The Keeper. Part 1. An Invitation. Craig Speakes
of the existence of T8 wasn’t exactly a secret per se, it was rather strange that it couldn’t be located on any satellite photographs, especially given their general availability these days. The writer had also gone on to say that, in his opinion, it had to mean that there was more to it than it just being a UK government facility and questioned whether it was even in the UK at all.
The afternoon of their departure, the general had arrived with his father at the appointed time.
‘Papa!’ shouted Arthur, rushing to greet him as Sasha opened the door for them.
‘Hellooo, you!’ cried his father, hugging him. ‘How are you doing?’
‘Fine!’
‘So, I hear we’re being sent somewhere, but no one wants to say exactly where that somewhere is. What did we do to deserve that, I wonder?’
‘Ha ha, very funny. It’s a restricted facility called T8. But it doesn’t exist on any maps—I checked!’
‘Did you now? Well, don’t you worry yourself, I’m sure they know how to find it.’ He winked. ‘And anyway, a few days off from school is never a bad thing, right? Are you all set?’
Arthur nodded and pointed to the bulging backpack at the foot of the bed and grinned.
‘Your mum packed that, did she? I bet there’s enough food in there to keep you going for weeks.’
‘And you’ll thank me later for it,’ she replied, appearing out of the kitchen. ‘I’ve heard enough stories about the standard of army food.’’
‘But Mum, I don’t think we’re going to an army base.’
‘Maybe, but as General Hammond here refuses to say anything much about where you are actually going, it can’t hurt to be prepared, can it?’
‘Oh I don’t think you need worry,’ grinned the general. ‘You can be sure that we’ll take good care of them. And, speaking of which, I’ve just been informed that our plane is already waiting for us on the tarmac, so I suggest that we get our skates on.’
‘What, right now?!’ asked Arthur, panicking that he was about to forget something important.
‘Arthur, come on,’ called his mother when he suddenly darted into his room and didn’t reappear again. ‘Everyone’s getting ready.’
‘Yes, yes, I’m coming,’ he called back. What is it that I’m forgetting? He wondered, looking about his room. But there was nothing that stood out.
‘Ah ha! Of course!’ he exclaimed as the cat happened to wander in at that exact moment and meow at him. ‘Cat—it’s you!’
Hurriedly removing the sandwiches and other provisions his mother had packed for him, he laid the pack on the floor in front of him.
‘What? Don’t look at me like that. I know you understand why the general’s here.’
The cat meowed.
‘Yeah, yeah, come on, quickly,’ he whispered, pushing it closer to him.
Meowing again, the cat got in.
‘Okay, now whatever you do, remember to stay quiet and stay hidden, got it?’
‘Arthur!’ called out his mother, again. ‘Come on, whatever are you doing there? We’re all waiting.’
‘I’m coming, I’m coming!’ he shouted and heaved the backpack onto his shoulders.
Although it was understood that they weren’t going to be gone for long, he still felt bad about saying goodbye to his mum. She was looking tearful again.
‘Now just do as you’re told and don’t get up to any mischief,’ said Sasha, shaking Arthur’s hand.
‘I will.’
‘And please call us when you get there,’ said his mother.
‘Of course. Don’t worry, he’ll be fine,’ replied his father, patting Arthur on the head.
And with a wave, they turned and followed the general to the lift.
Outside, three large, blacked out SUVs were parked in a line near the entrance. As they emerged, men dressed in black uniforms got out and stood between them and a small crowd of onlookers that had gathered to see what was happening. Recognising several of his neighbours, Arthur couldn’t help but wonder what they must be thinking, seeing him coming out with the general.
‘Quite the little show we’re putting on for everyone, eh?’ said his father, putting his things into the boot. ‘There’s plenty of room in here, you know,’ he added, looking puzzled as to why Arthur was still clutching his pack.
‘Yeah, I know, but I might need something.’
‘You can’t be hungry already, surely. Your mum said you just ate before I arrived.’
‘Yeah, I did, but not much.’
‘Fine. Suit yourself.’ He smiled and opened the door for him.
Getting in, Arthur gazed up at the windows of his flat, which all faced that side. He could see his mum peering out, holding his sister. They both waved.
‘It’ll all be okay,’ said his father softly, as Arthur turned to watch them out the back window. ‘Sometimes life throws us curve balls and forces us to do things we don’t necessarily want to. Just try to think of it as a little adventure—nothing more, nothing less.’
6
T8
An unmarked jet had been waiting for them at a small airfield just outside of London. Flanked by two more SUVs, similar to the ones in their convey, the plane had, the moment they were all on board, immediately taxied out to the runway and taken off.
Attempting to work out where they might be going, Arthur had tried to keep track of their route by searching for familiar landmarks on the ground. But no sooner had the aircraft climbed through several large banks of cloud than he’d completely lost his bearings. What he didn’t fail to spot, though, was that after less than an hour in the air, they were no longer flying over land! The words of the blogger had immediately rung in his ears.
And so it was that for the next seven and a half hours their course continued to take them out over open water, finally hitting land again a little after nine o’clock UK time. By now Arthur had worked out with some certainty that wherever it was they were going, it was most definitely in the northwestern hemisphere, because had they been flying east, then it would already have been dark outside. Nose pressed up against the window, he’d watched as a landscape of forests and mountains unfolded in front of them, stretching away to the horizon. In places, it was already buried under blankets of early winter snows.
In between dozing and covertly checking on the cat, who didn’t seem to be having any trouble sleeping the whole way, Arthur had spent quite a large portion of the flight seriously regretting having allowed his mum to talk him out of taking his mobile phone with him. Not only did it have all his games on it, but all his music, too.
‘If you leave it there, then you’ll probably never get it back. And don’t think for a minute that we’ll be buying you another one any time soon if you do. In any case, your father will have his, and a few days away from those games of yours won’t do you any harm, either,’ had been the speech.
As a result, he’d been forced to listen to hours of the general and his father discussing world affairs, all of which seemed to be so far removed from his own life that the only interesting moment had been when his father had attempted to badger him into finally telling them where they were going. The general, though, had smiled apologetically and said that it was top secret.
And so, it wasn’t until the plane had finally begun its descent that Arthur got his first chance to learn something about it. Resembling a kind of town, it was much bigger than he’d been expecting and dominated by several very large buildings, which were themselves flanked by tall tower-like structures. Linked together by networks of over-ground walkways,