The jet engines fired underneath, and the car rose vertically through the open roof. It ascended to a height of twenty metres, well above the house. Zak watched the downward camera view on the dashboard, which showed the rooftop garage doors wheeling shut.
‘Goodbye house,’ said Dad.
The car swivelled ninety degrees to the right. The engines burned again, and the car shot forwards and upwards to join a nearby line of traffic.
Dad leaned back from the dashboard and turned to the children.
‘It’s only five minutes to the airport,’ he said. ‘We won’t see Rover after that, as he and the luggage will be handled separately. But you can visit him on the ship.’
He closed the navigation display, brought up the travel arrangement details, and started checking them, leaving the flight computer to precisely guide the jet-car to the airport.
Zak considered his opportunities to escape. He didn’t know the exact proceedings along the way, so there was a strong element of risk to his plan. Therefore, it was worth one last attempt to persuade his parents to give up the notion.
‘Dad,’ said Zak. ‘Tom thinks that the ship to Mars could be attacked by terrorists.’
‘What?’ said Dad with incredulity.
‘Two other ships have been blown up, and the MMM have said they’ll treat people going to Mars as a target.’
Dad laughed nervously. Zak noticed Mum look away. Skye had already started listening to music and was oblivious.
‘Zak,’ said Dad, ‘the ship isn’t going to be attacked. The MMM are just a bunch of rock hugging eco-freaks. They haven’t got the capability to blow up a ship. Those other ships were destroyed in accidents.’
Zak sensed that his parents were hiding something, but Dad’s voice grew in conviction.
‘They’d need a pretty big bomb to destroy the ship we’re travelling on. And security is so tight they wouldn’t be able to smuggle so much as one particle of explosives on board.’
