Diamond Sky (Diamond Sky Trilogy Book 1) (13 page)

‘Just try not to forget about your day job,’ she told him.
She turned to leave, but stopped briefly in the doorway. ‘On second thoughts,
do let me know how you get on with these blood tests. If there is some kind of
pathogen that can create a smart snake, we could do a lot worse than isolate it
and add it to the town’s water supply. Anything that raises the IQ of the
bogans
around here would be
mightily handy.’

‘Goodbye,
Emmy
,’ he said. ‘And
don’t forget to take your prejudices with you when you leave.’

Her
prejudices?
She knew
Charlie was joking with her, but he certainly knew which buttons to press.
After leaving him to finish his work she went to call on the houseguests. The
Americans had woken in a terrible state and Mike in particular was suffering
from an even fouler mood following the double blow of his parking ticket and
DUI charge. To cheer him up, she was going to give him exactly what he wanted.
She was going to let him take a ride in her machine.

***

Lucy felt foolish going back to Mindy and asking to
extend her room for a couple more nights. It had crossed her mind that the
mechanic was playing her for a mug, but she thought it prudent not to pry too
deeply into local matters. For all she knew; Mindy and the mechanic could have
been related and with that in mind she decided not to ask any questions unless
the information was offered to her freely. As it turned out, Mindy was to offer
her something a lot more interesting than mere small town gossip.

‘You’re offering me a job?’ Lucy asked. ‘You do realise that
I will still be leaving here on Monday.’

‘I’m not asking you to commit your life to the place. No
contract, no obligation, just a couple of shifts to help me out and give you
something to do. We don’t have a
skimpies
night so
you won’t have to take your shirt off. What do you say; it’s certainly more fun
than paying rent?’

‘I don’t know. I did a bit of bar work when I was at
college, but that was a long time ago.’

‘No worries, this place is so quiet during the day that you
will have plenty of time to get back into the swing of it.’

Mindy offered Lucy her most enticing smile, which she was
finding increasingly hard to resist.

‘If it is so quiet, why do you need me?’

‘I need you precisely because it is so quiet. You’re not the
only one who gets bored around here. Come on, it will be fun.’

Lucy tried to think of anything else she could do to fill
her time; she came up with nothing.

‘Okay, but don’t hold it against me if I break the odd glass
or two.’

They finally shook on a deal. She agreed to complete two
shifts, each in exchange for one night’s full board in the penthouse. Mindy set
her to work straight away. The first customer in was Ned who had come to
deliver some meat for the kitchen and upon seeing Lucy decided to stay for a
beer. He sat down on a stool at the bar.

‘
Gidday
, the name was Lisa, wasn’t
it?’

‘Actually, it’s Lucy,’ she politely corrected him. ‘Like the
Beatles song.’

‘
Eleanor Rigby
?’

‘You know the one. Now what will you have to drink, Ted?’

He eyed her suspiciously, but soon relaxed into a satisfied
smile.

‘Ted; I like it. I see what you’ve done there. You’re going
to fit in just fine around here. Just give me a pint of my usual.’

She quickly looked around for Mindy, but her new boss had
popped out the back on an errand. Ned was deliberately avoiding eye contact and
offering her no clue whatsoever. Then she glanced across the bar. There was
only one beer on tap; the local specialty. She picked up an empty glass from
under the bar and began to pour the drink.

‘Steady on,
darlin
’, you’re not
serving a
pom
, you know.’

She looked down and saw that half of the glass had been
taken up with a thick, frothy head. It looked more like an ice cream sundae
than a beer. Rather than trying to salvage the drink, she quickly poured it
down the sink and started again.

Ned leaned forward over the bar and placed his right hand on
her wrist. It was covered with grime and Lucy thought about all of the animal
carcasses the man might have touched that day, but she resisted the urge to
push him away. He turned her forearm slightly, lessening the angle at which she
held the glass and rolled her arm back into position as the liquid neared the
rim. Together, they pulled the perfect pint of beer.

‘Too easy,’ said Ned, returning to his stool. ‘I knew you
would get there in the end.’

‘Thanks,’ she replied. ‘That will be six dollars, please.’

He looked over his shoulders and then leaned forward
slightly to check the door behind the bar. Mindy was still in the kitchen.

‘I can tell that you’ve still got a lot to learn. You see,
Mindy normally lets me have the first on the house. It’s her way of thanking me
for delivering the meat. Did she not tell you that?’

‘No, she did not,’ said Mindy, returning from the kitchen.
‘You have to be very careful around this one, Lucy. I keep a shotgun under the
bar. If he tries anything funny, feel free to shoot him.’

