“Stop them, I promise you this won’t go well for you,” Natalie said.
‘Monica’ leapt out of the bucket, her head snapped in Natalie’s direction.
“You’re outnumbered Dr. Natalie Kyle.”
Natalie shook her head rapidly. “No, I’m not. This is our planet. Trust me, you won’t hold Quuorn.”
‘Monica’s’ face twisted into grief. “Where will we go?”
Natalie swallowed. She knew the answer and it made her skin burn with shame. Australia had a very strict foreign planet policy. Especially for those that illegally travelled through portals. As she had this thought, she could feel ‘Monica’ searching her expression.
“It’s better than no home,” Natalie said. They both knew she was lying. They both knew that it wouldn’t be anything like a home and that it was humans fault they had lost theirs in the first place. Natalie couldn’t say all that, it was too true, too beyond her control, too unfair.
Sirens wailed in the distance. Natalie grabbed ‘Monica’s’ arm. “It’s over. It’ll be better for you, for your family, if you give the bodies back now.”
‘Monica’s’ mouth opened in a silent scream. With shaking arms she held up her hands.
“Stop, my friends, my family, stop, we surrender, return to your prior forms, quickly now,” She yelled.
The alien townspeople stopped their advances. Will looked back at Natalie, confused. She could see that he’d been ready and willing to fight them all, for as long as it took. Natalie held up her hand to him, to let him know it was alright, he’d done it, the townspeople were safe.
The sirens drew closer. ‘Monica’ moved rapidly. She directed the slugs out of the bucket. The men were no longer paralysed and they climbed out too. The slugs piled out onto the ground and ‘Monica’ ushered them further into the park. The human bodies dropped their weapons and headed to the slugs. Though Natalie could see no distinguishing features, the aliens recognised their original slug forms. They bent down beside the slugs, who quivered but stayed still.
Natalie couldn’t imagine what it was like to see yourself - your body, your face - walk over to you. She shuddered at the thought, she’d been so close to experiencing just that.
The aliens placed their human hands onto the bulbous heads of the slugs. Everyone went still and silent. The sirens screamed closer and the morning light danced across the faces of the humans and aliens.
‘Monica’ stood beside Natalie, watching.
“Tom needs his mother back,” Natalie said.
With shaking steps, the alien inside of ‘Monica’, walked over to a slug lingering nearby the bucket. ‘Monica’ fell to her knees and placed her hands onto the slug’s head. Will wandered over to Natalie. The sirens were only around the corner now. Will pointed to a small boy crouched beside a slug.
Like the others, they were still, locked in a communion that made Natalie nauseous to think about. Without the struggle, the process of mind swapping took only moments. The people of Quuorn were in their bodies again. Most of them blinked rapidly and sat down. Some whipped their heads around in search of their families. The slugs, moved swiftly together. They crowded around the excavator and awaited their fate.
The wailing of the sirens grew to a crescendo as the immigration police cars drove up to the park.
35
Will grit his teeth as the police swarmed into the park. They surrounded the group of slugs with their guns raised, shouting commands. It was a messy process. Natalie stepped forward but Will placed a hand on her shoulder to stop her. The police wouldn’t listen right now. They had their prize; this would look great on the news. The press arrived, just moments after the police and shoved cameras into the shocked townspeople’s faces. They cowered together in their family groups. The slugs did the same. Will let out a harsh breath and the pain in his ribs ignited.
His senses dulled as he watched the different groups interacting and reacting. The cameras took it all in. It would all become more fodder for the politicians. They’d use this story to justify the camps. Like they always did.
Will wanted a drink. His body pulsed with pain. The people of Quuorn who’d had their Earth visas checked, were leaving. They were sneaking off to their homes or more likely to the pub. The slugs, were being rounded up onto trucks. Will turned to the Doc.
“Trust me, in this line of work. It’s best to leave before the cops get a chance to question you.”
Natalie shook her head, her lips were pressed into a thin line. “I want to put in a good word for Monica and the others. I’ll tell them they surrendered.”
“It won’t make a difference,” Will said, wearily.
“It might.”
“It won’t.”
“I’ll speak to the reporters then.”
Will shrugged with the left side of his body. The only side of his body that would still move. “They won’t use it.”
“Why not?”
