Chapter 9
The tunnel Project Goes Wrong and Something Strange Happens.
It is now early winter and two months have passed. The Factory is quiet and is only working one or two days a week. Many insects and other small creatures have hibernated for a few months. Some butterflies have flown off to warmer climates.
Louie and Lulu have spent a great deal of time snuggled up in front of Louie’s stove and had many a pleasant evening watching Fly TV. Sometimes they just sat watching the dancing shadows from the beeswax candles they used for lighting and thought about their future together.
Apart from the snuggling bit, Louie and Lulu had been quite busy. Louie had been adding an extension to the lounge and adding on an extra bedroom in case they needed to have guests to stay for their wedding in spring.
Lulu had been cleaning out cupboards, making some new spider silk bed linen and a wedding dress for the coming spring.
Louie had been a bit of a hoarder. Lulu had found many jars of nectar, pollen biscuits and other delights that were way past their use by date. (Loveable Louie she thought).
Louie didn’t mind the big tidy up, he had meant to get around to clearing out ‘old stuff’ as he referred to it, but being Louie it tended to be something he would do tomorrow.
Some winter days were really cold with rain and wind and the two bees would happily be busy indoors. However there were some fine sunny days. On these days Louie and Lulu would fly the stream together to enjoy the sunshine and rush of cool winter air on their faces. Louie was so happy having a mate to do these things with now. Looking back he had been such a lonely bee before.
Occasionally Louie and Lulu would drop into the Nest Café for lunch or an evening meal. It was good to discuss wedding plans over a candlelit evening meal and plan their future.
Each Monday Louie and Lulu would call the Reserve Bank and talk to Arnold to arrange the progress payments for the tunnel project. If the weather was fine it was a good excuse to get out and go and see Arnold rather than phoning him.
The tunnel Project was progressing quite well but was a little behind schedule because of some unusual rock formations encountered.
Louie and Lulu had attended the progress meeting at the Country Club some time earlier. Lulu enjoyed the occasion and Louie was full of confidence this time having Lulu by his side. There were congratulations all round from those attending on the engagement of Louie and Lulu. Sir Cada had naturally said. ‘I say jolly good old chap’, and slapped Louie on the back at the same time so that poor Louie just about choked on his honey nectar. Louie’s confidence was restored when Lulu had whispered to Louie. ‘Thank goodness you’re not like that Louie!’
Louie, Lulu and Pearl had been down a few times to inspect the tunnel operation. It was very impressive. It was beautifully constructed with the smooth clay lined walls pointed to look like bricks. The tunnel was lit with beeswax candles mounted at intervals along the walls. On entering the tunnel the beeswax candles could be seen extending into the distance to where the bulldog ants were working at the digging face.
When Louie, Lulu and Pearl first arrived for an inspection they couldn’t stop laughing at the Daddy Long Legs, at least a hundred of them, speeding off with excavations and spreading them around the surrounding area. The Daddy Long Legs did a great job.
The foremen on the job, a no-nonsense Soldier Ant, warned the three not to laugh as daddy-long-legs are known to sulk if laughed at. The last thing the foreman wanted was a stop work on his hands.
Pearl had apologised and assured the foreman that it wouldn’t happen again.
By all accounts everything seemed to be going well until one day Pearl had a call from White Ant Excavators to say that they had struck rock. In fact they had come up against a huge wall of very hard crystal quartz. White Ant Excavators had stopped work in the meantime to try and sort out what to do.
Things had become tense amongst the stakeholders. A meeting was held on site with Handover Finance, Honey Corp, Sir Cada on his own (Lady Bird had a headache that day) in attendance to consider the situation.
White Ant Excavators had indicated that to go around the huge piece of quartz would mean that the contract price would have to be doubled and had asked for a variation to the contract accordingly.
The investors in the project baulked at this increase in cost and refused to invest any more. Legal action was pending. Moore, Payper and Staff, naturally concerned about being paid were worried about the withdrawal of funding by the stakeholders. Because of this they refused to act on anybody’s behalf!
