The Song of the Underground

by Wendy Reakes

  Half an hour later she paid the cab and entered the building where Charlie lived on the eighth floor. She banged on the door. “Charlie, open up. Open up.” She was almost crying, she didn’t know why.

  He swung open the door and when she saw his familiar face, Charlotte fell into his arms with a sob.

  Chapter 86

  Heron rode the rails. His coat tails fanned out behind him as he knelt on one knee and expertly steered his rail board along the tracks. His goggles were pulled down over his eyes and he wore gloves on his hands, which gripped the board at the front and side. He was dressed in black from head to toe, allowing him to blend into the background in case by chance he was seen by an upsider.

  He knew the exact route to Monument station and as he picked up the surges of the electric rails, he sped along at an exhilarating rate with Blade and Axel at his rear. He wished he could have brought his other friends, but Byron had insisted he could not confide in anyone else. He persuaded her to allow him to take the brothers as a security measure and she had agreed. Besides, they had been in on the deal with Minister Barnes, so they pretty much knew as much as he.

  Together the three youths rode the final rail to the edge of the station, the upsiders called Monument. There, they disembarked and hid their boards behind an annex next to the track. They had timed it well. A train had just run through, so there was no one on the platform. They jumped upon it from the track. There was no one around, except an old man resting on a bench. He turned to look at them as they walked towards the stairs. He took no heed. Their strange appearance was nothing compared to most of the youngsters who roamed the streets of London.

  In the station they went directly to the cyber café at the side of the concourse. There they inserted coins into the drinks machine, which dispensed three cans of coke. They pulled the tabs and drunk it in one gulp. They laughed together when they inserted more coins and took out another three cans. The coke was their guilty pleasure; they couldn’t get enough of it.

  A group of girls sitting at a table in the corner of the room were looking at them and laughing. Heron grinned as Blade and Axel offered them a wave. Heron slapped Axel on the back to regain his attention. “Come on.”

  The three youths went over to their favorite video game, War of the Vice and inserted some coins. It was Heron's turn first.

  Chapter 87

  Charlie was trying to get some sense out of her. She knew she sounded crazy and she couldn’t blame him for the look he had on his face. He must think she was unhinged. She’d think the same if their roles were reversed. “What do you need me to do?”

  “Huh?” Charlotte’s mind went blank. She shook her head to bring her out of the daze she was in. What, no questions? No doubts? No taking the proverbial? She was dumbfounded. “Seriously? I’ve just told you the craziest story you’ve probably ever heard and all you can say is ‘What do you want me to do’?”

  “Need.”

  “Huh?”

  “I said what do you need me to do?”

  “So you believe me?”

  Charlie swung about in his chair and grabbed his mouse. “Sweetheart, you couldn’t make that up.” He brought his email up on the screen and created a new page. “I’m waiting.”

  Charlotte jumped into action. “Okay. I need you to send an email to the Prime Minister. But you can’t send it to Number Ten. It’s got to go straight through to her. Oh…and it can’t come from you…it has to be untraceable.”

  He remained staring at the screen as he began to tap on some keys. “Easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy.” He switched to instant message and entered the address of Fische55. ‘You on?’

  Charlie waited. Charlotte looked on, her anticipation depleting by the minute. She knew Charlie would help her.

  The IM's came straight back. ‘Hey, my man. Wos up?’

  ‘Need a fave.’

  ‘Name it.’

  ‘Delicate.’

  ‘I’m your man.’

  ‘Yeah right. Lol.’

  Charlotte tutted. “This is serious, Charlie.”

  “I know. Don’t worry. Me and Fische know each other’s secrets.” He went back to the keyboard. Charlotte had never seen anyone type so fast. ‘Sending you top notch email. Send anonymously. No trace.

  ‘You got it’.

  ‘Stay on-line’.

  ‘Going no place. You’re the man’.

  Charlie chuckled.

  Charlotte shook her head. Unbelievable!

  He brought up the email again. He cast a sly glance at Charlotte, then put his hand over the screen at the top as he inputted the recipient's address. When he removed his hand, Charlotte read it as FSH55 “Okay what do you want me to say?”

