Chapter 40
Bruce Babbitt knocked on the door frame leading into the third-floor office.
Esther Abbe looked up from her desk to see Bruce, and waved him into the room. She continued writing on the glass panel set into the desktop while looking at the numbers and maps on the main vertical screen in front of her.
Bruce stood for a half a minute, then took a seat in one of the chairs in front of Esther’s desk, turning it to look out the window to see the view of the forest rising towards the bluff in the distance.
After a few more minutes, Esther broke into Bruce’s daydream.
“Do you still like the view from this side of the building?” she asked.
“Five months since I seen things from that veranda below, and it still takes my breath away. God, it must be nice to have money,” he answered.
“It was nice to have money, and that money afforded me the opportunity to create this place. But that money isn’t quite as useful any longer, I’m afraid.” Esther said. “CPI reports came out today. Up ten percent, annualized this past month.”
“Sorry, you wanna talk trees, animals or even alien rumors, and I’m your man,” Bruce responded. “I have no clue what a CPI is.”
“Consumer Price Index,” Esther said. “What people have to pay for things they need or want. And things are getting more expensive, mainly because there aren’t enough “things” being created any more.”
“Well, you said yourself money wouldn’t matter at some point,” Bruce said. “So you’re saying we’re at that point?”
“Not yet,” Esther replied. “But it’s getting tougher for ABBE Ltd. My businesses make things people want, not what they need. Buildings for businesses, fancy goods for the home, expensive play things. None of those are selling, so ABBE Ltd. is hurting, and the stock price took another tank today on the release of this inflation news.”
“So what’s that to you?” Bruce asked. “You hardly leave our compounds. I hear you talk about business topics less and less.”
“We’re at a critical juncture, here, Bruce,” Esther said. “It’s precisely at this time when people realize things are heading down the crapper that I need for everyone to think that all I care about is the company. My weekly jaunts outside of the compound lately are for press conferences and investor meet-ups. I may not talk about business much around you, but I have frequent videoconference meetings with my senior management team to make sure they think I’m focused on getting results. And I talk to financial and business casters, letting them know about my turnaround plans to have ABBE Ltd. shift to making things people need.”
“But,” Esther said, “and I believe the people that say you can ignore whatever anyone says before the word ‘but’, you are absolutely correct, my outdoor friend. I don’t give a flyin’ f about ABBE Ltd. any longer, except as a facade. People need to think I’m out there and rooting for them instead of here focused on riding out the upcoming storm.”
“I really don’t know what to make of you, Esther,” Bruce said. “You’ve got balls bigger than mine. You’d let a monkey tear your fingers off to protect someone you care about. But you’d happily watch someone walk off a cliff that you didn’t care about.”
“Not happily, Brucie dear, not happily,” the Executive Chair of ABBE Ltd. replied. “I do feel it’s important to compartmentalize to be successful. Speaking of people I care about, however, I hear we may have an incident possibly affecting OUR?”
“Our what?” Bruce asked.
“O U R?” Esther said.
“Oh, the colo…” Bruce started.
“The what?” Esther interrupted.
“Bugger, Esther, why do you go on about that!” Bruce said in exasperation.
“We need to develop new habits, Bruce, including how to properly reference our gathering to minimize risk of discovery,” Esther explained patiently.
Bruce breathed in deeply. “If the incident you are talking about is what Charlie boy reported the day before yesterday, then yes, it’s true, we have an incident,” he said. ” Ol’ Charlie is as incompetent as I’ve been saying.”
“Oh, knock it off, Bruce!” Esther said with her own tone of exasperation building. “I don’t care how you feel about him. He catches what we ask him to catch, and brings in food for the OUR. If you don’t like him, get over it.”
“I don’t care anything about him,” Bruce answered. “But he’s said more than one thing about Jamie I don’t care for. And the next time he says something…”
“The next time he says something about Jamie, you tell me and his ass is on the next elevator to Quasar X or wherever the hell the aliens want to take him,” Esther said. “I told him that myself directly. He’s behaving now and getting us food.”
“I don’t know how,” Bruce said. “If he’s such a good hunter, then why didn’t he realize he was being tracked sooner?”
“Did you find anyone today?” Esther asked directly.
“Yes,” Bruce responded. “It took a while. I eventually had to let Hanna know that her normal technique was too good, and told her to make some more noise to be discovered. Sure enough, I found someone on her trail. But it wasn’t a man, like Charlie reported. It was a woman. And she’s preggers.”
“So perhaps we’ve got a man and a woman out there tracking our people?” Esther asked.
