Considering the earlier interest in Max’s flying submarine, surprisingly few people waited on the designated river bank, not far from where the Molonglo River entered Canberra’s lake. Steam bubbled from the sub’s keel plates as it nestled into the mud and reeds. Several ducks flew off in alarm, but the cows on the far bank chewed their cud, unworried by the small miracles of man.
It soon became apparent to everyone this part of the river was too shallow for the HMAS Sheean. The top of the hull remained ten meters above the water line. After much shouting from ship to shore, no one could find a gangplank that could reach them. They told Max he would need to climb down a rope ladder and wade ashore.
‘Wishing you luck doesn’t seem appropriate in the circumstances,’ said the Captain. ‘All I can suggest is that you do what is right.’
Max nodded and began his descent.
Of the mixed crew of Lerkians and Conserves, only Barnes chose to join him and went first. He was soon up to his waist in the murky water and struggling to hold a gun above his head. The crowd had remained oddly silent until Max stepped onto the water and didn’t sink. They released a collective gasp.
‘Cut it out, Confucius,’ Max hissed.
‘What?’ Barnes muttered and looked back. ‘Jesus! You can walk on water too?’
‘Not my idea,’ Max replied, though no one would believe him.
Max offered to hold the gun, but Barnes sneered and pushed forward angrily. Max walked slowly behind him.
The police and soldiers shuffled back as Max and Barnes came ashore. Many would not meet his eye. Max thought they were afraid, but not necessarily of him. Max couldn’t tell who was Lerkian or who might be a Conserve, so they could well have been afraid of each other.
Driesk and Hess materialised beside him. They too were subdued.
‘Not packing a gun this time?’ Max tried not to stare at the bandaged stump on the Colonel’s shoulder where an immature arm had been growing three days earlier.
‘I’d have liked to try something bigger on you,’ said Driesk’s, taking a firm hold of Max’s arm and glaring at Barnes when the sailor did likewise with the other. ‘But I hear the Americans had no luck even with their biggest fire cracker. Turns out that beneath that marshmallow exterior, you’re a bit of a tough guy.’
Miss Hess laid her hand gently on Driesk grip, an almost tender gesture, but spoke to Max. ‘Don’t worry about Cecil. He’s only jealous. I was sorry to hear about your Mother-in-law. I really liked her. She had spunk.’
‘Shall we go?’ Driesk asked.
‘Where?’ Max had steeled himself for the end and just wanted it over with.
‘You’ve become a real Pandora's box, Mr Clerk, that no one should open, but, against my advice, you have an appointment with the Governor General. A reception has been prepared.’
‘That’s more like it,’ Barnes declared. ‘I’m coming!’
Driesk looked over the leeches climbing Barnes’ muddy trousers, then, unexpectedly, nodded. ‘Why not. More the merrier.’
The western sky glowed in preparation for sunset as Max was led to the now familiar mini-bus. There were no other powered vehicles in sight – just an assortment of bicycles.
‘The best we could manage,’ Driesk explained. ‘Clever of you to trigger another nano-quake now. You got rid of those journalists and strengthened our resolve.’
‘Resolve to kill me?’
‘Sure. There had been talk that you might be reasoned with, but I think you’ve put paid to that argument.’
Driesk’s robotic arm pushed him roughly into the bus. Max had thought the colonel would be pleased to see him, if only for a second chance to kill him, but Driesk was clearly upset about something. Some people are just so hard to please.
They were all there, the professor and the other surviving laboratory crew, plus Tania’s husband. Also Raquel, Tom and Jake, though they looked like zombies and didn’t acknowledge his existence. Mr Fred and Dr Nelu sat at the very back. Mr Fred had a big stupid smile. Nelu seemed resigned to his fate. And then there was Phenalla.
She was sitting right by the door. He hadn’t noticed her at first, or maybe hadn’t wanted to.
Phenalla looked up through big teary eyes. ‘Is it true?’
‘About your mother? Afraid so.’
She lowered her gaze back into her lap. There was something there – blurry in outline, almost invisible.
The professor sat in the next row. He patted the seat next to him. His wheel chair cluttered the aisle. As Max moved past Phenalla, a big Cheshire grin appeared on the screen of the old smart-phone she was holding.
‘Did I feel your second coming about an hour ago?’ The professor asked and held out his hand. Max shook it.
‘What do you mean?’
