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    Forward

    Hi I'm Scomber.I'm a musician, a singer/songwriter/producer/author/

    environmentalist/father based in Sydney Australia.

    I believe that the best things in life are free and should not be

    owned and controlled by some faceless corporation or

    shadowy publishing/record company.

    The creative process and its results should be democratic and

    accessible too all...

    Thats when I discovered the creative commons community.

    No, I'm not a communist, not even that much of a lefty, but I've

    figured out that restrictive copyright practices with its inherent

    exclusions limits the growth of many creative pursuits.

    Admiral Bob, one of the finest exponents of this culture puts it

    like this; artists can and should contribute content to culturethat is unhampered by the kind of restrictions that treat art like

    an imprisoned thing: dont alter it, dont move it onto a

    different device, dont copy it, dont even listen to it unless you

    re-license it.

    The net result, I believe is a bland sameness that seems to

    permeate most popular culture.

    Profitability generally doesn't equate to quality.

    Quality doesn't always lead to commercial success.This work is probably an example of both!

    I'm not against commercial reward for art, its entirely necessary

    but I'd much rather give something away for nothing. Thats just

    me.

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    I'd like to invite you all to take a little time to read and listen to

    this book and its music as I release each chapter every two

    weeks.

    Mirror Mirror is a self published serialized multimedia e book

    combining fictional sci-fi fantasy with DRM free music.

    Each chapter has its own original song written and produced

    in collaboration with the talented artists on ccmixter.org. .

    If you are unfamiliar with creative commons licensing, a good

    place to start is the creative commons website.

    I'm blogging on my Blogger page and the updated ebook is

    published on Scribd. All music and its attributions for can be

    found on my home page on ccmixter.org

    Here , I'll be uploading the stems and raw vocal tracks and

    encouraging anyone out there to remix, cut up or mash this

    original content to your hearts content.

    So here's the first two chapters of Mirror Mirror and the first

    two songs from the cc concept album of the same name.

    http://www.ccmixter.org/http://creativecommons.org/http://scomber-mirrormirror.blogspot.com/http://www.scribd.com/scomberfreshhttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomberhttp://creativecommons.org/http://scomber-mirrormirror.blogspot.com/http://www.scribd.com/scomberfreshhttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomberhttp://www.ccmixter.org/
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    Chapter 1

    Three seconds of chat

    It didn't seem that much at first.

    Corey Mason, second year geek at Arizona State University,

    pored over a trail of computer printouts from one end of his

    room to the other.

    It had been three years since NASA lost the twin Mars

    missions, and notably the university had lost a huge

    opportunity to get their instruments into space before thecurrent window closed. It would be another six years until

    Mars was in such an easy-to-get-to position.

    Most people had moved on to the next mission, their budgets

    cut by a third. Drawn out congressional inquiries into the

    failure of the two missions found the ordinary things.

    The rocket guys concluded that the onboard navigation system

    had somehow set the thruster jets of the orbiter five percent

    askew. When the probe tried its first aero braking pass of Mars

    it hit the atmosphere at the wrong angle, where it probably took

    a perilous fiery nose dive to the red planet, burning up. For a

    successful braking, the orbiter needed to intercept the thin

    atmosphere within 1 degree of its nominal entry angle. Too

    shallow an entry angle will cause the probe to skip off the

    atmosphere back into space like a pebble on a pond. Too steep

    Song Title: Mirror MirrorGenre: Dance/Pop

    Music: Spinmeister

    Arrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber

    Lyrics: Scomber

    Vocals: Sassygal

    Backing Chatter: Jacinda Espinosa

    = Download

    http://ccmixter.org/people/spinmeister/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/Sassygalhttp://ccmixter.org/people/jacindae/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/content/scomber/scomber_-_Bitter_Pill_(Chapter2_-_Mirror_Mirror).mp3http://ccmixter.org/content/scomber/scomber_-_Bitter_Pill_(Chapter2_-_Mirror_Mirror).mp3http://ccmixter.org/people/jacindae/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/Sassygalhttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/scomber/profilehttp://ccmixter.org/people/spinmeister/profile
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    an entry angle would cause it to dive and burn up in the

    atmosphere. At a velocity of 6.8 km per second, a temperature

    of 1650 C and peak G forces of 12 times Earth's gravity, the

    margin for error is slim. The Americans blamed key Europeancomponents and one billion dollars was lost in space.

    While this was all occurring, the other craft speeding towards

    Mars, the one containing the lander was only 800,000

    kilometres from insertion. As the lander approached the red

    planet it served as a relay station, accepting the extra data and

    bandwidth from the orbiter as its partner used the thin Martian

    atmosphere to slow itself down.

    The plan was once the lander reached Mars and was ready to

    land near the north pole, the roles would reverse. The Orbiter,

    safely in orbit, would receive high bandwidth data from the

    lander and then transmit it back to Earth.

    The first craft, the orbiter, stopped transmitting 15 seconds

    after the thrusters were first fired, 480 km above the Martiansurface. It got worse.

    Twelve and half hours later the second craft, the lander, in the

    words of the chief NASA Engineer, just disappeared from the

    screen. Silence. Complete loss of contact. Not even the hum

    from its ion propulsion system could be detected by any of the

    large earth-based radio telescopes.

    It couldnt have hit Mars after losing contact, with its lastcourse setting it past Mars and out beneath the ellipse below

    the orbit of Jupiter in three years time. The Mars hoodoo had

    struck again, and those little green men must have been

    laughing at their neighbour's folly.

