A blaring alarm woke me the following day. It took me a moment to settle and realise that it was the one I set. My disturbing dreams and restless sleep made it difficult for me to get going. I felt sluggish and slightly adrift. I must have fallen asleep at some stage after midnight, as I remember watching the video. More than once. I had no messages or anything from Amy, and as much as I did not like ringing people and knowing that it could put her at risk, I dialled her number. It went straight to voice mail. I didn’t leave a message. There was nothing on Wire. The nature of the app meant that the accounts could not be traced or even seen if they were active.

Shit. Did I just put a target on her back? On mine? What was I getting into?

I was alone with a case of allegedly alien super drugs. I snorted, thinking that Lawrence would not be happy. It was for drugs, after all. If I told him, he would roll his eyes, laugh and jiggle and tell me to make sure the girls were worth it. He was annoying.

Luckily Mike was on time, which for him was ten minutes early, as usual, and he gave me shit for running late. He had been my buddy throughout high school and our first year of uni. Mike had gone on to do a Business degree while I was doing a science engineering double degree. He was very organised and liked to plan everything, almost opposite to how Sarah and I operated. I didn’t have a long-term plan; I just wanted to learn about cool stuff. I did have some vague plans, but they were after I hit 21. Sarah was organised and could plan, but only for a party, dance competition, or fashion show.

I had the pelican case and an overnight bag to take. Once we were in the car, it took less than 10 minutes from my apartment to pick Sarah up. Cairns is very easy to get around in a car. Even with the peak hour traffic, we were on time. Peak hour in Cairns is a joke compared to Sydney or Melbourne. I'd hate to drive in London or New York.

We were heading against the flow to meet her. While Mike was always on time, Sarah was a different story. She was usually ready but always had a last-minute drama. I loved them, but they drove Miup the walluts.

"Hey guys, I’m running a few minutes late. I need to find my swimmers", she called from her doorway after we pulled up as she threw a bag at me to put in the car.

I looked at Mike, "Did we say we were going swimming? I just said road trip."

He smiled, "Dumbass, of course we are, either at the beach or up at Mossman Gorge. If Sarah could work it out, and you couldn't, then you are dumb."

We waited in the car. Mike smiled again, "I hope she wears the red bikini again. I bet you $100 that she does."

I smiled, too, "You are a pig, but you're on," I said, hoping I'd lose the bet.

Sarah was complicated.

Sarah and I had been friends for a long time. She was intelligent, funny, so beautiful, and so popular. Why she hung out with us was a mystery. Mike and I had suffered at the hands of some bullies at school, Chris Gordon, Kevin Hansen and Sean Watts. For people I hated, I sure spent a lot of mental energy on them. It bugged me. Most of the bullying was due to the publicity I got from my Dad doing time. Mike and I avoided most other people, trying not to drag them into our drama. Mike's issues were because he was just nerdy, not super bright, nerdy, just a business geek. Somewhere on the spectrum, he always said. Sarah had reached out and mothered us with her enthusiasm and good nature. It was weird. Maybe because we didn’t judge her and were too scared to try to hit on her, she got sick of guys who did that quickly and appreciated our puppy dog adoration for her. Mike and I were not that complicated.

When she didn’t head south to Brisbane for uni like most of our graduating class, we had become closer, hanging out, going to Fitzroy Island, and swimming at waterfalls near Crystal Cascades on the weekends. She would go out and party. We would not. She would sometimes call Mike, and we would pick her up to give her a lift home. It was a weird but nice relationship.

We all went to James Cook University, which helped. Sarah was doing a Bachelor of Design in Fashion and Merchandising. We all agreed it suited her to a T.

Being honest with myself was not one of my strong suits, but I had a severe crush on her and probably had one since we first met. I am sure she knew it, and I knew Mike knew it, yet it was one of those weird unspoken men things you didn’t talk about, denied it, and maybe even had a punch-up over it. We would work it out one day.

Sarah came out fashionably late and fashionably dressed. I loved her beach look, short denim shorts, a short t-shirt and a wide-brimmed hat. Dark blue glasses that matched her shoes. She looked stunning. She threw another small backpack in the back and hopped in.

"Morning, boys. Why the road trip, Luke? Not that I am complaining. Would be nice to go for a few days, but I have work tomorrow."

"Just doing a favour for Amy, dropping a package up there for some friends, and I might stay a few days if you guys are happy driving back without me."

