Devolution

The old transport bus rumbled along the gun barrel straight Stuart Highway at just under one hundred and fifty kilometers per hour, passing an endless parade of parched sandy earth. Here and there, clumps of spinifex squatted in the desert as though waiting for a ride. The Simpson Desert was as unfriendly and inhospitable place as you would find anywhere on Earth.

3 stared out the window at the red sand landscape and gathered his thoughts once more. There was some question as to whether he should be giving this information out but with the death of his and Veena’s fathers and the subsequent chain of events which saw them far from home on a dangerous assignment, he decided it could only help rather than hinder the cause.

‘The Newtonian High Council,’ he continued, ‘set up a team of scientists and assistants to help them and they purpose built research facilities for the teams. We’ve just left one, but as far as I know there were at least three others.’

‘Were?’ said Joshua, ‘or are?’

‘I don’t know if they are still operational or not.’

‘That one where they kidnapped us and held us prisoner was certainly still operational,’ added Veena bitterly.

‘They weren’t Newtonians though,’ said Joshua, ‘so I guess it may serve some other purpose these days.’

Veena had heard enough of the lies and subterfuge. ‘You took us there, Josh. Don’t tell us that you suppose it serves some other function. That’s a lie. Christians are supposed to tell the truth aren’t they?’

‘That’s a little unfair,’ said 3. ‘Joshua was forbidden from sharing information about the mission with anyone.’

Joshua nodded at 3 to say thank you but Veena was far from mollified. ‘If I am going to keep on sticking my neck out for you, Josh, risking my life, then I want some more information. I want some answers.’

Aware their conversation had been slowly increasing in volume, 3 looked around the bus and noticed they had the attention of all aboard apart from a couple of older men who were dozing in their seats. There were at least twenty people with them and 3 suddenly worried that they may all pose a threat. Was it only paranoia that now caused him to be so suspicious of everyone, or did he have justification?

‘Keep it down,’ he said, ‘or do you want to share this conversation with everyone else?’

Joshua apparently decided to ignore Veena’s demand and instead asked 3 to continue telling what he knew. For a moment 3 considered joining with Veena to press Joshua to come clean with them but he thought better of it, deciding that this was not the time or the place.

‘After the research facilities were set up, the High Council poured resources into them, making them an absolute priority. Things went well for a while up to the stage where they felt they had a product ready to test on human subjects. There were numerous failures and the elected guinea pigs were left disfigured, deformed and in many cases dead. This was all covered up, and the research continued. The High Council was driven, obsessed by the idea that this was their only chance for survival and they must, they must succeed no matter what the cost.’

Then the conversation ended; mercifully in 3’s opinion as it had twisted back to the original and uncomfortable, and the bus hummed along towards Sydney. To avoid any more disturbing revelations 3 disconnected his audio feed and looked out the window into the black night and imagined stuff, happy stuff to make himself feel better.

Was it the case, he wondered, that there was only one truth? He had always believed that claims of exclusivity caused all the trouble in the world. It wasn’t the age old argument against the validity of religion: that religion was the cause of all wars. The truth was that extremism and intolerance was the cause of all conflicts. Oddly enough, the most religious, the most pious of all peoples were the very same who were unable to accept another point of view. Wasn’t it possible to hold steadfastly to your own views yet still be able to accept that stance in others, to even respect that in others? 3 had always respected Joshua’s faith without needing to understand it or even wanting to, but Joshua was talking more now like one of the so called fundamentalists he had so often decried.

Sometime later, 3 woke with a start and quickly looked around to see first of all if anyone had noticed and secondly to get his bearings. A bus? Yes the bus to Sydney. Veena and Joshua had also fallen asleep as had most of the other passengers. As they rolled through the still black night the bus was quiet and peaceful, the unobtrusive hum of the engine and the gentle rocking of the bus were relaxing to the body but 3 was uneasy. Being awake while all others slept struck him as fearfully symbolic of his predicament, and he shuddered involuntarily. Paranoia again? Probably, thought 3 but how to stop it, and how to deny the fact that he was being targeted for abuse and violence because he was Newtonian. Rubbing his hands on his thighs he noted not for the first time the slightly leathery feel to his skin which was a further product of the morphing drugs he had taken all his life.

Not long ago the future had seemed secure, if not exactly planned out for him then at least with enough direction and guidance from his parents to prevent him wasting his life. He may not have always agreed with his parents but he did respect them and he understood the necessity of accepting their advice. It was the wisest course of action to take. Now however, he was making his own decisions and without any advice from anyone other than his two friends. They were all so young, but not too young-or so they told themselves.

As 3 reconnected the audio feed on the VDU, he felt the bus begin to slow under heavy braking. Desperately searching beyond his reflection in the window of the bus for any sign that they had arrived somewhere, 3 instinctively knew they had not. This was an unscheduled stop. He held his breath.

‘Veena! Josh! Wake up!’

The bus came to a complete stop as the driver pulled it off the freeway and onto the rough, dusty shoulder which acted as a service lane.

‘Wake up, guys!’ He shook Veena’s shoulder gently then harder then pushed her against Joshua. ‘Wake up!’

The cabin lights came on in the bus and people began to stir from their slumber. Mumbling and muttering erupted but was soon drowned out by the voice of the driver speaking over the intercom.

‘Sorry folks,’ he said, ‘but I just couldn’t wait for the next petrol station.’

3 thought he saw a shadow outside the bus, moving from behind him down along the side of the bus towards the front. It was so dark outside, he couldn’t be sure.

‘Something’s wrong,’ he said to himself.

‘I’ll just be a few minutes,’ said the driver and he rose from his seat, and ordered the door open.

