Max Arena (26 page)

Max looked deep into his wife’s eyes and
found yet again, the love, the joy and the inspiration she
constantly gave him and now that he knew his mother was in fact
still alive, Elsa was right. He did feel stronger and not just a
little bit, but mountains full.

4pm, 29
^th
July (later that afternoon).
Rules of Engagement

Max, Elsa and Kris sat around the large
oak desk in the
estate’s
main study, their attention focused on the telephone sitting in the
middle, it’s receiver on the hook, but Abdullah’s voice emanating
from the hands free speaker. In the far corner stood Peter, not
appearing to listen.

‘
So, it is one on one
combat
?’ Abdullah asked.
‘You will face only one opponent in each of the duels?’

‘
That’s right,’ Max replied. ‘Just me and
whatever one
thing
Macktidas
wants to put up against me.’

‘
And guns of any sort are prohibited?’
Abdullah added.

‘
That’s right,’ Max replied. ‘I can only
use basic weapons like swords, knives and spears, which I can throw
if I want to, but no guns are allowed.’

‘
And the types of basic weapons can be any
variation on a theme?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Swords with extendable blades or blades that
can be fired as projectiles?’ Abdullah asked.

‘
He didn’t say,’ Max answered. ‘Macktidas
just said no guns or the likes. The bouts are basically hand to
hand combat. Not gun fights.’

‘What about armour?’ Kris asked. ‘Is that
allowed?’

‘
No,’ Max replied simply. ‘Not even a
little bit. I can wear whatever clothes I want, but no armour or
exoskeleton as he
described it.’

Kris nodded. Joe’s voice came on the line
next.

‘And how should the weapons be dispensed
during the bouts?’ he asked.

‘
He didn’t say
anything about that,’ Max said, ‘but I figure we
don’t want to just leave them lying around the place in case I trip
over them or one of the bad guys picks something up to use against
me.’

‘
True,’ Joe said. ‘We need to consider some
form of provision system where we can feed weapons on
request
safely to you
and not inadvertently to your opponents.’

The line went quiet.

‘
Max,’ Kris
said, ‘have you ever used a sword?’

‘No,’ he answered, looking at her. ‘Never
needed to.’

‘
Maybe it’s time we had some real weapons
made and tied them into your training?’

‘
No,’ Max replied directly and without
hesitation.

‘
Why not, Max?’ Joe asked over the
line.

Max held a pause as he looked down at his
hands.

‘Max?’ Joe pushed.

‘
Not yet,’ Max finally said, his head
jerking up to look at the phone. ‘Just not yet.’

A slight pause followed and then Joe replied.
‘Very well. That decision is your’s.’

Another pause occurred as Kris and Elsa
looked at each other and Max looked away. Abdullah filled the
silence.

‘
It seems we have the information we need
to more fully prepare for the arena,’ he said. ‘There is little
more we can discuss at this moment and with some selfishness, for
Joe and I here in New York, it is the middle of the night and we
need some rest before convening with our colleagues at the United
Nations in the morning, where we will outline our PR plan for
bringing Team Max to the world. I will not go into detail, but
suffice to say, Macktidas’ appearance yesterday has fuelled the
already rampant fear and uncertainty of our fellow leaders and I do
believe we literally stand on the brink of chaos. Our plan for Team
Max is very much developing as our last chance at bringing the
world back from that brink, so if you will excuse us, Joe and I
must retire. We will call you tomorrow with whatever information we
can pass on from our discussions.
Ma as Salama.
’

The line
clicked dead and the room fell silent. From his corner across the
room, Peter cast an eye towards Max and noted his pensive face.
Elsa and Kris both rose and walked out together, discussing Joe and
Abdullah’s United Nations mission, while Max remained seated,
leaning forwards in his seat, elbows resting on his thighs and his
gaze directed at the floor between his feet.

Instead of
speaking or leaving, Peter simply held his silence and his
vigil.

10pm, 29
^th
July (later that night).
Trouble on the Fenceline

‘Max!’ came the
call from down the corridor.

