19 comments/ 8814 views/ 2 favorites The Last Good-bye By: Cromagnonman It was a tearful good-bye, she clung to me as if she would never let me go, as if in letting me go, she would never see me again. This touching scene was interrupted by the final boarding call for my flight to London. "I've got to go now, I'll see you in a week." She gave me one last, lingering, kiss. "'Bye, you behave, and don't go falling for any beautiful women over there." These were her usual parting words. She knew that I would never do that to her. "As if I'd do that to you. Take care, I love you." I kissed her quickly and walked through the gate to the boarding ramp. We had been married now for five years and, I knew that this would be the last time that we would go through this parting. What Sylvie was not aware of was that I knew, deep inside me, that she would not be waiting for my return. Ours had all the hallmarks of a happy marriage, we had a lot of friends, some had been friends from before we married, and some had become friends from work contacts since then. We had dinner parties on a regular basis and attended even more given by friends. Our social life was full and without any relationship tensions. We were even talking about starting a family, but these discussions had never gone beyond the talking and of course the practise, regular and intense practise. Our sex life was frequent and great. At least it was until recently. Over the past couple of months I had detected a difference in Sylvie. She seemed to be a little quieter than usual, laughed a little less, and her kisses lacked the intensity of before. At first I put it down to familiarity taking over our lives and tried to spice up our lovemaking. She went along with it, but lacked enthusiasm. She stopped telling me about her work and when I discussed my work her response was, 'that's nice', with all the sincerity of a checkout operator saying 'have a nice day'. If I didn't know better I'd say that her final kiss was a return to the glory days of our marriage, but I knew better. In seven days I would return to nothing but an empty house. He was a work colleague, her new boss and a new inclusion in the office where she worked. I admit that he was better looking than me, handsome according to some. He was taller than me, had broader shoulders and narrower waist. He dressed to impress at all times, or so I was told the last time that I slobbed around in trackies on a Sunday. I didn't see the need to impress in my days off even though Sylvie was always immaculately presented. I had to be immaculate the whole time that I was on the job, and considered that to be enough. For the best part of the next week I would be sitting in a conference room, listening to dozens of climate experts giving their opinions about where the world will be in twenty years from now if we do not curb the amount of greenhouse gas emissions we pump into the atmosphere. I would have my chance to deliver my findings and, while I was sure of them, I knew that they would not be well received. I was here as the head researcher to support the minister representing the Australian government at this conference. The previous government was big on rhetoric, using words designed to appease the Green senators who they needed to get their legislation through parliament. What the minister knew, but was prepared to distance himself from if necessary, was that I had been asked to present the findings of my research into a climate change model that I had been working on for some years. This model was controversial in that it didn't support the current theories being thrown around. I sat through the first day's presentations without having to concentrate on what was being said, I'd heard it all before, the industrial powers had to stop discharging greenhouse gases into the atmosphere or we'd all die. The problem with this was that the major polluters were not about to take the necessary measures to curb the emissions, because they would lose their competitive edge, and the cost would be too high because of job losses due to production being moved offshore to countries that had no pollution caps. My mind kept wandering back to Sylvie and my future, or lack of it, with her. The delegates were filing from the auditorium, me included, when a voice behind me stopped me in my tracks. "Sam, wait." I recognised it from my university days. I turned to face Maggie Houghton. "Where were you today?" "I've been here all day." I was puzzled by her question, I knew that she had seen me. "The body was here, but your mind has been thousands of kilometres away." "I was concentrating on my presentation tomorrow." "Bullshit! Knowing you, you have it down pat, every little detail is etched into your brain. You probably even recite it in your sleep." This was true, well not the bit about reciting it in my sleep, I wouldn't know about that. "There's something else rattling around in your skull. Tell auntie Maggie all about it." This was the Maggie of my past, the person who I'd been able to talk to about my problems, who knew the answers to them and let me work it out for myself while believing that she had solved them for me. It was she that gave me the courage to ask Sylvie out for our first date, and that took some doing, Sylvie had her pick of all of the eligible males among our classes. "Do you have ten hours?" "Sure thing, your place or mine?" "Neutral territory would be safest." We had been lovers early on at uni, but had both decided that we were better friends that we could ever expect to be as marriage partners. But that didn't mean that the temptation wasn't there still, I just had to not put myself into a situation where I would have to resist it. "Coward. I promise that I won't try to lure you into my bed, after all I am a married woman now." "Oh, when did all this happen? Why wasn't I invited to the wedding?" "A couple of months ago. It was an impulsive act on my part, he'd been pressuring me for ages and I gave in. He knew about us and I wasn't going to have you there, hovering in the background to remind him that he was my second choice, even if you were married to the most gorgeous girl around." "How about dinner first, and then see what happens. I suppose that he's not here by any chance." "No, he's swanning around the Amazon jungle assessing the damage caused by tree clearance." "I've got to go and talk to George (the minister) about tomorrow, there will probably be a press conference after my presentation and we need discuss his distancing himself from my research findings." "That good huh? I can't wait for it. I'll meet you in the restaurant at the hotel in half an hour, that'll give me time to tart myself up." "You only need five minutes and you know it, but half an hour it is." "Aren't you sweet, you've not forgotten how susceptible I am to flattery." She kissed me on the cheek and walked off. Magdalene (Maggie) nee Houghton and now Richards, was one of the brightest students in my year at uni, and great things were expected of her for the future. She hadn't let them down. She had won a research grant to conduct studies into the effects of the rise in ocean temperatures on coral reef systems. This research combined her Oceanography qualifications with her interest in Marine Biology, and kept her submerged for a lot of her time watching the reef ecology. I had read the findings so far and was impressed. Some of them coincided with my research, while others contradicted my findings. Tonight could be interesting. As it happened, we never got