by Jack Dey
Mot Lang Quen looked confused at her speech and could see the deep concern in her eyes. She spun around on her feet, obviously frustrated at his lack of understanding and left. He racked his brains to remember.
"Mot Lang Quen…?" he spoke out loud. "Is that me? Why is my face so scarred? Did I go out, raiding these pirates she talks about? Who is she, anyway?"
The frustration began to grow and he kicked the door shut.
"Why can't I remember?!"
*~*~*~*
Chapter 13
The final bell of the day rang at the Callum Vale Christian College, signifying the end of classes. Gracie Freeman, a sixteen year old honours student, pulled her hair band off, ran out the gates and headed for the bus, leaving her long blonde hair streaming behind her. She was eager to shed the school uniform that held her trapped in her childhood. The day had dragged and she had found it difficult to concentrate and her tutors had noticed. But today, she didn't care, because tonight, she would finally meet her prince.
Gracie was a pretty girl, but her parents had never allowed her to go out with boys on dates and the other girls in her classes had taunted her about being a prude. She smirked to herself… if only they knew what she was about to do.
She sighed out loud, ignoring the stares of the other people on the bus around her, while a dark cloud of annoyance passed over her face at the obstacles she still had to face before her romantic rendezvous. She would have her usual chores to do, barked out by her mother; endure another family mealtime where no one spoke; listen to her father's ranting prayers, as he prayed around the world; and finally, the dishes to wash, while her pesky brothers argued about how many dishes they had wiped each.
After that, she could close the door to her room and prepare for romance. No one would bother her, thinking she was studying, as she usually did. A tingle ran down her back and her heart pattered as she saw the picture of Derryn in her mind's eye, closely guarded by her computer file password. Tonight, she would be a woman, hungry for love and eager for her first clandestine meeting with her man.
*~*~*~*
Gracie had just made it home when she heard the phone ring and her mother's voice answer.
”Janet who...?! Oh yes, Mrs Baxter, what can I do for you?"
Gracie heard the name of her tutorial teacher and headed straight for her bedroom and closed the door, hoping to be left alone with her romantic thoughts.
"Great! I have one dreamy day and everyone's on my case," Gracie complained, throwing her school bag down onto the bedroom floor.
*~*~*~*
"Is everything alright at home? Gracie was disconnected with her studies today. I had several reports from staff that she was just drawing love hearts on her book, instead of concentrating on her work."
Juliana's ire rose and she thought, how dare you call me and intimate that there are problems at home?
"No, everything is fine at home. She may have just had a bad day. I am sure there is nothing to be concerned about, Janet."
Juliana put down the phone in a boiling rage. “The nerve of that woman!" She marched down the hall and burst into Gracie's room.
"What’s going on at school, Gracie?!"
"Nothing, Mum...! I just didn't feel well. I have one off day and everyone comes down on me."
Juliana softened slightly. "You can't afford to have off days, Gracie. Your father is being considered for a junior pastorate at Eastside and we have to set an example."
"Yes, I know, Mum!"
"I need your help in the kitchen to prepare dinner."
"O-kay, I will be right out."
*~*~*~*
The usual dinner scene dragged out before Gracie. She became irritable and impatient with her family, while glancing up at the clock and silently urging the time to pass. They were intruding on her dreams and thoughts of Derryn and she resented their interference.
Finally, the meal ended; the dishes were done; and her father had taken his usual place in front of the TV. Her mother would soon be on the internet, communicating with her friends and then she could go and prepare.
With a hint of excitement in her voice, Gracie called to her father, "Goodnight, Dad."
No answer.
"I am going to study, then to bed," she said to her mother, as she walked past the computer desk.
Her mother's concentration was consumed by the chat room on the screen.
Gracie almost made it to her bedroom door, before her mother called after her, "Get some sleep tonight, Gracie. I don't want that busybody, Janet Baxter, back on the phone, making snide accusations again."
"Yes, o-kay...!" Gracie called back, annoyed, feeling her tolerance slipping fast.
Opening her wardrobe, Gracie searched the rack of clothes. She’d bought a tiny miniskirt in anticipation of tonight and had hidden it from her mother in the back of the wardrobe. She tried the tiny garment on and examined herself in the mirror. It fitted perfectly. Her mother would have a fit if she knew she had it. She argued with herself about the skirt and wondered whether she had the nerve to wear it. Finally, the years of instilled modesty won over and she opted for a pair of jeans instead. She hid the skirt again at the back of the wardrobe.
"Derryn is the type of guy who would like anything I wore," she convinced herself, while checking her figure in the mirror. Mmm not bad, she thought, giving herself a smile of approval.
She pulled her dressing gown over the top of her clothes, then lay on top of her bed and waited. The sounds in the house finally grew quiet, but she could still hear the TV in the lounge room. It wouldn’t be long before her mum would go and wake her father and send him to bed. In the darkness, she watched the line of light pervading into her room under the closed door, from the lounge room.
