Chapter Twenty Six
The friendly red-headed woman gave Rienus a smile as she stepped onto the carpeted hallway and softly closed the door of Ernie’s room. “Mornin,” she said quietly, “he’s still asleep.” She walked down the corridor, turned back and said “Breakfast will be served in about half an hour sir...it’s complimentary.”
“Oh yes, thank you very much.” He grinned and thought, looks like Ernie has had a head start already; hope he didn’t use his American Express Card.
He knocked on the door which Ernie immediately opened. He was buttoning up his shirt, “Ah Rienus, good morning to you; looking like another wonderful day today?”
“Indeed Ernie. I’ve already been out for an early stroll. How was your night?”
“Fantastic, and, to use one very clever person’s words, serendipitous and yummy.”
“Yes, I can still smell her perfume.” Ernie smiled a cheeky smile. “You know Ernie, in the town’s centre, there’s a monument with an old clock, it’s something of a landmark. The dial numbers have been replaced with the letters, lest we forget; a very moving memorial to the locals who fought in the wars. I was talking to a man there, about the history of the town. Anyway one interesting thing he mentioned was the name of the local policeman stationed here; Constable Ben Stubbs. Stubbs? Then I remembered where I’d seen that name before, ah yes, on the name tag of that nice looking red-head who works in this place.”
“Er, er OK Rienus; you got to know that she, that she, that I never asked...er...Oh shit.”
“Ernie, O Black Belt of security officers, you are not exactly the most handsome of men, how much did you pay?’
“She didn’t ask for any money Rienus, honest; but then again, she didn’t refuse the hundred bucks tip.”
“Let’s hope nothing becomes of this, old man. Anyway I’m hungry; see you downstairs shortly.”
Worth every cent...even if I do get my head and ass kicked by the local lawman; anyways, damn it all, the bosses wants me to enjoy my vacation.
As if on cue, Ernie’s phone rang. It was Edna.
Shortly after, Ernie sat down in the dining room. “Well Rienus, our little trip is going to lengthen, and widen somewhat. I just got off the phone with Edna Kellor. We have to come back to this town later on, and meet up with her then...yes, she’s coming here. She wants to see about some cultural matters; beyond my skills. She’s given me some tasks to investigate and asked me to ask you if you would help out. She says the work in Reggane is going ahead full speed. Anyway, Mrs Kellor is quite happy for us to stay in Australia a little longer. She’ll be flying in on the Gulfstream with Jade. After that, we can all go back to New Hampshire together; that should ease the problems with the official documentation.”
“Aggie did tell me she has her head down, busily working on the C.A.D.”
“Er, the C.A.D?..I suppose so. Now Rienus, there’s something I’ve kept from you, involving Miss Kellor; she has a boyfriend, well maybe a bit more than a boyfriend. I reckon they’ll be a pair before long. He’s a nice guy, I’ve met him...and, for what’s it worth, I approve. Are you OK mate?”
“Yes, yes of course. I know it had to happen one day, but that took me by surprise Ernie; Aggie didn’t mention it. Tell me all about him; how did they meet?.. Aggie’s never been the one to go out looking for a romance.”
Ernie dared only to tell of things that were of common knowledge within the KR circle. “Don’t worry about his intentions Rienus. I’ve well and truly had him checked out. I first thought it too much of a coincidence that he worked for NASA, much the same as her father. He lives with his father in New Orleans, a retired patrolman. Oh, and he’s already visited the site at Reganne; got on well with everybody there. Mrs Kellor doesn’t seem to have any qualms about him...even let him drive her Hummer...now that’s real acceptance. He’s with Aggie at this very moment; I imagine he’s already been put to work, knowing her.”
“Indeed. It will be good to see Edna again – she’s a remarkable lady; did I ever tell you about our trip to Geneva and the LHC?”
“Many times Professor. Well, how about it, want to play detective for a while? I’ve a list of leads to chase down.”
“Lead on my good man...but never, never look down your nose at me and use words such as elementary. But before we leave here, we need to find and speak to Mizzy’s friends.”
Ernie and Rienus walked towards the supermarket and saw four or five Aboriginal women standing just outside. They were chatting loudly but as soon as the men approached, they became silent and stared at them as if they were creatures from another planet. “ Excuse me ladies, we are looking for Mizzy Ooloo, would any of you know where she is? We are here to thank her for helping this man; he was in a lot of trouble and Mizzy saved his life.” No answer, just the suspicious stares.
“Mizzy found me in the bush not far from here; I was lost and she took me to Murgon; the police locked me up there.” There was some whispering between the women, then one, then the others began to giggle. The giggling turned into loud laughter and Ernie hunched his shoulders as if to say that he could not understand the joke.
“I seen ‘im with Mizz. I sayed git ‘im away Mizz, mad old whitey with the little dick, but she’d make ‘er mind to git ‘im back to town. Got old Gazza to take ‘im in ‘is ute. Wat you want with Mizzy?...little dick.” The woman laughed again.
“Er, I’ve come back to thank her. I want to let her know that by her kindness, she saved my life; and if there is something I can do for her, I would like to know. I heard she has gone on a trip somewhere?”
“Ahhh Little Dick, Mizzy often gits up and goes on walkabout; ‘ya hafta to go ups Kata Tjuta ways to find Mizzy today. Mizzys ben called in by Gooran; ben a spearin happened with the Anangu.”
“Is Kata Tjuta far away from here?”
“Couple a days by bus to Alice, few ‘ours to Uluru from dat.”
“Alice? You mean Alice Springs?”
“Yea that. Hey Little Dick, ya wanna gimme me some moola for Gazza’s petrol for ya transportin lift?”
