Pete turned to Storm. “Take Stella's car.”
“You're not coming?” Storm asked with a sinking heart.
Pete looked away as he shook his head in reply.
“But why stay here?” Storm protested.
“Oh, for crying out loud!” Pete said. “Don't worry. I'll catch up with you after I've eaten a pie and had a cuppa.” He cleaned away some breakfast crumbs in front of him with the side of his hand and looked up at Storm. “I'm waiting for Champ to return, that's all.”
“C'mon, Dad. We can come back for the dog tomorrow. I'm not leaving without you.”
“Son, you know once we leave here, we are not going to come back for Champ. He'll get back to the house and bloody well take off again. Maybe he'll even try to track us. He's my mate. You can't leave a mate behind.”
“Dad, we can come back,” Storm said.
“Come and get me tomorrow morning. If the dog's not here by then, then I'll leave without him. I'm an old man and I need time to collect my things. I got to find my spare pair of specs. I have to make sure I have all my medicines, oil up my boots—that kind of thing.”
Storm knew changing Pete's mind once he had made it up was near impossible. He gave his dad a hug instead. “See you tomorrow, old man. I'll try to get here before midday.”
Pete slapped Storm on the back. “I'm proud of you, son. You know that, don't you?”
“Likewise, Dad,” Storm said with a grin. “See you in the morning.”
Part III
Synthesis
36
Mobilizing the Troops
Storm found them in the living room gathered around the TV. They were watching the government-run twenty-four-hour news channel. The broadcast was a national linkup for the purpose of saturation coverage. No one could complain of being ill-informed. Or of missing their scheduled dose of propaganda.
Even if they did switch over to a different channel, the news was all much of a muchness. Each TV station stuck to the same editorial policy. One dictated by nameless government agents who monitored all radio and TV to ensure there was no drift away from the program. It amounted to a prescription of how the audience was to interpret the world and its events, at least the ones they were allowed to know about.
“Storm!” Summer shrieked with delight, launching herself at him.
“Where's Daddy?” She asked when she let go of him. “Is he outside?”
“No, Sum.” He said.
He felt a wave of guilt. If he had spent a bit longer with Pete, he might have talked him around.
Matthew introduced the elderly couple he simply called Uncle and Aunty, and Uncle told him to fetch another chair from the kitchen.
“Pete's not with you?” Stella asked.
“Champ ran away and Dad wanted to wait for him...” Storm said, knowing how lame it sounded. “And he wants time to get his things together. He wants me to pick him up in the morning.”
“Oh, what a pigheaded man!” Stella exclaimed. “Waiting for a stupid dog to come home.”
“I'll head for Coona first thing, Mom. Don't worry.”
“I'll come with you,” Penny said quietly. “To keep you company.”
“I'm sorry,” Storm replied. “I tried.”
“He'll be waiting for you in the morning like he said,” Stella told him and patted his hand, more to console herself. “Did you hear the latest news?”
Storm shook his head and slumped into the chair Matthew brought him.
“They announced a state of continuity of government effective from tonight! The governor-general has asked the prime minister to step aside.”
She pointed to the TV screen, and he saw the red text at the bottom that stated they were watching a news alert.
“What did he do to get himself fired?” Storm asked.
He wasn't all that interested in hearing about the politicians. He had only one inhabitant of Parliament House on his mind and it was not the prime minister, whoever it was at the moment.
“They haven't told us yet,” Stella said. “Not the real reason anyway.”
“Yes, Michael,” Franchette said, and she gave Michael a sharp glance. “Why would they dismiss the prime minister? After all, we voted him into office!”
“Well, it isn't like it's the first time it has happened,” he replied raising his eyebrows at his wife's sudden outburst.
“The Army has been mobilized and they are telling us it's all for our own good,” Stella said angrily, surprised at the strength of her emotion. “They tell us we need to have the military in control under these new emergency measures. That sounds like a coup d'état to me!”
“I don't know if I would go that far! Franchette said stared at Stella with a stunned expression on her face. This is about making sure the terrorists don't win. You heard what the governor-general just said, didn't you? We need to stand strong as a nation! Surely you understand that?”
“Have you ever seen the Raras armed before,” Matthew said quietly to Michael. The last thing he wanted was for an argument to break out in front of the old couple. There was already a little too much tension in the room for his liking.
Michael shook his head. “No, can't say I have.”
“Did you notice the Rara carrying a sidearm in the footage from the motorway protests?” Matthew asked.
“No, they are not allowed to do that,” Franchette told him. “They wouldn't give that lot guns! They barely train them at all.”
“There never was a need for them in the first place,” Michael said, shaking his head. “Why does the country need a paramilitary group made up of angry, lost youth looking for a fight?”
Uncle stood and shook the end of his staff on the television screen. “We ought to make plans!” He declared. “Before them lot make them for us.”
“I need a drink,” Michael said to Matthew. “If you have anything strong I'd appreciate it.”
“I'll make a hot drink for everyone,” Matthew suggested.
