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bedrooms. The place looked just like any other exclusive school—an ideal location for the small group of apparently well-heeled international students.
    Simon smiled as he looked back over his shoulder at the hill that rose behind the mansion. There lay the true heart of Mayfield—the Time Bureau headquarters and the Time Accelerator that Simon had briefly visited. An investment that had cost worldwide governments tens of billions of dollars.
    All this because of my dad, Simon thought to himself for the hundredth time. He wondered how he could have known so little about his father.
    A horn beeped and a yellow minibus drove slowly up the drive. Four young faces stared through the tinted windows.
    Simon made his way back through the garden to the parking area at the steps of the mansion. He had been the first student to enrol, and had spent the past week waiting impatiently for the others to arrive. Captain Cutler had explained that there could eventually be another twenty-five temponauts living here. If and when they were recruited. Finding the right kids took a lot of searching.
    As the new recruits stepped from the bus, Simon wondered how many thousands, or maybe millions, of kids had been scanned to come up with this small group.
    There was a skinny English-looking boy with brown spiky hair and clothes that reeked of inner-city attitude. He was joined by a tall Chinese boy with hair shaven to a number one, and a black girl with hair tied back in a ponytail. Both were more conservatively dressed than the first boy. They gazed around curiously.
    The last passenger to get out was a slim, freckled, fair-haired girl. She hesitated at the door and looked around warily. Almost as if she didn’t believe her eyes.
    She glanced in Simon’s direction and smiled briefly.
    ‘Hello, and welcome!’ Captain Cutler’s voice boomed from the top of the steps. ‘There you are, Simon! Enjoy the horse ride? Come inside, all of you.’
    The other kids turned, glanced at Simon and moved off.
    A rare bunch of guys, Simon mused as he watched them troop up the steps. Behind him, the fair-haired girl stopped and looked around at the countryside.
    ‘Your big chance,’ Simon said jokingly. ‘Now you can make a run for it!’
    She didn’t reply, but took a deep breath, seemed to call on some inner strength, and followed the others.
    Simon waited for a moment longer. He wanted to enjoy what were probably the last minutes of his own company for a long time.
    Then, unable to put it off any longer, he went inside.

5

    The 24th Century, North America
    T he cave of the Chieftain was dimly lit with candles.
    The skulls of giant alligators, sabre-toothed tigers, tusked boars and other predators decorated the rough stone walls. Their teeth and tusks were plated with gold and glinted in the smoky half-light.
    A teenage boy knelt at the foot of some steps that led to a tall throne. The throne was carved from a single block of polished red granite and was occupied by a man in a white robe. The man’s bare arms were tattooed with Celtic-knot motifs and his fingers were laden with heavy gold rings. His face was hidden by a hood pulled forward to the level of his eyes.
    ‘I … I can’t explain where she went,’ the boy stammered.
    ‘Where did you lose her, Damien?’ the Chieftain growled.
    ‘Somewhere near the castle, as we were returning.’
    Damien then went on to explain how his sister, Danice, had mysteriously vanished on their latest mission. Telling the story wasn’t easy. Damien was afraid of this man who sent him, and other kids, searching for gold. The Chieftain ruled their area, and could order punishment, imprisonment and death.
    ‘When did you notice her missing?’ the Chieftain asked.
    ‘Only a few minutes from our pick-up spot,’ Damien said. ‘We had to go under a bridge …’ He paused a moment to recall. ‘And when I looked back, to see if she was following me—she was gone.’
    ‘Careless boy! You should have tried to