Chapter Fourteen
“Oh look Alex, just in time; that’s our Jade in that plane; he’s been a busy bee over the last few days; ah, a good touchdown Jade; just look at the flurries of snow he’s stirred up; he’s just flown in from Africa.”
“Jade, he must be your nephew? Aggie’s cousin, the one in the photo holding the guinea pig?”
“Yes, that was a few years back. He’s a pilot now, and a damn fine one too. Do you like the jet? Aggie bought it last June; it’s a Gulfstream.”
“A Gulfstream G650 no less, and it belongs to Aggie?”
“Well she bought it for Kellor Resources; it gets used a lot; I thought Jade would be getting bored with constantly flying all over the world. Still the good news is that he got married to a lovely girl, Phoebe. She’s also a pilot and they travel everywhere together; so you can see that it’s all quite the family affair at KR.”
“Another piece of information out of left field Edna.”
“So, from that fence-line to the hill over there to that building with the blue roof to over there to the concrete tank is the KR factory; sometimes I kid Aggie and call it her cubby-house. This is where all the components are made and assembled before Aggie sends them off to God knows where. You probably already know of all the power plants that KR have constructed.”
Alex drove the Hummer towards the terminal building. “Edna, there seems to be a large military presence here, just look at the sentries over there, and there, and I can see more around the perimeter of the strip, and some armoured vehicles ahead of us. Looks like we are going to be stopped; some sort of security check, I suppose.”
“Please proceed Miss Kellor. Welcome to Lebanon Mister Bentley; it’s a pleasure to meet you. Please keep this card on your person and return it when you exit. Access to the KR hangar is to the left sir.”
“Just park over there Alex, we’re very early, Jade has to do his ‘thing’ with the tower and Aggie won’t be expecting us for a while yet; hope she’s found out something useful. Now I would really like to talk to you about the Goomeri Pointing Bone. I was up in the early hours and picked the bone up again. I told you about the woman in the red dress, well she was there again...and looking straight at me. She pointed her finger at me, there was no mistake she was pointing at me, then swung her arm to her right and pointed to something, couldn’t see what. She pointed to me again, then to the place. I still couldn’t see anything there; she seemed to get frustrated and hollered out something; not English, it sounded like Thow mung. I tried to say something but she couldn’t hear me. Then she yelled Moolawa naan moolawa. I don’t know what she was trying to tell me but...well to be honest Alex...I got a little scared and wrapped the bone back in the tissue.”
“Tell you what Edna, I’ll try to contact Unc Oskar and see what he thinks. I have to ring my dad anyway; already told him about meeting you and how I’ve lost my heart to Aggie. Maybe you should keep away from the Goomeri for a while...remember Alice and the Looking Glass? don’t want you playing croquet with flamingos do we?”
They talked about other things; Aggie’s progress since leaving the UO, Professor Lien coming into their lives, the rise and rise of Kellor Resources with the opening of the first super geothermal generator in the USA. “That particular plant produced and generated so much electricity and was so easy to distribute, it managed to outperform the coal, gas and hydrocarbon generators in Arizona; the Greenies love it; so do the consumers. That plant alone has made so much money for KR, that there was enough for the building of more and more. Aggie and the Professor are really paving the way in solving the world’s energy problems; not bad for a little orphaned Abenaki girl.”
“And her Dwarg.”
“Can’t deny that Alex. And I can’t deny that she had chronic leukaemia; and I don’t have a shadow of a doubt that she would have died at age 10. Yes, back then I had serious doubts about Dwarg, even after I accepted that he was an entity within Aggie. He told me about his world and how our...the human’s....rockets were disturbing it. I really thought he was trying to kill us off..the humans..and was using Aggie as some puppet to carry out his evil schemes. Well he had plenty of opportunities along the way, yet here we are, alive and well and dining on venison.”
“Who else knows about Dwarg?”
“Besides Aggie and myself; you.”
“I’m honoured Edna, but you forgot about Slig.”
“Hmm haven’t met that little Whisp yet; have you?”
“Maybe later.”
