21

Danny and the Tiny Woman in the Window

After a morning meal in our room, which we barely touched, two Monitors came for Grandmother and me. My stomach felt like a butterfly farm had moved in overnight, so I read their nametags to distract myself. Monitor Adam was young, tall and thin and had the beginnings of a moustache on his top lip. Monitor Chi was a girl with a kind face, her black hair pulled back in a tight ponytail.

They led us to a room with a sign that read “Lecture Hall.” The first thing I noticed was the four large calpads covering the walls. My family sat in the front row alongside Jakob and his parents. I ran to Mother and she held me tight.

“I’m so sorry,” I whispered.

I turned to Father sitting beside her and put my arms around him. He leaned over for a stiff hug and gave me a kiss on the forehead. Grandmother and I sat down. I refused to talk to Jakob. Jon glared at me, so I gave him an apologetic shrug.

“Zero Six strikes again,” he snapped at me.

“I never meant for any of this to happen,” I said. “I knew Danny was not contagious or I would never have brought him home…”

Mother turned to Grandmother. “Why didn’t you inform us right away when you discovered the boy!?”

The door opened and Councillor Lena entered with her aide with the big moustache. I recognised him from the calcast that announced the discovery of Danny’s plane. We all fell silent. Lena considered each of us in turn, her gaze resting on Grandmother a little longer. Her eyes narrowed. “Hello Hannah,” she said. Grandmother nodded her head. Lena took something from her pocket. “I believe this is yours.” She held up Grandmother’s calpad and hesitating only for a second, she handed it to her. Then she dropped mine on the table in front of me.

“The good news is that none of you are contagious, including the off-lander.”

“Where is Danny?” I startled myself by speaking.

“Shush, Astatine,” Mother said, but Lena didn’t seem to mind. “The off-lander will be here shortly.” She turned back to my parents. “Stephen and Daisy Sue Harvester…” Mother grimaced at her full name. “…after examining the facts, you and your son are released from blame. Along with the two of you,” she said to Jakob’s parents. “You will be free to leave tomorrow, however, as your homes are being fumigated as a precaution, you will spend the night on these premises.”

“Why fumigate anything? I have sensitive equipment in my house,” Uncle Luke argued.

“And what about my cats?” Father groaned.

“Don’t worry, everything is safeguarded, but rules must be followed.”

Lena sat down behind a desk out the front and motioned to Adam. “Please escort them to their rooms and bring in the off-lander.”

They headed for the door as told, except Mother who remained seated. “I want to stay with Astatine.”

“She will not be harmed and your mother is with her.” Councillor Lena’s voice was calm but firm.

“What will happen to them?” Mother reached for my hand under the table and held it.

“They will be helping us with our investigations,” Lena answered. “Our citizens have the right to be fully informed of what has transpired and about the off-lander. The calpads on the walls will transmit the investigation. Watch yours for the calcast.”

Mother hesitated. “Does it have to be so public?”

“Community Guideline 3.6.1 states that ‘In order to safeguard the integrity of governance, transparency in all matters is essential. It is a core value that must be adopted and demonstrated at all times by every member of the Council,’” she quoted.

Mother sagged. There was nothing more she could so for me and we both knew it.

“I’ll be okay, Mother,” I assured her as brightly as I could. She rose to her feet and followed the others out the door.

Danny entered a little while later, flanked by Adam. His gait was stiff. I caught a glint of plastic film and realised that he was wearing an elemental tight-suit. The suit was flexible with slow movements but became rigid if jerked or forced. I bet they put his movement setting to absolute minimum.

“Thank you, Adam,” Lena said. “Please seat him with the others.”

Danny did not move. He gawked at her and said, “You’re not tiny at all.”

Lena turned to her aide. “I thought the doctors said he was lucid.”

For a second, I forgot myself and nearly giggled. Of course, Danny had only ever seen her on the screen. To him, she was the “tiny woman in the window.”

Danny shook his head as if to clear it and shuffled to his seat, scowling at Jakob as he passed him. Then I noticed his hair. They had cut it short! I was about to complain for his sake, but then I realised that he looked more like one of us this way. Not a stranger at all. As Grandmother said, on the elemental level we were all the same. I hoped Lena remembered that.

She nodded to her aide. “Tell the Council Members to holo-transfer to the meeting.” He tapped his calpad and holograms of the elected leaders of Elemental Island appeared behind Lena, some sitting in their chairs, others standing at attention. “Turn the wall calpads to transmission mode,” Lena said to Chi, before taking a deep breath.

“Citizens, neighbours and friends,” she began. “I have an update for you this morning. You will be reassured to know that the driver of the flight machine has been located. As we do not believe that he had a passenger with him, the search parties for this morning have been cancelled.”

