Emmy woke at eight o’clock. Normally, she would be up at dawn, but this was the second morning running she had slept in. She wondered if it had something to do with the experiments, but did not let it worry her too much. Unfortunately, she was unable to make any real hypothesis on the matter as Charlie’s sleep had not been interrupted at all. He always slept late.
She got dressed and made her way to the kitchen to make breakfast. Her grandfather was not around, but the two Americans were. The one named Bradley was sitting at the table eating cereal, but the other one, the cockier one, stood up when he saw her enter the room.
‘Morning, ma’am,’ he said.
She murmured a reply. He stood rigidly to attention and only just stopped short of giving her an actual salute. What an arsehole, she thought to herself.
She poured a glass of orange juice and placed two slices of bread in the toaster. She did not take a seat. The two men looked at her expectantly.
‘So exactly how long will we be having the pleasure of your company?’ she asked.
‘That’s classified,’ replied Mike.
‘What do you mean; classified? I am going to be working alongside you the whole time you are here. I think I have a right to know.’
‘You don’t understand. When I say classified, I mean that even we don’t know. This mission is above top secret. We did not choose to come here, we just follow orders. If you have questions, they would be better directed at your grandfather.’
She looked into his eyes and gathered that he was telling the truth. He was just a foot soldier, a disposable tool of the Government. It was when the men in suits started to turn up that she would really need to worry.
Her toast popped and she placed the two slices on a plate before brushing them with a thin layer of low fat butter. She then picked up the plate and her drink and joined the men at the table. Capt. Peters looked relieved that he no longer needed to be chivalrous and could sit down too.
‘So have you guys seen the professor this morning?’ Emmy asked.
‘Briefly,’ Mike replied. ‘He gave us a quick tour of the parts he did not have time to show us last night and then told us to wait here for you.’
‘Did he show you the lab?’
‘Not yet. He said you would be able to do that. I got the impression that he was distracted. Some local cop dropped by this morning. He isn’t in any kind of trouble, is he?’
She thought of the incident the day before. She was not sure how seriously her grandfather was taking her concerns, but if he was talking to Lucas about it then with luck the situation would be resolved swiftly.
‘No, Pops has never so much as had a parking ticket. My guess is that he was maybe warning the police that a pair of foreigners had come to wreck his otherwise peaceful little town.’
‘In that case, he sounds like a smart man.’
Emmy took a bite from her toast. She was beginning to get a feel for what these two were going to be like. It could have been a whole lot better, but it could also have been a whole lot worse. She was on the verge of rewriting mankind’s understanding of science and as she did so, she would have to babysit these two Americans. Compared to this, Einstein had it easy.
***
Lucy was relieved when the policeman arrived to pick her up. The couple on the farm seemed nice enough. Not at all crazy. She just did not like to impose herself on strangers. It was not as if they wanted anything in return for their hospitality. They actually seemed the type that would find the act of doing a good deed a reward in itself. Any awkwardness with the situation was entirely on her part. She did not choose it to be this way; it was just how it was.
The policeman arrived in a pick-up truck. When she told him the extent of the car’s damage over the phone, he said that it would need to be taken into town for repairs. With any luck, the necessary parts would be in stock and she could make Alice Springs by nightfall. The alternative would be to spend a few days in whatever small town she was taken to. If the residents were as friendly as the couple on the farm, this would be excruciating.
They found her car by the roadside where she left it. The fuel tank was completely drained, but she could see no sign of the spilled petrol. It had either evaporated in the morning sun or been completely absorbed by the iron-rich dust of the outback. The policeman quickly surveyed the damage and then attached a tow rope. They were soon back on the road and headed west towards a small town named Jackson’s Hill. Lucy liked that name. It seemed like the kind of name that would not be out of place on a bottle of good Australian wine. Unfortunately, they were a little too far into the country’s interior for this to be a grape growing region.
