by Nick Cook
‘You can blame the tabloid press for that catchy little title,’ a female member of his cabinet said. ‘Even in times such as these, a name like that helps to sell newspapers. I’m afraid it’s also given fuel to the more extremist factions around the world, who have been fighting efforts to defend ourselves against the Shade.’
‘Oh, you mean the Enders,’ I said. Another headline-friendly name created by journalists for the EWP group led by Father Russell.
‘Journalists after a quick story is one thing, but people deliberately trying to fight our efforts to save humanity is entirely another,’ Carter said. ‘It’s almost as if these fools are trying to do the Shade’s job for them.’
‘I’ll give them bloody Judgement Day,’ Chloe muttered.
Carter turned his attention to Hammond. ‘General, have steps been taken to secure all the Waveriders?’
‘They certainly have, Prime Minister. All critical facilities are heavily guarded. In addition to that, we have been running patrols to deal with the Enders who have been targeting civilians fleeing into the cities and trying to block their passage. There have been a number of incidents, all fairly minor, but the Enders’ main line of protesting has so far thankfully been restricted to banners and human roadblocks.’
‘Just make sure you deal with them carefully,’ Carter replied. ‘We don’t want this escalating and creating any martyrs for their cause.’
‘I can assure you that everyone has been ordered to use minimal force,’ Hammond replied.
‘And what about feeding all the people living in the cities?’ Carter asked.
A chubby minister I recognised from the news, but whose name I couldn’t remember, replied, ‘As you know, thanks to the numerous scaremongering news reports, there has been significant panic buying and supermarket shelves have been stripped bare. However, we have been stockpiling food and medicines at designated distribution centres throughout the cities. After the Fall, we will be looking at implementing some sort of rationing system, but that is still work in progress.’
‘And what about in the longer term, when the stockpiled food runs out?’ I asked.
‘Then we intend to turn all parkland and residential gardens over to food production.’
‘Hang on a minute. The last time I checked, plants needed sunlight to grows,’ Chloe said. ‘The cities that have already fallen are under a blanket of Shadowlands darkness, so not a lot of sunshine is going to get through to help grow plants beneath the energy domes.’
‘You’re right,’ the minister replied. ‘In many ways we’re facing challenges that would be similar to those caused by a nuclear winter, especially in regards to food production. However, there were already plans in place to cope with that scenario. As we speak, huge greenhouses are being constructed in major open spaces, such as Hyde Park. Each of these greenhouses will be equipped with banks of lights for photosynthesis. We will be prioritising crops such as potatoes and wheat, with chickens and sheep brought in as well – although we will be looking at a mainly vegetarian diet for most people.’
‘That sounds like a modern-day take on the Dig for Victory campaign,’ General Hammond said.
‘With one major addition,’ Carter said. ‘Thanks to the smaller L1 fusion plants that Martin and Claire will be supplying, we intend to build a low-energy grid to provide power to people’s houses. It probably won’t be enough for any heavy-duty appliances, especially across an entire city, but it should be sufficient to light LED bulbs and the like.’
‘So in other words, you’ll manage to keep the lights on,’ Hammond said.
Carter nodded as he looked off into the middle distance and rested his fingertips together. ‘Look at how a single candle can both defy and define the darkness…’
‘I didn’t have you down as a poet, Prime Minister,’ I said.
‘I wish I could take the credit for that, but it was written by Anne Frank in her famous diary. I think it’s rather fitting of our own looming situation.’
A brave young girl who’d hidden with her parents from the Nazis. Yes, it was more than appropriate.
‘So, like Anne Frank, we need to do our best to survive in this new world that has been thrust upon us,’ he continued. ‘And I have to hope with all my heart that one day the human race finds its way out of this darkness and back into the light.’ He dropped his gaze to his notepad filled with scribbles.
Wishful thinking? Maybe. But even though Carter was sounding more like a preacher than a PM, maybe that was exactly what we needed at the moment: someone to help us to focus on a glimmer of hope, however faint it was. Just like Churchill had back in the Second World War.
