Ektek

001

Last Chance to Eat

Victoria Osborne

vickoz84@yahoo.com.au

April 2012

http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/

'Don't it always seem to go

That you don't know what you've got

Till it's gone?'

Joni Mitchell

Prologue

It was high noon. A lone crocodile lay basking on the riverside mud. Heat smashed onto her rocky skin. Her eyes burned with danger even as she rested. She opened her claw-toothed mouth in slow motion, for air-conditioning.

An elegant brolga drifted in to land beside her on the riverbank. He looked like an ornate grey umbrella as he folded and came to stand.

Shining Teeth had just eaten a rotten fish and had no desire to move. The tall bird had no idea how lucky he was.

—Ah, stuff it. Quick as a snake’s tongue flick, Shining Teeth lunged at the bird, catching him easily mid thigh. The suddenly not-so-lucky brolga stretched his huge wings wide, flapping, scooping air for power, thrashing, as Shining Teeth grappled, chomped and sank her teeth higher up into the feathered torso. The brolga arched his neck backwards, opening and shutting his beak. Perhaps he was gasping for air. Perhaps he was trying to scream.

Shining Teeth plunged into the water, rolling the brolga down into the murky depths. There, tucked under a crevasse in the river’s edge, she kept a slimy larder. As she swam back to the surface, the crocodile thought—How marvellous not having to worry about tomorrow’s dinner.

Shining Teeth settled contentedly into the baking sunshine again and half closed her eyes. The river resumed the quiet life once more until a swirl of clay-coloured water heralded the arrival of another crocodile. Grater waded out of the water and ploughed over the top of Shining Teeth who could not have cared less about wet feet stamping on her head. The backs of the two crocs turned pale under the hot sun as Grater fought for air after her sprint and then, when she could speak, announced—Hardback is trapped.

Shining Teeth stared at Grater, calculating the implications of their mate’s capture. She turned and headed into the water. Grater sucked in lungfuls of air and joined her in the brown soup.

Word travelled quickly and Hardback’s harem gathered to witness his entrapment. He’d followed the scent of live-goat bait into an unguarded ambush and now there was no way out, certainly not for the goat and, clearly, not for the crocodile.

Hardback lunged at the net, scrabbling and falling. He arched his back, flashing his pale underbelly. His breathing came in rasping barks. His feet flailed and his tail walloped the sides of the soft cage.

When they arrived, Shining Teeth and Grater climbed the riverbank and approached the trap. The other three crocodiles surged helplessly in the surrounding water. Shining Teeth tried to bite through the net but found the cord impossible to grip. She could only avoid getting tangled by backing away.

Hardback was delirious. Shining Teeth looked at him through the criss-cross netting. Then they heard the approaching whine of a two-stroke outboard motor—We’ll find you.

The humans were coming to check their trap. The harem slid into the river without as much as a droplet splash. They remained there, invisible, watching from just under the surface of the water, their legs dangling in the current.

Hardback tried to escape from the only predators known to crocs. The sound of the motor infuriated him. He strained against the net. The humans appeared practised and impersonal. They swiftly tied his mouth and overcame his struggles. They knew he would die if he became stressed and they wanted him alive.

Under the muddy surface of the water, five pairs of eyes watched as Hardback was dumped into the bottom of the boat. The two-stroke coughed into life and the humans whined back down the river.

The harem: Shining Teeth, Grater, Asunder, Jata and Damura, needed no discussion and moved off after their male. They followed the boat to where the river met the railway tracks.

At the wharf, Hardback was unloaded from the tinnie and swiftly packed into a crate. The crate was then lifted by crane onto the train carriage. The humans moved purposefully, tall and powerful. Finally, satisfied that their charge was secure, the men disappeared from view.

The harem stayed in the river; watching, waiting …

With any luck the train would remain long enough for them to work out a plan. How could they rescue Hardback? What could they do?

Losing patience, the crocodiles swirled around each other, jostling to keep sight of their husband. They snorted and blew water. They clapped their jaws together in frustration—We must get him back!

—Without him we are unprotected!

—Get him!

Asunder took it upon herself to climb out of the water and up onto the riverbank. She headed straight for the train.

With a mighty sideways lunge, Shining Teeth corralled her back into the swill—Are you insane?

—We must do something! Asunder sank back into the river—We need Ektek!

—What can Ektek do here that we can’t? growled Shining Teeth.

Asunder looked to Jata, seeking an ally—What can we do?

—We need help, Jata agreed. She asked Shining Teeth—Why shouldn’t we get help?

Damura swirled round in front of Shining Teeth—Ektek has skills.

—They’ve got technology, Asunder added—They can fly.

—Fly. Nonsense, spat Shining Teeth— Flying’s for the birds.

Damura stared hard at Shining Teeth—What can we do?

—Wait! said Shining Teeth and she slapped her tail on the surface of the water with vehemence—We wait. That’s what we can do. An opportunity will present itself if we are patient and observant. We don’t need other creatures interfering in our business. We help ourselves! We are crocodiles!

The crocodile harem despaired as they waited in the river. They watched for a sign that Hardback might escape. They wished the humans might suddenly change their minds and let their giant male go free but neither thing happened. Instead, suddenly, the diesel engine roared into life with a blast of acrid black smoke. All five floating crocs swung towards the noise. Slowly the train began to move along the glinting metal ribbons implanted into the land. It seemed to take forever to get up to speed but then, in no time at all, the roaring monster was gone. The crocodiles watched from the water until there was no more movement at the train station. They clambered up through the sludge to the dry. It was hopeless. Unable to follow over land at any speed, the harem had no way of knowing where Hardback would be taken. The crocodiles walked awkwardly in different directions, changing their minds, changing bearings, looking for some clue, hoping for some inspiration, but nothing came to help them.

Grater continued in a straight line up the road. As she crossed the train station to follow in her mate’s tracks the ground began to shake. There was a distant growling and then roaring as a new train crashed over the lines, slowing as it neared the station. Grater disappeared under the flying wheels of the carriages strobing past.

Shining Teeth ran beside the train. She shook her great lizard head and bellowed to all living things—Ektek! She cried out with all her might over the booming train—Ektek! Ektek!

A beetle, only incidentally within hearing, needed no further encouragement. He rose groggily into the dusk, as beetles do, and buzzed crazily out of sight.

The train ground to a halt at the station.

Shining Teeth clambered up to Grater, lying physically unharmed between the train tracks—Are you alive?

Grater shook her head. She could not hear a thing. Her skull was still thundering. The two crocs shared such a look through the wheels of the train …

The beetle flew, zig-zag-zig, into the darkening sky and came to rest by another beetle. The two coleopterons, strangers to each other, danced and touched briefly, transferring directional information. Then the second beetle bowed and muttered—Two, and took off in the same direction, south by south-east.

The second train had left the station by now and Grater crawled, still shaking, away from the tracks. The crocodile harem slid slowly back into the river to wait for Ektek to arrive.

Some distance away, yet another beetle edged up the stalk of a drying plant. Its serrated legs clung impossibly to the stem while its skinny feet could find no purchase and skated over the surface of a leaf.

Flying high above in the evening, that second beetle came into view. It approached, just a speck arriving from out of the blood-coloured sky. It came in to land beside the stalk climber. These two beetles touched briefly, danced up and down the stalk before the third beetle in the relay squeaked—Three. Then it, too, took off, flying as far as it could before seeking the next in the number team, and became no more than an imagined dot in the fiery troposphere.

Chapter One

To a flying Christmas beetle, Bedlam Zoo looked like a prison, a formidable collection of buildings and enclosures. The perimeter wall was built of large rough-hewn stones and lanced with heavy wrought-iron spikes. The zoo's exterior impression was of strength, permanence and fortitude.

The zig-zagging beetle was Spark. As he got closer, Spark thought Bedlam Zoo looked less like a gaol and more like a fortress. He puzzled about it as he flew closer and closer to his assignment; was the wall keeping inmates in or intruders out?

Bedlam Zoo was in a city. Three sides of the zoo faced different busy urban roads, one with a train line. There was even a zoo railway station, to simplify travel for human visitors who wished to enjoy a fun family day out staring at imprisoned creatures. At the apex of the triangle was a small area of steep bushland that dipped down towards a river. It was fenced with a heap of rusty cars and piled up old whitegoods (now more rusty than white). This area remained untouched by the zoo’s maintenance staff because they never received any instructions about it. For an Ektek spider, with their ears and eyes trained to the world-wide-cobweb, it was easy to make any computer communiqué disappear. Ektek made much of the saying, ‘Out of sight, out of mind.’

Spark continued his uneven flight towards the zoo. Sounds of exotic animals from various countries grew closer as the beetle approached. The stench of trapped beasts was also increasing. Spark tried to work out if he was feeling excited or terrified. He couldn’t decide which as he went over the wire and flew into the zoo. He had made it into Bedlam.

Aging statues of megafauna decorated the well-kept public pathways. As Spark flittered past a real, and really bored, elephant, she used him for target practice. The elephant, whose name was Anna, flung a fountain of dust from her trunk directly into his erratic path. She laughed in that bizarre way of slightly mad elephants. Soon she turned to scratch her backside on a large old tree trunk cemented into her cage. Then she resumed her regime of swaying back and forth and forth and back and back again over her allotted four-metre walkway; her own personal invisible constraint system.

Spark coughed, spluttered uncontrollably and zagged when he should have zigged before coming in to land, only narrowly missing some sharp barbed wire on a railing. He scuttled down a neglected pathway hung with a sign that said ‘Staff Only’. The sign was also clearly marked by a line of beetle footprints for those who knew how to see. Past dense shrubbery, he went through a tunnel into the bush, and then rounded a corner. He didn’t notice the airship tethered high above him as he entered the foyer of an enormous cave. Who bothers to look up when everything right in front of them is astounding?

Spark’s beetle mandibles hung open in amazement as he stared around him at this fabled place. All his life he had heard legends about Ektek. He had finally made it. Wow. He, Spark, Christmas beetle, had arrived in the huge garage area of Ektek. Pulling himself together, Spark nervously approached a large old darkling beetle that appeared to be guarding the entrance to the hangar—Is this Ektek?

The darkling nodded. He was a particularly elongated beetle with ridged sheaths over his wings. Not only were they ridged but his elytra also very shiny. His antennae were wider at the tip than they were by his head and they swayed when he added, without any curiosity or pleasantries—State your business.

Spark replied—Urgent. Number five hundred and seventeen. He thought he’d better say the urgent bit again but, remembering his mother’s words when he was just a grub, kept his mouth shut. He’d do what he was told. At least, he’d try to.

—Follow. Remember your number. That’s your mission, now. You are that number. The darkling beetle led Spark further inside the cool of the cavern—And keep up, for Zed’s sake.

The two beetles moved past the light reflectors into the repair section of the workshop. Spark stared around him in wonder—How does it stay light in here?

—Solar tubes, the darkling beetle kept marching as he explained—The sunlight reflects down the tubes; they contain mirrors. They’re adjusted to get maximum light into the cavern. Obviously. Down here, how else would you expect to get light?

Spark was overcome as he gazed around the cave—The place is huge. How…?

The darkling beetle, secretly pleased to stop and catch his breath, agreed—Ants and termites originally. Dug it out. Series of caves linked to each other. Under and round the zoo, kilometres of caverns. Come on, through here …

Spark couldn’t help himself. He found himself stopping again to examine a bank of various shaped containers, grouped under a wide funnel, leading to some sort of ducting—What’s all this, then?

The darkling beetle sighed again but provided the information, proud enough of Ektek to want to boast—Batteries. Charging. Ektek has solar panels on the zoo’s buildings. Maintenance staff think they’re part of the zoo’s grid. They are, sort of. Once recharged, those batteries’ll be ready for our vehicles. Build up of hydrogen round the batteries gets collected for the airship.

A collection of sturdy bottles and some tubular apparatus lined the walls. Spark sniffed. He was sure he could smell the distinct odour of overcooked … —Chips?

—Chips. That’s right. Chips. That’s the refuelling, if you must know. Do you have to stick your nose into everything? This 'in’t the time! The darkling beetle stopped and barked at the young tourist, possibly reminding himself that he, too, had a job to do—Get a move on!

—Sorry, darkling, said Spark as he hurried on—But what’s with the chips?

—Don’t call me darkling! growled the beetle—Name’s Torque.

—Torque?

—Yes. Torque. It’s biodiesel.

—Bio-what?

—Biodiesel. Fuel. Recycled chip oil. Powers that thing. That’s the tank. Torque pointed towards a shiny armoured vehicle about the size of a small human car. It was shaped like a stag beetle and carried all sorts of equipment; ladders, cranes and hoses—The zoo’s kiosk puts out the used oil for the recycling firm twice a week. We take it once a week. No one asks any questions, we don’t make a fuss. Simple process involving caustic soda, bit dangerous but we’re careful. Cheap as chips.

—Brilliant place to live, said Spark—A zoo.

Torque agreed—Got that right, young larva. Find us a lot of very useful rubbish. Now then, march. Don’t want to lose you and we’ve got important business to attend to, don’t we? Or you wouldn’t be here, remember?

Torque was head of Ektek security. He believed he was indispensable in the caverns of Ektek and he may well have been right. He certainly did know everything and everyone and what he didn’t know was simply not worth knowing.

As Spark followed the old beetle, he couldn’t help himself. He gazed about him astonished, not only by the collection of vehicles, but also by the industry with which the mechanics attended them. The reflected sunlight beamed into a group of engineer beetles crawling diligently over the tank’s engine. Spark could hear a metallic knocking and a frenetic hissing and then there was a clang as something heavy dropped onto the hard dirt ground. Spark could almost taste the endeavour and purpose in the air as he absorbed the sounds and smells and lights reflecting from polished metal and burnished elytra of beetles hurrying here and dashing there and standing quietly in a corner talking to an attractive …

Oh, there was simply too much to see!

Among the craft parked in the cave, a graceful wingship was just visible in another dock area of the workshop. This craft looked almost like a swan cradling its young under its wide and gently downward curving wings. It was engineered to fit two creatures comfortably in the front, about five metres wide and three metres long. Spark stared at the much smaller plane parked on top of the wingship.

—Great little craft, that, said Torque, when he saw what had lately captured Spark’s attention—The mini-plane. Manoeuvrable, versatile, she can keep in easy reach of the airship, or in this case, the wingship. Lock in the communication channel; they become one flexible craft.

—There’s so many of them!

—The vehicles? Yup, and what’s more, the fleet is theoretically ready at all times.

—What if one of them has just been somewhere?

—Don’t matter; twenty-four hour roster of mechanics to check and double-check each mechanism, each fuel system, communications, everything.

—Why doesn’t everyone just escape?

—Escape what?

—Well, here. Spark looked around—The zoo?

—Too much to do, ‘in’t there. Who else is going to look after all them poor animals, then?

—Er, Torque? Spark whispered, overcome and overwhelmed by this great cathedral to ecology and technology—Got any apprenticeships going?

Torque straightened his hairy exoskeleton—Let’s be getting on with the job in hand and see how we go after that, shall we? No use getting ahead of ourselves, is there, young collie?

Spark snapped to attention. He not only remembered his mum’s words (keep your mouth shut and do what you’re told) but also the grim message he carried. He meekly followed Torque through a tunnel in the stone and dirt to a dimly lit hole in the wall. Torque turned to him—Wait here, and disappeared inside.

Spark stared at a tiny shell embedded in the wall and wondered who, or what, he was about to meet. What sort of creatures would these Ektek animals be? What would they ask of him? How would he measure up? There was light at the end of the tunnel and, oh, it was the way out. It started to look attractive. He even took a step towards it; the way home, but he stopped himself. Of course he would go on into the inner chambers of Ektek. Spark was way too intrigued by this adventure to back out now.

Then Torque was at his side again—Right. They’ll see you.

Spark, filled with trepidation, followed the darkling beetle towards the door and entered a cave filled with blue stars, electronic screen light and lots of strange blinking equipment. The space seemed smaller than it was because it was so crowded with its tangle of machinery. This was the Ektek communications centre. Spark saw there were three creatures in the space and none of them looked particularly fierce or strange. He did, however, feel painfully self conscious as he realised they were waiting for him, their work apparently interrupted.

The biggest one stood with his taloned feet gripped into the dirt making him look, for all the world, like a dinosaur. He was a cassowary with a thick black coat of feathers covering his body, a shapely blue neck hung with red wattles like pirate jewellery, a bony cap on his head and searingly intelligent eyes.

A yellow-footed rock wallaby was also present. His fluffy ears appeared too big for his head and they twitched and flicked, alert. He was covered in luxurious white and brown fur and he stood, leaning back slightly on his glamorous yellow-striped fur tail, with his long legs planted onto the floor and his little arms waiting, en garde.

The last animal was the smallest. She was sitting up, with straight back, balanced on her hindquarters. She was in front of a phalanx of screens and a panel of switches, buttons and track balls. She had short, stiff, red-brown hair. She looked as if she was wearing a distinct punk mask that reflected in the black monitor screen directly opposite her. The dark stripe, underlined and accentuated by a white stripe, covered her eyes like Zorro camouflage. Under it, her black determined eyes glinted. She was interested. Interesting, too. Her long pointed nose twitched as she watched the two beetles enter the control centre. She was a numbat. She flicked out a long worm-like tongue and slurped at a small dish on the control panel, apparently containing the remains of her breakfast. Spark was impressed and just a tiny bit disgusted; that was one heck of a long tongue!

All three animals waited expectantly as the two beetles approached. Torque went directly to the numbat and growled—Here’s the new number. He’s called Spark. To the nervous Spark he said—Come on, they won’t bite you. As all three creatures chuckled politely, Spark could only hope Torque was telling the truth and followed obediently. They came close to the scaly legs of the cassowary and Torque turned to Spark—This cassowary is Helmut. He’s the pilot of the airship. You’ll have seen it on the way in.

Spark, who of course hadn’t looked up to see anything at all of the airship because he’d been so engrossed in everything he could see down at his eye level when he’d arrived, bowed to the giant bird and said nothing of his ignorance.

Torque moved on to the white-and-brown wallaby and said—This is Hod, one of our engineers, and Spark bowed again, this time to the yellow-footed rock wallaby.

Finally, Torque moved to the numbat seated in front of the computers and said—This is Antenna. She looks after our communications systems. She’ll take care of you. Then Torque backed away respectfully, waiting until he was next called upon.

Antenna turned to Spark—Looks like you’ve come a long way. Spark, is it? Torque nodded from the corner, just in case Spark was paralysed with fear; which he was. Antenna acknowledged Torque as well before continuing gently—What is your number, Spark? She stepped from her rock seat and stood on four feet, looking down at him and bending closer to hear the smaller creature speak.

Young Spark watched Antenna closely as he said—Five hundred and seventeen. Crocodiles up north. And then, charmingly, the two creatures began to dance together. This particular dance had been repeated five hundred and seventeen times between the beetles on their journey towards the zoo. This was anything but an ordinary funky get-to-know-you dance. This was an educational dance. Through Spark and Antenna’s movements details were communicated through gestures, scents and sounds. It was the dance of the honeybee, only in a broad accent. Over the years of increasing threats animals had learned several languages to understand each other and for space and direction there was simply nothing better than the bee ballet.

Once Antenna had a clear idea of Shining Teeth’s predicament she said—Considerable distance. Okay. She turned to the cassowary—We’ll need to think carefully about this, Helmut. To beetle Spark she asked—Salties, I presume?

Spark nodded cautiously—Think so.

Antenna turned to Hod and Helmut—One’s been trapped. The male. His family want him freed. Antenna continued her mental computations—Could get ugly. Helmut? What do you think?

—We’re about to commence an action. The cassowary considered for a moment and then spoke—We simply can’t alter our plans. The restaurant must take precedence. It’s taken months to set this up.

—Of course, said Antenna—There’s far too much at stake.

—If we had unlimited resources, Helmut, the cassowary, continued, thinking aloud—The obvious choice would be the airship together with the wingship.

—Totally. With the sort of territory crocs inhabit we’d need to give ourselves options, said Antenna—But it’s completely impossible, given today.

—Could the crocs wait? asked the wallaby.

—Not sure. Probably no. Given they are crocodiles.

—I wouldn’t want to stereotype any species here but crocodiles actually can be particularly patient, said Helmut—For a time. Then, of course, they act and quickly. Taking into account they have already delayed any retaliation so far and we can’t respond immediately, if we can do something to alleviate their troubles, I think we should.

Antenna thought for a moment before she spoke—My father always said, decisions made in haste lead to poor outcomes.

—So true, said Helmut—And we do need to get to that restaurant. So we’ve got to decide and then get on with it.

—Because of the proximity to the river, what do you think? Is the boat possible? said Antenna, as she weighed the options.

—Intek is in action currently, isn’t it? asked Helmut.

—What’s Inket? said Spark in an aside to Torque. He was beginning to relax and enjoy himself, just a little bit.

—Intek. Tek! Technology. It’s the watery side of Ektek. Torque may have rolled his eyes but in reality he loved having to explain the finer details of Ektek to a lesser, more ignorant beetle—We’ve got Uptek in the air, Ontek on the ground and Intek in the water. Learning about problems for endangered animals. In this case…

—Illegal fishing, said Antenna, nodding. She turned to the wallaby—What do you think, Hod?

—The wingship and the mini-plane? asked the yellow-footed rock wallaby—Are they available?

—Good thinking, Hod. The cassowary gleamed his bright thoughtful eyes between the wallaby and the numbat—I don’t think Bash or Crawf are engaged at the moment.

—That’s so, said Antenna—Plane and wingship it is. Helmut? Can you get Bash and Crawf organised as soon as possible? Take Spark with you so he can show them.

—Absolutely, said Helmut—Hod? I’ll meet you at the airship. Spark?

—Sir?

—Let’s go. Helmut indicated the young beetle should accompany him. Torque nodded permission for Spark to leave with Helmut, and the cassowary had to slow as the beetle gathered wing-speed and flew across the control centre. Before they’d even left the room, Hod resumed his previous discussion as though the beetle had never even been there—We planned to be in place well before opening time and I’ve still got no way of speaking to you.

—We haven’t time to fix it, Antenna agreed—We’ll be receiving your pictures and hopefully you can get in and out of the kitchen without needing any kind of instructions.

—From me or to me?

—Funny. Will you cope?

Hod became defensive—Don’t talk that much.

—That’s not what your girlfriend says.

—Which one?

—Oh, Hod! You’re so irresponsible!

—They love me and so do you.

—Can we please get back to the real world? Antenna turned her attention back to the computer monitor in front of her and began to flick switches with her numbat paws. She focussed on the monitors—Lucky that little beetle… What was his name again, Torque?

—Spark, replied the darkling beetle from the corner where he waited for further orders.

—Right. Spark, said Antenna—Lucky he turned up just after the zoo had closed. Would have been difficult if we’d had to take animals off duty. Hey, speaking about closing time, where are Min and Wilkinson? They must have been shut down by now? What’s keeping them? Torque? Could you get them to hurry along, please?

—Of course, Antenna. Torque instantly disappeared into the tunnel as Antenna turned back to her work. She seemed to move effortlessly around the maze of switches but then, she’d been in training for years.

The Ektek control panel was a patchwork of metal, bone, plant and plastic. Wire, pipe, cord and shell worked around and through six different-sized video monitors. The crowded console included counters, switches, faders, buttons and keyboards designed to be used by different animals of different sizes with differently shaped hands and feet. It existed as part of Bedlam Zoo’s technical network. Only the human staff knew nothing about it.

Hod fiddled with the edge of the control desk and started twiddling a button. He jumped when Antenna slapped him on the wrist of his little fluffy arm—Get off!

He jumped backwards and then sniggered at her—You’re worse than your dad!

—Well, don’t go sticking your great hairy paws in where you don’t want to go! Unless, you’ve changed your mind and you’d like a lesson?

—If you ever catch me wanting to learn all that geeky techo stuff… You’ll know I’m on my last legs.

—You could easily do it.

—You easily do it. I’d rather chop off my own tail.

—You’d never lose your tail, Hoddy. You’re so vain, Antenna smiled at him and turned her attention back to the screen—We’ve got too much to do.

There was indeed much to do. After the recent death of her father, Antenna took the weight of the Ektek control desk very seriously. Assisted by Hod, Min and Wilkinson, Antenna worked as the spider in the web, paws on the interwoven threads, determining any vibrations out at the Ektek edges. With their help she had been able to pick up the controller skills devised and perfected by her elders. Now, she knew where each Ektek operative was, what their planned action might be and how best to get that information out to the waiting world.

—Antenna? said Hod—I’d better head.

—Hang on, haven’t checked everything. Look, Antenna turned to the monitors—I’ve got the homepage open here, right? There was the bright Ektek logo over the question: ‘Who will save the animals?’

—Great work, Antenna, but I’ve got to…

—Then, there’s the vid insert in the main page…’ Antenna turned to another monitor showing a square of fizzing snow bounded by a surround of eco-ads.

—Wow. How’d you get so much advertising? said Hod, leaning forward over Antenna’s shoulder. She looked up at him, pleased he was so obviously impressed.

—Got to keep the site up somehow. So, when we get your footage in, I’ll stream it into that and finally… She turned to the next computer monitor which displayed a page opened to an outmail box. A letter entitled ‘Media Release’ was addressed to ‘Commerce News Division Service’ and a considerable list of newspapers and television stations appeared in the address box—I’ll have the mail page open so we can notify the media as soon as we get content.

—They have to see this Last Chance to Eat place, said Hod—With their own eyes. I’ve been watching the place and I don’t believe it.

—Journos can download any info or photos they want, no credit or by-line necessary. Now we’ve got income, Ektek can provide images for free.

—I better go, Hod moved back from the screen—Helmut’ll be waiting ...

—Can we just go over it? One more time? For my benefit?

—Uh, if you really have to ...

—Okay. Grabbing hold of his faint interest, Antenna increased the speed of her delivery even more—Helmut transports you and Zip, gets you into the restaurant before they open tonight. You’re on head-cam, Zip’s with telescopic arm on her vehicle. Zip has sound. We can’t communicate …

Hod struck a soap opera pose—Don’t say that, babe …

—Hoddy… Antenna needed his attention and couldn’t help just a small warning ‘teacher’ growl creeping in to her voice.

—Yeah, yeah, go on, I’m listening. Communicating, see?

Antenna shook out her irritation—Your footage, both you in the kitchen and Zip in the dining room, transmits back in here, we edit and then stream out into the web.

—What do the cod have to say? asked Hod.

—They know everything we’ve discovered so far about the illegal fishing. We know the Department admitted to losing at least three of their transmitters over the past year but they call it ‘natural attrition’. They reckon predation or ‘act of God’ got ‘em.

—Predation. Well. They’re sort of right, eh.

—No, they’re not. The Department doesn’t like to talk about illegal fishing.

—Funding?

—Lack of.

—They call it a normal acceptable risk.

—How did you find out?

—Email. Here’s the screen. Got the whole Murray Cod story… Antenna opened another page in the Ektek website. Again a border of eco-ads framed well-designed images and grabs of information about the big river fish—It explains how we watched the cod…

—But not ‘who’.

—Obviously, and how we followed the fishers with their catch into Last Chance to Eat. Then, how the Murray cod containing the transmitters were worth a fortune on the plate. If the human nibbling the cod found the transmitter, then that lucky human won the door prize.

—Some treasure hunt, eh! said Hod.

—We’ve got the images from the surveillance operation but it’s unclear what happens in the place. Like, why are the animals still alive when they get there?

—Last Chance to Eat, said Hod, squeezing overt meaning into the words—Gives you a clue, don’t it.

