Lia's files 1_Presumed extinct Read online

  I wasn’t convinced, not yet, and not yet by a long chalk, that what Dad had said might turn out to be true. But it certainly wouldn’t hurt to get ready, on a low level, say. To prepare ourselves. And now of all times, Mum, Nate and the twins were going to Toronto. We really could have done without this complication. I was anxious to discuss all of this with Nin and Yuki –but first we had to get Alice to bed and to sleep.

  I heard them bounding down the stairs now.

  “Did I hear you talk with someone?” Yuki asked as they entered the kitchen.

  “Yes, I called Mum again and this time she answered the phone.”

  Seeing Alice pulling a face, I quickly added, “She sends greetings to us all and to you, kitten, especially. But she also had bad news: Nate’s dad is in hospital and Nate wants to get to him as soon as possible, understandably. So, they are catching a flight to Toronto tonight. That’s why Mum didn’t have time to talk for long. She promised to call us tomorrow from Toronto.”

  Alice came over to me, wrapped her arms around my waist and buried her face in my stomach. I patted her head. She didn’t cry, but it was clear that it was an effort for her not to do so.

  Nin glanced at me suspiciously from across the room. He had questions, lots of them, that much was obvious, but he refrained from asking them.

  Yuki look scared, but she, too, remained silent.

  Then Nin, ever the practical, suggested that we move downstairs if Alice was to go and watch her favourite evening cartoon on TV as she’d earlier said she would.

  Down in the studio Alice made a nest for herself and Piglet on my bed. I had to remind her to go brush her teeth and wash her face and hands before watching TV. After a bit of grumbling, she disappeared with Piglet, but left the bathroom door open. Obviously she was still scared.

  Meanwhile Yuki and Nin had settled down on the bed sofa open. Nin put the TV on and switched it to Alice’s cartoon channel. When she came back from the bathroom we, too, took turns to get ready for bed ourselves. Finally, we were all settled in our respective beds.

  Alice snuggled up to me, Piglet in her arm, and asked, “Will we ever see Mum, Nate and the twins again, Lia?”

  I was stunned, we all were.

  “Why on earth would you ask this, Alice?” Nin wanted to know.

  “Because of what Dad told us before. And now Mum and Nate are going to Canada, so far away from us. What if this thing Dad talked about happens soon? Will they still be able to come back to us?”

  What should we reply to this? Alice might be young, only nine years old, but she had hit the nail bang on and spoken aloud what the rest of us had probably been thinking ever since we’d learned of Mum’s and Nate’s plans. We’d kept silent about our worries, because of Alice, wanting to protect her. Apparently she needed none of this.

  “I don’t know, Alice, honestly.” I chose my words carefully, “we will have to wait and see. But Mum said that Dad had talked to her, too, today. And yet, this obviously didn’t keep her and Nate from going to Canada. So, I guess, she didn’t put too much weight on Dad’s info. Let’s just be positive and hope that nothing will happen and that we will see them again soon, right?”

  Alice didn’t look convinced but she forced a smile and nodded. Nin rolled his eyes; obviously I had convinced no one.

  Yuki came over to us, kissed Alice on her hair and said, “You are very brave, little tiger! Really, you are! I love you. We all do.”

  Then we all settled to watch Alice’s cartoons.

  My thoughts soon drifted, I itched for a piece of paper and a pencil. Okay, I know it’s a bit of an obsession, but I like to make lists. Lists of what to do, what not to forget, of priorities…

  Right now, I itched to compile a list of what we had to do. And another about what we were to organise, what we absolutely must not forget. I still didn’t really believe in this pandemic scare of Dad. I mean, how could these people do something on a global scale and why on earth should it hit here of all places. We were in Switzerland not some kind of global political hot spot, after all. And what could ‘global’ possibly mean, at that. I mean, how could they spread whatever pathogen they had in such a way that it would really pose a global threat? Cause a real pandemic and not ‘just’ a regional scare? It all seemed so highly improbable. But then again, it wouldn’t hurt to get everything set up and prepared. We should maybe stock the sub-basement, get all the necessary gear down there and then just wait and see.