The phone buzzed and Litchford picked it up. He listened for a moment and then clicked a button on a remote. On the large screen behind him, an image of the Shadowlands came up. The dark fog had almost covered the whole of Ireland, and was spreading towards its eastern coast.
Litchford clicked the button again and an aerial image of a city appeared, its lights blazing as the edge of the Shadowlands crept towards it.
‘You’re looking at Dublin, which is due to fall under the influence of the Shadowlands within the next five minutes,’ Litchford said.
Carter shook his head. ‘Would it be possible to get the Irish prime minister on the line?’
‘I’ll do my best, although I expect he may be somewhat preoccupied,’ Litchford replied. He picked up the phone and began dialling.
As we waited, we watched the Shadowlands close in on the city of half a million people. One by one, the smaller surrounding towns winked out of existence as they were overtaken by the black fog.
Chloe touched my hand under the table, her fingers biting into mine as the Shadowlands reached the edge of the city. My heart rate surged with relief as a shimmering golden globe of energy suddenly appeared over Dublin and the fog rolled around it. Yet another city had been saved.
Chloe released her vice-like grip on my hand. However much testing we did, it would never stop moments like this being heart-grindingly tense as we waited to see if each city’s Waverider did its job properly.
The phone rang and Litchford picked it up. He listened and then announced, ‘Prime Minister Fitzsymons has been located for you, Prime Minister, and is on the line.’
‘Put him on speakerphone please,’ Carter replied.
Litchford nodded and flicked a switch.
‘Prime Minister Carter here. We know your city hasn’t got much time left until it loses all communications, but I wanted to wish you and your country every good fortune in facing the challenges that lie ahead.’
‘Thank you, Prime Minister. And I would like to reciprocate that thought to you and your own people. Somehow we must both find a way to lead our countries through whatever is to come. Who knows, maybe at the other end of this there will be a better world waiting for us.’
‘I hope so…’ Carter replied.
On the screen, the fog rolled further over the dome and it began to disappear beneath the darkness. Crackles came from the phone’s speaker.
‘May God protect all our souls from the coming darkness—’ Prime Minister Fitzsymons said before the speaker hissed into silence.
Litchford toggled a switch on the phone a few times, but then shook his head.
General Hammond gazed at a laptop screen in front of him. ‘I can confirm that all communication to Dublin has now been lost.’
Another city cut off. Another city alone in the darkness. And soon it would be our turn.
Carter sighed. ‘And so from the great heights of our interconnected technological world, we’re being taken back to the Dark Ages. Once again, beyond the boundaries of our cities, the world will become an unknown and hostile place.’
‘But we will be alive,’ Chloe said. ‘And that’s the whole point: to live to fight another day.’
Everyone round the table slowly nodded.
The phone warbled again. Litchford picked it up and listened before turning to me. ‘It’s your father, J
ake. He needs you and Chloe back at the Millennium Dome to give the London Waverider a final test run.’
I turned towards Carter. ‘We have to go.’
‘Of course, but keep us posted.’
‘Hopefully you’ll see a gigantic shimmering energy sphere appear over London in a short while.’
‘I’m counting on it, especially when we only have twenty-two hours left,’ Carter replied with a tired look.
Chloe and I teleported directly into the Millennium Dome. As the light from the teleportation faded, Dad and Claire emerged from another Portakabin lab that been set up next to London’s L3 Waverider.
I heard a call and turned to see Kelly heading towards us with Domino rushing ahead of her.
‘What are you doing here?’ Chloe asked as Domino jumped up at her and she patted and hugged him.
‘Well, I didn’t want to miss out on the action, so Domino and I thought we’d join you for the big finale,’ Kelly said.
‘It’s great to have you here,’ I said.
Distant chanting was coming from outside and I thumbed at the sound as Dad and Claire reached us. ‘What’s all that about?’