around to comparing notes, Sylvie intervened. "How's Sylvie?" Maggie asked as soon as we had ordered our meal. "Fine." "So that's what you've been thinking about. What's the problem?" "Where do I begin?" "Try the beginning, it's as good a place as any." "Nine months ago she got a new boss, a 'Cleo bachelor of the year candidate'. He wangled a promotion for her so that she would have to work closely with him. I thought nothing of it at first, but then she started working long hours and was always tired." "And your sex life suffered as a result, is that it?" I glared at her, she had this way of cutting to the chase, even if I hadn't given it much thought. Who was I kidding, it had been preying on my mind for months now. "Well, if you must know, there has been a change. There hasn't been a decrease in the frequency of our love making, just in her enthusiasm. I've been putting it down to her working long hours, but . . . " "You've been afraid to face the possibility that she might be having an affair with him." "Yes." "Has she said or done anything that would lead you to believe that to be true?" "Not really, it's just that whenever I ask her about her work she just tells me that it's the same old same old." "Maybe she just doesn't want to bore you." "When she dropped me at the airport, her good-bye was tearful and passionate, and that led me to think that she might be over-compensating, and that when I get home she won't be there." "Jesus Christ, talk about paranoid. I'm sure that she is not even thinking about cheating on you." "I would believe you except that she has been acting strangely lately." "And you haven't been?" "What do you mean?" I knew what was coming. "Your job requires you to work long and odd hours. Did it ever occur to you that she might have been feeling a tad left out of your life?" "We have discussed this often enough. This job, while it lasts, gives me the opportunity to carry out my research and get paid very handsomely for it, something that may never happen again, especially after tomorrow. I could find myself out of a job very quickly. Sylvie knows this and has told me that she accepts this, just as she expects me to accept the hours that she works." "So what's the difference between your situation and hers?" "For starters there's no potential sexual distraction in my position. I am not confident about hers." "But you don't know for sure, do you? There has to be a logical explanation for this, I know that Sylvie would never cheat on you, she loves you too much." "I hope that you're right. Now can we eat." The food had arrived. Our dinner and a second bottle of wine passed without incident. It wasn't until we reached the door to her room and she invited me in for a night cap that things got a little awkward for me. "What I intend to do is to take your mind off your thoughts of Sylvie, and the best way that I can think to do that is to fuck you for old times sake." "Don't, please don't even suggest this. It would be very tempting, but I love her too much to cheat on her." "Well then, you'd better get the fuck out of my room before I rape you. Sheesh, I thought that I was in with a chance here." She kissed me quickly on the cheek before shoving me out the door. "You're a good man Sam, and here I have to settle for second best, and my fingers." The night past slowly. Some of the time I was rehearsing my presentation, while the rest of the time I was thinking of what Sylvie would be doing about now. I eventually got to sleep, only to be woken minutes later (it wasn't really, a check of the clock told me that I'd had at least two hours sleep) by the clock radio built into the bed head. I showered and preened myself before heading down for a quick breakfast. Maggie was there, with a smile on her face. "Hi Sam, all prepared for your big moment?" "I will be once I go back to my room and collect my laptop." I said as I swallowed the last of my coffee. I was ushered into a room backstage where I was miked up and shown how to connect my laptop into the video system linked to the big screen behind the lectern. I stood in the wings while the MC began his introductory preamble. "The next speaker comes to this conference from Australia. He is the lead researcher for the Environment Minister, a job for which he has the very best qualifications. He has a Doctorate in Geology and a PhD in Environmental Science. He has had several years of research as a background to his presentation today. As well as that, I have it on good authority, that he's a pretty mean Rugby player and was, at one time, touted as a future Wallaby (Australia's Rugby Union test team). Would you give a warm welcome to Doctor Samuel Phillips!" There was an encouragingly warm response to the introduction. I walked onto the stage and plugged my laptop in. The screen lit up, showing the first page of my presentation. "What has the single greatest affect on climate change? Is it CO2? Is it methane? Is it fluorocarbon? Is it particulate aerosol? It is the sun and anything that impedes the benefits to be gained from this solar energy that will cause climate change. What is the most common greenhouse gas in our atmosphere? Is it CO2? Is it methane? Is it fluorocarbon? Is it particulate aerosol? No, it's none of these, the most common greenhouse gas is H2O, or plain old water vapour. Any gas that impedes the infrared radiation that affects the earth's temperature is a greenhouse gas. So you see, to tell the world that we must eliminate all greenhouse gases will mean that we have to do away with the source of these gases, and that means doing away with the oceans and lakes and streams, not something that I would look forward to." I flicked a graph onto the screen, it showed a breakdown of atmospheric gases. "Two things that we have to realise about CO2 for instance", I pointed to a minute dot on the graph, "is that atmospheric CO2 makes up a thousandth of one percent of CO2 held in oceans, surface rocks, air and life, and that the highest contributor to CO2 emissions is Mother Nature. The gases belched forth a few years ago by that volcano with the unpronounceable name in Iceland, contributed as much CO2 as the last ten years of industrial pollution. More CO2 and other harmful gases, such as sulphur dioxide from high sulphur coal, entered the atmosphere each year during the Industrial Revolution in the 19th and early 20th centuries, than is discharged in today's world. The effects of this pollution saw the advent of heavy smog that cut visibility in London down to less than a metre and resulted in thousands of people dying from respiratory problems. These were bad times for the atmosphere and the environment, but guess what? The world did not get hotter as a result, it actually got colder. The mean annual temperature during the Industrial Revolution was a couple of degrees colder than it is today. There was a mini-Ice-age. (I pointed to my next graph that showed the mean temperatures over the past 200 years) The atmospheric pollution blocked the infrared radiation from the sun warming the Earth and its atmosphere, not to mention that when it rained it wasn't nice clean water that fell from the sky, but diluted sulphuric acid." "If you go back through the climate history of this planet you will come to realise that climate change is cyclical in nature, that there were periods where the mean temperature was several degrees colder than it is now, while other times it was a similar number of degrees warmer. These were times when man either did not exist, or when his influence