

Osprey Island

By

Marco Bertamini

Copyright © 2012 by Marco Bertamini

Written in November 2012 during

NAtional NOvel WRIting MOnth (www.nanowrimo.org)

Edited by Kate Bennett

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Chapter index

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Nineteen

Chapter Twenty

Chapter One

The wind suddenly fills the sail and the boat glides on the water, leaning to the right.

It is not a large or expensive boat. In addition to the main sail there is a narrow forestay, which does not run to the top of the mast. Based on his experience with sailing boats, Ame told the others that this second sail is called a spinnaker, which is a really impressive word.

The shape and size of the boat is that of a typical pleasure boat, used by local people and by tourists on the lake. It is completely white except for a red line running along the length of the hull. It is meant to carry at most four people. It is, nevertheless, an exciting vessel in the hands of four children.

Ame is in charge of the operations. Last year he took a sailing course on another lake, in the north of the country, where the children come from. He is the proud owner of a certificate, which he keeps safely folded in his rucksack. The certificate says 'Certificate of Nautical Knowledge awarded to Amerigo Aquilani' in large letters, and below it also specifies: "having documented sufficient sailing experience to reach the rank of Crew (level 1)".

Ame is taller than Felix by almost a whole head, even though they are the same age. They look as different as two boys can be. Ame is darker of skin and hair, Felix is lighter in built and has finer features.

Along the side of the vessel, written in curly red letters on top of the red line, is the name of the boat: Audacia.

Felix is controlling the tiller at the moment. The boy is concentrating very hard to do something he has never done before in his life.

"Ready out," shouts Ame.

All four children move to the other side of the boat in preparation for the tack. They have to duck under the boom, and watch out not to get their feet tangled in the lines. Celia releases the jib sheet that holds the jib in position, and prepares to pull in the jib sheet on the other side. She is thin and athletic, and at the moment, dressed for sailing in a wide green waterproof cagoule, looks more like a boy than a girl. She also likes to keep her hair short and spiky.

The other girl on the boat looks different. Libbie is smaller and her skin is lighter than Celia's. She has long hair, but at the moment it is platted in one long braid, which is a good idea while sailing on a windy lake. She has green eyes and freckles. Of the four children she is the one that seems the least comfortable in the boat.

"Tack!"

Felix pulls on the tiller with both hands. The boom and mainsail cross the midline and the sail fills up again on the other side. The four children are ready for the abrupt pull of the wind. The basic principle is simple, keep out of the way of the sail and keep the weight so that the boat does not lean too much. Then try to regain speed again as soon as possible at the new angle. There is a good wind today on the lake and the Audacia is gliding, leaving a white wake behind.

Felix is really excited and looks over the edge to get a feeling of how fast the vessel is sliding over the water.

"Wow! We are flying."

Plop.

"The bag!" shouts Libbie.

The other three children turn their heads to look behind, where Libbie is pointing. A small red bag floats on the surface of the lake, but the vessel moves fast and the distance between bag and boat is quickly growing.

"That was the bag with my phone," says Ame.

Only now is the problem fully realised by Felix.

"My phone was in that bag too!"

He is speaking much louder than Ame. He is jumping up and down and he has put both his hands in his hair.

"And my phone, my phone is in there," says Celia.

Then they all turn to look at Libbie. The small red bag was used to store important items, like money and mobile phones.

"Mine as well," says Libbie, sitting down again, "It was the stupidest idea in the world, ever, to put all our phones in the same bag."

While Libbie and Felix seem paralysed by the disaster, Ame and Celia are turning the boat around, and trying to head back towards the bag that has fallen in the water. They have dropped the sail and are using the rudder to force the boat into making a large loop. The boat is now moving more slowly but the distance to the bag is getting smaller.

"I can still see it," says Celia. She is also checking the wind direction to see if they can move faster. The wind, however, is also moving the bag, which bobs up and down.

"Do bags float on the water?"

"I hope so," says Ame, but without conviction.

"It depends on the content, you idiots, and this bag has some phones in it that are certainly not able to float on their own.." Libbie is still sitting down, with the air of someone who does not think it is worth trying, "and the water is very deep here. It was the stupidest idea in the world, ever."

They are now getting close to the place where the bag is still just about visible. But the boat moves slowly, and getting to the exact spot is hard. They may pass it without being able to collect the bag if they are not near enough.

Ame and Celia lean from the side of the boat. Both of them are thinking of whether it would be possible to jump in and swim to get the bag. Just then they can see the bag sinking below the surface. Suddenly it picks up speed as if something is dragging it down and it disappears completely from sight.

Ame sounds disappointed, but in his voice there is also the calm of one with a clear conscience. He did try to get the bag back. He actually was managing ok with the sails.

"Oh no, we were almost there."

Felix does not know what to say. He repeats, "All our phones, and all our money. All of it."

Celia is quite upset too.

"This is going to be a big problem, a really big problem."

The four children can see that their phones and most of their money are gone. Libbie is perhaps the one that has been most affected, although she had given up from the beginning. She is sitting with folded arms.

They need to decide what to do next. Celia is the one taking the decision to reach the island. That was their destination anyway from the beginning. It is not far. In fact from where they are they can see the stony beach, and just behind it the trees and the rocks of Osprey Island.
Chapter One

(Captain Aliquis)

"The lower wings are being used to redirect the prow towards us. This is wrong."

"You mean, this is not the behaviour of a cargo vessel."

Captain Aliquis turned towards his second in command, Paisanis, who was a whole head shorter than him. He nodded, then he returned to the screens in front of him.

"Too late to retreat. Prepare to board."

When two spaceships come together and the pirate ship boards the other, all the extra-modern technology available makes little difference. It is a matter of slamming the side as hard as possible into the other vessel and join up with boarding tubes. The space pirates call these their friendly leeches. They have teeth that can perforate the hull of a ship and make instant passageways.

The cargo was bulkier than the pirate ship, and clearly not meant for speed. But it was a good place to hide an army ready to fight. Captain Aliquis vessel was a space sloop. It was completely black with just a red line along the length of the hull.

On top of the red line, written in curly red letters was the name of the boat: Audacia.

There was no audible sound with the collision, but a shockwave disturbed one of the asteroids of the nearest planet, causing it to alter its orbit. It escaped the gravitational force of the planet around which it had revolved for a few million years and started a new journey in space.

The battle was fierce. Captain Aliquis had guessed correctly, this had been a prepared ambush. This cargo ship pretended to have an engine failure. In reality it was full of soldiers. These were mercenaries paid by the Company of the outer planets.

Captain Aliquis was not one for standing at the back during a battle, he was at the front of his men and tried to reach the bridge of the enemy ship. The mercenaries were clearly experienced warriors, and had planned their ambush carefully. But even they had not expected a full attack from the pirates. They had hoped to surprise them as they came on board to inspect a cargo ship that appeared half abandoned with engine problems.

"Captain Aliquis."

When he heard his name, he understood immediately. One of his men had betrayed him.
Chapter Two

They work in silence. First they walk along the shore and start to explore the island. They walk until the end of the stony beach and then back. They must make sure there is a safe place to set up the campsite. When the boat is secured, with two sets of lines, they start unloading. Felix, who is possibly the lightest of the four, has the heaviest backpack. It looks almost as if there are stones weighing down his bag.

There is a big decision to make.

"Are we actually looking for a place to camp?" asks Libbie.

"Sure, why not? We have all the equipment. And that was the plan," replies Ame, almost as if getting on with the adventure is simply the only logical thing to do.

"Libbie is right," intervenes Celia, "we really have to discuss what to do now that we are isolated and without a way to get in touch with our parents."

Even though they are not sure on what to do, they have finished unloading the boat. In the midday sun the small island is beautiful. The background of the vegetation is bright green, and the water of the lake is clear blue. The shingle beach is long and deserted, and it curves gently like a crescent, but not enough to actually form a bay. It is a peaceful place and it looks a lot like a beach in a holiday ad. It is impossible to see any sign of human activity: no houses, no roads, no power lines, no car noises.

At the border between beach and woodland there are some distinctive bushes. They have short trunks, low widely forking branches, and broad rounded crown of green foliage. The children have learned the strange name of this bush: Tree-heliotrope.

Ame shrugs his shoulders. He does not seem too worried about the situation.

"I think we should stay."

"Well, I think we should stay as well, in fact I thought that even before you, but the point is that we need a decision with votes," says Celia.

"I am not sure," says Felix, "without phones we do not have any way to get in touch with our parents, or even with Mr Holmes."

My Holmes is the owner of the boat. He also runs the campsite, the hotel, and the supermarket, and many other things in the village of Cape Heureuse.

"That's ok," says Celia, "Mr Holmes knows that we are camping on the island, so there is no problem, we will just get back in a few days as planned, we have all the things we need with us. I mean, except for our phones."

Libbie is still not convinced "My mother will probably try to phone. Your parents may try to phone as well. What then?"

"Well, fish do not speak so they can't answer the call from the bottom of the lake," says Ame.

All four children laugh, and then Celia points out that it is unlikely that their parents expect their mobile phones to be working out here on this island. It is not as if there are masts nearby, and the island is itself in the middle of a park. Even the village of Cape Heureuse, which is the nearest town, is in quite an isolated part of the country.

Cape Heureuse is the third largest towns in Peninsula, a region in the south that is known as a backwater, sleepy and peaceful. The main town in the region is Crannac, and it is located on the coast. It takes three hours of driving to go from Cape Heureuse to Crannac, mainly because the roads are narrow and twisty. There is no railway network in Peninsula.

The four children discuss the problem for a while, but despite the reservations they all say that it would be a disaster to go back to Cape Heureuse, and that even if they did, it would not change anything with respect to them finding their phones. They really would like to continue on their camping holiday as planned.

"So it is decided," concludes Celia, eager to get on with the task at hand, "we are staying. The next thing is to choose the place for our campsite."

"And then cook some food," adds Ame.

Setting up a campsite to be used for several days or for a whole week is a task that involves planning and care. There is a nice place some fifty metres from the edge of the lake that seems flat and dry. Here they set the two tents, after removing the most obvious stones that would otherwise be underneath their sleeping bags. The tents are of good quality and are easy to put together, but Celia insists that they should also be secured to the ground in case of strong wind.

It is useful to have a few trees around. Inside the backpacks they have separate bags for different types of food, like meat, fruit, and vegetables. They hang the bags with a strong rope to the high branch of a tree. This should prevent any wild animal from getting to the provisions. Mr Holmes has told them that there are no large mammals on Osprey Island, no bears or dogs and not even mice, but the children want to do things properly.

Next they select a cooking area and a dining area. The main idea is to have a place for the fire not too close to the tents but not too far away. Ame and Felix dig a small fire pit, and make a stone circle around it, while Celia and Libbie start looking around to collect some dry firewood. As they work on the fire pit they discover that this is place that has been used before as a camp, and underneath the leaves and the pebbles there are black signs of previous fires.

The last task is to select a bathroom area. This is further back from the campsite, away from the lake and near the woods.

They take out from their backpacks all the tools that are needed, and store the bags inside the tents. Felix has a large round object in his backpack. He takes it out and treats it with great care. He leaves Ame and Celia who are finishing the job of checking the tents and brings his secret package down to the shore.

Libbie has noticed the strange round object. She is curious and she joins up with Felix on the shore.

"So that's what made your rucksack so heavy."

"You can help me. I need to put the rocks all around and make a sort of mini lake, so it will stay here in the pool and not float away."

They move rocks for a while until the job is done. Now there is a stone circle and in the middle, bobbing in the water, a huge stripy watermelon.

"Surely we could have carried something more useful."

"But I like it," said Felix, a bit defensively. "Look at it, it is beautiful. And you will like it too I am sure, here in the water it keeps at exactly the right temperature, not too warm and not too cold."

"What I am saying is that I do not think this is the kind of food we need here on an island. But anyway, whatever, now it is here. Even if it is a stupid idea."
Chapter Two

(Captain Aliquis)

Captain Aliquis turned around and saw Mussis, the small pirate that had recently returned from a long absence to Moon Five, the base of the pirates. He had told a story of capture and escape, but in reality he must have given in under torture and helped the Imperial Army, or the Company of the outer planets, to set up this ambush.

"Captain Aliquis, I am sorry, I had to do this."

Mussis was sweating and the hand that was holding the gun was shaking.

"I had to do this for my family!"

It was almost as if Mussis was expecting some kind of forgiveness. Then he activated the weapon and hit Captain Aliquis straight in the chest.

The pirate fell back against the wall. The silver spacesuit was torn by the blast and blood was spilling everywhere.

Someone shouted.

"What have you done! I said I wanted him alive. I gave precise orders. I wanted Captain Aliquis alive to take to Colony B. I have a tribunal there, waiting for him."

Captain Aliquis had been a thorn on the side of the Company of the outer planets for many years. He had caused considerable damage to the trade of precious metals that was one of the reasons this region of space had been taken over by the Company, with the logistical support of the Empire.

The Imperial Army was a vast organisation, and the main purpose of this large army was to keep order on the numerous planets of the Solar system. Every planet was part of the Empire, with the power still on the home planet. But even the might of the Imperial Army could not quash the activities of the many pirate ships operating in the farther reaches of the system.

Even without Captain Aliquis the battle lasted for another hour. Neither side could hold on to the bridge and take control of the ship. In one foray the pirates were able to retrieve the body of their captain. Eventually some of the pirates surrendered and were taken prisoners. But most of them managed to return to their ship and left on the escape pods. There was a chance that some of the pods may reach an inhabited planet, or be rescued by a ship that could pick up the distress signal. A small chance in the vasteness of deep space.
Chapter Three

It is the evening of Monday. This is the first evening on the island for the four friends. They sit around the fire. It is not a large campfire because they do not need a large one, but the flames are bright and the wood that they have used releases interesting smells. This is very different from what they are used to because they come from a big city. They come from the capital, up North.

Everybody is keen to help with the fire and with the utensils for the meal. They have planned to take turns with the cooking, and this first evening meal is prepared by Celia. She has volunteered, as she is confident that she can do a good job. Her experience with camping is almost non-existent, like that of the others, but she has read about the topic in preparation for their adventure on the island.

The children have planned the dinners carefully in terms of food. They thought that the first one was an occasion in which they could use fresh ingredients, while later in the week they would rely more on tins and simpler meals.

They have brought some fresh sausages and fresh leeks, which they had prepared chopped into nice round wheels with some garlic. Celia combines everything in a skillet with some cooking oil and places it on the fire. They have also prepared a cross with branches that allows her to rest the handle of the skillet over it, and to keep the skillet more stable. It will take some time for the sausages and leeks to cook, but the smell is absolutely fantastic.

Libbie is looking at the fire while she speaks,

"I think I know how we ended up going on this adventure together."

"Well, that is because it is fun," says Ame. He is still making adjustments to the stones around the fire, moving them a bit closer.

"Yes, it is great here," joins in Felix because, despite the loss of the phones, this is so much better than any holiday he has been on before. Even if camping may be a bit of hard work, and a new phone would be expensive, he is determined not to moan and to look on the bright side.

"No, I mean, why exactly the four of us as opposed to anybody else in our class."

"But we are not all in the same class, you are with Ms Durnwalder anyway," points out Ame.

"I mean, the four of us, from the whole school."

Celia is stirring the contents of the skillet. It is not quite ready yet.

"This dinner is going to be great. We made our camp, our food, and we sailed across an enormous lake. This sounds like a good reason to be here to me."

"That was not what I was talking about. Of course it is nice here. I was talking about the fact that we chose to go on this trip, and we planned it all carefully together. Four people. Us four. Did you not ask yourself why us?"

"Well, we had asked Dan as well but he did not get permission from his parents ..." starts Felix, but then he realises that this is not what Libbie is interested in hearing, so he stops, then turns to her and asks, "Tell us then, what is that we all have in common?"

"Broken families."

There is some silence for a while, and the children look at the flames. Ame pokes the fire with a stick and adds some more fuel.

"I don't think that what you say is really true," says Celia, "I lost my father years ago, but I get along pretty well with my mum. We do spend time together and do things ..."

"And I have a father, even though I do not have a mother, or not any longer," says Felix, "I mean, she is not dead or anything. I think she is fine. She has just decided not to stay with us."

"Well, you see?" insists Libbie, "we do not have a normal pair of parents each, that is what we all share."

There is something else that the four children have in common. None of them has any sibling. However, families with more than one child are not very common. The treaty of New Deheli twenty years ago brought together almost all nations in the World and the final declaration was in favour of a coordinated population monitoring. The idea was to develop and promote regulations that would ensure a maximum of two children per family worldwide, without the need of enforced population control. Progress had been patchy at the beginning but slowly the average family size had started to decrease in the countries in which it was high. Now families tend to be small, with one or two children at the most, and the pattern is similar in every part of the world.

"But wait a second, you do. I saw your parents when they came to drop you off at my place, before my mother took us all down south," points out Celia, "you are the one with two parents."

Celia's mother has a very large car in which seven people can sit. She also does not have a job, or not a normal job anyway, so she found the time to drive the four children to Peninsula, several hours away from their city. Here she stayed for a night in a hotel in the village of Cape Heureuse, while the children started their camping. It was part of the plan that they would spend some time in Cape Heureuse, but they had been granted their wish to go sailing on the lake, and to spend a week on Osprey Island.

This is much more than just a holiday. The children have worked hard to gain the approval of their parents. Ame has being raking lots of leaves in the neighbourhood, Felix has rearranged his entire room, and he has been making breakfast for his father for a month, Celia has been cooking all the evening meals, and Libbie did some difficult research online for her father.

The original idea was Celia's. Her mother had suggested that she was old enough to have for the first time a holiday without her. She had thought about this carefully. Celia was a sensible and independent girl, and she liked being outdoors. Her mother had brought home catalogues with camping resorts. She had spread them on the table. They were full of smiley children singing and playing together. The catalogues described lots of resorts, and the programs included a bewildering number of organised activities. Celia did like the idea of camping but found the places in the catalogues rather silly. In one of the pictures there was a bungalow shaped like a huge mushroom, with little windows made to look like holes with painted smiley worms coming out of them. That was ridiculous. Celia, therefore, decided to find the most remote camping site in the whole country. That is how she had found the village of Cape Heureuse.

Celia's original idea was to go on her own, but her mother would not allow that. So she had to ask some friends. The problem was that Celia gets along pretty well with most people in school, but she does not have special friends. Not friends that she sees regularly. She ended up asking Ame because she was doing a project with him for school. They were supposed to build a replica of one of Leonardo da Vinci's bridges: the self-supporting bridge that can be built with tree trunks without any nails or ropes. They were using broomsticks instead of trees. Celia thought that Ame was an efficient, practical person, and therefore someone useful when camping.

Ame, like Celia, was respected more than truly liked in class. He did not have any special friend. When they had finished the bridge project they took photos and brought them to school. Felix was very impressed and said lots of kind words. Maybe because of that they had decided to ask Felix as well. In fact Felix was a cheerful, smiley boy. Everybody seemed to like him, although they did not always respect him. But his sunny nature meant that he would be a good addition to the adventure.

A few other classmates were asked but could not get permission from their parents, or were not interested. Libbie joined them at the last moment. Actually Celia thought that Ame had asked her and Ame thought that Celia had asked her.

"My family is the worst. Do not get me started on my family."

Although Libbie was the one that started the topic of broken families, she does not say anything more about it.

Celia serves the sausages and leeks onto the plates as the children are now sitting on stones around the fire. The food is now what keeps everybody's attention. It was a long day, and they have earned their dinner.

They had planned on doing things in the evenings. They brought a set of playing cards, a few printed pages with the words of some popular songs and a few other materials, including a few books. But when dinner is finished they just sit and look at the fire. The tents and the sleeping bags are ready, but it is not late. It only feels late because they are worn out and because it is dark. It is darker than they had expected it. The temperature has dropped compared to when the sun was out, and that is another reason why it is nice to stay close to the fire.

A tin of oat biscuits gets passed around.

"I think we did forget something," says Ame, "I think we should have brought a fishing rod. Tomorrow we could have tried to fish in the lake, from the shore or with the boat."

"Yes, that would have been a good idea," says Celia, "I have never tried fishing before and I am pretty sure none of you has tried either, but we could have managed. I am sure it is not too difficult."

"I think it is more difficult than you think," says Felix, "and I suspect that if I were to bring a live fish out of the water I would then want to free it again."

They laugh at Felix's admission. They know that it is probably true.

"I bet that if you were really hungry," says Ame, "you would love to eat some fresh fish. Especially cooked on the fire. I think cooked on a stick on the fire is a great way to do it."

The discussion about fishing does not go on for long, maybe because there is no point. They do not have a fishing rod so there is no way that they can catch any fish.

They are city children, and they are not used to seeing so many stars. Now that it is dark the sky is what draws their attention.

"Do you know the names of any of the stars?" asks Felix.

"I know a few names," says Ame, "but just the names, I mean, I would not be able to tell you which is which. That really bright one over there I think is the one that sailors used to find the North. They used to be able to navigate using the stars."

"We all know that," says Libbie.

"But where is the moon?" asks Felix "I can't see it, but it must be there."

"No, you idiot," says Libbie, "Have you ever heard of a moonless night? The moon is not always visible."

"I think Libbie is right," says Celia, "but I bet that none of us would be able to say much more about when one should see it and when it is not visible. I mean, we tend not to pay attention to these things, do we?"

"If we had a chance to choose a different time to come here we could have chosen a time of the year with a full moon," says Ame, "A full moon would have been useful in the evening. I have heard that a full moon can be so bright, when there are no clouds, that it makes enough light to go walking about in the middle of the night, and you can even read a book by the light of the moon!"

"That's the stupidest thing, ever. I don't believe that," says Libbie, "it is probably just a urban myth."

/////

They had arrived in Cape Heureuse on Saturday. There is just one organised camping site in the village. It belongs to Mr Holmes and is located on the shore of the lake. The children spent two nights at the campsite while Celia's mother stayed in a hotel.

The children have got to know Celia's mother well during the long drive down from their home city to Peninsula. She is called Melissa but almost the first thing she had told them was that they should call her Mel. The children liked her, and they were happy to spend some time with her for the first couple of days.

On Sunday they went together to visit the main church in the centre of Cape Heureuse, which is called Iglesias de Santa Barbara. The building is interesting because of its history, but it is small and can be explored in about fifteen minutes. Then, on the Sunday, they went to see a stone-age circle on top of a local mountain. The stone construction was barely visible, and one would not have noticed it if someone had not put a sign up with some explanation. The hike to the top of the mountain, however, was a challenge. They felt pleased with themselves when they reached the top.

Peninsula as a region has started to attract tourists only recently. It is a new phenomenon. The more popular resorts, however, are the towns along the coast. The interior is relatively unexplored. In the campsite in Cape Heureuse, for instance, there is room for twenty tents, but on Saturday when they had arrived there were only a dozen spaces that were occupied.

The following day was Monday. They had been to the main square where there are some stands with local produce and to the supermarket to buy provisions. Then, as planned, they had borrowed Mr Holmes's sailing boat and set off to reach Osprey Island. This was the beginning of the more adventurous part of their holiday. Celia's mother had waived at them from the harbour, and then she had driven back North. It was already the middle of the day.

Thanks in large part to Celia, but also to Ame, the food that the children have carried with them on the boat is organised so as to provide meals for up to seven days on the island. The provisions are stored in various containers, carefully sealed, and they have packaged everything with great care so as not to damage anything.

The menu for the week is written in a notebook. Apart from the fresh leeks and the onions, the rest of the vegetables come from tins, but they do have plenty of fresh fruit. They also have plenty of bottled water and some cartons of orange juice. The water is important when camping, and they know that they have to rely on their own supply for the whole time that they are on the island as there is no fresh water available here. They are not entirely sure whether the water of the lake can be drunk but they prefer not to take chances.

Monday (half day)

Dinner - chopped sausages and leeks cooked together + bread + biscuits

Tuesday

Breakfast - scrambled eggs + bananas

Lunch - bread with tomatoes and cheese + apples

Dinner - bread and baked beans + biscuits

Wednesday

Breakfast - bread and jam + bananas

Lunch - bread with ham and cheese + apples

Dinner - corned beef hash + bread + biscuits

Thursday

Breakfast - oat porridge + pears

Lunch - bread with tomatoes and cheese + bananas

Dinner - hot dog sausages from a tin + sweetcorn + biscuits

Friday

Breakfast - bread and jam + apples

Lunch - bread with tomatoes and cheese

Dinner - beans and pancetta + peas + biscuits

Saturday

Breakfast - scrambled eggs + apples

Lunch - bread with tomatoes and cheese

Dinner - beans and pancetta + peas + biscuits

Chapter Three

(Captain Aliquis)

The room was very bright. As he opened his eyes he was confused and puzzled. As far as he could remember he had just managed to survive a fierce battle. He also remembered that he was badly wounded by one of his own men. But this was not his ship, and it was not a cargo ship either. The only other possibility was that he was a prisoner of the Imperial Army. But it was strange. The room was too nice to be the cell of a prison, the bed was extremely comfortable, and there was no sign of any soldiers.

Someone entered the room. It was a mechanical servant dressed in white clothes. It is easy to mistake a robot for a real person unless they were moving. There was something quite different in the dynamics of artificial limbs compared to the movements of a real body made of flesh and bones.

The robot noticed that he was stirring in the bed, and it appeared to get quite excited. That was not really true, as robots are incapable of getting excited. It left the room quickly and came back with a doctor.

"You are very lucky to have survived. The debris of your space pod was found in the forest here on Colony C. Not many people survive a space crash, and even fewer survive alone in the forest!"

Could it be that he was on Colony C but that nobody knew who he really was? Could it be that nobody had recognised him for a most wanted pirate? That was very lucky indeed.

"Can I ask you where you come from?" inquired the polite Doctor.

"Where I come from?"

"Yes, and on which spaceship you were travelling. Oh, I am terribly sorry, you may still need some rest. I will come and check on you again later. In the meantime I will let Signorina Rosso know"

That surname! Conte Rosso was in charge of the Company of the outer planets. He was the main reason Captain Aliquis had resorted to piracy. The Company was exploiting the natural resources of the outer planets without any care for the consequences and for the people here. The original colonies were now reduced to a sort of working prisons, and most of the Outers were given little choice but to earn their living in the mining industry. This structure allowed the Company to extract precious metal from the planets and the asteroids of the region and trade them with the rest of the solar system.

