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spaceship and the overall effect was imaginative and compelling. It was obvious Starmap 3000 had been picked up for series and it had the look of a winner.
    The whoop of a siren brought Alice back to reality. Two navy-blue-suited cops had stepped out of their vehicle and were glaring at her from across the street, their badges glinting in the sun. She was rooted to the spot in between two lanes of traffic on Third Street.
    Alice told herself they couldn't possibly be concerned with her, what with all the looting and murdering going on in LA. She'd been reading all about it last night in her crime novel. A gap in the traffic opened up and she darted across the road to the safety of the sidewalk.
    'Ma'am, are you aware you were jay-walking?' one of the policeman asked her, as she reached the other side.
    'Jay-walking?'
    The taller of the two was practically bursting out of his uniform. His belly was reined in by buttons and a shiny belt. The shorter cop looked to be an angry balding man in his mid-forties. They both had guns in their holsters. The shorter one addressed her again. 'Ma'am?'
    'Um, no. I was looking up at that . . . billboard,' she gestured upwards, 'and I just momentarily . . . Why, is jaywalking a major deal? I'm sorry, I arrived just over a week ago and I . . .'
    'Where are you from, ma'am?' asked the large one brusquely as he stepped forward. He was clearly pissed off.
    'I'm Australian,' Alice squeaked.
    'Aust-ra-li-an, huh?' He looked her over. Alice felt as though she were some pathetic marsupial exhibit in a zoo. She tried to imagine Saturday morning in a downtown lock-up with assorted crack-dealers and prostitutes. She longed to turn back the clock five minutes. If only she had walked the extra half a mile or so to the nearest signposted pedestrian crossing, this would not be happening.
    'Okay, lady,' the large one sighed, sounding like a punctured soccer ball. 'I'm gonna caution you here. You are not to jay-walk, okay? Ever. I don't know what you guys do Down Under. Maybe you got people just walking along anywhere they want and a whole bunch of kangaroos jumping in front of cars, but here jay-walking is an offence. Do you understand, ma'am?'
    'Yes, I do,' Alice said contritely. She looked down at her sneakers. One of her shoelaces was undone. The radio in the police car squawked and the short policeman walked back to attend to it.
    'I do understand,' she said, 'I'm so sorry, it was just seeing that blasted Starmap 3000 billboard . . .'
    'Ma'am?'
    'No, quite right,' said Alice nodding vigorously. 'Sorry.'
    The officer seemed satisfied that she had understood him, turned his back and started walking back to the police car. Alice let out a sigh of relief and felt her shoulders drop. The policeman stopped.
    Oh, God, what now? Alice froze.
    'Wasn't it filmed Down Under?' he asked, turning back.
    'I beg your pardon?'
    He turned his neck to look up at the billboard. ' Starmap 3000 ,' he said, pointing up with a meaty finger. 'I read something about it in Variety . I'm a bit of a sci-fi nut.' It sounded like a confession.
    'Oh,' exhaled Alice, relieved that she wasn't going to be strip-searched or fingerprinted. 'Yes it was! It was filmed in Sydney. That's where I live.'
    He grunted and looked back at the billboard. 'Yeah, looks good,' he said. 'Think I'll tune in and check it out.' He looked left then right then back to her a final time. He breathed in deeply through his nostrils and nodded as if to conclude their business.
    As he turned and walked back to the police car, his mighty buttocks rose and fell with every step. 'No jaywalking,' he shouted, without turning back. His partner started the car's engine and the siren let out another whoop. Alice jumped. The large police officer eased himself into the vehicle and had only just closed the passenger door before the car did a massive illegal u-turn and sped off. Alice watched it go, her mouth agape. Once the car was out of sight, she had the surreal feeling that