—We have to find out, said Antenna—Once and for all.

—Can’t help the cod but we might be able to help someone else, said Hod.

—Yeah, well. Hopefully. Last Chance to Eat has to be stopped, that’s for sure. Basically the action is a trespass and exposure. Simple really. She looked up at Hod, suddenly nervous—You think? Is it going to work?

—Relax, Anti-freeze. Wouldn’t change a thing.

—Don’t call me Anti-freeze! I’m not the big cuddly one, now, am I. Look at your fluffy tail! Then, as Antenna realised she was keeping him from his duty and Helmut really would be waiting for him, she straightened up. There was a glint of humour in her eye though as she practically shouted at him—Hurry up! Get to work! You’re late!

—Whose fault is that? laughed Hod as he turned to go.

—Get out of here! Antenna laughed back—And, thanks, Hoddy.

Hod gave her a cheeky wave as he left the control centre. She didn’t see it. She was already focussed on her screens and keyboards, absorbed, typing, sorting and planning. This action would go smoothly. As if her life depended on it.

Chapter Two

A yellow-spotted bombardier beetle crawled over the surface of the wingship, antennae twitching and swishing over the metal. She had a narrow head fused into her body. Her legs were the same red colour as her head. Her elytra were a shiny blue with yellow spots. She was a perfectionist. She stopped briefly to critically examine a small scratch on the wingship’s exterior. She considered the depth and the length of the dent and her red antennae trembled as she thought. She decided it was a mere surface issue and continued her safety sweep.

The other mechanical beetles on duty understood what was required and had already moved into emergency mode. Each had particular tasks to prepare the wingship and plane and each were trained and efficient in their duties.

Helmut and Spark stood to one side, waiting for the wingship’s captain and navigator to appear. Helmut bent down to speak to the beetle at his feet—You’ll like Bash. He’s not much bigger than you, probably about the same age. He’s a corroboree frog.

—And, Crawf?

—Ah. Crawf is a rather different kettle of beast. He’s bigger…

—Oh.

—No need for alarm. He’s a cockatoo. Big, certainly, but you don’t want to let him worry you.

—Okay.

—Look, no, really, don’t think anything about Crawf. He can be a bit… Well. You’ll see. Just, don’t let him concern you unduly. Helmut turned to the wingship and shouted up at the mechanic beetle—Excuse me, Manifold?

The bombardier beetle looked down to the cassowary on the ground—Yup?

—Did you say you’d sent someone to find Crawf and Bash?

—Yup.

—Okay. Shouldn’t they be here by now?

—Yup.

—Well. Perhaps I’ll go and look for them myself? Good idea?

—Yup. Manifold turned back to her work, tightening a bolt near the wing tip.

—Thanks for that informative chat, Manifold. Hard to get a word in with you today. Helmut bent down towards Spark—I’ll just see if I can find them. You stay here, right?

Spark nodded. He was stunned. Literally. He felt as if he were floating. Everything was happening around him and yet he was feeling detached, surreal. The smells and sounds of the hangar were so thrilling he felt as though his little beetle eyes had been opened to the possibilities of life—Yes, Helmut, I’ll stay here, he echoed thoughtlessly, his synapses overloaded to the point of daftness.

Helmut strode off on his gnarly cassowary legs towards the dark entrance to the tunnel, leaving Spark craning his head up over the wheels to see if he could climb up onto the wingship. His courage grew and he clambered, with great difficulty, onto the surface of the tyre. It felt good to be seeing the Ektek world from this vantage point.

Suddenly, Spark was almost blasted away over the hard dirt floor by a series of growls—Hullo? What do you think you are doing? A palm cockatoo looked like a thunder cloud with his headdress feathers fully extended as he lowered his head and marched towards Spark, swaying slightly from side to side, rumbling as he came. The bird was dark grey and the bare skin patch on his face was vibrant dark red.

Spark stared in horror at the approaching threat. This must be Crawf and he was getting closer… Just as Spark was about to turn tail and take flight, Helmut reappeared around the side of the wingship—Ah, Crawf. See you’ve met Spark. He’s your number today.

—Not a terrorist? You’re sure?

—His name’s Spark. He’s a Christmas beetle. I don’t believe they do terrorism.

—No, no we don’t… said Spark—Absolutely not. No way. Not us.

—Can’t be too sure, said Crawf as he straightened up slowly and gave himself a little shake—Hullo? Spark. Didn’t know what you were up to on that wheel. Could have been tampering. Can’t have anyone tampering with the machine before we take off, can we?

—This is Crawf. He’s harmless. He might look frightening but he’s not. Don’t worry. As Helmut reassured the beetle, a tiny black-and-yellow frog ambled into Spark’s view just behind the cassowary. This, presumably, was Bash. His yellow stripes looked like a maze painted over a shiny black pebble. Helmut continued his friendly conversation, seemingly unaware of Spark’s thundering heart—Found Bash. He was under the impression he was heading out on the airship. Don’t know where he got that. Bash, this is Spark. He’ll inform you about those crocs. Do you want to get started? I’ll head out on the airship. See you.

Bash and Crawf both nodded as Helmut left them to it. Crawf’s crest was now flatter and much less threatening. Spark noticed his giant beak was hooked and looked very, very sharp—S’pose so, said Crawf—Sooner we get the info, sooner we can go see what a bunch of crocs do for fun out on the river banks.

The three creatures; frog, cockatoo and beetle, came close together and bowed. Spark began his circular dance. He stepped out the shape of infinity again and then again and shook in some variations. These variations provided the information codes: a shake and a nod in one direction meant one thing, a shimmy and a shiver towards another direction meant something else. Soon the frog and cockatoo joined in and followed the beetle’s moves. The dance was serious but still gracious. Each creature was careful to place their feet in exactly the right spot and to shake their limbs or wings in exactly the right way. These were their directions to find the croc harem. Any mistake could mean life or death for the pilot and the navigator.

Manifold continued her check prior to lift off without even glancing at the dance. She shouted at a couple of bombardier beetles down in the engine—Oi! Watch for the plugs! Don’t want them fouled again.

The dance slowed and stopped and the wingship crew became focussed on leaving. Bash and Crawf climbed up into the cockpit.

—Good luck, said Manifold.

—We’re going to need it, said Crawf.

—Oh, yeah, said Manifold with considerable emphasis. Crawf raised his head-feathers at her tone but Manifold had gone before he could comment.

Back on the ground, Spark felt himself sway slightly. He shook his head to try to wake up. The long flight, the coming to life of a fable, everything about Ektek; it was all a bit much for his tiny coleopteran brain.

Spark had to lean his shiny carapace up against the wall. Beetles ran past him, one saying to him—Can’t stay there, mate. They’re about to roll out the wingship. So Spark moved to another spot where he could see Bash and Crawf on duty in the cockpit of the wingship. The small plane was secure on the roof and a team of beetles swarmed over the wheels and joints of both craft, performing final checks.

Another beetle scurried past, bumping into Spark—Crumbs, mate! Out of the way, would you?

—Sorry.

—Watch out, collie! snarled another beetle.

—Sorry.

—Get out of here! yelled someone else. Spark was bumped and jostled until finally he found a place where no one shoved him and he could watch the take off procedure in peace; at least, in physical calm. Inside, he was in turmoil.

Manifold shouted to all the beetles who were leaving the wingship—Completed your before and after entering checks?

The beetles chorused—Affirmative. Some of the beetles ran out behind the wingship, some to the front and stood ready as Manifold continued her checklist. Presumably, on board, Crawf and Bash were practising some kind of similar procedure that Spark couldn’t hear. He was too mesmerised by the beetles. Beetles like him, but these appeared to be strong, purposeful beetles. These were skilled beetles with a mission.

When the engines started, Spark almost wet himself. From a stuttering splurt the small engines rose into a warm hum, then rose again into a sort of humming buzz.

Manifold continued shouting, louder now—Static vent plugs?

—Removed.

—Flying controls?

—Free.

—Throttles?

—Primed and set.

—All clear above and astern?

—Clear.

—Standing by chocks.

—Chocks away, the beetles chorused as they heaved at the heavy chocks and ran, pushing the carved wooden blocks to the side wall of the hangar, well out of the way and right in Spark’s direction. He managed to duck them safely and watched as Manifold cried out—And they’re off!

—Chocks away… muttered Spark and he dodged and wove and ran to follow the little plane out of the hangar, sniffing the smell of burnt chips as if it were the most appetising of perfumes. As he came to the mouth of the hangar, beetles were coming in again and he tried very hard to avoid bumping in to them but it was difficult when his mouth was hanging open and he’d fallen in love with a vehicle that was abuzz with life.

The wingship’s high humming increased in volume as it soared out into the sky and buzzed round past the airship which floated gracefully into the distance. Pilot Crawf tipped the wing towards the airship in acknowledgement of their shared airspace. The watching beetles on the ground cheered. Then both craft faded into the vibrant blue of the sky.

Spark stood, transfixed, at the great open mouth of the hangar cave. He started to hum in a high buzzing kind of way. His eyes were almost rolling in his head. His brain was full of the glory of ignition and preparation. He slid down the wall at the outside of the hangar, humming quietly to himself—This is the life, he thought—This…. Is… The… Life.

The sky emptied and the trees and shrubbery seemed to embrace him as he lay humming in the afternoon sun. Gradually his eyes closed and his legs became limp. Then his hum sputtered and ceased. Spark gave a tiny beetle grunt and rolled over slightly.

Then, into the silence of the afternoon, came the sound of a tiny, beetle snore.

Chapter Three

I

—Anyone there? Over. Antenna’s voice was insistent. She’d been calling for attention for some time now with no result. She hunched over a slender microphone rising out of the computer array like some weird flower bud—Talk to me, someone! Anyone? Zip? Are you hearing me? Over.

The light from the control panel flickered over her pointed face. She was deeply frustrated. Something had gone wrong. She’d lost the communication link with the airship and with Zip. Nothing was functioning properly and there was still no sign of Min or Wilkinson. She typed urgently, trying diagnostic tests to assess the problem. There was no explanation for it. The system had simply collapsed. Deliberately she stood and went around the control desk to kick the side of the computer. It hurt her but made no appreciable difference to the system. She returned to her rock seat and leaned her head onto the keyboard and sighed.

Torque entered the cave and crept close to Antenna. Thinking she was asleep he whispered—Antenna?

Antenna, put into a bad mood by the technology failure, sat up and snapped at the beetle—What?

Torque hated to be the bearer of bad news and braced himself for a reaction even before he spoke. He looked round to see who might be listening. Even though he established there was no one else there, he whispered—It’s Wilkinson.

—What about her?

—She’s been cleared.

—What!

—Cleared. The old guard. Gone.

—Oh no, Antenna stared in horror at Torque, the news slowly sinking in—Thanks, Torque. I’ll go now.

Torque followed Antenna as she left her seat and went out into the dirt tunnel. The passageway led to every entrance of the various enclosures of the Ektek animals – mostly from the Australian section but there were others involved. Ektek was a global operation.

The old guard had consisted of Antenna’s father and Min’s mother, Wilkinson. This unlikely pair, a numbat and a Leadbeater’s possum, together with a team of termites, ants and beetles, had set up the computer system that was the spine of Ektek. Antenna’s dad had been cleared only recently and now that Wilkinson was gone, Min would be the only Leadbeater’s possum left in the zoo.

Her brother, Rawlinson, had been sent out to another facility for breeding. Split up the families; clear the elders, that was the way of the zoo. The old guard had accepted that. It suited them. They knew sooner or later they’d be cleared and they’d be spared the indignity of old age. Everyone had to die sooner or later. If you were no longer bringing in an audience then you were no longer profitable to feed and then, well, your useful days were over.

Although everyone dreaded being cleared, everyone knew death was a fact of life. They also knew that there was a measure of protection from human encroachment in a zoo. Predators, feral competition, starvation and even disease were removed from the equation when you were housed in a dry, maintained enclosure with round the clock veterinary service. Both numbat and possum were wild caught, some of their progeny captive born. It was all they knew and now more of the old guard had been cleared.

That made Helmut the last surviving Ektek elder.

II

Antenna marched down the tunnel towards the nocturnal house. The long coarse hairs on her tail bristled, making her look far more hostile than she actually felt. She muttered to herself as she strode through the corridors. Her stripes flashed on her back as though she were a tiger in a bamboo forest. She thought to herself that Min was being unreasonable. Min simply had to accept the way of the zoo. She had to learn to think about other animals beside herself. Everyone lost his or her parents. It was natural. Some creatures never knew their parents at all. Min was just being selfish; how dare she. Stubborn and selfish. Someone had to tell her. That someone was going to have to be Antenna. She tightened her lips. All this bolstering wasn’t really convincing her. She didn’t have a clue what she would say to Min. What could you say to someone who had just lost their mother?

III

The nocturnal house was cool and dark in daytime and the lights came on at night so that nocturnal animals would be awake in the pseudo night when paying customers came to visit. It was still dark as Antenna came through the camouflaged entrance from the tunnels and she could smell the drying eucalyptus that decorated the possum enclosure.

Antenna found Min scrunched down into a tiny ball in her bedding. Antenna called to her softly as she approached.

Min opened one eye and scrunched down further—I could smell death. All day. The vet’s been busy.

Antenna nodded—You’re not the only one, then.

—I didn’t get a chance to say goodbye. They just came and took her before I even knew.

—You mum knew she meant the earth to you.

—Did she?

—Yes, she did. You know that.

—Do I?

—Parents are supposed to die. The young take over.

—But not yet, Anti. Min shrank down even smaller—Not yet.

Antenna huddled in beside her. Min was cold. Leadbeater’s possums came from the mountains. They liked to be cold. They were also known as fairy possums because they were small and exquisite. They stayed huddled together in the dark, breathing in the smell of dried eucalyptus, sharing sadness. Then, suddenly, with an electronic thud, the lights snapped on and the entire nocturnal habitat was flooded in bright daylight.

—You’re right, said Antenna—Let’s all give up. Let’s forget about Zip and Hod and Helmut. Let’s forget all about Ektek. Let’s forget about those animals trapped in the kitchen. It’s all way too hard.

—It is.

—We can’t give up, Min. It’s too important. There’s too many needing help. You’ve got to get up and get going. Antenna shook her head in frustration. She tightened her lips and whispered to the shocked creature nestled beside her—It’s what our parents wanted, Min. I need you to help me. Please.

A silence frosted silently between the two mammals before Min sighed deeply—Can’t argue, Anti. Then Min stood abruptly and shook off her bedding.

Antenna followed her out of the nocturnal house and they went back to work.

IV

Zip’s voice fizzed through the satellite connection—Ektek? Can you hear me? Over.

—All right! Antenna was jubilant—Thank you, Min!

—But…? Min sounded puzzled—I didn’t do anything! She barely looked up from the wiring as her tiny fingers traced a circuit.

—You must have. It’s working now. Antenna seized the mic—Zip! Am I glad to hear you! What’s happening? Over.

Zip’s voice was not quite swallowed by interference—I’ve parked the car under the waiters’ table. They’ve unlocked the doors. Last Chance to Eat is open for business. Over.

—Okay, Min nodded and turned her attention back to the circuitry.

Antenna spoke into the mic—What do you mean, waiters’ table? What’s that mean? Over.

—You know, the table where they uncork drink bottles and put serving trays and stuff—Zip’s voice splintered into the speakers—You know. Collection and sorting. Over.

—I do not know. Antenna shook her head and frowned—Why’s she expect me to know anything about human restaurants?

—Because you know everything, muttered Min.

Antenna glanced up, not sure if Min had attempted a joke in her present emotional state, and she let it pass. Of course she didn’t know everything. However, she did understand that this waiters’ table would be a perfect vantage point for Zip in the dining room. There would be no people kicking her under the table and she would hopefully be able to operate the camera unnoticed. She spoke again into the mic—Zip? Can you pan ‘round the restaurant, please? Over.

Immediately, one of the blank video screens flickered into life. Min and Antenna watched as Zip’s footage was beamed from the car’s micro camera to the Ektek headquarters via the airship and the satellite. All systems go. Min and Antenna exchanged a glance. Phew. So far. This was their first look inside the famed Last Chance to Eat.

The place was huge, formal and obviously expensive. The furniture appeared antique. There were white tablecloths. There were ornate stands bearing monster flower decorations that speared the air between the tables. The serious-faced waiting staff wore slick hair and long black aprons over their crisp white shirts, printed with a cunning design of flying passenger pigeons. They flitted from table to table straightening the silver salt and peppershakers fashioned like bulbous sea-cows. They polished up the moa embossed knives and forks on their aprons, preparing for their dinner guests.

Antenna and Min could see Zip was strategically placed under the table against a wall facing the entrance. The kitchen doorway was to her left. The camera was set into a telescopic arm. The pictures shook as the camera changed angles.

Last Chance to Eat was a themed restaurant with attitude, a life and death attitude. In the centre of the restaurant, three skinny creatures, looking a bit like antelope from a distance, huddled together on the top of a set made to look like a mountain-top. One creature turned her head, her eye coruscating in panic. They skittered together to the top of a plateau. The whole mountain picture was surrounded by a moat that the gentle terrified beasts would never be able to cross.

Back in the control centre, Min looked at the helpless beings—Who are they?

Antenna breathed in and said—Chiru.

—Chir-who?

—You know. Chiru. Antenna watched the screen with her pointed nose twitching angrily—Humans make shatoosh out of their hair.

—Sha-what?

—Shatoosh. Fancy shawls fine enough to pass through a wedding ring. Warm enough to hatch a pigeon’s egg. Takes three chiru pelts to make one shawl. Humans love ‘em. Wonder who’ll win the shawl tonight.

—Oh, don’t.

—What else are they there for?

—Hang on, said Min, leaning forward to see the screen better—What’s that?

—Go back, Zip, said Antenna into the mic—To the corner. Over.

The Ektek camera was so small the footage tended to be shaky. Any slight floor movement could disturb it. Zip moved the camera back to focus on a shadowy corner. When the images settled, Min and Antenna leaned in to see a human camera crew was setting up their outlandish equipment.

Antenna narrowed her eyes—Now, you tell me, she said to Min—Why would they want footage of three petrified chiru?

There appeared to be a crew of three people, possibly director, lighting operator and camera operator, clustered together around a large camera. They were unpacking more equipment out of metallic road cases and setting up a veritable phalanx of technology. The human crew were remarkably inconspicuous, given the size of their retro gear. They fitted in, they were expected, there was a place for them in this restaurant.

—This is new. Keep your eye on them, Zip. Over, Antenna said into the mic. What did it mean? Why would Last Chance to Eat need a recording of an evening’s custom?

The patrons began to arrive in twos and threes. As a collective group of customers they were impeccably groomed. A staff member greeted the clientele as they arrived. Waiting minions took their coats away to be hung in the wardrobe by the exit. That wardrobe was beautifully carved with a prancing Przewalski’s horse rearing up across both ornate doors.

A waiter bearing a bottle of a dark red drink called Carson’s Spring dated 1962 approached the waiters’ table. Zip snapped the camera down to escape detection. Back in the control room, Min and Antenna suddenly had a great view of a waiter’s leg and the tablecloth. From underneath. The camera spun round and in the central screen of the console, Min and Antenna got a full close-up of a furry puppy-like face with a great big nose staring right at them. Zip was a bare-backed fruit bat and this weird angle was not at all flattering but Zip didn’t seem to care. She made some dreadful faces at them and grinned. She whispered—Go on, dare me… She grimaced even wider as she reached out her wing tip as if to tickle the waiter’s knee.

Antenna whispered into the mic—Zip! Stop clowning around! Over. Then Antenna turned to Min by her side—As if she’d listen to me.

—She’ll listen. She’s all right.

—‘Course she is. Let’s check out Hoddy.

Antenna turned to a different screen and switched channels until a new picture became clear. This camera was steady and revealed a stainless steel kitchen from above. Min and Antenna watched as kitchen staff moved rapidly through the gleaming temple. It was a magnificently equipped and designed kitchen. Clearly the food prepared here would be of the highest order. Hod was a somewhat larger animal than the bare-backed fruit bat and the view was from his taller perspective. Hod was wearing a miniature camera mounted on his head and he must have been standing on something outside the window. Rock wallabies could climb anything.

Antenna switched the vision through to the webpage frame already prepared for it. She typed in commands and ran the program. The image was now part of a web-cast. Ektek was netcasting live footage just as the old guard had envisaged years ago when they held those first meetings with the beetles.

Min moved to the email screen and pushed ‘send now’. The screen shut and the Media Release was out.

Antenna turned back to the monitor as Hod’s camera captured the face of a small monkey. It was a tiny golden-lion tamarin, staring out from the bars of a roughly formed wooden cage. The tamarin was still alive but beyond shock, beyond hope. Antenna recognised dull despair when she saw it. She hit a series of commands and took a screen shot of the once glorious creature. As Hod continued his tour of the kitchen in the background, Antenna pasted the tamarin’s image into a separate page, typing in the caption; ‘Char-grilled bush meat’.

In the kitchen again, Hod’s head-cam found a leopard, or what was left of it. The leopard’s mournful eyes burned into the screen. It was barely alive. Its legs were bent back in a strange way. The leopard’s mind was lost. The journey to the kitchen had broken it.

Antenna took a screen shot of the leopard staring into the past and transferred it to the website. She added the caption, ‘Vulnerability – a piquant sauce indeed’.

Min was watching the dining room footage streaming in from Zip. More customers arrived and were chattering excitedly as they read the menu and watched the chiru clump together on the faux mountain.

Light drum and bass filtered through the Ektek speakers. Min and Antenna watched as the waiter swung a blackboard towards a glamorous couple seated directly in front of Zip’s waiters’ table. The board was covered in bold chalk writing in a style favoured by architects. Min nudged Antenna—Can you get her to zoom in?

Antenna switched on the mic again—Zip? Can you zoom in on the menu? Over.

Zip made no verbal reply but the lens refocussed. Right at the top of the board was chalked a heading; Nemesis Night Specials.

—Nemesis Night? Min looked to Antenna—What’s that?

—Got me, said Antenna—No idea.

The blackboard list continued:

Japanese Crane

Folded into handmade origami paper

& parched

With a cassoulet of wood bison

& maidenhair tree greens

Slivers of roast leopard

Crammed with golden lion tamarin

& celeriac puree

Bombarded with gold leaf flecks

Warm salad of chiru stuffed komodo

With sizzled snake beans

Quince and blue cheese jus

Beleaguered with parmigiana reggiano shrapnel

In the steel-and-white kitchen, Hod’s camera had found a caged and muzzled komodo dragon. It was an image straight from a reptilian horror flick. This one was still a youngster, the yellow spots clear on its brown scaly skin. It was about two metres long with a powerful head and strong shoulders.

—They certainly like their komodo fresh, said Min.

—And their chiru and tamarin. How do they kill them?

—Do you really want to know? Min was right.

Antenna didn’t really want to know.

Hod moved in for a close-up. The muzzled komodo shook his head impatiently. A gleam of other worlds and prehistoric times shone from his eyes.

Antenna froze a screen shot of the komodo with that glint of ancient intelligence captured in the flare of the lens. She processed the image into the webpage, together with the menu description. It made a striking graphic and Min nodded her approval. At the other keyboard, Min entered an editing program and highlighted the video frame in a random flash. It made a dramatic effect.

—Hey, Antenna looked at her—We make a good team. They’d be proud.

—We’re not supposed to be the team. Min’s eyes filled with tears—Not yet.

—But we are. That’s our duty.

—Duty? Min jumped up from the panel and paced across the floor, her long tail flashing out behind her—What’s that mean?

Antenna turned to watch her surreptitiously, not without sympathy, but still needing Min to focus on their work rather than what Antenna believed to be self pity—Min?

—I can’t help it, Anti. I keep expecting her. She should be here and she’s not and then I remember again and she’s gone, gone forever, never will be again and it’s so, so unfair.

Antenna stood up but Min just kept pacing, kept flicking her tail, marching across the cave, kept talking to herself. Antenna realised this grief was real, of course, and new and raw but still… They were working. It was not the time for self-indulgence.

—I didn’t know it would hurt like this. I know when your dad died you just kept on going. I don’t know how you did.

—Are you saying I’m heartless?

Min really did look like a fairy then. Frail and petite with a faint glow surrounding her fur like a halo. She opened and shut her mouth a couple of times, not knowing what to reply to her friend. She knew Antenna kept her emotions in check but obviously she must have feelings. Eventually the little possum straightened her spine and spoke through her tears—Don’t look so worried, Antenna. I’ll keep going. For them.

Antenna wasn’t concentrating. She had been sucked back into her own memory bank. She was suddenly younger, with her dad grinning at her. He was standing backlit in the cavern of Antenna’s mind and he said to her—Your soft heart, Anti! Trouble with you, kitten, is you feel too much. You don’t think enough. You got to think, numbat baby. Think. That’s the only way forward. Keep thinking with that sharp mind of yours and I guarantee, you’ll work it out.

Antenna shook her head free of sentiment, free of cloying emotions and thought. She thought of all the animals that had been cleared. Then she thought of all the other animals that were being hunted, farmed, culled and vivisected at that very moment—I’m doing it for the living, Min.

—Yes, yes, shivered Min—Of course. So am I.

Antenna nodded and pulled down a new email message screen. This was for all politicians, State and Federal, informing them of the netcast and encouraging them to log on and see the Last Chance to Eat story at the Ektek website. She pressed ‘send now’.

Min said—The Department of Flora and Fauna can’t ignore that.

Antenna sneered—Especially the ones who aren’t dining at Last Chance to Eat tonight.

Back on screen, in the unedited footage, Hod’s camera jerked back crazily, painting an impressionistic blur of the kitchen. It came back into focus on the komodo’s face, now released from the muzzle. The komodo opened and shut its mouth experimentally. Long strands of saliva coated its jaws. It looked down the barrel of the camera and opened and shut its mouth.

In the control room, Min leaned forward intently—What’s he saying?

—Uh oh, Antenna couldn’t believe it.

Min stared at the screen—Sorry?

—Can’t you see?

—What?

—Hod’s set him free.

—How did he get into the kitchen? I thought he was using a telephoto from outside?

—So did I. Antenna grabbed the mic—Hod! Then she remembered he couldn’t hear her. Hod had no sound. She sat back from the mic, remembering their stupid joking about not being able to communicate. This wasn’t a joke—Hoddy, she murmured—Hod. What are you doing? Shut it in! She jumped to her feet and shouted at the screen—Lock it up again! Before it’s too late!

They watched in silence as the camera backed away, the komodo in frame as he pushed on the door of the cage and it opened, ever so slightly. The komodo froze and looked around the stainless temple where the rituals of victuals absorbed the staff. No one had noticed and the komodo pushed again, softly, and the door swung open just a little further. The komodo hesitated, gathering strength and then he rushed out of his prison, running pell-mell to the nearest open door; unfortunately it was the fridge.

The kitchen staff swung around in attitudes of terror, their mouths opening and shutting furiously. They must have been squawking like mad. Ektek creatures couldn’t understand the sound of humans in any kind of language sense – but most creatures could work out what they meant from their tone – even in this silent movie. People ran to get away from the komodo. It was a human stampede.

On the screen, the images blurred impossibly while Hod plunged to safety. When the pictures refocussed the komodo had heaved back out of the fridge. One enterprising chef grabbed a hatchet and hurled it. It glinted as it spun in the bright kitchen light at the frustrated beast. It missed and cracked into the plaster. It juddered for a moment with the impact.

