Lair of the Sentinels

by Geoff Palmer

  They moved to the top of the slope that ran down to the reserve and took cover in some low scrub. They could see Eric setting up a tripod and camera down below, opposite the caravan. In front of him, Alice and Crystal faced each other across one of the reserve’s wooden picnic tables.

  ‘It looks like they’re setting up for an interview. I wonder what that’s about. Pity we can’t get any closer.’

  ‘Maybe can do.’

  Ludokrus darted back and grabbed the remains of an old cassette recorder from one of the junk piles. He punched some keys on the calculator and tapped a blob of nanomachines on to its exposed circuit board. A few seconds later, its built-in microphone came free and fell into his hand.

  ‘Need something to put her in. Small, light, easy to throw.’

  ‘Got it!’ Norman raced back to the resource pit and returned carrying an old tennis ball with a split along one side.

  ‘Perfect.’

  A second blob was at work on the cassette recorder’s speaker, adding an aerial and some circuitry to its base. The microphone now incorporated a power source and sported a metre-long strand of aerial wire hanging from one side. Ludokrus stuffed it into the tennis ball, trailed the wire out behind it, then edged towards the brow of the hill overlooking the caravan and picnic table. He took careful aim and let fly.

  The ball dropped sharply, landing in some scrub to the right of the picnic table. They saw Crystal look up at the faint rustle of undergrowth. Then Alice said something and she turned back.

  ‘Close enough, I think.’

  Ludokrus picked up the modified speaker and turned it on. There was a crackling hiss as he tuned it in, then they heard Crystal saying, ‘Sound check. Testing, two, three, four.’

  ‘All good.’ Eric’s voice. ‘We’re rolling.’

  ‘Yes!’ Coral hissed and gave Ludokrus a high-five.’

  ‘Interview with Alice Jones. Time: the crack of dawn. Date: Sunday, the blah-blah of whatever. Location: the back of beyond.’ Crystal sounded bored and weary. Then she drew a long breath and said in her professional voice, ‘So, Ms Jones, you have some information for us about the Rata meteorite mystery. Why don’t you tell us all about it?’

  Alice fiddled with her necklace. ‘I suppose it really began with the pikelets.’

  ‘Pikelets?’

  ‘Yes. I left a batch out for the tourists — that’s Albert and his niece and nephew. We were quite friendly, you see. My sister’s niece and nephew are going to the same school as his children and—’

  ‘What were you saying about pikelets?’

  ‘I left a plate of them over there on the step outside the caravan. A little treat for them. But when I came back later in the day, the plate was broken and the pikelets were all scattered and pecked by birds. It looked like Albert had just thrown them away.

  ‘I was upset, of course. They were home-made wholemeal pikelets. And the plate was one of my sister’s favourites. I didn’t want to go straight back to the farm, so I went for a walk and got a little lost in the bush. Where the crater is now. That’s when I saw the spaceship.’

  ‘Spaceship?’ Crystal perked up. ‘You saw a spaceship?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Can you describe it?’

  ‘It was like a flying saucer, really. Just like you see in the movies. Three or four metres across and about one-and-a-half metres high.’

  ‘That doesn’t sound very big.’

  ‘That depends on the size of the inhabitants, doesn’t it?’

  ‘Inhabitants? You saw them too?’

  ‘Yes.’

  There was a long pause. Eventually Crystal said, ‘What were they like?’

  ‘I don’t know for sure. I’m guessing they took on a special shape to explore the planet. So they wouldn’t arouse suspicion if they were seen.’

  ‘What shape was that?’

  ‘Well, they looked mice.’

  ‘Mice?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I see.’ There was a long silence. ‘Any particular sort of mice? House mice, field mice, harvest mice ...?’

  ‘I ... I don’t know. Just ordinary looking mice. One fawn, one grey.’

  ‘They weren’t wearing little clothes, were they?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘Did they communicate with you?’

  ‘They couldn’t. They weren’t in a position to.’

  ‘Oh, why was that?’

  ‘Because Albert had them in a cage.’

  ‘A cage?’

  ‘Like a birdcage.’

  ‘Why did he—?’

