Chapter Fifty-Five
HYPOTHESIS
1
‘She was the last of the great old ladies, Alex,’ said Lloyd.
‘I’m very glad I knew Jikita, Alex. She was always a good friend to me,’ added Eva.
‘I loved her like my own mother,’ said Sophia through her tears. ‘I’ll never forget the day she introduced us to each other.’
‘Thanks guys, your words are very kind.’
‘How old was she?’
‘She was 91. The hospital told me that they couldn’t remember the last time they had someone who died of plain old age.’
‘Oh, that’s nice.’
‘We’ll miss having lunches with her, that’s what we’ll miss.’
‘Yes.’
‘Let’s go and have lunch at Watson’s Bay Pub and remember her.’ ‘Good idea.’
2
There were few better places in Sydney, in the middle of a crisp August day, than Watson’s Bay. The sky was the deepest blue and one could feel the snow-scented chill of the gusty southwester all the way to the base of one’s lungs if one dared to breathe in deeply enough. Yet, Watson’s Bay provided some shelter from the elements and the sun seemed to magically focus its energy there, as if shining on a holy shrine where sun worshippers gathered to pay homage to their god.
They sat in the beer garden, right down the front, overlooking the tiny beach. There were not many people there that day and most of the tables were empty. Sophia unbuttoned her shirt and exposed her lacy, white bra.
‘Darling, what will people think?’ Alex whispered expressing concern in his voice.
‘I don’t care,’ she replied defiantly, ‘I just love the sun in winter. Anyway, no one can see anything.’
Alex and Lloyd smiled at each other. Upon seeing Sophia expose her underwear, Eva decided to do the same thing.
‘Oh my God,’ exclaimed Alex, ‘we’ll probably get arrested. I’m not bailing us out.’
‘I’m thinking of removing my trousers,’ said Lloyd.
‘Oh great,’ Alex laughed, ‘why don’t we all run around the pub in the nutty … I’m going to get some beers. Everyone having a beer?’
Everyone nodded as they kicked back around the table and put their feet up on opposite chairs. Eva turned on her iPad. She Googled Travers’ comet and proceeded to check the latest news items.
‘You know what’s funny,’ she said, ‘the story seems to be changing. A couple of weeks ago they were telling us that it was coming this way, now they are not so sure.’
‘I thought one of the most significant things was that Australian dentist’s discovery,’ said Lloyd. ‘What was his name? Oh God, I can’t remember anything anymore. Pretty soon you’ll have to come looking for me when I go out to check the mail. What was his name?’
‘I’ll Google him,’ said Eva. She Googled Australian dentist Travers’ comet. ‘Bingo! It was a Dr. Marco LoSciavo from Coonamble. He calculated that the comet would cross Earth’s orbit between the 22nd and 24th of September. Ha ha, then he told everyone to stock up on toilet paper.’
‘That’s the guy,’ said Lloyd. ‘22nd to 24th eh? I’ll bet anything that it’s the 23rd, and that it hits the Earth. Alex’s junk-DNA research reaffirms that.’ Alex returned with a tray of beers and crisps.
‘Is someone talking about me?’ he asked.
‘Ooh yeah, we were all talking about you, Alex,’ said Sophia, ‘and what juicy stories they were.’
‘I don’t care. What do I care? I want you all to be happy, even if it is at my expense.’
‘We were discussing the comet, Alex,’ said Lloyd, ‘and how the news reports are changing.’
‘Really? Changing?’
‘Yes, they are beginning to downplay the danger, no doubt attempting to avert mass panic.’
‘Lloyd thinks that it’s going to hit us,’ said Sophia.
‘I used to think that it was going to be a nuclear holocaust, but now it has become pretty obvious that the comet is the most likely cause of a mass die-off on the 23rd of September. It looks like your bizarre, junk-DNA results might very well come true, Alex.’
‘Yes, maybe, but we still don’t have a clue how we get to live for hundreds of years after. That is still a highly improbable mystery.’
‘Well,’ philosophised Lloyd, ‘we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. As far as I am concerned, I’m sticking to our plan of provisioning up Mecca, for the four of us, for a whole month. I intend to add a few more items to the list, taking into account a comet strike, like gas masks. There will probably be quite a bit of airborne particulate matter in the atmosphere that none of us would want to breathe. To tell you the truth, the main thing that gives me confidence in our successful survival is your research, Alex. Without that, we would be completely screwed. We would have no inkling that anything was about to happen.’
‘Yes,’ added Eva, ‘we would be in the same pot of poo as the rest of the population, completely ignorant and completely dependent on the news coming out of the media.’ 3
The winter sun was sitting low in the western sky. Sydney’s iconic skyline was becoming silhouetted in the orange backdrop. After a couple of beers each, Eva suggested,
‘We might as well stay here for dinner, and anyway, it’s a great place to watch the sunset.’
‘We’ll get to see the comet,’ said Alex.
‘What’s on the menu?’ asked Lloyd.
Sophia sprang to her feet and raced into the bar to pick up some menus.
‘We should do some hypothesising,’ suggested Alex.
‘Hypothesising?’ asked Lloyd. ‘What kind of hypothesising did you have in mind, Alex?’
‘Let’s see if we can construe what all the main players would do in the event of an imminent, extinction-level, comet impact.’
‘You mean like what would people in the know do?’
‘Yes, like the governments and other self-interest groups. I imagine that they have underground bunkers all over the place for such scenarios.’
‘OK,’ said Lloyd, ‘good idea. We can construct a hypothetical chain of events that might happen between now and the 23rd of September.’
‘That sounds exciting,’ said Eva as she perused the menu.
‘I’m going to have the John Dory, chips and salad, I think.’