An impasse resulted. White Ant Excavators didn’t return to work and withdrew all labour. The investors went off in a huff and the incomplete project remained as it was, a beautiful tunnel ending at a block of crystal quartz!
It was quite unpleasant; Sir Cada and Lady Bird weren’t talking to Pearl because of the investment they had lost. None of the investors wanted to take responsibility for the now useless bit of tunnel and had insisted on signing their ownership rights over to the Reserve Bank. After all they didn’t want to have to part with any more dollops and scents to maintain something that was now apparently useless!
Louie, now being a more assertive and confident bee, with Lulu by his side, considered the situation and took it upon himself to use some Reserve Bank dollops and scents to get Sparrow Construction to build a door at the entrance to the tunnel. This meant it could be sealed off and nobody would have access unless authorised by Louie. He also with Lulu’s help used Moore, Payper and Staff to document legal title in the name of the Reserve Bank as the investors had requested. Louie had a feeling that the tunnel could be used somehow, possibly as another vault for storage in the future. Maybe the project could be readdressed at some time.
Once legal title to the tunnel was in the name of the Reserve Bank, Louie took the Ten Ants down to help clean up the remaining mess left by the contractors. It really was a fine looking piece of tunnel. The Ten Ants enjoyed helping Mr Louie; it was something different for them to do.
At the end of the tunnel was of course the face of quartz that had stopped White Ant Excavators Ltd from excavating any further. One day during the cleanup process, Louie and the Ten Ants happened to be working close to the quartz face. Louie stood and studied it. It appeared to have a pale translucent bluish tint. Louie thought this was strange as the beeswax candles gave more of a yellowish hue to the tunnel. What was causing the quartz to look blue? As he moved closer to the quartz it started glowing! Louie gasped, not really believing what he saw. It was a strange pulsing blue light strong enough to light up the tunnel! When he moved away it disappeared and the quartz took on the yellow hue of the candles once more.
The Ten Ants who were with Louie didn’t seem to notice the blue light. To them it was just a large lump of rock blocking the tunnel. Louie shrugged it off as something he must be imagining. He wasn’t about to embarrass himself by talking to the Ten Ants about a strange blue light they obviously couldn’t see.
Deep down however what Louie thought he had seen, disturbed him. Being tired after a long day he decided that he didn’t want to have any more of this nonsense by going close to the quartz again. Perhaps another day, besides which, whatever it was might have gone away by then.
Louie flew home that evening to his beloved Lulu. He sighed and sat down in front of the stove. It was warm and comforting after flying home in the cold evening air. Lulu said she had missed him. Louie had missed her too.
Lulu sensed that something was bothering Louie and held him close then whispered in his ear. ‘What’s bothering you Louie, did something happen today?’
Louie turned and looked at Lulu and said. ‘Dearest Lulu you are so precious to me. You are the only person I can talk to who understands me. Something really strange happened in the tunnel today’.
Louie was silent for a moment then explained to Lulu about the light he had seen being emitted from the quartz at the end of the tunnel. He explained that the Ten Ants hadn??
?t seen anything.
Lulu was quiet for a moment and then said. ‘Louie if you say you saw the light then you must have seen it?’
‘Lulu it really worries me that the Ten Ants didn’t see what I saw. Am I going mad or something?’ Louie responded with a puzzled look on his face.
‘No Louie, there must be an explanation’, said Lulu reassuring her mate.
Lulu held Louie close to her and stroked his head to comfort him. She said softly. ‘What I suggest Louie is let’s get Pearl to come with us and have a look. We can all go to the tunnel and see if we can see anything’.
‘Lulu what would I do without you’, said Louie feeling more positive now and turning his head towards Lulu. ‘You are right. Let’s talk to Pearl about it tomorrow. She is bound to know what it is with all her knowledge’.
