Chapter 3: Red Dirt and Dead Ends
The walls of the canyon were very close. The red stone was rough. The stone was very hot. The dark truck was still behind them. The engine of the truck sounded like a big, angry monster.
“Hold on, you drongos!” Diane yelled loudly. “You drongo” means “you idiot”. “This is going to be a rip-snorter!” She turned the wheel. “What a rip-snorter!” means “Fantastic!”. The Land Cruiser bounced over huge rocks. The car went up and down. The red dirt flew into the hot air. It looked like thick smoke.
The bad man in the black truck was driving very fast. He was driving like he was crazy. He was “as mad as a cut snake”. This means he was “very angry”. The rock path got very narrow. The big black truck was too wide. It could not fit in the small space. There was a very loud crash. The metal of the truck hit the hard rock walls. The truck stopped.
“He was spewin’!” Jax said, looking out the back window. “He was spewin’!” means he was “very unhappy”.
Diane smiled a small smile. “We got away. But I am flat out like a lizard drinkin’.” This means she was “very busy” and very tired from driving so hard. “We need to stop and rest. We are safe for a little while.”
They drove out of the canyon. They found a very big, old tree. The leaves were gray. They smelled like strong medicine. Diane stopped the car under the tree to hide from the sun. The sun was very bright and hot. It felt like an oven outside.
“I am very hungry,” Chloe said. She rubbed her stomach. “What’s the latest goss?” This means “Any juicy news?”. She wanted to know if they had any good food left.
Diane got out of the car. “I will make some food,” she said. “Wanna cuppa?” This means “Would you care for some tea?”. She started a small fire. Then she took a big, sharp knife. She walked to the dead wood of the old tree. She cut the wood open. She put her hand inside the hole. She pulled out a very large, fat, white bug. It was a worm. It moved around in her hand.
“Witchetty grubs,” Diane said. She threw the big bugs on a flat pan over the hot fire. “Bog in!” she said with a big smile. “Bog in!” means “Let’s eat!”.
The three young computer workers looked at the big bugs. The bugs got brown and crispy in the heat.
“They look very scary,” Leo said. He held his nose with his fingers. “And they smell bad. You pong,” he told the bug. “You pong” means “You smell”.
“Shut ya gob!” Diane told him. The small card says this means “Time to be quiet”. The big card says it means “Tell someone who cares”. Diane wanted him to be quiet and eat. “Don’t crap on,” she added. This means “Aren’t you exaggerating?”. “These bugs are very good for you. They will give you energy.”
Jax closed his eyes tight. He picked up a hot bug. He put it in his mouth. He bit down hard. It went pop. He chewed it slowly.
“You little ripper,” Diane smiled at Jax. This means “Well done!”.
“It tastes like an egg with nuts,” Jax said. He opened his eyes. “It is strange, but it is not bad food. Bloody oath.” “Bloody oath” means “I agree with you”.
While they ate the scary bugs, Leo opened his computer again. He put it on his lap. “Take a squizz at this,” Leo said to his friends. “Take a squizz at this” means “Have a look.”
He opened the secret computer file again. It was the file from Barnaby. Barnaby was the dead man from the relay station. Leo found something new hidden deep inside the broken code. It was a sound file. It was an audio message.
“We must play this sound,” Leo said. He reached for the volume button.
“Stop!” Diane grabbed his hand. “Do not get your knickers in a knot,” she said softly. “Don’t get your knickers in a knot” means “Don’t upset yourself”. “But we cannot play loud sounds. The bad man might be walking near us. If he hears the sound, he will find us and kill us with his gun.”
Chloe moved closer to the computer screen. “Diane is right,” Chloe said. “We must follow the good rules for web design. The rules are very clear about sound files. The accessibility rule says: for audio-only content, such as a podcast, provide a transcript.“
“I can do that,” Jax said. His fingers moved very fast on the keys. He wrote a small, quick program. The program took the sound from the file. It listened to the words. Then, it typed the words onto the screen so they could read them. It was a perfect transcript. They did not need to make any noise.