Who could possibly be Signorina Rosso?

"Thank you," said Aliquis, making sure that he was disguising his Outer accent.

The robot servant offered him a glass of water. After a while he realised that he had to say something more.

"My name is John Sigursson, I am a scientist on an mission to explore the minor planets in this outer region for novel forms of life. Our ship had technical difficulties, then we hit an asteroid"

Later he cursed himself for coming up with such a stupid name. Of all the names he could invent why did he have to choose an old-fashioned name like John? But hopefully his plan of passing for an absent-minded scientist would work. He had been very lucky so far; he had to count on more of the same. And his men, if some had survived and reached Moon Five, would be looking for him.

The name he had chosen was not completely invented. In fact he had met a strange traveller once, a sort of explorer, and his name was Sigursson. He was a lonely man with some strange ideas about finding new species of animals, so it was unlikely that anybody on Colony C had ever heard of the real Mr Sigursson.

He doubted that the real Mr Sigursson was called John.

"Signorina Rosso will be very interested in hearing your story. Did you know that she is exceptionally interested in astrobiology?" said the robot.

There was no irony in what the robot had said. Robots are not endowed with a sense of humour. But Captain Aliquis knew that he had to be careful. Perhaps it had been a mistake to pretend that he was a scientist. If there were other scientists here in this palace they may want to talk to him. His knowledge of astrobiology was good for a pirate but he was inventing a cover up. It would have taken time to plan this carefully. In addition to answering questions about animals that lived in the outer planets, he may have to answer questions about which University he was working for, and other basic facts that an academic would be expected to know. It would not take long for a real scientist to ask difficult questions and discover that there were holes in his story.

"Ah, perhaps Mr Sigursson, you were making your way to the big conference on Colony B? Am I correct? The conference about astrobiology, or something like that," says the Doctor, "it was in the news yesterday."

"It is called the Whole Solar System Flora and Fauna, which gives the acronym WSSFF, although that is easy to say for a robot but not so easy for humans," said the robot, eager to be helpful, "A very important meeting, about three thousand scientists will attend in the Arena and Conference centre of Port Melbourne. It is a great honour to have such a conference here in the Outer region. Last year the conference was held on the home planet."

"Yes. Yes indeed, I was planning on going to the conference after my exploration. But now I am not sure I will be able to go."

As he moved in bed he felt pain in his back. He did not need to pretend to be in a bad shape.

"Oh, there is still time," said the robot, which seemed to be remarkably well informed about this conference, "you could make it to Colony B in time. The official registration opens on day 1235, followed by a wine reception in the outdoor patio, and then ..."

The doctor asked the robot to accompany him outside so that their guest could have some rest. However, before leaving he added,

"Signorina Rosso's personal cruise ship detected your presence in the forest. She is the one who saved your life."

Chapter Four

It is very early in the morning. In fact the day has not properly started. It is dawn, the time marking the beginning of the glow of the sun before it comes over the horizon. Felix is the first to unzip the tent and to stick his head out. The air is fresh and the sounds of the wildlife in the woods are much louder than one would expect. The songs of the birds may have been the reason Felix woke up. As someone who lives in a city, Felix had an expectation that on a deserted island the only sound would be that of the waves. In fact the island appears full of creatures.

"Wow. This is great."

Felix stretched a bit and walks out of the tent. After a while he decides that he should shake Ame and wake him up. Felix is the kind of person who cannot fully enjoy something without other people around to share what is going on.

The two boys get up. They are in no hurry and they stretch and look around. It is slowly getting warmer and there is no point in starting a fire right away, except for making breakfast. Ame is keen to get that started, and have breakfast ready for when the girls wake up. Felix agrees, but then volunteers to go and look for driftwood on the beach, even though there is no need for more wood. There is a nice pile already sitting in a corner of their dining area, as this was one of the jobs that they had carried out the day before.

Felix walks all the way to the southern end of the shingle beach. He wonders what is beyond, but at this point the bushes close his path. They have not explored the island beyond the beach on which they have arrived. To do more walking is the plan for today, or at least the plan is to start the exploration. The island seems bigger now that they are here.

He knows the shape of Osprey Island from the map. It is long and narrow, and slightly curved. The south end is mostly flat while the north end has a rocky peak, called Osprey Lookout. They have brought four maps, just in case, so that every one of them can keep one in their pocket.

There is also a stream, marked on the map, with water coming down from Osprey Lookout to the lake. It is just a thin line on their chart, and that means that it is usually dry but it can suddenly fill after a rainy event. In fact the map does not provide a name for it, and it is simply marked as "stream".

Crossing the island even at the narrow waist, going west to east or vice versa, is not straightforward. There is no path, the terrain is rocky and the vegetation dense.

Felix looks around then he uses his hand to shade his eyes and looks at the sky. The sun is out but it is still low and it is hard to look to the east. Yet down over the horizon, in the southeastern direction, it seems to the boy that a thin line of smoke is drifting up above the trees.

Felix runs back to the campsite.

"Hey, I saw something. I saw a fire. There are other people on the island!"

By now Celia and Libbie are already awake and out of their tent. Everybody looks around trying to make sense of what Felix is saying. However, when they look to the south and to the east they cannot spot the smoke or any other sign of people.

"Are you sure?" asks Celia, who tends to be sceptical by nature.

"Yes, yes, from the other side of the island. It was very clear. Grey smoke, like a campfire you know. Some people must have a campsite there".

At the moment, however, the sky is clear and there is no sign of smoke. The only noise is that of the birds, and even that is quieter now than it had been an hour earlier.

"You may have been mistaken. Don't mean to doubt you, but I know I cannot be trusted to see or do anything right before breakfast," says Ame.

Libbie turns back to check on the scrambled eggs that she has been preparing in a pan to go on the fire. She adds some butter, salt and pepper.

But then, the deep and rough voice of a man startles them.

"Hey, what do you think you are doing here?"

He is walking towards them from the North, and because they were all paying attention to the south they had not noticed him. He is walking along the beach, limping and using a stick.

"You, I am talking to you."

There is nobody else around in the whole long beach.

As the man gets closer they can see that he is an old gentleman of scruffy appearance. He wears a loose shirt and a straw hat with a wide brim, and he has sandals on his feet. The hat partly hides his face so it is not easy to see his eyes and his expression.

"Good morning sir," says Celia standing up, and the others say the same, following her example.

"Yes, yes, good morning and all that ... Where are you coming from? You look like ... look like ... "

The man is struggling to find the word, then, eventually, he says:

"Children! You look like children!"

Felix tries to explain.

"We have been told by My Holmes that we can camp on Osprey Island. We did not know there was anybody else here."

Libbie is more suspicious.

"We do not know who you are. Do you live around here?"

"Yes, of course I live on this island. I am doing important research. This is no place for children. You are going to be in the way."

"Why?" ask the four children together.

The old man looks at them. He seems surprised that they are not aware of the fact that they are not supposed to be here.

"You, children, are here and thinks that this is like ... like ... a holiday. Ah, you do not know what lives in the water of this lake. Do you?"

With that, the old man turns around and without waiting for a response to his last question starts walking back up the shore in the direction from where he has come. He is mumbling to himself as he limps away, but the children cannot make out what he is saying.

"That was strange," says Felix.

"That was a strange man," adds Ame.

"And he smelled!" says Libbie.

"Yes," says Celia, "but what lives in this lake? Did he mean to warn us about something dangerous?"

/////

It is now time for lunch, the first lunch on the island for the children. The four friends have explored a bit around their camp, but they have not ventured very far. They still have no idea where the old man has come from and if he really lives on the island. They are pretty sure that there are no houses, and there is no sign of any on their map.

It is getting much warmer. The sun has climbed high in the sky and if they had not been busy with exploring the area around the campsite the children might have been tempted by the water of the lake. Early in the morning they were wearing jumpers, but they are now in shorts and t-shirts.

Although they now have a nice pile of dry wood, conveniently stored, they do not need to start a fire to organise the lunch. They are just going to eat bread and cheese. Ame was the one who had insisted in bringing lots of bread.

Felix is struggling a bit to open the wrapping of the Provolone cheese. Celia lends him her sharp knife for the job. It is a beautiful camping knife that she keeps in a leather holder attached to her belt. They have also brought a type of fresh Caciotta that they have found in the local market. Somehow the food here smells a lot better than at home in the city, but it may just be the fact that the work and the fresh air have made them all quite hungry.

After lunch, Ame walks the short distance down to the lake. He is checking the boat.

"Hey, guys, come quick. It has been stolen! Come and see. They have stolen it."

The others rush down to the boat. Felix is very upset.

"My watermelon. They have stolen my watermelon"

The small pool of water in which the large watermelon had been carefully placed is empty. The stones have been disturbed, and there is no sign of the watermelon.

"Forget about the silly watermelon," says Ame "I meant that someone has stolen the rudder from the boat."

They all look around, under the boat and along the shore, but they cannot see it. The rudder is a large object and it cannot have disappeared easily. Not without someone actually lifting it up from its socket and carrying it away.

"What kind of animal can steal a watermelon?" asks Felix.

"Someone must have come here in the night. I bet that in carrying away the rudder they disturbed the stones of Felix little pool, and then the watermelon floated away," concludes Celia.

"The old man," says Libbie, "I knew that the old man was trouble. Of course it must have been him. He clearly did not like us."

Celia is not sure about this theory.

"But he only noticed us in the morning, he seemed surprised to find people here, and he can't have stolen the rudder after breakfast, we were around."

"But we were at the camp, not down here on the shore, so we do not know when my watermelon and the rudder were stolen," says Felix, who is still equally interested in the rudder and the watermelon.

"We will have to go and find that strange man. We cannot sail the boat without rudder," says Ame.
Chapter Four

(Captain Aliquis)

Moon Five was the smallest of the moons of Colony A. It was believed to be uninhabited. Colony A was the largest of the outer planets, but also the least hospitable (equatorial diameter: 18,602 km, average distance from the sun 190 million km, inclination: 32 deg). Colony A, like many giant planets, had a liquid rock core surrounded by a layer of liquid hydrogen. On the outside, the hydrogen thinned out into a gaseous atmosphere. Its moons were more interesting, and some had been extensively explored for precious minerals.

Moon Five was not of any interest because it was covered in ice, but it had an ocean hidden under the thick surface of the ice. The hideout of the pirates was built by creating an air bubble underneath the ice, and within it there was something in between a spaceship and a small town.

On the Bridge of Moon Five Paisanis was pacing up and down.

A pirate entered and walked up to him, standing in the manner of a soldier reporting to a superior.

"Captain, there is a report from one of our explorers. It is about Colony D."

He did not like being called Captain. There was only one Captain and that was Captain Aliquis. But so far they had not been able to discover where his space pod had landed, if it had landed at all. To be floating in the vastness of empty space in a pod was never safe, and even less so for a Pirate who was wanted by the Imperial Army. But Paisanis had not given up the hope of seeing his friend again. They had been through a lot together and they had survived extreme danger, like the time their ship had an engine failure while they were flying over a huge active volcano on Colony C.

"Is it about the pod?"

"No, Sir, I think it is about some strange activity on the surface of the planet."

Paisanis grunted and asked for the explorer to be brought in front of him.

It turned out that the explorer was a boy of about fifteen. His name was Johan Coriolis.

It was clear from his swagger that he was eager to impress.

"Well, what have you got to report?"

"Sir, ... are you?"

"Listen boy, I don't have time to waste. You wanted to report something, if you have something to say then I am the person in charge here"

"I beg your pardon, I expected to find Captain Aliquis ..."

It was obvious that it was a big disappointment for the young explorer not to meet with his hero.

"He is not here," said Paisanis shortly.

"Sir. I am certain that the Company of the outer planets is carrying out some experiments on Colony C. I have witnessed the arrival of many ships, and they are working on the land in the northern continent"

"So? That is what they do, they take what they need."

"But Sir, in the past they have only been interested in the minerals, and they have only six mines on Colony C, although they are massive. Now they seem to be working on cutting down trees and turning the forest into some kind of field for planting new crops."

This was probably a false alarm. There was nothing in what the boy had said that sounded relevant for the search of Captain Aliquis, and it did not seen very interesting even in relation to the plans of the Company of the outer planets. What did it matter if Conte Rosso has suddenly decided to build a farm on Colony C.

"Is that all?"

"Yes, Sir."

After a pause Paisanis thought about what Aliquis would have said in his position.

"Your contribution is important. Thank you."

The face of the boy lit up. He smiled.

"Now you'd better go back to school. You are too young to carry out exploratory missions on your own."

"Sir, if I were to go back to my village it would be the mine, not the school, that would wait for me there. I prefer to take my chances in space."

"Well," thought Paisanis to himself, "it is hard to disagree with the boy, perhaps even if he becomes a pirate it would not be much more dangerous than working in a mine."

"That is your choice, boy, but be careful."
Chapter Five

They have decided to take turns in their exploration of the island. Two of them will go out and reach the top of Osprey Lookout, and the other two will stay near the tents. This seems the safest way to do things for now.

They draw straws and Ame and Felix win, which means that they will be the ones to go on the scouting trip first.

To reach the top of Osprey Lookout they head South and they do some climbing. The main obstacle, however, is the dense vegetation. It is an unfamiliar challenge for Ame and Felix. This is a strange place, as they walk, branches are crackling under their feet, and the composting leaves have a pungent smell. Fortunately they are well organised and they have a machete with them to open a path.

The top of Osprey Lookout is not flat but it is clear of tall trees, so it is possible to see in all directions. There are no clouds in the blue sky above them. They can see the village of Cape Heureuse in the distance, and they can even spot a few fishing boats on the lake. However, there is no evidence of any people on the island. They decide that the next thing to do is to walk all around Osprey Lookout.

They make their way down and as they round the crag they can see a hut, perched on the side of the mountain. A path leads up to it. It is an easy and wide path as the slope is not very steep. The hut itself is only about five meters higher than the level of the water. On the roof there are six solar panels.

"Do you think this is where the old man lives?" asks Felix.

"It must be," says Ame, "it is a sort of house and I do not believe that there are any other houses on the island. We certainly have not seen any. Besides, there are shirts and underwear that are hanging to dry outside the hut."

"But it may be dangerous to go up there. The guy clearly was not happy to see us on the island."

They stand, unsure, for a few minutes. They know that they have to confront the old man if they want to get their rudder back. Without it they cannot make their way back to the village, and they do not have any mobile phone to call for help, assuming that one could use a mobile phone on the island.

"I think we first should go back and report to Libbie and Celia on our discovery, then we can decide together what to do next," says Felix. It is a bit of a delaying tactic. This will put off the confrontation with the thief, but Ame agrees that they should first go back to base.

Back at the campsite, Celia and Libbie listen to what the boys have discovered. They both think that they should go to the hut and demand to speak with the old man. If they set out now they can do it and be back before the sun will start to go down.

"Look! Look there! I told you I had seen it before," shouts Felix.

He is pointing to the South. That is, he is pointing in the opposite direction with respect to Osprey Lookout. There, beyond the trees, it is now possible to see a line of smoke.

"You are right," says Ame.

In fact they can all see the smoke now.

"There are too many people on this island," says Celia, "Mr Holmes had assured us we would be camping on our own, and that the island was completely deserted."

"Not really," points out Felix, "I think we did not ask that question, and he did not mention anybody, but that is not the same as to say that he guaranteed us that we would be on our own."

"And there is more," says Libbie pointing out over the water.

A small motorised boat is coming towards them.

"Who could that be?" asks Celia.

The boat slows down and come close enough to the shore to drop an anchor. The children recognise Mr Holmes, who is waving at them.

"Hey there. Everything ok? I am coming on shore if I have your permission."

My Holmes is a small and wiry man, of middle age. He is always very busy, and he does not stay in one place very often, moving around the town mostly on his lambretta. Because of his many interests and frantic activities, it is hard to spend a day in the village of Cape Heureuse without bumping into him. Perhaps it is difficult to even stay on Osprey Island without seeing him.

Celia looks at the others, and speaking directly to them without Mr Holmes hearing her she says: "Do not mention the rudder, ok?"

The man wades the short distance to land and smiles at the children.

"I hope you do not mind me checking on you, eh?"

"Well, not really. I mean," says Celia, "it was really not necessary for you to come over, but we are fine. We have tents and food and everything sorted. Would you like some water?"

Celia is rather proud, and wants to impress on Mr Holmes that in fact whether he comes and visits them or not it would make no difference whatsoever.

Libbie, however, cannot help to start questioning the guest.

"My Holmes, we thought the island was deserted, but in fact we think there are other people here. Well, in fact, we know for sure. We have met a strange old man. He came up to us, and he was limping and ..."

While she is saying that Libbie also turns to look for the smoke, but at the moment it is not possible to see any signs of it in the sky.

"Ok, slow down a second, I guess you must have met Mr Stein then".

Ame and Celia insist that Mr Holmes comes and sits down at the campsite. They know that they have done a good job, and they want to show that everything is in order. Celia offers a drink of water from their water supply, but Mr Holmes declines the offer. Ame tries to offer something to eat, and he takes out a bag of biscuits.

"Can you tell us more about this Mr Stein?" asks Libbie, sitting down next to Mr Holmes.

"Oh, I did not know that he was here, not at the moment, but he has been around a long time. Very clever fellow, yes, he was the teacher in the local school before he retired. He is a real expert on ancient fish, and ancient reptiles that used to live in this area, and things like that. In fact the animals and the bones are the reasons he is here."

"He said something to us about the lake being dangerous," says Felix. Celia looks at him with disapproval. Mentioning a danger sounds too much like inexperienced tourists.

"Oh, yes, he was probably referring to ...," Mr Holmes changes his voice when he pronounces the next word, and open up his eyes, "the giant dinosaur!"

But he is now smiling and claps his hand on his thigh.

"Oh, yes, the giant dinosaur. Mr Stein has been chasing some kind of monster since he was a young man. Oh, but you children do not have to worry," he makes a gesture with his right arm to show to them the lake, "This is not a place for a monster, is it?"

"No," says Ame, trying to smile, but he is not too sure, "we do not believe in monsters. But who is this Mr Stein then. I mean, is he a bit ... you know ... crazy?"

"Well, oh, not crazy, not properly crazy. Everybody knows him around here. He is just a bit fixated with this strange creature that he thinks lives in the lake. Some kind of large reptile I think. A sort of leftover dinosaur. He has a house in town but sometimes he spends entire months on the island. That is probably not very wise at his age. He must be close to eighty!"

"What does this sort of dinosaur look like?" asks Felix, fascinated.

"Oh, I am sure I have not the faintest idea! The thing is nobody has ever seen any large reptile around here. So you do not worry. By the way, do you need anything? I can come back tomorrow if you like."

"One more thing," says Libbie, without answering the question, "we saw that Mr Stein came down from the North of the island, and we saw some smoke from the South, so could there be more people on the island? I mean not just Mr Stein?"

"Oh, I do not think so. Not likely. Yes, Mr Stein has a hut on Osprey Lookout, but he walks a lot around the island. Looking for evidence of new mysterious species of animals, you see. So you probably saw smoke from a fire started by him, not by someone else on the island."

Now that Mr Holmes says it, it makes perfect sense. The smoke and Mr Stein must be related, and Felix must have been wrong when he thought he had seen smoke farther south, just before they met the strange old man.

"I am glad you children are enjoying the holiday on the island. It may not be here forever after all ..."

"The island?"

"Yes, the island, and the forest around here. You know at the moment this is just the end of nowhere, a wild place. You come from a big city, don't you? Maybe there was a forest in the past where your city is now."

Why was My Holmes talking about the island changing into a city? It was a bit puzzling.

"But people will not want to come here on holiday if this does not remain green and beautiful," says Felix.

"Maybe not, but you can't stop progress."

They wave goodbye to Mr Holmes. In a way it was nice of him to come around for a few minutes. And thanks to him they now know a bit more about this strange old teacher, Mr Stein.

"Should we have told him about the phones?" inquires Felix to nobody in particular.

"Actually," says Celia, "I had pretty much forgotten about the phones. That is because they are not really important. This is not a place for phones. And of course you realise that Mr Holmes can now reply to our parents if they call him and tell them that we are doing fine, so we have solved that problem."

"What about the rudder though," says Libbie, "We did not mention the fact that it is missing, but that means that we're stuck on this island."

"But only until Mr Holmes comes back again," points out Celia, "so you see, there is no reason to worry about that either."

"Ok, that is fine, but I want to know why you wanted to make sure that we did not mention the rudder to Mr Holmes," says Ame, "I mean, of course it would have been a serious matter, the Audacia belongs to him after all, but he could have helped us find it. He could have confronted Mr Stein."

"We do not need to find it," says Celia, and there is real determination in her voice, "we know where it is. Mr Stein took it. So, what we need is a way to get it back. And we will get it back. Without any help from grown-ups."
Chapter Five

(Captain Aliquis)

The next day Captain Aliquis was feeling better, but he was not yet able to stand up and walk without pain. The doctor came to visit again. Fortunately he did not seem to be too suspicious. The doctor appeared to be one of those naïve people who assume the best intentions in most circumstances. Mainly Aliquis was left alone in his room. That is, if one did not count the robot servant, who was spending a lot of time in his company. The robot seemed to always be busy with tidying the room, bringing food, opening and closing the windows, and making small talk.

"Colony C is such a nice place to live. I am sure you agree. The sun is out today and one can smell every atom of argon in the fresh air."

Robot personalities were limited, but this specimen seemed to be particularly verbose,

"What should I call you?"

"Ah, terribly sorry. I have not introduced myself. You can call me John. Curious coincidence that you should also be called John, I mean Mr John Sigursson of course. I suppose my name could be changed, if this turns out to be a problem. But John is what Signorina Rosso calls me. I have the honour to be her personal assistant".

"Will I have a chance to thank Signorina Rosso today? I understand that she saved my life."

The robot seemed very pleased in hearing that the guest was interested in meeting its mistress,

"Certainly. Certainly. Today or tomorrow. As it happens I was with her when we spotted your body. I often accompany her in her excursions. We thought it was just a carcass. Some putrid corpse of an animal deceased in the forest. But then we saw that it was the body of a man. How strange, in the middle of nowhere!"

Captain Aliquis drew himself up on the cushions.

"Yes. I am very grateful. And can you tell me anything more about Signorina Rosso?"

"But of course. She is the most wonderful mistress a robot could ever wish for. Not that I would complain in any case. That is not for me to do. Yet she is very special. I am sure you agree."

"Yes, but I have not yet had the pleasure to meet her."

The robot had started rearranging objects on a bureau. It appeared to be a piece of furniture from the past, probably imported from the home planet. While the robot was working it kept talking.

"Such a busy Lady. She is always doing things for the people who live here on Colony C. She has a very kind heart."

"What were you doing in the forest? If you do not mind me asking."

"Of course I do not mind you asking. I am a robot. It is not for me to mind." The robot seemed to suddenly have remembered something important, "Would you like your dinner in bed today or do you feel strong enough to walk to the table? Actually I should check with the doctor about that."

"I am ok. I am doing fine really. I will eat at the table," then he added "But I was asking about the forest."

"Well. I should really check with the doctor," said the robot and walked towards the door. Before leaving the room it paused and turned around.

"Dinosaurs. Signorina Rosso will tell you all about them."

/////

That evening Captain Aliquis, or John Sigursson, was able to eat his dinner at the round table that was prepared for him in his very large bedroom. The food was excellent. There was no comparison with what space travellers and pirates usually get on a spaceship. It was also served on elegant plates and the table had a white tablecloth. The main course was a beef lasagne, but there were plenty of side dishes with fresh and cooked vegetables, including the purple squash that was a unique dish of Colony C. It was baked with olive oil and rosemary and he had not tasted something so delicious in a long time.

He needed more information about the place. He could not spend much more time in this palace. The opulence of the place made it clear that this related to the Rosso business. Signorina Rosso was probably the daughter of Conte Rosso and Aliquis had no interest in getting to know the family. Not now when he could easily be recognised and probably executed as a famous criminal.

"Is everything ok with your meal Sir? Can I bring you anything else?"

"Actually John, yes. I do have a favour to ask. This food is nice but I wonder if you happen to have in the house some wine?"

"Wine? Yes, I know about wine. It is an alcoholic drink made from fermented grape juice. We may have some in the palace. Just for guests. I could go and check with the Cook."

Captain Aliquis had no real interest in wine, but he needed the robot to go away for a while.

"Very kind of you, John. Could you go and see if you can find a glass of wine for me?"

The request was somewhat strange, and clearly John was not very knowledgeable about wines, but it wanted to be helpful so it went in search of a bottle of wine. While it was looking for the Cook it also accessed all the online information that was available about wine.

Aliquis waited a minute or two, then he got up and went to the door. It was not easy to walk in his conditions. His back was painful. He felt weak and also numb in his right arm. However, he tried to be fast. The first thing to check was whether the door was locked. It was not. Good, at the moment it was not treated as a prisoner.

He let himself out onto the corridor. This was definitely a wealthy palace. The ceilings were high and there were many doors probably leading to many large bedrooms.

At the end of the corridor he reached a landing with a banister. Below there was an entrance hall. He could hear some voices. He stayed hidden but tried to understand what it was said.

The voice of the doctor was coming from somewhere on the floor below.

"It is curious, I admit."

It was not possible to hear the voice of anybody else. Aliquis guessed that the doctor was speaking with someone on a phone.

"No, I agree, the story about being a scientist does not make much sense, and we have no news of any space ship that has had engine failure and lost contact in the region. But space pods can travel large distances ..."

The doctor seemed unsure. He was clearly speaking with someone to decide what to do with the unexpected host. In the end he said,

"Ok, ok. But I cannot do anything until Signorina Rosso comes back. You know how she is. She will want to take her own decisions. I can only advise her."

At this point Captain Aliquis moved quietly back to his room. But he had not quite reached the door when John arrived, moving quite fast from the opposite direction, with a bottle in his hand.

"Oh, but you should not be walking! This is not advisable. It is my duty to look after you. What if you had fallen while I was away?"

Aliquis quickly opened the door and he and the robot entered the bedroom. It was better to argue with the robot in the privacy of his room rather than in the hall. He made some apologies, and explained that he wanted to test his legs. To some extent that was true.

