Lucas Fell leaned on the Minister for the Department of Urban Movement’s car as he watched the pallbearers coming down the stairs. He shook his head. He had no national pride—the country stank. He did this once, carried a coffin. At his mother’s funeral, he remembered, they called it a celebration. Why? What were they celebrating? They have mentioned the word celebration here too, a celebration of life. Well, this person may have had more to celebrate than his mum.

Lucas was glad he didn’t have to enter the church building. The last time he entered one of those buildings, at his mum’s funeral, it freaked him out. Something happened to her in her last days. This man kept coming to see her. She went religious on Lucas, and then she died. Lucas smoked some cannabis about thirty minutes before his mother’s service and he had some terrifying visions during the service.

It was a funny world. Some days back, Lucas had reported the outpost incident to the authorities, and now here he was, attending the funeral of the person he’d found. 

Something about this dead man bothered Lucas. Something didn’t sit right and he couldn’t quite sort it out. Was he losing the plot? The voices in his head bothered him. He just needed to stay away from the green stuff for a while. Maybe the demons or whatever they were would go and bother someone else. Maybe they fed on the green stuff. He smiled and decided he would starve them. Then they would definitely go away.

Lucas saw the Puffer Fish come out of the building. That’s what he called the minister at events like this—he puffed up with all the media attention, which was probably the only reason he was here. Lucas smiled as he thought about the recent unwanted media coverage the minister got—he’d recently lost his license due to a drink-driving offence. He had supposedly repented of that behaviour, but the media gave him a good serve.

Lucas was the chauffeur today. The minister attended the funeral because the incident occurred in close proximity to one of his department’s research centres, the one known as the outpost. The minister had taken a shine to Lucas after Lucas gave him a guided tour of the hi-tech lab at the outpost. So Lucas alternated between being a chauffeur and being a security guard.

After loading the coffin in the hearse, the pallbearers stepped back. One of the pallbearers was decked out in full military uniform. A girl walked over to him and gave him a hug. This girl did something to Lucas’s heart—he wanted to be near her, to know her. Lucas grabbed his iPhone and took a photo, and another, and another.

He climbed into the car and waited for the Puffer Fish. He checked out his photos, and then looked out the window for her again. He found her. How come he was so infatuated with this woman? Well, the body was a good start. But then maybe Cupid was shooting arrows around. Wasn’t Cupid an angel, and didn’t angels hang out at church? That’s it: he’s been hit by one of those arrows. That could explain the uncontrollable desire that had come upon him.

One of the photos brought him back to reality. The man in uniform looked familiar.

Lucas got out of the car so the minister would see him. He saw the minister talking to a lady. Soldier boy walked over and shook hands with the minister. The lady and soldier boy hugged. Lucas looked around. Where was she? He found her, but there stood another man, a different man, with his arms around her.

<°)))><

Aaron had not seen many of his dad’s friends for a while. Now all were coming up to him, one by one, telling him what a great man his dad was, and if there was anything they could do to let them know.

He had just met a politician who gave his mum a hug. Apparently, they knew each other—both attended this church. A break from the well-wishers came, so Aaron found a seat on a concrete wall not far from his mum. He sat there, taking in the surroundings. People were heading to their cars to join the procession to the cemetery.

He noticed a government car with a bulky person leaning on it. Alarm bells went off in his head. He looked like that security guard he saw on the internet clip. Aaron decided to walk over and check out his hunch.

“Aaron.”

He turned to see Mackenzie not far away. Paul was in tow.

Aaron shook hands with Paul. They chatted and agreed on a get-together before Aaron headed back to base. Aaron tried not to be rude but he really wanted to get to this chauffeur to confirm his suspicions, so he kept the conversation short. He sensed Mackenzie’s annoyance.

They left and Aaron looked down toward the government car. He saw the minister getting in his car and then felt his mother’s arm tuck into his. “Come on, love. We need to get the procession underway.”

