After Uma hung up, Clarity stood there, looking absently at her phone, wondering what to think about this all. 

In fact, she could hardly think. She was just scared, uncontrollably scared. From the beginning, all this had been strange, but she had accepted it as it was, without thinking too much, without wanting to think too much about it. The pub, the men, John. He was exactly what she had been unconsciously waiting for all her life, so she thought that, as long as she didn't think too much about this unusual (to say the least) situation and took if for granted, it would go on... a little like faith in religion: there is no explanation, you just have to believe in it. That's what she had been doing since the beginning. Believing. With all she had. She wanted it to last forever. Deep inside her, she knew that it could stop, any time, just like that... plop! But she clung to the hope that, if she never stopped believing in it, in the reality of their improbable world, in his presence, in their love, it would last forever. But the fear that the bubble could burst was still and always here, pushed back in a corner of her mind, but still here.

If Uma didn't have any answer, then maybe she would try and ask SID again when they would be back home. Right or wrong, and in spite of all the tricks he liked to play to all the pub people, she still trusted him. A soft smile came to her lips at the thought of him having become tender and caring with the son his odd woman had given him. Weird family indeed, but still a family. Who said that some people couldn't change?

A now familiar sound made her look up at the branches of the old cedar tree in front of her: "oohu-oohu-oohu". It was their old friend, the eagle owl. Cautious at the beginning, the night bird and his female seemed to have accepted rather fast this couple of two-legged animals on their territory, which now was also theirs. Pair for life... just like them. Hopefully. The majestic bird was now looking at her with his big round eyes. She wondered what he was doing here at that time of the day; they usually saw them rather in the evening, or night. Even if she knew that animals don't have the same interpretation of humans' facial expressions, she smiled at him, just because the sight of this noble animal had soothed her fears for a while. 

The still warm southern sun was slowly drying the remains of the storm from the day before, intensifying the relaxing scent of pine needles mixed with drying earth. Time seemed to have stopped in one of those fragile and rare moments of harmony, of peace, inner and outer peace, that come inexplicably at the oddest times of your life, when you need it the most, like an oasis in the middle of your desert, an island in the middle of your sea.

But the big night bird broke the spell, turning suddenly his head, obviously disturbed by something he had heard, or seen, and that she hadn't. He looked at her one last time, then flew away in a rustle of wings.

It was the signal for all her fears to rush back into her. What if someone was spying on them? John! 

She walked back fast to the house... to John, without realizing that, when she arrived there, she was in fact running like a scared child. She felt immediately relieved to see him still working on the roof, absorbed in his boring but necessary task, to be again in the security of his calm strength, his reassuring presence.

"John! John!" He didn't look at her, his attention still focused on the tile he was trying to position at the precise place that would give back its water-tightness to their old roof, but asked how their friends were...

"Uma is fine ... John, something just happened... yes, yes, Andy is fine too, but... What? Oh yes, Jeff too... John! Please listen to me!"

As he didn't seem to pay enough attention to her, before neither of them could really realize it, she had climbed up the ladder. This time, he reacted.

"For God's sake, what are you doing up here! Go back down immediately! And be careful, all we need now is for you to break your neck, a leg or an arm!" As soon as he had said that, he knew that she wouldn't like it, she was not a child anymore and was perfectly able to climb up a ladder without falling, but she looked so upset that it had worried him and made him overreact a little.

But she didn't seem to care. "No, not before you have listened to me."

The concern that had been first written all over his handsome face turned into a slight annoyance for being disturbed in a work that required all his attention, even if he was obviously trying hard to hide it from her. But his body language had no secret for her, so, when he calmly fixed on her his questioning look, clearly waiting for her to talk and make it worthwhile, she couldn't utter a word anymore. She simply stayed there on the top of the ladder, watching him silently, her mouth still slightly open as if she was going to say something. Her mind, as if it was trying to get away from that heavy stress she was feeling, got distracted during one or two seconds by a drop of sweat running along his face. But his voice quickly brought her back to reality.

"So? Now what was so important that you can't wait to deliver me the news? Are Aussie 'chic boutiques' out of fashioned shoes? Is Uma pregnant? There, take my hand, calm down and tell me everything." He was smiling now, trying to lighten the air. But his efforts seemed to be lost to her. She started to speak again, with hurried words. 

"The bird... the bird, you know the big night bird... he was there... with me... watching me... and..." She stopped again, not finding the right way to put it.

He slightly cocked his head, his eyebrow raised, encouraging her to talk... but intimidating her at the same time.

"He.... He... "

John made this little movement with his head as if to say "So?" Each time he was doing that, it made her feel like a little girl in front of him, a kid who shouldn't disturb adults, particularly male ones, with unimportant girly things.

"Nothing... he... flew away... he just flew away. It was nothing, forget it."

"They said he was the first choice to play Wolverine," Danny Caulfield said as he sat before a computer screen. It was idle chat, the kind the Demon Three otherwise known as the Geek Troika whiled away the time with ... nerds at heart, no matter what hell they may be inadvertently unleashing on others.

"Wolverine? He would have sucked," Warren Bush said sourly, picking up a game stick.

"You know who would have been better than Hugh Jackman?" Adam Link mused, now getting into this discussion of what the Geeks had come to believe was one of the Holy Marvel Comics come to life ... X-Men, the movies.

"If you say Timothy Dalton one more time ..." warned Warren. "They should have gone back to get Sean Connery from his James Bond days and used him. That's what we could do for them. And you know I'm right."

"Yeah. Imagine bringing back any actor from his glory days to be in the films today with all the effects and stuff," Adam mused. "That's power. That's something we can do with this time travel process when we get it all developed for sure."

"That's all you can think of? This is more than about movies," Danny said sharply, now looking over at the two men with him. "That's chump change. We're talking real power. This is about the ability to control time. Screw the movies ... we can be in charge of everything if we get this working. We can go back in time and invent the Internet. Hell, we can go back and invent society. We can rule this world."

"You know what would be cool, though?" Warren said suddenly. "If we could have had a Wolverine battle ... get them all dressed up for the part ... battle to the death ... winner gets to play Wolverine in the next movie. I'd pit Russell Crowe against Sean Connery against Hugh Jackman ... Connery would kill them both."

"Bullshit. Crowe would wipe them both out. You kidding? He'd slash both their heads off like he did in Gladiator. Connery would be looking for gadgets and mumbling about martinis ... Jackman's a pussy anyway," Danny said.

"I'd like to see Schwarzenegger in his Terminator days take on Crowe in his Gladiator day ... winner gets to stomp on Jackman," laughed Adam.

"Hey! Is that you messing with the game input?" Warren asked, looking up from his screen, his game stick clutched in both hands but not responding anymore.

Adam and Danny were in similar positions before their screens, all trying to stay engaged in Internet battle in one of the games that Mephisto had under final development. It was a standard within the company that when the game developers had a product they felt ready for distribution to the masses, then it would need the final test run ... by the Demon Three themselves. If it survived the Demon Three, if it amused them, if it made them want to play more ... then it was good enough for Mephisto to market.

This game had started off well enough ... as they'd been idly musing over Wolverine and bringing actors through time, they'd also been playing the game, which was a role playing game of fantasy soccer set in the mid 12th century in the alternate reality of Zorkor, which meant the ball was an excruciatingly life-like severed head of a vanquished virgin from the planet Aquilorn, of course. Her body was displayed lewdly along the sidelines, draped in studded leather emphasizing her substantial curves that would have defied gravity on any planet but Aquilorn.

"I'm not doing anything with the input," Adam said.

"Me neither," Danny grumped. "Did they send us a wonky Beta version? We should fire whatever op sent this to us ... and then demote his entire coder team for good measure."

"Hey ... what is going on with the screen?" Adam asked, now leaning forward to get a closer look.