  ‘I don’t know. I couldn’t ask. I just came across them by chance. He didn’t see me and I was shocked. I didn’t know what was going on.’

  ‘But you’ve seen him since?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘And you haven’t asked him?’

  ‘No. Not after what happened.’

  Crystal gave her a curious look.

  ‘The explosion. Or whatever you want to call it. You’ve seen the crater. That was where the ship was!’

  ‘You said “explosion”. We have a witness who saw the meteorite come down.’

  ‘Yes ... well ... I really can’t comment on that.’

  ‘But you don’t believe it was a meteorite?’

  Alice pursed her lips and shook her head.

  ‘What do you think really happened? Speculate.’

  ‘I think ... I think the spaceship was a reconnaissance craft, sent here to check us out. See what human beings are really like. You know, before establishing proper contact. Learn our language, observe our customs, see how we behave. But something went wrong. Albert — whoever he really is — got wind of them and caught them. Took them prisoner.’

  ‘What on earth for?’

  ‘I don’t know, but they must have had all sorts of advanced technology. That spaceship for a start. I think that’s why they blew it up.’

  ‘Wait a minute, you’re saying they blew up their own ship. Why would they do that?’

  ‘That’s what I couldn’t work out, until I thought about it. Imagine you land on a primitive planet in a fancy ship. You want to go out exploring, but you don’t want to leave your ship in case something happens to you. If you’re caught or killed, the ship’s still there for the local inhabitants to find. So you add a remote control or a timer or something. Perhaps you have to call in every hour and say you’re all right. If you don’t, or if you trigger the remote, the ship self-destructs.’

  ‘And you believe that’s what happened?’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘Isn’t it more likely to have been a meteorite?’

  ‘You said yourself it’s a billion to one to get three of them coming down in the same area.’

  Crystal said nothing to that.

  ‘You don’t have to believe me, but I know what I saw.’

  ‘Have you ever had any other alien encounters, Ms Jones?’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Seen UFOs? Been kidnapped by them, perhaps?’

  ‘Of course not.’

  ‘They don’t communicate with you in your sleep? Tell you to do things for them?’

  ‘No!’ Alice bristled. ‘I know what you’re implying. I just ... Other people know about this too, you know. You should talk to them.’

  ‘What other people?’

  Alice bit her lip. ‘I’ve said enough. I can’t say any more. I don’t think this was a such a good idea after all.’ She got to her feet. ‘I’ve changed my mind. Can you please not use this?’

  ‘You called us, Ms Jones. You were the one with the story, remember?’

  ‘I’ve changed my mind. There isn’t one.’

  Alice pulled off her microphone and stomped away. Crystal sighed and turned towards the camera. ‘I guess that’s a cut.’

  * * *

  ‘Oh man,’ Coral clamped a hand to her mouth. ‘That is so funny! She’s got it all backwards. She thinks the mice are the aliens.’

  ‘She got a lot of it right though
,’ Tim said, looking worried.

  ‘Yeah, but she can’t prove any of it. The spaceship’s gone. The broken plate’s fixed and back in the kitchen cupboard. It’s just her word against ours.’

  ‘She said other people know about it.’

  ‘Us, presumably. And Glad was there too, remember?’

  ‘So why didn’t she say so?’

  ‘Hey, I don’t know. I’m not—’

  A ringing sound came from the speaker and Coral sat up with a start. ‘Is that ...?’ She peered over the brow of the hill again and saw Eric packing up. The ringing continued, getting louder as Crystal took something from one of the bags, then stopped when she put it to her ear. ’A cellphone?’

  The others looked down too as Crystal took the call.

  ‘It can’t be. They don’t work here. I thought this whole area was in a black spot.’

  ‘It is,’ Norman said. ‘But that’s not a cellphone. See the chunky aerial? It’s a satphone.’

  ‘A what?’

  ‘Cellphones need cellphone towers. There aren’t any round here. Satphones use satellites. They work anywhere on the planet. That’s how they did that live broadcast from Rata last night. Via a satellite link.’

  Ludokrus, who’d been heading back to the resource pit, stopped and turned. ‘What you say?’

  ‘You mean about satellites and satphones?’