“If Charlie keeps going out, we’ll have a whole rugby scrum chasing after him,” Bruce said.
“Just do me a favor, Bruce,” Esther said with a tired voice. “Look after Charlie tomorrow and see if anyone is following him. We need to sort this out.”
Bruce looked at Esther and didn’t respond.
“Thank you, Bruce,” the busy executive said. “Can you see yourself out, please? And tell Jamie I said hello, and Ophelia and I would love to come over for dinner next Tuesday.”
Early the next day, Bruce drove to the eastern edge of the Danbulla South Forest and entered the Reserve by crossing over Mobo Creek. He had talked to Charlie the prior evening and understood the paths the hunter was likely to take on his search for some rusa deer. The deer paths were easy enough to track, which made it easier to trace Charlie’s path as well.
It was mid-morning by the time Bruce was on the trail of the hunter and the hunted, becoming a hunter himself of a different sort of quarry. As he followed the deer path, Bruce noticed the signals Charlie had agreed to leave, with twigs broken at specific points, and mackinlaya flowers on the ground next to the plant from which they had grown.
By late morning, Bruce could tell there were another set of footprints following Charlie’s. He became much more cautious in his tracking, not wanting to surprise the person by walking up to him or her. Before he had gone two more kilometers, Bruce finally spied a person ahead. It was a male. He was looking at the ground, and then bent down to pick up a sprig of mackinlaya flowers.
“Funny how those flowers are just popping off the plants like that,” a voice behind Bruce said.
Bruce jumped but ended up falling forward in the movement, trying to turn around to see who was speaking.
“Crikey! What are you doing, sneaking up on me like that,” Bruce said to the woman standing two meters back.
“I’m following you. You are following my husband. And my husband is following the man who is, I presume, your friend?” the woman said. “Just curious, but do you have anyone following me? This game could get quite fun real quick.”
“That bloke is your husband?” Bruce asked. “Does he have a permit to walk through the Reserve grounds like this?”
“What does it matter to you?” the woman asked.
“I’m a Park Ranger,” Bruce said, trying to sound convincing. “We need to make sure people are being safe out here.”
“Ok, Ranger, let’s see your badge,” the woman said.
Bruce didn’t respond.
“I thought as much,” she said. “Besides, this is now private land, based on research we did last month.”
Bruce got up and brushed the dirt off his pants and his hands.
“What are you talking about, lady? We’re standing in the Danbulla South Forest Reserve,” Bruce said, still trying to sound convincing.
“The name’s Marta,” the lady said, stepping forward and holding out a hand. “Marta Baker. And your name?”
“Bruce,” said Bruce, stretching out his own hand without pausing, and then stopping mid-reach.
“Gotcha!” Marta said with a smirk, still holding out her hand.
Bruce shook his head, then finished the reach and accepted Marta’s greeting.
“What are you doing out here anyway?” Bruce asked. “And if that is your husband, why is he busy tracking that fellow?”
“We’re out here probably for the same reason you are,” Marta said. “Things are getting too sketchy to be ‘in the tame’, as we call it. Time to get out in the wild and away from prying alien eyes.”
Bruce tried not to react to what she was saying.
“That is why you are out here, isn’t it?” Marta asked.
“Sounds like you’ve got everything already figured out, so why ask me?” Bruce said.
Marta smiled. “Well, we figured there might be others out here. And when we found out the Queensland State Government gave an exclusive rights grant to this area of the Reserve, we then figured we’d go find the people that got that grant and maybe we could join up with them – with you, that is. So how many of you are there?”
“Why are you so convinced there is a group of people?” Bruce said, thinking of a new approach. “I’m like you. I don’t want the aliens to know where I’m at, so I just came out here myself last month. And now you come and scare me as I’m trying to make a go of it.”
“Look, mate, you’re going to have to work on your stories a bit more, and make it less obvious when you’re lying,” Marta responded. “Your clothes are too clean, and you look in a lot better shape than someone who’s been sleeping on the ground for weeks.”
Bruce looked over the woman and noticed she did indeed look like she’d been outdoors for an extended period. Besides the dirty clothes, her hands and face had the unwashed look he was familiar with after being on the trail for multiple weeks. And her hair, while brushed, was definitely in sad shape from exposure.
“I’ve got a small cabin I built for myself,” Bruce lied one more time.
“Fantastic! Perhaps you wouldn’t mind helping us set one up,” Marta said. “Our van is starting to feel more than a little cramped.”
“A van should be pretty good for two people,” Bruce commented.
“Try four people, although two of them are only half-size. And the fifth one is budging his way out, if you hadn’t noticed,” Marta said, patting her stomach.
