“Well, it seemed to work as it got us here. And I don’t think there’s anything amiss.”
“Maybe he’s improved things. There was a risk with the old technology.”
“What sort of risk?” She sensed Lucas was considering his response.
“What do you think happens when you die, Bella?”
“Well, I believe I’m going to heaven. What about you?”
“Well, I think I’m closer to going to heaven than I was. A man in prison runs Bible classes and I was making good progress until this all happened. But I’ll be back there soon enough so I’ll be able to continue my discovery of heaven.”
Isabella flicked the crunched leaf to the ground and watched as Lucas walked over to the clearing, checking to see if the baddies were coming. He’s a good man. She felt protected by Lucas. He gave off some inner strength he probably didn’t even know he had. But she needed to get him out of those clothes and into something that fit. They were either Gramps’s clothes or Gramps got them from somewhere, probably the latter as Lucas was a lot bigger than Gramps.
Lucas turned back to Isabella. “Do you know the way to heaven? I don’t mean the religious rules like how you get your ticket to heaven but more the direction—you know . . . where it is?”
“I haven’t really though about that, Lucas.”
“I’ve seen things, Bella. There’s a supernatural realm out there. I ended up in it because of some faults with the technology.” Lucas raised both arms. “I can’t be specific. But when you get transferred that’s what the technology uses. If a transfer is successful, you’re not even aware of the realm. But if it’s not . . .”
“What’s there? What is it? What do you see?” Isabella asked, leaning forward.
“I saw beings like out of a science fiction movie. I believed they were Angels. But then there were also creepy-looking things and I believed they were demons. That side of it was not good. You felt the evil attached to those things.”
A snap from the bushes made them both jump. They became quiet and waited for whatever it was to reveal itself. It was a grey kangaroo. It hopped off once it realised it was not alone, snapping some more twigs as it left the clearing.
“Angels . . . demons . . . That must have been amazing to see.”
“Amazing is not a word I would’ve used. Anyway, others also ended up in the realm—the ones that were brought back to life. They’ll tell you the realm is used for transporting the soul of the dead to their respective abode—heaven or hell.”
Isabella was smiling. It was all true. What her mum had told her was true. There was a place called heaven and if there is a heaven, there is also a God. She felt the tears building up in her eyes.
“Are you okay, Bella?”
What Lucas told her penetrated the veil the drugs had put up.
“I am. I’m filled with joy. But you don’t seem to be. Did you not become a believer after seeing those things?”
“Not sure. Too much garbage in my head. Like I said, I was making progress. The wiring was being untangled.”
She got up and walked over to Lucas and gave him a hug. She sensed his tension. “Chill, Lucas. Great things await us.”
“Thanks, Bella. I needed that.’ He looked uncomfortable. “We need to decide about whether to transfer or not. The technology looks like it’s been improved, so the risks may be low.”
“I wonder where that location is and why Gramps picked it?”
25 – King Anthony
AVA PERDU LOVED HER NATIVE COUNTRY and did things to protect her homeland. She also loved her husband and did things to protect him and his business. Ava also loved Madeleine. She just didn’t do enough things to protect her.
Ava parked the white Toyota pickup truck in the gravel car park. She stepped out. The vehicle needed to be removed from the area of their recent activity and she’d left her men there to do some scouting on the trail-bikes. She noticed the number plates were still missing—they’d best fix that up when they return. Ava was concerned that no one had come out from the barn. They had either died from the heat or smoke, or they survived. The smoke would have got them. The authorities would recover their bodies.
She made her way to the king’s office. Anthony Perdu once told his wife that he sometimes felt disconnected from humanity. That he had it all worked out while others were still trying to figure it out and he was superior to them all—a secret king. And with that came huge responsibilities to lead those still lost to their destinies. So secretly she referred to him as the king and put up with his demeaning manner, for she was happy to be his little princess for now.
For close to four years Ava had supported him with the running of their biotechnology company, which specialised in drugs that assisted those with issues in the head, as Anthony liked to put it. He had an office at the rear of the manufacturing plant that he visited occasionally. Expensively furnished, considering the amount of use it got. He would visit it just often enough for the workers to know he was in charge.
Distance wasn’t the reason he didn’t visit. The building was on the outskirts of greater metropolitan Melbourne. It blended in with the surrounding hills with all design aspects of the building and manufacturing processes grounded in environmental sustainability. It was modular in design, resembling green and red Lego blocks. He didn’t visit much because they were city dwellers, and country things and country people didn’t agree with him.
He carried a photo frame the size of a paperback book wherever he went. Before seating at his desk he would always place the frame on the desk and touch two fingers to his lips and then touch the photo. It was a picture of their daughter, Madeleine. Ava would not look at the photo.
“Hello, dear,” Ava said as she entered his office and walked over to the large wall-sized window. She looked out across the grassy landscape as she readjusted to the office environment.
“Hello, dear.”
Ava turned and stared at her husband. He had his chair turned away from the desk, facing the large window, also taking in the magnificent view. She knew he would be thinking that all the wonderful things had come about because of his skilful entrepreneurship—money opened up so many opportunities. Yes, his innovations and courage had brought great things to the world and they’d become wealthy because of it. And Anthony truly believed the world would benefit greatly from the new drug he had now brought forth.
“One of my best scientists died recently, a Mrs Rose. But of course you know that.” Anthony said. “And although I loath using the word blessing, that’s what I felt because she was becoming a problem.”
Ava knew he’d think that way. He didn’t have the courage to do what was needed.
“They call it white anting in this country, love. They try and bring companies down from within. They eat away at the structure just like termites.” Ava reasoned that with her husband’s loathing of country things, he probably didn’t know what a termite was. Harsh, perhaps.
They had detected something was not right with Mrs Rose when she responded to one of Anthony’s articles on an online scientific journal. The article was about marketing his company and the marvellous new drug they were developing to help people. An anonymous commentary was made to the article. It was scathing, suggesting the effects of psychotropic medicines on humans included turning people into murdering machines and driving people to suicide. Ava had traced the IP address and identified the source as Mrs Rose.
Ava already had Mrs Rose under surveillance, at work and at home. She was indeed white anting: trying to destabilise, suggestions of killing off plants, removing papers that directed the development of the drug.
“She was from a different breed and was causing me sleepless nights, but you knew that.” Anthony continued. “Sad, what happened, as she had such a wonderful mind. If only we could have bottled her brain. But the wonder drug she produced will bring in millions—there’ll be no need for further developments, no need for Mrs Rose. Amazing timing.”
Ava admired her husband’s attempt to be emotional. She no doubt felt he had a small twinge of sadness and that was enough to satisfy the something that sent the request for sadness from within.