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小爵爷Little Lord Fauntleroy
1 A big surprise
Cedric Errol and his mamma were very good friends.
This was important because there were only two of them. 
Cedric's father was dead, 
and it was a sad day in the little house in New York when Mrs Errol told Cedric this news.
‘Dear, dear Ceddie,’ she said. ‘Your papa was very ill last week and- and he- he's not coming home to us. 
‘He's never coming home again because...’ And then she began to cry.
Cedric was only seven years old, but he was a very loving little boy. 
He went at once to his mamma and put his little arms around her and his face next to her face. 
They did not need any more words.
So Cedric and his mother were alone in the world. 
Mrs Errol's mother and father were dead, and Mr Errol's family was in England. 
Mr Errol's father- Cedric's grandfather- was an important man. 
He was the Earl of Dorincourt, 
the head of one of the oldest and most famous families in England. 
He lived at Dorincourt Castle, and was very rich.
But he was not a nice person. 
He was an angry, bad- tempered old man- and he hated America and Americans. 
So when his youngest son, Cedric's father, married an American girl in New York, 
a girl without money or family, just a nobody, the Earl was very angry. 
He wrote this letter to his son:
Never come to Dorincourt Castle, and never write to me.
I don't want to see you again. 
Don't ask me for help or money. 
You can live- or die; I don't want to know. 
You are no longer my son.
The Earl had two older sons, but they were bad, selfish men. 
They spent the Earl's money on horses and women, never said a kind word, or did a good thing in their lives. 
Nobody liked them, and their father hated them. 
They were a black page in the book of the Dorincourt family.
Cedric's father was very different from his brothers. 
He had a beautiful face, was tall and strong, and had the kindest heart in the world. 
Everybody loved him.
He was very sad when his father's angry letter arrived. 
He loved his home in England, and he even loved his bad- tempered old father. 
But he was young and happy with his sweet young wife.
Soon Cedric arrived, and there never was a happier child than little Ceddie. 
He slept well, he ate well, he smiled a lot, and never cried. 
And he had big brown eyes and beautiful golden-yellow hair.
When he was older, he still smiled a lot, 
and he was the happiest, friendliest little boy in the world. 
Everybody liked him. 
Everybody liked to talk to him when they met him in the street. 
He had some good friends. 
There was Mr Hobbs, the grocery-man in the store at the end of their street. 
There were the children along the street, 
and there was Dick, the boot-black boy. 
And there was Bridget. Bridget had twelve children, and her husband was a builder. 
But he was often ill and could not work, and then there was no money for the rent. 
Cedric felt very sorry for them all when life was difficult.
Cedric's best friend was his mamma. 
Her eyes were sad, and she always wore a black dress, 
but she was young and pretty, and she loved her little boy very much.
So life went on for Cedric Errol and his friends. 
Then one day everything changed. 
Mrs Errol had a visitor from England. 
He was a tall old man, in dark clothes. 
His name was Mr Havisham, and he was the lawyer for the Earl of Dorincourt. 
He had some very surprising news for Cedric's mother.
‘You know that the Earl had three sons, Mrs Errol,’ he said. 
‘The two older sons, Bevis and Maurice, died two or three months ago- 
‘one in an accident, and the other from an illness. 
‘They were not married and they had no children. 
‘Your husband is dead too, and so his son is now the heir. 
‘Cedric Errol is now Lord Fauntleroy and the next Earl of Dorincourt after his grandfather dies.’
Mrs Errol's face went very white. 
‘Oh,’ she said, ‘is the Earl going to take Cedric away from me? 
‘We are so happy together. I try to be a good mother to him.’
Mr Havisham was not a family man. 
He was a lawyer, a cold man of business, 
but he saw that Mrs Errol was a loving mother. 
His next news was difficult to say.
‘I must tell you, Mrs Errol,’ he said, ‘that the Earl is not very friendly to you. 
‘He does not like America or Americans, and he was very angry when his son married you. 
‘I am sorry to say this, but he does not want to see you. 
‘He wants Lord Eauntleroy to live with him at Dorincourt Castle, 
‘but he wants you to live in a different house. 
‘He is giving you a house called Court Lodge, 
‘and there Lord Eauntleroy can visit you every day.’
Mr Havisham watched Mrs Errol carefully. 
‘Is she going to cry?’ he thought. He did not know the right words to say to a crying woman.
But Mrs Errol did not cry. 
She stood for a moment at the window, then turned and looked at the lawyer.
‘My husband loved Dorincourt,’ she said quietly. ‘He loved England, and everything English. 
‘He was very sad to leave it all. 
‘So I think Ceddie must go back, and learn how to be an English earl.’
She looked at the lawyer with her sweet, sad eyes. 
‘I hope the Earl can learn to love Ceddie. He is only little, and he is a very loving child.’
Mr Havisham thought about the old Earl. 
He was a bad- tempered, selfish old man, and did not love anyone. 
But the lawyer did not say this.
‘Mrs Errol,’ he said, ‘the Earl wants the best of everything for his grandson. 
‘He wants him to be happy. Your son is going to have a very good life at Dorincourt.’
A short time later Cedric came home from a visit to his friend Mr Hobbs, the grocery-man. 
He was very surprised to find a visitor in the sitting room. 
His mother ran to him and took his hands. ‘Oh Ceddie,’ she cried. ‘Dear, dear Ceddie!’
Mr Havisham stood up and looked down at Cedric.
‘And so this,’ he said slowly, ‘is little Lord Fauntleroy.’

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Chapter 7
Next morning, at half past four, Anna Harland stood in a quiet road in front of a hotel. 
She waited, and then she heard a car behind the hotel. 
The car doors opened and closed. 
She waited quietly, and then looked down the road. 
A man walked into the road and stood next to a shop. 
He did not look at Anna. But Anna looked at him, and smiled. 
Then she walked into the hotel.
She went upstairs and knocked on the door of a bedroom.
A man answered. ‘Who is it?’
‘It’s me, Stephen,’ she said. ‘Anna Harland. Open the door, please. I want to talk to you.’
The door opened, and Stephen looked out slowly. ‘Anna? What are you doing here at this time? It’s...’  
Anna walked quickly into the room. ‘Yes. It’s half past four. 
‘Sarah is in court again at ten o’clock. I need your help, young man. Please get up.’
‘But... what can I do?’
Anna looked at him. ‘You went to see a man last night. What happened? Can he help Sarah? ’
Stephen answered slowly. He did not look at Anna. ‘No. I’m sorry. He can’t.’
Anna was cold and angry. ‘I see,’ she said. 
‘Well, can you and I help her then? Tell me, Stephen, what do you know about Hassan?’
‘Hassan?’ Stephen said angrily. ‘Well, we met him in Australia, and Sarah went away with him. 
‘She doesn’t understand him, but I do— he’s a rich young man with a beautiful body. 
‘He likes playing with girls, but he doesn’t love her!’
‘And do you love her, Stephen?’
Stephen did not answer at once. 
For two or three seconds Anna waited. ‘He doesn’t know,’ she thought. ‘He can’t answer the question.’
‘Yes, Mrs Harland. Of course I love her.’
‘But he’s not looking at me,’ Anna thought. ‘He’s looking out of the window. He’s not thinking about Sarah.’ 
‘Stephen,’ Anna asked quietly, ‘did you go to see Sarah and Hassan in Australia, the night before they came to this country?’
Stephen looked up at her. ‘Er... yes, I went to their hotel,’ he said. 
‘I asked Sarah to leave Hassan and come back to me. But how did you know that?’
‘Sarah told me, of course. Was Hassan there?’
‘No. He...’ Stephen stopped. Then he said, ‘Why do you ask?’
Anna opened her handbag. ‘Look at this,’ she said. ‘What is it? Do you know?’
He looked at it, and then at Anna. ‘A tube of toothpaste. Why?’