“But of course lady, fifty dollars OK?”
The women formed a circle and jabbered loudly. “OK man, dat good. Not pay’n cash, not lookin good for us gettin money from strange fella; go git it to the boss in shop; he fix it.”
Rienus walked into the supermarket, to the check-out counter. The manager was already there, wondering what was holding up his daily shoppers. “Hello, I would like to leave some money with you for collection by a man called Gazza, do you know him?” the manager nodded. “Ok, here is fifty dollars, would you kindly pass it to him when he comes in. And here, here is four hundred dollars; please put this towards credit for any purchases the ladies out there may want.”
He walked out the store and as he passed the group of women, he said “have a good shopping day, ladies.”
“Back to Brisbane Ernie?”
“Yep, back to the big smoke...Little Dick.”
“Hmm, should we tell Mrs Stubbs that we’ll be back in a few days with more customers?”
“Ahh, I’ll tell her...Professor Lien.”
-oOo-
“So happy to see you wearing that pendant Tante Edna” said Phoebe.
“It’s wonderful Phoebe. I lost one of my medicine necklaces in Minnesota. I remember falling over and it must have fallen between the floorboards. Anyway I love wearing this one, reminds me of family and that’s always a cosy feeling. So how are you feeling now sweetie?”
“Absolutely fine, honestly. The doctor says it was probably just a bug – all’s good now and I can get back to work. I hate being chained to a sickbed; there’s a sky out there and I should be flying in it...well, we should be flying in it shouldn’t we Captain Jade?”
“Of course sweet-pea and we’re looking forward to the next task Aggie”
“Hmm yes, depends how you react to what I’m going to tell you. After that, I wouldn’t blame you if you change your
mind or have second thoughts.”
“Wow that serious? Come-on Aggie, you know we thrive on danger and intrigue; out with it.”
Edna held her finger up to Aggie. “Now Aggie, remember...tactfully.”
“OK here goes...aunt already knows about this Jade. You remember Professor Lien was found in Australia and we got him back?” Jade and Phoebe nodded together. “Well he’s safe and healthy and happy in Reggane at this very moment. It’s still a mystery how he ended up down-under and we’re still working on that. It’s obvious that he just didn’t hitch a ride, jump on a plane and got lost in Central Australia. As far as we can work it out, he, and Mister Kain may have been transported; and I mean transported in the sense of Star Trek Transporters. There were some unknown processes, probably involving unique beams, rays and ultra physical frequencies, not to mention particle wave dualities.”
“Wow, Star Trek Transporters? That’s amazing Aggie. So we know have the technology to do that? Wow, that’s a buzz; can’t hardly believe it. Put us pilots out of a job; we have a Transporter? can we see it? Hang on, how come you only tell us now; thought there were no secrets within KR?”
Aggie and Edna looked at each other. Edna spoke up. “That would be my fault Jade; we agonized over it. At first we didn’t know if Aggie’s machine would work at all, so we didn’t want to get everyone’s hopes up too much.”
Aggie continued. “The GM2; that’s what we named the machine, worked but then blew up, vaporised. So there’s no effective Transporter technology left...and I’ve destroyed all the schematics and hard memories. And, I’ve no intention of trying to research it further. I’m so sorry for not telling all this before guys.”
Jade nodded. “Fair enough, at least it worked, even if Rienus ended up somewhere else. But Aggie that’s still a terrific achievement; and congratulations. Your secret is safe with us, isn’t it Phoebe?” Phoebe agreed.
“To be perfectly honest Aggie, as advanced as this world is now, I don’t think we are anywhere near to wanting this technology; maybe it’s a good thing your machine broke.”
“Ah Phoebe, I couldn’t have put it better myself. Now, remember I mentioned the use of particle wave dualities and the GM2 trying to neutralize the frequencies?”
“Er, yes, suppose so.”
Aggie looked at Edna as she said, “Well the word duality means two of...”
“Hmm...and?”
“Houston we have a problem..aw aunt, I can’t put it any other way...there was a problem with Professor Lien’s dematerialization; we’ve ended up with two of them.”
“What? Ended up with two Professors?”
Both Phoebe and Jade burst into laughter. “Ha ha ha, Ok you guys, the jokes on us; very funny. Two of them. Ha ha. Ok what’s going on? Gotch Camera Show? Where’s Art Linkletter?”
There were no smiles from Aggie. Edna went to the water cooler and poured a cup for Phoebe, “Here drink this sweetie. It’s true Jade, I spoke with Rienus Number Two who’s still in Australia. Rienus Number One is in Reggane; I just got off the phone with him an hour ago.”
Aggie continued. “You know I’ve sent Ernie to Australia; not for a vacation, but to check out the other Professor Lien. I asked Ernie to check DNA and do other tests; all prove that he is the original Rienus, as is the Rienus in Algeria. We kept all this from you until we knew for sure that there was no imposter or other conspiracy involved.”
“So what happens now?...two Professors?..do they know?”
“No, not yet Jade. There’s more things that may complicate the situation; we thought it may be prudent not to upset the Professor, er Professors, just yet. We’d like to know more about the circumstances leading to his...his duplication.”
“So Ernie knows? does Alex?”
“Yes he does, he was here when the other...er, Professor Lien Number Two, contacted us from a psychiatric facility in Brisbane. There’s no one else who knows.”
“Holy shitbuckets; what happens now?”
Edna lifted her hand in the air. “This, Spreading Soaring Eagle, is where I come in. Let’s talk about things; you know, things that may complicate the situation. My story starts with a powerful talisman, a bone, a pointing bone..”