kce

easy conclusion. Regardless, because I am an honest person, I would do no
less for her than I had done for any of the others. I would lay the pieces out,
and she could try to put them together.
‘Is it alright if I record our conversation?’ she asked again.
‘Oh, of course.’ I made a dismissive gesture with my hand. ‘Go right
ahead.’
She fumbled around in her bag for bits and pieces. Between sips of
coffee, she unpacked her tape recorder and set it up.
I wanted her to talk, to chat idly while she was getting things ready,
because I wanted to delay our commencement. I hate businesslike
attitudes, and I’ve always felt much more comfortable speaking to
someone on a personal level.
‘Gippsland is spectacular in the autumn,’ she said. ‘I’ve been to this
region before, a number of times, but never to interview someone about a
UFO encounter! I was thinking on the long drive from Melbourne — with
country as big as this, I suppose anything can happen and most people
wouldn’t even know.’
‘You’d be surprised how much gets seen and never reported.’
‘Country people keep to themselves,’ she replied sagely, and I
shrugged. Country people, city people — there isn’t much difference when
it comes to UFOs.
‘You know,’ she said bluntly, ‘I’m pretty new to this UFO business.’
She laughed. ‘You’ll forgive me if I make any faux pas along the way,
won’t you?’
‘Of course.’
‘I’m a journalist with a background in technology, but I’ve always
been fascinated by unusual and unexplained events.’
Her tape recorder was now set up, and she did a sound level check.
Happy, she pressed the play and record buttons.
‘Eumemmerring Creek Encounter. Interview with Kelly Cahill. Tape
One. Thank you for seeing me, Kelly,’ she said, in the seasoned journalist’s
interview style.
‘Anything for research,’ I replied with a weak laugh. ‘I hope you
learn something from this that will help you make up your mind.’
She smiled. ‘I expect I will. You’ve got quite a story!’
Her words seemed just a little too exuberant, bordering on the
patronising. But perhaps it was only my understandable sensitivity that