In Strange Worlds

by Brenda Cheers

  Books were swapped and Meg tried composing haiku poems to ease the boredom. At one stage she carefully tore a page from her journal so that she and Luke could play noughts and crosses.

  Darkness fell, and then the lights were turned off.

  They heard Thomas before the door opened. All three adults jumped to their feet, and even Maisie began crawling toward the door.

  Connie was there first to take the boy into her arms and soothe his crying. As she jiggled him and whispered in his ear, one of the men handed Meg a note:

  WE WILL TRANSPORT YOU HOME.

  The other was holding a device that Meg had never seen before. He stepped forward and took Luke by the arm, turning it until the soft, fleshy part of the forearm was exposed. He held the device to a place halfway to the elbow and pressed a button. Luke flinched for a second.

  The man reached for Connie's arm and she frowned but held it out. The same procedure was carried out on her.

  When they moved toward Meg she took a step backward. The second man walked in and stood behind her. "Just tell me what this is. What are you doing?" She looked at Luke and he shrugged. The sooner she let them do whatever it was, the sooner they could all go home. She felt a quick bolt of pain in her arm, but then it went away.

  Both men went and stood by the door. One tapped his watch, so Meg began throwing her things into a backpack. "C'mon guys. Let's get outta here. Bill and Ben here are already impatient." Luke and Connie laughed.

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  Meg had the sharpest knife she owned in her right hand and was running it along the edge of whatever was sitting under the skin of her forearm. She figured it was an implant that either kept track of her whereabouts or monitored her physical condition — maybe both. In any case, it irritated her and she was about to get rid of it.

  Luke was in the living room, busy with the after Christmas dinner activities of helping the children play with their new toys. Meg could hear Connie running water into the sink, ready to wash a kitchen-full of dishes.

  She steadied her right hand and pushed into the skin, making a line along the edge of the implant. She dabbed at the blood with a cloth and saw the cut needed to be deeper. After a deep breath she plunged the knife deeper into her flesh and was rewarded with the sight of the edge of the device. She removed it with tweezers.

  The mystery for her was how the implant was put into her arm without leaving a wound — it would have made removal a hell of a lot easier.

  After treating the cut and wrapping a dressing and bandage around it, she inspected the innocent looking piece of blue plastic. There were no words or numbers printed on it. No sign of circuits. What was it?

  She shook her head and placed the device on a shelf. "That'll teach those bastards."

  Walking through the living room she saw a sight that made her smile. It was Thomas, and he was crawling around madly, playing with the Christmas wrappings and crowing in delight. He saw Maisie examining a bow tied onto a ribbon and, before anyone knew what was happening, had snatched it from her and crawled off in the opposite direction. Meg and Luke looked at each other and smiled — he was actually being naughty. That was new.

  In the three days since they'd arrived home from the desert, Thomas had improved dramatically. His skin colour was brighter and his energy levels had increased dramatically. Meg decided they should stop giving him the drugs Derek had prescribed, and he certainly didn't miss them.

  The only evidence that he'd undergone any treatment in the strange hospital was a dressing on his leg, up near the groin. When Connie removed this, she found a tiny cut that had already mostly healed. What did they do to him? More importantly, who were 'they'?

  "Hey you guys. Come and sit down a minute. We need to talk."

  The children were in bed, and a welcome peace had fallen over the house. Luke and Connie joined Meg in the lounge room.

  "We haven't had time to think since we got back — all that catching up, and then making Christmas. Now we need to talk about what the hell happened with those helicopter dudes."

  "What's wrong with your arm?"

  Meg looked at the bandaging and then back at Connie. "I took out that implant thing."

  "What? How?"

  "With a knife."

  "Wow. Do you think that's wise?"

  "It was irritating me and I reckon it might have been some sort of tracking device. Those guys really pissed me off the way they treated us."

  "Bill and Ben?" Connie thought that was very funny.