The dragon took off in the opposite direction, this time straight at a horrified young kitchen hand who waved a broom wildly in the general vicinity of the reptile. The komodo wasn’t impressed by being swept on the head with a broom and took a good bite of human leg in response. He dragged the spotty youth several metres. The komodo let go just before he reached the restaurant door. The kitchen-hand scrambled to his feet, dragging his injured leg and opening and shutting his mouth frantically as he scurried away from the beast.

In the control room, Min and Antenna were powerless to do anything as they watched the komodo’s onslaught continue to the swinging doors leading to the sedate dining room.

—Zip! Get out of there! Antenna shouted into the mic—Instantly! NOW! Over.

The diners were completely unaware of the impending komodo. There must have been very good sound-proofing between kitchen and dining room. They murmured contentedly as they attended to the rare morsels displayed before them and drum and bass simpered through the air.

That was until the kitchen doors smashed open, resulting in a crazy tumult of panic as humans leapt to their feet, then onto the tables, then the tables tilted, fell, went flying, the disorder ruffled the waiter’s hairstyles and they too joined their patrons, running, barking, yowling, screeching and baying…

Then, suddenly, awfully, snowy static hit the displays.

Zip’s connection was severed.

At the same time, Hod’s footage disappeared.

The only sound in the Ektek control room was the hissing of screens.

Chapter Four

Antenna typed fast. She opened the same diagnostic programs she had run before, checked exactly the same systems as rapidly as she could—Uptek? Come in please? Over. There was no reply on any channel. The airwaves were dead. It was just like the earlier outage only this time she had Min working beside her. Min looked in disbelief at both fizzing monitors and shook her head. She went to the computer and removed the carapace again. She took her toolkit from her pouch and sifted through the wires and silicon chips embedded into the patchwork. Part of the computer looked like grey matter and part was based on plant cellulose structures. Min’s tiny hands could sense any problems through faint electronic impulses. After diagnosing a slight imbalance she employed an intricately shaped tool into the computer’s depths but she knew it was not causing the main problem—I wish we knew what that crazy scientist did up there, she muttered as she worked—Half the time we’re working in the dark. Not that that’s such a bad thing in itself.

—Yeah, said Antenna—It’s all very well dedicating a satellite to endangered animals but if it drops out…

—What good is it?

—Maybe that mob of extinct animals up there is having a party and broke something.

For the first time since Wilkinson’s clearing Min and Antenna looked at each other and smiled, chuckled even. It was an absurd mental picture. The satellite was part of a famous rumour. When the scientist sent the satellite up, it was said he’d filled it with endangered animals to make a kind of orbiting ark. It was only a rumour but there must certainly have been a satellite, for how else would Ektek’s communications work?

As for the endangered animals in orbit around the earth, how would they live? The satellite would have to be enormous. It was just an amusing story to tell the youngsters.

As suddenly as they had gone, both Hod and Zip’s vision and Zip’s sound filled the Ektek office again. Screaming people and crashing furniture blended discordantly with drum and bass.

—And we’re back. Antenna watched the footage—Once again, thanks to you, Min.

—It wasn’t me, Min frowned as she examined the screens—It seems to have come back on line by itself. There’s definitely something out of order. I’ll have to check out that airship when they get back. I don’t understand it…

Antenna managed not to say it out loud but, as she watched the chaos unfolding on the screens, she thought to herself: if they get back.

It appeared that Zip’s camera was now lying on the ground with only limited view. Antenna’s black eyes glistened in the band across her sharp face as she twisted her head to make sense of the pictures—There’s something standing on Zip’s camera.

Min gasped—Not the komodo?

Another screen showed a blur, going up and down. Hod must have been leaping. The light had changed so Min and Antenna assumed he was moving outside the restaurant. But where was Zip?

Forgetting that Hod had no sound again, Antenna shouted into the mic—Hod! Where’s Zip? Over! And then, to herself when she realised—What have you done? Impossibly, as though he had heard her, Hod’s bounding footage on the screen came to a careering halt then spun and returned to the restaurant. People were spilling out onto the footpath and moving well away from the entrance. They were crying and wheezing and falling over. The human camera operator had bundled her bulky camera under her arm and carefully moved away from the building as though she were indeed carrying her own precious baby.

Hod leapt through the milling throng, back into the dining room. The komodo was menacing the waiters’ station in the far corner. Zip was trapped. The komodo’s huge tail thrashed backwards and forwards.

Hod’s camera paused only momentarily. Then he zoomed in to the komodo. As with all Ektek’s actions, the quality of the photography varied according to the mental and physical state of the photographer. Here, Hod was shaking so only some of his vision was in focus. And even then it was intermittent.

Zip’s camera was framed on one side by the underside of komodo foot, and now fluffy brown-and-yellow striped fur filled the rest of the picture. Hod’s tail was directly in front.

Min and Antenna struggled to make sense of what they were seeing on the screens. They could hear Hod’s voice through Zip’s equipment—Not us, you dumb dragon! Get the humans! You do know what humans are? The tall ones with two legs?

Then, from Hod’s point of view, his own yellow paws entered frame and twitched away the tablecloth to reveal Zip. She was trying in vain to drive her car around the great lizard. One side of the car had been damaged, apparently by komodo bite. The komodo didn’t hesitate now, either. He opened his saliva-coated mouth and leered towards Zip. Suddenly the camera snapped and leapt away. Through the blur, the car was just in frame; Hod must have been carrying it. Together with the fleeing humans, the camera was lurching out of the doorway and into the street.

Min and Antenna both jumped as the speaker hummed and Zip’s voice came through. She sounded angry, understandably, her voice resounding—We’re supposed to be a team, she screeched—I’m relying on you for my life! How do you expect anyone to work with you if they can’t trust you?

Antenna let out a sigh of relief—I suspect Hod will probably understand Zip’s feelings by the time they get back to the zoo.

—Loud and clear, agreed Min.

Antenna switched channels and called in to Helmut. This time there was no problem getting through to the airship—Uptek, come in please? Over.

—Yes, Antenna. Over.

—They’re on their way back, in a bit of a hurry. You’ll need to get moving.

—Affirmative. Over.

—We need to solve this communications failure. Any ideas? Over.

—Sorry, Antenna. Just dropped out. Over.

—See you when you get back. Over.

—Over and out.

—Thank goodness for that. Min returned the computer’s carapace and set to work restoring order in the signal centre—Antenna? When did you last check the email?

—Will now. Antenna went to the inbox. There were three new messages. Two were from journalists regarding the evening’s events in the restaurant. The third was from an opposition politician wanting to congratulate Ektek on blowing the whistle on Last Chance to Eat. He was preparing a speech to denounce the restaurant in the House of Representatives. He would be asking the Department of Flora and Fauna directly what they intended to do about it.

Antenna couldn’t have been more thrilled—Immediate results! Can’t ask for more than that, can we? She turned to share her excitement and saw that Min was sombre.

—Can you please check the Leadbeater’s possum page? He might have left a message there. Min wanted to check on her brother, Rawlinson, and his safe arrival at the new zoo.

—Rawlinson? Of course we can do that, said Antenna, full of optimistic belief in Ektek’s powers as she typed in the homepage address and pressed return—We can do anything!

—It’s too early for him to have an email address but he might have managed something.

The first thing they saw when the page downloaded was a bright red lightening bolt across the screen. The Friends of the Leadbeater’s Possum had put out a newsflash. It stated that Rawlinson had died in transit, as had the other male. Several other Leadbeater’s possums had succumbed to a virus at two zoos. It was now believed that there were no surviving Leadbeater’s possums in the mountain ash forests. The last known Leadbeater’s possum was incarcerated in Bedlam Zoo.

The last known Leadbeater’s possum was Min.

Min sighed like a deflating balloon and folded up into a tiny little bundle on the floor. Antenna joined her on the ground and huddled in close. She tried to think of ways to comfort her but what could she say? Never mind? Try to look on the bright side? At least now you’re the only Leadbeater’s possum left in the world, you’re going to be very, very valuable? Somehow, nothing seemed fitting. Silence would have to suffice.

They lay together on the dirt floor. After a while Antenna heard a faint drumming. As she lay there, turning cold and hard, something soft landed on her face. She could feel a faint tickling on her fur. She opened her eyes to see a blanket of ants had arrived, all carrying young green leaves. The ants had brought little leaves to cover Antenna and Min as they rested. The leaves smelled of eucalyptus. They smelled disinfecting and health giving. Eventually the ants left them, warm and cared for on the outside, even if they felt they were turning to stone from the inside.

Torque watched from the shadows, in a glow of approval as the ants passed. He was surprised that the ants could make such a generous gesture of forgiveness after all this time. The ants normally avoided both Min and Antenna because of a silly youthful incident. They had dared each other to eat a regiment of ants before they were old enough to understand what they were doing to the foundations of Ektek. It’s difficult for creatures to go against their instincts but they had had to learn and accept that Ektek creatures don’t eat ants (even if you are an anteater). They would have to do with the zoo’s custard preparation like all the rest. It was part of growing up and it was part of being endangered. It was part of Ektek.

Spark stood beside the darkling beetle—Will they be okay?

—We’ve done all we can, Torque nodded—Now it’s up to them to recover.

—Will they?

—Of course. There’s no choice. They’re Ektek.

Chapter Five

Stars pinpricked through the velvet night sky. The moon was almost full. It had already traversed across of the sky and the night was nearly over. A plane flew over a silver ribbon of river that spooled out over the undulating land. The compact vehicle banked and turned to follow the shining curve of the waterway.

To the casual observer, the little plane, barely half a metre long, could have been an escapee from the model flying club. In fact, this was no toy. It was a sophisticated machine, in shape almost like a stealth fighter blended with an ultralight. Small fins jutted forward from the bulbous nose of the craft. An aerofoil curved over the powerful fan turbine motor at the rear. It zipped through the air at surprising speed, the ground moving fast beneath.

Bash sat comfortably behind the controls of the mini-aircraft. He was a confident and skilled pilot, the controls having been tailored ergonomically to fit the small frog’s clinging hands and feet.

From high in the air, the light of the moon etched out a crocodile farm. Neat pens tessellated the property and most enclosures were filled with sinuous patterns made from the twisting and interweaving of croc bodies.

Bash faced a complicated panel of lights and instruments in the cockpit of the small plane. He reached for his radio controls—Crawf! Over.

The radio crackled in reply—Hullo? Don’t believe it. Haven’t found him already, have you? Can’t have. Impossible. Over.

Bash snickered as he surveyed the crowd below him—You know crocs. They all look the same to me. Hang on. Wait a minute… I’ll get back to you. Over and out.

Through the night gloom, Bash had seen a crocodile penned by himself. He was still tied up and he was a big one. It could very well be the male they were looking for. Bash pushed a button on his console to zoom in on his night vision display. He watched the croc intently as he manoeuvred around the property.

Hardback glanced up at the insect-like craft that circled above him. Still exhausted after the capture, he had no energy to ponder the meaning of it. He felt tired and helpless and trapped. He slumped back into the mud, desolate.

Bash reached for his radio again—Crawf? Can you read me? I think we’ve got him. Over.

The radio hissed as Bash continued to fly over the farm and Crawf asked—Bringing him in single-handed? In the dark? Like to see that. Over.

Bash took one more look at the layout of the farm as he swung over it—Very funny. Coming in, ready or not. Over and out. He turned the radio off and the plane zoomed up the river.

Away from the croc farm, further up river, Crawf waited in the larger wingship for Bash to return from his reccie. To conserve energy he was parked at the end of a runway, waiting until the small plane returned to dock. He looked up as he heard the plane approaching.

Bash landed perfectly on the very small space provided on the wingship roof. He expected nothing less of himself. From a distance it might have looked as if a dragonfly had landed on top of a bird.

Crawf couldn’t help ducking involuntarily as the tiny craft bumped onto the roof. This was a difficult procedure but the locking systems clicked into place perfectly and the little plane was once more affixed to the wingship roof.

Wearing his harness, Bash clambered through the plane’s trapdoor and swung himself into the cockpit of the wingship. He unclipped and got comfortable alongside the controls; a tiny amphibian figure nestled at the operating panel.

Crawf started the flight procedures and adjusted the throttle as the turbines whirred aggressively—What do you think? Can we get him out? He looked over to Bash, his large feathered comb rising slightly—Oh, and one more question; what do we do with him when we do get him out?

—Haven’t a clue, said Bash.

—Well, we can’t give up, can we? Crawf shrugged—We’ve got to spring him. Though, what they’re thinking sending you and me, I don’t know. What the heck can we do?

—We’ve got time on our side, said Bash—That load of old croc’s not going anywhere in a hurry.

Crawf leaned forward, easing the swan-like wingship up into the air. At about three metres long, the wingship was able to travel at speed over flat terrain at very low altitudes. It was the Ektek vehicle of choice for middle distances, especially over water. The craft zoomed away over the river, skimming barely a metre from the surface. The stubby wings banked and the craft turned slowly, steadied, then regained position speeding low over the scrub.

They moved inland, out of sight.

Shining Teeth and the rest of the harem had returned to their backwater home to await news. They floated quietly, waiting, just a snout out of the water here and a pair of marble eyes there. They lifted their heads as a distinctive hum announced the approach of the Ektek wingship. The craft slowed and landed gracefully, like a swan gliding onto the surface of a lake, scooping the air before it in curved braking wings.

When the wingship had come to rest, Crawf looked at Bash—Ready?

Bash said—No. And I don't think I ever will be.

Crawf patted the frog on the head with a wing tip—They’re in trouble.

Bash stared out of the cockpit at the assembly of reptiles—They’re crocodiles.

—Don’t act like a snack, said Crawf—And you won’t be one.

—Thanks for that titbit, said Bash—You’re making me feel crunchy talking about it.

—Just get out on the wing!

The two creatures climbed out of the cockpit and stood on the wing, waiting to greet their troubled animal comrades. As Shining Teeth approached the wingship, Crawf and Bash both backed away a little. But not too far, the wingship wasn’t very stable. Bash managed to sneak in behind Crawf. Not that Bash was a coward. He was just very small.

The rest of the harem came, one by one, to join Shining Teeth. The crocodiles were so big and seemed so threatening it was difficult to see how a cockatoo and a frog could even communicate with them. In the end, Crawf jumped right in and shouted to Shining Teeth—There’s a large male at the crocodile farm upstream. Even though it was dark we could make out an old scar on the left flank— recent cut to the tail?

Shining Teeth turned to her harem—He’s alive.

Jata breathed in—At least we know where he is.

—And he's staying put, said Crawf.

Shining Teeth nodded and turned back to the Ektek representative. Oh, wait, she could see there was a frog as well. That made two creatures that couldn’t be less impressive. She sighed and asked—When will you get him out?

Bash and Crawf looked at each other. Bash swallowed and muttered towards the ground—Not going to be easy.

Shining Teeth didn’t hear him and didn’t think much of him anyway—What?

Crawf looked at the approaching crocodiles in the dawn light—We can’t do it by ourselves.

Shining Teeth growled—You have all the help you require right here. We have many skills.

Crawf was unconvinced—The farmers are armed. There are dogs and fences. It’s difficult to see how to get him out at this stage. We need to prepare a plan with our team. We will return.

—Oh, that’s rich, isn’t it, Shining Teeth turned round to look at the harem—You thought they could help.

—To be fair, Shining Teeth, said Asunder—They did say they’d come back with a plan.

—They lie. Ektek is a bird and a frog. They are weak.

—Hang on a tick, there, said Crawf—Shining Teeth, is it? Look, Shining Teeth, it’s a big farm. We will need to set up surveillance and see how they operate before we go rushing in.

Bash chimed in—Don’t worry. There’s more to Ektek than just little old us!

—We can’t bust him out without a plan. He’d certainly die and so would we.

—So, we’ll be back, said Bash and both creatures turned to climb into the cockpit.

—Don’t leave us now! said Damura.

—Get him out! shouted Grater.

—Why can’t we raid the place right now? said Asunder—They wouldn’t be expecting us.

—We need to consult our strategists, shouted Bash—We will return. Ektek will always do their best to assist an endangered creature.

—Or die trying, said Crawf.

The crocodiles moved closer to the wingship, slowly, and with definite menace. Crawf and Bash grew nervous and scrambled back into their cockpit. Bash muttered—I wish you hadn’t said that. I really, really wish you hadn’t said that.

—Couldn’t help it, Bash. Had to give them something…

—Our lives?

—Can’t see any way out of this one, can you?

Again the turbines whirred as the craft slowly came to speed and started to move away from the riverbank.

—Just one way. Just go up, said Bash, deeply relieved to get away from those prehistoric monsters—And step on it.

The crocodiles couldn’t believe Ektek was leaving them with nothing. They had put all their hope into an effective force arriving and rescuing Hardback immediately. With a sharp order of command from Shining Teeth, they sprinted after the wingship. Shining Teeth leapt straight up out of the water and snapped her jaws wide around a wing.

Asunder also shot out of the river and grabbed hold of the other side of the little vehicle. The crocodiles grappled with the wingship and finally dragged it, revving hopelessly, and at a dreadful angle, to shore.

Shining Teeth muttered through her clenched jaw—We need to have a little chat about priorities, don’t we, froggy?

Chapter Six

Several glow-worm colonies had been persuaded to live in the caves under Bedlam Zoo. Fuel, and the power stored from solar energy in batteries, was precious and Ektek only used it when absolutely necessary. Glow-worms were clustered together over a small area in the hangar. Other than their blue fairy stars stretched out across the ceiling of the cave, it was dark, very dark.

Min, Zip and Antenna, together with a small group of assorted mechanic beetles, concentrated on the little red car. Min held a small torch, focussed on the bitten side. The damaged vehicle had brought home to the team just how close Zip had been to injury, or worse. The driver’s side was completely gone. It would need careful rebuilding.

—I can’t understand how you managed to dodge him, said Antenna.

—Neither do I, said Zip.

—You were lucky, said Antenna.

—Really lucky, said Min.

—I don’t know what I would have done if Hod hadn’t turned up, said Zip—Another stunt like that one…

—Someone could really get hurt, said Antenna.

—Maybe even Hod. Then again, maybe that wouldn’t be so bad…

—As I see it, Min was quick to change the subject—Zip was in the wrong vehicle at the wrong time. The steam engine just takes too long to get going. By the time she’d hit the ignition after the boiler reached pressure, the komodo was already there.

Zip agreed—Unfortunately, we thought it was going to be a safe surveillance operation. No one ever imagined we’d have to make such a quick getaway.

— That’s my fault, Antenna said—I should have seen it coming…

—It was not, said Zip.

—No, it wasn’t, said Min.

—It’s all Hod’s fault and I think he should have to face the consequences. Don’t you take this on, Antenna. It’s not yours.

—I still feel ...

—Not guilty? What are you? A fortune teller?

As they argued, the hydraulic supports on one side of the vehicle gave way and a wheel fell off, toppling onto the ground. The crash resonated through the cavern. The mechanics all leapt backwards, looked at each other and laughed.

—Needs work? sniggered Zip.

Antenna reached out to pat Min—I can deal with this if you’d rather take some time out?

—Oh, for Zed’s sake, Min vehemently turned away—Let’s get on with it. A bombardier beetle climbed onto the fallen wheel—Hang on, Min picked her up with her hand—Let’s make sure it’s stable before we rush in fixing it.

Torque and Spark flew into the hangar from the tunnels. They stopped at the car when they saw Min there—Min! Quick, said Torque, still trying to get his breath back—People! Searching your habitat. Now. Go. Fast.

—My … ? said Min.

—Yes, yours. In uniforms. Not our staff. Some others.

Antenna was surprised too—But it’s still dark.

—Can’t tell you any more than that, said Torque—You’d better get up there, quick.

Min handed the torch over to Antenna and turned to go.

—Are you okay? asked Antenna.

Min replied—Yes, yes, good, fine. See you at the meeting.

—Very sorry for your loss, Torque flew beside Min as she ran down the passageway—I’m going to miss your mum like she was my own … he said in a low voice, and then, embarrassed, turned on his darkling wings before she had time to even nod an acknowledgement of his concern. She felt grim but she continued to run. What was happening in her home?

Back at the little red car, Zip looked at Antenna—What was that about? Antenna breathed in and said—You’re not the only one with bad news. And she told Zip about the clearing.

It took no time for the story of Min’s awful change in status to spread through the tunnels of Ektek and the enclosures of Bedlam Zoo. It was always greeted with sympathy. No one could imagine a worse plight than to be the last of your kind. It was a nightmare to be an endling.

Helmut was already in the office when Antenna and Zip got there. He sat quietly at the controller’s seat in front of the computer console. He was backlit by the changing colours displayed on the screens. He was staring into the middle distance, apparently meditating. He was bent and dusty. He looked wrinkled, his cassowary skin suddenly too big for his bones.

Antenna, Zip, Torque and Spark all came into the control centre at once. Antenna took a step towards the bird but stopped—Helmut?

—Haven’t managed to talk to Min yet. The cassowary looked down at Antenna. She could see there was nothing wrong with the flair of intelligence in his eyes—How is she?

—Coping.

—Too young to cope with losing parents, far too young.

—Happens to all of us.

—You were too young, Antenna, far too young when your father went. There was still much for him to teach you. When I heard what Hod had done, leaving Zip like that, in the middle of an operation, his inexperience hit me. Really rocked me. Can we keep demanding so much from you all? Such untried youngsters, running such haphazard undertakings? It’s madness. Puts us all in danger and to what end? What do we achieve?

Antenna looked at him steadily—We’re already in danger, Helmut.

—You know what I mean.

—What else can we do?

—Stop. Wait. Take more time to plan. Train more creatures. Look further afield.

—Helmut?

—Yes?

—She’ll be okay. Min. We’ll go on as before, as Ektek must. We have no choice.

The cassowary sighed. The weight of seniority was heavy on him. How came he to be the last founding member? He wanted so much to believe that Ektek could continue indefinitely—I hope so, Antenna. I truly hope so.

Torque, as head of security, said—I’ll go and see what’s happening in the nocturnal house. He left the control centre, a short dark beetle moving slowly. It would have been quicker to send Spark by himself but that young larva still had much to learn, so Torque merely inclined his head and Spark followed obediently. Spark was just keeping his head down, trying to be useful, hoping he might be offered permanent Ektek status. He went wherever Torque went, figuring that being obliging was the best strategy when you’re after a job.

Helmut, Antenna and Zip, together with assorted beetles and ants, huddled around the light emanating from the computer monitors. They waited silently. Waiting for the one who must be admonished. Finally he came.

When he entered the control cave, Hod’s white chest and belly glowed in the blue luminosity. He looked around the group with his head held high. He was defiant.

—Ah, there you are, Hod. Sit down, sit down, Hoddy. Make yourself comfortable. Helmut, the cassowary, looked around the group calmly—Let’s begin the meeting, he said, his eyes bright in the gloom—Min can catch up.

—First things first, then. I think Hod should receive a reprimand, said Zip.

—A reprimand? For doing what I did? For helping a creature that was suffering? About to die? Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?

—Maybe we could hear his side of the story before we dole out the punishment, Zip? said Antenna.

—Hod. You endangered one of our own team, said Helmut—Did you not think of Zip?

Hod looked down and shook his head before taking in a deep breath and looking back at the group. Some of his insolence had dissipated and he spoke with sincerity—I just couldn’t bear it, he said—We do all these actions but they’re not really actions, are they? They’re just watching, observing, recording, and not doing anything, not real action. Nothing ever seems to change. Things get worse, if anything. So when I saw that komodo, it was like, suddenly, here was something I could do, something that could maybe even save a life for a change. I wasn’t helpless any more. For once, I felt like I was doing something. I helped him, for Zed’s sake.

—You were reckless! You were! Zip talked to Hod as though she were explaining basic mathematics to an egg—You were stupid. You broke into the kitchen, freed a dangerous animal …

—You weren’t there. You didn’t see him.

—Not until he tried to eat me!

—You didn’t see him squashed into the cage. You didn’t hear him. Begging. I had to help him. You would have too.

Antenna leaned forward to catch Hod’s attention and focussed her gaze on him. She spoke quietly—But you can’t just act like that, without thinking. What about the consequences?

—I couldn’t ignore him! He needed my help.

—But you upset the whole place, continued Antenna, urgently—Can’t you see that? You single-handedly bungled the entire action …

—And can’t you see, no one got hurt? There weren’t any big consequences at all.

—That depends on what you mean by big. Did he get away? The komodo?

—They shot him.

There was a pause as they took this in, each Ektek member thinking of the futile waste of life and Hod’s attempts to save him. It wasn’t fair and each creature present knew they had to be cleverer than this to achieve their ends. Antenna spoke first—Hod. I’m so sorry.

—You’re sorry. He’s sorry. I’m sorry. I know it was an extreme thing to do. I am sincerely sorry I stuffed up with Zip but don’t you ever feel like that? Frustrated? Powerless? Do you know? How we make things change?

—It’s difficult to get past the fact you left Zip, said Helmut.

—I went back for her! I rescued her. I saved her life. What about that? Seems to me I deserve a medal, not a bleeding reprimand!

—You shouldn’t have left her in the first place, said Antenna.

—Aren’t we supposed to look after our own? said Zip.

Helmut looked directly at Hod—You do know you are free to leave Ektek at any time?

This was an extraordinary question. No animal had ever left Ektek. Antenna and Zip looked at each other while Helmut apparently waited for the answer.

Hod was very quiet. It was unusual behaviour for this particular yellow-footed rock wallaby and Helmut, Antenna and Zip shared worried glances in the serious blue radiance. Hod looked down. His shoulders began to shake. Antenna got up and went to him, to pat him sympathetically. As she looked up into his face she jumped backwards. He wasn’t crying, filled with remorse and sorrow, as she had expected.

Hod was laughing.

Antenna pushed him hard and returned to her seat, her hair stuck out in anger, puffing out her rusty striped body.

Hod flung his head back, releasing his pent up emotion in a huge guffaw. The rest of the animals gaped in amazement. What was to be done with Hod? They looked at each other but no one had an answer. Hod continued to laugh. Helmut and Antenna glanced at each other. Helmut shook his head slightly and opened his eyes wider, as if to say, see what I mean?

Antenna rose onto her four feet and went to look up at Hod. Then she sat up on her hindquarters, which brought her closer to his height, and looked into his rigid face—Hod? He finished laughing and looked at her without any expectation—You do know Wilkinson was cleared last night? Min’s mum died, said Antenna—Yes, that’s right. She’s gone. Min is the endling, now. So, while it’s important to do something to help endangered animals individually, absolutely; we are all, in fact, endangered here. We have to look after each other or we can’t do anything to help anyone. We have to work together. Hoddy, please, I need you to help me.

Hod looked at Antenna and very quietly reached out and made as if to pat her – he was certainly reaching out to her – when Min’s arrival broke the tension. She’d been running—Sorry I’m late. Something’s odd…

—Yes, said Torque, who flew into the cave immediately followed by Spark. He was still a bit puffed when he said—Had to climb the camera. Make sure it wasn’t recording anymore…

—Camera? What camera? said Antenna—Recording what?

—Me, replied Min—Some sort of video camera. So, I’m asking myself, what for? Why would they want footage of me, sleeping in the false day of the nocturnal house?

—It’s not rocket surgery, is it? Let’s see, said Hod—Do you think it could be, um, because you’re an endling?

—Thanks for that, Hod. Antenna glared at him—Why are you doing this?

Hod just shook his head. He looked down and then said—Okay. Okay. I’m sorry. I’m with you.

Min watched him curiously and then, back on track, said—More than that. It’s a weird camera and there’s something familiar about it. I know I’ve seen one before but I can’t think where.

—I’m always being filmed, said Zip—Hey, now you come to mention it, there was a camera in my enclosure yesterday.

—You didn’t say anything? asked Antenna.