"I am feeling much better. Thank you. You are looking after me very efficiently"

"That is kind of you to say. I am not a doctor, and have not done nursing duties before but I do have the necessary knowledge stored in my memory banks. However, I have bad news"

Aliquis wondered what the bad news could be.

"I am afraid that the only wine we have in the house is this bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon. I understand from researching the subject that ideally this should be aged up to ten years, but I have checked the vintage, and this Cabernet Sauvignon is fifteen years old. It was probably bought by Conte Rosso a long time ago"

"That will be fine Johan. I am sure Conte Rosso only chooses the very best"
Chapter Six

Celia knocks on the door. Twice.

"Mr Stein? Are you at home? We would like to talk with you."

There is silence. Celia tries again.

Eventually a voice answers.

"Come in. Come in."

It is a very strange voice. It is a voice that certainly does not belong to Mr Stein. In fact it is a voice that does not seem to belong to any human being.

The children look at each other.

"Come in. Come in," repeats the voice.

Next they hear the voice of Mr Stein.

"What is it Odysseus? One moment. One moment. Someone at the door? I was having a rest! Anyway, come in."

It sounds as if they have disturbed him, but it is hard to understand the expression in the voice. It is possible that he was asleep.

"Come in, if you must, come on in."

The door is open and the four children look inside. The hut is actually quite spacious, and looks more like a house than a cabin. It is also lighter and tidier than they expected it to be.

There is a wall entirely covered with shelves and books. They are old books, but they seem well kept and organised. There is then a round table, with a computer, and a stove. There is also another door, probably leading to a bedroom.

They step gingerly inside. There are only two chairs in the room, but there is also a plank on top of two large stones, providing more space to sit.

Mr Stein is sitting at the table, rubbing his face with his hand. He is still wearing the same dirty clothes they saw the first time, but he does not have the hat on. For the first time they see his wild white air, sticking up in the air. They can also see a face that has been exposed to too much sun.

There is a large bird that walks back and forth on the table. It is a Scarlet Macaw, and its feathers are very bright. Starting from the top it has alternating stripes of bright red, yellow, and blue feathers, ending with a long red tail.

The bird speaks again.

"Come in. Come in. Sit down. Sit down."

This is the strange voice that they have heard from outside the door.

"Oh, well done Odysseus. Tell the children to come in and sit down."

Mr Stein gives the bird one peanut, and strokes its back.

"I was expecting you," says the man, "I even tidied up my house, as you can see. I am an old geezer, and I am not used to many visits, but I have not completely forgotten the rules of hospitality."

He points to the bench, clearly expecting the children to sit down.

"I used to teach children of about your age, do you know? I have taught children for many years."

"Yes, Mr Stein, we have heard that you were a teacher," says Celia, "but we have come here to ask you about something."

The eyes of the man light up, suddenly interested.

"Really? Would you like to know more about Osprey Island? Would you like to know about all the wonderful creatures that used to live here? Millions of year ago."

Celia does not know how to reply to this. Felix picks up the conversation.

"That does sound exciting. We did study extinct species at school and if there are interesting fossils in this region, we are all very interested in seeing them."

"Yeah, sure," says Ame, "but we also want to ask you about the rudder."

Mr Stein does not pay any attention to Ame and instead continues to talk with Felix.

"My boy, this is a very special place. Yes indeed you can find fossils here, and I have found many. Most of them are kept in the archaeological museum in town."

The scarlet macaw flies form the table to a shelf. It is a very large bird. The open wings are as wide as the table itself. It is not easy for him to move in the room, but he does seem at home.

"Come in. Come in," he says again. This time it is unclear whom he is talking to. Maybe he just knows a few sentences and he just repeats them.

Celia tries to follow up what Ame had said, speaking quite firmly and moving in front of the old man so that he has to notice her.

"We need to ask you if you know anything about the rudder of our boat."

Mr Stein appears puzzled.

"The what?"

"You see," explains Ame, "yesterday we came here on a sailing boat. It is called Audacia. But someone has stolen the rudder in the night. We need to get it back."

The man is clearly annoyed at this change of direction in the conversation.

"Well, there are not a lot of people on the island, though still too many if you ask me. But nobody else is here other than the Garcia boys. They must have played a trick on you. Silly games," then he looks at Felix, expecting more from him than from the others, "but are you interested in the reptiles, as you said, or are you just here to ask about your problems with the boat?"

"Oh no," says Felix, with his usual enthusiasm, "I really do care about reptiles, especially the large ones! Like the dinosaurs." The other children nod, as it seems the right thing to do.

"Well, you should not be judging animals on the basis of size. However, some large ones lived around here. In fact," and here the old man really starts to get very excited, "it is not just the fossils that can tell us about them. There are large reptiles still living in this lake and even on this very island!"

"Is that why you told us that the lake is dangerous?" asks Celia.

"I did not say that it is dangerous, young lady."

Celia is used to being called young lady when her mother wants to make a point, usually about something she does not approve. But the old man appears to be less angry than the first time they have met him.

"I said that there is an animal in the lake that have survived unchanged for millions of years. I think he has its nest on this very island. Did you ever hear of the giant poet?"

At this point a woman comes into the front door. She is surprised to see children, but welcomes them to the house. The children wonder if this is Mr Stein's wife. She is a large woman, who moves slowly and speaks softly.

"It is nice to see that some tourists are making their way to Osprey Island. It is lovely here when the weather is nice, don't you find? It is very quiet here though."

From what she says maybe the island is sometimes too quiet for her.

She explains that she is a social worker, bringing food to Mr Stein once a week, and checking on him. Her name is Mrs Constantia.

"They tell me that I should live in town, but this is my house now," sneers the old man.

"To tell you the truth," the woman continues, "my daughter Ines is the social worker. The county council employs her to visit several older citizens in the town. But to come here she needs to hire a boat from Mr Holmes or from someone else, and it is expensive, and it takes hours to get here. So I usually come for her."

"Has Mr Holmes given you a ride earlier today?"

"Yes, indeed he has, and he will pick me up later. I think he said he was going to check on some children. That must have been you then."

"Yes, madam."

"You must be very brave children. Camping here without adults? I am sure I do not remember the last time we had children here. It is very quiet here, don't you find? Foreign children I mean, I am not counting the Garcia children you see."

/////

It is now the evening of their second day on the island.

Back at the camp on the west side of the island the four children are preparing the dinner. It is a simple dinner of baked beans, which are heated on the fire. Chunky slices of bread are also warmed on the flames. Ame is looking after the fire while Libbie is taking the warm bread and spreading some butter on it.

"I guess Mr Stein is alright. A bit odd, and his social worker is a bit odd too. But we did not learn anything useful about the theft of the rudder."

"Actually we did," says Celia, "Mr Stein said that it must have been some children. The Garcia children he said."

"Except we do not know anything more than that," points out Ame, "we do not know who they are, where to find them, or anything. Mr Stein said he did not know where to find them, and anyway he was only interested in talking about other things."

"They must be staying at the south end of the island. That is where we saw the smoke," says Felix.

They agree that it is too late now to go and look for them, as it is getting dark. The trip to the house of Mr Stein has delayed the dinner into the evening. The plan is that they will go and explore the south of the island early the next morning. If the smoke that Felix saw is from a campsite then it should be possible to find it. They will go together. Maybe they will also bring some sticks.

Chapter Six

(Captain Aliquis)

In the middle of the night Aliquis woke up. He had managed to understand a bit of the layout of the place. He was on the second floor of a very large building. There was a substantial garden outside the house, with a well-kept grass lawn and mature trees. The branches of the trees reached high above the second floor, but they were not near enough to the house to be used for an escape. Outside the garden there was a fairly busy town. This was the capital city of Colony C, called the City of a Thousand Forests, but better known with the acronym CTF.

Colony C was not the most important planet among the many in the outer reaches of the system. The main residence of Conte Rosso was on the planet known as Colony B (equatorial diameter: 12,562 km, average distance from the sun 160 million km, inclination: 20 deg). Colony C was large in size (equatorial diameter: 13,904 km, average distance from the sun 140 million km, inclination: 18 deg) and a regular destination of cargo ships, but large parts of the surface of the planet were covered in massive forests.

Captain Aliquis had a simple plan. Escape the palace and find in the town someone sympathetic to the fight of the pirates. He was confident that in a place like CTF there would be groups of people who did not like the Company of the outer planets.

It was not a very strong or detailed plan, but he could not afford to wait inside the palace for much longer.

Getting to the front door seemed easy. There were no guards and no servants around at this time. The large glass panes that filled the outside of the main hall let in enough light even at night to move easily among the expensive furniture.

He opened the front door slightly and studied the situation. The path to the gates was long, and the gates were closed. Climbing them was not an option. A security system was monitoring the groups and an alarm would have been triggered by anybody walking around at night.

A hand pressed on his shoulder and a familiar voice said,

"This is really not wise Mr John. I told you that if you want to leave the room you should ask for assistance."

The robot could move quickly and very quietly, so much so that it had arrived behind him without any noise.

"Ah yes. Thank you John. But I did not know where you were. I came to look for you."

"But I told you that I wait in the room next to yours, Mr John. You can find me easily. Or you can call my name, my hearing is much better than that of a man, and roughly comparable to that of a dog."

"Ok, well now I have found you. The truth is that it is very boring here in this palace. It is beautiful and everything, but I am a scientist and I am eager to explore the town, and the region around. Will you accompany me outside?"

"Your physical condition appears to be much improved. After breakfast, if you desire to do so, we can take a flying car and you will be able to see our beautiful city. I will ask the doctor. Now, I pray, let us go back to the room, otherwise I may be in trouble. It is my responsibility to look after your well being."

There was no way around that. He had to return to his room.

He sat on his bed, trying to consider all options. The robot was next door and it was even too ready to help, or interfere with his escape. Although he was feeling better he needed a way out into the town.

Suddenly he heard a tapping noise coming from the window. Toc, toctoc, toc, toctoc. When he opened it a colourful parrot flew inside.

"Penelope!"

The bird walked back and forth on the table, clearly pleased to have made it inside the palace, and possibly pleased to have found her master. She was a Scarlet Macaw, and her feathers were very bright. Starting from the top she had alternating stripes of bright red, yellow, and blue feathers, ending with a long red tail. The bird explored the surroundings with her black and intelligent eyes.

"Here you are! Here you are!" she repeated loudly.

"Quiet, you need to be quiet. You will wake everybody up."

"Do not panic. Do not panic," continued the bird.

In fact the next thing he heard was the voice of John, coming from next door, asking whether everything was ok. He reassured it and said that he was just stretching his legs.

The parrot had a message tied to her leg. It said,

"We have located you. Action planned for tomorrow. Penelope can take message back. A."

"Do not panic. Do not panic."
Chapter Seven

It is Wednesday morning. The four friends have made their way to the opposite side of the island, and are continuing down towards the south. They are making slow progress, as the grass is high, the trees dense, and they are exploring a part of the island that they do not know at all.

The shore is getting a bit wider now. There is a tent, an old green tent, and a campsite. They can see two boys sitting together, talking quietly and pealing something, probably an apple or a potato. They stop and hide behind a tree.

"Now we know that there are other people on the island," says Libbie, tightening her grip on the long stick she is holding in her hand.

"From the size of the tent this is just for two people, so the two boys are on their own. They must be the Garcia boys. Should we go there, and say hallo?" asks Ame.

Near the shore, not far from the campsite there is also a sailing boat. It is much smaller than the Audacia, and it is hard to see if there is any name painted on the side.

"But look," says Felix with excitement, while at the same time trying to keep the voice down, "against the rock, there, it is our rudder!"

"Where? Oh, you're right."

"So they are the thieves!" says Celia.

"And Mr Stein is innocent and he was right about these boys after all," points out Libbie, "What do we do now?"

"The most important thing is to get the rudder back," says Ame.

He steps out from behind the trees, and starts walking, calmly, towards the campsite. Celia is quick at joining him, and then the others also catch up with them.

"Hi!" shouts Ame, and his voice sounds loud but not unfriendly.

The two boys are surprised. They turn up their heads and stare at the newcomers without saying a word. The four children have now arrived at the campsite and they stand a few steps from them. The two boys remain sitting on the trunk of a dead tree, which makes a long seat.

The campsite is generally well kept, with a fireplace that has been used recently, but it is very basic and there are few tools and no modern devices in sight.

"We are camping on the island," starts Celia, "on the other side, at the top of the long shingle beach."

"It is called crescent beach," says the older of the two boys.

"Well, whatever it's called, we sailed here on our sailing boat," continues Celia.

"We know." It is always the same boy that speaks.

The younger boy just looks at the newcomers, one at a time, as if they are some strange animals, then he goes back to look at his shoes.

There is a clear family resemblance between the two. They are probably brothers.

"Someone stole our rudder," says Ame, simply, "and it is that one, which you have here."

"We know," says the boy, now lowering his eyes a bit, as if to admit to a crime, or at least a mistake.

"You stole it," says Celia, "you stole it in the night, and we want it back."

"We need it back," says Felix, in a less angry tone.

"We want to know why you stole it," says Libbie, because to her that is more interesting that the rudder itself.

"Well, because we wanted you to go away."

"That is the stupidest thing in the world, ever," says Libbie, matter of factly, "You want us to leave and you destroy our boat?"

"They did not destroy the boat," says Ame, just to make sure that the facts are accurate, "the rudder can be put back. But Libbie is right, without it we were stuck on the island, so it is as if you wanted us to stay, not to leave."

"My name is Carlos," says the younger boy, with a shy smile.

There are a few seconds of silence. Then the newcomers introduce themselves. The older brother says that his name is Abelardo, but that everybody calls him Abe.

"You are not from here, are you?"

"No, we are not from Peninsula. We come from the capital, in the north."

The two brothers are local boys, who were born and have grown up in Cape Heureuse. They have been camping on these islands for many years. They explain that they know Osprey Island like their own pockets, and Otter Island as well, which is not far away.

There is something strange about Carlos. He is very quiet, and he leaves all the talking to his brother. But this is not what is strange. It is the lack of eye contact that is a bit unsettling. It is as if, at times, he is not fully aware of the people around him.

Abe and Carlos are happy to help the new children. Together they carry the rudder back to the other side of the island. The brothers know the place and they show the others the best way to cross the island, avoiding the denser part of the woods, and using a line of rocks as a path. There is no clearly marked path but the rocks, which are about the size of standing men, provide useful landmarks.

After the rudder is restored to its function, there is a bit more of uneasy standing around.

"Well, we have to get back to our camp, I have left some potatoes under the ashes to cook slowly," says Abe.

"Oh, that is a pity," replies Celia, "you could have stayed and have lunch with us."

It is not exactly the plan that she had in mind. At least not the plan she had in mind earlier in the morning, but it seemed the right thing to say at that point, after the issue with the rudder had been resolved.

"Well, we have to go. But we can show you more of the island if you like."

"That would be great," intervenes Felix, "you must know lots of interesting things about this place. You could take us on a tour maybe. That would be a wonderful adventure."

That also was not the plan. But it is true that these local children have been on the island many times and they could be useful guides.

"Well, later today. Come and find us. We can take you around if you like. We can show you the other beach at the other end."
Chapter Seven

(Captain Aliquis)

The next morning Aliquis had breakfast in his room, and then enquired again about going out into the town.

"Oh, Mr John. I have good news for you," said the robot, "Signorina Rosso is back at the palace. She will meet you in the library in an hour, when you are finished with your breakfast."

This was not good news, but he had to try and carry on with the pretence. He did know something about the wildlife of the outer planets, and hopefully could bluff and pretend to be a scientist for long enough until an opportunity to escape presented itself.

Captain Aliquis asked the robot servant for the best available clothes so he could dress up to meet Signorina Rosso. To the extent that robots could be said to be delighted, John was delighted with the request. It opened up a wardrobe full of clothes for any occasion and apparently available in any size and colour. The robot also provided long descriptions on each of them.

"... and this is inspired by the official dress of the High Sheriff of Huang City. It is used for the ritual opening of the city doors to the Emperor. I mean, it was used, as you know the Huang Empire lasted for three centuries and is documented in the reed scroll of the lower Yellow river, ..."

Aliquis chose a gold and green uniform. It was very smart but also comfortable. He could imagine that, unlike many of the other outfits, he would be able to run wearing it.

The library was a magnificent hall, built to look like a very old fashioned library, including a sliding ladder to reach the higher shelves. Thousands of old-fashioned books made of paper were stored on the shelves.

Signorina Rosso was waiting for him sitting at a desk that appeared to be made of ancient wood.

"So you are Mr John Sigursson. I am very pleased to meet a scientist interested in novel forms of life on the minor planets in the outer region."

She was a woman of about seventy. Thin and dressed in the light coloured uniform of the forest people on Colony C. Signorina Rosso was the unmarried sister of Conte Rosso. Captain Aliquis had made the mistake of assuming that she was the daughter.

"I am delighted to make your acquaintance, Signorina Rosso."

"I have been given some vague information about your story. We found you in the forest, near the Rio Azul, and you had clearly crash landed there."

"So I understand. I am afraid I have no recollection of the landing."

"Yes, and you were lucky to survive, Mr Sigursson. But you can tell us more about what happened to your space ship. For example, what was the name of your ship?"

"The Eagle. It was called the Eagle. But it was just a small ship, not part of a scientific exploration, you see. I was the only scientist at board. It was rather foolish of me."

Aliquis tried to invent a story that was light on details and just about believable. He claimed to be an independent researcher who had negotiated a passage on a merchant's ship so as to reach some of the lesser-known planets in the Outer planets region.

"There is a real need to understand the plants and wildlife of these planets. I have carried out surveys myself," said Signorina Rosso.

The mechanical servant called John had brought a jug with a bright yellow drink. It placed a tray with two glasses on the table.

"Can I offer you some mango juice? Freshly prepared."

"Thank you John," said Signorina Rosso, smiling to the robot.

The robot poured juice in the two glasses. While it was doing this job it started making conversation.

"Signorina Rosso has been all over the planet, and I have been lucky enough to accompany her on many of her trips. We have explored both continents in the southern hemisphere. You would think that they would be very similar, as they are similar in size. But no! Oh, you would be much mistaken. They are not similar at all in terms of their wildlife."

Aliquis remembered what the robot had mentioned the day before about Signorina Rosso. The robot had been with its Mistress on many explorations of the planet. Now he was realising that these were scientific explorations and not just pleasure cruises.

"John," said Signorina Rosso, but not unkindly, "let us hear more from Mr Sigursson."

"Ah, actually I am very interested in hearing of your own explorations myself," said Aliquis. He was going to try and take advantage of the fact that the robot liked to talk. But the robot had understood its Mistress. She clearly wanted to hear more from her guest.

"I am surprised you decided to start an exploration of this region on your own. We are in the outer region here, a dangerous place. Did you know that there are pirates that intercept many small cargo ships and rob them of all their valuables?"

It had not taken long for Signorina Rosso to bring up the topic of the pirates. Was that a coincidence?

"As I said, I was foolish. I will not do this again, you can be sure."

Aliquis was trying to sound like an academic that was terrorised by the idea of pirates. He wanted to sound as someone lost and confused. But it was not easy, not in front of the sharp gaze of this woman.

"Mammals, insects, reptiles?"

"I beg your pardon?"

"Which animals do you specialise in? What exactly were you looking for in your exploration?"

"The giant poet," said Aliquis.

He had heard a lot of stories about this animal. Some say that it was common on all the outer planets, but it was now extinct. It was the symbol of the region, and a symbol of how the region had been changed by the Company of the outer planets.

The giant poet was a kind of reptile, some twenty meters long, a slender body and a very long neck. It had an ability to change the colour of its scales so as to camouflage itself against different backgrounds. The most distinctive feature, however, was its voice. He had got his name from the fact that its voice could be heard from far away, and the sound was like that of a poet reciting a long and sad ballad.

It was hard to know for sure whether the animal had ever existed or was just a myth. But it certainly was a fascinating creature, and it was plausible that some young scientist would set out to try and find evidence.

"Did you have any special reason to believe that it exists?"

"Yes, a traveller came into my office, and I could not believe my eyes. He had brought to me the proof."

"A specimen?"

"Not exactly. He had found an egg, and egg that did not belong to any other known species."

"I see. Fascinating. Fascinating and annoying. You see, it shows how isolated we are here on Colony C. I had not heard of this news, nothing at all about this had reached this remote planet."

"Well, this is not surprising. People here may not be interesting in astrobiology."

Signorina Rosso raised an eyebrow.

"You do not know me at all then, Mr Sigursson, I am the greatest expert of astrobiology an Colony C. I am ... interested, very interested."

"Of course. I did not mean to offend you. I am very honoured to be in the company of someone who also values scientific research."

It was always worth trying a bit of flattery, but it was clear that this was no easily flattered young woman.

"Do you understand the risk that these planets are facing?" she asked; looking Aliquis straight in the eyes.

"I am not entirely sure I comprehend your meaning, Signorina Rosso."

In this case Aliquis was actually telling the truth.

"My brother, Conte Rosso, is about to turn Colony B into a huge experiment."

"An experiment?"

The robot, who was still standing near the table, seemed to stiffen at the mention of the word. It was as if it did not like to hear about this.

"Even if you are not from the outer planets you may well know that mining has been the main industry in this region," said the woman, "but minerals do not last forever."

"But mining is mainly serving the export market towards the home planet and the inner region, people here could live without it. So I understand."

"Maybe. For an academic you seem to have spent some time thinking about economical issues as well, I see. Anyway, I do not have anything more to tell you about that. We will have to wait and see."
Chapter Eight

Lunch is bread with ham and cheese. As this is now Wednesday the bread is not fresh any longer. They had bought it at the last moment, before setting off towards Osprey Island, but that was on Monday morning.

After lunch they all make their way back to the Garcia campsite. Felix suggests that they bring some biscuits to share. Their provisions seem richer than those of the brothers.

It is very warm, and they are all rather tired when they arrive. Carlos and Abe suggest that they should attempt to go as far as the beach further south, but Libbie decides to stay and enjoy the view from this side the island. Celia decides to stay with her friend so that the party that leaves is made up of all the boys.

Celia and Libbie take a look at the campsite and the area around. Then they go down to the shore and sit near the water, throwing small pebbles in the lake. There are some fish that swim quite close to the shore. They are tiny. The fish scatter very quickly when a pebble disturbs the water, but then they rash back together and reform dense schools.

"It has been very busy since we arrived," says Libbie.

"Yes, we wanted an adventure and we got one and a half. But now we have our rudder, and I think the Garcia boys are not so bad after all. Apart from anything else they were not very clever with the rudder, they did not try to hide it or anything," says Celia.

Libbie, despite being tired, seems in a good mood. She is not as edgy as she was at the beginning of the trip.

"Libbie, remember what you said the other day, about us all having broken families?"

Libbie nods.

"I am not sure what a broken family is, but when I said that my father is dead, well, the fact is, it is not true."

"You mean, you have still a father, but he is not dead, he just does not want to see you?"

"No, it is not that either. Probably he wants to see me. It is a bit more complicated."

"I see", says Libbie after a while "if you want to tell me more, you can. I have my own problems with my father."

This is probably what Celia wanted to hear.

"Yes, I would like to tell you. Because it is a sort of secret and I cannot discuss this with anybody. And that is rather difficult. In fact I must ask you not to tell anybody else what I am about to tell you."

"You have my word," says Libbie seriously.

"My dad planned everything with care. He faked a car accident. The car ended up in the sea and the body was never recovered. My mother got a lot of money from a life insurance, but she knew that he was alive."

"So, where did your father go?"

"He travelled. He is still travelling as far as I know. Mainly in the southern archipelago. Using a different name."

"So he did not get the insurance money then?"

"That was his plan from the beginning. He told my mother just the day before. She had no way to prevent it from happening. She sends him some money every now and then. I think they have also met up a few times, but I am not sure. You see, nobody told me for the next five years!"

"That is awful."

Libbie has stopped throwing pebbles in the water.

"Why did he want to get away from his wife and his daughter?"

"I don't know for sure. Mum has tried to explain, but I think she was trying to explain something that even she does not understand. I guess he is free to have another life, while he feels that he has also provided for me and for my mum. You see, she does not need to work at the moment, we have enough money, so she has more time for me."

"You have more time with your mum, but you don't have a father any longer."

"That's no big deal. Lots of people do not have two parents. That is not what bothers me. I guess the fact that I was told that he was dead, when it was not true. That is the thing that really I do not like."

"Yes, that was not fair."

"Exactly, I think that is the right word."

It is quiet on the beach at the moment. The sky is clear and it is easy to see the land in the distance, at least in the south. In the north the lake opens up and is vast, so one could be forgiven to mistake it for a sea. It is a long while before the boys come back.

"This island is a lot longer than we thought," explains Felix, "we just about managed to make our way to the end, or almost to the end. And it is not as flat as it looks on the map either."

"Yes," explains Ame, "we can reach another beach at the far end, but it is better to go from the other side, we can do that tomorrow perhaps. What did you two do here?"

The boys have brambles scratches on their legs. Clearly it is not very easy to get around the island.

"We looked at the fish. And we enjoyed not to have any stinking boys around for a change," says Libbie.

"On a day like this the water is crystal clear, it makes me want to be a fish, in fact I think this is the time for a swim!" says Celia.

With all the things that have been going on this is the first time that the four friends actually jump in the water since they arrived on Osprey Island. They have to be careful because there are many sharp rocks. Without shoes one has to try and balance and not slip.

Abe says that this is not the best place to go swimming but it does not matter. All the children are now in the water, and some of them swim out a few hundred meters. They are happy and noisy.

"Come on," shouts Felix, "it's wonderful. Come on Ame, why are you just standing there?"

Ame is in the water up to chest deep, but he has not started to swim. He seems a bit unsure.

"I never told you, but I am not a very good swimmer."

"Really? That is the most unbelievable thing, ever," says Libbie, "How do you go sailing without first learning to swim?"

"Well, you wear a safety jacket. Anyway," says Ame who is embarrassed, "I am learning, but I never really learned as much as I should have before the start of the holiday. My mum thinks that I can more or less swim, otherwise she would not have allowed me to come."

"Ok, better stay there were you can reach then," says Felix.

