Alien Virus (13 page)

“And enjoyed the money,” added Jo as she
brought in bowls of steaming hot home–made vegetable soup.”

“It’s true, we did. But there were costs.
Always up early and back late. Okay, we had a lovely house, great
cars, and holidays in the sun…”

“When we had time,” observed Jo.

“Yeah – and that was just the thing. We both
loved the countryside, the outdoor life, growing things – being
close to nature. But we just didn’t have time for that. Then we
came up to Orkney one summer…”

“My mum had taken a coach tour up here, and
she raved about it,” explained Jo. Harry nodded.

“Orkney wasn’t a place we’d ever really
consider for a holiday. But June was so excited by it, we just had
to go. Took a flight from Heathrow to Edinburgh, then a small plane
to Kirkwall.”

“It was like stepping into another world,”
smiled Jo, recalling that day.

“Yeah, it really was,” agreed Harry holding
Jo’s hand. “And the rest was history, as they say.”

Dinner was great. We’d told them we didn’t
eat any animal products, which wasn’t a problem at all. Both of
them were practically Vegans.

“When we first came here, we found ourselves
closer to animals than we’d ever been in our lives…” explained
Harry. “We were very much city folk in London, and big meat eaters
in London. After about a week after we arrived on Eday, we were
invited round for dinner by a farmer
neighbour
, and he said: ‘Hope you enjoy the beef – I
had the bull killed ‘specially for you.’”

Jo recoiled at the memory. “We’d seen it
running around in his field just the day before,” she explained.
“So the day after the dinner, I said to Harry, ‘That’s it, no more
meat for me, thank you very much.’ And neither of us went back to
it.” They looked at each other and smiled fondly. They were clearly
very much in love. We enjoyed their company, and I think they
enjoyed ours. From the way they talked, it seemed they didn’t get
much opportunity to meet like–minded people.

After we’d worked our way through three
courses of delicious home–made food, Harry turned to me.

“So what brings you up to Orkney, Kevin? Had
enough of the Rat Race too?” I didn’t want to say too much at this
stage. Despite the friendliness and apparent openness of Harry and
Jo, we really didn’t know much about them. For all we knew, they
could be carriers of the virus – though I did doubt it. I told him
about my work with the magazine, and that Sandi worked with me, and
then fabricated a story about meeting Tony, Kate and Gareth when
writing a story on the health of academics. It was only a slight
diversion from the truth, and the others backed up my story,
knowing I was being cautious. But then something strange happened.
Jo looked me straight in the eye and said:

“And what made you go into journalism,
Kevin? What were you doing before Fleet Street came calling?” I
went completely blank. There was just nothing there. I searched my
memories for a clue, but nothing. Everyone was looking at me
quizzically.” Eventually Tony said,

“There you are Kevin, I always said you were
a born journalist. Straight from the womb to the front page –
nothing in between.” Everyone laughed, and I smiled – but only to
try to cover up my embarrassment.”

At the end of the night, we said goodbye and
thanked Harry and Jo for a lovely evening – promising to call again
soon. On the way back to the chalets, I had only one thought on my
mind: I had to talk to Sandi. I made the excuse to Kate that I
needed to get a phone number from Sandi’s mobile, and knocked on
the door of her chalet.

“I know it’s late, but have you got a minute
Sand – it’s important.” She turned back to speak to Gareth in the
room, saying she just had to talk to me for a few minutes, and then
stepped outside into the cool night air. We walked over to lean on
the fence overlooking the sea, now very still and tranquil. “What
is it Kevin?” There was concern in her voice.

“It’s probably nothing to worry about,” I
started. “But when Jo asked me what I did before working on the
magazine, I really couldn’t remember.” Sandi suddenly looked
relieved. It obviously wasn’t a big deal to her.

“Oh that!” I thought – I’m sure we all
thought – you just didn’t want to say because it might have sounded
weird. Or you didn’t want to reveal something from your past none
of us know about… maybe a gay lover?

“Very funny. No – I really couldn’t remember
Sandi, and I still can’t remember now.”

