Skyquakers by A.J. Conway Page B

bearable.
Jackrabbit said by tomorrow night they would be on the other side of the Kununurra , and the next morning they would find Zebra Rock,
where the people were.
    ‘What are they like, these people? Are there kids there? ’
    ‘Some, ’ Jackrabbit said.
    ‘How did they not get beamed? ’
    ‘They were swimming. ’
    Ned clicked his tongue. ‘ The beams
can ’ t work through water. Maybe that ’ s
why the fish are still around. Sharks would still be here too then, right? Ha!
Could you imagine if they made them twenty times bigger too? Ha! ’ Staring at the twisting, bulging branches of the boab tree over their heads, Ned then said, ‘ You were
right.’
    ‘Huh? ’
    ‘It was land they wanted. Farming land. For their alien
cattle and alien crops. ’
    ‘Hmm. ’ Jackrabbit retreated under
his hat again and folded his hands on his chest.
    ‘So they ’ ve made sheep and wom -bears and crocodiles and birds. What are they going to
make out of humans? Are they going to farm us too? Do you think they eat
humans? ’
    ‘Eh? ’
    ‘Actually, nah, I don ’ t think so.
We wouldn ’ t taste nice. But then what would they do with the
ones they don ’ t want? I mean birds, crocs,
and cattle can all be eaten, but there ’ re heaps of
things they beamed up that are inedible. Can you eat a rhino, or a leopard, or
an echidna? ’
    ‘Nah. ’
    ‘See? Then what will they do with them? ’
    But Jackrabbit knew nothing. He shrugged and rolled over. Ned
returned to staring at the trees and the stars that sparkled between the
branches. He imagined what the Quakers might do when they wake to find a wom -bear’s head chopped off just outside their paddocks.
Would they be mad? Would they sound the alarms? Good , Ned thought. Leave
it for them to find. Leave it on a pike with a flag of Earth fluttering beneath
it. He was proud of his achievements tonight.
    You are not alone, assholes.

MOONBOY

 
 
 
    Ned was wary of creeks and rivers these days; a rational
phobia, since he knew what scary new things were lurking around these parts
now. He bathed and brushed his teeth in the shallows of the Ord in the morning,
with a clearly mapped-out escape route to a high tree branch if it was needed.
With his clothes dumped on the bank, he stood waist high in the fresh water,
flanked on all sides by untouched bushland and the spiked red cliffs of the
northern Kununurra . There were still fish in the
water, normal fish, so he tried his luck with his hands, but they were too
small and slippery. He tried again with a long, thin stick, attempting to hunt
independently like Jackrabbit could, but that also failed. There was one
particular school of fish that kept swimming around him mockingly, tempting him
to chase and dive after them. It resulted in numerous failures and fruitless
splashing about.
    ‘Got one yet? ’ Jackrabbit asked.
    Ned made a girly scream and quickly hid his nakedness under
the waterline. The man just laughed at him.
    ‘What do you want? ’
    ‘You ain ’ t never gon ’ get fish like that. ’
    ‘Go away! ’
    Jackrabbit laughed and went off somewhere else down the
river.
    Ned, embarrassed, abandoned the hunt and quickly got out of
the water. He dressed himself and headed back to camp to pack up his
belongings. When he arrived, he found a new friend there. A dog, a border
collie-like breed, had invaded his camp and was gnawing at the discarded bones
from last night’s wom -bear carcass. He was chewing on a
rib when Ned appeared.
    ‘Oi! ’ he shouted.
    The dog, timid and innocent, backed away with his head down
and his big, black eyes glaring up at Ned with adorable guilt.
    ‘Hey, boy. ’ Ned smiled and leant down to
the dog. He held out his hand for him to sniff, and a green, slimy tongue licked
him. Ned retracted his hand quickly. ‘ You ’ re not from
around here, are you? ’
    The dog stared at him moronically. His tongue hung from his
mouth, bright green. He sat with his head cocked to the side, ears