by Steve Howrie
“I know it’s late, but have you got a minute Sand – it’s important.” She turned back to speak to Gareth in the room, saying she just had to talk to me for a few minutes, and then stepped outside into the cool night air. We walked over to lean on the fence overlooking the sea, now very still and tranquil. “What is it Kevin?” There was concern in her voice.
“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” I started. “But when Jo asked me what I did before working on the magazine, I really couldn’t remember.” Sandi suddenly looked relieved. It obviously wasn’t a big deal to her.
“Oh that!” I thought – I’m sure we all thought – you just didn’t want to say because it might have sounded weird. Or you didn’t want to reveal something from your past none of us know about… maybe a gay lover?
“Very funny. No – I really couldn’t remember Sandi, and I still can’t remember now.”
“Well, don’t worry – it’s probably just old age approaching, your Alzheimer’s kicking in early. You always said you’d get it eventually.” I smiled at Sandi’s humour. But I couldn’t let this go.
“So what did I do before I became a journalist – before I started work on the magazine?” Sandi suddenly found herself scanning her own memories – racking her brains.”
“I honestly can’t say I remember, Kevin. Perhaps I never did know. We didn’t meet until the magazine – perhaps you never told me?” I nodded. It was late, and both of us had had a few glasses of home–made wine. It could wait until the morning.
“Yeah, you’re right – both of us are tired. I’m sorry to have brought you out like this. I’m sure it’ll all come back to me tomorrow.” I kissed her good night, and we went back to our respective chalets. It had been a long day, and we could have a busy day tomorrow.
***
Seventeen
I awoke the next day with exactly the same memories I’d had the night before, or should I say lack of memories. I wondered if this was caused by the virus. If I was infected, I needed to know about it – we all did – so I asked Kate to test me after breakfast.
“Are you getting your sodium,” she asked.
“Yeah, Gareth divided up the salt yesterday – we’ve got plenty.”
“Okay, but are you taking it?”
“Yes doctor, three times a day after meals,” I replied flippantly, prompting Kate to hit me over the head with a pillow.
“Did you notice that Jo and Harry used plenty of salt on their food?” she said.
“Yes – a good sign, isn’t it? If we want to spend more time with them, I mean. They’re quite nice people.”
“I liked them.”
I offered my right arm to Kate. She wanted to take the blood from my upper thigh, but having a needle that close to my manhood was out of the question. After five minutes, she came back with the results.
“Well?” I asked. “What’s it like?”
“It’s a rich, red, cabernet merlot with plenty of body. Tastes all right too.”
“Come on Kate – it is safe?”
“Cholesterol-free, high red cell count, plenty of oxygen, and enough iron to make a magnet – and no viruses. Happy now?” My head nodded yes, but my thoughts said no. If I was contaminated with the virus, at least I would have had an explanation for my amnesia. Now I didn’t know what to think.”
“Come here,” Kate commanded. I went willingly to her arms, and we embraced. “Let’s go back to bed Kevin – I’m feeling randy… it’s seeing all that blood.” Much as I fancied spending the morning in bed with Kate, I couldn’t get this memory loss out of my mind. And anyway, we had some serious home–hunting to do, so I reluctantly prised myself away from her claws.
“Later, my little Black Widow. We’ve got places to go, people to see…”
*
Tony had been up early, investigating the north end of Eday. To the north–west of the chalets lay the Red Head – a red sandstone cliff marking the entrance to Calf Sound, the stretch of water between Eday and the Calf. All around was the smell of the sea and the sound of Arctic Terns crowing to each other as they detected fish below the sea’s surface. Tony started to walk along the coast to the Red Head, and then realized it was much further than it looked. He thought it would make a nice trek for everyone in the afternoon – if the weather stayed good.
The chalets were ideal for their base – close to the water with an escape route should they need it (there was a boat jetty nearby); and the accommodation was very secluded. He wondered if there was any chance of taking the chalets on a long term basis from Harry and Jo – if the price was right. They seemed very amenable and he didn’t think they’d try to grab every last penny.
He knew that meeting the couple was not a chance occurrence (he’d stopped believing in chance a long time ago), and he was certain that Harry and Jo had a part to play in ridding the Earth of the virus. Everything seemed to be working out for the group now: they must be doing something right.
Then he thought of Frank. There were other things Tony hadn’t told the others. But for the time being, Frank being an alien from another galaxy was big enough a revelation without dropping any more bombshells. Those could wait till later – when everyone was ready. Where was Frank now? Would he come looking for them? And if he did, how would the others regard him? Would they believe it was Frank?
Thoughts were now coming at ten to the dozen, and he made a mental note to talk to Sandi and me about the Swedish website, and Gareth and Kate about the possibility of extracting salt from seawater. There was certainly no shortage of the latter.
Gazing across to the Calf he observed seals basking on the rocks in the autumn sunshine, seemingly carefree and unaware of an alien virus threatening to wipe out humankind. Oh to be a seal, he thought.
*
Audrey was so glad that Frank had returned to her. He didn’t have to, of course. He could have gone anywhere else, anywhere on Earth. But he wouldn’t have gone back home to his own planet, Audrey knew that. Frank was too dedicated. In a previous life, they had been lovers – or so Frank told her. She couldn’t remember her previous lives – few could. But Frank was special: he could recall most things – including previous incarnations.