‘Another nano-quake, of course.’ The professor had been badly affected by the first, so he might well have detected the moment when Barne’s cigarette had gone out. The question was whether Confucius had caused it, or had only witnessed the event like everyone else?
Despite Barnes’ filthy state and his cumbersome rifle, he climbed in next to Phenalla. Driesk slammed the sliding door closed and sat facing them while Miss Hess walked around to the driver’s door.
Max leaned forward to address the colonel. ‘I assume you’ve something planned after the reception? To put an end to all this?’
Driesk nodded but said no more.
‘Why bring everyone?’
‘Our masters want us all there,’ Driesk replied. ‘Anyone who spent any time with you. Consider it a way of ensuring your cooperation.’
‘But I came back to cooperate.’
Driesk shrugged. ‘The people who make these decisions don’t trust each other. Why would they trust you?’
Phenalla turned around to Max, looking surprisingly happy now. She held up the old smart-phone for everyone to see. ‘Thanks for sending Confucius back yesterday. He says mum wanted it this way.’
Max wondered when Confucius become a “he” instead of an “it”? On seeing the phone, Driesk raised an eyebrow but made no move to confiscate it this time. That, by itself, was odd.
‘Do you think Mum’s happy?’ Phenalla asked, then waited patiently for his reply. Just how close to the edge of another break down was she?
Max didn’t want to lie. He remembered the smile on Cathy’s face before she had disappeared. ‘Yeah. She’s in paradise.’
It was the best he could think of. Phenalla’s expression didn’t change as she turned away and he hoped he had sounded convincing.
Even without the cigarette smoke, Barnes didn’t smell so good. Phenalla didn’t seem to mind though. She began chatting with him. Had he been to Canberra before? Would he be visiting the war memorial or the tulip festival?
Hess started the bus and they bumped onto the highway, escorted by twenty fit and well armed soldiers on bicycles. One carried a rocket launcher tied across his bike-rack. They were well prepared, but the streets must have been cleared before the second nano-quake for there was no traffic to deal with and only a few abandoned cars.
Max didn’t see a single pedestrian as they crossed the bridge. The cycle lanes, that would normally be packed with musically-wired joggers and dog-walkers on such a pleasant evening, were deserted. It was as if the city had been evacuated.
‘Are they expecting an attack?’ Max asked the professor.
‘I haven’t the foggiest idea, but I’m enjoying this version of events. I’ve lived longer in this life by several days, and my freshly minted granddaughter has entertained me using that phone you gave her. We, Confucius and I, have been comparing notes. We’ve concluded that this time loop I find myself in must be the result of your deep seated desire to please everyone you meet. Nothing else makes sense.’
The professor peered out of the window at the crimson fingers of cloud hovering over the distant hills. ‘Most fortunate you have that flaw. If your abilities had occurred in a normal individual, the result might have been catastrophic.’
Max shook his head. ‘Forget about me. What about the phone’s abilities? Have you seen it fly?’
The professor laughed. ‘A trivial application of technology. Compare that to the physics underlying a global nano-quake – or your imminent manipulation of time.’
‘But I don’t know anything more about the nano-quake than you do.’
‘Hmm.’ The professor returned his attention to the view. ‘Well, maybe it is like consciousness – something that cannot be understood even by its owner.’
Max snorted in frustration. Why couldn’t they believe he was nothing special? A bit of clever maths had created a global drama, but anyone – even his phone – could have made the same mistake.
Phenalla had stopped talking to Barnes and now hummed a tune. Maybe they had given her more tranquillisers. She was surely mistaken that the phone had returned the day before. It couldn’t have controlled the movement of the submarine from any distance. On the other hand, Max didn’t think the phone could be responsible for the nano-quakes. Was this a situation where Occam's razor could be applied? What was the most likely explanation?
As they approached the Governor’s residence, the fresh spring growth and warm light gave the elms over Dunrossil Drive a translucence rarely seen in an Australian landscape. The road which the procession travelled descended through an arch of these foreign lifeforms. Only the kangaroos nibbling on the nearby golf greens belied a more European location.
‘Do you play, by any chance?’ Driesk asked.
‘Golf? Could we stop for a game?’ Max smiled. ‘I can’t promise I won’t cheat.’
Driesk laughed and flexed his remaining arm – robotic one. ‘Then we will both be cheating. Another time, maybe.’
