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From two thousand feet, Aaron saw the second white square exactly where he had expected to find it. The Gibb River flowed nearby. The helicopter descended into a shallow, angled dive and landed on the wide, sandy river bank. He had landed close enough to the square that he didn't need the motorbike to reach it; he hiked the two hundred metres up the rocky ridge.
He gestured to the heavens with his arms, both fists clenched in triumph when he saw it: as before, beneath the white square were cave walls filled with the haunting Wandjina rock paintings. This time there were five 'men in spacesuits'. Aaron was more convinced than ever that the large white squares were painted so they would be visible from the air. Many questions raced through his mind, but he kept coming back to the idea that these places were stop-off points for spacemen - but why? Were they food stops or fuel stops? If it was fuel, what fuel did they use? What was it they had found here? He looked around.
Eagerly he collected samples of rocks and plants from the perimeter of the area surrounding the Wandjina paintings. And later, when referring to the map once more, he was confident of what he would find at the third white square. He was airborne a few minutes later; his main concern was containing his excitement to a level where he could concentrate on flying safely.
To Aaron, the most intriguing feature about the squares was that they were in a straight line, not an approximate line, but an exact, straight line. Using a pencil, Aaron had drawn down the precise meridian of 126°30' longitude and his line linked all three sites precisely. It was almost a routine stopover at the third site at King Edward River but Aaron had to confirm it was exactly the same: a white square on a large rock over the top of Wandjina paintings on cave walls. He was weary, fatigued from so much adrenalin coursing through his body. It had been a long day, so he decided to head back to Darwin.
It was early evening as he landed the helicopter at Darwin Airport. The western half of the sky was crimson. Thin straight clouds ran diagonally to some far off place near the horizon and a large flock of multi-coloured birds called across the open space to their kind as they took wing.
It was dark by the time he reached his hotel. Aaron knew of the short twilights experienced in the tropics and this particular evening he welcomed the early night. In his room he dropped his bags and fell face down on the bed. His mind raced, sifting through ideas and his plans for tomorrow.
There was one more stop he had scheduled in the field before he would begin his analysis of the rock and plant samples; this stop was the main reason for his trip down under. A large, red area on the TransGlobal satellite readout map indicated a massive deposit of iron ore near Oenpelli, a hundred and fifty miles east of Darwin. Aaron wanted to verify the radius of the find in the field to see if it matched the satellite information. Without drilling to reveal its actual depth, he estimated it may be twice the size of the world's next largest known deposit.
*
Lee's neighbours on Ordway Drive were at their windows and verandahs soon after she arrived home in a big black-and-white sedan: two young Berkeley Police officers were quick to agree to escort Lee to her house while she packed some clothes. She had decided she would take Zack up on his offer to stay at his Sausalito apartment until Aaron returned.
It was early morning, the sun was low in the sky, the light rimmed her hair and caused deep shadows over her eyes.
'Do you mind waiting while I take a shower?' she asked, directing her question at the taller of the two uniformed men.
'No Mrs Shoemaker, you take all the time you want,' the cop drawled and smiled at her.
'Are you from Texas?' she had to ask as they walked.
'Yes ma'am.'
'I thought so... what part?'
'Houston ma'am. Well, I'm from Baytown really, just outside of Houston, on the coast. D'you know Texas?'
'Never been there.'
The shorter cop had a stupid grin on his face, amused that his partner was being taken in by Lee's charm and good looks. But he didn't deviate his eyes from her either. She walked like a dancer, pointing her toes. Wearing shorts and a tight t-shirt, she bounded up the steps that lead to the front door of her house, the movement of her untethered breasts tantalising her young escorts.
––––––––
The hot water of the shower steamed up the whole bathroom; the ventilation had never been adequate. The water stabbed at her face and chest. She lathered her hair, her thoughts meandering and she rinsed. She could hear the phone ringing but refused to cut her shower short.
Lee dripped water as she strode into the living room, her head to one side, towelling her hair. Although fully covered by her bathrobe, both lawmen smiled at her, knowing she was wearing nothing underneath.
'There's a message for you ma'am,' the shorter cop said.
'Thank you officer. I thought I heard the phone ringing.'
She took the note and read it:
RICHARD
AREA CODE 403 555-7200
NO MESSAGE
'Thank you,' she said again and returned to the bedroom.
