Read Online Ellie Quin Book 01: The Legend of Ellie Quin by Alex Scarrow - Free Book Online

seven. The horizon was growing brighter and the new day was fast approaching. She strained her eyes to look for the telltale dust trail of his dirt-cat. She could see none. The air in her cylinder was not going to last much longer. She would have to head back down to the farm and get another one pretty soon. Ellie bit her lip in frustration. It was typical of her luck. He had arrived promptly for every study lesson she had had with him over the last four years, today he should bloody well choose to be late.
    No choice. She decided to head back for some more oxygen right now whilst her family were still asleep rather than delay any longer. She scanned the horizon one last time.
    Nothing.
    ‘Dammit.’
    She let herself into the domestic dome as quietly as she could. She couldn’t hear any noises coming from Ted’s cabin, and he was always the first one up. She crept stealthily across the courtyard towards Shona’s dome. Beside her exit hatch there would be another oxygen cylinder. It would undoubtedly be full of oxygen since Shona rarely bothered with going outside. But it would also be horribly stale since she probably hadn’t checked it in months.
    Ellie passed by the kitchen habi-cube and heard the soft digital chime of the v-phone. Someone had left a message.
    Sean.
    She entered the kitchen, dark except for one small safety strip-light that buzzed irritatingly. She approached the phone with a sinking heart. The display showed there was only one message, with Sean’s family home number beside it. Ellie hit the ‘play’ button.
    There was Sean’s voice only, no holo image.
    ‘I’m really sorry…really sorry Ellie. There’s no easy way of saying this so I guess I’ll just come out with it. We’ve just been contacted. The Freezer’s arrived early and they’re calling in all the Harper’s Reach recruits. I’ve got to go right now. It only stays in port for twenty-four hours…I can’t afford to miss it. Ellie, I made you a promise and now I have to break it, which makes me feel like a complete dreg-head. So, I’m going to make you a brand new one, okay? And this is it…I will come back to you at the end of the tour of duty in eight years and I promise you that I will take you anywhere you want to go: New Haven, off-world, anywhere. Okay? We’ll travel, we’ll see as much of this universe as you want. And we’ll be together. Christ…I’ll marry you. Okay? I’ve got to go now. Dad’s warming up the buggy. I’ll write when I can.’
    There was a pause. Ellie could hear his panting breath, he’d obviously been running around making frantic preparations. In the background she could hear the rotor engine revving and the sound of Sean’s mother sobbing.
    ‘ Ellie, do this one thing for me please. Don’t go to New Haven alone, okay? ’
    The line stayed open a few seconds more. She heard his father gunning the throttle impatiently.
    ‘ I’ll see you around .’
    And the message ended.
    Ellie stared at the blinking message indicator. It was silent in the kitchen, save for the intermittent buzzing of the safety light. The kitchen smelled of curry. Mum had cooked Balusa curry cakes for her birthday party yesterday. What a pitifully sad party that had been; Mum, Dad, Ted, Shona and two of Shona’s friends from a farm nearby and, of course, Ellie herself who, it seemed, had no friends of her own to invite. She would have invited Sean, but given their plans for this morning…
    The light continued to blink.
    Her twentieth birthday party was marked by a bowl of punch, some curry cakes and an awkward rendition of ‘happy birthday’, after which Shona and her gang retired to her habi-cube and Ted to a corner of the courtyard to watch a cartoon. Mum and Dad dutifully hung around sipping punch and making small talk, trying their best to look like a party in full swing.
    Traditionally, her next big birthday party would be twenty-one. Ellie grimly imagined how pathetic that would be too and wondered whether by