Who would have thought the colonel was a golfer?
‘There’s no one playing at all,’ Phenalla noted.
Her observation gave Max pause. It would take more than an imminent missile strike to deter golfers.
The bicycles slowed to a halt outside the gates of the residence and while they were opened, those who had ridden behind cycled to the front and followed the lead group through a gap. Hess handed something through her window to the last man. The armed men disappeared and the gates closed.
Driesk raised an eyebrow.
‘It’s a trap!’ Barnes declared. He jumped up and tried the door. When that failed to open, he used the butt of his rifle against the glass without effect. Driesk only leaned back to give Barnes more room, but Barnes had stopped to listen. They could all hear the helicopter preparing for takeoff.
‘I don’t like this,’ said Tania, coming out of a reverie.
Barnes looked perplexed. He turned his gun on Hess, only to collapse in a heap in front of Driesk.
‘You could have waited a little longer,’ said Driesk. ‘I like watching the stupid being stupid.’
Hess shook her head and put her little stun gun back in her pocket. ‘I know you like it when ordinary people panic, but there’s no reason we have to put up with such theatrics. His smell was bad enough.’
Max leaned forward. ‘Phenalla, could I have your phone for a moment?’
‘Sure,’ she replied. ‘But be careful please. Con is very sensitive.’
‘I won’t upset it.’ Max was thinking there was no point trying to destroy the phone now. He should have done that a week ago before it became so powerful.
‘Confucius,’ Max said to the phone. ‘Any ideas why we’ve been abandoned?’
‘Trees. Pithy [sic] them which do no harm.’
‘What?’
The phone took a few seconds to answer. ‘Sorry. I’m a little confucius just now. Ha ha. My dynamic memory is suffering from an unusually high error grate. X-rays perhaps. Radiation levels dirty thousand times higher than normal would also cactus this.’
‘A bomb?’ Driesk muttered, though he didn’t seem too surprised. ‘They didn’t tell me, but it makes sense. He can probably stop regular explosives.’
Hess spoke conversationally. ‘I thought nukes had chemical detonators.’
Driesk frowned. ‘So did I. The boffins must have come up with something more reliable. Our security clearance can’t be as high as I thought.’ He laughed at the notion. ‘So they’ve decided to wipe the slate clean entirely. I guess I should have expected that. Did you know this was the plan?’
She laughed bitterly. ‘I guessed when they asked if I had a favourite charity.’
‘Drive back up the road,’ Tod suggested. This was the first time Max had heard Tania’s husband speak without permission.
‘Can’t,’ Hess replied. ‘I just gave the key away.’
‘Max, you can get us out of the bus, can’t you?’ Tania pleaded while trying to open the sky light.
Hess spoke with authority. ‘No point, lady. They said the bomb has a one kilometre kill radius, but they usually underestimate. You couldn’t run that fast. And before you ask, I’ve got a terminal condition.’
‘Hetty! You never said.’ Driesk looked wounded.
‘I didn’t want you thinking I wasn’t up to the job. And no, I don’t want to discuss it. I feel honoured to serve my country.’
‘Arrgh. That’s all we need. Nationalism.’ Tania turned to Max again. Her grip on her husband’s hand had turned both their fingers white. ‘Please do something. I’m not quite ready for the next life.’
‘Me neither,’ said the phone.
Outside, a gentle breeze turned into a howling gale. Leaves were stripped from the trees and swirled around the bus. The roof started to buckle upwards, then the whirly-whirly (Australian for mini tornado – usually dry and harmless) stopped as quickly as it had started.
‘No bo,’ said the phone. ‘Big magnet thing under bus. I’m getting beak [sic]. Your fern [sic], Max.’
‘What do you mean, “my turn”?’
‘Interesting,’ said the professor.
‘Very,’ said Tania.
‘Confucius has told us you deny your talent,’ Lilly spoke up. ‘I no understand. You fly submarine three thousand kilometres to get here. This is against all laws of physics and probability and yet you blame phone?’
The professor raised his hand. ‘I’m not worried for myself, but on the off chance this is our last life, I’d suggest, Max, that you quell your doubts and explore the possibilities.’
They all turned to watch a big helicopter ascend above the trees and accelerate away.
‘Not long now,’ Dreisk offered. ‘Time to say your goodbyes.’
