Deborah Hockney Read Online Free Page B

strained her eyes trying to glimpse the elusive planet that would soon be her future home, but to no avail, the night sky wasn’t going to give up that treasure tonight.
    Jocasta allowed herself to relax back onto the soft pillows of her bed and began to slip into a waking dream. She was imagining herself as an officer of the Elite, rising up the ranks until she was promoted to Ambassador Jackson and posted to one of the newly discovered, far flung planets in the outer universe. A rude interruption brought her back to reality: someone was knocking quietly but insistently on her door. Who can it be at this hour, Jocasta thought, glancing towards her time switch on the wall and pulling on her favourite baggy top. A little hesitantly she opened the door just a crack and peered into the gloom of the corridor.
    ‘David, what are you doing wandering around at this time of night?’ she questioned him in a loud whisper, opening the door a little wider.
    ‘It’s not just me,’ he replied, adjusting his glasses unnecessarily. ‘Will’s here too.’
    ‘Oh, I might have guessed.’ Jocasta’s exasperated tone revealed the tiredness she felt. ‘Will and David, because I’d much rather have two rule-breakers at my door at night, wouldn’t I? Well what do you want, knocking on my door? I’m trying to get some rest you know; I’ve only just finished my packing.
    ‘W ell ?’ Her question hung in the air as she looked from one to another.
    ‘I couldn’t sleep,’ David replied, pushing the door open as Jocasta stepped back grudgingly to let them in, ‘y’know, with all this preparation for our trip. So Will and I decided to go for a wander outside. Just around the lake,’ he explained, seeing Jocasta raise a quizzical eyebrow. ‘We weren’t going to do anything stupid.’
    ‘Course not,’ Will butted in. ‘But for some reason we can’t get back into the boys’ quarters. We must have been locked out – I have no idea why. We were hoping to find a way out onto the roof and climb along to our room when we spied the light under your door and guessed you were still awake too.’
    ‘And?’ Jocasta posed the question as though she was waiting for a sensible answer.
    ‘ Well , we were hoping that you might let us go out through your window.’ Will tried to smile sweetly at her, but ended up giving an impression of a rather doleful puppy.
    ‘I see, so just because I’m up – and only because you two woke me – you think you can bustle in here and climb through my window? Hmm? Isn’t it a bit dangerous though?’ she continued, shifting her gaze to David. ‘Climbing along the roof on a damp night, especially when your whole future’s ahead of you. What if you fall, or get caught by the Prowlers?’
    That was the nickname given to the security patrols who supposedly kept watch over the premises at night.
    ‘They’d never catch us,’ Will retorted. ‘They couldn’t catch a laser missile even if it was aimed straight at them. They’re just a bunch of amateurs – remember when Slimey Joe painted the walls fluorescent pink last April fool’s day, and they hadn’t got a clue about it? I mean, come on, who other than Slimey Joe would have painted the walls pink? Now, nothing for you to worry your pretty little head over Miss Jocasta,’ Will mimicked in the voice of the caretaker Fred. ‘We’ll be quite safe, you wait and see.’
    ‘Well I certainly hope so,’ replied Jocasta. ‘Because I don’t want my career ruined by you two!’
    ‘Ooo-oooh,’ the boys echoed in unison. ‘So it’s career now, is it?’
    Jocasta was just pleased that they hadn’t been able to read her thoughts, and share her vision of the ambassador’s uniform, that would have certainly led to even more mimicry.
    ‘Well if you’re really going to risk this mad climbing expedition, you’d better go now, because it’s getting late and I’m extremely tired,’ Jocasta remarked, peering out of the open window.
    ‘I’ll go