Diamond Sky Trilogy Box Set: Books 1-3

by David Clarkson

  ‘Emmy, are you okay?’

  Charlie came running towards her.

  ‘Of course,’ she replied. ‘Why wouldn’t I be? That was my best trip yet. What I’ve found out changes everything about what we are doing here. The military will not get a look in once we go public.’

  He looked at her as if she was crazy.

  ‘Emmy, have you seen yourself; what happened?’

  She was puzzled by his reaction, but when he ran his finger down her nose and then showed it to her, she understood. His fingertip was black with soot from her face. All she could do was laugh, but Charlie was not amused.

  ‘This is no joke,’ he told her. ‘You should see your hair; it is like a five dollar perm. It does not make any sense. You appear to have been electrocuted, but all of the equipment is operating as normal. I cannot figure out what has caused this reaction.’

  ‘I can,’ she replied. ‘My little practical joke worked. I fried the bar’s power supply.’

  She twirled a lock of frazzled hair in her fingertips.

  ‘And myself by the look of it,’ she giggled.

  ‘Practical joke; are you kidding me? Earlier you said that you were out for revenge and this is now all just a joke to you?’

  ‘Stop already; you’re beginning to sound like Pops. All I did was turn out the lights on a miserable little outback bar. I’m sure they’ll have everything up and running again in no time. Apart from a few spilled beers, what harm could I have possibly done?’

  ***

  The force of the blast blew out every window in the bar. It was like being caught in the updraft of a supersonic jet. Lucas looked on in horror as the spot where he had stood just moments earlier was showered with deadly shards of razor sharp glass. If not for Jimmy’s warning, it would have torn him apart.

  ‘Now do you believe me?’ asked Jimmy.

  Lucas was unable to reply. He could not even look at the boy. From what he could gather, the explosion had come from behind the bar. As soon as it happened the street had been plunged into darkness and he guessed it was the power generators that had blown.

  The fire truck had a large searchlight fitted and the marshal shone this on the doors of the pub as the drinkers exited. They were confused, afraid, but thankfully, unharmed. Mindy was the last to leave.

  ‘Is everyone out?’ Lucas asked her.

  ‘I think so,’ she replied. ‘I can see flames through the back. You have to do something before they reach the bar.’

  Lucas signalled for the fire marshal to take the truck round the back whilst he and the volunteers ran through the pub to get to the fire. Glass was strewn across the floor; some from the windows, but most from dropped drinks. The building itself appeared untouched. Outside was a different matter. Flames ten feet high engulfed the generators and loose power cables swung in the wind like angry snakes ready to strike.

  ‘Everyone hold back and concentrate on protecting the pub,’ Lucas ordered. ‘Karl will take care of the main fire - we just have to keep it from spreading.’

  The volunteers did as instructed and attacked only the outer edges of the blaze, not allowing it to take hold of the beer garden fence or surrounding trees and shrubbery. It did not take long for the fire marshal to get into position and it soon looked like they had it all under control. Then one of the overhead cables broke loose and swung into an exposed upstairs bedroom of the pub.

  Lucas knew this was where Lucy was staying and he tried to remember if he had seen her on his way in. As far as he could recall; he had not. He looked up just as a spark ignited the curtains and plunged the room into an inferno. Without time to plan or even think, he grabbed an extinguisher and ran back into the bar before sprinting up the stairs two at a time and along the landing to where the door to the guestroom was located.

  There were few locked doors in the town of Jackson’s Hill, and this one was no exception. Lucas turned the handle and pushed the door open. Straight away he could see that the fire was spreading rapidly. From the curtains, the flames had taken hold of a wardrobe and were now starting to consume the bed. Lucas pulled the pin on the extinguisher and forcefully herded the flames back out from where they had come like a riot cop would use a baton and shield to quell a disturbance.

  As the smoke cleared, he feverishly searched for any sign of the room’s inhabitant. When he found none, he was both relieved and concerned. If the girl was not here and she had not been at the bar; where was she?’

  Chapter 16

  Ned turned off the main road onto a dirt trail that would take him out of sight or earshot of the town and observatory. There was a sweet spot he knew of down by the billabong, which was perfect hunting ground for red kangaroos. It had already yielded a fertile bounty for him over the previous weeks. Kangaroo steak was his biggest seller and because of this, his trips to the billabong were becoming more frequent.

  Apart from his bull terrier, Jake, nobody knew that he came here or how he sourced his produce. Lucas may have had his suspicions, but Ned knew that the policeman could not actually prove a thing.

  He pulled his ute in behind some bushes a good thirty or so metres from the water’s edge, turned off the engine and exited his vehicle. He then waited for Jake to follow him out before removing his .30 calibre hunting rifle.

  The gun was not fitted with night vision technology, but starlight was all the illumination Ned needed. He was a crack marksman and had been hunting since he was old enough to pick up a rifle. His uncle Donnie had taught him everything he needed to know.

  Before leaving, he always cleaned and checked his firearm to ensure nothing could go wrong. This night was no exception. The weapon was in pristine condition and he knew it was going to bag him an impressive trophy; maybe even one of the large, six foot males.

