Singular

by Larry Buenafe

  Ok, what does that mean… cotton candy words… cotton candy is super sweet… oh, she means my words are sweet…

  It seemed that she realized that I was trying to work out what she meant, because the said, “Listen, just keep your eyes closed and I’ll play you some more cartoons.”

  32

  A s we approached Kalgoorlie, Harry woke us so that he could tell us more about the town and the region. “Aww, come on, Harry, I been here before, ya know,” Benji complained.

  “Yeah, but the rest of this lot haven’t, so just hitch up your knickers and shut it for once, eh? Anyways, this is the site of the Australian gold rush, still working mines in the area. Kalgoorlie has an airport and all, nice place I’d say. Just up ahead, now.”

  “Finally, some good tucker. Whatcha fancy, Wally?”

  “I say we eat on the run; still got a long ways ta go, and it’ll be dark long before we get there.”

  Benji rubbed his hands together hungrily. “Alright, then, Macca’s it is. High cuisine, I reckon.”

  I turned to dad and whispered, “Macca’s?”

  He chuckled and said, “McDonalds. Just go along with it, ok?”

  We eventually found the one ‘Macca’s’ in town, and soon were back on the road with a bag full of burgers and fries, everyone but me wolfing them down as if they had never eaten before. I ate about half a hamburger, and Benji, looking over the seatback, his mouth full and fingers greasy, said, “You done with that, mate?”

  I handed it to him and he jammed it into his mouth along with whatever else was already in there, and I thought he would choke but somehow, he managed it.

  We turned east and took a series of one- and two-lane roads, sometimes unpaved, out past dozens of old mines and into the brushy outback toward Lake Rebecca, which Benji called ‘Ol’ Beccy’.

  The terrain got progressively more forest-like, and the going was difficult in some places, but we plowed on into the evening and night. We circled the south end of ‘Ol’ Beccy’ and proceeded into the hills east of the lake. Finally, around midnight, we pulled around a wide mound and saw a series of huts made of stone and sticks in an open area. “This old stuff is mainly for appearances, although some of the oldies still like ta stay in ‘em,” Harry explained. “The real thing is on the other side ‘a those bushes and boulders there.”

  He gestured toward a spot that was well-camouflaged, but I had activated my heads-up display and infrared application, so I could see the heat signature coming from the other side of the barrier. Although it was faint, it was clear that the opening was big enough to drive the Humvee into, and after circling the boulders and small trees, we did just that. There was a large door that was disguised so well you would not have noticed it; sliding to the side, it revealed an opening we drove into and through. We proceeded slowly down a ramp for forty meters or so, then turned to the right and parked next to about twenty other vehicles of various kinds. As we exited, we gazed out into a well-lit, massive cave with dozens of dwellings carved into the sides; due to the late hour, I assumed that most of the residents were sleeping, although there were two elderly men sitting at a table near the entrance.

  One of the old men was dark of complexion, similar to Benji, although his grey hair was cut close against his head, while the other was much lighter in skin tone, but his features were similar, including a wide, round nose, black, shimmering eyes, and a wide gap between his front teeth. He had a thining bush of white hair and a neat white beard, and both were dressed in shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops. They greeted Wally and especially Benji, who they clearly hadn’t seen for several years, with hugs and back pats, speaking in their aboriginal language. Meanwhile, I examined the gigantic cave; it appeared to be part natural, part excavated out, and was the size of several football fields. Lights were strung around the perimeter and across the center, the floor was flat and hard, and the dwellings around the sides of the space had windows facing out and colorful fabric hanging down covering the doorways. It was difficult to tell, but they seemed roomy and elaborate, similar to apartments. In the center of the cave was what appeared to be a well and a pool of water in a huge, fountain-like structure, the sound of the water echoing around the huge space. At a few points around the perimeter were passages leading away from the main room.

  “This is quite a feat of engineering,” dad murmured; both he and Ms. Houng were craning their necks, their eyes wide.

  “Ok, mates, let me introduce everyone. This old fella here, Mr. Cleancut, is Monti, and this ancient one with the white hair and movie star beard is Warrin. Monti, Warrin, this here is Minh Houng, John Taylor, and Lucas Taylor. These are the ones Wally and Harry have been yakkin’ on about.”

