Chapter 6
Failure is only the opportunity to begin again more intelligently.
-Henry Ford (1863-1947)
The aroma of freshly brewed coffee drew me out of my bedroom the following morning. To my surprise, they were all already up. Or more correctly their bodies were rhythmically moving up and down on the champagne-pale carpet in the lounge area. I sipped on my caffeine fix and watched them. Thirty push-ups... They were moving in unison, mirroring Zac. Except for Jake. He collapsed on push-up five. Zac had smiled encouragingly and told him it was a good baseline and to try for seven tomorrow. They moved onto sit-ups... Jake banged his head on the couch. Next star jumps. Jake almost knocked over a spindly-legged table while trying to keep up with the star-jumps. Back on the floor again. Suppleness training... Zac had finally found an exercise that Jake was good at. Everyone stopped briefly and watched Jake thrust his legs over his head and touch the floor behind him with his toes. Not bad for a bloke.
“Hey, nice flexibility!” said Zac encouragingly.
“Nice derrière,” I quipped from behind my coffee mug.
Jake rolled instantly back up into sitting position like he’d been stung. He glanced at Zac for a microsecond, reddened with embarrassment and then tore off for the safety of his bedroom.
The room was no longer friendly. Pete took off after Jake, slamming the door behind him like a teenager chucking a tantrum. Dale got in my face and glared at me.
“Sure your name’s not Maya Mouth?” he bristled.
“I’ll do the telling off,” said Zac calmly.
Dale started to walk off.
Brendan caught Zac’s eye.
“I always thought your rule of ‘no women’ at our workshops sucked, but now I’m starting to agree with you.”
He went to catch up with Dale.
“Breakfast then briefing,” called out Zac.
Dale changed direction. They both headed for the front door.
“Tell Jen we don’t want her in our quarters,” Brendan fired over his shoulder, as he opened the door.
Their quarters? Huh?
Zac smiled faintly as he watched them storm out, then redirected his attention to me.
“What’s up their nose? All I said was...”
Zac cut me short with his eyes. My mouth snapped shut.
“It’s not what you said. It’s who you said it to, that’s the problem.”
Silence. Zac rubbed his chin like a chess playing trying to decide his next move.
“Maya... Anyone else in the room could have coped with your comment. But Jake’s... self conscious.”
“I would be too if I had his b.o.”
“Well I choose to look past his b.o and awkwardness and see his potential. At seventeen, he’s the youngest Masters student in Australia. Last year he successfully determined the mathematical value of a constant which geoscientists have been trying to crack for almost forty years. His IQ’s up there with Einstein’s.”
“That scaredy cat’s a genius?”
“Think about it Maya. You have the opportunity to input negatively or positively into the life of a young man who’s likely to go down in history as one of the greatest scientists of the 21st Century.”
Sweet.
“The thing is, like many prodigies, he’s developed a little unevenly. Which is part of the reason he’s here.”
“Zac Canney. Mountain-leveller and valley-filler extraordinaire?”
“Zac Canney. Regular guy who happens to be responsible for creating a secure environment for all the young men on this workshop.”
My conscience prickled with rue.
“Sorry. Truce and tag-team?”
“Sounds interesting!” replied Zac. “Out of curiosity, what are your plans for today anyway?”
“I’m supposed to be hanging around in case that earthquake Laverton had the other night was a birth pang before a mega quake. Except now I’m faced with a problem the size of Mt Everest.”
“Why?”
“A conflict of interest. I don’t know what you’re really doing here Zac, but my guts tells me you’re here to do more than help Jake reach his potential. And I’m burning to write about it...”
He waited.
“If I don’t go home with something, I’ll incur the wrath of Frank...”
I drew a deep breath.
“...but if I follow up on the story, I might endanger you all...”
“Too easy. Tag along with our team Maya.”
“You mean it?”
“Yes. Write the story that’s burning in you. Take all the photos you want. And before you submit the copy to your boss, we’ll review your articles and help you delete statements which if published might get us all into an awful lot of trouble.”