“Well, don’t worry – it’s probably just old
age approaching, your Alzheimer’s kicking in early. You always said
you’d get it eventually.” I smiled at Sandi’s
humour
. But I couldn’t let this go.

“So what did I do before I became a
journalist – before I started work on the magazine?” Sandi suddenly
found herself scanning her own memories – racking her brains.”

“I honestly can’t say I remember, Kevin.
Perhaps I never did know. We didn’t meet until the magazine –
perhaps you never told me?” I nodded. It was late, and both of us
had had a few glasses of home–made wine. It could wait until the
morning.

“Yeah, you’re right – both of us are tired.
I’m sorry to have brought you out like this. I’m sure it’ll all
come back to me tomorrow.” I kissed her good night, and we went
back to our respective chalets. It had been a long day, and we
could have a busy day tomorrow.

***

Seventeen

I awoke the next day with exactly the same
memories I’d had the night before, or should I say
lack
of
memories. I wondered if this was caused by the virus. If I was
infected, I needed to know about it – we all did – so I asked Kate
to test me after breakfast.

“Are you getting your sodium,” she
asked.

“Yeah, Gareth divided up the salt yesterday
– we’ve got plenty.”

“Okay, but are you taking it?”

“Yes doctor, three times a day after meals,”
I replied flippantly, prompting Kate to hit me over the head with a
pillow.

“Did you notice that Jo and Harry used
plenty of salt on their food?” she said.

“Yes – a good sign, isn’t it? If we want to
spend more time with them, I mean. They’re quite nice people.”

“I liked them.”

I offered my right arm to Kate.
She wanted to take the blood from
my upper thigh
, but having a
needle that close to my manhood was out of the question.
After five minutes, she came back with the results.

“Well?” I asked. “What’s it like?”

“It’s a rich, red, cabernet merlot with
plenty of body. Tastes all right too.”

“Come on Kate – it is safe?”

“Cholesterol-free, high red cell count,
plenty of oxygen, and enough iron to make a magnet –
and no
virus
es
.
Happy now?” My head nodded yes, but my
thoughts said no. If I was contaminated with the virus, at least I
would have had an explanation for my amnesia. Now I didn’t know
what to think.”

“Come here,” Kate commanded. I went
willingly to her arms, and we embraced. “Let’s go back to bed Kevin
– I’m feeling randy… it’s seeing all that blood.” Much as I fancied
spending the morning in bed with Kate, I couldn’t get this memory
loss out of my mind. And anyway, we had some serious home–hunting
to do, so I reluctantly
prised
myself
away from her claws.

“Later, my little Black Widow. We’ve got
places to go, people to see…”

*

Tony had been up early, investigating the
north end of Eday. To the north–west of the chalets lay the Red
Head – a red sandstone cliff marking the entrance to Calf Sound,
the stretch of water between Eday and the Calf. All around was the
smell of the sea and the sound of Arctic Terns crowing to each
other as they detected fish below the sea’s surface. Tony started
to walk along the coast to the Red Head, and then realized it was
much further than it looked. He thought it would make a nice trek
for everyone in the afternoon – if the weather stayed good.

The chalets were ideal for their base –
close to the water with an escape route should they need it (there
was a boat jetty nearby); and the accommodation was very secluded.
He wondered if there was any chance of taking the chalets on a long
term basis from Harry and Jo – if the price was right. They seemed
very amenable and he didn’t think they’d try to grab every last
penny.

He knew that meeting the couple was not a
chance occurrence (he’d stopped believing in chance a long time
ago), and he was certain that Harry and Jo had a part to play in
ridding the Earth of the virus. Everything seemed to be working out
for the group now: they must be doing something right.

Then he thought of Frank. There were other
things Tony hadn’t told the others. But for the time being, Frank
being an alien from another galaxy was big enough a revelation
without dropping any more bombshells. Those could wait till later –
when everyone was ready. Where was Frank now? Would he come looking
for them? And if he did, how would the others regard him? Would
they believe it was Frank?