Shadows of feet moving past her door, told her that her mother was about to wake her father and the house would soon be dark and quiet, allowing her to make her move. Then, the moment she’d been anticipating, as the light under her door silently blinked out and darkness filled her room. It was nearly twelve o'clock and butterflies chased each other through her stomach, while she listened for a long moment, until she was convinced that all was safe.
Gracie pushed herself upright from her position on her bed and then stood in the darkness, flicking on a small pencil torch she had bought especially for this occasion. She carefully removed the dressing gown and folded it, placing it on the end of her bed, then smoothed down her jeans and shirt, and ran her hands through her hair.
Just then, she heard a vehicle quietly pull up outside and her heart pattered in excitement. She was really going through with this and giggled at the thought of her clandestine affair. The girls at school wouldn’t call her a prude again.
She quietly turned the handle to her bedroom, stepped out into the dark passageway and then gently pulled the door shut behind her, creeping softly towards the back door. Through the window glass, she could see dappled light and darkness, colliding in an endless fight for control. Shadows of things in the night, that didn’t even register during the day, shot a pang of fear into her mind as she struggled to distinguish their menacing shapes.
Knowing Derryn was waiting, she overcame her fears and carefully turned the key in the back door and pulled it open. A slight squeak alarmed her and she looked back anxiously into the dark house, holding her breath and listening for sounds... nothing.
She was thankful her mother always left the key in the door. She cautiously pulled the door shut behind her and gently twisted the handle into the closed position. Gracie made her way down the long driveway and nearly screamed when the neighbour's dog barked angrily at her. She smothered the desire to scream again, by holding her hand over her mouth until she regained composure, and at the same time, her heart pounded out of control in her chest.
*~*~*~*
Juliana stirred at the sound of the dog and glanced across at the bedside clock; it was five past midnight.
"That stupid dog, always barking at its own shadow!" s
he hissed indignantly.
She threw a disdainful glare at her husband’s sleeping form, while he gently snored in her ear. Her bottom lip curled in an ugly expression and then she rolled over and pulled the blanket off him, and went back to sleep.
*~*~*~*
Gracie could see the outline of a figure standing by a pale coloured sedan, parked in the darkness, with the back door open. She smiled, hurried over to him and climbed into the back seat. The door slammed shut and the vehicle disappeared quietly down the road.
*~*~*~*
The sudden intrusion of the charismatic and energetic voice of 6KY radio station's Mick Barlow, made Juliana jump. The clock radio was set for 6 am, the deepest part of her sleep cycle. She elbowed Des in the ribs, a little harder than she intended, annoyed at the interruption to her sleep. He groaned at her heavy handedness, rubbed the sleep from his eyes and hung his feet out over the bed.
A sudden pleasurable thought came into his mind and made him smile. Today was the day the final exam results were posted at Gateway College. Professor Dunster had assured Des he would have the grades and citations to walk straight into the highly prized junior pastorate at Eastway.
The wheels of awakening turned slowly in the Freeman household. Before Juliana met Des, she had been a night owl and social light. She would often fall into bed after a night out at 4 am and sleep into the late afternoon, but now mornings were her enemy and she rarely felt anything before midday.
She had been attracted to Des' handsome features and pay check, and now, she wondered if that would ever be enough to offset the price she had had to pay for such a reckless decision.
The Freeman children had inherited their mother's aversions to morning and a constant, threatening coercion from their father to get out of bed brought no result, until Juliana bellowed. The two boys finally dragged themselves out of their rooms and were preparing for the day's activities.
"Gracie!" Juliana bawled.
"GRACIE!" Juliana threatened. "If I have to come and dig you out of bed, my girl, there will be grief."
Juliana pushed open Gracie's door and stopped in mid threat. Gracie's bed had not been slept in and her dressing gown was folded neatly on the end of her bed.
Juliana's stomach knotted.
"Des...!" she trembled.
"DES...!"
*~*~*~*
Chapter 14
In the sand hills of Sunset Beach, Samu’s big frame sat dejectedly in the hot, white sand and stared out at the breakers curling into a pipeline and dumping board riders, as the curl tightened into a fist. Today was the first day of his suspension from duty under full pay, after the story he’d told to the Air Traffic Operations Manager and the Australian Army General had been met with total disbelief, leading directly to suspension from duty. Samu had heard of this type of thing happening before, but he never suspected it would happen to him. He was given a medical examination and relieved from duty, citing work related stress as grounds for his stand down. The squeaky voice and the words of the operations manager replayed in his thoughts again.
"In a high stress job like an air traffic controller, any mistake can cost lives."
His colleagues in the tower at the time of the disappearance, had not seen the two blips appear beside the Qantas flight, just before all three blips suddenly disappeared; or if they had, they weren’t saying anything. All they could confirm were the last few words of the voice transmission from QF1156.
He picked up a handful of beach sand and made a fist, trapping the sand in his large, clenched hand. Releasing the sand from his grip, he threw it to the ground and scraped up another fistful of sand and absentmindedly did the same thing.