“You mean it?” I repeated.
“Yes. Brendan, Dale and Pete are going out to the Celia fault lineament this morning to sniff around and take some photos of their own. Why don’t you hitch a ride with them?”
“I dunno Zac. The three amigos have kinda got daggers for me at the moment.”
“Hey, you’ve got plenty of ‘tude girl. And the advantage of life experience on them.”
“Life experience? Flattery like that will get you places Professor Canney. See these crows-feet around my eyes?”
“I hadn’t noticed them, but now you point them out, I must say they’re a perfect match for mine!”
Zac grinned at me. I drew strength from his warmth.
“Pity I can’t order them to do push-ups like you do,” I sighed.
“Hmmm... Demanding push-ups from them wouldn’t work, but you’re on the right track... What if I give you an assignment to do for me as well which involves them, while you’re out and about getting your photos?”
“You mean involve me in what you’re doing?”
“You could provide the cover story for the data collecting... Students often pose as nature photographers, bird watchers or artists when they’re really on guard duty.”
“I dunno Zac. Dave and Jen have planted the Garden of Eden around them. But beyond their boundary fence, you can see a bull-ant for ten kilometres. It’s hardly an inspiring vista for photographers, bird watchers or artists...”
“Hmmm. I agree the normal cover story we use mightn’t work in this area...”
Zac paused.
“I know... Minor change of plan... Pete has a small problem with his mother which I’ve wanted to help him address. Let’s kill two birds with one stone...”
Ω
Breakfast was subdued. I gave up on the only exchange of conversation at the dining table about three sentences into it... Tech talk between Dave and Zac. Something about flux compression generator bombs... Tech talk at 7 am was worse than CNN Happychat at 7 am. Particularly when the tech talk had just been preceded by a friendly behave-yourself-Maya talk. Desperate to talk to anyone, I drifted over to the kitchen sink to help Jen with the dishes.
“Good morning Maya. Did you sleep well luv?”
“Yes thanks.”
“Did the boys? They seem a little cranky. Or am I picking up something that’s not there?”
“We had a bit of disagreement before they came over.”
“Need a bit of 4x2 hon?” she asked perspicaciously.
A weak smile from me.
“Brendan got all huffy and told Zac to kick me out of their quarters.”
My complaint sounded like one kid dobbing on another kid.
“Well... the Professor actually made a private booking of the singlemen’s quarters for the week for his group, because he usually only runs same-sex workshops... you know... all men, or occasionally all women...”
Understanding dawned on my face.
“There was a bit of miscommunication all round however... When you arrived, we were all kinda gobsmacked ‘coz we were expecting a bloke... and no one quite knew what to do or say when you started heading for the singlemen’s quarters...”
“...until Zac spoke up and told the boys to help me in with
my bags?”
“Ah ha... Dave had a private word with Zac last night and asked him if he wanted him to straighten the whole mess out, but he said to leave things as they were, because he wanted to quit ducking curve balls. Whatever that means...”
Ω
Zac eyed his team thoughtfully. Jake had come to the briefing. Zac decided to say nothing.
“Right. Your primary assignment is the same as usual. Attempt to locate where any parties of interest are camping or operating from in this region. Examine the fault line. Note any evidence of sampling or damage in the area. Get as many photos as you can. Look for anything unusual... sun reflecting off glass... discarded litter. Note anything out of the ordinary. No matter how small or irrelevant it may seem. And above all, stay on your guard... Questions?”
Sober faced silence.
“Right. As well as getting the photos we’re after I need you to keep Maya out of the way for me while Jake and I are busy today.”
“But Sir. She’s not a workshop participant or part of our team. Can’t we just ditch her?” complained Brendan.
“What happens whenever you try to ditch Cherie?”
“It makes her more curious about what I’m up to.”
“Precisely. Learn that lesson about the female of the species early on in life and you’ll save yourself a lot of headaches.”
“Why don’t we get Gordon to move her on?” suggested Pete. “Arrange to fly her to Tahiti for the rest of the week on some fake trip she’s won or something.”