She knew her role was as a supporter – not like Frank, or even Tony – and she liked that. Now Frank had returned, she could go and join the others. She would cook and clean, and look after their house – when they found one. She hoped it was warm, and ideally near the sea. She liked being close to water – particularly the sea. Cities were all right, but the coast reminded her of home, and at times she really missed home.
Frank came in from the spare bedroom with a serious look on his face.
“I’ve got to go.”
“I know,” she replied, “but not just yet – stay a few more days, then I’ll come with you.”
“It can’t wait. I can feel it – the virus is growing stronger. It’s happened like this before. We’ve got to stop it expanding.” Audrey didn’t want Frank to go so soon: he’d only just arrived. But that was just like Frank. She sighed deeply.
“All right – I’ll pack.” Frank nodded to her – his way of saying thanks – and returned to his bedroom. He had little to pack himself – just the clothes the hospital had returned to him. They had been amazed by his recovery, of course. But flat–liners coming back to life, though rare, were regular enough for them to accept the occurrence without a huge song and dance. He had left with Steve Saunders’ car, saying goodbye to the hospital staff who had been very respectful of his personal loss – his wife and daughter. These meant little to him. He had no emotional connection to Steve’s wife and the young girl. And in any case, his view of death was radically different from theirs. He knew their souls, after death, would be taken care of, and would probably be reborn one more time on planet Earth – where they would attempt to overcome the obstacles they had failed to deal with in previous incarnations. Frank didn’t just hold this as a belief, he knew it as a fact – as did Audrey.
“No – not yet. I’ll call him when we get to Orkney… just in case something else comes on the way there.” That was just like Frank. Within the hour, they were on their way out of the door. Audrey had been waiting for this day for a long time, and already had some things packed into two suitcases. She smiled at Frank as he drove towards South Queensferry and the Forth Road Bridge. Such a different look he had this time – and it suited him. A real looker for the girls now. But Frank had no time for such things – his mission was far too important.
*
As we walked along the track leading to the Redhead, I still couldn’t get the previous night out of my head. I desperately tried to think back to the time before I worked at the magazine, and still got nowhere. Perhaps I needed some sort of regression therapy, I mused. Kate had dropped back to talk to Tony, so Sandi ran forward to catch me up.
“Well? Any recollections of the past yet?”
I shook my head. “Sandi, I still can’t remember what job I did before Mind2Body – I feel I’m losing it.”
“Then why don’t you call Ron and Jean and ask them about the past?”
“Ron and Jean?”
“Your parents!”
I was stunned… I’d no idea who Ron and Jean were, but I was sure they weren’t my parents.
“No no… my dad’s not called Ron – and my mum is definitely not Jean.”
“Then what are their names?”
I thought about it for a minute. “I really don’t know! Did you ever meet my folks Sandi?”
“No – you hardly ever talked about them.”
“This is driving me crazy…”
“Don’t worry, it’ll come back soon. It’s probably not important just now. Memory’s like that – the more you worry about it, the more you won’t remember. If you just forget about it, it’ll pop into your head one day out the blue.” She smiled at me.
“Thanks,” I said. “I think you’re right.”
It took nearly an hour to reach the top of the Red Head, and from there the views were stunning. Across the other side of the inlet was the Grey Head, the headland of the calf, and out to sea was Westray in the distance. To the North we could just make out North Ronaldsay, the most northerly of the Orkney Islands. Beyond that lay Shetland.
“Breathtaking, isn’t it?” observed Gareth, who was standing with me, taking in the view.
“Beats Anglesey then?” I asked. Gareth nodded.
“It’s bloody brilliant here man. I can tell you that.”
“What do you think of Eday?” I asked.
“Awesome. Makes me feel at home in one way – but it’s got a life of its own. I feel like I’ve been reborn.”
“So you’d be happy here then?”
“Absolutely. And the chalets are great.”
“And the company?” I smiled at Gareth. He smiled back and nodded.
“She’s something else.” We walked back together talking about Sandi, with Gareth comparing her with his previous girlfriends. He had no trouble telling me about his own past. And despite the fact that I had agreed with Sandi that I should forget about my memory loss, I couldn’t help thinking about it.
Back at the chalets, we got out the car and drove round looking for property. Wherever we went, we couldn’t find anywhere that lived up to the standard and location of the chalets. Tony said he’d talk to Harry and Jo about the possibility of a long–term rent on three of them. We all thought this was a good idea.
After the drive, I invited the others to our chalet to talk about the website. I showed them the email from Frida.
“Great!” said Tony. “Have you thought of a name?”
“Kate thought of ‘alienvirus.org’”
“Sounds good to me. Is it available?”
“Yes it is,” Kate replied.
“Well, let’s go for it then. Everyone agreed?” He turned to the others. We were all in favour, so I emailed Frida straightaway to ask her to reserve the domain for us.
“Step one completed then. What about content?” enquired Tony.
“I could draft some ideas with Kate and run them past you later,” I said. Tony nodded.