Meanwhile, his thoughts drifted back to the last few moments of flight QF1156. The panic in Brund's voice played and replayed, over and over, then the sudden appearance of the two small blips and then the sudden disappearance of all three, as if someone had pulled the power from the radar screen. The more he thought about it, the less sure he became and with all the official scrutiny, he wondered whether he actually did dream what he saw.
Samu tried to place himself in the operations manager's position and as he did, he laughed a bitter laugh. If a subordinate came to him, declaring he had seen what Samu claimed, he would have stood them down, too. Maybe he should just spend the next two weeks relaxing, forget about what he thought he had seen and go back to work as if nothing had happened. At least he would still have a job.
His stomach knotted as he imagined the ridicule that would be heaped on him from his co-workers, when he finally returned after his sabbatical. They all knew he had been stood down for reporting what he had seen.
*~*~*~*
"I sincerely hope there is a good reason for dragging me halfway across the globe, away from my work, Ziegler."
"You are a member of this council, Dr Fruing. You know the protocol. No decision may be made without all members of the council being physically present."
"Yes, yes, can we at least get to the point of business, so I can get back to my work? You are aware how important that is to this council?"
Ziegler stared down the scientist’s threat and if he wasn't the single, most knowledgeable man in his field, he would have done away with him years ago. He let the remark go... for now.
"I have some news that I think will brighten your outlook and make your trip less painful, Dr Fruing."
Fruing took his seat amongst the group of twelve, ignoring their hard faced stares.
"Ladies and gentlemen, the day we have been hoping for has finally arrived. We have found the seed!"
Ziegler paused, to let his statement sink in, while a ripple of excitement and disbelief took the hard faces by surprise.
"We aren't sure how it has happened, but our people tell us there is no doubt," Ziegler admitted.
"So, none of our people made this happen?" a scar faced man in a suit enquired.
"I believe that is what I was eluding to," Ziegler replied sarcastically, putting the member in his place. "Our investigations have narrowed the field to three possible areas. We will simply explore each possibility, eliminate them one by one, till we have the right one. These are exciting times, ladies and gentlemen."
"So, our first plan is to be scrapped?" came a voice from the back.
"Not scrapped… postponed. It will be used as a backup if the seed proves to be unusable," Ziegler cut across any further attempted discussion, eagerly putting an end to this ridiculous meeting and the protocol that tied his hands.
"Oh...! There is just one other point of business. We need to move our programme, from the installation into a new area. The old one has attracted far too much attention."
"That isn't a small job, moving the programme. Surely, the secure installation would be a safer proposal than risking being discovered, Ziegler?" came a voice from a man in a white uniform.
"Yes, you are right, Chief, but it can't be helped. All those in favour…? That’s settled, then. We will keep you informed of all the developments through our normal channels. Meeting adjourned."
*~*~*~*
For the past three hours, Samantha Young had been hiding behind a curtain and watching a suspicious car parked by her apartment block, through her third floor window. The male driver was making her feel uneasy and she was sure he was up to no good. The occupant was sitting in his vehicle, watching passersby and particularly interested in female pedestrians. All of a sudden, his creepy gaze abruptly settled on Sam, apparently aware she was watching him, and sending her crashing from her hiding spot, in an awkward back flip to avoid his stare.
After some time, she regained her nerve and cautiously climbed back into her place behind the curtain, peering around at the car and searching for the felon inside. She shivered when she caught his full stare, directed straight at her and he smiled in her direction, letting her know he had seen her watching him from the window. Then in an act of defiance, he went back to his nefarious activity... unfazed by her attention. The interacti
on was frightening her, making her feel nervous, but she was too far away to get a good look at him.
Just then, her phone rang, making her jump.
"Steady on, girl!" she chided herself.
She slipped out from behind the curtain to answer it, but soon after the brief phone call, she made her way back to the window to keep track on the man in the car, but his car had vanished. She searched up and down the street, as far as the window would allow, but he was nowhere in sight. Even at the distance she was from the car, she could feel the strange behaviour wasn’t normal, and his direct gaze boring into her made her shiver again. He had seen her gazing directly at him and had felt no fear at her stare, and the possibility of her being able to recognise him.
Sam's feelings of alarm suddenly turned to indignation, as a thought began to form in her mind. Jordan, her estranged husband, was somehow behind this. He’d married Sam fifteen years ago, but she hadn't seen his wandering eye, while she worshipped the ground he walked on until... just a year ago, he had turned up at their middle class home with her and ordered Sam to leave. He’d told Sam he would take her to the cleaners if she tried to take any of his assets. But the courts saw it differently and divided the assets, allowing her to find a small apartment and get on with a relatively comfortable life from the settlement. After that, she assured herself she wouldn't waste any more emotional energy on him and had determinedly shut him out of her thoughts... until now.
Sam could hear the tone of the phone ringing in her ear, then a click and Jordan's voice.
"Hello."
"If you think you can get back at me, by scaring me half to death, you've got another thing coming... buster!"