‘Gidday, the name was Lisa, wasn’t it?’
‘Actually, it’s Lucy,’ she politely corrected him. ‘Like the Beatles song.’
‘Eleanor Rigby?’
‘You know the one. Now what will you have to drink, Ted?’
He eyed her suspiciously, but soon relaxed into a satisfied smile.
‘Ted; I like it. I see what you’ve done there. You’re going to fit in just fine around here. Just give me a pint of my usual.’
She quickly looked around for Mindy, but her new boss had popped out the back on an errand. Ned was deliberately avoiding eye contact and offering her no clue whatsoever. Then she glanced across the bar. There was only one beer on tap; the local specialty. She picked up an empty glass from under the bar and began to pour the drink.
‘Steady on, darlin’, you’re not serving a pom, you know.’
She looked down and saw that half of the glass had been taken up with a thick, frothy head. It looked more like an ice cream sundae than a beer. Rather than trying to salvage the drink, she quickly poured it down the sink and started again.
Ned leaned forward over the bar and placed his right hand on her wrist. It was covered with grime and Lucy thought about all of the animal carcasses the man might have touched that day, but she resisted the urge to push him away. He turned her forearm slightly, lessening the angle at which she held the glass and rolled her arm back into position as the liquid neared the rim. Together, they pulled the perfect pint of beer.
‘Too easy,’ said Ned, returning to his stool. ‘I knew you would get there in the end.’
‘Thanks,’ she replied. ‘That will be six dollars, please.’
He looked over his shoulders and then leaned forward slightly to check the door behind the bar. Mindy was still in the kitchen.
‘I can tell that you’ve still got a lot to learn. You see, Mindy normally lets me have the first on the house. It’s her way of thanking me for delivering the meat. Did she not tell you that?’
‘No, she did not,’ said Mindy, returning from the kitchen. ‘You have to be very careful around this one, Lucy. I keep a shotgun under the bar. If he tries anything funny, feel free to shoot him.’
Ned put on his best hurt, innocent look, but he knew that he had been busted. Of course, it never hurt to try. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a ten dollar bill, which he handed to Lucy.
‘Get one for yourself too.’
‘Gee, thanks. This should just about get me a half of lager; my favourite. However did you know?’
Ned was not amused, but Mindy expressed her pleasure by giving her new employee a friendly rub on the back.
‘You’re doing great,’ she told Lucy.
Ned took his drink and slouched back in his seat. It was the gait of a man familiar with defeat.
‘Cheer up, mate,’ Mindy told him. ‘Your steaks have been going down a treat recently. My customers especially like the kangaroo. If you keep providing me with that sort of quality, I may just let you have one on the house sometime.’
‘I look forward to it,’ he replied. ‘Just let me know what you need. I’ve already used up my current stock, but I should be getting a new delivery in any day now.’
Mindy gave Lucy a knowing wink.
‘I’ve heard rumours about these deliveries you are always talking about. I’m especially impressed by the way that your supplier always seems to come under cover of the night and when Lucas is off duty or otherwise engaged.’
‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’
He raised his glass to his lips and took a long, satisfied swig on its contents. As he did so, another customer entered the bar. It was Harry Black, uncle of Lucas.
Harry was a retired school teacher. When he had finally given up the classroom, he took a lump sum out of his retirement fund and used it to buy some animals. He had a goat, some wallabies and a coop full of chickens. It was not much, but it kept him occupied and to the few local kids that lived in town it was the closest thing to a petting zoo. A more cynical man might have spotted the opportunity to make some money, but to Harry, seeing the children smiling was payment enough. On this day, however, his mood was anything but jovial.
‘Double whisky straight,’ he said, as he approached the bar.
He sat down on a stool next to Ned. Mindy made no effort to pour the drink, leaving it instead to Lucy. There were no optics, so she had to use an old fashioned spirit measure. She spilt some over the side of the measure and felt it run down her hand. After placing the glass in front of Harry, she licked the excess from her fingers. It tasted foul and made her think of the mechanic. For all that she knew the entire town was full of alcoholics.
‘Something wrong, Harry; you seem awfully flustered?’ asked Mindy.
The new customer shook his head, almost despairingly. He was a stout man and those who knew him would describe him as content with his lot in life. “No worries” was a term perhaps a little over used in these parts, but it fit Harry perfectly. Upon entering the bar, however, he seemed on edge; the redness of his face hinting more towards a high blood pressure than a warmth of spirit.
‘I’ve only gone and lost my entire coop,’ he said.
‘The chickens?’ replied Ned. ‘What was it; dingoes?’
Harry shrugged.
‘It beats me what it was. There’s no damage to the coop itself or any of the locks. It’s like they just vanished into thin air.’
Ned nodded with a look of wisdom that was way beyond his reach. Awareness has an awful habit of making people realise how little they actually know. The bigger the world becomes, the greater the mystery held within. In knowing nothing, Ned thought he knew it all.