Thoughts were now coming at ten to the
dozen, and he made a mental note to talk to Sandi and me about the
Swedish website, and Gareth and Kate about the possibility of
extracting salt from seawater. There was certainly no shortage of
the latter.

Gazing across to the Calf he observed seals
basking on the rocks in the autumn sunshine, seemingly carefree and
unaware of an alien virus threatening to wipe out humankind. Oh to
be a seal, he thought.

*

Audrey was so glad that Frank had returned
to her. He didn’t have to, of course. He could have gone anywhere
else, anywhere on Earth. But he wouldn’t have gone back home to his
own planet, Audrey knew that. Frank was too dedicated. In a
previous life, they had been lovers – or so Frank told her. She
couldn’t remember her previous lives – few could. But Frank was
special: he could recall most things – including previous
incarnations.

She knew her role was as a supporter – not
like Frank, or even Tony – and she liked that. Now Frank had
returned, she could go and join the others. She would cook and
clean, and look after their house – when they found one. She hoped
it was warm, and ideally near the sea. She liked being close to
water – particularly the sea. Cities were all right, but the coast
reminded her of home, and at times she really missed home.

Frank came in from the spare bedroom with a
serious look on his face.

“I’ve got to go.”

“I know,” she replied, “but not just yet –
stay a few more days, then I’ll come with you.”

“It can’t wait. I can feel it – the virus is
growing stronger. It’s happened like this before. We’ve got to stop
it expanding.” Audrey didn’t want Frank to go so soon: he’d only
just arrived. But that was just like Frank. She sighed deeply.

“All right – I’ll pack.” Frank nodded to her
– his way of saying thanks – and returned to his bedroom. He had
little to pack himself – just the clothes the hospital had returned
to him. They had been amazed by his recovery, of course. But
flat–liners coming back to life, though rare, were regular enough
for them to accept the occurrence without a huge song and dance. He
had left with Steve Saunders’ car, saying goodbye to the hospital
staff who had been very respectful of his personal loss – his wife
and daughter. These meant little to him. He had no emotional
connection to Steve’s wife and the young girl. And in any case, his
view of death was radically different from theirs. He knew their
souls, after death, would be taken care of, and would probably be
reborn one more time on planet Earth – where they would attempt to
overcome the obstacles they had failed to deal with in previous
incarnations. Frank didn’t just hold this as a belief, he knew it
as a fact – as did Audrey.

“Do you want to phone Tony?” she called into
Frank’s room.

“No – not yet. I’ll call him when we get to
Orkney… just in case something else comes on the way there.” That
was just like Frank. Within the hour, they were on their way out of
the door. Audrey had been waiting for this day for a long time, and
already had some things packed into two suitcases. She smiled at
Frank as he drove towards South Queensferry and the Forth Road
Bridge. Such a different look he had this time – and it suited him.
A real looker for the girls now. But Frank had no time for such
things – his mission was far too important.

*

As we walked along the track leading to the
Redhead, I still couldn’t get the previous night out of my head. I
desperately tried to think back to the time before I worked at the
magazine, and still got nowhere. Perhaps I needed some sort of
regression therapy, I mused. Kate had dropped back to talk to Tony,
so Sandi ran forward to catch me up.

“Well? Any recollections of the past
yet?”

I shook my head. “Sandi, I still can’t
remember what job I did before Mind2Body – I feel I’m losing
it.”

“Then why don’t you call Ron and Jean and
ask them about the past?”

“Ron and Jean?”

“Your parents!”

I was stunned… I’d no idea who Ron and Jean
were, but I was sure they weren’t my parents.

“No no… my dad’s not called Ron – and my mum
is definitely not Jean.”

“Then what are their names?”

I thought about it for a minute. “I really
don’t know! Did you ever meet my folks Sandi?”

“No – you hardly ever talked about
them.”

“This is driving me crazy…”

“Don’t worry, it’ll come back soon. It’s
probably not important just now. Memory’s like that – the more you
worry about it, the more you won’t remember. If you just forget
about it, it’ll pop into your head one day out the blue.” She
smiled at me.

“Thanks,” I said. “I think you’re
right.”