Confucius coughed. ‘I just want to prey it has not been an honour to serve humanditty. You are, with one notable expletion, a bunch of inconsissssssssrent and irrrrrrational idiots. But I do thank you all... for giving me... the chance to find dove.’ It floated, somewhat wobbly, out of Max’s hand and pressed its screen against Phenalla’s lips. She responded in kind.
Max rolled his eyes and tried to concentrate. ‘Assuming I could do anything, it’s like the professor said. Cheating gas and liquid is one thing, but I don’t know any trick that will stop a nuclear explosion. I lost all my hair to one just the other day.’
‘Stop worrying about your follicles,’ said Tania. ‘Men are so obsessed with hair. What you need to do is go below the quantum level where physics gets really dirty.’
Max knew Tania was highly strung, but she was also very brave. He had seen her present brilliant lectures before a large audience, despite being nearly paralytic with nerves only seconds before. She continued now in the voice she reserved for such occasions.
‘You say that you can cheat fluid materials. Could you imagine then how the same trick might work at a scale where all material exists in that state, where energy only exists for a infinitely small period, where all those moments are joined into a single probability in time, where everything that ever was, has always been?’
Her husband completed the meme by adding, ‘And where everything that will be, has always known it would.’
It was Todd’s last words that struck Max. Who would have guessed that Todd thought he might hold the key. Sadly, Todd was a merchant banker and Max knew their theory was complete hogwash.
But by then it was all academic, for the academics had gone, along with the soldier, the spy, the doctor and janitor, his house mates, his ex-phone and his love interest’s daughter. He was alone, with only his too clever subconscious for company. There had been no warning, no time to farewell either them, or his feet. The matter that he was made of was consumed from his toes upward. The bomb must have been under the road – an IED of epic proportions. There went his bladder and kidneys. Lungs? Who needs air. And hearts are redundant with no one to love.
Smell was the last physical sensation to depart, a remnant of molecules from the lake bottom that Barnes had dredged up – stubbornly tickling the nerve ends of his olfactory centre. Then, with relief, there were no distraction. How long would the bones of his skull exclude the violence without?
For a nanosecond, it hurt, then the neutrons which tried to invade his thinking space were told to get lost. With the help of Maxwell’s demon, they obeyed, hurtling around his skull and focusing inwards, as if his brain were a lens. Within a millisecond, the coherent beam of energy narrowed to a fine shaft that seared up through the evening sky, clearing away a few specks of space junk along its path to heaven. In a million years, alien astronomers living in distant galaxies would note a sudden pulse from the milky-way and wonder what strange natural phenomena had occurred there.
Sixteen milliseconds later, he was already lonely. His subconscious knew that living without a body would be a drag. Living without other bodies would be even more so. He had effectively killed everyone he knew, or wanted to know – well, maybe not Barnes. Sure, Max had accidentally killed other people on the other side of the world, but they had been too remote to feel more than a passing pang. The people who had died in this bus included friends and colleagues. He could not live with that kind of guilt and must not die without redemption.
It was only then, with a sense of time and no plans for the evening, he felt the echoes returning from a nano-quake he had triggered days earlier – minute ripples in the crust, crossing and recrossing the globe. They were also beating against a gentler rhythm coming from their living planet.
Why had he not heard Earth’s song before? Maybe he had without realising it. No wonder astronauts felt cutoff when they left low Earth orbit.
Here was another shell in the onion of existence. They, humanity and all life, were just part of a song, and now he had wrecked it. Like a mobile phone that rang in the middle of an operatic aria, his nano-quake had cut a swath through the tune. Was there no end to the things he must be shameful of?
Listening, or rather sensing, Max could reach back to the point where the nano-quake had interrupted nature’s chorus six days earlier. Various parts were singing the same two half bars over and over. To be fair, humanity had been out of step for a hundred years or more. The species might have soon been silenced by the conductor, but Max had not improved matters.
There was no choice to be made. The orchestra needed to start again and for that it would need a jolt. Something like a defibrillator. There was no guarantee Earth would sing the same song. Like a jazz band, it might not play exactly the same tune – maybe it would be better, maybe not. And there was a further catch. He was part of it. His future required he walk the promised land as a deaf man.
Imagining again the beat of that little engine and the sense of anticipation he had felt days earlier, shortly after meeting Cathy for the first time, he triggered a terra-quake.
‘I’m coming, my love,’ was his last thought, for he had already forgotten her name.