I imagined people in town, having their breakfast as always, watching the calcast. Would they all be happy to have their routine restored? Were there others out there, like me, who felt disappointed to have missed out on a bit of change, a sniff of adventure?

“The driver was found last night in one of the houses in town, after the Monitors received a tip from a helpful citizen.” She turned to Jakob. “I thank you,” she said, “for acting in the interest of your community.”

I knew the calcast would be focusing on Jakob now. Instead of sitting up and being proud, he hung his head low. So it had been him. I guess I couldn’t blame him. Lying didn’t come easy, unless you were like me.

“The off-lander was found in the company of Hannah Jones” – Lena frowned at Grandmother – “and her granddaughter, Astatine Harvester. Senior members of our Infection Prevention team have examined them, and have deemed them non-contagious. The off-lander seems to have suffered no ill effects from his flight. At the moment, we have no explanation for this.”

Lena’s aide stepped up to her, holding Danny’s pack in his hand. He removed the contents and laid them out on the table in front of her, one by one: Danny’s jacket with the outlandish logos, the scarf with the map on it, sunglasses, his flask, the handcuffs and a bundle of clothes.

Lena indicated the items and said, “These are the artefacts found in the possession of the driver. This” – she pointed at Danny – “is the driver himself.”

She addressed him. “What is your name, off-lander?”

“I’m Danny Scouter, Ma’am.”

“You may call me Lena. Where do you come from, Danny Scouter?” Her voice was stern.

“A town called Orange Grove. On the mainland.”

“And you flew here, in this machine?” She tapped the calpad on her wrist and a 3D image of the Tiger Moth appeared.

Danny nodded. “Yes, Ma’am…I mean Lena. That’s the Scouter.”

“And your second name is also Scouter?”

“We are named after what we do,” Danny explained. If I baked bread, I would be Danny Baker.”

Lena nodded. “That is logical.”

“Sometimes we are named after what we look like. You would be Lena Little, and you” – he turned to Monitor Adam – “would be Adam Zapple.”

Adam frowned. “Do you call Monitors ‘Zapples’ where you come from?” he asked.

It took a moment for me to understand, then I saw Adam swallow and his Adam’s apple bobbed like a ball under his skin. I chuckled but stopped when Grandmother nudged me.

Lena pressed on. “Are you named after your flying vehicle then?”

“Not really. The plane is named after what we do too. We scout for things.”

“Is that why you came here?”

Danny shook his head. “I got lost. I ran out of fuel and had to land.”

Lena unfolded the scarf in front of her.

“This scarf belongs to you, am I right?” Danny swallowed and then he nodded. Lena indicated a patch cross-stitched in black yarn on the scarf. “Is this our island here?”

Danny considered the incriminating black blob. “Um, yes.”

“And do you know how to read maps? Can you use this to help you find your way home?”

Danny nodded reluctantly.

“So, you were not entirely lost then?” She pressed her calpad again to show a 3D image of two grey metal canisters lined up in the grass. “Do you recognise these?” Before Danny could answer, she added, “They were found in your ‘Scouter.’ They contain gasoline, which is the fuel your engine uses, according to the engineers who have examined it.”

Danny shifted in his chair and scratched the side of his neck.

“You weren’t telling us the truth about being lost, or being out of fuel, were you?”

“No, Ma’am,” Danny whispered.

I looked at Jakob. The stunned expression on his face told me he realised Danny had been lying to us as well. I imagined how angry he would be, if he knew that it had all been part of a plan to snatch him.

“I don’t know what your town is like, but in our community lying carries consequences.” Lena sounded a lot less calm now. I hoped she would never find out how good I was at bending the truth.

“Come on, Lena!” Grandmother’s voice startled me. I had taken it for granted that we would only speak when the Councillor addressed us, but Grandmother had a different idea. “He is a child, and a frightened one at that. Naturally, he’ll tell you what he thinks you want to hear.”

“You haven’t changed a bit, have you?” Lena lifted her hand to silence Grandmother. “Still a law unto yourself.”

“Why should I be intimidated by you of all people? Because you are the Councillor? That is an honour, but it doesn’t put you above me.”

Lena waved her hand. “This is pointless. His age is irrelevant, since he was old enough to find Elemental Island and fly here on his own.” She turned back to Danny. “What were you scouting for? Were you planning to steal food?” Danny bit his lip, but didn’t say anything. Her features hardened. “Technology?”

Lena leaned forward. “You are not helping your case by refusing to talk to me. What are you hiding? Are you a spy? Are there more of you coming?”

A long silence followed. It scared me. If he didn’t answer, what would they do to him?