Chapter 1

The state of Queensland has the greatest diversity of ants in the world, with more than 1,400 species known within its borders. The total number of species known in Australia could possibly be over 6,500, with only one in five ants being described.

"You know," Gordy said, "I envy Alan Anderson!"

"Who?" Weena asked.

"Alan Anderson. He's at CSIRO in Darwin. He researches and writes – those two books on Australian ants, for example."

"And you're head of the Australian Museum."

"When I moved to Sydney in 1982, all I wanted to do was research."

"Well, you did research. Then you became a director and then a professor and now we're here."

"All true. But I've been thinking about Canberra."

"Brooding more likely!"

"Mmmm."

"Sit dow, let me get us each a glass of wine, and let's talk."

"Yes, dear."

"And don't get snarky with me after all these years!"

We sat and drank a glass or two. For close to 30 years Weena had been able to get me to relax. "OK," she said. "What's the real problem?"

"I don't know exactly. It seems to me that five years is long enough to be at the Museum. But I'm fairly certain that I don't want to be an administrator in Canberra. And it seems to me that I was happy doing research – all sorts of research. Being a junior detective. As I was at Lake Throssell. Or at Monkey Mia. That sort of thing."

"Could you get leave from the Museum?"

"What?"

"Well, you've had staff go on expeditions. Could you go on one? Would you qualify for a grant? Where would you want to go? What would you want to do? You know that 30 years ago you had ideas. Did your doctoral research in the field. If you want to do something, get off your duff!"

"Don't get worked up!"

"Why not? You're just whining. You want to do research. OK. Do research. Think of a project. Think of how long you'd need. List the possible funders. Then, let's work on it."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"OK. But first I'm going to email Chas."

"Oh?"

"And let him know I'm out of the running. You answer the phone in ten minutes."

Weena laughed. The phone rang in half ten minutes. She answered and explained to Chas what Gordy really wanted to do. In fact, she explained twice. Chas seemed incapable of understanding that Gordy wanted to give up power to go back to "grubbing" in the field.

"Told dja," Gordy said when she finally got off.

"You did. And you wuz right." They both laughed.

Patrick wasn't prepared for a call from his father – generally calls went the other way: initiated by Patrick. "What's up?"

"I thought I'd try to chew through something with you."

"Over the phone or should I meet you?"

"This is fine. Briefly, I'm not applying for the job at Black Mountain and I've told Chas not to put my name forward."

"That's not all."

"Far from it."

"You're not running away to join a circus?"

"No," Gordy laughed. "I've left that to your sister."

"Ooh! A low blow."

"Not really. Anyway, I think I really want to return to research. Or at least some field work."

"Can't you just do it? You've told me how you went on a field trip with the Museum when you were a student."

"True. But he was head of entomology, not the ball of wax."

"The Museum must still provide for things. Who's in charge of research? They must work for you."

"The Research Institute was created about 18 months ago. Rebecca Johnson is Director. She's an expert in wildlife genomics."

"So there you are. Call Dr. Johnson and ask her whether you could do some work for the Institute. I'm certain that you qualify for leave after four years behind a desk. Actually, the PR folks at the Museum will love it."

"You're a smart lad. Your parents did a fine job."

"Don't push it! They had help from a kangaroo!"

"Very true."

"Anyway, do you recall what a precis or a summary looks like? Do one a page long or a bit more and email it to Dr. Johnson. No more that 3-4 references. When she gets back to you, be ready with time and cost. Have your admin find out about leave in the meantime."

"You're right. Thanks. Any notion what you're going to do?"

"Yes. But I'm not telling a government spy."

"OK. I'm going to construct a proposal, now."