Till, when Life returns with Spring,
Through
them softly stealing,
All their freshness forth they fling,
From
a poem titled “To K.M.D.” by James Clerk Maxwell 1831 – 1879
Whether by nature or nano-quake, spring arrived early that year in Canberra. In other ways the city was barely affected, and for Manuka, a fashionable neighbourhood on the south shore, business was booming. Expensive electric cars flaunted their mirror-finish while prowling for that elusive parking spot. Coffee parlours plied a fine trade on the side-walks, and while the colourful café umbrellas had yet to be unfurled, for it was still a little chilly, a festive spirit prevailed. Even the Manchurian pear trees, confused by the lack of frost, had blossomed. It could well have been spring.
Max was still flushed from the brisk walk across town. The buses had yet to recover – their fuel cell technology permanently bruised by the nano-quake. He consulted his phone for the time and location.
‘She should be right here,’ Confucius confirmed. Max wrapped the phone back in foil before returning it to his pocket. He continued to scan the faces around him.
Max stood like a rough hewn rock in a churning sea of pretty people, scanning for one more perfect. If not for the flower petals falling onto her broad rimmed hat, he may never have spotted her.
Cathy and a companion sat at a table closest to the busy roadway. The wig today was blonde, entirely appropriate among these elite diners. Her dress was white and gold, until the sun passed behind a cloud, then it appeared blue and black. It looked classy and so did she.
The younger woman with her noticed him. Though the girl’s expression didn’t change – for she had no expression – she touched Cathy lightly and pointed to him.
Cathy looked up with those smiling eyes of hers. She was as beautiful as he remembered.
‘Please excuse my daughter’s manners,’ Cathy said, offering Max a seat. ‘This is not the way Phenala was raised.’
Phenala perceived him with no interest whatsoever, nor did she react to her mother’s reproach. The strong family resemblance ended with their attitudes, and this contrast only illustrated to Max why he found the older woman more attractive.
‘Am I late?’ He looked around, expecting to see Graeme and his other colleagues present.
‘Only by years,’ Cathy laughed. ‘But no, you’re not late. I asked the others to come in half an hour, so we’d have time to chat alone.’ She then formally introduced her daughter, who raised a limp hand. He wasn’t sure whether he was supposed to shake it, kiss it or give her a high five, so he nodded instead.
‘Phenala was kind enough to keep me company, but she needs to be on her way now, so we can talk about her without embarrassment.’
She looked at her mother blankly.
‘You’ve got a hair appointment, dear,’ Cathy explained.
‘Yes.’ Phenala climbed to her feet and shuffled away without farewell.
Max hesitated, then couldn’t help blurting, ‘Do you always talk to her like that?’
‘Only since she started taking that Peace drug.’ Cathy made no effort to hide her disgust. ‘Sorry if I’m jumping from my pedestal to my soapbox so soon, but it’s best you know what can push my buttons.’
‘My mistake, Mrs. Taylor. I should be the one apologising. I’ve not met that many Peace users, but those students who use it to get through their exams don’t study for long afterwards.’
‘You should try living with one,’ she said.
‘It must be difficult.’ Max didn’t mention Tom’s new habit.
‘And please remember to call me Cath, or Cathy if you prefer.’
Max nodded, uncertain why meeting Phenala had upset him. He had bigger worries than her daughter’s drug dependency, but meeting a member of Cathy’s family and learning of their issues somehow altered his relationship with her. He decided that he was just disappointed. Fantasy could rarely survive the cold hard light of reality.
‘We are told Peace is not addictive,’ Cathy continued, ‘yet I’ve lost quite a few friends to it. They just stop trying. In my day, the sedative of choice was a bit of weed and it ...’
‘I prefer hard work,’ Max cut her off.
Cathy frowned for an instant. ‘Yet another form of opium for the masses.’ She paused, studying him. ‘You’re not in a very good mood today?’
‘No. Not in a good mood,’ Max confirmed, which, considering the fine weather and affluent surroundings, seemed ridiculous. He tried to soften his tone. ‘But that’s not your fault, Cathy. Far from it. Your call last night cheered me up. Enough to even get some sleep.’
She raised a questioning eyebrow as a waiter came by and Max ordered coffee.