‘That’s right. A policeman gave it to me. And he took it from a man. 
‘You met that man last night, Stephen. You gave him ten tubes of toothpaste. 
‘What was in those tubes of toothpaste, Stephen?’
Stephen said nothing. He looked at the toothpaste, and stood up. 
But Anna was between him and the door. 
She gave the toothpaste to him. ‘Would you like to clean you teeth, Stephen?’
He began to move to the door, but Anna took his arm. 
‘You don’t love Sarah, do you, Stephen? You hate her, because she left you! 
‘You put three of these tubes in Sarah’s bag, and then you phoned the police. 
‘You told them about the tubes in my daughter’s bag... You want Sarah to die!’
‘No!’ Stephen said. ‘No,no... not Sarah... Hassan! I put them in Hassan’s bag, not Sarah’s. I wanted Hassan to die!’
He opened the door quickly, and then stopped. A man stood there— Inspector Aziz. 
He put his hand on Stephen’s arm. ‘It’s an old story, young man,’ he said. ‘It happens every day. 
‘My first girlfriend left me for a new man. I was very angry too. I hated him. 
‘But I didn’t want to kill him. Come on. Let’s go. You can tell your story to the judge.’

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Chapter 6
Anna and Mr Cheng talked to the police, but the police could tell them nothing more about the telephone call to the airport. 
Inspector Aziz telephoned two or three people, and then he talked to Anna again. 
When Anna left Inspector Aziz, she was much happier.
Then she went to the prison to see Sarah. The man took her to Sarah’s room. 
Anna and Sarah sat at the table, and the man stood and watched.
‘It was a bad day, mother. I’m sorry,’ Sarah said slowly. 
Her eyes were not red now, but she looked very tired. 
Her hands were near her mother’s, on the table.
‘It wasn’t a very good day, that’s true,’ Anna said. ‘But you have a very good lawyer, you know. The jury likes him.’
‘But it doesn’t help,’ Sarah said. ‘There was heroin in the toothpaste tubes, and the tubes were in my bag. 
‘What can Mr Cheng do? The heroin was in my bag, mother! The jury knows that!’
Anna looked at her daughter carefully. ‘Perhaps Hassan put it there, Sarah,’ she said. ‘You like him, I know, and he looks nice, but...’
‘Mother, I love him! I said that in court. You heard me. And Hassan loves me, too!
‘And he does not buy or sell heroin! I...’ Sarah stopped talking, and put her hands on her stomach.
‘What’s the matter?’ Anna asked. She looked at the man. ‘Quickly— she’s ill. Get a doctor!’
The man ran from the room, and Anna put her arms round her daughter. 
She waited, and then Sarah sat up.
‘It’s all right, mother,’ she said. Her face was very white, but she looked a little better. 
‘It happens sometimes. I often feel ill, and I don’t like to eat much. 
‘But it’s not very bad. I think I’m going to stay alive because of if.’ She gave her mother a smile.
‘What? What are you saying? What are you talking about?’ Anna cried.
‘My baby.’ Sarah’s face looked different now— half smiling, half afraid. 
‘Mother, don’t be angry, please. I’m going to have a baby. It’s Hassan’s baby. 
‘I... we wanted to come to England, and tell you about it there, but now we can’t. 
‘I love him, and he wants to be my husband, mother. Mother? Please don’t be angry.’
Anna’s face was white now. For nearly a minute she could say nothing. 
She wanted to cry, but she didn’t. 
At last she said, ‘Oh, Sarah! What’s going to happen to this baby?’
Sarah looked at her hands. ‘Nothing, mother. I asked Mr Cheng about that. 
‘They can’t kill me, you see, because I’m going to have a baby. They can’t kill a mother and her baby. 
‘That’s the law. But... that doesn’t help Hassan.’ 
Anna heard a noise and looked at the door. ‘Listen, Sarah,’ she said quickly. ‘Before the doctor comes... 
‘I’m not angry, and I do love you, Sarah, of course. But listen. 
‘I talked to Inspector Aziz again today. I think he can help you— and Hassan too. 
‘So don’t be afraid, please. And...’ The door opened, and the man came in with a woman doctor. 
Anna stood up. She took Sarah’s hand.
‘I’m going now, Sarah. But don’t be afraid. You’re going to be all right— I’m sure of it!’

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Chapter 5
The judge looked at his papers and then at the jury.
‘It is now four o’clock in the afternoon,’ he said. ‘We can begin again in the morning. 
‘Please be here at ten o’clock.’ The judge stood up and left the courtroom. 
The jury left too, and the police took Sarah and Hassan back to the prison.
Anna looked at Stephen. ‘Well, young man,’ she said. ‘What can we do now? 
‘We have sixteen hours before tomorrow morning.’
‘I don’t know,’ Stephen said. He looked at her for a minute, then he looked away, over her head, at the front of the court.
‘I’m sure Hassan knew about the heroin,’ he said. ‘He put it in her bag, I’m sure he did. Sarah is innocent. But he isn’t.’
Mr Cheng came and stood with them.
‘She’s innocent,’ Stephen said again. ‘But Hassan’s going to die.’
Mr Cheng looked at Stephen carefully. ‘Perhaps,’ he said slowly. ‘But did you listen to Hassan in court? 
‘He said: “Sarah did not buy the toothpaste. It was my toothpaste.” 
‘Now why did he say that? It was not an easy thing to say, you know. What is the jury going to think about it?’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ Stephen said angrily. ‘Because it wasn’t toothpaste, and he didn’t buy it in a shop! 
‘He made those tubes, because he wanted to sell the heroin. 
‘And he’s going to die. That’s the law in this country.’
Anna looked at Stephen and said nothing. 
‘He’s very angry,’ she thought. ‘His face is red and he’s talking very quickly. 
‘Does he want to kill Hassan? And what’s the matter with his eyes?’
Mr Cheng watched Stephen too. ‘But who made that telephone call? It’s important and I want to know,’ he said. 
‘I’m going to ask the police now. Would you like to come with me, Mrs Harland?’
‘Yes, of course,’ Anna said. ‘Stephen, are you coming?’
‘Yes... er, no, no,’ Stephen said. ‘I’m going to meet a man. I think he can help us.’
‘All right,’ Anna said. ‘But when can I meet you? 
‘I need to talk to you, about Hassan. Can I come to your hotel tonight?’
‘Er, no, not tonight,’ Stephen said quickly. 
His face was now white, and he looked tired and ill. 
His hands and body moved all the time. 
‘Come to my hotel tomorrow morning. Bye!’ He walked quickly out of the courtroom.
Anna and Mr Cheng watched him. Inspector Aziz was near the door, and he watched Stephen, too.

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Chapter 4
At one o’clock the judge left the court for an hour.
Anna Harland talked to Sarah for ten minutes. Sarah cried at first. 
‘I don’t like that police lawyer!’ she said. ‘Those questions were very difficult. I couldn’t answer them.’
‘It doesn’t matter,’ her mother said. ‘Your lawyer— Mr Cheng— is very good. 
‘And Stephen is here too now. We’re all going to help you.’
Sarah was angry. ‘Don’t talk to me about Stephen!’ she said. ‘I don’t like him. I don’t want to see him here!’
‘But Sarah— he was your boyfriend for two years! He wants to help you.’
Sarah began to cry again. ‘Perhaps he does want to help me. I don’t know. 
‘But he’s different now, mother, you don’t understand. His eyes are different. They’re... I don’t know. 
‘And he can’t sit quietly and talk to people now. His body is moving all the time. 
‘He came to see me in our hotel the night before we came to this country, ‘and... 
‘I didn’t like him, mother! Why is he here? He doesn’t love me now, and I don’t love him!’
Anna listened carefully to her daughter, and then she went to see Mr Cheng and Inspector Aziz. Stephen went with her.
