by Mark Lingane
Sebastian nodded. Albert raised a second finger. Sebastian gave him a strange look. Albert turned his hand around the other way so he wasn’t giving the boy a rude sign.
“Paramagnetic materials have atoms vit magnetic moments that are scattered all over the place, ven no magnetic field is present, but align and become magnetic in the presence of an electromagnetic field. That means you may be able to bind atoms together to make elements. The more powerful you become, the more you vill be able to bind. This is the core understanding you must have. Learn it so it is deep in your brain. Then apply it to everything you do.”
“Are you saying I can create things out of thin air?”
“Nein. You should only be able to combine existing things, but on this I’m uncertain. Let us learn together.” Albert clapped his hands and a big smile spread across his face. “Now ve do the practical.”
He looked excited as he grabbed two beakers from behind his bench. “Here is a beaker of hydrogen. Here is a beaker of oxygen.”
He placed the oxygen beaker on the bench top, then placed a slim cover over the hydrogen beaker and upturned it.
“Hydrogen is lighter than oxygen, so the two liquids vill stay separated. There is twice as much hydrogen as oxygen. See vat you can do. Focus on the feel of the gases.”
Sebastian concentrated. He could sense the gases, but they were faint against the background level of magnetism.
There was an intense bang and the glass beakers imploded. Glass scattered over the bench top and onto the floor. Dust flew into the air covering both of them. Albert blinked then coughed a ball of dust out of his mouth. He looked through the debris on the bench. In the center of the shards of glass was one solitary drop of water.
“I vill admit it vill not change the earth, but it is a start.”
He went behind his bench, brought out a dustpan and brush, and handed them to Sebastian.
“You need to meditate. Learn to let your mind rest and be open. I believe the more you develop your senses, the more you develop your mind, the better you vill get.”
*
Melanie came around, her head spinning. She focused on the doctor. There was a thin man dressed in black sitting next to him. The two were in conversation.
“What happened?” she asked.
“I would say by the flush in your face you’re happy with the news,” Dr. Rodgers said.
“Until today I never had a guaranteed tomorrow. You just changed that.”
“Well, don’t get too excited. There are many tests we still need to conduct.”
Melanie indicated the thin man. “Is he a doctor?”
“No.” Dr. Rodgers cleared his throat. “There’s a one in a million chance that this idea could help, unless I start believing in miracles, but I’m going to believe that some daily physical activity could delay the decline. Your recent activities appear to be the only thing that’s changed in your life, so let’s go with that.”
The doctor indicated the man sitting next to him. “This is Thrown. He is head of training for the army. He’s an old school friend of mine.”
Dr. Rodgers and Thrown were a similar age. They were both old, but where the doctor had a body that sagged, Thrown had a steely sinuousness that made him look threatening. Age had given him hardness, like a calcified oak, from a lifetime of experience in hurting people. And he didn’t look happy about it.
Thrown gave her a sneer. It could have been a smile. She narrowed her eyes at him. He narrowed his eyes at her. Time slowed between the two as they measured each other up.
The doctor coughed, bringing Melanie’s attention back to him.
“We’ll be testing you on a weekly basis,” he said. “I’m sorry, but it’ll be inconvenient for some time. Again, I must stress that this isn’t a cure. It’s only a delay.”
“What if it’s delayed until you can cure me?” Her voice and face were full of hope.
“This isn’t something that can be cured. You have to get that into your head. You should still try to enjoy your moments. Quality of life is important.” He handed her a rough map of the area. “Make your way to the training yard. Thrown will be along shortly.”
Melanie got up off the bed and wandered out the door.
Thrown turned to the doctor. “What if something is curing her?”
“Then it will be time for us to find religion, because I certainly can’t explain it. Anyway, her training regime is here.”
The doctor handed a piece of paper to Thrown, who delicately folded it and placed it in his pocket, then crumpled it up out of sight of Dr. Rodgers.
“I think a gentle start would be in order.”
“Right you are,” replied Thrown, with a wink that Dr. Rodgers found disturbing.
*
“Glad you could bother to join us,” said Thrown as Melanie cautiously made her way into the army exercise yard.
“I was just with you five minutes ago. How did you get here so fast?”
“I’m dedicated.”
She gave him a look of disbelief.
“See that sack of gravel over there?” he said. “Lift it up one hundred times.”
“One hundred … No.” She crossed her arms defiantly, closed her eyes and lifted her nose in the air.
“You’re not the first person to say no. We have procedures. Say no again and we’ll be forced to follow them.”
“No,” she dared him.
Thrown indicated behind her. “This is Bernheart.”
She turned around and was greeted by a huge bear of a man. In one easy movement he had picked her up and flung her over his shoulder. She struggled, kicked and shouted, but to no avail.
Thrown pointed to a large wooden barrel. “He’ll push you under the water for several minutes until you have a change of heart.”
Bernheart plunged her into the cold water. She struggled and flailed and water splashed everywhere.
“All right,” she gasped. “All right, I’ll do it. But know that I don’t like you very much.”