would have been so small as to be negligible." "Various factors have been cited as major contributors to this fluctuation. Sun spot activity, seismic activity, ocean currents, minute wobbles in Earth's axis and differences in Earth's orbit, all have been put forward as contributory factors in climate change, and the one common link between them is that man can have no affect over them, no control over them." "That we know this is because the Earth itself tells us all about it. As a Geologist, my colleagues and I read what nature tells us about our past. From core samples taken from the Earth's crust and the polar ice, we can read the cyclical nature of climate change, those times when it was warm and dry, and those when it was cold and wet. Of course there were other events that have contributed to climate change. These we call random events, meteor and asteroid strikes and other atmospheric factors, such as particulate clouds caused by comet and asteroid trails, and seismic events. These too, we have no control over." "Now I'm not here to tell you people that we should ignore climate change all together, but let's get real about this. Let's forget about the buzz words like greenhouse gases and carbon footprints and focus on those things that we can do something about. If we eliminate CO2 from the atmosphere we will all die. We need it in the atmosphere. It is carbon dioxide that plants use in photosynthesis to convert into energy and oxygen. Without oxygen we will die. If you were to look at CO2 emissions you will come to realise that it's not the CO2 that we are emitting into the atmosphere that is the problem, it is the changes that we have made to our environment that have reduced the amount that nature can take out of the atmosphere and convert to oxygen and energy." "What are these changes? There are two major ones, one that is very visible and one that has slipped under the environmental radar. We have been told about the deforestation of the tropical rainforests it the search for timber for construction, cleared land for cattle grazing to produce beef for hamburgers, and for the production of palm oil that we are now told is harmful. Then there are the changes to our residential and commercial environments. Gone are the houses on quarter acre blocks that provided room for trees and gardens that produced fresh fruit and vegetables, provide shade and a place for kids to play, and oxygen. This has been replaced by smaller blocks and bigger houses. Because of lifestyle changes there are no longer vegetable gardens, we now buy our reasonably fresh fruit and veg from a supermarket that is a part of a major shopping precinct. Because we no longer have the time to spend in the garden, our yards are paved. The net result of these changes is that stormwater, instead of being retained in the soil to nurture the plants with some overflow eventually entering the stormwater drains, is flowing out to sea or wherever. The whole lot is funnelled quickly into drains that can no longer cope with the inflow and back up, causing flash flooding and carrying all of the detritus that we throw away instead of recycling, into the system." "Another major problem facing Australia is the urbanisation of the areas surrounding the major cities. People are building houses in the bush without thought to the effects that this has on the environment. Part of the natural cycle of things are bushfires, catastrophic fires that in the past just burnt out areas of bush, but now destroy hundreds of houses every year. The solution to this is not to stop the fires, they are needed for the regeneration of native flora, but to either not build in these environments, or build houses that can be protected from these fires. The more severe bushfires are unstoppable crown fires, fanned by strong dry winds and fuelled by the oil vapours created by updraughts, these are self-supporting infernos. The updraught in the bushfires that ravaged Canberra several years ago actually formed a fire tornado, an updraught that was so powerful that houses were unroofed and building materials sucked hundreds of metres into the air. It is all well and good living in a bushland environment, but that environment must be managed to minimised the advent of catastrophic fires. Reduce the fuel load to prevent the updraughts from forming. A couple of days of smoke is preferable to losing all of those houses." "We also need water vapour in the atmosphere because we need rain to revitalise the soils so that we can grow food to feed the masses. We need to collect rain run-off for clean drinking water. What we need to do is, instead of creating drains that will channel the stormwater away, to delay the run-off and allow it to soak into the ground, to raise the water-table and eventually recharge the aquifer. Create wetland systems that can filter the rainwater before it enters the aquifer, and so that what flows into the dams and oceans is clean water and not muddy, filthy, contaminated water. These wetland systems create an ecosystem for flora and fauna, and bring life back to what was once barren land." The Last Good-bye "What we need to achieve, is to increase the production of these beneficial greenhouse gases, and reduce the amount of harmful gases that we discharge into the atmosphere. To do that we must find a sustainable clean energy source for our domestic and industrial use." "This, in today's political climate is impossible." "Let's face it, while countries continue to base their economies on the indiscriminate use of fossil fuels, they will not change. To them the cost of conversion is too high and they will lose their competitive edge. This has the roll-on effect of other countries having to buy their products from these countries. Consequently their industries will be forced to close down because they can no longer remain viable. When this happens the workforce in these countries will be reduced, as will the revenue that they can contribute to the support of those unable to work, similarly be reduced, forcing governments to make strategic cuts to the services that they are able to provide. The economies of those polluting countries that reap the economic benefit from ignoring the harmful effects of their production, will continue to grow, while the other countries' economies will continue to recede." "So what is the answer? The first thing that governments should do, I'm not saying that it can do, or will do, is to ignore the various lobby groups that tell them that it is economically bad to mandate the installation of solar collectors on every new and existing house. The argument that is given is, that as soon as the installation of solar panels is mandated the costs will rise. That can be overcome at that time, by setting a benchmark figure on the supply and installation. But this is not the real reason for the opposition. The real reason is that, in Australia at least, the domestic energy consumer subsidises the industrial consumer, and if the energy providers did not have this subsidisation they will be forced to increase the cost to the industrial consumer, and this will reduce any competitive edge that they might still have. The other reason for their reluctance to this is self-preservation. If each householder can produce more energy than they use, and the industrial consumer sees the benefits of in-house energy production, at no cost except for the installation costs of the panels, they will switch, meaning that the energy providers will no longer be necessary, they will go broke." "Think