Phil Brown
Writes as Wyken Seagrave
Catriona looked at the Tribune de Geneve Sam had given her, the one with the picture of Kieran Gamble on the front. His dark smouldering eyes burnt up at her off the page. She began to sing his latest song. “Don’t worry my darling, My love will see you through.”
“For God’s sake, Catriona, shut up,” Brigit snapped from the back of the BMW. “I’m trying to work.”
Catriona hummed the tune softly to herself, still examining the newspaper.
“Can you read any of it, Catty?” Sam said.
“I think it’s talking about the Eurovision Song Contest.”
“I thought it would be.”
She started humming “Don’t worry” again.
“It’s not a bad song, I suppose,” Sam said, driving past the airport.
“Not bad? It’s fantastic! We’re bound to win this year.” She plugged in her earphones to play Kieran’s latest album.
“The battery’s flat!” she sighed and looked out of the window. Sam was driving them up a long straight road. It had almost stopped raining and a froth of high spring cloud was gathering above the snow-capped peaks of some distant mountains that stretched right across the horizon ahead of them. She remembered what Aislyn had said when she told her was coming to Geneva for the Easter holiday: “I suppose you’ll be going skiing,” as if skiing was some sort of punishment.
“Oh, by the way Sam,” Brigit said quietly. “I’ve cancelled your flight back.”
Catriona stopped humming, thinking perhaps she had misheard.
Sam leaned over to look at Brigit in the mirror. “Really? Cancelled the flight? Why’s that, my love?” he said calmly.
“I need you here. You were right, Sam. This job’s too much for me. You’re gonna have to stay and support me.”
There was a short silence. Catriona remembered how Sam had warned her Mother not to give up her job in Irish television to become the Irish Ambassador but she had been utterly confident she could cope on her own. Obviously in the past two months she’d found out he’d been right.
“I think Catriona should finish her school leaving cert first, don’t you, Bee? She’s due to start revising as soon as we get back. We’ll come back after the summer term ends, dearest.”
“No,” she snapped. “I need you here now, Sam.”
There was another embarrassed pause.
“I’d love to stay and help you, Bee,” he said, “but I don’t think my school would--”
“Your school?” Brigit’s voice was colder than the snow on the distant mountains. “Surely you’re not putting a class of eight-year-olds before the interests of Ireland are you, Samuel?”
“Of course not dearest, but--”
“Good because I called your school as well.”
There was an even longer pause.
“Did you dear?”
Catriona looked at him in bewilderment. How could he take it all so calmly?
“Yes. I said you’d broken both legs skiing and would have to stay here resting for the next three months at least. You can write to them later to hand in your resignation.”
Catriona stood in the car park leaning against Mother’s BMW, looking back down the road they had just driven up, watching aeroplanes taking off and landing. She was so angry with her mother she felt like kicking the car. Mother had cancelled her flight as well as Sam’s. Typical. Expects us to stay here and help her just because she can’t manage on her own. Should have known she didn’t invite us over just for an Easter holiday. Well I’m going home next week whatever happens. I’ll ask Sam to lend me the money for a new ticket. I’ll go and stay with Aislyn’s family.
Catriona was still thinking what Aislyn would say about this when her mother said “May I introduce me daughter, Francisco?”
Catriona turned to see Mother and Sam walking down the Reception building steps with a fat man in a dark suit. Brigit was holding out her hand like a queen pointing at one of her courtiers.
The fat man bowed slightly. “Delighted to meet you Signorina,” he said. He parted his heavy lips in a toothy smile as he leaned forward to kiss her, his enormous stomach wobbling, but Catriona reached out and offered him a handshake. A moment later she regretted it when her fingers sunk softly into his flesh as if into cold clammy pastry.
“Catriona, may I introduce Professor Romani,” Brigit said, “the Director General of CERN.”
“Hi,” Catriona said rapidly withdrawing her hand.
Brigit scowled at her as she walked away across the car park beside Francisco.
“Come on Catty,” Sam said, taking her arm and leading her after them. “What d’you think of the Globe of Innovation?”
Catriona glanced at the huge dark brown wooden dome ahead of them on the other side of the main road. It rose high into the watery sky like a half-inflated balloon surrounded by concrete buildings and electricity pylons, steaming chimneys and glass offices.
“I hate it,” she said. “I hate this whole place. It’s so ugly.”
“My, we are in a bad mood today,” Sam said. “The Globe isn’t ugly. And just look at those mountains. We could go skiing and--”
“There’s no way I’m staying here, Sam,” Catriona snapped as they waited at the roadside. “I don’t care what she says. I’m going home next week no matter what you do. Can you lend me the money for a ticket?”
A white car stopped at the black and yellow crossing. Sam waved thank-you to the pretty young lady driver but he didn’t answer the question.
Mummy’s late, Maria told the baby as she waited for the couple to cross the road then drove into the visitor’s car park. She told him almost everything. Daddy will be worried. Poor Daddy. He’s had to work all night.
She parked her rusting old Citroen as near to the Globe as she could. She didn’t have time to go round the back to her official parking place. She should have opened the Globe fifteen minutes ago but the doctor had kept her talking. Still she felt better now. She knew exactly what the problem was and what she had to do about it. Not sure Daddy’s going to like it though.