“And give the team in Tahiti plenty of warning that she’s coming,” added Dale sulkily.
Zac cracked up. His belly laughter brought out smiles all round.
“Maya’s a frequent flyer guys. She spends half her life tripping around the world. If you offered her a free trip somewhere, she’d just as likely give it away to her mother.”
“Well it’s a big ask, making us put up with her all day,” grumbled Brendan.
“I know it is. But at the moment I feel like I’m trying to find a silver lining in a coffin, six foot under, without a torch.”
“Sounds challenging enough to turn you into a giant!” quipped Pete.
“It is. So I need to rely on you more than usual. I need you to watch each other’s backs, much more carefully than usual. And I want all three of you to protect Maya... Like she’s your little sister.”
“What are we gonna do while we’re trying to keep her out of the way after we collect data?”
“Climb rocks... take photos... picnic... I’m giving her an assignment as well to drag things out a bit... Just go along with things as best you can for as long as you can.”
“What’s her assignment?”
“I’ll explain in a jiffy. Where is that woman anyway?”
Ω
I looked up at the sound of a shrill wolf whistle.
“Maya... Over here. Stop yakking,” called out Zac, beckoning me.
“You’ll be right luv,” coaxed Jen. “Get ‘em laughing and they’ll forget their collywobbles. That’s what I used to do with my boys. Go on...” she said, gently pushing me in the direction of the group.
Ω
“Okay... listen up everyone... Maya did a preliminary survey of the area yesterday and it’s very arid, so we need a good cover story. Maya’s a professional photographer, so I thought we’d work around that theme. Pete, you’re Maya’s male model for the day. Make regular stops in the area of interest... Maya, shoot heaps of pose photos like you’re doing a photo-shoot for a girlie magazine. Meanwhile, Brendan and Dale will be snapping the photos of what we’re really interested in. You two, also snap some suggestive photos of Pete and Maya looking cosy as well... That way if anyone’s watching through binoculars, it’ll be very difficult to work out who’s taking photos of what, or what your real reason for being there is. Follow so far?”
“Yes... But do we have to do the cosy and suggestive photos?” protested Pete.
Zac looked amused.
“Heard of the adage ‘a picture says a thousand words?’”
“Yeah.”
“Well... Cooperate with Maya long enough to get the right shots and I reckon it’ll get your mother off your back.”
“Why’s your mum on your back anyway?” asked Brendan.
Pete cleared his throat.
“She’s on my back as much as Pete’s actually,” interposed Zac. “I’m dragging her boy out on wilderness camps with other blokes instead of letting him meet nice young ladies on the beach in sunny Queensland.”
All round laughter. Even Jake smiled. Pete’s eyes met Zac’s and reflected his thanks.
“You three got your buttons?”
Nods from the three amigos.
“Good. Log onto my laptop.”
Zac motioned me closer with an index finger. He slid his hand under my blouse before I had time to react and started pinning something to it. Warm knuckles fleetingly brushed my chest and doubled my heart rate.
“What...?”
He silenced my nascent protest with a glance.
“Le Potier sait l’argile?”
I sounded out the French slowly, as he clipped the front on the emblem.
“The Potter knows the clay,” he supplied.
“What is it anyway?”
“It’s a tracking device.”
“Why?”
“So I can find you if you get yourself lost out there. Come on, let’s log you on too.”
My heart leapt within me.
Zac Canney. Protective leader and moulder of men. And me.
Ω
Some of their earlier anger had dissipated. Or more correctly their earlier anger was no longer at rapid boil... More like just a gentle simmer now.
“Since we’re stuck with you, we’d better make something clear,” lectured Dale. “If we see anyone out here, don’t mouth off about what we’re really doing.”
“What are you really doing?”
Silence.
“What makes you think I’ll mouth off?”
Silence.
“Convicted on the basis of prior bad acts, eh?”
“You don’t understand. We’re a team of blokes.”