about it, in Australia, there are vast tracts of land that receive more sunny days than not. This land could be made available to create solar farms that can provide massive amounts of renewable energy, energy that is cheaper and more cost effective than the mining and consumption of fossil fuels. Then there is wind energy, expensive to install and the victim of environmental scare mongering over the death of native birds (not proven), electro-magnetic radiation (again not proven) and sub-sonic noise pollution (yet again not proven). It is an infinite resource that will be, over time, cheaper to produce than the mining and consumption of fossil fuels. There is geo-thermal energy, again, the infrastructure can be costly, but the energy is renewable and doesn't burn fossil fuels. Tidal energy is another possibility, and let's not forget the hydro-electricity production already in existence." "So, why doesn't the government go down this path? The answer is, as always money. One of its greatest sources of revenue for the Australian government is a Mining Tax on resources, including the production of fossil fuels, coal and natural gas, for the domestic and export markets. Without these industries, the government will soon run out of money. As the average age of the population increases, it will find it harder to maintain a positive balance between taxation revenue and expenditure, and it will soon run out of money. The government will be caught between a rock and a very hard place, with very little wriggle room. Politicians of all persuasions realise that it would be a form of political suicide to go down that path." "What we could do in Australia is to stop sending our raw materials, such as iron ore and bauxite, overseas for other countries to push through their fossil fuel powered smelters to be converted to steel and aluminium, and through their fossil fuel burning metal stamping presses to be made into cars that we buy from them. We need to value add our raw materials in our country before exporting it. We have the technology to run continuous production smelters, that could be powered by renewable energy, to produce the steel that we can then run through a metal stamping mill to produce every body panel for every car produced in the world. The waste steel from this process is then transported by conveyor belt back to the smelter, no waste product to dispose of. And because of the automated nature of this entire production cycle we will, by reducing the energy, labour and transport costs, and by applying the resultant economies of scale, be able to produce a product cheaper than countries that currently have, and use, cheap fossil fuels and a labour cost advantage." "But this will never happen because the countries that are taking an economic advantage of the status quo will not release their hold on that advantage, regardless of what the rest of the world will say. All that I, and others like me, can do is to continue to evaluate the opportunities and possibilities and bring them to the attention of the world in the hope that sense will eventually prevail. In the mean time, find clean air where you can, and breathe deeply, because it's a finite resource. Find clean water where you can, and drink deeply of it, because it's a finite resource." I hit the button and my final image of a clear running stream in a pristine, sunny and cloud free environment appeared, and slowly faded to reveal a smog ridden industrial environment. "Thank you for listening to me." I switched the image off and unplugged my laptop, I left the stage before any of the delegates could respond, to prepare myself for the media shit-storm that was about to happen. I was collared by George as I returned to my seat. "Are you prepared to face the music?" "As prepared as I'll ever be." "Don't sit down, the executioners await." We left to face the media barrage. "Doctor Phillips, your presentation would suggest that you do not agree with the environmentalists that are leading the push for climate change, what do you say to that?" "What I say is that all the rhetoric in the world, all the buzz words that leap from the mission statements from these conferences, will do little to change things. They focus on the immediate, the little things, and ignore the bigger picture, and that is that there are bigger forces involved in climate change than us mere mortals, and that we should take a leaf from the animals that have survived previous ice-ages and hot dry ages, and adapt to our environment." "So you're saying that we should do nothing?" "Is that what I said? No, what I said was that we should get serious about the things that we can change and learn to live with those that are historically inevitable. We are approaching the plateau of global warming and will shortly, in my lifetime, enter another period of below average mean temperatures. A lot has been made that the area of arctic ice is growing smaller each year and will soon disappear. Geological records show that a thousand years ago grain was being grown in Greenland. The Kyoto Protocol cannot be a treaty to regulate all greenhouse gases, because the main greenhouse gas H2O is not included. Motor vehicle exhausts, which have been singled out as a major cause of environmental pollution, contain harmless gases carbon dioxide, nitrogen and water vapour as well as pollutants such as carbon monoxide, volatile organic compounds, nitric oxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulphur dioxide and PM-10 (super fine particulate matter). A modern car's catalytic converter converts 95 percent of these polluting gases to Carbon Dioxide and water vapour. Smog is made up of ozone, sulphur dioxide and PM-10. China emits more sulphur dioxide than any other country and this causes acid rain (sulphuric acid) and acid rain kills people, plants and animals. This smog cloud has at times blanketed the whole of the Northern Hemisphere, but China will not agree to cut pollution, and while they maintain that stance, the little that the rest of the world can do is but a drop in the ocean." "Minister, do you agree with Doctor Phillips' findings?" "I don't have to agree with his findings. His brief was to look at Climate Control from an holistic viewpoint. My government has been accused of going soft on the climate. This is not true. We have decided that taking a populist approach, one that agrees with the common viewpoint, may gain us votes, but will achieve little, and that we should gain as much knowledge of Climate Science as we can before we commit ourselves to a programme for Climate Change. The previous government has, with its disastrous home insulation scheme, shown us what happens when you rush into do things just because they look good. Changing house design and construction to make them more thermally efficient, and to reduce the need for energy based heating and cooling, should be a priority in a country such as Australia, not expensive band-aid measures that barely cover the problem. I commend Doctor Phillips for his research and his presentation of his findings. I don't necessarily agree with all of them, but I cannot condemn him for raising these issues. I did not employ him to agree with me, I employed him to advise me." He has played his out clause', and with this he has not committed the government to acting on my findings, although he hasn't ruled it out, Typical politician. "Doctor Phillips, on what do you base your assumption that we will soon experience below average temperatures?" "Historically, when the