“Phoebe, Phoebe!” Edna called out as she lowered the window; “over here sweetheart; hop in, it’s warmer than out there.”
“Hi Aunt Edna, Jade’s in a hurry; he had to get some stuff over to Aggie’s lab right away. How are you?”
“Fine Phoebe. I’d like you to meet Alex Bentley, Aggie’s new boyfriend. Alex, this is Phoebe.” Phoebe was stunned.
“What! Oh beg pardon, pleased to meet you Alex, sorry to look so surprised, but Aggie and boyfriend in the one sentence is new to me. We used to kid each other about her having to go to “Rent a Boyfriend” to get interested in boys at all. Well done, you must have some magic qualities. Hang on; Alex Bentley? the pin-up boy for NASA? You’re the astronaut, just came back from the Space Station?”
“Guilty on all counts. Pleased to meet you Phoebe. I see you’re also an aviator; your ship looks a lot more comfortable than mine ever did. It’s a beautiful looking aircraft; the closest I came to flying one of those was a Lear jet in Miami. How was your flight from Africa?”
“Great, I really enjoy flying, especially with Jade. Edna, I’ve brought you a present from Lucerne; found it in a little shop in a back alley; soon as I saw it I knew it was for you.” She handed over a little decorated box. As Edna opened it slowly, Phoebe said, “Jade still feels a little silly for buying you that half gallon of French Perfume...years ago. I still can’t figure out why you didn’t pour it down the sink.” Inside the box was a silver chain with a filigree pendant with a gold coin centre. Embossed on the surface, in beautifully scrolled writing, was the word TANTE. “Do you know what that word is Aunt Edna?”
“Ah yes Phoebe, in fact I first heard it while in Paris. One day I’ll tell you the story. She reached over the car-seat and gave Phoebe a hug. Thank you so much sweetheart, it’s beautiful; I’ll wear it right now.”
-oOo-
Aggie’s C5 team were already in action making up the circuitry that Aggie had outlined. They never questioned or disputed her designs; firstly, they knew she had the technical knowledge way past their understanding and secondly, their pay packets would see them retire early, and in comfort. That they had been called in to work on a Sunday was of no bother; in fact all the workers and contractors dealing with KR had similar feelings. This employer, above all others, offered everything an employee could desire and the list of job seekers on the waiting list held by KR was enormous.
“People, this will be a one off, don’t worry about neatness. It all has to fit into this crate; it’s hard plastic, unearthed. I don’t mind if you have to drill holes in it; but not on the bottom. Sparky, I need some insulated handles on two sides. Henry, I’m sorry, but I need that dish smaller, smaller than a VSAT; the feed horn is OK, only if we don’t lose any directive gain. Vera, how’s the LASER calibration? It’s going to Africa and has to be robust. And those capacitor cells, please double check for any, and I mean any, radiation.” Her only concern was the frequency of the involuntary transmission that she intended to use. The thing was coming together; it reminded her of the communication contraption, built with bits and pieces in that film “ET”; yes I know Dwarg... false Human entertainment.
“Boss, we are on it; shouldn’t you at least take a break?”
“I was just thinking about that, good .....idea...eh, welcome back Jade, in this room with all that please. We have the sniffers ready and we need to take a few readings of you as well. Where’s Phoebe?”
“I left her
back in the hangar, why, do you think I may have some contamination on me or something?”
“Won’t hurt to check....no, you’re OK.” Aggie put down the NHRA meter and helped Jade place the bags containing clothes, a boot, sock and soil and sand on the large table. After checking for any dangerous levels of radiation, she examined each piece for any clues. Dwarg advised that there was no residual DNA; which was strange as there would normally be thousands of cells attached to personal clothing. She examined the torch quickly and said “Yep..just as I suspected.”
“You found something Aggie?”
“Just confirms my theory Jade, this torch, by being switched on at just the moment of the confluence of neutralizing particles, has set off a chain of events which led to both men being dematerialised.”
“Zapped?. how? by whom?”
“That’s what we’re working on,. and I have to work out exactly how to unzap them.”
“By the way, Ernie said to give you this, it’s a camera card. He said he had a heap of photos taken, seconds after Ken was zapp...er disappeared, may be of help.”