‘I’ll go with that.’
‘Me too.’
‘Me three.’
‘So, that’s four John Dories and four more beers, I presume. I’ll go order them.’
‘I’ll come with you,’ said Sophia.
After the girls scuttled off, Alex began hypothesising.
‘If I was in the government, and I had inside information about a deadly comet, I would try to save myself and my family at any cost. I would see all other humans as a threat to my plan and would thus, if I could, keep the information about the comet a secret from them. I see this as a primary, natural reaction of anyone in that situation.’
‘I hate to say it but I agree with you, Alex. One doesn’t want to get killed in the rush to the bunkers before the comet even gets here.’
‘Don’t forget the supermarkets and petrol stations.’
‘Yes, of course, er, what about altruism and humanitarianism?’
‘Yes, there will be many of those, but they probably won’t survive in an extinctionlevel event. Fair play and self-sacrifice aren’t conducive to survival. I think people will revert back to animalism where for one to survive another must die. So, going back to our government insider, he will naturally attempt to hold back the information while at the same time preparing himself and his family for survival.’
‘Again, I must agree with you, Alex. One of the primary strategies for these peoples’ survival will be to minimise competition from all other human beings, by any means possible.’
‘Yes, I think that is exactly what the government will try to do through the media. I don’t think there is an ounce of decency in any of them. They will try to withhold information, that is my postulate.’
‘Actually, Alex, they will probably do more than try to withhold information. They will probably fabricate false information and attempt to control the behaviour of the masses with it. They will probably attempt to engender a false sense of security in all the people by telling them blatant lies.’
‘Yes, while at the same time preparing themselves, and their families, for the imminent disaster. They’ll be telling people to relax and not worry … er, they’ll be telling them to go to the beach and to the movies … while secretly stashing tons of supplies in deep, underground bunkers for themselves.’
‘They will probably make hoarding illegal …’ Lloyd looked over his shoulder and noticed, ‘oh, here come the girls with the food.’
‘Good. I’m so starving I could eat a horse … with cancer.’
‘Wow, that is starving, Alex.’
The girls returned with two trays of food and beverage.
‘Hello boys,’ said Eva, ‘have you missed us?’ ‘Indescribably,’ answered Lloyd.
‘They told us that these fish were caught this morning,’ said Sophia.
‘Wow, just look at that sunset,’ marvelled Eva as the girls sat down.
‘The comet will come into view when it gets dark enough,’ explained Lloyd.
‘We’ll get a dress-circle view from here,’ said Sophia.
‘Oh God this fish is good!’ exclaimed Alex.
‘Have you boys been hypothesising while we were away?’
‘Yes, we have, Eva.’
‘And what conclusions have you reached?’
‘Well, we have got it down to an active disinformation campaign by the governments through the media,’ explained Alex.
‘Yes, basically everything that will come through the media from now on will most likely be a blatant fabrication designed to steer the behaviour of the masses in a chosen direction.’
‘You mean into a false sense of security?’
‘That is correct, Eva my darling. Hoodwinking on a global scale, with fatal consequences.’
‘Maybe it’s for the best,’ suggested Sophia. ‘At least the poor people will get to spend the final days of their lives free of absolute terror.’ ‘Interesting thought,’ observed Lloyd.
‘Would anything the government said or did make any difference to the final outcome?’
Lloyd and Alex looked at each other. Lloyd replied,
‘Actually, if we are talking about an extinction-level event, no, none of it would make any difference at all. Everyone and everything would die. Maybe some might survive in their deep underground bunkers, but they could only take a small number of people there.’
‘So, it is probably better that they lie to everyone and keep them calm.’
‘I guess so, Eva, I guess so.’
They enjoyed their meals as they watched the sun set behind the city skyline. By the time they were finished, it was dark enough to see the comet.
‘It’s getting bigger,’ observed Eva.
‘Let’s see, it’s the 10th of August today. How many days are there in August?’
’Thirty-one I think, Lloyd,’ replied Eva.
‘So that’s twenty-one plus twenty-three, equals forty-four days to go. The comet is only forty-four days away.’
‘I don’t know about you, but I just felt a chill of fear run down my spine.’
‘Me too, Alex,’ said Sophia.
‘I have faith in Alex’s research,’ responded Eva. ‘I believe that we will make it somehow … I just feel it … and I believe in Lloyd’s seamanship, and in Mecca, our trusty sloop.’
‘I’m with Eva,’ said Lloyd. ‘I have to start making up lists of things we’ll need.’
‘We must help Leon and Russel get themselves ready as well,’ said Eva.
‘Yes. We’ll need food, fire and shelter,’ said Lloyd.
‘And good outdoorsy type clothes,’ added Eva.
‘We’ll want hunting and fishing gear,’ said Alex.
‘Ugh, I have never killed anything.’
‘That’s OK, Sophia, I’ve skinned rabbits on the farm. We will each need a good hunting knife. Your knife is your best friend in the bush.’ ‘Now I’m getting nervous,’ said Eva.
Lloyd spoke confidently, like a leader.
‘Instead of getting nervous, we must all get busy getting ready. We begin tomorrow. Every inch of space on the boat must be utilised. We can also put many things in the dinghy. Every item we take must be functional. We have nothing to worry about because, if you remember, Alex’s research has us not only surviving but living for centuries.’
They all became silent for a moment as they gazed westward and focussed on the increasingly menacing-looking comet. They all felt the fear attempting to overwhelm them and they all felt themselves fight that fear by focusing on the solitary item of hope they knew, which was Alex’s research into the non-coding DNA and the surprising results that came out of it.
Eva broke the silence with, ‘We mustn’t forget to stock up on plenty of toilet paper.’ …….