Head In The Stars

"Would you like some fruit juice?"

The little girl's mouth stayed resolutely closed and her hands firmly griped the hem of her red dress.

"There are some biscuits here too."

The police officer sitting across from her valiantly grinned as he de-lidded the biscuit tin and tilted it to show the little girl its voluminous insides.

The girl shook her head, making her already messy white hair even more wild.

The police officer shrugged then, with no hesitation, picked up an especially large biscuit and popped it in his mouth. Even across the room I could see the little girl's eyes go wide and her mouth curl in hunger as the man chomped away.

A small, hesitating hand reached into the biscuit tin and took one. The officer pushed the tin closer to the girl.

"Have as much as you like," he said, voice warm.

The girl seemed ready to do just that.

"You mentioned to my officer on the phone that you'd already contacted the school who had been visiting earlier but they said none of their children were missing," confirmed the female police officer sitting beside me. We were sitting at two of the computer desks in the corner of the station's office. The little girl and the male officer were at the dining table.

"Yeah, then I called you guys," I said.

The female officer made a scribble on her palm-sized notepad.

"When did she wake up?" she asked.

"Only a few minutes before the two of you arrived," I replied.

"And she's been otherwise silent?"

I nodded toward the little show playing out at the dining table. The child and adult had become co-conspirators in plundering the biscuit tin. I wondered if there were any more squirreled away in the kitchen.

"This is more luck than me or Paili Kai have had combined," I said truthfully.

The female officer smiles. "Aron's good with kids," she said.

"He is indeed."

Aaron… Aron? Why did that name seem somehow familiar?

"And this Paili Kai you mentioned…?"

I snapped out of my reverie. "Oh, he's a scientist doing research at the station. He's… not so good with children, it seems."

The officer nods understandingly. I got the sense from her that she'd rather be chasing criminals over chain-linked fences and brawling in the mud than be looking after young humans.

"Do you know where he is now?"

"He's…"

As I spoke, the man himself drew up a chair from another desk. Looked like he'd just come from the parabolic antenna radome upstairs.

"You need something from me?" he asked.

"Yes, just your ID number and…"

I let the pair of them get done what they needed to get done and headed to the kitchen. I had a strong hunch that was at least one more biscuit tin in the far corner of the top cupboard. Whether it was expired or not, was another story entirely.

The kitchen was, like the rest of the station, on the older, 'retro', end of the scale with a portable electric stove and yellowing granite bench top. The cupboards and the rest of the fittings were all thin plyboard. Some of this was actually new. I'd taken it upon myself after my first year here to make some repairs and additions to this important location in the station. Can't say I was entirely successful, but none of it's fallen down, so I take that as a win.

I kicked the short, wooden stool from its corner to under the cabinet set in the far corner just by the door to the bathroom.

I was about to step up onto the stool when a voice spoke.

"Hey."

I grabbed the door frame to stop myself falling down.

"Sorry! Did I scare you?" apologised the male police officer. He looked almost distraught, an odd look for someone who looked so intimidating. Tall, handsome, and stealthy.

"No, no, I'm fine," I said.

I stepped back down onto firm land.

"What can I do for you?" I asked. I'd spoken briefly with him earlier when he'd arrived with his partner after I'd called the police.

"Oh, uh…"

The man shifted, seemingly uncomfortable.

Ah.

I stepped up onto the stool again and peered into the cupboard. I was right!

Carefully, I pulled the biscuit tin down, checked the expiry date, then got off the stool. I got a plate out of the drawer by the sink and poured a generous amount of the biscuits onto it then offered it to the police officer.

"Oh? Thank you?" He took it.

Was that not what he was looking for?

"...Can I help you with something else?"

"You're Lachlan Look, right? Lok Laan, right?" the man asked. He had a hopeful look on his face. "I'm Aron. Tam Fung, Aron."

Again, I felt like the name was familiar, but like an old face, I couldn't quite place it.

"Yes, your partner mentioned it to me," I said.

Aron scratched the back of his neck and shuffled his feet, embarrassed-like. Again, it was an odd look. "I… uh, have a brother. An older brother. Karl Tam…?"

"Oh!"

Suddenly everything clicked.

"You remember me now?" Aron asked, looking hopeful.

I can't help laughing. What a small world.

"Yes, I do remember you now," I said with a grin. Back then, I hadn't heard what his English name was; Karl always just called him Siu-Fung or Sai-Lou. "God, you've grown!"

Aron beamed. "Just a little."

He was nearly a head taller than me.

I rolled my eyes at this display of modesty.

"Right," is all I can say to that. "So, you became a police officer in the end. Both your parents are too, aren't they?"

"My mum's a detective, but my father's a forensic accountant. They work in the same branch," Aron explained.