It only took Lee five minutes to throw a few belongings into a suitcase. She was not a woman who indulged in a lot of cosmetics, and she much preferred jeans or shorts to frocks and skirts.
The police were talkative, cheerful and joked throughout the short drive back to Zack's house, both were reluctant to say good-bye. Zack loaded Lee's suitcase into the trunk of his second car as she walked toward the policemen, pushing her hand forward as she approached.
'Thank you so much,' she said and she really meant it.
Both men shook her hand in turn.
'If there is any way we can help ma'am, anytime, please call,' the taller man said and they moved to their car.
Lee watched them as they drove up the driveway and out onto the street. She reached into the pocket of her jeans and pulled out the phone message from Richard.
Zack interrupted her thoughts.
'That didn't take you long.'
'What?' she was flustered. No... no.'
'You okay?'
'Yes, I'm fine.'
'Well here's the key to the apartment, the same key lets you into the underground garage. You park in number eighteen.'
'But don't you live in apartment seven?'
'Yes... but they use different criteria when allocating car spaces... the developers blamed the architects. I don't know, some kid probably painted the numbers on before anyone could see what he was doing.'
Lee laughed and hugged him.
'Mm... thanks Zack. I promise to call when I get there or if I get lost or anything.'
She slid behind the wheel of his car and smiled to him as she accelerated, the engine roaring as it scaled the steep driveway.
Lee turned the volume of the stereo up as she eased back in her seat and submitted to the slow pace of the heavy traffic heading towards the city. Some time later, without any thought at all, she by-passed downtown San Francisco and headed north to the Golden Gate; and became lost in the music. After driving for an hour and a half she arrived at Sausalito and neatly nosed Zack's Pontiac into the car space.
Lee gasped as she opened the front door of Zack's apartment; it was dark and stuffy and needed airing. She opened all the windows in the living area and pushed back the drapes, then carried her suitcase to the bedroom, she decided to leave the unpacking for later. Zack kept the apartment well stocked with provisions but Lee decided she would walk to the village and do a little shopping for fresh fruit and vegetables - it would get her in touch with the place.
The nearer the waterfront she got the more crowded the sidewalks became. Sausalito was a picturesque, restful village: a collection of restaurants, shops and smiling, affluent people who frequented this sheltered coastal district on the north side of the bay. Special care had been taken not to over develop the place.
Two small children ran along the sidewalk in front of Lee, beside their parents, the father had another in a carry sling on his chest. The proud parents walked hand in hand, in love. One of the children, the boy, was stepping one foot down and one foot up on the gutter, just as Lee remembered she had done, as every child had done. The girl, being the older of the two, worried for her brother's safety and complained to her mother that cars were coming down the street.
'Patrick come up on to the sidewalk please,' the mother asked politely.
Of course Patrick paid his mother no heed whatsoever.
'Pat get back here!' the father yelled loudly.
The boy jumped with both feet onto the sidewalk. He turned ceremoniously and looked directly at his mother with a frowning, witless gesture, blaming her for raising the alarm, for making his father angry at him. Patrick's sister skipped blissfully twenty yards ahead of her family, sure in the fact that she had once again saved her younger brother's life.
Lee wondered if that family might be her own in six or seven years time.
She found a small mixed goods grocery market and grabbed a trolley. She took her shoulder bag and placed it in the trolley, her thoughts drifting as she strolled the aisles. At last here she felt safe, relaxed, free.
Her thoughts drifted to Richard and Aaron. Aaron had left her alone so often in their short marriage, she was concerned they were drifting apart. This past year he was away as much as he was home. Lee wanted more from him, from life. She certainly didn't want a part-time marriage. She had come to think that maybe she should plan a different future for herself, a future that might include Richard. She recognised she had reached a significant point in her life, a turning point.
Her own parents had had rough patches, she remembered, all families do. But she was from a different generation than her mother and she would not limit her life just because of Aaron's job.
Hurriedly, she rolled up and down the aisles with more purpose.
After eating lunch Lee lay flat on her back on the couch with her feet high on the arm rest. It was an unseasonably warm day but with the double French doors open wide, relief came with the shifting zephyrs blowing off the cool waters of the bay. Unusually for her, she had already quaffed a bottle of Zack's Beaujolais and was contemplating a second.