“As a matter of fact, I did notice. When are you due?” Bruce asked.
“In two months,” the mother replied. “Which is why Thom and I are looking for a more permanent home now.”
“Well, then, it sounds like you might want to head to one of the small towns around here,” Bruce offered. “I know there are some places in Barrine available right now. There’s a place called The Hobbit House that’s been around for nearly one-hundred years. They’re running on slim times right now, I hear, and are willing to cut someone a break on a long-term stay.”
“Yeah, I don’t think you heard what I said earlier, mate,” Marta said. “We’re looking to get off the grid. If a place where we stay has a name and a history, that’s smack on the intersection of two lines on that grid we want to avoid.”
“First, I’m not your mate, so I wish you’d stop calling me that,” Bruce said. “Looks like that one over there fits that bill for you. Second, I don’t know how you expect me to help, since I don’t have a permanent home for you ‘off the grid’ just handy to give you at the moment.”
“Bruce, right?” Marta confirmed. “Look, Bruce. I’m bonker tired lugging around this roo in my pouch. You say you don’t have a place for us. I say you’re lying. You want to keep up your fantasy. I say that Thom and I will spread the word and we’ll soon have this place crawling with people looking for you and your friends. We’ve seen people come and go. The only trick we don’t know is where you pop out from. But with enough other interested parties in the park, I’m sure that secret will soon be discovered. So if you’re not the one we need to talk to, go find the big boss and let him know he’s getting some new company.”
“I told you,” Bruce started.
“Just shut the hell up, Bruce!” Marta said, running her fingers through her hair to get it out of her face. “Follow me.”
And with that, she turned around and started marching through the forest. After going a few meters, she turned around to see Bruce still in his place.
“Well, come on then!” the expectant mother said.
Bruce followed her through the forest until they came upon a very small clearing next to one of the creeks in the Reserve. There they came upon a transvan outfitted for camping.
Marta went to the door, knocked three times, paused, then five times and finally called out. “Open up, pollywogs.”
The scrambling of feet inside the van could be heard, and then the sound of locks being unlocked. The door opened, and out jumped a young girl and an even younger boy.
“Mommy!” the girl said, running up and giving Marta a big hug around the waist.
“Mama!” the boy said, holding up his arms for his mother to pick him up.
Marta lifted the boy and perched him on her hip. “Regan, Marcus, this is Mr. Bruce.”
The woman turned to the guest. “Bruce, these are my children. This is Regan. She’s five. And this is Marcus, or Marky Mark as we sometimes call him. He just turned three.”
Regan looked at her mother, who gave an affirmative nod. The girl walked over to the stranger, hand outstretched. “Pleased to meet you, Mr. Bruce. I’m five and one-half.”
Bruce smiled and shook the girl’s hand. “Pleased to meet you as well, Miss Regan.”
“Right then, off with you, Mr. Bruce,” Marta said “I need to fix these two some lunch. And you need to talk to the big boss.”
“Look, Marta, things aren’t all that rosy for us right now either,” Bruce said. “We’re tight on food, which is why you see people out here all the time. So joining up with us probably won’t improve your situation, since we’ll likely need to ration what food we are able to gather.”
“Nice try, Bruce,” Marta replied. “At least it doesn’t sound like you’re lying quite so much on that one. But I can assure you whatever supply chain you’ve got going is better than what we’ve got at the moment. So go make whatever arrangements you need to make. Be back here by ten o’clock tomorrow morning with someone to guide us to your place, or we leave here then to go find some casters to tell our interesting story to.”
And with that, Marta took Regan’s hand, and walked the two children into the van and closed the door, leaving Bruce standing outside alone.
It was evening by the time Bruce made his way back to Wondecla. First, he tracked Charlie. Then he helped Charlie carry out the rusa deer the hunter was actually able to bring down that day.
Back at Wondecla, Bruce came across Ophelia. “Where’s Esther,” he asked Ether’s assistant. “She wanted some news from me.”
“She’ll be back in a bit,” Ophelia responded. “She had a trip to Cairns to give an interview. Anything I can help with?”
“Well, I found who she wanted me to find,” the outdoor educator answered.
“I’ll let her know,” Ophelia said with an excited tone. “I reckon she’s on her way back here by now.”
“OK, you let her know,” Bruce responded in a semi-interested tone. “I’m going to go wash up.”
And having said that, the day tracker made his way back to the cabin he and his fiance shared. The cabin was buried into the side of a hill, with the two exposed windows melding into a wall screen on the inside, showing a panoramic view of the hills across the small river that ran in front of the building. In actuality, the walls were solid, and the window slits were barely noticeable from the outside, and only if someone came over the overhang of the hill and could distinguish the specially tinted glass from the rock around it.