<°)))><

Aaron sat at Gate 44, waiting for the boarding call for the flight to Townsville. He hoped the flight wasn’t crowded. Aaron watched as Mackenzie came back with a bottle of water.

“Wotcha looking at?”

Aaron smiled. “You’re such a pretty thing.” She would see it as jest but his heart saw it as something else.

“Thank you, Aaron.”

The call came. They hugged and he boarded the plane.

He took his seat and put his backpack under the seat in front of him. His hopes were met: it wasn’t a crowded flight and the seat next to him was vacant. If there was someone sitting next to him, he felt obligated to talk and on this flight he didn’t want to do that—he wanted to think. Unfinished business. Dad, Mum, Mackenzie—he would come back soon. The last few days have been a blur with so many visitors. Back at base he would get his thoughts in order and decide what to do next.

Maybe he should contact Officer Olsen and tell him to check out the chauffeur, but he remembered that the officer already mentioned they had interviewed the ‘security guard'. What new information would come to light—a scratchy picture, dead cats and dogs, jumbled words. He grabbed his backpack from under the seat and got out the notes and read them again.

Where had the technology been relocated to? Is he holding back important evidence by not contacting Officer Olsen?

Chapter 4

IT WAS A CLEAR AND sunny Saturday morning. Grant Windsor stood in the dining room looking out on to the street. He was dressed in casual brown trousers with a navy blue polo shirt. A white Toyota Aurion pulled up, right on time. The driver got out and stretched. It wasn’t Lucas today but the other driver. That was okay.

He walked to the front door and opened it. “I’m off, love. Will be back later today. Enjoy your shopping.” 

Windsor waited for the response. He wasn’t sure where his wife was.

“Okay, see ya.” It came from the main bedroom.

Windsor closed the front door and headed down toward the waiting vehicle. The driver stood there with the door open.

“Good Morning, Tony.”

“Morning, sir.”

“Well, let’s get this trip underway,” Windsor said as he climbed into the back seat. “Can’t keep the Professor waiting.”

Tony walked around and got into the driver’s seat. “Sorry, sir. I didn’t catch the last thing you said there.”

“That’s okay, Tony. I was just saying that we can’t keep the Professor waiting. You’ve got the directions I hope.”

“Certainly have. Entered in the GPS navigator. We should be there in under an hour.”

“Let’s have a good trip Tony. And a safe one. It’s Saturday, and all the crazies get let out of their cages on Saturday mornings. Bit harsh, I know. But all these lawbreaking idiots just don’t seem to care about the laws of the road. Respect has gone out the window.” Windsor smiled and connected with Tony’s eyes in the rear-view mirror. “I know. I’m just a grumpy old man.” 

Tony started the car and drove in the direction of the motorway.

Windsor had a quiet chuckle to himself. The good Lord has a sense of humour. Those drivers out there drove Windsor crazy and he ended up in a job where he had to think about them and how to improve their plight. He helped form a new department and was now the Minister for Urban Movement, as it was called.

On the motorway, Windsor watched as cars weaved in and out and sped past them. “Cars everywhere, Tony. You know we have an important job to do. There are over four million cars on Queensland roads and we need to keep them from hitting each other and keep them moving. I tell everyone that our department is an innovative one that combines the fields of transport planning and engineering with urban design—integrating transport systems with moving people. Sounds impressive, hey?”

“It does.”

“That’s why I’m meeting with the Professor. We have some innovative testing under way and I wanted a demo before we get too far into it. And hopefully, I may get some control over those idiots out there sooner than later.”

“Sounds good to me.”

“You’re a good man, Tony. I hope that Lucas boy isn’t leading you astray. I sometimes think he has a hint of madness about him. Don’t know why. Maybe it’s in the eyes.”

“It’s all cool, sir.”

Windsor wondered if the word ‘cool’ was still cool. The word seems to have been around for years. He wasn’t sure if he would use the word cool to describe Lucas. He stared out the window and noticed dark clouds moving in.

“Looks like the fine weather is leaving us,” Windsor said.