Claire shook her head. ‘The bloody Enders somehow know that the Waverider to protect London is in here. They’ve been protesting outside the fence for the last hour.’
Dad shrugged. ‘Well, they can shout as much as they want to, it’s not going to stop us powering it up. Chloe, Helen from your team has volunteered to stabilise the field.’
‘Has she now?’ Chloe headed over to a ponytailed girl of about fourteen, raised her palm and smiled at her. ‘Way to go, Helen.’
Helen grinned back at Chloe. ‘I hope I don’t get anything wrong.’
I went to join them. ‘Of course you won’t, especially when you’ve got Chloe as your teacher.’
‘There you go – you heard it from Jake’s own mouth, so you can relax,’ Chloe said.
‘I guess,’ Helen replied, hunching her shoulders forward.
Dad peered at a screen on the L3 control console. ‘All systems are in the green, guys. We can try the test run if you’re ready, Helen?’
She gave him a quick nod and sat in the seat, pressing her hand to the small sphere in front of her.
Dad gave her a thumbs up. ‘OK then, on the count of ten—’
A sharp cracking sound from outside cut Dad off.
Claire’s head snapped round. ‘That sounded like gunfire.’
If we’d any doubt she was right, more bangs in rapid succession confirmed it, followed by distant shouts and screams. Chloe and I lit our sparks and turned to face the doors.
‘A Shade attack?’ Dad asked.
‘I don’t know, but I’m not going to take any chances,’ I said as I grew my plasma ball to the size of a football.
Captain Ericsson, who’d been assigned with his SAS squad to coordinate security around the London Waverider, burst through a door and sprinted towards us. ‘They’re coming to destroy the Waverider!’
‘The hell they are,’ Chloe said, planting her feet wider apart.
‘What are we talking here – shadow wolves, a flock of Shade, what?’ I asked the captain.
Ericsson gave me a sharp shake of his head. ‘You don’t understand, Jake. It’s the Enders. Some of them are armed and have broken through the perimeter fence. My squad is engaging them now, but there are too many to keep back. It’s only a matter of time before they overrun my soldiers and make it in here.’
Chloe stared at Ericsson. ‘People are seriously trying to break in here and destroy their only hope of survival?’
‘That’s Enders logic for you,’ the captain replied with a frown.
Chloe intensified her spark into a beach-ball-sized sun. ‘If it’s a fight they want…’
Cries and shouts were followed by more doors bursting open. Hundreds of people poured through them, racing towards the Waverider. Some held bottles filled with fluid with lengths of rags stuffed into the top.
My stomach clenched. Molotov cocktails, they had to be. I aimed my hand carefully and sent a fireball whizzing over their heads. They all slowed to a stop as they stared at me.
Kelly grabbed a wrench and slapped it against her palm. ‘There’s no need for this,’ she called to the Enders. ‘The people here are working to protect you.’
‘And who gave you that right over our lives?’ said a man with greasy black hair and a priest’s collar. I recognised him instantly: Father Russell, the leader of the Enders himself. He stood taller and thrust the cricket bat he was carrying up at the ceiling of the dome. ‘Behold, my followers, the hour is almost upon us when the Lord will come with thousands of his holy dark angels to judge us.’
‘Oh, you bloody fool, you’re talking about the Shade!’ Chloe shouted.
‘Whatever you call them, they are the winged messengers of God. And who are you to stop their judgement of the sinful?’
Dad shook his head. ‘There’s nothing more dangerous in this world than a religious maniac.’
Father Russell snarled at him. ‘Destroy their evil machine.’
‘What do we do now?’ Chloe whispered to me.
‘Make them see sense in any way we can,’ I replied.
Ericsson aimed his machine gun straight at the priest.
I placed my hand on the barrel and made him lower his weapon. ‘Don’t worry, I’ve got this.’ I concentrated on the group of people, wrapping my mind around them. With every atom of mental power, I raised a hand to lift them all. People screamed and struggled as they began to float towards the ceiling, some letting go of their bottles that hadn’t been lit yet, which smashed and spilled on the floor.
