She tapped on the driver’s side window. There was no response. She tapped again and when she was ignored a second time, she grabbed the handle and opened the door herself. The smell hit her immediately. Her father was a whisky drinker, although only in moderation. She never liked it when he had the scent of it on his breath. The bottle was nestled between Davo’s thighs and she made a grab for it. It felt heavier than she expected and as fluid dribbled over her hand, she realised that it was still full; maybe even untouched.
‘Is this all that you had?’
He did not answer. With the music inside the car playing so loudly it was ridiculous to have expected otherwise. She placed the open whisky bottle down on the floor and leaned inside the car to turn the music down. Davo grabbed her arm, forcefully, though not roughly.
‘I need this,’ he whispered in her ear.
His breath was warm, but it did not contain the unpleasant odour of alcohol. She pulled away his arm and lowered the volume of the music rather than turn it off completely.
‘Do you promise that was the only bottle?’
He nodded. His eyes were bloodshot and glazed with tears. She thought back to their first meeting when he had been struggling to cope with grief. At the time, she thought it wrong to pry, but now she wanted to know. She needed to know.
‘When I came here before, I noticed a date circled on the calendar. I assumed that the date commemorated some sort of loss. That day is today, isn’t it?’
The mechanic did not answer, but his silence could be easily read and taken as an affirmative.
Who was she?’ Lucy asked, knowing that pain of this magnitude could only involve a woman. ‘Was she the girl in the photograph?’
As the words left her lips, a connection was made somewhere in the back of her mind. She remembered the image of the young couple, how they looked so happy and full of life. She listened to the music playing in the car and replayed the lyrics in her mind. It was that band again; the one from the eighties or nineties. What were they called – Guns n’ Roses; that was it. There was something in the lyrics; something that she felt was significant. Then there was the chance meeting in the bar, with a stranger who seemed so familiar. Three disparate things that were all connected and when put together could help to reveal the mystery of David Armareth’s pain.
She left the car and looked around for the picture frame, which she had seen before. This time the couple in the image were no longer strangers. Well, one of them at least; the girl. Lucy knew who she was and she knew her name too – her real name. She put the picture down and ran back to the car.
‘I want to come with you.’
Davo twisted his face, not sure what her motivation was.
‘I know where you are planning to go. That’s why the engine is on. You weren’t testing it; you were going to take it for a drive.’
‘You don’t know anything about me,’ replied Davo.
Lucy took a deep breath. She knew where the line was and she was about to cross it without knowing what reaction to expect.
‘I know that you are planning to drive to the observatory,’ she said.
Chapter 22
The Sly Fox was trading as normal just a few days after the fire. The guestroom was almost a complete write-off, but it had been so seldom put to use in the past that Mindy would not miss the lost income stream. She actually stood to make a decent amount of money out of the whole episode once the insurance company paid out on her claim. In every disaster, there are always some people who stand to gain from misfortune. In this case, Mindy was that person.
Her first customer of the day was Walter Coppersmith or Wally as he was known to his mates. Like most of the townsfolk, Wally had been born and raised in Jackson’s Hill. He was now in his forties and he knew that he would live in the town until his dying day.
There were seldom few secure jobs available and many men had to learn more than one trade to earn their living. Electrician, carpenter, mechanic and even cattle drover had been amongst the professions Wally turned his hand to over the years. His present means of gainful employment was up at the Merrill’s farm where he was helping with the summer harvest. The clothes that he wore were his work clothes.
‘What will it be?’ asked Mindy, as her customer appropriated an empty stool at the bar.
‘Whisky,’ replied Wally. ‘And make it a double.’
‘Are you sure; it’s only just gone ten o’clock. Aren’t you supposed to be working today?’
‘Frank called and said they didn’t need me today. I thought I may as well make the most of the time off.’
Mindy poured the man his drink and left the bottle out on the counter. She suspected he would soon want more of the same. A man that wanted hard liquor at this time of the morning was unlikely to stop after just one drink. Of course, what she wanted to know was exactly why he had chosen to hit the bottle so early.
‘How’s Sheila; does she know that you have the day off?’
Wally shrugged.
‘I wouldn’t want to go spoiling her routine now, would I?’
His tone made Mindy a little nervous. Her position made her privy to many secrets; those of Sheila included. She wondered what secrets Wally knew and what he would do about them if he did. In an effort to improve the man’s mood, she decided to change the topic to a more calming subject.
‘How’s your gran?’ she asked.
‘You know granny,’ replied Wally. ‘She’s still running Lucas ragged. Any little thing and she will call him out. Did you know that last week she actually phoned him up because a galah was nesting in her guttering? He removed it for her too. She has him wrapped around her little finger.’
Mindy chuckled.
‘Well, that’s Lucas for you. At least if any proper criminals ever move in here we will be in safe hands. That boy will always respond to the call of duty, no matter what it entails.’
