‘He likes to chew anything metallic,’ I said as we turned to leave, ‘only not lead as it gets stuck between his teeth – and cobalt, which gives him the runs. He won’t harm you, and he’s fond of chess, so long as you play it without the knights. He doesn’t like knights.’
‘Who does?’ said Tiger, and he and Kevin followed me out of the ballroom, the guards busying themselves with ‘guarding’ the Quarkbeast.
‘Thank you, Kevin,’ I said once we were out of earshot. ‘I think you just saved those men’s lives.’
‘None of those men would have suffered so much as a cut,’ he replied. ‘I didn’t foresee any of that stuff. Your shoelace is undone. With your first swipe you would have lost your footing and been killed by the wiry guy at the front. After that it would have been Tiger, then me.’
I looked down at my shoelace, which was indeed undone.
‘You lied about what you could see?’
‘The future is soft and pliable, Jen,’ said Kevin with a smile, ‘but we do what we can to guide ourselves towards positive outcomes. But I only bought us time. It was the Quarkbeast who saved our lives.’ He smiled again. ‘Well, that’s me for now. If I hurry I’ve got time to catch
‘There’s a brilliant bit where the train time machine converts into a flying vehicle,’ said Tiger, then: ‘Oh, sorry, that was a bit of a spoiler.’
‘It’s okay,’ said Kevin, patting him on the shoulder, ‘when you can see the future, all you ever get are spoilers.’
We watched him walk away.
‘Well,’ said Tiger, ‘what do we do now?’
‘You do what you want,’ I said. ‘I’ve had about the longest day of my life. I will offer prayers for Feldspar and the crew of the
I had a room on the second floor facing the sea, and slept through five storms, woke for the sixth, then was asleep for the next two. I had balanced a bottle on the doorknob to alert me in case anyone attempted to get in, but no one did.
And I dreamed.
I was back on the control deck of the Mighty Shandar’s Tower of Knowledge. The Hollow string quartet were playing a piece by Pachelbel, and from the duct that would funnel the energy from the conjoining Quarkbeasts I could hear the distant murmur of the other Hollow Men and Women working far below, packing the treasures and necessities for Shandar’s journey across an eternity of time and space. Shandar was sitting in a leather armchair and thumbing through a book of spells. Dreams were often a method of communication from sorcerers, so I assumed this was one of those, and waited to see what he had to say.
‘Ah,’ he said, lowering the book, ‘Jennifer. The Quarkbeast is captured, my friends tell me. You shall be granted safe conduct to bring the little beast to me. It is important you are here to witness the conjoinment.’
‘Delivering the Quarkbeast was never part of the deal.’
‘The deal has changed.’
‘We know of your plan,’ I said. ‘You would destroy the Earth and everything on it to pursue your self-serving megalomaniacal ambitions?’
He wagged a slender index finger at me.
‘Total knowledge is a noble pursuit, and nobility always exacts a price. So what if I suck the life out of a few suns and lay waste to a star system or two? There are billions upon billions of stars out there, and I’m sure the universe can spare a dozen or so. No one will miss the Earth. You know what? I don’t think anyone even
‘I know about the Earth,’ I said. ‘Agreed, it may have a few unresolved issues, but it is also full of beauty, and kindness, and love.’
‘And hate,’ he said, ‘and cruelty, and hunger.’
‘It’s a work in progress,’ I replied, ‘and with optimism, diligence and wise guidance we may get to improve ourselves.’
‘Wise guidance? From whom?’
‘From people like the Princess.’
‘Pah!’ he said. ‘Six months of absolute power and even your little well-meaning chum will start building bronze statues to herself and have her underlings avert their eyes in her presence. Humans are horribly flawed, and prone to morbid self-aggrandisement with even a sniff of power. You will miss nothing when you join me on this journey.’
‘I shall not join you.’
‘It is my wish,’ he said evenly. ‘You will not defy me.’
‘I would sooner die.’
I stood up to yell, but in doing so I woke myself up, and I was back in my room, the day outside new and grey and drizzly with patches of sleet, sun, hail and snow. Someone was tapping on my door. It was Tiger.
‘I heard some shouting,’ he said as soon as I opened the door. ‘Bad dream?’
‘Nope – a mental leap to Shandar’s Tower. He’s going to ask me to deliver the Quarkbeast personally, and wants me to accompany him on his journey to the stars.’
‘What is it with you and him?’
‘I don’t know. Were you sleeping outside my door?’
‘I