“Ernie was lucky the flashes from the camera didn’t zapp him as well, hope the card has recorded exact times of exposure. Jade I’m hoping to get some equipment back to the site at Reggane tomorrow or Tuesday. If you don’t feel up to it, I can bring in a charter; I know you have to have obligatory rest periods.”
“Hey, that’s what you pay me for cousin, I don’t mind at all, nor does Phoebe; anything to help find Professor Lien. Just what is this special equipment, or is that a secret?”
“At this stage Jade, it is. Nothing personal; just that if anything goes hellishly wrong, you can honestly deny all knowledge.”
“That’s cool Aggie; no problem as long as it doesn’t impact on the safety of the aircraft and its occupants, namely me and the missus. Can I at least have the weight and dimensions of this thing, and will I need a forklift?”
“Have a look out the window here...see, that’s it, that large plastic box full of electronics, the directional disc is removable and it can all be lifted by one frail person. The power unit won’t be larger than a shoebox, and I’m about to start work on another component, again lightweight. But, all in all it may be fragile, so lots of bubble wrap and tape. Jade, we only have one go at this; if it fails, we lose Professor Lien forever. Now, let’s take a look at those photos...oh before I forget, Edna and Alex will be popping in later to say hello.”
“Alex? Who’s Alex?”
“You know, Alex Bentley, astronaut, the last NASA space lab mission, my husband to be.”
-oOo-
“Salam, Mister Ernie. I did not believe it when I heard. The information pained my ears. Are we under some sort of attack from unknown assailants? how is it possible that only clothing remained? and it is the same of Professor Lien? These events are straight from the books of Sinbad...ah please let this all be a test of our resolve and faith.”
“I was there when it happened Abdul. There was a flash of light and Ken vanished; he was right in front of me. Only his clothes and his torch were found. As your men would have told you, we found the professor’s clothing nearby, under the sand. Mrs Kellor has some of the clothing and a sample of the soil for testing. I have the remainder of Ken’s and the professor’s clothing in Aaron’s office. Your men, and may I say I am impressed with their qualifications, are going over them using our limited forensic equipment.”
“And what else of the installation? I see work in progress again, are we all now in danger of being sent to the land of...of nothing?”
“According to Mrs Kellor, the danger lies between the hours of midnight and two in the morning in that exact spot. Although I’m not a scientist, she tried to explain that somehow there has been a convergence of assorted rays and beams, something to do with the capacitor that the professor was working on. It’s now closed down; so she doesn’t expect any more events. Nevertheless she wants all electronic equipment, especially LEDs to be turned off during those hours; also no air traffic. She said to continue with the anchoring of the pulsar platform but to isolate that area over there...between the capacitor building and the professor’s cabin.”
“Mister Ernie, you have smoothed that area over, has anyone taken any readings there? Geiger counter perhaps?”
“Your men did Abdul. They were very quick to it; but no abnormal readings; not on the clothing either.”
“So we are again at an impasse.”
“Mrs Kellor is sending Jade back here with some equipment. She has put together a contraption which will measure sensitivity, frequencies, rays and other stuff I’m not technical minded enough to understand. She’ll instruct Aaron and perhaps one of her technicians with the set-up and installation. That’s the limit of my knowledge. I believe Aaron will collect the machine tomorrow from the airport and chopper it here. She wants it operational tomorrow night, before midnight and sited on that damned spot over there.”
“And may I attend this operation?”
“I would expect nothing else Abdul; now may I offer you some Arabian coffee? Your man Haán would have to be the world’s best barista. I would like to take him back home with me.”
“To replace Mister Ken Kain?”
“Oh no...no, I do apologise Abdul, for that insensitive remark. Ken was...is, a dear friend of mine. I’d never think of making light of this situation; I may be a security officer, but I still have feelings. I’ve already shed my tears and there’s more to come.”
“Hey chill bro, it’s my comment that was out of place. I too apologize. And no, you can’t have Haán, he’s married to my sister, and I need to keep my eye on him.”
“Ah Ernie, just for the record, I taught him to make coffee.”