‘How?’

‘I don’t know! By concentrating, I suppose.’

She leaned forward. For the first time since he’d met her, she looked concerned.

‘You don’t look capable of thinking straight,’ she said.

‘I’ll be all right.’

Johnny stood up.

Chapter 10

In Space, no one Is Listening Anyway

And woke up.

He was lying down on something hard. There was some sort of mesh just in front of his eyes. He stared at it for a while.

There was also a faint vibration in the floor, and a distant background rumbling.

He was obviously back in game space, but he certainly wasn’t in a starship . . .

The mesh moved.

The Captain’s face appeared over the mesh, upside down.

‘Johnny?’

‘Where am I?’

‘You appear to be under my bed.’

He rolled sideways.

‘I’m on your ship?’

‘Oh, yes.’

‘Right! Hah! I knew I could do it . . .’

He stood up, and looked around the cabin. It wasn’t very interesting. Apart from the bed, which was under something that looked like a sun-ray lamp, there was only a desk and something that was probably a chair if you had four back legs and a thick tail.

On the desk were half a dozen plastic aliens. There was also a cage with a couple of long-beaked birds in it. They sat side by side on their perch and watched Johnny with almost intelligent eyes.

Right. Sigourney was right. He did think better in game space. All the decisions seemed so much clearer.

OK. So he was on board. He’d rather hoped to be outside the cabin the Captain was locked in, but this was a start.

He stared at the wall. There was a grille.

‘What’s that?’ he said, pointing.

‘It is where the air comes in.’

Johnny pulled at the grille. There was no very obvious way of removing it. If it could be removed, the hole behind it was easily big enough for the Captain. Air ducts. Well, what did he expect?

‘We’ve got to get this off,’ he said. ‘Before something dreadful happens.’

‘We are imprisoned,’ said the Captain. ‘What more can happen that is dreadful?’

‘Have you ever heard the name . . . Sigourney?’ said Johnny cautiously.

‘No. But it sounds a lovely name,’ said the Captain. ‘Who is this Sigourney?’

‘Well, if she can dream her way here as well, then there’s going to be trouble. You should see the pictures she’s got on her walls.’

‘What of?’

‘Um. Aliens,’ said Johnny.

‘She takes a very close interest in alien races?’ said the Captain happily.

‘Um. Yes.’ The mere thought of her arrival made him pull urgently at the grille. ‘Um. There’s something on the inside . . . and I can’t quite get my hand through . . .’

The Captain watched him with interest.

‘Something like wingnuts,’ grunted Johnny.

‘This is very instructive,’ said the Captain, peering over his shoulder.

‘I can’t get a grip!’