  She was thinking. “Okay…write this down.” She took a deep breath. “Madam Prime Minister, I am acting on behalf of the people of Sous Llyndum. My client…” She paused and shrugged, “…my client, king Kite, is aware of your campaign to usurp him from his throne and to take control of the city.” She heard Charlie chuckle. “I have been instructed by my client to warn you of the peril of such action and to urge you to reconsider. If you do not agree, I have been instructed to act accordingly and to inform the press of your strategy. It is our assumption that the residents of London and the UK will consider the move as purely political and not in the best interest of the people…nor that of the City of Sous Llyndum. You must inform Colonel Geoffrey Barnes of your decision to abort…” Charlotte pondered the word ‘abort’ as the one Alice Burton had used on her when she was sent to deliver the message to Barnes. “Strike that,” she said to Charlie, “…your decision to terminate this project forthwith. You have thirty minutes to comply. Send your letter to Colonel Barnes via this address and I will see it is delivered.”

  Charlie stopped typing. “Is that it?”

  “I don’t know. Is it enough?”

  “There’s only one way to find out.” Charlie moved swiftly. He pulled up window after window, tapped in codes and passwords and on the final page he located Alice Burton’s private cell number and personal email address. He copied and pasted it into the body of the email.

  “How do you get this stuff?”

  He made an exaggerated gasp as if he was shocked. “That is for me to know…” He typed a message next to the cell number ‘Fische, send here.’ He amended his only typo and then he pressed send. “…and for you to find out.” He leaned back in his chair. “Hey, how’s the baby doing?”

  “Do you have any idea how infuriating you can be?”

  He chuckled. “Yep.”

  Chapter 88

  “Where are you?” Tim Trainer was on his mobile as he sat in the car across the street from where Charlie Croft lived. He’d seen Charlotte go in twenty minutes before.

  Nick Vaughan came back on the end of the line. “Five minutes away. Don’t move in until I get there.”

  “Copy.” He pressed end and placed the phone onto the dash. It was raining outside and he had to keep his wipers on so that he could see out of the windscreen.

  At his side, Brett Welsh was munching on a burger he’d just bought from a take-out. He wiped some ketchup from the side of his mouth. “How long?”

  “He said five minutes.”

  A knock on the window startled them. It was Nick. He opened the door and got into the back seat. “Any movements?”

  “No, she’s still in there.”

  “Right. Come on.”

  Tim Trainer stopped him. “We could have handled this, Nick. There was no need for you to come all the way across town.”

  “After I was stonewalled by Alice Burton today, I’m not leaving this baby to anyone. There’s something big going down and Charlotte Croft has all the answers.”

  There was no more to be said. The three men alighted from the car and crossed the road.

  Chapter 89

  “Will you stop checking your watch? It’s only been twenty minutes.”

  “We shouldn’t have given her so long. What if she hasn’t received the mes
sage? What if her number has changed since the last one? They do that, don’t they? Change their ID’s every hour.”

  “You watch too many American soaps.”

  “I don’t…”

  An IM popped up. It was from Fische. I don’t know what shit you’ve got going on, man, but I just got a reply to your message from the British Prime Minister herself. WTF?

  Charlie typed his response. Line secure?

  Are you kidding me?

  So, what did it say?

  Sending it now.

  An email alert popped up. It was from FSH99. Charlotte and Charlie read it at the same time. It said simply, ‘I don’t believe you’. They each sat back in their chair looking deflated.

  “Well, on the bright side, you don’t get a personal email from the Prime Minister every day.” Charlie quipped.

  “Is that it? I don’t believe you!”

  “At least you know she got it.”

  “What was the name of that Heritage guy you contacted when my flat got turned over and Ben went missing?”

  Charlie ripped a post-it from the side of his screen. He stuck it on the back of Charlotte’s hand. Henry Radcliffe, English Heritage: 07854 209226.

  Charlotte removed her phone from her jacket pocket.

  Charlie wagged his finger at her. “Anonymous!!” He leaned down and pulled open a deep drawer meant for hanging files. Inside was a bank of electrical sockets, all attached to chargers, plugged into about a dozen mobile phones. “What’s your favourite colour?”

  “What are these?”

  “Phones.”

  “Idiot! I know they’re phones.”

  “Untraceable, that’s what they are. Although, saying that, moi could trace them, but for anyone else it would be difficult.”

  Charlotte picked up a metallic blue one.

  “Not that one.”

  She shook her head. Charlie shrugged.

  She took a grey Nokia and held it up for him to approve. In return he offered her a regal nod of the head.

