Fatal Impact by Kathryn Fox

Author:Kathryn Fox
Language: ara
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Pan Macmillan
Published: 2014-01-17T00:00:00+00:00

30

Anya climbed into the passenger seat of a black Range Rover.

A small woman sat on a custom-built cushion in the driver’s seat, started the engine and introduced herself. ‘Jeanette Egan. I’m a vet up at PT.’

‘Anya.’

‘Thanks for coming. The wind gusted and the fire is headed towards the herds in the feed lots. We’re the only hope they’ve got.’

They entered a side road and stopped at a sliding gate. The area was surrounded by a three-metre-high electric fence. The vet had to get out of the car to punch in a security code. The gate opened. She was quickly back in the driver’s seat and accelerated through.

She had to be under five foot tall and had her hair cropped short, pixie style. It was difficult imagining her being physically able to birth breech calves or sheep, but she was no-nonsense.

The area was lit with floodlights. It almost felt like an agricultural university campus. Anya noticed a sign outside a large brick building. The Tasmanian Institute of Agricultural Advancement (TIAA). Glenn Lingard had described it as the pinnacle of industry, science and government.

‘How far are we from PT?’ Anya said.

‘We’re in it. Covers all Emerald Vale. Kind of like the land of Oz.’

Glenn hadn’t mentioned that the TIAA was on PT-owned land. She hadn’t understood why Glenn had been at the restaurant crisis meeting with Christian Moss and the head of PT. Now it made sense. The TIAA and its research were important to the conglomerate.

They turned off down a dirt road and bumped along surfaces damaged by rain and heavy vehicles. Anya hung on to the handle over the passenger window. Jeanette picked up speed at every opportunity.

Anya tried to keep her mind off what had just happened at the roadside. ‘How long have you worked here?’

‘About two years. It gave me a foot in the door with the locals so I could buy into a private practice.’ She turned into a narrower road that divided crops of corn. ‘People take one look at me and assume I’m not up to the job.’

Anya knew what that felt like. ‘As an intern, I got kicked off orthopaedics before I even started the rotation. The consultant deemed me inadequate to hold up a leg during hip replacements.’

‘They don’t get it. It’s not the size of the dog in the fight that counts . . .’ the vet began.

‘It’s the size of the fight in the dog.’ Anya knew the saying. ‘PT are equal opportunity employers then?’

‘Did the interview over the phone.’ Jeanette grinned. ‘Put on my professional phone voice. Should have seen the look on the execs’ faces when I arrived.’

The distant smell of burning flesh hit the car before they drove past a silo and saw the flaming shed, less than a hundred metres away from where cattle pressed against a fence, trying to escape the heat and smoke. The PT feed lots were enormous, much larger than Anya had imagined. There was no gate to let them through.

Jeanette stopped the car, headlights aimed at a section of cattle.

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