—Didn’t seem out of the ordinary.

—Of course, sneered Hod—Just a paparazzi magnet, you are.

—Thanks, Hod, said Zip with only the merest trace of sarcasm hardening her gratitude—Though, Min, it was big, wasn’t it. Bigger than a normal vid camera? And, yeah, I’ve seen one too. But where?

—Let us know when you remember, said Helmut—But right now we must resolve Hod’s discipline issues.

—It’s true, said Zip—I for one will not work with him again.

—Right, said Hod—Consider me reprimanded, then. Can we move on?

Antenna frowned at him but Hod avoided her gaze. Antenna couldn’t work him out. Helmut looked around the small group of creatures, assessing their mood. He nodded, giving implicit permission.

—The difference is, the camera was inside your enclosure, not outside the wire? asked Min.

—Hey, you’re right, said Zip—I never noticed.

—So it’s not just about being the last Leadbeater’s possum. I think we need to find out if anyone else is being filmed.

—Right, said Zip.

—I think we should follow them when they pick up the tapes, said Min.

—Sounds like we’ve got a plan, said Helmut.

—What if they’ve discovered Ektek? said Min.

—How? asked Helmut.

Zip looked at Hod and spoke deliberately—It is possible that someone followed us after Hod’s little intervention yesterday.

—Listen, Zip. I’m beginning to think I should have just left you to the komodo, said Hod—I’ve been reprimanded so just leave it alone, will you?

—The films aren’t our only problem, Antenna changed the subject—We still haven’t talked about Bash and Crawf. They’re being held to ransom by the crocs.

—Safe? asked Helmut.

—For the moment, said Antenna—The beetles tell me they’ve found Hardback but the harem want action now. What do we do?

Helmut looked round the group—Do we have any ideas how to get a large male crocodile out of a farm heavily guarded by armed men and dogs day and night?

Antenna said—What do you think the crocs’d say to some fact-finding?

—It’s worth a try, said Helmut.

—We need to know regular staff movements around Hardback. We’ll also need a map of the area. Bash and Crawf have to be freed for reconnaissance. You think the crocs’ll buy it?

—No! said Hod—This is exactly what I’m talking about, isn’t it! More surveillance. More observations. More nothing. They’re crocs. They want action! And I know how they feel.

—Hod… breathed Antenna.

—I’m sorry for Bash and Crawf but if we explain to the crocs we need the information first, we can have the airship on the way by evening, said Helmut.

—That means they’ll have to fend off crocodiles for another two days, said Zip—But we do need information to make an effective rescue. Can’t just rush in and expect homo-sapiens to hand him over, can you?

—When they were recording me, said Min, still thinking of her enclosure and photography experiences—All the crickets were alive and really fresh.

—Is that unusual? said Zip—I mean, I wouldn’t know. I tend to prefer my fruit not skipping around, you know?

—The group doing the filming was called The Really Free Wildlife Company. It was on the technician’s overalls, said Min—It felt as if they were trying to recreate a totally realistic environment. With fresh branches and those live crickets.

—Catchy name. Really Free. Nice idea, said Zip—Impossible dream.

—What about you, Zip? Notice anything unusual while you were being filmed?

—Now that you come to mention it, I thought I heard ... Nah … Silly …

—What?

—Well, I was almost sure I heard a …

—What?

—You’ll laugh at me. Male fruit bat.

—No male fruit bats around here!

—You’re telling me! Zip chuckled and looked around the rest of the group. There were all amused by her outburst—Okay, so maybe I’m just a little bit desperate.

—You think they’re trying to make you feel like you’re back in the wild? I mean, they are called the Really Free Wildlife Company, said Min.

—We’ll find out tomorrow. After Operation Emancipation.

—We’ll take the airship, said Helmut—With Min, Zip and Hod.

—Not Hod, said Zip.

Hod was exasperated—Oh, for Zed’s sake.

—No. Not Hod, said Helmut—He can follow in the trike.

—And there won’t be the extra surveillance equipment; you do know that, don’t you? said Antenna. She could feel their annoyance and at the same time their resignation. This was Ektek. They had limited resources. Nothing would be straightforward.

—Because?

—Intek’s searching for illegal drum and mesh nets in the river system, said Zip—They need it. What if they had to report an incident?

—They’ve been working on this indig fish operation for a very long time, said Antenna—I’ll be monitoring them but you’ll always be able to…

—Permission to speak? growled Torque.

—Not you, too, said Hod. Antenna glanced at him, almost ready to be sympathetic, but not quite.

—Granted, said Helmut.

—This here grub’s called Spark. He was the number from the crocs. He wants an apprenticeship. More than my job’s worth to have an assistant without your say so but there’s a heck of a lot of security work that needs doing ‘round here. More than an old beetle such as myself can get ‘round. I’d certainly appreciate the help.

As a group, Ektek turned to Spark, a somewhat larger beetle than Torque, albeit younger. They had no problem with the idea. It was enough that a creature wanted to join Ektek. As much as a Christmas beetle could, Spark grinned obligingly at them all. Antenna, Min, Helmut and Zip nodded and smiled in return. Hod did not allow any expression over his face.

—Welcome aboard, Spark, said Helmut.

—Looking forward to working with you, said Antenna.

—Congratulations, said Zip.

—Welcome to Ektek, said Min.

—Brilliant, said Spark.

—Good luck, mate, said Hod—You’re going to need every last scrap of it around here.

Chapter Seven

I

That afternoon, following closing time, Helmut and Zip climbed into the airship; accompanied by a small team of engineer beetles. The airship headquarters, known as Uptek, was a zeppelin-like craft approximately twenty metres long. Ektek could launch and monitor missions by audio links between Uptek – the airship – and Ontek vehicles.

A mag-lev track was positioned on the top surface of the ship to launch smaller vehicles. If required, the pilot could launch the smaller planes while comfortably sitting in the cockpit of the airship. Magnetic levitation was a system constructed of a series of magnets that could be activated one at a time very quickly. The plane catapulted forward to each new magnet, and then the next and the next, efficiently building enough speed to fling the plane off the airship. The vehicle also carried a variety of surveillance equipment, aerials, a satellite dish and a solar panel array for additional power.

Ektek usually took the airship into the hangar at night. Now, refuelled and refurbished with food and water by the ants and beetles, it was tethered by the emergency Ektek exit ready for Operation Emancipation to begin. Helmut, Zip and the beetles did their last minute inspections before they waited for Min to join them.

Helmut sat heavily in the pilot’s seat. He’d checked fuel, electrics and then, with trepidation, turned to the communications system. He had cause for concern. He knew only too well that the radio had failed him during the last action. He was frightened that something he had done had caused the problem and he desperately did not want that to happen again—Ektek? Can you hear me? Over.

Antenna’s voice answered him promptly—Thanks, Uptek. Loud and clear. Over.

—That’s a relief. Any problems I should be aware of? Over.

—Manifold tells me they examined every circuit. Nothing. No more thoughts since we last spoke? Two complete communication breakdowns can’t happen again. Over, said Antenna.

Helmut sat in the pilot’s seat, pondering—I shall do my best, Antenna. On that you may rest assured. Over.

—Never had any doubts, Helmut. Over.

Helmut hung his head miserably as he switched off the mic. He had doubts. Serious doubts. He had a dreadful feeling those communication breakdowns were something to do with him. Only, he had no idea what the problem was and he had absolutely no idea how to solve it.

II

Zip was in the hold with Manifold doing last minute checks. They finished tightening the stowage on the little red steam car—Looking good, here, thanks, Manifold. Amazed your team managed to get it going again, said Zip.

Manifold gave her a cheery wave as she left the airship with her beetle team—No worries, Zip. That’s what we do.

—Thanks, Manifold, said Zip—See you when we get back.

III

In her nocturnal house enclosure in the Australian animal section of the Zoo, where the lights were still off, pretending it was night, Min whispered to Torque—How much longer's he going to be?

They watched a man wearing overalls printed with the logo of the Really Free Wildlife Company as he dismantled the camera and put tapes and devices into a sturdy road case. There were several other tapes already packed.

Torque said—Sssh.

Min feigned sleep as the researcher warbled amiably with Min’s keeper and then, finally, both humans left. The lights snapped on and it was again broad bright sunshine in the nocturnal house. Blinking, Torque thought to himself about manipulating environment—I’ll never get used to that. When Torque gave her the all clear—They’ve gone, Min jumped up to run through the tunnels, through the cavern and up the rope ladder to the airship. Torque turned to Spark—Off you go, pipsqueak. Tell Antenna she’s on her way.

Spark nodded and snapped his wings with a click—Yes, sir! He flew ahead to relay the information to Antenna in the control centre. Torque shook his head as he followed the Christmas beetle wavering in the dim hallways—And don’t you get lost, you young buzzer!

IV

The Really Free Wildlife Company researcher marched through the zoo and got into a white car in the parking area. The car moved out. Hod waited by the gate inside his trike, fully covered with a sleek fairing designed to cut down wind resistance. The cover made the wallaby-powered vehicle look more like a baby racing car. The trike was low to the ground and the fairing was an all weather cover that also cut down wind resistance. He took off after the car. Fast. The trike was stable and quick, propelled at speed by his mighty wallaby legs.

V

Min clambered aboard the airship and entered the bridge. She sat next to Helmut who immediately commenced launch procedures—Clear for take off. Over.

Beetles and ants ran about down below, casting off and shouting encouragements—All clear above and astern…

In the hold, Zip hunkered down in her little red car.

—And we’re off. Over, said Helmut into his radio mic.

—Travel safe. Over, said Antenna from the control centre cave. Antenna, and her father in the past, had hacked into the zoo’s bureaucracy so the airship could move through any airspace unimpeded. The Ektek administrative activities managed to slip by humans because nothing disrupted the zoo’s business; if there was no problem with their communications systems then there was no reason for humans to pay attention to Ektek at all.

The airship was quick to lift off and proceed in its stately manner following Hod on his trike. The skin over the airship envelope was clearly marked ‘Bedlam Zoo’ and painted brightly with images of animals. From an air traffic point of view, the airship belonged to the zoo but only Ektek used it. From the zoo staff’s point of view, someone must be operating it, however, if it was not their department, it was not their business.

The bright skin was an example of the other side of Ektek’s survival strategy; the more blatant, the more it was overlooked. Similarly, Hod’s trike also used the bold-is-invisible theory. Easily able to keep up with the car through the stop-start of urban traffic, Hod’s trike was a sight for sore eyes; or rather, a sight to make eyes sore. The fairing was painted bright orange, decorated with cats’ eyes, flashing lights and emblazoned with several large stickers that read, ‘A donation a day keeps the whalers away’ and ‘Our planet is for life’. A large orange flag printed with ‘Save the Animals Give Money Now’ flapped above his head, making the whereabouts of the recumbent even more obvious to the surrounding traffic. Thank goodness for do-gooder humans and their brazen, weird publicity stunts. It didn’t matter what colour the camouflage took, just so long as it was ignored.

The researcher’s car turned into the parking lot in a suburban office area. The researcher stopped the vehicle and got out. He walked across the bitumen carrying the road case towards a small nondescript building, much the same as all the other office blocks in the suburb.

Hod spun into the car park – coming almost face to face with the researcher—and kept right on going as if he had some urgent purpose. The researcher gave neither wallaby nor gaudy craft a second glance. Hod paused behind a wall and watched as the man entered the building. He picked up his radio—Uptek. Come in please. Over.

The radio hissed with Helmut’s voice—Yes, Hod. Over.

—He’s just entered a building; corner of Chevron and er… Haliburton Streets. Over.

—Thanks, we’re right above you. Could you notify as to roof suitability? Over.

—I’m going in. Over. Hod’s voice sounded determined even through the radio speakers. Perhaps he wanted to redeem himself after the restaurant. Perhaps he was just surging forward on his adrenalin. In the airship cockpit, Min and Helmut looked anxiously at each other and Min asked—Hod isn’t going to do anything stupid, is he?

Helmut thought for a moment. Then he looked back to Min. Both nodded. Yup. He could. The mood that wallaby was in anything stupid was entirely possible.

—Hod! Take it easy! Over. Helmut wasn’t sure if Hod would still have his radio on. He could only assume that Hod and his trike were in the lift. Going up.

VI

When the airship had located the office block, Helmut navigated it around the building. Then he said quietly to Min—Look.

The airship glided by a billboard erected over the smart foyer area of the building. It featured a large photograph of a simpering Zip. Bold letters proclaimed: ‘The Virtual Zoo. See the wonders of the past!’

Helmut shook his head—I don’t think Zip is going to like this.

—Are you kidding? Min laughed—She’s going to love it! Her portrait? On a gigantic billboard for everyone to see? What more could she want?

Helmut pointed out—It says, she’s a wonder of the past.

—Oh, right. The past? said Min—What’s going on?

Hod’s voice came through the speakers—All clear, Uptek. The roof is free of obstructions for landing. Over and out.

The floating airship hovered over the office block roof. Helmut commenced landing procedures.

Hod, waiting on the roof, took the landing ropes and tied them onto the metal steps of the lift well. Then Hod’s voice crackled through the radio—Leaving the trike on the roof. Going for a reccie. Over.

Helmut finished shutting down the airship’s landing systems—Thanks, Hod. Over and out.

In the hold, Zip waited; a keen young fruit bat in need of action. A speaker in the car hissed briefly with Min’s voice—Hold doors now opening. Good luck, Zip. Over.

—Over and out. Zip zoomed out of the hold in the steam-powered sports car—Yeeeeeeeeeee haaaaaaaaa!

Even Helmut and Min could hear her in the cockpit as they caught sight of her speedy dash across the roof—At least she enjoys her work, said Helmut.

The sports car fitted easily into a normal lift. It was highly manoeuvrable and relatively quiet. Zip was headed straight for the electrical centre of the building, checking for computer placements. She intended to search for and download any relevant material to the Ektek memory sticks and blank CD roms she had tucked into her back pocket hidden beneath her wings.

Sitting still in the cockpit, Min and Helmut heard Hod’s voice spitting through the speakers—Uptek? Our friend is about to leave the building. Over.

—At least he’s still in radio contact, Helmut, said Min.

Helmut nodded and replied into the mic—Any other occupants? Over.

Hod’s voice came through the radio again—He’s taking the only other one I can see with him. Building appears to be otherwise empty. Over.

—Be careful, said Helmut—There will probably be others still there. Take nothing for granted, Hod. Over and out.

—Yeah, yeah, yeah. Hod turned his little radio off and put it away in his messenger bag—Tell me something I don’t know. He watched the lift’s indicators go down to the ground floor before he walked down the corridor to enter the offices. He found himself in a large open-plan space with short room partitions in pale green fabric. He looked around the humdrum area and smiled quietly. This ought to keep him busy for a while. He began to nose through some paper work and bookshelves.

VII

Zip found herself in a strange kind of studio. The walls were padded with geometric shaped grey foam. The air was still and pressed strangely on her ears. It was very, very quiet. In the centre of the space a brightly lit animal slowly turned around and posed as if for an audience. Zip could walk right round her, and did so, marvelling at the creature. Zip stopped and stared at this vision of light and said—Hi, there. Fancy seeing you here.

It was a Leadbeater’s possum and looked a lot like Min. There was no response to Zip’s greeting and the lights and projectors that surrounded the tiny possum were undaunted as Zip waved her hands through the illusion. It appeared that images of Min had been made into a hologram.

Zip pressed a button by the sign that read ‘The Last Leadbeater’s Possum’ activating a sound grab. A gravely senior human’s voice, someone used to being listened to, someone with power, growled out words authoritatively. His tone was grinding, grim and final. Zip shuddered in horror. Whatever it meant, it didn’t sound good for the Leadbeater’s possum.

In Uptek’s cockpit, Zip’s voice came through the radio—Where’s Min? Over.

Min bent to the mic in the airship—Right here, Zip. What’s up? Over.

Zip said—I’m looking at you, kid. Here. Over.

Min looked around the cabin and out of the windows. Not seeing Zip, she took it to be some kind of joke—How do I seem? Over.

—You ‘seem’ to be in two places at once. I just waved my hand right through you. You’d better get down here. Take a good long hard look at yourself. Over.

Min sucked her chin back into her neck, frowned and shook her head—What’s Zip talking about? She looked back at Helmut—Did you get that?

Helmut stared at her blankly and Min could see he was not listening to her. More than that, he was not even conscious of her. Then he turned his head slightly to stare out of the window. He sat bolt upright. He appeared to be listening to something that only he could hear. His eyes became glazed and he twitched—No! He shook his head, as if trying to dislodge something, a memory or a figment or a ghost …

Min watched him intently—Helmut?

Suddenly he banged his beak into the control panel. Then he lifted his head, shook his bony cap and stared some more. Frightened, Min wondered where Helmut had gone. Physically he was here, but certainly not mentally. She flicked the switch to call Antenna—Ektek. Come in, please. Over.

Nothing. Not a hiss, not a static soup, nothing at all. She thought, sighing, what a time for the communications to go down again and spoke into the mic—Ektek. Come in, please. Can you hear me, Antenna? Please? Antenna? Over. She switched channels and tried again—Zip? Can you hear me? Hod? Anyone? Can anyone hear me? At all? Over.

Silence. Except for the large bird breathing erratically. Apparently, Helmut was lost in his own mind. Min had never seen him act like this. What could she do? She looked at the control panel and at the doors. She was trapped. Nothing. She could do nothing—Helmut? Stop it. Please.

Helmut just stared.

VIII

In the well-lit office, Hod discovered advertising for a set of holograms; all endangered animals. There was a stunning poster of a dugong gliding through deep water in green filtered light. The bold headline read: Amazing! Astounding! 3D dugong! Swims like a mermaid! Get close enough to almost touch it!

Here was a beautiful picture of a platypus crouching near the entrance of her tunnel, on the banks of a creek. ‘Experience the last faunal emblem up close in extraordinary 3D audio visual technology you simply won’t believe.’

And here was a tiny Leadbeater’s possum peeking down from a mountain ash, ‘Stunning Hologram Virtuosity! An emblem, a Leadbeater’s possum so real, you could swear it was looking right at you.’

And, thought Hod, it was.

And, thought Hod, it looked an awful lot like Min.

And, thought Hod, that didn’t bode very well at all.

IX

In Uptek, Helmut’s battle with his inner demons was slowing down. His twitches lessened as the interference seemed to fade from his mind.

Min spoke again—Helmut?

Helmut jumped. He looked over at Min in confusion—Was it you?

Min examined him—What?

—Talking?

—Yes.

—What did you say?

—Um, said Min—Helmut.

—What? said Helmut.

—That’s what I said, said Min—I said your name. I said, Helmut.

Helmut thought about this seriously—Let me know if you say anything else.

Min took time to consider this puzzle. She looked askance at Helmut. Was he back to normal? Helmut stretched out his glossy wings and bent his blue neck this way and that. Then he closed his eyes, taking a moment of recovery. Suddenly Min didn’t like this mission at all. Why was she bracing herself for danger on a simple surveillance? She leaned over the radio mic—Ektek? Come in, please. Over.

Antenna’s voice came through clearly—What’s happening, Uptek? Over.

A flood of relief went through Min and she bent to the mic—We had another black out. You okay there? Over. She waited for Antenna’s response. Strange. There was none. Min bent to the mic again—Ektek? Come in please. That’s when Helmut woke up and started banging the side of his head against the window shouting—You can’t make me!

—Helmut! Stop it! said Min. She tried to get between him and the window but he couldn’t see her and he was moving with considerable force. She backed down, fearing her small size would make her vulnerable to crushing, and said—Helmut? Can’t make you what?

—I must not! I am responsible for more lives than just mine! Others would be at risk! Helmut became more and more agitated, flinging his head and shouting—No! It’s impossible!

Through his distress Min heard the buzzer sound which meant someone wanted to enter the airship—Uptek? It was Zip speaking through the coms, a blare of reason and sanity into the rarefied atmosphere of the cockpit—Requesting clearance for steam car, please.

Min watched Helmut in amazement. He’d always been so in control and so stalwart. Here he was crumpling before her very eyes! Min had no idea what he might do next. She was only a small animal and he was a large armed bird. Was he losing his reason? Could he become dangerous? She looked over at the instrument panel. There was no way of knowing how to open the hold door. There were no labels and she could see no manual override. Helmut continued to argue with himself. He muttered—I must stay here.

Min said—Helmut?

Helmut looked at her; rather, he looked through her. She reached over to him—Helmut? It’s me, Min. I’m talking to you.

Helmut didn’t give any sign of hearing. He simply said—I’m not leaving.

Min said—That’s good to know. Then she took hold of one of his wings and shook him as hard as she could. She shouted—How do I open the hold? Helmut?

The buzzer went again.

Min shook the wing again—Zip needs to get in? Helmut! Wake up!

At last Helmut shook his head as if to clear it. He looked at his wing and back to Min. She dropped her hold on his wing. Hod moved to press a blue button—Under control, he said.

Min had serious doubts about that.

The radio hissed with Antenna’s voice—Uptek? Can you hear me? Come in please. Over.

Helmut answered—Ektek. Hearing you loud and clear. Over.

Antenna said—Everything okay up there? Over.

Helmut didn’t even look at Min—No worries, Antenna. Over and out.

That wasn't true for Min. She had plenty of worries. Then Zip entered the cockpit at the same time as the coms buzzed and Hod’s voice filled the space—Uptek? Trike clearance requested. Over.

Helmut reached for the handpiece and said into the mic—Go ahead, Hod. Over.

Apparently now fully composed, Helmut activated the hold door to let Hod pedal his trike up the ramp. Hod’s voice coming through the speakers held just a hint of urgency—Coming in, guys. I’ve untied the ropes. We’ve got to get out of here. Right now. Over and out.

—This place is full on, Zip started talking the instant she had an audience—The Really Free Wildlife Company is selling holograms to zoos to replace live animals.

Min stared at her—What?

—It’s true. Zoos won’t need real animals any more, said Zip.

—What’s going to happen to us? said Min.

Hod entered the cockpit, wiping his paws with satisfaction—That ought to stop them in their tracks. He brought with him a distinct smell of…

Zip looked at him suspiciously, sniffing—What?

—Oh, nothing to worry about. Hod smiled—Just a little surgical strike. He flicked a dead match at the group and rattled the rest of the packet he held in his paw.

Helmut was immediately alert—What have you done?

Min looked from Hod to Helmut. She couldn’t decide who was the biggest problem.

Chapter Eight

I

Up on the airship bridge, Hod tossed the box of matches into his messenger bag and stretched carelessly—Just taking care of business. Come on, time we went.

Helmut, Zip and Min jostled round the window. They could see a thin strand of grey smoke escaping from the Really Free Wildlife Company building beneath them.

Helmut snapped into action saying—Firetek. Urgent. He pushed a button on the console and immediately a siren sounded, high and loud and a red light on the panel began to flash—I’ve unlocked the fire-fighting equipment. Zip. Min. Go.

—No, no, no! said Hod—You’re not listening! He scuttled forward to the console and stared at the different buttons and switches as he tried to work out how to stop the siren—We just leave.

As Zip and Min hurried back towards the hold to prepare the tank and equipment, Min said—Are we sure about this, Zip? Our gear is for bushfires.

—Fire in a concrete jungle, said Zip—…is still a fire.

Back on the bridge, Helmut moved in front of Hod, preventing him from touching the console—Over my dead body.

—You should be thanking me, not putting fire fighting into action! You’re all mad.

—Hod. Tell me. Is an airship with the Bedlam Zoo logo currently parked on top of this building? Is it?

—Yes, but…

—Is there any chance someone might see it and put two and two together and then connect us with the fire? Is there? Any chance at all?

—It’s a well-aimed pre-emptive strike. All we do is leave. Simple. We just go away. Right now.

—Ektek is completely ignorant of this company’s motivations, Hod. Helmut struggled to maintain his composure, so recently regained—It may be that the Really Free Wildlife Company is a threat to animals and we do need to find an effective way to destroy it but then again, it may be that their activities are to help animals and we should encourage them. How are we to know?

—You always want to think the best of everyone, Hod sneered—It’s obvious what they’re up to.

—Is it? How can we find out if we destroy the evidence? Before we get a chance to examine it?

—By then it might be too late.

Young wallaby against old cassowary; big legs versus horny headpiece. Helmut braced himself against the console and shouted into Hod’s face—You remind me of my son. He had no idea either! Just wanted to rush into the fray and beat the bastards. Well. He forgot he could lose.

—Forgot?

—Over the years I’ve lost so many: friends, family, creatures with talent, energy, devoted to the cause… Just because you fell over a packet of matches some careless fool left… And it seemed to solve all your problems…

—I brought the matches with me.

There was a distinct odour in the air. It was the smell of danger. Hod and Helmut stared at each other in loathing as dark smoke billowed from the Really Free Wildlife Company building.

II

Min drove the tank down the airship ramp onto the roof. She parked as close as possible to the window from where the smoke was rising. The tank contained rescue equipment and could be used as an all-purpose emergency machine.

Zip and Min braced the tank into place. Zip took the end of the cherry picker attachment, manoeuvring the hose into position above the window while Min primed the generator to run the pump. The airship held water both as ballast and for fire fighting. Most fire fighting happened during animal rescue in the wild. Ektek was capable of hosing down a pathway for creatures caught in fire devastation. However, they weren’t used to such delicate operations as putting out office fires in the middle of a city.

Min monitored the water pressure and flow control feeds. Water ran from the ballast containers in the airship, through the tank’s pump and out to the end of the cherry picker. Zip could then guide the hose into the building and down to the fire-front. They had established Hod had thrown his lit match into a rubbish bin filled with screwed-up paper. It was now well ablaze and the heat was spreading.

Min raced back to the generator and switched on the pump. Water stiffened the hose as it flowed down to the building. Zip struggled with it, trying to direct water onto the fire. She raced back up the hosepipe to shout at Min—You’ve got to get down here. I can’t hold it much longer.

Min yelled back—Hang on, I’ll try to come in closer.

—Can you cut down the volume of water?

—I’ll try.

Zip struggled to keep the hose pointing at the rubbish bin. The fire seemed to be taking hold. A desk next to the bin had caught alight. The smoke was getting thicker and darker. The two small creatures were fighting a losing battle. And they knew it.

III

In the airship cockpit, Hod continued to argue with Helmut—Let it burn! We can never make a difference if we’re always just creeping around the edges, taking neat little measurements and tidy little observations!

—I don’t think you have any understanding as to what Ektek does. Do you? Ektek is about communication, pure and simple, and we don’t need to be discovered as a group of idiot terrorists. We can’t afford to lose the support base we do have and we can’t afford to endanger any more lives. Get down there and help them get that fire out, for Zed’s sake!

IV

Min gingerly manipulated the controls to angle the cherry picker’s cage towards the window. There was a safety bracket she imagined she might be able to clip around the hose at the end of the cherry picker. She stretched out to assist Zip but could not reach—Push it towards me, Zip! See if you can get it into that bracket ...

Zip backed towards the window. She tried in vain to get the hose back up to the cherry picker but it was just too heavy for her. She could feel herself weakening but she struggled on, trying to find the strength. She let herself relax, trying to build up for a forceful shove. She counted herself in. One, two, three and heaved with all her might…

The hose refused to lock into the bracket. She almost wept. The fire seemed to be an angry beast, much worse than an attacking komodo. It had come to life and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

V

Up on the bridge, Hod shoved Helmut aside. Helmut stumbled and Hod pushed himself into Helmut’s place at the control panel of the airship. Without warning, Hod pressed a red handle forwards, hoping to achieve something – only he knew what. The airship lurched violently as it fought against the anchor of hose and tank and began to rise into the air.