Max held his
hand on the door knob leading to his and Elsa’s guest wing and
turned to find Peter walking briskly down the hall towards him.

‘What’s up,
mate?’ Max asked.

‘I know it’s
crash time, but can I nab you for fifteen minutes to show you
something?’

Max studied his
personal bodyguard’s features for a moment and came to a quick
conclusion. ‘It’s important isn’t it?’ he asked.

‘Yeah. You
need
to see this.’

Max hesitated
again.

‘Don’t worry,’
Peter added. ‘Elsa and the kids will be fine while we go for a
walk. My guys are all over this place.’

‘It’s not
that,’ Max replied, shaking his head and looking down. ‘I trust
your guys, no problem. I just had a bad feeling about something
when you said I
need
to see this.’

‘Hair on the
back of your neck type of feeling again? Like when you got spooked
at Kris’ brother’s place and put six blokes in hospital?’

Max nodded, his
eyes glimmering out from beneath his brow like black diamonds.
‘Like I said, that’s how it happens. The feeling comes out of
nowhere and it’s always on the money.’

‘Okay,’ Peter
said, ‘now
I’ve
got the jitters and I
definitely
think you need to come and see this.’

Without another
word, the two men filed back down the corridor, their stride and
pace firm.

A minute later,
Peter led Max out the front door of the mansion and through the
night along the road back towards the main gate into the estate.
The star strewn night glittered overhead, the stars more radiant
than usual for the new moon. Max’s night vision quickly adjusted,
allowing him to make out the dirt road winding away ahead of them
into the pitch of the night. Either side of the road, the shadows
pressed in hard from all directions.

Still the bad
feeling lingered in Max’s mind. Peter’s urgency had triggered his
senses like an omen foretelling doom. There was something not right
in the night surrounding them, almost as though they were not
alone.

Peter stopped
and turned to whisper. ‘The main gate’s about fifty metres in front
of us. From here it’s whispers only. There’s a platoon spread out
around the gate in full camouflage, so you won’t see many of them,
but rest assured they’re there and armed to the teeth. They have
night vision goggles on too, so they will be able to identify us
just fine and know not to shoot us.’

‘Hopefully
they’re aiming through the fence to the other side, mate?’ Max
replied, whispering. ‘There’s only good guys on this side.’

‘Never trust a
fence, Max. Trust only the men around you and your own ears and
eyes. Yes, there’s a fence, but that’s no guarantee some bad guy
hasn’t breached it further down the line and is coming in from
behind to shoot you in the back.’

Max nodded.
‘Fair enough. Now, why are we here?’

Peter unslung a
small container from over his shoulder and pulled out two pieces of
kit.

‘Night vision
goggles for you,’ he said, handing one of the items to Max, ‘and
some for me. You’ll need these to see what I have to show you. Just
slip the strap over your head and face. The on switch is on the
side there. It’ll take you a few seconds to adjust to the green
colour and the different contrasts and depths, so don’t move until
you’ve got a grip on it, just to be safe. We don’t want you
stumbling around like a drunk with all these guns around.’

‘Thanks,’ Max
said as he pulled the goggles over his head. ‘By the way, that bad
feeling, it’s getting worse.’

‘You and me
both,’ Peter replied as he also strapped on his goggles. A few
seconds later he asked, ‘You good to go?’

Max rotated his
head a couple of times to get his bearings and then replied, ‘Yep.
I’m good.’

‘Okay. We’re
going to walk slowly along the road some more with me in front and
you right behind until we get to the gate.’

‘Then
what?’

‘You’ll
see.’

Then Peter
turned and started walking. Max followed as instructed and
suddenly, his senses piqued. Something was absolutely not right. As
he walked along in the green imbued world of the night vision
goggles, he could more clearly see the surroundings and make out
the bordering bushland on either side of the road. The impenetrable
shadow walls seemed to press in on them like a giant vice,
constricting the air around them. Max realised his entire body had
tensed, his nerves jingling.