carbon dioxide level rises the temperature cools. By using a gas chromatograph and measuring the levels of carbon dioxide that existed in polar ice, we have established that there is a link between high CO2 levels immediately preceding low temperatures." "So, what you are saying is that these conferences are merely a group of people scaremongering, and that we have nothing to worry about?" "I did not say that we have nothing to worry about. What we need to do is to gain a better understanding of the forces at play here, and modify how we inhabit this planet so that we make the smallest possible negative impact on it. Nature is our best teacher, not someone who tells us that, just because the temperature is rising now, it will continue to rise unless we make radical changes to how we live. The effect that nature is having on climate far out ways the effect that man has, but having said that, we have every reason to change, to cut down on our dependence on finite fossil fuels in favour of clean infinitely renewable fuel. The health of all of us depends on us making these changes." "When you say that we should modify how we inhabit this planet, just what do you mean?" "I would have thought that was obvious. We need to modify the way that we use the resources that we have at our disposal. Modify the way that we use water in food production, modify crops to suit the environment, and don't plant crops in areas that cannot be sustained with existing resources. Use the resources that we have in abundance, even if we have to modify our eating habits. For instance, in the desert regions of Australia camels have reached plague proportions. So why don't we farm these resources for food production, and I don't mean pet food or mince for burgers, Camel meat is actually quite tasty. Another animal that is in plague proportions and an under-utilised food resource, is feral goats. This is changing with its re-badging as 'range fed' goat, but it is a slow process. There has been a shift in the types of sheep farmed in Australia, with the move away from wool producing sheep to meat breeds. These are all changes that make better use of the environment than the previous European farming practises of the past. In a country of low rainfall it is, to me, ridiculous that we are growing crops that rely on large amounts of water, crops like rice and cotton. It would be preferable to use those land and water resources in a much more efficient way. Our seafood industries are shifting away from 'wild catch' resources to farmed resources. This has led to an increase in production, a decrease in production costs, and a better product. This is the sort of thing that I am advocating, not the wholesale destruction of native rainforests to produce palm oil or hamburgers." That concluded the press conference and, as I made my way from the media room I was confronted by a smiling Maggie. "You handled that extremely well, so well that I have decided that I can risk being seen in public with you and invite you to lunch." "Do you think that's a good idea? After all we are both married." "It would be worse, if I was still a single person, people would immediately jump to the wrong conclusion. We are just old friends catching up." "I suppose there's nothing wrong with it, but don't get any ideas about it being anything other than that." "Of course I fully expect that you will reciprocate after my presentation." "Oh, that's right, You've used your married name, no wonder I didn't notice that you were on the list of speakers." Lunch was great, apart from the flirting that was close to getting out of hand, and I walked back with her to the auditorium so that she could prepare for her presentation. "Coral atolls, coral reefs, they would have to be one of the most fragile ecosystems on this planet, and yet we have through history, taken them for granted. Way back when he was charting his way up the east coast of Australia, Captain James Cook's ship the Endeavour, struck the Great Barrier Reef and her hull was holed. Our history books tell us of the amazing feat of seamanship displayed by Cook in getting his ship to a place where they could carry out repairs. She was careened, repaired and re-floated and they went on their merry way. No mention was made in the history books of the damage to the reef. And it stayed that way for centuries, ships would run aground and spill cargo and fuel over the reef yet no mention was made of the damage. What this means is that, until recent times, we had no points of reference to assess the damage that we had caused to the reef." "Now we are more aware of the impact of various factors on this dynamic ecosystem, and we are told that unless we prevent damage from shipping, there will be no reef left in the future. That's all well and good, but what about environmental factors, what are we doing about them? What can we do about them? Take for instance, the crown of thorns starfish, what have we done to prevent the incursions of this beast into the reef habitat? Not a lot. What can we do about it? Not a lot. It would appear that the best solution to this problem is to let nature take its course, let nature introduce a biological solution into the mix, one that will kill off these ugly creatures. The same can be said for coral bleaching. It would appear that the rise in temperature of the sea water is the culprit here, but what can we do about that? Not a lot as it turns out, this is a natural phenomena caused by the ocean currents that originate way across the other side of the Pacific Ocean, and over which we have absolutely no control." "So what can we control? We can control the impact of tourism on the reef. But that would impact on the livelihood of the tourism operators, and we can't have that. We could restrict the size and frequency of bulk carriers travelling along the reef. But this would impact on the viability of the coal exporters and cost them millions of dollars in lost revenue, and by projection our country's reputation as a supplier of high grade coal to the Asian market, especially China. A loss of this market would impact negatively on Australia's bottom line, and that's what this is all about, the balancing act the government faces between the environment and its bottom line. I would hate to be the Prime Minister that has to make that decision." "As my colleague Doctor Phillips pointed out earlier on this morning, we are faced with a problem that has three possible solutions. There is the solution that we cannot control, and that is Mother Nature. There is the solution that we can control but for various reasons will not. And finally, there is the solution that we will implement. Not what should be done, but the least that public opinion will accept. Not the best solution, just the one that we can convince the world is the best solution under the circumstances." "The role of Environmental science is to identify solutions to the threats to our environment, and make the general public aware of them. We can also advise our politicians on the issues and solutions and hope that they will be able to implement our recommendations. The first phase of this process is to look dispassionately at all of the factors and eliminate those that provide a short term fix, because it looks good, as opposed to a long term solution. As far as the Great barrier Reef is concerned there a three threats, a rising water temperature. This we can do little other than research ways to minimise the effects of this problem over the short term, because climate history