‘Who made that phone call to the police at the airport?’ she asked. ‘We need to know that!’
‘Yes,’ Mr Cheng said.  ‘That’s very important. Can the police tell us?’
‘Perhaps,’ the Inspector said. ‘But it’s very difficult. It was not a long telephone call.  
‘And the man didn’t give his name. Perhaps he was a policeman and he knew about the heroin.’
‘Perhaps,’ Mr Cheng said. ‘But then, perhaps he put the heroin there. And he wanted the police to find it.
‘Perhaps someone doesn’t like your daughter, Mrs Harland?’
‘I don’t know,’ Anna said slowly. ‘But perhaps...’
But then the judge came back into the courtroom, and everybody stopped talking.
The judge then called Hassan. 
Hassan stood up and went to the front of the courtroom. 
‘He’s a rich boy,’ Anna thought. ‘That shirt and those shoes are very expensive.’  
Hassan stood there, tall and very quiet. He waited for the questions. 
He did not look afraid. But when Mr Cheng looked at his papers and asked the first question, Hassan closed his eyes.
‘Did you know about the heroin in those tubes of toothpaste?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Did Sarah know?’
‘No, sir.’
‘Who bought the toothpaste?’
Hassan closed his eyes again for two or three seconds. Then he answered, ‘I did, sir.’
‘You did? You’re sure of that?’
‘Yes, sir. I’m sure. I clean my teeth a lot, you see.’  Hassan smiled for a moment.
‘Well, he does have very white teeth,’ Anna thought.
‘Sarah...’ Hassan began. Then he stopped.
‘Yes?’
Again Hassan closed his eyes and waited for a second. 
Then he looked at the jury, and said very loudly: 
‘Sarah did not buy the toothpaste. I bought it. I bought all three tubes of toothpaste. It was my toothpaste.’
Anna sat up in her chair and looked carefully at Hassan. 
‘That’s interesting,’ she thought. ‘Perhaps he does love Sarah!’
‘I see,’ Mr Cheng said. ‘And when did you first meet Sarah Harland?’
‘About two months ago. I was in Australia. We were in the same hotel. 
‘She had a... a difficult time with her boyfriend and I helped her.’
Anna looked at Stephen. He was very angry, and he hit the chair in front of him with his hand.
‘I see,’ Mr Cheng said again. Then he asked his next question. 
‘Do you usually carry a lot of money? How much money did you have at the airport?’
‘About eighty pounds, I think. That’s OK. 
‘When I need more money, I get some work for a week or two. We don’t need much money.’
‘And do you sometimes take heroin?’
‘No, sir. Never.’
‘Thank you. Stay there, please.’ Mr Cheng sat down 
and the police lawyer stood up. He smiled at Hassan, but it was not a nice smile.
‘Now, Hassan. You bought the toothpaste, but it was in Miss Harland’s bag. Why? 
‘Why did she carry it for you? Or do you always ask your women to carry things for you?’ He smiled.
Hassan said nothing. The lawyer began again. ‘You had eighty pounds, you say. 
‘But eighty thousand pounds is better than eighty pounds, I think. What do you think?’
‘Of course it is. But I don’t sell heroin. It’s wrong to sell heroin.’
The lawyer moved his papers on the table. He looked at the jury. 
‘So you are a very good young man with very clean teeth but no money.
‘You met a young English girl. She was unhappy with her boyfriend, so you helped her and took her away with you. 
‘Is that right? Oh dear! It’s not a very good story, you know. 
‘I don’t believe it, and I don’t think the jury believes it, young man.’
He stopped for a minute. Then he looked at Hassan, and said loudly: ‘You don’t love Sarah Harland, and she doesn’t love you. 
‘You went with her because she could help you. And she went with you because she wanted the money. 
‘She carried the heroin for you to sell. That’s right, isn’t it? 
‘You put the heroin in the toothpaste tubes, and she knew about it. 
‘Is that the true story, young man? I think it is.’
‘No! I...’ Hassan began angrily. But the lawyer did not listen. He sat down.
‘I have no more questions,’ he said to the judge.

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Chapter 3
Next morning, Anna Harland went to the court. 
She was first there. She sat in the courtroom and waited. 
A lot of people came in, and she saw a man and his wife. 
‘Perhaps they’re Hassan’s father and mother,’ Anna thought. 
But she did not want to talk to them.
The lawyers came in next, with a lot of papers. 
They sat at a table in front of her, and talked quietly.
‘Those two lawyers,’ Anna thought, ‘they’re old friends. 
‘But one of them wants my daughter to die, and one wants her to be free.’
After the lawyers, the jury came in— twelve people, men and women. 
They sat down and watched the lawyers. 
They looked at Anna, and then talked quietly about her.
‘These people don’t look very important,’ she thought. ‘But they are the most important people here. 
‘They’re going to say “she did it”... or “she didn’t do it”. 
‘And then Sarah comes home to me... or she dies.’ She watched their faces carefully.
Then some policemen came in. Inspector Aziz saw Anna and smiled at her. 
But Anna did not talk to him, because Sarah came in at the same time. 
She looked afraid, and her face was very white. 
She looked across the courtroom, saw her mother, and gave her an unhappy smile.
There were two policemen behind Sarah, but Anna did not look at them. 
She looked at the tall dark young man next to Sarah— Hassan!
‘He’s about twenty years old,’Anna thought. ‘He’s very tall. 
‘But he has a nice face, and very beautiful dark eyes. 
‘Sarah likes him, and I can understand that. 
‘But he looks very unhappy, too... and afraid. His hands are moving all the time.’
Hassan looked at Sarah and smiled. She smiled back at him. 
Anna wanted to talk to Sarah, but just then a policeman said loudly: ‘All stand, please.’ 
Everybody stood up, and the judge came into the courtroom. He went to his chair and sat down.
The police lawyer began. ‘These two young people came into our country last week,’ he said. 
‘The young man lives in this country, and the young woman is English. 
‘At the airport, the police looked in their bags, 
‘and they found three tubes of toothpaste. These tubes of toothpaste!’
He had the three tubes in his hand, and he looked at them. Everybody could see them.
‘But are they tubes of toothpaste?’ he asked. ‘No, men and women of the jury, they are not. 
‘Oh no. There is no toothpaste in these tubes. There is heroin in them! 
‘Yes, heroin... a bad, dirty drug. Perhaps the worst drug. 
‘People die from this drug. The “White Death”, they call it.’
The lawyer stopped, and looked at the jury. 
He waited for a minute or two. The courtroom was very quiet. 
Then he began again. ‘But why, you ask me— why did these two young people have this heroin in their bags? 
‘I can tell you. Because heroin is one of the most expensive drugs, too. 
‘They can sell these tubes of heroin in our country for perhaps eighty thousand pounds. 
‘Eighty thousand pounds! Easy money! 
‘And, men and women of the jury, many people in our country— young people, schoolchildren, too— take this drug. 
‘At first it’s exciting and they feel happy. 
‘But then they need more and more heroin, and they need more money to buy the drug. 
‘They leave their homes and families. They take more heroin... and more. They can’t stop. 
‘Soon the drug begins to kill them. And in the end they die. The “White Death”. 
‘It’s not a quick death, and it’s not an easy death. 
‘Yes, men and women of the jury, many young people and children— your children and my children, remember! — die because of this drug.’
The lawyer stopped again. The jury watched him, and waited.
‘He’s very good,’  Anna thought. ‘Very, very good. He’s telling the jury an exciting story, and they like him. But it isn’t good for Sarah.’
The lawyer walked across the courtroom and stood in front of the jury. 
‘But, my friends, ’ he said to the jury, ‘we have a law in this country. And the law is not difficult to understand. 
‘When people bring heroin into this country, they bring death, too. 
‘We need to stop these people. And how can we do that? 
‘The answer is easy. The law for these people is death.’