  ‘This is what they have?’ He hurried back and peered down the hill.

  ‘Yeah. See?’

  ‘Oh man, we are so dumb! We do not think. Should not avoid this journalist at all.’

  ‘What? You don’t mean you want to talk to her now?’ Coral said.

  ‘Not me. You. You are friend. Go. Make delay. Hurry. Give me two minute.’ He snatched up the calculator and began furiously punching buttons.

  ‘What are you—?’

  ‘Quick please. And borrow phone. You must get hold of phone!’

  22 : Girl Talk

  Ludokrus worked frantically, setting switches and studying the calculator’s tiny screen.

  ‘I’m guessing you’ll need raw materials.’ Tim said.

  ‘No, nothing thank you. Code only. Please, I must concentrate.’

  Tim left him to it, went back to the brow of the hill and looked down to see his sister greeting Crystal and Eric.

  ‘When I am done, you will deliver?’ Ludokrus called.

  ‘Yeah, sure.’

  ‘Almost there ... OK. Quick.’

  Ludokrus held the calculator out, Tim cupped his hand beneath the little trap door and a blob plopped into his palm.

  ‘Access port will be in the base. Sit phone on the blob. It will do the rest.’

  He raced off, not fully understanding what was going on, but fired with the urgency of the task.

  Ludokrus blew out his cheeks and watched him go.

  Alkemy said, ‘Explain please. What do you do?’

  ‘We need to send a signal to our ship, yes? Very powerful, also much precise. Normally, we would need the big dish. And computer. And machine to make steer. But think; there are satellites all around this planet for these phone. Already they link together, so we can use. Make one big planet-sized transmitter. Send our signal to all corner of the solar system at the one time.’

  ‘But they point down here. They send signals down to Earth,’ Norman said.

  ‘We need to change. My program do this. Tell them all to turn from Earth, send our signal, then turn back. Take ten, maybe fifteen seconds at the most.’

  ‘And then our ship will come?’

  He nodded.

  Alkemy’s face lit up. ‘We must work hard to then find Albert. Take him with us.’ She nudged Norman and the pair of them raced back to the resource pit.

  * * *

  Tim heard Coral and Crystal’s voices as he approached the caravan. He kept it between them so he wouldn’t be seen, his left hand cupped tightly round the blob.

  ‘Any idea what time they’ll be back?’ Crystal said.

  ‘Won’t be till late this evening. I didn’t fancy such a long walk. That’s why I came back early.’

  ‘I don’t blame you. That outdoors stuff is wildly overrated. Give me a shopping mall any day.’

  ‘Me too!’

  ‘Tell me, do you know much about the tourists? That Albert character, for example? What’s he like?’

  ‘Just ... ordinary. Middle-aged. A bit eccentric. Nothing special.’

  ‘D’you know what he does for a job.’

  ‘Um ... architect, I think.’

  ‘He’s not a government agent or something?’

  ‘What, Albert?’ Coral laughed. ‘No, why do you ask?’

  ‘Oh, no reason. Small town gossip.’

  Tim edged around the side of the caravan and caught his sister’s eye. When Crystal turned to talk to Eric, Coral sidled over and he handed her the blob. ‘Set the base of the phone in it. Stay on the line for at least a minute. It’ll do the rest.’

  Coral nodded. Tim ducked away and headed back to the reserve.

  ‘Do you mind if I ask you something personal?’ Coral said when Crystal turned back. ‘Only, there’s no one cool round here I can talk to.’

  ‘Sure, doll.’

  ‘I’ve got this ... friend back home. But I’ve been stuck down here for weeks now and ... well, you know what guys are like. There’s no computer back at the farm so I can’t email him. The only phone’s right in the middle of the kitchen — and my aunt and uncle practically live in there. And the whole area’s a black spot for mobile phones. I was wondering if I should write to him.’

  ‘Write? You mean a letter? My god, how positively Victorian. Do men still read?’

  ‘Pretty sad, eh? But what else can I do?’

  ‘Take it from me doll, you can’t beat the direct approach. Here.’ There was a rustling sound. ‘Use this.’