tells us that this situation will reverse itself in the long term, and allow the reef to recover. The second problem is the crown of thorns starfish. In all probability nature will again find a solution, in this case it will most likely be biological, what we can do is to give nature a helping hand and research possible biological agents that can be introduced to combat this threat. And finally there is the threat created by man. Tourism is a huge industry in this area, but it needs to be sensitive to its impact on the ecosystem. If tourism begins to impact negatively, then it needs to be scaled back to allow the reef to recover. Then there is the commercial impact from large ships plying the pristine channels of the reef. We have seen the effect that comes from just one ship running aground on the reef and spilling fuel oil into the water. Large ships should not be allowed inside the reef at all, and even if it means sacrificing a small section of the reef to create a channel through the reef into deep water, then that should be explored. Reduce the possibility of grounding and disturbance caused by ships plying in shallow water, and we may yet save the reef." "These solutions that I have outlined, if successful, can be expanded and used in other fragile ecosystems and minimise man's impact on his environment. It is about striking a balance between the environment and the commercial interests necessary to maintain a nation's economy. Thank you." Maggie left the stage to, at first a smattering of applause, and then an increase in enthusiasm. Dinner was an interesting affair, There was a steady stream of interruptions from people plonking themselves uninvited at our table to ask us questions about our presentations. The common denominator in all of these interruptions was they were all from environmentalists telling us that our research was so wrong and didn't take into consideration the research that they used for their terms of reference. In short, we were wrong and they were right. If I thought that dinner was interesting, what happened after dinner was even more interesting. "Come in for a few minutes." Maggie said as I went to walk away from her door." "No." "Bzzz. Wrong answer." She grabbed me and dragged me inside. Her lips planted themselves on mine. I dragged my lips free. "No." The Last Good-bye "Bzzz. Wrong answer." If you remember, years ago, you and I were something of an item. We liked the same things, we thought alike, we had fun together both in and out of the bed. I want us to relive those times." "No!" Bzzz. Wrong answer. Just because you have Sylvie doesn't mean that you can't make love to me. What do you say?" "No!" "Bzzz. Wrong answer. I bet that Sylvie is, as we speak, enjoying herself with her boss with no thought of you." "No, she wouldn't do that." "But didn't you tell me last night that you were certain that she and he, him, her boss he, him, were having it off behind your back?" "I'm not a hundred percent sure that she is, and until that happens, I will not make love to you or anyone else." "At least it wasn't 'no', but it's still the wrong answer. She's not thinking of you right now, so why are you insisting that she is true to you?" "I have to give her the benefit of the doubt, innocent until proven guilty and all of that rubbish." "Let's forget all about Sylvie for the time being. I want us to remember what we had all those years ago, the sex that we had all those years ago. I want that again, I don't want second best any more." "If you remember way back then, it was you that insisted that we had no future together. I had to agree with you on that and, as far as I'm concerned, nothing has changed. We have no future together as a couple. I'm going back to my room to get some sleep. We have another exciting day ahead of us and then it's back home." "Still having doubts about what will be waiting for you. Look Sam, I know that we were never meant to be husband and wife, but the sex was the best and that's what I want to experience again. After tonight we'll walk away, you to your uncertain future and me to my distant husband and some casual fornication on the side. Neither of us have a lot to look forward to, so please, forget about Sylvie, come to bed with me for some unbridled lust, no strings attached, we will just be friends with benefits. I don't like begging, but please, for old time's sake, fuck me." "No." I stood and headed for her door. She grabbed my arm to hold me back, but I shook free and was out in the hallway and heading for the lifts. Maggie sought me out as we filed into the auditorium. She had a funny look on her face and her first words surprised me. I was expecting, at the very least, her cold shoulder, but she seemed to be pleased with herself. "Did you go out for some casual fornication last night?" "Bastard, no. If you must know I was on the phone for hours last night." "To your husband I hope." "If you must know, yes. That was one of the calls that I made." "Who else did you call." "I've been sworn to secrecy." The bitch refused to tell me who she had been speaking to. Every time I asked her she would just smile enigmatically. "My lips are sealed." This went on all day and into the night. She had managed to get the seat next to mine and every time I tried to find out what she was keeping from me, she would either ignore me or direct the conversation in another direction. The bitch was enjoying herself. "Are you doing this because I wouldn't have sex with you?" "Partly. It's fun seeing you like this. You know what they say about a woman scorned don't you?" "Shit, am I going to be subjected to this all the way back to Sydney?" "Maybe. I'm going to try to catch up on lost sleep, I suggest that you do the same." The bitch knew that the furthest thing from my mind right now was sleep. I tried watching a forgettable movie on the little screen in front of me. Normally a movie as bad as this would have me nodding off in no time, but no, I stared at the screen right through to the end credits and beyond. There was probably another movie after that first one, but I was mentally a long way from the screen, and still not asleep. I was thinking about the arrivals hall and the fact that Sylvie would not be there. I went for a walk from one end of the Jumbo to the other and back to my seat with a stop at the toilets for a shit and shave and pit squirt. "You should change your aftershave." Maggie mumbled as I slid back into my seat. "Why? I like it, and Sylvie bought it for me because she likes it too." "All the more reason why you should change." "You're enjoying this, aren't you?" "You'd better believe it." I stared at the moving screen for I don't know how long before the Captain announced that we were on our landing approach to Sydney, and would be touching down in half an hour, and that all passengers were required to fill in the Customs declaration card. I had found from experience that it was preferable to declare something, even if you had nothing to declare, or you weren't over your allowance of Duty Free goodies, because the something to declare queue was always the quickest. "I didn't know whether I needed to declare this." You would say to the Customs officer, pointing to a bottle of perfume you'd bought for your wife. "No that's fine." The officer would tell you before waving you through. Your bags had already been x-rayed and the sniffer dogs hadn't sat next to them, so they knew that there was nothing suspicious in them and a quick search of your hand luggage confirmed that you had