Reese cleared her throat and turned to Roderick.

“Okay, we need to think about what we’re going to do.” She said softly.

Everyone murmured in agreement.

“Roddy, I don’t understand how the concrete could be cool, to be honest.” Reese said, looking at the walls around us.

“Well, you think about it. Concrete is more durable than wood and can last up to three or four times longer than wood can. Wood is more vulnerable to fire and concrete can absorb and retain heat so that’s why it felt cooler to touch when I tested it.” Roderick replied, over-explaining in his nervousness, while drawing on the floor with his finger in the dust in an attempt to illustrate what he was talking about.

“So what you’re saying is, if we’re protected by concrete, we’re safe?” Reese asked.

“I guess so.” Roderick said, shrugging his shoulders.

“So what about paper and cardboard? Is that hot too?” Georgie asked, looking around at the boxes that lay scattered on the floor. “How come we didn’t get hot?”

“I think it’s because we’re also protected and shielded by the fact that we’re mostly underground here in the basement and surrounded by copious amounts of concrete - concrete floor and concrete walls.” Roderick replied.

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“But we would be considered organic wouldn’t we? We’re not concrete.” I asked, pondering his answer.

“I’m not sure, but I think it’s most likely to do with the fact we’re encased in this area.” He said, motioning around us. “Dad once told me that concrete has elements of aluminium in it which makes it more resistant to chemical attacks and high temperatures. Some of the research he was doing was to do with the chemical elements within concrete and if they’d be able to be used on other planets like Mars. He was also looking into the environmental impact of concrete production and if it’d be sustainable here and on other planets.”

“So using Earth as a source for materials?” I replied, my full attention on Roderick at his mention of our father.

“Yes, until he and his team could locate resources on each individual planet.”

“That sounds like it would take a lot of time and research.”

“I think it would take a few lifetimes at least, especially with the time it would take for anything we had to get between planets.”

“Before he disappeared, he said that they had made some big steps in discovering a way of cutting down the time it took to do such things.” Roderick said. “I often wonder if what he told me about his research had something to do with his disappearance.”

Shocked, I looked at Roderick.

“Why didn’t you tell me that little factoid before?” I whined. “That is huge! Of course it’s got something to do with his disappearance! It sounds so ominous.”

“I didn’t want to worry you and Mom with speculation.” Roderick sighed. “Besides, what good would it have done? What good has it done now? You can’t do anything with the information.”

“I can tell the police, that’s what I can do.”

“I already tried and they didn’t want to know about it.” He said, his eyes beginning to water. “They think Dad was ‘overwhelmed with the stress’ of his research and took off.”

I gasped as his words sunk in.