“Yes. The emphasis being on team not blokes. And my journalist’s intuition tells me that Zac doesn’t want me seeing whatever he’s doing with Jake today so he’s sent me off with his team of blokes to keep me out of the way.”
Three astonished faces. I knew my gut feeling was right.
“So since I have to endure the humiliation of being supervised by three blokes, and a fourth bloke has got a tracking device on me, can’t we have some fun, while you’re getting your photos and I’m getting mine?”
Chuckles from Brendan and Pete. Dale remained staunch faced.
“Come on Dale. All I said was nice derrière. And it was nice from a woman’s perspective. Jake’s got a nice bum, you’ve got nice biceps. That’s not mouthing off. Facts are facts.”
“What’s nice about me?” smiled Brendan.
“Your legs. But don’t tell Cherie or I might get into a lot of trouble.”
Soft laughter. Even a weak smile from Dale.
“And Pete’s got hunky abs... Actually Pete you remind me of this bloke I was taking photos of one time for an advertising agency a few years back. If you ever get tired of being a scientist call me, and I’ll pass your name onto a couple of agencies I do freelance work for.”
All round laughter.
“What about Zac?” ventured Pete.
“Huh?”
“What’d you like about him?”
“Eyes the colour of amethysts... Silky soft Scandinavian-blonde hair... A body that’d make a Greek-statue cry with envy...”
“You sound like a love sick school girl not a grown up woman.”
I reddened slightly.
“Sorry... Don’t dare tell him but I’ve got a mega crush on your Professor. Which doesn’t happen to me much. I’m normally too independent to fall for fellas.”
&n
bsp; Silence.
“Maya Mouth has done it again, eh?” I muttered, eyeing Pete.
“No... I was just thinking - if you really like him, you should know a few things about him.”
“Like what?”
“Well... He always goes on about looking for character in a woman. And not collagen-enhanced, silicone-implanted beauty... Ask Brendan.”
“Yeah. Pete’s right. And he talks about bringing out the best in a woman... and being a man with wholesome values.”
“And he’s got this personal goal about no kissing on the lips or sex ‘til marriage,” added Dale.
I laughed with disbelief.
“That’s so... archaic. How’s he expect to find a partner taking a stance like that?”
“He expects his angel Jireh to bring his future wife to him.”
“A match made in heaven?”
“S’pose,” shrugged Pete. “I know one thing for sure Maya. If you’ve got the hots for Zac, you’d better keep it clean. Or you won’t get very far with him...”
Ω
The shot echoed through the emptiness and ricocheted off rusty metal.
“Better. You clipped the drum this time. You’re getting less afraid of the gun. Point it towards the ground while I set the cans up again.”
“Hey Zac. I’m having fun doing this. But how come we didn’t go out with the others?”
“’Coz I said I’d teach you to shoot cans today and I try not to break my word when I say I’ll do something...”
“...and?”
“...and after this morning I thought you might need a break from Maya.”
“Are you still worried about what happened this morning?”
“You aren’t?”
“Nah. Sorry I took off in the middle of exercises. I got all embarrassed when she said nice bum. I immediately thought I must have had a split in my pants and that she’d seen my undies or something. But Pete checked all over and said he was absolutely sure I hadn’t split them. He reckons she was just being cheeky because she wants to be included in what we’re doing.”
Zac looked reflective.
“Pete might be right about that.”
“Maybe we should have invited her to come shooting, so the others could have had a break from her. Dale was pretty mad at her.”
An amused grin.
“I’m not sure how Ms Maya Gregory would have reacted to the idea of coming shooting with us Jake.”
“She would’ve asked to have a go of the gun too I reckon.”
“Something you’ve observed in her behaviour make you say that?”
“Not so much an observation with my eyes. What do you call an observation of the heart?”
“Well... some people call it a gut feeling or intuition. I call it spiritual discernment... Whatever you call it, it’s there because man is more than the $3.50 worth of chemicals which make up his body. He has a mind, a will, emotions and a spirit.”
