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Back to the Present
Aaron remembered stumbling onto a red road, and two men helping him into an air-conditioned semi-trailer, and two days previous to that collecting specimens at the code-red site which had brought him to Australia. He also remembered seeing the over-turned truck explode. He didn't know the police had found the two men burned beyond recognition, knew about him being a passenger in the truck, had recovered the helicopter and bike where he had abandoned them and were anxious to find him.
He was in an Aboriginal camp, all his muscles were in shock, severely traumatised. He recalled the storm's onset, the rain and the almighty bolt of lightning that hit the soles of his feet with such tremendous force that it had thrown him out of his boots and thirty metres away from where he had been standing. He was still partially deaf: the tissue in both ears had been severely damaged, the result of being at the source of the thunder clap. His skin had cracked opened, burned, literally baked from the intense heat. It became flyblown later.
'I tried to tell you,' Mutta said when he saw Aaron open his eyes. 'But you wouldn't listen.'
'What... what are you talking about?' Aaron asked.
'We keep warning you people about the Wandjina... and we keep warning you about Namarrkon, the Lightning Spirit. But you white people don't listen, you think you know better than us. You just go ahead and... and look what happened. Now we will all suffer.'
'Old man, I'm sorry if you think I did anything to cause you harm or if I've insulted your spirits, I can assure you I didn't mean to. My conscience is clear,' Aaron vowed, looking into the eyes of the old man. His wife, Akuna sat sideways behind him. He almost whispered as he repeated his claim. 'My conscience is clear.'
'Promise me you won't tell anyone about our Wandjina or our sacred sites. You must make me that serious promise,' Mutta insisted.
Aaron frowned at the old man.
'Okay, I promise,' Aaron replied.
'Can you repeat that promise, please?'
Aaron knew it was important to the old man so he complied.
'I promise I will not reveal the location of your Wandjina or sacred sites to anyone... okay.'
'Okay.... good, now I don't have to kill you.'
The old man stood and walked away carrying the short nulla nulla, an Aboriginal killing club with a sharpened spike protruding from its head. Aaron fell back, astonished that his life had just been spared. He was also astonished that the tribal elder had taken his word at face value. Such absolute and innate trust he had never known.
Mutta arranged with one of the sons of a tribal elder of the region to assist in transporting Aaron back to Darwin. The next day he was placed in the back of a small Japanese four-wheel drive truck with five other people, all were blacks wanting to go to the city.
Six hours later, Aaron arrived safely at the Darwin Hospital covered in red bull dust, battered, bruised and bewildered. Tears of relief welled in his eyes and he couldn't stop smiling at the admitting nurse. He thought - she's looking at me as though I'm crazy. The nurse did think Aaron was crazy, she wrote as much in her report and said so to the supervising duty doctor.
Aaron could not raise Lee on the phone from his hospital room, she wasn't home or at her studio. But he did speak to Darwin police and confirmed that he had survived a road accident in a truck and that he'd been dragged clear by Aboriginal people. The police who came to the hospital to secure his signed statement explained to Aaron just how lucky he had been.
Through all this, he managed to keep his satchel by his side, in it were samples from the sacred resting place of Namarrkon, the Lightning Spirit.
––––––––
Werner Müller was waiting in the lobby of Aaron's Darwin hotel when the ambulance arrived with Aaron seated up front next to the driver. Three days later their plane touched down in San Francisco. As they were seated in a limousine speeding away from the San Francisco airport, Werner dialled a number on the car phone and handed it to Aaron.
'I have your wife for you,' he said.
'Lee is that you?'
'Yes it's me.'
'I've done it,' he was proud to tell her. 'I've found my El Dorado.'
'Oh, Aaron... you silly bastard,' she sobbed, relieved to hear his voice. She told him the story of the thug's visit to her studio.
'What did the fucking cops do?' he fumed.
'Nothing, they did nothing. Oh, I looked at a book of mug shots but I didn't see anyone who looked like those guys.'
'Jesus.'
'Yeah, the cops couldn't care less really. No one was killed, one of them said.'
'Killed!'
'But Zack was good, a tower of strength. And the people at TransGlobal were fabulous. They put me up in a hotel in Vegas. That's where I am right now. Every call is being taped.'
'I'm coming to get you right now. Don't worry... we'll be okay. We'll get through this thing. That's it baby, I'm through. I'm quitting.'
The line went silent.
'Lee, are you there?' Aaron almost whispered.
'Yeah, I'm here,' she gasped. The lump in her throat made it difficult for her to speak. 'I'm just happy, relieved... and really happy.'
'I'll be there soon baby, love you.'
'I love you too, hurry.'
Aaron hung the phone up as if he were in a slow motion replay on television.
'I told you she was okay, that everything was all right,' Werner said from the seat opposite.
'Werner, shut up. Just... shut the fuck up!' Aaron's voice squealed to such a high pitch that he sounded female.
