The Plot

Epilogue

    The following day Tracy, who had arrived back from the island the previous afternoon, came home from the centre to have lunch with the girls.

"Wow, Mum you brought pizza," Grace exclaimed with glee as she pounced on the pizza box.

Tracy looked at her daughter in amazement. She and her best friend had come within seconds of being killed the previous day, but Grace seemed to be suffering no after effects at all. Shannon, on the other hand, had been very quiet. She might need counselling. But she sat down with them and munched on a slice of pizza while Tracy gave them the news.

"Ed Shearman and his two collaborators Rick Williams and Tony Cook are now in the custody of the federal police. They'll spend at least the next thirty years in jail."

"Who were they working for, Mum?" Grace asked.

"Two of them refused to say anything, but Tony Cook, probably hoping to get a reduced sentence, told us everything he knew. Some covert underground Chinese faction wanted to discredit Australia's space programme while at the same time boosting their own space programme. It was meant to show how unsafe our country's spacecraft were. So they approached Ed Shearman offering him fifteen million dollars to destroy our shuttle and make it look like an accident. So he enlisted the help of the two maintenance engineers at the launch facility and together they hatched their plot. Shannon, if you hadn't overheard their conversation that night and told us, they may have succeeded with the loss of the shuttle and eighteen lives."

Shannon blushed. "I was just in the right place at the right time," she mumbled.

"Nevertheless you saved the day," Tracy smiled at her, then she turned to her daughter, "And you, Grace, saved Shannon and yourself at the last minute from Ed Shearman."

Grace nodded, then said, "Mum, it was really Lynn who saved us. She grabbed his ankle just as he was about to shoot. That monster kicked her in the head. Is she okay?"

"She's recovering," Tracy replied. "She has a slight concussion, but she'll be fine. I was thinking of inviting her around for dinner in a couple of weeks to thank her. What do you think?"

Both girls nodded in approval.

Shannon appeared to have brightened up in the last few minutes. She turned to her friend. "Umm Grace?" she said.

Grace looked at her, "Yes, what is it?"

"I've never been through so much excitement than in the last few months that we've been friends, and I almost hate to ask, but what's next?"

"Well," Grace gave her friend a conspiratorial smile, "as a matter of fact next school holidays our friend Laura from school has asked us to go and stay for a few days with her in a haunted house!"

End

Author's Note
Thanks so much for reading.
If you liked this story please vote and comment.
I will try to answer all comments.
Grace's comment about them staying in a haunted house refers to the next story in the series, the paranormal "Westerfield Manor". You will find it on my homepage. Please give it a go.
Thanks again for reading "The Plot"  :)