by Meg Buchanan
I come to the bedroom at the end of the passage, walk in and put the bag on the bed.
“Your bedroom. If you want to have a shower, there are towels in the ensuite.” I point to the door.
Ela nods.
I’ve reached the end of my duties. “See you in the morning,” I say, and she nods again.
Now Ela is in bed, I spread the papers I got from Curley’s out on the desk in the study and plough through endless minutes on renovating the public toilets and the cost of using different products. I do this every week, and it’s always like this. If there’s anything anyone needs to know, I make sure they know about it.
After the cost of afternoon teas and telephone expenses, I find what I’m looking for. DoE will be in the Waihi area checking the bush and the farms next week.
This time I need to warn the two farms that are growing on cucumbers for Jacob. I’ll have to send them an email. The Steven’s are getting a visit too, they grow stuff and have a couple of OffGrid kids living with them they’ll need to send somewhere else for a few days. But they’re not on the Intranet so I’ll go and see them and warn them.
I use Dad’s computer to send out the warnings in the morning I’ll tell Nick about having to get a message to the Steven’s. We’ll head that way tomorrow. Plenty of good hunting near where they live.
Then I tidy away all sign of what I’ve been doing and go to bed.
Just before dawn, there’s a chill in the air and I wake up. I’m not sure if I really heard Ela yell out, or if I dreamed it. Then I hear it again. I pull on some jeans and go and see what’s wrong. Floorboards creak. I reach around the door frame and feel for the switch. The light comes on and there’s Ela sitting way up the bed. She moves even further up pulling the sheet with her. All the covers are on the floor.
“Are you all right?” I reach down and put the duvet back on the bed.
“Just a bad dream.”
I go over to the bed, sit down, put my arms around her. It’s familiar, I’ve been here before.
About a year before Dad left, our dads took me and Ela on a camping trip. We were all in the bush in tents. At night-time, my dad and Ela’s would leave me looking after her while they went and did stuff.
They always said it would only be for a few hours and it usually was. But that time they were away for a long time. When it was nearly dawn, I woke up suddenly. It was that murky half-light you get just before sunrise.
Dad wasn’t in the tent, but Ela was. She had crawled in, snuggled up with me and gone back to sleep.
Dad and Ela’s dad didn’t come back the next day either. We were on our own all night again. We didn’t say anything about it, just looked after each other.
They arrived late the next morning. Dad was injured, cuts all over him and a broken arm. Said he’d fallen and got hurt, and that was why it had taken them so long to get back.
“Can you stay?” Ela asks this time. “I keep dreaming I’m frightened, and someone’s wrecked my Eco.” I feel a bit guilty about all that.
“I’ll stay until you’re asleep.” It seems okay.
She nods again and moves across to the side of the bed, then lifts up the duvet, so I can get under it. She lies down facing the wall. I curl up around her and put my arm on the duvet near her waist.
And, fuck, when I wake up, its morning and I’m still here.
But it’s real early, and Ela’s still asleep, and there’s no sound of movement in the house, so I carefully ease myself off the bed and head for my room.
I have a shower, get dressed and go into the study to check to see if there’s anything from Yvette.
An envelope icon floats onto the monitor. Yvette’s reply. It’s short.
Vincent is dangerous. He’s being investigated for everything. We think he was involved in the accident at Mt Annan. There have also been a few disappearances he’s connected with. Don’t try anything clever.
Yvette
I flick to eSerch, type in Mt Annan.
A newspaper story comes up.
‘The NSW Seed Bank at Mount Annan was established in 1986 as an integral part of the Australian Botanic Garden. It was a facility for storing seeds collected throughout Australia, with a focus on NSW native and threatened species. There were more than 9000 collections of fully documented wild sourced seed held in the Seed Bank. In January 2051 a fire broke out in the facility, destroying both the building and the collections it protected. This was a huge blow to those trying to protect Australia’s biodiversity.’
The fire was only a few weeks ago. And why would he destroy a seed bank?
Then I see Ela appear at the doorway. She’s showered and dressed too, all Elite.
She smiles. “What are you doing?” she asks.
“Checking my messages.” I power down the computer.
“Did Yvette answer?” asks Ela.
“Yeah, she says not to trust Vincent.”
“Why not?” I watch as she stretches, arms over her head, back arched, the little cardigan thing she’s wearing riding up. She’s got to be flirting. Nobody looks that good by accident.
“He’s being investigated for some stuff in Aussie.” I stand up. Reach behind her and turn off the study light, meaning to go back to the lounge.
She moves to go out the door too, and we sort of bump into each other. I change my mind about going back to the lounge. Draw her towards me. Slide my other hand under her hair and kiss her.
Ela goes with it. Seems pretty happy to be kissed. Her hands slide up to my shoulders. It’s nice.
And it’s all good until I hear Mum.
“Are you up, Jack?” calls Mum.
I step back from Ela. “Yeah, I’m in the study.”
“What are you doing in there?”