  "Yeah, Bill and Ben. So, back to the question. Any ideas?"

  Connie cleared her throat. "Well, I've got one idea. Those two men — you know how they looked — darkish skin and greasy hair. Perhaps they were middle-eastern. Perhaps some radical group from over there somewhere let off some sort of biological weapon, but it was stronger than they thought and it killed most people in the world. The ringleaders were protected, of course. Now they are either acting to save the human race, or are just interested in us to see why we didn't die."

  Meg pursed her lips and nodded. "I guess that's as good a theory as any." She looked at Luke. "Any theories, Luke?"

  He looked startled that Meg had asked him a direct question. He remained silent.

  "Jeez, Luke. I know you talk sometimes. I hear your voice in the bedroom. Sometimes I need your opinions, okay?"

  He looked like a rabbit trapped in the headlights of a car. He shrugged.

  "Okay — well if that's the way you want it, you can write me a note or relay it through Connie. Whatever." She walked into her bedroom, closing the door firmly after her.

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  Meg was sitting on the toilet seat, staring with disbelief at the pregnancy test results. A blue line in the window. Holy crap.

  All along she thought the symptoms might have been signs of early menopause. It happened to her mother, so it could easily happen to her. Then she saw the pregnancy test kits in the bathroom cupboard — the ones they had left over from Connie's test — and thought she'd at least rule pregnancy out. It didn't rule it out.

  How in the hell?

  "I just don't believe this. I wonder how far I'm gone. Perhaps the test is wrong, it has to be. That's it. Unless...

  That exam they did on me at that hospital they took us to. I thought it was a pap-smear or something. Maybe it wasn't. What did they do? Rape me? IVF? It would be more likely the latter. Did they just implant an embryo — in which case it wouldn't be my egg? Or did they introduce sperm into my womb?

  I think this is it. I think that something was done to me there that has resulted in this pregnancy. I just don't know exactly what it was.

  Now I'm really pissed off with these guys. What the hell do they think they're doing? How do they think they can get away with this, and to what end? Will the child be swarthy and greasy and walk weirdly?

  What's going on, damn it? Jeez, I'm going to throw up again...

  I'm back. The thought of this pregnancy scares me. I didn't make a good incubator for Nicholas or Emily. In the end I had to have emergency caesareans, for their sakes as well as mine. And then there was that other baby — the night everyone died. How long ago was that? Today is May 3rd 2015 — so it was around twenty-two months ago. I wouldn't want to go through that again.

  No, I don't think I want to do this. For one thing it's unwise without good medical support. For another, I really just don't know what is growing inside me.

  I guess I need an abortion, but who's going to do it? No one I can think of. What were the old wives' remedies? Gin and a hot bath? Something about knitting needles? Heavens!

  What was that abortion pill — the one that caused all that fuss a few years back? I have to find out. Fast.

  The library provided the name of the drug — mifepristone, and the chemist had some on their shelves. Meg took the two tablets while standing in the shop and then went home to wait it out.

  They worked quickly and she was left with cramping and bleeding for some time afterwards.
>
  "I don't feel any sense of guilt or loss — just an overwhelming relief that I no longer have that thing in my body — whatever it was.

  Connie and Luke took turns to sit with me through the worst of the abortion, Connie would sit and stroke my forehead and sing quietly. That was nice. She also brought me a hot water bottle which helped ease the cramps.

  I got rid of that foetus within hours of finding out about it. Now it's time to take some pain killers and catch up on the jobs that have been neglected.

  Oh, just one other thing. While I was researching mifepristone, I also looked up something else I'd been meaning to find out about. Thomas' condition has improved so much that he now appears like a normal child of his age. I looked up surgical procedures to treat holes in the hearts of infants, and found there is one that has been used on occasion if the situation allows. 'Cardiac catheterization' is when access to the heart is made possible by inserting a flexible tube into a blood vessel, often in the leg near the groin — just where I found that dressing on him.