The only one that is not getting in the water is Carlos.

"Is he all right?"

Celia asks Abe while they are in the water, but making sure that they are far enough so that Carlos cannot hear them.

"Well, yes, he is. Carlos does not get along easily with people."

"Why?"

"He just doesn't. That is how he is. But he did speak with you guys so that means he feels good about you."

It is clear from what Abe says that he is very relieved that Carlos is not upset about having other children on the island.

"Last year a boat came about at some strange people from the city wanted to take pictures with us. Well, he ran away in the woods and I had to look for him for the rest of the day."

After the swim they all lay down to dry in the sun, and just take a rest. Eventually the four children say goodbye to Abe and Carlos and follow the path, looking out for the line of rocks that takes them back to their camp.

It is late, and time for dinner. They start a fire and prepare corned beef hash. The corned beef comes from a can and all they need to do is to chop it up and mix it with fried onion. The instant mashed potato just needs boiling water.

It is the turn of Felix to prepare the dinner, but he is a bit slow and distracted, so Celia and Libbie end up helping him. Ame has also brought a small jar of mustard, and he adds a spoonful to the dish for flavour.

As they sit around in a circle they see Mr Stein coming towards them along the beach. He seems in a hurry.

"Kids, oh I am glad I found you. This is phenomenal. This is the best day of my life!"

"What happened?"

"I have the proof, the proof of the existence of the giant poet, and it must live on this very island."

The old man has now reached the campsite. He is out of breath. He sits down near the campfire and leans on his stick.

"Please, you need to phone the village. You have to phone Professor Gasparini in Cape Hereause. You have to ask them to come right away!"

"Well, ... we would like to help you," says Ame.

"Don't you have a phone?" asks Libbie.

"No, ... yes, I mean, I have one but it is not working. I never had any need for it so it just sits there in a drawer in my house, and ... no, well, it is broken or something. I cannot get it to work."

"It is important to look after the instruments when in an isolated place like this," says Celia. Then she realises the irony of what she just said and she adds "but I guess accidents can happen ..."

"What have you found?" asks Felix.

"Children, this is a very important discovery. It is incredible. You must phone Professor Gasparini. It is important that you do right away. In the meantime I will look after it."

"We are sorry," says Celia, "we do not have phones with us. We ... lost them. We have no easy way to get in touch with people in the village. What about Mrs Constantia? She could help you perhaps."

"She came yesterday. So now it will be a whole week before she will come again. A whole week!" says Mr Stein.

"We met the Garcia brothers, but they left as well. They are not camping on the island, they are back home for tonight, but they may return to the island soon," says Celia.

Felix tries again with his question: "What have you found Mr Stein?"

"Did you capture an animal?" adds Ame.

"What kind of animal?" asks Libbie.

Mr Stein looks each of them in turn, as if to decide whether he can trust them.

"An egg."

/////

When the children are ready to go to bed that evening they are still discussing the last visit by Mr Stein. Just like the first time, the old man had not stayed for long. But something clearly had happened, and the man was very concerned about what he had discovered.

They end up going to bed a lot later than they did the first two nights on the island. There is so much to talk about, so many reasons to stand around the fire, watching the flames, listening to the whispering hisses and the irregular sizzling pops. The fire creates the perfect background for sitting together and telling each other stories.
Chapter Eight

(Captain Aliquis)

Five men entered the library. Their footsteps were heavy and reverberated in the large room. One of them was the doctor, but he was standing at the back. The one who spoke was a large officer, wearing the uniform of the security guards. He stood very rigidly, and very seriously in front of Signorina Rosso. Although he was not holding a gun in his hand while he was speaking, he was armed and so were the other three uniformed guards. They looked out of place in the library.

"I am sorry to disturb you," he said, but he did not sound sorry at all, "I have important news."

Here he looked towards Captain Aliquis.

"We have received a report of a battle between the Imperial Army and a pirate ship. The location was not far from here. We won the battle but many pirates escaped ... using space pods."

Aliquis calmly stood up from the table. He walked alongside the shelf, with his hands behind his back, like a scientist would during a lesson.

"Pirates, you say. Well, indeed, Signorina Rosso just told me about the danger of piracy in the region. What a terrible vexation."

He was walking towards the large window at the end of the room.

The four guards moved as well. Spreading out in the room, so as to surround him.

"Can you tell us again, Mr John Sigursson," asked the captain of the guards, "where exactly do you come from?"

"Yes. I would love too. But there are many planets out there, a vast expanse of space, more than our human minds can take in. So many environments, so much to explore ... so many wonderful forms of life."

As he said that the window was pushed open, and a large bird made her entrance. It was an impressive sight, a colourful parrot with her wings spread out, speaking very loudly.

"Do not panic. Do not panic."

A flying car appeared just outside the window and the roof opened up.

Captain Aliquis, taking advantage of the few seconds of confusion, jumped outside the window and made it into the seat of the car. The guards immediately rushed to the window and took out their weapons, but the car moved very quickly, gained altitude and moved across, straight over the roof of the palace and out of sight. That made it impossible for the soldiers to shoot at it.

Signorina Rosso had not moved from the table. She drank her mango juice, then she turned to the robot and said calmly,

"We will meet the captain again."

Inside the flying car captain Aliquis had taken his seat next to the driver.

"I sure am happy to see you," he said.

"Not much time for sentimentality," replied a female voice.

"Where have you left the spaceship?"

"In the forest, but before we can go there we have to take care of another little problem."

As she said that a swish noise was heard and one of the trees in the park caught fire, just on their right side. Someone was behind them and they were shooting at the flying car.

In fact there were three patrol cars flying very close behind them. They had been very quick starting their chase.

"We'll fly into the town. They will not be able to shoot at us there."

The flying car veered suddenly to the left and started to lower itself into the main road that crossed the City of a Thousand Dunes. It was quite busy, with vehicles both on the ground and flying within the established level for the local traffic.

A large bazaar on the right side of the road was advertising gear for forest travellers. It included bright digital displays with useful items for traveling in the wild, special suits, mosquito repellent, weapons, and solar powered kitchens.

The panels blew up in a big explosion when they were directly hit.

"So much for them not shooting at people in the streets!" said the female driver.

"Head for the forest," suggested Aliquis.

It was hard to keep ahead of the fast patrol cars, which were built exactly to catch up and stop other vehicles, or shoot them down if necessary. It took a really formidable driver.

To make the chase more difficult for the larger patrol car, they flew very low to the ground, only centimetres away from touching the stones on the surface of the road. This also created a large could of dust behind them. But several rays of energy penetrated the fog and crossed over their heads, only just missing their flying car.

"Hold on," said the driver.

She was wearing a completely black suit, with a rather old fashion fur collar, a long black scarf and a black helmet.

"Do not panic. Do not panic."

The scarlet macaw had somehow made it inside the flying car and was holding on with her claws to the seat.

"By the way, the green and gold uniform suits you," said the driver.

The flying car carrying Captain Aliquis left the city behind and headed for the forest. Here the driving was made extremely dangerous by the difficulty of judging the layout of the irregular terrain and the massive trees. In places the trees were spread out and one could easily fly between them, but in other places they clumped together and made a dangerous wall. The sun shining through the branches and casting ever changing shadows did not help.

The patrol cars were still behind them. The irregular flying path and the difficulty of negotiating the forest meant at the moment they did not even try to shoot. But they would not give up the chase.

A massive river was in front of them. The car skimmed the water and followed the river. That seemed a strange strategy as here on the open of the river it was easier for the patrol car to aim and more difficult to hide. But the river was not flat for long, it soon broke up in a series of cataracts. Big rocks mixed with while water, and sudden waterfalls. Flying low down at the level of the river would be impossible. Yet that is what the flying car started to do.

One of the patrol cars gave up and started to gain altitude, hoping to be able to shoot the fugitive from above. As it started to follow from about twenty meters in the air it took aim. Inside the patrol car the guard who was controlling the gun checked with his superior.

"Sir, should I just damage the wing or should I take it down?"

"Take it down," said the other guard without emotion.

At this point the river was very noisy, and the mist increased. The reason was an extensive waterfall, which made a long crescent up in front of them. The drop was only about ten meters but the width of the river here was a few kilometres.

The other two patrol cars also started to gain altitude to clear the waterfall. The flying car of the fugitives instead flew straight at the wall of water.

Even Captain Aliquis, though he said nothing, blinked.

"Do not panic, do not panic much," said the parrot, a bit more nervously than before.

The car broke through the sheet of water and slowed down suddenly, using the reverse jet brakes. It was inside a cave, hidden by the waterfall. The hollow space was just large enough for the wings of the flying car not to crash against the rock. But it was long and they kept travelling inside the mountain for a couple of minutes. Eventually the car stopped and lowered itself in the dark of the cave. The car floodlights had been automatically activated by the dark and it was possible to see around, but there was not much to see. It was just a natural cave.

"Is this where you have left the spaceship?"

"No, this is too small, but I have friends on Colony C and they have shown me this cave. Neat entrance, eh?" said the woman.

She took off her helmet and shook her long blond hair.

"Yes, good system for getting away. And how did you manage to be so precise in choosing the point of the waterwall to dive into?"

"Oh, no big deal," said the woman smiling, "I always travel using my sat navigation system on."

She jumped out of the car and took out a torch. With it she started looking around at the wall of the cave.

"Here we are. Here we are," said the scarlet bird, pleased to get out of the car.

"Alice," said Captain Aliquis, "I owe you my life"

"Yes, I know, but you saved mine. Remember? Many years ago. So we are sort of even. But, hey, anytime, that was fun."

"Alice."

"Yes?"

"There are no artificial satellites on Colony C. No sat navigation."

"Oh well, then it means that I have a good spatial memory!"
Chapter Nine

It is the morning of Thursday. They will not see Abelardo and Carlos today. The two brothers had said that they had to go back home. But they do not live very far. On their small boat they can reach their home in just an hour. They do not live in Cape Heureuse, but in a tiny fishing village further east. They promised their new friend that they may be back on the island on Friday.

After breakfast (oat porridge and fruit) Felix and Libbie have walked inland looking for some wild berries. They are not sure they can find any, and even if they can find them they are not sure they can recognise them. It may be a bit dangerous if they are not careful but it is worth a try.

"Do you think there could be a sort of dinosaur on this island? Or a prehistoric fish in the lake?"

"No, I think that is the stupidest idea," says Libbie, "if there were any large mammals, or dinosaurs, someone would have seen them a long time ago, don't you think?"

"I guess so, but the lake is very big, and there are not many people living around here."

"So you think it is true?"

"I am not saying that. This giant poet that Mr Stein talks about, it could just be some large lizards, or a large fish, like a pike."

"Well, Mr Stein thinks he has found an egg."

Felix sounds really concerned, "But if there really is a dinosaur in the lake, or a rare animal, and if Mr Stein has stolen her egg we need to do something about it."

"Well, if it is a dinosaur, or a reptile, or a large fish, it is not big deal. Why should we get involved?" says Libbie.

"Of course we are involved. There is nobody else on the island, I mean just us and Abe and Carlos. So we are responsible, in a sense, for what happens."

"I guess so, but I do not see why you think that it is such a problem if the old man has found an egg of a strange animal. As he says, maybe the local museum will display it if it is really such an important find."

Felix pulls a long blade of grass, and continues to speak while he is turning the piece of grass in his hands.

"There is something else. The truth is that I never had a mother, and I think a mother should keep her eggs to herself."

"That is the stupidest thing in the world, ever. You may not now, but you had a mother at one point," says Libbie, stating the obvious.

"Actually no, that is the point, and the reason my father has been looking after me since I was a baby. I had two mothers but none of them was exactly my mother."

"You are not making any sense, at some point you had a mother. Then families change, someone has to leave, someone has to die. My parents live in the same house but they do not get along much. That is just life."

"Life can be more complicated than that," says Felix, "I will tell you if you want to know."

After a few seconds Libbie sits down on a large rock and waits for Felix to sit down near her.

"Ok," she says calmly.

At school Felix and Libbie are not in the same class. However they live on the same street and they often walk home together. They are the only kids walking in this particular direction so it is usually just the two of them. At the beginning of the year Felix would walk about ten meters behind Libbie, but soon he had started making conversation.

Felix is smaller than most children in his class, and smaller even than most girls of his age. Libbie is about the same size. They do not have a lot of shared interests, and they have different teachers and different classmates, but they have discovered that they both like animals. In particular they both have tried to convince their parents to get a dog, with no success.

One day, a few months ago, Felix had to run to catch up with Libbie. She did not seem to want to show him that she was upset. It had to do with some row that her parents had. It was then, perhaps to change subject or to cheer her up, that Felix had decided to introduce the topic of the camping trip. Libbie was not interested in camping at first, but Felix was enthusiastic and in the end she said that she'd love to join them. She asked for permission from her parents that very evening.

"My mother could not have babies, there was a problem with her eggs. So they gave her and my dad a chance to use a nucleus transplant technique. Basically the nucleus, which contains most of the genetic material, is taken from a woman's egg and then it is placed inside the egg of another woman, a donor. So then you have a mix of two cells, which is then used for fertilisation."

"Yes," says Libbie, "I have heard about this technique. It makes sense, it is still the egg of your mother but with the rest of the cell from a donor. The nucleus from one person and the mitochondria, with their own genetic material, from another person. What did go wrong?"

"Nothing. Nothing went wrong. Only, you see, my mother never accepted the idea that I was her baby. Not completely hers. She became upset about the idea that I was partly hers and partly the child of someone else."

"But why?"

"I have no idea. Remember, I was just a baby, so this is what I have learned later. But the fact is that she left and she has not been in contact with us ever since."

"That's the weirdest thing, ever," says Libbie before biting her tongue. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say.

"Yeah. Pretty weird. But anyway, I think Mr Stein should not mess about with the eggs of this rare animal."

"Oh, I would not worry too much," Libbie is trying to be more sympathetic now, "As you said, it is more likely to be an oversized pike than a monster. And Mr Stein is odd but from what he says he actually cares about the animals in the lake."

They have given up on the search for berries. They have seen many interesting plants and a few small animals, especially colourful insects. Now they are turning back towards the camp.

"Actually," says Libbie, "I could tell you something about my family, just to demonstrate that families are weird."

"You don't have to."

"It's ok. I must tell someone sooner or later and I guess I can trust you. Do you know what is my full name?"

Felix thinks about this for a second. It seems a strange question.

"I think I do, you are Libbie Constable. I guess Libbie is short for Elizabeth or something."

"It is not. My parents wanted to give me a name that was different. My real name is Library."

"You must be pulling my leg!"

"I am not, it is the weirdest, stupidest name in the whole world, ever. I don't know what they had drunk at the time. In fact they must have realised the mistake as they always called me Libbie from the beginning."

It could have been funny, but Libbie was serious, and she did not seem to take this lightly.

"I believe it is possible to have one's name changed. For good I mean, in the passport."

"Yes I know, but that is not the point. The point is that my parents are ..., well, I don't know, they are just not quite what they should be."

"But if they love you, everything else does not matter."

If this had been said by someone else it would have sounded corny and clichéd, but Felix was able to make the most predictable phrases sound sincere.

"Up to a point. I think if they love me that is good of course, but they also need to be real parents, and they need some self-respect. You see, I do not think my mother respects my father, and I am not even sure that my father respects himself."

Clearly there was more to what Libbie was saying.
Chapter Nine

(Captain Aliquis)

In the library Signorina Rosso was still sitting at her table. In front of her were now the Doctor and the Captain of the Guards.

"Please explain."

The doctor appeared rather uncomfortable.

"A very unfortunate affair. Who could have imagined that the person you had found in the forest was in fact a dangerous criminal!"

"That is not what I asked. I want to know why the guards entered the library without my permission."

The guard straightened up, as if he had been offended by the implication of what Signorina Rosso had just said.

"But My Lady, you were in danger. We had reasons to believe that the person with you was not really who he claimed he was."

From his own viewpoint he would have liked some praise. He thought that he had been extremely good at his job and he had almost arrested a man that was possibly the famous Captain Aliquis.

"The man was unarmed, and John was with me. I was in no danger at all."

"Even so, we had to do something!"

Signorina Rosso looked straight at the captain of the guards and, for an elderly lady, spoke with great power.

"What you have to do is what I ask you to do. Nothing more and nothing less. For the future do remember this rule or you will find yourself working as a miner instead of a guard."

The guard opened and closed his mouth. He wanted to complain but he thought better of it.

Then Signorina Rosso turned to the Doctor.

"Dear Dr Salinas, I also believe that you were part of this little ... surprise."

"I only passed to the guards some information. I was really surprised, the man, well, he had fooled me ..."

"Dr Salinas, how much of this has to do with my brother?"

"Well, he did contact the villa. He was worried because of the recent battle between the Army and the pirates. He was concerned."

"What Conte Rosso is concerned about is not important. If for any reason he should have contacts with staff here in my house I want to be immediately informed."

She did not need to add anything more.

/////

Captain Aliquis, Penelope, and Alice left the flying car in the cave. They walked in the darkness for a bit. It seemed that Alice knew what she was doing.

Eventually Alice located a passageway and signalled to the captain to follow her. They walked through a tunnel, which was clearly artificially made, until they saw some light. They emerged into the forest, and there was no sign of the river, although the noise of the waterfalls could still be heard.

They walked until they reached a place where Alice stopped, looked around, and then cupping her hands she imitated the call of the green monkey. After a few seconds someone (probably not a green monkey) replied. Then a number of large branches fell and a spaceship was revealed, hidden in the undergrowth of the forest.

"Here you are. Here you are," said the parrot flying on top of the spaceship.

Five pirates greeted their captain and Alice. They were very cheerful and perhaps had not expected to see Captain Aliquis quite so soon.

One of them, a robust man with an impressive red beard, said,

"We are ready to take off Captain. Should we make our way back to Moon Five?"

"Yes Valjean. Let's go home, we have things to do."

"While we are on our way there maybe you can tell us the full story of what happened to you. Did you discover anything useful in the palace of Signorina Rosso?" asked Alice, "or where you just enjoying the sophisticated dinners and the silk sheets on your bed?"

There were some murmurs from the other pirates, who struggled with the image of their captain being pampered in the house of their enemies.

"Something new is going on. Conte Rosso has a new plan. We will need to find out more."

"How?" asked the pirate with the red beard.

Aliquis scratched his head and said, "I think I need to become a scientist."
Chapter Ten

It is midday now. Yesterday there was not a single cloud in the sky, and today is the same. This is the perfect weather to be camping. It is sunny, warm, and for some reason there are not many mosquitoes here either.

"It is the wind," explains Ame, "it is too windy on the island for mosquitoes."

"That is the silliest idea," says Libbie, rather sceptically, "mosquitos are tiny, why would they care about the wind?"

"That is the point. They are small, and I have read that they cannot fly around when the wind exceed 10 km per hour, or something like that."

"Ten km an hour is not very fast. I could run that fast," says Celia, " does it mean that if I keep running I will never be bitten by a mosquitos?"

"... mm, I am not sure," says Ame.

"We could test that idea," says Libbie, "but we need to move to another island, there are not enough mosquitos here."

"Or you could run in the opposite direction to the wind, with the same speed. Then the mosquitos can bite you again!" says Felix.

They all laugh.

Then they start preparing a simple lunch. They take out the bread and the cheese, and some really nice large tomatoes. They bought them in the local market, and they were impressed by their appearance.

"I did not know that tomatoes could be this big," says Ame, "the ones we find back at home are only about half the size."

They are even more pleased with the flavour.

"Wow," says Felix, "is it just me or is the food here in Peninsula so much better than in the city up north?"

"I think so," says Celia, "but this is one of the great reasons to go camping, out here we probably enjoy our food more than we did at home."

"Yeah, but don't go and ruin everything by starting to talk so sensibly, like my mother," says Ame.

"I wonder," says Felix, "I wonder why we have not heard from Mr Stein today."

"We know that he has found the egg of the giant poet, whatever that is," says Celia, " and he may have tried to sail back to the village."

"I don't think he has a sailing boat. We certainly did not see one on that side of the island."

"You mean," says Ame, "that he really lives here on his own without a phone and without a boat to use to get away from the island?"

"I think that is quite possible," says Libbie, "but it is also the craziest thing in the world. He must be a very ... strange and lonely man."

"Well, he has the parrot to keep him company," says Felix. He does not mean this as a joke, he knows that parrots are very intelligent animals and can be good company.

The children discuss their impressions of the old man for a while. He is a bit scary, but probably not dangerous. It is funny to think about how he might have been when he was a young teacher.

Then Libbie asks,

"Do we have a plan for this afternoon?"

"Yes, don't you remember? We had decided even before we came to the island that one afternoon we would climb to the top of Osprey Lookout," says Ame.

"But you have already been there, so it is not like conquering a new mountain."

"We are not here to set new records. I intend to swim in the lake every day, and it does not matter that it is the same lake I have swam in before."

"Ok, ok, Ame, now stop because it is you who sounds like a parent."

/////

When they reach the top of Osprey Lookout they spread out. Libbie and Felix find themselves sitting on their own on a large rock. It may be the highest point on the island, though there are a couple of other similar rocks around them. They can see Ame on top of another outcrop, and they can hear him shouting about the great view, and the fact that he can see far away.

"Do you miss your parents?" asks Felix.

"No," answers Libbie a bit too quickly,

"I mean, sure I hope they are fine, and it is strange to be away for such a long time, but my parents ... well, maybe they need time on their own."

"They do not get along?"

"So, do you want to know about my family?" asks Libbie with the tone that is almost a challenge.

"Yes, if that's alright with you," says Felix.

After a while Libbie takes a deep breath, and starts to explain what her parents do for a living. There is no sign of Ame or Celia, so it is just her talking to Felix on top of a mountain. This makes things a bit easier. Felix is an easy person to talk to.

"At the moment my father is probably using another name. He is probably a Mr Theodor Braun or something like that. He may even be a woman, like Francisca Mantovani. He does have a collection of different identities."

"Is he a spy?"

"I wish that he was, that would be exciting at least."

"So, is it just that he has what they call multiple personalities."

"No, you are way off, so shut up for a second I will try to explain," says Libbie.

Felix does not take offence. He sits on the rock, ready to listen.

"It is his job. He is good at writing, that is what he studied at University. He would really like to write novels, but I do not think that he has ever written one. My mother is also good at writing, I think that is sort of why they got married. I mean they have similar interests, or they had similar interests when they were young."

Libbie pauses for a second. Felix nods. Then Libbie with a sigh starts again.

"It is not easy to make money by writing. I guess a few people become very famous, and then they are rich because they sell millions of books, but for most writers there is no job. So he found a job writing for hire."

"And who is paying him to write?"

"People who want him to write what they want to hear."

"I don't understand."

"I know. I did not expect you to. It is the weirdest thing in the world, ever. So let me give you an example. Last year, for example, my father was writing about the squirrel cull. I even had to help him with some research on squirrels. I had to get enough money to come on the trip."

"What's a squirrel cull?"

"Some people think that squirrel bring diseases, like bacteria. So they have got permission to kill all the squirrels they can find. Basically exterminate them from a whole province. But others think that the cull is just about politics, a way politicians keep people happy by letting them do what they want with the squirrels, even though the science does not support a cull. They say there is no evidence that the cull will work."

"And your father. What does he think?"

"My father has no opinion on this. That is the problem. He was hired to pretend that he was just a normal person, and he is just showing that normal people are in favour of the cull. So basically some organisation pays for him to pretend to be someone he is not, and write blogs and reply to comments on the media websites. He even writes to newspapers for their comments section."

"Surely that will not make any difference."

"Who knows? It probably does if they are prepared to pay him. You see, I think it works like when rumours start and then continue. All you need is to repeat a certain idea enough times and other people will start repeating it. They will repeat it because that is what 'people' are saying in the media."

"You mean, like if someone starts saying that there is a dinosaur in the lake people will start believing in it?"

"Sort of, but on the internet voices are multiplied, it is on a different scale compared to the gossips in a village."

"But if he pretends to be someone else people will find out."

"Unlikely, he is quite good with computers, and anyway some of the people who pay him will provide the fake identities. I think they keep a stack of fake identities just for this purpose."

Felix thinks about this for a while. He picks up a blade of grass because that is what he always does when he is thinking.

"And you do not like it, do you?"

"I guess that was obvious from what I told you. Even more importantly my mother does not like it. I think she sees this as a betrayal of what they were, when they were young."

"And you side with your mother."

"It is not about taking sides!" snaps Libbie, clearly annoyed.

After a while Libbie starts again.

"Maybe you do not understand. I will give you another example. Sometimes what he has to do is to pretend that there are doubts about something that is clearly true."

"Like what?"

"Like the fact that human intervention has caused a rise in sea levels. That sort of stuff. If there are people who fear that they will be economically damaged by the truth they will pay him so that people start to hear that this is just a theory, and that it could be wrong, and so on."

"Can he not choose when to accept and when to refuse to do a job?"

"I think it is not as simple as that."
Chapter Ten

(Captain Aliquis)

After leaving Colony C they had to pretend that they were one of the many cargo ships. They had to proceed slowly and follow the established trading route. That worked and they were able to leave the planet without any problems. Then, as a precautionary measure they set course for deep space and monitored any ship in the area to see if there was any sign of any vessel following them. They waited until they were satisfied and only then set course for Moon Five.

The room in which Aliquis was now standing was known as the Moon Five Bridge. At the centre of the round room was a table, and a large screen inside the table was displaying a map of the solar system. Aliquis was leaning on the table and he had his most faithful friends and councillors around him on the Bridge. Paisanis had survived the ambush of the Audacia. He had lost an arm but the mechanical replacement was almost indistinguishable from a real arm. Valjean, the man with the red beard was also there as well as two more men, one of them in a wheelchair.

Alice was there as well, although she did not like to think of herself as part of Captain Aliquis crew. In fact she was sitting with her feet on the table and was concentrating on her computer tablet. She was still wearing her trade-mark black suit, which contrasted with the blond of her hair and made her immediately recognisable.

"Mussis betrayed us and helped the Army in organising the ambush."

"I cannot believe he did that!" said Paisanis disgusted.

"I think he said that he had to do it for his family," said Capitan Aliquis without much emotion, "He said that to me just before he shot me."

"Probably Conte Rosso will not keep his word anyway," said the older man in a wheelchair.

