Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3

by David Clarkson

  ‘Let’s see how you like this, ya bastard!’

  He floored the gas pedal whilst steering directly towards the animal. It looked straight at him, but made no attempt to get out of the way.

  This was going to be too easy. His ute was fitted with a bull-bar, which was designed to withstand a collision even with an animal as large as this kangaroo. The odds were now firmly back in the huntsman’s favour.

  Just moments before the coming impact, the beast finally made its move. It pounced forward, propelling itself directly at the ute. Ned knew all too well what kind of damage these animals could inflict with their feet and the windscreen would offer no greater resistance than the driver’s side window had. Once more he had fallen into a trap.

  He was already committed to the collision and rather than try to swerve or escape the vehicle, he held his foot firm on the pedal and prepared to be reunited with his beloved Jake. As the giant paws of the beast filled his field of vision, he closed his eyes.

  No impact came.

  He opened his eyes to an empty highway in front of him. In his rear view mirror the big red watched him go. Rather than try to jump into the ute, it instead jumped over it. He had heard crazy stories of kangaroos that could leap three metres high, but never believed it, let alone think he would ever witness it. Yet this animal had just cleared his entire vehicle in a single bound.

  For the rest of the journey he made sure to keep one eye on the rear view mirror. The town was in complete darkness when he made it back. The air was filled with smoke and the acrid scent of burning. Ned did not even notice.

  He parked the ute on his lawn, leaving him with the shortest possible journey to his front door. Once he got inside his house, he locked the doors, covered the windows and sat at the foot of his bed with his spare rifle in his hands. He had no intention of sleeping.

  Chapter 17

  Lucas worked non-stop through the night. The fire was only the beginning of his problems. With there being no power in the town, he found that he constantly had to assuage the fears of the residents. The doorbell never stopped ringing, from people with problems ranging from being worried about their businesses to the more simple matter of distributing candles to those without. By the time he finally managed to put his head to a pillow the sun was already rising in the East. A little over an hour later, Val arrived to start her shift.

  The secretary placed her handbag down by her desk and then went into the kitchen to make a brew. Not being one to let something as trivial as a power cut deter her, she had earlier boiled some water on a gas stove at home and filled a thermos. She made English tea for herself and black coffee for her boss. This was the closest thing Lucas had to an actual vice. Whilst Val placed the drinks on the table to cool, Lucas began to stir.

  ‘Sleeping in the office again,’ Val said, disapprovingly. ‘You’re beginning to make a habit of it.’

  It was only the second time in eighteen months he had done such a thing. The first time was because a burst pipe flooded his bedroom, leaving him with no other option.

  ‘It’s no big deal,’ he told her. ‘I can hear the door better from here. If I have prevented any casualties from last night’s fire then it was worth such a small sacrifice.’

  ‘You should hire yourself a deputy. It would help take some of the burden off you.’

  ‘And what would this deputy do the other three hundred and sixty four days of the year? Last night was a one off – I hope.’

  She noticed a hint of trepidation in his voice and manner. Being able to read people was just one of her many invaluable skills. It often paid to have her sit in on interviews (Lucas did not like the word “interrogation”) as she could notice things that would never occur to him.

  ‘You said if you avoided any casualties. Nobody was hurt, were they?’

  Lucas lifted his mug and blew on it to cool the liquid inside.

  ‘Do you remember the girl I picked up on Friday; the one from the city?

  Val nodded. She had not said so, but she suspected Lucas had a soft spot for this out-of-towner. It had been a long time since Lucas had last been on a date. She thought it was not just his professional life where he was in need of a partner.

  ‘Well, she has been staying in Mindy’s spare room. Last night the entire upper floor of the Fox was gutted. I managed to stop the blaze from spreading downstairs and after a clean-up the pub should be up and running as normal.’

  ‘Was she hurt?’

  Lucas shrugged. Another reason he slept on the couch was because he was waiting up for any news of Lucy’s whereabouts.

  ‘That’s the thing; she was not inside when the fire started. Mindy said the girl had been in for a drink earlier and that she saw her talking to Emmy. The phone lines will likely be down for a while, so I will call by the observatory personally to see if she stayed there.’

  Val was surprised to hear that Emmy had been in the bar and also a little curious.

  ‘You say that Dr Rayne was with her. I haven’t known her to frequent the pub. Not since...’

  ‘Last night she made an exception,’ Lucas interrupted. ‘From what I hear, it did not end too well either.’

  The policeman was good friends with the scientist and whilst he would certainly not label Val alongside some of the town’s more narrow minded inhabitants, he was still quite protective when the subject of Emmy’s personal life came up. He took his mug over to the sink and added some cold water to hasten its cooling.

  ‘At least have breakfast first. You have to keep your energy levels up.’

  Lucas shook his head before downing the beverage in one go.

  ‘I don’t have time; maybe later. Right now, finding the girl is my number one priority. Karl is arranging for some portable generators to be brought in until we can get the main grid back up and running. If he calls by, let me know.’

  ‘Very well, you may also want to call in on Ned on your way. I passed his place coming in and his ute is in a terrible state. It looks like it has been driven through a war zone and then abandoned on his front lawn. It could be joy-riders taking advantage of the blackout.’