‘I’ve not slept so well lately,’ Max continued. ‘Our little chat yesterday, before the Quake, was … nice. I was looking forward to seeing you, even though I can guess why Graeme has asked us to meet here. Where is he anyway?’
‘Graeme’s not coming,’ Cathy said over the rim of her cup. ‘He doesn’t even know we’re here. They have him in some dungeon, thumb screws, the rack, you know the drill. It will be your turn next.’ She stated this merely as a fact, then smiled. ‘I shall be Graeme’s proxy for today, but I too enjoyed our chat yesterday. You’d be surprised how hard it is to find someone to have a serious conversation with.’
When she didn’t elaborate, he prompted her. ‘So..?’
‘So I want to get to know you while I can.’
He wasn’t sure how to take that. Max had been prepared for an off-campus lecture from his boss, and had hoped Cathy might be present, but now he had no idea what his wife’s intentions might be. He immediately squashed the ridiculous idea which surfaced that she had any romantic notions towards him.
Cathy said something, but he didn’t catch it as an electric sports car with a loud audio-engine-simulator cruised past. He span around to watch the annoying thing go by and caught a short Asian man in a fine tailored suit watching them from the doorway of a restaurant opposite. The man smiled at Max, dropped the cigarette he’d been holding and walked away.
Cathy hadn’t noticed this and was still smiling at Max. She seemed happy to watch him, and he to watch her. Max was not vain, but he thought she probably preferred his exterior over whatever inane conversation he could provide, so he played her game. Looking into her eyes, the dark thoughts which had been troubling him began to submerge. He also forgot about the smoker and shamelessly admired her while she drank her coffee and they waited for his.
‘Do you think we’re in trouble?’ Max asked when his brew arrived and their silence began to feel awkward.
‘I know you’re in trouble,’ she replied. ‘But let’s forget about that for the moment. Tell me what it is that kept you awake?’
He’d walked straight into a trap but didn’t want to lie. ‘I’d rather not say.’
‘Sorry. That’s none of my business. Let me be more specific. How would you fix the world?’
‘Woah! That’s one big question, Miss Cathy. You called your husband a big picture person. If he is, and I have reason to doubt that, then you’ve a lot in common.’ Max took a sip from his cup and was surprised when his upper digestive tract sent endorphins coursing through his brain. The coffee here was much better than the canned granules he was accustomed to.
‘Alright then. If that’s too hard.’ She thought with a playful finger to her lips. ‘Something simpler. How would you bring world peace?’
‘I guess you’re not talking about the drug this time?’
Cathy shook her head.
‘And I suppose reincarnating Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and Mother Teresa is out of the question?’
She just laughed. Her eyes sparkled.
To bury his lust and concentrate on the problem she had set, Max lifted his gaze from her face, up to the samples of nature that had been allowed to share the boulevard. The birds and bees that flew overhead helped, for they didn’t share his fears. They lived for the moment, so he tried to do the same, and eventually some idyllic thoughts drifted down from the clouds.
‘I’d say peace is usually threatened when one group tries to force their culture onto another. Soldiers with guns often do the enforcing, but I don’t think the guns are the real the problem. Not even the bullets. It’s the stuff that can push those bullets towards their target.’
Cathy leant forward, excited. ‘Okay. Let me guess. You think the propellant is too easy to obtain?’
‘Exactly. Anyone can machine a gun, mould a bullet, but obtaining the materials to make it go bang needs a factory. I’ve heard that the English lost that American war because the French munitions were superior. If they had got rid of those froggy factories ...’
‘Or the French chemists?’ Cathy smiled. ‘We’d have no perfume, but do you really think limiting the arms trade could stop war?’
Max laughed. ‘It wouldn’t hurt. But see, it’s too early in the day, and I’m too naive to be a god.’
Cathy’s grin faded. ‘Too early, maybe, but I know you’re not as innocent as you look.’
He tensed. She knew! But how?
‘I’d like you to seriously think about a solution,’ she continued, wiping a napkin across her lips. ‘Unless I’m mistaken, you have the means already at you disposal,.’
‘What means? How..?’
She looked over his shoulder, unconcerned with his incoherent questions. ‘How time flies. Here they come.’
Max turned bewildered to see Lilly and Joshua weaving through the crowd. Tania appeared suddenly from the other direction and dropped, with a grunt, onto the padded bench beside them.
