Natalie coughed loudly, causing Armand to swing on his chair. “Oh, here it is.” She said, raising the paper off the stack she had been sorting through. “An asteroid has been found, and it is significant enough to cause the kinds of effects we know about the dinosaur era.” She exclaimed, looking for Armand, but he was already approaching her to look over the article.
“They say it is going to miss us.” Armand pointed out, seeing the words only seconds after he started reading, but it seemed that his observation only ruffled her further.
“Well, of course, that is what they are going to say, Armand.” She shook her head as if he should know better. “if they announced now that there was an asteroid heading towards Earth and might kill us all we would have rioting in the streets.”
"If we have learnt anything, then immediate death starts with roits but ends in orgies." Natalie turned to look at him; one eyebrow raised. He dipped his head as a sign of an apology. Armand nodded. “Ok, so what do we do now boss?” He asked, already feeling better about her attitude. She was showing all of those old signs he had been missing. The rush she got when she discovered a new lead and the absolute determination on her face. He had seen her wearing every skin colour, and every assortment of features to create her face, but they could never hide this expression from him.
“We need to get to Parkes. They have some of the best telescopes in the southern hemisphere.” Natalie paused in her thoughts for a moment. “We will need false id badges and credentials.” Armand kissed her on the side of the head, forceful and sudden, so she was forced to move with it. She only barely kept her feet under her.
“That’s my girl.” He had complimented her before Armand moved off to do precisely as she had asked. It felt good to be busy, and Natalie was starting to get into the swing of things. While Armand goes to work on IDs and paperwork, she hit the internet and started finding the best ways to get to Parkes. Lucky for them, they were relatively close. She retrieved the credit card from her pocket and sighed. She really should have been saving more. Natalie always wished she had saved a little more before their meeting moved their goals forward.
Before waking up, Natalie had only an elementary life. Middle of the range high school grades, and no drive to be much more than what she was. She worked at Mcdonald's until she was twenty-two and then got her RSA so she could serve beer in bars. After some job hopping, Natalie had finally settled down in The Rhythm Fox. She lived in a nice apartment and spent more money than she should have on things she didn’t need. Unfortunately, she did not like the slowly accumulating debt of having a credit card. It had been a bank error that had worked in her favour and got her the credit card in the first place. Putting the numbers in now to pay for the flights, Natalie knew they needed a better plan to help save money while they were sleeping - a word they used to describe the time before they found each other.
They had tried it before, hiding cash, but people tended to find money and spend it. This was a digital age now, but death would still impact their digital savings. Natalie checked the time. They still had a couple of hours before their flight. Quickly, she focused on the computer and got into her online banking. She started a new account, depositing most of her savings into it and then looked into the policies surrounding bank accounts and what happens in the account holder's death.
“What are you doing?” Armand asked her.
“Starting a savings account. It has decent interest, and I'm figuring out how I can reclaim it when Natalie dies.” Armand nodded, but Natalie caught that mischievous glint in his eye, and she sighed. “What?”
“Oh, nothing. It's a great plan, one that I bet we'll really need someday.” Armand smiled to himself, attempting to hide it but failing. “I just think my plan is better.”
Natalie pushed away from the desk, putting her hands behind her head. “Oh, and what plan is that, Armand?”
“I’m going to come back as a rock star. Free jet and amazing cars just waiting for us to use.” He grinned, but Natalie didn't reciprocate the smile. “But now we have this as a backup, which is also a great plan.”
Natalie barely managed not to roll her eyes at him. “Well, until we get a free rock star jet, we are flying in about two hours to Parkes. It’s only an hour-long flight, so I'm sure you can handle coach, Mr. Rock Star.”
Armand leaned in, a teasing glint in his eyes. “Remember when it was so much easier to travel around?” he signed, seemingly wanting to reminisce.
“It is certainly easier now to fake the paperwork than ever before. I’m not so sure though if travel is much safer.” Once, there was a time when women were not even allowed to be seen without their husbands. Armand was tied to her for that purpose alone. Now, a single woman could fly the globe if she so chose. She knew it wasn't perfect, but as someone who witnessed the rising fight for equal rights and women's suffrage, she trusted that humanity was on the right track. She reached for Armand's hand. "I'll always need a travel partner." she promised him.
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…………
CSIRO Parkes Observatory looked exactly how Natalie had expected it to be. Clean buildings in the centre of a security fence. Tall eucalyptus trees stood at attention. Natalie had been expecting more firepower, yet the fence separating the road from the main path to the observatory was low and almost casual. A simple no-entry sign marked the post; that was all the security it needed. Even from the main building, it was very easy to see the satellite dish. The sixty-four-meter radio telescope was grand, and as it shimmered back rays of light into her eyes, Natalie was struck by its mechanical beauty.