  ‘But cellphones don’t—’

  ‘It’s a satellite phone. You can use it anywhere. Just don’t be too long. The calls cost a fortune.’

  ‘Gosh. Thanks. You don’t mind?’

  ‘Go for it. Who am I to stand in the way of young love?’

  Coral checked the bottom of the phone. There was a socket for a power lead and wide connector slot. She pressed the nanomachine blob against it and, like a tiny creature seeking shelter from the light, it slurped inside and vanished.

  She studied the handset. Nothing happened. Then it gave a faint beep and the screen lit up. She guessed that meant it was ready.

  Derek’s number was about the only one she knew by heart. When they first started going out, she hadn’t worked out how to use speed-dialling on her new phone so she’d carefully memorised it. The thought made her cringe now. How could she have been so soppy?

  She dialled.

  The ideal situation would be for him not to answer. She could just leave a voice message. Something cool and enigmatic. But when a giggly female voice said, ‘Hello,’ all she could manage was, ‘Derek?’

  The giggly voice assured her it wasn’t Derek.

  Tim said to stay on line for at least a minute.

  She checked her watch but suddenly couldn’t think of anything to say.

  ‘Who’s this?’ the voice enquired.

  ‘Is that you Mel?’ she managed at last. ‘What are you doing on Derek’s phone? ... Who’s asking? It’s Coral ... Coral ... Coral Townsend ... Ha ha ha. Yeah. Hi ... So where’s ...? Gone for a swim? ... Oh, you’re at Piha? Nice. What, with the whole gang? ... Oh, just you and Derek? ... No, no of course I don’t mind. Not if he asked you ...’

  She snatched the phone from her ear.

  Melanie bloody Johnson! How dare she?

  ‘What? Yeah, yeah, I’m still here ... Oh, probably till the end of term now ... Actually it’s quite cool ... No, really ... Oh, this and that. Hey, you didn’t see the news last night, did you? Nine News at Nine?’

  The phone was getting warm. She checked her watch and changed hands.

  ‘Sorry, you went where last nigh
t?’

  Come on time, hurry up!

  ‘And they let you in? ... No way! ... Really? ... Just you and Derek ...?’

  The phone gave a low beep and particles of dust drifted from the connection socket.

  Finally!

  ‘Sorry Mel, Crystal’s calling. I’ve got to dash. She wants her satellite phone back. I just borrowed it to say hi ... Yeah, satellite phone ... Crystal Starbrite ... Well of course the Crystal Starbrite. How many do you think there are? ... No, really. You should watch the news some time ... Oh, we were just having a girlie chat, but I can’t stop now, we’ve got another interview to shoot. Tell Derek I said hi. Bye!’

  She stabbed the disconnect button and added, ‘Cow!’

  23 : Nanomachines at Work

  Ludokrus only heard the first part of the conversation. Just one word, actually: ‘Derek?’

  He stomped on the speaker, smashed it with his heel, then kicked the remains into one of the piles. Alkemy was right. They should keep working. Albert was depending on them.

  Coral returned to the resource pit as the green station wagon nosed out of the reserve and headed back up Rata Road. The others gathered round her as soon as she appeared, eager to hear how it went. ‘Good. No problems.’ She told them about the beep and the dust being expelled. ‘Was that right?’

  Ludokrus nodded.

  Alkemy clapped her hands in delight and gave her a hug. ‘Thank you! Thank you!’

  ‘Why? What was that all about?’

  As Alkemy explained, Coral’s spirits sank. Right when she thought they couldn’t get any lower. But she made the best of it and forced a smile, pretending to be pleased for them.

  ‘Oh, here, I brought you this.’ She handed Ludokrus the green canvas bag he’d sent Alkemy to collect.

  ‘Thanks,’ he said, barely giving her a glance.

  ‘Well, back to work, I guess.’

  ‘Yeah, back to work.’

  She hurried off to the tip and got busy sorting rubbish.

  ‘You OK?’ Tim asked.

  ‘Just got something in my eye. Dust, I think.’

  Twenty minutes later, Ludokrus called a halt. They’d accumulated enough raw materials, and the construction phase was now well under way.

  ‘So what is it you build?’ Alkemy asked.

  ‘Can you guess?’