Chapters

Wednesday 6 June 2012

Chapter 8 - Part 1

Ebbe stared at the reflection of the waning moon, looking like a chipped pearl drifting on the gently lolling water. She allowed herself a little wistful sigh, thinking back to the days when she had the luxury to soak up such moments. Now it was merely a snatched opportunity as she made her way back to the observatory, two hot cups of coffee defrosting her hands pleasantly.

The crunch of the leaves and the snap of the bracken beneath her feet always made her smile. It seemed so much more agreeable to have sound and texture underfoot, rather than the insensitive solidity of a pavement. It was for this, more than the need for the bad coffee served by the cafĂ© on the tiny viewing station up the path, that brought her out into the cold air. That and the need to escape the observatory for a couple of hours. Kielder Observatory was of course, not so far away and that had a magnificent telescope. It was even easily accessible by the public. But that was also the problem. What Ebbe wanted to look at, she wanted to look at without herself being observed, without the questions and the probing. People could never just let you be in such places. Besides, such places were bound to be watched. Ebbe had already sensed via the chatter on the usual paranoid websites that the government wasn't keen on anyone taking too much interest in the skies. 

Ebbe suddenly froze on the spot. To the far right, up a small slope and in a tiny opening amongst the towering trunks disappearing into the dark heights above, was a petite deer. Ebbe suspected it was a Roe deer, probably not fully grown yet. She watched fascinated as it tentatively trotted towards something indiscernible on the ground. It dipped it's neck, legs still relatively straight and gave a curious sniff. Without warning the deer gave a scared jump backwards and turned to flee, before pausing and and slowly, perhaps bravely, turning back to face the mystery foe. Ebbe found she was holding her breath, perhaps out of fear she would spook the creature, but she had no choice but to exhale. She did so with utmost care, though she was well away from the deer, and, if her smell had not spooked it she presumed a little breath would be harmless. But it was such a rare experience Ebbe was not willing to risk it even for a breath. She was trying to guess what the young deer could be battling. Her guess would be either a frog, toad or spider. Again the deer stepped forward. Ebbe admired it's dark brown, almost black winter coat. From her perspective she couldn't discern any antlers, but that may be because of it's young age or just the distance between them. Ebbe was sure they only had very small antlers, but she couldn't remember. Something spooked the animal and it's sharp little head bobbed up and Ebbe could see the bulging black eyes, like river polished stones, peering in her direction. Again she found herself holding her breath, sure it wasn't her who had caught it's attention. She strained hard, also trying to listen, and yes, somewhere is the distance she too could hear voices from behind. Laughter and chatter somewhere far in some distant part of the wood, bounced from vast trunk to trunk until Ebbe had no idea where the origin was. Her little Roe seemed more sure, however, and with a kick of it's hind legs it vanished from sight. 
Ebbe waited, staring at the same spot, in the vain hope it would return. But she knew it had been spooked and regardless of it's small, unseen foe, it was not going to come back so readily.

With another heavy sigh she continued on her well trodden path to the observatory, giving a quick glance all around to ensure the voices really were somewhere distant. Unable to make out anything or anyone nearby she crunched and cracked her way back to the barely visible concrete entrance. It was a simple concrete structure shrouded in creepers and vines. In the centre was a rusting metal door that to an outsider looked as if it hadn't been opened since World War Two, when the former bomb shelter was built. They would, of course, be right. Ebbe took a swift turn to the left and made her way to the side of the structure, draped like a green waterfall, with lush vines. Here Ebbe stood waiting patiently, staring at the dark leaves. Hunter green Ebbe thought as she stared at one thinly veined leaf in particular. Makes sense, she concluded, hunter green would be the one that best serves as camouflage for those sneaking about in such a forest.

Growing impatient Ebbe gave a low cough, more a clearing of her throat and shifted her weight. The formerly warm cups were starting to feel decidedly tepid in her hands are her unexpected interlude. Never mind, it's bad hot or warm, she told herself.