There were twelve other cabins like this on the Wondecla property, each housing a couple or small family of three or four people, and each hidden into the surroundings with natural and tech camouflage to avoid unwelcome notice.
Bruce walked into the cabin, closed the door and was greeted with a voice calling out “Is that you, B?” from an inner room.
“Yes, Jamie, it’s me,” Bruce said. “If it weren’t me, you’d have heard someone knocking to be let in.”
“I know,” Jamie said, coming into the front room to give his fiance a kiss on the cheek as Bruce was taking off his boots. “But I’m always concerned someone is going to figure out our code.”
“By stealing my eyes and fingers?” Bruce asked.
“Maybe,” his partner said. “I think they’re kind of cute, so perhaps someone else does as well.”
Bruce couldn’t avoid smiling.
“That’s better!” Jamie said. “You get too serious out there and need to lighten up.”
“I need to wash up,” Bruce said. “And while I’m doing that, if my block rings and it’s a name you recognize, feel free to answer it.”
“Don’t I always?” Jamie said as Bruce went back to the bathroom.
About ten minutes later, Bruce stepped out of the bathroom with a cleansed body and a towel around his waist to find Jamie standing outside the door, holding his commblock.
“You didn’t tell me Esther was going to call,” Jamie said excitedly.
“I didn’t know who would be calling, but I was thinking somebody would,” Bruce replied.
“She wants you to call her back,” Jamie said, holding out the commblock for Bruce.
“Let me get some clothes on,” Bruce said, starting to head to the closet.
Jamie grabbed his arm and put the block in his hand. “She sounded very insistent, B. I told her you were in the bathroom and she wanted me to get you out, but I told her a man has his right to privacy. But that time is over for you now, so call her.”
Bruce went to the edge of the bed, sat down and spoke into the commblock “Call Esther Abbe.”
Barely one ring sounded before Esther’s image appeared on the screen.
“Bruce!” Esther said. “Ophelia tells me you found someone. What details do you have?”
“Someones, really,” Bruce said. “I tracked the guy who was following Ol’ Charlie Boy, and that preggers lady I was telling you about was tracking me. Turns out she’s his wife. Not Charlie, but the guy following Charlie. Anyway, she said she’s seen others from our group wandering around the Reserve. They are trying to avoid the aliens and said she wants to join us, since she thinks we’ve got it better than they do. If we don’t bring her in, she said she and her husband will spread the word that we’re hiding in the forest. Then she takes me over to the transvan they’re living out of and introduces me to her two rugrats. Gotta say I was surprised she left them alone like that in the forest.”
Bruce paused, and Esther looked at him through the screen, soaking in all the information Bruce had just gushed out.
“So a woman and man and their two children are living in the Reserve in their transvan, she says she knows about us, and wants to join our group,” Esther responded. “Why didn’t she just follow someone back here?”
“Well, that’s just it,” Bruce said. “They found Charlie Boy, she found me, but who’s to say how many others in the O U R they’ve really seen in the Reserve. She’s got two months before her baby is due, so I would imagine she’d be knocking on the door if she knew where we’re at. So I’m thinking she’s connecting some dots but hasn’t seen the full picture yet.”
“And why wouldn’t she just tell people about us already?” Esther asked. “Maybe they were sent out to find people trying to hide?”
“She’d be putting on a pretty impressive act if she weren’t actually doing what she said,” Bruce responded. “She obviously hasn’t had a proper bath or shower in weeks. The area around the transvan looked pretty tamped down. And there were plenty of paths leading away from the clearing the van was in, like they had been doing daily walkabouts to get food or water or whatever for quite some time.”
Esther paused again.
“OK,” she finally said. “It sounds like they are in a dire strait. We can’t take them in here, Bruce, you know that, right? We’re not doing well on the self-sustaining side yet, and a family of five will be an immediate increase of ten percent that we can’t absorb right now. But I know of another tribe like ours down in NSW. The organizer of that group didn’t get everyone he was looking for, and has both capacity and need for a family like this.”
Esther continued, “I need you to go back out there tomorrow, Bruce, and let this lady know we’ll have someone escort the family to this other colony.”
“The lady’s name is Marta Baker and her husband is Thom. And I’ve never heard there were other outfits like us? Where is it located?” he asked with a surprised look.
“Hmm, what’s that,” Esther said, as if the connection had a bad spot.
“I said, where is this other, um, O U R located?” Bruce asked again. “I thought we were the only ones around?”