“Checking my messages.” I pull a face at Ela.
She half laughs then bites her lip.
“Where’s Ela?” Mum’s voice is moving along the passage.
“She’s here too. We were just coming out.”
Mum appears, still in dressing gown and slippers.
I slide through the door past her. The computer flickers in the background shutting down.
I’m sure Mum watches as Ela and I walk back to the lounge. I know we’re standing way too close, the backs of our hands touching. Ela is tugging on the hem of her top with her other hand, smoothing it back down over her hips.
Mum will hate it. She says being pregnant at seventeen had been no fun, and she makes it her mission to make sure it doesn’t happen to anyone else, especially now with the whole Vector thing happening. I’m pretty sure she will have an opinion.
For once she doesn’t comment straight up. I breathe a sigh of relief. In the lounge, Ela pecks me on the cheek.
“I’ll go pack up my things,” she says.
“Good plan.” I want her out of earshot as quickly as possible. I give her a minute, then walk down the passageway. No point in letting Mum stew.
I stop at the study door. I lean against the frame and watch her turn the computer on to check her mail.
The door of the guest bedroom shuts.
Mum takes a deep breath. “I thought you had a girlfriend.” She stares at the computer screen.
I shrug. That’s actually none of her business. When she doesn’t get an answer, Mum goes back to watching the computer screen deleting the emails she’s read as if that’s all she’s interested in.
Then after a few stabs at the screen, she proves it isn’t.
“Stay away from Ela.” Mum’s still studying the screen. “She’s pretty and she seems nice, but she’s young, she’s Elite, and she’s the granddaughter of your boss.” Then she turns around and looks at me again. “If you don’t want to go to university next year, you still need a job, or they’ll make you go.”
“I know, Mum.” I try to cut the lecture short. “I’ll go put the jug on.”
“Be sensible.”
“I’m just looking after her like Jacob wanted me to.”
“Make sure
that’s all it is and if she has to stay here again, stay in your own room.” She turns back to the computer screen.
I slowly push myself away from the doorway. Well, that was about as embarrassing as I expected. Trust Mum to come straight out with it. She never could just go with the flow.
I envy Nick. His mum prefers not to notice things and pussyfoots around. Though considering the Joe/Lucinda situation, that approach hasn’t worked out too well for their family lately.
****
Vincent checks his status.
An Alert, someone has done a search on him. He slides his hand across the tablet to track where the search originated; sees the shields go up so he can’t take the track right to the source.
But he’s getting a reaction, saw enough before the shields went up to know the search was local. Someone’s showing an interest.
“Did you set up the loop?” he asks Kane.
“Yeah, all done. All the security cameras and communications at the Outpost will loop back to us.”
“Anyone else know about it?” Information is leaking out in a way it shouldn’t be.
“No, did it myself.”
“Good, now hand me that list of OffGrid Kids.”
Chapter 12
After breakfast, me, Mum and Ela go outside and check the vehicles. I stand in the garage looking at the damaged Land Rover with my hands shoved into my pockets. Mum’s all, ‘I’ve had my say. Let’s get on with things.’.
“Can it be fixed?” She asks. She’s dressed ready for work now, make up on, hair dried, and doing her usual thing after we’ve had a run in, acting all conciliatory, as if she thinks it’s all sorted to her satisfaction and I’ll do what she wants.
“Rob thinks he’s got a windscreen and windows he can use. He’ll come and pick it up later.”
Mum nods and looks at Ela. “What about your Eco?”
“I rang Mum and she rang the insurance company this morning. They’ll pick the Eco up tomorrow,” says Ela.
“What about until it’s fixed?’
“They are giving me a courtesy car.”
Mum nods. She’s going to let me keep using her car until the Land Rover is at least waterproof.
As Ela and I head to Jacob’s, she asks, “Why was your mum so angry before?”
“You heard?”
“Yes, and your mum’s pretty scary.”
“Yeah,” I say. Then turn and give Ela a bit of a grin. “But she might have a point.”
Ela nods and smiles. Like she knows one kiss doesn’t change anything.
She’s Elite.
I’m still breeding stock.
I’m meant to be looking after her for her granddad.
Who just happens to be my boss.
Now it looks like there are a couple of Vector agents sniffing around.
Plus, there’s the whole Willis brother problem.
When we get to his place, I tell Jacob about seeing the Willises talking to the two guys in the pub.
“Did you get names?” he asks.
“Only the older guy. Mum said he said he was Carlos Vincent.”
“I haven’t heard of him. I’ll run a check on him. Did you get a good look at them?”
“Yeah. They were real big. Like they work out. Sort of menacing.”
“What were they doing?”
“Mum said looking at NavMaps. It looked like the old guy was laying down the law to Henry and Charlie like they’d been working for him but hadn’t got it right.”
Jacob nods and scratches his chin. “Might be Vector agents. Keep an eye out. If you see them again, let me know.”
“And Vector got Lucinda,” I say.
Jacob sighs and nods like he already knew that.