When they were about five kilometres from the town they came across a white ute parked by the roadside. The driver was standing at the rear of his vehicle and in the process of tying down some tarpaulin to cover whatever cargo he had in the back. The policeman, who had earlier told Lucy his name was Lucas, pulled up a few metres behind the stationary vehicle. The driver seemed to curse under his breath, but he quickly hid any animosity that he harboured, behind a broad, gap-toothed smile.
‘Good morning, Officer Black,’ the man said. ‘How can I be of service to you today?’
The man wore muddy boots with steel toe-caps. His jeans were scruffy and his plaid shirt was ragged. Atop his head was a trucker’s cap. He was pretty much the exact opposite of the smart, attractive policeman. The only thing the two shared was their jet black hair. Lucas’s was cropped and tidy, whilst what she could see poking out the sides of the other man’s cap was unkempt and greasy. She wondered if they were possibly related, being from a small outback town. The one thing she was certain of, was that with her blonde hair, she was going to stand out more than she would like.
‘Morning, Ned,’ said Lucas. ‘It’s not what you can do for me, but what you can do for this young lady I have with me. She may be staying in town for a few days and I thought it would be good for her to get to meet some of the locals.’
Lucas gestured for Lucy to climb out of the tow truck in order to come round and meet Ned.
‘Pleased to meet you, Miss,’ the local said. ‘Ned’s the name. I’m the town butcher. If you want steak, I’m the man to come to. Finest in the territory.’
He held out his hand. It was covered in grease and what appeared to be dried blood. She did not take it.
‘I’m Lucy,’ she said.
‘Of course, Ned is unable to source his produce locally,’ added Lucas. ‘There is no cattle ranch within a hundred miles and with us being on the edge of a national park, shooting ‘roos is strictly forbidden. Isn’t that right, Ned?’
‘Er, yes, of course.’
The butcher appeared nervous and tried his best to cover this with another smile, which had the power to frighten any child into adopting a rigid oral hygiene routine. Lucas walked over to the back of Ned’s ute.
‘Have you just been to pick up a delivery? Maybe we could let the lady have a peek under the tarpaulin to see some of the fantastic produce you will have on offer this week.’
Ned quickly placed himself between the ute and the policeman.
‘Maybe another time, officer. The meat has not been properly cleaned and prepared yet. Perhaps if either of you were to drop by later, I could fix you up with something special?’
Lucas winked at Lucy.
‘Why do I get the impression that you don’t want me to look in the back there? I hope your offer is one of genuine goodwill and not a bribe to keep me from poking around.’
‘Of course not, officer. I just do not want to hold you up, that’s all. This lady has been inconvenienced enough. I do not want to delay her further.’
‘I’m in no hurry,’ said Lucy, joining in Lucas’s game with relish.
‘A-a-a...’ stammered Ned.
‘It’s okay,’ said Lucas. ‘We had better be going like you said. The next time that I see you, I will want to take a look under the tarpaulin; do you understand?’
‘Ye
s, officer,’ replied Ned, who then hurried back into his ute and drove away in a cloud of dust.
Lucy climbed back into the cab of the tow truck.
‘I am right in guessing that he had some dead kangaroos in the back, aren’t I?’
‘Almost certainly,’ replied Lucas. ‘I like to keep an even hand, but I also have a duty to act in these people’s best interests. Ned’s a mischievous one, but he is certainly not a wealthy man. To issue a fine would do him more harm than good. A little scare every now and then will stop him straying too far from the straight and narrow.’
Lucy was starting to warm to Lucas. He seemed to genuinely care about his work and had an air of naivety that could only come about from growing up in the country. Despite her earlier reservations when staying the night on the farm, she was starting to look forward to meeting more residents of Jackson’s Hill.
