Matt Eaton - Blank

“Better me than him.”

“Like I said – nothing personal. You’re an acceptable loss.”

“Except you failed. I’m still alive.”

“That’s not a problem,” she claimed. “You and I will simply fly back to Canberra after the dust has settled.”

Luckman laughed. “Are you gonna make me?”

“Of course not. You’ll come with me voluntarily.”

“Why would I do that?”

“Because once you’ve had time to think about it you’ll realise it’s the right thing to do.”

“You just tried to kill me. What the hell makes you think I’d go anywhere with you?”

She considered him coldly. “Clearly that option’s no longer on the table. What needs to happens next is very straightforward, Captain. The General and his allies need time to convince the Government that betraying the Americans was in the national interest. Until then, you need to keep your mouth shut. If the Chinese discover Pine Gap was destroyed without the authority of the Australian Government, they will never contemplate a strategic alliance. Put simply, you will have stopped one war but started another.”

“Why is Shearer so hell-bent on appeasing the Chinese?” Luckman asked her.

“Were China to invade Australia, it is unlikely the Americans would come to our defence.”

“Especially now we, err, someone blew up their base,” Pat pointed out.

“We are at the mercy of the People’s Republic at a time when Australia is the only continent on Earth not facing widespread nuclear meltdown,” said Warrington. “That makes us very valuable real estate. If the Chinese don’t become our strategic partners, they’ll become our conquerors.”

As is so often the case with return journeys it seemed as if very little time had passed when they reached the homestead where they had left the police. Several extra units and a scientific van were now in attendance. Luckman’s first impulse was to continue on without stopping, but he realised this amounted to stealing a police vehicle. He was going to need Pollock’s cooperation in the days ahead.

The detective walked over to the car as they pulled up. Luckman wound down a window and screwed up his face in disgust as he was hit by the ripe stench of the corpses.

“I see you’ve picked up a hitchhiker,” said Pollock.

Bell kept the pistol low and out of sight.

“If it’s OK with you,” said Luckman, “I’ll hang onto the car for another hour or two.”

Pollock sighed. “Yeah, I s’pose so.”

“Thanks.”

Pat wound down the driver’s window. “Where’s Warigal?”

“He’s still here with me.”

“We’ll sort it Pat,” Luckman assured him, knowing full well the Paulson murder inquiry was about to fall off the police agenda completely.

“Listen Curtis, the town services have just been shut down. Power, water, the lot. They’ll be out indefinitely.”

“That’s all I bloody need,” the detective cursed, but he immediately grew sceptical. “How the hell would you know about that before I do?”

“Somebody blew up Pine Gap. I reckon that had something to do with it.”

“Are you shitting me?” exclaimed Pollock.

“Oh and one more thing. This woman tried to kill me.”

Pat leaned out the window and pointed at the bullet hole. “She shot your police car.”

“I’m taking her to hospital now because her arm is broken. But she’s dangerous. She needs to be under police guard.”

Pollock shook his head in disgruntled bemusement. “Anything else? No don’t tell me, I don’t wanna know.”

Luckman checked his watch. “It’s now half past four. I’ll meet you back at the station in two hours.”

Detective Pollock waved them off without another word.

“I’m not sure he believes you,” said Pat.

“He’ll find out for himself soon enough.”

“Telling that cop about me was a mistake,” Warrington told Luckman tersely.

Luckman turned on her. “Now you shut your mouth and listen to me. There’s a whole town of people here in need of help. You may not give a damn about that but I do. And I don’t have time to sit by your bedside to keep an eye on you.”

The 4WD lurched as Bell swung the car off the dirt road and back onto Larapinta Drive for the last leg of the trip to town. Mel clutched nervously at Luckman, wrapping her arm around him, burying her head in his chest.

“Which way to the hospital?” asked Bell.

“You need to take me to Shearer’s plane first,” Warrington insisted. “So I can call this in.”

Luckman thought about it for a moment. “Yeah, all right. But we do it my way.”

The airport was deserted. They had to force open the perimeter gate to access the tarmac. Security was non-existent. No alarm sounded, no guards came running as they made their way to Shearer’s jet.

“What’s your code name?” Luckman asked her.

“Finch.”

“And what’s your signal to let them know the base has been destroyed and I’ve been eliminated?

“I’m to say: ‘It’s nightfall in Alice.”

“Will Shearer be there to answer when you call in?”

“I doubt it,” she said.

“OK little Finch, so here’s what you’re going to do – you let whoever’s on that radio know it’s mission accomplished, but insist on speaking to Shearer personally. Say whatever you have to, to get him on the radio.”

“All right,” she agreed cautiously.

“If the next voice I hear is not Neil Shearer, I’ll put a bullet in your skull and leave you in the desert to feed the dingoes. Are we clear?”

She nodded. Bell guided her into the co-pilot’s seat and sat down next to her. There was only room for two in the cockpit, leaving Luckman looming behind Warrington like the angel of death as she hastily adjusted the radio headset.

“Once Shearer’s on the blower you keep your mouth shut and let me do the talking,” he told her.

“What frequency?” Bell asked her.

“Dial up 121.55 megahertz,” she said.

Bell tilted his head questioningly. “That’s only 50 kilohertz shy of the emergency channel.”

Warrington nodded. “Just enough to ensure no-one else will be listening.”

Bell adjusted the radio. “Right you’re good to go,” he confirmed.

He flicked a switch and the radio crackled to life.

“Finch calling Fairway. Finch calling Fairway, over.”

“Go ahead Fairway, over.”

“It’s nightfall in Alice, over.”

“Roger that Finch.”

“Urgent request Fairway – get me Tiger Woods.”

“Say again Finch, over?”

“Tiger. Woods. Now, dammit.”

Luckman leant across the dashboard and switched off the transmitter so they couldn’t be overheard. “Nice work, Finch. Now you keep your beak shut.”

He flicked on the transmitter as the unmistakeable voice of General Shearer boomed through their headphones.

“Woods here. What’s going on Finch?”

“I’m afraid your Finch has had her wings clipped, Tiger,” Luckman informed him. “Now listen carefully: I’ve fulfilled my end of our deal. Now there’s something you are going to do for me.”

After depositing Max Warrington under armed guard at hospital it was dusk by the time they pulled up in Paulson’s driveway. Pat hopped out of the car and vaulted over the fence. The gate swung slowly open and on Luckman’s instructions Bell drove the 4WD to the garage at the rear of the house.

Luckman turned to face Mel. “I need you to understand me,” he told her. “I can’t stay with you all the time. But I will never be far away.”

She smiled inanely. But as he moved to get out of the car she began to wail like a child.

“It’s OK,” he reassured her.