“Down by Dubbo,” Esther answered. “You didn’t think I’m the only person looking to do something like this, did you? I’ve got to run now, Bruce. But can I count on you to handle this tomorrow?”
“Yeah, sure,” Bruce said.
“OK, thanks,” Esther replied and ended the call.
“So, that was interesting,” Jamie said from the doorway.
“I guess you were right about me not having any privacy when I step out of the bathroom,” Bruce said.
“We agreed not to keep secrets, B” Jamie said. “Anyway, your voice carries so there wasn’t anywhere in this place I could go that I wouldn’t have heard you talking.”
Bruce didn’t reply.
“You didn’t tell me all this when you came back,” Jamie continued. “Is there really a pregnant woman and her children living in the forest like that?”
Bruce nodded.
“Well, Esther should reconsider,” Jamie said. “I’m sure there is room for them around here. And none of us are starving. We’ve got plenty of food and other supplies coming in each week, so I don’t know what she’s talking about when she says we can’t support them. I mean this woman is going to have a baby in less than a month! She needs our help!”
“Two months, Jamie,” Bruce said. “She’s got two months to go. And from the looks of it, we could probably benefit from her help around her. But I got my orders. You’ve told me before I shouldn’t be so stubborn when I deal with Esther. So I’m taking your advice. Sounds like they’ll be in a better situation in Dubbo anyway.”
“I never heard of any other colonies, either,” Jamie said. “Why is this just coming out now?”
“I don’t know,” the outdoorsman said. “Seems like we’re on a need to know basis these days. I know what I’ve been told to do, so that’s my plan.”
Bruce got up to get his clothes from the closet. “Oh, and I forgot to tell you, Esther told me yesterday that she and Ophelia accept your invitation for dinner tomorrow night. When did you make that offer?”
The next morning, Bruce woke up to find a message from Esther on his commblock.
“I confirmed a place in Dubbo for the family. Paul has directions and will drive them down in their van. Meet him at Danbulla Rd and 52. And let me know when the family is on their way to TWMB.”
With that information, Bruce drove back to the South Danbulla Reserve, crossed at the same place along the Mobo Creek as the previous day, and traced his path back to the clearing where he found the Baker transvan parked. As he approached the van, he could hear sounds of daily life inside. The five year old girl was chatting to her mum, and a clacking sound like somebody slicing food on a wood board was tapping out a rhythm.
Bruce went to the door, knocked three times, paused, and then knocked five more times.
The sounds inside the van stopped. Bruce could hear the girl loud-whisper “Mommy! That’s your knock!”
“Open up, Mrs. Pollywog,” Bruce said with a smile.
The van door flew open with a man standing on the step, looking down. Bruce recognized him as the man following Charlie. He appeared much larger up close.
“Who the hell are you, and what do you want?” the man demanded.
“Uh, is Marta here? She told me to stop by today,” Bruce said as he took a half-step back.
“It’s Mr. Bruce!” the girl whispered out of sight.
“Stand down, Thom,” Marta said, as she stepped into view behind her husband. “This is the fella I told you about last night.”
The man’s face looked a little less severe at hearing this news. He opened the screen door of the van, leaned out and looked around. “Where’s the other bloke?”
“No one else here but me,” Bruce said.
“Let me out, will you, Thom?” Marta said. “This one’s ok.”
Thom stepped out of the doorway and let his wife exit the van.
“You’ll have to forgive him, Bruce. He’s a bit protective these days. I’m sure you understand,” Marta said as she reached out her hand. “Good to see you again!”
“Yeah, I get it,” Bruce said, returning Marta’s shake while keeping an eye on her husband.
“So, you want to give us the coordinates, or you want to ride along? I don’t see your vehicle, so doesn’t look like we can follow you,” Marta said enthusiastically.
Bruce took a deep breath.
“So I’ve got someone who will escort you to a hide-out colony in Dubbo,” Bruce said.
“What are you talking about?” Marta said, the enthusiasm replaced by confusion. “I said we wanted into your group, Bruce. We didn’t say anything about Dubbo or any other place.”
“Bloody hell!” Thom boomed as he stepped towards Bruce. “I told you not to trust these people, Marta! He’s giving us the heave ho!”
Bruce took a stance ready to receive an oncoming assault.
Marta put out her arm to hold Thom back.
“Wait a minute, Thom, ” she said. “Let’s hear what Bruce has to say for himself before you bash his face in.”