‘Sounds like aliens. I heard them folks up at the observatory made contact quite recently. They have some experts up there now who have flown in all the way from America.’
‘Why would aliens take chickens?’ asked Lucy, barely able to keep the amusement from showing in her face.
Mindy gave her a sharp look. It was not good manners to insult the customers. Having a little fun with them was fine provided that one gave no greater than one received. Insulting their intelligence, however, was completely off limits.
‘That’s what the experts have come to find out,’ replied Ned, completely oblivious to the joke. ‘It’s not for you or me to speculate over the workings of the extra terrestrial mind.’
This time Lucy merely nodded with what she hoped was an expression of rapt awe. When she had started her day, she could never have known the incredible secrets that a small town barmaid can become privy to. She had only been in the job for twenty five minutes and already she had learned of disappearing chickens and an impending alien invasion. With four hours and thirty five minutes left of her shift, she braced herself for an eventful afternoon.
Chapter 13
‘Are you sure this is safe?’
‘Compared to warfare; I would say that it is.’
‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’
‘Well, you know; everything is relative. There is certainly less risk than if you were being shot at, but it’s also a lot more dangerous than marching, for instance.’
Emmy was delighting in toying with Capt. Peters. After the previous day’s debacle, it was good to regain the upper hand. When put on the spot, all of his macho bravado and arrogance quickly dissolved. Of course, she did realise that this had more to do with his hangover than any genuine apprehension about turning himself into her test subject. If her plan did not work out, there was the danger that she would lose what little influence she had left.
‘I am just worried that I am not in the best frame of mind right now. Earlier you thought that I lacked the mental discipline to operate this technology. What if I lose concentration whilst I’m under? I have to be certain that I can find my way back.’
‘Don’t worry,’ Emmy assured him. ‘Didn’t you drive back from town this morning? If you’re fit enough to operate a car then you should be able t
o handle this.’
Mike regretted telling her about his run in with Officer Black. At least he would not be repeating his mistakes. That cop had certainly put paid to any hopes he had of actually getting any R&R on this assignment. As well as an on the spot fine, he was also given a public order notice barring him from the pub. He could not get hold of more alcohol if he wanted it.
‘Just give it to me straight. What are the risks?’
‘As far as we are aware, there are none. It takes a lot of concentration to make the initial leap, but if there are any interruptions to your thoughts whilst in your astral state you will be pulled straight back into your body. It’s just like waking from a dream.’
He was unsatisfied with her answer and sought further assurance to be on the safe side. He had already walked into two ambushes that day. A third would not be unlucky so much as incredibly stupid.
‘What about the technological factors; if the computer fails or we suffer a power cut?’
Emmy could feel the tension rise in Charlie at the mention of a power cut, but neither of the soldiers picked up on this.
‘If the circuit trips, a back-up generator will take over. Whilst some people think the mind can remain in an astral state by willpower alone, I have seen no evidence to believe that myself. If we pull the plug, you wake up no differently than if you chose to come back yourself. We usually limit our trips to very tight timeframes and if I want to pull you out at any time; I will. It is more disorientating to end a trip this way, but perfectly safe.’
‘In that case; what are we waiting for?’
Emmy led Mike over to the matchbox whilst Charlie and Bradley took positions by the observation monitors.
‘Take off your shirt,’ ordered Emmy.
Mike smiled back at her with mischief in his eyes.
‘I bet you’ve wanted to say that ever since I got here.’
She ignored his innuendo. After he disrobed, she attached some monitors to his chest and instructed him to lie down on the slab.
‘What now?’ he asked. ‘Do you flick a switch to bring about the separation?’
‘If only it were that simple,’ she replied. ‘I’ll try to explain this in a way that even you can understand. Have you ever seen those dumb movies about illegal street racing?’
‘Seen the movies - I’ve lived the life. Back home...’
‘I’m really not interested,’ she said, cutting him off, abruptly. ‘All you need to know is that when I do flick the switch, it will be like a shot of nitro into your gas tank. It will only work if you are already moving. You have to start the engine yourself, so to speak.’
‘It sounds simple enough. Have you got any tips?’
She glanced back to Charlie and Bradley at the monitoring station. The American was concentrating on familiarising himself with the readouts, but Emmy’s colleague had his eyes on her. He knew she was up to mischief, but could not figure out what form that mischief would take. She offered him a sly wink before turning back to Capt. Peters.
‘The important thing to remember is that entering into a trance is not the same as falling asleep. Counting sheep will get you nowhere. I always find it best to recite a poem or a lullaby to keep my focus.’
‘I don’t know any poems,’ said Mike.
‘What about songs? Surely that’s just poetry married to music. Try reciting the lyrics to your favourite song.’
He looked at her, sceptically.
‘You’re not just trying to get me singing so you can laugh at me, are you?’
She pressed her hand against her chest with feigned astonishment at the implication.
‘I am a scientist; I do not play games. If it makes you more comfortable, you do not have to sing out loud.’
‘Okay, but this better work.’