    The printout that Corey had stretched before him was a jumble

    of zeros dashes and crosses. Eight metres of paper represented

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    the last 15 seconds of the orbiter. But these were not the

    transmissions received by the approaching lander in relay

    mode. Although they were weak, they were definitely the first

    hand transmissions directly from the orbiter.Corey had already spent enough time looking for aliens by

    staring at SETI data to know that it just didnt look right. The

    image/positional data matrix didnt flow the way it should,

    especially for a moving object.

    Three small southern hemisphere radio telescopes had been

    tracking the telemetry of the craft in the final stages of the

    insertion for navigational purposes only but not collecting the

    rich data. This was collected by the larger northern hemisphere

    dishes that were better positioned for collecting a larger data

    stream.

    But a student in Australia, had collected the data inadvertently

    while studying the magnetosphere of Mars. He had used the

    extra listening bandwidth of his telescope not being used by the

    Mars mission.

    The relatively small sized dish at Siding Springs was rarelypointed at something so close, so this was his opportunity to

    test some of his ideas. The observatory was primarily an

    optical one, known world wide for its large refractor telescope.

    Because the dish was so precisely focused on the spacecraft

    approaching Mars - any stray radio waves, like the two

    spacecraft talking to each other, send a small echo across the

    region rippled across other frequencies.

    Accidentally, this was detected and recorded.Corey had met Charlie Blake on the internet in a space nerd

    chat room.

    Corey was particularly interested in space forensics.

    For every ten payloads launched into orbit he said, two

    experience some sort of failure, and three literally blew up at

    launch. Thats five angry and anxious investors each wanting

    to know what happened to their 300 million dollars.

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    Corey needed a contact that could look at the heavens from the

    southern hemisphere.

    Charlie wasnt your ordinary student. He was 56 or maybe 62,

    full blooded Aboriginal and the type of person that didnt saymuch, but when they did, it was very timely and intuitive. He

    started working at Siding Springs as a cleaner ten years ago.

    Head astronomer Ray Phillips would often chat to Charlie and

    was amazed with Charlies knowledge of the night sky and the

    movement of the planets. Twelve months later Ray offered him

    the position of onsite trainee with a four year external science

    degree.

    Ray had filled out his application and sent it off to the

    department, putting his age down as 36. He got the position,

    but even better, the ABC did a human interest story on him that

    became a rare media nugget for the embattled Science Minister

    of the time. Aboriginal done good.

    Charlie was king of the kids. He could sit at the controls of two

    radio telescopes and three optical telescopes. No more

    scrubbing toilets and floors.

    Corey picked up the phone.

    Well I say its only 10.30 in the evening in Coonabarabran. he

    said as he dialed Siding Springs number.

    Charlie was in the control room. Most of the regular staff were

    off on their Christmas break and it was basically just Charlie

    and Ray Phillips, ten years older and still hadnt taken aholiday.

    Ray and Charlie were camping out, the desk strewn with pizza

    boxes and beer cans, with all their optical telescopes pointed

    towards Venus, which was just about to be eclipsed by the

    moon.

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    An ordinary telephone ringing in the computer control room

    seemed odd amongst the screens and control panels, but Ray

    with a wry smile and a raised eyebrow picked up the phone.

    He nodded a few times, grunted and turned to Charlie.Its ET calling home.

    Charlie wheeled himself over on the government issued gas lift

    chair.

    Hey Corey, my junkyard pal, his voice silken and calm.

    Corey wound into an excited mess of details, like a young child

    telling a very big secret.

    Slow down Yankee. Start from the beginning.

    Well, its like this. Corey explained, calming himself down.

    The data you sent me on Mars Express was good enough for

    me to reconstruct the full 128 bits from the Orbiter crafts last

    fifteen seconds.

    But get this; about 3 seconds before the end of transmission,

    the positional data is different to the final data relayed to earth

    by the approaching lander. Its as if someone had edited a tape,

    cut out three seconds, and replaced it with a copy of theprevious three seconds.

    But this will blow you away; the exact length of the splice is

    3.12 seconds. Thats Pye dude. I know enough about the

    processors on board both craft to know that this number just

    cant happen.

    Charlie took a breath considering his response.

    Are you sure its not just your decoding algorithm giving you

    a false result on the data.No way, because I lined it up with the other positional data

    and I still kept on getting the same answer. Corey stated

    defensively.

    Corey upped the tempo. Ill email you the full matrix .Why

    dont you take a look at it overnight and call me in the

    morning.

    The hairs on the back of Charlies neck stood on end as Charlie

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    realized that he might be able to explain the repeat of 3.12

    seconds. Last week he had helped install a new receiver on the

    secondary radio dish and knew a bit about parabolas. He had

    better think about it further before he jumped to conclusions,Ill call you in the morning.

    He paused.

    You know I bet if went out into the bush I could find a grass

    tree exactly 3.12 metres high. And wasnt that Michael Jordan

    fella 3.12 metres high?.

    And if I dropped a penny from a twenty metres high it would

    hit the ground 3.12 seconds.

    Corey interrupted.

    I get your point. But pleasejust take a look at the pretty

    pictures Charlie. Bye dude.

    Corey hung up the phone and walked over to his PC and

    emailed the full file to Charlie.

    Charlie wheeled himself back over towards the main console,

    catching Rays gaze briefly and secretly hoping that he hadnt

    shown his excitement too much to his boss.Charlie gestured and asked Ray.

    What you say we swing the gear around to Mars for a little

    while before the guys get back on Monday.

    Ray laconically said Are those Americans still looking for

    Elvis? Don Crouchly reckons he saw him in that new deli in

    town.

    Charlie had known Ray long enough to know a joke meant yes.

    Ray lifted his eyebrows. Ill give you a full 14 hours.Charlie smiled, his white teeth glowing in the low light of the

    control room.