  After about twenty minutes Alice’s breathing indicated that she’d drifted off to dreamland, her grasp on Piglet relaxed and she slunk down beside me. I covered her gently with her blanket and carefully edged away from her. We sat down on Nin and Yuki’s bed and Yuki finally got to ask Nin the question she’d been itching to ask.

  “What were you about to say earlier, Nin, about your dad, I mean? When Lia cut you short?”

  I answered in Nin’s place, because I knew exactly what he’d wanted to say.

  “He wanted to know why Dad is not coming here himself, to protect us and see that we’re safe. After all, if we really all are in such immediate and life-threatening danger, wouldn’t that be his first and most important priority? Or am I wrong, Nin?”

  “No, that’s what I wanted to say. And I really would like to know why he is not already on his way to us. Don’t you want to know, too, Lia?”

  “No, I don’t want to know, because I can guess at the reasons why he doesn’t and never will.” My voice sounded angrier than I wanted.

  “And why would that be?” Yuki wanted to know.

  I quickly glanced at Nin, checking whether he was with me, but he looked at me just as bewildered as Yuki. I hated to bust their bubble, but I had no illusions about Dad, or his priorities.

  “Maybe I am wrong,” I started, “but experience tells me that Dad will not come to us now, even if he still could. Not because he doesn’t love us. I am sure he does, especially Alice. But I am also dead certain that he is right now busy trying to talk to anyone he deems influential enough to do something about this whole crisis. Even if it should ruin his reputation for good, he will never relent. His work, his passion for it, were always more important than his family. We all know that. And why should it be any different now? Especially now? Now that all his worst fears are about to happen? As far as he sees it.” I knew that my words must hurt them, mostly Ninian. But I also knew that it was the truth. Love as he may us, for Dad, his mission, however self-imposed it was, would always come first and we third or fourth or thereafter.

  “You can’t know that. You are being totally unfair to Dad!” Nin was clearly upset at my answer.

  “Then ask him”, I suggested, “It won’t hurt to know, either way.”

  Instead of a reply Nin took his phone out and started to angrily type a message.

  “Meanwhile, I really would like to know, what you two are thinking about Dad’s message?” I looked at Yuki.

  She hesitated, but said, “I honestly don’t know what to make of it all. I don’t know your Dad as you do, Lia, of course. But I have been thinking over and over again that I just can’t imagine him scaring Alice so much for nothing. I think that he must be convinced that he is on to something real and very important. Otherwise, his message to Alice would be plain cruel, and I can’t imagine him being like that. Don’t you think so, too?”

  I nodded my approval and Nin beckoned his head to indicate that he agreed, too.

  “But if it is true, what will we do? My parents …” her voice was a mere whisper now. I felt so sorry for her, but before I could say anything, Nin embraced her, crushed her tightly to his chest, kissed her head and murmured, “I am so sorry, Yuki, I wish there were a way to get you to your parents. I wish I could undo this hurt.”

  “Hush, I didn’t mean it like that”, Yuki twisted her head so that she could plant a kiss on his cheek, “I was just thinking about what I shall tell them. I don’t want to leave you, Nin, not ever! I was just wondering whether I should call my parents and inform t
hem about what your Dad said. What do you think?”

  Nin held her tightly to him and whispered, “I love you. Forever. Thank you!” in her hair.

  “I don’t really know, but I don’t think that you should tell your parents”, I replied, “It wouldn’t help, neither you nor them, it would just complicate everything.”

  At this Nin rolled his eyes at me, “Like not saying anything to Mum? You know Lia, you are taking too many things for granted here. It’s not up to you to decide for others. This is not fair!”

  “I didn’t decide anything for Mum, or keep anything from her”, I defended myself, maybe a bit too angrily, “After all, Dad had called her, too, and she decided that she didn’t believe him. What was I to do, anyway? Tell her that I thought he might be right? And then what? Mum having to decide whether she would stay with Nate and go with him to Canada or whether she should rush to our side? I think that it would have been exceedingly cruel of me to confront her with such a decision. Let them cross over to Canada, let them go where they need to go right now. If nothing happens, we’ll never have to say a word about Dad’s message. And, should Dad’s scenario come true, we’ll take it from there. In the meantime let’s make some contingency plan, shall we? I have honestly been itching to draw up some lists and get us organized.”