“I was thinking of something a little stronger,” Michael grumbled.
“We don't have liquor in the house,” Aunty told him sharply.
“That's too bad,” Michael replied, and he slumped back in his chair.
37
Star Wind
“When we were kids, we always painted the Sun yellow,” Aunty announced. “Because that's how it used to look.”
Stella nodded her head in agreement. “
“And these days it looks white!” Aunty continued.
Michael coughed loudly. “Sunlight appears yellow at dawn and dusk when it passes through the greatest quantity of atmosphere,” he said when they turned their heads to him. “The blue wavelength is filtered out. When you see it high in the sky, it only appears to your eyes as white. The actual color of the Sun doesn't change. What changes is the angle of Earth's tilt—and our atmosphere.”
“How is the atmosphere different?” Stella asked him.
“There's less of it,” Michael told her. “The past couple of years the Inuit in Greenland and in Alaska have warned us Earth has a wobble. Recently, they say the stars, the Moon, and the Sun are no longer where they expect them to be found in the sky for the season. This tells us the tilt of our planet has shifted. Any change to that extreme and fragile environment impacts their way of life. Their days are now longer and the temperatures warmer. The jet air streams do not circulate the way they used to anymore. This situation accounts for all the extreme weather we've been experiencing. It's hard to miss, right? Not only the jet streams have changed. In recent years the magnetosphere that protects us from space radiation—and the Sun is flashing.”
Aunty Wanganeen frowned. “Did you say you've seen the Sun flashing?”
“Other people have,” Michael nodded. “Another curious thing is the number and kind of meteors we are seeing lately!”
“Damned meteors!” Franchette muttered.
“From January through to April—and again six months later—fireballs come at us from behind the Su
n,” Michael said. “When you consider all those oddities together, you begin to see how they might point to an underlying cause. We've had a lot of startling changes in a very short time!”
Michael took a deep breath.
“And—Karl and I concluded we have a second solar wind affecting the planet,” he said. He looked at the startled faces staring back at him to add emphasis to his words.
“It appears not only do we have a second star, but that it's approaching us, and quickly.”
“Karl was not a doctor of anything, though, was he, Michael?” Franchette muttered, picking at the tattered arm of her chair.
He placed his hand gently on her's.
“I talked about this earlier as being just a theory, but now I am certain. And since the fire—I think it best to tell all I know.”
The old couple listened to Michael, stony-faced and quiet. They had seen the changes. They were not all that keen to hear the scientist's explanation, and they braced themselves to hear what he said. It was a matter of showing the necessary respect toward their guests.
“Early 2009 a disk was observed at the base of the Sun. Not a word from any scientist was said to the public. By early 2010 anyone with a telescope of sufficient power, pointing at the correct location could have seen it. The size of the object doubled in one year! In 2012, I received an encrypted email from an old friend and colleague in Italy, Doctor Caterina Ferrara. She thought her life was in danger. She wanted to confide in me. And, she insisted her data were too important not to share with other scientists. That's when she told me about Project Southern Cross, and I mean, the real Project Southern Cross!”
“Get to the point, Michael!” Franchette said.
“I couldn't believe it at first, but I knew she was a fine scientist and her evidence looked solid. So, I set about verifying it for myself. The investigation became all-consuming. I began to put together a presentation—”
“For God's sake, Michael!” Franchette exclaimed. “Get to the point!”
“Okay—Project Southern Cross was all about identifying the object and its orbital trajectory. They located it in the constellation of Aquarius, which ironically has very few bright stars. They concluded it was a star of a type we had not encountered before.”
“If it wasn't affecting us before, why is it affecting us now?” Penny asked her father.
“The findings Caterina sent me from the Project Southern Cross project confirmed beyond doubt that the object we observed was entering our solar system.”
“At your barbecue, you told us you thought a dwarf star was going to pass by Earth?” Storm asked, already knowing the answer. Martyn wasn't mad after all.
“Yes, but I am not sure it's a dwarf star. I remember thinking at the time, you had a better name for it when you called it a dark star,” Michael said, raising his eyebrows.
“I never directly mentioned Caterina's findings to Karl. I shouldn't have said a thing about it in front of Stephen and Adrienna. That was very silly of me.”
He turned to face Franchette. “Many scientists agree we originally had two suns. We agree one would have formed at the same time, but almost all of them think the twin no longer exists.”
“Except for you Karl, and Caterina,” Franchette said, rubbing the back of her hand as if she was attempting to erase a spot. “This is nuts. How come you have never talked about this with me before?”
“Because you would have told me I'm nuts, dear! I didn't want to give you an excuse to drag us back to Sydney.”
“I would have gone back without you,” she mumbled.
“Of course you would have,” Michael replied, gazing at his wife.
He knew she was in shock and he wondered how long it would be before she was back to her old self. He knew Franchette was a nervous soul. Was it possible she might have finally snapped? He let go of the alarming thought immediately.
