‘Everyone here works for an organization that calls itself the Authority. I’m in charge of something called a Pathfinder team. In order to explain who we are and what we do, we need to go on that trip.’

I nodded towards the window. ‘Where are we, exactly?’

‘Easter Island, a couple of thousand kilometres west of Chile. So if you were thinking of running away again, believe me – there is, quite literally, nowhere to run.’

‘So we’re still on Earth?’

I saw a flicker of a smile. ‘You thought you were on some other planet, maybe, when you saw the moon’s face?’

‘It crossed my mind,’ I said, chewing my toast, ‘except it doesn’t make sense that some alien planet would have the exact – well, almost the same exact moon as us.’

Her mouth broadened into a grin. ‘It doesn’t, does it? But it would all make more sense if I just showed you, instead of telling you everything.’ She nodded at the remains of my breakfast. ‘Just about done?’

I took a last gulp of instant coffee before putting the tray down. ‘All done.’

She handed me the plastic bag, and I found it contained a pair of black jeans, a grey T-shirt, leather boots, socks, and a pair of shrink-wrapped boxers. She stepped over to the corner of the room and stared into space while I quickly got dressed.

I was then led back outside, and into the beginnings of a sunny morning. A few soldiers strolled past the barracks from where I had stolen a jeep the previous evening, and I stiffened when they glanced our way, but they merely bent their heads towards each other and muttered some exchange as they continued past us. Nadia meanwhile climbed in behind the wheel of one of the parked jeeps and gestured at me to get in.

‘And that’s it?’ I asked, climbing in beside her. ‘Just like that, I’m a free man?’

‘When you see what I’m going to show you,’ she said, ‘you might understand us a little better. If we’d just told you everything at the start, before you saw that moon, you’d have assumed we were lying, that we were really your Red Harvest cult, trying to twist your mind. But what you’re about to learn is still going to be a shock, Jerry. I want you to be prepared for that.’

I had no idea what she was talking about. ‘All right then. Where are we going, exactly?’

‘Not far,’ she replied. ‘In fact, we’ll be there in less than two minutes.’