Up ahead, the
front gate of the estate emerged out of the gloom. Peter pulled up
and Max stopped behind him, glancing over his bodyguard’s right
shoulder. Two soldiers materialised off the ground, their
camouflage in the dark rendering them essentially invisible until
they stood up. A series of hand and arm gestures between Peter and
one of the soldiers led Peter to move to the grass on the left side
of the road and crouch down on his haunches with both of the
soldiers. Max moved across and followed suit. Then Peter and the
soldiers lay down on their fronts and began crawling towards the
gate. Again Max followed their lead. A few moments later all four
men had reached the fence line, Peter waving Max into the middle
next to him and both soldiers flanking them, their rifles aiming
out through the fence and into the dark bushland beyond.

Peter leaned
across and whispered in Max’s ear. ‘Focus on the bush. Give it a
minute and you’ll see them.’

Max held his
obvious question to himself and did as he was asked. Looking
through the fence, all he could see was a mottled blackness as the
starlight reflected off the complex pattern of leaves, branches and
bark. Nothing stirred. Not a breath of wind shifted the night.
Silence roared and then a twig snapped. Not loudly, but in the
absence of any other sound it was like a gunshot. Then he saw them.
Eyes.

They were
unmistakable. Two bright, blinking pinpoints appeared in the mass
of dark foliage. Then they moved and another set appeared a little
further to the right. Then two more near the first set and then Max
heard the whispering. Spoken words, in English. They weren’t
animals. They were people and then Max grasped the cause of his
unease. These eyes belonged to hostile people seeking a way into
the estate. They were all under threat.

As the minutes
passed, more and more sets of eyes appeared and every now and again
Max made out the shape and movement of human forms amongst the
trees. He could not be sure, but he estimated upwards of fifteen or
so individuals. That probably meant there were more that he could
not see. Max also got the feeling that these people were not just
moving randomly around, but were in fact scouting the fence line,
looking for security and ways to circumvent it. Unconsciously, Max
clenched his fists and started to consider various combat scenarios
if the need arose.

A tap on his
shoulder made Max look to his left. Peter was waving him back away
from the fence. Leaving the two soldiers on guard on the ground,
Max and Peter crawled back over the grass until they were about
twenty metres clear of the perimeter. They both then stood up and
Peter indicated for Max to remove his goggles. A few seconds later
with their natural night vision restored, the two men stepped back
onto the road and started walking back to the house.

Max started.
‘They’re trying to find a way in aren’t they?’ he asked. ‘They know
the place is heavily guarded, but they’re still keen?’

‘Yes,’ Peter
replied.

‘Which means
they’re desperate?’

‘Yes.’

‘Which is why
you’re worried and why my intuition went nuts?’

‘Yes.’

The two men
walked in silence for a few moments.

‘How long till
they run the gauntlet?’ Max finally asked.

‘Two days.
Maybe three at the most. I figure as soon as whatever food they
have runs low enough, that’s it. They’re coming over the
fence.’

‘You think
these are people from some town nearby, forced to scavenge for
food?’

‘You’ve heard
the same security reports I have,’ Peter replied. ‘We all know
there’s a growing migration of people from the regional centres
towards the capital cities due to food shortages. My guess is these
people are on their way to Brisbane and this is a convenient
opportunity along the way for some pillaging, but who cares where
they’re from. Like you say, they’re desperate. Anarchy is only
three square meals away and by the looks of this lot, they’ve
already missed at least one if not two meals.’ Then Peter stopped
and turned to face Max who stopped right next to him, the two men
squaring off on the road in the night. Peter continued. ‘I had to
show you this, Max so you knew the truth in advance of any
potential trouble. The outside world is just on the other side of
that fence, keen to come in and cause chaos. If these guys
do
breach the fence, don’t worry. We’ve got an evacuation
plan ready to go, which we’ll discuss in the morning, so your
family and Kris will all be safe, but what
you
need to be
ready for is what
you
might have to do to protect your
family.’