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    Chapter 2

    A bitter pill

    That day Corey was on a high. He packed away his printouts

    and decided to head down to the Three Stags to sink a few

    celebratory ales.

    The bar was only a short walk across the campus grounds and

    then a shortcut through the car park of a seedy motel that

    rented rooms hourly to truckers and other passer-bys.He walked in about 8 oclock to find the regular suspects

    assuming their usual Thursday night positions. The carpet

    reeked of stale beer and a small but committed crowd played

    some pool sinking back some bourbon and beer. The jukebox

    was playing a Hendrix tune that was weaving its way through

    the thick smoke.

    Scuse me while I kiss the Sky.

    Corey nodded hello to a few regulars and approached the bar

    for a drink.

    The bar girl was slim and attractive.

    Well, Hi there Mr Starman. She cooed, pouting and wiggling

    her hips as she positioned herself in front of the beer taps.

    All of Coreys university buddies had tried to woo Lisa but

    without success.

    Song Title: Bitter PillGenre: Blues/Rock/Soul

    Music: Admiral BobArrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber

    Lyrics: Scomber

    Vocals: Scomber

    Backing Vocals: Sassygal

    = Download

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    She had finished her freshman year still loyal to her Jimmie

    who backed on to her folks farm in North Dakota.

    Set me up with a supernova and a black hole chaser, thanks

    Lisa.Lisa leaned on the tap and pulled a beer the way only she knew

    how.

    Whats the matter Corey, you look rather too cheery tonight.

    She said as she cracked open a new bottle of Jack Daniels.

    He shook his head. All I can say Lisa, is that I think Ive

    stumbled across the biggest cover-up since Watergate.

    What, the stars not going to shine tonight hun? she

    questioned, mildly interested. Stargate I think is alreadytaken.

    If I told you about it I would have to kill you. He said

    continuing that old corny line.

    She finished pouring the beer and leant over the bar, her eyes

    large and doe like.

    Dont worry, you can go ahead, Im already in the bad books

    with my folks and Jimmie for not coming home for Christmas.Theres just too many assignments and theres no way this

    place was going to give me any time off. Besides my old man

    reckons he wont pay any tuition fees unless I change my

    major to something that would help him back on the farm.

    He reckons reciting Shakespearian sonnets to the hogs wouldn't

    make them grow any faster.

    Thanks Lisa. Corey replied as he took his beer and bourbon

    chaser over to one of the vacant booths near the pool tables.He sat down and stared into his beer.

    It just didnt make sense. Surely if a second year student could

    see something so obvious, so inconsistent, the official inquiries

    would have too.

    He trusted the source data that Charlie gave him from the Mars

    orbiter in its final seconds. But why was the lander data so

    unblemished?

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    Up to the point of the landers disappearance all

    communication and relay systems were fully functional. All the

    lander should do is to amplify the original orbiter data as it

    approached insertion. If there was a cover-up why would youforget about something so basic? But who would have a motive

    to change the final data stream, assuming it could be done,

    when there was so much riding on the success of the mission?

    Then what had happened to the lander twelve and a half hours

    later?

    He sipped his beer and was ready for the chaser.

    A couple of guys were playing pool at the adjacent table.

    He turned around in the booth to grab a cigarette and was

    astonished when he noticed that the large mirror wall behind

    the booth reflected an image of the guys playing pool. Regular

    stuff. Same thing but everything backwards. He remembered

    what his forth grade science teacher had once told him about

    mirrors. Right is left, unless left is right. Oh, and tilt one way

    away and be out of sight.

    Mr McDonaugh was a retired World War Two code breakerturned school teacher. It took Corey twelve years to realize

    what the old Scot really meant.

    Face a mirror and hold your right hand up and wave to

    yourself.

    You know you are waving with your right hand, even though

    the person in the mirror is waving with their left.

    Mr McDonaugh would demonstrate this to all of his new

    school students.Your brain since the age of about one understands mirrors;

    You brush your hair, clean your teeth, do your make up and its

    automatic.

    Now lets say in a mirror you see a person you have never met

    approach you from behind, him too waving his hand.

    Is he right handed or left handed?

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    What if he was flashing up a newspaper headline?

    Could you read it?

    Corey gazed into his bourbon and pondered;

    What if the distance to the mirror was vast, like Earth to Mars.Even at the speed of light, it took a full 10 minutes for light or

    a radio signal to reach Earth. What we see now happened 10

    minutes ago.

    The guy playing his shot on the pool table was now right

    handed, playing from left to right down the table. But the

    mirror showed a left handed player still playing left to right.

    Corey looked up and noticed the booths opposite also had

    mirror backing.

    He then stood up and he could see the pool players reflection

    in the other mirror but also the reflection of the mirror behind

    him.

    He asked Mr McDonaughs question again;

    Right is left unless left is right.

    Its all about perception.

    The 3.14 seconds had to be a reflection (at a distance) ofanother 3.14 seconds.

    He looked into and then sipped the rest of his beer and thought

    that Charlie might be able to figure something out when he

    spoke to him in the morning.

    Is this seat taken?

    Corey looked up and was startled to see a woman, probably in

    her late twenties hiking up her tight short skirt to sit down inthe seat opposite in Coreys booth.

    Hi Im Miranda. she said.

    She definitely was too classy to be a local, Corey thought to

    himself.

    She had long black hair that framed a set of enormous almond

    shaped eyes. And those legs, well they definitely werent from

    these parts.

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    It beats me, but if you want to check her out, come over to the

    booth and Ill order a beer. He said as he turned and tenderly

    handled that slippery nipple towards the booth that Miranda sat

    in.She was even more beautiful than he could remember when he

    left her last time to go to the bar.