“Just doing my job. Following procedures.”
Lightning cracked across the sky, and thunder, so loud it shook the ground, rolled overhead. Melanie picked up the heavy sack and struggled to get it above her knees. She repositioned her arms and tried to roll it up her body. With one final push she lifted it above her head. Then she dropped it, her arms shaking. She bent over, gasping for air.
“One. You’ll find it easier if you keep your back straight. Bend your knees, keep your head and chest up, and keep your core tight.”
“Is this a samba class?” Melanie said. The humidity rolled in, and perspiration poured off her as she toiled. “Ohmygod. How many of these have I done?”
“Eleven.”
“Eleven? Is that all?”
“No, sorry, I got distracted. Nine.”
“Nine! My legs already ache.”
“It could be worse.”
Another crack of lightning seared across the sky, lighting up the darkened exercise yard. Rain fell out of the sky, drenching her and turning the ground to mud.
She lifted the sack up above her head. She wobbled under the weight and lost her footing, tumbling to the ground into the mud. The sack fell on top of her.
“Ten.”
“I don’t consider this quality of life,” she shouted.
“If the doctor says you should do it, then you will.”
*
Isaac was sitting on his bed reading a letter when Sebastian flopped down on his own bed. He groaned. Isaac was fully engrossed in his letter and paid no attention. Sebastian groaned louder. Still no attention was forthcoming. He threw his pillow at Isaac, who finally noticed.
“Is everything all right?” Isaac said.
“Oh, it’s just all this thinking I’ve had to do. It’s so tiring.”
Isaac returned to his letter. “I thought you liked that kind of stuff.”
Sebastian gave up trying to get sympathy. “Who’s the letter from?”
“It’s from
home. I’ve only heard from my mother once since I got here, even though I’ve been writing every week.” Isaac sighed and lay back on his bed. “No one seems to write at all back home. I hope they’re too busy.”
Another of the boys wandered down between the beds, throwing red envelopes on each one.
“It’s an official letter for teslas,” explained Isaac as Sebastian gave him a quizzical look. “They usually hand these out at the end of the semester, with a bill for services and food. But it’s a bit early for all that.”
Isaac ripped open his envelope, extracted a small card with gold edging, and wordlessly mouthed the contents.
“What’s it say?”
“A dinner’s being held to ‘celebrate the students’ excellent work,’ and there’ll be a special announcement at the end of the semester. How dull. That’ll mean we have to use the right knife and fork. And just to make us feel really special we’re allowed to bring a guest. As if we know anyone here.”
“I have a friend,” Sebastian said. “I don’t know if she’ll come, though. She’s not into getting along.”
“You’re not going to believe this. No Bearing is playing.”
“That’s it, she definitely won’t come.”
“Looks like they’re going to a lot of effort.” Isaac threw the invitation under his bed and lay back with his hands behind his head. He looked thoughtfully at the ceiling. “I wonder why.”
22
SEBASTIAN AND MELANIE were sitting in their usual place above Mr. Stephenson’s quarters. Normally they never failed to be impressed by the terrace with its magnificent view over the distant hills, with the boiling sun crawling down behind them, but at the moment it was failing to impress Melanie. She was lying flat on her back, looking up at the sky and crying. And occasionally swearing.
“Can’t you say no?” Sebastian said.
She swore at him.
“Oh, look over there at those fruit bats taking off. There must be thousands of them.”
“I can’t move,” Melanie shouted.
“It’s majestic the way they soar into the air, twirling together. It’s like a tornado of black, leathery death.”
“I can’t move,” Melanie shouted.
He threw a stone into the street below and watched it arc away until it bounced on the ground and was lost to his sight.
“I can’t move,” Melanie shouted.
She struggled up, inching her way forward on her elbows. She flailed around until Sebastian reached out for her and pulled her into a sitting position. She grimaced all the way.
“Every inch of me hurts. Even the places I never knew had muscles hurt.”
“You wait until tomorrow. First day of the harvest season was always like that.”
“You know what I said yesterday about looking forward to the sun rising on a new day?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m feeling less optimistic. Wake me in a couple of months.”
“There’s a dinner at the tesla school at the end of the semester. I was just wondering if … if you’re not busy … if you wanted to be my guest.”
She groaned. “I thought I’d be beyond school dances by now.”
“No Bearing will be there.”
“Oh.”
“What?”
“I guess it has been awhile. I doubt they’ll recognize me.”
“What happened?”
“Last time they came through New Toowoomba, Candice managed to get into their changing rooms for a ‘special’ meeting. I was worried. It was a bit unpleasant. Some things were broken. And I was banned from ever coming within fifty feet of them. Ever.”
“What did you do?”
She sighed. “I might have punched them, broken some of the band’s musical instruments, nothing much. But it was totally their fault.”
“I understand. It’s probably for the best that we don’t go. To tell the truth I wasn’t really looking forward to it anyway.”