  I guess we should be grateful to those dribbling arseholes for that."

  The next time the helicopter approached, Meg stopped still to listen and then ran to the shelf where the rifle was kept. She checked the magazine was full and put spare rounds in her pocket. By the time Bill or Ben (whichever it was) landed the helicopter unsteadily and got to the veranda, she was ready.

  His eyes grew large when he saw the rifle and raised his arms. He had a note in one hand and Meg reached over and grabbed it.

  THIS MAN WILL TAKE ONE OF YOU AWAY FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT.

  YOU HAVE 20 MINUTES TO PACK A SUITCASE.

  PLEASE CO-OPERATE.

  The man pointed at Meg. She shook her head. He pointed again. She shook her head again. He tapped his watch. She raised the rife to his eye level.

  He backed away and returned to the helicopter, taking off shortly after.

  Connie came and stood next to Meg. "I wonder what they'll do to us now." Her voice was high and thin.

  The three adults went about their work as usual, but had underlying concerns about what would happen after Meg's refusal to go with the man in the helicopter. After three days they found out. By then it seemed almost like an anti-climax, except for the surge of adrenaline it caused.

  It was both Bill and Ben who approached the back veranda this time. One carried a large bag, while the other was the bearer of a new note:

  THE MEN ARE HERE TO CONDUCT MEDICAL TESTS. YOU WILL NOT BE TAKEN AWAY.

  PLEASE CO-OPERATE.

  Meg read it twice, trying to find any hidden meaning. She decided to allow them in but told Connie to stay by her side no matter what. She had already decided to refuse any liquids out of paper cups.

  They unpacked some equipment and then one of them pointed to Thomas. His test was similar to the one Meg saw Derek perform in the doctor's surgery. The men didn't look at the results, but just folded the piece of paper which indicated the electrical activity of Thomas' heart and placed it in the bag.

  Next they took Luke's forearm and examined the place the implant had been inserted. Then they did the same to Connie.

  Connie's blood pressure was checked. They gave her a bottle with a label that read 'urine sample' and nodded to her. She complied. Then they checked her forearm.

  Bill and Ben moved over to Meg. The urine sample request came first. As she handed the full bottle to them, one of them reached out and grabbed her left arm. She heard a joint intake of breath as they realised what she had done. One of the men went out to the helicopter and returned with the machine that inserted implants. As he walked toward Meg, she looked around for the rifle, but then saw the expression on Luke's face. She looked at Connie who was shaking her head.

  Meg just wanted these guys to disappear so the five of them could return to a peaceful existence, but could see that Connie and Luke were worried and wanted her to co-operate. She realised they were probably right. None of them knew exactly who they were dealing with yet and caution was prudent. She held her arm toward the man with the machine and flinched as a new device was inserted into her flesh.

  As soon as the helicopter faded into the distance, however, she grabbed the sharp knife and added the second device to the other on the bathroom shelf.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  One morning in August, Meg woke and saw the gifts that the day was offering, and decided to take some time off to go fishing at the dam. The thought made her feel light and happy.

  Before breakfast, she dug in the garden until she had ten worms wiggling in the bottom of an empty tin. She almost skipped inside and as she passed Luke, she waved the worms under his nose. "Fishing! Wanna come?"

  He shook his head and cradled his arms around an imaginary distended abdomen. "Yeah absolutely, you should stay close to Connie. Those new twins are making life tough for her."

  "Gawd you're not wrong there." Connie was waddling out of the bedroom, one hand on her enormous belly and the other holding her lower back. I think I'm going to burst open soon."

  "Oh, what a thought! Hey, why don't you stay in bed today?"

  "No, I wanna move around."

  "Well you should get Luke to make you breakfast in bed at least. I'm just going to grab some coffee and fruit and I'll go and catch us some fish.

