Joe had been warned about the door and was busy oiling the runners when the detail from the rear of the warehouse brought a large, bearded, struggling man to the front.
'What the fuck do you want, just leave me alone,' yelled the man in a strong American accent. When Kim, the rest of the troop, and the horses became visible, he calmed down and said, 'Oh, I see.'
'We will explain ourselves,' said Kim, 'and then maybe you could do us a similar courtesy.'
The man looked warily about him and then said, 'There are chairs in the office upstairs.' He pointed.
Several troop members gingerly climbed the unlit stairway while Kim explained where the troop came from and what they were doing. 'Firstly we would like to be able to re-commission these machines.' She waved in the direction of the three helicopters. 'But our ultimate objective is to create a small settlement here and re-open the port.'
'And you think you can do that?' asked the man sceptically. 'What do you know about helicopters?'
'Three of us came here a few weeks ago by helicopter.'
'Small machine. These babies are a very different kettle of fish,' said the man defensively.
'Tell us about yourself. The rest of the city is deserted so we were surprised to find anyone at all living here. All we have found, apart from you, is piles of human bones. You seem familiar with this outfit?'
A few chairs were brought and dusted off. Now seated the man started to tell his story. 'My name is Eustace Thornbury,' he smiled at the expressions of amusement on the troop's faces. 'I work here.'
Kim was about to interrupt, but Eustace held up his hand. 'When the floods destroyed the city, all the people here disappeared and have not been seen since. A few days later, a group of Aboriginal people came here with their own food and persuaded me to go with them into the mountains, where I have been until about two months ago when they returned me to this place. They talked about a White Goddess and that I was to help her and her people.'
There were glances of understanding between Kim and members of the troop.
'I had no idea what they were referring to until you and another woman appeared something like a month ago. The other woman followed me, but gave up quickly, and then you came today.' He paused. 'Can I just call my dog? He will be terrified with all these people around.' He whistled and a brown Kelpie arrived, cringing, and went to sit next to Eustace. One of the group went out and produced some stale bread and gave it to the dog, who perked up and wagged his tail.
'You say that you work here,' said Kim. 'What is your job?'
Eustace smiled. 'I'm from the helicopter company in California and my job is to maintain these babies, and a few more in other places in New South Wales, but I'm based here.'
'Good heavens,' said Kim. 'Would you be able to get these birds flying again? That's what we're here to do, initially.'
'Well, I could of course, but you can't just come in and take over. What happens when the owners return and find that I've allowed you to steal everything here?'
'If the owners haven't been here since the flood, now more than seven years ago, they are certainly dead. Have you any idea what has happened to the world since you went to live with the Aborigines?' answered Kim. 'I don't suppose you've been paid for any of the intervening years either?'
Eustace looked uncomfortable and shook his head.
'Well, you can see what's happened to Newcastle,' said Kim. 'Every coastal city in the world has suffered a similar fate. Much of the world's population died in the floods or shortly afterwards. We've made contact with a few surviving groups, but they're few and far between. We're on a mission to try and widen our contact base and, in time, to re-establish some sort of government in Australia. It'll take us a while to create a viable operation here in Newcastle, which is why we need the helicopters, to bring supplies in from our base in the Blue Mountains. Also to possibly airlift some of our vehicles out of our place.'
Eustace looked sceptical, 'How can I believe you? All that sounds pretty farfetched to me.'
'The person your Aboriginal hosts referred to as the White Goddess will be here in a few days in the helicopter you saw. At our base, we have a library of recordings from around the world and our own videos of the local environment showing many details of the catastrophe. If you wish you will be able to return with her and view these things. I hope that will be enough to convince you. Anyway, it's no more farfetched than you telling us that you have spent the last seven years in the mountains with a group of Aborigines.'
'Okay, what are you proposing to do here?' asked Eustace.
Kim explained that the group would be camped somewhere nearby in order to start the Newcastle settlement.
'There are a number of things that need attention. I think we should be able to find cattle, even if they're a bit wild to start with. We need to plant vegetables and fruit and we will then start the unpleasant job of clearing a few houses for settlement. If we have the use of helicopters with a large lifting capacity, it'll make things easier.'
'Joe is here to install solar on this building and on some of the houses,' Kim continued. 'He and his team will be able to make this place operational and then get the helicopters airborne again, under your direction, assuming you're convinced of our bonafides by then.'
'There is a generator here. I haven't looked at it since my return, but it'll light up the whole place,' said Eustace. 'No need for solar.'
'Depends how much fuel is available,' said Kim.
''Bout a year's worth, when I last looked. Same for helicopter fuel. Maybe Joe and his people could get the generator going to start with. Then I can start to clean up some of these babies before the White Witch arrives.'
'Goddess,' said Kim to an uncomprehending Eustace. 'White Goddess. I'm sure she would prefer to be called Tanya though.'
Tanya and Roger arrived in the helicopter a week later. 'The aftermath of the whole messy business took a bit longer than I expected,' she told Kim, referring to the execution. 'Hopefully, it'll have returned to normal by the time you get back home.'
