“Sir, until Councillor Okada has returned to Hamamachi, I must continue in my role as his translator,” she said.
"I see. Well, the plan is to drop off our trade goods, pick up Hamamachi’s, and make the return journey.” King’s eyes suddenly narrowed. “Now that I come to think of it, with regards to you two, since Mrs. Jones has family there, you’re welcome to stay there until the next delivery run," he replied.
I looked at him in surprise – he was going let us stay behind if we chose? What was this, compassion and understanding from Lieutenant King?
“No thank you,” my wife replied without hesitation, “We will return with you, Sir.”
“Suit yourself,” King said, and then took his leave without so much as a goodbye.
After he had gone, Nanako took my hand, her eyes wide and fearful. "We can't go, Ethan, we just can't."
"We don't have a choice when it comes to the Custodians," I said sadly.
"Can we run away then, just the two of us? Get out of the city and go somewhere, anywhere but Hamamachi."
"This town's a fortress designed to do one thing," I answered gently, "and that's to lock its population inside. Except for the foragers, there's no way out."
"Then you have to feign sickness, or break your leg or something," she said, growing frantic, "Please Ethan, find a way out of this. It is too dangerous for you to return to Hamamachi."
“That’s not going to work.”
“Ethan, you got shot in Hamamachi, remember? Someone there tried to kill you. If you go back there, they will try again! You can’t go back.”
“I understand that, Nanako, but King’s given us a direct order. There’s no way around this.”
“No! I can’t face this, not again!” she said.
I tried to put my arm around her to console her, but she slipped out of my reach and fled into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
I stood there, wondering what I should do, but the sound of her mournful sobbing broke my heart, so I opened the door and slipped in after her.
She was kneeling on the floor with her arms against the far wall and breathing so rapidly that she was gasping for air as she wept. If I couldn't calm her quickly she would hyperventilate in no time.
I pulled my arm out of the sling, knelt down beside her and wrapped myself around her back, ignoring the pain in my chest. "It's gonna be okay, Nanako, you have to trust me."
She turned around within my arms and took my face in her hands. "Do you have any idea what it's like to be happily married for just six short months, and then they bring your husband home on a stretcher one day, with such a terrible head wound and covered in so much blood that you can't even recognise him? Can you imagine what that was like?"
“No, I can't,” I replied, for I couldn't even begin to visualize what she had gone through. The last two years had been hard on me, but nothing like what she'd been through. I looked at her distraught face and it cut me up inside.
"Ethan, I can't go through that again, I just can't," she said as she broke into tears again, burying her head and arms against my chest.
I remembered how my father said she kept panicking when I couldn't remember her after she brought me to the hospital here in Newhome; sometimes panicking so badly the nurses had to tear her away from me. But this time it was different, because I was with her now and I wasn't gonna let go of her for any reason. So I just held her, and whispered to her reassuringly, "We're gonna be okay, Nanako, I'm never gonna leave you again." And we stayed there on that cold bathroom floor for a long time as I comforted her the best I could.
And it was with quantifiable sorrow that I realised the joy we had felt earlier at the prospect of repainting the flat had completely vanished.
Nanako had composed herself – well, outwardly anyway – by the time Shorty rang a couple of hours later and reported Leigh had been released from prison. I asked Shorty to bring him over, and then rang David and Michal and invited them over too.
Michal and David arrived first. Michal commandeered the sofa and dwarfed it with his large frame. David leaned against the wall next to the TV – I think he was trying to hide in that corner – but was so nervous he couldn’t stop fidgeting. Nanako and I sat on the edge of the bed, and to be honest, I was dreading this pending confrontation between David and Leigh. It could get pretty ugly.
Ten minutes later Shorty knocked on the door and entered with a somewhat dour Leigh trailing behind him. Shorty grabbed one of the two dining table chairs, but Leigh just stood beside the table and stared at Nanako and me. Although he’d only been in prison for a few days, he had lost weight. And his outlook on life had changed too.
“What kind of drongo forgets they got married?” Leigh said finally, looking me in the eye. It would appear Shorty filled him in on current events on the walk here.
“Welcome back, Leigh,” I replied dryly.
“He has amnesia,” Nanako pointed out defensively. I took her hand in an attempt to encourage her not to take offence at anything Leigh said.
“Whatever,” Leigh snapped, and to me he added, “You should have left me there, Jones.”
“For another six years?”
“Better there than here,” he grumbled.
“I can have you put back in if you like.” Sometimes his constant negativity got to me, but honestly, I think it was justified on this occasion.
"Suit yourself."
“David has something to say to you, by the way,” I said after a moment’s silence.
“Yeah, like what?” Leigh spat, turning to take in David, who was to all attempts and purposes trying to squirm through the wall and escape into the flat next door.
“Leigh, it was me. I was the one who told them,” David said softly as he looked at the floor.