"It's turning blue ... and dividing into six boxes," Warren said, as if the others did not see the same thing on their screens.

"What the hell? If they rigged some trangenient slide to take you away from the main game, they should have warned us," Danny said.

"This is no longer your game, gentlemen," said a voice from their screens as a face began to take shape from the pixels. "Welcome to my world, Geeks. Learn from the true master of Internet games. Oh, you'll come to wish my games were limited to the Internet, I fear."

"I'm going out for a run...you coming?"  It was a quarter to six in the morning. Andy rolled out of bed. He was starting the day as he usually did with a jog round the nearby park and along the river. From time to time she joined him on his regular session, if the weather was fine and she was in an exceptionally good mood and there was a 'Z" in the month. Exercise was still not high on her list of priorities, especially at the moment.

"No...you go ahead. I'm going back to sleep..." she curled herself up in the sheets and burrowed back down. He leaned over and flipped the sheet off her.

"Ya lazy bones...get your arse moving for once!"

Uma grabbed the sheets and pulled them up. "Get off...! Go and frighten the ducks. Some of us prefer a less energetic start to the day..."

"...bet you wouldn't say no to a jump..."

"Well, at least you can do that in bed... she replied as he pulled on a pair of shorts and a sweat shirt, easing his feet into running shoes and walked out of the room. He stopped to get a bottle of water and then she heard him whistling as he hammered down the stairs and off out. At least someone was happy, she thought.

The moment he had gone she threw back the covers and picked up the phone by the bedside, doing a quick calculation. It would be mid morning in Louisiana, the day before. The perfect time to get Ann.

Tapping out the number, she waited impatiently, trying to work out how best to introduce the topic. Ann was pretty far on in her pregnancy now. It wasn't really fair to worry her. But on the other hand, she wasn't braindead either just because she was breeding. Knowing Ann, she would go totally nuts if she thought something serious might be happening and she wasn't in on it.

The click at the other end told her that Ann was home. "Ann, it's me, Uma. Listen, I know this is not the ideal time to lay this on you but I'm a bit concerned about something. Just don't tell Max because you know what men are like and they always pooh pooh anything like this - Ann, you know how sometimes I get feelings? Like I used to know something was going to happen and the next minute another guy would cross and turn up at the door...you remember how I called you the first time and you thought I was like on something when I said I'd met this Roman general with the best set of biceps ever..."

"Uma...Ann isn't here..."

"Oh shit!" Uma covered the phone and swore liberally. "Oh shit, fuck, bugger and crap!" Taking a deep breath, she replaced the phone to her mouth, smiled sweetly and started again. "Maximus...how nice to hear from you again...!"

"I believe you called us, Uma."

"Ann. I called Ann. Why would I call you?" She couldn't resist the putdown even now.

"I have no idea, unless to compliment me on my musculature..." he retorted. You couldn't get one over on him. For all his courtesy and respectful demeanour, his tongue was as sharp as his gladius if you cornered him.

"Bitch, bitch, bitch, hey? You shouldn't be listening in to private phone calls anyway. A gentleman would have announced his presence somewhat earlier in the conversation..."

"...It wasn't a conversation. It was your usual one sided soliloquy delivered at breakneck speeds which does not allow anyone room to interject until you are forced by nature to stop for a breath..."

"...Tautology. A soliloquy would have to be onesided..."

"Not necessarily. Not if a person was fair-minded..."

"Is this the right bloody line for an argument? I can't talk to you in that mood...Look, tell Ann I called - if you can remember a message with that many words in it, that is..."

"...Uma...don't hang up!" 

His voice had changed from its slightly annoyed defensive tone to something more approximating a heartfelt plea. She had been about to slam down the receiver on him but something held her back. That little something that always held her back where he was concerned. She returned it to her ear.

"Why? What is it, Maximus?" He wasn't the only one whose voice had changed expressions in an instant. The strident hectoring had gone revealing just that husky soft tone that he remembered so well. Memories of late nights, sitting over coffee and brandy, talking about everything under the sun, arguing, debating - always passionate whatever they were doing. And always ending in...

"I...nothing...I just...it's good to hear your voice again after all this time, is all..."

"Is all? You picking up the lingo? I was shouting at you, Max. You must be in a bad way if my screaming banshee voice sounds good to you..."

He laughed softly. "If you leave the receiver at the other side of the room, it almost sounds normal..."

Uma chuckled softly at that. "You always used to say I could have read out the daily news in the forum with a voice like mine...remember...?"

"Of course, I remember. Did you think I would forget? Anything?"

His comment momentarily knocked her off her stride. It came totally out of the blue. Maximus just wasn't given to flirting, not with her anyway. Since they had parted he had always spoken to her, on the odd occasion when they did have a civil conversation, as if he would prefer that there was a solid object between them in case she got too close. But today he was suddenly actively reminding her of the past and in such a way as to leave her with no doubt as to what he was referring.

"...I never said congratulations to you. I'm so delighted about the baby. I know how much that must mean to you..." She had tried for a change in direction by returning his mind to his wife and baby and away from memories they both needed to stick a lid on and nail down firm. But it didn't quite work. As she got to the end of the sentence she found herself becoming emotional; her voice wavered in that way when a woman is on the brink of tears.  What was the matter with her?

There was a slight pause. She knew he had heard the break in her voice and was giving her time to recover her poise. That was so typical of his manly courtesy. She had forgotten the little touches like that which had so set him apart from anyone else she had ever known. It still didn't explain, however, why the mention of his becoming a father again had moved her so much.

"Thank you. Although, in truth, my role in it thus far has been rather insignificant..."

"Don't be so bashful...it might not have lasted long but I'm sure it was a very moving moment..." Uma replied with a giggle. "At least you made it count..."

He cleared his throat, obviously amused but feigning disapproval. It didn't evade her notice that he also had helped to get her back on track by giving her an opportunity to say something lighthearted. Dear, Maximus...you are so very thoughtful, she mused to herself.

"How's Andy? We hear so little about you both...I believe Jeff is also with you?"

"Andy's fine. Really good. Not much to say really. We just work, work, work and then work some more... Jeff's great. He has his own place now. Living with this guy named Toby. He's a really nice boy. Everything's cool..."

"I'm glad to hear that. I always feel a little sad when I see Paul alone. He has been changed by it all. It seems so pointless..."

Uma sighed. "I know. But that's life, Max. Sometimes it doesn't work out...who knows that better than us?"

There was a refreshing ease in feeling free enough to simply say exactly what was on her mind for once. He himself seemed to respond to the candour with a less guarded comment than usual.

"You and Andy...have you...made any decisions? I suspected by now you might have formalized things..."

"Got married? Everyone keeps asking me about that. It's weird really. Neither of us ever talks about it. I'm not sure I get marriage. Not for me anyway. It's lovely to see others taking the plunge..."

"You make is sound like a trial by ordeal..."

"Your words not mine, mate...No, I can't see us marrying. Not unless there was a child involved...maybe we might for the sake of a baby..."

"...a child?" She could hear the lightness in his voice. He was smiling. He approved of the idea. "You used to treat the notion of children as if they were a distinctly unpleasant smell..."

"...come on, Maximus, they can be..."

He laughed. "...all the same, I detect a change in the tide..."

"Er, where did Jack Aubrey come from?" Uma retorted. But she knew she had revealed herself to him. Suddenly she wasn't sorry that she had.

"I think you will make a very good mother, once you are ready for it. You never do anything by halves. That is always a sign of someone capable of great passion and devotion..."

"Thank you for your vote of confidence, Maximus. But there are no babies on my horizon, so don't get your hopes up. I am injected full of every known contraceptive. Whereas you are staring down the barrel of a gun, sunshine...a couple of months and life as you know it will be irrevocably changed. No more long leisurely nights of passion with a bottle of vino, a tab of Viagra and a few imaginative battery powered toys..."

