Max Arena (20 page)

‘
Well, that’s the whole story,’ Max finally
said. ‘It’s not a lot of words, but it
is the story of my life. It’s why I’m here and
what my destiny is and for what it’s worth, I’m sorry you’ve all
been dragged into this. If I could do this my way, I’d tell
Macktidas there’s only
one
duel. Me and him and the winner gets to stay alive and
leave everyone else and everything else out of it. None of you
deserve to be part of this. This whole thing is personal and that’s
how it should have stayed.’

‘
Yeah, well, it didn’t turn out that way
did it?’ Kris said evenly without raising her gaze from the
ground.

This time silence smothered the room. Elsa
bowed her head and fidgeted her fingers in her lap. Joe flicked a
glance across the room to Abdullah, who snapped his own hazel eyes
up towards his before latching them onto Kris’. At the back of the
couch, Peter took a single step forward to where Kris sat, his own
eyes lasered onto the back of Kris’ head. Max broke the
pause.

‘
No, it did not
turn out that way, Kris,’ he started, ‘and like I
said, if…’

‘
There’s no “
ifs
”, Max,’ Kris shot back, her tone notching up and her face
coming back up to look squarely at him. ‘There’s only
now
and there’s only reality and we
have to deal with it.’

Silence again. Peter took another step
forwards and looked up to Max, who shook his head once, short and
sharp. Peter nodded and settled in place. Max spoke
again.

‘What exactly do you mean by that, Kris?’ he
asked.

‘It means, I
could sit here and whinge that we're all going to die because of
you
, couldn't I?  I could blame
you
and your
alien family for all this and that
my
family is in danger
because of
you
.  That would be easy and then we can all
get angry that the rest of us don't deserve this mess and that you
should just run off and sort this thing out yourself and let the
rest of us live in peace. We could all do that couldn’t we and that
would be fair, except it
isn’t
fair, is it?’

Another
pause.

Max gently
pushed on. ‘If that's not fair, Kris, then what is?’ he asked
carefully.

'None of this.
None of this is fair. It's all about as unfair as it gets,' Kris
grated out, her face crunching even more tightly into a frown as
she shook her head, her blonde hair flailing about.  'The
reality is that none of this is your fault. It’s not anybody’s
fault and we've got to stop looking for someone to blame.
 
I've
got to stop looking for someone to blame.'

At these last
words, Elsa's head lifted and she slowly turned her gaze sideways
to look at her new friend on the opposite end of the couch.
 Kris was now hunched right over, her arms folded firm against
her chest and her knees up hard, her eyes shut tight as angst
ratcheted across her face.  Elsa looked up to Max and found
him looking right back at her.  He sharply shook his head,
suggesting she not slide across to comfort Kris yet.  This had
to play out.

'Tell us what's
on your mind, Kris?’ Max asked. ‘Tell us what you need us to
know?'

Joe slid his
gaze sideways to Max to briefly appraise him, quickly studying his
face and finding nothing but sincerity. He then slid his gaze back
to Kris who spoke again, her voice trembling and hard.

'It's time we
all accepted that this is not going away,’ she pushed out. ‘This is
real
.  This is our life now and if we're looking for a
way out,
you’re
actually our life line and not the one to
blame.  
You’re
the one we need.  
You’re
the
solution and I need to get on board with that.'  Kris sharply
lifted her head, her eyes snapping open to look straight up at Max,
who remained steadfast and honed right back into Kris' eyes, which
now burned brightly inside her deep shadows.  'My family is in
danger out there and at the end of this they might all get killed.
 Hell, I might die
and
all of you, but you’re our hero,
Max and we all need to work together to make sure you’re ready.
 
We
need to help you and I need to accept that and
start pulling my weight, starting right now.  Right here.
 Right now.'

Max stood as
firm as granite, unmoving, holding Kris' fierce gaze and then,
after the pause had lasted long enough to let Kris' words and
emotion sink in, he slowly nodded to her.  She nodded back,
her lips tight and her jaw set.  Max then flicked his eyes
across to Elsa who acknowledged the cue and carefully moved along
the couch to gently place an arm around Kris' shoulders.  Kris
broke her fix on Max and immediately unwound, sinking her face into
Elsa’s shoulder and quietly sobbing. Behind the couch, Peter took
two steps back as the tension in the room dissipated.