  ‘Not likely,’ Lucas replied, ‘but I will look into it.’

  The policeman put on his hat and went outside to start the car. As he took his seat he ran a hand over his chin. He had a thick covering of stubble; the first time he had not shaved in as long as he could remember. Perhaps Val was right about needing someone to ease the burden. He could at least use the cover to enable him a vacation. He decided that once the mess caused by the power cut was sorted, he would look into hiring some help.

  ***

  Emmy woke up feeling like shit. A hangover would have been a welcome substitute for the guilt, which was the real cause of her discomfort. What had she been thinking? She only hoped her little stunt did not cause too much trouble at the bar. Unfortunately, that hope was quashed as soon as she made it to the kitchen and found her grandfather waiting for her.

  ‘The Gods have woken, I see,’ said the professor.

  ‘Gods?’ she queried.

  ‘Well, isn’t that what you think you now are; a God. That is certainly the impression I got after last night’s little stunt.’

  She sat down and rubbed both hands across her face.

  ‘You know about that?’

  The professor nodded. He then waited for her to offer up an explanation.

  ‘It was just a joke,’ she said. ‘There are some real pigs in that town and I thought they needed to be taught a lesson. I’m sure no harm was done. We checked over all of the equipment before we finished up and it was working fine.’

  The professor shook his head with disappointment.

  ‘Sometimes I am proud of your single-mindedness. Others would see it as a selfish quality, but it is one that has served me well over the years and I think it will serve you well too. Today, however, I am inclined to agree with the naysayers. Did you really think there would not be consequences to your actions? You started a fire, which could
have destroyed the entire town. You’re very lucky nobody was hurt.’

  Emmy’s shoulders dropped. She genuinely had no idea that her actions could have such far reaching consequences.

  ‘There was a fire?’ she asked.

  ‘Like I said, you were lucky nobody was hurt. I spoke with the fire marshal this morning and I will consult with Lucas later.’

  ‘But, what makes you think it was me?’

  ‘Do not take me for a fool, child. I checked the logs. You took an astral journey into town and for reasons I do not wish to contemplate, caused an enormous spike of energy centred directly on the towns power generator.’

  She wondered if she had actually committed a crime. Technically, she had an alibi. She had been at the observatory at the time of the incident and Charlie could verify that. Morally, however, she was on much shakier ground. There was no denying that it was her fault.

  ‘What will you tell Lucas?’

  ‘Don’t worry, I will not say anything to jeopardise the work. In fact, there is much to be pleased about. Charlie tells me that you pushed the equipment to its limits last night. An actual out of body physical interaction with material objects is no trivial feat. It is nothing short of incredible. Although, between you and I; it may be in our best interests to keep this information from our American friends until further analysis has taken place.’

  Emmy nodded almost unconsciously. She appeared to have escaped retribution, but until she knew exactly how much information Charlie had given to her grandfather, she would have to be cautious. The most important question was whether or not the old man knew about the ghost. He did not mention it, so she assumed that she was in the clear; for the time being, at least.

  ***

  Lucas slowly walked around Ned’s beaten up ute. The damage was immediately obvious, but the cause was not. It looked as though a gang had set to it with cricket bats. The glass from the driver side window was missing and thick indentations covered the bodywork on all sides. The most telling piece of damage was a foot long, half inch thick gash along the front left wing, which was smeared with what appeared to be blood.

  He rapped on the front door of the house. The lounge room curtain peeled back a little and then moments later Ned cautiously opened the door. At first, the butcher ignored Lucas; choosing instead to look over the policeman’s shoulder, his eyes darting nervously from side to side.

  ‘Is everything okay, Ned?’ Lucas asked.

  ‘Are they here?’ Ned replied.

  ‘Are who here?’

  Ned ignored the question and stepped back inside. He left the door open for Lucas to follow, but quickly closed and locked it once the policeman was inside. His behaviour was nothing short of paranoid.

  ‘They cut the power, you know,’ said Ned. ‘They blacked out the whole town. It’s all my fault. They won’t stop until they pay me back for what I’ve done.’

  The butcher was pacing back and forth in a state of extreme agitation. Lucas remained standing in the doorway and removed his hat, which he then held at waist level.

  ‘I don’t follow. Are you saying there is a connection between the fire and what happened to your ute?’

  Ned looked at the policeman like he had spoken in a foreign tongue. Was Lucas not listening to him?

  ‘Who said anything about a fire? I’m talking about the roos. They’ve gone rabid. I was ambushed by an entire mob of them last night. They killed Jake, for Christ’s sake!’

  The memory of his friend’s demise was too much for Ned. He finally stopped pacing back and forth and collapsed into an armchair. He was not a man to display his emotions so carelessly, but as he sat in front of Lucas with his head in his hands, the butcher began to weep.

  ‘Kangaroos did that to your ute? How is this connected to the blackout?’

  Ned began shaking his head.

  ‘Don’t you see; they’re after me? They want revenge. If you don’t believe me, go to the billabong and see for yourself. Go and see what they did to Jake.’