  They both greeted us warmly with smiles and handshakes.

  “These oldies are our night watchers. We’ve been usin’ this cave for generations, but we did all the excavation and construction about ten years ago, when I finally got the thorium reactor miniaturized. That gave us enough energy to power up all the tools we needed to do this. That passage back there to the right leads down to the reactor, provides more than enough juice for our needs.”

  “Oh, listen to Benji, so proud. He’ll never tire of telling of his triumphs, I’d say,” offered Warrin in an accent that sounded much more British than Australian.

  He must have seen our surprise, as he said, “I was raised in boarding schools in England. Never was able to shake the posh accent.”

  “Well, shall we get these people settled?” asked Monti. “We’ve got the guest room all set up. Wasn’t there another with them as well?”

  At that, Ms. Houng burst into tears. Benji patted her on the back and said, “Sorry, mate. He didn’t know. Monti, one of us, Mard Harutyunyan, got snatched up by the bloody soldiers. We’re workin’ on gettin’ ‘im back, but it’s gonna be tough, I reckon. Bloody Bright Hand are lookin’ for ‘im now, we gotta go meet up with ‘em soon.”

  Monti and Warrin stared at Benji, their eyes wide. “Bloody Bright Handers are everywhere, mate,” said Monti. “Even see ‘em out here, in the bush. I heard they have a headquarters out here in the west somewhere, and I reckon it’s not too far away.”

  “How do you know they’re with the Bright Hand?” dad asked.

  Monti looked at Warrin, who shrugged. “Oh, little Jimmie Early. We’re not supposed to know he’s joined ‘em, but everyone knows. Heard of the chips they have in their left shoulder, and it gets a might warm out here, people walk about with their shirts off or in tank tops, and because we know to look for the chip, we notice ‘em. Seen more of ‘em recently, try to talk to ‘em but they kinda stay to themselves.”

  Benji clapped his hands and said, “Alright, enough chatter. I reckon we’re all rooted, so let’s get this lot settled, eh? And either ‘a you seen Wally?”

  As Benji and the two ‘oldies’ continued to chat, Harry showed us to our… I’ll call it an apartment, just to the left of the entrance ramp. It was similar in outward appearance to all the other apartments around the perimeter of the cave, and as we entered an automatic light came on in the front room. It was obvious that the whole thing had been carved out of rock, and there were no sharp corners or edges; the living space in front was larger than expected from the outside, and a hall led back to several doorways. There were a couple of simple chairs and a couch, all in a color that seemed to be chosen to blend in with the rock walls, colorful woven rugs on the floor, and to the right, the living space flowed into a kitchen with a modern electric stove and refrigerator.

  “This is amazing. We’ll have to get Benji to tell us more about how they accomplished all this, but for now, sleep,” said dad, his eyes looking droopy. We walked back through the hall and found a modern bathroom behind one doorway and three bedrooms with standard beds behind the others. Ms. Houng turned into one bedroom, dad into another, and I took the third. I heard them both thump down onto the beds, and they were asleep within two minutes.

  Ok, time to wait for morning again… “Hey, Av
a, how about some more of those cartoons?”

  “Yes, master, your wish is my command… at least part of the time…”

  33

  A s the sun came up the common area of the cave buzzed with life. It seemed like about two hundred people were coming out, greeting one another, and stretching. The smell of coffee and tea were potent, and gaggle children dashed about and played in the area near the fountain. It seemed strange to live much of your life underground in this way, and I wasn’t sure that I would be able to get used to it, but they all seemed to be doing just fine. I also noticed that the aboriginals in this nation came in all different shades; some were even darker than Benji and his brothers, and some were as light as me; most had the dark, shiny marble eyes like Benji, but there were some with ocean blue eyes and even a couple with emerald green. Many had the full bush of hair like Benji, but some had curls, and others had straight, smooth manes cascading down.