‘Sometimes I think that granny is testing him to see how far he will actually take his role of town guardian.’
Whilst he talked, he refrained from drinking. Mindy hoped to keep him talking. At least until another customer arrived and offered him a distraction.
‘I can’t blame her for trying. When one gets to her age, I think they are entitled to act in whichever way they please. How old is Mrs Coppersmith now?’
‘She’s got the century coming up next year. If she makes it; there is going to be one hell of a party, for sure.’
‘She’ll make it, alright. It would not surprise me if that lady was to outlive us all.’
‘You may just be right.’
This time Wally did have a drink. He emptied his glass in one swift movement and then slammed it down on the table top.
‘Same again.’
‘Are you sure?’ asked Mindy, lifting the bottle, but not pouring it. ‘I could get you a pint instead. If you don’t pace yourself, you’ll be dead to the world by lunch time.’
‘A pint will be fine,’ he told her.
Much relieved, she picked up another glass to supply him with the suggested beverage. When it was a little over half full the tap started to spew out nothing but froth.
‘Shit! The barrel’s going to need changing. I’ll only be a moment, if you don’t mind waiting.’
‘Whatever,’ said Wally.
She poured the spoiled drink down the sink and then went down into the cellar to prepare a new barrel. It was times like this that an extra pair of hands would have come in handy, but her help had recently quit in order to return to her vacation.
Changing the barrel did not take long, but when she returned to the bar, her customer was nowhere to be seen. The first thing she did was to check the bottle of whisky had not also gone out of the door. It was still on the bar where she had left it and the level did not look to have depleted either. Relieved, she placed it back onto the shelf behind the bar. She did not think to check under the counter. If she had done, she would have realised that the shotgun she kept under there was now missing.
>
Chapter 23
The observatory appeared ever more imposing the closer it got. Lucy had previously only seen it from afar and she was taken aback by its actual size. The distinctive domed roof sat at one end of the complex, which also housed the secondary research lab, whilst living quarters and domestic facilities took up the remainder of the building. The entrance was concealed behind an attractive forecourt and landscaped gardens, which were completely incongruous to the desert landscape that bordered the property on all sides.
Lucy dropped a gear and slowed the car down as she approached. Persuading Davo to allow her to drive was the easy part. Convincing the mechanic to let her come along in the first place had been a different matter entirely. Now she was beginning to wonder if she should have let him go it alone, after all. The building gave off an aura and it was not welcoming. She also saw the black Hummer, which had run her off the road, and this greatly added to her discomfort.
‘I have a bad feeling about this,’ she said.
She felt the tension coming off the man beside her and knew that he shared her apprehension.
‘How long is it since you were last here?’ she added.
‘More than twenty years.’
‘Twenty years, but I thought that...’ her voice trailed off as she realised just how little she knew about the man and his life story.
‘You thought what?’
‘It’s not important. I’m just surprised that it has been so long. I mean, this is such a small town and all.’
‘If you’ve got no business being somewhere then you have no business being there.’
Lucy nodded, but she still did not understand. She could have sworn that the photo of Emmy could not have been taken more than two or three years previous at the most. She assumed that whatever happened to make this day so significant had taken place after this time, but obviously she was wrong. Something now told her that the twenty year time period was equally important. The missing piece of the puzzle was still the man in the photograph. Who was he and where was he now?
‘Can you tell me why you have come here today, after all these years?’
‘I was summoned.’
‘You were summoned - why?’
‘That is what I am hoping to find out.’
The mechanic’s words sounded distant, as if he was drifting away from her. A shadow passed over the windscreen as a wedge-tailed eagle circled high above them. Lucy’s sense of foreboding gripped her even tighter than before.
‘Do you want me to come with you?’
He slowly shook his head. She could feel him drifting yet farther away.
‘I have to do this alone.’
Then as if waking from a dream, he instantly became more alert and even offered her a smile.
‘I would appreciate it if you could wait for me,’ he added. ‘I’m not as fit as I used to be and I don’t fancy walking back to town in this heat.’
‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘I’ll be here for as long as you need me.’
He gave her a hug. She could feel the strength in his arms. His embrace was reassuring; it made her feel safe.
‘If you aren’t back in thirty minutes, I’ll come looking for you.’
‘No worries, I’m planning on being out in ten.’
He got out of the car then walked across the forecourt and into the building. Lucy leaned back on the headrest and looked up to the sky. The lone eagle had now been joined by three more of its kind. They performed an elaborate dance in the sky. They circled like planes, waiting to be given permission to touch down. It was probably nothing more than superstition, but she could not help but think that they were expecting something.
***
Emmy found herself drifting through the morning on little more than cruise control. Her enthusiasm for the project dropped in direct proportion to the rate at which Mike’s increased, creating a perfect equilibrium. Ever since her grandfather implanted the idea of some sort of competition into the soldier’s mind, he had become obsessed with besting her. His first attempt was another misfire and after spiralling out of control and being unable to stabilise his trajectory, he aborted the journey after just seconds. Reluctantly, Emmy agreed to increase the power further, making it much more difficult for Mike to abort a journey on his own. The follow up attempt proved more successful and the soldier had been in a state of altered consciousness for ten minutes without incident.