It was sad that Sarah couldn’t stay.

"Well, I have to work, you know, not all of us are …" She rubbed her fingers together and smiled, "How is Amy anyway? I haven’t seen her in ages. Is she still super successful? Part of me wants to be like her, but I don’t know if I could put up with all the macho BS she complains about."

Mike cut her off with some music. Mike loved his older tunes and tended to the more popular ones that everyone knew, his taste in music as straightforward and organised as he was. I am sure his playlist was arranged alphabetically, then by song length. Today, we started with A. AB. ABBA.

Luckily, we all liked them and could sing along. Sometimes he had utter crap, but road trip etiquette said since he was the driver, he got to choose the music.

The road from Cairns to Port Douglas was always spectacular in the early autumn, with clear skies and calm oceans. Traffic was never an issue; despite the road being quite curvy, it was easy, and the views over the water were always relaxing. Ocean on one side and rainforest mountains on the other. It was even better when you were a passenger and had good friends to keep you company. It took about an hour, and Mike drove like Ms. Daisy. I never watched the film, but I knew that if you drove like her, you were slow.

I had been coming to Port Douglas since I was much younger and loved returning there. Cairns was a large-small town, and Port was a tiny town with just under 4000 people. Dad always wanted to own a property on The Esplanade or Sand St in Port, but he never invested, claiming the time needed to improve. Maybe soon I’d change that. I loved both locations, looking out over Four Mile Beach.

Today, we were heading to the Courthouse Hotel, one of my favourite pubs in Port. It was funny when Port Douglas was at its height in its heyday, it had 27 hotels and pubs and a population of 12000 people. It still had close to that many pubs, but mainly for tourists. The Courthouse was a large white wooden building, a two-story Queenslander, with balconies on the 2nd floor overlooking Wharf St and the inlet. The view was always great. It didn’t have beach views, but the ocean view backed onto the mountains. It was on the opposite side of the knob that made up most of Port Douglas from Four Mile Beach.

Finding a park at 10:30 was easy even though Port was busy with tourists. Most people were on the main street and just getting going. Here, we had ample parking. Before heading in, I ensured the case was secure in the car’s boot.

The pub was open, with a couple of locals already sitting on stools on the bar. The large open-plan room would be busy with 100 people packed in here. It was cool and shaded on this fine autumn day.

I noticed Jean and Dallas as soon as we walked in. It was not hard to spot them. Dallas was tall and athletic and had the gingeriest ginger hair of anyone I had ever seen. He was a walking redhead matchstick. Not that you would ever call him that to his face. Most of the time, he was easygoing and fun. Jean was shorter, 5’10, slim and graceful. She had a dancer or gymnast build but carried herself with the air of someone who would break you if she didn’t like you. Luckily, she was easy to get on with. Of all my sister’s friends, these two were my favourite, not only because they were loyal and looked after her, but because they were totally badass.

Amy had said that they were in the army but not to ask. I waved to Jed, sorry, Dallas. For safety, I’d keep calling him Dallas, as he hated the name Jed with passion. He claimed that it was the reason he learned to fight.

Dallas nodded back, and both of them moved to a table. A waitress came over, and we ordered a round of drinks. Mike said he could have a couple and be okay with driving later in the afternoon. I had not seen these guys since my dad’s funeral, and they had not changed one bit. They had done the right thing by Amy, so they were solid in my eyes.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I nodded to them, "Any idea what’s going on?"

Dallas looked at Mike and Sarah, "Operational Security, do they need to know?"

Wow, he was taking this seriously. I guess I should be, too. "Um, they are cool. I trust them." I remember them being fun most of the time, but now, it was like they were on the clock.

Jean said, "You may have to. Would you trust them with your life?"

Mike and Sarah looked a little uncomfortable.

I smiled, "Of course." It was not a lie. Sarah defiantly, but Mike, well, sure, but not for real, we had done lots of dumb shit together, but my life, life. I quickly realised that Mike felt like family to me, so I trusted him with my life.

"Look, sorry, but Amy gave us one of her bug-out codes. She is in fear of life, and we have not heard from her since to confirm she is alright, so we are operating according to our playbook."

I nodded. Mike and Sarah looked worried.

"What’s going on?" Sarah asked, "Is Amy OK?"

"Not sure, but we need to act normal. Once we work out who is in, then we can sort it."