The lawyer walked back to his table. 
‘Now please look at these two young people here in this court,’ he said to the jury. 
‘They brought heroin into this country. The airport police are going to tell you about it. 
‘Please listen carefully. It’s not a long story. And remember... the law is death.’
The police lawyer sat down, and an airport policeman went to the front of the courtroom. 
Anna felt ill. She looked at Sarah. Sarah was white-faced and very afraid. 
Anna closed her eyes. ‘Sarah,’ she thought, ‘Oh, Sarah.’
The police lawyer stood up again. ‘Please tell the court about Sarah Harland and Hassan,’ he said to the airport policeman.
‘Yes, sir,’ said the policeman. ‘I found two tubes of toothpaste in the girl’s bag, 
‘and one tube in the young man’s bag. All three tubes had heroin in them.’
‘Thank you.’ The police lawyer sat down, and Mr Cheng— Sarah’s and Hassan’s lawyer— stood up.
‘What did Sarah Harland say when you found the heroin?’ he asked.
‘Nothing, sir. She began to cry.’
‘I see. Was she afraid?’
The policeman thought for a minute. ‘I don’t know, sir. Perhaps she was, yes.’
‘And she said nothing? Are you sure?’
The policeman thought again. ‘Well, yes, sir, I think perhaps she said: “This isn’t my toothpaste. This is all wrong.”’
‘I see. And what about the young man, Hassan? What did he say?’
‘Well, sir, he was very angry. He said: “It’s not heroin. That’s not true! You put it there!”’
‘I see. Thank you. Now tell me, why did you look in these two young people’s bags? 
‘You don’t usually look in everyone’s bags. There isn’t time.’
The policeman thought again. ‘Well, no, sir, we don’t. I... I’m afraid I can’t tell you, sir.’
‘What did you say?’ Mr Cheng asked, very angrily. ‘Of course you can tell me! This is a court of law!’ 
He looked at the judge. ‘This is a very important question. We need an answer!’
The judge looked at the airport policeman. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said. ‘Please answer the question. The court needs to know the answer.’
‘Yes, sir. Well, you see, there was a telephone call. 
‘Someone telephoned me before the plane arrived. 
‘The telephone caller said: “There’s some heroin on the plane. A young man and a young woman are carrying it.”
‘I see,’ Mr Cheng said. He smiled. ‘That’s very interesting. And who made this telephone call?’
‘I don’t know,’ the policeman said. ‘It was a man, and he talked in English. I don’t know his name.’
Suddenly Anna heard a noise. She looked behind her at the door of the courtroom. 
A tall young man came into the back of the room. 
Anna knew him at once. It was Stephen, Sarah’s old boyfriend. 
A policeman took him to a chair near Anna. 
He saw Anna, and for a second he looked afraid. 
But then he smiled, and sat down next to her.
‘Mrs Harlandl’ he said quietly. ‘It’s good to see you. When did you arrive?’
‘Yesterday,’ she said. ‘Why are you late?’
‘I couldn’t find the court,’ he answered. He looked very unhappy. 
‘Tell me how to help,’ he said. ‘I want to help Sarah, but what can I do? 
‘I was on the plane too, but I couldn’t help her. I don’t want her to die!’
‘Stay with me, young man,’Anna said quietly. ‘We can help her— I’m sure we can!’
Later that morning, Sarah went to the front of the courtroom. 
Her face was very white, and her eyes were red with crying. 
Her lawyer— Mr Cheng— began to ask her questions.
‘Now, Miss Harland, why did you come to this country?’ he asked quietly, and smiled at her.
‘Because I like going to different countries. I want to meet new people.’
‘And why were you with this young man?’
‘Because...’ Sarah stopped and looked down at her feet. Nobody could see her face. 
She began again, very quietly, but nobody could hear her.
‘I’m sorry. We can’t hear you. Can you say that again, please?’
Sarah looked up. She looked quickly at her mother, and then at Hassan. ‘Because I love him.’
Anna felt old and tired. She looked at the tall young man with the beautiful dark eyes. 
‘It was his heroin,’ she thought. ‘I’m sure it was. 
‘He buys and sells heroin, and he put it in my daughter’s bag. And now she says she loves him!’
Stephen sat next to her. He did not move, and he watched Sarah all the time. But she did not look at him.
Mr Cheng waited a minute, and then he questioned Sarah again. 
‘Did you know about the heroin in those tubes of toothpaste?’ he asked.
‘No,’ Sarah said quickly. ‘Of course I didn’t!’
‘And what about Hassan? Did he know about the heroin? Please think about your answer.’
‘No, I’m sure he didn’t know. It wasn’t our heroin!’ Sarah’s blue eyes were angry. 
‘We didn’t put the heroin in the toothpaste tubes. We’re innocent!'
‘Thank you, Miss Harland,’ Mr Cheng said quietly, and sat down.
The police lawyer stood up. ‘Miss Harland. How much money did you have in your bag?’
‘Um... about fifty pounds, I think.’
‘That’s not very much. This is an expensive country, you know. How much can you buy... with your fifty pounds?’
Sarah did not have an answer. ‘Um... I don’t know,’ she began. ‘I usually live very cheaply...’
‘Did you need more money?’ lawyer’s questions came quickly now. ‘Of course you needed more money. 
‘You wanted to sell that heroin. You wanted to be rich. Is that right?’
‘No! No! That’s not true!’
The lawyer said nothing for a minute. He looked at the jury, and smiled. 
Then he said, ‘Do you think toothpaste is very expensive in this country. Miss Harland?’
‘Er... no, I don’t think... er... I don’t know.’ 
‘Well, I can tell you, it isn’t. Toothpaste is cheap here. 
‘So why did you bring three tubes of toothpaste with you? 
‘How often do you clean your teeth. Miss Harland? Six times a day? Or seven, or eight, times a day, perhaps?’ 
Sarah looked very unhappy. ‘No... I don’t know... Hassan...’
‘Yes?’ the lawyer said quickly. ‘Hassan? Are you going to say “Hassan gave it to me”? 
‘You love this young man, but you don’t want to die. Nobody wants to die. 
‘And now you’re going to say “It was Hassan’s toothpaste”. Is that your answer, Miss Harland?’
‘No!’Sarah said angrily. ‘Of course not! It was my toothpaste. But...’
‘Thank you. Miss Harland.’ The police lawyer sat down. ‘I have no more questions.’

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Chapter 2
Anna Harland left the prison and went to talk to the police. 
She waited a long time in a small office, but after an hour a policeman came into the room. 
He was a big man, about fifty-five years old, with brown eyes and a nice smile. 
He moved very slowly and quietly.
‘Good afternoon, Mrs Harland,’ he said. ‘My name is Detective Inspector Aziz. 
‘I... arrested your daughter three days ago. 
‘I’m very sorry for you. This is a very unhappy thing for a mother...’
‘It’s a very unhappy thing for my daughter, Inspector,’ Anna said angrily. 
‘Because she didn’t do it. She’s innocent, you know. She knows nothing about those drugs.’ 
Detective Inspector Aziz looked at her carefully for a minute. He did not know many English women. 
‘She has an interesting face,’ he thought. ‘Very blue eyes, and a long nose. 
‘She is not afraid of me, and she is not crying. 
‘Perhaps she wants to know the truth. Perhaps she can help me, too.’
‘Well, Mrs Harland,’ he said slowly. ‘It’s difficult for me. 
‘Is your daughter telling the truth? Is she innocent? 
‘Because the drugs were in her bag, you know.’
‘I know,’Anna said. ‘But she was with a young man... Hassan. 
‘She doesn’t know him very well, I think. Tell me about him, please, I want to know.’
Inspector Aziz smiled. ‘All right,’ he said. ‘But first, tell me about your daughter. 
‘Why was she on that plane? Why did she come to this country? Tell me.’