With her input being required less and less, Emmy had more time available to think about other things. Images of the dead were never far from her thoughts. Whether it was the semi-formed apparition from the hospital or the fully fledged ghost from the field, she could not stop thinking about how close she had come to the afterlife. The next step was obvious, but it also frightened her. If spirits were watching over her then there was no better day to try and contact them than on the anniversary of her parents’ death.
A knock on the laboratory door pulled her back to reality. Her grandfather would have just entered unannounced, which meant that it could not have been him. She opened the door only slightly, careful not to reveal the experiment inside.
‘What can I do for you, Sammy; bearing in mind that I am really busy?’
‘You got guests,’ replied the Aboriginal. ‘There’s a car just pulled up in the courtyard.’
Emmy let out a sigh. She neither had the time nor the patience for visitors.
‘Could you find out what they want and unless lives depend on it, get them to come back another time?’
‘Okay, but then can we have that talk you promised?’
‘Whatever. Just deal with the visitors and make sure not to disturb the professor. It’s very important that he has his own space today.’
Sammy nodded and then walked back down the corridor. Emmy closed the door behind him and tried to resume her train of thought. Having had her concentration broken, she eventually gave up and decided to check on Bradley.
‘How’s your boy doing?’ she asked.
The lieutenant did not look up from the console.
‘It’s hard to keep track,’ he replied. ‘Every now and then I will get a reading, but most of the time the computer just says that it is tracking. It reminds me of back in the day when internet was dial up.’
‘Well, this is a little more complex than downloading porn. There is no limit to how far your friend can travel, but the equipment we use to trace his movements is still bound by those pesky laws of physics, I’m afraid. If he stayed more local it would be able to pinpoint him to within a hairs width of his location.’
‘It’s a shame that there isn’t some way to communicate between the command station and the subject.’
This time he did look at Emmy, perhaps a little too hopefully.
‘If you think that you can build a better machine, you’re welcome to give it a go. Maybe then you could give us back control of ours.’
The soldier tutted and then returned to watching the computer readout.
‘What was that for?’
‘What was what?’
‘You know what. Why did you just tut at me?’
‘It was nothing.’
‘It was not nothing. Tell me why you tutted.’
‘Jeez, lady, Mike was right about you. Do you ever let up?’
Just as she was about to let go with a strong diatribe, a flicker of static on the screen caught her attention. This anomaly was followed by a brief dimming of the overhead lights. Charlie ran over to the console immediately.
‘What just happened?’ asked Bradley.
‘It’s nothing,’ Emmy told him. ‘Just a power surge. We have plenty of back-up so there’s no need to worry.’
She ushered Bradley away from the console to allow Charlie space to take over the controls. Both of them had the same fear. After tapping out a few commands on the keyboard and cycling through all of the different viewing modes, Emmy’s lab partner relaxed back into his chair.
‘Well?’ she asked.
‘It’
s like you said; just a slight power surge. Everything is normal.’
She could tell by the tone of his voice that there had been no return of the apparition from before.
‘Maybe we should pull Mike out, just in case,’ suggested Bradley.
‘That’s a good idea,’ said Charlie. ‘I’ll bring him back right away.’
The scientist leaned over the console and pressed the cut-out switch, but nothing happened. He pressed it a second time, but again there was no response.
‘Something’s wrong,’ said Bradley.
‘We have it under control,’ Emmy told him, but she was not so sure of that herself.
Charlie tried the switch several more times and got the same response.
‘We’ll have to power down the whole system. It’ll take a little longer, but it should bring him back safely.’
‘Should?’ repeated Bradley, worriedly.
‘It’s just a glitch,’ Emmy assured him. ‘If Mike had not been so adamant on increasing the power, we could probably have woken him with just a shake.’
As if he had heard her, the unconscious soldier jerked forward bringing his head crashing into the underside of the matchbox. Bradley pushed Emmy aside and ran to his friend.
‘Mike, are you okay?’ he asked.
The more senior of the soldiers seemed oblivious to his comrade as he eased himself out of the chamber and then slid down onto the floor. When Bradley got to Mike, he put his arm over his shoulder and helped him to his feet.
‘Too easy,’ said Mike, who appeared somewhat dazed and talked with slurred speech.
‘Try to relax,’ said Charlie, as he joined the two men. ‘You’re likely to be disoriented from the exit. The manual override jammed, but it must have just been a delayed signal.’
‘You didn’t pull me out,’ said Mike. ‘I jumped.’
His speech had become clearer, but was now bordering on the giddy. He tried to stand freely, but once he let go of Bradley his legs gave way and he fell to the floor.
Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3 Page 20