"It does not matter," said Aliquis, "I am not too surprised that Conte Rosso tried something like that. He probably promised Mussis that his family would have enough money to move away from the mines of Colony B and go and live a peaceful life on the home planet."

"Sure, but it was stupid of Mussis to believe that."

"The important consequence, sadly, is that we have lost some lives. How many?"

"Only three in the end, the soldiers were surprised by our boarding of the cargo. We mainly shouted at each other for a while and then we took our escape pods. Your pod drifted in the wrong direction but the others were intercepted by one of our ships that had responded to our distress signal."

"Very well, well done everybody. Unfortunately we lost the Audacia."

"Even that is not completely lost," said the man in the wheelchair, who was the main scientist on Moon Five, "the cargo ship was full of soldiers, but it was still just an isolated vessel. Once our men left they could not do very much. They had to disconnect from the Audacia and were stupid enough to let her drift in space. We managed to track her and activate the homing procedure."

"Is that not dangerous?"

The man in the wheelchair adjusted the blanket on his legs, if indeed he had any legs underneath the blanket, and replied.

"Everything we do is dangerous. Every day is dangerous."

Then, in a different tone he added,

"But we have taken precautions."

"Good. It will be great to have the Audacia back, once it is repaired. In the meantime we have other things to worry about. We need to find out more about Conte Rosso plans."

The conversation continued for a while. When Captain Aliquis left to return to his quarters he walked the corridor together with Alice.

"You have been very quiet Alice, that is unlike you."

"You are wrong, meetings are not for me, I was bored. I am off tonight."

"Already?"

"Yes, but although space is vast I suspect we will meet again."

She smiled her self-confident smile, then she turned tossing her long blond hair over her shoulders and she was gone.
Chapter Eleven

Ame is now at the furthest end of the rock formation. Although Osprey Lookout is not very high it has the shape and feel of a real mountain, and it drops down suddenly over the sea at the north side.

It is hot and he has taken his shirt off while climbing. Now he pulls his cap way down over his eyes to shield them from the sun.

Celia reaches the same spot. It seems that they have both aimed independently for the far end of Osprey Lookout, to see what is below.

"Nice," says the girl, more because she felt the need to say something than for any specific reason.

"This is our island, can you imagine living here? I mean can you imagine people living here?"

"Well, it seems that Mr Stein does live here, but you mean, if there was a village?"

"A village or just a family. No school, no cars, no noise. I think I would like that."

"I bet you would get bored very quickly," says Celia, sceptically.

"No, well, maybe. I guess school is not so bad, people make it out to be more of a pain than it really is."

"I agree."

They sit down. They did not seek each other's company but now that they are here they might as well sit together and look out over the lake.

"Look, there is a boat out on the lake."

The white shape of a boat is visible and it looks as if it is not moving. It is too far to read the name on the prow or to see the people on board.

"It is not a fishing boat," says Ame, "or any other kind of boat that we have seen so far. It looks more like an expensive yacht. One of those that rich people use in the sea."

"That is a bit strange, we did not see any boat of that kind in the harbour in Cape Heureuse."

"No, but I suppose there are rich people everywhere. Maybe someone has a villa on the other side of the lake."

It seems the wrong kind of boat. This is supposed to be a wild place with just some fishermen who still use traditional techniques, and a few tourists who like quiet places.

As the yacht is not going anywhere and nothing seems to happen on it, the children soon lose interest.

"We have not been swimming today," says Ame.

"No. Pity, I did like the swimming yesterday, and it is rather hot."

There is another pause. They toss a few pebbles down the side of the mountain.

"You can practice, maybe you can learn why we are here."

"I am not too bothered," says Ame, but then he adds, "I guess you are right I should practice, maybe it is the kind of thing that one learns if one spends enough time in the water."

"Yeah, sort of. Do you ever go swimming at the pool? I mean do your parents ever take you to the pool at the weekend?" asks Celia.

"My parents are very busy."

Celia realises that she does not know much at all about Ame's family. She has an impression that they are not very rich, but they must be ok. Having two parents is already a useful thing.

"I know how it is. Even though it is a bit strange for me, with my mother not working and having lots of free time. She does some volunteer work, and is active with the local schools and stuff, but really she does not have a real proper job."

"Yeah, well it is different with my parents. They get up and leave the house to go working before the sun is out, and I make my own breakfast. They have a long commuting journey."

"Do they come back early?"

"Not at all, they are back late. And they do not even work in the same town, they have to commute to different places. I heard them say that most of our money goes on transport."

"But there is Saturday and Sunday."

"Sure, but then when they can they have to look after Granny and Pop. They still live on their own but they need help with all sort of things, like shopping and so on."

They stop talking. They climb back down from the rock and head towards the others. When they find them it is time to think about returning back to the base.

Libbie asks Ame, "It is your turn to cook dinner, isn't it?"

"Dinner, dinner", they hear from above and at the same time a stream of colour crosses from the nearby tree down to the middle of their group.

"That is the bird of Mr Stein!"

"Sure, it is hard not to recognise. Rather showy," says Libbie.

"Dinner, dinner."

"Do you think he is begging for some food?" asks Felix.

"Of course he is asking for food, that is what animals do, you idiot," says Libbie.

"I think Mr Stein mentioned his name, but I can't remember it," says Ame.

"We can just ask him," says Felix, who is now sitting down next to the bird. "What is your name? ... your ... name?"

He also points to the bird, trying to make his meaning as clear as possible.

"He is not some foreigner speaking a foreign language," points out Celia, "either he understands you or he doesn't. And he almost certainly doesn't."

But Felix keeps trying.

"Your ... Name ... Please. My ... name ... is ... Felix."

The bird walks up and down. He seems to be paying attention, and then he says, speaking slowly like Felix.

"I ... like ... dinner."

The children laugh. Then Ame looks up to the sky,

"I think we have a more pressing problem guys."

There are some dark clouds moving swiftly towards the island.

More quickly than they thought possible the first drops of rain start to fall. As they make their way down from Osprey Lookout the rain gets stronger.

They did not expect this change of weather and they are not prepared. They quickly move what they can inside the tents and they draw a tarpaulin on top of the rest of the equipment. Then they dive inside the larger of the two tents.

They are wet, but at least it seems that the waterproof fabric of the tent is working. They have a towel, which they pass to each other to try and get drier. Four people in a small tent make for a crowded place, but it is also rather exciting.

A storm here on the island feels a lot different form a storm in the city. One difference is that the sky is all grey and very quickly what was a bright place has plunged into darkness. The other aspect that is inescapable is the amount of noise that heavy rain makes hitting the ground all around, the water surface, and the tent itself.

"What happened to the parrot?" asks Felix.

"Birds have survived outdoors since, well, ever, so they do not mind some rain," says Ame.

"I know that."

"They can find refuge under a tree. But I like that parrot, I hope we can see him again," says Celia.

"I am sure that if we invite him for dinner he will be happy to come!"

They have a small electrical torch with them, but there is not much use for it. There is nothing to do in the tent other than wait.

"Hey, look what I managed to bring in the tent with us," says Ame, "a packet of biscuits! What do you say?"

/////

The storm ends just as quickly as it had started. The beach is covered in leaves, and the lake still looks dark, but the sun is visible again, low on the horizon. The children emerge from the tent and check the campsite and the provisions. There is some work to do but no major damage.

Ame goes to make sure that the water is drained from inside their sailing boat.

They change into dry clothes, then try to start a fire.

"Everything is damp! It will be impossible to start the fire," complains Libbie.

Fortunately they were clever enough to cover the main pile of wood that they had prepared. It is not completely dry but it is not soaked wet either. They also have some dry kindling, and they get some more bark from the woods. The rain only lasted a quarter of an hour, and therefore, many spots that are sheltered by other trees are not wet. Eventually the fire starts and it makes everybody cheerful.

They eat a basic dinner of hot dog sausages from a tin and sweetcorn also from a tin. The food is warm and tonight that is the most important thing. They sit around for a while and then retire to sleep.

Inside the tent Celia and Libbie enter their own sleeping bags. It is a very basic tent with a thin foam camping mat under the sleeping bags and not much space for anything else. It belongs to Celia but she had argued that there was no need to buy anything more than the basic essentials. She had a tent for two people and so Libbie could be with her. She had been very clear that a camping expedition is about traveling with the right tools, but nothing more than what is essential.

It is dark and quiet.

"Celia, can I ask you something?"

Celia is still awake, but she is trying to sleep. She answers with a groan.

"It's nothing really. Only, I have never been on a holiday like this."

"I know. None of us has been camping, and certainly not on our own."

Now that it seems that Libbie wants to talk Celia has turned on her back and her eyes are open.

"Yeah, and everything is going well, I mean I know we had the rudder stolen and Mr Stein is really odd, but apart from that things are going well."

"Why do you sound surprised. We planned the holiday."

"Yes, well, mainly you and Ame really ..."

"Libbie, what are you trying to say? We are all pulling our weight."

There are a few seconds of silence, then Libbie speaks again, with a soft voice which is not her usual way of speaking.

"Sometimes I wonder whether I am a pain, and why people put up with me. I mean I am not as good at you with the cooking and I can't sail a boat, and I am not even as cheerful as Felix ..."

Celia sighs.

"Libbie."

"Yes?"

"That was the stupidest thing to say, ever."

There is another pause then both girls start laughing.
Chapter Eleven

(Captain Aliquis)

The Conference Arena was a massive building with a glass front. Above the main entrance there was a digital board, and on it in large blue letter one could read "Whole Solar System Flora and Fauna."

People were walking in and out of the building. Many of them were odd looking characters. A very large man dressed like a tourist was speaking very loudly to a couple of other rotund men. This group was panting as they climbed the steps of the entrance. A very elegantly dressed man was entertaining a group of younger students with some kind of story about the sex life of certain alien life forms. Every now and then general laughter could be heard from the group. Two grey haired women were hugging each other and saying that they really should find a way to meet more often.

At one point the coming and going subsided. Most of the people present outside the building rushed back into the conference centre. A new session of talks was about to start and they wanted to get good seats.

"Are you not going to listen to Professor Snakle's seminar?" asked a young man to a middle-aged one who was standing just outside the door.

The middle-aged man had a beautiful pair of mustaches, grey hair, and was wearing a dignified but rather old jacket.

"I am in two minds. Perhaps I will take a break. There are only so many talks that one can listen to in a day before they all merge together in a vague and useless mash."

The younger man smiled. He was also dressed in formal but non-expensive clothes. He had a pair of round glasses and a genuine smile.

"True, very true. Let me introduce myself. My name is Olaf De Caschi, University of the Outer Planets. I work here on Colony B. My speciality is pseudomarsupials."

"Oh, very interesting. I am Claude Levy. I am interested in comparative astrobiology."

The two walked to the nearby coffee shop and sat down at a wicker table outdoors. It was quiet at the moment. They talked about the conference briefly, mainly about the fact that it was a very interesting meeting and that some of the talks had been excellent. Then Professor Levy asked a more personal question,

"So you work here, you must know a lot about the Outer planets."

"I was born on Colony B," said Professor De Caschi, "but I went to study on the home planet. That is what people do, or at least what they used to do. Our own University is now gaining a stronger reputation."

"I agree," said Professor Levy, acknowledging the fact that the University of the Outer Planets was a respectable institution, "and you do not have the Outer accent, as far as I can tell."

"No, my parents were recent settlers, so I am not a real Outer. But I do care about this place, and this is an exciting time."

"Yes, you mean with the conference coming to Colony B?"

Professor Levy was stroking his moustache.

"Oh no, the conference is just one single event. I was referring to the long-term plans that our government has for developing the economy."

"I am afraid that I am not very familiar with these plans."

"They have not been announced yet, but I am on the advisory board. Conte Rosso will introduce the plans to the assembly in a few days. I am not really supposed to say more ..."

"I understand, but then maybe these plans will have an impact on the wildlife. I mean, you are an expert on astrobiology, this must be the reason they asked you to be an advisor."

"You are very astute Professor Levy. I guess I have already said too much and you have guessed the rest."

Professor Levy touched his moustache again and smiled.

"I will only add," says Professor De Caschi, "that I hope this will be done carefully. Many people at the conference would not like to learn that the complete ecosystem of these planets is about to be revolutionised. The idea is to concentrate on a single crop: solar herb, and from it produce herb oil. Oil that can then be turned into a million different products."

"Don't you think this is risky?"

Professor De Caschi was silent and pensive for a while. Clearly he had a lot to say on the subject but did not know how much to add to what he had already said.

"Listen. We are just talking between colleagues, so I may just as well tell you that I advised the Conte to take a number of steps to ensure the plantations do not mean that the indigenous species are completely wiped out. He can use some selected regions. Leave some continents alone for wildlife reserves ..."

"Will he?"

Professor De Caschi stopped with his mouth still open. Then, with a sense of sadness in his voice he said,

"Probably not."

/////

Professor Levy was walking back towards his hotel. It was the early evening and the delegates had mainly left the conference centre. There were more talks coming up the following day, and the day after. Suddenly he heard a familiar voice just behind him.

"Captain. I have a message for you."

He slowly turned around. John, the robot, was just two steps away. For a servant it was very quick. It was also very good at recognising people.

"Your disguise is excellent. I am sure it will work with all the humans that will meet you. And the moustache looks sophisticated. However, I am a robot, I can memorise and recognise any combination of face, body, gate and odour that I meet. It is one of my features."

There was no point is pretending,

"Nice to see you again, John."

"I have a message from Signorina Rosso."

"Let me guess, she would like to meet me."

"That is correct, and have instructions for you on where to meet her. Tonight, dinner time, at the Restaurant at the end of the Solar System. That is the name of the Restaurant of course, not a literal description of its location."

"I know the place, I will be delighted to be there. Will it just be me and Signorina Rosso?"

"If you are afraid to be arrested, I am able to reassure you that my Mistress is only intending to talk with you. I am not aware of any plan for your arrest. I am not entirely sure why Signorina Rosso is not angry with you after how you behaved on Colony C, but that is just my opinion and ... well I should not really have any opinions, I am just a robot."
Chapter Twelve

The breakfast on Friday morning is bread and strawberry jam or marmalade. The food that they have brought to the island is simple but they have made sure that there is enough for everybody. They have only one kind of jam and one type of marmalade, but the jars are very large and there is plenty of bread. They also eat some apples and drink some orange juice.

On the island they have not found anything that they think can be eaten. Probably in the dense forest there are many plants with small fruits, berries or roots that can be used in the kitchen, but they do not know how to recognise them.

Felix tells them what he plans on doing,

"I am going back to see Mr Stein."

"About the mysterious animal?" asks Libbie.

"Yes, I want to know what he is doing."

"He may not be there. He probably has found a ride to Cape Heureuse."

"Maybe, but I just want to check."

"Should we all go?" asks Ame.

There is some uncertainly. On the one hand Felix is right about wanting to find out what Mr Stein is doing. On the other hand it is probably just a walk to an empty house.

"What if he asks us to sail back to Cape Heureuse?" asks Celia. This has been an issue at the back of the mind of the others as well. They would not like to leave the island now. At the very least they want to wait for Abe and Carlos to come back. They want to continue with their holiday. But what if the old man brings up again the idea that they need to go and bring somebody from the village to see what he has found? The fact is that the request would not be so unreasonable. If the old man is here without a boat it is their duty to help him. It is even possible to go to consider the option of taking Mr Stein to Cape Heureuse and then sail back to the island.

"You stay," says Felix, "I will be back soon. Now that we know the way there, it is not so far."

They let Felix go. That puts the problem off for the moment.

/////

There are no signs from outside to know whether someone is at home or not. Felix knocks on the door.

"It is me, Felix, one of the children camping on the island. Is anybody in?"

The familiar voice of the scarlet macaw replies.

"Come in. Come in."

He is not sure whether the invitation of a bird is good enough to enter someone's house.

"Come in child," says the voice of Mr Stein.

The room is unchanged, except for a large bucket, placed on a chair in the middle of the room and covered with a blanket.

Mr Stein is sitting on the other chair, working on his computer. It is a very old model, with a small monitor, and he is typing slowly on it.

The scarlet macaw is standing on the same shelf on which they saw him for the first time. Felix wonders whether a bird is smart enough to really recognise him, and have an opinion on which visitors are friends.

"Good morning. I wanted to see how you are, and whether you need anything."

The old man looks at the child with suspicion. Then he seems to remember something.

"You were the boy who was interested in the animals who live on this island, aren't you?"

Felix takes a couple of steps into the room.

"I am. I am very interested, and I would like you to tell me more about them."

The old man smiles, then he invites Felix to sit down. As there is no free chair he sits on the bench. The colourful macaw is on the shelf, walking back and forth.

"How old are you son?"

"I am twelve. I know I look small for twelve but that is my age."

"Twelve. Yes, I used to teach, you know, I taught for many years. But I never had a son."

Felix would like to know more about the egg, but maybe he has to start out by listening and learning more about Mr Stein.

"Were you married?"

"Oh yes, I was. I was married. And you know what, it will all sound silly to you, but I am an old man and I can say what I want. You know, I really loved my wife. And I really loved my daughter."

"So, you never had a son but you have a daughter."

The man gets up and moves to the fridge. The solar panels on the roof provide enough energy to power a few electrical appliances. He takes out a glass bottle.

"Would you like some mango juice? A friend of mine in town makes this with his own fruit, from his garden. Then sometimes he comes and visits. He was here just the other week."

Felix nods and says thanks. They drink the juice, which is tasty and refreshing, and put down the glasses on the table. Then Mr Stein starts talking again.

"Sandra. They were both called Sandra. You see my wife died of complications after childbirth. Something to do with high blood pressure."

Felix is not sure whether Mr Stein is keen to talk about his life because he does not have many visitors, or whether this is related to the egg that he has found. For now he just listens and pays attention.

"When that happened I wanted to get away from everybody. So I came sailing on the lake. I used to be good at sailing, you know? Not anymore, now I just get a lift on someone else's boat."

"Sit down, sit down," says the parrot even though everybody is already sitting.

"Oh, do not pay any attention to him. Odysseus sometimes talks because he is bored. He is getting old and he repeats the same things over and over. A bit like me. But I am not saying that he is not clever. He is really clever. Would you like a peanut Odysseus?"

"I like peanuts. I like peanuts."

Mr Stein takes out a bag of peanuts from a drawer under the table.

"Can I try to feed him?" asks Felix.

"Well you can, son, but you have to be very careful. Odysseus could easily break off a man's finger. Not that he would do that to you. I'm not saying that. But his beak is designed to eat hard fruits and nuts, so it is very strong."

Odysseus glides down to the table. He takes up quite a bit of space with his wings. Felix starts to feed him gingerly.

"Thank you. Thank you," says the bird.

"There you go, you have made a friend."

Felix is becoming more confident and now strokes gently the back of the scarlet macaw. The colours are fantastic.

"Why is he called Odysseus?"

"It sounded like a nice name. It is from an old story, stuff that I used to teach."

"Yes, I know."

The old man smiles again.

"Of course you do, I could see from the beginning, you are a good pupil."

Nobody says anything for a while. Then Mr Stein starts again on the earlier subject.

"So, where was I?"

"You said that you came sailing on the lake," says Felix that had been paying attention.

"Yes, I did. I remember very well. It was here between Osprey Island and Otter Island. I heard its voice."

"The voice of the parrot?"

"No, no, my son, not that at all," the old man shakes his head.

"Whose voice then?"

"The giant poet. You see, nobody believes that it is still alive and living on these islands, but I know because I heard the voice."

"You mean an animal that people believe was extinct?"

"That's it. A giant reptile, an animal that probably has survived unchanged as a species for millions of years. It can happen you know, especially on islands."

"Why is it called the giant poet?"

"Names something can be strange, and nobody knows exactly where they come from. But actually in this case it is called a giant poet because it is giant and because it is a poet."

"I can understand the giant bit, I guess it is a very big sort of animal. A large lizard maybe. But in what way is it a poet?"

"The voice, son, the voice, you should have heard its voice. Maybe you will hear its voice one day. It is not just beautiful, it is telling stories, and reciting poems. Only of course in a language that nobody remembers any longer."

"You mean, it sounds as if it is talking?"

"I know you think I am crazy. Maybe I am, but the fact is that ... well, you have to hear it to understand. I am sure that it is speaking some kind of language, even though I cannot understand a word."

"I like peanuts. I like peanuts," says Odysseus.

The old man and the boy both smile. Then they give one more peanut to the bird.

"But that was the last one," says Mr Stein, "no more peanuts for you."

Odysseus does not say anything else but stays on the table. Just in case.

"Did your wife like animals?"

Mr Stein is slightly taken aback by this question.

"Well, yes, I guess she did. We both liked the lake and the wildlife, and we liked to travel. She also was a teacher, like me. Did I mention that I was a teacher?"

Felix nods.

After a few seconds Mr Stein adds, "And my daughter liked animals as well."

Felix understands also what Mr Stein is not saying explicitly.

"Your daughter is also ... I mean, she had an accident or something?"

"That is the double tragedy of my life. Sandra had just got married, married to a rich guy. Mr Rosso. He owns everything around here. She died during childbirth just like her mother. Maybe some genetic predisposition, the doctors said. High blood pressure again, and again nothing could be done. Maybe in a big city ... Anyway, she is gone and this time her child did not survive either."

They remain silent for a while, then Mr Stein continues,

"And the same thing happened again. I came out sailing, and I heard the voice of the giant poet. Again, near these islands. So I am pretty sure that it lives here."

"And you said that now you have the proof? Where you able to take the egg to the museum in Cape Heureuse?"

"No, of course no, I will have to wait for the routine visit from Mrs Constantia or Mr Holmes. They may be here today or tomorrow I hope."

"But you have a computer, and a fridge. Do you really do not have a way to communicate with the village?"

"Son," said the old man, "I do not believe that you need to worry. If you are worried about the egg, well I think I know how to look after it. It just needs to be kept still and warm, but not too warm."

"Do you mean that you have the egg here with you?"

"Of course. I would not want to lose sight of it."

Mr Stein gestures towards the other chair. The one that is occupied by a strange object covered by a blanket, in the middle of the room.

"Would you like to see it?" asks Mr Stein with sparking eyes.

"Yes I would, sir."
Chapter Twelve

(Captain Aliquis)

The Restaurant at the end of the Solar System was large and busy, however Colony B is not short on space. The size of the restaurant meant that there were numerous rooms, some quieter than others. Various rooms had live music for different tastes. Signorina Rosso had booked a small table in a corner of a room that had no music. There were large fish tanks on each of the four sides of the room, with very colourful fish, and pots containing large ferns.

"Last time you were John Sigursson if I remember correctly, this time you are Professor Claude Levy. You are a man with many names. What should I call you tonight?"

Captain Aliquis sat down at the table. He had scanned the restaurant very carefully when he had arrived. It may not be so easy to escape a second time. On the other hand there was no point in pretending to be Professor Claude Levy with Signorina Rosso. She had been able to track him down easily. What exactly she wanted from him it was not so clear.

"You can call me Claude"

"Very well, Claude. How is the conference?"

"More interesting than I expected. In another life I would not have minded being an academic. I learned a lot about life on this solar system, and in the Outer planets in particular."

"I did not expect to meet you here. As you know I am fascinated myself with astrobiology, and I am planning to attend the conference tomorrow. My brother, Conte Rosso, may also be interested in knowing that you are here, on his own planet."

"This," said Aliquis with resolution, "is not Conte Rosso's planet and never will be."

"That is not what I meant. But the fact is that this is where he operates from, and that makes it a dangerous place for you," said Signorina Rosso soothingly.

"It is, and last time I met you, you started to tell me about his plans. I had to come here to find out more."

"And what did you discover."

"I discovered that mines are not his main business any longer. That will be a relief to many workers who are spending their lives down there just to make him rich. But now he wants to turn the entire planet, or maybe more than just one planet in a huge plantation."

"I think this plan has not been officially announced."

"You are right. Before the announcement it will be rubber stamped by his assembly of cronies."

Signorina Rosso smiled, as if this was a joke.

"You realise that you are talking about some members of my own family?"

"I apologise for the personal offence. No offence was intended."

"No apology is necessary. You simply speak your mind. I like people who speak their mind."

A waitress came to take their order. She was young and pretty, but not particularly knowledgeable about the menu.

"The goat lasagne? Yes, I believe the goat is from Colony B. Or from somewhere not very far. Very good choice madam."

"What wine to go with that? Mmm ... I am afraid I am not the expert on wines. Maybe I can ask in the kitchen? Mmm ... I am sure we can find some wine for you. Red?"

After the young and inexperienced waitress had left, Aliquis asked Signorina Rosso directly about why she had arranged the meeting.

"I am an old lady and I like to quench my curiosity. My brother thinks that you are just a bandit and a fanatic. But I have met a few people on my travels that seem to see you as a freedom fighter. The truth usually sits in the middle."

"To say that the truth sits in the middle of an argument is an invitation for every party to shout even more and even louder so as to shift what is perceived as the middle. It means a big advantage to those who hold a megaphone. I would prefer a more objective approach."

Signorina Rosso's personal mechanical servant approached the table,

"I am terribly sorry, I know I was told not to interrupt but I was also asked to keep a lookout."

Robots are not affected by the stress that humans experience in difficult situations. Nevertheless John appeared clearly in distress.

"What is it John?"

"Maybe nothing but I did notice some vehicles arriving and carrying a large number of soldiers. They have now surrounded the whole building. There must be hundreds of them."

"How is that possible? Nobody knew of our meeting?" said Signorina Rosso.

"I do not know," said John "but I understand that it is pretty much impossible to do something here on Colony B without Conte Rosso knowing about it."

"Your robot is right," said Captain Aliquis, "so this is a trap. John, do you know of any way out that is not blocked?"

"I am afraid not," said the robot. It appeared pleased with the fact that Aliquis had asked its help and shown trust.

A group of soldiers in uniform entered the restaurant and walked straight towards the table where Aliquis and Signorina Rosso were sitting. They had already weapons in their hands. They crossed a room in which a trio was performing some classical music, and the musicians stopped in the middle of their piece.

There was no point in trying to hide. The officer at the head of the group was a tall man with a confident smile. He was already looking straight at Captain Aliquis.