Clunk! The sound of a solid bolt being lifted and then a squeal as the metal slid out from the catch and released. The draped foliage began to shiver before being swept aside and an opening became evident. A young man dressed in fatigues was grinning apologetically as he held the door open.

"I think I saw a Roe deer," Ebbe said as she stepped through the entrance gratefully, glad to feel the heat envelope her as she did so. The lad shrugged as he always did when Ebbe said pretty much anything. She had concluded the extent of his knowledge was terrifyingly basic. Barely scraping secondary level, she thought. Either that or he knew but wasn't much for talking. Ebbe had yet to truly pin down this old little guard she had inherited. "Do they have Roe deer in this forest?" she persisted, in the small hope she may eventually stumble across something he was interested in discussing.

"Dunno," came the blunt answer behind her as he slammed the thick door shut again. The natural moonlight was cut off and they were in a tight corridor lit by yellow lights lining the walls.

"They do have antlers don't they?" Ebbe continued, no longer caring if he knew the answer or not, but wanting to say something out loud to someone. Even though she was ahead of him, she knew he had simply shrugged, clearly not feeling the need to answer. "It was adorable," Ebbe finished, sensing she was pushing her luck.

"I like deer," came the unexpected reply. 

Ebbe stopped abruptly, to be immediately bumped by the young lad who had not expected her to halt so suddenly. She maintained her balance, steadying the sloshing liquid in the coffee cups. She turned, beaming from ear to ear.

"James! What did you say?"

The bewildered lad stared at her mouth agape.

"I. I like deer?" He stuttered, obviously a little taken aback.

"That's simply marvellous my boy! Truly wonderful," she beamed at him before turning tail and striding down the corridor, humming The Girl From Ipanema quietly.

The pair emerged into a cavernous room, in the centre of which was a vast telescope, stretching from a small chair and expanding until it reached a cathedral-like dome, with a large split down its centre. 

"Hello sweetie," Ebbe chirped, "James likes deer! Did you know that?" As she chattered to the equipment she turned and thrust out one of the cups. The still baffled James tentatively took the coffee and with a sideways glance made his way over to the CCTV desk on the far right. Ebbe smiled and popped the lid from her cup and swigged the coffee down in two big gulps. "Yuck!" She spat with a mix of disgust for the taste and satisfaction at the warmth.

James seated himself and sipped his own cup, eyeing Ebbe with suspicion, seemingly cautious of what she may say next.

"Let's crank the old girl open and check which stars are still with us eh James?" Ebbe shouted across the room.

James shrugged, as he always did.

"I'll tell you what I love James!" Ebbe shouted as she pressed the button that started the domes opening mechanism with a creaking gasp. "I love an 8.1 metre aperture pointing at Io, Callisto, Ganymede and Europa!" With that she took her seat at the eye of the telescope and peered through. Occasionally she cranked the mechanism to make the scope turn left or right, lower or raise. But once her eye was pressed up against the viewer she was, as always lost in a cosmos of stars, watched silently by her curious guard.

"Hello Ganymede," Ebbe suddenly piped up, making James jump. She turned with a cheeky grin and jabbed a longer finger at him. "That's you!" She exclaimed, before turning back to peer through the lens again. "Ganymede was one of Zeus' lovers, boy of exquisite beauty," she continued as she studied the small dot that was the largest moon in our Solar System. "He was kidnapped by Zeus to serve as a cup-bearer in Olympus," said Ebbe, unable to stop herself elaborating, "of course Hera was deathly jealous. But that was just Hera!" Silly cow, Ebbe thought to herself. "It's nice, us having this chat," Ebbe started, well aware that James wasn't contributing, but somehow feeling like his blurted revelation that he liked deer was the closest to a conversation the pair had had. The source that had gained her access to this facility, a place that theoretically didn't exist, had assured her he was perfect for the job. He was too dim, they had said, to know she didn't belong, and too green to be involved with anyone she wanted to avoid. That was for sure. The kid was wet behind the ears and she honestly felt he was unsuited to a military life. She had decided early on his father was in the forces and had bullied him into service. But that didn't matter, he just had to let her in and let her out and keep his mouth shut. It seemed he could follow orders, that was one thing most certainly in his favour. Ebbe just hoped that one day someone wouldn't take advantage of that.