“I talked with our chief, and she said we can’t take in any more people,” Bruce said. “We’re out of space, and we can’t capture and collect enough food to sustain us as is. So adding four – or five – more mouths to feed won’t be workable. But she knows of a similar colony in Dubbo that does have space and is looking for more people, and she has made arrangements for you to join that group.”
“Again, Bruce, I don’t think you understood me clearly yesterday,” Marta said, the tension rising in her voice. “We came here because we thought this part of the country is the most likely to support someone living off the wild. And we’ve been doing that now for two and a half-months. We can feed ourselves, if it comes down to it. But we need a place a bit more enclosed, and I’ll need some additional company around when I pop. So, we’re coming with you or we head to the local ABC station in Cairns and out goes your story.”
“I can’t let you do that,” Bruce said.
“Then I’ll take care of you before we drive out of here,” Thom said, balling his fists at his side.
Marta did not extend her arm to hold him back.
“OK, Thom,” Bruce said, applying some of his old calm-the-customer voice from his days running his business. “Let’s say you and I have a go at it, and let’s say you take me, which I’ll give you a fifty-fifty chance at. You drive out of here and at some point you’ll need to get on a path that leads you out of the Reserve. That’s a road or a wide-enough horse path that your van can get through. Our chief has posted people at each of the three routes you could take. You know the area since you’ve been here long enough, and you know there isn’t any other path out. So, those people Chief has posted will stop you and still drive you to Dubbo.”
“Then we walk out,” Marta said. “I care about the kids, not the van. You don’t have people tracking every meter of the perimeter. We make our way to town on foot and spread the news.”
“Then we disappear for as long as we need,” Bruce countered. “You’ve only spotted a couple of us, you admitted, so there’s plenty of places we are that you don’t know about.”
“You’ll have to come out for food and water,” Marta noted. “You said yourself you can’t keep up.”
“But we have enough supplies in back storage to last as many weeks as there are people wandering around trying to find us. The food collection issue is a long-term problem that gets a little tighter a little sooner. But not so soon that we can’t wait out the curious folks,” Bruce explained. “And if you did make it out, Chief has already come up with a story she’ll get to the casters before you arrive about this crazy couple that has been spreading stories and riling up people in the area around here about how the aliens took them away, they escaped back here, and are trying to get others to join them in the woods to fight off the alien soldiers hunting them down.”
Both husband and wife glared at the outdoor guide.
Bruce continued. “Dubbo has space for you, and they have a doctor, which we don’t. So the doctor can look after you for the delivery.”
“I delivered the other two without any problems,” Marta said.
“But what if this time is different?” Bruce countered. “What if this time you have issues, and a doctor with the right equipment can handle it just fine? If you don’t have that care, then not only might you lose the baby, but your kids and your husband might lose you.”
Marta’s fists balled like her husbands. “Go to hell, Bruce!” she shouted, pounding her hips.
Thom took another step forward.
“Wait!” Bruce said, holding up one hand and pulling out his commblock with the other. “I’ll give you my comm number. I swear that if you get to Dubbo and don’t like it, you call me and I’ll get you into this group. I’ll give up my spot willingly. But I can’t do that if you crush in my face, or I crush in Thom’s first. And I can’t stop the people the Chief will have looking for you if you try to run.”
Thom stopped his advance and looked at Marta, who had tears running down her cheeks.
“You bastard!” she said softly but clearly. “You clearly have no conscience.”
“I’m sorry about this,” Bruce said. “You told me to go talk to my Chief, and I did. She’s got different ideas than you and I. I can’t change that any more than you can at this point. Think about your three children and let us get you to the place in Dubbo. It’ll be better for everyone involved – you, us, and the people at the other hide-out who will welcome you with open arms.”
Thom continued looking at Marta, who looked back at him. The two were speaking without sharing words. Eventually Marta wiped away the tears on her face, and nodded her head to Thom.
“Where is this escort you’re talking about,” Thom said to Bruce.
“I’ll take you to him,” Bruce said.
“Like hell you will,” Marta said, fighting back more tears. “You tell us where to meet him, and then get the hell away from here, or I’ll let Thom smash in your face. I give him a ninety-percent chance, since I know what he’s capable of. And you’ve given him some extra incentive this morning.”
Bruce nodded. “He’s at the end of Danbulla Road where it runs into Highway 52. His name is Paul.”
The couple started walking to the van door.
“Can I give you my comm number?” Bruce asked.
“You’re comm can go to hell with you,” Marta said without looking around. “Just call your friends and tell them we’re coming through to meet Paul and don’t want any troubles.”
The couple closed the van door behind them.
