Camping was now such a happy memory but this trip was poignant in the extreme; it might well be his last.
Arriving at the track to his camp site, the same one as all those other times, he was pleased to find the track into it was not blemished by human passage as far as he could see. Someone may have been here months ago but it did not look likely. That was always a great fear, someone already in 'his' camping ground.
However when he drove into the site proper he was astounded, she was there already and somehow all his fears and melancholia were banished.
"Kate!" just popped out of his mouth as there she was sitting in her chair looking at home as a small fire burned in front of her.
She stood quickly then walked over as soon as he pulled up into his usual position, a huge smile on her face. Once he got out of the car she, against his expectation, gave him a hard hug for a few moments. It almost knocked him off his feet as, quite frankly, he had been getting more and more frail these last few years. In truth, he was not so sure about setting up the camp, getting the freezer and gas bottle out was a difficult chore now. It had taken him all the previous day to pack, something that was worth about three hours at most just a few short years ago.
That was yet another thing he had to complain about; the older he got the longer things took. Then he thought as he often did, at least he was spared the alternative of not being alive. Sometimes he had felt so desperately low that the option of ending it all felt attractive.
"Hiya handsome, can a girl give you a hand to setup?"
There was no doubt in his mind, she was a cheeky thing. As he looked at her he just felt surprise. She still looked like a teenager, probably was stronger than him he guessed but also she had an empathy that was remarkable.
"Kate just a year or two ago I'd tell you to sit down and watch the master at work. Now I would appreciate a little muscle if you wouldn't mind."
Together the two of them setup camp in what he thought of as pretty good time and Kate's good humor and company made it feel like a special time. Maybe it took a little longer than he was used to, not as good as his best but certainly better than he’d done any time in the last few years. When she offered to go with him to collect fire wood he almost refused but her company, when he accepted, was a delight to him. A woman in his vehicle was a welcome change.
Back at camp with the wood stacked, the fire stoked up with logs and the sun sinking quickly he thought of dinner. He had his first nights meal planned but she got in first, "Mike I brought a little something if you like? Some steamed vegetables, a little painfully light steamed chicken, some steamed rice and a light sweet peanut based sate' sauce. Feel like some?"
He sighed. He was tired. No other way to say it, the drive was always long but his body was now, after its journey into the seventh decade, felt old and tired and sore. He would have much preferred to have cooked her a meal, that was proper hospitality. He felt disappointed but the offer was a godsend right now, "Kate I hate to say it but I accept. I'm exhausted and I feel really ashamed to not cook you a meal but if you don't mind that would suit me just fine. I do like a nice peanut sauce."
He sat in his chair exhausted, head back, enjoying the moment mightily.
Kate got up quickly then returned from the bush a moment later with an insulated 'cooler' with a carry handle. She opened it then extracted a plate with a metal cover which she handed to him then took one herself. She passed him a glass tumbler, took one then sat in her chair.
He looked at the plate. China. Shiny metal cover and quite hot sitting on his knees. "Kate this is very nice! Still hot. Get it from the take away round the corner?" He saw Kate smiling as he said that.
"Sure did Mike and it is a pleasure to be able to admit it for a change. I got it from just round the corner in Alpin Street. Cairns. Australia. I’ve been going there for years for take-out. Love their food with a passion, they know me now and are happy to do it in an insulated box with proper plates and a cover. I've got to get it back to them tonight or tomorrow morning else they get all annoyed with me but wait till you try it. Special!"
He lifted the lid then looked inside. It was a lovely looking meal. A wide bed of rice on top of which was a collation of steamed vegetables then in the middle an area of lean white steamed chicken. The mildly spicy peanut sauce was in a small sealed plastic tub he opened carefully. Putting a finger in then tasting it he was delighted. "As advertised, light and sweet, not too spicy. Perfect. I'm getting intolerant of anything too spicy now. Fatty too. There is nothing good to say about getting older except for the fact of being alive still."
Kate looked at him then grinned for a moment. She produced a large insulated flask then filled their long glasses with icy clear water and some ice cubes clinking as they fell in. It was obviously very cold and very fresh. She opened a small plastic tub then popped three lemon slices into her drink. "You," she said making Mike chuckle.
"Sure. Please. You don't do bush cooking do you," making Kate laugh as she shook her head looking very young and 'coltish' but he could see that was a veneer. There was no way she wasn’t anything other than confident of herself.
"Mike I can cook OK in a kitchen, that's about it. I'm a creature comforts girl, done the camping thing, enjoyed it, prefer five star or better." She grinned, “Camping to me is when there isn’t room service or there are less than five stars on the hotel reviews.”
He chuckled and smiled also. She didn't look like a bush-girl to him either.
They ate quietly till the meal was almost finished, both picking at the last little bits on their plates. Mike had to ask, "Tell me Kate, you can do the distance thing obviously, how do you get away with it and for so long?" Then he added, "Oh. I presume you do from what you've said."
She smiled quietly, "By being rat cunning and quick on my feet. Small helps. No other way. I saunter round the corner then I'm gone before they know. Drives people nearly insane at times. It's getting difficult to keep a straight face."