"So Ganymede," she started, taking her eye off the skies, "how is it that I, Zeus, have to bear cups for my cup-bearer?" She eyed him with a smile, wondering if anything she had just said had meant a thing to him. He was looking back at her, his face the picture of concentration; brow furrowed, mouth pursed.

"Because I am Zeus and you are Hera?" Came the cautious reply.

Ebbe mulled this over in her mind. The boy was the mighty Zeus, God of the skies, the greatest of all the Olympians, and she his long-suffering, eternally jealous wife, and sister, Hera! She looked at the skinny little lad slouched at the security desk and couldn't help but burst out laughing. Within seconds James had been infected by her heaving gasps of uncontrolled laughter and joined in with her.

"You're a funny guy," Ebbe managed to gurgle, not really thinking he was and not entirely sure what was so funny, but still unable to halt the shaking laughter nevertheless. "You should talk more often," she spluttered, sending them both into further fits of cackling giggles. 

Making an effort to maintain dignity Ebbe wiped her teared eyes and sighed. Back to work you idiot, she told herself, forcing a moist eye up against the the viewer. With great effort she ignored James, still attempting to quash his mirth behind her. Deciding viewing Ganymede was not going to help her sober up Ebbe began to shift the telescope in the hunt for another Galilean moon, namely Callisto.



"And there..." she began, "you are?" she ended on a question. All humour drained from her face and Ebbe pulled her head away from the telescope and turned to James. "I've lost a moon," she said seriously.


"That was careless," James snickered in reply.


"No James, it's insane, quite quite insane," she countered bleakly. Her heavy tone quickly sunk in and James forced out the last chuckle.


"Are you sure you're looking in...?" He started.


"Of course I bloody am," Ebbe snapped, cutting his sentence short. Inside she was churning. She pressed her forefinger down on an unseen button and to the side a printer began to buzz and whirr. Within a few seconds and crystal clear printout emerged and Ebbe tore it out from the printer impatiently. With an incisive eye she peered at the printout, before exhaling loudly. Even with her own, limited equipment, she had started picking up anomalies. One or two you could write off as the mind playing tricks. Three or four, equipment failure. But once she had gone beyond that she had hit upon the idea of using something more substantial. The Spartan Observatory complex, a highly secret outpost hidden within a restricted wildlife preserve, was her number one choice. It merely took the right connections, and Ebbe had made a habit of collecting those.

And here it was, the most powerful telescope in the United Kingdom could not see the third largest moon in the solar system.

"James, if anybody knows we are here. If anybody knows what I have seen. We are going to be in serious of trouble."

James returned her statement with a looked of fear and puzzlement. Ebbe gestured he ought to come closer. Tentatively he stood, his chair squealing on the flagstone floor. Again she gestured for him to come forward. She could see he was uncomfortable and uncertain. Again, she wordlessly gestured to him to come to her. With the awkward shuffling of a teenager asked to dance with a girl he likes, he made his way to her. When he was within grasping distance she grabbed him by the nape of the neck and pulled him close.


"You tell the man who got you this job that Callisto is awol. Tell him I'm going to ground. Are you getting this?" James nodded nervously, "Tell him I expect it will take them two or three months, four at most, so that's his time frame. You got that James?" She peered into his dark brown eyes. Yes, he's an orders boy, give him orders and he'll respond. He obviously got that from his bully father, for better or worse. "I don't think we shall see each other again after tonight, so Ganymede, get yourself some balls, before Zeus comes for you." With those parting words Ebbe grabbed her printout, gave him a kiss on the cheek and made for the exit.


As she reached the corridor, she stopped and turned.


"If we do meet again, be sure you've grown a pair!" She shouted before striding into the corridor.