at his entrance. "Stephen, it's so good to see you! How have you been?" She stopped, as though sensing his mood. "Stephen, what's going on?"

He felt her probing at his thoughts but pushed her out. He wanted to tell her the proper way. "Mum, have you been watching the news? About that…spaceship?"

"The one they think landed in the Carribean? That those planes were shot down trying to find?"

"Yes. We…we went there. To Malosa."

Marla looked confused. "Who's we?"

"The Tomorrow People. Me, John, Astrid, others…" He hesitated before delivering the news. "Luca didn't come back. Neither did Cara or Sophie."

"Didn't come back?"Marla repeated. "What happened?"

"We don't know. There…there was an explosion. We tried to talk to them afterwards, we tried to contact them but…they weren't there."

Marla was silent for a moment, letting the news sink in. "That means he's dead."

Stephen nodded.

Marla swept the contents of a table onto the floor. "Damn it, Stephen! You had to do it, didn't you? You had to. Just like your father. I try my best to keep this family safe but you just go running headlong into danger. And you take Luca with you…and now you've killed him."

"Mum, I'm sorry,"Stephen said quietly.

"Just get out, Stephen. I don't want to look at you."


At that moment, many thousands of miles away, unaware she was causing such consternation, Cara opened her eyes.

She was in the same hangar that they'd been investigating when the soldiers had appeared. She rolled over and looked around, seeing Luca and Sophie lying nearby. She crawled over and checked on them. They had been knocked out by the explosion, like she had, but they were unharmed. She shook them in turn. "Sophie, Luca, come on, wake up."

Slowly, the two youngsters recovered. "Cara, what's going on?"Sophie asked.

"I don't know." Cara looked up at the heavy metal doors they'd come in by. "I think we're locked in."

"But we can just teleport out, right?"Luca asked.

"I don't know." Cara remembered what else they'd seen before the soldiers arrived. She looked round, almost wondering if she'd dreamt it, but the aliens were still there. They were on their feet now, staring at them, but keeping their distance. "We've got company."

The three Tomorrow People stood up. Luca concentrated hard. "I still can't teleport."

"No." Cara closed her eyes a moment, trying to focus her telepathy. "Stephen? Stephen, can you hear me? John, Russell, Irene? Anyone?"

"What did those soldiers do to us?"Sophie wondered.

"It was not the soldiers,"one of the aliens said quietly. "It was us."

Cara took an angry step towards them. "What have you done?"

"Please, believe me, we meant no harm. We are Thargons. I am Jarrel. You are telepaths? The ones who can't kill?"

"Kill, no,"Cara agreed. "But I'm going to give you a whole lot of pain if you don't explain."

"It is…our biology. We give off a vibration that blocks your powers. It is not permanent but you cannot use them while you are around us. Telepathic races shun us for that reason."

"There are other races like us?"Cara asked. "With powers like us?"

"Many."

"And I thought we were special,"Luca sighed.

"But what does it mean?"Sophie asked.

"It means we can't teleport, can't call the others, can't TK blast,"Cara replied. "But still can't kill. Looks like all the marks are against us. Jarrel, why did you come here?"

"We crashed. We hoped the people here would help us. Instead, they keep us prisoner, force us to show them how to use our technology."

"But why?"Cara persisted. "Who's doing this?"

Before she could press the point, the door swung open. Soldiers formed an honour guard for an imposing figure. The face was familiar, even though Cara had never seen him in person before. "I am Papa Minn. You are on my island. You will explain. And if I do not like the explanation, you will die."