As the officer crossed the crowded room he collided with the young waitress. This caused a tray to fly in the air and fall on the floor.

A huge smoke cloud filled the entire room. Everybody started to cough and some women started to scream. People couldn't see more than a few centimetres in front of their noses. One of the fish tanks cracked and water splashed on the floor. There was a general chaos.

Aliquis stood up and the young waitress shouted,

"Follow me!"

She was holding a napkin on her mouth and was wearing a strange pair of goggles. Apparently these allowed her to see well enough to make it to the kitchen.

"The cook keeps some jetpacks in his room," she said.
Chapter Thirteen

Felix arrives back at the camp when the others are working at preparing lunch. He has been away a lot longer than he thought he might. He gives a brief summary of his morning and what he has learned about Mr Stein.

"And the egg?" asks Libbie.

"Well, that is the strange thing ..." says Felix, unsure on how to explain.

Just then they are interrupted. Abe is coming running towards them along the beach.

"Have you seen Carlos?"

He is rather agitated.

"No, we have not seen him, we did not know you were back on the island."

"Well, you have to help me find him, please. But when you find him do not try and approach him, we just need to know that he is safe."

"What do you mean? Has he run away?"

"Yes, exactly. He does that when he is upset. He is probably ok, but I need to know where he is."

"Where is your boat?" asks Ame.

"At the usual place, the bay on the west side."

"Is there something more? Something you are not telling us?" asks Celia.

"No. I mean, I guess so. You have seen Carlos, he is fine. He is happy here on the island. But he does not find it easy to get along with people. I think he likes you guys, but at school, well at school it is more difficult."

"So does he just run away sometimes?"

"Yes, but usually there is a reason. Something that has upset him. And we went home the other day, and there were other children in the village talking. They were talking about a plan to build a huge plantation, and to drain the entire lake."

"That is not possible," says Ame.

"I think so too. But anyway, they were talking like that, about the forests been replaced by something else, and some big project being approved. It is the idea of some rich businessman."

"So, that is what upset Carlos?"

"Well, I think so. He went straight for the sailing boat and I joined him just in time, otherwise he might have left without me, but then here on the island he just set off on his own."

"Ok," says Celia, "we can search the island. There are five of us, but I suggest we form two parties. Ame and Libbie will go around clockwise. Me and Abe will go the other way, starting off to the south. Felix, you can stay here at the camp. Carlos may actually show up here, so it is good to have someone who stays put."

This is agreed and the children set off in two pairs.
Chapter Thirteen

(Captain Aliquis)

They dived into the kitchen where there was great confusion. Everybody was shouting and trying to understand what was going on. In a side room they found a jetpack.

"Alice, how did you know about the jetpack, or about the meeting?"

"I spoke with the cook of course, and meeting you was an accident, more or less, I mean this is the best restaurant in town!"

Soldiers were now streaming into the building. They did not let anybody leave the restaurant, and threw a cordon around the area where the smoke was still dense.

"We need a window," said Alice.

"I have a better idea," said Aliquis, and moved towards the main chimney, "this is a enormous restaurant, and that means a great chimney."

"Freeze!" shouted a soldier who had just entered the kitchen.

Aliquis had managed to strap a jetpack on his back with Alice's help but there was no time for her to wear a second one. Instead they held on to each other and activated the device to maximum power. They started to ascend inside the chimney. It was dark and they could not see anything, but the vehicle had safety control devices. A set of laser beams from the backpack could detect any obstacle and adjust the flight accordingly. This meant that they were able to shoot out of the chimney without even touching the sides.

They had managed to activate the jetpack just in time; the soldiers who had entered the kitchen had started firing but fortunately had missed the target.

Once they found themselves fifty meters above ground things became more difficult. The device was not meant to carry two people, and they had to get away from the restaurant as quickly as possible.

They aimed for a park, at least that would mean a place in which to try and land. They just about managed to reach a large tree when they lost altitude and crashed into the branches.

"You could be more careful!" complained Alice.

After leaving the jetpack on the branches of the tree they made their way down to the ground.

"I must thank you again, you seem to have become my personal body guard."

"No time for that, we have to hide."

A little girl came running towards them.

"Quick, follow me" she shouted, and then kept running towards a house at the edge of the park. Aliquis and Alice followed her. Inside the house they climbed the stairs to the second floor. It was an abandoned house, dusty and dark. A good place to hide.

They watched the street, carefully, from a window with a broken glass pane and they saw groups of soldiers searching the park.

Speaking softly, Captain Aliquis thanked the little girl.

"Are you part of a resistance group?"

"No," she said, "I am in year six, in primary school."

Only then Aliquis realised that the girl did not just appear small, she was very young.

"My name is Elizabeth."

"Thanks again Elizabeth, but this is dangerous, maybe you should leave us now and go back home," said Alice, showing a caring side of her that few people would have expected.

"No, I saw you, flying in the sky."

"Yes, it was just a jetpack. It is a device with a propulsion system that one can strap on as a sort of backpack ..."

"I know," said the little girl impatiently, "that was so cool. I need one, I need one myself."

Aliquis and Alice were a bit puzzled.

"Well, that is not possible. Not now. Anyway, you need to be bigger to fly."

"But I need to get home and with one of those I will be very fast. My brother is waiting for me."

Alice took a guess.

"You are looking after your brother, aren't you?"

"Yes, I have done for a few weeks now. Mum is not back yet. So I came to look for food, but now it is very late, Fred will be waiting for me ..."

"Ok, listen. We cannot use the jetpack, but if you show us the way we will accompany you home," said Alice.

Elizabeth looked at them. She was uncertain, but she had to trust them. They set off and exited the house on a narrow street. They tried to talk normally. They needed to move fast but they could not afford to attract any attention.
Chapter Fourteen

Ame and Libbie find the search difficult. On this side of the island they are trying to walk around Osprey Lookout, and although it is possible to do so, they make slow progress. In places they have to hop from one rock to the next in order not to get their feet wet.

They shout the name of Carlos. Abe told them that it is ok to call his name but they must use a calm tone. Above all they should not sound angry.

"How are we supposed to shout without shouting? That's the stupidest thing," points out Libbie.

"I don't know," says Ame, who in truth is sort of enjoying the skipping from rock to rock, "I think Carlos will probably decide himself when to let us find him."

At the opposite end of the island, for Abe and Celia the walk is much easier. They follow the beach to the south. They keep looking inwards towards the woods, and they call out every now and then.

"You said that this has happened before."

"Yes. Well, that is just how Carlos is."

"I understand. I did not mean to say that he is doing anything wrong."

After a while they have reached the farthest point. There is small beach here that Celia has not seen before.

"Abe, you must have some idea of where he might have gone, you and him have been on this island many times together," says Celia.

"Yes, but ... the thing is, maybe he is upset with me this time."

"Why?"

"Well. When I said that he got upset about the idea that the lake may be drained, it is true that we heard something from other children, something about a huge plantation. But it was me, actually, in the boat, that brought this up again. It was stupid of me, I guess, but it was in my mind. I think the plan is scary."

"So it was on the boat that he really got upset?"

"Well, yes, I guess that is true. I should have not spoken about it. I know my brother. I should have kept my thoughts to myself."

They walk a bit more, looking around, then Celia says,

"Do not worry, we will find him soon."

/////

Felix walks down from the camp to the boat. He checks it without great interest. After that he checks the remains of the rock pool that he had build together with Libbie to house the watermelon. A few tiny fishes are swimming between the rocks. They are like silver needles, and in the shallow water the scales shine.

He takes off his shoes and socks to get in the water, and starts to rearrange the stones. There is no much point but it is something to do. He is building the wall again, placing every stone with care so that it sits snugly on top of the other stones.

Splash.

Carlos has joined him and he also starts working on the stone construction. Felix has not heard him coming till the last moment. He does not say anything to the boy, maybe building a useless pool is sometimes a nice thing to do, together.

"Mr Rosso wants to turn this valley into a huge plantation," says Carlos.

"Who is Mr Rosso?"

"A bad person, with lots of money."

After this brief exchange they continue working in silence. Libbie and Ame are the first to come back. They can see Felix and Carlos from a distance. Ame waves but does not shout. Libbie comments that they could have saved themselves a lot of worry, Carlos seems to be just fine and he did not go very far. However, she makes sure she speaks in a low tone of voice so that only Ame can hear her and not the other two children.

/////

Later they are all back at the campsite. Abe is much relieved, but he decides not to speak with Carlos. He is happy to simply keep an eye on him for now.

"Well," says Ame when they are all back at the campsite, "with all these things that have been going on, and the running around the island we did not get a chance to eat our lunch. So I suggest we do that now."

"Food is always your main preoccupation," teases Libbie.

"Yes, we have enough for everybody. We can all have lunch together," says Felix who always likes the idea of doing things together with a group of new friends.

The meals are starting to be a bit repetitive now. There is always bread, although it is now a bit stale. There is hard cheese, which seems to keep well. They also have fresh tomatoes, which are a bit warm but still very tasty. They also still have apples.

Celia decides that they need to inform Abe and Carlos about the visit from Mr Stein. She tells them the strange story about the giant poet, and the fact that Mr Stein appears to have found the egg of this mysterious animal.

They explain in detail what has happened and what Mr Stein has told them. When he hears about where the egg was found Carlos makes an interesting comment.

"If he has found the egg floating in the water it means that the egg is bad. Fresh eggs do not float, as they do not have enough air inside. Rotten eggs float, because the shell lets air into the egg and air bubbles can form."

"Thanks Carlos," says Felix, "I did not know that."

"Ok, well that just means that there is no wild animal that is about to hatch in the house of Mr Stein," says Ame.

"You know Mr Stein, what do you think? Is he just crazy?" asks Libbie.

"Well, I don't know," says Abe, "not crazy in the sense of completely mad, but I am not sure I would believe what he says. He has been telling stories about the lake for a long time, people have stopped taking any notice."

"So you do not believe that a giant poet, whatever that is, really exists?"

"Well, almost certainly no. These islands are not that big. Large animals cannot hide from everybody all the time. We live here, remember, we have seen lots of birds and fish and other stuff on these islands. We may not know the names of all the species of reptiles but we would know if they were special."

Felix is quiet during this conversation; he has picked up a blade of grass and is playing with it.

"I think Abe is right," says Libbie, "Mr Stein is making things up, and some of the things he is saying are really stupid. But you might as well know that if he sees you guys here on the island he will ask you to go and fetch people from the village. He will want you to contact some journalists and some scientists, and I think he wants his egg to go to the museum."

"I have not finished telling you about my visit," says Felix with resignation. It is as if he would much rather not tell them anything at all, but there is something he has to say.

"That's true," says Ame, "we were interrupted. What happened when you went to see him this morning?"

"The truth is that there is a problem."

"What kind of a problem?" asks Celia, puzzled.

"He thinks he has found a giant egg. An egg that does not belong to any known animal."

"We know that."

"He thinks it is the egg of the giant poet."

"We know that too."

"Will you promise me not to laugh if I tell you something?"

Everybody is rather surprised by what Felix has just asked, but they nod.

"What Mr Stein has found is my watermelon."

"No way!"

"That is not an egg. Everybody can tell the difference between an egg and a watermelon," says Ame. However, he is not laughing. They are too surprised to be laughing.

"Maybe he really really wanted to find an egg," explain Felix.

"Let me guess one more thing," says Libbie, "you did not tell him that it is a watermelon. He still thinks that he has found the egg of the giant poet."

Everybody now understands the nature of the problem. Felix does not like to upset people, and he has seen the egg but he has not tried to tell Mr Stein that he is about to make a fool of himself.

But not telling Mr Stein right away simply delays the time when he will have to find out. Felix is right, there is a problem.

"Where did he find the egg?" asks Abe.

"On the shore near his house, it must have floated there."

"Maybe you can convince him to put it back?"

Felix bits his lip, thinks about this for a while and then says,

"I will try."

Chapter Fourteen

(Captain Aliquis)

The house where Elizabeth lived was just a small apartment in a tall building. This was the part of the city where the miners lived. Each family could only afford to rent an apartment with one or two rooms. Elizabeth opened the door and called the name of his brother. The little boy was sitting with the back to the wall. He got up very exited when he saw that his sister had returned home.

"You are back! Lizzie, you are back!"

"Yes, everything is fine," said the small girl with a tone of voice that showed a maturity beyond her years.

The television was on in a corner of the room. It was one way for the boy to have some company.

"I have an idea," said Alice, "I will cook for you tonight."

Elizabeth looked at her with a mix of happiness and worry.

"We do not have much food. We get a good meal at school every day, but at home ..."

"Never mind, I need special ingredients anyway. I am a very good cook," said the woman smiling, "so I will just go and get some stuff. In the meantime can you do me a favour?"

"Sure ..."

Alice kneeled down and spoke in a conspiratorial tone of voice to the children.

"Look after my friend here, he seems big and scary, but every time I see him ... he is in trouble."

Captain Aliquis was less than pleased to be stuck in that place, but it was a good idea to wait for a while. They would set out again when there were fewer soldiers on the street.

On the television screen there was a news program. They were covering the conference. A female presenter was standing in front of the Arena and talking in a microphone,

"A very special appearance tomorrow at the conference. Usually these meetings do not provide big surprises but this is apparently going to make waves. The discovery of new evidence about the existence of a large astro-animal, best known to people as the giant poet."

To engage the audience the journalist had this way of speaking which stressed specific words. She had put a stress on the words 'big surprises', 'new evidence' and especially on the words 'giant poet'.

The screen showed a static image of a man with a grey beard, looking serious.

"We will hear from the traveller who has brought back from his travels a fossilised egg of a giant poet, Mr Fred Sigursson."

"Hey, he has the same name as me!" shouts the little boy, whose name is Fred. He is much happier now that there are people in the house.

"That's right," says Aliquis. He has recognised the strange explorer that he had met before and whose surname he had borrowed for a while.

"Yes," said the little boy, "my name is Fred Sigursson. He looks like my Papà!"

Elizabeth, who had not been watching the television, turned around and shouted.

"It is Papà! He is back."

"But before we speak to Mr Sigursson I have here with me an expert in the field. It must be said that there are some experts that remain sceptical," said the voice on television. The journalist is now interviewing another man, "Do you believe that this is the egg of the mythical giant poet, Dr Jackobsen?"

"I will wait and hear what this gentleman has to say." The way that Dr Jackobsen spoke of the explorer suggested that he did not have a high opinion of the person and probably of his discovery, "There are doubts, however, on the actual existence of this animal."

"But Dr Jackobsen, the other academics we have talked to seem to be unanimous about the fact that an egg is a definite proof."

"Maybe, but to a scientist a proof is not something that should be left unchallenged, you need to understand that."

/////

When Alice returned, Aliquis explained what he had heard on the television. He mentioned that there was a photo of a strange explorer on the screen and he had met that man before. He had met him as a passenger on a cargo ship that the pirates had attacked and captured. After taking possession of the cargo all the members the crew were abandoned on Colony C. The man had said that he had been exploring the more remote parts of the planet, and that he had heard the voice of a giant poet. He was now at the conference here in Colony B, and he was arguing that the giant poet was living on Colony C. He was going to present proof of its existence. What was even stranger was that he appeared to be the father of these children.

Alice did not say anything, but from her expression it was obvious that she meant 'not much of a father'. Instead she said,

"I worked in the best restaurants of the solar system, so you guys are very lucky. I found some squid and the ingredients I need to make a dinner based around that."

What she lacked in skills she made up in confidence. Elizabeth helped Alice in preparing the squid, which needed cleaning and slicing. The girl was delighted with her new friend, and by now trusted her completely,

"Why were the police looking for you?"

"It is a strange thing really. Believe it or not they think that we are bad people," said Alice before adding, "Do you have any salt? No? Never mind it's probably better this way."

"Are you bad people?" asked Fred.

"What my friend is trying to say," said Aliquis, "is that we are in a bad situation. We hope that we can leave your place very soon and nobody will ask you too many questions. If they do, however, you can say that we forced you to take us in. That way they will not blame you for anything."

"They will blame us alright," said Elizabeth, "They always find something to blame us for, but we are used to it."

The table that they used for dinner was against the wall. There were four chairs in the house, but one of them had a very dodgy leg, so Fred ended up sharing a chair with his sister. Alice had produced an interesting meal. It was certainly not what one would have found in a posh restaurant, but it was better than what one might expect on a space ship.

"I think we have discovered as much as we are likely to discover about the plans," said Captain Aliquis. "Now we will need to plan our next move."

"So, are you heading back to Moon Five?"

Captain Aliquis was shocked to hear Alice mention the name of their secret base in front of the children. But the two little ones did not seem to pay any attention to the conversation. They were very happy with their full plates.

"I will. Though I am still curious about what Signorina Rosso is doing here at the conference. She might turn out to be a useful ally."

"Maybe, she seemed an interesting lady. Anyway, I will stick around here for a bit I think."

Aliquis had stopped being surprised by Alice a long time ago. He had no idea what her plans were, and there was no point in asking. Probably she had decided to stick around, as she said, to look after these two children. That was so much like Alice, always fighting for the people who needed help, but doing it her own way.

Aliquis made a gesture to call Alice nearer, and they walked a few steps to the other side of the room. Elizabeth and Fred were still busy eating.

"What do you think happened to the mother of these kids?"

"She needed the work, so they probably made her work in the more dangerous part of the mine. She will probably never come back if she has not been back for weeks."

Her voice was calm, but that did not mean that she did not care.

"Alice, I do not know you very well. You are a remarkable woman."

"I am not what it seems. Not in the sense of a real person."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that this life of crazy adventures is really a cover. I am running away from the fact that the Outer Planets is not a place in which one can be a normal, happy person."

"If we work on that, it will become a happy place, one day."

"Sure, things do go in cycles, but we only get one life."

"You sound very philosophical."

"Yes, a side of me you are not familiar with. But then you did not know me when I was just a nice little girl. Before I changed my name."

"Is Alice not your name then?"

"Alice is an anagram of my old name: Celia."

Chapter Fifteen

The children try to think which one of them should talk to Mr Stein. The problem is to think if there is any strategy that they can use to convince Mr Stein to let go of what he thinks is the egg of the giant poet. This discovery may be probably one of the most important events of his life, so it will not be easy. The best idea they can come up with is to somehow convince the old man that the egg is too important to end up in a museum.

Felix had offered to try and walk back to the hut of Mr Stein that very afternoon, but Celia had argued that they should take their time and plan this carefully. It was unlikely that anybody would go and visit Mr Stein in the next few hours, so they did not have to act before the evening or even the next morning.

"I have an idea," says Carlos.

He speaks so rarely that now that he did speak everybody is paying attention.

"We can find the giant poet and then she will get her egg back."

They look at each other. Then it is Libbie that suggests a solution,

"I think Carlos is right, in a way. However, we may not be able to find the giant poet. In that case what we can do is make a nest. I mean we can sail back to the village, buy more watermelons, and then show them to Mr Stein. He will have to put his egg back with the others."

"But it takes hours to sail from here to Cape Heureuse. It will take the rest of the day," says Celia.

"Well, I can sail there in two hours, with the right wind," says Abe.

"Like they say in the movies, it is a crazy idea but it might just work," says Felix.

They agree to try this plan. It means that they need some volunteers to sail back to the village. Abe says that he will go because he is the best sailor and also because he knows where to go and buy the watermelons.

"We all know that," says Ame, who did not particularly like the implication that he was not as good a sailor as Abe, although it was true, "we know how to go to a market. Anyway, I will come with you, I am bigger and stronger and I can help with carrying the watermelon to the boat."

"I will come too," says Celia, who did not like the implication that she was not as strong as the boys.

"That's fine," says Libbie, "three of you go, and the other three stay. We will also start working on the dinner for when you come back."

"But what about money? Remember we lost the bag with the money together with the phones?" says Ame.

"That's ok," says Celia, "I thought I had put my wallet in the red back but it turns out that it was in my jacket pocket. So I have enough money to go shopping."

"That's lucky. But why did you not mention that before?" asks Libbie.

"There was no need, I mean what did we need money for when we were camping on an island?"

Next they debate whether it is faster to go with the Audacia or with the Sea Urchin.

"Is your boat called Sea Urchin? I did not notice any name on it?" says Celia.

"The letters on the hull are faded, we need to paint them again. At the moment they are hard to read. It was build by our dad, and he named it as well."

Abe explains that it now belongs to him, because his father gave it to him as a present on his last birthday. He has built a new one for himself, and maybe Carlos will get one, one day.

The boy is very proud of his vessel, and he claims that because it is so light it is one of the fastest boats on the lake. They agree to take the Sea Urchin, even though it means going walking back to the other beach where Abe and Carlos have moored earlier in the day.

Ame, Abe and Celia go and fetch the Sea Urchin from the other side of the island, then they sail it around the south point, and stop briefly at the campsite to leave behind some of the equipment. Without having to discuss the issue they have come to the conclusion that they can all camp at the same campsite that night.

After Ame, Abe and Celia have left, Felix, Libbie and Carlos start preparing the place for the dinner. The bags with the food are starting to look empty now, as this is already their fifth day on the island. They have taken some cans of beans from the provisions, together with a sealed container with fresh smoked pancetta. They are going to combine these ingredients in their large skillet. But there is no point in starting now, as they do not know exactly how long the others will be.

There is no hurry. The sailing to Cape Heureuse will take at least a couple of hours, even with the Sea Urchin and Abe as skipper. That means that Ame, Abe and Celia will not be back until after dark. They will then have to prepare the nest and plan carefully how to get Mr Stein to come and look at it. That will probably have to be tomorrow morning.

Before the return of the other children there is another visit. Mr Homes arrives, and as before asks the children whether everything is ok,

"I see you have made friends."

"Yes, and we are doing fine, the others are back at the village now, but they will return soon. So as you see we are managing just fine," says Libbie.

"Wonderful, that is what I said to your parents. I mean Ms Guzman. She phoned the other day. She was a bit worried because she could not get in touch with Celia on the phone."

"Our phones are, ... well, not working here on the island."

"That's what I thought, batteries eh? Played too many games on them?" Mr Holmes has made the wrong assumption but the substance was the same, "Never mind, I told Ms Guzman that she did not need to worry, that I had seen your campsite. That you'd done a nice job here, and that I would come and visit again today. So if she does not hear from me she knows that everything is going fine."

Libbie and Felix feel reassured by that. They know that Celia's mother will also phone their parents.

"So are you ready to come back yet?"

"Maybe tomorrow," says Felix.

"Mr Holmes," asks Libbie, "you know last time you said something about the island not going to be here forever?"

"Did I say that? Well, maybe I did."

"Has that anything to do with Mr Rosso's plan for a huge plantation?"

"I guess rumours go around, eh? Did you hear that at the village, or from your new friends? Anyway, it does not matter. Yes, it is possible that I will sell the whole village. I mean the business in the village, and then if what people are saying is correct this landscape will change forever."

"Why is there a need for a huge plantation? What is it for?"

"Oh, I can't tell you exactly. Some kind of business, for sure. Herb oil I am told, is a magical stuff, you can make almost anything with it. You can put it into any kind of food."

"But what if people do not want to eat herb, or herb oil?"

"Hey, what is this, some kind of interrogation? I am just a local man, I am not going to be able to explain the food industry to you. Anyway, I agree draining the lake will be a shame. If it happens I certainly will not stick around to see it. I will be off somewhere else completely."

Felix is worried that this conversation may upset Carlos, but the boy has moved away and is not paying any attention. Felix has the impression that Carlos does not like the visitor.

Mr Holmes does not stay long. He is always on the move, and he soon sets off on his motor-boat. He says that he has to be in Henriettatown for the evening, and that is a long way from Cape Heureuse.

"That was probably fortunate," says Libbie.

"What was?"

"The fact that Mr Holmes was in a hurry. It means it is not going to go and see Mr Stein, and Mr Stein will not have a chance to ask him to take his precious egg to the museum."

"I suppose so."

It is late when Ame, Abe and Celia are finally back. Felix and Libbie have already started a fire, and even Carlos has been helping.

They have brought three watermelons, about the same size as the one that Felix had bought. At the market they have also picked up more food.

"Abe has volunteered to prepare for us a paella," announces Ame, who appears pleased with the prospect.

"And what is a paella?" asks Libbie, somewhat suspiciously.

"It is a dish that they cook here, you must have seen it before, I mean, on television. It is a sort of risotto but with some fish in it as well, and some tomatoes and other vegetables."

Felix is glad at the idea of eating something new, "That sounds excellent. We were about to make beans and pancetta but this is even better."

"And have you brought the fish as well?" asks Libbie, who is still not sure she trusts Abe as a cook.

"Of course, we planned everything, look at this wonderful squid!"

"Abe's paella is nice," says Carlos, with the tone of someone simply stating a fact: a fact beyond discussion.

While Abe works on the dinner, which is going to be a bit later than usual, the other children sit around the fire.

"So what are we going to do exactly with the watermelons?" enquires Celia.

"The plan," says Libbie, "is to find a hidden place, then dig a bit in the sand and place all the watermelons together. We will have to do that tomorrow morning of course, because it is getting dark."

Felix looks at the round fruit.

"I think they are beautiful."

"Yes we know you like watermelons," says Ame, pushing Felix on the shoulder and laughing.

"That is so stupid," comments Libbie, but without malice.

"I think the place is important," says Celia, who is serious and still considering the plan for the next morning, "but we can also prepare it so that it looks as if there is one missing."

"Yes," says Libbie, "that's right, we place our three watermelons and we make an empty space for the fourth one."

"I am not sure whether this will work," says Abe, scratching his head.

"It has to work, we do not really have a plan B," says Ame.
Chapter Fifteen

(Captain Aliquis)

Conte Rosso was sitting in one of the chairs of the meeting room. It was a small meeting room, next to the main bridge of the spaceship. He was a man in his early seventies, stocky and with white hair. He was elegantly dressed, and one could immediately see that he was a man of power.

Signorina Rosso was sitting in the chair on the other side of the table. John was standing next to her, still.

"You paid Dr Jackobsen. Did you not?"

"Dear sister, this was just a business decision, and not even a very important one."

"It is important to me."

Conte Rosso smiled. He had been surprised by his sister request of a visit, as they did not see each other very often, and was still wondering what were her intentions.

"You believe in this giant poet, of course, that is so much like you. A very romantic notion, an animal that can sing across the vastness of the universe."

