by Benson, Tom
“Bill and Tracey are at the counter,” Dawn said. “Should we tell him what we’re up to?”
“No,” Steph said. “We’re capable of doing the groundwork, and then we’ll update him. Besides, he’s enjoying breakfast.”
Dawn glanced back over her shoulder to see Bill and the blonde firefighter deep in conversation as they ate. “Just as well that Tracey is a firefighter … there’ll be no fear of sparks flying.”
Sandy covered his mouth with a hand to prevent spitting tea over the table. “Please.”
Both women laughed.
A short while later the three of them paused to say hello to Bill and Tracey and then they left the cafeteria to head for the Control Centre.
Tracey turned to her companion at the table. “A penny for your thoughts, Bill.”
He sipped tea. “When we ended up in the tunnel with the coach, I experienced several emotions, and for once in my life, I was confused about direction.”
“You don’t strike me as somebody who’d ever be lost.”
Bill laughed. “I don’t mean navigational direction. For a few years, I’ve kept to myself, you know, having no responsibility for anybody else. I’ve spent most of my life under pressure of some description. One of the reasons for being on the tour was to relax. I wanted to let somebody else do the planning, the driving and the thinking.” He drank more tea. “The coach had hardly settled on the rails in the tunnel when I sensed the panic all around. I hoped somebody would step up and take control, but it wasn’t going to happen.”
“Are you saying you didn’t want to be at the front end, but couldn’t stand to see somebody else making a mess of it?”
“Yeah, I suppose that’s about the size of it. Plenty of people had something to say, but all gave the impression that it was knee-jerk reaction. It wouldn’t have lasted long if they took the lead.”
“When we finish eating, I’ll take the lead and show you around, including the orchard.” She laughed.
“Sandy told me last night that this place was full of surprises, but he didn’t tell me I’d be impressed by the sight of the firefighting team.”
“There’s only—” She grinned and slowly shook her head. “Finish your tea, and we’ll get going.”
As they walked back towards the counter to leave their crockery at the small hatch there were greetings and nods from others who had just arrived to have a meal; simple, but hot and with a drink.
Tracey led the way out of the cafeteria, turned right and pushed open the door signed Maintenance. She paused in front of another door. “Back many years ago, when the plant was first set up, it required a lot of equipment to help maintain the turbines. What we’re about to enter is a massive chamber which was a working location for about ten personnel. It was probably five years ago when the area was subdivided.” She pushed open the door.
“Holy shit. How can this be possible?” He looked from side to side, taking in the sight of a cavernous space about the size of a sports field, complete with grass. Several lines of trees stood and at the distant end were three large greenhouses.
“The lighting, as you can see, isn’t normal … it’s what they call artificial daylight, and it works on a timer. One-third of the time, the lights are dimmed, but the remainder prompts the vegetation into thinking that it’s mid-summer. If we continue to walk on the grille around the perimeter, we’ll avoid getting soaked.”
“Soaked?”
“Yes, in concert with having the right temperature and our fake daylight, there is a sprinkler system in place to provide a light rainfall at regular intervals.”
“How many trees are in here?”
“At last count, I think there are thirty, but they produce an assortment of fruit between them. You’ll also see the greenhouses from here. They too produce a good range of food. Watch closely, and you’ll see the cantilever operation.”
“Yes, I see shelves rising and falling, or are they rotating? What’s going on there?”
“The timing is dependent on which type of fruit or veg is growing, but basically there are four sets of shelving in each section. They are timed to move around after so much light, and they also have an automatic sprinkler system to provide their indoor rainfall.”
“I see there is a robotic trimmer, so the grass is obviously kept neat although it must grow fast.”
“It’s kept neat because we harvest the grass using the trimmer. The cuttings are then used to produce milk. It was one of our engineers who developed the milk-making machine about four years ago. He became famous for such an innovation. He proved that as long as you had vegetation and could imitate a cow’s dual-stomach digestive system, you could produce milk.”
“Is that hens I can see wandering around among those trees?”
“Yes, we have twenty hens, so eggs are always available. The birds are safe due to the facility being one of the first visitor attractions of its type to go vegetarian back in 2035.”
“I saw other trees and bushes in different areas as I walked around last night.”
“It’s a massive concern and when the standard temperature was realised many years ago, the operators in here experimented by planting trees here and there in the tunnel alongside the roadway. Bananas, pineapples and coconuts are all growing somewhere between the cafeteria and the entrance at the far end.”
“Talking of the far end, was it the soldiers who secured the main doors?”
“No, and those doors are an anti-flood barrier,” Tracey said. “We had a mass panic as you can imagine when we heard the radio reports about what was happening. Des, Ramona and I were on duty and the only people who didn’t have family within a short drive. It was heartbreaking, but when the staff left, with our blessing they took any vehicle that would move. You might have seen the two CCTV monitors in the Control Centre.”
“Yes, I did. One is a view of a roadway with a loch behind it. The other looks like an embankment beside a loch.”