Anna Harland looked at him. ‘He’s a nice man,’ she thought. ‘He listens to people. 
‘Perhaps he wants to help. Perhaps he can understand Sarah.’
‘Do you have daughters?’ she asked.
‘Yes,’ the Inspector answered. ‘Two.’
‘Then perhaps you can understand,’ Anna said. ‘Sarah is nineteen. 
‘She finished school last year, and she worked for six months in a hospital to get some money. 
‘Then she and her boyfriend, Stephen, visited a lot of countries. 
‘They went to Greece, Turkey, India, Australia— and now they’re here. 
‘They’re young, and they want to see new countries and new towns and new people. That’s all.’
‘I see,’ the Inspector said. ‘But sometimes young people do things— bad things— 
‘because they are in a different country and they need money.’
‘Not Sarah,’ Anna said. ‘And not heroin. 
‘Sarah worked in a hospital, and she knows about heroin. 
‘She knows it can kill people. I’m a doctor, and she wants to be a doctor, too.’
‘I see,’ the Inspector said again. He looked at her, and thought, but he said nothing.
‘Now,’ Anna said. ‘Tell me about this young man, Hassan.’
‘All right,’ the Inspector said. He took some papers from the table and began to read to her. 
‘But we don’t know very much about him. He’s a rich boy, from a good family. 
‘His father has two or three shops, I think. And the police in his town know him, too. 
‘Last year his father gave him a new car— a very fast car. And... listen to this! 
‘One day he hit a police car, and the police car went into the river! What a story! 
‘His father bought a new car for the police. His father has a lot of money.’
The Inspector smiled, but Anna looked unhappy. ‘Oh dear,’ she said. ‘That’s not very good.’
‘No,’ he said. ‘It isn’t good. But this story about the heroin is worse. Much worse. I don’t like this story.’

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白色死亡White Death
Chapter 1
The woman stood in front of the prison. 
The prison was a big, dirty building in the biggest town of a hot country. 
The woman was very hot, and she did not like the noise from all the cars in the road. 
She was an Englishwoman and she did not like hot countries or a lot of noise. 
She was tall, about fifty years old, with blue eyes and a long face. 
Her face was red, and she looked tired and angry.
She knocked at the door of the prison. 
For a long time nothing happend. 
Then a little window opened in the door, and a man looked out at her.
‘Yes? What do you want?’
‘I want to see my daughter. It’s very important.’
‘Name?’
‘Anna Harland.’
‘Is that your name or your daughter’s name?’
‘It’s my name. My daughter’s name is Sarah Harland.’
‘You can’t visit her today. Come back on Wednesday.’
‘No! I came from England to see her today. It’s very important. 
‘She’s going to court tomorrow. Please take me to her— now!’
‘Wait a minute.’
The little window closed, but the door did not open. 
The woman waited in front of the door for a long time. 
A lot of people in the road looked at her. 
One or two young men laughed, but she did not move. 
She stood there in the hot road in front of the prison door, and waited.
After twenty minutes, the door opened. ‘Come with me,’ the man said.
The woman went in with him. It was dark in the prison, and at first she could not see very well. 
She walked for a long time, past hundreds of doors. 
Then the man opened one of them. ‘In here,’ he said. ‘You can have ten minutes.’
Anna Harland walked into the room and the man went in after her. He closed the door behind him. 
There was a table in the room, and two chairs. 
On one of the chairs sat her daughter, Sarah. 
She was a tall girl, about nineteen years old, with big blue eyes.
‘Mother!’ she said. ‘I’m very happy to see you.’ 
And she got up and began to run across the room to her mother.
‘Sarah!’ Anna said, and put out her arms. 
But the man moved quickly and stood between them.
‘No,’ he said to Anna. ‘I’m sorry. I know you’re her mother. You can talk, but that’s all. 
‘Please sit down at the table. I am here to watch you.’
The mother and daughter sat down at the table.
Anna’s hands were near Sarah’s on the table. 
She looked carefully at her daughter. Sarah’s dress and face were dirty. 
‘She’s tired, and unhappy,’ Anna thought. ‘Sarah, what happened?’ she said. 
‘We have ten minutes to talk. No more. Tell me, please, quickly. I want to help you.’
Sarah looked at her mother. ‘Oh, mother. I’m happy you’re here. 
‘I wanted you to come. Mother, I... I didn’t do it. It isn’t true. Please believe me.’
‘Of course I believe you, Sarah. But tell me about it. What happened? Quickly. Begin at the beginning.’
‘Yes, but... I don’t know... When did it begin? I don’t know... I don’t understand it.’
‘Why did the police arrest you? When did they bring you to this prison?’
‘Last week, I think. Yes, last week. At the airport, when we arrived... 
‘The police stopped us, and looked in our bags. Then...’ Sarah looked down at the table. 
‘She’s crying,’ Anna thought. ‘She’s very unhappy.’ ‘What happened then, Sarah?’ her mother asked.
‘They... they said there were drugs in my bag. 
‘Then they took me into a room and told me to take my dress off. 
‘They looked for more drugs, but they found nothing. Then... then they brought me here.’
‘I see. Where were the drugs, then? Where did they find them?’
‘Oh. They didn’t tell you?’ Sarah stopped crying. 
She looked up, and there was a smile on her face. But it was not a happy smile. 
‘The drugs were in a tube of toothpaste. 
‘A toothpaste tube with drugs in it... heroin... not toothpaste.’
‘And you didn’t know about it?'
‘No, mother, of course not. Do you think I clean my teeth with heroin?'
Anna Harland smiled. It was difficult to smile, because she was afraid. 
But she smiled because she wanted to help her daughter.
‘I know you don’t clean your teeth with heroin. You have very good teeth, Sarah. 
‘But... what about Stephen? Did he know about the heroin? Did he put it in the toothpaste tube?'
‘Stephen? No... why do you ask about Stephen, mother?'
‘Well, is he in prison too? You said “us” and “our bags”. Did the police arrest him too?'
‘Oh... no,' Sarah’s face was unhappy. ‘No. I wasn’t with Stephen, mother. 
‘You see, Stephen and I... well, we aren’t friends now. 
‘I left him about two months ago... and then I met Hassan.’
‘Hassan?’
‘Yes. I was with Hassan at the airport. 
‘Stephen was on the plane too— I don’t know why— but he wasn’t with me. 
‘It’s Hassan— he was with me. Hassan’s important to me now, not Stephen.’
Anna looked at her daughter. ‘I see. And did the police arrest this Hassan too? Is he in prison?’
‘Yes, he is. They arrested him but I can’t see him. 
‘I asked them. I wanted to see him. But they said “no”. 
‘Mother, I'm sure Hassan didn’t know about the heroin. He’s a good man... he didn’t know, I’m sure.’
‘Then why was the heroin in your bag, Sarah?’
‘I don’t know, mother... I don’t know.’
The man looked at the clock in the room. ‘I'm sorry, Mrs Harland,’ he said. ‘But that’s ten minutes. It’s time to go.’
Anna Harland stood up slowly. ‘All right, ’she said. 
‘But don’t be afraid, Sarah. I’m coming to the court tomorrow.’
‘Yes, mother,’ Sarah said. ‘Thank you. The police are bringing Hassan to court tomorrow too, I think. 
‘You can see him there. He’s a good man, mother, and... I’m sure he didn’t know about the drugs.’
‘Perhaps,’ Anna said. She walked slowly to the door, and then stood by the door and looked at her daughter again. 
‘Sarah... you are telling me the truth, aren’t you?’ 
Sarah began to cry again. ‘Yes, mother, of course I am. I always tell you the truth, you know that.’
Anna smiled. ‘Yes, Sarah,’ she said quietly. ‘Yes, I believe you.’ 
She went through the door and the man went out after her.
Sarah sat quietly at the table in the room, and looked at her hands. 
