Stars and Satellites

by Terry Reid

  “No but there will be botanists. I’m probably pushing my look but it’s a start in finding out what’s going on.”

  Gazing out of a frost tinted window, Professor Johnson was mesmerised by what he had just witnessed. The landscape, it seemed, had transformed in a matter of moments to one resembling a far-off season. Reason told him that he must simply be seeing things or even that quite possibly and much more likely that he was dreaming. In a moment he would wake from this curious place and the normal rules of reality would resume their place in the logical, lateral world...but he did not wake. This peculiar world seemed to linger – like a spectre unwilling to depart. It took him several minutes to accept that what lay beyond the panes was truly real. His mind knotted and somersaulted with question and panic – how could such a thing be possible?

  “Mr Johnson...”

  “Mr Johnson!”

  Snapping out of his trance, he turned to see a familiar face standing beside him; his assistant Anne.

  “I’m just about to take Lauren to school.”

  He blinked at her, she sounded so far away... “What?” He asked his mind still absorbed with the amazing thing he had just seen.

  “I’m taking Lauren to school.” Anne repeated, this time louder and slower.

  “Yes, yes...sorry.” He apologised, removing his glasses and wiping the lenses with the bottom of his shirt. Placing them back on the end of his long, hooked nose he asked, “Have you been outside?”

  “No, why?” She asked, glancing out the window. Yet despite beholding the sun-soaked, thick green meadows that sprawled out before the household, she failed to see the urgency in the matter. In fact she sighed, which surprised the old man. “It’s beautiful.” She said with a forced smile and nothing more.

  “Maybe it’s my eyesight but please tell me that Glasgow Green was nothing like that yesterday.” He asked, still doubting his own senses.

  “It wasn’t.” Anne said, turning to gaze out upon the blossoming meadow once more. “Have you been to the botanic centre yet, Mr Johnston?” She suddenly asked, turning her attention back to her confused looking employer.

  His expression changed to one of realisation. “No, it had not occurred to me...” He muttered - somewhat disappointed in himself for not considering his own research with plants when something so bizarre occurred just outside where he studied.

  Anne smiled brightly. “I would not worry about it Mr Johnston, I’m sure there is a perfectly reasonable explanation for everything.” She assured him. Glancing at her watch, she said, “Well, I better be off else Lauren’s going to be late.” And with that she left, leaving the bewildered professor alone to continue contemplating the strange phenomenon he had just witnessed.

  It was rolling onto 9am and the sun was creeping ever so gradually higher into an azure sky by the time the professor arrived at the botanic centre. He had hastily ran around the premises checking and double checking the vast array of plant life that the centre held, but to his dismay, but not to his surprise, they had not succumb to the mysterious explosive growth that the gardens outside had.

  With his back turned, the professor was too engrossed in examining his tomato plants to notice the arrival of visitors.

  “Hello there.”

  The voice made the professor jump. He nearly sent a plant pot flying from the side as he flinched. “Oh, sorry, I didn’t see you there.” He apologised, a hand going to his chest.

  “I’m the one who should be saying sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you like that. I thought you would have heard us coming.” Alex offered with a reassuring smile.

  “It’s fine, don’t worry about it.” The old man said, waving his apology way. “I keep getting deafer and deafer these days, it was not your fault.” Steadying himself, he continued, “How can I help you anyway? I’m afraid these are private premises.”

  Alex smiled again. “It’s quite alright, I apologise for not mentioning sooner, we are from the environmental health department.” Alex placed his hand firmly on the professor’s shoulder and gave him a steady look. “Are you sure you are alright? You look a little shaken there sir.”

  The professor appeared a little lost for a moment, unsure about what Alex was doing. Then, peculiarly, his expression turned placid. Looking back at Alex with hazy, doughy eyes, he muttered, “Yes, yes I am fine, thank you...”

  Releasing his shoulder, Alex gave the man a warm smile before carrying on. “My name is Alex White and this is my partner Hayley McArthur. Our department received a lot of phone calls earlier this morning regarding the state of the green. May I ask if you have seen anything unusual?”

  The professor frowned at the question. He glanced out the window and then back at Alex. “Unusual?” he scoffed cynically. “Mad, would probably be a better word. The grass seems to have grown by two foot over night.” He explained, afraid that they would think he was crazy if he told them the truth.

  Alex frowned. “Overnight? We had some hysterical people telling us that they saw the grass shoot out of the ground in a few seconds.” He gave a slight laugh and continued, “Of course that’s ridiculous though. I think some of them have just got a bit confused.”

  “Yeah likely so...”

  “But still, the grass seems to have grown to an expediential height overnight.”

  A hard lump formed in the professor’s throat as he dreaded the next question. But it did not come, much to his relief.

  “Anyway, we’ve been sent to carry out an inspection of the green and any surrounding premises and as your botanical centre fits into that area, respectively, we would like to have a look around.”

  “What exactly are you looking for?” The professor asked, but not unkindly.

  “Nothing in particular, we just need to make sure that everything is in order.” Alex smiled again, gazing at him in an unusual manner.