Tania glared at the woman Max currently loved. ‘I take it, Cathy, that we’re calling a truce for the day?’
‘I wasn’t aware there were still hostilities,’ Cathy objected, though her face had tightened.
‘Just as long as you don’t think I’ve forgiven you.’
‘For goodness sake, Tania. That was twenty years ago.’
‘Twenty one,’ Tania corrected. ‘You know what you did.’
Cathy sighed. ‘Well I hope I’m not the bitch I was then.’
Tania looked doubtful, and Lilly watched the exchange with great concern. Joshua merely looked amused.
‘Would either of you ladies like to explain what you’re talking about?’ Joshua asked.
‘No!’ exclaimed both women simultaneously. Heads turned, but soon lost interest.
‘May I suggest we turn off our phones,’ Tania said, adjusting her own.
Cathy was still recovering her poise.
‘They’re never really off you know.’ Max held up his own phone wrapped in copper foil.
‘Oh. Good idea.’ Tania immediately summoned a waiter and whispered in his ear. He grinned and returned shortly with a roll of aluminium foil. Tania wrapped her phone, and then, for good measure, made herself a foil cap. Lilly and Joshua, enjoying the joke, did the same.
‘I feel safer already,’ Joshua laughed. ‘So are we ready now for that alien invasion?’
‘Ah, so aliens make nano-quake?’ Lilly appeared incredulous, then shook her head. ‘I do not believe in aliens.’
‘Forget little green men, Uoshi, sweet heart, dear.’ Tania grabbed Lilly around the shoulder and dragged the younger woman to her side. Tania had evidently decided the time for secrets of the heart were over, but Lilly looked slightly uncomfortable about leaving any closets in public.
‘I think we’re the aliens,’ Tania declared. ‘Something at our school of physics caused that quake yesterday. I’ve heard that all the heads and chief investigators have been called in by the Vice Chancellor’s office. Someone is in serious pooh.’
Cathy and Max made eye contact, but neither commented. He still wasn’t sure what she knew.
‘You don’t think it was our experiment?’ Joshua asked. ‘It’s an amazing coincidence that it began at the same time. Anyway, before we worry about that, does anyone know how the professor is?’
‘They wouldn’t let me visit him,’ Tania sniffed.
‘I’m told he’s recovering,’ Cathy was pleased to add. ‘Graeme got news before he was dragged away. It seems that Dan’s pacemaker kept him alive. The old bastard will get to cause more trouble and strife.’
‘You never really loved him,’ Tania accused.
Cathy waved this away. ‘Maybe not. Though I still get jealous sometimes, but only because Graeme gives him more time than he does his family.’
‘Why did you ask us to meet you?’ Joshua asked Cathy, possibly tiring of their domestic issues. Max also wished he hadn’t learnt quite so many hints at Cathy’s past in one dose.
Cathy touched her nose and then checked that the tables around them were engaged in conversation. The traffic noise all but masked her voice anyway. ‘Graeme just wanted me to make sure you guys were on the same page. For when the Feds come calling.’
Max tried not to react to her little fib, while Joshua and Tania froze, and Lilly looked blank.
‘Who is Fed who is calling me?’ Lilly asked, all wide eyed.
‘Federal police,’ Max explained. ‘I’m still hoping this is just another soap bubble incident, but Cathy thinks they’ll want to talk with the rest of us anyhow. Particularly if Graeme tells them what we were doing in any detail.’
‘Why?’ Joshua asked. ‘What could our little engine have to do with the nano-quake?’
Max was about to continue, when Cathy jumped in. ‘Nothing. Graeme wants to make sure you don’t confuse them with scientific mumbo jumbo. If they ask, you can say you were merely… um?’
‘Adjusting the fuel injectors?’ Tania suggested, though all the academics present knew this wasn’t entirely true. Max’s transducers had been the latest addition to their engine experiments. That no one objected, suggested they all knew he might be the cause of the quake.
‘All engines have those, right?’ Cathy asked and they nodded. ‘Okay, say you were injecting the fuellers and nothing unusual happened.’
‘But nano-quake happen, and the professor nearly die. You want that we lie?’ Lilly asked.