  At this, even Nin had to laugh, “You and your confounded lists, Lia. Really. But I can see your point, I concede. You’re right, we shouldn’t make Mum choose anything, not now, at least. And about your parents, Yuki, it is not for me to tell you what to do or not. If you want to tell them, do by all means. I just think that they might not believe you and …,” his voice trailed off, as he was clearly uncertain how to proceed.

  But Yuki was having none of this anyway. She gently punched him in the side and said, “Don’t worry, Nin. I won’t tell them anything for now. They wouldn’t understand. And they might make a fuss, asking me to join them immediately. I can always talk to them later.”

  Nin heaved a sigh of relief and kissed her.

  “Let’s better think about what to do tomorrow, shall we?” Yuki suggested.

  “Yeah, uh, where will we start?” Nin smiled at her gratefully. “Dad mentioned fuel for the car. I wonder where we can store it? Not in the basement, I guess. We’ll have to think of some other place. And maybe we should get some equipment for traveling, like maps and so. A satellite phone with GPS is down in the sub-basement, as far as I remember, so we needn’t worry about that. But will have to test all that equipment, especially the generators. I’ll have to go and check, first thing tomorrow.” Nin had obviously gotten all excited now that we were talking about what to do.

  I, on the other hand, suddenly felt totally exhausted. Part of me still refused to believe this whole scare, while another part was busy thinking pragmatically about what to do. But how would we know what to do? And when? How would we be able to recognize the signs? And how would we know how to interpret these signs correctly? I hung my head on my knees, scared but unwilling to show it.

  “Okay”, Yuki chipped in, “I agree that we must prepare somehow. We can start getting supplies on Monday, when the shops reopen. But how do you think we’ll be able to detect that what your dad talked about is really happening? Do you think that they will announce it on TV or Radio? I mean, we’ll need to know when to disappear “underground”, won’t we.”

  Nin scratched his head and rubbed his ear, a clear sign that he was hyperactively thinking about something. “I think we should definitely monitor the news on all available means of information – TV, Radio, and internet. And we should go for different news channels. By that we should be able to notice what’s happening and when. If anything will, that is. We’ll just have to keep a close watch and be alert.”

  Yuki glanced up at Nin and gave him a peck on his lips. He smiled at her, tense but lovingly.

  She wasn’t done with her questions yet, and the next one was for me, “By the way, Lia, who is this Josh your Dad mentioned?”

  Her question took me by surprise and I was sure that I blushed. And equally sure that she noticed, but since Nin answered her, she refrained from commenting but listened to what he had to say.

  “He is or rather was, until last summer, Uncle Phil’s favourite assistant. Uncle Phil got to know him on an expedition in Kenya. Josh participated in it because he was doing his PhD at the time at the University of Nairobi and his professor knew Uncle Phil, and so on. Uncle Phil was apparently totally taken in by Josh’s talents and organised for him to get a scholarship in the States. Josh stayed with him for almost three years but then Papadopoulos snatched him away with an even better offer. I only met him this once, at that expedition in Kenya. And I liked him very much. He is a very decent bloke. But Lia met him last summer at Uncle Phil’s, didn’t you? Tell us what you know about him.”

  By now I had regained control and I didn’t think that my face betrayed me any longer. A knowing smile lingered on Yuki’s face, though. I ignored it as best as I could.

  “Yes, I met him at Uncle Phil’s last summer. He stayed at their place before heading for England. He is twenty-seven or twenty-eight years old. And very smart – he must be for Prof Papadopoulos to steal him from Uncle Phil. And, he is a very, very decent person.”

