‘We now go over to our Manchester Studios where Science Correspondent Jonathan Amos is talking to Professor Brian Cox about what the arrival of the alien spacecraft might mean …’

Dorothy shut off the TV and unmuted her phone.

‘Sanaul?

‘Yes, Miss Dorothy?’

‘You’d better clear my diary for a few days.’

Without waiting for his confirmation, she hung up and slipped the phone back into her pocket. On the sofa Chantelle was looking concerned. Dorothy couldn’t blame her. Something about that UFO had unnerved her. It was nothing specific – she was certain that she’d never seen anything like it before – but there was something … Something that was starting to gnaw away at the back of her memory.

‘This isn’t good, right?’ said Chantelle. ‘I mean, you come here talking about alien abduction and then this thing shows up … Surely that’s not a coincidence.’

‘I don’t think so,’ Dorothy sighed.

‘So what are you going to do now?’

‘Go and get a closer look at that UFO.’

‘How?’ Chantelle frowned. ‘You got a big telescope?’

Dorothy smiled. ‘Better that that.’

CHAPTER FOUR

Dorothy’s sports car blasted out of London along the A40 at nearly 90 miles an hour, the powerful electric motors barely making a sound. If the speed cameras flashed her, let them; she had to get things moving as fast as possible. She needed to reach that UFO before anyone else did, and there was only one person who could help her do that.

She slid her phone into a docking slot on the dashboard and a ‘hands free’ notification came up on the screen above the speedometer.

‘Phone Will Buckland.’

The phone gave a beep and a mobile number flashed onto the screen.

Will was another old friend. Well, more than that. He might have been the first British man on the Moon if the ESA funding hadn’t been cut, but Dorothy was cool with that: with him earthbound, she’d dated him for nearly a year. They had met at a fundraising event in the City, hit it off immediately and embarked on one of the longest, most intense and, above all, fun relationships that Dorothy had ever experienced. But then he’d wanted more, all her old trust issues had reared their stupid heads, and she’d ended it – over six months ago now. Even so, Will remained one of the few people on the planet whom she felt she could trust.

He was also currently the Director of the British Space Defence Centre at Devesham.

The phone had only rung twice when her call was answered.

‘Dot, what a nice surprise.’

Dorothy grinned at the sarcastic tone of his voice. ‘Don’t call me Dot, you muppet. I just thought, it’s been a while, might be nice to catch up.’