And there’s another reason to keep Ela at arm’s length, I want Jacob to trust me enough to let me work for the Resistance Cell properly, not just use me as a messenger boy.
She might be hot, but I’m going to be sensible.
Hands off. Keep her safe. Act like a big brother again.
The End
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Chapter 1
We’re right on the bush line when Nick hears the Hovers.
He drops to a crouch then signals at me to get down and stay low. “Get my glasses, Jack. They’re on top.” His voice is barely a whisper.
I drop too and ease up to him. Mon’s hackles rise and he skulks back and lies low, head on paws, back legs ready for action.
I flip Nick’s pack open, grab the binoculars, hand them to him, then lie down and move my rifle to scope what’s going on. I can’t see anything unusual.
Nick stretches out too. He wipes the binocular lenses with his cuff, carefully pushes the ferns aside, holds the fronds down then adjusts the focus and studies the valley below us. After a while, he hands the binoculars over and points to the farm buildings nestled in the valley.
I glass the buildings again. Nick folds his arms and rests his chin on his wrist guard. I still don’t see anything, but I can hear a faint whomp, whomp, whomp noise. Then a hole appears in the sky. The hole starts to shimmer.
I focus on the shimmering, and a StealthHover materialises, a massive black triangle with a silver V etched from wingtip to wingtip. The troopship must have had its cloaking device activated to sneak up like that. Another comes out of the air, then another, and another, and another. They unhaze and settle on the ground in front of the barn.
“Vector.” I’m speaking as quietly as Nick did. This is my fault. I knew they were coming.
Nick nods without lifting his head. “We’re too late.”
I hand the binoculars back, ease the rifle into position again, and scope the farm buildings. There’s a pause, and then the hovers lift their wings the way ducks dry their feathers. VTroopers stream out of the open doors like black fury. The visors on their helmets hide their faces. Their coats stir around their legs. The sound of boots on the ground echoes up from the valley to the bush line. I’m beside Nick, flat and silent, watching through the crosshairs.
The armed VTroopers move into position and surround the house. One kicks in the door and five of them storm inside. Then two come out dragging old man Stevens. They throw Stevens on the ground. He lies very still. Old lady Stevens follows, dragged by two more VTroopers. She gets thrown too, tries to stand but is hit by the butt of a laser gun and falls back down. She stays as still as the old man.
Three girls, one around eighteen, come out the door clustered together. A VTrooper walks behind them, laser held ready. The older girl breaks free of the cluster and runs. A guard grabs her and pushes her back with the others.
It’s all like a Vid with the sound turned down.
Then, two men dressed differently to the rest, no helmets and their coats almost brushing the ground, march up to the old people. They stand over them. One shoots old Stevens and his wife. Just two shots, point blank.
Me and Nick hear the resonance of the girls’ screams float up from the valley. We’ve watched Vector murder two old people, and there’s nothing we can do about it.
I look at Nick. “You recognise them?” I breathe.
He nods. Vincent and the sidekick are obviously in charge.
Nick’s still staring through the binoculars.
The troopers start smashing stuff, systematically demolishing the farm buildings, every glasshouse, every outbuilding. It’s all smashed or burned. Completely destroyed. It doesn’t take long, maybe half an hour at the most.
When they’ve finished, the VTroopers drag the girls t
o one of the Hovers. The doors close. The shimmer starts again, and slides across the wings until all that is left in the air is a black hole. Then the other three Hovers disappear, leaving broken glass, crushed plants, and burning timber. And the bodies dead in the ruins.
The evening light filters through the trees. I rest my forehead on my wristband and lie there under the ferns. “I should have come as soon as I knew.”
Nick pushes himself up so he’s sitting. “You said it was just about rogue plants.” He looks as shocked as I am and sounds accusing.
“Yeah, that’s what Curley’s papers said, and Vector weren’t coming until next week.” I stand. Smoke winds silently across the valley. I pick up my rifle slowly like it’s heavy. I knew old Stevens had his grandkids living with him. He was hiding them OffGrid. I knew this would happen if Vector found the kids. If I’d come as soon as I found out or even this morning, we could’ve got them away. We shouldn’t have gone hunting first. I hang my rifle over my shoulder. If I’d done anything differently, I could have stopped this happening.
“Do you think they’ll come back?” asks Nick.
“They haven’t left much to come back for.” I start going down the hill. “I’m going to bury them,” I say.
It keeps coming back to me, the Stevens’ place crushed and burned, and the old guy and his wife lying dead. I can’t figure out how I’m going to live with it. All me and Nick did was bury them.
We don’t go and see Jacob on the way home like we know we should. He’s not going to see wanting to get in a hunt first as a good reason for letting two old people die. My boss’s not big on procrastination.
When we get back to town, Nick doesn’t take off and go straight home like he planned. He comes back to my place because we need to do something about what’s just happened, but we haven’t figured out what yet. We get to the pub real late. I stick Mon is his kennel, and we go inside.