“That roadway is the one outside the entrance that we’ve sealed. Des saw the two soldiers staggering towards the flood barrier doors, but the guys hadn’t come from a vehicle, they’d come from the loch. Des saw the three heli-pods going down.”
“Yes, Sandy explained the loss of his colleagues.”
“I ran along and let Sandy and Flint in. As soon as I did, Sandy told me to secure the doors and not open them to anybody. He briefly explained about radiation and said we couldn’t afford to risk opening the doors again. We were already worried about the loch flooding over the embankment.”
“It must have come as a shock when we unlocked the old railway tunnel doors.”
“Shock? Des nearly shit himself. He called me to the Control Centre, and it was only then we realised, we still had a monitor for that old entrance, but it was no longer connected. All we could go on was the alarm and the red light to say a door had been opened.”
“We’re lucky that Sandy was professional and didn’t simply open fire the moment he saw us.”
“After what they’d been through, I’m surprised he didn’t shoot.”
“I think Sandy is a strong young man, mentally as well as physically. He’ll be an asset for us as time passes.”
“What’s your background, Bill, because you don’t strike me as a nine to five kind of guy?”
“I was a soldier for a long time and then a couple of years ago, I left the military and became a personal bodyguard for a while.”
“Right,” Tracey said and smiled. “Would you like to walk along and see the road all the way to the flood barrier doors, and then you can see our tree selection?”
“Yeah, that would be good, and you can tell me how you ended up a firefighter in a facility like this.”
The pair wandered on along the dimly-lit road towards the huge metal doors at the far end which were secured. As they walked, Tracey explained how she’d lost family members in an industrial blaze, and her way of dealing with it was to train for a firefighting role.
“I think this
machine is on its way out,” Dawn said. “If we quickly cross-reference and double-check what you’ve got in your notes we’ll have to hurry.”
Steph opened her pad. “Okay, here we are.” She held her pen poised. “Give me a name and whatever you’ve got on there.”
“The way it works is that I take a picture of a new passenger, and then I ask the name, so the tablet registers those two details, plus the relevant pick-up point. If there’s a problem I ask for the passenger’s age and occupation, which the company always requests at booking anyway.”
“I do recall when we set off that you took a picture of each of us outside the hotel.”
“Right, the first one I’ve got is me, and then we’ve got Paul, our driver. Damn it, the facial recognition application is fading, and the name pulsates on and off … here we are, Calvin Campbell, Personal Trainer … he joined us at the Golden Eagle Hotel.”
“He was right in front of me.”
“Yes, you’re next. Steph Collins, Author, joined at Golden Eagle Hotel.” Dawn sighed with exasperation. “I don’t care if it never works again, but we must get this info … next one … Tina McVie, Veterinary Surgeon … joined at Golden Eagle Hotel, and Linda Farringdon, Prison Governor.”
The machine was cutting in and out, which made a simple job very difficult.
“Okay, they all match up so far.”
“Bird of Prey viewing stop, Ken Wallace, Sales Executive.”
“And now deceased,” Steph said, “but we know he wasn’t a Sales Executive, he was a police officer.”
Dawn glanced over her shoulder at Des who was sitting halfway along the Control Centre, taking readings and making adjustments on a large panel. “Somewhere, we must have more … ah, Victoria Boyd, Botanist.” Dawn shook her head. “Please don’t fade on us.” She inhaled deeply and swiped the screen. “Patsy Mayne, Prison Officer ….”
Steph referred to her notes. “How unusual, that we have a prison governor and a prison officer. They’ll have some tales to tell, I’m sure.”
“I expect they’d enjoy a chat together. I wonder if they’ve ever worked in the same place.” Dawn nodded and stared at her machine. “Next ….” She reeled off three more names, and then the machine’s screen faded. “Damn it.”
“Don’t worry, Dawn, I think we got everybody.”
“It doesn’t solve our problem,” Dawn whispered. “We’re trying to locate a fake among our group so we can tell Bill who it is.”
Steph wished it were that simple. She already knew that both Ken and Anne had used fake occupations. She kept her own counsel.
The door opened, and Tracey stepped inside, followed by Bill.
Tracey nodded and smiled at the two women seated at the table before she joined Des at the main console. “Anything unusual?”
Des shook his head and then went through a list of checks he’d done, both people ignoring the other three in the large room.
Bill sat beside Dawn and Steph. “This place has got some strange things going on.”
“We’ve been double-checking our passenger list and their occupations, Bill,” Dawn whispered.
Bill’s buoyant mood faded. “Do we have somebody listed as a prison officer?”
Steph glanced at Dawn and then turned her book to point at the names. “We have a prison officer and a prison governor?”
“Perhaps not, from what I’ve been informed,” Bill whispered.
14 - Responsibilities
“Fellow survivors,” Bill said and gazed from left to right around the gathering in the cafeteria. “We’ve had a productive meeting with our committee. We were aided by Sandy’s up to date knowledge of matters relating to nuclear, biological and chemical warfare. Our group has now increased in number, and if we are careful and maintain mutual support, we’ll not only continue; we’ll thrive.”
A spontaneous cheer went up around the large room.