The white words appeared on the black screen. They read the message together:
If you are reading this text, I am dead. The Devil’s Marbles are not just giant red rocks. They hide a massive secret computer server. Bad people are using this hidden server to steal big money from all the world banks. You must find the door. You must stop them.
“G’day mate,” Leo whispered. “G’day mate” means “Hello!”. He was saying hello to a very big mystery. “This is huge.”
“We need to protect ourselves,” Chloe said. “Jax, you have a small video camera in your bag. Set it up on the tree. Write a program to watch for moving things. If the bad man comes close, the computer must warn us.”
Jax nodded his head. He attached the small camera to the tree branch. He plugged a wire into his computer. He started to make an alarm program. He typed a very long and confusing warning message.
Chloe stopped him. “No, Jax. You must use the rules. The guidelines say you must ensure that instructions, guidance, and error messages are clear, easy to understand, and avoid unnecessarily technical language.“
Jax deleted the long words.
“Keep content clear and concise.” Chloe told him. “Write in short, clear sentences and paragraphs. Avoid using unnecessarily complex words and phrases. We need to know what is happening in one second if the alarm rings.”
Jax typed a new, simple message. The screen now said: “DANGER. A PERSON IS COMING.”
“Much better,” Chloe said.
They rested in the hot shade for two more hours. The camera did not see anyone. The bad man in the truck was gone for now.
“Alright,” Diane said. She packed the tea pot and the pan into the car. “The old man’s shot through.” This means “My husband’s left town”. She used it to mean that the bad guy had left. “It is time to go. Rack off!” “Rack off” means “Time for you to go”.
They got back into the hot car. They drove slowly over the flat, red sand. The sky was very big and very blue. There were no clouds at all. After a long drive, they finally saw them.
The Devil’s Marbles.
They were giant, round rocks. They were perfectly round, like big balls. They were stacked on top of each other in the middle of the empty desert. They looked like toys left by giant monsters. The red stone glowed in the afternoon sun.
“Howya going mate?” Diane whispered to the old rocks. This means “How are you friend?”. The Aboriginal people call this place Karlu Karlu. It is a very sacred and powerful place.
“This place is very beautiful,” Chloe said. “I wish I could go and tart myself up.” This means ” dress in your best clothes.” She looked at her dirty shirt. “But I only have red dust on me.”
“It does not matter,” Diane smiled. “You look fine. Even with grouse lippy.” “Grouse lippy” means “What a nice shade of lipstick”. Chloe did not have any lipstick on, but she smiled back.
“Let’s go,” Leo said. “We must find the hidden door.”
They walked around the giant round stones. The shadows grew very long and dark on the ground. They looked for wires. They looked for anything made of metal. Everything looked like natural rock and dirt.
“I cannot find anything,” Jax said. He was very tired. “Maybe Barnaby was lying.”
“Look here!” Chloe shouted. She was on her hands and knees in the red dirt. She pointed to a small crack under a massive round rock.
Leo ran to her. He brushed the red dirt away with his hands. Under the dirt, there was a square metal plate. It was a digital lock. It had numbers and a small screen.
“You little ripper!” Jax yelled happily.
Chloe took a small wire from her bag. She connected her computer directly to the metal lock. “I will try to break the code,” she said. She typed very fast. The screen on the lock flashed red. A warning message popped up.
“Is it open?” Diane asked.
“No,” Chloe said. Her face looked worried. “The code is locked. Someone is watching this server.”
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise behind them. It was the heavy sound of a gun loading bullets. Click-clack.
“Get stuffed bitch,” a deep, mean voice said. The translation card says this means “Leave whenever you like”. But the bad man meant it as a very bad word.
They turned around slowly. The bad man from the black truck was standing there. He was covered in red dust. His face was angry. He was holding a very big rifle. He pointed the gun right at Diane.
“Wanna come to our piss-up?” the bad man laughed. “Wanna come to our piss-up?” means “You are invited to our party”. But this was not a good party.
“Could I bot a fag?” Diane asked him calmly. This means “May I have one of your cigarettes?”. She looked right at the gun. She was not scared. She was already planning her next move. The deadly mystery of the Devil’s Marbles was fully awake, and their lives were on the line.
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