"And bless all the poor people in the world, and all our brave servicemen in Vietnam and may this food be blessed to our stomachs...Amen" said Summer, saying Grace at the breakfast table before she, Travis and Liberty chowed down to eat.
"Travis...you didn't clean up your dinner plate from last night!" Summer complained. "And must you have the record player on so loud? I could hardly say the grace over that racket?"
"It's not just a record player...it's a stereo!" said Travis with glee. "And you have to listen to this! It's the new Beach Boys album: Pet Sounds...and it's like...mind blowing, man!"
"Is that who it is?" said Summer, only mildly impressed. "Nice song"
"Nice? This is the next level, Babe! You know The Beatles threw down the gauntlet when they made Rubber Soul but The Beach Boys have picked it up, ran with it and now they've upped the ante! This is total sound!" Travis was really warming to his theme now.
"I like The Beatles a lot" said Liberty, who had come to breakfast and noticed the stereo was playing.
"Oh so do I? Who do you prefer? John or Paul? I have a soft spot for Paul...'Can't buy me looooooveeeee'!" said Summer, cheerily singing a different song to what Travis was listening to.
"Man, that song was like two years ago...two years! That's an eternity. This is here, now, this is like breaking the Sound Barrier but with pop music!"
"...until The Beatles release their next one" said Liberty.
"Well, I don't know what they could do to top this!" said Travis. "I mean, listen to the harmonic range! I wonder what key this is in?"
Summer let out a little giggle "You don't actually know anything about music, do you Trav?"
Travis twitched nervously. "Maybe not...but I know what great music should sound like! Come on, girls, aren't you getting the same vibe here?"
"It's nice" said Liberty.
"Yes, it's a pretty tune" said Summer, but neither her or Liberty added anything more.
"Pretty...tsch, philistines!" he said. "Well I will enjoy this music on my own then"
Summer went to put the breakfast dishes, including Travis' plate from last night, into the sink to clean when there was a deep gurgling noise, followed by a cracking sound and then a whoosh as water suddenly poured out of a gap between the faucet and the sink.
"Oh great! Sink's broken...again!" said Summer in exasperation.
"I'm on it!" said Liberty, who was the house's resident repairwoman.
"It's probably a broken washer..." said Liberty. "We've been buying a lot of cheap, shoddy ones lately but I have somewhere in the house tool kit some superior ones which are used for the space program, you know?"
Summer had left the room and Travis was still engrossed in Pet Sounds leaving Liberty talking to thin air.
When side one of the album had ended, Summer quickly moved to switch the stereo off and shifted Travis to finish his work project before his shift started. "But wait 'til you get a load of side 2!" he complained.
"Travis went to his workbench and continued to work on the punch cards that would be used for the massive mainframe computer at his job, but he wanted some company so he asked Summer to stick around while he worked and she chatted: Talk did not distract him at all as he had a mind where about half a dozen ideas whirred, whizzed and floated around his mind.
"You're so cute when you get these little obsessions" said Summer. "What's the word they use? 'Nerd'?"
"I'm not a nerd!" Travis replied, indignantly. "Just because I have particular music, movie, TV and comic book tastes does not make me a nerd"
"Whatever you say, big guy" said Summer, rolling her eyes and smiling at her man.
As was customary in this house, Liberty entered the room without knocking and proceeded to sit down next to Summer on the bed. Privacy was not an option here.
"Anyone up for a trip to the park?" she asked.
"I'm off to work soon" said Travis.
"Normally I'd say yes but I'm really worn out and I've got a big work shift tonight...I'll have to pass as well" said Summer.
"Well, suit yourselves...it's too nice a day to be stuck indoors listening to that racket!" said Liberty, standing up and striding out the room.
"Hey!" said Travis in indignation at Liberty's remark.
MAGNOLIA BLOSSOM PARK
The man in the pink shirt stood motionless, blocking the path of Nancy Landgraab who was on her daily run in the park. She had not met this particular one before but she knew who...and what...he was.
"Nancy Landgraab" he said, flatly.
"What do you people want from me this time?" she said, in weariness. These intrusions on her daily life by the Visitors were grinding her down. They promised they would stay in the background and they were increasingly encroaching on her activities.
"Has John Action caused you any more trouble?" said the man.
"No. He's left us alone. My contacts in the Police Department say he's been assigned to other cases."
"John Action and Suzy Kent have discovered the Biome" said the man, flatly.
"The biome?" replied Nancy, shocked. "Which one?"
"Willow Creek. You were meant to demolish those houses. You were meant to be building the research facility."
"It's been difficult! There's been political moves in the council that has prevented the company from taking control of that area."
"Feng has proved a disappointment" said the man. "Bring them around, or we shall deal with them."
Nancy said nothing; she was too worried.
Blissfully unaware of that intrigue, Liberty was at the chess tables taking on all comers. Her first opponent was Cassandra Goth, who took a long time to take her moves as she carefully considered every potential move she could make. She never took her eyes off the board but that didn't prevent her from striking up a conversation with Liberty.