Bruce went to the edge of the clearing to watch the proceedings. After fifteen minutes or so, Thom came back out of the van, went to the tree to retrieve some clothes drying on a rope, picked up a few other items around the van, and returned inside the vehicle. After another five minutes, the van started up and left the clearing down the horse path that led into it.
Bruce sent a note to Paul alerting him of the family’s arrival. He then sent a message to Esther explaining the family was on their way to Paul, and Paul would need to confirm when they left for Dubbo. Then he sat down with his back against a tree, put his head in his hands, closed his eyes, and tried to convince himself this was just a very bad dream.
It was late afternoon by the time Bruce made his way back to the cabin he shared with Jamie. When Bruce walked in, he found Jamie pacing the front room.
“Good Lord, Bruce, where have you been!” Jamie said, coming over to give Bruce a hug. “I’ve been worried about you all day! Why didn’t you answer my messages? I thought that family had kidnapped you! Then when I heard that Paul had the family and was driving them to Dubbo, I was convinced they had dumped your corpse in the middle of the forest. Are you ok? Did they hurt you?”
“I’m fine, Jamie,” Bruce said. “Nobody did anything to me.”
Jamie punched his fiance in the arm. “Then that’s for not answering my messages!”
“I needed to clear my head, Jamie,” Bruce explained. “That family had no right to be treated like that. And I lied to them. I told them whatever it took to get them out of the Reserve. I don’t know what they’re getting into. And I’m responsible now for them leaving. I should have just told them to get lost yesterday. Nobody’s going to care about their stories of people hiding in the woods. Everyone’s got their own cares to deal with. But at least that way, they could have controlled their own destiny a bit more. Now they’re being led off to some place they don’t have any say about.”
“I don’t like it, B” Jaime said. “I’ve got a bad feeling about this as well. I called Esther. She didn’t answer, so I left a message for her to call me back about dinner plans for tonight. She had Ophelia call me, so I came up with some story about needing them to bring a salad. Then I called Esther again, and left her a voice message saying I wished that she would reconsider her decision about the family. No message back. So I called Ophelia. She didn’t pick up either or return my call. Why are they avoiding the topic? All Esther has to say is ‘I made up my mind. The family is going to Dubbo where they’ll be taken care of better than they will be here.'”
Bruce looked at Jamie. “You don’t think they’re going to Dubbo, do you?” he said.
Jamie shook his head.
“I got a feeling they aren’t either,” Bruce said.
Jamie’s commblock buzzed. He looked at Bruce, who nodded.
Jamie answered the call.
“Hello Phoebe.”
“Yes?”
Jamie put his hand over his mouth.
Then, removing it slightly, “Are you sure?”
“And they’re going right there?”
“And the family doesn’t know?”
“Oh, my, Phoebe. This is awful! How could she do something like this?”
“I know. Thanks for the information. And take care, dear.”
Jamie looked at Bruce. “That was Phoebe Norton. I found out about an hour ago that she was working with Paul early this morning to get him ready for his trip. I called and had to leave her a message. No one is answering their blocks today! Anyway, she confirmed Paul wasn’t taking them to Dubbo. He was taking them to Toowoomba instead.”
“Toowoomba?” Bruce said. “Why would they have a hide-out colony in the same place as the elevator? It would be harder to hide …”
Jamie put his hand back over his mouth.
“They weren’t going to a hide-out colony, were they,” Bruce said, the understanding dawning on him like a slow sunrise over the top of a tree-covered mountain.
Jamie shook his head. “Phoebe said Paul was told to drive them to the elevator and was to hand them over to a contact there who was going to get them onto the next ride up. Esther sent the family to be taken off the planet by the aliens, Bruce!”
Bruce slumped down in a chair next to the door. “And I’m responsible for it.” he said.
“Oh, B, don’t think that,” Jamie said, coming over to console him. “You had nothing to do with this. You couldn’t have changed anything even if you tried.”
The doorbell rang. Jamie looked at his block, and tapped the button to see the image from the front door camera.
“It’s Esther!” he gasped.
“Does that bitch still think she’s welcome here for dinner?” Bruce said, jumping up off the chair.
Jamie looked at the screen again. “Ophelia isn’t with her.”
Bruce went to the door and wrenched it open.
“What the hell are you doing here, Esther?” Bruce said. “I know what tricks you pulled on that family. How dare you lie to them – and to me like that? Marta is seven months pregnant. Did you even know her name before you sent them off to become alien fodder?”
“Hello Bruce,” Esther said calmly. “Is Jamie here?”
“So what if he is,” Bruce said, the volume in his voice continuing to rise. “He doesn’t want to see you any more than I do!”
“I’m here to answer the message he left for me,” Esther said. “I wanted to deliver it in person.”
