I wasn’t the only one not sleeping that night. Ata and Soph arrived with both vehicles late that morning, and Ata was as bleary-eyed as I was.

  “Help me get this tent up,” Ata said.

  I looked pointedly at my popup tent, which was already up, but she just gave me that look, and I went to help. I had finally fallen asleep without further progress, so at least I got about three hours.

  The tent Ata and Soph bought was a six-person tent that you could stand up in, so I guess it is better than my little 1-2-person tent. They had also brought some air mattresses, so upgrades all around. There was a gas barbeque on the back of my ute and food in Ata’s SUV. We would go back to the rental unit for showers, etc.

  Once the tent was up and the air mattress down, Ata pulled me inside and kissed me soundly on the lips.

  “You are a bloody genius,” she said.

  “You made it work?”

  “I can see the Essence in colour, but the patterns aren’t very clear. I am just starting to get glimpses of infrared and ultraviolet.” As she was saying this, she was stripping my clothes off and pushing me onto one of the mattresses. She climbed on top and moved enough to bring us both to a climax. We then both fell asleep.

  I was kicked awake, but Ata was still asleep beside me. Are the babies kicking? Rude bloody rugrats. I don’t know how Ata puts up with it.

  Wait, I can see patterns now. Can I see their patterns? It is as clear as black and white, well, blue and light blue, anyway. I spent a fair bit of time looking at the patterns. They were not geometric shapes. They were more organic lines and swirls. I suppose they were like extremely complicated fingerprints. It wasn’t just one layer like a fingerprint, but there were depths as well. Three-dimensional fingerprints. No wonder Soph was having trouble.

  After I spent some time looking at the patterns in Ata’s naked and enlarged stomach, I switched my gaze to her naked and enlarged breasts so I could compare her pattern to the kids. This was fascinating.

  What I needed was 3D modelling software, like the one we used at work, so that I could trace the major patterns. Then, I could compare the models side by side and make comparisons easier. My cheap laptop would not run something like that; I would need a high-spec machine, and the software was going to cost more than the machine. As a Civil Engineer, I used the software, but not for anything complicated like this. I designed pipes and mapped flood plains in three dimensions, not complicated structures and patterns. I would have a learning curve in front of me.

  “Are you done ogling her tits?” Carla asked from the tent entrance.

  “Not even close,” I replied

  “Soph has the barbeque going, and lunch is ready.”

  “Right,” I extract myself from Ata without disturbing her too much, slip on some trousers and step out. It is a lovely autumn day in Hawkes Bay. This is a huge difference from Yagoonya, where it was like everything was out to kill you. Here, only some things were. It is easy to forget this is inside an Anomaly Zone.

  Outside, I find Kai manning the barbecue and Ngoi and Neke with beers in hand. I grab one myself, grab a piece of bread, squirt sauce on it, and snatch a sausage straight from the barbie.

  “Lazy autumn days,” Ngoi says in a half greeting and half toast.

  I toast him back with my beer. “This is much better than Aussie.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Neke says.

  I look around for Soph. She is sitting on a camp chair feeding Eliza seeds. Carla was next to her in a matching camp chair and occasionally fed the evil parrot as well. Rich is asleep under the open tailgate of my ute. I don’t see Barb anywhere, and I have no idea what happened to the rabbit.

  That is a thought. Soph took the rabbit with her, but they were not letting mutated things out of the quarantine zone. It would kind of defeat the purpose of the quarantine. I mentally shrug. I would find out, or I wouldn’t.

  “We actually came to deliver a message,” Ngoi said.

  “And you timed it for when the barbecue and beers were out?” I queried.

  “It was very fortuitous timing,” Kai said, “and had absolutely nothing to do with Neke’s sense of smell.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Neke said.

  “What is the message?” I asked.

  “The CO is calling an update meeting for 10 am tomorrow. He wants a progress report,” Ngoi said.

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  “He doesn’t know how to text?” I asked.

  “He does, and he did,” Ngoi said. “Do you even know where your phone is?”

  “Not at this particular moment,” I said.

  “Which is why he sent us on this very arduous journey to the far end of the orchard,” Ngoi said.