After a pleasant evening meal the pair sat in front of the stove until the fire died then headed off to bed. Louie had seen something, Lulu believed him, what was it?
Next morning Louie and Lulu talked about the tunnel again. Louie had hoped that it was just a dream and that he would have forgotten about the whole thing. He hadn’t. It was still quite vivid in his memory how the blue light had glowed brighter when he had approached the quartz.
While they were talking Lulu made a suggestion. ‘Louie at this stage let’s not mention the light you saw to anybody. Let’s just ask Pearl to come and see if she might have any suggestions as to how the tunnel could be used. Then we can all see if we can see anything in the way of blue lights!’
‘Good idea’, said Louie. ‘You are so right as usual; after all it wouldn’t look too good if I mentioned I had seen blue lights when there weren’t any! Pearl thinks I am enough of a nut case now!’
‘Louie!’ said Lulu giving Louie an affectionate smack, ‘Pearl doesn’t think that about you! I will get cross with you if you say that again!’
‘Sorry Lulu’, said Louie. ‘I mustn’t think like the bee I was before I met you!’
Louie smiled and held Lulu close to him.
After breakfast Louie phoned Pearl and arranged that they fly up to her place about 9.30 a.m. He asked her if he and Lulu could talk about possible uses for the tunnel and then go and have a look.
Louie and Lulu tidied up after breakfast then headed up to Pearl’s apartment. Pearl was glad to see them as usual.
‘Morning you two’, said Pearl smiling. ‘Come on in’.
Louie, Lulu and Pearl sat inside; it was quite a cold cloudy and dark sort of winter’s day. The street light where Pearl’s apartment was situated was in fact still on.
Pearl’s apartment was always nice and warm from the heat generated by the street lamp at night. One end of Pearl’s lounge was a clay brick wall that had originally been installed by White Ant excavators. On the other side of the wall was of course the powerful street lamp. The clay bricks heated up at night and kept the apartment warm during the day. Temperature control was a simple open and shut case; the windows!
When the three had all sat down Pearl said. ‘You mentioned the tunnel Louie and possible uses for it. I can’t think of anything in particular. But it would be worth a look again. It could possibly be useful as a shelter should there ever be an attack on the community or perhaps in the event of the stream flooding. I believe it is a good idea to maintain it in a useable condition for the foreseeable future’.
The three shared a cup of gum leaf tea and talked some more before heading off out and away to the tunnel.
The three noticed the change of temperature on leaving the warmth of Pearl’s apartment. The day was indeed quite cold and there was a strong head wind to fly against. It was good to reach the shelter of the tunnel. Louie had the key to the entrance and opened the door then closed it behind them. It was dark and imposing initially until Louie had lit one of the beeswax candles near the entrance. Louie had brought some of his Beehive Matches with him.
As they moved along the tunnel Louie lit the remaining beeswax candles that were spaced at suitable intervals along the wall. It was quite cosy in a strange sort of way.
The tunnel wasn’t that long so it was only a minute or two before they were nearing the quartz rock wall at the end.
Lulu looked ahead to where the tunnel ended; strangely it did seem to have a faint blue colour in contrast to the yellowish light of the beeswax candles. Lulu wondered if she was imagining it.
The three were now close to the wall. Louie was wondering to himself, was it indeed just a dream he had yesterday? No! Suddenly the wall started pulsing with the electric blue light that Louie had seen the day before.
‘My God’, said Pearl. ‘What on earth is that light?’
Lulu froze, Louie had been right. All three of them had seen the rock glow. To Louie it seemed to be a lot brighter than the day before with all three of them now standing close to the quartz.
Feeling a little apprehensive Pearl said. ‘Let’s move back a bit’.
As soon as they all moved back the glow disappeared and the crystal face took on the yellowish hue from the beeswax candles.
Louie explained to Pearl that he had an admission to make. He had really got her down to the tunnel because of what had happened the day before when he had seen the blue light and the Ten Ants couldn’t see what he had seen.