  For a moment the professor was about to ask what he was doing but suddenly, his expression turned glazed once more and his gaze distant. “Of course.” He muttered absently. “Everything within the centre is the same as it were yesterday though, so I do not think you will find anything of interest. But please, take your time to look around...”

  Alex smiled at him gratefully. “Thanks, we will be out of your way as soon as we can.”

  “It is quite alright...” the professor muttered in his zombie-like state. That settled, he quietly returned to tending his tomato plants

  Alex gave Hayley a confident, coy smile as he slipped past her. She shook her head at his cheap parlour trick. Still... she had found it amusing to watch. Via silent consent, the two of them slipped away to carry out their would-be inspection of the building.

  Safely away and alone in the far end of the botanic centre, Hayley felt confident enough to finally ask, “So, any more thoughts about what’s going on?”

  Alex stopped and turned to face her, his brow borrowed with intense thought. “No.” He said honestly.

  “So much for a starting point then?”

  “I never said that we would find anything here. I just thought there might have been something here with this place being what it is and where it is.” Alex explained, his eyes wandering over the many colourful plants that surrounded them. “But I guess I was wrong. There’s absolutely nothing out of the ordinary here.”

  “Excuse me.”

  Both Alex and Hayley started with surprise at the young black haired woman who seemed to have appeared from nowhere.

  “What are you doing in here? This is private property.” She said sharply.

  Alex put on his familiar smile and delved into his pocket. “We’re from the department of environmental health. Professor Johnston let us in. We were sent here to inspect the property after we received reports concerning the state of the green.” He explained, producing an ID card.

  “I’m Alex White and this is Hayley McArthur.” He continued, handing her the card.

  Anne’s eyes flickered between the card and Alex no less than several times, before she finall
y seemed satisfied. Handing him back his card, she said, “That still does not explain exactly why you are here. Has Professor Johnston done something wrong?”

  Alex’s smile faltered at the grilling question. “No, of course not, we were only sent here to see if any of his research within the centre had been affected by the unexpected changes that have taken place on the green during the night. Due to the botanist’s close proximity, the department thought it would be best to check for the purposes of our investigation.”

  Anne’s steely gaze remained fixed on his. He had given a very convincing argument that dashed any lack of professionalism but yet she remained sceptical of their presence.

  “Well as you can plainly see, and I assume the Professor would have told you anyway, there has been nothing out of the ordinary.”

  Alex held her gaze for a long moment. “Are you sure?”

  “Excuse me?” she asked sharply.

  Alex stood his ground. “What your name was again?” He asked, suddenly finding himself curious.

  “Anne, Anne Harper.” She replied, her hard expression giving nothing away.

  “Do you work here?”

  “I work for the professor. I take care of his granddaughter.”

  Alex nodded, yet there was something about her that niggled at him...Forcing a smile upon his face again, he said, “Well Anne Harper, we’ll be odd then. Thanks for your time we’ll be in touch if we need to ask you anymore questions.”

  With that, he and Hayley both politely excused themselves before slipping away. Anne followed them for a time, until she was sure she could see them leaving the premises all together from a nearby window.

  “What’s the plan now?” Hayley asked, as they waded away through the long grass.

  “I’ll need to think about it but I think it is safe to assume that there is something going on back there.”

  “Really? I didn’t see anything...”

  “Don’t be upset that you didn’t notice I almost didn’t myself.”

  “So what was it then?” Hayley asked, feeling a little less stupid.

  The angel’s gaze drifted back to the building. “I’m not entirely sure if I am completely honest, but there’s something about that Anne...”

  “Like what?”

  Alex shook his head. “I don’t know...I’ll need some time to think it all through.” He admitted, walking away.

  ******

  The hallways of Springburn High were packed with students heading to their next lessons. Amongst them filed John and a large group of his mates, who were heading to English. Piling into the classroom, the boisterous shouting and laughter of easily-excitable teenagers gradually died away as everyone settled into their seats.

  “We’re going to begin with yesterdays close reading exercise and I’ll tell you now,” began Mrs Kelvin, standing with authority before the class, “I am very disappointed with the quality of the work that I received.” Lifting the pile of exercises from her desk, she began to distribute them amongst the pupil. “We’ll be going through the questions, so you can see where so many of you have been going so terribly wrong.”

  Receiving his sheet, John glanced over the red graffiti of ink that plastered every corner of his exercise. Eight correct answers out of fourteen was not a bad score in his opinion but judging by the frequent correction marks and comments left by Mrs Kelvin’s red pen, it was clear that she did not agree.

  “I need a pen.” Mark said - who was sitting at the desk next to him.

  John dipped into his bag and produced a biro. “Here.” He said, sitting it on his friend’s desk.

  Mark gave the pen a funny look, before dubiously accepting it. “Thanks...”

  “What?” asked John, catching him.

  “Nothing.” Mark replied, giving a sharp shrug of the shoulders. He maintained his puzzled look. “How did you know that I needed a pen?”

  It was John’s turn to give his friend a funny look. “You just asked me.”

  Mark blinked at him. “When?”

  “Just now, I thought you said you needed one.”

  Mark shook his head. “I didn’t say anything.”