    Her skin was a warm golden colour and her hands strong, her

    fingers long and slender.

    Now what do you do with your time these days sweetie she

    asked batting her eyelids,.

    Well I look at the sky a lot. Corey replied, attempting to be

    funny.

    She smiled politely and gestured to her drink,

    Have you ever wanted to taste a slippery nipple like this one

    before?

    She asked, her lips ready, as if she was ready to say more.

    Corey reached over and tasted the cocktail, swirling the taste of

    pineapple and alcohol over his tongue to the delight of

    Miranda.

    That was the last thing Corey could remember that evening.

    He woke up in his room to the sunlight and the chatter of the

    local robins at his window. He was in bed and butt naked

    except for his socks.

    He sat up, head throbbing, his eyes taking a while to focus.

    He was sure he hadnt dreamed about Miranda and began to

    look around for signs that she had been in his room. Nothing.No bra, panties or hairclip, anywhere.

    Except for a long black trench coat draped over the chair.

    He sat up and lipped his arms into the warm folds. He couldn't

    remember her wearing a coat of any kind let alone one so warm

    and comfortable. It smelt of her, thats for sure. He reached into

    an inside pocket and found a crisp piece of folded paper.

    He unfolded it and read it;

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    Thank You for a wonderful night.

    I wish my car broke down more often in this neighbourhood.Thanks for all your help

    Good luck with your Martian chasingIm sure to see you again soon.

    Miranda xxx

    Some wonderful night when I cant remember a thing. He

    said to himself as he checked his supply of condoms to gage

    his possible success. He looked down to where he kept his files

    and was alarmed to find the printout and the disks missing.

    His panic was short lived when he realized that there would be

    a copy on his PC and he had emailed Charlie a copy last night.

    He tried to boot up his PC to find the entire operating system

    gone. The hard drive had been wiped clean and all the previous

    data was done.

    But surely Charlie still had the original data and receivedCoreys email.

    He wet his face with cold water, got dressed and set out for the

    other side of campus to find Lisa. Maybe she knew what

    happened last night.

    He found Lisa in the library where she turned with a brief look

    of contempt as their eyes met.

    So hows it going loverboy? she asked.You tell me. I cant remember a thing.

    Corey beckoned Lisa to sit down in one of the vacant group

    study rooms.

    Im telling you Lisa, I cant remember anything after tasting

    her drink.

    Lisa paused. Yeah, I saw you sip the drink as I brought your

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    beer over.

    She didnt even take another sip as far as I know, but handed

    me back the cocktail, saying something bitchy like this one is

    taken. About five minutes later she stood you up and headedyou hand in hand out the door without even a goodbye. I

    thought you were such a rude bastard.

    Corey stood up and gave Lisa a quick peck on the cheek.

    Thanks Leese. Ive got to go.

    By the time Corey was half way back to his room, the reality of

    what had happened hit him.

    The cocktail was spiked, she had taken him back to the room,

    fucked him (hopefully) and then taken the data.

    A hundred questions began to swirl around.

    Who was she?

    What had she put in his drink?

    Why would she want the files?

    How did she even know what Corey had discovered?

    He unlocked the door and entered his room and sat down on

    the bed.He picked up Mirandas note and read it again.

    What does she mean by thanks for your help?

    Corey assumed she meant the data matrix, it wasn't like he

    towed her car.

    He immediately thought of Charlie.

    He picked up the phone and called Siding Springs.

    Ray answered the phone.Hello Ray, its Corey. Is Charlie about?

    Ray swung back on his chair for a moment reaching to capture

    the data that he and Charlie had spent most of the day

    collecting.

    Sorry Corey, hes gone walkabout for a couple of days. You

    just missed him. Says he has to think something over.

    What do you mean walkabout? Corey sounded concerned.

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    Its an Aboriginal thing to do. Ray explained. Its a bit like

    you or me going on holidays to recharge the batteries. As far as

    I know hed be well and truly bush by now. Oh, but he did give

    me a message to give you. He said thanks for the data andthere's an email Ill send to you now. He wanted you to see his

    latest Mars data and I'm just running the comparative for the

    lazy bastard."

    And oh yeah, nearly forgot, he asked me to tell you to look

    after yourself.

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    in

    Chapter 3

    Drawn to the Bread Knife

    Sidings Springs is situated 18km from the small town of

    Coonabarabran indland New South Wales.

    Fifteen million years ago the normally stable continent of

    Australia floated over a hot spot in the Earths interior andcaused a cataclysmic event as the pressure penetrated the soft

    crust. A shield volcano, 200 kilometres in diameter spewed

    relentlessly for 400,000 years. The result was a chunk of Earth

    lifted 800 hundred metres above the surrounding plain and

    dotted with numerous dykes and fissures. These are long since

    extinct, the softer ground around eroded away and today the

    mountain range sits high and proud over the western plains of

    New South Wales, a ragged scar on the grassy plains. The

    Observatory stands elevated and clear, reaching into the dry air

    off the desert plains stretching to the west.

    This is Charlies land. Sacred land. The Warrumbungles. His

    father and his fathers before him had carved their existence

    amongst the basalt spires and winding rivers. Kangaroos and

    emus by the thousand, the streams full of fish and tortoises.

    Song Title: Climb upon the BreadnifeGenre: Acidpheric/Ballad/Rock

    Music: Scomber

    Acoustic Guitar & Mandolin : Mirko M ichalzik

    Additional Samples: Subliminal, onlymeith

    Didgeridoo : Afrit

    Arrangement /Production/Remix : Scomber

    Lyrics: Scomber/BoHeart

    Vocals: Scomber

    Backing Vocals: BoHeart

    = Download

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    Charlie remembered the stories that his grandfather had told

    him as a child.