Ned put on his best hurt, innocent look, but he knew that he
had been busted. Of course, it never hurt to try. He reached into his pocket
and pulled out a ten dollar bill, which he handed to Lucy.

‘Get one for yourself too.’

‘Gee, thanks. This should just about get me a half of lager;
my favourite. However did you know?’

Ned was not amused, but Mindy expressed her pleasure by
giving her new employee a friendly rub on the back.

‘You’re doing great,’ she told Lucy.

Ned took his drink and slouched back in his seat. It was the
gait of a man familiar with defeat.

‘Cheer up, mate,’ Mindy told him. ‘Your steaks have been
going down a treat recently. My customers especially like the kangaroo. If you
keep providing me with that sort of quality, I may just let you have one on the
house sometime.’

‘I look forward to it,’ he replied. ‘Just let me know what
you need. I’ve already used up my current stock, but I should be getting a new
delivery in any day now.’

Mindy gave Lucy a knowing wink.

‘I’ve heard rumours about these deliveries you are always
talking about. I’m especially impressed by the way that your supplier always
seems to come under cover of the night and when Lucas is off duty or otherwise
engaged.’

‘I don’t know what you are talking about.’

He raised his glass to his lips and took a long, satisfied
swig on its contents. As he did so, another customer entered the bar. It was
Harry Black, uncle of Lucas.

Harry was a retired school teacher. When he had finally
given up the classroom, he took a lump sum out of his retirement fund and used
it to buy some animals. He had a goat, some wallabies and a coop full of
chickens. It was not much, but it kept him occupied and to the few local kids
that lived in town it was the closest thing to a petting zoo. A more cynical
man might have spotted the opportunity to make some money, but to Harry, seeing
the children smiling was payment enough. On this day, however, his mood was
anything but jovial.

‘Double whisky straight,’ he said, as he approached the bar.

He sat down on a stool next to Ned. Mindy made no effort to
pour the drink, leaving it instead to Lucy. There
were
no optics, so she had to use an old fashioned spirit measure. She spilt some
over the side of the measure and felt it run down her hand. After placing the
glass in front of Harry, she licked the excess from her fingers. It tasted foul
and made her think of the mechanic. For all that she knew the entire town was
full of alcoholics.

‘Something wrong, Harry; you seem awfully flustered?’ asked
Mindy.

The new customer shook his head, almost despairingly. He was
a stout man and those who knew him would describe him as content with his lot
in life. “No worries” was a term perhaps a little over used in these parts, but
it fit Harry perfectly. Upon entering the bar, however, he seemed on edge; the
redness of his face hinting more towards a high blood pressure than a warmth of
spirit.

‘I’ve only gone and lost my entire coop,’ he said.

‘The chickens?’ replied Ned. ‘What was it; dingoes?’

Harry shrugged.

‘It beats me what it was. There’s no damage to the coop
itself or any of the locks. It’s like they just vanished into thin air.’

Ned nodded with a look of wisdom that was way beyond his
reach. Awareness has an awful habit of making people realise how little they
actually know. The bigger the world becomes, the greater the mystery held
within. In knowing nothing, Ned thought he knew it all.

‘Sounds like aliens. I heard them folks up at the
observatory made contact quite recently. They have some experts up there now
who have flown in all the way from America.’

‘Why would aliens take chickens?’ asked Lucy, barely able to
keep the amusement from showing in her face.

Mindy gave her a sharp look. It was not good manners to insult
the customers. Having a little fun with them was fine provided that one gave no
greater than one received. Insulting their intelligence, however, was
completely off limits.

‘That’s what the experts have come to find out,’ replied
Ned, completely oblivious to the joke. ‘It’s not for you or me to speculate
over the workings of the extra terrestrial mind.’

This time Lucy merely nodded with what she hoped was an
expression of rapt awe. When she had started her day, she could never have
known the incredible secrets that a small town barmaid can become privy to. She
had only been in the job for twenty five minutes and already she had learned of
disappearing chickens and an impending alien invasion. With four hours and
thirty five minutes left of her shift, she braced herself for an eventful
afternoon.

Chapter 13

‘Are you sure this is safe?’

‘Compared to warfare; I would say that it is.’

‘What the hell is that supposed to mean?’

‘Well, you know; everything is relative. There is certainly
less risk than if you were being shot at, but it’s also a lot more dangerous
than marching, for instance.’

Emmy
was delighting in toying with
Capt. Peters. After the previous day’s debacle, it was good to regain the upper
hand. When put on the spot, all of his macho bravado and arrogance quickly
dissolved. Of course, she did realise that this had more to do with his
hangover than any genuine apprehension about turning himself into her test
subject. If her plan did not work out, there was the danger that she would lose
what little influence she had left.