Tanya found Joe and two of his assistants on their hands and knees surrounded by a jigsaw of metal pieces all covered in oil, placed on some clean sacking.
'We have stripped and reassembled the generator,' said Joe, standing up and wiping his hands on some cotton waste, 'I'm sure it'll work fine. We're just putting the engine together, so we should have light in here sometime tomorrow.'
Tanya looked around. 'Did you find that person who was living here?'
'Oh yes, Eustace, I'll introduce you,' said Kim. 'But he's gone off to see one of the houses we're cleaning up.'
'Eustace!'
Kim explained how they'd established contact with him. 'Somehow the Aboriginal group who took him in know about the White Goddess. They told him when they returned him here that he was to look after "people who will arrive on horses". However, he's still concerned his bosses will arrive at any minute and, if we have commandeered these helicopters in here, they'll think we've stolen them and that he has helped us. You'll probably have to take him back home and show him some of the recordings we have. Anyway, he still thinks of himself as the maintenance engineer on these machines, or rather his "babies". If anyone can get them airborne he can.'
With Kim, Tanya reviewed progress on all the activities towards the development of a Newcastle settlement. Kim told her what they'd found in Wollombi and Kurri-Kurri. 'I told Jim and the people I left in Kurri-Kurri that we'd relieve them in a month, but it would be ideal if you could drop in on your way back to see how they're coping.'
'Okay, we'll see if that can be fitted in,' responded Tanya.
Kim's group had also found some cattle, still very wild not having had any human contact since the flood. 'We have them corralled in a nearby paddock,' said Kim. 'Hopefully, in time, they will become quieter.' They had found a source of cattle fodder, in a nearby wholesale business. 'It seems unspoilt,' said Kim.
Other members of the group had started to clean up nearby
houses. One was quite empty. They were refurbishing it with quantities of paint and disinfectant found in a large DIY warehouse.
'Because of the smell we've had to remove all the furniture, bedding, and clothing, and burn it. 'Most houses will need the same treatment, as well as a thorough airing, before we can use them.' Kim reported.
Kim told Tanya where they were recording lists of names of previous, deceased, occupants. 'We have also dug a large grave so that any bones we find can be buried there.' They were able to furnish reconditioned houses from a nearby furniture store.
Tanya admired the large area cleared for growing vegetables. 'It'll be months before we'll be able to harvest anything from here. We also need to build a fence to keep the roos out.'
'They need a solar-powered tractor,' Roger offered, 'but it will take a few trips to bring all the bits here. With one of those new choppers, we could do it in one hit.'
'What are the priorities?' asked Tanya, when she'd seen everything.
'Transport,' answered Kim. 'I think if we could find a light diesel truck somewhere nearby and try to recondition it, it'd do the trick for the time being. We have a large quantity of diesel here. Then, if we had at least one of the helicopters going it would be easy to re-supply us from The Settlement so people here could focus on development.'
'I can see Joe is going to be pulled in all sorts of directions at once if we're not careful, said Tanya. 'Where is this Eustace? If needs be I will take him back to the Blue Mountains and show him some of the videos we have.'
They found Eustace buried in the engine of The Settlement helicopter. 'Ah, the White Witch,' he said, wiping his hands on his overalls.
'Just call me Tanya,' she said laughing.
'I was having a look at this baby here,' said Eustace. 'It's been well maintained, but will need major attention in the not too distant future; the machine is old now.'
'If you could get one of those other machines going, it would be easy to let you loose on this one for a while,' said Tanya, trying to size Eustace up.
'Yeah, but do you really think you can just come in here and take these machines and use the fuel that was left here? What happens when my bosses come back from San Diego? I'll be locked up.'
'The likelihood of your bosses still being alive is remote,' said Tanya. 'And there are two chances of them ever appearing here again, Buckleys and none.'
'Buckleys?' Eustace looked at Tanya. 'I suppose that's another peculiar Australian expression.'
'Yes, it means fuck all, in your language.'
Eustace laughed uneasily.
'Look, I'll happily take you back to the mountains and show you recordings of the effects of the flood all over the world, if that is what is needed to convince you? I'm fairly sure we have a clip on what happened in San Diego and other parts of California. Eustace, we really need your help. Come hell or high water, we're going to create a settlement here in Newcastle; it would be much easier with your cooperation.'
Eustace looked at her for a moment. 'Okay, I need another couple of hours to complete what I started doing to your machine and then we can go to your precious settlement.'
'It's an hour's flight. Unexpectedly, we'll have to drop off at a place a few minutes from here and I like to land in daylight, otherwise we'll have to wait until the morning.'
Taking off mid-afternoon, Tanya flew the short distance to Kurri-Kurri. After circling twice, they landed under Jim's direction in a grassy area near where Richard and crew had made their home.
'Just popped in to see how you're getting on and to introduce ourselves to our new friends,' said Tanya as they disembarked.
'There's been no movement from the North,' reported Jim, after introducing Tanya to Richard and his crew.
'Is there anything you need?' asked Tanya.