—You fool! You stupid fool! Helmut braced himself against the window of the airship and barely managed to stay on his feet—Put it down! Put it down!

Hod, however, lost his footing and fell over. Helmut made his way to the control panel as the floor tilted—You could kill someone!

Hod slid to the other side of the bridge and smacked into the wall. Helmut fought with the controls, attempting to land the airship and restore balance to the craft—What are you thinking?

Right then, nothing. Hod had lost consciousness. He lay still.

VI

The jolt shook the tank on the roof, jerking the hose out of the airship. Water sprayed out of the hose in a spectacular arc as it fell. The hose attachment flew down past the cherry picker cage and crashed into the side of the building.

The impact catapulted Min off the hose. She plummeted silently, flailing her tiny limbs, her long tail sailing out behind her as she fell.

She fell like a rhinoceros.

Zip heaved herself out of the window above with a massive effort, leaving the rapidly emptying hose dangling and flew straight down after Min. The airship’s sudden movement had wrenched the connection to the ballast tanks free. The water gushed out of a hole in the ballast of the airship, splattered uselessly onto the roof and trickled down to the car park.

Zip swooped and caught Min onto her back less than a metre from the ground. She did not land but swerved straight back up into the air. Min clung to Zip’s bare back and looked down.

—Sometimes, don’t you wish you’d been born a sugar glider? shouted Zip as she flapped upwards in the air.

—Recently, said Min—All the time. She buried her face in Zip’s fruit bat bare back and wished she’d never been born at all.

An alarm rang from the ballast area in the airship, clashing horribly with the Firetek siren shrieking in the bridge. Back at the controls, Helmut turned off both the alarm and the siren and attempted to restabilise the now light-headed airship. He shouted to Hod who had woken and was standing staring out of the window at the roof—Can you see them?

—No. I can’t. In the jagged silence Hod leaned to the windows and looked out at the tank—What have we done?

—We? said Helmut—You, Hod. It was just you.

The noise of a helicopter came closer and closer to the window. Hod and Helmut both stepped away from the glass. It was Zip’s wings beating that extraordinary sound as she flew up to stare into the windows of the airship. As she hovered outside, Min still clinging to her back, Zip kicked the windscreen hard, making both Hod and Helmut jump.

Through the window, Hod signalled it was all his fault. He shouted—Really sorry, man. I never meant anyone to get hurt, eh.

Zip snarled back, saying something unflattering and unprintable that Hod luckily could not hear. He understood her meaning clear enough, though. She shrugged and turned, with Min on her back, to dive down to the tank. Zip and Min reached the cherry picker extension just in time to see the building’s automatic sprinkler system turn on and begin to spray everywhere in neat rows of water daisies.

—About time, said Zip.

Min said nothing, still clinging wide-eyed to Zip’s back. They watched the spray slowly dampen down the fire.

VII

Hod turned to Helmut—Is there anything I can do?

—Get down there and help them, Helmut grunted—And make her fast. Helmut had his own work cut out trying to keep the bulky airship steady. The unbalanced ship was now more difficult to manoeuvre than it had ever been.

Hod rubbed his head with his yellow paws and went down to face the team.

VIII

Min and Zip hauled the hose up to the roof of the building. Hod clambered down the airship ramp to the rooftop—Hey, you guys, I am really sorry …

Shoulder to shoulder, working silently and very tired, Min and Zip had no spare chit-chat for the creature who had almost turned Min into Leadbeater possum street pizza. Min was still in shock and Zip couldn’t trust herself to speak.

Hod watched them both for a moment or two, understanding and ashamed. Then he quietly went to tie the ropes back on to the lift well steps. They hit the automatic rewind to get the hose back into the tank, an arduous job as the hose was wet and dirty.

—Look at the muck we’re leaving, said Min.

Zip said—Do you think they’ll notice?

—What? said Hod.

—Oh, you’re right, said Zip—No one will notice a thing.

—Some covert operation, said Min.

It was almost funny but for everyone’s heavy heart. Between the three of them they managed to get the tank ready to winch back into the airship’s hold. Hod signalled to Helmut to start the crane system and the tank was cranked back with Hod checking the lines as it went.

Zip and Min climbed back down to the Really Free Wildlife Company office through the window, thinking they might be able to put the place back into some sort of order. It was hopeless. It stank. There was water and smoke damage everywhere. The sprinkler system was sputtering and spurting unevenly in haphazard directions. Zip picked up a fallen half-burnt chair. Min pushed in a drawer. Zip shuffled through some sodden papers but anything they could attempt would have little effect on the chaos.

—Min! Zip! Hey! Hod’s voice shouted down from the roof—Time to go. Car’s back.

—Quick, said Zip as she grabbed some CD roms to take with her. Min picked up a couple of brochures about the Virtual Zoo and they got away.

IX

As soon as Zip and Min appeared on board the airship, Helmut commenced take off formalities—Uptek taking off. Prepare for all occurrences.

—All clear above and astern. Standing by booster pumps, said Min.

—Standing by jettison pipes, said Zip.

—Throttles? asked Helmut.

—Primed and set to maximum, replied Min.

Helmut pushed forward on the throttle. The airship slowly rose. They could hear water raining out onto the roof as the airship lifted what remained of the ballast tanks.

They floated above the car park to see the researcher walking into the building. Just as he was about to enter the foyer a shadow passed over his head and he looked up.

The animals on board the airship argued about it. Did he see the Bedlam Zoo airship puttering out of sight? There was nothing to be done.

Chapter Nine

—Looks like you were right, Zip. They want to replace all endangered species with holograms and the real animals are to be taken off public display, said Antenna as she dropped a CD rom onto a pile of Really Free Wildlife Company brochures with a clatter—And set free.

—Set free? asked Min.

—Yup. Released back into the wild, in the interests of conservation. So they say.

Back in the dimly lit garage, Ektek had gathered to debate the findings from their latest flawed action.

—Conservation, said Hod—That’s rich.

Torque and Spark, the security beetles, were posted by the door—Hologram? whispered Spark—What’s a hologram?

—Sort of a 3D photograph movie lightshow thing. A projection. Electronic stuff.

—What’s the good of that?

—Ssssh, said Torque—Listen and you might learn something.

—It’s bizarre, said Zip—Wonderful but bizarre all the same. She picked up a poster featuring her very own cheerful self and grinned as she held it up to her face.

—Too good to be true, said Hod. He flicked through a brochure extolling the virtues of an electronic Leadbeater’s possum (solar panels optional).

—But why are we to be taken off display? asked Min.

—Yeah, aren’t they killing the geese that laid the golden eggs? said Zip.

—Putting the so-called main environmental reason for zoos to exist out of sight and out of mind, do you mean? said Helmut.

—Departmentally approved, said Antenna.

—Out to some dark weedy pasture, said Hod—Where no one will notice us disappearing.

—We’ll probably have to breed more, said Zip.

—No. That’s not it, said Antenna—They want to release us into suitable fenced reserves in our own habitats. Really. We don’t have to breed. We don’t have to do anything. It’s like we’re being let off early for good behaviour.

—Darn. I’d like to get some good breeding in, Zip smiled at her friends and they knew she was only half joking.

—Is there any independent review on the internet? said Helmut—Any published papers or commentary?

—There’s an article on the web about their attempts to train animals for future freedom.

—Who wrote the article? said Helmut.

—No way of knowing their connections. Can I suggest requesting a report from the beetle surveillance team at Really Free Wildlife Company office immediately?

Torque and Spark both snapped to attention the moment the word beetle was spoken. Torque said—I’ll get on to that right away, Antenna. Right away.

—Thanks, Torque.

Torque turned to Spark—Off you go.

—Me? Spark couldn’t have been more surprised.

—Yes, you. Go on, get going. Organise a relay team and get them over to the Really Free Wildlife Company pronto. We need to know what’s going on and we need to know now. What are you waiting for? Get on with it.

With excitement polishing his elytra, Spark vanished down the corridor. This was real responsibility. He was up to it. He could do it. He’d show them.

Torque shook his head but stayed where he was by the door. It was always tricky letting the babies work on their own but he had to trust them sooner or later. He thought Spark might make something of himself in the security field; after just a bit more training.

Back at the Ektek meeting, Min remained unconvinced—If they think live crickets and male bat impersonations in Zip’s enclosure were life experience then someone’s got a lot of explaining ahead of them.

—There’ll be plenty more to come, I’m sure, said Antenna—They’ll teach survival skills, you know, like training you to be afraid of predators. When they’re schooling numbats, the release team instruct the young ones to be frightened of the shape of hawks and eagles so that kittens run away when they see a bird of prey.

—As far as I understand it, said Helmut—There’s no point in having the last of any species languishing in prison – they might as well go back to wilderness parks and see if we can find a way to survive without human intervention. Is that it, do you think? I must say, I find it hard to believe they mean what they say.

—Maybe teach those scientists a thing or two, you know? said Zip.

—As if they care about individual animals! said Hod.

—Come on, Hod. You know there are some humans who are animals. They care, said Antenna—And yes, Helmut. It looks like those guys mean what they say.

—Preposterous. Hod threw back his head and laughed—No food bills. No vet bills. Let’s save money and let them all die quicker so we don’t have to worry about the poor little endangered creatures any more. They’ll just write sad books with nice photos about what used to be. Are those our best interests?

—Does it matter, Hod? Zip fluffed her fur and wriggled her shoulders in irritation—The fact remains, they’re going to free us! They’ve already taped Min and me. We’ll go first for sure. We’re going to be free! You’re just jealous.

—You’ll be laughing all the way to the mountains, Antenna said to Min. Min couldn’t quite bring herself to be excited. The loss of Rawlinson and Wilkinson still weighed heavy. She couldn’t see any joy in running around a forest alone.

—How will we know who’s to be released first? said Zip.

—They’ll choose, said Antenna—According to their market research.

—We could, of course, make their decision for them, Helmut said—Electronically.

—It should be you, Antenna, said Min—You never think about yourself. You deserve freedom.

—Min! I do so think about myself! All the time! And I haven’t even been filmed yet. So it’s got to be one of you.

—You don’t know that. They might have hidden cameras. I bet they’ve got footage of every threatened creature in this zoo.

Zip agreed with Antenna—This should be for you, Min. You’ve been through too much. You deserve to hear the wind through the ash trees before you die.

—I’ll hack into their system straight after the meeting, said Antenna—Now. Hod.

—Yes?

—Let it be understood that Ektek are not in the business of setting fires. Ektek does not damage property. Ektek does not put team members in direct danger. Let it be understood that, at this meeting, there is formal disapproval of your behaviour.

Hod tipped his head slightly and pursed his lips. It was a bad pose and Antenna knew it. It was a mockery of polite concern. It appeared that Hod could not have cared less what she said.

—Oh, come on. It’s got to be more than that. He should be banished! said Zip.

Antenna was astonished. She shot Zip a startled glance. Banishing was a bit much, wasn’t it?

—We can only hope you haven’t endangered our chance of release, said Helmut—Any of our chances.

—That’d be ironic, wouldn’t it. Endangering your chances. Endangered ones.

—Hod!

—Oh, listen. My actions were completely justified, eh!

—Whoa! How do you reckon that? said Zip.

—If that company wanted to free us for the sake of our health and happiness, they could have done it long before now. Ask yourself. Why not? It’s got to be about profit. Somewhere some greedy entrepreneur is going to make money or it wouldn’t be a company and it wouldn’t be happening. As usual. Can you really believe this is about fancy ideals and rights of nature to exist?

—What was going through your mind when you tried to lift off from the rooftop? said Zip—Anything?

Hod looked up to the ceiling, littered with blue glow-worm stars like neon full stops—I’m sorry about that. I didn’t mean to. I wanted to …

—Whatever you were thinking, the effect was to immediately endanger Min and Zip. They could have died, said Helmut—That behaviour, in the face of your extreme actions only two days ago in the restaurant, is inexcusable. You have broken the basic tenet of non-violence. It is bad enough you’ve been careless and thoughtless but it’s far worse, isn’t it. You’ve been deliberate and devious. You had destructive intentions even as we planned the action. You have gone too far.

—Oh, yeah?

—Yes, Hod. Please, don’t be flippant. Where do you stand with Ektek? You must decide. Then Ektek will decide what is to be done about you.

Hod glared at Helmut then stared angrily around the circle: a beetle, a cassowary, a numbat, a bare-backed fruit bat and a possum. Creatures he had known all his life. His friends. Then he said—You want to lie down and die? Just accept it? Oblivion? Oh, good. Well done. That seems optimal to me.

—You can’t do it by yourself, Hod, said Helmut.

—Look at Min. Look at her family. She’s the endling. The very last of her kind. What does that mean to you?

—Hod, said Antenna—Leave her alone.

—Her life doesn’t just mean her as an individual. It means extinction for her whole species. Extinction. Do you know what that means?

—Of course we do, Hod, said Antenna—Now is not the time …

—The end of her genetic code; the destruction of one of Zed’s weird little creatures. Unless they’ve got one in a jar in a lab somewhere and some helpful scientist decides to bring them back and stick them in a zoo!

—Hod, said Antenna—Shut up! She turned away from him, helpless because of the tears welling up in her eyes.

—Look at us. All of us. We’re all facing annihilation. The end. Finito. There is no coming back from extinction.

—We know, Hod, said Helmut.

—Don’t you think we’ve got to help ourselves? When? When do we fight back? When we’re dead?

Zip felt herself swelling with fury. She jumped up and flew at the wallaby, pushing him in the chest with her feet, and shouting—Shut up! Shut up! You stupid wallaby, carrying round a dumb shoulder bag because you don’t have a pouch. Should have been born a girl, then you might have been worth something!

—Zip! said Helmut. He ran to help her as she flapped backwards, almost fell and tried to regain her footing. Antenna turned to join them and they settled again, watching Hod warily. The emotional vibration in the cave was intense and the creatures breathed heavily, looking to each other, wondering where they could go from here.

Min sighed, breathed in to give herself strength and then stood. She looked up at Hod and everyone strained forward in the blue shadows to hear what she had to say—I wish I wasn’t the only known Leadbeater’s possum left. Of course I do. I wish my family could have survived. But, in the end, what difference will it make? It’s not like there aren’t plenty of strange little animals left. There are. Heaps. Most humans can’t tell us apart anyway. We could be rattus rattus to most of them.

—No offence to the rats, said Zip.

—No, no, of course not. But what else can we do? We have to keep going, as best we can. Death comes to us all. We know that. That’s why we’re all mortals. In the end it doesn't matter if we're part of a species or not. We're just individuals breathing in and breathing out. Then Min sat down again. The other animals regrouped and felt calmer then, even though no decision had been made. Min had given them a way forward without an answer.

—Hod. Are you Ektek? When Hod did not reply, Antenna continued—We have to find a different way. We can’t stoop to their level.

—No one was hurt. Hod was sullen.

—But they could have been, said Antenna—Not just human bystanders but your own squad. If you were in our place, would you trust you?

—We all got home in one piece. Nothing happened.

—You caused considerable property damage. How do you imagine that company will react?

Hod stretched up to his full wallaby height and looked at everyone in the small circle before he spoke—When all comes to all, I am Ektek. I do believe animals have a right to roam in safety across the world. I am prepared to die to bring the actions of the unscrupulous to the attentions of the media. Okay, sometimes I get impatient and I want to take a few of them with me. I have to work on that. But I am Ektek. Believe me. You can trust me.

Just then, Spark arrived at the entrance to the cave and peeked around the corner. Torque stopped him from coming in with a wave of his darkling antenna. Spark waited while the Ektek animals struggled to accept Hod’s regret.

—Is that an apology? Zip asked Antenna.

—Look, I’m trying, eh.

—Who here is perfect? asked Helmut.

—Hod. This has to be your last warning. The next time you go out on your own, even think about taking a shortcut from Ektek’s main path, then you will no longer be able to call yourself Ektek, said Antenna and then she whispered—And you’ll have to leave.

—This has never happened before, Hod, said Helmut—You’re the first Ektek member who has required discipline. Is that how you want to be remembered?

—Please, Hod, said Min—We don't want you to go.

At the doorway, Torque had been waiting for a pause in the furore before sending Spark in. He judged there was enough calm – maybe it was the eye of the storm, maybe the end – to let him go.

—Now? Spark still hung back reluctantly.

—When were you thinking? whispered Torque—Sometime next week? Yes. Now. Go.

Spark crept into the cave and went directly to Antenna. When he had attracted her attention he said—The beetle surveillance team have reported.

—Yes?

—From the Really Free Wildlife Company.

—Oh, of course. Here. Tell everyone. Climb up on the panel. Go ahead.

—What? Me?

—Yes, you. Haven’t got time to waste repeating information. Speak.

Spark flew up to the control desk and looked nervously around at the gathered animals. He looked back to Torque who nodded sternly. Then Spark took in a deep breath—Um, excuse me, everyone …

—You all know Spark, said Antenna, by way of introduction. She nodded encouragingly at him.

—Yes. They looked expectantly at the young beetle. Spark gulped—Um. Well…

—You’ve heard back from the surveillance team… Antenna prompted.

—Go ahead, Spark, said Zip.

—Speak up, grub, shouted Torque from the entrance—Get on with it!

—Right, said Spark—The Virtual Zoo team is worried. The translators say they’re using words like sabotage and espionage.

—Have they connected the zoo to the fire?

—No, they have no idea what caused it but they’re talking about moving their plans forward. The Really Free Wildlife Company are going to stage two. Immediately.

—What’s stage two?

Spark didn’t have an answer to that. All the Ektek animals looked at each other.

—Better get moving then, said Antenna.

—Free at last, said Zip.

Chapter Ten

On the banks of a muddy river, Bash and Crawf sheltered from the sun under the curving shadow of the wingship. The craft had been dropped by the crocs just where Shining Teeth had stopped them. It was mostly out of the water but could not possibly take off from that difficult angle. The two Ektek representatives were, literally, stuck in the mud, trapped at the behest of five of the meanest creatures they’d ever met.

In the shade, Crawf was colourless. His headdress feathers were flat against his head and his cheek patches were pale, almost white. He was listless, leaning his mud-stained head against the wheel of the plane.

—I don’t get these crocs, said Bash—Why haven’t they killed us? He’d found his way into a puddle where the wing met the river and soaked his thin skin with relief—What are they waiting for? What do you reckon? Are they going to? When? Is this some kind of torture? Waiting? Crawf? What can we do? Are we just going to sit here, all day? For how long? How many days?

Crawf was in no hurry to answer these questions because, as far as he was concerned, there were no answers. He had troubles of his own to ponder. After a time he groaned and said—I’ve got to get back. She’ll never forgive me this time. It’s been too long.

—She’ll understand, said Bash—She’ll be glad to see you back when she knows …

—Don’t think so, not any more.

—She’s your partner. Of course she wants you back.

—I’m no good for her.

—Of course you are.

—She needs someone who can give her live eggs. And I’m never there.

—That’s not your fault.

—Isn’t it?

—You work for Ektek. She’s got to understand that.

—She doesn’t. She doesn’t at all. All she wants is a baby. And I can’t give it to her. She’d be better off if the crocs did eat me. Then she’d get a new mate. Have a better chance.

—You don’t reckon the vets would have worked this out?

—I don’t know. We’ve both been tested. Don’t know what they’re waiting for. If I were them I would have cleared me long ago.

Both frog and palm cockatoo watched the crocs, sunning themselves on the mud bank as the river trundled along in its muddy way. They both knew that even though the crocs appeared to be asleep, they could wake at the blink of a little frog’s eye or the flick of a little palm cockatoo feather and, quick as a flash, have their little legs off.

—If they were going to let us go, then why don’t they? Are they going to knock us off, or are we going free? They’d get a decent feed out of you, at least.

—Shut up, Bash.

—Seriously. We’ve got a chance. We must do. I reckon we should …

—Hullo? Do you hear that?

It appeared the crocodiles had. They came to life, twisting and turning over one another to face the opposite bank. There was noise approaching. More than mere noise, it was vibration, almost thundering, through the ground. There was smell, too, of farmyard and ordure and there, in the air, was a melodic kind of low horn or hooting. Mooing.

Bash jumped up onto Crawf’s lap, or where he would have had a lap if a palm cockatoo had one, and said—Is it an earthquake?

Suddenly, a crowd of black-and-white bovines splashed over the hill to the river’s edge and lowered their heads into the water.

—What the hell?

Their hooves sank into the mud as they tried to vacuum some drink into their hairy cow gobs. The crocodiles were alert now and on the move. Asunder and Grater looked at each other and slid into the water in unison. Before she too went into the drink, Shining Teeth glanced over at the crazy tilted plane. She saw Crawf and Bash and said—Okay, you two. Go get Hardback. However you can. I want him here. Unharmed. Or else.

She too, sank into the water then. Jata and Damura moved, ready to follow but Bash yelled out as loud as he could—Hey! Can you give us a hand here?

Crawf muttered—They don’t have hands.

—You going to do it by yourself, smarty? Bash glared at the bird—No? Well. We need the crocs. Bash shouted to the two crocs again—You heard what she said. We need to get out of here. Or else.

Jata and Damura looked at each other and over to the cows clustering one by one at the opposite bank. Knowing Shining Teeth wouldn’t have much patience for their absence, the two crocs quickly took a wing each in their jaws and straightened the plane. With a heave they moved the wingship to higher, flatter ground, further away from the water’s edge and, without a word, headed back into the river.

All five crocs disappeared into the increasing turbulence. The cows suspected nothing as they meandered into the water and innocently chewed their cuds, sucked up drink and lifted their tails to shit with flood bursts of manure.

Crawf’s hair feathers flipped upwards and he flew through the window and onto the pilot’s perch as quickly as he could. A slight blush of pink flooded his face patches. He immediately examined the instrument panel and flicked some switches. They would have to get by without a full pre-flight. He needed to get out of there as fast as he could—Come on, Zed, help us out here …

Bash, too, had leapt into the cockpit as quickly as possible. From this relative safety he stared out the window at the milling cattle—Should we tell them?

—Cows?

—Yeah. Warn ‘em.

Crawf was busy trying to get the engines going. The sparks were firing but nothing was catching. Had water got into the electrics when the crocs dragged them back down to earth? He dismissed the frog’s concerns—Bash. They’re cows. Aren’t you more interested in knowing if we can get into the air?

—But they’re going to get eaten.

—Hullo? Beef? That’s what they’re for? They’re going to get eaten by someone, sooner or later …

—Yeah, but not like …

—Just like.

Apparently the five crocs had managed to get themselves into an attack formation for, without any kind of visible signal, two crocs leapt straight out of the water, baring their yellow fangs at the throat of a calf. Almost at the same time, the other three had surrounded an elderly cow that had wandered too far and was now stuck in the mud. There was panic among the cows.

The water boiled with roars and bellows. Eyes rolled in horror and legs flashed into lacey waves of coffee-coloured water. The calf sank to its knees, dissolved into its terror and disappeared into the muddy froth while the older cow struggled with the slashing jaws of her predator and gaping fear.

Finally the wingship’s engines fired, sputtered and then roared when Crawf revved the engines. It would have been impossible to hear the gunning aircraft over the still agonising bawling and pounding of hooves. Quickly they ascertained that most instruments were working and Crawf set the vehicle to drive along the river’s edge before lifting into the air. Soon they were hovering over the dust that covered the patchwork of stampede down below. The howls faded under the buzz of the engine. Feeling the safety that being airborne provided, Bash looked down at the melee—What do you reckon about the crocs? Can we help them?

The river wound through the landscape like a curved knife in the sun.

—Why not? said Crawf—Let’s take a little look at that Hardback before heading back to the zoo.

—Can we keep him at a distance?

—Oh, yeah. I'm a big advocate of the big far kind of distance that makes the heart grow fonder.

Chapter Eleven

I

A good hour before normal opening time, the Really Free Wildlife Company team arrived at Bedlam Zoo. The media entourage; the crews of television outside-broadcast vans, radio presenters and photographers, all grappled with gear and set up wiring, lights and shots. Zoo management ran their fingers through their hair, bared their teeth, shook hands and squawked about the nature of emancipation and sponsorships. Freedom: a word without boundaries … Freedom: use it or lose it. Freedom: if you love someone, open the cage door …

II

Footage beamed into the control centre from the Ektek camera mounted by the entrance. Antenna watched the crowd perform, dumbfounded. Spark sat next to her and recounted information as it came in from the beetles stationed all around the car park.

—Zoo’s preparing for a press conference. They’re going to officially hand Min over to the Really Free Wildlife Company, said Spark.

III

Outside, members of the zoo staff were almost unrecognisable in their best outfits. They puffed up as they went from mic to mic, camera to camera, like pollinating bees. They spouted shiny phrases explaining that this partnership with the Really Free Wildlife Company showed the zoo’s thinking was truly progressive and the reporters lapped it up, relaying it all faithfully to their public. This was more than lip service. This was evolution!

Representatives from the sporting company, Anything Goes, the investment company, Future Building, and the confectionary corporation, Sweet Life, were all there, shaking hands and expounding on the value of freedom of choice.

IV

In the Ektek hangar, Min’s friends had gathered to say goodbye to her. She farewelled them each in turn, with her eyes brimming with sadness.

—Perhaps, said Helmut—You will be able to find other Leadbeater’s possums where humans have failed?

—That’s right, said Zip—Everyone knows fairy possums are shy and elusive.

—Humans assumed Leadbeater’s possums were extinct once before, said Helmut—Erroneously.

—They assumed fairies were extinct, too, said Zip—And that's true. Fairies actually are extinct, so that’s more than an assumption, isn’t it.

When Min got to Hod they stood nose to nose, mingling their breath and concentrating on each other in a deep slice of time. Hod opened his eyes first and said very quietly—Goodbye, Min. I’ll miss you.

Min’s dark eyes filled with tears and she nodded, unable to speak for the moment, and turned lastly to Antenna. They embraced and Min tried valiantly to laugh—Don’t go eating any ants, she whispered and the tears overflowed and began to roll down her fur.

Antenna attempted to put on a brave face and said—Min, are you sure about this? You could reconsider. It’s not too late. What about Ektek? Did you ever think of staying and being the controller? If you really wanted to, you could. You do know that, don’t you? Think about it. It must tempt you at least. Be honest …

—Antenna. You are your father’s daughter. Ektek trusts you. They need you. It’s time for us both to grow up.

—Is it? Bugger. Sorry I mentioned it. They both tried to laugh but it was an effort—Watch out for low flying yellow-footed rock wallabies.

—None of those where I’m going.

—Lucky you.

An eavesdropping wallaby heard no good of himself—Hey, watch it …

—Shut it, Hoddy!

—Walk with me. Antenna walked Min down the tunnel, away from the rest of the group. Min made sure no one had followed them before she turned urgently to Antenna—I have to tell you. There hasn’t been an opportunity before now. It’s Helmut.

—Helmut?

—Min, interrupted Manifold—You have to go.

—I’m going.

—Min? Tell me. What about Helmut?

—When the communications dropped out from the airship. It was him.

—What?

—It affected him in some way. Like, he went off in his mind. I don’t know, Anti, it was like … You had to be there. Weird.

—His mind? Helmut? What are you talking about? Why didn’t you tell me?

—Min, they’re looking for you.

—Okay, Manifold. Sorry, Antenna. Look after Ektek. And Helmut.

—I will. Cherish the freedom.

Min ran through the tunnel to her enclosure for the very last time. Antenna watched her go, her heart heavy with what she perceived as selfish emotion, her thoughts of loneliness without her best friend. Then, exerting her self-discipline, she turned her thoughts to Helmut. How could he be affecting the communication system? There couldn’t be anything wrong with him? Could there?