We small-talked for a bit and had another round of drinks. It was a little stilted, but we were slowly relaxing and getting to know each other. I had no idea what they had planned, so I started to move the conversation towards that.

Dallas started, "We have a room upstairs. Let's look at the present and then make some decisions."

Sarah looked confused. "What decisions?"

I sighed, "Let's go upstairs. I’ll show you."

I appreciated the concern from Dallas, but there was no way I was doing this without Mike and Sarah.

After I got the pelican case from the car, we went upstairs. Not suspicious at all. Lawrance would be having a field day.

A few minutes later, five of us were in a small two-bedroom suite above the bar at the Courthouse. I had the Pelican case on the table in the small lounge room.

"How much do you know, guys?" I asked Dallas and Jean.

"Amy asked us to come here and said she would fill us in. We are on leave for a little bit, so we are glad for a paid holiday."

I groaned but nodded. I was picking up that bill. Not that I minded, but it was not like Amy to keep dropping these surprises on me. I got a feeling she was in trouble.

I forced a smile, "Nothing else?"

"Nope."

Shit. That was not like her. I got a sinking feeling she was in deep shit.

"Before I open the case, watch this." I cast the video from my phone to the hotel room TV.

I played it again.

No one said anything as I opened the case.

It had been several minutes since anyone had spoken.

"What …" Mike and Dallas started.

Jean, who seemed more focused than Dallas, cut them off, "We need to move this somewhere more private. We have an Airbnb booking. We may need to extend that from the looks of things. Ten doses, she said, there are only nine here."

I just shrugged, “That’s what I got.”

She looked around. "Let’s sort the digs first, then plan. Sarah, Mike, you cannot tell anyone. I am not threatening you, but if you put Amy in danger…" she left it hanging. It sure sounded like a threat.

Mike looked at me with worry, swallowed, and they both nodded.

We spent the next ten minutes sorting out our accommodation. We extended the place Jean had organised for us for eight weeks. I maxed out my credit card in less than a day. The accommodation was just over 14k for nearly three months, which sounded like a lot, but that was just over $250 a night, all for eight bedrooms, a pool, a gym, and beach access. Once the deposit cleared, we were ready to move. I quickly rang Lawrence to clear out the credit card balance.

Damn Amy for making me use the phone so much – I could blame Amy. Luckily, I had to leave a message; how could I face his humour now?

"Hey, Mr. Elcock, I maxed out the credit card, paying for some stuff for Amy. She is in a bit of bother. It's not too serious. It needs to be sorted. I need the balance paid today and another bit tomorrow. I am in Port Douglas for a couple of days. I’ll come to talk to you when I am back in Cairns. Oh, if you get a request for property here, I am doing it because Dad never did. I think he would like that. Thanks. Oh, it isn’t drugs, so don’t worry."

I laughed at him, then hung up. I felt he deserved it, then kicked myself, realising that I was perpetuating the cycle of drug jokes.

On our way to the house, I got a message from Lawrence, "OK, this time, you will need to talk to me. I really hope it is not drugs." He even used a smile emoji.

WTF was a lawyer cracking jokes and using emojis in texts? The alien invasion could not get here quickly enough.

I don’t even know why he kept on about the drugs. It was getting old. Maybe he was trying to tell me something. Dad’s autopsy was clean. Something else to investigate. I added it to my mental to-do list.

Once we got to the house, we all argued about going to the authorities, but ultimately, we declined.

We had received stolen property, but with the amount of cash Flex Tech could bring to bear, it would be the most protracted and most drawn-out court case that none of us could afford, even if it made it to court. I knew little about Amy’s boss, yet I suspected he would take care of it more directly. She had already painted him as a psycho before we even saw the video, and now there were three alleged or implied murders.

Crap and shit.

Sarah was more pragmatic; she didn’t want to be part of this if it all turned out to be a hoax, and if we went to the police, army or whoever, it wouldn’t be long before the media got involved. None of us wanted that. It was going to be a circus enough without the media and others laughing at us for believing an alien invasion conspiracy. Our word versus Flex Tech, money wins.

We relaxed once we decided to investigate and see where it all went.

The Airbnb house was fantastic. I loved Port Douglas and this house was one of the reasons, it had beach access and comfort. It had everything we needed and enough land to be entirely private.

Sarah pulled me aside, "What the fuck Luke? You could have given me a heads-up. Now I have to cancel my work shift, and I only have one change of clothes."