“Let’s do it then.”
***
Eighteen
At their Mill Bay house, Harry and Jo sat quietly watching the Prime Minister talking on satellite television.
“And so, in light of the irrefutable evidence from our top scientists, this government has no choice but to outlaw the possession of salt with immediate effect. At last we can rid mankind of heart disease and many forms of cancer by this simple and healthy step. It is no longer a case of personal choice: sodium is suicide, and we do not tolerate suicide in this country…”
Harry looked at Jo. She nodded, and Harry picked up the telephone receiver and dialed a number.
*
Frank had never been to Orkney before – not in any of his previous incarnations – and neither had Audrey. They talked very little on the journey up north – mostly listening to music and the news on the radio. Once they finally reached the ferry terminal at Scrabster, Frank turned off the engine and looked at Audrey.
“Did Tony give any reason for choosing Orkney?”
“I recall it was Kate’s suggestion – she’d been there as a child. It seemed isolated from the main spread of the virus, and far enough away from any trouble.” Frank nodded thoughtfully. He’d been very distant all day and Audrey didn’t like to see him like this. “Is everything all right Frank?” He looked at her and smiled his serious face away.
“Yes, it always is. Only I don’t think we can leave the virus much longer. Before I came over to see you, I was in contact with some of our other groups. Parts of the Far East are completely overrun now; the Middle East is in a bad state, and America will be next – followed by Britain no doubt. We can’t let the virus go on like this – and you know what that means?” A look of horror swept over Audrey’s face.
“Oh no, not that – there must be another way!”
“I’m sorry Audrey, you know there isn’t.” The old lady suddenly looked older and greyer. Despite the oddities of the planet, it had been her home for as long as she could remember, and to wipe it from the Galaxy would be a devastating blow. With tears welling in her eyes, she nodded in capitulation.
“If there’s no other way…”
“It’s been over ten thousand Earth years, Audrey. We’ve tried everything, you know that. If we do nothing, the virus moves on to devastate yet another world, and then another. The only way is to annihilate this planet, and the virus with it.”
Frank knew it was the last resort. But his brief had always been to take this final measure if necessity demanded it. Over the many lifetimes he had experienced on Man’s Earth, he and those of his kind had managed to slow down the virus, but never to completely eradicate it. And they had never, ever managed to communicate with it in any way – despite its base intelligence. How the virus would react if it knew their plan was to destroy its hosts, he could only guess. But from all his studies of the virus over the millennia, both on Earth and his home planet, it seemed that the virus would stay with its host for as long as it could feed off it.
Audrey suddenly remembered something.
“They said they’re going to set up a website – telling everyone about the virus. The whole world will see it.” Frank nodded in understanding. He wanted to stop the virus and save mankind if they possibly could. They could afford to make one final effort before the final coup de grace – but they could not afford to let the virus get away this time.
“Well, it’s a thought – something we’ve never tried before. It’s no use talking to the virus, but there’s still a chance we can get through to people.” Audrey smiled with relief at this stay of execution. When she first came to Earth, she couldn’t stand the place and was desperately homesick. But the longer she stayed, the more she fell in love with the people and their
quirky ways. Just as people would fight to save their injured pet from being put down by the Vet, so she would fight for Man’s survival.
Frank went to buy tickets for the boat journey across to Orkney. The wind was fierce, and he had to battle to get to the ticket office. Unlike Audrey, he would not be sorry to leave the planet. Ten thousand years was long enough to sorely miss his true home.
Frank was also looking forward to seeing Tony and the others again. Despite their differences, he knew Tony shared the same objectives and it would be good to talk with him and catch up.
*
When Gareth returned to the chalets with Sandi after a long walk around the island, he was in for a shock.
“It’s gone!”
“What is it – what’s gone?” Sandi asked.
“The salt – I can’t find it.”
“What, none of it?”
“No – all the large bags have gone. I can’t even find the salt cellars.” Gareth was clearly in a panic.
“Okay, we have to look at this calmly. Just sit down and stop for a minute. I’ll put the kettle on.” Gareth did as he was told, removing his coat and sitting down, his mind racing.
“We’ll have to tell Tony,” he said.
“Perhaps Tony took it,” she called from the kitchen. “Maybe he needed it for something?” Gareth shook his head.
“Why would he do that?” He was clearly distraught. Sandi came through with two cups of peppermint tea and two glasses of brandy.
“When did you see it last?” she asked.
“I checked the bags yesterday. But I used one of the salt cellars this morning.”
“So if anyone took it, it must have been when we were out this afternoon.” Gareth nodded. “I think we should call Tony now.” Sandi phoned his chalet on the internal phone. There was no answer.
“What about Kevin’s room?” Gareth suggested. Sandi dialed the number.
“It’s engaged,” she said.
“Well at least they must be in. Come on…” He got up and grabbed Sandi’s hand. “Let’s find out what’s going on.”
Kate opened the door and ushered them in. Tony was there with Kate and me.
“I was just trying to phone you,” I said.
“Our salt’s been stolen!” Gareth blurted out.
“It’s not stolen,” I replied. “But something else has come up.” I looked at Tony. His mood was serious.