The town itself could not have exceeded her expectations more pleasantly. She had anticipated small, dusty buildings with corrugated iron roofs, but the reality was much more elegant and charming. A quaint Main Street with its own pub, green grocer, hardware store and butchers was the town’s centrepiece. There was not a burger joint or a supermarket in sight. This was exactly what a country town should be. The local garage was located on one of the few side streets to branch off from the centre. This was their first port of call.
‘Davo is our town mechanic,’ said Lucas. ‘If anyone can get you back on the road, it will be him.’
The garage was open, but Lucy could see nobody inside. Various car parts littered the floor and there did not appear to be any method in place as to how the inventory was stored. A key rack was hung on one wall and it contained at least twenty sets, although the only vehicle she could see was a solitary motorbike. She knew even less about bikes than she did cars, but Lucy could still tell that this was at least thirty years old. Some parts were rotten and rusted whilst others gleamed like new. She guessed it was some long term fixer upper job. Beside the key rack there was a poster of some 80’s or 90’s rock band tacked to the wall and a photo of an attractive couple just below it on an otherwise empty storage shelf.
‘He must be in the office,’ said Lucas. There was a slight element of embarrassment in his voice. ‘I’ll give him a knock to let him know we are here.’
An office door was slightly ajar and Lucas gave it a quick rap with his knuckles. When there was no response, he knocked again, significantly harder this time.
‘Okay, okay; I’m coming,’ said a voice from within.
When Lucy finally saw the mechanic, she was not filled with optimism. He looked in his fifties, although with heavy grey stubble and unkempt hair it was difficult to predict an exact age. He was not wearing overalls and his clothes were stained, though with more than just oil and grease. When he was within ten feet of her, she could smell the booze.
‘Look, Lucas, if this is about the restraining order; I already told you that I have not been anywhere near that old crank or his granddaughter. Take me to court and I’ll expose the bastard for what he is and where will your precious town be then?’
Lucas held up his arms, submissively.
‘Whoa there, Davo. I’m actually here to do you a favour. I know business has been slow of late. I received a call last night; an out-of-towner with a ruptured fuel tank.’
The mechanic looked at Lucy with surprise, as if he had only just noticed her standing in his work shop. He briefly glanced to the floor. Lucy had heard his outburst and despite not understanding a word of it, it was natural that he would feel ashamed. When he looked up, his countenance softened and she could now see a resemblance with the young man in the photograph. She presumed the man in the picture was his son.
They went outside and the mechanic helped Lucas to detach Lucy’s car and move it into the shop. After a brief look under the vehicle, he gave his assessment.
‘Getting the parts should not be a problem. I will need to go into Alice, but they will not be cheap.’
He looked to Lucy to gauge her reaction on the price.
‘I’m sure my insurance will cover whatever it costs.’
‘In that case, I should be able to have you back on the road by tomorrow.’
‘Thank you very much; that’s excellent.’
She thought of suggesting that rather than going into Alice for the parts, they could just tow the car to Alice to get it done there. Clearly the man had some serious personal issues, but since she would only have to spend one night in the town, she was happy to trust him. Besides, the policeman seemed really helpful and would not have recommended the man if he was not capable of finishing the job.
‘It looks like we will be having the pleasure of your company until tomorrow,’ said Lucas. ‘Mindy will be able to put you up for the night. She is landlady of the local pub and has a guestroom on the top floor. We call it the penthouse, because it’s top of the only two storey building in town.’
‘It sounds charming,’ Lucy replied.
‘I’ll take you over there now. Do you have any bags?’
They took her luggage from the trunk of the car. When they were walking down Main Street towards the pub, they were stopped by a panicked woman who had come running from across the road.
‘Lucas, Lucas!’ she screamed. ‘You’ve got to come quickly. It’s Kyle; he’s been bitten. I don’t know what to do – please help me!’
The woman was clearly in an extreme state of distress. Lucas apologised to Lucy and quickly left to do whatever was needed of him. This left her standing alone in the street. The pub was within sight and with a little hesitation, she carried on towards it.