“Told who what?” Leigh asked, confused.
“The Custodians. I told them about you and Amelia. Look, I’m sorry, I don’t know what came over me. I was angry and jealous and I just blurted it out when I bumped into one of their patrols.”
Leigh’s mouth dropped open and he glanced at the rest of us, thinking this was some kind of a joke. When we returned his gaze with all seriousness, he realised David wasn’t kidding. He exploded into a frenzied rage and flung himself on David, punching and kicking him. David just put his arms around his head and took it without making a sound.
Nanako shook my arm, “Ethan, do something!”
I waited for a few more punches and kicks to land and then asked clearly but softly, “What’s happened to us, guys?”
Leigh pulled his last punch and remained where he was, facing David and panting for breath.
“We’ve always been so close. We’ve prided ourselves on being closer than brothers, yeah? But look at us now.” I looked at Shorty, Leigh and David. “We’re letting ourselves be torn apart by jealousy, resentment, hatred and unforgiveness. And yeah, David stuffed up big time, and he’ll have to carry this on his conscience for the rest of his life – and that’s a heavy burden. But haven’t we all stuffed up at some stage or another?”
“Jones, in case you missed it, Amelia’s dead ‘cause of him!” Leigh snapped back.
I pointed my finger at Leigh. “Don’t you dare go placing all the blame for her death on David. If you hadn't been sleeping with her in the first place, the Custodians wouldn't have executed her and put you in prison. Now don’t get me wrong, I'm not saying I agree with that ludicrous law, ‘cause I don’t, but both you and Amelia knew the risks you were taking when you went down that path, didn’t you?”
Leigh glared at me.
“Answer the question, Leigh.”
“All right! Yes, we knew the risk.”
“And yet you did it anyway. How long did you think you could get away with it before her family realised, huh?” I pressed.
“But it wasn’t them who reported us, it was him!” Leigh shot back, pointing at David. “Someone who was supposed to be my friend.”
“Friends, even family members, make mistakes and do things that hurt one another,” I said, and thought of my father and the terrible damage he inflicted on me and my wife. I realised I should be talking to myself as well as Leigh, but I hadn't reached that point yet. “But we have to somehow find it within ourselves to forgive each other and move on. Not one of us is perfect, Leigh. We five, no, we six," I said, putting my arm around my petite wife, "are a family. Let's not let anything come between us, not anything, not ever."
Leigh glared at David and then at me, and said, “You can't fix something like this with words, Jones.” And he stomped towards the door.
"Be here by five tomorrow morning – Custodian's orders," I shouted after him as he stormed out the door and slammed it behind him.
"That went really well," Shorty murmured. I honestly couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.
Nanako hopped off the bed and grabbed David by the sleeve. “Come on. Let’s put some ice on those bruises.”
All things considering, I guess it went better than I expected. Leigh found out the truth and lashed out at David, but hadn't done any permanent damage to him in the process. How long it would take to mend the rift between them, I couldn't even begin to guess.
When David and Nanako rejoined us, I explained to everyone about our mission to Hamamachi tomorrow, and we discussed the types of dangers we could encounter along the way.
* * *
We left Newhome at six the following morning, while the sun was still low on the horizon. We foragers had been given a modified G-Wagon to drive; it seated five rather than four. Michal was the driver with me beside him to navigate – or rather, be on the lookout for Skel ambushes. To assist me in that task, the Custodians had given me a pair of binoculars, and oh my, they were so much nicer than the ones I hid on the roof of my apartment block. I wondered if the Custodians would let me keep them after this mission. Yeah, right.
Shorty, Leigh, and Nanako sat in the back seat, with Nanako in the middle. A trailer laden with goods and supplies to be traded with Hamamachi was towed by the G-Wagon. A large vinyl bag containing five sets of bows and arrows had also been dumped on the floor between the front and back seats. I was amazed to see that King had caved in to all of my conditions.
Councillor Okada and his large black 4WD came next, with David riding shotgun with him should he need breaks from driving. More items for trade filled the 4WD’s boot. Leigh was still looking daggers at David, so I thought it best to keep them separated for our peace of mind. Plus, David was a better driver and was completely obsessed with the big 4WD and its computerised dashboard.
Bringing up the rear was King and his squad of Custodians, riding in their Bushmaster. One Custodian manned the vehicle’s roof-mounted machine gun, as usual.
Although we needed to travel east and then southeast to get to Hamamachi, I figured that route was too predictable. So we left Newhome via the western gates, and initially headed west, then north, then east, and finally southeast. I also used minor roads rather than the major thoroughfares. Nanako took over giving directions once we got into the country.
The journey of a 180km would have taken only a couple of hours once, but now took five times as long due to the condition of the roads. We had to slow to a virtual crawl to navigate some of the obstacles we encountered. Sometimes we even had to stop and clear them out of the way.