Werner whisked Aaron downtown to 101 California Street, the Tower Building, for a debriefing with Sir Peter and Eddie Compton and a few others. When the debriefing deteriorated into a shouting session between the accountants, Aaron was permitted to leave.
He ran through the large atrium lobby past the tall potted palms, not conscious of the two men who followed him through the revolving doors. Outside he stepped into a waiting taxi. One of the men signalled to two other men on the opposite side of the street in front of the quaint, old Home Savings of America building. They got into a car and pulled in behind Aaron's taxi as it sped down California Street.
––––––––
Lee was speaking with Aaron on the phone as she looked down from the balcony of her luxurious hotel room watching his helicopter landing at the front of the Desert Palms Casino Hotel. Palm trees and surrounding bushes swirled, traffic slowed and pedestrians stopped to watch.
'Sir Peter said we could stay in Vegas as long as we liked,' Lee said.
'He just finished telling me the company would buy us a new house wherever we wanted,' he spoke excitedly. 'I'm being pensioned off baby. They've offered me a lifetime package.'
'And you've accepted?' she asked.
'Yes I did. That's it... it's all over.'
Then Aaron saw her waving from the penthouse balcony.
'I can see you,' she said excitedly.
'I can see you too. You look beautiful up there,' he said as he leaped from the aircraft, but his expression changed when he saw Zack move forward to stand beside her at the railing.
The helicopter took off amid dust and grit and a swirling of trees, and swept over the top of the animated sign which read The Tom Jones Show Nightly. Aaron crossed the well-grassed square by the fountain to the lobby of the huge hotel.
Lee burst through the door of the hotel room, she arrived at the elevator at the same time Aaron stepped from it. He dropped his bag and lifted her off her feet as they kissed.
'Are you really back to stay?' she whispered.
'Yes baby.'
Zack sauntered meekly along the corridor with his hand pushed forward at Aaron.
'How are you Aaron?'
'I'm fine Zack, I'm fine... all things considered,' he said. 'Thank you for looking after Lee.'
'The pleasure was all mine,' Zack said and immediately wished he had kept his mouth shut.
'Not too much of a pleasure, I hope?' Aaron added quickly.
'No, I meant... '
'He was a perfect gentlemen... as usual,' Lee came to Zack's rescue.
'I'm sure... thanks Zack.'
Aaron could see there was something between them - the odd glance - he was never quite sure of what his wife and Zack had going on. In an instant, jealousy had crept in.
'Come on, let's get you unpacked,' Lee offered.
'I'm going downstairs... I'll call you later,' Zack said to Lee, wanting to be out of the way.
'Okay Zack... later... for dinner maybe?' Lee suggested.
'Yeah okay... dinner sounds good,' he agreed.
He walked to the elevator and pressed the button.
He called back: 'Welcome home Aaron.'
Lee pulled the drapes to block out the sun along with the rest of the world. Up close, Aaron watched Lee undress in the dim light. She knew he loved seeing her naked and she enjoyed him looking; less often she became aroused seeing him naked. She preferred him part-naked. On occasions she had run her hand down his briefs and stroked him. But now he was on his back, totally naked and hard. She stretched out her arms, pulled him gently to her and he could see she had shaved her whole pubic area.
'Darling, for my homecoming?' He joked as he placed his palm there.
He remembered she had done this once before after she had come back from Greenland.
After their lovemaking, Lee rolled away and spoke first
'I dreamt about this for weeks,' she confessed.
'Jesus... me too.'
They were both basking in the sexual afterglow. It was quiet but for the air-conditioning unit forcing cooled air across the room.
Aaron thought for a moment and looked at his wife.
'Are you horny when I'm not here baby?' he asked, suddenly serious.
'Yes, of course I am,' Lee groaned. She knew what was coming next.
'You wouldn't be unfaithful to me, would you?' he asked.
He always asked her this same question after returning from his tour of duty.
'Aaron, don't be so insecure.'
'No, really... please. You must get horny, you're a healthy young woman.'
'Okay... I do get horny, and no I wouldn't be unfaithful. I masturbate a lot, and yes I would tell you if I did fuck someone. Okay?'
She bounded from the bed and headed for the bathroom. As she turned the taps on to run the shower she became even angrier. She didn't like him asking her the same questions about her fidelity. What about his fidelity, his sex drive. Christ, he needed sex every day! she thought. She knew he couldn't possibly save himself for her; he was away far too long. She was far too understanding.
Maybe their relationship had soured; maybe they had married too young as his mother had said. And they had been spending so much time apart lately, much more than ever before. In spite of all that, she would never have asked him if he was unfaithful: he might just tell her the truth.
She often thought Aaron should have lived in the early part of the century: he was so old fashioned. In many ways he thought and acted like her father had done. For now she decided she must let it slide. When she entered the bedroom after her shower she curled up behind Aaron's still form and kissed him lightly on his back.
That night over dinner the three of them were surprised at how they could laugh and joke about recent events. All the seriousness and recent danger in their lives had paled into the background. And for tonight at least Aaron suppressed his suspicions about Zack and his wife.