‘It’s a lie,’ said 3. ‘Something’s wrong.’

The complaining and grumbling began again when the driver had left as people strained to see outside the window. 3 could not see where the driver had gone nor could he see the shadow any more. A man stood from his seat into the aisle, followed by another and then a woman.

‘Take it easy Ted,’ said Joshua, ‘if the driver had to go, he had to go. You know the alternative.’

Veena laughed but 3 was straight-faced.

‘Ladies and gentlemen,’ said a deep authoritative voice from the front which instantly attracted the attention of all.

‘It’s too late now,’ said 3.

‘We won’t keep you here too long. When we continue you will have another driver.’

‘What happened to our one?’ called out the standing man. ‘He said he was just going for a leak.’

Ignoring the question the deep voice boomed again, easily penetrating to the rear of the bus and well into every ear. ‘My name is McCutcheon, I am an officer of the Australian Federal Police.’ Pushing a large hand into his coat pocket he pulled out a wallet which he flipped open to reveal a badge of some sort. Quickly replacing it in his pocket, he continued, ‘Please have your bus tickets and I.D. ready for inspection.’

‘This is bullshit,’ said one of the male passengers. ‘You pull us over in the middle of the night, in the middle of nowhere, steal our bloody driver and then you say you want to check our tickets?’ He took a few confident steps towards the AFP officer. ‘Show us that badge again mate!’

3 watched as another officer appeared behind the shoulder of the first. ‘Sir,’ began the second officer, ‘please remain in your place. We will come to each of you in turn. If you could just be patient we will allow you to continue your journey soon.’

The recalcitrant man did not waver and walked on in front of a captivated audience of passengers. ‘I said show us that badge again!’

When he was standing in the face of the first officer, the man repeated his demand using even more menace and more expletives but suddenly he crumpled to the floor of the bus as though shot in the head, and lay motionless. Unsighted, 3 could only guess the officer had used an electrogun on the man although if that were the case, why did a federal policeman have an illegal weapon? Perhaps it was a punch of lethal force, the kind you see in the movies.

A collective gasp escaped from the other passengers.

The first officer spoke softly to the second who picked up the dead man and dragged him out through the door onto the side of the road. ‘Please cooperate,’ said officer one to the remaining passengers, ‘you have nothing to fear from us.’

Veena leaned across the aisle and spoke quietly into 3’s ear. ‘Joshua says we have to leave now.’

3 turned to look at her, puzzled by her lack of expression.

She pointed to the floor causing 3 to throw a questioning glance across at Joshua who was smiling. What’s wrong with these people? They’re acting like it’s a game of hide and seek. He checked the floor where Veena had pointed and noticed a square panel the width of the aisle. Was that his planned escape route?

Veena leaned over again. ‘Move out into the aisle so I can work behind you.’

Turning again to look her in the eyes, 3 had words forming on his lips but they were stillborn, so he just moved obediently into the aisle. Very slowly with almost imperceptible movement. They did have the distinct advantage of being at the rear of the bus and assuming there was no more officers waiting at the rear-and why would they when there was no door-they could get away. But to where? 3 had no idea where they were?

With 3 in position and partially blocking the aisle, Veena slipped down onto the floor and began to undo the screws with a sonic driver she had produced from somewhere. Maybe it was Joshua’s. In a few minutes she had all the screws out and was looking to Joshua for instructions.

Officer one was proceeding down the aisle, checking tickets and I.D.s together with officer two who had rejoined him. It looked like a normal ticket inspection but 3 knew it wasn’t. Surely most of the other passengers would have also realized something was wrong but having seen how the police dealt with the man who tried to question what they were doing, they had probably been scared into submission. Resigned to the inconvenience, they hoped that was all it was.

3 was simply hoping that Joshua had a plan which included some way for him to get off the bus as well. Joshua and Veena were obviously going out through the floor but 3 would not fit. To be more precise his chair would not fit and he was pretty useless without his chair, so there had better be another way.

A tap on the back informed 3 that Veena was ready. Keeping his eyes on the officers the whole time, 3 slid forward just enough to clear the access plate which was now free to be lifted out of place to facilitate Veena and Joshua’s escape.

Joshua whispered, ‘We need a bit of noise Ted while we lift the access plate. Maybe a coughing fit.’

‘A coughing fit? That will make them look here and you don’t want that obviously and by the way-’

‘Just cough, Ted. They’ll only look for a moment and lose interest. It’s only a cough. Every one coughs, you know.’

So 3 started coughing, nervously at first like he had a tickle in the back of his throat and really didn’t want to disturb anyone but he had to cough. Then it grew and he found the confidence to continue with a cough which could not be restrained: a hacking, dramatic cough.

A tap on the back warned him not to overdo it. By the time he had finished his performance, he was sure he had overacted and he had at least done it enough to give himself a sore throat.

The officers were halfway down the aisle.

Veena whispered, ‘See you outside, Ted.’

Joshua whispered, ‘See you outside Ted. Just give us one more burst of that cough of yours so we can put the plate back in its spot.’

‘Wait a second,’ said 3.

‘Cough Ted!’

3 coughed and faintly heard the plate fall into position with a slight metallic scrape and then his friends were gone. At least they had said they would see him on the outside, otherwise he really might have wondered whether they were abandoning him or not. It did not take too much reasoning for 3 to figure out that Veena and Josh would attempt to draw the officers out of the bus and then 3 could make his escape.

Soon familiar voices from the darkness enveloping the bus confirmed his suspicion. The two officers immediately stopped what they were doing and looked at each other. Officer one put his hand to his ear and spoke. Then he nodded to officer two who left, and continued with the ticket search.

They were both supposed to leave, thought 3, both of them. Now how do I get out?