Cathy hesitated then nodded. ‘Yes. We lie. It is for the best. If you have doubts, they will be certain of your involvement. Remember, you were not responsible for this business, so there is no point getting locked up … or deported.’ Both Lilly and Joshua sat up. ‘Right, you see. Best not complicate things. The police will have enough trouble finding the real culprit.’
‘I’m going to say it was aliens,’ said Joshua. ‘Arthur Conan Doyle would have agreed. No matter how unlikely, shoot the most plausible explanation.’
With not much more to say, the other three didn’t linger. Lilly and Tania left, hand in hand, and Joshua said he needed to see someone about an air-ticket home. They were quickly lost in the crowd of colourful frocks.
When Max rose to follow them, Cathy took hold of his arm to keep him seated. ‘I’m not sure I should have asked Joshua to join us. Do you think he’ll squeal?’
‘Yep. But only when he’s back in Holland.’ He looked at the hand still holding his arm. What was it about the touch of a lover’s skin? He shook himself in an attempt to wake from that dream. She had an understanding smile as she let him go. A quick look at the exorbitant bill for his coffee soon brought him to his senses. ‘It’s nice to have human waiters and all, but why did we have to meet here?’
‘Look over there.’ Cathy indicated a table nearby and stole his bill in the same motion. ‘Three biologists from RSBS. And over there, I think I recognise someone from the Arts department. And isn’t that what’s-his-name who runs the Uni Student shop. I think academics are attracted to money, the older the better, and there’s plenty of that in this suburb.’
Max nodded. ‘I see. So no one will find it odd that Graeme’s group met here, even without him. If it’s safe to be frank, why is Graeme so certain we’re responsible?’
‘Graeme?’ Cathy looked surprised. ‘Yes, now that I think of it, I suppose he is. But he hasn’t even told me what happened at the lab yesterday, apart from the professor’s heart attack. I was at home with Phenala. She’s on stress leave, but that stupid sedative her employer prescribes doesn’t help. I think those bastard corporations really want robots instead of fragile humans.’
‘If you don’t know about our experiment, how do you know we’re to blame?’
‘Intuition.’ Cathy smiled. ‘Okay, that excuse is wearing thin. Not intuition then. But if I told you how, you’d not believe me. Let’s just say I have premonitions. Like I’ve been through this sort of thing before. I should have burnt down the school, with Daniel in it, while I had the chance. Too late now, more’s the pity.’
‘The professor? What’s he got to do with it? And how could you possibly know this nano-quake would happen?’
Cathy looked up as her daughter suddenly appeared, her hair newly permed. Phenala’s bouncy curls had failed to raise an expression on her young face, but Max just wanted to send the girl away again. He wanted to scream. He wanted to know why he still wanted to be near her mother when the woman was so infuriatingly vague – and desirable.
‘Mum? Can you take me to Joe’s now?’
Cathy nodded. ‘Yes dear. Sorry I spoke out of turn earlier.’
‘I didn’t mind. Can we go?’
‘Do you need a lift?’ Cathy asked Max, but he declined. ‘If we’re lucky, I’ll see you again in a day or two, when this thing blows over.’ She laughed. ‘And if not, I’ll see your picture on the news.’
He couldn’t understand how she could treat his potential incarceration so lightly. Was he just a toy, or part of a bigger game she played?
‘At least I hope we’ve given you some breathing space. Use it wisely.’ Cathy gave him a quick peck on the cheek and then she whispered in his ear, ‘Think about those big picture things we talked about. Maybe your dreams can come true.’
After moving away himself, Max turned to watch the mother and her clone-like daughter leave. The former swung her hips in a most seductive way, while the latter dragged her heals, uncaring.
The Taylor family was a different in many ways from those he had known. Cathy Taylor had endured a brush with cancer, but remained full of life. Her neglectful husband craved fame at the expense of love, and now her daughter, with a set of depleted emotions, had become distant. He could well imagine that they had all been once very close.
So the last thing Cathy needed was a love sick puppy like him chasing after her.
Considering the humiliation that her husband, Graeme, would sometimes heap on him, Max was not overly concerned for Cathy’s marriage, but at that moment, Max would rather have fixed the emotional gulf between mother and daughter than calmed the choppy waters of world conflict – impossible as both might be. At least this new desire felt more tolerable than his constant craving for her company.
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