‘Sorry Pearl’, Louie explained. ‘I wanted to get you down here to see if you saw what I saw. I really thought I was going mad’.
Pearl thought for a moment, as we know she was a very well read and knowledgeable Moth. ‘Don’t worry Louie; I’m really glad you got me down here. This is something that is very very interesting.
It’s a possibility’, said Pearl, her brain racing, ‘that there is a great deal of pressure on the quartz from above. Such pressure can produce strong voltages and electric fields across the crystal faces of the quartz. I believe this is what could be producing the blue light. What I can’t understand though is why it glows blue only when we stand close to it. Is it the angle from which we are looking at it maybe? Or is it something about us that causes it to react this way?’
Pearl moved forward so the blue light radiated again. She stood for a few moments fascinated by what she saw and then went on to say. ‘The production of light here I believe must be similar to the street light where my apartment is. High voltages excite atoms and produce light. High voltages have to be present here too’.
Louie hadn’t been good at science at Fly School and Lulu’s real expertise was bookkeeping so neither of them really understood what Pearl was saying. The pair stood nonplussed and silent trying to take it all in.
‘What I can’t understand’, said Pearl, ‘is, Louie you were saying that the Ten Ants couldn’t see the light. It surely must be the three of us that are causing the production of the light but the thing is what’s so special about us?’
Lulu was a bit scared about the whole business. She held Louie tightly and dragged him back away from the quartz.
Pearl moved back from the crystal face as well, watching the blue light fade. Then she moved forward again. The blue glow correspondingly grew brighter. The closer Pearl moved to the wall the brighter the blue light became. It intrigued her. What was causing it?
Pearl carefully moved up to the wall and nervously reached out to touch it. Lulu screamed!........ My God! Pearl disappeared through the wall!
Louie moved forward to go after Pearl. Lulu trembling uncontrollably pleaded. ‘No Louie please, stay here with me, please, please I am so scared!’
‘It’s alright Lulu’, said Louie rushing back to Lulu and holding her very tight. ‘I promise I won’t leave you. What ever happens I am sure Pearl can look after herself’.
Lulu was still trembling uncontrollably with fright. Louie comforted and reassured her. Louie was a bit frightened himself. What on earth was happening?
‘All we can do Lulu’, said Louie, ‘is sit here and wait and see what happens’.
Louie and Lulu stared in silence at the cold crystal rock. They dared not go to
o close. In being some distance away, the face had taken on the yellow hue of the beeswax candles again. Louie and Lulu stood holding each other for more than an hour. They were really getting worried about Pearl now.
‘Louie do you think we should go and get help?’ said Lulu sobbing and worrying about Pearl.
‘I don’t know what we could do if we did get help’, said Louie.
At that moment the quartz wall started to glow blue again.
Lulu grabbed Louie and pointed at the wall. The blue light was getting brighter and started to pulse. Lulu was so frightened words just wouldn’t come out. Suddenly Pearl ‘re-emerged’ back through the wall as strangely as she had disappeared!
Louie rushed forward. ‘Louie! Louie!’ Pearl shouted. ‘Don’t go near the wall, not yet anyway. I need to get my mind together as to what is happening here’.
Pearl was obviously in a state of shock. It took her a while to speak. Pearl was trembling and breathing hard. Eventually Pearl managed to regain a small degree of composure and said. ‘I am OK now and I think everything is alright but I want all of us to go back to my apartment and talk about what I have experienced’.
The three headed back up the tunnel. Louie extinguished the beeswax candles as they went. Pearl said nothing.
Back at Pearl’s apartment, Pearl just sat in silence for awhile as the shock wore off.
‘Louie’, said Pearl. ‘Can you please get all of us a red wine; I have got the most amazing story to tell. I don’t know whether to be terrified, just scared, or excited. I am so confused and overwhelmed with trying to understand what I have experienced’.