nothing of interest. I was through Passport Control quickly and strolling towards the arrivals hall. Maggie caught up with me, this wasn't hard because I wasn't hurrying. "I can't wait to see the disappointment on your face, and just think, you could have had me last night." "Has anyone told you today, you're not funny." "No, you're the first." We had arrived. I quickly scanned the crowd waiting behind the barrier. She was there! Sylvie was really there waiting for me. Not only that, but she had a smile a mile wide and was shoving people aside in her rush to greet me, at least I hope that it was me. "Welcome home Darling!" She cried once she had got the kissing out of the way. Then she resumed the kissing for a few more hours. "Hi Maggie." She acknowledged the presence of Maggie standing beside me. "I hope that the two of you have behaved yourselves over in London." "Of course we did." Maggie said. I was incapable of speech at that time, my mouth being otherwise occupied. "Okay, let's go, oh and by the way Sam, I've invited Maggie to stay with us for a couple of days." She looked at the shocked expression on my face. Oh I know that they were friends back in the day, but not close friends, it was sort of Maggie and I were friends before I met Sylvie and Maggie and Sylvie were also friends, so we were all friends within the guidelines dictated by my relationship with Sylvie. "It's by way of thanks for her assistance." "What's going on between you two?" I was confused to say the least. And then it hit me, Sylvie was the other long phone call. They had been cooking something up between them. "Explanations can wait until we get home, and there's a lot to explain." I couldn't get a word in edgewise on the drive home, Maggie and Sylvie were catching up on what seemed like years of gossip and no mention was made of what they had been talking about on the phone. "Sam, could you make us coffee while I show Maggie her room?" "Sure." I went off to work my wonders with the coffee machine while the two of them went chattering down the hall to the spare bedroom. I had coffee poured out and some nibbles on a plate when they emerged. "Now, please put me out of my misery, what have you two been cooking up between yourselves." "Do you remember when you left here to fly to London?" "How could I forget? I never thought that I would see you again." "I wondered about that. I was trying to tell you that I was genuinely sad to see you leave, but you, it seems took it entirely the wrong way. Maggie told me that you thought that I was having an affair with the wonderful, if you are to believe him, Christopher Rollison QC, God's gift to the legal profession. Nothing could have been further from the truth, the man is a total arsehole. I was sad because I was not looking forward to having to face him and not having you here to rescue me if what I had planned back-fired." "But," I had to think this through, and gather my thoughts so that I could string the right words together. "You would never speak to me about your work, if you were having problems you should have told me, I would have helped you." "Yeah, by going in and punching his lights out. No, there had to be another way, and one that didn't involve physical violence. I suppose that I should start at the beginning." She got no argument from me. "As you are aware, he was head-hunted by Matheson's, they thought that they needed a Counsel with charisma, the partners were all getting on a bit and were carrying a little too much weight. They wanted someone lean, athletic, and with a good reputation. They made an obscene offer and he accepted. Part of the deal was that he would choose his own Junior Counsel from within the firm. He chose me. Initially I flattered myself, thinking that it was my abilities that got me the job, but I was to find that ability was only one part of the job description, a small part. What he wanted was someone that looked good trotting one step behind him as he headed for the courtroom for his big case, and the primed and waiting media. The TV cameras were instructed to include me in the approach shots and occasionally during the interview itself. It was all a part of the show." "But he has a reputation for winning cases, he can't do that on appearances." I said. "You're so right. But all of the preparation work is done by the Junior Counsel. All that he has to do is to familiarise himself with the relevant details of the case beforehand and rehearse his delivery. Even in court, my job was to listen to every argument that the Prosecutor presents, search for counter arguments, page mark the precedents in the Law books so that he can put his finger on them as required. I did all the hard work and he got all the glory. And then he hit on me." I knew it. I was just about to open my stupid mouth. "You of course rejected him." Maggie got in before me, not that I was going to say that. "Of course. I told him in no uncertain terms that our relationship was strictly a work relationship, and that I would not countenance any deviation from that. It did not go down well, I don't think that he was used to rejection. I did a little digging and found that, in his previous job, he had a series of affairs with female Juniors, he definitely wasn't gay or bi, and that there had been complaints. The Principals did nothing, they were too scared to take on the fabulous Christopher Rollison in court, he would have crucified them, or so they thought." "So what did you do? I asked. "I did what I do best, I prepared a watertight case for sexual harassment against him and went to see the Senior Partners. They had already suspected that there was something going on between us, but like you, they had it all wrong. They were surprised when I presented them with my case and told them what I was going to do. The evidence was a fall-back position in case my plans went pear-shaped." "What was your plan?" I asked. "Because everything about him was about appearance, I had to make him look bad in front of an audience." Sylvie had our undivided attention as she began her story. We had left the office and were heading for the courtroom. "Is there anything about this case that I should know?" Rollison asked. "You have your notes, but it's pretty much open and shut. The police have charged your client with assault. The victim has claimed that your client turned on her when something that she was supposed to have done was wrong and it made him look bad. He turned on her and subjected her to verbal abuse before slapping her. This was all done in front of several witnesses. The witnesses all corroborate her version of the story, but then they would, they were all her friends. Your client claims that the abuse never took place and that he was nowhere near where this was supposed to have taken place at the time. We have witnesses to back him up." We were confronted by the usual media scrum at the entrance to the court building. "My client has pleaded not guilty because he is completely innocent of the charges laid against him. He will walk from this court a free man." There was no doubting his confidence. He smiled at the media as we swept into the courtroom. All went well for about five minutes until it came time for him to cross examine the police witness. "Tell me Sergeant Robinson, when you first approached the victim, what was he doing?" "What do you mean?" "I would have thought that the question was straight forward enough for you to understand. What was he doing?" "What was who doing?" "The victim, James Wilson." "The victim's