‘Yes,’ she thought. ‘I told you the truth, mother. I always tell you the truth. 
‘But I didn’t tell you everything...’ She put her head in her hands.

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OMEGA FILE 522
Galapagos, Ecuador
‘Got your sun hats?’ said Arla.
‘Why?’ asked Jude. ‘Where are we going now?’
‘South America,’ Arla said.
‘Big place,’ said Jude. ‘How about Chile? I like Chile.’ 
‘No, it’s Ecuador. You’re going to the Calapagos Islands, 
‘a thousand kilometres out in the Pacific Ocean.’ 
‘Oh, right,’ Hawker said. ‘Are you going to tell us why?’
Arla looked unhappy. ‘There’s something strange going on. 
‘EDI is getting emails every day from the Galapagos. 
‘They’re all about Isabela Island and they all say things like this.’ 
He gave Hawker and Jude a piece of paper.
***IMPORTANT NEWS*** IMPORTANT NEWS***
A new time is coming for our planet.
The first visitors are now on Isabela Island, Galapagos.
Don’t fight them. Don’t be afraid of them. Be friendly.
Tell your government now.
Hawker and Jude looked at Arla, and then laughed. 
‘There are a lot of crazy people out there on the Internet,’ said Jude. ‘You don’t believe this one— do you?’
‘Perhaps it’s crazy, and perhaps it’s not,’ said Arla.
‘But when we email back with questions, they don’t answer. 
‘The Americans are watching the island by satellite, but they don’t want to tell us why. 
‘There are two Australian ships going there. 
‘The Mexicans are getting very excited, 
‘and the Ecuadorians are saying nothing... 
‘Something is happening on Isabela. What is it? We want to know.’
From Brussels to the Galapagos is a long way. 
Hawker and Jude took a plane to Cuba, a second plane to Ecuador, 
then a third plane out to Baltra Island, in the Galapagos. 
When they got out of the plane, a wall of hot air hit them. 
‘Whew,’ said Hawker. He put on his sun hat quickly. 
They went across to Santa Cruz Island and down to Puerto Ayora. 
There they found a boat, the Sea-Lion, to take them to Isabela, about 90 kilometres away. 
At first, the boatman, Gonzalo, did not want to take them.
‘My boat can take ten people,’ he said. ‘It’s a very good boat, but very expensive for only two people.’
Jude smiled at him. ‘Not for two rich people.’
‘Rich?’ said Hawker. ‘It’s not our money— ouch!’ Jude hit him hard on the arm. 
‘We’re on holiday,’ she told Gonzalo. ‘We want to see the giant tortoises on Isabela.’ She looked at Hawker. ‘Don’t we?’
‘Er, yes. That’s right,’ said Hawker quickly. ‘We’re very interested in the giant tortoises.’
On the way to Isabela Island Jude read a book about the Galapagos, and Hawker watched the sea. 
‘Isabela is a very young island,’ Jude told him. ‘And it has— listen to this! —six volcanoes. One erupted only two years ago.’
‘Oh, that’s great!’ said Hawker. ‘Crazy emails, strange visitors in the middle of the Pacific, and now erupting volcanoes! Thank you, Arla!’
Not many people lived on Isabela, and Puerto Villamil was usually a sleepy place. 
But when the Sea-Lion arrived, there were about fifty people down by the sea. 
There were two small boats, and on them Hawker and Jude could see chairs and tables, beds, boxes and bags, and a bicycle.
Gonzalo called out in Spanish to the people on the boats, then turned to Hawker and Jude. 
‘Lots of people are leaving Isabela,’ he said. ‘They are afraid.’ 
‘Afraid of what?’  asked Jude. ‘Go and talk to them, Hawker. Your Spanish is better than mine.’
Hawker came back half an hour later. 
‘You’re not going to believe this,’  he told Jude. ‘The people here say there’s a spaceship on Isabela. 
‘It came down ten days ago, right down inside Volcano Alcedo. And it’s still there.’
‘How do they know that?’  said Jude.
‘There’s an Australian, Dr Jim Miller, up on Alcedo. 
‘He works here, studying giant tortoises. 
‘He saw the spaceship, and now he’s waiting for the visitors to come out.’
‘So the “visitors” in those emails are extraterrestrials. ETs. 
‘Little green men from another planet. Oh dear,’  said Jude. ‘Can we go home now, Hawker?’
Hawker laughed. ‘No, we can’t. We climb Volcano Alcedo,’ he said. ‘Talk to Dr Miller. Say hello to the ETs.’
‘Oh dear,’ Jude said again. ‘I was afraid of that.’
Gonzalo took them in the Sea-Lion up to Shipton Cove. 
There, very early the next morning, Hawker and Jude began their climb up the volcano.
‘There is a path,’ Gonzalo told them, ‘but it is five hours to the top and hard climbing. And very, very hot. 
‘You must carry water— two litres for one person for one day. 
‘You must sleep at the top and come down tomorrow— 
‘but not when the sun is high in the sky. And be careful, please!’
‘Careful of the spaceship visitors, you mean?’ said Jude.
‘I don’t know about spaceships,’ smiled Gonzalo, 
‘but Volcano Alcedo is always a little excited — she is always doing something new.’
It was a very hard climb. After two hours, they stopped under some trees. 
They drank some water and looked out over the blue sea. 
The black volcanic rocks under their feet were hot from the sun.
‘It’s so beautiful here,’ said Jude.
‘Mmm. Yes and no,’ said Hawker. 
Then, ‘Hey, Jude! Look! That animal, over there by that rock. What— is— it?’
‘Oh, wow!’ whispered Jude. ‘It’s an iguana— a Galapagos iguana. Isn’t he wonderful?’
The iguana stared at them with its hot orange eyes, and did not move. 
Its body was about a metre long, and an orange-yellowy colour.
‘It looks about a thousand years old,’ said Hawker. ‘A very strange animal.’
‘Everything about this island is strange,’ said Jude.
They climbed and climbed, and the sun got hotter and hotter. 
After three more hours they came to the top, 
and looked down into the great crater of Alcedo, two hundred metres deep and seven kilometres across. 
To the north and the south they could see more volcanoes, 
and across the sea to the west the island of Fernandina— 
but they could not see Dr Miller or his camp.
‘We need to go round the crater to the south,’ said Hawker. ‘It’s another two hours’ walk, the villagers said.’
It was hard walking over the black lava rock, and once Hawker nearly fell. Jude caught his arm.
‘Don’t break a leg here,’ she said. ‘I don’t want to carry you back down to the boat.’
‘Why not?’ said Hawker. ‘I carried you home once.’
‘We weren’t on top of a volcano then,’ said Jude.
At last they saw Dr Miller’s camp, and ten minutes later they arrived. 
Dr Miller was short, very brown, and angry. ‘Go away!’ he shouted. ‘You’re Americans, aren’t you?’
‘No, we aren’t,’ said Hawker. ‘We’re European. How do you do, Dr Miller?’
‘What are you doing here?’ he said angrily.
‘We’d like to talk to you,’ said Jude quietly. ‘About the spaceship down in the crater. Why are you so angry?’ 
‘Because nobody listens to me!’ said Dr Miller. ‘Nobody believes me! 
‘The Americans say, “Oh, crazy man!” The Australian government says, “Get some sleep!” 
‘What can I do? Something very important is happening on this planet, and nobody is listening!’
‘Well, we’re here now, and we’re listening,’ Jude said. 
Dr Miller looked at them.' ‘Who do you work for?’ 
‘Europe,’ said Hawker. ‘Europe is very interested in this spaceship. Please tell us about it.’
‘Ah, the emails did get through, then,’ said Dr Miller. 
‘Who did the emails come from?’ asked Hawker. 
‘Ecuadorian friends,’ said Dr Miller. ‘Over on Santa Cruz. Look, I’ve got some beer here. You want one?’ 