"You must have a very odd sex life if that describes a typical evening in your household..." he muttered caustically. "...were you describing nights when Andy isn't there?"

"Ha, ha, ha! I cannot wait to see you changing a stinky nappy or with drool all down your back..."

"I'm rather looking forward to all that myself..." he countered smugly.

"Famous last words..." Uma began but stopped abruptly as he slid that old sword of his right for the jugular.

"...So, these feelings you have been experiencing...the ones that caused you to make this call to Ann...Whatever it is that you are 'a bit concerned about'? That you think a man would take no notice of... Care to elucidate?"

He never missed a shot. Uma pulled a face, unwilling to have to lay this all out before another man who would probably make her feel like she needed to take a tranquiliser or see a shrink or something. "Uma....please..."

"I can't, Max. It will sound stupid and you'll think I'm crazy..."

"I know you're crazy. How much worse can my opinion get?" He nudged her forward softly. "I won't belittle what you say. I really do want to hear what's on your mind..."

With a long sigh and blowing out air slowly to compose herself, she tried to begin. "I can't explain....it's a feeling and when I put it into words it seems so tenuous and silly..."

"Don't try to explain it. Close your eyes. Feel it. Then let it talk for itself..."

Uma remembered then something that she should not have forgotten. Maximus wasn't like modern men about instinct. He came from an earlier time when people still had a healthy respect for spirits and for the forces that existed outside the mortal world. She realized that he would not hear what she had to say like a man such as Andy with his down-to-earth, cynical perspective.

So, she closed her eyes and let her thoughts roam freely. She 'felt' her body and let the sense that was bothering her reveal itself more completely. "I have a nervous, jumpy feeling in the pit of my stomach all the time like something exciting is about to happen. But it isn't good exciting. I seem to be walking under a cloud of foreboding that makes everything I see grey and gloomy. I suppose you would say I was depressed but I can't shake the feeling that it has an external cause. There's something lying at the back of my consciousness, a little voice, that keeps reminding me that I have to do something. Like when you know you've forgotten to do something but you can't remember what....I keep dreaming, even when I'm awake. But even if the dreams are not unpleasant in themselves, they always leave me with this sense of dark sadness and unease that colours the rest of my day. You are always in the dreams, Maximus. Sometimes, the dreams are memories, all confused, but reminding me of things long past that we said and did...I even dreamed of the first day we met..."

"Did I say something significant?"

"Don't you remember?" Uma chided softly.

"Not really. Not the exact words."

"You said, '...the gods have sent me here to learn something. And then when I do they will no doubt thrust me back again...'"

"I was confused, upset. I didn't understand what I was saying...I thought I had died..."

"No. You understood well enough. Maximus, have we just been pushing things under the carpet, burying our heads in the sand? Why did we stop asking the questions we asked at the beginning? When did we begin to take this all for granted? I have this awful feeling that bit by bit, the world we have made for ourselves is being deconstructed...tiny little shifts have begun that are gaining momentum...Maximus, be careful! You were the first! I am so worried that these premonitions are telling me that...that..."

"...that I will be the first to leave? Is that what you fear...?"

"Oh, Maximus...!"

"You could be right. Is there anything else that concerns you? Have you any reason to feel concern for anyone else?"

"John Biebe..."

"He was the second..."

"I know...when you and I were...but not for long...others followed quickly then. Jeff...oh god...Jeff...do you think what happened with Paul is part of the meltdown?"

"Possibly or maybe it was just a lovers' quarrel...Tell me what has happened to John Biebe..."

She filled him in succinctly knowing Clarity would not think she had betrayed a confidence to tell this to Maximus. He took a sharp intake of breath. He did not like what he had heard. "That is not good, Uma. Especially as he seems to have closed his mind to it all..."

"I know. She's very scared...and something's happened to Gaia and Terry. I mean if they can split up then any of us can! They were the perfect couple..."

He chuckled gently. "I thought you disliked her intensely..."

Uma made an annoyed clicking sound in her throat. "She moved in on a bloke I fancied...I'm supposed to say thank you?"

"Quite an admission though. I thought you found Terry Thorne an annoying clever dick...or isn't that what you told me once...?"

"I accused you of being a limp dick once. You would imagine that by now you knew I always tell lies...I had a crush on him. Everyone knew. Terry probably thought it highly amusing...Gaia took up with him and I felt it hard at first...but I could see for myself that they were right for each other. Just don't ever let him know I said that, okay?"

He laughed but promised all the same that he would keep her secrets. "You knew them all intimately in one way or another at a time when they first arrived and were vulnerable. That gave you a unique insight into them. It also still suggests you were some sort of catalyst, you and Heather together....You must have some role in this even if you do not know what it is. You have always had an acute sense. So, you must also take care. Anything which harms us must see you as an obstacle. Surely?"

"Me? Why me? What could I do?"

"I don't know...but maybe you do somewhere inside your head. You speak of an idea, of some knowledge just outside your consciousness that you can't quite reach. Find a way through that door and the answer may be there. Listen again. What does your heart tell you that you must do?"

Uma gasped then. Suddenly a very strong image came to her. 

"What is it?"

"I need to return to the pub. I need to be there. I keep thinking that I should be..."

"Then go there..."

"I can't. I can't leave Andy. He needs me and...I won't leave him alone...! Maximus, if I lost him..." She broke down into a sob then and he flinched at her raw declaration. Uma never admitted her emotional weaknesses. This was in itself a telling moment.

"No one's asking you to. Maybe you should both be there. If there is a threat, we would be better if we worked together..."

"...Ever the strategist, Max?" she smiled softly.

"What else can I be? Uma, come back...for the time being..."

"I can't! There's the restaurant and the expense..."

"If it's only money..."

"NO! No...it isn't a question of money. We just can't suspend life indefinitely and sit around the pub waiting for some bomb to drop on our heads..."

"There is another way..." His voice was deep and low; she knew he was thinking as he spoke. Something had just occurred to him. "You always said there were no access points in Australia. Are you sure? Isn't it more a question that you have never looked? Just in case...? This is the time, Uma...find the door. Even if you do not cross it yet. Be ready...!"

"Max...you know something, don't you? Something has happened to you? Tell me...I've been honest with you! If you don't tell me, how will I be able to fight against it all?"

There was a long pause while he considered his next words. He was never a man to give much away but he could not deny she was right. He had a sense that she was far more responsible for their existence than she realized. "Some time ago, a man came to our farm..."

...Andy's return brought their conversation to an end. Uma did not wish to let him know what she had found out just yet. "Maximus...I have to go...take care! I will try my best to see what I can do. I'll talk to Heather again... and Clarity ...."

"....Find the door...please...find the door...and be vigilant..."

"...Who was that?" Andy walked in drenched in sweat, munching on an apple.

"...Oh, just the supplier confirming the delivery of that new freezer....how was your run?"

"Great... best start to the day...on second thoughts...jump in the shower with me, will ya? I've just remembered an even better way to start the day...."

"Max! Where are you? Something's happened! Something very bad! Shit, where is he now?" Ann said, bursting into the kitchen, Ralph and Buck at her heels.

She went through into the living room where she found him. Max was facing away from her, over by the hearth. She said his name again; he turned, his eyes blinking rapidly. She knew that look on his face ... it stopped her in her tracks.

"Max? What's wrong?" Ann asked, everything she'd rushed inside to tell him going immediately out of her brain. Time seemed to slow to a stop. She noticed details ... that he was then shaking his head slightly, that his lips were tight and firm, the set to his shoulders, the way his chin was down, how he looked away from her almost instantly to glance at Ralph ... and that his hand was on the phone.