"You know better. There is nothing absurd about the fact that there are lifeforms on these planets that we do not know yet."

"But that's not a problem, on the contrary, it makes these planets fascinating. On the other hand, you know that I have plans to develop the land, so there is only so much about strange life forms that I am interested in."

"I see, you fear that this discovery will be in the way."

"Maybe. Maybe it will be in the way of my plantations, but I also dislike the idea of the giant poet being a symbol of independence."

"So you paid Dr Jackobsen to go around spreading doubts on the existence of the giant poet."

"But doubts do exist, my dear, all I am doing is to make sure that they are heard."

At this point there was a break in the conversation. They each had made their views very clear.

"Brother, do you remember when we used to play on the beach on Colony C? When our parents were away, and we felt lost, so far away from the home planet on which we were born?"

Conte Rosso nodded.

"Let us go there," said Signorina Rosso.

The most powerful man in the region tilted his head. He was not sure what his sister was implying by what she had just said.

"Very well. One day we will do so. I promise."

"I mean right now. That is why I invited you on my spaceship. It was, I suppose, a sort of ambush."

Conte Rosso laughed,

"There has always been a wild side to you, just like there was a wild side to our mother. Pity that instead of using it in the real world you prefer to go exploring forests, and playing at being an adventurer. But no, I am afraid I cannot leave Colony B at the moment."

"Let me introduce you to Mr Sigursson. You tried to discredit his discovery, so why not go together to find out the truth."

From a side door a man entered the room. He had the tanned skin of an explorer, an unkempt beard and was wearing a khaki military jacket.

"I have asked him to be our guide."

Mr Sigursson nodded, "I know where to find the giant poet. With your technology and my knowledge of the place we can discover exactly where he lives."

"But I am not as interested in finding this beast as you are, sister. Why are you doing this?"

Conte Rosso was still only addressing Signorina Rosso, and had not even greeted or acknowledged the presence of the newcomer.

"But you are interested. You are the person with the future of these planets in your hands. You must be interested in knowing them better. All these years behind a desk have not been good for you."

"Please, do not patronise me," said Conte Rosso.

"John," said Signorina Rosso, "please go and check that we are ready for take off."

Now that he had been spoken to, the robot felt that it had a chance to say something,

"Certainly my lady. We have got everything under control. The personal guard of Conte Rosso, well, I am afraid they had to leave the ship very quickly. Nasty attack of space dizziness, perhaps a problem with the air circulation system on the ship."

Robots, of course, have no sense of humour, and are incapable of irony. John was probably just trying to say politely that the men of the guard had felt unwell and they were no longer on the ship as a consequence of what they breathed. The robot added,

"But this is one of the latest models of trans planetary cruise vessels, it is a wonderful spaceship, with a crew of five trusted astronauts. It does not need a large crew, as it has the latest technology installed, including a FW3200 navigation system. As you probably know already, the ship is called the Space Urchin, which I find is a charming name."

After checking a device on his wrist the robot added,

"We will take off in ... ten seconds."

For the first time Conte Rosso appeared upset. He was still in control of his anger, but he was certainly not pleased with what his sister was doing.

"This is a mistake. My dear, do not make such a fool of yourself. It is not enough to have a fast and sleek spaceship to escape from Colony B. The Empire has a whole Army that will chase us. You are unlikely to make it as far as leaving the planet's orbit."

The acceleration was sudden, but smooth. This was a very efficient space ship.

"Yes. I thought of that," said Signorina Rosso, "I figured that I needed some help. The latest navigation system is one thing, but we need a good skipper. Please follow me to the bridge. I want to introduce you to the new Captain, a Captain I hired just for this trip."
Chapter Sixteen

The paella is a success. It is a simple recipe in which the rice is combined with fish, green vegetables and beans. The distinctive flavour comes from the spices. Abe has added some salt, fresh parsley, and some paprika.

"So, given that this was Celia's turn, but Abe has cooked instead, does that mean that Celia has to cook tomorrow night?" asks Libbie, "I am just asking as it would be my turn ..."

"I am perfectly happy to cook tomorrow night. Do you realise that tomorrow is our last day on the island?"

They all know that but it is a strange thought anyway. The time has gone so quickly. They do not look forward to leaving Osprey Island.

Carlos gets up suddenly and walks away. He is heading down to the shore.

The children look at Abe to see what they should do.

"It's ok. If he stays there where we can see him we should leave him alone. I think he did not like the idea that you are leaving."

"We are not leaving yet!" says Felix.

"There is more work to do," adds Celia, "We have to make Mr Stein give up his egg and ideally forget about it. Tomorrow will be a busy day."

/////

A dinghy has reached the shore from the yacht that is moored nearby. There are two men on board. One is working hard to make sure the boat is resting parallel to a large rock, so that the other man can jump on it without falling in the water. The rock is the closest thing that this part of the island has to a pier, but it is flat on top and works well for the purpose.

The man that is now on the island exchanges a few words with the man in the dinghy and then moves towards the hut of Mr Stein. He is a tall and distinguished person, with sporty but expensive clothes. He is wearing a red waterproof jacket and a sailing cap.

Mr Stein is outdoors, on the path leading to the hut. Maybe he has seen the dinghy as it was approaching and he came out to see who is coming on shore.

"It is nice to see you again. It has ben a long time," says the man who has just arrived as a way of greeting.

"So it is you after all, Edward. I should have imagined that you are the only one silly enough to go around with a yacht on the lake," says the old man with a measure of scorn.

The newcomer sighs. He had expected this rough tone from Mr Stein.

"It is a beautiful boat, in fact you can come and see her for yourself if you like."

"No thanks. I am not interested in fancy boats."

The sun is strong in the morning, and the light is hitting the white hull.

"By the way, about my beautiful yacht."

"Yes?"

"It is called Sandra."

The old man nods. It is not clear whether he is happy or not by this news. His legs do not allow him to stand for long, and he is now sitting down on a rock, leaning on his stick. The other man instead is still standing but he has taken off his cap. There is grey hair on his temples.

"Anyway. I am guilty of not having kept in contact. We may not be the closest of people but you are my father-in-law."

"I am or I was. But don't get me wrong, I am glad to see you. In fact I am particularly glad to see you today. I needed to get in touch with someone and my phone ... well ... it does not seem to work."

Mr Stein is now behaving in a friendlier manner towards the man. He has placed a hand on the arm of the son-in-law, as if he is about to confide some very important news to him.

"I have made a discovery."

"Fred, I assume I can still call you with your first name? Look. This is a very nice place for sure, a very pleasant island, but it is not the place for someone to be living all alone."

The man called Edward is trying to be diplomatic. He is not saying quite openly that Mr Stein is too old to live alone, and should be looked after in a nursing home in the village. He is, however, implying that the old man's choice of spending whole months on Osprey Island is unreasonable.

"Listen, son, I am telling you about something important."

For a while they talk at cross-purposes. Edward Rosso is not interested in whatever Mr Stein's discovery might be, and Mr Stein is not interested in hearing advice on how he should be living his life.

Eventually Mr Stein becomes rather annoyed,

"For goodness sake will you listen to me? This is a major discovery. This is the proof that there is a new and wonderful species of large reptile living on these islands. People need to know. They will want to know!"

Edward considers this point for a few seconds. He is not too pleased by the idea,

"Fred, these islands are just a bit of wilderness. They may not even be here for many years. Progress will arrive also in Peninsula. We need to move on."

"Yes. Progress. That is what I am telling you. Progress is discovery. The discovery of the existence of a living giant poet will be progress. It will make us understand the natural world more than we ever did before!"

"Ah, a giant poet indeed!" says Edward with a sneer. He pronounces the name giant poet in a way that makes it sound ridiculous.

The old man has started ranting again about his discovery, and Edward Rosso is losing patience,

"Ok, I see that you are determined to stay here in this hut for now. But I just wanted to let you know that when you want to come back to the village, you can give me a ring. Here is my card."

He is handing the old man a business card. Mr Stein takes it without even looking at it. He seems to realise that Edward has no interest in his discovery, but he can still be useful,

"You know Professor Gasparini, don't you?"

"Yes. But he is retired now, you know."

"Ah yes, but that does not matter. I mean he is still looking after the museum I am sure."

The museum in Cape Heureuse is not much more than a single large room on the ground floor of Professor Gasparini's house. As it is on the main road it gets a visit from most of the tourists in town. It holds mainly traditional agricultural and fishing implements. There is a wall on which there are some very interesting black and white photos, but they are small and not in very good conditions. At the back there is a single table with a glass case. Here is where the best archaeological findings are on display. There are stone-age tools, fragments of pottery, and the bones of a few extinct animals.

"I need you to take something to him. Come, I want to show you something."

Mr Rossi follows the old man inside his hut. Here Mr Stein explains that a few days before, on the very shore in front of his house, he has found a giant egg. He believes it to be the egg of a giant poet, or at least the egg of a very large reptile. The egg is in a bucked under a blanket.

"It needs to stay warm, but you can have a look if you like?" says Mr Stein. He is unable to understand that someone could have little interest in his discovery.

Mr Rosso does not say anything. At the beginning he thought that the old man was just talking nonsense. He assumed that the discovery was just a product of the man's imagination. Now he can see that Mr Stein has found something.

"That's ok, you can keep it under the blanket. I am sure it is a very interesting finding," says Mr Rosso without enthusiasm. In fact he was getting impatient.

"Please look for Professor Gasparini. He will understand the importance of this discovery. Ask him to come and we will start a proper investigation. This can be very important not just for you and me but for Cape Hereause, for everybody really."

"I know what is important for this region."
Chapter Sixteen

(Captain Aliquis)

Captain Aliquis was sitting in the Captain's chair on the main bridge of the Space Urchin.

"I am not going to say that I am pleased to meet you, Conte Rosso. I despise what you are doing here in the Outer Planets. But I have a deal with Signorina Rosso, I have to keep my word, which means that you are safe on this ship."

"So, you are the infamous Pirate Aliquis," said Conte Rosso who was over the initial surprise and seemed composed even in his position of captive,

"I have a bounty on your name, as I am sure you know, but I always hoped to meet you in person, because I was curious to find out the man that was able to escape to the Imperial soldiers for so many years."

"I hope that next time we meet you will be less pleased."

The robot came onto the main bridge. If it were possible for robots to be flustered that is what it would have been. The reason for the excitement was the large parrot that was standing on his shoulder.

"Ready for take off. Ready for take off," said the bird, probably because it thought that this was the appropriate thing to say when entering the main bridge of a spaceship.

"I tried. My lady, I assure you I tried to look after this beast. I know for sure that they like to eat seeds and ripe fruit, and occasionally small insects. But this animal just will not sit quietly."

Signorina Rosso seemed pleased for the distraction,

"That is ok, John, scarlet macaws are very intelligent animals, and they are very active."

"I understand that. I have no problem with birds. But this one ..."

"What is the matter with Penelope?" asked Captain Aliquis.

"The problem is, ... well, it does not stop talking!"

Chapter Seventeen

It is now Saturday morning. It is scrambled eggs again for breakfast. But thanks to the trip to Cape Heureuse they have extra provisions, including new fresh apples and even some pots of yogurt. It is bright and they know that there is work to be done.

They head towards Osprey Lookout. The idea is that near the slope of the mountain it is more likely that they will find some hidden place that can serve as a nest.

They spread out in groups of two. They agree that it is best not to be too loud, as Mr Stein house is not too far, just around the side of the mountain.

Eventually it is Abe that points out the perfect spot. It is hidden by such dense vegetation that probably nobody has ever stepped on this very spot. Abe has made a narrow opening in the tall grass, and there is a slab of rock overhanging and creating a narrow shelter. It is not big enough for people to use it as a refuge or a shelter but it is certainly big enough for animals that can walk on four legs, or slither like a snake.

"We have to consider," said Celia, "that if the giant poets have eggs the size of a watermelon then they must be at least the size of a horse."

"Yes, but that is crazy, no animal of that size could hide on these islands," said Abe.

"Of course it is crazy. In fact it is the stupidest thing in the word, ever," said Libbie, "but that is not the point. Mr Stein believes he has found the egg of a giant animal, and he is not letting these details get in the way of his belief."

"Maybe, but we should be careful to make this as believable as possible."

"That's ok," said Felix, "this can just be the place where the eggs are laid. It does not need to be a lair. I mean, like the tortoises that come to the shore and lay their eggs and then go back to sea."

"You mean the turtles," specified Carlos, "The land dwelling ones are called tortoises and the sea dwelling ones are called turtles. They are both related, they belong to a family called Testudines. I like them."

They start working on creating a nest. It is going to be a simple pit, large enough to hold six large watermelons. The path that they have opened up will be the trail by which the female of the species made her way to this hidden spot. All they know about what Mr Stein believes about the giant poet is that it is a sort of large reptile, similar to a dinosaur. That is not very much given that there used to be thousands of species of dinosaurs. They have started to think of it more like a giant turtle that lives in fresh water lakes.

Ame and Celia go and bring to the spot the watermelons that they have bought in Cape Heureuse. Apart from their bright green and stripy surfaces they can easily be mistaken for eggs.

"I think it look amazing," says Felix, "it is really a big nest."

"Well, nests are not complicated, it did not take much to build something that looks like a nest," says Abe, pragmatically.

"Yes, but look at those eggs. They have marking on just like the eggs of wild animals," insists Felix.

"Good," says Libbie, "it looks as if we have at least fooled one person."

/////

The children are now back at the camp. They are discussing who is going to talk to Mr Stein and announce that they have discovered the nest.

"I think it makes sense if it is me," says Felix.

"No, we should all go. We can say that it is a discovery that we made together. It may be more believable if we all say the same thing," proposes Celia.

"You mean all six of us? That will seem like a delegation," says Libbie.

In the end they agree that Felix, Ame and Libbie will go. Celia says that she does not trust herself as an actor. Abe and Carlos on the other hand are not too sure on what Mr Stein thinks of them.

The group of three sets off. They have prepared a story about finding the nest the night before, as they were exploring the interior of the island.

When they get near the house they notice that the front door is open. The macaw flies towards them and shouts

"Come in, come in."

It sounds more like a call for help today than just a parrot repeating a few words.

As they cross the threshold of the door, they notice a strong smell of alcohol. This is different.

"Mr Stein? Mr Stein, we have come to tell you something important," says Ame.

"Maybe is not in," says Libbie.

Felix sees the body of the old man on the floor and rushes to him. He is breathing heavily, has clearly drunk too much, and may have passed out on the floor.

"We need to do something."

"Well, I did a first aid course at school," says Ame, "but I can't remember much. He may just be drunk."

"Oh, great, you did not need a course to see that!" says Libbie, "Let's just take his stinking shirt off and put him on his bed."

Although the main room is in disarray, with both chairs turned over and a very strong smell of alcohol, the back room is in better shape. Clearly Dr Stein has not been in here for a while. They drag him to the bed, which is clean. This backroom is much smaller than the main one, but it does have a window overlooking the lake. Ame opens the window wide open. Surprisingly, Libbie demonstrates that she is quite capable in dealing with the situation. She makes the old man comfortable, and even cleans his face with a damp cloth.

Mr Stein opens his eyes. He looks at the faces of the children without immediately recognising them,

"The egg, my egg ..."

"It's ok," says Felix, "I am sure the egg is fine."

However, as soon as he says that he realises that he needs to go back to the front room to check if the egg is still there. He cannot find the bucket or the blanket that was covering it. The chairs are overturned and it looks as if there has been a sort of fight. A bottle of whiskey is on the table, empty. He looks in every corner of the room but there is no sign of the egg.

"It is gone. I wonder what happened to the egg?"

"What do you mean it is gone?" says Ame, "Who could have taken it?"

"The egg ..." repeats the old man again.

"He is the only one that can tell us," says Libbie, who then turns to the old man.

"What happened this morning? It looks as if you had a fight with someone. Did someone come and steal the egg?"

"Stolen, yes!"

"Is that possible?" says Ame, who really cannot imagine anybody wanting to steal a watermelon. Even if someone thought that it was a precious archaeological finding, they would immediately notice that it is a watermelon as soon as they would look at it.

Eventually Mr Stein was able to tell them a bit more. His speech is confused and muddled, but he is saying that early in the morning a person that he named as Edward had come to his house.

"He is a man driven by greed. You children, promise me that you will not grow up like him, do you?"

It is hard for the children to promise anything as they still do not understand who is this Edward and how is he related to the disappearance of the watermelon.

"I was a fool. I trusted the man. He is an idiot!"

Mr Stein is cursing himself and is not too keen to explain in detail. However, they understand that the old man had asked Edward to help him get people to the island to see the egg and to start a proper study of this new species. It was then that they had a quarrel. Edward called him an old fool. He said that there are no animals worth spending a life chasing. That this savage region is just a hole in which people are stuck.

"You say," says the old man, "he wants to plant some kind of herb all over the peninsula. Miles and miles of just one stupid crop."

"Ah, but it must be Mr Rosso. We have heard of it," says Ame.

"That is the stupidest idea ever," says Libbie.

"But what happened to the egg?" asks Felix.

Mr Stein closes his eyes again, as if to forget,

"My egg."

"Did Edward, I mean Mr Rosso, did he steal it?"

The old man takes a deep breath,

"He said that nobody will be interested and nobody will believe me if I tell them about a giant egg and a giant poet. Then he took the nest and threw it in the middle of the lake."

"You mean he had a boat and he went to the middle of the lake and he has thrown the bucket in the lake?"

"Yes, I wanted to go and save it, but I could not."

"That sounds awful," says Felix.

Now the old man seems to regain some degree of hope and he looks at the children with renewed interest,

"Maybe you can find it again. You have a sailing boat? You do, don't you?"

"Well, I suppose we could look ..." says Ame.

"I think I understand what happened," says Libbie, "It is obvious that a discovery so important, the discovery of a fascinating animal, a sort of dinosaur, would have been in the way of Mr Rosso's plans."

"Of course. He is the one that wants to drain the lake and turn Peninsula in a big farm," says Ame.

"... and," says Felix, "he did not look at the egg. He actually may still believe in the existence of this new species."

"Good, so he has something to worry about!" says Libbie.

"It was the first time I had found an egg, the first and only time in seventy years."

The children look at each other. Is this the time to tell the man that what he had found was certainly not the egg of a giant poet? And if they do tell him, will he believe them? Maybe Felix should have said it the first time he saw the watermelon. Now it may be too late.

"Odysseus ..."

They look around but they do not see any sign of the parrot.

"Well he was here when we arrived."

The parrot walks into the room. There is something in his beak.

"Odysseus is here," says Libbie to Mr Stein, "and he's fine."

Felix has kneeled down to check the bird,

"That looks like a cap."

"Odysseus chased him away. He was very courageous," says the old man.

"Well, not only he has stolen the hat of one of them, there is even some blood on his talon," says Ame.

Odysseus walks around with what seems pride. He drops the hat and says

"Go away. Go away."

"I think he is just telling us his version of the events," says Ame.

The children walks outside and leave the old man alone in his bedroom to rest. They can see the yacht in the distance. It is heading away from the island.

"I bet that belongs to this Mr Rosso," says Libbie.

"If we even meet him," says Felix, "we will recognise by the scar on his face, just like all the bad guys in the films!"

Chapter Seventeen

(Captain Aliquis)

As predicted, as soon as the Space Urchin took off there were several Army interceptors that were sent to block her. They could not shoot her down as they knew that Conte Rosso was on board, but they could shoot carefully to disable the main engine and force it to ask for assistance.

General Rimmer tried to establish contact and asked for an immediate surrender.

"I need a few seconds," said Captain Aliquis, "I suggest you engage the General and talk to him."

Signorina Rosso asked for the communication to go on the main screen. She sat at the communication console but made sure that nobody else was visible on the screen behind herself.

"Dear General, are you trying to contact us?"

"Of course I am bloody trying to contact you," shouted the General before suddenly realising that perhaps this was not the right tone of voice to use with the sister of Conte Rosso,

"I mean, you have left without authorisation."

"That's what I said too."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, I thought that dear Ludovico was being impulsive. He decided rather suddenly that he wanted to take off and leave the planet."

The use of Conte Rosso first name impressed the General and made him bite his tongue. But after a few seconds he started asking questions again,

"Why would Conte Rosso leave without his guards? And where exactly are you going? You understand, it is my duty to protect the Conte."

"Of course. I understand. To be quite honest I think Ludovico is being rather silly you know."

She was sounding calm and composed, and made her voice sound old and fragile. She could have been speaking about a child to a friend instead of being on a spaceship trying to escape from a whole army. The general was clearly in a difficult position. The only problem was that he demanded to see Conte Rosso.

"Yes, he said very clearly that he did not want to be disturbed, but I cannot tolerate this," said Signorina Rosso, "I will go personally this very moment and ask him to come and talk to you. What was your name again?"

"My name? I am General Forecastle of the Imperial Army," then, with some doubt in his voice he added, "at your service, Madam."

"Very well dear General Forecastle. I will bring Ludovico here even if I have to drag him by his ear!"

After saying these words she closed the communication channel and turned around to face Captain Aliquis.

"Was that long enough? I think he will wait and see if Conte Rosso calls back, but he will not wait for long."

"Thank you, that was excellent. To be honest I enjoyed it. All I need to do now is to get close to the van Hassenbaink asteroid cloud."

The van Hassenbaink was a very dangerous region of space. Normal routes avoided it and no space ship even attempted to cross it intentionally. It was made of hundreds of thousands of rocks of all sizes, often colliding with each other.

"You are not seriously considering crossing the van Hassenbaink cloud? No space ship can make it across it, it would be a suicide," said John. Robots do not experience fear, but if they did John would have been expressing real fear for its life.

"This is a very fine space ship, with a FW3200 navigation system, and I have no doubt that you are a very experienced captain, but even so. The number of potential collisions is too great to keep all asteroids under supervision. I really think we should turn around."

"I am sure Captain Aliquis knows what he is doing," said Signorina Rosso, although there was only a limited amount of confidence in her own words.

"The trick," said Captain Aliquis while typing lots of commands on the controller that he was holding in his hands, "is the navigation system."

"Yes, I am sure that is correct. And as I said the FW3200 is the top of the range, a beautiful device, it came on the market only last year, but nevertheless this is a lot to ask even to the FW3200," said the robot.

"What I meant," said Aliquis, "is that I am going to switch it off."

"Switch it off, switch it off," said Penelope, who was holding on to John's forearm.

"You see, it gets in the way of human reflexes," explained Aliquis speaking to nobody in particular. His eyes were focused on the instrumentation, "Instead I will make avoidance manoeuvres only as the asteroid appears on the main monitor, thus ensuring that each threat is dealt with at the most appropriate time."

The robot was computing what to say next, in the sense that the lights of his speech processing unit were flashing but no sound was coming out.

Mr Sigurrson instead appeared fascinated by the daring plan,

"Do you mind me asking, Sir, whether you have crossed the asteroid cloud before?"

"Yes, several times as it happens."

Captain Aliquis failed to add that he had done so using a fighter ship, which was ten times smaller than the Space Urchin.

Conte Rosso was standing. He had never found himself in such a situation. He was not in control, and that was the most frustrating thing. Someone else had made plans and forced them on him. His sister had never been this assertive before.

They entered the van Hassenbaink cloud at full speed.

"Hold on," shouted Aliquis, but a bit too late. He manoeuvred the ship abruptly to the right. Everybody who was not holding on to something was thrown to the floor, including John.

"Fortunately I have a protective suit. It uses a sensor to detect subtle differences between regular turbulence and the acceleration associated with an impending crash, in the latter case it activates a fall-cushioning airbag on my behind before I hit the ground."

"Hold on. Hold on," shouted Penelope. The bird was now flying around trying to find a safe place.

A small but fast asteroid went across the screen left to right. Captain Aliquis ignored it and instead concentrated on the mid size one that was coming straight at them. This time the Space Urchin dived just in time.

The ships of the Imperial Army that were pursuing them had stopped at the edges of the van Hassenbaink cloud. General Forecastle knew that they could not navigate through it. He was also quite sure that the Space Urchin had little chance of escaping without damage. Therefore, the General ordered the ships to spread out along the outside of the cloud. It was too large to seal off completely, but they had a good chance of seeing a damaged space ship when it emerged. That of course assumed that it would not be completely destroyed.

"Maybe. Maybe we can make it," said Mr Sigursson.

Just then a huge dark shadow entered the screen. This was a very large asteroid, and it was moving relatively slowly. However, it was going to be hard to avoid.

Aliquis was ready. He entered into the asteroid's orbit, and after circling it twice he landed the space ship inside a crater. The landing was gentle and the vessel so far had received no damage.

"That, I must admit," said Conte Rosso, "was impressive."

"You're welcome. Ok, we will stop here briefly. This will allow the computer to plot the most direct route out from the cloud. Hopefully it will also mean that there will not be anybody waiting for us as they will assume that we have not survived."

He knew that in all likelihood the Imperial Army would not give up so easily.

Chapter Eighteen

After a while Mr Stein walks out of his hut. He has put on a clean shirt and he tries to walk as steadily as he possibly can.

"Mr Stein, are you ok? You do not need to get up."

The man appears sad,

"I came to apologise."

"Apologise? What for?"

"Because my behaviour was unacceptable. You children need to know that I was upset, and that I went and found a bottle of whiskey that I had hidden in the house. But I have not been drinking for five years. For five whole years!"

Odysseus has come out together with the old man, who is now sitting next to the children, looking out over the lake,

"When my daughter died I had to give up teaching. I could not bear the idea of the children seeing me in such a state. I was a mess, and, more importantly, I was drinking."

"But then you gave up drinking."

"I did, and I started to come to the island. I heard the voice of the giant poet and I set myself the task of looking for it."

"What this Mr Rosso did was despicable," says Libbie, "I can't believe that someone could do such a thing."

The old man takes a deep breath.

"Maybe he meant it for the best. Maybe he really thought that I was crazy."

"We do not think that you are crazy," says Ame.

"Anyway. Even if I lost the egg, the important thing is that I believe, I mean, I know that the giant poet exists. So the loss of the egg is not so important after all. It may have even floated back to the mother."

"We have seen the evidence too!" says Felix. The other two children look at him worried. Is it really wise to go on with the deception about the nest?