"Impressive." I was being honest.

"Not really…" Again with that modesty. I'm slowly remembering that little kid who would Karl, me, and our other friends around. He'd been quiet, very quiet.

"How long you been working for?" I asked. What was the age gap between him and Karl again…?

"This is still my first year. I took an extra year in training," he said.

"Liking it?" I asked.

"Yes!"

And then the awkward silence set in.

I haven't been on a blind date before, but I just know I'd be horrible at it, all awkward silences all the time.

"...Can I ask you something?" asked Aron.

"Shoot," I casually reply. I knew he'd come over for some reason or another.

"I, uh, can I take you out to dinner?"

--

Night had settled in by the time Aron and his partner left with the little girl in their patrol car. They'd told me before leaving that they'd keep me up to date on any developments. I just hoped the little girl got home safely. There was something about her large, dark eyes that made me uneasy, like she knew far more than anyone should.

I stretched and looked out into the night. The air was still sticky from the day, but I could already feel cool tendrils tug at my ankles and wrists. It got colder earlier up here on the mountain.

"Is he someone you know?" asked Kai. He was standing a little further away under the fluorescent lamp outside the main entrance. For a moment I thought he was going to have a smoke but then I remembered that he didn't have that kind of habit.

"Who? Aron?" I guessed. "I suppose you could say that. In high school I was friends with his older brother. I saw Aron every now and then when I went over to Karl's place."

"You seemed to have left a deep impression on him," Kai noted.

With the light behind him, I couldn't see his expression. I looked away.

"I doubt that," I said. I hoped.

"I think you must have. He still remembered you after so long."

Irritation bubbled up in me. It had been a long day. I really didn't want to think about, well, any of this.

Siu-Fung, the little timid boy. Aron, the stalwart police officer.

I eyed Kai.

"Eavesdropping's not very gentlemanly behaviour," I said pointedly.

"True enough." Kai pushed his glasses up and patted the bag slung over his shoulder. "I'm clocking out for the day. Are you heading off?"

I've never left work at the same time as him but still always asks. "No yet. I need to do another round, make sure we've got no more kids hiding anywhere."

It's obviously a joke but I caught the serious expression on Kai's face in the gloom. "Do you think she'll be alright? The girl I mean."

"Should be," I said. "The police know what they're doing. Missing persons, social services, all that."

"I mean after that," said Kai. He looked out into the night. There wasn't a house or apartment block for miles around. "How did she get here to begin with and why?"

"No idea," I replied simply.

"You're not curious?" He seemed genuinely surprised.

"I'm plenty curious," I said, "But this is real life. It's more likely we'll never know the answer."

Kai sighs. "True. Well, see you tomorrow."

"Evening."

Kai strides off to the concrete stairs and disappears down them.

And just like that, life returns to its repetitive, clockwork simplicity, as if none of the day's oddities had happened.

I did a round of the building, both up on the roof and inside, and another round circling the barbed wire fence. I'd done a good job weeding that day and could see all the way down to the ground. No lost children.

I returned, shut down the main lights in the office, then headed out the main entrance, leaving the door closed but unlocked behind me.

I'd made sure a good chunk of time had passed since Kai's departure so I headed down the old broken steps myself. I'd yet to get to weeding this area so I had to go slowly down, though the light from the parking lot below was enough to light my way.

Well, I say parking lot, but it was more like a little clearing at the foot of the steps that you could try to park a car in, but no guarantees. And in fact, one would have a rather hard time parking anything there at the moment due to the compact van slotted into the corner.

My van.

I unlocked the front then pulled open the side door with a thunk.

Instead of where the rear seats would have been, was a covered foam mattress atop a wooden frame with drawers embedded all the way down to the chassis. I clambered up onto the mattress. It was divided into sections, and I pulled up the one closest to the driver's seat. Under it quietly sat a mini fridge.

I opened the fridge and pulled out a few bags then shut it again and replaced the mattress.

The light from the streetlamp in the parking lot and the emergency light from my van combined was enough that I didn't even need to use my phone's torch to check what veg I'd just pulled out. I'd bought them on the weekend. Not sure exactly what they were, but they were cheap, so I'd soon be learning their ins and outs regardless.

I locked up my van and started again up the stairs to the weather station.

My footsteps sounded loud with no traffic hum to muffle it, and I found myself trying to tread softly.

A cicada crackled. A toad croaked.

Rustle.

I stopped. Was it one of Kai's stray cats? I didn't have any meat on me, but you never knew with cats, now do you?

No… whatever it was, it had to be larger, more like…

"Ow!"

The 'thing' bursts out of the tall grasses and falls onto a concrete step, clearly having just tripped on something.

It's that little girl with the white hair.