She did not love the modern age as much as Armand did, although she enjoyed the many new achievements that made life easier. This was the first time she had seen something made by man that actually reminded her more of art than a necessary device. It was beautiful.
Armand got out of the car first, coming around to open Natalie’s door when she stopped him with a look. They were pretending to be American scientists, and while it was sweet when Armand still had some of those old-school flairs about him, it certainly did not look professional. So he waited, hands behind his back, and did not take her hand when she arrived beside him.
Outside the building stood an older woman, her hair pulled back into a bun and wearing typical clothes. While there were sections of the laboratories where coats would be worn, most of the people who worked here just enjoyed casual clothes far more often. “Hello, I am Doctor Elizabeth Grant. I am so sorry for the mix-up.” She apologized again, and Natalie recognized her voice as the woman she had spoken to on the phone.
“It is quite alright. We are only human after all.” Natalie joked, and Armand chuckled along with her, which caused Elizabeth to join in, although clearly she was flustered. The sudden phone call announcing that two American scientists were on their way to Parkes was not entirely unexpected. After all, many people from all over the world came to the observatory. It wasn’t just the best in the Southern Hemisphere but also one of the best in the world. It had been the news they would be landing in an hour that had forced her to try and stay calm under pressure.
Elizabeth had personally scanned their profiles, and it was clear that the codes the two scientists gave them were correct. It immediately appeared that someone had forgotten to file the paperwork away correctly. It had been embarrassing to admit, and Elizabeth felt she owed them something more than just greeting them at the door. “So, how long will you be staying?” she asked.
“As long as we need too.” Armand interrupted, moving past the woman to the open door. “But if the findings we have are correct then hopefully we won’t be taking up too much space here.” He chuckled, but no one else seemed to enjoy his pun, so he didn’t try and force it.
“And what are your findings?” Elizabeth asked, easing the door closed behind Natalie as she followed Armand into the building. Natalie was better at play acting than Armand, but seeing him dismiss her and take on this scientist persona made her want to laugh. She was glad that she stood behind the absolute expert in the room.
“We have been tracking an asteroid,” Armand answered, the trio banding together so his story could be heard equally between the women, although Natalie had heard it before. She had created the little cover story for their operation, but as progressive as this world had become, Natalie quickly assigned him the vital role. Armand never questioned her old-fashioned habits. Let the man do all the talking and negotiations in person. Natalie was his right-hand man and observed everything.
“It was discovered only a few short days ago, and quickly determined by our tracking systems to be heading towards Earth but it should miss us.” Armand continued, and Elizabeth nodded, looking for confirmation from Natalie, but she didn’t seem to need to add anything to the conversation. “My assistant and I have reason to believe that the trajectory might be underestimated, and the asteroid will hit Earth at a staggering speed of 30,000mph.”
Elizabeth paused for a second in her step, shocked. “That would be as if a megaton bomb went off.” She gasped, and Natalie nodded.
“Many scientists back home seem to think that with the atmosphere as it is, then it will pass through the ozone layer and be slowed and damaged enough that the final impact will not be as damaging as we both fear it will be.” Armand continued, sure to keep the conversation on the script. “We have fantastic surveillance at home for this kind of work, but we both know that your machines here are better.”
Elizabeth smiled, proud of her home base and the historical influence that the Parkes Observatory had already played long before she got here. “As I told Natalie over the phone, we are happy to help in any way we can.” She leads them to an observation room. “This is Ted and Nathan. They are our leading techs available for you to use as you need them.”
The men stood, one with light oriental features and the other seemed to be European. Australia had always been multicultural, but with the observatory's pull, they got applications from all over the world, even when looking for cleaners. Armand offered his hand first, introducing himself before Natalie followed his lead.
Ted, who was named Theodore but hated the name, was more senior than Nathan, but it didn’t make a difference to Armand or Natalie. They could do all of this themselves if they needed to. It was part of the programming that came with their lives. There was not a single unknown element in this world to them. They could perform brain surgery and change a tire. Whatever was needed to survive was automatically made available to them.
A distinct advantage over the rest of the world was using all the advances in one mind. Unfortunately, the world’s knowledge was scattered worldwide, and very rarely did the right circumstances allow the right minds to converse in just the right way to make pivotal changes to the world. But Armand had told Natalie that taking over the computers at Parke’s would be rude, and after some consideration, she needed to agree. So instead, she would read their findings and look for the truth in the numbers she sent them to find.