Jim laughed, 'Everything and nothing. In terms of the immediate security situation, we're now well set up. If the people from Barrington come here they will get a very unpleasant surprise. We do need to try to rescue the girl though, and then in the long term a solar-powered tractor would be good and we could install some solar electricity here which will help the group. There's a child needing hospitalisation, if you've room for her. We have looked at most of the houses in the vicinity, so our immediate needs in terms of tools and so on are well met. Your visit alone will make a difference; the people here now have hope.'
They loaded a very sick girl and her mother into the helicopter. 'Roger will just have to sit at the very back and keep still,' said Tanya to a nervous Eustace. On the return, they had to skirt one of the local thunderstorms. Eustace's eyes nearly popped out of his head as Tanya circled The Settlement, landing a few minutes before dark. Tanya left Roger to complete all the post-flight checks while she ran to the hospital, emerging a minute later with a doctor, nurse, and gurney. When she could see that the girl was looked after she took Eustace into the village.
He was introduced to Mark, who was asked to set up a selection of videos detailing what had happened to various communities at the time of the flood, including San Diego.
'I had no idea the place was so extensive,' observed Eustace, looking around.
'It's now more than twenty years since we started developing it. David and I have driven this development. We both came to the same conclusions in 2010 about climate change and acted on them accordingly.'
'Who is David?'
'My father-in-law, Mark's father. Joe is married to Mark's sister. Kim is Joe's daughter'
'Very much a family affair,' observed Eustace.
'I've put you in a spare cottage, belonging to one of Mark's brothers. You can have dinner with us and spend as much time as you wish watching the videos in the community centre.'
'I see most of the men are clean shaven,' said Eustace during dinner, 'I ran out of blades years ago.'
'We go on raids … 'said Mark.
'Re-supply expeditions,' Tanya interrupted.
'Re-supply expeditions,' Mark continued, 'into Sydney and its surrounds. All the supermarkets and food warehouses were looted within days of the flood, but most other shops and warehouses were untouched, so we develop lists and then take the helicopter and get whatever we need. I can give you razor blades, and any amount of clothing. If we had one of those big choppers that Tanya described we could haul in more substantial items such as washing machines and dishwashers; all the ones here in the village are aging. Vehicles too. There is nobody about, so if we don't use what's available it will go to waste.'
'Why don't you take vehicles into the city? It would be much easier than using a chopper.'
'At the time of the flood we deliberately isolated the place, so people are unable to get in here. Now of course we can't get out. Also most roads are still blocked with cars where people just stopped and were unable to go any further.'
'What happened to the people?' asked a troubled Eustace.
'They died,' answered Mark. 'Tanya and others went on a few exploratory expeditions within weeks of the flood hitting Sydney and found bodies in cars and near roads. There was no food and nowhere for them to go.'
'Is this what I am going to see on those videos?'
'No, most of the pictures we have are from official sources, which we recorded as the floods hit. They all went off the air within about two weeks of the flood arriving in their locality. We do have some recordings of the aftermath of the flood in Sydney. I can show you some of those if you wish.'
After dinner, Mark escorted a silent Eustace to the community centre. 'Each video is clearly marked with the subject and date when it was recorded. We felt we needed a record of what had happened in the hope that future generations will not make the same mistakes we have,' Mark explained.
There was no sign of their visitor, so after ten o'clock Tanya announced to her children, 'I'm just popping out to see what Eustace is up to.' Mark had disappeared.
In the community hall the videos were all neatly stacked and Eustace was sitting there crying his eyes out.
'What
's wrong?' asked a concerned Tanya.
Eustace looked up at her. 'I had no idea; I thought they might all still be alive.'
'Who?'
'Wife and three little kiddies. I saw the recordings of the San Diego and Los Angeles areas. I just had no idea. For years I've tried to imagine what they were all like and what they'd grown into. I imagined my homecoming. None of that can ever happen now.' Another tear escaped down his cheek.
'Here, you need a stiff drink,' said Tanya. She switched off the video player, collected all the clips and escorted Eustace back to their cottage.
Mark was strangely absent, so Tanya spent until early morning listening to all Eustace's reminiscences. When Mark crept in, Tanya looked at him curiously.
Unasked he said, 'Just checking on a few things.'
Eustace eventually went to sleep on the couch in the lounge with a blanket over him. He was woken abruptly by Tanya's two teenage sons tearing through the house at six am yelling at each other about which horse they were to ride that morning before school.
'Oh,' said Chas when he realised there was someone on the couch, 'who are you?'
'I'm Eustace; I'm here to help the White Witch steal some helicopters.'
'White Witch? You mean Mum! That's a good name, we'll call her that when she gets too uppity.' The boys tore off.
A clean shaven and neatly dressed Eustace appeared at the breakfast table just as Tanya and Mark sat down, 'Thank you for the clothes,' he said, 'I feel much better now.'
There was silence for a few minutes while they all helped themselves to quantities of scrambled egg and toast. 'Being isolated, we made ourselves self-sufficient some time before the flood. Obviously that is still the case and it's what enables us to expand our influence,' explained Tanya.
A dry-eyed Eustace said, 'Thank you for your sympathy last night. It's going to take a while for me to come to terms with what has happened. Anyway, I now understand what you're about and I'll certainly help you all I can, including making those choppers airworthy again.'
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