Jamie appeared in the doorway. “I’m here” he said brusquely.
“Can I come in?” Esther asked.
“No,” Jamie said. “You have something to say, say it here and now.”
Esther nodded.
“I did reconsider my decision, Jamie,” Esther started. “I studied the situation in more detail, and am ready to contact Paul to tell him to bring the family here. But you’ll need to have a part to play in this, so before I call him, you need to reconsider the situation.”
Jamie’s left hand moved back to cover his mouth, and his right hand grabbed Bruce’s nearest him.
“Bugger, Esther, you have once again have my head more twisted than a tiger snake pulled around a giant ash by a communal feeding pack of devils,” Bruce said. “Are you sending the Baker family to the aliens or not?”
“That is based on what you decide,” Esther said.
“Decide about what?” Bruce asked.
“I still maintain we can’t sustain in the long-term the addition of a family of four and soon to be five with the food intake we’ve been able to bring in,” Esther said. “And we have no place for them to stay without interrupting our rotation plans. So, in order for them to arrive, you’ll need to be responsible for their food and shelter. How you do that is up to you, but no other families or individuals will receive a smaller share of food either now or in the future. And the Baker’s must be in an enclosed structure starting their first day with the OUR. This structure cannot be a common area nor any housing unit allocated to any other family group – your’s being the only exception.”
Jamie’s right hand came away from his mouth and grabbed the bicep of the arm his left hand was holding. “We’ll take on that responsibility!” he practically shouted.
Bruce looked at his fiance. “What are you talking about, Jamie?”
“Oh, B! I’ll help you build a shelter for them. Over the second ridge, there is a cluster of curtain fig trees we can put a cabin behind. It’ll be bigger than our place here once we’re done with it. I’ll go vegan for a while so they can have my share of meat. I know I can get plenty of good local fruits and veggies to take care of them, and you can brush off your hunting skills and show Ol’ Charlie Boy what it’s really like to get wild game.”
“I haven’t hunted anything in five years since I started the business,” Bruce said. “And that will take weeks to put up a shelter. Where will they stay in the meantime?”
Jamie tilted his head and gave Bruce an innocent smile.
“Paul is less than an hour outside of the Toowoomba elevator,” Esther interrupted. “But he’s ten minutes from the precaution zone and will need to register and lock in the rest of his trip then. So you’d better decide so I can get in touch with him.”
Bruce looked back at Esther. “What made you reconsider?” he asked. “You seemed pretty firm about getting them out of here yesterday, and pretty happy when I told you they were on the way south.”
“I researched their background,” Esther said. “Thom is a former bouncer who became a stunt man for movie and telecasts. He specialized in fight scenes. And Marta is a personal trainer. When I selected everyone for the OUR, I focused on skills to build and maintain our three sites, but I recognize I overlooked the security aspect a bit, believing we can permanently stay hidden. That’s not realistic, as proven by how this couple found us. So we need to get in better physical condition, and we need to learn how to defend ourselves. And that will be Marta and Thom’s role.”
“And that’s it?” Bruce asked. “You felt the two of them could turn us into a trained fighting force and just decided to pop them in the family portrait?”
“Both of you had a role to play, as well,” Esther admitted. “I thought back to our Sunday conversation, Bruce. You basically implied that I’m heartless about others. Jamie’s message to me definitely tugged at the heartstrings, and made me recognize I’m not heartless nor want to be seen as such. But you were right about the first part, Bruce. Not so much about the monkey’s tearing off my fingers, but that I’ll go to great lengths to protect the people I care about. So if the Baker’s join us, they will become part of my extended family. And if others try to invade our spaces, I’ll have no problem setting up a weekly shuttle to Toowoomba to launch any of them on the next elevator to whatever hell the aliens have dreamt up for us.”
“So what is your decision,” Esther asked.
“Yeah, we’ll do it,” Bruce nodded. “We’ll take care of the brood until the baby starts giving us karate lessons.”
Jamie squeaked, gave Bruce a hug and kiss, gave Esther a hug before she was able to react, and started sobbing. “I never thought I’d have a baby in the house.”
Esther showed a small smile, the first emotional reaction since she had arrived at the house.
“OK, then, I’ll go talk to Paul,” she said. “Perhaps we can postpone our dinner plans for tonight?”
Jamie nodded but couldn’t reply.
“Yeah, sure,” Bruce said.
Esther walked away and the couple closed their door.
“I’m not sure what to make of all that just happened,” Bruce said.
“I’m not sure where we’re going to find some cute baby outfits!” Jamie responded.