I woke feeling groggy, so I had a quick shower. I would prefer a swim, but it was about a half-hour drive to the beach, and I didn’t have time right now, maybe after we had seen the anomaly. I grabbed a bite to eat and went to see the ladies.

  They were gearing up. Ata was checking the pistols and two shotguns. Soph was making sandwiches, and Carla was stretching.

  “You going to stay in skin?” I asked her.

  “For now,” Carla replied. “The danger seems low at the moment.”

  “Bugger. I could do with more scales.”

  She gave me the finger.

  We all squeezed into my truck to head out. It was a double-cab ute, but it was still squashed. The anomaly zone was only five minutes away.

  We drove up to the checkpoint, which the Army manned. We all piled out of the ute and must have looked a sight in our homemade cameo vests. They got nervous when I strapped the pistol and a machete to my waist, and the girls pulled out the shotguns.

  I walked up to the soldiers while the girls armed themselves.

  “Robert Wilkinson,” I said, showing my military ID, “We have an appointment with Commander Lewis.” Rich trotted up beside me.

  Two tents were set up just inside the cordon, and a Lieutenant emerged from one of them. Rich growled.

  He examined our IDs and said, “You will need to leave your weapons here. We will provide what you need.”

  “We have provided what we need, Lieutenant,” I said. “The commander is waiting for us.”

  Behind me, Carla pulled out a phone and pushed the speed dial.

  “You will not be proceeding armed as you are. We will provide an escort,” The Lieutenant insisted.

  “You have never been inside an anomaly. We have all experienced two. We know what we need,” I said.

  Behind me, I heard Carla say, “No, there is a Lieutenant obstructing our entrance. Yes, he’s going to be a problem. Thank you.” She hung up. Then she stepped forward, “Don’t bother the Lieutenant, Bob. There is an escort coming.”

  We all retreated to the truck and waited, leaving the Lieutenant with nobody to argue against. Two minutes later, an army jeep drove up to the checkpoint from further in.

  Ngoi jumped out and then waved us forward. I jumped in the truck, and Ata got in the front passenger while Soph and Carla rode on the back tray with Rich. The barrier arm lifted, and we drove through and followed Ngoi.

  The drive toward the anomaly was past rows of ripe grapes. Whoever owns this vineyard will lose a whole season of grapes. The forward camp was at a farmhouse past the vineyard. I could see rows of trees, most laden with fruit. The anomaly appeared in the harvest season.

  Ngoi pulled up to the farmhouse, and we pulled in behind him. We greeted each other, and then I said, “What’s happening in Aussie? I haven’t heard about any nuclear blast.”

  “Nah, They are still dithering. The anomaly is already larger than before. It expanded faster, and the theory is it is because it is stronger.”

  “So it is being used as a source of enhancement then,” Soph said.

  “Essentially, the UK is there now, along with Indonesia, Japan, Papua New Guinea, and some of the smaller Island nations,” Ngoi replied.

  “I am sure Australia has negotiated many benefits when granting that,” Carla said.

  “I am sure. They have also found another one by Perth, but that is not common knowledge yet.” Ngoi agreed. “Come in, the Commander is waiting.”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

  Commander Lewis was in what used to be the lounge area, but it was now a meeting room. Three others were there, one of whom was Dr Amanda Mohan.

  “Good, you are here,” Lewis said. “You know, Dr Mohan. To my left is Captain Griffiths, and to my right is Dr Goodwin. Captain Griffiths is now second in command from the army, and Dr Goodwin is a horticultural researcher specialising in genetics, biotechnology, and environmental biology. Please meet our most experienced Enhanced consultants, Robert Wilkinson, Carla Vaa’i, Sophia Hardcastle and Ataahua Wihongi, who, until recently, was a lieutenant in the Navy and my second in command.”

  We greeted each other. Captain Griffiths was reserved. He was about my age and looked like he had a lot of experience. Dr Goodwin was enthusiastic in her field of expertise. She was a plump middle-aged woman and seemed like she would be more at home in a lab or classroom.

