‘What?’ Chets says. ‘I’ve gotten more street since I’ve been at high school.’

‘I’ve missed you, Chets.’ Kat puts her arm around him and squeezes him.

‘So, what’s going on?’ Mak sits on the rug and crossed his legs. ‘I’m guessing it’s bad.’

‘So bad,’ says Kat. ‘Straybridge has been infiltrated by the alien bug creatures from Crater Lake.’

‘Can’t say I’m surprised,’ Mak says, with the look of an old man who’s been through a few things in his time. ‘It was inevitable. There were too many loose ends after Crater Lake and, if something like that can happen once, it’s only a matter of time before it happens again.’

It’s funny – you’d think an alien invasion would be shocking, but it seems like we were all expecting it, except for Karim obviously, and he’s dealing like a pro.

‘You got any snacks?’ Karim says.

‘Yes, snacks,’ says Kat. ‘We definitely need snacks.’

‘Kitchen’s through there, in the Tail.’ Mak points at an open doorway that leads into the rectangle part of the building. ‘There’s loads in the 185 cupboards and fridge. Why don’t you bring out some stuff for everyone while I’m catching up?’

‘Am I good to take whatever?’ Karim says, already unsquashing himself from the sofa.

‘Yeah, anything,’ Mak says. ‘Oh, except the unlabelled glass jars in the fridge with different-coloured liquids in them. You don’t want to touch those.’

‘Right,’ Karim says, raising an eyebrow.

‘Can you show us around?’ Chets says. ‘This place is awesome.’

‘Chets, we don’t have that much time,’ I say.

‘Please? It’s not that big, and we can talk while we’re doing it.’ He bounces out of the seat, ready to go.

I have to admit, I’m desperate to look around, too. ‘OK, but we need to be quick.’