Mike was chuckling, she had a good sense of humor and didn't take herself too seriously. That was something he always struggled with, pompous and pretentious people irritated him.
"Mike," then she hesitated for a moment as if in doubt, "I noticed the first time and I can see it now. Your blood pressure is a problem and I'm guessing that age is wearing you down. How are you feeling in general. That is if you don't mind of course. I don't want to put a damper on the night."
Mike nodded, "Thanks for asking Kate. I feel every one of my three score and eleven years and sometimes I feel older. When I get up in the morning the aches and pains don't go till lunch time then I'm about exhausted by the early evening. My blood pressure is over the moon, always has been. I have no idea how it hasn't killed me yet. I didn't expect to get this far without at least a stroke."
He saw her accept that. "I thought that also, it's high I can see just by looking at you. I have an offer for you if you want it and only since you can obviously keep a secret." She stopped to look into his eyes deeply. He could see it was very much a leading comment.
"Kate I've kept our, your, secret because I promised. It's getting to a time in my life where there aren't too many friends remaining alive who I would want to share a secret with anyway." He hesitated, then added, "And I am not enjoying life at the moment so time won't be a problem for secrets." He sounded glum even to himself.
"Mike. Think about this carefully. I can give you a treatment that effectively winds back your body clock. Hard to believe I know, but I can wind it back by maybe ten and possibly twenty years depending on your metabolism and how you deal with it. Maybe more, maybe less. Truly. You can get another many years of good, happy, healthy life with almost no side effects if you work at it a little."
Aside from being astounded, Mike's suspicion latched onto, "Almost none? What side effects would you expect?" He knew everything in life came at a cost. Nothing was free in his experience.
Kate chuckled, "OK, not a lot gets past you." She relaxed back into her
chair looking at the flames as she spoke slowly, almost relishing the words. "Mike it is true, you'll actually look years younger. You'll need a cover story to tell people and you'll get tired of explaining it to them. You'll regain your vigor in all ways, mental, physical, emotional so that will make for plenty of changes. You'll suddenly be maybe close to the prime of your life again so wardrobe is going to be an issue again."
She glanced at him for a moment. "Mike, your mental acuity, the ability to think and follow a thread to a conclusion, the ability to problem solve and use your mind will change dramatically for the better." She grinned at him, "Almost like a new genus I suppose."
Mike sat thinking of what she had offered, "Guaranteed?" he asked as he liked certainty, but the other implications were huge and he remembered what Resident had said.
Kate nodded looking serious and intense, "Absolutely. Done it a few times, works at the fundamental cellular and DNA replication level, it can't fail. Your body does it, all I do is kick start the process."
Strangely that didn't really make him happy. He was feeling vastly tired of life, old, lonely and more than a little sad. Sometimes he thought if he died tomorrow he wouldn't complain as he had enjoyed a good run till now. Better than most. Besides, not too many could boast having such company in the bush, company that was just not conceivable to many.
Now when he looked up at the stars at night, he had a small and often sly smile on his face. He knew things that few if any other humans did.
"Kate thank you but you know what, I'm feeling so tired of life it really doesn't sound all that attractive. If I got that lease of life all my friends would be gone whilst I'm looking younger. It's making me feel sad just thinking about it, losing them. I do thank you Kate but please don't be offended, no thanks."
Somehow the 'rush' of being younger just didn't appeal. He almost sighed.
Strangely enough he saw her smile as if she expected his answer. He knew it was a brilliant offer yet she seemed to somehow accept his decision.
"Mike I understand, maybe more than a little. Losing friends is not something I'm looking forward to. I can predict my lifespan and I know that no one I know now will be alive then. It's a curse I know. But one thing; I'll make new friends and so could you." She stopped as she looked into the fire.
After a few moments she added, "You know, losing a friend doesn't mean the friendship was never there, was not valued, was not reciprocated."
Mike sat to think about it. Silence ruled the night except for the crackling of the fire, the warmth on their faces giving them a slightly surreal look in the dancing flames and shadows. Kate, he was pleased to realize, shared the ability to allow a silence to linger without having to populate it.
"How does the treatment work Kate?" Mike asked after at length considering what she said. It was an intellectual thing for him now, just a mild interest. He wondered if there was some kind of huge machine involved or a trick serum, something like out of a James Bond movie?
The answer was very different though.
"I shock every cell in your body back to life. I re-wind your body clock by infusing you with an enormous energy surge, pure and simple. No part of your body can't be affected, everything all at once. It takes many treatments but it works perfectly."
Mike heard the words and her confidence, wondering how it was done. "I bet the body doesn't like that, it doesn't like change all that much."
The answer didn't surprise him at all, "no. Its intensely painful the first time. Maybe like an all over childbirth. Thing is, you really get younger. As I said before your mental acuity, thought processes, zest for life. Everything. That can't happen unless your brain is totally involved and it certainly is." She left it at that.
Silence fell for a short while. Mike was not feeling convinced, he knew it, Kate knew it, but wasn't an excuse to ruin a good night.