“Binary suns are the most common star system observed in the universe,” Michael continued. “And after tracking the orbit of what I am now saying is the small twin to our star, it has become clear to me that it has passed through the solar system many times over.”
“What does Doctor Ferrara say about your theories?” Stella asked, emphasizing the last word.
“Caterina died in a car accident a year ago,” Michael replied.
“Do you believe her death was an accident, Doctor Boulos?” Uncle Wanganeen asked.
Michael turned to meet the old man's steady gaze. “Do you think she was murdered?” Penny asked him. “Over the past decade, there have been many astronomers found dead before their time, or who have simply vanished and never been heard from again.”
“But how come we don't hear about this from other astronomers?” Matthew asked. “Are they all scared? Or do you think they are whispering among themselves and just don't think to include us?”
“The space agencies never say a word. My information is based on my own observations, Caterina's report, and Karl’s calculations. I haven't had the opportunity to present my findings—and now I never will.”
“We're going to need to find someplace safe, aren't we?” Stella asked him.
“I think those of us already prepared for this, stand the best chance of surviving,” Michael said quietly avoiding her gaze. “Those who have access to a reinforced underground shelter.”
“That isn't us then,” Franchette said with a tone of resignation.
“Dad had a few ideas,” Storm ventured. He looked around the room.
“We're listening,” Michael told him.
“He suggested we are best to locate a refuge chamber in a mine. They are built deep underground and are stocked with provisions.”
Michael looked up. “Where's the nearest mine with refuge chambers?”
“He mentioned Capria Slopes,” Storm said.
“That's a long way from here,” Stella told him.
“Not so far,” Matthew said. “We might do it in four hours. What kind of provisions do they have in those chambers? Did Peter give you any idea?”
“Enough to last a group of miners a few days,” Storm said, feeling defeated.
“You realize this will take us longer to prepare for than just a few days,” Michael said. “We may need to be underground for a month.”
“It's hopeless then,” Franchette said.
“Only when you are dead!” Aunty Wanganeen interjected, glaring at Franchette. “There's always hope if you are alive.”
Startled by the old lady, Michael felt ashamed at his own despondency and that of the group. She was right. They could not give up. He turned to his wife.
“We'll need medical supplies, won't we, Franchette?”
“Oh, yes,” his wife said, sitting up in her chair. “The surgery is well stocked with basics.” She frowned and tapped the arms of the chair. “I could make up a list, but they wouldn’t allow me to just walk in and take whatever I want.”
Storm stood up. “Give me a key and I'll go in. I can stay with Dad. I could break-in after midnight. After security does its check.”
“Oh, yes,” Franchette said with a snort of derision, suddenly animated by the discussion. “Then you are arrested for breaking and entering.”
“Not if you tell me where I can find everything,” Storm replied quietly. “I can be in and out very quickly.”
“But, then they will arrest me too,” Franchette replied shaking her head.
“No, they won't, Franchette,” Michael put his hand on her arm.
Franchette chewed on her fingernails.
“How would you know, Michael?” She asked with an edge of bitterness. “I’m a medical doctor and know how the police act much better than you do. Stuck on your mountain top.”
Stella looked at Storm with a mix of fear and pride inside.
“Be careful, son,” she told him. “Don't get yourself arrested again.”
“Storm will be all right,” Summer said. “You will, won't you, bro?”
“Sure, Sum,” he said, grinni
ng at his sister. “You can count on it.”
“I am!” Summer replied.
“We all are,” Matthew said.
38
Fighting Doubt
The air was heavy with the fragrance of the lemon eucalyptus coming off the ancient solitary gum tree that stood across the road from Aunty and Uncle's house. They embraced. The moment would have been almost too perfect a month ago. That was before the meeting with Martyn. That didn't matter though. Everything he had experienced in the days leading up to this time only made the need he had for her, right then and there, so much stronger. He pressed her against the bark.
“So you did miss me?” She gasped. Her hands gripped his arms tightly. She brushed her lips against his.
“Course I did,” he told her. The passion he felt for her was overwhelming and he tried to overcome her resistance. But, she wouldn't allow it, and bewildered, he released her and stepped back.
“Why not?” He asked her.
“I'm sorry. I don't feel... Everything's gone, Storm. The Observatory. Dad's cottage. His files, papers, everything...”
“Your parents are alive. Isn’t that what matters most?” He asked.
She shook her head.
“I saw the fire on TV when I was at the airport,” he said.
“Did you call Alistair?”
“I did, and he drove me back home,” he said. “All the way from Canberra. Pen—a meteor hit a car ahead of us.” He regretted telling her the moment he finished the sentence.
“My God!”
“We saw them in the sky most of the time we were on the road.”
“Thank God they've stopped,” Penny replied. “Did you meet Dad's friend?”
“No,” Storm said.
He was relieved she hadn't asked him about the car's occupants. No matter what he did, he could not un-see what happened to Shane and Candice.
“What about Dad’s colleague?” She persisted.
Jubilee Year Page 18