She sat there in quiet contemplation as the day’s dying rays reflected off her eyes, then looked up at Sebastian. “One thing you need to learn, one thing I thought you’d have noticed by now, is that no one tells me what to do.” She thought back to her recent training with Thrown. “Unless it involves actual death. Damn it, I shall go to the ball. Dust off those dancing shoes, boy.”
“You’d better make yours running shoes.”
They both laughed.
“I think I’ll go in for the night,” Sebastian said. “My head’s spinning with what I learned today.”
“I think I need some help getting up. And you might have to help me get down to my room.”
“Isn’t it a bit early for you?”
“If I have to do this training again tomorrow I need all the sleep I can get.”
*
“Where is she? She’s even later than yesterday,” Thrown shouted. He looked at his watch. “Bernheart, go fetch her.”
As he waited, he watched the sun rise above the city. The clouds were still on the horizon, giving them until early afternoon before the rains hit.
Bernheart reappeared fifteen minutes later with a drooping Melanie over his shoulder. “I had to carry her here,” he rumbled.
“I can’t move. My legs won’t bend,” she shouted.
Bernheart dropped her to the ground. She collapsed in a heap, and rolled onto her back with her arms and legs out in a star. She grimaced at the pain.
“You should’ve had a bath, like I told you,” Thrown said.
“I did. And I won’t go into the intense embarrassment I felt when I couldn’t even lift myself out of it.”
“It’s just a bit of stiffness from your training. A quick run will get you going.”
“There’s no way I can run. It’ll take me weeks to recover. And I’ll need a whole team of experts to help me with my rehabilitation.”
“I note your mouth is still working, princess. When I was your age I never had the luxury of complaining. The sergeant would hit us until we did our training. These days we’re all soft and caring, so Bernheart will dump you in the water until you decide your legs can bend.”
Bernheart reached out for her.
Running wasn’t an option, so she relented. “All right, all right,” she shrieked. “Do I have to lift the stupid sack again?” She glared at Thrown, implying he was the stupid sack.
He chuckled. “Not today.”
She brightened.
“Lift it, run across the yard and put it down. And do it one hundred times.”
She darkened. She staggered over to the sack, her muscles complaining at each tiny movement. Occasionally a leg would twitch and she would nearly fall over.
Bernheart and Thrown watched her struggle.
“That’s four,” Thrown shouted.
“It’s five.”
“You don’t count the first one. And I can hear you swearing. Even my dear old grandmother wouldn’t use language like that.”
She swore at him.
He smiled back at her.
“One day she’ll find out about you lying about the old sergeant. He was a total soft touch,” Bernheart rumbled.
“She doesn’t need to know.” Thrown shrugged off the potential threat.
“She won’t be happy when she finds out.”
“She’s not going to find out unless someone tells her.” He looked at Bernheart.
Bernheart scratched his throat and looked at Melanie as she toiled away, swearing profusely. “I hear there might be a promotion going for me.” He gave Thrown a sly glance.
Thrown cleared his throat and shouted, “I suppose you’ve done all right, for someone of your …”
“Of my what? Gender? Age?”
“I was thinking about, er, weight.”
“Are you calling me fat?” Melanie shook her finger at him, which was the only part of her body that didn’t ache.
“Well, your ass is so large it eclipses the sun,” Thrown said. “If you bend over we’ll be able to see the whole of the moon
.”
“Liar. I’m so not fat. I’m just a whole lot of woman.”
“Who would have thought that would be worse. We’ll do some chin-ups. Whoever does the most is telling the truth. You go first.”
“In the rain?” she said.
“What’s wrong with that? It’ll keep you cool.”
She glared at him. “Okay.” She limped over to the bar suspended ten feet off the ground.
After a minute of futile attempts to reach it, Thrown nodded to Bernheart. “Give her a leg up.”
Bernheart rumbled over. “Do you need some help?”
“No,” she shouted. “I can do this.”
She struggled and twisted and did her best to pull herself up above the bar. She eventually put in a herculean effort and managed to crest it. She giggled deliriously, and then slowly lowered herself. She tried again but there was no more strength in her arms. She collapsed to the ground, landing heavily in the mud.
“One,” shouted Thrown. “I think we can call it a win to me.”
“You haven’t even done one.”
“I could argue the same with your effort. The technique was terrible. But if it makes you feel any better, I’ll do two.”
He ran up to the bar and leaped up, grabbing the crossbeam and easily lifting himself up repeatedly.
“All right, I concede. You don’t need to do it one armed as well. That’s just showing off.”
Thrown dropped lightly to the ground, smoothed back his wet hair and gave her a wink. “Okay, lardass, no more pies for you. It’s salad for the next three years.”
She turned on him with her finger dangerously close to his nose. “We’re coming back and doing this again tomorrow.”
“Really?” He was surprised at her determination.
“Oh yes, don’t think you’re getting away with calling me fat that easily. I’ll show you, old man.”
*
The days rolled into weeks and Melanie endured the painful regime. Every day she turned up in all kinds of weather to take on the daily challenge, often with support from Bernheart. And every day, just before she crawled back to her room, ended with a chin-up battle with Thrown. Every day they increased the chin-ups by one, but he could always do more.