  Nin looked up inquiringly at this, so I quickly went on, “Auntie Kamene liked him very much because he helped her with her social projects and he is apparently very good with children – according to her; and you know that this would weigh a lot with her. Also, he seems to be a very promising geologist in the making, otherwise neither Uncle Phil nor Professor Papadopoulos would have taken him on. But what I liked best about him was that he wasn’t in any way conceited, self-conscious or hell-bent on his academic career. It was never beneath him to talk to me or other not so learnt persons.”

  I tried to think of something else to say. Nin just shook his head, smiling to himself, which made me nervous and I hastily added. “You know, we once went on a little fossil collecting expedition with Uncle Phil last summer. Auntie Kamene and Josh came along. You know the way Uncle Phil always boasts that there’s no-one as good at spotting the odd piece of stone or fossil like me. But Josh beat me ten times over. It was absolutely amazing how he could spot the stones we were looking for from among the gravel. It turned into quite a little competition between the two of us, at least that’s how Aunt Kamene put it, but he beat me without even breaking sweat.”

  I glanced over at Nin who just nodded, while Yuki smiled knowingly.

  Nervously, I continued, “We talked about it a bit and agreed that it had something to do with pattern recognition mode being switched on and then not concentrating too hard on what you were doing. It was fun to be with him. He is a very easy-going person, you know. And I would certainly feel very relieved if he were to come to us. He would be of great help and comfort. But why he would to this, honestly beats me! I mean, we are not his family, are we? And he hardly knows us, after all. I wonder whether this was his idea or how Dad or Uncle Phil made him do this.”

  Yuki grinned at me, a bit too knowingly for comfort, but Nin didn’t notice; instead he wanted to know, “He is Kenyan, isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is from the same tribe as Auntie Kamene. They are distantly related, cousins several times removed or so. But I can’t remember which town he is from. I just know that he studied Geology and Mineralogy at Nairobi University before going to the States. His PhD is something to do with rare earth minerals. Makes sense, doesn’t it. After all that’s how he ended up with Uncle Phil and Professor Papadopoulos; they have been working together in this field for many years and certainly are among the world’s most renowned experts.”

  That I had had a crush on him, actually quite a serious one, I wasn’t going to mention. No way, no how, never. But I liked the idea of him coming to us. Very much so. It would be such a relief, to know that he was alive, to have him near. Ever since I had met him at Uncle Phil’s last summer, I had been thinking about him, day-dreaming, not expecting any
thing to come off it. After all, who was I to impress him? I had nothing to recommend me, neither looks nor learning. But, I hadn’t been smitten with him just because of his intelligence or academic achievements, far from it. No, what had me fall for him had not only been his gorgeous, lithe and athletic body, but mostly his calm yet open personality, his easy way with people, his gentleness and honesty, his real care for others, and, of course, his wonderful smile…

  “I think, we should call him tomorrow.” Ninian interrupted my thoughts. “And I want to talk to Uncle Phil, too. I want to hear what he is thinking about all this. What else shall we do tomorrow? I mean, we can’t do any shopping tomorrow, it’s a Sunday. So I suggest that we get started here. We can get whatever gear we’ll need down from the attic and wherever to the sub-basement. We’ll have to get the mattresses down, the blankets, and all these things. We’ll also have to take things for entertainment, especially for Alice …” His voice trailed off and he glanced over at Alice who was still sleeping tight.

  “Sounds good to me,” I agreed, suddenly suppressing a yawn, “But Yuki will also have to call her parents. Or, what do you think Yuki?”

  “Yes, I would like to talk to them. Just to hear how they are.” Yuki’s face was serious for a moment then she yawned and slunk back on their bed. “But let’s sleep now, I am exhausted. So much has been happening today, I need to sort it out while sleeping; I really don’t want to talk anymore.” Nin stretched down along her side and took her in his arms.

  I covered them with their blankets, got up and moved over to my bed. Carefully, in order not to wake up Alice, I slid under our blanket and put the lights off.

  But I couldn’t fall asleep for a long, long time.

  I heard the 23:15 plane take off from Belp airport, as well as the last one half an hour later. After completing their usual loop over our area they headed off northwards. This everyday routine was comforting.