“It doesn’t fit their story.”
“Goddamn it,” Natalie said fiercely. “This can’t be how it is.”
Will shrugged again, trying to ignore the pain in his chest. He turned away from it all and began to walk away, back towards his car, back towards Tom’s house, when the Doc stopped him.
“Where are you going?” She asked.
He glanced back. “To get paid,” He said bluntly, and then kept walking.
36
Natalie gave her statement to a disinterested reporter. Then, with Wolfgang beside her, she walked back to Tom’s house. The townspeople of Quuorn ambled through the streets towards their homes. Nobody was speaking, but parents held their children tightly in their arms.
As she walked amongst them, exhaustion weighed heavily on Natalie. Wolfgang, usually tireless, dragged his paws and kept his head low. Natalie’s mind couldn’t process everything she had seen. In particular, the slug aliens being carted away in trucks. She knew their fate, they’d be locked up in the camps hidden in the central deserts of Australia. Few people knew what happened in those camps, but whenever a story leaked, the ill treatment of aliens made Natalie sick to her stomach.
Natalie saw Will on the front steps of the Farrell house with Monica and Tom. She waved at them from the front gate and then joined them on the steps. Tom peeked out from behind Monica’s leg. The real Monica. Tom leapt out and buried his face in Wolfgang’s fur.
“Wolfgang missed you Tom,” Natalie said.
Monica grabbed Natalie’s arm. Natalie tried not to recoil. She could see the difference in the woman, she could see human, but a part of her couldn’t help but be afraid.
“Tommy told us that he called you and that you, well, you did what you did. We really can’t thank you enough. There really aren’t words - How much is your fee? We want to make sure you’re reimbursed generously,” Monica said.
Natalie coloured. “Oh, there’s no need. I’m a scientist with- well, we research portals.”
Tom’s father, Richard, emerged from the house. He held out his phone to Will, who placed his underneath it. Natalie wondered how much saving the life of their family cost.
“Well, goodbye,” Will said and headed back down the stairs.
“Goodbye Will,” Tom said. He had emerged from Wolfgang’s fur and was staring, wide eyed at Will’s receding back.
Will looked over his shoulder. “Bye kid. Stay tough,” He said and headed to his car.
Natalie bent down to Tom and smiled. “You were so brave,” She said.
Tom blushed and smiled. He looked up at his mum. “Can I get a dog?” He asked.
Natalie laughed and after a moment, Tom’s parents did too.
“No problem, buddy,” Richard said.
Natalie stood and said her goodbyes. Wolfgang trotted down the stairs after her. The Farrell’s went into their home and the door locked behind them. Will was lingering outside of his car.
“What is this, your hobby? Why didn’t you get paid?”
Natalie screwed up her face. “I’m a scientist. I
investigate,” She said.
Will frowned. They both knew there was more to the story, but Natalie wasn’t ready to say it out loud and he didn’t seem ready to ask. There was an awkward silence between them.
“If you need a consultation or anything on a job, let me know,” Natalie said.
Will nodded. “Alright. I will,” He grinned and then held out a hand.
Natalie took it and shook it. She returned his smile.
“Get that rib looked at, would you?” She said.
Will laughed and climbed into his car.
“Get that dog trained,” He said.
Will rolled up his window and drove his beat up white car away to who knew where; what planet, what world, what city. Natalie watched him go and felt a twinge of envy, she could say a lot about Will, but he sure was free.
Natalie climbed into her own car. It was Sunday. She had work back at the lab tomorrow. She patted Wolfgang’s fur and put the car into auto drive. She pulled up her screens and began to scan through mind swapper research, slug research, and whatever she could find on mining. She needed to find out why the company she worked for had destroyed a planet for resources. What about the treaty between worlds? There were so many unanswered questions and so many untold stories. She heard a beep from her pocket and pulled out DaVinci.
Another portal had opened.
THE END
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Acknowledgments
Thank you to the smart and generous group of writers that is Indiepub. Thank you to Daniel and Laura Martone for allowing me to write in your Universe and for teaching me the way of the brown coats. Thank you to Nadine for all of your support and encouragement. Thank you to Claire for sharing so many adventures with me.
And, thank you to whoever or whatever reads this book.
The Missing Town Page 12