* * *
We hit the outskirts of Hamamachi just after four in the afternoon, after an uneventful journey with zero Skel sightings. My strategy of keeping away from the main thoroughfares seemed to have paid off.
I was hoping that coming back to Hamamachi would trigger more memories of the time I spent here. Memories of Nanako and of how I'd been shot. Though I wasn't looking forward looking over my shoulder every minute because I didn't know who had shot me.
Hamamachi had no walls, just as Nanako had told me. In fact, the town's outskirts were miles and miles of fenced off fields of grazing cows and sheep. These were patrolled by the Hamamachi Militia, who rode horseback or drove 4WD vehicles, and unlike the Custodians, the Militia wore civilian clothes. No one challenged our progress, so I guessed the councillor must have phoned ahead to advise them he was coming.
As we drew closer, we passed farms, orchards, and fully enclosed greenhouse nurseries. We passed a number of Japanese on the road, some walking and others riding horses or bikes. A few bowed respectfully, but most eyed us suspiciously. I guess the armoured Bushmaster made quite an imposing sight.
We finally hit the actual town itself, and unlike Newhome, most of the houses were one or two story townhouses. Many had Japanese rice-paper screens and doors, which were kept safely behind glass so they couldn't be ravaged by the weather. Roofs were typically made of clay tiles that were glazed in blues, greys, greens and even reds. Compared to the dull greys of Newhome, Hamamachi was a treat to our eyes.
Nanako directed us to the town trade centre, the TTC, which was only a couple of streets back from the beach. It was a large two-story building, and was where all trade with neighbouring towns was conducted.
Upon seeing our arrival, a Japanese Militia squad opened tall wooden gates to the left of the building and ushered us into the loading dock. There was a large parking lot to the left of the dock that could accommodate vehicles of any size. Goods were loaded into the TTC at ground level through three roller shutter doors at the far end. Two roller doors were up, letting me see inside a large warehouse filled with row after row of shelves packed with boxes and crates. Two more squads of Militia stood beside the doors.
TTC workers directed us to drive the G-Wagon and 4WD to within a dozen metres of the loading dock. They brought over two small forklift trucks with pallets to collect the items we brought to trade. Councillor Okada got out to oversee the unloading.
The Bushmaster pulled up behind the G-Wagon but left a big enough space for the forklift to get to the trailer. King got out and stood to one side, watching the TTC workers somewhat apprehensively as they began to place the items we brought on the forklift pallets.
The foragers stayed near the G-Wagon, ready to help if needed, but Nanako took me by the hand and led us to stand on the other side of King. There wasn't much I could do with my arm in a sling.
Councillor Okada walked over to join us. "This is the beginning of a grand new era." He smiled proudly. "A time of goodwill and trade between Victoria's two most productive towns."
"What has Newhome sent here for trade?" I asked. I knew Hamamachi would be sending back a batch of Smartphones, but had no idea what we brought. Any questions presented to King and his men before we left were met with disinterested grunts.
"Newhome has sent biologically altered fruit and vegetable seeds, engineered to grow in Australian soil and at greatly increased growth rates," said Counsellor Okada. "Also tens of thousands of embryos of bio-engineered poultry, and a refrigeration-maturation unit to transport them here and mature them later."
I looked at the wooden crates and plastic and metal boxes dockworkers were unloading from the trailer. "Our chickens are that good?" I asked, surprised.
Councillor Okada laughed. "Your geneticists are quite brilliant, Ethan. From just a few hens and roosters they have given us this batch of modified embryos."
"That's incredible. I didn't know Newhome was doing that," I replied as I watched several Japanese men struggle mightily to push and drag the black refrigeration-maturation unit from the trailer onto a pallet. My mind balked at the sheer weight of the thing. It obviously weighed at least 250 kilos.
An uneasy feeling crept into my gut. Why would a refrigeration-maturation unit the size of a small refrigerator weigh so much? What kind of metals had they built it with? Irresistibly curious, I stepped closer and shouted ultrasonically as loud as I could, disguising it as a yawn.
Trying to hear an echo from inside something metal wasn't easy, but with my hearing, I could normally manage if I was close enough. As this was a refrigerator I was expecting to get back an echo indicating steel, copper, aluminium, plastic and fibreglass, but the most notable echo that returned was something far more dense than lead.
It had to be uranium.
In fact, from what I could tell, the guts of the refrigeration-maturation unit had been replaced by a thermonuclear warhead. A hydrogen bomb no doubt. (I'd seen schematics of them in contraband books I'd read while foraging. I was curious about the things that had destroyed our world.)
Special containers with the chicken embryos, which must have perished since there was no refrigeration, were on a shelf above the bomb. If they opened the unit it would still appear to be the real thing.
The Custodians hadn't come here to trade, but to blow Hamamachi off the map.