  She opened the sunroof and whistled as she drove down to the dam. The boat was easy to manoeuvre into the water from the place she'd left it last time. The rods and lines were all ready to go. Soon she was rowing out to the middle.

  Fish stocks had risen greatly since all the fishermen except Meg had died. It wasn't long until there were five splashing around in the bucket, but they were mostly perch, so she decided to move to another spot to try for bass.

  As she was picking up the oars, she heard the horn of the tractor blasting. Luke was standing by the shore, waving his arms. Meg rowed quickly toward him, noticing he was carrying a piece of paper. He was breathing heavily.

  The note was in Connie's writing. "My waters have just broken and things are happening very quickly. Please come. We need you."

  Meg finished reading and looked at Luke.

  "Ask me yourself."

  He frowned.

  "Ask me yourself, goddamn it. I'm in no mood for your silliness anymore. You're a man and a father. Ask me or you can deliver the twins yourself."

  He lowered his gaze to the ground and then began walking away. Meg nearly gave in at that point.

  He had gone twenty metres or so before he turned around and jogged back.

  "We need you." His voice was harsh and croaky. Meg gave him a big hug.

  "Jump in the car. We'll be there in minutes."

  The babies were born, but amid much blood and madness.

  Meg realised partway through the labour that she'd been too confident — the birth of Maisie and Thomas had gone all right, so she had approached this one with a relaxed manner. All three — Connie and her two daughters — survived, but it was touch and go. Meg felt as though she barely survived the trauma herself, while Luke was traumatised after seeing his precious Connie in such a state.

  The labour seemed to go forever, and the babies were both very big. Their heads were huge. Meg had to cut Connie's perineum to allow the babies passage into the world. It was a big decision to make — doing the cutting — but she thought that if she didn't, Connie would tear and the babies would be more distressed.

  At one point she thought about the Bill and Ben, thinking that she wouldn't mind if they landed their helicopter and came to help. No such luck.

  From time to time Maisie or Thomas would come to the door and stare in with wide eyes. Meg would have to remind Luke to take them somewhere and entertain them.

  Connie's blood loss was acute, and Meg thought she needed a transfusion. That was all beyond her. She didn't know how to test herself or Luke for compatibility. She didn't know how to go about setting up the transfusion.

  After it was all over and Meg had checked the babies over, she handed
one of the girls to Luke. "Remind me to talk to you about contraception. She can't do this again for at least a couple of years." She saw that he had tears in his eyes. "Also, formula. We're going to bottle-feed these two to give Connie a chance to recover."

  "No way!" Connie's voice seemed to come from a long way, even though she was just beside them.

  "For God's sake, Connie — be sensible! It won't matter. I'm sure the formula in the stores will still be within use-by dates. It will be easier and the babies won't be sucking the energy out of you."

  "Nope. No way. Tell her Luke! We won't have our babies bottle-fed."

  Luke looked from Connie to Meg and shook his head, then walked outside with his new baby daughter.

  "Ha! You'd think he'd stand up for me after all this, wouldn't you?"

  "Don't worry Connie. He's just too overwhelmed. If you feel that strongly about it..."

  "Absolutely."

  "At least you have age on your side. You'll bounce back. I insist that you take iron tablets and some special vitamins for breast-feeding mothers as well. I'll get some tomorrow."

  Connie lay back on the pillow and turned her head to one side. Meg saw she had fallen asleep. She leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "What a brave little thing you are."

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  Meg was standing at the wall in the lounge room, looking at the needle on the barometer. She was chewing her lip.

  Connie came to look at what was of so much interest. "Oh, the barometer. Dad used to have one in his study, and I'd see him looking at it sometimes, especially if he planned a long boat trip. What's up?"

  "It's dropping — the barometric pressure that is — really fast. That's why it's so dark out to the east. I think we're in for some nasty weather."

  "Oh? Um...you don't mean like a cyclone, do you?" She jiggled three-month-old Rosie and patted her on the back.