When at last he looked at her again, she rushed toward him ... the panicky feeling overwhelming her.  "You got a phone call? Was it bad news? Is it my mother? Is it Chili? Max ... what is it, Max? What's happened?"

"No, cara, not your mother or Chili ... but something is wrong. I am simply uncertain of the details. It is more a set of odd circumstances happening to us and others ... It cannot be mere coincidences. I wish to speak with you both."

His voice was soft but she heard inside that voice a layer of steel that alerted her: this was real and it was something bad. He took her hand and led her over to the couch, where she meekly allowed him to draw her down until she was sitting across his lap. She looked at her feet, clad in running shoes, and the way the white of the shoes contrasted with the mottled terracotta of the leather couch cushions. She shifted her eyes to look down at where his large hand touched and stroked along her swollen belly. The baby was restless but calmed to his father's caresses. She had been about to go jogging with Buck and Ralph but now here she was, about to get bad news, she knew it.

Maximus rarely touched her in such a manner with others present to view it. When they were alone, he could not keep his hands from contact with her since she had begun to show her pregnancy. That he touched and stroked her belly now, openly before Ralph, was a sign of his concern ... as well as tacit acknowledgement that Ralph was more family than ever ... and that he was part of what was going on in this day.

Finally, Ann's eyes look up into Max's, now so close to hers that she could examine the amber flecks flickering inside the blue-green of his troubled eyes. "Tell me," she said simply.

He cleared his throat. "Uma called. While you were out."

"Uma?"

"She was calling to speak with you ... Uma has been feeling ... an odd pressure on her spirit, a foreboding, a call to her to return here to help with something about to happen."

Ann felt his words more than heard them. Uma had called about a 'bad feeling'? Uma? Half a world away and she was feeling odd so she called? And acted on it? There was more to this ... all she had to do was look at Max to know that. Instantly, she got the feeling that he had once again been hiding important information from her ... him and his pride over his role as protector. Her voice reflected her annoyance as she asked, "Something is going on that you haven't told me, isn't it?"

Maximus fixed her with a look. He read her irritation, anger ... he would not apologize. What he had done to protect his family had been his choice, his obligation. Had he told her his concerns, what good would it have possibly done other than to frighten her? His chin raised; he would not allow an argument between them at this point. Instead, he purposely dropped his voice to a soft yet firm cadence ... reasonable and reassuring.

He told her of his conversation with Uma, though in brief highlights rather than intricate details. And then he told her about his effort the past months to find and destroy every clue that could have led anyone trying to find out what had happened to Luke and his men straight to their doorstep. He reminded her of her own unease over the man she'd seen and the possible intruder in the kayak.

She examined his words, watched him tell her ... felt his grip on her become more firm, more definitive. The enormity of what he was implying shoved aside the anger that had been blooming ... and she thus concentrated on only one thing: the situation they were now facing.

"It may all be nothing but coincidence or our collective imaginations," he said.

"You're scared though now," she whispered to Max. 

He would not lie to her about this. "I have no hard information but I fear forces are aligning that threaten us ... and perhaps that threat is now spreading to others in our family."

She shook her head, unwilling to accept even as she accepted. "I'm glad you told me, Max. I just wish ... It really hasn't been a ghost then, has it?"

"No. I do not know who you saw, but I do not believe it was a spirit."

"Neither do we," Ralph said, his voice low and hard.

They looked across to where he sat, in one of the big chairs that faced the couch across a large coffee table. Ann got an instant memory ... of sitting in the same chair Ralph was in, and Luke sitting on the coffee table before her, frightening her, threatening them all.

"What do you mean?" Max asked, then suddenly remembering Ann's words as she'd come into the house. "You spoke of something bad happening, Anna?"

"I ... We ... Ralph ..." Ann said, then stopped, took a breath before continuing. "Ralph and I were going jogging ... We were doing stretches on the oak ... you know, the one by Neva's grave?"

"Anna ... just say it out, quickly."

"Something seemed off ... at the grave ... I was trying to figure out what it was when I realized the flowers in one area had been disturbed ... dug up and their roots all damaged and ... well ..."

Ralph took over, going to the heart of the matter, knowing that is what Max needed to understand. "Someone's been digging into the grave area. Probably figured going in under the flowers would cover his tracks ... and it would have, but Ann's kinda fixated on the flowers and ..."

"Someone was digging in there, Max!" Ann said, now tugging on the front of his shirt. "Someone knows what we did. Someone was trying to get evidence ... maybe he did ... maybe he has proof that it's not just Neva and her baby in the grave ... Someone has been that close to the house, Max, without us even knowing."

Max absorbed the news. In his mind, he cataloged it with the other new information from Uma, the concerns of Clarity about what they had experienced in France and were again feeling over there ... whatever was going on, it was not a lone man stalking his wife and his property. The sense he'd had after speaking with Uma felt confirmed ... whatever force had begun gathering, it was drawing bolder and nearer.

"What will we do?" Ann asked him, her voice turned surprisingly calm.

He shrugged, reverting to his stoic approach to impending battle. "We shall be wise, cara. I shall contact the other men, alert them to stay vigilant for unusual events ... caution them from being too accepting of strangers intersecting their lives at this point."

"Then you think this is someone coming for us all? But why? And what? Something to do with Lucius or William?"

"I do not have that answer ... yet. In the meantime, whether this is a danger we alone face or all others face it with us, why should we all not be cautious?"

She looked off, beyond him, toward the back deck, to the sunshine out there that seemed fake now. "But what will you do, Max? Because I know you better than this. I know you're not going to just sit around twiddling your thumbs."

He smiled gently and pulled her in against his chest where he could cradle her body, large with his child. That she was reacting calmly now did not surprise him. She seemed to have a switch when there was an emergency ... she became almost too clear eyed.

"My first duty is to assure the safety of the one person who matters more to me than any value could be given," he whispered against her ear, a private word for her alone. And then he spoke louder, assuring that Ralph could be part of the conversation. "From this moment on, until I have ascertained what is really going on, you are to never stray far from me ... if I must leave the farm, I will have Ralph with you. I will contact Hando and ask him to move in here with us until the threat passes. If an outside force does indeed come into our home, as it might, I wish him at our side."

She breathed in deeply and then blew the air out slowly. This couldn't be real, she thought, because the sun is out today.

"Anna?" he said, his voice now husky. "I ask you to obey me in this."

"Of course," she responded slowly, now letting herself go, her arms circling around his neck to hold him tightly. "I'll do whatever you think needs doing. The last thing you need is to worry about me. If this affects all of us, then they all need you just as much as I do."

"Cara ... you are my first and my last concern," he said.

"I know, Max. I do. But you should not struggle with any issue of duty for the group versus your duty to me ... and I know you are but I want you to know, I trust in you. We need you ... we all do. You make sure we're all safe. I could never live with myself if you felt it was a choice between me and the entire family. It's not. Do you understand me?"

He nodded against her face, stroking her cheek with his short beard. "I shall see to the safety of the farm first, then I can look to the others ... Ralph, you will be required for this."

"You know I'm gonna be here for you, Max."

"Hando will come to our aid as well. He has a stake in this after what we have faced together. If it a repercussion from what happened here, then it is here that he should gather with us to face it. After, I shall need to gather the other men ... to discuss this with them ... as I believe the threat has widened to include at least John and Clarity."

"Some of them will think we're making too much out of 'feelings' and me seeing someone who looks like a dead person ..." Ann said.

"They do not know of Lucius and his men. Nor do they know of Mephisto Corporation ... which is the most likely force behind this if the net has widened to others in our group ... once they do, they will either accept my belief that we must take action or they will not be with us in this. Either way, we will have done our duty and begun what we can."

The rest of the evening was filled with preparations as only Maximus could mount them. When Hando arrived, he set to work with Max in calling the other men, gathering who they could to meet at the pub that night.

