He leant forward and cradled her in his arms, feeling as if the world itself was conspiring against them. It was the strangest thing, because the warmth and smell of her were no comfort. It felt more like he was hugging a corpse. He put his arms around her waist and lifted her out of the dust knowing she wouldn’t be able to walk. He whispered to her that everything would be OK, and tried his best to believe it.
Bell helped him lift her into the back of the car. “What’s wrong with her?” the pilot asked.
They strapped a seatbelt around her waist and Luckman patted her reassuringly on the cheek then climbed back out of the car. He still had Warrington to consider.
Bell looked haunted. “She’s gone Blank, hasn’t she?” Luckman closed his eyes in silent acknowledgement.
“How is that possible?” Bell wanted to know.
“Must’ve had something to do with them trying to drag her back. You and Pat saved her but she was stretched out over that portal in two worlds at once. My guess is that was enough to fry her brain.”
As if she knew they were talking about her, Mel started wailing like a frightened child. She reached out of the car, grabbing him by the hand and forcing him to sit down once more beside her. He sensed pulling away would only agitate her further. She stroked him on the cheek then lifted his hand to her face indicating she wanted him to do the same to her, as he had done moments earlier. It was as moving as it was pathetic. It could have been nothing greater than instinct, but it also seemed a distinctly knowing gesture.
He turned back to face Bell. “You two get Warrington into the back seat next to me, but you’ll have to keep her covered from the front. She’s dangerous. And pick up Mel’s camera. We might still be able to salvage something useful from it.”
Bell nodded.
No phantom tsunami awaited them in the creek bed. Likewise no howling banshees assaulted their ears, for which Luckman was enormously grateful. As he had suspected, the psychic defence system had emanated from Pine Gap. Blowing up the base had shut it down.
“So how’d you do it?” Warrington asked him, as if reading his thoughts.
“Do what?”
“Complete your mission.”
“He had help,” Pat told her from the front seat.
“Funny thing,” said Luckman. “Someone pointed out to me the other day that some fellas can get around in this town like they’re bloody invisible. Couple of blokes like that can come in real handy when you want to blow some shit up.”
“The portal – where did it take you?”
“That’s a long story.” One he had no intention of telling her. “Did you know it was here?”
She avoided his gaze. “We suspected.”
He grabbed her by the arm. “Was it always Shearer’s plan to set me up?”
Warrington looked out the window. “It’s nothing personal, Captain. You are a blunt instrument. We are trying to prevent a nuclear war. General Shearer can’t bring his plan to fruition if he’s locked up as a traitor.”
“Better me than him.”
“Like I said – nothing personal. You’re an acceptable loss.”
“Except you failed. I’m still alive.”
“That’s not a problem,” she claimed. “You and I will simply fly back to Canberra after the dust has settled.”
Luckman laughed. “Are you gonna make me?”
“Of course not. You’ll come with me voluntarily.”
“Why would I do that?”
“Because once you’ve had time to think about it you’ll realise it’s the right thing to do.”
“You just tried to kill me. What the hell makes you think I’d go anywhere with you?”
She considered him coldly. “Clearly that option’s no longer on the table. What needs to happens next is very straightforward, Captain. The General and his allies need time to convince the Government that betraying the Americans was in the national interest. Until then, you need to keep your mouth shut. If the Chinese discover Pine Gap was destroyed without the authority of the Australian Government, they will never contemplate a strategic alliance. Put simply, you will have stopped one war but started another.”
“Why is Shearer so hell-bent on appeasing the Chinese?” Luckman asked her.
“Were China to invade Australia, it is unlikely the Americans would come to our defence.”
“Especially now we, err, someone blew up their base,” Pat pointed out.
“We are at the mercy of the People’s Republic at a time when Australia is the only continent on Earth not facing widespread nuclear meltdown,” said Warrington. “That makes us very valuable real estate. If the Chinese don’t become our strategic partners, they’ll become our conquerors.”
Forty-Eight
As is so often the case with return journeys it seemed as if very little time had passed when they reached the homestead where they had left the police. Several extra units and a scientific van were now in attendance. Luckman’s first impulse was to continue on without stopping, but he realised this amounted to stealing a police vehicle. He was going to need Pollock’s cooperation in the days ahead.
The detective walked over to the car as they pulled up. Luckman wound down a window and screwed up his face in disgust as he was hit by the ripe stench of the corpses.
“I see you’ve picked up a hitchhiker,” said Pollock.
Bell kept the pistol low and out of sight.
“If it’s OK with you,” said Luckman, “I’ll hang onto the car for another hour or two.”
Pollock sighed. “Yeah, I s’pose so.”
“Thanks.”
Pat wound down the driver’s window. “Where’s Warigal?”
“He’s still here with me.”
“We’ll sort it Pat,” Luckman assured him, knowing full well the Paulson murder inquiry was about to fall off the police agenda completely.
“Listen Curtis, the town services have just been shut down. Power, water, the lot. They’ll be out indefinitely.”
“That’s all I bloody need,” the detective cursed, but he immediately grew sceptical. “How the hell would you know about that before I do?”
“Somebody blew up Pine Gap. I reckon that had something to do with it.”
“Are you shitting me?” exclaimed Pollock.
“Oh and one more thing. This woman tried to kill me.”
Pat leaned out the window and pointed at the bullet hole. “She shot your police car.”
“I’m taking her to hospital now because her arm is broken. But she’s dangerous. She needs to be under police guard.”
Pollock shook his head in disgruntled bemusement. “Anything else? No don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know.”
Luckman checked his watch. “It’s now half past four. I’ll meet you back at the station in two hours.”
Detective Pollock waved them off without another word.
“I’m not sure he believes you,” said Pat.
“He’ll find out for himself soon enough.”
“Telling that cop about me was a mistake,” Warrington told Luckman tersely.
Luckman turned on her. “Now you shut your mouth and listen to me. There’s a whole town of people here in need of help. You may not give a damn about that but I do. And I don’t have time to sit by your bedside to keep an eye on you.”
The 4WD lurched as Bell swung the car off the dirt road and back onto Larapinta Drive for the last leg of the trip to town. Mel clutched nervously at Luckman, wrapping her arm around him, burying her head in his chest.
“Which way to the hospital?” asked Bell.
“You need to take me to Shearer’s plane first,” Warrington insisted. “So I can call this in.”
Luckman thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, all right. But we do it my way.”