    The aboriginal Australians saw themselves as part of the earth.

    Land, body and spirit as one.Everything around you had an explanation.

    It was the Dreamtime, when the Earth was created, and the

    rainbow serpent carved its way through the rocks to form the

    valleys and rivers .

    Time was a transient thing, held in suspension by dreaming and

    the means with which a soul progressed along its journey,

    eventually completing the circle to the place it began. Charlie

    remembered how his grandfather would explain the stars.

    They are pebbles tossed across a flowing mantle. Like

    flowing rivers, across the night sky, determining our fate and

    our fortune.

    The Kamilaroi clan of Aborigines had belonged to the

    Warrumbungles for close to forty thousand years. Now theyhave scattered to the cities, lost to their homeland. Charlie felt

    a dull ache in his heart as he realised he was one of the few

    remaining with a daily connection to his homeland.

    It was getting dark as Charlie climbed the steep track that

    wound its way along the eastern edge of the canyon. The moon

    hung low, ready to set, with just a thin crescent rimming one

    side of the disk. Short and sharp thunderstorms carved narrowpaths through the canyon. In fading light, Charlie saw the last

    golden outline of the rocky peaks and walls to the west. He

    remembered coming out here with his father and grandfather.

    The path they chose may have differed but there was only ever

    one destination.

    A one metre by 30 metre basalt spike towering above the thick

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    hakea bushes.

    The breadknife.

    They might walk up via the river and through the canyon or

    over the high plateau but they would always reach thebreadnife.

    It was a place to complete something of importance.

    Tribal elders had once held court there, exacting punishment

    and making peace with neighbouring tribes.

    Charlie knew this country well.

    As a child Charlie's extended family would often refer to him

    as "Walooga", the single child. It wasn't until much later in life

    that Charlie discovered that the name was really just meant for

    him. Though the translation was difficult, not just in words but

    in context, it basically equated to the western concept of

    "prophet".

    For years Charlie felt angry with his father for not fully

    explaining how he was "Walooga" and what he was supposed

    to do with this burden.

    Was he supposed to have kept his people on the land? Howcould you be a prophet if there is nobody left to enlighten?

    Charlie also knew enough about history to know that prophets

    generally appeared when there was a need for one and worse of

    all, were generally dead and buried long before anyone realize

    their significance. In the emptiness around him he wondered if

    anyone would ever hear his sermon on the mount, let alone

    what he would say when he got there.

    It was getting increasingly difficult to negotiate the steep slope

    as he wound his way through the scrub over the last boulders

    before the plateau. The darkness was playing tricks with his

    eyes and the constant shrill of cicadas and crickets made it

    harder to concentrate on the washed out track.

    He thought about Corey, and how he would hope to begin to

    explain his theory on the Mars data. But he still had some

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    thinking to do.

    He hoped that Ray had sent Corey the latest data.

    Take a look in the mirror

    Corey could hardly believe his eyes. After restoring his

    software, he checked his email and was pleased to see a new

    data set of Mars that he could compare to those of the lost

    probes.

    He sat down, coffee in one hand and keyboard on the other and

    lined the data up. It didn't matter that he didn't have the older

    data anymore. All he had to do is run the data through his

    algorithm, print out a matrix and then take a look, something

    like an ink blot.

    After studying the patterns of numbers and letters he noticed

    the new matrix did not have a bulge at the end of each wave

    like his original data. At the speed of light (zero on the matrix),

    time seemed to have been slowed by approximately 3.14

    seconds in the disaster data. Assuming the speed of light isconstant, this placed the point of disturbance at 1200

    kilometres beyond Mars' orbit.

    Yet the "disturbance" seemed to be well defined and sat in a

    perfect geostationary orbit, which any first year student would

    tell you was impossible at this altitude.

    It was then Corey noticed that there were footnotes with the

    data.

    Ray had included a note that read;

    "We checked the magnasphere around Mars again, and there

    seems be a thousand fold increase in activity on the far side of

    Mars.

    For the next six months Earth is chasing Mars in its orbit

    towards opposition and we don't really get a look at about 40%

    of the surface and the space behind it.

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    The Mars Surveyor probe is ten years old and on its last legs

    but reports no major change to the Martian surface in the last

    eight years it has been orbiting.

    Something big is happening. Either Mars is somehow ready tochange her orbital tilt on a massive scale - something we don't

    quite understand, or there is an object the size of Manhattan,

    weighing about one sixteenth of our moon hiding from us on

    the other side.

    Be careful Corey. I'm sure we're not the only ones to have

    noticed it... Ray Phillips."

    Corey repeated the words, "an object the size of Manhattan and

    one sixteenth the weight of the moon."

    It occurred to him that such an object, real or just

    electromagnetic, could feasibly act as a mirror, bouncing back

    a radio signal. This might explain how his mirror theory fits in.

    At light speed, three point four one seconds is about double the

    distance between the Martian upper atmosphere closest to us

    and the phantom on the other side.

    The earth had known for the last hundred and forty years that

    Mars has two so called "moons". Deimos, a 35 km long potato

    shaped piece of rock and its little brother, Phobos, a much

    lower orbiting chunk, hurtling in a perilously close path around

    Mars. It encircles the planet twice daily rising in the west and

    setting in the east. It is so low that it is not visible from all parts

    of the planet. In a mere 20 million years it will crash into theMartian surface.

    It suddenly dawned to him that if a phantom object existed

    with that mass it would surely be seen in rather large change to

    the orbit of these moons.

    He picked up the phone to Siding Springs and dialed the

    number.

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    Ray answered the phone in his typical laconic manner.

    "Hi Ray, its Corey, I've got to get in touch with Charlie.