They sat on the black lava rocks under the hot sun, and drank hot beer. 
Below them clouds of smoke and steam moved this way and that way across the crater. 
And was there, under those clouds, a spaceship from another planet?
‘Sometimes I think I can see it down there,’ said Jim Miller, ‘but mostly I can’t. 
‘It’s a great white thing, and long legs came out of it when it came down.’
‘But why here, Jim?’ said Jude. ‘Why into a volcano?’ 
‘Who knows?’ said Jim. ‘Perhaps they like hot places. Perhaps they need something from the hot lava.’
‘And why are you angry with the Americans, Jim?’ Hawker asked. ‘I know their beer’s no good, but...’ 
‘They watched this spaceship on their satellite. I know they did. 
‘They know it’s here, but they don’t want the world to know. 
‘They don’t want people like you and me to meet any extraterrestrial visitors. Oh no! 
‘They want it all to be a big secret. Then they can be top dog.’
Just then there was a sudden noise, a BOOM deep below the ground. 
‘What... what was that, Jim?’ asked Jude.
‘Oh, Alcedo does that all the time,’ said Jim. 
‘Then hot water comes up, and steam, dust— sometimes a little lava, but not much. 
‘That’s why there are always clouds in the crater. You can never see anything down there.’
‘Can we climb down into the crater?’ asked Hawker. 
‘Are you crazy? It’s dangerous down there!’ Jim said. 
All evening Hawker and Jude stared down into the crater, 
but they could see nothing through the clouds of steam and dust. 
Just before the sun went down, Hawker saw something near the top of the crater and shouted to Jude, 
but it was only two of the giant tortoises. 
They came slowly past the camp and went away down the other side of the volcano. 
Later, four more came past, going the same way, moving slowly and quietly over the black rocks.
‘They’re very strange animals!’ said Jude.
Hawker and Jude did not sleep much. 
The rocks were hard, and below them they heard again and again the deep BOOM of the volcano. 
Late in the night they turned their radio on. 
It was very noisy, but through the noise they could hear a voice from Santa Cruz. 
Hawker listened hard. ‘They’re talking about Volcano Alcedo!’ he said. 
‘They think it’s going to erupt in the next twenty-four hours!’ 
Jude sat up. ‘Oh no! We’re seven hours away from the boat. Let’s get moving! Go and call Jim.’
But Jim Miller did not believe Santa Cruz radio. 
‘It’s the Americans again,’ he said. ‘They want us all to go away.’ 
‘Please come with us, Jim,’ said Jude. ‘Please. You can come back in a day or two.’
‘You two go,’ said Jim, ‘but I’m staying right here, and watching that spaceship.’
It was a hard climb down. 
When they got to the sea, they saw Gonzalo with the little boat. 
‘Hurry!’ he shouted. ‘Did you hear on the radio? Alcedo’s going to erupt!’
Quickly, they went out to the Sea-Lion and climbed up onto the boat. 
‘Go! Go! Go!’ Gonzalo shouted to his men, and before long the Sea-Lion was a kilometre out at sea.
Two hours later Volcano Alcedo erupted. 
There was a sudden great bang!— and then clouds of dust flew up into the sky. 
Red-hot lava came out of the volcano’s sides and ran down to the sea. 
The noise did not stop, and with every bang, rocks flew hundreds of metres up into the sky, then fell slowly back down to the ground. 
For hours the night sky was filled with great flowers of red and orange light.
It was a beautiful, and a terrifying thing to watch.
‘What happened to Dr Miller?’ I asked.
‘Poor Jim went to the great spaceship in the sky,’ Jude said. 
‘Five hundred metres of red-hot lava fell on top of him.’
‘And was there a spaceship in the volcano?’
‘No,’ said Jude.
‘Yes,’ said Hawker. He looked at Jude, and they laughed. 
Then Jude looked at me. ‘What do you want to believe?’ she asked. 
‘They weren’t very clever extraterrestrials, were they?— sitting there in their spaceship in an erupting volcano!’
Hawker smiled. ‘Ah, but perhaps the spaceship left just before the volcano erupted. 
‘Gonzalo and I saw something in the clouds of dust— 
‘a white light, moving very fast, faster than the dust. It went up very high.’
‘Well, I didn’t see anything,’ said Jude. ‘And that’s because there wasn’t anything in that volcano!’
Hawker looked up into the blue Greek sky. ‘How do we know?’ he said slowly. 
‘One day someone, or something, is going to visit us from out there. 
‘Perhaps that was the first visit, all those years ago in the Galapagos. Who knows?’

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OMEGA FILE 451
Loch Ness, Scotland
‘I want you to take the next plane to Scotland,’ said Arla. ‘Then get up to Loch Ness.’
‘Oh, great,’ said Hawker. ‘Are we looking for the Loch Ness monster— old Nessie?’
Jude laughed.
‘Don’t laugh,’ said Arla. ‘You are looking for a monster.’
‘Oh, come on, Arla,’ Jude said. ‘You don’t mean that.’
‘This photo came by email from Edinburgh,’ said Arla. 
‘Look...’ He turned to his computer and opened a file. 
‘It’s a night-time photo and not very good.’
Hawker and Jude stared at the photo on the computer screen. 
They could see water, and something big and grey, half in and half out of the water.
‘It’s got arms and a head,’ said Hawker. ‘But what is it?’
‘It kills sheep, cats, and dogs,’ Arla said. ‘And perhaps small children next. 
‘People in Fort Augustus are screaming at London, and London is screaming at us. Go and find it.’
‘What do we do with it when we find it?’ asked Jude.
‘Kill it,’ said Arla. ‘Before it kills you.’
Hawker and Jude waited for a minute, but Arla turned away and began to read his emails.
‘Are you telling us everything, Arla?’ asked Hawker.
‘Of course.’ Arla put his hands on the table. 
There were only two fingers on his left hand. 
‘I always tell you everything. You know that.’
‘Huh!’ said Jude.
They took a plane to Inverness, then drove along the side of Loch Ness to Fort Augustus. 
It was a grey November day— grey sky, grey water, grey hills.
Hawker looked across the loch. ‘It’s easy to believe in monsters here,’ he said. 
‘Loch Ness is about 200 metres deep. The third deepest lake in Europe. 
‘Did you know that? A hundred monsters could live down there.’
‘How are we going to find this thing?’ asked Jude.
‘Talk to people in Fort Augustus first,’ Hawker said. ‘Then take it from there.’
They talked to people in their hotel, and to people in the streets in Fort Augustus. 
Everybody had a lot to say.
‘It killed Mrs Fraser’s dog,’ said one woman. ‘She has a house down by the water. 
‘The monster came into her garden one night.
‘Her little dog went to look, and the monster killed him— just like that.’
‘Killed six of my brother’s sheep,’ said a man called Dugald. ‘He’s very angry about it.’
‘Can we meet your brother?’ asked Jude. ‘Ask him some questions?’
Dugald’s brother, Archie, lived at Invermoriston, about nine kilometres up the loch. 
He was a big man, with black hair and blue eyes. 
He was not very friendly at first. ‘Who are you?’ he asked. ‘Are you army people?’ 
‘No,’ said Hawker. ‘Why do you ask that?’
‘There’s an army laboratory in the hills above the loch. 
‘Lots of strange people there. 
‘And lots of boats on the loch at night. Coming and going.’
‘Mmm. Interesting,’ said Jude. ‘But tell us about the Loch Ness monster and your dead sheep.’
‘It wasn’t Nessie. Nessie doesn’t kill sheep,’ Archie said. ‘This... thing... broke their necks.’
‘Did you see it?’ asked Hawker.
‘Well, I saw something big, but it moved very fast. 
‘It was back in the loch in seconds. And it was nearly dark.’