"What?" I was confused. She hated her work and would ditch it at the drop of a hat, so something was going on.

She looked pissed at me. "You can’t drop a bomb like that on us and expect us to walk away. I am in this with you." she punched me in the arm, "Idiot".

"Sorry, I didn’t think that ..."

"Yeah, you didn’t think. Mike and I are in whether you like it or not."

I was a bit shocked, but I was also thankful. I stepped forward and hugged Sarah, "Thanks, it means a lot to me. I think I would be quite lost without you guys."

She smiled, and I knew that I had been played, "Good. Since you didn't warn me, you can make it up to me by getting me some nice outfits. I can’t wear the same clothes around as you and Mike do. I am not a barbarian. The pier marketplace has some amazing resort wear."

I mock sighed at her, then grinned. It was not the first time, and it would not be the last time she had played me, and despite hating shopping, boy, did I love shopping with her. It was a whole new level of seriousness. I just smiled. “Sure. Sounds good.” I needed to ask her out.

"Hey, Sarah?" I started.

She looked at me weirdly, "Yeah?"

I couldn't do it. "Thanks for sticking around." Damn, I was a coward.

She nodded at me. Did she look disappointed? It was good that Mike and Sarah were here with us. Mike because he was super organised and great at getting things done, and Sarah because she was just Sarah. That was enough for me.

Lawrence texted, saying the card was cleared. He would keep texting since he knew I hated talking on the phone. When I finished thanking him, I found the others doing some tedious planning.

Mike, Dallas and Jean sat around the large dinner table with a bunch of pens and paper we had found in the house, organising and making lists. I paid attention for ten minutes before excusing myself and decided to use the pool.

I found Sarah out by the pool, lying in the sun. Lucky for me, she was in her red bikini. It was hard not to stare, even though she made it difficult with how she posed and stretched and pretended not to notice me. She could be such a tease, and she would pretend offended if you mentioned it or if she caught your perving or even ignored her. Shit she was complicated, or maybe it was all women. I’d have to ask Mike. He was cool around women and knew what was happening with them.

Sarah knew the effect she had on me, but it was something I would put up with any day. I took my shirt off and sat beside the pool with my legs in the water.

She whistled, "You need to work on your tan. But first, we need to hit the shops. Never really been shopping here, it’s a resort town, so they should have some decent stores. We are getting you some new outfits, too. I couldn’t be seen with my new clothes and some of the stuff you think is suitable. We’ll grab food as well. I am sure there will be a list of stuff to get."

Mike let us take the car, and Sarah and I hit the shops. Sarah drove and didn't drive at all like Ms. Daisy. In the end, there was a list of groceries from Mike, who could put a list together for this sort of thing in his head. Jean gave me a list of hardware, and Dallas gave me a list of healthy foods. Shopping was not my thing, especially for clothes, but clothes shopping with Amy was up there as something I would do any day of the week.

Fashion and clothes brought out her super focused and confident side. Boy, did she take fashion seriously. She even had me buy some stuff: boots, work clothes, socks and jocks—all good brands, not that I knew. I could tell you a couple of decent shoe and hoodie brands, but the rest were just meh to me. She bought quite a bit. I enjoyed seeing most of it; it was mostly sensible, but some were more elegant. She sent me off to get boots and shoes while she tried on some underwear. That was a little disappointing, and she knew it. I sighed. It was something we had been tiptoeing around for quite some time.

She confused me, I knew I liked her, and I possibly wanted something a bit more from her, but she gave such mixed messages, sometimes she acted like she wanted something as well, and knew I did, and other times I was friendzoned. I sighed. Mike would definitely understand how to work this out. Even though Mike and I were best friends, this fell into the category of don’t talk about – feelings and all that. Maybe I could speak to Jed. Fuck. No, if I called him Jed, there was no way I would need relationship advice. I’d be dead.

By the time Sarah and I were finished, the groceries had taken up most of the car’s boot and a bit more, and I also stopped at the bottle shop and stocked up on beer, some wine and a bunch of spirits, nearly enough to see us through an alien invasion. The hardware and health stuff would be delivered since we didn’t have a Ute, and the health stuff was easier to order online.

When we returned, Mike helped us unload, "They got a message from Amy. They won’t tell me what it is until we are all here, so hurry up."

When we finished, Dallas said, "Amy is in trouble; she could not tell us much, and we can’t help her yet, but the timer is now at 504 hours. 21 Days as of this morning."