name is Stephanie Rogers." Christopher looked at his papers in horror, they were for the wrong case. "What the fuck is this?" he hissed at me. "They're the papers you asked for." "No they're not, these are the wrong files you stupid bitch, can't you get anything right." "They are the files you asked for. See here is your request." I pointed to the message slip attached to the files that clearly identified them as the ones that he requested for this case. "These are not the files I wanted." "They are what you asked for. I was curious as to why you wanted these, seeing as how they are the wrong ones." "If you thought that they were wrong, why didn't you say something?" "I tried, but you were too busy being the star to take notice of what I said." The Magistrate banged his gavel a couple of times. "Children, children, what is happening here?" "My Associate has given me the wrong files. I ask for a short adjournment while she goes and gets the right ones." He stared at me and stressed the 'goes and gets the right ones'. "It's not my fault that you requested the wrong files." "How dare you talk to me like that." He was back to hissing at me. "It matters little to me whose fault it is," the Magistrate said, "the fact of the matter is that you came into my court totally unprepared to conduct your case. This trial has been postponed on a number of occasions and I don't feel that the victim should wait any longer for a resolution because of your incompetence. I find your client is guilty as charged." "You can't do that! I demand a continuance." "You demand a continuance, on what grounds?" "That my client was not allowed a fair trial." "And this was the fault of this court? Pray tell me how this court was at fault." "I'll move to have this declared a mistrial." "I think that you should consult your Law books Mister Rollison, A mistrial happens when the presiding magistrate either misdirects a jury, or makes a decision that is totally at odds with the evidence presented. Neither of these situations applies to this trial. I can't help it if you have the wrong files, and I don't really care who is at fault, but to me it is the obligation of the senior Counsel to make certain that he is in possession of the right files before he gets into court. End of story. Clerk, what is the next case." Rollison stormed out of the court, leaving me to grab the files. "Sorry about that," I said to our unhappy client, "We'll file an appeal as soon as possible." "I don't understand, what has happened here?" "There has been a mix up, don't worry, I'll sort it out. I'll be in touch with you as soon as I know what our next step will be." "I don't think that I want him as my Counsel." "We'll discuss it later. I'd better get back to the office and face the music." The music that I was to face was not some adagio movement of a symphony, it was gangsta in its sentiment and delivery. "How dare you make me look a fool in court! What do you mean when you say that I requested those files? You should have made sure that I had the correct files before we even left the office! I didn't drag you out of the typing pool to have you fuck up like this! It's not you that was made to look the fool there! How do you think that made me look? I'll tell you how, it made me look, incompetent, you made me look incompetent! Clients pay a lot of money to have me represent them in court, and it only takes one fuck up like this to fuck up my reputation. I am the star in this law practise, not you, and you'd better get that through your thick skull, it's me that clients want! You had better pack up your things, because you no longer have a job here! You are through here and everywhere else! You'll never work in this profession again, NEVER! DO YOU HEAR ME, NEVER!" "Are you quite finished?" I said in my sweetest voice. "NO, I AM NOT FINISHED! I AM GOING TO SEE MATHESON AND HAVE YOU FIRED FOR INCOMPETENCE AND INSUBORDINATION! BY THE TIME I'M FINISHED YOU WILL WISH THAT YOU NEVER MET ME!" "Oh, I wished that months ago. About the time that you began to molest me." "What? What the fuck are you talking about?" "You made inappropriate contact with me. At first it was your hand on my shoulder when we were discussing some matters, then it was the touching of my cheek. I was uncomfortable with the nature of your contact and, if you remember what happened, I removed your hand, you would have realised that. But no, it continued and got worse. I was supposed to be flattered by your attention, I was supposed to succumb to your attention. I loathed it when you touched me, it made my flesh crawl. There is only one man that I allow to touch me in that way, and that is my husband Sam. The only reason why I haven't told him of this is that he would come down here and punch your lights out and you would have him in court on assault charges. While I would have loved to see that, I just couldn't have him arrested over your sleazy behaviour. Now, do you really want to go and speak to Mister Matheson about what happened this morning? I think not, because he is aware of your actions towards me, complete with CCTV images that back up my story one hundred percent. Actually, if you turn around, you will see Mister Matheson coming towards us." Matheson entered the office and handed Rollison an envelop. "What's this?" Rollison said as he tore the envelop open and extracted the paper. "That is your dismissal notice. You will remove yourself and your paraphernalia from this building immediately." "You will hear more of this, you can't do this to me!" "If you decide, and I strongly advise against it, to take this matter further, charges of sexual harassment will be brought against you and, on the evidence that we will present to the court, you will spend some time behind bars. And you know what happens to sex offenders behind bars, don't you?" He stormed out and I thought that would be the end of it, I was wrong. He followed me around. Everywhere I looked there he was, lurking in the background. I took out a restraining order, but that didn't make any difference. It came to a head when he tried to run me down. If it wasn't for the actions of a man, who saw what was about to happen and crash tackled me onto the footpath, he would have succeeded. He is behind bars awaiting charges of attempted murder. It's what they say, 'the bigger the ego, the louder the thump when it crashes to earth.' He thought that he was above the law." "Wow! And all of this happened while I was away? I was right to worry about you, but for all the wrong reasons. When I left here a week ago, I felt that it would be the last time that we would say good-bye to each other. Scarily I was almost right." We kissed, "You are one amazing woman." I told her between that kiss and the next. "Here I was having these irrational thoughts about you and him, and how I'd never see you again, and you were nvolved in destroying the person that I thought that you were having an affair with." Another kiss. The Last Good-bye "Excuse me." A distant voice tried to interrupt our kissing. "What the fuck, I don't believe it, I solve all of their problems for them and save their marriage from extinction, and what happens, they totally ignore me." As she walked down the hallway we could hear her mumbling to herself. "I don't expect that I'll get any sense out of either of them for the next hour or so, so I'll leave them to their own devices and go off and call my husband." She reached the door to her room. "Knock on my door when you've finished." She yelled back at us. It took a while.