'Max,' Joe said
as he stepped in closer, 'thank you for diffusing the
situation.’

Max glanced at
Joe long enough to acknowledge his Prime Minister’s comment and
then he looked back to Elsa and Kris. ‘I didn’t do anything,’ he
said. ‘Kris let it out herself.’

‘To the
untrained eye perhaps, however, I know skill when I see it.'

Max broke his
gaze off his wife and Kris and looked askew at Joe who
continued.

'Whether you
realise it or not,’ Joe said, ‘you in fact helped Kris unleash her
deepest fears.  By being direct and not being over bearing,
you supported her and let her know it was time to let out her pain
and that with her new friends around her, it would be okay.'

Max looked up
to see Elsa and Kris rise together from the couch to walk across to
the door.  Peter stepped aside and opened the portal for them,
talking into his wrist microphone as he did to let his team know
they were on the move.  Max did not turn back to Joe, but
instead let his gaze fall to the floor.

'Something
happened tonight, Joe' he said.

'What
happened?' Joe asked quietly.

'I felt
compassion for someone other than someone in my family,' he said.
 'Kris' pain was obvious and it hit me, hard and I've never
reacted that way.'

'We're all
going through new sensations right now, Max,' Joe said.
 'These times are unprecedented and new to all of us.
 Even for Abdullah and I who have experienced the turmoil of
war, this is new.  I think we can all expect to undergo some
changes before this is over.  I also think that if we do not
change in some way we will not have any hope of success.'

Max looked up.
 Joe looked back, his pipe resting in his hand against his
chest.  The grandfatherly look was back, but the eyes still
shone bright.

Joe continued.
 'Go and reflect on tonight, Max,' he said, 'and then get some
rest.  Kris will be alright in the morning, but I have a
strong suspicion she is going to push you quite hard.  I might
even come out and watch the sport?'

Max smiled with
Joe and nodded.  ‘Okay. I’ll do that. Thanks for the
talk.'

'And thank you
again for sharing your story tonight.  I also have plenty to
reflect on, but now with the truth in my care, I feel more
confident of where we need to go.'

Max nodded
again and walked off.  Peter fell in step with him and
together the two men left the room.  Just before Peter stepped
through the door, he glanced back at Joe who nodded and held up his
pipe in return.

'He is an
excellent sentinel your Peter,' Abdullah said from his chair where
he still sat amidst his robes.  'You are fond of him?'

'Yes, I am,'
Joe replied as he placed his pipe back between his teeth and moved
across to sit at the end of the couch where Kris had been, closer
to Abdullah.  'Laying down his life to save another is not a
cliché for him.  It is very real.  I've seen him do it
and I am thankful that he and Max have struck up a friendship
because I can now see Peter would do the same for Max and his
family.'

'You have a
remarkable ability to bring the best out in people, Joseph.  I
see it again and again and you have done the same with Max and
Elsa.  They trust you implicitly and that is good because they
deserve your trust in return.'

Joe smiled and
leaned back against the couch, taking a fake draw on his pipe.
 'Abdullah, you have exceptional skill in creeping up on a
topic.  I can sense there is more on your mind than discussing
my charm.  As you well know, you can be plain with me.'

This time
Abdullah smiled, the shadows folding across his bronzed face.
 'Thank you for the invitation to speak and I suspect that
what is on my mind has been on your’s for just as long. I now also
see evidence that this issue is beginning to dawn on everyone in
the group.’

‘And what issue
is that?’ Joe asked, still puffing away on his dormant pipe and
looking across at Abdullah from beneath arched brows.