    There's something funny going on with Mars.

    "Don't worry Corey, I'm on top of it.But I wish that Charlie would have told me what was going on.

    I guess you're going to ask me about the orbits of our two little

    Greek friends;

    Terror and Fear.

    "Well let me say that poor little Phobos as changed his apogee

    by about 10 kms and its orbit has become much more elliptical.

    I've never seen anything like it in all my life, but then again

    I've only been alive sixty one years.

    I wish Charlie had involved me earlier.

    Charlie's Manhattan theory seems to be the only plausible

    explanation.

    If the body is purely magnetic, an aurora gone crazy, it should

    have a gravity effect no where near what we are seeing. Mars

    just doesn't have the mass or the magnetosphere to create a

    magnetic storm of this magnitude.Yet the effect looks so strong at a single point that its possible

    that good old Newton's laws breakdown under such conditions.

    Time is bent and matter can transform freely with the energy

    around it. A total flux where energy is the natural state and

    matter is just a fortunate consequence. As a parabola in four

    dimensions, this may explain your pye, Corey."

    Corey responded, "but how does the mirror fit in? and thenbegan to answer his own question.

    Surely the last few seconds of the Mars probe is clearly an

    image of the previous 3.14 seconds. I watched a couple of guys

    playing pool the other night at the local bar, and looked at their

    reflection in the wall mirror behind me. The right handed

    player now looked left handed but he was still positioned at the

    same end of the table. The positional data corresponding to the

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    Walooga

    Charlie had fought his way through the hakea scrub to reach

    the breadknife that evening. It was about eleven o'clock, themoon had set and the stars above shone as brightly as they

    could. The breadknife was the eroded remains of a volcanic

    dyke. Lava forced through a weak point in the sedimentary

    rock long since weathered away. Now only a jagged bony

    blade.

    Charlie located the meeting stone and sat down on it. From his

    small pack he pulled out a number of 35mm film canisters. He

    then removed his clothes. His fingers felt the rock in the

    darkness, walking across its surface like his ancestors had for

    the last forty thousand years. They brushed across the

    smoothened surface until he found four shallow wells in the

    rock. He opened a couple of canisters and poured out the

    powdery ochre paint base into one of the depressions. He then

    patiently mixed his powders with water, one the brilliant ivory

    white of crushed pyrite.He looked up fixing his gaze skyward, and began to apply the

    paint to his torso and face just like the last time he had done

    this, 30 years ago.

    The last time, at his ailing fathers urging, he had sought council

    with his homeland, a confused young man. On that occasion he

    was led out of the wilderness with a plan to rescue his life from

    the cycle of alcohol and petty crime his childhood friends were

    caught up in.He put the last of the ochre mix onto his forehead and fixed his

    gaze on the Pleiads; the seven sisters, a cluster of stars, nothing

    more than a faint smudge in the city, but here a brilliant clutch

    of pearls.

    The brightest star Alcone, aligned perfectly with the top of the

    spire towering in front of him.

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    With purpose and reverence he rose to his feet and began to

    climb the breadknife, his fingers and toes searching and finding

    the cracks in the granite face. His aging body now seemingly

    fit and pliable, he reached the top and surveyed the viewaround him. Total darkness except for the dazzling ferment

    above.

    It was too dark to see the land and horizon and it gave him the

    feeling of being elevated above the Earth, just that little bit

    closer to the stars above.

    The actual summit of the bread knife is of a flat topped wedge

    of granite about one by three metres at the top and forming the

    start of series of other jagged fingers of granite each lower than

    the last. It certainly doesn't look like a breadknife when you are

    close to it. More like a cathedral.

    Charlie sat down, his legs crossed and limp, in the way his

    people had before him. He slowed his breathing, and

    descended into a deep sleep.

    END CHAPTER 3

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    Chapter 4

    Deja vu

    Corey sat in front of his computer. It dawned on him that he

    could possibly retrieve the lost data he had sent to Charlie from

    his email server.

    He put the kettle on while he waited for the data to download

    back onto his machine.

    Tap Tap Tap.

    Corey stood up and reached to draw open the curtains over thewindow. He cupped his hands and peered out into the garden, it

    was difficult to see in the darkness with the bright glare inside

    his room. It was Lisa.

    "Corey I think you better come down to the Stag right away."

    she whispered at the top of her voice.

    "Your girlfriend is making quite a scene down there".

    Corey grabbed his coat and bolted down the stairs,

    meeting Lisa on the path behind the building.

    She reached for his hand and ran him down the path.

    "I've got to get back to work, but I thought you'd like to check

    this out." she puffed, clearly out of breath.

    After a quick run back to the Stag they entered through the

    kitchen and walked up the narrow corridor leading to the bar.

    Corey could hear a chorus of wolf whistles and jeers as they

    both stopped at the doorway to greet the scene before them.

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    It was Miranda, alright.

    Dancing on a table, breasts out, and gyrating her hips to the

    beat of an old 70's number blaring from the jukebox.

    Corey had forgotten how striking she was. Even though therewas twenty or so patrons gathered around, beers in hand and

    tongues on floor, she kept her gaze unfixed, concentrating on

    the rhythm, her legs impossibly long, her heels sliding over a

    table top of spilt drinks.

    He felt Lisa's nails bite into his arm through his coat, suddenly

    bringing him back to reality.

    "Well are you going to join in stud?" she asked, those eyelids

    batting, planting her hand on her hip.

    Before Corey could reply the music stopped abruptly. The

    entire crowd turned around in the direction of the jukebox.

    Standing to its right was a police officer with the power chord

    in one hand and the other pointing to a now motionless

    Miranda. The bar had never been so quiet.