Chapter 8
Emmy waited until after lunch to show her unwanted guests around the laboratory. She expected the professor to join them for the session, but he stayed away. He chose instead to remotely monitor the experiment from his study. She was growing increasingly frustrated with his apparent apathy towards her work. All of the groundwork and much of the theory behind the technology had come from him, yet he continued to keep a distance. If he was not interested, why did he involve a third party and lumber her with these two soldiers?
Charlie prepped the equipment and configured it as per her instructions before she showed it to the outsiders. She wanted to convince them that her work was at a much less advanced stage than it actually was. The conversation she shared with Mike over breakfast had reassured her that they knew next to nothing about what she had achieved. It would not be too difficult to convince them they had gotten no farther than a very basic out of body experience.
She talked the soldiers through the domestics of the lab; safety procedures etc, whilst Charlie readied himself for the session. When she moved on to explaining the technical aspects of the equipment they were using, the two men showed interest, but also gave off a strong air of scepticism. This was good. The less they were capable of believing, the easier it would be to deceive them.
‘Do you have any questions before we begin?’ she asked.
The two soldiers shook their heads.
‘In that case, take a seat and prepare to witness history being made.’
She directed them to chairs set up behind a computer monitor. The display was split in two. All of Charlie’s vitals were listed on one side and on the other was a brief digital outline of the lab. The image was similar to a heat vision display with different materials showing up in different colours and the four people in the lab could clearly be identified. Their attention was focused on the image centred on Charlie. After a few seconds, his body form started to blur slightly and then divided in two. The new duplicate image hovered about one centimetre above the original on screen, which equated to a separation of roughly a foot in the real world.
‘What do you think, gentlemen?’
Mike and Bradley looked at one another in disbelief and then at Emmy.
‘I’m not so sure,’ replied Mike. ‘That is not quite what I was expecting. I mean, how can we be sure that anything has actually h
appened?’
‘You can clearly see what has happened. It is right there on the screen. We have harnessed Charlie’s consciousness and separated it from his body. If that does not impress you then maybe you have come to the wrong place.’
‘How do we know this is genuine? I mean, all I see is a bad videogame. Where is the actual proof?’
‘The proof is in the doing. Having subjected myself to this process, I can tell you that it is most definitely real.’
Mike stood up and walked a few paces away from the computer. He then turned back around, frustration clearly showing in his demeanour.
‘If the proof is in the doing, then hook me up.’
‘Absolutely not; you lack the mental discipline. In time, I may consider you ready, but there is much training that you need to undertake first. Have you even tried meditation?’
‘Believe me when I tell you that my mind is disciplined,’ said Mike. ‘Only the strongest make it into the marines and I’m not only talking about muscles.’
She rose to her feet in order to carry on with the argument face to face. In doing so, she turned her back on Bradley.
‘I thought you were willing to trust my judgement on this? Or was that a lie you told earlier?’
The captain’s eyes quickly moved from Emmy to his buddy, who was still seated at the computer.
‘You better take a look at this, sir,’ said Bradley.
Mike strode past Emmy and took up position just behind Bradley’s shoulder. After briefly glancing at the computer screen he turned back to Emmy.
‘Well, well,’ he began, ‘it looks like somebody has been lying and it is not me. According to these readouts from a previous session, your friend over there has travelled farther than we thought.’
‘You have no right to access those files,’ said Emmy, but she knew it was too late.
She only hoped this would not mean that she would be removed from the research altogether. Luckily, the men could not know the full extent of her deception. Due to the seemingly boundless speeds that could be attained whilst astral travelling, the apparatus would quickly lose its signal and be unable to record the full experience. The soldiers may have been aware that she and Charlie had freely explored the laboratory whilst in an altered state of consciousness, but they did not know about her other trip. The recording of her journey into space had cut out after a few hundred kilometres. They would not suspect that this journey had been vertical and could only presume that neither she nor Charlie had made it past the desert.
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 7