  To our right, Monti and Warrin were shaking hands with two other ‘oldies’, and when they were done they headed to an apartment just to the right of the entry ramp. The two new ‘oldies’, one an ancient-appearing woman with an awesome shock of white hair, and a man with no hair at all, a round belly, and what seemed to be a small number of teeth, took their place. The man was dark, but less so than Benji, and the woman was much lighter, although impressively wrinkly. It occurred to me that, if these were the security for the cave, they must have a lot of confidence in their exterior camouflage. I didn’t think that these people could stop anyone if they wanted to come in.

  As I peered out the doorway around the colorful hanging fabric, I wondered where the food for all these people came from. “Ava, what do you think these people do for food? Seems like it would be hard to feed all of them.”

  “I suspect that they farm some nearby land. Don’t judge a book by its cover, though. There’s more here than you can currently see.”

  I didn’t notice Benji coming from the side, and he startled me as he poked his head through the hanging fabric. “There’s our boyo. Fancy a little tour?”

  “Yeah, that would be great. Let me ask dad… oh, hi, dad. I didn’t hear you coming.”

  He smiled and mussed my hair, which didn’t need any more mussing. “Go ahead, check things out. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

  I followed Benji as we walked around the perimeter of the cave, and he kept up a running dialogue. “Like I said before, we been usin’ this cave for centuries, but all this construction is recent. We chased out all the bats, cleaned it up, expanded, drilled for water, put in plumbing and electric, ventilation, you name it. The biggest innovation, the thing that allowed us to do all this, was the reactor we put in, just down this tunnel. We put in all the wirin’ under the floor, that’s why it’s so flat and hard in here. The reactor doesn’t need much tendin’, once it’s set up properly it’ll just keep workin’ for a century or so.”

  We walked a bit further, and a young girl bumped up against me; I turned to see that we were being followed by a group of all ages, and the numbers grew as we progressed. “Don’t worry, mate. They’re just curious. They heard tell of a boy with ‘magical powers’, and they wanna be near in case you do somethin’ spectacular, I reckon.”

  I smiled at the crowd, and they all waved excitedly. “Whoa, this is weird. Should I do something for them?”

  Benji giggled. “Nahh, leave ‘em wonderin’ for now. Just over here, down this tunnel, you’ll see somethin’ interesting. ‘Ang on a sec.”

  He walked around behind me and addressed the group. “Go on, you lot, I’m givin’ my guest a little look-see, we’ll be back in a while and you can get to know ‘im then. Go on, then, off with ya.”

  Just like that, the assembled people smiled, waved, and wandered off. “They really listened to you. That was cool.”

  Benji put his hand on my shoulder and said, “Yeah, I’m kind of a local legend, you might say. I can tell you’re very impressed, as you should be.”

  I thought Benji might be making the kind of joke where someone exaggerates to make it funny, and then he laughed, and I thought I was probably right. “Alright, Lukey, let’s head down here, show you some of our food production facilities.”

  “Oh, good. I was wondering how all these people got fed.”

  “You’re about to find out, mate.”

  We walked a short way down the tunnel and came to a doorway on the right. Benji flipped on a light, and a room the size of a soccer field was revealed; in it were hundreds, maybe more than a thousand, long, wooden boxes, and an overwhelming smell of… well, it smelled like animal poop, if you want to know. Not a terrible smell, though; sweet, grassy, and a lot like dirt all at the same time. In the boxes were huge mushrooms. I mean gigantic, the size of my head. “Mushies like the dark, so this is a perfect place for them to grow, and it’s a great food. Not bad, eh? Let’s keep movin’.”

  Further down the tunnel was another doorway on the left, and this one had an actual door instead of hanging fabric. “Had to put a door here because of all the light. You’ll see what I mean.”

  We entered a room about half the size of the previous one. There were intensely bright hot lights all around, and a three-tiered system of hanging boxes: one level at head height, another at waist height, and a third level on the ground. There were several workers in the room, tending to the various plants growing out of the boxes, and they were clothed from head to toe, including gloves and bee-keeper masks on their heads. “Don’t want the workers gettin’ skin cancer from the sun lights. We have almost every kinda edible plant you can think of in here. Self-contained, it’s quite a system. I know what you’re thinkin’: how did these primitive aboriginals put all this together? We may be primitive in some ways, mate, but we’re not stupid, and not incapable of learnin’ and adaptin’.”