Those who came, and it was nearly all the men in the group, were briefed on all that had happened, all that seemed to be happening around them, and the sense of foreboding that filled the spirits of Maximus, Uma, Heather and now Clarity.

There may have been little concrete to go on, but alerting those others could bring in other evidence, other traces, other strings that could help trace the threat that Maximus believed was on their doorsteps.

It was the lack of details that led many of the men to struggle with the warnings. It was not that they did not trust Maximus, but what had he really given them to go on? Still, as they left, they each thought back over the past few months, turning over memories and looking for clues, however nebulous, that something sinister and unexplained might have touched their lives.

There was only one man who was not called to the meeting.

And he was not called for a simple reason ... because he was among those Maximus and Hando suspected might have a hand in anything that would approach evil or manipulation of those in the family of the pub.

Uninvited, though, did not mean that Sid did not know of the meeting or that he did not know ever word that was uttered ... even if he did not attend in person. However, he did monitor the meeting ... and so he was well aware that the people of the pub were now on the alert.

Mephisto and its owners should be notified, Sid thought to himself as he listened in to the meeting's conclusion. He smiled to himself, a thoroughly smug smile. But how much more amusing it would be, he thought, if Mephisto went on thinking that no one was on to them.

This knowledge of what both groups were up to, without either knowing he knew, gave Sid a very nice tactical advantage. He would tell Mephisto, of course, but only when the time was right.

And the right time was the exact time that would give Sid something he wanted just then. And not a nano-second before, mind you.

At his heart, it could be said, Sid was nothing so much as a nerd.

Well, except for the fact that he didn't actually have a heart.

And, well, there was that little personality issue of all the murderers, deviants and sadists in his makeup. Myra, for one, found it added flavor. Others found his makeup to be rather ... difficult.

There was only really one person who ever accepted that Sid had humanity and that there might very well be within his breast something that functioned somewhat in the same manner as a human heart in terms of making emotional attachments ... and had offered him unfettered friendship and respect in the bargain.

That person was Clarity.

There were frequent moments when Sid devoted much attention to examining the experiment ... er ... experience of John Biebe in Mystery. We are not speaking of Biebe's film here but of the time when Sid did his magic act of sending Biebe back to Mystery just so that Sid could help Clarity answer questions she had about Biebe and his ability to truly love her.

What exactly had been that brand of magic that Sid tapped into?

He would tell you that it was far and away above your head. That the only person he knew who might actually be able to make some semblance of sense of it was John Nash. He would further tell you that even John Nash did not possess the intelligence, creativity and insight needed to really explain what Sid had accomplished.

Sid would be so proud to tell you that ... you would even see him preen a bit.

Since that experiment, though, Sid had found himself wondering if it was up to him and him alone to solve some mysteries about the why's and wherefore's of how it was the men, the Crowe men, had started coming into the existence where the pub flourished and drew so many unusual people.

"Had no one else ever wondered," he mused to his son one morning a few months ago. "Why are these things always up to the geniuses?" Sid, Jr. gurgled and pointed a baby fat finger at his proud father. "Yes," Sid chuckled to his son, "I am the one genius who can do this."

It was in his research into one central question ... why was it that Maximus had come over first when any half-wit would have said the character most logical to come over first was the one first born in cyberspace ... that Sid first came across some messages concerning Maximus that were not from anyone connected with the Pub.

Upon tracking and monitoring the ensuing conversations, Sid began to realize that there were entities out there that knew of Maximus and were monitoring him.

This was how Sid found out about Mephisto Corporation. It was also how he found out about Levon. And that led him, because he is so brilliant, to someone named Luke Ferris.

As it turned out, Sid gathered eventually by putting together the information shooting back and forth in IM's and emails and PDFs detailing scientific research, it was actually Luke who found Maximus first. And it was something of a fluke, if one can ever believe in flukes.

Checking further, Sid determined that Luke was actually Lucius Verus ... a man from Maximus' time and society. A man who'd been brought into Mephisto for one reason: because Mephisto's three owners, true nerds, believed they were smart enough to solve the riddles of time travel and when one of their many cyberspies had come across Lucius and some of his men shortly after they seemingly wandered into this time ... well, there you had it. Lucius was offered shelter, aid and education in the modern world. All he had to do in return was be the gracious subject of research into what it was about his body, and the bodies of the men who came with him, that made them able to travel through time, since they came through time without the aid of any time travel machine as the Geeks would have expected them to.

Sid read one report, buried in the trash file on someone's computer in Mephisto (tsk tsk), that detailed the research done on Lucius and his men. Was it any surprise that when Lucius found Maximus, he was damned ready to fuck over Mephisto by using Maxie baby to get back to his own time?

Oh, yes, it was indeed one of Lucius' men whose computer had not only not been destroyed but had still been connected to an Ethernet cable, that held all the information they'd gathered on Max in that time.

Fools, Sid had thought, as he read through their little plans to make Max take them back through some rift in time they knew he could access in the Coliseum. Maximus might be an idiot, but he was a clever brute of a barbarian and they would never have stood a chance with him, Sid thought despairingly.

Which explained why they were never heard from again, Sid contemplated with a smile. You had to hand it to old Maxie. When it came to offing your enemies, the man had a definite way of doing it in no uncertain terms. No one ever walked away with a flesh wound after the Gladiator came after him, Sid thought.

Beyond all that, though, what interested Sid more than anything was that Mephisto's people had apparently caught on at the very last moment that Lucius and his men were up to something. They just didn't react quickly enough.

It was as Sid was monitoring them that the man known as Levon first entered the picture. It was Levon, in fact, who put Mephisto onto Maximus ... and onto the entire group of men who shared his basic looks. Too bad none of the others had come out looking quite as devilishly handsome and perfect as Sid but the world really does work better with only one perfect specimen, in Sid's point of view.

Levon thought the men were clones. Sid had grimaced at that idea. As if! Mephisto people thought the men were time travelers. 

There's just nothing you can do about nerds and their sci-fi obsessed brains, Sid felt. 

Did we say Sid was at heart a nerd? Allow us to explain ... it was that Sid was a cyber-expert, and in that way, was perhaps the supreme nerd. Not that we would say that to Sid's face.

Sid also detected that there was another force at play. But that force was elusive in cyber-land, so tracking them was difficult if not impossible. Even for Sid.

But he knew now that they were out there. Who they were and what they wanted? He wasn't sure ... yet.

For now, it was Mephisto he sought to infiltrate and control.

He had been content to just watch what they did as long as it was only dumbo Maximus and his doofus wife who were being stalked. But when Mephisto found out about the rest of them ... through that unforeseen act of Levon trailing Max to France for Clarity's wedding ... Sid felt a bit more interested in monitoring their every activity.

And it was that monitoring that brought to light the one action by Mephisto that caused Sid to come out into the open ... they started messing in Clarity's life.

Now, there was no way he was going to let that go unchallenged.

Then he read a new manifesto ... drafted by one of the Mephisto owners ... that indicated they wanted to continue their research into the physiology of the men ... and their offspring. They had scientists on board who assured them that if they could but examine and run tests ... maybe bump the tests up a bit compared to those run on Lucius and his men ... then they could ferret out how these men traveled through time.

The scientists already had a theory ... that what they'd stumbled on was much more impressive and meaningful than Lucius and his men.

Indeed, since all these other men that Levon had seen in France all looked so much alike that they had to be related ... well, it was their hypothesis that these men were a race of time travelers. Not examining what made them tick right down to their molecular structure would have been a crime against science, the scientists concluded in their report. And if we could but get our hands on one of the offspring ... we could compare DNA shifts between the full-blooded time traveling race and the half-blooded offspring.

