Falcon's Call by Mike Waller

Author:Mike Waller [Waller, Mike]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rampart Publishing
Published: 2018-07-04T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

Jake Falcon gazed from his veranda across an expanse of lawn to the macadamia-nut trees that once covered this entire area. Beyond them stood the electrified fence, high, secure and the first of several lines of security on the property. The world was polarizing to a place where privacy was something ignored by the vast majority but fiercely defended by those who sought it.

He much preferred here to the city. Perched on the southern escarpment of Mount Maleny, it was a place to escape from the hustle and bustle of normal life and the mounting chaos. Clean and quiet, it provided peace despite the mass of humanity on the nearby coastline.

Centuries ago, five separate cities occupied this region, Brisbane itself, and the smaller cities of Redcliffe, Ipswich, Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast. Now merged into one, the mega-metropolis stretched over several hundred kilometres along a shoreline of islands and sandy beaches. Here, at the northern end, it squeezed along narrow coastal lowlands between the sea and the mountain.

Somewhere inside the house Akira bustled about, rising a little too late to watch the sunrise. Conveniently, she had a remote-access account with the university's computer networks which Jake had been able to use to advantage. As predicted, the university jumped at the chance to place one of their own with him on the understanding they would share in certain aspects of his research. Battling against the unlimited funds of private organisations, universities waged a constant battle to gain kudos and ignored no good opportunity. Jake swore that if the world ever survived the current turmoil he would make sure the agreement was honoured in a way the university would benefit most from.

Akira's presence here made him more at ease considering the events occurring in the major metropolitan centres. The morning news spoke of riots last night. Beginning as peaceful protest that the authorities were not doing sufficient to protect them from the approaching threat, the masses boiled over when confronted by the police and the demonstration became a rebellion in minutes. This morning the violence persisted.

Jake shook his head; it eluded him as to what the demonstrators expected the government to do. Nobody on Earth or Mars had any ability whatsoever to interfere with the alien ship if it wished to enter into the Solar System, and besides, the biggest danger came not from there. The likelihood of a conflict between the two planetary fleets was greater.

Rising from the veranda seat, Jake wandered into his office and noticed words flashing on his computer screen. It was a message from Dad. Joe Falcon had decided there would be no cover-ups concerning the aliens and most of what Jake received from him ended up on the World Net. So far they had been lucky, and virtually everything had become public knowledge. It was possible the information had contributed to the current public unrest, but as long as it was absolute truth it was better than the public being kept in the dark, a scenario that might eventually lead to chaos.

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