    Slowly, the crowd began to boo until the cop stepped forward,pulled out his revolver and shot a hole in the ceiling right

    above Miranda.

    "Break it up. Move along people. There's nothing to see here."

    he announced as he reached for Miranda's waist, lifting her off

    the table.

    He promptly produced a coat, covered her up and began to

    march her out of the bar towards the entry that was to Corey

    and Lisa's right. It didn't seem the usual method ofapprehending an offender, it was much too familiar, Corey

    thought to himself. The body language was wrong.

    What happened next was astonishing. Turning the corner

    towards the front doors, the pair simply vanished, right before

    Corey and Lisa's eyes. The automatic doors didn't open to

    allow anybody out.

    "Am I seeing things Corey?" Lisa asked, her jaw slack, in

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    much the same position as Corey's. Corey turned to the pool

    room and spotted the security camera perched at the end of the

    entry.

    "Are those things working?" he asked Lisa, who was headingfor the doors for a quick look outside. He followed her out. No

    sign of them.

    "Yeah the boss tapes everything after that robbery last year.

    Four cameras;

    one in the pool room, one in the lounge, one in the entrance

    and the other behind me at the bar . It makes sure I don't give

    away free drinks.. I finish in 40 minutes, would you like me to

    grab the tape and come back to your place?

    "You bet ya," Corey responded patting Lisa on the bottom,

    flirting a bit.

    "But could you also see if you can find Thursday nights' tape.

    This Miranda chick is really beginning to freak me out."

    "I'll see you at 10." Lisa replied as she walked back into the bar

    shaking her head and trying to figure out what had just

    happened.

    Corey really hustled back to his room. It had occurred to him

    that if Miranda was in town, maybe she might be grabbing his

    computer while he was talking to Lisa.

    He was relieved to see everything in its place as he entered his

    room.

    He sat down on the lounge and reached forward for the pen

    resting on a notepad on the coffee table.He began to jot down a few thoughts, trying to make sense of

    the events unfolding.

    Mars. Manhattan. Mirror. Magnetosphere. Miranda.

    Well that's the M's taken care of.

    He then drew points beneath each word.

    Mars; fourth rock from the sun. Frozen out, dusty, the god of

    war. It's blood red specter foretelling impending doom and

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    bloodshed.

    Manhattan; New York. 9-11

    Magnetosphere; from what Corey knew, Mars didn't really

    have one, well not like Earth's anyway. There seemed to bepatches of magnetic fields above parts of the planet but the

    molten iron dynamo inside had apparently stopped two billion

    years ago and with it, any real atmosphere had been stripped

    away by solar radiation.

    But it seemed to have one now. An invisible magnet hiding

    behind our nearest neighbour.

    Miranda; the slippery nipple. Who? What? From Where?

    Where next?

    He had to speak to Charlie. He looked at his watch. Hopefully

    Ray should be getting a good look at Mars about now.

    A tap on the window.

    "Jeez, doesn't she ever come to the door?" he asked himself as

    he headed towards the entry.

    Corey met Lisa at the stairs carrying a couple of video tapes."Come inside Leis, and lets whack those tapes into the VCR.

    And by the way I live at number 4".

    He pointed at the number at the intercom.

    There's even a buzzer".

    He sat her down on the lounge, grabbed the shopping bag with

    the tapes

    and headed over to the kitchen to pour them both a stiff

    whiskey.Lisa looked towards Corey. "That wouldn't be a slippery nipple

    would it?

    "No just a bit of lubricant. Corey responded pointing to the TV.

    He put the drinks down and inserted the first tape.

    "Slow down big boy, this is Thursday night's tape when she

    was only throwing out the burley...

    You know we're very lucky to have these tapes you know".

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    Lisa quipped.

    "If I hadn't changed the tape straight after you left and grabbed

    Thursday nights tape they would have been gone."

    Corey looked surprised."What do you mean gone."

    "That's just it." she said. "As I left I had the feeling that I had

    turned off the security VCR by mistake so I went to check it

    and saw that the entire cupboard storing hundreds of tapes

    completely empty."

    "The plug was out of the socket and there was no tape inside.

    This is serious shit you've got yourself into Corey."

    They played the first video. It was Thursday night.

    The video was time stamped and the image split in four. One of

    the entrance, one the bar, the other the lounge and the fourth,

    the pool tables.

    Corey fast forwarded until Lisa shouted;

    "There's you walking in the entrance. That was eight o'clock

    because I remember looking at the time wishing it was closing

    just before you walked in."There you are getting your drinks and sitting over at the

    booths near the pool tables."

    Corey continued to fast forward waiting for Miranda. The tape

    showed Corey sitting for a while and then getting out of the

    booth and heading to the bar again.....

    Corey hit play and slowly rewound the tape.

    "If that's me going to get the cocktail, then where the hell is

    Miranda?"He looked for the lounge shot displayed at the bottom left, and

    could see no sign of anybody sitting with him from the other

    angle.

    "Stop there". Lisa shouted. "No back just a little bit."

    "now there's you standing up and looking like your just about

    to curtsy .Then shaking hands with nobody."

    Corey instinctively pressed the pause on the remote and they

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    both looked at each other just like they had a couple of hours

    before.

    There was a blur, or maybe even a shadow, much smaller than

    the real thing.Corey massaged the slow motion button. There it was again but

    this time over Corey's head. A smoky shadow, like a giant set

    of claws seizing their prey. Corey suddenly realized that this

    was the moment he tasted the cocktail.

    He looked at Lisa.

    "She certainly spiked your drink". she mouthed, her eyes fixed

    to the image on screen.

    Corey had a large sip of his whiskey and stood up in front of

    the TV.

    The video showed him was leaving the bar, with his arm

    around something, his weight assisted by some sort of body.