‘Max alone is
not our solution. He is one man, albeit half-alien and extremely
impressive, but he is still just one man and that is not enough to
defeat this peril that lays siege to us. Max needs
us
as
much as we need
him
. Kris spoke passionately of it tonight
as she released some of her fears, that we need to be a team
supporting Max and her passion is well placed. You have all been
together for a little over two weeks. However, in the few days that
I have been with you all, I have not seen any bonds that bind you
all together. You have appeared to me as a group of strong-willed
individuals, very capable in your own ways, but not bound as a team
and that is what is needed most. A team, but tonight we all
witnessed a spark. A glimpse of awakening of what you all need to
be to even dare dream of success. While I am thankful to Max for
sharing his secret, I am most thankful for Kris’ passion. She has
proven that hope is stirring within you. You are finding your
courage and preparing to stand up to the doom that stalks us. I
will sleep a little more easily tonight knowing that you all may
have just taken your first, tentative steps on the path to becoming
a team.’

Joe nodded
silently as he held his pipe in place in his mouth with one hand.
‘You know,’ he started, ‘we can never be a team without
you
,
my friend? I can only bring them together so much. We need
your
wisdom and guidance and more than anything, your
spirituality to glue us in place. I am a statesman with the best of
intentions, but you, my friend, you are the disciple of life and
all its mystery. We need you to lead us into the jaws of doom. As
you say, we cannot hope to succeed if we are not a team, but I say
to you that we cannot hope to be a team without you leading us.

Abdullah’s
hazel eyes glittered beneath his dark brow, his white Keffiyeh
framing his face and radiating the slight gloom away. His gaze held
unblinking for a few moments and then he relented. Closing his
eyes, Abdullah gently nodded once, the movement more like a slight
bow.

In return, Joe
nodded also. He then turned his gaze to the empty fireplace and
shifting his pipe between his lips, lost himself in dark thoughts
of the troubles and pain that pillaged the world outside as he sat
in safe silence.

Noon, 16
^th
July (4 days later).
Skirmish

Max looked
around the small living room and again noted the liberal placement
of family photos. The room was as much a shrine to Kris’ family as
it was a place to relax and catch up, just as they were doing right
now with Kris’ parents in their suburban home in Brisbane.

‘That one’s my
favourite over there,’ Kris’ father said from the centre of the
couch, his wrinkled and spotted hand pointing a finger towards the
sideboard across the room.

Max turned to
look and amongst the plethora of other photos crammed into every
available space, he found a picture of what looked like a skinny
young, blonde haired girl in a red sports uniform.

‘Stop it, Dad!’
Kris chirped, elbowing her father in the ribs from where she sat
next to him. ‘I didn’t come all the way here to get embarrassed by
you. You do that every time I bring people over.’

‘She’s right,
dear,’ Kris’ Mum said from the opposite side of Kris’ father,
‘besides, if you really want to embarrass her, you should get
everyone to look at that one over there.’

Max glanced
around and found Kris’ mother pointing to a side table with a
teenage looking Kris in a school uniform smiling away and proudly
showing off her dental braces.

Elsa giggled
from the chair next to Max, forcing Kris to shoot her a not so
friendly look. Elsa shrugged meekly, but the smirk stayed well and
truly in place.

‘That’s it,’
Kris said abruptly, making to get up. ‘We’re out of here. I love
you guys, but I didn’t come here to get...’

‘Oh, hush,’
Kris’ mother said, ‘and sit down. I’m going to make tea. Orders,
please?’

Kris’ mother
stood up and looked around.

‘White with
two, please?’ Elsa asked.

Max shook his
head.

Kris’ mother
turned to Peter who was pretending to stand from idly in a far
corner of the room. He also shook his head and held a hand up.

‘Black, no
sugar,’ Kris said.

Kris turned to
her daughter and frowned. ‘When did you stop taking milk?’ she
said. ‘Milk’s good for you.’

‘Mum, I stopped
having milk in my tea when I was sixteen,’ Kris replied, pulling a
face. ‘You say that every time and while you’re in the kitchen, I
think you better get Max something to eat. It’s been at least an
hour since he devoured anything, so he’s probably starving.’

Kris’ mother
turned to look at Max, who looked back a little uncertainly. Max
failed to articulate anything and so Kris jumped in.