  I was honestly shocked at what they had accomplished, and I thought that this would be something that would have to be copied if we ever wanted to have permanent bases on Mars or other planets.

  “Right, here we go. Time for a little protein.” We walked further down the tunnel, and it ramped up for forty meters or so. The sound of scratching and clucking became obvious, and we went through another doorway on the left into a room about the size of the one with the hanging plants. Sunlight poured in from a several tubes above, and hundreds of chickens strutted about behind a long fence. Several people, this time in their normal attire of shorts, t-shirts, and flip-flops, were gathering eggs from an extensive chicken coop and tossing grain to the birds. “We’ve been raisin’ these beauties for more than a hundred years, but it took some engineering to get them to thrive down here. They need sunlight, fresh air, stuff like that, so we built these tubes up to the surface. They’re smaller than they look up top, only the size of an apple. The light is focused and amplified as it comes down, and it’s plenty for our chickies.”

  “Hey, Benji, how ya doin’ mate?” called a young woman at the far end of the coop; she had dark, curly hair cut at shoulder length, skin the color of caramel, dazzlingly shiny blue eyes and a jolly smile lighting her face. She was what I would call gorgeous, and it was easy to see why Wally was smitten with her.

  Benji rushed over to hug her, and said, “Oi, Tarni, how ya been?”

  “Oh, you know, livin’ the dream; the chickie-tendin, egg-gatherin’ dream. Is this our little fella, then?”

  Benji turned and motioned me to come near. “Yeah, this is him. Lukey, say hello to Tarni Early, cutest bird in the nation.” She smiled again, slugged Benji in the shoulder, and we shook hands.

  “I’ve heard a lot about you. He’s a cute one, ain’t he, Benji?”

  “Alright, then, settle down. He’s only fourteen, ya know.”

  “So, I still got eyes, don’t I? Don’t worry, Lukey, I’m just havin’ a laugh. He is cute, though!”

  “What about Wally, then? Is he still chasin’ you around like one ‘a these chickies?”

  “Oh, he’s alright, just not my type. He can chase all
he wants, but he can’t catch me.”

  “That’ll make him so sad. I can’t wait to tell ‘im.”

  They both laughed and did a fist-bump, but as usual I couldn’t see what was so funny.

  When they were finally done, Benji said, “Alright, gotta get serious now. We gotta go to the Bright Hand headquarters. One of our team got snatched up by the bloody black ops, and they’re our best chance at gettin’ ‘im back. Little Jimmie is our in, but is there any way you could help? This fella’s important, and who knows what the bloody yanks’ll do to ‘im. The faster we get ‘im, the better. Whatta ya say, Tarni?”

  She tapped her index finger on her lips and her eyebrows drew together. “Well, I could put some pressure on ‘im if that would help. Family ties can be right powerful, could make a difference. I’d be glad to help, long as I get to hang around with this little fella here,” she said, pointing at me.

  “Thanks, Tarni. I know I’m kinda grabbin’ at straws, but we gotta get our man…”

  And then something odd happened; Benji got choked up and couldn’t talk for a minute.

  “Alright, don’t worry, mate. I’ll do whatever I can,” said Tarni, rubbing Benji’s back. ‘In fact, I probably oughta go with ya. Yeah, it’ll be fun, I reckon. In the meantime, you fancy a coldie?”

  “You had coldies all this time and you never said anything? You’re a cruel, cruel woman, Tarni Early.”

  She giggled, reached into an ice chest, and handed Benji a brown bottle, taking one for herself.

  What about cutie?” she said, motioning to me with her head.

  “Nahh, he’s too young. Plus, his daddy wouldn’t approve. He’s John Taylor’s boy, you know,” he said, followed by a long guzzle from the bottle.

  She stopped in mid-sip and coughed. “Dr. John Taylor? Jimmie’s hero? That John Taylor?”

  Benji leaned back and smiled. “Yeah, that’s the one. He’s here too, ya know.”