working the city, where there were backups on backups. If things went pear shaped she could run, knew where to run. Nowhere to hide out here. Sometimes it required trust beyond trust. To jump into free space in the darkness after you have been told there is a net down there, but not knowing one way or the other. Noah could tell what she was thinking, and there was no way of reassuring her.
“Ok.” She said.
He had the boat ready, eased her over the edge and into the small cabin. Moving up front, he pulled the lever back, and they chugged out into the small channel. A few birds flew out from the mangroves.
“Southern most mangroves in the world.” He said as if by reflex, as he would for a group of tourists or day fishermen. Then cut the speech short. They motored through the channel in search of the open water. It was absolutely flat, almost reflective, with a slight ripple just breaking up the image. She sat back, taking it in. They had this whole bay, it seemed, to themselves. Turned slightly to the west, with French Island in front of them. On the other side of the bay the mainland stretched south, similar to this side with mangroves. No beach.
“What’s that over there?” she asked. Pointing to the jetty that stretched out on the shore, around from Tooradin, towards Stony Point.
“Gas terminal. It’s where the imported gas comes in.”
“I thought we exported gas?”
“We do. Some of it comes back.”
“Seriously?”
“Yes.”
On another trip, another time, she would have been curious. It was the shipping equivalent of standing on a highway and watching the same type of freight go in both directions.
“We in the channel yet?” she asked
“Yes. You can see it’s a bit darker.”
“How deep is it?”
“Just enough for a supertanker.”
“It looks really shallow everywhere else.”
“The tide is coming in, so we will be ok. You have to watch it carefully.”
“Get stranded?”
“Yes, you can get stuck high and dry.”
“You?”
Again the grin.
“Not since I was ten years old.”
The boat followed the narrow channel. Just off from Hastings. She was concerned that they had not sighted the other boat, but in the distance she could see another larger boat coming towards them. The luxury cruiser still fitted easily in the channel.
“I’m General Adam Kowalski.” A tall, blonde man, looking just shy of fourty. He smiled. “This is Xiuming , from the business group.” He was similar age, looking serious.
Adam continued
“Shallow bay this. We came around from Mount Martha. I’ve got an apartment there, and we keep this tied up there. I don’t get out on it much. Rich boy’s toys, as they say.”
Ruby couldn’t help but ask, again.
“Why here?”
“Look around, great lines of sight. We can get support from the naval base at Cerberus. They can give us great coverage.”
“I’m relieved, and so grateful that you’ve both come.” She hesitated. Did she need to persuade them?
Adam pointed towards the shore.
“You can see the houses over there.” Ruby could just make out the edge of a house roof. “My childhood home. It’s not a flash area, Jack's Beach. We used to run up and down that beach, just up from the jetty. It was paradise. Just us kids, and the sea. The mangroves.”
“Long way from there to this boat. It’s not a fishing tinny, is it?” He just smiled. No it wasn’t.
“Seems a long time ago.”
“So why do you want to see the government gone?” Ruby asked, cutting to the chase.
“It’s so peaceful here. Must be nice to outsource your fighting to people like me. We fight the Pacific War way out there.” He pointed in the general direction of north, then continued.
“It’s suppressed, most of it. Because it takes place far out at sea. The government makes all the right noises, flies the flag at the funerals. But what is it about really?”
“Standing with our allies?”
“How does it go now? All the way with Russia and America? Exactly how does that help us?”
“The balance of power. All that?”
“Well balances shift, and we’ve had enough of it. We see a future in making peace in the region and excluding meddlers.”
Ruby paused, wondering how that would look on a transcript. Picturing an interrogation room. Adam smiled, as if to say that yes he had considered that.
“I can’t see Sydney and Brisbane going along with that.” She said.
“It splits.” He said. “North and South. We go with our backers, they go with theirs.”
She thought about that, about borders. How do you do that? Ruby looked across at Xiuming, as if to ask ‘and you?’
“We are not concerned with the global balances. I’m part of a network of business people that like what you stand for. We recognise the shifts in investment. People have had enough of predatory capitalism. Taking a short term profit by ripping off everyone, employees and customers. We are solid businesses that recognise the importance of social coherence. Your approach resonates with my network.” He looked across at Adam, who continued.
“You serve your country, put yourself in the line of fire. Then you come back and can’t even afford to buy a house. Don’t worry about money or resources. Once we flip sides in the war it will be like a huge tide.”
The discussion continued in this vein. Ruby relaxed a bit, got out of her huddled in Dandenong funk. Felt like that just maybe it would work out. Afterwards there was time for them to go up onto the top deck and take in the view. Adam leaned against the railing. Ruby tried to make out the gas terminal on shore.
“Conspirators. All of us. They will disappear us, if we let them.” Adam said.
Ruby’s boat was ready. As it drifted out, and her journey back to Tooradin began, she wondered what would become of them all. It was hard not to look up and expect to see an armed drone swooping low, or even a fighter jet. Hard to believe that what they imagined could actually happen.
At Tooradin the car was waiting.
“I’ve got a stray drone in the east.” Noah said.
“Armed?”
“No,