“If you listened, you’d have heard that cheer echoing around the room and coming back to you, and it’s deserved by every person present. Certainly, one or two have been able to demonstrate their skills but we’re all capable of doing our bit.” Bill smiled as he looked around. “We have joined two soldiers and three members of the Auchcarn team but Des is on duty right now on a task that is a necessity.”
He paused to glance at the notebook he’d borrowed from Steph.
“This is the fifth day since all of our lives changed irrevocably. For anybody like me, who likes to maintain order, this is a prophetic day to be gathered. Yes, it’s mid-week, a Wednesday, but it’s the first day of June in this strange year, two thousand and sixty-five. This is the start of a summer the like of which none of us will ever have experienced.”
Quiet sobbing started at more than one table, but there was no demand for silence or order. As Bill’s words hit home, some men and women alike were reminded of who and what had been become history to them. Family, friends and normality as they knew it had gone.
For a while, Bill stood surveying those around him, saying nothing. He considered himself fortunate that he had left nobody behind, somewhere out there amid man’s desire to wipe out the human race. He waited until he was assured by appreciative nods.
Bill said, “Apart from me, Sandy and Flint have had in-depth military training on the effects and after-effects of nuclear conflict. However, the best person to deliver information to you is Harry, and he’s agreed to try and explain the possible outcome in simple terms.”
Harry stepped forward and faced a silent and expectant audience. “We have food, water, shelter and importantly, companionship … having each other will prove vital if we’re all to retain our sanity and move on. The initial destruction outside of these walls has ended. For some time, there will be an ongoing depreciation of the natural world due to radiation. What occurred a few days ago will have lasting consequences world-wide. Flora, fauna, waterways and weather systems will be affected, and so too will any humans who somehow managed to survive outside of protective shelters.”
For a few minutes, there was the usual hubbub as people asked somebody nearby a question. The professor allowed the people to talk. Time was, after all, the only thing in plentiful supply.
“Outside of this mountain,” Harry said, “we believe there will be what is known as a nuclear winter. This is not a phenomenon that will occur in concert with our present understanding of the seasons. For decades, our planet has been under pressure from our greed and abuse of natural resources.”
Fiona, the dentist, raised her hand. “Harry, when you say nuclear winter, are we actually talking about a drastic drop in temperature?”
“We are, Fiona, and although it may not affect every continent in the same way, it may last for a considerable time in some places. The term ‘nuclear winter’ was used years ago and many theories have been produced. Those theories were separate to the studies which looked at the damage that mankind has done to our eco-system. The soot and filth from a large number of nuclear explosions, or fireballs, rises up into the stratosphere. A lot of it will be beyond where rain can dissipate it, so it will block out the sun’s rays, and therefore the earth’s temperature will drop.”
Archie, at fifty, was one of the older people. “Are we saying that we don’t know how we’ll be affected, so we don’t know how cold it will get, or for how long?”
“Yes to all three, Archie. The world as we knew it only a week ago is going to morph into a new beginning. It may take six months, a year or perhaps longer, but there will be a cleansing by Mother Nature. The best-case scenario is that Earth is not completely hidden from the sun’s radiation for five or ten years and that within our mountain home, we will be able to sustain and survive.” He paused. “I believe if we are careful, we’ll get through this, so please don’t give up.”
Harry nodded to Bill and stepped aside.
Another buzz of conversations picked up around the room, and Bill nodded to Ramona and her small group of assistants.
Bill said, “We’re going
to stop now for a short while to let you all move around and discuss what you’ve heard so far. Afterwards, we’ll talk about how we’re going to continue as survivors.”
“Hot or cold drinks,” Ramona announced and she lined up behind the counter with Victoria and Craig armed with tea or juice.
Bill sat at the table where he’d been standing to address the group.
Steph reached out and placed a hand on his arm. “You’re doing a great job.”
“Thanks, Steph. Each time I address our group, I want to hand over to somebody else, but I see a glimmer of hope in some of their eyes and—”
“Don’t fool yourself, my friend. That’s not hope you see in those eyes out there; it’s faith. From the moment you first stood at the front of that coach and made them all shut up and listen, they think of you as our leader; our saviour. I know that’s how they feel.” She winked. “I’m one of them.”
“I brought you two a drink,” Calvin said. “I could see you were planning the next part.” He put two cups on the table and briefly placed a hand on Bill’s shoulder. “We’re all with you, mate.”
“Are you all ready for more enlightenment?” Bill aimed for an upbeat message and his question was met with cheers and even a few smiles. “Various people have agreed to take a turn standing here to give you a break from me.”
Laughter sounded from around the room.
Bill said, “Our aim over this extended update is to give you an overview of our position and our objectives. Harry, our one-time recluse is up to talk again now.”
Harry stood and briefly tugged on his dark beard as he nodded to Bill. “My background as many of you will now know is in physics, but I’ve had the opportunity to dabble in various areas. I can tell you that the water we drink here is sourced from the same underground spring which fed our taps briefly in the tunnel. I am confident that we will have drinking water as an ongoing resource.”