IV

Spark and Torque were also travelling on this day. The security team left the safety of the Ektek garage to fly across the zoo. Once in the car park, they clambered on board the Really Free Wildlife Company van before it left. They carried a tiny radio system. They would file reports whenever possible. Ektek wanted to know where Min was going to be set free. The zoo might be keen to let her go but Ektek was a different matter. Ektek animals stuck together.

V

Antenna and the others watched the television stream live on the internet. Min was ceremoniously plucked from her nest into the media limelight and celebrated, justly, as the first endangered species to be liberated by the Really Free Wildlife Company.

The cameras whirred. The lights beamed her into another life as she was packed lovingly into an elaborate carry case. Human legs marched with her into the Really Free Wildlife Company van.

The van drove out of the Bedlam Zoo carpark. The sponsors shook hands with the zoo staff. Very successful branding all round. Sensational pictures. The television crews packed up their Outside Broadcast vans and the radio people and the photographers zoomed away in their paparazzi style.

VI

Helmut, Zip, Hod and Antenna sat quietly in the control room. They were overwhelmed as they watched the netcast. However much her heart ached with Min’s loss, Antenna still had enough analytical thought attuned to consider Ektek’s future. She surreptitiously watched Helmut. He seemed tired and bowed but he was still her teacher and her elder. She needed him to be strong. What had Min said? His mind? Antenna watched him, wondering.

Then, surprising everyone, the radio blared into life and Bash’s voice crashed through the stratosphere—Ektek? Can you hear me? Over.

There was a rousing chorus of replies as Antenna bent to the mic—We sure can, Bash! Over.

—Welcome back!

—Great to hear from you!

—Hi, Bash. Crawf there? Over.

—Yup, he’s here, both safe. Over.

—Gidday, Crawf!

Hod, Zip and Helmut continued to offer helpful comments in the background while Antenna expressed their relief in re-establishing contact. Then they got down to business and Antenna asked—What’s with the croc? Over.

—What’s not with this croc! We’re on the move, following him. Over.

—He’s still captive? Over.

—Certainly. Dunno where they’re taking him. Seems to be heading home. Got us puzzled, that’s for sure. Over.

—Give us a yell when you get somewhere. Over.

—There’s one more thing you might be able to help us with. Over.

—Go ahead. Over.

—They washed him. Over.

—So? Over.

—In a bubble bath. They cleaned his teeth and varnished his toenails. Over.

—What’s your thinking? Over.

—Some sort of ritual? Only, we don’t think it’s a wedding. Over.

—He’s already married? Over.

—Too bloody right he’s already married and you don’t want to meet his wives. Ever. Over.

—What other rituals are there? Over.

—Think about it. We’ll let you know when we find out more. Over and out.

Antenna closed the radio link and slowly looked up at Helmut, Hod and Zip—Are you thinking what I’m thinking?

—You don’t want to know, said Zip.

—That’s what I was thinking, said Antenna

—You're thinking, Hod agreed—It’s his funeral?

Chapter Twelve

I

Together with Hod, Zip and Helmut, Antenna sat in the control cave watching dining room footage streaming in from Bash’s miniscule camera. They were waiting for Uptek to be refuelled before they could leave. They were going to try to get Hardback out of Last Chance to Eat.

Zip and Helmut looked at each other before Helmut said—How do we get the croc into the airship?

—Can we tow him in with the tank?

—He’s going to have to want to go, Anti, said Hod—We can’t fight him.

—Oh, I imagine he’ll want to go, don’t you? Antenna was setting up video links preparing to netcast whatever was going to happen to Hardback—Given his options… She found the relevant electronic address list of journalists, lobby groups and politicians and typed in information regarding Last Chance to Eat and their new swimming pool. Apparently the place had had to undergo extensive renovations after the komodo dragon riot. The affray had resulted in considerable publicity for the business and, of course, any publicity is good publicity. Last Chance to Eat could command high prices for today’s crocodile event, whatever shape that might take. She clicked the video into the frame inset in the webpage and set the instructions to broadcast. She looked up at her team and added—Wouldn’t you?

II

Bash had bumped in all his gear to Last Chance to Eat and was now broadcasting his footage comfortably from the restaurant dining room. The tiny yellow and black patterned frog hid in a tower of bamboo, ginger flowers, birds of paradise and rare wild orchids. He settled back into a bloom, secure in the knowledge that no one could possibly notice him in the garish floral decoration and then panned smoothly around the room.

Crawf waited on the roof of the eatery. The wingship relayed Bash’s footage data to the satellite and thence to Ektek headquarters where the team watched. Everything was in place, all systems checked and working well.

The waiters opened the front doors and the early diners hullabalooed into the foyer. All became excitement and greeting of stylish folk à la mode: muted champagne pops, lounge music from a louche band and twinkles from designer frocks.

III

Antenna could see it all. The footage was coming in clear as a bellbird into the control computer monitors. Then Antenna heard a whirring sound over the hectic babble of the restaurant patrons. It was the familiar sound of beetle wings. She looked up from her typing just in time to see Spark and Torque fly past the frame.

Bash said—What are you doing here?

—Didn’t get as far as any highlands, said Spark, referring to their journey in the van that had carried Min from the zoo.

Torque stared down the barrel of the camera, looking as serious as a beetle could, and spoke directly to Antenna—This ‘in’t that bloomin’ komodo café, is it?

When Antenna gasped, Hod, Zip and Helmut all focussed on the screen, straining forward to get a better view. Antenna turned on the mic and spoke—What’s Spark doing there? And Torque? They shouldn’t be in there! Min’s one of the most highly profiled threatened creatures in the world! She’d be worth a fortune on a plate! Over.

Bash couldn’t explain it—She’s been brought in. That’s all they know. Over.

—Get her out. Over.

—We’re not exactly sure where she is. Over.

—Find her. Go. Go! Go!!! Over and out!

Spark and Torque immediately flew off and crashed, smack, into each other. After they’d regained their senses they pulled themselves together and started out again in different directions.

Their audience, back in the control cave, silently willed them on. The feeling of urgency was palpable. The pace quickened. Everyone changed gear and started to think very quickly. This was not how Ektek had imagined Min’s freedom. Antenna spun to face Hod—We’ve got to get her out.

Zip said—What can we do?

Antenna frowned—Where’s Crawf?

—Is Uptek ready? asked Helmut.

—I’ll call Manifold, said Zip and she ran out to find the head of mechanics.

Antenna changed the radio frequency channel—Crawf? Come in, please. Over.

—Uptek 2. Over.

—Crawf. They’ve taken Min to the restaurant. We’ve got to get her out. Now. Where exactly are you? Over.

—In position on the roof, by the stairwell. Over.

—Have you got vision? Over.

—Bash’s got the only camera here. Over.

—Forgot. The fishing nets. Right. Any ideas? How we’re going to get Min and the croc out? Over.

—I can’t carry the croc. Over.

—No, we’re getting the airship ready for him. Over.

—Do you have time? Over.

There was a pause. Reality sank in, cold, hard, horrible reality. What if they didn’t get Min out in time? What if Hardback was to be killed today? What if Min…? Antenna stared in turn at Hod and finally at Helmut—How much time do we need?

Helmut answered—How much do we have?

Antenna spoke again into the mic—We’ll make time. Over.

No one knew the answer and no one wanted to guess.

The screens showed Bash’s footage as he continued to pan around the rapidly filling dining room. The lighting was dim but focussed magically on a huge tree to one side of the room. The upper branches were on a level with people dining. The trunk and root system appeared to go down into the depths of the building. It was a mountain ash.

When the overhead lights lowered, each table glowed faintly with a candle in a holder, cut in the shape of gum leaves. Mottled forest leaf shadows were thrown over the gloomy walls and ceiling. Aroma burners cast a eucalyptus tinge into the air.

It was dusk in the Australian bush at the Last Chance to Eat theatre restaurant. Only, Antenna hoped without hope, it wasn’t Nemesis Night again. Was it? She found herself muttering—Please say it’s not Nemesis Night. It’s not Nemesis Night. It just can’t be.

Hod and Helmut didn’t know what to say. Both had the disgusting feeling it very probably was Nemesis Night and that didn’t bode well for Min at all. Zip and Manifold came into the control cave, alerted by Antenna’s urgent tones. Zip stood by Antenna’s shoulders—The airship is ready for departure as soon as you say the word.

—Good. Get going.

—That’s it, said Hod, appealing to Helmut—She said the word.

—Hod’s staying here, said Zip.

—I can’t stay here. I have to help. I can help. I can speak crocodile.

—Helmut? Up to you?

—Oh, come on.

—Zip, we’ve got to work together here, said Antenna—We’ve got to get both of them out. They’re going to die. They will get cooked. There’s no time to argue. We’re Ektek. Like it or lump it, get going and get Min.

Helmut didn’t need to hear any more. He ran to the cave entrance and shouted over his shoulder as he went—Zip. Manifold. Uptek, now. And Hod. Get moving.

—Thanks, Helmut. Thanks, Antenna, said Hod, pausing.

—Go! said Antenna.

Hod followed Zip and Manifold as they ran out. Antenna couldn’t help herself. As he went past she said—Hod?

—Yup?

—I swear, if you do anything …

—It’s okay, man …

—Don’t you dare call me ‘man’!

After they had run out, Antenna sat up even straighter, even more nervous, as she stared at Bash’s shaky footage—Hang on, Min. We’re coming …

IV

Back in the fevered restaurant, Bash focussed on the Really Free Wildlife Company’s film crew. They had turned on a large, expensive, retro looking camera and concentrated on their work. The music faded to an end, slowly quieting an audience of diners, waiters and even the chefs and kitchen hands who had come out into the restaurant auditorium to watch.

Watch what?

The yellow cone of a spotlight etched through the smoke to pick out a trumpet player wearing a spangly dress. She lifted her yellow instrument to her painted red lips and musically raised the roof. A blare of brassy fanfare and then a human voice over the public address system brayed some announcement. Then, at the height of the fanfare, the researcher from the Really Free Wildlife Company entered the room with an ornate carrier bag. He ceremoniously opened it to reveal a perfect example of the State faunal emblem: the Leadbeater’s possum.

The spotlight found Min. The last known fairy possum in the world looked frozen, her huge dark eyes were pools of fear and her long tail hung limply beside the researcher’s arm. The trumpeter’s horn coruscated with reflections of candle-light and then the soul-filled melody soared above the forest shadows. The researcher placed Min into the leafy arms of the mountain ash growing to the side of the dining room. The trumpet ceased. There was an expectant silence.

Min stayed exactly where she had been put.

Initially.

In the control cave, Antenna shouted at the screen—RUN!!

In the restaurant, the diners applauded, appreciatively.

Min shivered as she looked into the hungry eyes of the audience. Then, she ran.

Only, where could she run to?

She ran along the branches looking for an escape. The way down was deep and treacherous. The way out along the branches just leaned over the diners. The diners with big shiny teeth smiled their big shiny grimaces and applauded as she came nearer to their tables. The noise only sent her off to another table and so each table across the room had a close-up experience of her terror. The humans appeared to enjoy every moment.

V

Antenna looked up to find she was alone in the control cave. She rubbed her eyes and spoke out loud—What can we do? How can we get her out of there? She got up onto her four feet and paced around the cave. She was drawn inevitably back to the screen. It was hard to see the dim picture while the restaurant was clearly enjoying the nocturnal theme of their possum prowl.

Antenna turned the mic back on—We’ve got to get her out, Bash. Over.

—I know. I know. But how? Over.

—I’m working on it. Think of something. Over.

Antenna got up again, walked the floor again and came back to her control desk once more. She tried not to look at the screen. What were they going to do? What was Really Free Wildlife really all about? Antenna hit the mic—Is Torque there? Over.

There was a pause before Bash’s camera swung around and found Torque. His gravely voice said—Torque here. What can I do, Antenna? Over.

—Could you do it, Torque? Fly over there and guide her out? She could get out into the tops of the leaves and Crawf could come in and fly her out, couldn’t he? You could help her. Couldn’t you? Over.

There was another pause as Torque considered the idea and then, strangely, Antenna heard the sound of laughter. Someone was laughing in the dining room. Only, it wasn’t a human laugh. It was an eerie laugh.

—What was that? Over.

—We don’t know, replied Bash through the speakers—Spark’s over there with Min right now. We’re stuck with a net below and there appears to be some kind of plate plexiglass above the tree. There’s ants tunnelling now but obviously that depends on how long we’re going to be here. Over.

—Just do something, Torque. Get her up onto the roof. I’ll get on to Crawf and he can pick her up. Over.

And then there was that laugh again. The diners became silent, almost as if they were waiting for it; a strange kind of laugh, like an eerie birdcall.

The audience gave a horrible echo of mirth, and then slowly simmered down to wait again. The whole restaurant, staff and diners alike, were holding their breath. Waiting for something.

The radio fizzed again, this time it was Bash—Antenna? Have you seen it? Over.

Antenna dragged her attention back to the pictures. Bash’s camera was pointed up to the ceiling at the far end of the dining room. Dimly she could see a flitter of movement at the top of the screen.

—Can you get in closer? she said into the mic—Over.

The camera zoomed in slightly. The dark patch shifted and Antenna looked straight into the eyes of an owl. She sat back slowly onto her hindquarters, a cold menace dowsing her guts. She was well aware that owls were the natural predators of Leadbeater’s possums in their mountain forest habitat. She wondered what sort of owl would hunt a furry nibblet in a room full of human beings waiting for the owl to do just what came naturally? What’s the bet that some of the humans even had money on the outcome? Perhaps they’d be betting on the length of time it would take for the owl to get the possum. Perhaps some of them were grasping stopwatches even as they watched, impatient for the result. How many of those people really wanted that owl to go and get Antenna’s best friend right now?

—Get her out of there! Antenna shouted to all radio frequencies—Torque! Spark! Go negotiate with the owl! Someone! Do something! Oh, Min …

No one replied.

Antenna shuddered as she remembered that numbats are trained to have a necessary response to any bird of prey. Run away! Hide! But Min hadn’t been trained. Min was a Leadbeater’s possum born in captivity. She knew nothing of instinctual behaviour in the wild. Min was alone with her natural predator in a crowded room. Surely someone ... ?

A clipped human voice sang out over the restaurant PA. The voice dripped with sarcasm and venom. The Ektek creatures couldn’t tell the details of the words – creatures can’t understand the curdled monotone of human speech – but they knew it wasn’t pleasant, all the animals listening understood that. Not pleasant at all.

The human audience laughed. They laughed and clapped their hands and Antenna held her head in her paws. The people simmered down until they were quiet again. They were all watching and waiting. Waiting for their bloodlust to be sated. Waiting for their humanity and their civilisation to blossom into dominion over every living thing that moved upon the earth.

The owl laughed again.

Then it moved.

It moved so fast, Bash had trouble keeping it in frame as it swooped across the dining room. It went straight to the mountain ash and grabbed Min in its claws and it flew to the very top of the tree. Min was limp. Perhaps she’d fainted.

The owl held Min in its foot. It looked around the room. Then, with gusto, it bit her head off.

Chapter Thirteen

Slowly babble bubbled up from the audience seated at the restaurant tables. The hubbub increased near the kitchen among the staff. The simmering volume amplified as delight swelled. Oh, the ballooning glee of being in this particular restaurant on Nemesis Night. A magnificence of triumph poured out of the voluble diners as they gibbered excitedly at their tables. This was a night to remember. This would be one to tell the grandchildren. There was no doubt this was why people came again and again, at enormous cost, to Last Chance to Eat; oh, the memories.

The sparkly trumpet player raised her horn again and blew to the four corners of the world while she sashayed to the centre of the room. Lights flashed on, revealing the superb new centrepiece of Last Chance to Eat, a huge, Romanesque bath. The audience thrilled and applauded again.

There was a high fence around the pool made of heavy-duty clear material, perhaps Perspex or even bulletproof glass. All the diners had a good view of the proceedings and the glass would indeed need to be sturdy to hold in the present occupant – Hardback, polished and shiny, visible in about a metre of clean water.

The pool was strewn with flowers. It was tiled with detailed mosaics depicting endangered wildlife; a blue whale’s tail dominated the bottom of the pool. A rhino, a seal, a panda, an Iberian lynx and a bison rose along the sides in precise detail. There, at the edge, frogs, lizards and turtles scuttled towards various birds: albatross, egrets, storks and a large condor. The big picture was superb.

Hardback lay in all this majesty, listless. His eyes were glazed. Was he drugged or just despairing?

A fountain, in the shape of a thylacine, vomited water from its mouth in the centre of the pool. Nearby, a chilling ice sculpture of a dodo was melting under the lights.

The stunning trumpet player with red, red lips didn’t even stop playing as she stretched out her hand with red painted fingernails to the dodo’s beak. There, embedded in the ice, was a yellow card. The dazzling woman wrenched the card from the ice, breaking off the dodo’s head in the process. Hilarity erupted through the audience as the ice clattered down the sculptural plinth and splashed delicately into the pool. It just missed Hardback’s nose.

The woman stopped playing to the gods, turned to the audience, beamed her red, red grimace, looked at the yellow card and trilled to the audience.

The spotlight snapped onto a balding, lardy man doing up his tight jacket as he rose from his table. He put down his huge white napkin and kissed his companion. The applause seemed to carry him, laughing, grinning and waving, up to the stage. The man was overjoyed and appeared to be thanking the trumpet player. She gave him a congratulatory kiss and guided him over to an exercise bike. Antenna could easily understand his extravagant gestures as he feigned outrage that he would have to work for his prize. The audience was almost falling out of their seats with mirth. The man was a jolly good sport and he hopped on to the cycle. Off he went, pedalling slowly at first, the trumpet player apparently calling out instructions and even, cheeky minx, theatrically patting his shiny head with a table napkin. All good clean fun.

As he cycled, the audience, including Antenna, became aware there was a shot of light emanating from the base of the stationary bike. An optic fibre thread carried the light, glittering through the branches of the tree. As the man pedalled, the thread wound into a spool attached to the bike. The illuminated thread became brighter and tighter and stretched, and the very act of cycling became reeling something in.

The house lights began to rise until they revealed the laughing owl sitting at the top of the tree, still chewing on a bloody rag of brown grey fluff. The owl soon forgot any idea of laughing as the thread tightened further. The owl was tethered by its ankle.

The owl looked up sharply and turned its head more than one hundred and eighty degrees when it was tugged off the perch and dropped several metres before it started flapping. The owl was flapping, flapping, flapping for its life now. It rose on the glittering string, the audience hooted and the man pedalled for all he was worth.

The trumpet player worked the audience, howling out, encouraging the man to cycle slower, go faster, go backwards and the owl was played out and flapped and flew and sank and was dragged according to the pleasure of the crowd. Soon the owl flailed over the surface of the pool and still the man pedalled, forwards and backwards and still the owl battled to get away.

Hardback, floating just under the surface, saw the struggle. His eyes locked on the hysterical movement. He could not know the tempting bird was bait. All he knew was that he was hungry. He was untied, he was capable and he was ready. He was half mad from capture and homesickness. He forgot all agreements made in the wild that animals have made among themselves to protect endangered species. He swirled quietly in the water and then shot up two metres into the air to grab the bird, his monstrous jaws wide. His huge teeth cracked and the bird disappeared leaving only a flutter of feathers drifting in the air ...

Antenna gasped as she watched the screens in the Ektek cave. Her eyes were dry and her mouth was dry. She felt so brittle she thought she might snap. Frustration, anger and sickness raged through her like electricity but she couldn’t stop watching as Hardback splashed back into the water.

In the restaurant, some of the closest diners were splattered with wet and limp flower petals. They screeched with excitement and wonder and turned to see what might happen next.

Hardback’s leap gave him energy and he attempted to scrabble out of the tank, his movements erratic as he grappled and scraped and slid down the plate glass walls. Feathers continued to glide through the air, this way and that, slowly joining the flowers floating on the surface of the pool.

The trumpet player, applauding heartily, went to the cyclist and assisted him from the bike. She encouraged the audience to acknowledge his sweaty efforts and he grinned endlessly in the heat of applause as he made his way back to the table and sat down.

Two cherubic waiters with long blond curly hair, possibly identical twins, made their lithe way over to the exercise bike and swiftly unlocked the cable of optic fibres at the base.

The trumpet player went to one side of the pool and picked up a long, bell shaped, fantastically decorated didgeridoo. She began to play, softly, hardly moving her shoulders, as the wonders of circular breathing took her over. The eerie vibrations filled the room.

One of the waiters went to the other side of the pool while the other threw the spool of optic fibre high into the air and over a sturdy beam. The first waiter caught it and placed it over a winch. Together, the waiters quickly wound the cable in until it tightened in the throat of Hardback and he began to rise in the water. Cleverly, the waiters managed to spin him in such a way they wrapped more of the glittering cable around his neck. They hung Hardback over the mosaic bath and he thrashed. He flung himself from side to side in the pool, cracking against its hard walls and the audience laughed and clapped to see his pathetic little feet clawing the air. He spun, helplessly. Antenna imagined what the audience might have been thinking. Perhaps they were measuring him up for handbags – no, shoes – no, belts – oh, his skin was extensive and varied in texture. There would be plenty for any kind of accessory.

Bash continued to record as Hardback in his turn, faced death. A grand chef, wearing his distinctive passenger pigeon Last Chance to Eat apron, checked white-and-black trousers and a high white hat, was suddenly picked out of the crowd by the roaming spotlight.

Chef waved and smiled to his appreciative fans. The diners drooled and clapped. He reached for his ceremonial taiaha, held high on a long red velvet cushion by a charming young waitress. Chef lifted the ornately carved Maori weapon, about his own height, gleaming in slender wood. He hefted its weight, lifted its gentle balance over his head and showed it to the audience. It was an object of supremacy.

Then, with extraordinary power, chef spun the taiaha around him. Threatening, advancing, with such strength of intention the audience grew cowed and was silenced.

Chef moved forward, surrounded by his aura, a whirlwind of taiaha force, and suddenly struck. He drove the spearhead of the taiaha into the pale thin throat of the crocodile and thrust, thrust hard and thrust again. He let go and the handle of the taiaha smacked around, the blade still stuck in Hardback, clattering the sides of the pool.

The waiters unlocked the capstan and the crocodile convulsed back into the ornately tiled bath. The taiaha tilted and slid to the side of the pool, pointing the bone at a mosaic white-headed langur like an awful game of spin-the-bottle. The water slowly stained red. Hardback swayed slowly in the moving stream and grew quiet.

A thunderstorm of applause erupted from the hungry audience. What a prelude to a feast! What a show! What a chef! The chef bowed, grinning and, as if by magic, plucked an owl feather, wafting down in front of him in the air, to wear jauntily in his hair. It stuck out in the side of his chef’s hat like a warrior’s memento.

In the Ektek control room, Antenna could no longer focus on the screen before her. She lay down on her desk and cracked open. Acrid tears rolled down her face. She sobbed as if she would never stop.

Chapter Fourteen

Hod was the first one out of the airship. He bounded down the tunnel from the garage to the control room as if he would fly. He was panting when he checked in at the computer area. Initially he couldn’t see anyone and he entered the space uncertainly. He was by the control desk when he saw Spark waiting by the doorway—Where is she? asked Hod.

—Gone.

—Gone? Where?

—Torque’s with her.

Hod stood and looked over the console. His eyes narrowed as he tried to remember what he’d been told about the operation of the computers. He sat down in Antenna’s place at the control desk and then stood up again. His paws hovered over one switch and then a button and he whistled quietly under his breath. Then he looked at Spark again—Do you know how to work this thing?

Spark looked at the wallaby uncertainly—I’d better go get Torque.

—I’ll go. Hod leapt up and through the cave tunnels until he came to the numbat enclosure entrance. He stood in the doorway and bellowed—Antenna! Where are you?

—Oi! Torque scuttled out of the opening—What you about? Can’t you give her some time?

—Do you know how to search the internet? No? Well? We’ve got no choice. Get Antenna back to work.

By the time Antenna made her way into the control centre, Crawf, Helmut, Zip and Hod were standing in a rough semi circle around the computer monitors. Bash was seated on the console, looking like an ebony ornament inlaid with slices of buttercup petals.

Torque and Spark stood a little way off, ready to help Antenna if need be. As if they could.

Antenna’s dark face fur was wet. She looked at the animals briefly, sadly, as if she didn’t really know them at all—You’re back.

—Yes, all safe and sound, said Hod in a robust, cheering up manner.

—Not all. Not safe.

—Come on, Antenna. We’re alive. We need you.

Antenna closed her eyes and she went to sit down at the desk. Once there, she took in a deep breath and said—Okay. This was the email I sent out last night. She searched for and opened a sent email. There was an attached picture of an owl, head turned to face the camera, eyes knowing and powerful. Antenna read the text in a voice cold as a glacier—It was the last New Zealand laughing owl. The restaurant had been keeping her on a farm, far away from curiosity seekers for years.

—Waiting for a suitably dramatic occasion? said Helmut.

—Some of the richest people in the world had flown in for the World Bank extravaganza. They were celebrating a new joint currency for New Zealand and Australia.

—Currency?

—Money.

—Do they never think of anything else?

Helmut said—Go on, Antenna.

—Crocodile medallions stuffed with laughing owl and Leadbeater’s possum, poached gently in a stock made from boiling a moa bone sent over from the Auckland museum. The stuffing was as light as fairy possum foam. They served the medallions on a victory wreath of New Zealand spinach drenched in quandong coulis, garnished with a pohutukawa flower and stabbed with a shard of wattle-seed waffle. It was as if the words themselves were choking her. Antenna finished reading. A tear plopped down onto the keyboard. Bash involuntarily jerked in horror as the splash hit him, his thin frog skin easily permeated by harmful chemicals such as salt.

—I’m so sorry, Anti, said Zip.

—We all are, said Helmut.

—Yeah, we are, said Crawf.

—Yeah, said Bash—There was just nothing we could do.

—Yeah, said Hod—But we can’t just stand round here and moan. We got to get them back, don’t we? We’ve got to do something. Now.

There was a silence before Antenna nodded and spoke very quietly—Yes.

—Yes? said Hod, completely surprised.

—Yes. She paused and then spoke—I never thought I’d say this but you’re right. We have to get them back, said Antenna, spitting out the words as if they were sharp metal tacks—It’s gone too far. I want them to feel like I do. I want them to feel devastated.

—You want vengeance?

—Yes. Vengeance.

The Ektek animals looked at each other. Hod was burning, on fire, with the desire to act. Zip was uneasy. She could see Antenna’s reasoning was caught in an emotional net and she wasn’t sure how long it could survive. Crawf was looking at Antenna with his head to one side, puzzled. Bash, too, was frowning and Helmut was looking particularly worried.

—We can’t sit back and let this happen again. Antenna went on—They’ve got to be stopped. Don’t you see? Min mustn’t die for nothing. She must be avenged.

—Avenged? Helmut muttered under his breath. He shook his head and exhaled heavily through his beak.

The creatures looked at each other again. If Antenna thought it had to happen, well, then. So did they. All, except Helmut, agreed silently by their looks and nods. They were deadly serious. They had had enough. Something had to change.

—You’re right, said Zip.

—We’re going to destroy the restaurant? said Hod.

—Kill them? said Bash—The whole lousy lot?

—It has to end, said Antenna—It is the only way.

Helmut stood up. He looked miserable and he glanced at each creature before he took his next step. Then he paced the floor, walking up and down as he said—It is not possible. Ektek are not killers. I feel sick that you can let the Ektek purpose drain away so quickly from your hearts. How can you forego so easily the memory of your parents? He stopped and drew himself up to his full height. He shuffled his feather cloak before he spoke like the elder statesman he was—Do you really think Min would want another death, more death, in payment for her life? Is that how she would be remembered? Ektek are not murderers. Ektek is for life. Ektek is for saving, for rescue and for helping other creatures.