  With Jake at his side, he crouched down behind a bush and waited. Ten minutes had not passed when the first animal arrived. It was a female; much smaller than the male of the species and with the head of a young Joey poking out from its pouch, he decided to let it go. Not through sentimentality, but because it made good business sense to safeguard his future stocks. A slaughtered Joey was no use to anybody.

  During the following quarter of an hour, more females came. Some carried young and others did not, but all were much too small for Ned’s needs. It would take two or three of these to provide as much meat as from a male of the species.

  He decided to change tactics and altered his position in order to view the billabong from a different angle. He carefully crept around until he was much closer and could see the full group of animals more clearly. There were seven females in total, with four young between them. The dominant male was lying next to the base of a gum tree. Even curled up, he could tell it was a big one.

  Ned had never been presented with an easier and more tempting target. He braced the stock of his rifle against his shoulder and put an eye to the sights. The crosshairs centred directly between the animals eyes. The kill would be quick and painless, but most importantly, it would be clean. If an animal is under stress when killed, it reflects in the taste of the meat. Relaxed meat is good meat.

  He rested his finger on the trigger and just as he was about to pull it, the animal vanished. It was as if a shroud had been cast over his sights. He looked up and saw that one of the females had gotten in the way. Rather than move, it seemed to settle in this spot and was joined by two of its sister animals.

  He glanced around to see if he could move to another position. The billabong blocked him to his left and to the right would have left him exposed and easy to spot by the animals. He could always have just shot the female to get it out of the way, but that would only alert the male leaving him with a substandard catch for the night. What he needed was a fresh strategy.

  He whistled for Jake. The animal quickly joined him and having shared many a hunt together, they had an almost telepathic understanding between them. The dog would creep around the back of the animals and drive one out from behind in order to give Ned his shot
. It was a manoeuvre that had served him well in the past. In fact, it never failed. Ned once more braced the rifle to prepare for the recoil whilst Jake got into position.

  He could still see the legs of the male kangaroo and he could also see that Jake was closing in fast. It would only be a few moments until he got his shot. The night had been still, but a gentle breeze began to blow. As the huntsman felt the wind on his face he realised that it was coming in from the East, which put the prey downwind of the canine. The females confirmed this when they rose up, alert and nervous. They began to part cautiously, leaving Ned once again with a clear view of the male. It too must have smelled the dog, but it remained relaxed and off guard.

  The females were now extremely agitated and had all moved away from the clearing. Even if the male was somehow ignorant of the dog’s smell it should have reacted to the rest of the mob, yet it remained perfectly calm. Ned got back behind the sight, but quickly pulled away again. Something was wrong. Looking back across to Jake, he soon figured out what that something was. He leapt to his feet and ran into the clearing, firing warning shots into the air as he did so.

  ‘Jake! Jake!’ he screamed. ‘Get out of there, boy. Jake!’

  The dog jerked its head up in recognition of its master’s voice. Had it done wrong or was the master in trouble? Before the dog could make sense of the calls, it was already too late. The second male was much too fast. It had ambushed the ambushers. In one bold movement it leapt from where it had been hiding and pounced upon the dog with bone crunching ferocity. As it bounced back up from its attack, the momentum of the strike sent Jake tumbling forward through the dirt. When the dog eventually came to rest, it had two broken legs and its ribs were in pieces. Death would now be a mercy.

  The original male rose to its feet. This was the largest kangaroo Ned had ever seen. He lowered his rifle and pulled the trigger only for an impotent click to signal that he had depleted his ammo.

  ‘Shit!’

  He reached into his shirt pocket for the spare bullets. As he feverishly reloaded, the larger kangaroo, which he took to be the dominant male, was standing over Jake. Being a hunting dog, his friend would not go down without a fight. Jake’s body may have been shattered beyond healing, but he still had one formidable weapon in his arsenal. His bite was more than capable of tearing a chunk of flesh from the larger animal.

  Jake bore his teeth and emitted the most desperate, sickening growl Ned had ever heard. Avoiding the danger of the dog’s jaws, the kangaroo grasped the badly beaten canine with its feet before leaping into the billabong where it held the dog firmly until it drowned.

  ‘Jake!’

  Ned knew the dominant male would not stay in the water for long. His gun was now reloaded and he did not intend to miss. Jake would be avenged, even if it killed him. Once the target was in his sights, he squeezed the trigger.

  The blow that knocked his shot off target caught him completely by surprise. The force of it brought him to his knees and dislodged the rifle from his hands. As he landed, he instinctively rolled in order to put some distance between him and his assailant.

  When he re-orientated himself, he saw that it was one of the females that struck him. It was soon accompanied by the rest of the mob and they were all rounding on the now defenceless huntsman.

  Ned was wise enough to know that if one of the beasts timed its strike correctly, it could disembowel him as easily as he could fillet a steak. He looked for his rifle, but it was a good five metres from his reach. By this time, the males had returned from the billabong and the larger of these bounced over to where the firearm lay. It extended one of its feet and placed it over the weapon, in the process displaying a six inch, curved, razor sharp claw. Ned had encountered this weaponry before, but only when butchering the animals. He had never seen a claw so large and deadly. The animal placed its toes over the trigger of the rifle and as it retracted its claw a shot was fired into the night. The dominant male then looked directly into Ned’s eyes; letting him know in no uncertain terms that it was now the hunter.