‘I am just worried that I am not in the best frame of mind
right now. Earlier you thought that I lacked the mental discipline to operate this
technology. What if I lose concentration whilst I’m under? I have to be certain
that I can find my way back.’

‘Don’t worry,’
Emmy
assured him.
‘Didn’t you drive back from town this morning? If you’re fit enough to operate
a car then you should be able to handle this.’

Mike regretted telling her about his run in with Officer
Black. At least he would not be repeating his mistakes. That cop had certainly
put paid to any hopes he had of actually getting any R&R on this
assignment. As well as an on the spot fine, he was also given a public order
notice barring him from the pub. He could not get hold of more alcohol if he
wanted it.

‘Just give it to me straight. What are the risks?’

‘As far as we are aware, there are none. It takes a lot of
concentration to make the initial leap, but if there are any interruptions to
your thoughts whilst in your astral state you will be pulled straight back into
your body. It’s just like waking from a dream.’

He was unsatisfied with her answer and sought further
assurance to be on the safe side. He had already walked into two ambushes that
day. A third would not be unlucky
so
much as
incredibly stupid.

‘What about the technological factors; if the computer fails
or we suffer a power cut?’

Emmy
could feel the tension rise
in Charlie at the mention of a power cut, but neither of the soldiers picked up
on this.

‘If the circuit trips, a back-up generator will take over.
Whilst some people think the mind can remain in an astral state by willpower
alone, I have seen no evidence to believe that myself. If we pull the plug, you
wake up no differently than if you chose to come back yourself. We usually
limit our trips to very tight timeframes and if I want to pull you out at any
time; I will. It is more disorientating to end a trip this way, but perfectly
safe.’

‘In that case; what are we waiting for?’

Emmy
led Mike over to the matchbox
whilst Charlie and Bradley took positions by the observation monitors.

‘Take off your shirt,’ ordered
Emmy
.

Mike smiled back at her with mischief in his eyes.

‘I bet you’ve wanted to say that ever since I got here.’

She ignored his innuendo. After he disrobed, she attached
some monitors to his chest and instructed him to lie down on the slab.

‘What now?’ he asked. ‘Do you flick a switch to bring about
the separation?’

‘If only it were that simple,’ she replied. ‘I’ll try to
explain this in a way that even you can understand. Have you ever seen those
dumb movies about illegal street racing?’

‘Seen the movies - I’ve lived the life. Back home...’

‘I’m really not interested,’ she said, cutting him off,
abruptly. ‘All you need to know is that when I do flick the switch, it will be
like a shot of nitro into your gas tank. It will only work if you are already
moving. You have to start the engine yourself, so to speak.’

‘It sounds simple enough. Have you got any tips?’

She glanced back to Charlie and Bradley at the monitoring
station. The American was concentrating on familiarising himself with the
readouts, but
Emmy’s
colleague had his eyes on her.
He knew she was up to mischief, but could not figure out what form that
mischief would take. She offered him a sly wink before turning back to Capt.
Peters.

‘The important thing to remember is that entering into a
trance is not the same as falling asleep. Counting sheep will get you nowhere.
I always find it best to recite a poem or a lullaby to keep my focus.’

‘I don’t know any poems,’ said Mike.

‘What about songs? Surely that’s just poetry married to
music. Try reciting the lyrics to your favourite song.’

He looked at her, sceptically.

‘You’re not just trying to get me singing so you can laugh
at me, are you?’

She pressed her hand against her chest with feigned
astonishment at the implication.

‘I am a scientist; I do not play games. If it makes you more
comfortable, you do not have to sing out loud.’

‘Okay, but this better work.’

He lay down flat on the slab and
Emmy
watched as the soldier closed his eyes and tried to enter a trance by singing
to himself. As his head began to sway from side to side,
Emmy
was unable to contain her giggles. Mike stopped immediately.

‘I knew it! You think this is all some game. If you do not
start co-operating soon and I have nothing to report back to base, they will
simply take the whole project off you and move it directly under military
control. That is not good for you, for me or for anybody in this world that
actually cares about liberty.’

‘Okay, okay, save the big homecoming speech. You got my
vote. I’ll help you to experience your first separation, but I’m setting it to
minimal power, which means you’ll have a short tether of only one to two feet.
Try and go any further and you’ll be pulled back into your body. Do you
understand?’

‘Yeah, I get it. Just cut the crap this time. What do I need
to do?’

She instructed him to lie back down and then she talked him
through the basic breathing exercises she and Charlie used to help ease them
into a trance. Very slowly, he started to feel his body fall numb, from the
toes working up to his head. In the distance, he could hear a voice counting
down from ten. When the numbers reached three, the voice faded away and was
replaced by a sudden and powerful rush like water being forced through his
ears.

Then he was floating.

