She had a wintery look about her already. Everyone knew Canberra was colder than Brisbane, and winters came earlier down there.

Frank returned after ordering the coffees.

“Bit of excitement happening in your industry, Frank. Cath tells me I should come and check out where you work. She says the night sky is quite amazing.”

“It is. And you’re welcome any time. But can I say we need to take this thing in the sky seriously. Not many are.”

Susan touched Frank’s arm “No shop talk, hon.”

“No, Susan, it’s okay,” Jack said. “I’d like to hear what Frank has to say. Like to impress my son.” Jack gave her a wink.

“Thanks, Jack. I’m giving a talk on it this evening, so this is a chance to practise.”

Susan’s rolled her eyes.

“Well, the space agencies—and that includes some of your local universities—have been monitoring Adventus for some time. That’s what everybody is calling it now.”

“So I’ve heard.”

“It first came to our notice in the Kuiper Belt, a region located in the outer solar system—just outside the orbit of our furthest planet, Neptune. The dwarf planet, Pluto, is also in the Kuiper belt.”

“Lost me already … isn’t Pluto our furthest planet?”

“It used to be, but that’s another story.”

“Okay. Best to stay on track. Keep going.”

“Although there is still work to do to calculate its actual size, present indications are that it’s one of the largest asteroids ever to be discovered.”

“Dad, you need to skip the techo stuff. Keep to layman’s terms.”

Frank gave Catherine a daddy look.

“The asteroid’s orbit around the sun has been calculated and it won’t come anywhere near Earth, although this is by word of mouth—nothing official has been released yet. Sometimes these orbits take hundreds of years, so recording their movement can be painstakingly slow and hard to detect. Technological advances we’ve made with telescopes and the like are speeding things up.”

“If it’s so big, why hasn’t it been discovered before?”

“We’re still discovering things about our solar system. The system is of an immense scale with a vast expanse. This new discovery will help us continue to put together the jigsaw of the origins of the universe. It will take some time to refine all the data.”

“They’re trying to work out how God did it,” Susan said.

Susan got the husband look.

“To put things in perspective, Eris is a dwarf planet we discovered in 2003. It’s also in the Kuiper Belt, and it takes well over five hundred of our Earth years to circle the sun.

“If Adventus is so far away, how can we see it?” Jack asked.

“That is a puzzle. Asteroids passing close to Earth are visible and some can be spotted in very dark skies but Adventus can be clearly seen even though it’s still millions of miles away. Its size will have something to do with that but it’s almost like it’s generating its own light. There’s talk that it has a pristine surface protected by a magnetic field which allows it to reflect large amounts of sunlight, like a jewel.”

“Sounds like words from Revelation, Dad.”

“Indeed, Cath, ‘… its radiance like a most rare jewel, like jasper, clear as crystal’. I’m digging deep into Revelation at the moment. I feel there is a connection.”

“I’m doing the same,” Cath said.

“Afraid I’m not,” Jack said. “But maybe I should. Would it help?”

“If it’s the last days, yes,” Cath said.

‘Well, I better get into it.”

“Make sure you do, Jack, because panic is a head thing, God is only interested in the heart,” Frank said.

“Panic?”

“Many people run to God when fear gets the best of them or when they’re in a crisis. But they soon turn their back on Him when the fear or crisis goes away. They’re not the people to enter His kingdom. That’s what I mean by head stuff. God hasn’t reached their hearts.”

“There ya go, Jack. My dad doesn’t muck around. No beating around the bush.”

God? What had God got to do with all this? Surely this was just another discovery like all the other planets and asteroids. The discussion and Jack’s thoughts were interrupted by both his phone and Cath’s sounding of their text notification sounds.

“Excuse for a sec,” Jack said, as he looked at his phone’s screen.

We have a strong lead.

14 - Hello Sheila

Wiley felt like he was walking through a jungle as he headed towards Sheila’s front door. The back of her house offered little in the way of privacy, but the front was different. There was birdsong everywhere. He startled some lorikeets, interrupting them feeding on a large grevillea. They took off, screeching. The cool gentle wind generated by their wings swept along his face.

He carefully climbed a couple of rickety wooden steps, fearing they would collapse on him. The front door was open with a flyscreen door keeping the bugs out but allowing the cool breeze to enter. A brass bell hung on a piece of rope next to the door. He stared through the flyscreen into a dark passageway with timber floors. A candle flickered on a narrow hallway table. Sheila should chop down some of the jungle to lighten things up. He turned around and looked towards the street but his view to the street was blocked. He felt the urge to retreat, to walk away, when he heard soft footsteps coming towards him. An outline of a figure appeared in the passageway shrouded by a long summery dress.

“Hello.”

Sheila’s voice drained his energy, and he wasn’t sure how to respond.

She was close now, bending, squinting. “Thomas, is that you?” She opened the screen door. “What are you doing here?”

His lips felt glued together. Words finally came. “Hello, Sheila … sorry to drop in like this.” He cleared his throat. “I was in the area and thought I’d try and catch up with you.”

“You in trouble?”

He swallowed. “Of course not. Been a while and wanted to see you. I’m a different person now.”

“That sounds encouraging.” She didn’t sound convinced.

“If it’s not an appropriate time … I’m assuming you haven’t ventured into the digital world and you still don’t have a phone?”

“Yep, still on my digital detox.” She gave him a smile. That was more encouraging.