‘Right,’ said Hawker. ‘Now, we’d like to look at your dead sheep, please. 
‘And then we need a boat. Where can we get a fast boat, Archie?’
‘What do you want a boat for?’
‘We’re going to catch this thing,’ said Jude, ‘and stop it killing your sheep.’
For the next four days Hawker and Jude went up and down Loch Ness in Archie Campbell’s boat. 
They talked to everybody around the loch. 
‘When you see this monster, please ring us. 
‘Any time. Day or night. 
‘Our mobile phones are always turned on.’
They slept a little in the day, and were out most of the night in the boat, 
with their guns, cameras, mobile phones, a big flashlight, and litres of hot coffee. 
Once they thought they saw the monster just north of Invermoriston. 
Another night a call came from a little place called Foyers. 
They got there at six in the morning. 
It was dark and cold, and everything was very quiet. 
They sat in the boat, looking up and down the loch.
‘Look,’ whispered Hawker. ‘Down there, by the trees.’
Fifty metres away there were some tall trees by the side of the loch. 
There were some sheep under the trees— and something big and dark. 
Suddenly the sheep began to run.
‘Start the engine,’ said Hawker. ‘Let’s get down there.’
When they got to the trees, they found five sheep with broken necks, but no monster.
‘It just kills, and goes away again,’ said Jude. ‘Horrible.’
The next night they were near Urquhart Castle when they saw two other boats. 
It was three in the morning.
‘Those boats again!’ said Hawker. ‘We heard their engines last night. 
‘And the night before. Who are they? Let’s go and see.’
Quietly, their boat moved nearer. 
There were four men in each boat— men in grey, young men with hard faces. 
They watched Hawker and Jude, and said nothing.
‘Hullo,’ said Jude, with a friendly smile. ‘Who are you?’
A tall man in the nearest boat answered. ‘Army,’ he said. ‘Who are you? 
‘What are you doing out here at this time of night?’
‘We’re visitors,’ said Jude. ‘Looking for Nessie, of course. What are you doing?’
‘There’s no monster in this loch,’ said the tall man. ‘Go back to your hotel and go to bed.’ 
The two army boats moved away, down the loch.
‘Nice,’ said Hawker. ‘Very friendly.’
Arla phoned them every morning. ‘Get on with it,’ he said. ‘Before this thing kills someone.’
‘We can’t get near it,’ Jude told him. 
‘This loch is thirty-six kilometres long and two kilometres across. 
‘There are only two of us, and we’re not getting any sleep.’
‘You can sleep later,’ said Arla. ‘Just catch this thing.’ 
‘We met some army people last night,’ Jude said. ‘What are they doing here? What do they do at their laboratory?’
The phone went quiet. Then, ‘What laboratory?’
‘The army laboratory in the hills above Loch Ness.’ The phone went dead. 
‘Well, well,’ Jude said to Hawker. ‘He doesn’t know. Or he’s not telling.’
The monster came out of the loch and killed sheep nearly every night. 
Everybody around the loch wanted to help Hawker and Jude, and their mobile pbones never stopped ringing. 
A lot of people thought the monster was Nessie, but Archie knew it wasn’t.
‘Nessie never killed anything in fifteen hundred years,’ he said. 
‘This is something different, and it’s going to start killing people soon. Look, you need some sheep.’
‘Sheep?’ said Hawker. ‘Do you mean sleep?’ He was very tired after ten nights on the loch.
‘Of course!’ said Jude. ‘Clever Archie. Can you get us some old sheep then? 
‘Or perhaps we can use Hawker. He’s nearly an old sheep by now.’
‘Oh, shut up,’ said Hawker.
They found a good place between Invermoriston and Urquhart Castle with some trees by the water, and took their six old sheep there. 
For three nights they watched, but no monster came. 
The men in grey were out every night too. 
They were never far away from Hawker and Jude, but never came to speak to them.
On the fourth night Hawker and Jude arrived at their sheep place later than usual. 
It was a warm, rainy night— soft Scottish rain that never stops.
When they turned the engine off, everything was quiet— just the rain whispering on the loch. 
Hawker got out of the boat and stood with the flashlight, watching and listening. 
Jude sat in the boat, with her gun in her hand.
‘Where are the men in grey?’ whispered Hawker.
‘Don’t know,’ Jude whispered back. ‘Behind us, I think.’
Then everything happened at once. 
There was a sudden noise of boats’ engines behind them, 
and at the same time something moved in the water in front of them. 
A head and two long arms came out of the water.
‘Light!’ shouted Jude. ‘Quick!’ Hawker turned on the flashlight, 
and at once the monster stood up and ran at Hawker through the water, 
its long arms going for Hawker’s head. 
‘Get down, Hawker!’ screamed Jude. In a second Hawker was under the water, 
and then came the sound of Jude’s gun— once, twice, and then a third time.
When the monster stopped moving. Hawker and Jude went to look at it. 
It was a greeny-black colour, bigger than a man, and with very long arms and legs. 
It had a small head on a long neck. It was a strange, horrible thing.
A minute later, the men in grey arrived in their two boats. 
They got out and came to look at the dead monster.
‘Oh dear,’ the tall man said. ‘Poor old Nessie.’
‘That’, said Hawker, ‘is not Nessie. So what is it?’
‘Visitors, aren’t you?’ said the tall man. ‘Where from?’
Hawker and Jude stared at him and said nothing. 
Then Jude took something out of her pocket and held it up, in front of the tall man’s eyes.
He looked at it. ‘Oh,’ he said. ‘I see. EDI. Don’t see many of those. 
‘OK, what do you want to know?’
‘What— is— that— thing!’ said Jude.
The tall man looked unhappy. ‘It is, or it was, one of the army’s new fighters. 
‘It got away from our laboratory, and we just couldn’t catch it.’
‘But it was alive... a— a living thing,’ said Hawker. 
‘You can make a lot of living things in a laboratory these days,’ said the tall man. 
‘Genetic engineering is getting very clever. 
‘This fighter can run all night, live under water, see in the dark. 
‘But it’s new. We haven’t got it right yet.’
‘And it’s programmed to kill anything, is it?’ said Jude. 
‘No, no,’ the tall man said quickly. ‘Not this one. 
‘This one just kills small animals with four legs— sheep, dogs, cats, things like that.’
‘Well,’ said Jude, ‘that is nice to know.’
‘And where are the other monsters?’ asked Hawker. ‘For killing men, women, and children— things like that.’ 
The tall man smiled. ‘Can’t answer that. I’m afraid. Talk to your people in Brussels. 
‘Well, we must get back. Lots to do, you know. Thanks for your help. Bye.’
The men in grey put their dead monster in one of the boats and went away up the loch into the dark and the rain.
‘And what did Arla say about it all?’ I asked.
‘He was so angry!’ Hawker said. ‘He went crazy! 
‘He didn’t know about the monsters, you see. Or the laboratory. 
‘The army didn’t tell anyone in Brussels.’
‘And Arla liked to know everyone’s secrets,’ said Jude.
‘Did the army make any more monsters?’ I asked.
‘Not in Scotland,’ said Hawker. ‘The British army closed their laboratory after that. 
‘The Americans and the French made some monsters years later. 
‘They were smaller, like big cats, but with eight legs.’
‘Where are they now?’ I said. ‘You don’t hear anything about them.’
‘Of course not,’ said Jude. ‘People don’t want to hear about monsters.’
‘They’re in Antarctica. Or in a place deep under the ground,’ said Hawker.
‘Nice and secret. Just waiting for the next war.’
‘And so there isn’t a Loch Ness monster, and never was one,’ I said.
‘Nessie?’ said Jude. She looked me in the eyes and did not smile. ‘Of course there’s a Loch Ness monster. 
‘She’s a blue-grey colour, has a small head, a very long neck, and is about fifteen metres long... 
‘Go and look at all the photos of her on the Internet.’