  ***

  Lucy had followed the road on foot for twenty minutes before finding a clearing suitable for her needs. It was a clear night and once she left the artificial lighting of the town, the stars took over as suppliers of illumination. For the first time in ages, she felt like she had returned home.

  She walked to the centre of the field and placed her rucksack on the ground. She then removed a small blanket that she would use to sit on and also took out the urn, which she placed down beside her.

  ‘Well, dad,’ she began, ‘here we are. I know it isn’t quite what I promised when I said I would take you to the outback, but it’s a start. I have so much to tell you. You’ll be glad to know that I’ve been making friends. There is a friendly cop who has been helping me out recently. His name is Lucas. I know what you will be thinking, but it’s not like that. He’s just a friend. I also met a girl tonight. She left quickly, hopefully not because of me. There was something familiar about her that I could not quite place and I think if I see her again, we may become good friends.’

  She glanced down at the urn. Had she really expected a reply? It was just an urn. Still, she knew that he was listening. He promised her he always would. Undeterred by the one-sidedness of the conversation, she carried on.

  ‘There is also an old man in town that I am helping. He is fixing my car and in return I am going to make sure he stays off the booze. There are a lot of colourful characters in this place. I think you would like it here in Jackson’s Hill.’

  She lay back and looked up at the stars.

  ‘I wish you were here. I mean, really here; not just in spirit. If only you could give me some sort of sign; something to show me you can hear me.’

  She listened to the silence.

  ‘I guess not. For all I know, I’m going crazy; laying in the darkness talking to myself. Am I crazy?’

  ‘Not yet.’

  Lucy sat bolt upright. Who said that? She looked around and there was nobody else in the field. Was it? No, it couldn’t be; that really would be crazy. Then a rustle from the bushes interrupted her thoughts.

  ‘Hello?’ she queried. ‘Is anybody there?’

  There was another rustle and this time she managed to catch movement on the edge of the field.

  ‘Whoever it is, show yourself. This isn’t funny.’

  She reached into her bag and pulled out a flashlight. As she shone it on the bushes she saw yet more movement and then a kangaroo bounded into the field. It appeared small, like a juvenile, but she could see something around its belly. It had young. It was not a juvenile, just a female carrying a Joey.

  ‘I’ll only be a minute,’ she said to the urn.

  She expected the animal to be shy and retreat when it saw her approaching, but it did not. It even crossed the final distance between them itself, seemingly inviting her to reach out and stroke it. Its coat was smooth, but hard; more like wire than fur. She could feel its svelte, muscular body underneath.

  It was not long before another emerged from the same place as the first. There was more rustling, this time from further away and then yet another of the animals emerged. Then another came and then another, until they were approaching her from all sides.

  The field was soon filled with the animals. Lucy felt a little nervous and started to back into the centre of the field. She turned to look for her blanket when she noticed a large male kangaroo emerge. It was huge. Stooped down, it appeared not much larger than the females, but when it rose to its full height it must have been at least six feet tall. It stood directly over her blanket and the urn. Then the strangest thing happened. It looked directly at her. Not only that, but it appeared to be grinning.

  ***

  Ned ran as fast as he could. His greatest worry was that it would not be fast enough. The kangaroos were right behind him. Occasionally, one would get close and he would have to quickly alter his course, often having to backtrack, in order to get away from them. Being abl
e to change trajectory without notice was the one advantage he had. Kangaroos cannot leap backwards and their turning circle was large, allowing him to regain ground.

  As soon as he saw his ute, he began to tremble. There were only a few more steps between him and safety. He had left it unlocked and any fear that the door would somehow jam was unfounded enabling him to throw himself into the inside of the driver’s cab. He kept the keys in his shirt pocket and was quick to remove them with his shaking hands.

  A loud thud hit the side of the vehicle almost pushing it up onto two wheels.

  ‘Shit!’

  The keys fell from his grasp and landed in the foot well. There was then a second collision against the side of the vehicle, though this was not as strong as the first.

  ‘You can do this, Ned. Just don’t look at them.’

  He bent down to retrieve the keys. As he fumbled around in the dark, he heard a loud crash and felt shards of glass rain down on his back. The vehicle then began to shake violently and he could feel hot air being blown in through the window. He soon realised that it was not air, but the putrid breath of an animal.

  Once he found the keys, he rose back up into his seat, leading with his elbow to deliver a powerful blow to whatever may block him. The animal retreated just long enough to allow him to get the vehicle started.

  The sound of the engine coupled with the glare of the headlights bought the hunter some more time as the startled animals took cover. He put the ute into reverse gear and backed up as quickly as he could. When he felt the smooth tarmac of the main road, he quickly swung his vehicle around and shifted back into a forward gear. Looking ahead, he could see the road was not clear. One obstacle was in his way. It was the big one. It was the one that killed Jake.