He lay down flat on the slab and Emmy watched as the soldier closed his eyes and tried to enter a trance by singing to himself. As his head began to sway from side to side, Emmy was unable to contain her giggles. Mike stopped immediately.
‘I knew it! You think this is all some game. If you do not start co-operating soon and I have nothing to report back to base, they will simply take the whole project off you and move it directly under military control. That is not good for you, for me or for anybody in this world that actually cares about liberty.’
‘Okay, okay, save the big homecoming speech. You got my vote. I’ll help you to experience your first separation, but I’m setting it to minimal power, which means you’ll have a short tether of only one to two feet. Try and go any further and you’ll be pulled back into your body. Do you understand?’
‘Yeah, I get it. Just cut the crap this time. What do I need to do?’
She instructed him to lie back down and then she talked him through the basic breathing exercises she and Charlie used to help ease them into a trance. Very slowly, he started to feel his body fall numb, from the toes working up to his head. In the distance, he could hear a voice counting down from ten. When the numbers reached three, the voice faded away and was replaced by a sudden and powerful rush like water being forced through his ears.
Then he was floating.
Darkness was all around and he tried to open his eyes only to discover that he had no eyes to open. There was no sound, no smell, no taste and he had no arms to reach out and touch with. He remained suspended in the void for what seemed like a minute before awareness started to return to him, though not in a familiar form. There was a light beside him that filled a space the size of an average human, but seemed to possess a depth that defied the dimensions of reality. It was like infinity wrapped up in a box.
Then he was awake.
‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘How did I get back so quickly?’
‘The return trip is always faster,’ replied Emmy. ‘It takes a great deal of energy for the mind to break free of the body. Nature will always resist any attempts not to follow the natural order. When the order is restored, nature offers no resistance at all.’
She unfastened him. He raised his body up and swung his legs around so that he could sit upright.
‘How long was I under; one, two minutes?’
Emmy laughed.
‘Try ten seconds. Like I told you earlier; I would let you experience the separation only. We need to start you off on baby steps until your body and mind have time to acclimatise to the changes in your perception.’
‘No way was that just ten seconds.’
He looked over to Bradley expecting his friend to contradict the scientist, but he did not.
‘Really?’ he asked Emmy, with a feeling of complete incredulity.
‘It takes some getting used to. It’s also a little scary. One could get lost for hours or even days without anybody noticing, because back here in the real world no time has passed at all.’
Her words worried the captain.
‘Lost; I thought you said it was safe?’
‘I was speaking figuratively, of course.’
He nodded, but was clearly still unsure as to whether he could trust her. Emmy peeled off the various heart and body monitors that she had earlier attached to him and handed him back his shirt. He took it in his hand and pushed himself off the slab. When his feet touched the ground, he was suddenly overcome with extreme nausea and dizziness. The room began to spin and he dropped to his knees before vomiting all over the floor.
‘I thought you said there would be no side effects,’ said a concerned Bradley, rising to his feet.
‘There aren’t,’ replied Emmy. ‘The only reaction he is experiencing is to the alcohol in his system. His body may have appeared to be at rest whilst his mind wandered, but the process is still physically exhausting. No doubt the response would have been the same if he had been doing circuit training in the state he was in.’
‘In that case, do you mind if I sit this one out?’ asked Bradley. ‘There is no need for us both to make ourselves sick.’
‘Sure,’ replied Emmy. ‘Just so long as you and your friend clean u
p his mess before you leave. There’s a mop and bucket in the storage cupboard over there.’
She sat down next to Charlie at the bank of monitors and waited for the men to finish cleaning up and leave before discussing the session with her colleague.
‘What are your thoughts?’ she asked him.
‘It may be advisable for us to get some air fresheners in here. Other than that, I don’t think we achieved an awful lot.’
‘On the contrary, I think that this afternoon was a resounding success. There was no reason why I could not have sent him to Jupiter, but as it stands, he is well and truly enrolled on the novice course. It will be weeks before he is in a position to report anything useful to his superiors. With any luck, they will have lost interest by then.’
‘Do you really think that will happen?’
‘No, but a girl is still allowed to dream. The most important thing was that Mike’s first trip was a bad one. Perhaps now he will not be so cocksure of himself and let me dictate the pace of this project.’
Charlie nodded his approval.
‘So what do we do now? I really don’t fancy returning to work with the smell of sick in the air. It is going to be a good few hours before that clears.’
‘Well, then I guess we have the night off?’
Once more Charlie nodded, but this time he had an idea.
‘Do you want to go to the pub?’ he asked.
‘You have got to be kidding. I may as well just paint a target on my chest and go stand at the end of a firing range as go there.’
‘Don’t be so quick to judge people.’
She rolled her eyes at him.
‘I mean it, Emmy - you have to move on sometime. It’s been what; a year since you last went to the Sly Fox? Attitudes change; you’re probably imagining a whole load of stuff that simply isn’t there.’
‘And what if I’m not?’
‘There’s only one way to find out. You may actually have some fun. We could also invite our American friends.’
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 12