"I believe you work in the Space Programme" she said.
"That's correct. Is that something you're interested in?" asked Liberty.
"I'm interested in space exploration...you might know: Are there aliens? I mean, do they exist?" asked Cassandra.
Liberty was taken aback by that question. "I don't know. We haven't found any evidence of their existence" she said.
Cassandra raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're sending rockets, satellites and probes into space and that hasn't attracted attention from aliens?"
"Space is vast and we've not left the confines of Earth orbit yet. If aliens did exist, they'd have a massive task to even reach our solar system"
"What about the reported sightings of aliens on Earth? Isn't that evidence?" the girl continued to press her point.
"There's no credible evidence. You know, a UFO does not mean an alien...it just means 'unidentified'" explained Liberty. "Have you seen anything like that, Cassandra?" she added.
"Well...I haven't" said the girl, stressing the word 'I' "But....oh, you've checkmated me. Anyway, thank you for the game Miss Lee. Well played" and with that Cassandra got up and walked off. Nice, bright girl thought Liberty But something's off with her.
Liberty's next challenger was a university student called Julia Wright. She was a more devil-may-care player who started the game aggressively but ended up losing to Liberty's more cautious style of play. Liberty liked hanging out around the park and playing chess...not only was it a good way to meet people it also honed her gaming style.
Eventually it was time to move on so she headed home. By now Summer was up and about and wanting to hit the gym...Liberty had no better suggestion so they grabbed their keep fit clothes, bundled them into a bag and headed downtown.
"I'm determined to get more fit, Libs" declared Summer, positively brimming with enthusiasm. "I don't want a return to that state I was in when we all piled on the pounds...I couldn't fit into my favourite dresses!"
"Oh don't remind me of that. I agree...in principle...but I can only spare an hour before I have to go to work but they want me to do 6 hours of exercise in a week; not sure why, I mainly work in a lab and we don't exactly have to bench press weights there."
The girls headed to the changing rooms to get into their fitness clothes but when they came downstairs, they found that all the treadmills were being used.
"Oh dang it!" said Summer. "I fancied a run but those guys there look like they're going for some 20 mile epic...this means..."
"The weight lifting machines!" said Liberty in dread.
There was not much choice so they took the weight machines closest to the treadmills in the hope that one or two would become available soon.
It soon became apparent that the men on the treadmills weren't going to stop any time soon...or indeed ever at the rate they were going. The girls instead used the weights and did some stretches before Liberty had to go upstairs and change before going to work. Summer spotted Julia had just arrived and headed over to greet her.
"Hey Jules...if you came here to use the treadmills you're out of luck: Those guys haven't stopped running since I got here" she said.
Julia looked at the group of sweaty, muscly men and sighed. "Typical of that kind of man, really. Well, we could do some weights" she said.
"I've done that" said Summer, rubbing her sore left arm.
"OK, maybe some exercises, some yoga and throwing a medicine ball around...let's improvise" replied Julia.
"You seem very keen today to exercise." said Summer as they walked over to the soft mat area.
"Well, I need to keep in shape and toned...maybe do something about my skinny legs" said Julia.
"Don't be so hard on yourself, Jules. You've got a nice, trim little body and better slim legs like yours and not great big calves like I had a few months ago!"
"I think my body is too trim; scrawny is more like it" said Julia.
"Nonsense!" replied Summer, fetching a medicine ball from a rack. "And I thought you didn't care about your looks."
"I don't...normally...but I'm thinking about changing my image a bit"
"Really?" said Summer, quizzically.
"Yes...maybe put a teeny tiny bit of weight on to look less like a stick insect, maybe ditch the pigtails as they're a bit schoolgirly."
"Ditch the pigtails!" said Summer, shocked. "But that's your trademark look!"
"And also switch to wearing contact lenses" continued Julia.
"Are you feeling OK?" asked Summer.
"I'm fine..." said Julia with a sigh. "OK, let's throw that ball around."
Meanwhile Travis had finished work and made his way straight back home. There was only one thing he wanted to do when he got there: Put the Pet Sounds album on the record player and listen to it once more.
At that moment, Summer entered the house. "Phew, what a time I've had at the gym! I ache all over!" she said, loudly.
"SHHH! Listen!" said Travis, putting his finger to his lips.
"Is this that new Beach Boys album?" She whispered.
"Yes...this is the best bit" he replied, also in a whisper.
They stood there, silently, listening to the song.
"It's pretty" said Summer, still whispering. "I can see why you like it"
"It's poetry, Sum" he said. "Everything; the music, the lyrics, the vocals...it all comes together."
The two of them turned to face each other and the mood of the song seemed to magnetically move them close to each other. Then, in a flash, they embraced.
"Oh Travis, you are really a romantic kind of guy!" she said.
But across the vast gulf of the Atlantic Ocean, in a recording studio in North London, the greatest pop group the world had ever seen and heard listened to Pet Sounds with envious ears. Slowly and surely, they drew their plans to go past the Beach Boys and escalate the musical arms race.
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