  ‘Let me get this straight; you were attacked by kangaroos at the billabong?’

  Ned was growing inpatient and ever more agitated.

  ‘Not attacked; ambushed. There is a difference, you know. These weren’t normal animals. There was something strange about them. It was like they could look right inside your soul. I blame those scientists. They have aliens up at that observatory and they’ve been experimenting on the animals, making them smart.’

  Lucas knew he was not going to get any more useful information out of Ned once the subject of aliens came up. He thought the idea of extraterrestrials visiting his town was ridiculous, but there was something in the man’s story that deeply disturbed him. Ned said the kangaroos were aggressive, but also smart. He even talked of an ambush, which fit in perfectly with Lucas’s own experience of the snake from days before. Could whatever was affecting the reptile have spread to other animals? If so, the implications did not bear thinking of. There was also a much greater, more immediate threat for Lucas to worry about.

  ‘You said the attack was at the billabong. Was anybody else there or did you pass anyone on your way?’

  Ned shook his head, more calmly this time. His tears had dried too. He seemed to Lucas, to finally be putting his thoughts in order.

  ‘Just Jake and me. If anybody else was out there, all I can suggest is that you pray, and may God have mercy on their soul. If those monsters find them, they will not stand a chance.’

  Lucas had a terrible thought. He rushed back outside to his car. Once he got on the main road to the observatory, he frantically scanned the fields on either side for any sign of the girl. It did not take long for him to find her. He would recognise her blonde locks anywhere. She was lying on her side with her back to the road in the centre of one of the fields. He was too far out to tell if she was injured or even breathing, but he had to prepare for the worst. Standing directly over her body was a six foot tall red kangaroo.

  ***

  ‘How bad is it?’ asked Emmy.

  ‘You completely destroyed the town’s power supply,’ replied Charlie. ‘Luckily, nobody was hurt. Karl came around this morning and gave us the news. He wanted to know if we could spare any portable generators. We could, but not enough for what he needs. Oh, and you also got your wish. The Fox is currently closed, although the damage is mostly superficial.’

  ‘We could not have known this would happen,’ she said. ‘I feel guilty, but sometimes progress is impossible without sacrifice.’

  ‘Am I talking to you or your grandfather?’

  ‘It does not matter. You are merely talking to a scientist. Surely you cannot fail to see the good that will come out of this. When you put it into context with what we learned last night, it is a small price to pay.’

  ‘That’s easy for you to say when you are not the one paying the price. This will cost thousands of dollars to fix, maybe even hundreds of thousands. Where do you think they will get the money?’

  ‘I’ll persuade Pops to help them out. He is worth so much that he could rebuild this town a hundred times over.’

  ‘Thankfully, the fire did not spread any further than the Sly Fox. You should be happy; you got your wish. That certainly shut the bar down for the night; if not permanently.’

  ‘I’m sorry.’

  He could see that her apology was genuine. Despite all she was capable of, she was still only young and it would take time for her to get over her mistakes.

  ‘I suppose looking at the positives, this kind of proves you right,’ he said.

  She looked at him, perplexed.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘You know; about the American guys. This technology is no longer just about spying; it could be used as a weapon. You were right to try and keep them out of it.’

  She nodded.

  ‘We cannot keep them in the dark forever, though.’

  ‘I know. They are expecting another session on the machine this afternoon. What do you think we should tell
them?’

  ‘As little as possible. Although, I do think we should adopt a different tactic with them. I wanted to keep them grounded, but I now see that they may do less damage the further we let them travel. The safest place for them is outer space where there is nothing for them to interact with.’

  ‘I agree. We can give them a proper lesson on how to use the device today and when they are ready, we will send them to Venus.’

  It was a crude idea, but Emmy hoped it would work. If she knew the Americans like she thought she did then the project would turn into one big race for them to see who could travel the furthest. In an infinite universe, they could be kept busy for quite some time.

  ***

  Lucas un-holstered his gun, but as he stepped out of his car, he remembered the damage done to Ned’s ute and wondered if greater firepower may be prudent. He replaced the sidearm and took a shotgun from the trunk instead. It was a clear morning with high visibility and he was sure that the animal standing over Lucy was on its own. With extreme caution, he made his way into the field. When he was ten feet from the fallen girl, he noticed the animal tense up like it was preparing to pounce.

  ‘Lucy,’ he called out. ‘Lucy, are you okay? If you can; answer me.’

  The animal began to sway from side to side. It was crouched low and seemed to be focusing on his weapon. Something told him it was reluctant to attack. He thought it was a fear of the firearm, but he also had a hunch that it did not want to leave the girl.

  ‘Lucy, it’s me; Lucas. If you are able, can you give me some sort of a sign?’

  Rather than move closer, he kept his distance and drew a broad circle around the animal and its victim. He was wary of taking his eyes off of it, but he needed to know if the girl was still alive.

  ‘Lucy?’

  This time she did stir. Lucas was not the only one to notice. The animal became more alert; it’s breathing heavier. The policeman took this as a warning.

  ‘Lucas, is that you?’