“Well this is my spiritual discernment then. Yesterday Maya saw three plasma balls forming. Any other woman would have been terrified - here she is, out on an isolated road on the fringe of the desert and she sees several weird occurrences. Tyson even admitted his brain was playing all these scenarios about alien abductions and UFOs. Not Maya! She just gets out of the ute - in the middle of a hailstorm mind you - to get her cameras so she can take photos of the plasma balls. And when they disappear, she’s off chasing them! Wanting to take Tyson’s ute cross country if you please... Talk about having a giant’s mindset...”
Zac laughed and aimed at the smaller can on top of the drum. He knocked it to the ground.
“I hadn’t actually thought about it, but you’re right Jake. The way she responded does show strength of character.”
“Same thing in the evening. She sees another plasma ball. A huge one this time compared to the other ones. Any other woman would have probably gone hyper. I mean I’ve seen girls scream over a little pop when testing for hydrogen. Not to mention this was Maya’s second sighting for the day. How many frights does a girl need in one day anyway? Admittedly she jabbered a bit... You know, asking all those questions about the fireball pretty fast. And she reached for your hand ‘coz she was scared. But as soon as you grabbed her hand she calmed right down. And she had this look on her face like she trusted you to protect her...”
“I don’t remember noticing that either!” chuckled Zac. “And here I am telling you to observe with all your senses... I dunno. I must have been jet lagged or something last night.”
“Maybe you were too busy observing the fireball at the time. I remember noticing how she was reacting though... What you taught me last night about using my five senses to notice people’s feelings was a real eye-opener. It’s like all of a sudden I’ve become conscious of how people give out vibes. And this morning I woke up and thought - there’s a whole world full of things to discover and experience and I haven’t even scratched the surface in the first seventeen years of my life...”
“Hey... it’s only nine in the morning and you’ve already learnt to do one new thing today.”
“You make being able to hit a target look so easy.”
“It’s not realistic to compare your ability to shoot with mine because I’ve had a life-long exposure to guns. I was brought up in rural Alaska. Going hunting for deer and hare with my Dad was part of my lifestyle as long as I can remember. And Dad and I still usually go out hunting together whenever I get to go home.”
“Your life sounds exciting compared to mine. About the only thing I’ve had a life-long exposure to is computer programming. I remember mum teaching me COBOL and C++ from the time I could read. She’d always say, ‘Jake honey... I can’t see how someone who’s mastered Python can’t tie his laces.’ But my fondest memories were sitting near her finding her glitches with Java – we’d race each other and whoever found the glitch first got a chocolate peanut.”
“Who got more chocolate peanuts? You or mum?”
“Me... In retrospect though, I think most of those contests were rigged in my favour.”
Zac laughed warmly.
“Talking of computers and mums, that reminds me. Pete’s got a problem he could use your help with...”
“Nah, that’s late news. I fixed it for him this morning after he checked for the split in my dacks... Now he’s got a smiling photo of himself with his arm wrapped around his mother as his screensaver.”
“Sounds tame enough.”
“His other screensaver was lame. He and some of his surfing mates were all dressed in black dresses and high heels and wearing lipstick. He said they were drunk. They must have been. I’d never do that in a million years. Drunk or sober.”
“Me neither. I’ve got a long list of experiences I want to try before I die. Cross-dressing isn’t one of them though. Neither is getting drunk.”
“I’ve only got a short list of things I want to experience... There’s just three things on the list at the moment... Maybe I’ll revise the list with my five senses and add to it...”
“I dunno. Your list sounds more realistic than mine. What’s on your short list anyway?”
“Well I want to learn to drive a car... And learn to fly a plane... And... And one other thing, but I don’t want to say...”
“Have sex eh?” grinned Zac.
Jake looked down at his feet and squirmed.
“Whoops... Too personal a question?”
“Dumb eh? I can listen to other guys talking about it. But if anyone asks me about it, I get all tongue-tied.”
“Well I can drive a car and I’m a private pilot, so those two experiences aren’t on my try before I die list. But having sex still is.”
“You’re kidding? I thought I was the only post graduate in the world who hadn’t done it.”
