Evil Star

"Fabian is wrong to threaten you. We came here with a request, and you have given us your answer. As you say, we must manage without you."
    She reached out and Fabian gave her his arm. "But there is one thing I will add." She turned her empty eyes on Matt and for a moment she sounded genuinely sad. "You have made a decision . . . but you may have less choice than you think. You can try to ignore who you are, but you may not be able to for much longer. You are central to what is happening, Matt. You and four others. I think it will find you before too long."
    She nudged Fabian, and the two of them left together. Richard waited until he heard the front door close, then he sank back into a chair.
    "Well, I'm glad they've gone," he said. "And I think you're absolutely right, by the way. What nerve! Trying to drag you back Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star into all that. Well, it's not going to happen. They can get lost."
    Matt said nothing.
    “You must be hungry," Richard went on. "I managed to look into a supermarket on the way over. There are three bags of food in the kitchen. What do you fancy for dinner?"
    It took Matt a few moments to absorb what he had just heard.
    Richard had been shopping? It had to be a first. Now he remembered his surprise when he had arrived at the flat, seeing Richard there at all. "What's happened?" he asked. "How come you're home so early?"
    Richard shrugged. "Well, I was thinking about what you said this morning. About you and me. And I realized you were right. I can't look after you when I'm traveling back and forth to Leeds all the time. So I threw the job in. . . ."
    "What?" Matt knew how much the job meant to Richard. He wasn't quite sure what to say.
    "I just don't want you to go back to the LEAF Project," Richard continued. "I said I'd look after you and that's what I'm going to do. I can always find a job in York." The thought made Richard sigh.
    "Anyway, you're lucky I was here tonight. Did you really want to be left alone with Mr. and Mrs. Creepy?"
    "Do you really think it was okay to say no?" Matt asked.
    "Of course it was. If you didn't want to go, then why should you? It's your choice, Matt. You must do what you want."
    "That's not what she said."
    "She was wrong. You're safe here. Nothing's going to happen while you're in York except — possibly — food poisoning. I'm cooking Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star tonight!"

    ************************************
    Seventy miles away, on the Ml motorway, a man named Harry Shepherd was just coming out of a service station. He had started earlier in the day at Felixstowe and was on his way to Sheffield. As darkness had fallen, he had stopped for a bite and a cup of tea. He was only allowed to drive a certain distance without a break. And he liked this service station. There was a waitress he always chatted with. He was thinking of asking her out.
    It was getting dark as he drove out, and it had begun to rain. He could see the streaks of water lighting up as they slanted across his headlamps. He slammed the engine into second gear, preparing to rejoin the motorway — and that was when he saw her, standing on the slip road, one thumb out. The universal symbol of the hitchhiker.
    It wasn't something he saw very often these days. Hitch-hiking was considered too dangerous. Nobody in his right mind would get into a car or a truck with a stranger. Not with so many weirdos around.
    And here was something else that was odd. The hitchhiker was a woman. She looked middle-aged, too. She was wrapped up in a coat that wasn't doing much to protect her from the rain. Her hair was dragging over her collar, and he could see the water run-ning down the sides of her cheeks. Harry felt sorry for her. Somehow she reminded him of his mother, who was living on her own in a bed-sit in Dublin. On an impulse, he took his foot off the accelerator and pressed the brake. The woman ran forward.
    Henry knew he was breaking every regulation in the book. He wasn't allowed to give lifts. Especially when he was carrying fuel.
    But something had persuaded him. An impulse. He couldn't really explain it.

    Horowitz, Anthony - [Gatekeepers 02] - Evil Star Gwenda Davis saw the petrol tanker as it slowed down. The motorway lights reflected off the great silver cylinder with the word shell in bright yellow letters. She should have been farther north by now. It had definitely been a mistake leaving Eastfield Terrace without any money, and she