—Maybe our best way to help is to clear the way. So many of our elders have been cleared. Maybe it’s our turn to take control, said Crawf.

—We need a plan, said Zip—A good plan: one that will work; one that others will join.

—But not of death, said Helmut—Please, Ektek. Think what you do, Antenna. Zip. Crawf. Bash. Hod. Please. I beseech you. Do not fall into this morass. We will never be able to redeem ourselves. We need the high moral ground. If we lose that, we have lost everything. You will be destroying Ektek.

Antenna took in a deep breath. Somehow Helmut’s words had managed to penetrate her madness—Of course. She stopped, hung her head and waited for the anger to begin to leave her body—You’re right, Helmut. She raised her head and then looked directly at Hod. She spoke slowly with no expression, the need for vengeance seemingly gone from her—It’s so easy when you say it. Vengeance. Retribution. Kill. Destroy. But it would be different if we actually had to do it, wouldn’t it?

—It would be straightforward, said the wallaby—It would be easier each time.

—Really, Hod? Really? You could really kill people? Possibly lose other creatures in the face of a war that we could never ever win? And you would have no concerns about that? Antenna looked at Hod and her eyes filled with tears again—I don’t believe you. You’re not a soldier. You have compassion, whatever you say. Helmut’s right. That way Min would have died for nothing. Ektek does not kill.

The animals shifted again. As a group their resolve was scattered. Hod felt frustration build up in him—What are we going to do then?

Pulling herself together, Antenna loaded another website onto the screen—This is what the Really Free Wildlife Company are up to right now.

The monitors showed an ad for a short educational film: Extinction of a Species; the death of the very last Leadbeater’s possum. There was footage of Min, scampering through the branches of a mountain ash. A bright purple star framed bold print explaining that: our cameras just happened to be there as the last fairy possum met her final fate. A trailer played the opening credits and then, if you desired to view the entire film, payment was requested through a secure payment system of your choice.

The animals in the control cave watched in shock—It seems the Really Free Wildlife Company have turned their talents to making snuff movies, said Helmut.

—What do you mean? said Zip—As in candles?

—Of course, they hope to profit by the animals’ extinction. If their hologram is in fact the last example of a now known extinct creature, then it becomes virtually priceless.

—They can’t get away with it, said Zip—Can they?

—Won’t human conservation groups do something? asked Bash.

—Even if we could find evidence to prove the company was acting illegally, how could we make sure they’d get prosecuted? said Helmut—And how could we make sure that prosecution was successful? If we did manage to get them into court, they’d happily pay through the nose for legal defence.

Hod agreed—I bet it’s already in their budget.

Helmut continued—There’s only the slimmest of chances they’d be found guilty and punished. Even then, they’d probably appeal, keep the case clogging up the system for years and still be selling their wares.

The creatures sat in the blue glow, cold and numb.

—The Really Free Wildlife Company will profitably release the footage showing nature at its most unsentimental, you know, red in tooth and claw and all that. People will pay to keep their expectations upheld. Keeps them feeling righteous, said Antenna.

—That’s right. Keeping dirty, nasty wild nature under control, said Zip.

—But what about the customers? said Bash—Won’t the audience realise they’re watching a restaurant?

—They can alter the images any way they want. Special effects to change the background, advanced software to alter the foreground… You can see from the trailer. It was easy to make that look like it was shot in a forest using a green screen and a fancy editing program.

—Dead easy, said Hod.

—What about the zoo? asked Crawf—Do you think the zoo could be in on it?

—What? asked Zip, shock visible on her bat face.

—They must have been tricked, said Bash—Like us.

—We don’t know that. Why shouldn’t the zoo be involved? They’d get a tidy sum for a clearing. It makes perfect economical sense.

—Hod! Don’t even think it! said Bash—It couldn’t be true. Could it?

—Where do you think your next meal is coming from, Bash? It costs money to care for us prisoners. Public exhibition is one way; fancy new enclosures, sorry, habitats, eye-catching graphics detailing threats against our survival, all the trappings of a modern zoo, everything, is expensive. Is it possible that turnstile income is not enough? Why are they always advertising for sponsors?

—I can’t believe the zoo would publicly champion threatened species and then so blatantly profit by their deaths, said Helmut.

—Not intentionally, said Antenna—The Really Free Wildlife Company must at least have accomplices in the zoo. How else can they gain access and maintain cover-ups of the deaths?

—What about me? said Zip in a small voice—I was taped. I must be next.

—That’s right, Zip, said Helmut—Anyone else?

—Ana the elephant and Charles, one of the Galapagos tortoises, were both filmed, said Antenna—We’d better get them under surveillance.

Spark nodded and followed Torque as they moved away, preparing to request beetle surveillance for Zip, Ana and Charles at once.

—I think another visit to the Really Free Wildlife Company might be in order, said Helmut.

—Okay, said Antenna—Take the airship with Zip and Bash. There’s something Crawf and I have to do.

—What are we looking for, exactly? said Bash.

—Anything that might help dissolve the company, said Helmut.

—You had your chance, said Hod.

—They would have come back from a fire like a phoenix, Hod. They’d be insured. Place like that, said Helmut—We need something that will finish them.

—You mean firebombing.

—I mean economic death, said Helmut—If their shareholders suffer then even anyone who might consider emulating them…

Crawf’s feathered headpiece was flat against his head, showing his distress but even so, he uttered a short alert cry—Hullo? he said—I’ve got an idea. Why don’t we infiltrate the company?

The rest of the Ektek animals greeted his suggestion with outright derision and sneers, glad of an opportunity to laugh. Zip thought it particularly funny—How do you think we’re going to do that? Dress up in a human suit and eat roast lamb?

—We’re animals. They’re humans, said Hod—In case you hadn’t noticed.

Crawf continued—What about the hologram in the office, Zip? Didn’t you think it was Min?

—True.

—Well, then. I could pretend to be a hologram.

—That’s just crazy enough to work, said Antenna.

—Thanks, Crawf but if I’m the one on the hit list, then it would have to be me, said Zip.

—We can’t make ourselves any more vulnerable… Helmut was saying when Spark entered the room and flew straight to Antenna. The beetle looked worried—You’d better see this for yourself.

—Can’t you just tell us?

In response, Spark turned and left. The other Ektek creatures trailed behind Antenna and the beetle, as they dodged in procession through the secret passageways. Then Spark led them all out into the public area. It was after hours but they still kept to the shadows and out of the security human’s line of sight. Torque waited for them, balanced on a large sign outside the numbat enclosure. It showed an attractive image of Antenna. The sign said, ‘Why keep her in prison when we can let our only numbat go free?’ ‘Coming Soon’ was an ‘Unbelievable 3D hologram numbat. So real you can reach out and touch her. Almost.’ There was a Really Free Wildlife Company logo in the corner.

Antenna turned to look at her team and shrugged helplessly. ‘How could it be so?’ her eyes seemed to ask them.

—There were hidden cameras, said Bash.

—Must have been, said Helmut.

—Unbelievable is right, said Zip.

—Sorry it’s not you? said Hod.

—That’s just the disgusting sort of thing you would say, said Zip.

—Shut up, you two. Anyone else get this?

—No, Anti, said Spark—Just you.

Antenna stared at her image with her dark glinting eyes. She contemplated her options and their inevitable consequences. Here was a bitter-sweet offer: liberty or death.

Surely freedom must be more than annihilation?

Chapter Fifteen

The engine hummed as Crawf flew the wingship into a darkening sky. He looked down as he sighted the coiling river and began to bring the plane down—We’re here.

—So soon?

He glanced over to his passenger—It might rain.

—Is that safe?

—Least of your worries.

Crawf slowly glided through an easy landing and the plane stopped. Antenna looked out of the window. She’d never travelled in the wingship before and was glad to have reached the ground at last—Thanks, Crawf. I just couldn’t ask Bash to do this. It was my job.

—Don’t worry about Bash. The sound of wild, free frogs and crickets rose in the evening light, replacing the thrum of the engines—Believe me, nothing would have induced him to be here now. I’ll go first. Crawf opened his window and looked over at Antenna—They know me.

—Okay. She opened her window anyway and started to make her way out.

Crawf flew out onto the wing. He held a small stick with his foot and hit the side of the wing rhythmically. He called out—Hullo? Crocodiles? Is Shining Teeth there?

In the dim light, a stir of low branches and log-like figures came to life. It was the crocodile's harem and they crawled towards the plane.

Crawf and Antenna stood one on each wing. They would go no further. Crawf ceased drumming. They watched as the crocodiles milled under the wingship with heavy reptilian movements. One of the crocs crawled forward and lifted her head—I am Shining Teeth. What news?

—Hullo? I am Crawf, the palm cockatoo you met before.

—Did you bring Hardback? The harem all started forward, muttering questions, eager to see their mate, scrambling over each other—Where is he? Is he here? Let him out…

Instead of answering their questions, Crawf said—We must have your word that you will let us go unharmed, no matter what.

—Where is our husband? asked Shining Teeth.

—You must give us your word, Crawf insisted—We are honourable creatures wishing you no harm; you must respect that and give us peace in return.

The crocodiles grumbled and paced under the wingship. They were not happy. Where was Hardback? Was he in the aircraft somewhere? Why did Ektek not let him out? What was the hold up?

Then Antenna stepped forward, still balanced on the wing and said—Excuse me, Shining Teeth, may I speak?

—Be careful, Antenna, said Crawf, under his breath—Don’t trust them.

—Who are you? called out Shining Teeth.

—I am Antenna. Numbat. It is true I have bad tidings from Ektek.

—That is all Ektek is to us. Bad news. We should never have called you.

—Ektek worked rigorously for Hardback but there were greater forces at play here. We have all lost much.

—You? Shining Teeth shook her head in disbelief—What have you lost, numbat? She sneered.

—My parents. My best friend. My place in the world; my home, my everything.

—Then you know how we feel.

—That is why I wanted to be the one to tell you what happened to Hardback.

—He is dead then.

—Yes.

There was a collective gasp from the crocodile harem. They breathed out a sigh that might have been a farewell. They had always believed he would come back to them. Now their hopes were dead, along with their mate.

—He died bravely, with dignity. I wanted you to know.

—Then there is no hope, said Jata.

—Not for him, said Antenna—But there is for you.

—What difference can that make? said Grater.

—You can now lay him to rest in your hearts and minds …

—But you can never give him back, said Shining Teeth. She turned and shouted to her harem sisters—We should have gone in and taken him when we had the chance.

—What chance? We had no chance, shouted Crawf—Hardback was lost from the moment he walked into that trap and you know it.

—No! shouted Asunder.

—He spent days at that prison farm, said Jata.

—Being groomed for sacrifice, said Crawf—Under armed guard!

—We could have got him out, said Jata—But we didn’t.

—Because Ektek told us not to, said Shining Teeth.

—You could not have got him out. We couldn’t have got past dogs and men with guns and neither could you, said Crawf—What do you expect of Ektek?

The crocodiles began to move closer, examining the wheels, raising up to see if they could climb up to the wings. Crawf made a move to the cockpit—Time to go, Antenna, he muttered as he climbed in to the plane.

—Help. We expected help, said Damura—Was that too much to ask?

Jata said—We thought that was what Ektek was for.

—We were wrong, said Damura.

—Dead wrong, said Grater.

Antenna continued to stand on the wing of the aircraft even as Crawf started the engines—All I can say, she shouted—Is that we tried. We really did try and I don’t know how to make it better for you. We wanted you to know, it is not over.

—Get in, shouted Crawf through the cockpit window, over the noise of the engines—Antenna! Get in now. We’re going.

—Is that it? cried out Shining Teeth—Is that all you have to say about the death of my husband? Our husband? Is that what you leave for us?

—I’m sorry, said Antenna and she turned to climb in the window. Once safely inside the cockpit, she looked out at the crocodiles, walking, running, scurrying behind the moving machine, their heads raised, their eyes burning in the dark as the wingship rose into the night.

—It’s okay. Crawf glanced over at Antenna, still staring out the window at the darkness below—We made it out of there. Live to fight another day. That’s the main thing.

Antenna wasn’t so sure. As she peered grimly into the black beneath them, Antenna whispered to the crocodiles, knowing they could not hear and would never understand her if they could—It’s not over.

Chapter Sixteen

In the half-light of the Ektek garage, several beetles, together with Zip and Crawf, worked on the tank. The patchwork surface of the vehicle gleamed where, over time, thousands of beetles had burnished the metal. Zip moved the lamp, a long, flexible pipe, closer to the driver’s door. The pipe was connected to thin tunnels, in which embedded mirrors were angled to reflect surface sunlight strategically onto the working area. She tightened the locking device she was altering in the door.

They had just about finished modifying the tank, allowing it to be driven by a larger animal, now that Min was dead. The entire cabin had had to be greatly enlarged. The controls and seat had to be replaced. The door had to be changed to a much larger one.

A team of several beetles had been working through the night. They were getting weary and the work had been going too slowly. They were expecting their replacements to arrive soon and the fresh team would be able to continue with renewed vigour while the tired ones slept.

Out of the corner of her eye, Zip could see movement. She looked up to see Antenna walking past on her way to the exit. She called out—Hey, Anti! How’s it going?

Crawf also looked up and nodded—Hullo? before returning to his work.

—Yo! Antenna, said a beetle and another added for good measure—Gidday, Antenna…

Antenna didn’t reply and just kept marching on. Zip shrugged and continued with her work, thinking the numbat must be too distracted by heavy thoughts of her personal predicament for light-hearted chit-chat. The numbat came to the light-pipe stretched out along the floor and, without pausing, tried but failed to negotiate it. Suddenly the numbat spluttered and fell over, landing on her side.

Zip and Crawf looked up from their work on the tank. Immediate concern caused Crawf to leap up into the air and fly over to the mammal’s feet. Zip was also alarmed and hurriedly flew to the numbat’s assistance—Antenna!

Crawf’s wingtip patted Antenna’s pointed, furred face, trying to restore her. Her legs kept on kicking in a strange repetitive action. Zip frowned as she watched and tried to touch them but the movement seemed involuntary and constant and the legs were stiff, unable to stop. She looked up to Crawf, full of worry—Is she having some kind of fit?

—Antenna! Crawf renewed his patting and asked the fallen numbat—Are you okay?

—I’m fine, thanks, but I don’t think that’s doing so well. The real Antenna walked out of the shadows holding a small box. It was a remote control.

Zip and Crawf jumped back from the false numbat and stared at real Antenna. She was laughing as she flicked the controls. The controls were having absolutely no effect the puppet numbat. There was a metallic clicking noise coming from the active legs—Still needs work, hmmm?

The mechanical creature clicked and kicked. Manifold rushed forwards and climbed up the body and into the pretend numbat’s armpit. Soon the motors stopped and the kicking was over. Silence spread over the cave once more.

Gobsmacked, Crawf and Zip stared at Antenna and then back to the model as if watching an invisible tennis match. Antenna walked forward and bent down to check the false numbat’s leg wasn’t falling off. She moved it, backwards and forwards, checking the clicky action—We can smooth that out, can’t we, Manifold? Manifold, muffled from within the techno creature, squeaked out an affirmative. Antenna thought aloud—It’ll get past those researchers long enough. I hope.

Crawf came forward to inspect the mechanical toy—Won’t they feel the weight of the mechanics when they pick it up?

—Hopefully they won’t ever touch it.

—You’re sure about that? Zip could see the risks and she didn’t like them. Antenna was going to be taken by the Really Free Wildlife Company and they could transport her literally anywhere. Once in Really Free’s clutches, Ektek could only hope Antenna would stay within reach. They had to hope the Really Free Wildlife Company would stay predictable. That was, if Antenna wanted to stay alive. Antenna’s future rested precariously on a hope. Antenna continued, apparently unperturbed—I knew they’d do a good job.

—Thanks, I’ll tell the team when they wake up, squeaked Manifold—I’ll start her again, if you like.

Antenna indicated that Manifold should hold her fire and turned to look at the other animals—I’ve got something important to ask. Who’s going to take over in the control room? Someone has to. Zip?

Zip didn’t want this discussion and quickly brushed over Antenna’s suggestion—Get it up on its feet first.

—Crawf?

Crawf also grabbed the opportunity to shift the topic of conversation. He moved forward straight away to grab the remote controlled numbat with his beak and Antenna helped Zip and Crawf push the puppet upright.

Antenna had to admit these two didn’t want to talk about the control centre. She gave in for the moment and instead drove the fake beast past Crawf and Zip for a more formal demonstration. This time they watched more carefully as the replica moved. Antenna’s paws didn’t have the flexibility required to get the most out of the remote control and the fake faltered as it moved.

—Walks funny.

—You don’t have to whisper, Zip. Crawf said—It can’t hear you.

—The model’s not too bad. I think we can blame the operator here but you don’t have to worry. Crawf’ll be the one doing it on the day.

Crawf looked at Antenna. He knew this was a matter of life and death but then, life and death were breakfast and lunch to an Ektek creature.

—Perhaps, Zip, you should consider meeting with me in the control room. Someone has to know how to run the website and you’re more familiar than ...

—But I’ll be out in the action and you’re coming back anyway.

—What if I’m not?

—You have to be. Have you shown Crawf how that contraption works?

Antenna could see she was fighting a losing battle expecting these two would take over the computer operation. Although she was flattered they thought so highly of her invincibility, she knew she had to convince someone to take up the reigns or the future of Ektek was at risk—Here, Crawf, you have a go. Crawf took the control with his scaly bird foot and looked at it carefully from side to side.

—You push there to go ahead, left, right and reverse. Okay?

—Think so. Crawf tentatively sent the false numbat stumbling forwards.

As Zip exclaimed over Crawf’s ungainly first attempts to drive the puppet, Antenna noticed Helmut and Hod arriving into the garage from different directions. Hod was on duty next, to replace Crawf and Zip. Helmut was on his way to the airship. He needed to complete his pilot’s pre-flight check. Antenna watched, worried there might be trouble between them.

In an attempt to give Hod more responsibility, and therefore ground his flights of irrational rebellion, Ektek had chosen him as the new tank driver in Min’s place.

Helmut took Hod aside before they reached the tank and said—Please, Hod. Don’t try any funny stuff today.

Hod pulled away from him—What about you?

—Think of Min. Think of Antenna. Helmut considered Hod—Just, please, do your job safely.

Hod had grown up respecting Helmut but, now that Helmut was getting older, Hod was seeing a different side to the elder, a more fallible side—Do you really think Ektek can make any difference at all? With our careful little actions? Our prim little dobs to the authorities who are probably already well aware of the reprobates and who are so slow and lumbering to change anything?

—I don’t like to think of the alternative. We’re not angry monkeys chucking rocks at cars. We have purpose. We have strategy. We have honour. Perhaps Ektek can help slow the extinction rate a little. Maybe we can inform enough people to make a difference. I don’t know. But at least I can sleep at night.

—You don’t think angry monkeys sleep well?

—We’ve got a chance to communicate with humans. Maybe even get them to think, to realise we’re all in the same boat.

—I never have a problem sleeping; and there’s only one species I’d like to see extinct.

—Even they are necessary in the web of life.

—That’s debateable, Hod laughed—Tell you what. Let’s have our own Nemesis Night. Lions versus Christians.

Helmut could see the funny side of Hod’s idea too. It was only a small moment between them but they did share a laugh.

—Don’t worry, Helmut. Not a single soul is going to get hurt tonight. Because he’d turned to go, Helmut didn’t hear the very quiet addition Hod muttered under his breath as he leapt past Antenna—Unless absolutely necessary.

Chapter Seventeen

I

Antenna walked through the cavernous hangar. Would she ever see Ektek again? As she travelled, she saw the paths of her life so far, in a different, more poignant light. She nodded and waved to beetles of her acquaintance and quietly said her farewells to the vehicles, the machines and the systems of her youth, her life and her family. Finally, she rounded a corner and saw the yellow-footed rock wallaby she’d been looking for.

Hod was working on something in the machine cage with his back to her. This was a lockable part of the hangar where heavy tools were stored to prevent fire and accidents. She opened the door; it squeaked from rust and disuse and she didn’t notice Hod’s reaction. He was jumpy. He wasn’t expecting visitors and definitely didn’t want them. He quickly covered his work with a rag as he turned to see her.

Antenna was feeling too emotional to question him or what he might be doing. She simply wanted to say goodbye and ask him one little question—Hod?

—Anti, he smiled at her in greeting, old friends together.

—Busy?

—Nothing much, he said and he turned to move her out of the cage—‘Sup?

—Got a moment?

—Sure.

—Come to the control centre and I’ll teach you the panel operation.

—Me?

—Yeah, you.

—Sure. Hod was only too pleased to get Antenna headed out to the main hangar area—But you’ll be back.

—‘Course. Antenna, taken aback by the ease of this win with Hod, was thrilled someone was prepared to take on the control mantle. She thought she’d finally been able to find a successor and really didn’t want to question it too closely—But you know there’s a risk and someone has to be able to keep the place going. It’s not going to be that difficult. I made a document that has all the basic instructions and information and it’s saved on the main drive …

Hod looked at her doubtfully as she talked and they walked through the corridors. Although it had served his immediate purpose to get her out of the machine cage, he was not at all convinced that the computer job should be his. In fact, he had his own, entirely different, plans for the future. He followed her uncertainly into the control cave and stood before the phalanx of monitors and blinking lights. He became increasingly awkward.

—Okay, said Antenna—Make yourself comfortable …

—You know, Anti, said Hod, not really coming forward into the space—That’s one thing I don’t think I ever will be ‘round here. Tech stuff. It’s … Just not me.

—But you said …

—I thought I could. Just for a moment. But now, it’s not real, is it? Come on, Anti. You didn’t really think I would?

—Who then? Zip plain refuses. Bash won’t. Crawf won’t. It has to be you. You and I are the ones, Hod. We’ve been trained for this all our lives. You can’t give up now.

—I’m not giving up. I’m just saying it’s not my area. And if there’s a chance you’re not coming back, then, same stands for me.

—What?

—Antenna. I wouldn’t let anything happen to you. You must know that. If you’re not here, then I won’t be either.

Still refusing to approach the computers, Hod stood away from the control desk and watched her. Antenna realised he would not sit down with her and he was leaving. She stood also and they stared at each other for a while. He bent down to her and gently held his nose to hers. They let their breath mingle. Hod and Antenna stood quietly forehead to forehead before he broke away and abruptly left the control space.

Antenna stared after him. She had felt his yearning but didn’t understand it. She missed the old Hod who had been like a brother. He seemed more like a stranger to her now. Where had that old friend gone and who was this new, tough rebel muscling into his place? She felt she had missed an opportunity to ask him what was going on but knew he wouldn’t be able to tell her much more than he already had. She knew he was frustrated at their low success rate. So was she. She just hoped he could be happy with their peaceful approach. She didn’t think she’d be able to take any more violence, any more loss. She pined for a moment, for the past, for her family and for Min …

Antenna came back to earth and switched the video monitors on. This was her business. She’d already set up the web pages. The headline read: Is the Really Free Wildlife Company Really for Real? The screens played continual footage of Min’s death; both Ektek’s version and the Really Free Wildlife Company’s edited promotional footage from their website; together with all the relevant links.

She removed the console’s carapace and started testing the connection to the satellite. Ektek could only use the satellite for ten hours a day. It restricted the immediacy of some of their internet broadcasts but, on the plus side, it meant Ektek’s footage could receive a bit more editorial attention before the public saw it.

She skimmed through her emails and found various new comments on her blog. Most assured her they were expecting the Last Chance to Eat rescue footage, if it were to come to that, to have a large international audience. Internet technology was equal to most challenges and, with the satellite; Ektek had links covering the entire world. Threatened extinction was certainly a global problem and there were many interested groups and individuals online, some of them even human, who would be watching to see a numbat rescued from a theatre restaurant.

Antenna leaned forward to the mic—Helmut? Can you commence connection, please? Over.

From the airship, Helmut acknowledged her—Over and out.

Antenna had just enough time to set up the netcast camera relay from the airship straight to the web. She pushed send on the media release. There was a special notification to the Department of Flora and Fauna and one to the zoo marked urgent. It was paramount that the zoo understood the connection between the Really Free Wildlife Company and Last Chance to Eat. No one in Ektek believed the zoo could actually condone what went on in the restaurant but a bit of media attention might boost their outrage.

There would be no one at the control desk to edit. The pictures from the restaurant came in clearly and colourfully, if not always the best quality colour. They would be netcast, sixteen frames every second, while the link was maintained. Antenna nodded. All systems go.

II

It was a grey, misty day. The clouds were low. The air was cold. The ground was wet and shiny. The airship hovered over the zoo car park. From the Ektek security camera at the gate, Antenna could see the Really Free Wildlife Company’s van and several media cars had arrived, setting up their OB and loading gear, waiting for the press conference to begin.

Manifold popped her head into the control room—They’re here.

Antenna left the office area, taking a last look at Min’s image huddled among the leaves in the computer generated highland forest. Min’s huge eyes glinted on the screen. Antenna felt a terrible sense of loss as she lifted her paw briefly in farewell.

In the hangar, her waiting friends quickly surrounded her. Antenna didn’t like to say goodbye at the best of times and this was one of the worst. She didn’t want to hurt her friends by dwelling on the possibility of death. Come to that, she didn’t want to dwell on the possibility of her own death either. She hugged each of her friends in turn.

—Good luck, growled Torque.

—See you later.

—No doubt, said Torque—No doubt at all, Antenna. None at all. We’ll see you later, that’s right. You keep your chin up. That’s the way.

—Soon, said Spark.

Crawf gestured impatiently—Come on, Antenna. They’re trying to find you.

—You’d better take care, Zip hugged Antenna and whispered—I don’t want to lose another friend.

—Neither do I.

—If it’s in my power …

—I wish you’d’ve let me teach you …

—When you get back. I’ll be ready to learn then. Do the full diploma …

—When I get back … Antenna gave her bat friend a wry look.

Manifold ran down the tunnel and called—Hurry, Antenna! They’re getting worried.

—You don’t have to go, whispered Zip—You could run away.

—Don’t think I haven’t …

—Go then!

—Where?

—Stay here! You could!

—They’d look for me. Antenna smiled at her friend and gently pulled away—They might find Ektek. Can’t risk that. No choice. Got to go. Be good.

Leaving Zip, Antenna ran up to her enclosure and raced into the hollow log just as her keeper, Sanjit, looked in the other end and found her. He tipped the log, gently, and looked surprised when he saw her there. Sanjit had looked after Antenna since she had been a baby. He picked her up and looked into her eyes. He could feel her heart racing and he laughed with the media. Who knew what he was thinking? Antenna wished she could speak human. She could have told him a few things he didn’t know. She also knew, whatever happened with the Really Free Wildlife Company, what ever happened in Last Chance to Eat, win or lose, she could not come back to this enclosure.

Sanjit patted Antenna and then gave her over to the Really Free Wildlife Researcher. The cameras flashed then, and reporters cackled, seemed to quack some happy questions, clucked and flapped some more. Antenna dangled from the researcher’s hands. She was overcome with dread.

A politician grinned nervously into the cameras as Antenna began to climb her arm. A tall thin man, who looked like a scientist, took hold of Antenna and ritualistically placed her into a small animal transfer case. He shut the lid. Antenna made herself comfortable. It sounded like a lot of important speeches were going on, presumably about what it meant to be a numbat living in the civilised world, the important role of zoos and releasing captive born into the wild. She sat, squashed into her little travel case, and thought to herself maybe this publicity might actually be good for the case of animals. She really hoped there was a positive side to this experience. It just felt like sacrifice to her.