Sid had risen from his terminal when he read that and had gone in to watch Sid, Jr., sleeping. Perhaps the time had come to take control of all of this, Sid decided. If there was going to be any experimenting, it was going to be by him or under his direction. He would control it.

After all, he still had questions of his own. Like ... why was Maximus first? Who had made that mistake? Was that mistake going to doom the rest of them if it turned out him coming over first flawed the rest of their crossings?

Knowledge is power, is one of Sid's beliefs.

And power is always a good thing.

There was knowledge he wanted about this existence and with that knowledge, he'd have power over everyone who relegated him to the sidelines in the pub.

Let them go on ignoring him or treating him like some novelty act ... or setting him up as some half-wit, over-sexed bogey man. In the end, when he knew how it started, he'd have the power to make them all sit up and beg.

On the other hand, he was amused more than any other emotion by the Mephisto people. They really thought they were in control? They really thought he was going to let them experiment with John Biebe? Biebe was part of Sid's experimental adventures, not theirs.

Sid knew at that moment that it was past time to up the ante with the Mephisto Geeks ... he was taking a much firmer hand with them now. No more Mr. Nice Guy.

"Tut tut, gentlemen. You should know better than to try to track my program. Shall I give you another taste of my powers?"

Warren Bush, Adam Link and Danny Caulfield ... otherwise known as either the Geek Troika or the Demon Three ... were each huddled in front of their respective laptops.

Their screens changed to Cerulean blue and the face they'd come to know as Sid pixilated and then settled into jpeg focus.

Adam groaned. Danny cursed. Warren smiled.

"Good afternoon, Sid. We were wondering when you'd join us. We've been anxious to share our news," Warren said.

"You have no news for by its very definition, news should be new. And as I already know, it therefore cannot be news. It is, quite the contrary, old data."

"But it just ..."

"You just got verification. Have you learned nothing yet from my introduction to your supposed lives?"

"Our team is ready," Danny said tightly. "Whether you are or not."

"What did you say?" Sid said, his voice changed instantly from mellow schmooze into barely contained fury. "What ... did ... you ... say?"

"We're going to do it. We're all set up. You told us to wait until we had the team already in place ... we have the best scientists on staff and we have ..."

"You have nothing, you little twerp, until you have me!" Sid spit out, his face on screen now scowling at the Geeks in thunderous fury. "You go only when I permit it."

In a corner, unseen by Sid, stood Theo Dunnell, observing the interaction. Adam glanced up at him, seeking some support. They were dealing with a madman ... someone so far above them in terms of out and out psychopathy that the Geeks were out of their depth. They might very well have been able to cause massive destruction and mayhem but they thought of themselves as having the right to cause their mayhem. Sid, well, he was just a crazy man ... who gave him the right?

Theo held up two fingers. Time for Plan B, the signal meant.

"Okay. We'll wait," Warren said, his voice seeking to sound soft and submissive. He felt like ripping out every throat in the building but ... well, he wasn't the kind of man who could actually get his soft hands bloody. But he was damned angry ... dammit. He did not like having any rein put on his fun.

"Yes, we'll wait until you give us the word," Adam said.

Sid smiled and his color turned a bit less intense. "Very good. You see how easy it is to work with me? I am a quite benevolent boss."

So he thinks he's the boss now, does he, Theo thought to himself, his eyes narrowing. 

"If you could simply tell us what more you felt was required, we could make it happen," Danny said. "Is there another test to run? Another type of medical expert? Some other program we need to write?"

"All in good time, my little Geeks, all in good time. Now, here is what I want you to do next ..."

"Is he gone?" Dunnell asked them later.

"For now," Adam said. "We've pulled the Ethernet wires ... powered down and disconnected all the computers. He can't hear us, if that's what you're worrying about."

"Okay then. How do we get word to our forces in France without Sid knowing?" Dunnell asked the Geeks.

"We could call them," Adam said.

Dunnell frowned. "Even I can tap telephones, sir. I would not consider that the method of choice."

"We may have to send one of us to France," Warren said.

"There is no other way?"

"Well, there is, but we would have had to alert those in France before they left," Adam said. The others looked at him and he shrugged. "It's actually brain dead stupid. But I read about it on CNN's site this morning. It's something a group of terrorists did. Simple but ... actually, stupid."

"Stupid enough to work on Sid?"

"Yeah. You see, what you do is this ... you go to an internet café ... use one of their computers so Sid isn't instantly onto us. Create a Yahoo account. Compose a message and save it as a draft message. That way, it hasn't been sent to anyone so there'd be no reason to trigger his notice."

"And?" Dunnell said, impatient.

"And then anyone else you give the account information to can log in ..."

"From any other internet café, using any other anonymous computer so they cannot be traced ..." Warren said, catching on, grinning as it came clear to him.

"And then you can just open the draft and read it! Then you'd get the message just as if it was emailed to you only it wasn't so no one would ever detect it! Brilliantly stupid!" Danny finished, laughing at the sheer audacity of this idea. "Fucking terrorists! Only they'd do something so underhanded."

Dunnell rolled his eyes as he turned from them and headed for the door.

"I'll have one of the secretaries drive down and get you a ticket for France," he said over his shoulder. "Which of you is going? I'll need to set up an alternate identity for the paperwork."

"Let Adam go. It was his idea," Warren said.

It would have worked, too. If only the secretary had not sent an instant message to her girlfriend the next day about how her boss was out of the country and had promised to bring her a bottle of French perfume when he came back. He's pathetic and creepy the way he's always trying to get in your pants with those lame attempts at pick-up lines, her girlfriend IM'd back, but at least he has good taste in gifts. Too bad he's so ignorant about real women that he doesn't have a clue I'm gay, the secretary IM'd back.

Dinner that evening was very quiet. So many thoughts were running through Clarity's mind, even more after Uma had called her back to tell her that she had talked to Maximus. She had remained rather evasive about it but it seemed that Maximus had felt concerned and that other strange things were going on.

John was mostly silent. Neither of them seemed to feel the need to speak. He finally asked again for news about Uma, Andy and Jeff, but carefully avoided the main reason why Clarity had called Uma. She told him again the few words they had exchanged about regular life. He nodded while giving a particularly deep attention to the apple he was peeling. She looked at him and, after another long time of silence, she decided to take the plunge.

"Uma said we should leave." 

No reaction. 

"John... we should leave. Go back home." She waited for his reaction with some apprehension.

But he was still absorbed in what he was doing to that fruit in his plate, almost as concentrated as a surgeon with a life at stake.

"John... chéri... would you really mind if we left?"

Another silence. Then ... "No, absolutely not." His answer stunned her. It was the last one she expected from him.

"You mean... you agree?"

He finally raised his eyes from his 'apple-patient' and looked at her with a half smile.  "Of course I do, why wouldn't I?"

"Really? Oh John, I thought..."

"... in a few days, as initially planned." Resisting the disappointment he knew he would see on her face as soon as he would have let out these words, was more difficult than he had thought. He put his knife and the apple down and took her hand over the table.

"Come on, honey, our stay here is already so short... there are only two more days left, and so many things still need to be done. Be reasonable. You enjoyed being here before... well, before, didn't you? What's different now? What's wrong with you?" He tried to smile but it didn't reach his eyes "That time of the month coming soon? Or maybe precisely not... maybe good news?"

He knew that it was unfair because there had seldom been any change in her behaviour during any time of the month, her mood generally being oddly rather resistant to hormonal attacks. As for the good news, she had stopped the pills only a few weeks ago, and he knew it would probably take more time before it became possible. They were not in hurry and had just decided to let nature take its course, without thinking too much about it. He wished he hadn't said these last words; she sure didn't need any extra pressure. Maybe he expressed it the wrong way, but he wanted her to understand that he wouldn't let any weird feeling interfere with what they wanted to do. They were living a regular life; he wanted it to stay that way.