The old man is not paying much attention. He thinks that Felix is referring to the fact that he has seen the egg in his house.

"I think you may need a little rest, but we will come back and we will show you something interesting."

/////

They make their way towards Osprey Lookout very slowly. Mr Stein is not in a good shape and he can only walk by leaning heavily on his stick. The vegetation also makes the progress difficult. They follow the path that has been open up before, cutting in between very tall grass and bushes. The children have to pay attention as they have not made clear marks and they need to search for the location of the nest.

While they march, Felix is trying to explain,

"You see, it was yesterday. We were just exploring this part of the island. We do not believe that many people have been here before. As you can see it is very wild. So we thought this is a good place to explore."

"We need you to look at what we have found," adds Ame, "You are the expert about these islands."

Eventually they arrive at the place where the rock juts out over the narrow alcove.

They stand there. There is silence, as nobody knows exactly what to say next. Libbie has still serious doubts about the chances that Mr Stein will believe that these are three eggs of the giant poet.

The old man is not looking down at the nest. Instead he is strangely looking at the rocks. In particular he is looking at the slab of rock that sits horizontal above the nest.

"My goodness! I cannot believe my eyes. This is ... this is ..."

"Mr Stein, are you ok? Mr Stein," asks Felix who is puzzled by the fact that Mr Stein is looking up at the rocks and the mountain.

"Son, this is an incredible discovery. This is a dolmen!"

"Dolmen?" asks Ame who has never heard the word before.

"Yes," says the old man, pointing to the rock with his walking stick "A dolmen is an ancient tomb, or sacred chamber. You can see the two upright stones that support the large flat capstone."

The children are not sure they can see upright stones. But it is just possible that this is in fact a human construction, although a very old one and very basic. It is possible that the rocks at the side have been placed here or perhaps just chosen so that the larger horizontal one can be rested on top. This creates a small chamber.

"So, do you think this is very old?"

"Oh yes, son, and it is a completely novel discovery. People have wondered about the early tribes that came to like in Peninsula but there is little evidence along the coast. But there is a theory that says that the most likely place to find evidence of stone-age settlements is here on the islands."

"But it is very difficult to get here, you need a boat."

"Exactly, and that is a good thing. People in those days liked the fact that living here on the island they were secure, or more secure than if they lived on land."

Listening to the old man now, speaking in such an articulate manner about a scientific matter it is hard to believe that only a few hours before he was drunk on the floor of his hut.

"When you say old ..."

"I mean thousands of years, maybe five thousand, before people started to build houses, you know."

"Well, I guess we have to go and tell other people, is that what we should do next?" asks Ame.

"Yes, yes, and soon. But nobody will be able to steal this findings from us!"

They turn and they head back. Mr Stein is so taken by the sight of the Dolmen that he has not noticed the three large watermelons sitting together on the ground.
Chapter Eighteen

(Captain Aliquis)

It was relatively safe to remain inside the crater. It was possible that other asteroids would crash against the large one on which they found themselves, but given the size many smaller bodies seemed to be captured by the orbit of the larger asteroid rather than collide with it.

Captain Aliquis turned to Signorina Rosso.

"I have taken the liberty to invite a few other people on board."

"But you gave me your word."

"I gave you my word that I would help you with your plan, and that I will do. I never said that I would be coming alone."

Aliquis opened a door and Alice came in with Elizabeth and Fred. Mr Sigursson did not recognise his children right away. They did recognise him but stood there unsure on what to do. Eventually it was Alice that introduced them to their father and bluntly explained that they had been left alone on Colony B and therefore from now on Mr Sigursson would have to take them with him.

The man could not give an explanation for why he had not visited his family on Colony B. It appeared that he did not know where to find them or he did not believe that they were alive.

"What has any of this to do with our expedition?" asked Signorina Rosso, who just like her brother did not like it when she was not completely in charge of the situation.

"Nothing. Nothing except that we had to take Mr Sigursson with us, so we thought we might as well take the whole family. There is nothing for them on Colony B, nothing worth staying for," explained Aliquis.

"Very moving," said Conte Rosso with sarcasm, "It may contribute to your image with the outer population. The pirate that reunites families. They may even write stories about you."

Despite the fact that Mr Sigursson had a lot of explaining to do, he seemed genuinely pleased to see his children. The others left them alone to presumably catch up on many years of missed time.

/////

"Here is what we will do," said Aliquis, "minor asteroids leave the van Hassenbaink cloud on a regular basis. We will catch a ride."

"You do not need to explain," said Signorina Rosso, "Let us just try."

The Space Urchin left the crater in which it had landed and started to follow one of the asteroids. It was now matching its speed, and moving parallel to it. The computer had identified the trajectory of this small asteroid as one that was due to escape the main cluster. By following it the Space Urchin managed to move a good distance outside the cloud. The Imperial army was still trying to monitor the entire region but they could not check every single rock.

When they were at a safe distance they left the asteroid and set course for Colony C.

"Thank you Captain Aliquis," said Signorina Rosso who then turned to Mr Sigursson, "As soon as we arrive on Colony C it will be your task to guide us to the most likely location."

"With pleasure. I wanted a scientific expedition to come to Colony C. That is why I went to the conference. I have found an egg of the giant poet, but I have never seen an exemplar. I did not expect an expedition to come here so soon, but the sooner the better."

Mr Sigursson had accepted Signorina Rosso invitation to lead a search for the giant poet. However, he was somewhat puzzled by the strange party assembled on the Space Urchin. As far as he could see there was not a single scientist. There was a very skilful pilot, a rich lady very interested in the giant poet, and Conte Rosso, the most powerful man in the region, the director of the Company of the outer planets. Why, precisely, was Signorina Rosso taking her brother to Colony C?

They flew towards the larger of the south continents, which had no cities and was almost entirely covered in forests and large lakes.

"We will land near that lake," explains Mr Sigursson, "It is on the central mountain range, at two thousand meters of altitude. It is large as you can see and has several islands. In the map of this continent that I have produced I called this Lake Elizabeth."

"That is interesting," said John, "Signorina Rosso has visited this site once. It was two years ago, I remember. On our maps, I mean the official Imperial maps, this lake is called S274. On the other hand it is customary that these reference names can be changed over time. There is an application form for registering new names of geographical features such as lakes, rivers, and mountains ..."

"What did you find when you visited the lake before?" asked Mr Sigursson.

"The expedition was very successful. We identified 73 new species of insects. In fact I remember that we could have identified more, the Coleoptera family and also the Hymenoptera family were remarkably well represented here. You will excuse my improper use of the term family here, of course these are orders as you all well know."

John went on with a long lesson on the insects of the region.

Conte Rosso in the meantime was pacing up and down the bridge, with his hands behind his back. He had been quiet for most of the trip, just shaking his head every now and then.

/////

They reached the shore of the lake. The place was wild and immense, but it also had a sense of ancient familiarity. Human beings had settled in almost hundred planets in the solar system, from the home planet to some small and undistinguished planetoids. The same seeds and the same animals had been introduced in many worlds, but after hundreds of years they had evolved in new directions and interacted with novel environments. Yet there was a basic geography of mountains and water, of blue sky and green leaves that was shared by every place on which life was possible. Standing there on the shore of Lake Elizabeth one could have imagined that they were in fact on home planet soil, many centuries ago, or some other planet.

"We do not have the means to cross the lake. The Space Urchin could travel to various parts of this continent, but to have a proper exploration we need to spend some time walking," said John almost as an apology. They were in fact walking along the shore and following Mr Sigursson.

"We will reach that strip of land," said the explorer.

"What will we do after that?" asked Aliquis.

"Well, like all explorations you cannot ask for any guarantee that you will find what you are looking for. Not right away. I mean not on the first day, or not on the first month. But the strange egg that does not belong to any known species of animals was found on this very beach."

"Very well," said Signorina Rosso, "At this point we do not need to remain as a large group. The children can go back to CTF. They are welcome to stay at my villa until our return."

"We are not leaving without papa," said Elizabeth.

"And I am not staying here without them, if you want me as a guide then they come with us," said Mr Sigursson.

"On the other hand," said Alice, speaking to no one in particular "I am ready to leave you guys. You are a funny bunch, but I hate to stay in one place too long, and I have done my good deed for the year. It is not healthy to be too virtuous."

She was about to walk away into the forest, when a large number of soldiers walked out from the surrounding bushes.

"Do not move!" shouted the voice of General Forecastle.

It was impossible to attempt an escape. The soldiers were too numerous, and they were aiming their weapons on them. Everybody in the group stood still, except for Conte Rosso who walked up to Captain Aliquis.

"As you see, I am too powerful for you. I think this is the end of your career."

"It certainly looks that way," said Aliquis with defiance, "but what you represent is still wrong. The Outer Planets need to be left in peace."

"How simple minded! People need food, they need jobs, they do not need to be left in peace."

"Not your kind of jobs."

"You just play at flying around and stealing from cargo ships. Do not pretend that you know anything about the real world. I know what is important for this region."

The soldiers started to close in. Conte Rosso left the group and went to meet General Forecastle.

Penelope was now on the top of John's head,

"Do not panic. Do not panic."
Chapter Nineteen

Later in the day the motorised boat of Mr Holmes arrives at the north end of the island. It slows down and slides up along the rock that serves as pier. Mr Holmes is not alone this time, with him is a chubby old man in a straw hat and Mrs Constantia. The old man is not very good on his feet and it takes some effort for the party to disembark.

They walk up to the hut of Mr Stein, and call his name.

"Come in, come in."

Odysseus is standing just outside the house. He seems pleased to see the visitors.

"Hallo! And where is your Master?" asks Mr Holmes to the bird.

"Come in, come in."

They check the door and it is open, but they do not find anybody inside.

"Oh I hope poor Mr Stein is alright," says Mrs Constantia.

At this point Mr Stein arrives back, together with Ame, Felix and Libbie. He does not look in a good shape, he is limping even more than usual, but he seems very excited.

"Dear Constantia, and dear Luigi, this is wonderful ... you arrive just at the best of times."

Professor Luigi Gasparini is an old friend of Mr Stein. The reason he is here is because Mr Rosso has been to see Mr Holmes and has expressed concern about the well being of the old man on the island. He said that when he came and visited in the morning Mr Stein was behaving very strangely. Mr Rosso claimed that some of the things that Mr Stein was saying were impossible to understand and he may have even be hallucinating. Naturally Mr Holmes decided to come over and make sure that everything was ok. Before coming he had gone to the house of Professor Gasparini. Gasparini was possibly Mr Stein's best friend, and he had decided to come along. By chance Mrs Constantia was in the house of Professor Gasparini when Mr Holmes had visited. That is how the group had been formed, and they had come over with Mr Holmes' boat.

The children introduce themselves briefly. Mr Holmes and Mrs Constantia are glad to see them again. Professor Gasparini simply smiles like old men do when they meet young children.

"But one of you is missing. When is the girl with short spiky hair?" asks Mr Holmes.

"Celia."

"Yes, Celia. Have you left her on her own?"

It is not a reprimand, but the three friends find it a strange question anyway. Celia is not on her own but even if she were she would be perfectly alright. Maybe Mr Holmes is just being a bit too protective.

"She is fine, she is at the campsite with Abe and Carlos."

"I should come more often," says Professor Gasparini talking to Mr Stein, "but I am rather lazy in my old age. My legs are not what they used to be."

They have now walked back inside the house. The professor is sitting on one of the chairs and Mr Stein on the other. Mrs Constantia has automatically started to tidy up the house. It is what she always does and she can't help picking things up if she sees them on the floor.

The smell of alcohol is still very noticeable. Mrs Constantia has an expression of disapproval on her face.

Mr Holmes is pacing up and down, unable to stand still. The children are also standing. They are not sure whether it is their duty to report what happened exactly with Mr Rosso. They are also wondering whether Mr Stein will start talking about the egg of the giant poet. The watermelon is not here any longer so he cannot cover himself in ridicule, but it will nevertheless be a strange and hard-to-believe story. Worse still Felix may be asked to testify that he has seen the egg. Felix, for now, keeps quiet and waits to see what Mr Stein will say.

It is Mr Holmes that does more of the talking,

"I think Mr Rosso was really worried about you. He did seem in a state. He had a scar on his face as well and he claimed that your parrot is a dangerous animal. But I find it really difficult to believe that old Odysseus here would attack anybody!"

He points to the parrot that has made his way back to his favourite shelf.

"Come in, come in."

"Mr Rosso came and maybe when he came it was just for a visit, but he did not like me talking about the giant poet, he got upset and violent. He may be rich and he may have a big yacht but he is nothing but a little bully. I can tell you, I have been teaching for many years and I can recognise a bully when I see one."

Nobody in the room speaks up in defence of Mr Rosso. But they are a bit puzzled by what is really going on.

"So you are spending time here on the island because you are still looking for ... interesting new species," says Professor Gasparini without mentioning the giant poet directly.

"Dear Luigi, you would like it here too. Why are you just staying in your museum? This island has everything, plants, animals, sun, ... and now even some young people."

They all look at the three children. The three children look at each other.

Professor Gasperini does not say anything. He seems to be thinking about what his friend is saying. Eventually he goes back to enquiring about exactly what happened,

"But what was Mr Rosso talking about, why did you and he have a quarrel?"

"Oh, his brain is so lacking in imagination, tick tock, tick tock, that when he sees a sailing boat he thinks that a yacht is better and when he sees an island covered in forests he thinks that a skyscraper is better, I have given up on him ..."

This is not a very clear answer, but Mr Stein is soon going on to another subject,

"The reason I am happy to see you is because of what me and these children have discovered."

Libbie for a second is tempted to say that it was really their discovery, and that it was them who had taken Mr Stein to the dolmen. However, on second thought she feels that perhaps it is fair to say that it was sort of Mr Stein's discovery. She had not seen anything interesting in the rock. And maybe there really was nothing interesting in the rock and Mr Stein was making a fool of himself just like when he had mistaken a watermelon for an egg.

"I need you to come and see it," says Mr Stein, speaking mainly to Professor Gasparini, "I need you to confirm that it is really something that was erected by stone-age people. Otherwise I may just be an old fool and I may just be inventing stories."

"I really must go," says Libbie, "We left the other children on the other side of the island and they are probably wondering why we are so long. So, I will make my way back."

"Yes," says Ame, "Libbie is right. We must be going"

Felix is not too sure why his friends are now in such a hurry to leave.

"Felix, you can stay if you like, no need to all go together," says Ame. Soon after, Ame and Libbie set off.

In the house the discussion continues between Mr Stein and Professor Gasparini. They talk about what exactly the discovery was. They agree that they will go and see the dolmen together. The only person who is not interested and is left behind in the house is Mrs Constantia. She says that she will go later, or another day.

"Oh, people made a house in a cave here long ago? I am not surprised," she says, "I know that people have been coming to this island for a very long time, I remember my grandfather, that was a long time ago you understand, my grandfather used to say that poor people lived on the shore of the lake, but at least poor people living on the islands had chosen a good place to be poor."

Once again they walk into the forest, retracing their steps. Felix is the one that remembers the way and can lead them safely. Mr Stein on the other hand seems a bit unsure and is happy to just follow the boy.

Felix has understood now why Ame and Libbie wanted to leave early.

Eventually they reach the place where the children had prepared the nest with the eggs. However, there is no sign of any watermelon.

Professor Gasparini walks up to the rock. He seems particularly taken by the horizontal slab. He looks underneath it, then he walks to the left and then to the right. He pushes gently on the rocks that seem to be the pillar of the small house.

"Well, my friend," says Mr Stein, slightly tense, "what do you think?"

The Professor comes closer to Mr Stein, places his hands on his shoulders, looks at him in the eyes and says,

"This, my dear explorer, is a magnificent structure. Something that people erected here thousands of years ago."

"I knew it."

"Oh my, oh my," says Mr Holmes breathing in, "you never finish learning about a place. And I guess tourists may like to come and see this, I would imagine they would like that very much."

"Was this a house?" asks Felix, who is still unsure whether the rock can be described to be anything more than a very rough shelter.

"Probably not. Probably something much more important. This, son, could be a temple."

"Really? But it is too small, nobody could even go underneath."

"Now, you do have to look at it a bit differently," explains the Professor, "you have to try and imagine how it might have looked thousands of years ago. Over time it has probably sunk a bit into the ground. Imagine this place where we are now, cleared of all the pants, there is enough space here to have a sort of square. So here maybe the people of this island could gather. And imagine the rocks straight and clean. Maybe even painted in bright colours. Imagine a fire maybe, under the dolmen."

Mr Stein had been listening with great interest to what his friend was saying. Now he was looking around and from his expression one could see that he was able to imagine all of that, right in front of his eyes.

Felix thought that maybe this time Mr Stein had really found something interesting.

"Do you know," asks Mr Holmes, who is also taking an interest in what has been said so far by the Professor, "by any chance, do you know if these people might, you know, make sacrifices?"

The Professor is very pleased with his audience, he clearly loves being asked questions and he is standing right in front of the dolmen like a teacher in from of his desk.

"Sacrifices? Well, it is possibility. By definition we are talking about pre-history so no written record remains and therefore we cannot say for sure. But if you mean human sacrifices ..."

Here he makes a pause.

"No, I doubt it very much. There is no evidence that the ancient people who lived in Peninsula carried out human sacrifices."

"So it was all just singing and dancing?"

"Perhaps, singing and dancing was quite likely, and they may have had ceremonies, with milk or blood from an animal being used. What I think is most likely is that they would come here to bring presents to their gods. Little presents, just as a sign of respect. Things like, maybe, fruit."

Yes, thought Felix, I can certainly imagine quite easily some fruit under the dolmen.
Chapter Nineteen

(Captain Aliquis)

When the Space Urchin had arrived on the southern continent of Colony C, the lake had appeared beautiful and calm. The weather was extremely pleasant. It was hard to believe that this was not the environment on which humans had evolved because the human reaction to this landscape was one of acceptance and peace as if they felt that they belonged here.

There were high peaks in the distance all around the lake. Most of them were covered in snow. The tall tree that formed a dense forest around the lake appeared to be some kind of conifers.

The surface of the lake was flat. At some point they had heard a splash and thought that they might have seen a fish. The colour of the water matched the blue of the sky.

On the shore the soldiers had completely surrounded the group. Nobody was daring to do the first move, but the people in charge were clearly the soldiers with their guns.

General Forecastle was talking with Conte Rosso. Technically the Imperial Army was completely separate from the Company of the outer planets. The Army was here to maintain order and the rule of law. They were not directly involved in any business activity. The Company of the outer planets on the other hand was not a military organisation, although they did hire some security guards. This was the façade. In reality the Company did operate a complete control of the natural resources of the planets in the region. Therefore, the Company was able to accumulate great wealth. Much of this wealth was then moved back to the home planet, where the main shareholders of the Company lived. The role of the Director was to ensure that the business continued to be profitable. Conte Rosso had been a very successful Director for over twenty years.

It was at this point that the water of the lake started to change. The surface was not as flat as before. There was also a faint noise coming from the lake itself.

Captain Aliquis had noticed that something was about to happen before any of the others. He had seen bubbles coming up from the bottom, especially near the shore where they were standing. The next person to notice something was Mr Sigursson. The two men looked at each other.

Then the loud noise came, like a wave crashing on the rocks. Everybody turned to look towards the shore.

First the head emerged. It was a head the size of a flying car. It was green and vaguely resembling the head of a lizard. The eyes were yellow and huge, with vertical pupils. They looked straight at the people on the shore. Then they blinked.

Until the blink one could have imagined that this enormous being was just a machine, but the movement of the eyes was different. There was something intelligent, and massive, that was looking at them.

Slowly the rest of the body emerged. It was green and scaly. The animal walked on four legs, but the legs were relatively short compared to the long neck and the even longer tail. Along the back there was a long series of scales.

The soldiers had never seen anything like this, and they were not ready. One of the men made the mistake of shooting at the beast. The ray bounced off the scales on the side of the animal. It responded immediately, almost like a reflex. The long tail slashed like a whip. It had a kind of spiky ball at the end. At least ten soldiers were thrown up in the air, and landed several hundred meters away. Many of the other soldiers panicked and run back into the forest.

Conte Rosso and General Forecastle were ushered to the shelter of some nearby rocks by a pair of guards. They were probably soldiers from a special unit, they looked tougher and their uniform was also different.

Penelope took this opportunity to fly all the way to the top of one of the forest trees. As she went she repeated her favourite sentence,

"Do not panic. Do not panic."

A boy emerged from the other side of the forest, and he started to gesture to the group that was still standing around Captain Aliquis. This group included Signorina Rosso and her mechanical servant, Mr Sigursson and the two children. There was no trace of Alice.

"Quick, follow me."

Mr Sigursson picked up little Fred, who was screaming, and he would have liked to try and lift Elizabeth as well but Aliquis was quicker and lifted the girl. The robot carried Signorina Rosso without much effort. This way the group moved quickly. The boy showed them a path that led to higher ground. They soon reached the top of a hill. From here they could see the lake and the beach below. They could also see four huge dinosaurs moving towards the forest.

"They are big but I discovered that they are vegetarian, so they are not really dangerous," said the boy.

"They are not giant poets. At least I doubt that they are really giant poets," said John "They do not look right, they are too big, and they make a sound that is like that of a cow, only a lot louder. But even so, I am sure that they are not a species science knows anything about. They are fascinating, really fascinating."

Signorina Rosso turned towards the boy,

"Who are you?"

"My name is Johan Coriolis, from Colony C."

John had gently placed Signorina Rosso back on the ground. As a robot it had meant very little effort for him to lift a person and carry her to the top of a hill. He started again talking about the animals,

"It was rather a surprise. We knew of the existence of many large reptiles here in this part of Colony C but I believe that nobody expected them to be this large. It is the most remarkable discovery. This is the perfect observation spot. As the young gentleman says we were never in any danger but this is a much more convenient place to be ..."

There was no sign of the soldiers. It seemed that nobody had tried to follow them. In the distance they saw a group of flying cars leave in a hurry.

"Signorina Rosso," said Captain Aliquis, " I suspect your relationship with your brother will not be easily repaired."

"Siblings are supposed to fight," said the woman. She sounded calm given the situation.

"This is probably healthier that what we have done in the last ten years, which was just ignoring each other. I will make it as difficult as I possibly can for him to destroy this world. And those animals are my allies."

Down below the massive reptiles had started to nibble the top of the trees. The long necks allowed them to reach to the top.

The two children were fascinated by the sight, but while they were watching the animals they were holding on to the adults. Fred had his arms around his father's neck, while Elizabeth was now standing, but was holding Signorina Rosso's hand.

The boy who had brought them to this safer placed turned towards Aliquis,

"I believe that I have the pleasure to meet Captain Aliquis, the leader of the fight of the outer planets for their independence."

"I am Captain Aliquis. You displayed great courage boy. We will need people like you, there is a lot more work to be done. The plans of the Company of the outer planets are changing and there are new challenges ahead."
Chapter Twenty

Standing around the fire for the last time, the children sang together a few traditional songs. Abe and Carlos are spending the evening with their new friends, and their tent is next to the other two, on the campsite at the top of crescent beach. None of the children can play a musical instrument, and they would not have any available anyway. But they are happy singing just for the company. Even if they sing completely out of tune there is nobody who can hear them on this island.

Mr Stein has left with Mr Holmes. All the grown-ups are back in Cape Heureuse. They are planning to announce the discovery of the dolmen. They want it to have as much publicity as possible, all over the country, and they have contacted the local and the national media. Mr Stein and Professor Gasparini have promised the children that they will be recognised for their part in the uncovering of this important archaeological site.

For now the children are not too interested in the dolmen. Tonight Osprey Island belongs entirely to them.

They are sitting in a semicircle, making sue that the smoke is blown away from them. The children have made a larger fire this time compared to the previous days, and the bright light is spreading on the shingles, dancing in the night.

Abe and Carlos know that after tomorrow they will not see their new friends for a while, although the children from the city hope to come back again on holiday in Peninsula. The city is a long way away, and the lives of Abelardo and Carlos are likely to be linked to the lake, but they also say that one day they will like to visit the capital. They do promise each other to write and keep in touch.

Celia is wearing her green waterproof jacket. There is a breeze and she zips it up and puts her hands in the pockets.

"It was lucky that you kept your money in your jacket and not in the bag," says Ame.

"I guess so."

"Thank you for buying the watermelons and the food the other day," says Abe, "We almost never bring any money with us when we go sailing."

"No big deal. Stuff is cheap here in Peninsula compared to the city."

"Celia?" says Ame.

"What?"

"I think you like to keep your stuff well organised, and you look after it."

Celia looks at Ame, puzzled.

"Is it not possible that together with the money, in the pocket of your jacket, you also had your phone?"

Celia opens her mouth to deny it, but then changes her mind,

"You know, Ame, I used to underestimate you."

She takes her mobile phone out from her jacket, and everybody is surprised.

"That is the stup ...." starts Libbie.

"Wait," says Abe "let her explain. Why did you do that? Why did you say that your phone was lost when it was not."

"I guess I wanted this to be an adventure. I did not believe that we needed phones."

Then she smiles and she adds,

"I was right."

Carlos has made a new friend. He is feeding bits of stale bread to the scarlet macaw. The bird has found his way here to the campsite and joined them for dinner. Odysseus is a clever animal and knows how to distinguish the good guys from the bad guys. He seems to prefer to walk than to fly in the dark. Maybe they will need to give him a ride back to the hut of Mr Stein later.

"Peanuts. I like peanuts."

"Actually this is bread, not peanuts," explains Carlos.

Then he continues, "The funny thing about peanuts is that the peanut, or groundnut, is a type of legume, and therefore similar to beans and peas. Legumes are seeds that grow inside pods. So the peanut is not really a nut at all. The name is just wrong. It comes from the Southern continent originally."

"Peanuts. I like peanuts," repeats the parrot.

After the singing it is the turn for some story telling. Felix is sitting next to Libbie. He turns to her and asks,

"Libbie, could you continue please?"

"Continue with the same story as the other nights?"

"Yes, I like your science fiction adventure."

"In a minute," she says. Then she bites into the sweetness of a slice of freshly cut watermelon.

The end.
This novel is available as an ebook:

From the same author:

Magic

<http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mbertamini>

Bianca and other contrived short-stories

 http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/mbertamini