Then, because she’d been reading the media releases, she allowed herself a little fantasy time. Perhaps they really were intending to fly her to her natural habitat. Perhaps the area had been feral fenced and pest baited. Perhaps she really was going to be released into the forest. Antenna imagined she could be very happy in a community of newly released numbats. She started to look forward to it. Perhaps she could raise a family of her own. See her grandchildren cavorting in the sun, carelessly eating the ants and termites… As the travel case was lifted into the air, she was jolted into reality. She’d believe it when she saw it.

Chapter Eighteen

I

Helmut piloted the airship, Bash sitting beside him. They floated through the grey, misty sky. They would track the movements of the van and act as a relay station between the recording gear and the satellite.

The Really Free Wildlife Company van, closely followed, above and astern, by the airship, drove into the peak afternoon traffic. They drove for some time. Antenna had never been in a human’s car before. She didn’t like it. She quickly learned to stay lying down, but even then she was thrown against the side of the case far too often for comfort. She wondered they hadn’t considered if bruising would hurt the meat. Then she remembered the concept of tenderising.

II

Crawf and Zip were travelling in the red sports car with the fake numbat. They were not actually driving. They were parked in the tank. It would be their job to enter wherever Antenna was to be held, leaving the tank outside, to perpetrate a swap of numbats, if possible. Perhaps they would just wave to Antenna as she explored the forest of her newly found freedom and community. Maybe. Maybe not. They wouldn’t take any unnecessary chances.

III

Hod was also ready in the tank, not yet driving. The tank was parked in the belly of the airship. He was in communication with Zip in the car. The tank was to be deployed mainly as a transport vehicle. Unless, thought Hod, it became necessary to ramp up the action. And the way Hod was thinking, it probably would.

IV

Outside, on the roadway, the Really Free Wildlife Company van stopped. Antenna’s heart was thumping like a huge road-building hammer. She could feel her ribs being beaten. She didn’t like it. It didn’t feel like freedom should. It felt far more like meat tenderising.

Silence.

Then humans barked at each other before the van door slid open, people got out and the carry case was hefted, somewhat carelessly, into the air. Then Antenna realised she was inside a building and, as she’d known all along in her tenderised heart, there would be no such thing as freedom for this little rust-coloured numbat.

She could smell tantalising smells of sauces and stocks. Only, to her, the heavy aromas were cloying. She felt sick. There was a low-level hum of business. They were no longer pretending to hold her carry case steady. She fell to one side and scrabbled to regain balance. Finally, they put her down on the ground. Antenna rose groggily to her feet, swayed and then vomited a little in a corner of the case. She didn’t think travel suited her.

They cleaned her up when they transferred her to a smaller cage. At least she could see through the bars. She could breathe better too, but she didn’t want to because of the smell of sauce.

As expected, she was indeed in Last Chance to Eat. There were no patrons here yet. Most of the dining room was dark and shadowed. Antenna was off to one side, still in her cage. She’d been given fresh water and food, some of that custard stuff from the zoo. She could only sit tight and wait for her chance – either to be rescued or not – whichever came first.

The central section of the room was bathed in bright hot light. A large holographic camera was pointing at a stage set in the middle of the restaurant. The stage was sandy. There was a large termite’s nest with a log artistically arranged across the front.

So, this was to be the scene of Antenna’s very own Nemesis Night. She was much closer to the human film crew than Ektek had been before. A man Antenna surmised might be a director stared intently into a monitor on the right side of the camera. What might have been a producer watched over the director’s shoulder, a mobile phone pressed to the side of her head as she buzzed on and on in snorty human talk. What could they be planning? Was there any chance at all they might be talking about something good? Something that might benefit the natural world in even the smallest way?

Antenna thought not.

Antenna watched as the grip adjusted the tracks preparing for the camera move. The boom operator swung a large hairy mic in and out across the set. After watching the boom operator for a while, trying to puzzle out what the heck she was doing, Antenna assumed she was checking for boom shadows across the bright set.

There was a soft flutter and the nearly black Crawf appeared out of the darkness beside her. He had cloaked his pink face patch with his feathers. He spoke very quietly—Hullo? He melted back into the dark. Antenna nearly fainted with relief. Then she could hear the clicking of her cage door as he attempted to undo the lock with his beak. It seemed to be taking a ridiculous time and making an awful noise. There were people everywhere. Any minute now, one of them would come to investigate…

—What’s the problem? she whispered.

—My beak.

—What’s with the beak?

—It’s hollow.

—Hollow?

—I’ve got to be careful.

—I see. Antenna didn’t see and she couldn’t think how she could help him with his fragile beak so she waited, fairly screaming inside. She watched the people going about their business, back-lit from the dazzling light of the stage, not paying her any attention at all. There were people operating machines – cameras, lights and sound – everywhere. Even in the ceiling. Antenna watched them all, trying to stay calm and distracted, as Crawf tinkered away with his lock.

Up in the lighting grid, Antenna saw a movement in the shadows and it was far too small to be human. She focussed intently on the place and sure enough saw the twinkle of a tiny frog’s eye in the glare of the stage lighting. It was Bash. He was preparing to broadcast proceedings to headquarters. He placed his camera on a strategic strut and watched. He panned across the space with his tiny viewfinder. Antenna hoped his footage was beaming to the website. She almost waved but figured she didn’t want to be attracting attention to Crawf so abstained from any irregular movements.

Crawf continued his struggles with the cage. He used more and more force until the cage began to shake.

—Careful, Crawf… Antenna didn’t think he could have heard her; he was making so much noise with the lock. He kept on and on, making more and more of a racket, until he finally knocked the whole cage over. It crashed onto the floor and rolled.

—Run! screeched Crawf —Run for your life!

—Oh, well done, Crawf, Antenna muttered. She was thrown about in the cage as it tumbled across the floor. She wondered what the humans would make of that loud cockatoo screech. Did they have parrots on the menu that night? Finally the cage came to a stop and she lay on the ground, realised she was still alive, and even more tender. She was now under a table, covered by a draping tablecloth. She knew she wouldn’t have long before the humans raced over to see what had happened. Amazingly, the restaurant staff chose that very moment to turn on their funky bossa nova vibes and no greasy tune had ever been more welcome to any creature’s ear. It would help to cover any further noise she might have to make to get out of the cage.

Luckily the door was above her and the lock had been broken. Antenna wasn’t sure if it had been the weak beak or the smashing across the floor that had done the trick but she wasn’t going to hang around and try and work it out forensically. Not when she needed to get the heck out of there. She clambered out of the cage and ran to another table, and then another until she felt relatively safe under a table near the wall and then she stayed very still indeed. Crawf would have to look after himself.

There was consternation among the film crew as they yelped and bleated to each other, bustling to and fro searching for her cage, but they only seemed to succeed in getting in each other’s way.

After Antenna had calmed down enough to breathe, she had to find out where she’d landed. She peered out from under the tablecloth and, just as they had planned, there was the trusty replacement numbat, skittering across the floor. It was so well manipulated by old ‘weak beak’ Crawf that it looked almost real.

A woman with a clipboard ran over. Another assistant appeared from the other angle. They both put their clipboards down. One ran to the numbat puppet and bleated nervously. Obviously she was too scared to pick it up. Antenna wondered if the woman thought it might bite. She only wished it could. They could have built a bite mechanism into the faux numbat. If only! That would have given those humans a fright. Then Antenna was ashamed of herself, remembering Helmut’s words. Ektek wasn’t for biting people.

The other woman picked up the cage and examined it. It seemed undamaged to her. She quickly lowered the cage over the numbat replica, as though trapping a spider in her bathroom. She tapped the creature over to one side and flicked the door shut. Then she placed the cage, together with the pseudo numbat, onto a table in plain view. Everyone picked up their clipboards and left. No one made a fuss. Everyone kept their heads down, concentrating.

The switch had been made.

Antenna thought it must be nearly time, although she did wonder to herself, time for what?

The dark restaurant was becoming busier. Waiters were showing customers to their tables. Down near the staging area, a sound engineer frowned and adjusted a lever. A gaffer adjusted a lamp high up in the lighting grid. Footsteps came nearer to Antenna. The assistants met and flapped their clipboard notes at each other and yabbered in human gibberish.

Antenna could see the false numbat was turning around inside the cage. It looked as though it were chasing its tail. What a time to have fun. Crawf must have been practising, shoving those controls around with his hollow beak, just as hard as he could go.

All Antenna had to do was find Zip, who was hopefully waiting nearby in the red sports car but Antenna couldn’t see her. Her eyes probed the shadows, seeking hidden traces of her friend in vain.

The Really Free Wildlife Company’s production team signalled they were ready. A green screen was set in place and various habitats were projected behind the set. A harried man in a black tee-shirt opened the slightly dented cage and took the compliant numbat to the set. The fake numbat was placed onto the rocks and immediately started to climb to the termite’s nest. Crawf was concentrating on getting a lifelike walk and the model numbat did look convincing, even to Antenna. Personally, Antenna thought she would have been much more wooden than that. She thought she would be unable to move at all. She’d be terrified. What was going to happen to that little pretend beast? What would be its Nemesis?

The restaurant was still filling with clients. An excited hum blended with the oily lounge music. The waiters marched swiftly to take orders and fill drinks. Elaborately dressed women relaxed, their shatoosh protecting them from the cool of the evening. Antenna wondered about the chiru they’d seen only a few days before. When they’d shot the komodo, did they kill the chiru, too? Make their fancy recipes without the show or did they conjure up some fantasy hunting sequence to make it all worthwhile?

The imitation numbat was filmed as the technicians ran their tests on various backgrounds for the benefit of the producer and the director. They watched their little monitor very seriously as they compared the numbat against computer-generated backgrounds of a snowfield, a dense forest, a beach… There were sounds of arguments from the crew. The director hooted.

The technicians replaced the sandy vista with a forest floor. On screen, the model looked right at home. As the real, breathing Antenna watched, she realised all this effort had to be worth a packet to the humans. A holo numbat in every zoo, because there was no way to see a real one, must lead to healthy royalties and acclaim. But, Antenna knew, and the Really Free Wildlife Company must have known, that she was not the last numbat. There were at least two healthy surviving communities in the wild. She began to realise the Really Free Wildlife Company hadn’t made much of a song and dance about her. She realised she must be there as background; no, she was there as bait, for some other creature.

There was a conference going on at the monitor and an assistant was dispatched to deliberate with a waiter. The director spoke to the Director Of Photography, perhaps checking to see if they had enough useable footage. The producer gave him the nod. It was time for the assassination.

Antenna felt panicked. Who would be the star of Nemesis Night tonight?

There was a small pause while the waiter passed on the message to the person in charge of production for this evening and then the music changed subtly and faded away to silence.

Deliberate footsteps trod slowly past Antenna. Very slowly. Ceremoniously. Then she heard a rusty squeak that sent shivers down her spine, down to the deepest recesses of her ancestral memories.

A human’s sardonic tones snarled an announcement over the public address system. A scattering of polite applause rose in response. Then the spotlights swung over to a man slow-marching through the room. The man had a large bird on his arm. The bird was wearing a tight-fitting leather hood. This was the bird that squeaked like a rusty door hinge. The flinty voice on the PA barked on and on and the audience reacted and clapped and roared. The man removed the bird’s hood with a flourish. The watching creatures could see it was a peregrine falcon. One of the rarest birds in the world.

The customers, waiters and kitchen staff applauded.

Antenna slunk back under the tablecloth and shook miserably. She was thankful she had already vomited. She felt empty. She almost felt sorry for the peregrine. She was pretty slim pickings. Lucky for Antenna, she was still hidden. For the time being. However thin Antenna was, the peregrine would know the difference between a nylon-fur covered radio-controlled puppet and a real live numbat. That was for sure.

The man let loose the powerful bird. It took to the air, its squeaky voice serrating the silence. Antenna cowered under the table.

The peregrine’s wings fanned the air so forcefully one guest had to run to save his toupee from falling into the mosaic pool.

The peregrine spotted the model numbat and circled in the air above it. The audience laughed and clapped lightly. There they all were, wishing, taking bets and hoping … Would it be sooner? Or later?

Oh, sooner!

The falcon swooped down to the artificial numbat. It was so fast; so unbelievably fast. The bird’s claws ripped into the numbat’s back. It shook the animal until its mechanics were exposed. A spring and a bolt clattered onto the floor, as the peregrine hefted the model and carried it up to the ceiling.

As the audience roared its approval, the peregrine realised the puppet was inedible. Without pausing in its flight, it dropped the flopping, broken thing. The puppet smashed into a table of portly men and X-ray women. They pushed back their seats as metal cogs and triggers flew towards them. There were screams, flailing arms and overturned wine glasses.

The peregrine, wheeling around above of the dining room, looked directly at Antenna. The vivid beam of hunter and hunted connected between them. Antenna, filled with terror, ripped her vision away from it. She ducked down behind the tablecloth and knew it was only a matter of seconds before the great bird sought her out.

Then, Antenna heard the familiar hiss of the little steam car. She’d never been so pleased to see anyone in her life, as Zip drove straight under the table. Antenna leapt into the passenger seat and ducked her head as they drove out crazily from under the cloth and careered between the tables. The hubbub of a shocked restaurant easily covered the hiss and purr of the steam powered car’s engine.

The peregrine now had Antenna in his sights. He soared, following the red car with his eagle eye.

Then there was a huge crash.

The rear restaurant doors flew from their hinges as the tank lurched forward into the room.

Hod drove the metallic car, shaped like a giant stag beetle, straight into the middle of the set and then into the most expensive looking camera and sound gear. The tracks of the tank crunched into video recorders and the mixing board. But still the tank rolled on through the restaurant, crushing tables and chairs like twigs, people blowing like leaves around it.

Antenna was horrified at the destruction but was powerless to stop the tank. There was nothing to do except cringe in her seat, as the car zoomed towards the exit, and watch Hod on the rampage.

Zip shook her head at the damage and worried that there were too many people who could get hurt. She reached into her back pocket and pulled out a tiny digital sound system. She stuck it onto the front of the car and turned the volume up. A blare of emergency bells shattered the air and an electronic voice, that Ektek had produced, hoping the translation was correct, yawped sternly: Warning. Evacuate. Evacuate. You will be evacuated. Please move away. Please move away from the building. Evacuate. Evacuate. You will be evacuated.

Most of the customers had already left by this time, running and screaming in undignified haste, shatoosh waving behind them like flags. The film crew stood en guarde, ready to protect their precious equipment with their lives.

Although Zip was driving fast, Antenna was still out in the open and she knew that the falcon could just pluck her out of her seat any time it liked. She watched as another bird streaked up to the ceiling. It was Crawf. The palm cockatoo confronted the Nemesis as they flew fast around the room, performing an extraordinary aerial display.

Crawf screeched at the peregrine—Flee! Flee! Or it could have been—Free! Free! Or even—Fee! Fee! Whatever it was, the bird of prey heard him and swooped down to the level of humans and out of the door into the real world.

Back on the ground, Hod did a completely unnecessary and very wide three-point turn. The staff and camera crew’s concern for property suddenly faded as interest in their own safety took over and they scattered in panic. Seeing the humans dive for cover, Zip screeched to a halt next to the camera. She jumped out of the car and struggled with the holographic equipment, trying to tip it over. Antenna jumped out to help her and they managed to heave the whole thing, tripod and all, into the back of the car.

Zip disengaged the blaring speaker and mp3 player from the top of the bonnet. She placed it next to the fallen control desk, which took up the announcement. It blared, even louder than before: Evacuate! Evacuate! You will be evacuated!

As they jumped back into the car and drove off, Zip chuckled—This is good, very good. With that hologram I never need to be in my enclosure again!

Antenna thought about this, knowing she didn’t have the choice. She could never go back to her enclosure. She felt homeless and out of place. She looked over at Zip—It is a freedom of a sort, isn’t it.

—Good as we’re going to get today.

Hod continued his mad parade, driving over tables and smashing the termite nest into a pulp of painted polystyrene. Leaving the biodiesel engine running, he stopped the tank in the middle of the now empty room and jumped down from the driver’s seat. He rushed over to a corner of the restaurant and fiddled with something.

Bash had made his way down from the lighting grid above and was getting into the tank by the time Hod got back. Crawf was already inside. Zip drove the car through the tank door and heaved on the handbrake. She and Antenna slammed the tank door shut and shouted out to Hod they were ready to go. Hod revved the engine. They took off out of the empty restaurant, driving over everything in their way. It was a bumpy ride.

Mission accomplished.

The tank had not been built to be a speed machine. So Hod drove it to the rear of the building where Helmut was ready in the airship; the winch lines lowered and prepared. The tank drove into place in the airship’s shadow. Hod hopped around the outside of the tank, attaching the wires to the frame before re-entering. Zip followed him, checking each connection was fast before she too finally climbed aboard. From the tank’s controls Hod radioed to the airship—Uptek? We’re ready. Over.

Helmut’s voice replied through the radio fuzz—Commence tank lift. Over.

The tank rose slowly to the airship’s docking and cargo area. Once the winching was complete and the tank was secure, the creatures came out of the cargo hold and went up to the bridge where Helmut piloted the craft.

—Thanks, driver, said Zip.

Helmut didn’t appear to hear her. He was concentrating intently as he activated the airship’s forward movement. Beads of sweat had gathered around his bony headpiece.

The airship rose and turned away from the city centre. Crawf said—I went into the kitchens to see if I could help any of the animals in there and they’d all gone.

—Yeah, said Hod.

—You?

—Yeah, I set them free. Before I drove into the dining room.

Antenna turned her full attention to Hod—What did you think you were doing?

—Saving you.

—Snap, said Zip who had been the one to pack Antenna into her little car and who had driven Antenna to the exit at the very time Hod made his smashing entrance.

Hod wasn’t bothered—I know that now.

—But why? asked Antenna—I don’t understand what made you move? You were supposed to wait until Helmut signalled you.

—I only had vision. I didn’t know. I was worried.

—Did you have to drive all over tables like that?

—I couldn’t get through to the airship. I didn’t know the switch had been made. I had to get in there to rescue you. I thought he’d got you.

—Even so, you didn’t need to destroy everything, did you?

—Didn’t I?

—Oh, Hoddy. Considerate to a fault.

As they floated away in the airship, Ektek watched the restaurant building recede silently. A group of humans stood some distance away, apparently still obeying the evacuation order.

Safely in the bridge, Bash asked—Is the video going to be enough? To convince the Zoo? They’re going to have to be a lot more vigilant, aren’t they?

—Hullo? Until someone else comes along, greedier and with another atrocious idea, said Crawf—Sure they will.

Hod held out a small device in his little paw for their inspection. The creatures looked at it. They looked at him questioningly. He smiled and said—It’s a little something I prepared earlier.

—What for?

—Glad you asked, Bash. Hod pressed a button on the device. There was a dull boom from far off. Hod said—Good, isn’t it.

The airship seemed to shift a bit, drifting away from the force of the explosion. The creatures looked out of the window as a pall of smoke billowed from the crushed restaurant. There was a stunned silence. Hod had finally firebombed Last Chance to Eat, just as he’d been threatening all along.

Bash burst into tears, which is never good for a frog. Salty water really stings that fragile skin.

—Hoddy. Antenna said. She nearly cried too but instead, clenched her jaw and said—Hod. You are no longer Ektek.

—You said. You, Antenna, said Hod—You said you wanted to pay them back. For Min.

—That was only in the heat of the moment. I wanted to stop them, but not this, this wanton destruction, this waste, this…

—No-one was in the building.

—But Hod, we can’t keep fighting on this level. There are too many humans. They have all the power.

—Not all the time, they don’t.

—Their whole purpose is to conquer. They have conquered all of nature. They have conquered all of us.

—Not me, they haven’t.

—Hod. The only thing we can do is try to educate them.

—Is that right?

—Yes! Educate and win them over. We’re all together in this.

—That’s the only way we can survive, surely? said Crawf.

—That’s the only way for any of us, said Zip.

—Are you saying that all creatures could live together with homo-sapiens in a tolerant and understanding global community?

—Yes. I am. Antenna gestured to the rest of the team—We all are. What else is there?

Hod threw back his head and laughed. He laughed and laughed and his guffaws were fuelled by grief.

Helmut alone paid no attention to the renegade. The cassowary was caught up in his own turmoil as he secretly struggled with inner voices. Was he breaking into internal pieces? Was he hearing voices from another dimension? He had become aware that Ektek was one reality and these sounds and words he heard were another. It was beginning to frighten him. More than frighten. He was distraught as he piloted the airship into the Zoo grounds but he did an excellent job of hiding his anxiety from his fellow squad members.

V

The other Ektek creatures were troubled as they tied up outside the cavern. As he was leaving through the cargo hold, Hod turned to shout at his erstwhile team—You can keep going with your cute little actions and reports to the Department, expecting things to change. Me? I’m going to make things happen. I’m going to make those humans sit up and take notice. You just watch me.

His dramatic exit was spoiled when he pushed past Antenna intending to climb down the rope ladder to the ground. He paused when he saw the distress in her face—I’m sorry, Antenna. I know I’ve let you down but I have to go.

—You don’t have to …

—Anti, I feel trapped. So hemmed in, so powerless, in this damn zoo. Maybe I’ll be able to spread my wings, make a difference …

—You don’t have wings.

—Oh, shut up. His manner changed abruptly and he asked her—Why don’t you come with me?

—I can’t do that!

—Why not? You can’t live in the zoo anymore. You’re free. You can go anywhere you like.

—I know you think Ektek is a waste of time but I don’t. We can help. I don’t know how many and I don’t know for how long ... If I can help just one then there’s still hope for all us weird furry creatures …

—All creatures great and small …

—Go ahead and smirk all you like. I can’t save the entire planet from being overrun by cows and sheep but I might be able to make someone think …

—Fine. I’ll go my way and you’ll go yours and we’ll agree to differ and we’ll never see each other again.

—Good.

—Remember, Anti. I’m the one who chose freedom. You didn’t. You’re a prisoner as much as ever. You’re possessed by Ektek and you've made Ektek into a dungeon. He took off, climbing down the ladder, bounding onto the ground and away from the zoo.

—Bye, Hoddy. Survive! Antenna came to stand next to Zip at the hold entrance. They watched him leaping crazily toward the city streets

—Good riddance, said Zip.

Antenna glanced sideways at her.

A tear rolled down Zip’s face. She roughly brushed it away—Old wally shit head.

VI

Bash had hung back in the cockpit and watched the bent cassowary with concern—Are you okay, Helmut?

Helmut managed to nod and spoke with great difficulty—I’ll just get on with a few things here. Go on ahead.

—More hands and all that, offered Bash—After all, I’m the one with the hands …

—Go on, mate. I’ll be fine.

—Are you sure?

—Sure. See you in a minute.

Bash left the bridge uncertainly. He was still worried about Helmut when he saw Antenna and Zip just about to climb down the ladder. He hopped up to the numbat—Antenna? It’s Helmut.

Antenna, remembering Min’s warning, was immediately concerned—Where is he?

—The bridge. As she turned to go back into the airship, Bash added—Antenna? He’s not in a good way.

—Like what?

—Like, I don’t know, in his mind?

—His mind?

—Like, he’s disturbed. When we were travelling, it was as though there was some kind of interruption in his head.

—Thanks, Bash. I’ll go.

—I don’t think he wants a lot of attention.

—That’s okay, I’ll come with you, Bash, said Zip—You go, Antenna. He’ll talk to you.

Antenna turned back towards the bridge as the frog and the fruit-bat left the airship.

Helmut held himself together until he was sure all the crew had left the craft. Then he crumpled and broke down, crying at the controls in the airship—Why can’t you leave me alone? He shouted to no one, to some kind of invisible tormenter. There was no reply and the cassowary drooped, desperate, in the pilot’s seat.

Antenna quietly sat down in the co-pilot’s chair and watched him struggle with himself. After a time, sensing someone was there, Helmut lifted his head to look at her—Antenna. We made it.

—Thanks to you.

—Luck. Sheer luck.

—Helmut. I’m going to have to relieve you of flying duties.

—You can’t.

—I can. I have.

—I’m the one with the experience. Who else can do it? You rely on me.

—I do. There’s no one else with your knowledge but you can’t pilot the airship until we find out what is wrong with it.

—With me, you mean.

—Helmut. You are Ektek’s greatest asset, our wisest warrior. You’ve seen it all before.

—You mean, I’m past it.

—No. I mean you deserve a rest while we sort this out.

—Foolish young kids. I told them not to go. They didn’t listen to me. I knew what would happen. That Hod. He’s just the same. He’s going to get himself killed, just like my son. You need me, Antenna. You can’t retire me like this…

—I’m not retiring you, Helmut. Just taking your advice. We need some time to recover. Take stock. We all do.

—Without Ektek, I am nothing, said Helmut, slumped and muttering—I’ve got nothing to live for. Nothing.

—Helmut, please don’t say that.

—Then you tell me, young numbat. What is the point, then? What’s the damn point of being alive?

Antenna watched the horizon out of the airship window. She watched the shroud of smoke wisp across the densely crowded cityscape. Was that a peregrine falcon flying off into the distance?

Ektek was in the business of saving lives. Well, they’d just saved Antenna’s life. That gave her something to live for, didn’t it?

Didn’t it?

Epilogue

In a clearing, near a river, mud was churned into a circle. Grater, Asunder, Jata, Damura and Shining Teeth walked slowly, closely following each other, round and round and round, their scaly legs and feet pounding, sinking, dragging, clawing into the sludge.

The reptiles continued their march of grief long into the night. Their eyes glowed with crocodile intensity.

Jata stumbled. They were all tired.

Asunder tripped and fell. The rest of the harem continued to walk over her, shakily. They were exhausted. Each stumbled in her turn and finally, collapsed to the ground.

Knowing they could go no further, they opened their mouths and sang out long eerie wails from the very base of their beings. They were keening for their lost husband.

The keening sailed through the air, lying like smoke over the river. The noise was incredible. The land shuddered in sympathy. The tiny creatures of the riverbed listened. It was an age-old tale of farewell.

Grater’s voice began to shake.

Damura coughed.

Slowly the crocodiles could sound out no more. Their grief was spent, the keening choked and they slept where they fell.

Shining Teeth was the last to close her marble eyes.

The next day by the river a brolga pair danced in the rising sun. They flew their ballet high into the yellow dawn. The sun gleamed hot over the brown mud and sparse vegetation. The agitated sounds of river life wound through the humidity.

The crocodiles stirred and shook their heads from side to side. They dragged themselves to the river’s edge to drink.

Shining Teeth slowly rose. She knew she must lead them to find food. Then she must lead them to find a new mate, someone who would be capable of protecting them all.

There was something else, too. Something even more fundamental. She joined the rest of the harem by the water. She raised her strength to croak—We will avenge his death.

—Yes, murmured the harem together—Yes, yes, yes …

Their familiar lives were lost now. Everything had changed. There was no male in their river. They must seek elsewhere. This river was bordered by cleared and fertile farmland. There was no place without homo-sapiens. They must travel and they must encounter humans. But this was mere irritation in their plans. They were focused on their main purpose. It was time the crocodiles fought back.

—We must destroy them, said Shining Teeth.

—Yes, yes, yes …

The sun rose higher and grew more dazzling. The heat pressed down on the earth. The five females moved inexorably across farms, factories and roads. They intended to find Ektek and they intended to punish: maim, hurt and kill. Their group mind had decided.

The crocodile harem intended to obliterate Ektek.