  “Let's get into the background. Five days ago, Zeb Harris was admitted to Hastings Hospital with unknown symptoms. He went into a coma, and three days ago, he was confirmed as going through an enhancement. Zeb is the onsite caretaker for the vineyard and does general handyman work in the neighbourhood. The orchard is owned separately, but Zeb is known to do the odd job for them as well.”

  A picture of Zeb appeared on the screen. “Zeb is 69 years old and has suffered a limp since his teenage years when his leg was badly crushed in a motorcycle accident. Zeb’s Enhancement process has completely healed his leg. We are not sure yet if this is a one-off enhancement or if there are ongoing effects, like Dr Mohan's. Dr Mohan is here to find out.”

  “The anomaly itself is just on the vineyard side of the boundary between the two properties. It is at ground level, and while some vines and trees have died, it is less than expected.”

  We were shown low-level aerial drone footage of the vineyard and orchard. As Lewis said, while there were some dead plants, they were much less than fifty percent. The anomaly itself came into view, and at first, I thought is was yellow, but then decided it was a light green, perhaps with some light brown.

  Lewis continued, “Our colour experts consider this to be a very light green with some tan mixed in, although it also could be a yellow with tan. The green theory is persuasive as those who were enhanced at the Yagoonya Anomaly have an easier time than those of us who were Enhanced at the Waiheke Anomaly. We think the dark Turquoise green makes that easier than the Fluorescent Blue of Waiheke. That is partly why you four are here to test the Waiheke Essence against this anomaly, as I am the only other one present at the moment.”

  Lewis paused, and an aerial map appeared on the screen with some concentric circles drawn on it. This blue circle is the average distance the essence can be sensed by those enhanced that are present. It is a 180m radius from the Anomaly, with a 30m variation in detection positions. These other circles are at 50m intervals.”

  I looked at the image carefully. It was entitled The Ruakawa Anomaly, after the nearby road and small group of houses. Inside the 50m radius was a barn and some labelled beehives. The vines were labelled Syrah grapes. Rows of orchard trees in the 50m zone included Nectarine. The 100m radius included some Plum and Pear trees. The 150m included some grazing paddocks with a few sheep. The 180m touched a neighbour's fields, and they were labelled maise and squash.

  “As you can imagine,” Lewis continued, “There is a lot of interest in this miraculous healing. We are under pressure to see what benefits might be gained from the Ruakawa Anomaly. We are also under pressure to destroy it before it gets too large, so time is limited. Crop samples have been retrieved for Dr Goodwin, and a number are showing health benefits.”

  “Yes indeed,” piped up Dr Goodwin, “It is very exciting.”

  “Here is a link to our current knowledge and leading theories. At this stage, it is “need to know,” so don’t share it.” Lewis said. “You four provided a number of very insightful inspirations for both Waiheke and Yagoonya, so we want you to go in and do the same here. Dr Mohan wants to go with you this time, and you will be escorted by Ngoi’s squad, whom you know already. Here is a copy of the aerial map for your reference. Any questions?”

  Dr Mohan and Dr Goodwin had several, but I let them wash over me as my mind wandered. Is it the lack of blue that will make things difficult for us, who are pure blue? Is a mix of colours better? Rich is a mix. I wonder how he will cope. Eliza is Dark Turquoise from Yaggoonya. Perhaps light colours tend toward health and healing. It is not absolute, as Amanda has shown, but this anomaly could be a huge boon to New Zealand. We could make wine into health potions.

  “Bob!”

  I bring my attention back to the room. Everybody is looking at me.

  “Do you have any questions, Bob?” Carla said with a slight smile.

  “Not at this time. I have to do some reading first,” I said, indicating the link that was also now on my phone.

  “Were you even listening?” Captain Griffiths said in a disapproving way.

  I just ignored him, “I assume there is a queue of people lining up to get what Zeb got?”

  “We are trying to contain the information for now, but I imagine it will complicate things,” Lewis said.

  “So, are we ready to head in?” I asked.

  We all went outside, and Ngoi, Neke and Kai were waiting. “We will be going on foot from here,” Ngoi said.

  I emptied my backpack of most things, as I wanted space to collect samples. Rich came up to us, but I didn’t see Eliza anywhere.

  “Let's go.”