She got out of the car and hurried across the car park towards the Globe. She loved this building. The whole structure had a fragile, translucent, unworldly appearance. It reminded Maria of a delicate giant brown eggshell that had been cast out from some immense bird’s nest on the Jura mountains towering in the distance.
As she hurried across the Route de Meyrin she realised that one of the people waiting at the fence looking at the Globe was Francisco Romani. He was on his mobile phone. Big boss waiting for Mummy. Oh dear. Mummy in trouble now. And she won’t be able to call Daddy. She wondered how the experiment was going. She knew Danny was worried about it but then he was a born worrier. Between ATLAS and the baby he was worrying himself to death.
“Good morning Professor Romani,” she said breezily as she unlocked the gate. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting. I was held up at the clinic.”
“Zat cannot be ‘elped, my dear,” Francisco said. “Your Excellency may I introduce Maria Kissov, ze Globe Exhibition Officer. Maria zis is ‘Er Excellency Brigit Fitzpatrick, Irish Ambassador to ze United Nations.”
“Pleased to meet you Madame,” Maria said shaking her hand. “Follow me please.” She led the party up the wide tarmac drive towards the Globe.
Catriona trailed behind as Maria let Francisco’s party, and some other visitors, up a few steps and through a small door into the large round hall on the ground floor of the wooden dome. It was filled with an exhibition of posters and video screens with interactive exhibits. Sam stopped to look at a poster and Catriona went and stood beside him still furious with her mother.
“So you won’t lend me the money for a ticket?” she said.
“I can’t do that, Catty. I think it would be best if the family stayed together.”
“That’s a joke. Mother wasn’t bothered about family when she came here and left us behind.”
Sam ignored that. “Now just look at this,” he said pointing enthusiastically at the poster. “It says here ATLAS will probe the mysteries of the particle world taking us back to the Big Bang itself. Isn’t that exciting?”
She glanced at the poster. Swarms of coloured dots and squizzles burst out of an explosion labelled Big Bang and hurtled in ever-growing circles toward’s Rodin’s Thinker. Poor little chap didn’t seem to notice what was heading his way. He just sat there, his head on his hand, looking down at nothing in particular, thinking. Catriona wanted to shout at him, to push him off his rock and tell him: Look out! The squizzles are coming to get you! She felt as vulnerable as he looked. They were both alone in the universe facing an on-coming tide that threatened to overwhelm them. She read the poster again: ATLAS will probe the mysteries of the particle world... Why bother? There’s enough mysteries in the human world without looking for more. ...taking us back to the Big Bang itself. She frowned.
“Scientists believe that the Universe was created in the Big Bang, don’t they Sam?”
“Yes,” Sam nodded. “I think they do.” Sam knew a bit about science. As a primary school teacher he knew a bit about everything and a great deal about nothing.
“So does this mean they are actually trying to re-create the Big Bang here?” she said.
“Looks like it, Kitty,” he said.
“Then they must be mad!” she said beginning to feel overwhelmed and light-headed. First her mother’s selfishness and Sam’s treachery and now this. “Don’t they realise how dangerous it could be?”
“I thought you believed that God had created the Universe?”
“Of course He did,” she said, “but just suppose for a minute that they’re right. If the Universe really did begin with a Big Bang then what might happen if they create another one here?”
“I don’t know, Kitty. You tell me.”
“Surely another Universe could be created! I mean, it’s only logical isn’t it?”
Sam frowned. “I’m not sure Catty, but I don’t think--”
“And supposing, just supposing they did make a new Universe. Then what would happen to this one? Who knows what havoc they might cause, Sam?” she insisted, her voice starting to rise. “All in the name of progress and science.”
Just then Maria began to give a short welcoming speech from the centre of the round hall and everyone stood around to listen.
Maria’s Speech
“On behalf of the Centre for European Nuclear Research I’d like to welcome you all to the Globe of Innovation,” she said, then began to repeat herself in French.
Catriona’s anger at her mother was now compounded by a fear for the universe.
“This exhibition shows you how the discoveries made in CERN are bringing benefits to the lives of people all over the world,” Maria announced proudly.
“Oh how lovely,” Catriona said in a stage-whisper.
“Shh,” Sam hissed.
But Catriona couldn’t control the anger that was building up inside her. Her face began to burn. A voice inside her head started shouting “Get away from here, Catty! Go back to the airport and get on a plane for Ireland.” But even as she thought about it she realised it was no good. She didn’t have enough money for a flight and no passport. And anyway, if this Universe was destroyed then Ireland would be no safer than here. Her heart began to pound and she looked round at Sam with a growing sense of panic like a wild animal trapped in a cage.
Then Maria began speaking in English again. “From the invention of the World Wide Web, to improvements in superconducting magnets used in body-scanners, a wide range of discoveries made here have improved the quality and safety of everyone’s lives.”
“How absolutely grand!” Catriona said so loudly that Maria stopped speaking and everyone turned to look at her. Even Francisco Romani was staring at her with a surprised expression and the look her mother gave her could have set her hair on fire but Catriona didn’t care. She had heard of scientists going off and doing all sorts of crazy things that caused more problems than they solved. Usually Greenpeace or somebody would try to stop them, but perhaps they hadn’t heard of this new madness. She had to do something. Did they have Greenpeace in Switzerland? What’s the French for These maniacs are going to destroy the Universe?
