Chapter 3
Belazs is viewing the monitor the control room. "They have left the upper levels now."
"Only two of them, you say?" Kane asks.
"Glitz and the traveller called the Doctor. They're just setting off for the lower levels."
"Excellent. Continue to monitor the tracking device." Kane notices that Belazs looks like she wants to say something else. "Well?"
"It's Glitz's spacecraft."
"What of it?"
"It's just that…" she hesitates.
"Yes?"
"Well, if Glitz and the Doctor are as good as dead, I'd like the spacecraft."
Kane becomes angry. "Oh, you'd like the spacecraft, would you? When you first came here you had nothing. You were willing enough to take my payment then. But now you want to leave. Perhaps you have memories of a home you can return to? Perhaps I should have put you into cryosleep along with all the others and erased your memories."
Kane takes Belazs' face with one hand and holds up his ungloved hand to it. She flinches, her heart pounding in terror, and he takes her left hand instead.
"Perhaps you need reminding. As long as you bear my mark, I own you."
He turns her hand over and holds it up near her face. Her palm has the imprint of a coin burnt into it. Kane activates the communicator.
"Yes, sir?" came a man's voice.
"Glitz's spacecraft. Have it destroyed."
"Yes, sir."
Belazs heart falls. That ship could have been her one chance to escape from Kane.
In the restaurant, Mel and Nita are still sitting at the table.
"I can't believe we have to just sit here while the men have all the fun!" cries Nita. "Is the Doctor always so over-protective?"
"Not always," replies Mel. "He only told us to wait here so Glitz would agree to take him to see the dragon. He couldn't bear to miss out on solving a mystery. But still, it's not fair, is it?"
Ace takes drinks to the woman and her daughter, then unpins her bun to release a pony tail.
There is an announcement over the loud-speaker: "Would the emergency services please report to the docking bay to deal with an icing up. Thank you."
Mel turns to Ace. "It's all your fault."
"How'd you work that out?"
"You were encouraging them both. 'Oh ace! Oh brill!'"
The woman calls out to Ace: "You girl!"
Ace turns to her and raises her eyebrows.
"Yes, you, girl. Come here."
"What do you want?"
"This milkshake isn't adequately shaken."
"That's how they come, missus."
"It's got lumps in it."
"It's supposed to have lumps in it. That's the ice cream."
"But we don't want lumps in it. Shake it some more."
"Shake it yourself."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You heard."
"I've never been so insulted!"
"Bet you've never had a milk shake tipped over your head, neither."
Ace is as good as her word. She tips the freezing cold milkshake over the posh woman's head. The woman squeals and the barman/manager rushes to her.
"I'm awfully sorry, madam." He turns to ace angrily. "That does it, you're fired!"
Ace suddenly realizes what she has done. "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."
"Get out. I've had enough of you."
"I promise it'll never happen again."
"Get out!" He turns to Mel and Nita. "You too, out."
"Us?" asks Mel, bewildered.
"All of you. Out!"
"All right, we're going!" says Mel, getting up.
"You're troublemakers, hooligans." He turns back to the woman. "I do apologize for my staff. I do assure you, those milk shakes don't stain."
Ace's last act is to tip one over his head, too. The three girls run out of the restaurant, giggling.
In the restricted zone, the image of a woman is being cut from the ice block. Kane admires it then goes to lie on a table.
"Current ambient temperature minus ten Celsius. Target temperature minus a hundred and ninety three Celsius," comes a voice from the computer.
A clear lid closes over Kane.
"Cabinet temperature dropping."
The three girls enter Ace's room, a typical teenage mess. An announcement comes over the loud-speaker: "If there's anyone in the emergency control room, would you please answer the phone. Thank you."
Ace throws herself on the bed. Mel and Nita stand in the doorway.
"Well, come on in, if you're going to. He really gets up my nostrils, that Glitz."
"Oh, he's all right underneath," says Mel.
"No. He's a grade A hundred percent div, that's what he is. Underneath," Ace argues.
Mel starts picking up clothes in the hunt for a chair to sit on.
"Look, leave those alone, will you?" says Ace.
"I was only trying to make room to sit."
"Well, just sit on top of them like everyone else does, can't you?"
"All right, all right."
"I've been meaning to do the washing for a couple of weeks."
"Looks more like a couple of months to me."
"You're just like the teachers used to be at school. 'How do you expect to pass your chemistry A level if you can't even store the equipment properly?'"
"A level? You're from Earth?"
"Used to be."
"Whereabouts on Earth?" asks Nita.
"Perivale."
"Sounds nice."
"You ever been there?"
"No."
"I was doing this brill experiment to extract nitroglycerine from gelignite, but I think something must have gone wrong. This time storm blows up from nowhere and whisks me up here."
"When was this?"
"Does it matter?"
"Well, don't you ever want to go back?"
"Not particularly."
Ace changes out of her waitress apron and puts on a padded jacket decorated with NASA space mission badges. And a Fanderson one, and Ace Roofing Co.
"What about your mum and dad?" asks Nita.
"I haven't got no mum and dad. I've never had no mum and dad and I don't want no mum and dad. It's just me, all right?"
"Sorry."
"What about your chemistry A level, then?" asks Mel.
"That's no good. I got suspended after I blew up the art room."
"You blew up the art room?" asks Nita, amazed. Nothing that exciting had ever happened at her school.
"It was only a small explosion. They couldn't understand how blowing up the art room was a creative act. So what about you two? Where are you from?"
"I'm from Pease Pottage, in West Sussex," says Mel.
"I"ve heard of it," says Ace. "Is that south of London?"
"That's right," agrees Mel. "In Crawley."
"How about you?" Ace asks Nita.
"I'm from Australia," replies Nita.
Another announcement: "If anyone sees any member of the emergency services, will you please ask them to pop along to the upper docking bay when they've a moment to spare. Thank you."
Ace takes some pressurized cans from a rucksack. "Isn't anyone going to do anything about that ice jam blocking the docking bay? Here, take these." She tosses cans to Mel and Nita.
"Deodorant?" asks Nita, puzzled.
"They're just old cans. They've got home made Nitro Nine in them now," Ace explains.
"Nitro Nine?" asks Mel.
"It's just like ordinary nitroglycerine, except it's got a bit more wallop. Careful you don't drop them. Come on." Ace puts the rucksack over her shoulder and leaves. Mel and Nita follow her.