“Nah. There are at least two of us. You and me!”
“How come you can admit it so easily? Aren’t you ashamed?”
“What’s so shameful about admitting you haven’t got to experience so
mething yet but you hope to in the future?”
“Nothing... Zeitgeist mindset I guess.”
“I think that baby giant that was born last night just grew a bit bigger.”
Zac set their individual targets back up again.
Jake had another attempt at hitting the 20 litre drum.
“Yes!” he yelled, whirling around in a circle exuberantly.
Zac grinned and moved another 30 metres further back from his target. He took careful aim and fired. The can fell to the ground. As Zac went to pick it up he noticed a glint of reflected light. He stared over in the direction it had come from and frowned slightly.
“Is something wrong?” asked Jake.
“Someone back at the homestead is watching us through binoculars. I was just wondering why, that’s all.”
Zac glanced at his watch.
“We’d better get back and check everyone’s tracking devices are still operational. They’ll be in the fault line region by now... Want to keep the drum as a trophy?”
“Maybe for the week, but I’d better just take a photo of it home with me. I don’t have the guts to take sus stuff onto aircraft like you.”
Zac smiled faintly as he started to drive off.
“For what it’s worth, it took a lot of dare on my part too. And a bit of unseen intervention from Jireh too I’d say.”
“Jireh?”
“My nickname for God... Actually Dale indirectly gave it to Him a couple of years ago.”
“How?”
“Our team was on a surveillance camp out near the JORN facility at Harts Range near Alice Springs. Dale was jittery - not because we were camping out under the stars - but because this snake had decided to join us around the campfire after dinner as well.”
“That’d make me jittery too!”
Zac’s eyes twinkled.
“Anyway Dale was worried about going to sleep, even after I’d thwacked the snake on the head and tossed it on the fire. So I told him that in the Good Book it says, the Angel of the Lord camps out with those who trust Him. Then I added that since He was gonna be up all night anyway, we might as well get some sleep... and I climbed into my swag.”
“Weren’t you secretly afraid that there might be more snakes?”
“Knowing your enemy is the key to courage Jake... It was about 2 degrees, the temperature was dropping and the snake had been sluggish when I’d rearranged its head anyway. Not only that, we had thick canvas swags with pop up mozzie nets... like personal tents on stretchers. So everything considered, the chances of being envenomed by a snake in the middle of the night were about the same as winning lotto.”
Zac chuckled at the memory.
“Anyway... Dale moved his swag right over close to mine like he was trying to make a double bed or something! And then he mumbled something about wanting my angel to take care of him too - and he asked me what his name was.”
“So why’d you say Jireh?”
“Well... many of the names for God reflect His nature. And some Hebrew names are best translated as phrases - God the Healer, God the Restorer of the Breach and so on. Any the name that sprung to mind was Jehovah Jireh. It means ‘God’s my Protective Provider’. Which was kinda what Dale felt he needed at the time... Interestingly, while Dale staunchly maintains he’s an atheist, he starts almost every philosophical discussion the Australian team have...”
Zac became aware that they were back at the homestead gate.
“Goodness... I have been dominating the conversation on the way home.”
“Nah... I like listening to everyone’s memory lane rambles. It’s helping me get to know everyone.”
Jake looked thoughtful.
“Hey Zac. I know you’re not allowed to tell me what this is all about yet. But when do we start building the E/M weapon?”
“You trust me enough to work on a project with me, when I’m withholding information from you?”
“Yes.”
“Thanks. But you know, it’s not wise to jump into something without knowing what you’re jumping into.”
“I think giants sometimes have to take risks and try hard things Zac... So far I’ve spent my whole working life in a sheltered university environment and received a guaranteed stipend. But this... all this around me is the real world. And I know something big’s going down in this part of the real world. I’m not sure what yet, but if you and Gordon feel it’s important enough to do something about, and Jireh helped you get that suitcase of components into the country, well then that’s good enough for me. Actually, why don’t we make a start on it while the others are out collecting data? They can join us when they get back...”