Darkness was all around and he tried to open his eyes only
to discover that he had no eyes to open. There was no sound, no smell, no taste
and he had no arms to reach out and touch with. He remained suspended in the
void for what seemed like a minute before awareness started to return to him,
though not in a familiar form. There was a light beside him that filled a space
the size of an average human, but seemed to possess a depth that defied the
dimensions of reality. It was like infinity wrapped up in a box.

Then he was awake.

‘What happened?’ he asked. ‘How did I get back so quickly?’

‘The return trip is always faster,’ replied
Emmy
. ‘It takes a great deal of energy for the mind to
break free of the body. Nature will always resist any attempts not to follow
the natural order. When the order is restored, nature offers no resistance at
all.’

She unfastened him. He raised his body up and swung his legs
around so that he could sit upright.

‘How long was I under; one, two minutes?’

Emmy
laughed.

‘Try ten seconds. Like I told you earlier; I would let you
experience the separation only. We need to start you off on baby steps until
your body and mind have time to acclimatise to the changes in your perception.’

‘No way was that just ten seconds.’

He looked over to Bradley expecting his friend to contradict
the scientist, but he did not.

‘Really?’ he asked
Emmy
, with a
feeling of complete incredulity.

‘It takes some getting used to. It’s also a little scary.
One could get lost for hours or even days without anybody noticing, because
back here in the real world no time has passed at all.’

Her words worried the captain.

‘Lost; I thought you said it was safe?’

‘I was speaking figuratively, of course.’

He nodded, but was clearly still unsure as to whether he
could trust her.
Emmy
peeled off the various
heart
and body monitors that she had earlier attached to him
and handed him back his shirt. He took it in his hand and pushed himself off
the slab. When his feet touched the ground, he was suddenly overcome with
extreme nausea and dizziness. The room began to spin and he dropped to his
knees before vomiting all over the floor.

‘I thought you said there would be no side effects,’ said a
concerned Bradley, rising to his feet.

‘There aren’t,’ replied
Emmy
. ‘The
only reaction he is experiencing is to the alcohol in his system. His body may
have appeared to be at rest whilst his mind wandered, but the process is still
physically exhausting. No doubt the response would have been the same if he had
been doing circuit training in the state he was in.’

‘In that case, do you mind if I sit this one out?’ asked
Bradley. ‘There is no need for us both to make ourselves sick.’

‘Sure,’ replied
Emmy
. ‘Just so
long as you and your friend clean up his mess before you leave. There’s a mop
and bucket in the storage cupboard over there.’

She sat down next to Charlie at the bank of monitors and
waited for the men to finish cleaning up and leave before discussing the
session with her colleague.

‘What are your thoughts?’ she asked him.

‘It may be advisable for us to get some air fresheners in
here. Other than that, I don’t think we achieved an awful lot.’

‘On the contrary, I think that this afternoon was a
resounding success. There was no reason why I could not have sent him to Jupiter,
but as it stands, he is well and truly enrolled on the novice course. It will
be weeks before he is in a position to report anything useful to his superiors.
With any luck, they will have lost interest by then.’

‘Do you really think that will happen?’

‘No, but a girl is still allowed to dream. The most
important thing was that Mike’s first trip was a bad one. Perhaps now he will
not be so cocksure of himself and let me dictate the pace of this project.’

Charlie nodded his approval.

‘So what do we do now? I really don’t fancy returning to
work with the smell of sick in the air. It is going to be a good few hours
before that
clears
.’

‘Well, then I guess we have the night off?’

Once more Charlie nodded, but this time he had an idea.

‘Do you want to go to the pub?’ he asked.

‘You have got to be kidding. I may as well just paint a
target on my chest and go stand at the end of a firing range as go there.’

‘Don’t be so quick to judge people.’

She rolled her eyes at him.

‘I mean it,
Emmy
- you have to
move on sometime. It’s been what; a year since you last went to the
Sly
Fox? Attitudes change; you’re probably imagining a whole load of stuff that
simply isn’t there.’

‘And what if I’m not?’

‘There’s only one way to find out. You may actually have
some fun. We could also invite our American friends.’

‘Haven’t you heard; they’re barred.’

‘That’s exactly why we should invite them. Surely you don’t
want to pass on the chance to rub their faces in it. Remember, they did make a
real mess on our floor.’

Emmy
took a deep breath to try and
cleanse her head of any negativity. This was a big step to take and if it did
not work out; things would only get worse for her. One of the reasons why she
threw herself so deeply into her work was to help her get over the previous year.
Back then, Lucas had been her rock. She wondered if she should give him a call
and let him know her plans.

‘Okay,’ she told Charlie, ‘but you’re buying the first
round.’

He could not have been happier.