Disappointed? She was indeed, but she tried hard to hide it and swallowed back what she was going to reply.

They went to bed in a rather heavy mood, both not feeling really comfortable with each other, each of them for their own reasons. He said he was tired. She said she was, too. They kissed goodnight and turned each on their side, both needing silently to work this out on their own.

It had been really warm weather for the past few days, one of those un-seasonal springs that bring a taste of summer ahead of time. But today, it was raining, a fine warmish drizzle that suggested a typical Melbourne day ahead. They always said there were four seasons in one day; it was always impossible to anticipate in the morning what you would get by afternoon. A very frustrating climate for elegant dress.

Uma slipped on a jacket and pulled a cap over her hair as she picked up the car keys and ran down the stairs. Popping into the kitchens down below, she shouted a brief "Just going shopping for a couple of hours...I'll be back by lunch...!" before making for the car.  Andy muttered something that was probably just a 'yeah, right....no worries...'

Negotiating the busy rush hour traffic, made more congested by the downpour, Uma wondered exactly where she would begin to start looking. Where do you go to look for something that doesn't really exist? Usually people were drawn to the pub, entering it on a whim that was never fully understood even by themselves. This was different now. She was actively trying to pinpoint it in a way that surely must be impossible. Yet what choice did she have? Time could be running out and neither she nor Andy had the luxury of just waiting until some fine day when they found themselves walking into a hotel in Melbourne and ending up at the Come On Inn.

To the regulars, she had always made the excuse that there were no portals in Australia; it was something to do with the fact that Russell Crowe lived there.

Frankly, that had been something she had made up on the spur of the moment with the express purpose of sidestepping the issue. Uma now felt pretty shabby to have done that. A lot of her friends had missed them both and would be hurt to know that she and Andy had purposely refused to even countenance the idea of finding a route back. It would be like a slap in the face to them all. They had even misled Jeff in many ways. Not that he had exactly ever asked the question, but they had lied to him by omission. Since Jeff had first come back, there had to have been times when he must have wished he could just drop in and see everyone. Maybe if there had been a way for him to show up from time to time, things with Paul might have been easier to have been patched up...

With these and other thoughts whirling around her brain, Uma drove with her usual impatient fashion, changing lanes and muttering menacingly at all and sundry  - as if she had somewhere important to go. In fact, she was drifting aimlessly, trying to work out how she went about searching for this needle in the haystack.

Looking for a pub in Melbourne was rather like looking for sand in the desert. It was a city of drinking establishments. It could take her years if she tried to work through them all methodically.

What had Maximus said? He had told her to 'Close your eyes. Feel it. Then let it talk for itself...' It had helped her before when she had been trying to explain herself. Maybe it would help her again.

Uma stopped the car and sat by the side of the road letting the strange uneasy feelings roam freely. A place name came into her mind, an area of the city she had always liked and often wandered around when she had time to spare. Fitzroy was a quirky neighbourhood of weird shops, bohemian residents, vintage clothing stores, ethnic eateries, junk shops, markets, antique fairs, sex shops, small independently own art galleries: the sort of district that appealed to her own esoteric tastes and one which she and Andy often visited on the rare occasions that they had some free time.

Starting up the engine she drove there and then parked up in a small back street, one of those rabbit warren alleyways that were typical of the area, teeming with odd and esoteric treasures. With her hands shoved deep in her pockets and her cap jammed on hard against the drizzle, she ambled without any direction, letting her instinct carry her.

It was very odd, she suddenly realised. She had a strong sensation that she was onto something and the further she lost herself in back streets, the surer she was that here was the source of the draw they had both felt to this area of the city.

When she reached a particular street, Uma felt a tingling: the hairs on the back of her neck rose and an excited jumpiness fluttered in her stomach. It was an unremarkable place, a few business still closed, the rubbish from a Vietnamese restaurant spilling out onto the streets where cats rummaged for a taste of last night's special. What was calling her to this dingy alley?

Then she saw it. It was an old pub that seemed like an anachronism in this area, a throwback to an earlier time when this had been a working class district not an ethnic arty-farty hunting ground for latter day hippies. A girl was opening up an art supply shop across from it; Uma stopped and spoke to her.

"That pub...has it been here long?" she asked rather redundantly.

"The Down Under Inn? Since Captain Cook, I should imagine...it's a real drinkers' pub. The regulars are a dogged lot, old blokes who take the bus in now to meet their mates. It's a shame really. I mean, this was once their stomping ground and now they just feel like aliens..."

"Yeah...shame..." Uma muttered vaguely already staring across at the tiny entrance, making out the grimy sign above the door. The Down Under Inn? How lame a name was that?

About as lame as the Come On Inn?

With a growing sense of anticipation, she crossed the narrow street and walked up to the door. It probably wouldn't be opened at this hour. A quick check of her watch and she saw that it was still only nine forty; even in Melbourne no one was drinking at that hour of the morning. It was probably ridiculous anyway. I mean, how could this bar be a portal? How come none of the old geezers who drank there ever found their way into the pub on a typical evening then...?

Uma was about to turn away. 

Instead she pushed on the door. It moved. She peered inside.

And there was Paul sitting at a table with a steaming mug of tea, reading the morning paper. She blinked. It was still there. He was still there. She had actually found it! There was a portal in Australia. There might be others. Even though she had been searching for it, it still stunned her that she had found it - and with relative ease. What did that say about this whole bizarre state of affairs?

Letting the door close softly she hurried off back down the street, scared now that the moment had come. She had told Maximus she needed to go back. But she was suddenly unsure if she really did understand the consequences. She and Andy had this perfect life that they had made for each other - was she on the brink of destroying it all? Not to mention what he would say when he found out what had been going on behind his back.

In the relative cocoon of her car, she rested her head on her hands against the wheel and wondered what she should do about it all. Forget about it? Ignore the evidence of her intuition, Heather's similar feelings, Maximus' story, Clarity's strange tale of the shared dream, the fact that she had stumbled on the pub in just such a short time? All to safeguard a relationship with a man who might be taken from her any moment if she didn't do something?

Driving back to the restaurant, she knew there was only one possible course of action.

Talk to Andy. Whatever he said, even if he was really annoyed by what she had done, Uma knew she had to tell him. She told him everything. How could she possibly handle something of this magnitude without his help? He needed his help. She needed him.

"Andy?" she addressed him as she stood at the door of the restaurant kitchen.

He was chatting with a few of the other guys about the lunch menus. Without looking up, he muttered distractedly, "What...?"

"Got a few minutes? It's really important..."

John knew that even if Clarity hadn't said anything it was still on her mind; she could be a stubborn one sometimes. And he hated that what had started in his mind as a beautiful gift for her, a proof of his love, ended as a constant source of problems and disagreements between them. It was so far from what he had planned!

He was right about Clarity for she had not given up. She couldn't sleep, didn't want to. 

She was thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow would be another day, the day when they were going to leave that place, that was a sure thing. If it was what it took to keep him safe, even against his will, then she would charge again tomorrow, but differently, attacking another side of the iceberg John could be when his mind was made up. She generally managed to get things her way, without him even noticing....Well, it was probably not true, she had often wondered if pretending he hadn't noticed was not a way for him to surrender without bruising too much his male pride.

In her mind, and even more after her phone talk with Uma, she knew they had to get out of here as fast as they could, as if it was a question of life or death... maybe it was?

She never had any sixth sense and usually didn't believe much in anything irrational. And while she respected others' beliefs and was interested in them, Clarity was rather sceptic about most irrational things.

But this time was different. She wouldn't hide from this; she had to look at any possible danger, even irrational ones, with her eyes wide open and fight to protect what she had with all the possible means. And, if one of those means was, at the present time, to run away from that place, then, they would.

