'Dunno. Because it's my trouble, I suppose. Captain,why have all those lights over there come on?'

'They're the ships of the fleet,' said the Captain. 'Thecommanders want to know what's happening.'

'Tell them to hold on to something,' said Johnny.'And tell them - tell them they're going home.'

They both looked at him.'Oh, yes, very impressive,' said Kirsty. 'Verydramatic. All very-''Shut up.'What?'

'Shut up.' said Johnny again, his eyes not leaving thescreen.

'No-one tells me to shut up!'

'I'm telling you now. Just because you've got a mindlike a, a hammer doesn't mean you have to treat every-one else like a nail. Now here they come again.'

Wobbler took the disc out of the drive and looked atit. Then he felt around the back of his computer in casethere were any extra wires.

That Johnny ... he was the quiet type. He alwayssaid that all he knew about computers was how toswitch them on, but everyone knew about computers.He'd probably messed around with the game and givenit back. Pretty good. Wobbler wondered how he'ddone it.

He put the disc back in and started the game again.

'Only You Can Save Mankind' ... yeah, yeah.

Then the inside of the starship. Missiles, guns, scoretotal, yeah, yeah

And stars ahead. The sparkly ones you got in thegame. He'd done much better ones for Voyage to AlphaCentauri.

No ships to be seen.

He picked up the joystick and moved it, watchingthe stars spin as the ship turned

There was a ship right behind him. Very muchbehind him. Dozens of ships, again. Hundreds of ships.All getting bigger. Much bigger. Very quickly.

Very, very quickly.

Again.

When he got up off the floor and put the leg backon the chair, the screen was all black again, except forthe little flashing cursor.

Wobbler stared at it.

Logic, he said. Not believing in logical reasons wasalmost as bad as dropping hot solder on to a nylon sock.There had to be a logical explanation.

One day, he'd think of one.

'They're following us! They're following us!'Little coils of smoke were coming up from the con-trols. There were all sorts of vibrations in the floor.

'I'm pretty sure we can outrun them,' said Johnny.

'How sure?' said Kirsty.

'Pretty sure.'

Kirsty turned to the Captain.

'Have we got any rear guns?'

The Captain nodded.

'They can be fired from here,' she said. 'But weshould not do that. We have surrendered, remember?'

'I haven't,' said Kirsty. 'Which one fires the guns?'

'The stick with the button on the top.'

'This? It's just like a games joystick,' she said.'Of course it is,' said Johnny. 'This is in our heads,remember. It has to be things we know.'

The screen showed the view behind the fleet. Therewere green ships bunched up behind them.

'They're coming right down our tailpipe,' saidKirsty. 'This is going to be really easy.

'Yes, it is isn't it,' said Johnny.

There was a dull edge to his voice. She hesitated.

'What do you mean?' she said.

'Just dots in the middle of a circle,' said Johnny. 'It'seasy. Bang. Here comes the high score. Bang. Goahead.'

'But it's game space! It's a game. Why are you actinglike that? It's just something on a screen.

'Fine. Just like the Real Thing. Press the button,then.'

She gripped the stick. Then she paused again.

'Why do you have to spoil everything?'

'Me?' said Johnny vaguely. 'Look, if you're notgoing to fire, switch the screen back to what's ahead ofus, will you? This dial here says we're moving at ~ eper c ~. and that's ~ times faster than it says weought to be going.'

'Well?'

'Well, I just think it'd be nice not to run into anasteroid or something. Of course, if you want us to endup five miles across and one centimetre thick, keeplooking back.'

'Oh, all right!'She took her finger off the screen switch.And then she gasped.

They stared at the expanse of space ahead of them,and what was in the middle of it.'What,' said Kirsty, after a long pause, 'is that?'Johnny laughed.

He tried to stop himself, because the ship was groan-ing and creaking like a tortured thing, but he couldn't.Tears ran down his cheeks. He thumped his hand help-lessly on the control panel, accidentally switching a fewlights on and off.

'It's the Border,' said the Captain.

'Yes,' said Johnny. 'Of course it is.'

'But it's-' Kirsty began.

'Yes,' said Johnny. 'The Border, see? Beyond itthey're safe. Of course. No-one crosses the Border.Humans can't do it!'

'It can't be natural.'

'Who knows? This is game space, after all. It'sprobably natural here. I mean, we've all seen itbefore.'

'But it is still a very long way off,' said the Captain.'I fear that-'There was a dull explosion somewhere behind them.'Missiles!' said Kirsty. 'You should have let me''No, listen,' said Johnny. 'Listen.''What to? I can't hear anything.'

'That's because something's making a lot of silence,'said Johnny. 'The engines have stopped.'

'The engines have probably melted,' said theCaptain.

'We've still got - . . what is it ... momentum orinertia or one of those things,' said Johnny. 'We'll keepgoing until we hit something.''Or something hits us,' said Kirsty.She looked at the Border again.'How big is that thing?' she said.'It must be huge.' said Johnny.'But there's stars beyond it.'

'Not our stars. I told you, that's one place humanscan't go . .

They looked at one another.

'What happens, then,' Kirsty began, like someoneexploring a particularly nasty hole in a tooth, 'if we'reon a ship that tries to go past the Border?'

They both turned to the Captain, who shrugged.'Don't ask me,' she said. 'It's never happened. It isimpossible.'

Now all three of them turned to look at the Borderagain.

'Is it just me?' said Kirsty. 'or is it just a little bitbigger?'

There was some silence.

'Still,' said Johnny. 'what's the worst that can happento us?'Then he wished he hadn't said that. He rememberedthinking he'd hear the alarm clock waking him up, thatvery first time, and then he recalled the shock of realiz-ing that he wasn't being allowed to wake up at all.

'You know, I don't want to find out,' he added.'Without engines, we cannot turn the ship around,'said the Captain. 'I am sorry. You were too keen to saveus.

'It is getting bigger,' said Kirsty. 'You can tell, if youwatch the stars behind it.'

'I am sorry,' said the Captain again.

'At least the ScreeWee should make it,' said Johnny.

'I am sorry.'

Kirsty stood up. 'Well, I'm not,' she said. 'Come on!'She picked up the gun and strode away into theshadows. Johnny ran after her.'Where do you think you're going?''To the escape capsule,' she said.'What escape capsule?'

'Indeed,' said the Captain, scuttling after them, 'I askthat too. There is no such thing.'

There can be if we want there to be,' said Kirsty,opening the door. 'You said the game is made up ofthings we know? Well, I know it'll be right downunder the ship.'

'But-'

'It's my dream as well as yours, right? Believe me.There'll be an escape capsule.' Her eyes had that gleamagain. She hefted the gun. 'I know it,' she said. 'I'vebeen there.'

He remembered her room. He could picture her sit-ting there, with a dozen sharp pencils and no friends,getting top marks in her History homework, while inher head she was chasing aliens.'I cannot understand,' said the Captain.

The corridor outside was full of steam. The shipmight cross the Border, but it was going to have tohave a lot of repairs before it ever came back.

'Um,' said Johnny. 'It's a bit like the models in thecereal packets. It's ... kind of a human idea.'

The ScreeWee hesitated in the doorway. Then sheturned to look at the saeen.