  “Fortunately,” Kai said, holding up a half-eaten sausage, “you have supplies to restore our energy to get us back again.”

  “There is more to the message,” Ngoi said. “There is a nasty rumour going around that you are just taking advantage of the opportunity here for your own benefit and camping in luxury on our dime. He would like you to have something significant for the meeting.”

  I nodded, “Does he like sausages, or do we need to break out the steak?”

  “There’s steak?” Kai perked up.

  “Not anymore,” Soph said, “Rich found it.”

  “He is looking for more than food,” Ngoi said.

  “Shit, he wants our beers as well,” Carla said.

  Ngoi just laughed and held up his bottle, “Shame about that.”

  “I’ll drink to that,” Neke said.

  After they left, I started the cleanup.

  “Did you send that email?” Carla asked.

  “Not yet,”

  “That is probably enough information to keep them happy.”

  I nod. I looked at Soph and raised an eyebrow.

  “OK, I confess,” she said, “Rich only ate half of the steaks.”

  “Thank God for that. Are they rabbit steaks?” I asked.

  “No, and I take offence at the insinuation,” Soph said.

  There was a scratching, and a hole appeared in the ground, and a rabbit lept out and dashed for Soph. She dropped a carrot on the ground under her chair, and the rabbit started nibbling.

  “Meet Murray.”

  “You are going to make me guess what sportsman he is named after, aren’t you?”

  “Not at all. It is obvious. Murray Halberg won gold in the 5000m race at the Olympics in 1960.”

  “Even I have heard that name,” I said.

  “Of course you have. His charity for cripple children is still going strong today.”

  “Running? Murray’s fast?” I asked.

  “Rabbit fast and rabbit hearing, but his mutations, note the plural, his mutations are in digging and earthen body and claws.”

  “I forgot that part of this anomaly is light brown and probably earth-focused. Earthen body and claws will help with digging, but it sounds like there is more.”

  “He uses Essence to move the earth. Hence, he is not just fast above ground but can dig with speed.”

  “You sure know how to pick them,” I said.

  “But that is it. My brain is full.”

  “I should bloody hope so. How does Murray get on with Rich?”

  “They are getting there. It is still a work in progress.”

  “At least he is cheaper to feed,” I said. “Earthen body?”

  Soph shook her head, “No, but I can move earth.”

  “Interesting, you can share non-physical skills but not the physical ones,” I said, glancing at Carla.

  “Yep.”

  “Are you going to introduce Barb and Murray at the meeting tomorrow?”

  “Yes. I don’t want them mistook for wild creatures.”

  “Both fantails and rabbits are common. They may need to be marked in some way to identify them. What are you going to do if the military wants to put trackers on them?”

  “Refuse.”

  I nodded. “The military is not known for accepting people who tell them no. Lewis has given us a lot of leeway. I get the sense he is coming under pressure to tighten the reigns.”

  “I agree,” Carla said.

  Ata emerged from the tent, “Don’t forget he has people giving him orders, and there is political pressure as well. Hello Murray.” She bent down to give him a scratch.

  “What is your advice?” I ask, “You’ve been there.”

  Ata grabbed a beer from the bin, then reluctantly put it back and got a coke. She looked at all of us in thought.

  “How badly do we want access to this anomaly?” she asked.

  “That is the carrot and the stick, isn’t it?” I mused.

  “I am done,” said Soph, “But Carla is still cooking.”

  We all looked at Carla.

  “I don’t know how long. It is there, but not there yet. I am sick of grapes.”

  “So we try to keep on their good side, but we can walk if we need to?” I said.

  “What about your precious wine piss?” Carla asked.

  “We might come back if they don’t destroy this one. I think they should keep this anomaly. The benefits are more positive than negative,” I said.

  “That will be a political decision,” Ata said.

  “Are we all going to this meeting?” I asked.

  “We were all invited,” Soph said, holding up her phone with a text message.

  “Bloody showoff. Does anyone know where my phone is?” I asked.

  “I put it on charge in the ute for you,” Ata said.

  I nodded, “Are they using the anomaly to enhance people yet?” I asked.

  Soph nodded, “Eliza saw a group of about twenty escorted on, ate fruit, and then headed back. Over half were civilians.”