---oOo---
The last night of his time away, possibly his last in this area, left him with a bone deep sadness he struggled to endure. He had been coming to this place for the better part of twenty years, more perhaps as he'd not counted or made detailed notes in the early years.
The bush and this place in particular were special to him. He'd always looked forward to returning here, it was something to look forward to. Something to keep him active.
These last few years with the aches and pains increasing had made it more and more difficult. Now it was apparent he probably couldn't come again, the sadness sat on him like a wet blanket.
The only saving grace for the night was that he was going to cook a meal for Kate. He smiled. At that thought, he remembered she had ignored his melancholia, his slightly depressive state, then lifted him up with her happiness.
He did two firewood runs in his little four wheel drive. Each time filling it as much as possible with larger logs. Her request for a bonfire, a big fire, was not something he ever did as it sounded wasteful but now the thought of it cheered him slightly. It would be a final celebration of his time in this camp. A send off. He was looking forward to it then the fatalist in him dreaded it ending.
Lighting the fire in mid afternoon was as usual simple enough. He kept it small, building it slightly as the sun started to set then when darkness approached threw plenty of logs onto it. Quickly the flames were waist then chest height, the occasional sparks flying ten feet or more into the sky. He looked at his pile of wood, it should last a few hours he hoped.
When he turned from the fire, there she was, just standing looking at him, smiling, with some kind of musical instrument in her hand. His spirits lifted immensely. Building the fire by himself for himself had seemed silly but now with her here it was something he searched for a suitable word to describe. 'Delightful' was the word. It filled him with delight.
Kate beamed, "Evening all," she said as she rushed forward to give him another hard hug. "Good to see you gainfully employed, how was your stay? Feel sad about your last night?"
He released her from the hug almost regretfully. "Kate it's been a good time away from everyone and everything but now it really is sad. I doubt I'll be back again unless someone else drives me. It's at the end of my capabilities now."
He saw Kate nod but not take that on board greatly. He expected her to say something but she 'moved on'. "Mike I can understand that. It's not an easy place this, so remote that few people would know of it, it's given you a lot of pleasure over the years," which he thought was bleeding obvious. The next thing was not though, it did surprise him greatly.
"Mike, would you feel like a little extra company? Resident and Companion would like to share your last night if you wouldn't mind."
That surprised him but also the way she said it twinged something in him.
"I wasn't aware he liked the bush that much, Companion I know loves it but Resident? I thought he was a bit bored by it."
Kate smiled slightly, "You'd be surprised. After dinner I've got my musical instrument. Would you like me to play?" She held it up, it looked a little strange but he was no judge of musical instruments. "If you wouldn't mind, some, ah, um, others would like to come also. You really have no idea how much they would enjoy it."
That really surprised him yet again, a night of surprises it seemed. "Resident and Companion are more than welcome. I'd like to see them one last time. Who are these others? More of the same or different."
The thought of 'aliens' was something he struggled with even though he had accepted Resident and Cat were exactly that. He'd accepted them. Others? He had no idea about it at all.
He saw her smile slightly, "Mike, just a fraction different. I met them a little while ago. Lovely people, somewhat like us but different. They are totally civilized to the point that sitting round a camp file in the dark bush without environmental control is impossible for them to imagine, they’ve got no idea what a true wilderness is. It would be a gift to them they'd never forget, something to treasure. I must warn you however, they would record and broadcast it to their whole species."
&n
bsp; "You're joking!" just slipped out. "A whole species? Millions or more? They'd be interested?"
Kate shrugged, "Why not? Their level of civilization means they share most things. Ask for privacy and it is instantly given freely without question. Offering to share is a real gift, probably the one gift that means anything to them."
He stood there wondering what this really meant. "They've never been camping? Never experienced the wild?"
Kate shook her head slowly from side to side, "No. There hasn't been any hint of 'wild' on their planet for millennia. They travel a lot to other planets but quite frankly the number of people who can do what you do other than on Earth is just about nil. Think about it. Unless they know someone like me or Resident, they can't really intrude or introduce themselves. Once a planet becomes space capable like they have, it's too late to experience this. What is happening here is hard to find."
"Kate," he said feeling almost sorry for them, "I never thought of it that way."
"We've primitives to them, wild, uncivilized but to give them this experience would be a once in a generation thing, a memory they'll pass down."
He really was feeling a little lost in this, almost stunned. That sounded tragic to him, like they had lost their roots, lost any kind of feeling for their origins. "Kate how could I resist that. Please let the poor buggers to come. I can't imagine anything worse than not knowing the pleasure of the bush at night. Might be interesting for me also."
Then he looked at her closely, "One thing though." Her words had triggered something in him. "Kate you are here now, this trip and not others and Resident and Companion also. You said 'my last night' twice and it sounded final. What did you mean by that?"
---oOo---
The End or A New Beginning?
She looked into his eyes. "Honesty is a double edged sword Mike. Want it?" She looked a little sad, glum, which concerned him.
The Camper: First Contact and the Planet Tamer (The Stellar Universe Book 0) Page 17