    He ejected the tape and inserted the other.

    "Let's check out tonight's action".

    The tape was cued 5 minutes after Corey left which seemed

    about right.He rewound the tape. After a short while he pressed play.

    "Nothing's happening here" Corey said.

    Lisa lent forward.

    "Go forward until you see the chairs around that table fall

    over."

    She said pointing to one of the four images.

    Thats when it all started, I heard the crash from the Bar and

    saw your lady leap up onto the table and feverishly match thesong belting out of the juke box.

    "There we go. The guy's are starting to stand up around her but

    where the hell is your girlfriend Corey? This is really

    beginning to freak me out."

    "Let's just go to the end" Corey responded, fast forwarding.

    "I've got to see that cop guy."

    "That's in about 10 minutes" Lisa added.

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    The phone rings. Scares the shit out of them. Corey drops the

    remote like he's been shot in the back.

    "Stop the video!"

    He picks up the phone.It's Ray.

    "Corey, sorry if I woke you up or something, but I just had to

    tell someone. Well, Charlie's apparently back today, but the

    Mars results are not exactly what I expected. There's seems to

    be an object 20km long by 12km wide on the far side of Mars.

    Cycling every 3.14 seconds; the mass of the object increases

    from the weight of a pea to the weight of the Moon 19 times a

    minute. But the spacial readings indicate it remains a constant

    20 by 12km.

    I reckon that it even seems to be hiding behind Mars.

    Hiding from who? Corey asked.

    Ray's tone changed.

    Us mate.Corey, we're keeping this one pretty close to our

    chest down here and wouldn't like you blabbing about this over

    there just yet.In six hours we collected enough data for years of analysis.

    But you know what the funny thing was, all three radio

    telescopes in the array; us, Parkes, and Stromlo crashed with a

    blown fuse simultaneously. It cut our viewing by 15 minutes.

    Pat over at Parkes has never seen anything like it in his life.

    These fuses are generally redundant and are really only meant

    to protect the instruments in case of a lightning strike.

    Anyway Corey, I'm sure that Charlie will want to reach youlater on. Do you have a mobile phone?

    Corey said yes and gave him the number.

    Corey's head was spinning again.

    "It's been developing for the last three years since the Mars

    probes went missing. Is it getting any stronger?" he asked.

    "Sorry Corey, we've only had the data four hours we just can't

    tell yet."

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    Ray wound up the conversation.

    "And please, not a word to anyone until you read it in the

    papers."

    Lisa had helped herself to a drink while Corey was on the

    phone but had resisted looking for the cop who ended the

    show.

    Corey poured the last drops of the bottle and played the tape.

    They watched as the crowd of onlookers stopped and turned

    around in the direction of the camera as the music stopped.

    "Isnt there a better angle where you can see the duke box?

    Corey asked.

    They both realized that with the camera high above the duke

    box and the other over the pool tables there was little chance of

    seeing the jukebox.

    "Slow it down now" urged Lisa.

    The table was shaking to a beat, with an invisible person

    dancing wildly.

    "Slower, slower" she said.She stopped dancing. Then once again there was a shadow of

    sorts. But this time two figures. One, possibly Miranda high

    above the table, the other, the cop, menacing and then lunging

    over the top like they had seen in the first video.

    "Nothing more on the tape. Just a couple of ghosts that don't

    really show up on video walking out of a bar. Lets look at the

    doors." Corey said.They both inched closer to the television looking at the image

    of the front doors opening and then closing.

    "Hang on a second." Corey paused.

    "The doors didn't open when we saw it live tonight. They

    disappeared before they reached them.

    "It could have been the wind you know" Lisa said joking.

    Corey looked up with his lip down and his eyes wide.

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    "Pour me another drink Corey. I don't have to work tomorrow."

    He ejected the tape and got up to make Lisa a drink.

    "How does Bacardi and dry sound? He reached for the dusty

    bottle of rum on top of the kitchen cupboard."We should take the tapes down to the media lab tomorrow for

    a better look. I got Jeff a shag last year; he owes me.

    You can crash on the sofa if you like Leis.

    He looked around feeling slightly uncomfortable.

    "What? You're not going to have your way with me like

    Miranda."

    She purred, lying back on the sofa pushing her cleavage

    together.

    "Come on Lisa. I told you I honestly can't remember a thing."

    "Sure you can. I know back at home when I used to sneak out

    and meet Jimmie and well I guess, do it...well you know... I

    could tell when the equipment has had some use."

    "I'll be straight with you Lisa. It really shits me that I can't

    remember fucking the most beautiful woman I have ever seen.

    You see, it's just a blur. I woke up in nothing but my socks anda sore head.

    Lisa reached forward to console him.

    "We'll if its any consolation I got pretty hot on what I saw

    earlier tonight.

    But I can't compete at that level."

    Corey inched towards Lisa on the sofa, realizing that she may

    have actually spilt the beans and revealed her secret fancy.

    Lisa moved forward and pointed her lips towards Corey.It was an awkward first kiss, her mouth finding part of his

    nostril, but they both got the message and eventually found the

    mark.

    "I think we should find somewhere more comfortable Mr

    Starman."

    Lisa laughed uncontrollably at first but then managed to guide

    his bottom towards the bed.

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    Her eyes like saucers, fixed upon his eyes, Lisa dispensed with

    her top and bra and stood at the foot of Corey's bed; swinging

    those hips and pointy nipples in the cold night air, doing that

    Miranda thing.A brief feeling of apprehension passed through his body.

    I wonder if this means we'll be going out together? he asked

    himself.

    His hesitation was short lived when he realised he was about to

    bed the hottest girl on campus.

    End of chapter 4