  John shrugged. “It must have been someone else then. Sorry, I thought it was you who said it.”

  “Don’t worry I do that as well sometimes.” Mark replied, dismissing the incident just as quickly as it had occurred. Lifting his exercise sheet, he began to read through the corrections.

  ******

  Hayley and Alex were sitting under the shade of a large flourishing tree. The temperature had gradually grown milder as it approached lunchtime. It remained fresh and cool, but not to the point of being unsettling.

  “Chicken tikka or cheese savoury?” asked Alex, taking two sandwich packs from the plastic bag beside him.

  “Er...I’ll have the cheese please.”

  Alex handed her the sandwiches and a bottle of juice, which she received with thanks.

  “Do you not like spicy food?” asked Alex out of curiosity.

  Hayley pondered over the question for a few moments as she tore open the sandwich pack. “Er...I don’t mind curries, but I hate stuff that burns my mouth off, you know? I don’t see the point of not being able to taste anything for several days afterwards.”

  Alex gave a muffled laugh through a mouthful of bread and spicy chicken.

  The sound of laughter close-by suddenly caught his ear, causing him to look in the direction of the source. The smile fell from his face as his inklings to who it was were confirmed. No more than twenty yards away was Anne, playing with a young girl in the tall grass.

  “Professor Johnston has a granddaughter right?” Alex asked.

  “Yeah? Why?” Hayley asked, finally looking where he was.

  “Then why is she not at school?” he asked.

  Hayley squinted at the people in the distance. “Is that Anne?”

  “Yes it is.” Alex confirmed dryly. With that said, he was on his feet and heading their direction.

  Chapter 9

  Anne had seen Alex coming. Getting the girl’s attention, she whispered something into her ear. The little girl peered at her dubiously for a moment before running off into the tall grass.

  As he approached, Alex dipped into his pocket for his fake ID. The moment he pulled it out Anne said, “You can put it away, you’re not fooling anyone.”

  “And neither are you.”

  “You took a very long time to realise who I was.” She said with a hint of a smirk as she folded her arms.

  Alex shrugged indifferently. “Well we both know what they say about female angels being in far greater tune with nature than the men, don’t they? So it’s only natural that you can hide a lot better than me in a place like this.” He cast a casual glance around the summer scene. “Although what you’ve done here can hardly be defined as keeping a low profile.”

  Anne straightened, unrepentant. “You have no place to judge me, not in this realm.”

  Alex gave her a humoured, yet threatening smirk. “That’s difficult to call until I know the reason behind why you have done what you have done.”

  Anne shook her head dismissively. “It doesn’t matter, my intentions were not malicious.”

  Her vague explanation did nothing to placate Alex’s concern. “Maybe not, but have you thought about what you have done to this place? All these plants and trees will be dead by the end of the week. They’ll rot as black as night and they’ll never recover come spring. Everyone knows that’s why you cannot force things to grow beyond their natural pace of development, accelerated maturity leads to accelerated death.”

  Anne held his gaze. “I know that.” She glanced away across the rolling sea of green. “I did it for Lauren.”

  Alex followed her gaze to where the girl played a short distance away. “Why?”

  Anne looked back at him coldly. “Because she’s dying.” She said bluntly.

  For one of the few rare moments in his long life, Alex felt ashamed of himself. He had never conside
red an honest motive behind her actions since he had recognised Anne. He had been adamant that there had been something selfish or sinister motive. Now he stood there, embarrassed for jumping to such conclusions without knowing the full story.

  ******

  “I don’t understand.” said Hayley when he rejoined her. “Why can’t she just cure her?”

  “She has Leukaemia, the damage is too great.” Alex replied, shaking his head regretfully as he walked on. “It’s not as simple as waving a magic wand, her body is just too far damaged to be repaired.”

  “Does her granddad know?”

  Alex paused, his gaze drifting to something in the distance. “Yes.” He sighed, looking back round to her, “But it’s much further along than he or the doctors know. Lauren’s only got about four weeks left to live.”

  Hayley did not see why Alex was feeling so emotional about something, which in her mind could be so easily rectified. “So why hasn’t Anne told any of them?” she asked, confused.

  Alex hesitated. “Because we are not meant to interfere, it is her time to die.” He said flatly.

  Hayley stared at him in disbelief. She didn’t know if she should be shocked are angry. He left her like that, deliberately turning away and walking on in an attempt to avoid further discussion.

  “Wait! So that’s it then?” She shouted, running after him. “And what is that suppose to mean?”

  Alex suddenly stopped and turned to face her once again but his expression had grown dark. “It means that it is her time to pass away. All humans have a set time and date when they must die and when that time comes we are not permitted to interfere.”

  Hayley stared at him. “But that isn’t fair! She’s just a kid!”

  “Do you think I don’t know that?” He asked, his voice ebbing with sorrow.

  “Then help her.”

  Alex shook his head. “I can’t, for the last time, I can’t.”

  “Can’s or won’t Alex? There is a difference.” Hayley challenged him, utterly disgusted by his attitude.

  Alex’s blue eyes bore into hers. “Both.” He said harshly and bluntly.