‘Now have we got your attention?’ I said.
‘You see the truth with your own eyes: that man is a demon and he must be killed!’ Father Russell shouted.
A flash of light came from one of the figures I’d lifted. I spotted the gun in his hand fast enough to duck as a bullet whistled past, but it also broke my focus. My mental hold slipped and the mob sprawled on the ground.
Another shot came and a spark flew up from the floor as the man aimed at me and missed. As the shell ricocheted away, a sharp scream came from behind me.
I spun round to see Helen slumped on the silver sphere. She slowly slid down it, smearing a trail of blood over the controls.
Kelly and Chloe rushed to her, but already the girl’s eyes had rolled up into her skull.
I turned back to the bark of automatic gunfire as Ericsson returned fire. The mob were back on their feet and surging towards us. I lit a plasma ball, catching a movement from the corner my eye.
Too late, I started to turn. Father Russell’s cricket bat slammed into my forehead. I crumpled to the ground, feeling the heat of my blood swelling from the deep gash.
With my eyesight dimming, I saw a Molotov cocktail smash onto the Waverider’s L3 fusion reactor, flames quickly erupting around it. The mob was silhouetted by fire as they ran towards it, cheering.
Dad shouted something I couldn’t make out and then I slipped into unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Six
I opened my eyes into the glowing brilliance of the Light Web that was superimposed over the Real. My thoughts rushed back in. I remembered being attacked and that crazy priest hitting me and then…
I put my hand to my head, but I couldn’t feel any wound, and certainly no ear-splitting headache that I should have had at the very least. Had my self-healing abilities kicked in that fast? My eyes began to focus and my mind stuttered as I took in the scene around me.
The mob was frozen in the act of surging towards the L3 Waverider, around which Claire, Kelly and the Awoken had formed a defensive ring. Captain Ericsson’s spent bullet cases floated in mid-air as they were ejected from his gun. Molotov cocktails hung mid-spin, their rags lit and flames static. Father Russell, his face a snarling mask, was swinging the bat to strike me again, but Chloe was rushing for him, her hand extended to launch a fireball. Stationary foam burst fro
m an extinguisher in Dad’s hand as he started to blanket the flames bursting from the fusion reactor.
Someone had hit the pause button on reality – exactly the sort of stunt Ethan could have pulled if he’d still been with us.
As my mind scrambled to make sense of this, I jumped to my feet to deal with Father Russell before he injured Chloe too. I grabbed hold of his bat and tried to yank it from his hands, but it was like trying to pull something held by a solid bronze statue. I attempted to prise the bat out of his fingers, but they were as hard as stone.
Had I died and this was some sort of out-of-body experience before I disappeared into white light on my way to heaven?
A movement in this otherwise static world immediately caught my attention, but it was in the Light Web and not the Real. A ripple passed through it as if someone were shaking out a sheet and an abstract knot of light rose from the floor…just like I’d seen back on the rooftop at Culham. But this time the knot grew more solid, its light-lines weaving together and sculpting a transparent man from the air. The man had a face that made my heart surge.
Allan stood before me, a smile on his face. His stance was no longer slightly crooked from leaning on his stick, but straight and tall. He looked a good twenty years younger.
‘OK, now I know I’m losing my mind.’
Allan’s apparition shook his head. ‘This is all real, lad. If anything, this place is even more real than the world you know.’
I stared at him. ‘But you’re dead, Allan. At least I thought you were.’
‘I am dead, but not in the sense that you mean.’
My mind scrambled for an answer. ‘So I’m dead and this is heaven?’
‘No. Although I suppose it might be some people’s idea of an afterlife, but this is so much more than even that, Jake. So no, you’re not dead. Right now, you’re lying unconscious on the floor of the Millennium Dome. The frozen scene around you is what your subconscious saw before you blacked out.’
I clenched my hands into fists. ‘I’ve got to get back.’
‘And you will, Jake, but not in time to assist them in this particular battle.’