She was going to convince him, there was no doubt in her mind. She didn't know how but she was going to. She had to. She was going to protect him, whether he liked it or not, no matter if he held it against her for a while. She wanted him safe, and safe he was going to be.

She sighed and thought again, for maybe the tenth time, about her plans for tomorrow. They had not any chance to catch the first flight from Avignon to Paris at 6:30 am. But there were two others a few hours later, 11:05 am and 3:15 pm. They would be on one of them, she promised herself grimly.

Her guts were telling her that the earlier they left, the better, but it would all depend on how long it would take to convince him. Once in Paris, they would find another flight to home, it was not a problem. What counted the most was that they left this place.

As soon as possible. 

Next to her, John tossed and turned, obviously having a hard time to find sleep while he usually fell asleep as soon as he had decided to, all he had to do was close his eyes, like most men. But tonight was different. She wished she could have held him and soothed him into sleep, ease his worries, instead of causing them. But she didn't think she would be welcome to do so tonight, and felt that it was not her that he needed the most right now, but some privacy. So she just let him have it.

As John plumped his pillow one more time, he felt odd to be in the same bed and so obviously not be touching each other. It had happened before, but only when they were arguing. This time, they hadn't argued. They just didn't feel at ease with each other. Which was worse. Well, tomorrow he would just have to find the way to make her stop with all this worrying and fantasizing she was doing about dangers lurking in the peaceful countryside here.

Clarity was having very similar thoughts about being in this bed with her man but not being wrapped up in his arms. Was this how it would be when they would be old, she mused darkly. Just sleeping in the same bed? Maybe not even? Separated beds? Separated rooms? She pushed away that thought. Never mind the future, what counted now, and what she had to protect, even if she had to fight tooth and nail for it, was their present.

On the other side of their big wooden bed, John, eyes wide open, was now craving her touch, but knew it wouldn't come. Not tonight. As the sleepless time chased on, he was trying to figure out again and again when and how he had managed to get it all wrong.

His breath finally became more and more regular, until it reached that soft snore that generally lulled her into sleep. But not tonight. 

She listened to the old grandfather clock they had bought recently strike the hours, one after the other. It was going to be one of the longest nights of her life. She was fighting sleep, she had to stay awake, she had no idea why, at least no reasonable one, but she knew she couldn't sleep.

In the silence of the night, she heard him mumble. She turned to him, full of hope. But no, he was still asleep. His breath became ragged and his sleep more and more restless. His body started to shiver then tensed, he cried out something that sounded like "Take me but leave her alone!" and he added with a strangled voice "... please." Then, he turned suddenly as if struggling and reached to her, still without waking up. She caught him and wrapped her arms around him while he snuggled instinctively against her, nuzzling his head into her chest. It seemed to calm him down a little.

She held him tight for a long while, running her hand softly through his damp hair and pushing them gently from his face, whispered soothing words in his ear while stroking his back slowly, until she felt his body relax and his breathing become more regular. He soon fell again in a deep and quiet sleep.

They stayed like this all night long, him still and calm, fast asleep, her not letting him go, her arms still wrapped around him, even when surrendering to a dreamless sleep every now and then, inhabited by the crazy but reassuring feeling that she was keeping him safe.

In the morning, she was awoken by his soft kisses along her body, and he made a first tender, then wilder, almost desperate love to her, silently. When he collapsed, his face buried in her hair, exhausted, a tear escaped from the corner of his eye. She held him tight again; her eyes were not dry either.

Later, when they got up, he didn't say anything about the night. In fact, he didn't say much. She thought that he didn't remember. She decided to leave him more time to recover. And to her, more time to talk him into doing what she needed them to do. Her mind was made up. While he was shaving, she called the airport and booked two seats on the flight leaving Avignon to Paris at 3:15 pm. A few more hours wouldn't change anything, and she didn't want to rush him.

They had a pleasant breakfast in the garden, both still rather silent. But it was a different kind of silence this time, an easy and comfortable one, unlike the evening before. They were listening to the birds that seemed to be celebrating the beginning of another sunny day, breathing the soft scent of pine trees, smiling in their mugs of coffee each time their eyes met each other's, and it happened quite often.

After breakfast, she simply told him "John, there is a flight at 3:15 this afternoon." 

He just answered, "Book it for us." 

She didn't ask for any explanation. He didn't give any. 

She didn't tell him it was already done, letting him think that this decision was his only, leaving him that little victory. They were going to leave, and it's all that counted to her.

While she was in the kitchen, he stayed a little more outside, just enjoying these last moments under the mild sun of that beautiful late autumn, in the heart of Provence.

He stretched his already relaxed body, letting unconsciously his mind loosen up a little too, and start to wander. It was a mistake. 

Unwanted thoughts, thoughts he had been trying to keep away for days, invaded him. And he soon felt he was losing his fight. The fight against the unpleasant admission that the reason why he had refused to listen to her, to believe in all these crazy things, was simply because... because he was scared himself. Scared that it could stop again. Scared that he could lose her, lose it all again. Scared that he should have to do it all again. In another life, another place, with someone else. Again.

Or not. 

He was sincere when he had told her, a few times ago at the pub, that he wouldn't have the strength to do it again, that this time, it might very well kill him.

A few hours later, they were in the car, ready to leave. The engine was running, their luggage was in the trunk. They heard inside the old pendulum clock inside the house strike two hours.

"You didn't stop it?" asked John

"Yes I have! At least... I thought I had. But now, I'm not sure anymore. I could have sworn I had stopped it, but I obviously haven't. I'm sorry, I won't be long," she said, rushing back inside to prepare the clock for their absence from the house.

When they had seen this grandfather clock two days ago, at a flea market, Clarity had immediately fallen in love with it. It reminded her of the one that was in her parents' house, and which had stricken the best and worse hours of their family life.

Same look, same sound. Just another place, another time. 

Seeing her enthusiasm, John hadn't hesitated a single while. Not even when the seller had told him the outrageously high price. Without her realizing it (because the seller was a 'her'), he soon bewitched her, using most of his fair... and unfair means: his natural charm (sweet smile, expressive eyes, deep voice, and all), his cute American accent and his sense of humor, to name only a few. And got the clock for a very reasonable price. Under his apparent candor and kindness, John Biebe could be a formidable and hard bargainer when he put his mind into it.

Clarity's father had once explained to her how complicated and fragile these old pendulum clocks were, and that they should be treated with the respect due to their old age. He had taught her that they had to be stopped carefully, when they couldn't be wound regularly for a long time, to prevent any possible damage to the mechanism through loss of power.  And the ritual to start them again was even more complicated. The winding had to be gentle, steady and precise, enough, but not too much. Only the minute hand should be turned, never the hour one, and never ever backwards. Don't move the hand more than an hour or so forward; if you can, better start the clock again when the time matches that on the dial. It seemed to her that she was still hearing her father's voice.

That old clock, in that old place, their place now, in the middle of a part of France where she loved to go with her parents as a kid brought suddenly a rush of memories she had tried to put aside through the years. Pleasant and painful ones. A life. What was gone was gone. There was nothing she could do about it. So better let it be at rest. She had always tried to look forward rather than behind, but even more than that, to live fully the present time.

The sound of a horn outside made her jump and dragged her back to the present. Her present. Their present. "Someone is getting impatient to leave now," she thought smiling. "More than he would ever admit it." He usually was the very patient kind and never used the horn, unless it was very necessary.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming!" she shouted through the empty house. She gave a last look around to be sure they hadn't forgotten anything, then hurried back outside, eager to tease him about his sudden impatience.

It was over now. She had been scared like never before in her life, but now it was over. They were going to be safe. 

She ran to the car, a big grin on her face. The engine was still running. 

But the driver's door was wide open. 

And his seat was empty.