  Charlotte keyed in the number. It answered after the second ring. “Henry Radcliffe,” the voice said.

  “Sir, you don’t know me…erm, someone gave me your number…” Charlotte rolled her eyes. She needed to be more assertive. “I need to speak to you about the Sous Llyndum project.”

  He went quiet. “Who is this?”

  “That’s not important at this time. I have reason to believe you have not had the pleasure of visiting the city yet, sir?”

  There was another pause. “That’s right.”

  “Am I to understand you will be doing so in the foreseeable future?”

  “Yes…” Another pause. “Yes, I hope to.”

  “Are you aware, sir, that Sous Llyndum is under serious threat by the government to overthrow the city’s leaders and gain control?”

  “I’m sorry, but that is privileged…”

  “Are you aware, sir, there is significant artifact and historical data to be found in the city? That, in fact, the trustee of the city was none other than Sir Christopher Wren himself.”

  “I am aware of that.”

  Charlotte heard a door bang in the background. She was praying he wouldn’t hang up. “Are you also aware that the city has expanded over time and that the people of Sous Llyndum have discovered precious minerals?”

  “Well…”

  “You see, sir…Mr. Radcliffe, it is my understanding that Alice Burton means to pillage the city of its resources and that many of the original features will be destroyed in the process…” She was rushing now. “Are you aware they have an underground forest, sir? I believe it would be something you’d wish to preserve, is that correct?”

  His voice was firm. “What do you need me to do?”

  Charlotte let out an inaudible sigh. “The Prime Minister must be persuaded to abandon her destructive plans for this project, Mr. Radcliffe. She is proving to be…difficult.”

  “Leave it with me. Phone me back in an hour.”

  “Sir, I’m sorry, we may not have that long. Measures are being taken you see.”

  “What do you need?”

  “A letter of authority from the Prime Minister to one Colonel Geoffrey Barnes, instructing him to abort.”

  Silence. “Ring me back in five.” He hung up.

  Charlie clapped his hands. “Way to go, sis. You can really kick arse when you want to.”

  Charlotte gave him back the phone. “Charlie, send a reply to the PM’s message.”

  He swung around in his seat and faced the screen. “Hit me.”

  “Write this: ColonelBarnes is overriding your authority. The king calls him Minister Barnes. He thinks he’s more powerful than he is.”Charlotte paused and smiled to herself.“He told the king that the British Prime Minister was a man.” Charlotte sucked on her bottom lip. “That ought to do it.”

  Charlie was still working on it when he said, “Why don’t you just report it to your boss? You’d get a big bonus for this, I reckon.” Charlie picked up a bottle of water and drunk some. He offered it to Charlotte. She declined.

  “Charlie, if this gets out, the city will no longer exist. It will be opened up and contaminated, destroyed, tarnished….I can’t let that happen. You should see it, Charlie, it’s magnificent. Besides, the people there are relying on me.”

  It was at that very moment there was a knock on the door.

  Chapter 90

  Alice Burton was just about to go into dinner, but now her appetite was all but lost. She’d just received an anonymous message on her private mobile phone. No one had the number except some key personnel and what concerned her was that the number got changed every forty-eight hours to avoid her calls being tapped. Another Diana-gate they did not need!

  She’d sent a response, in order to thwart them, but if they were clever enough to get access to her, they were probably on to something. She just hoped it wasn’t the press. If the Sous Llyndum project got out, she dreaded to think what the party would say. She may even be asked to step down. The shame of it. Her dear William would certainly have disapproved if he’d lived to see that happen.

  Her office phone rang and she picked it up. She needed to stay calm. “Yes?”

  “Prime Minister, it’s Henry Radcliffe.”

  “Ah, Henry, how good to talk with you. I’ve been meaning to ring…”

  “Alice, I’ve had a call. It was anonymous, but she sounded pretty sure of herself.”

  “She?”

  “Yes. I think under the circumstances, it would be wise if you abandoned the Sous Llyndum project, or at least put a lid on it for now.”

  Alice felt her throat constrict. “It’s not as easy as that, Henry. The Americans…they have expectations. And if this goes through…well, frankly it could give me another four years in office.”

  He was silent and then he spoke. “Madam Prime Minister. I must insist you cancel your plans for Sous Llyndum. If you do not oblige, I will have to take the matter further.”

  Alice felt her cheeks redden. “Henry, I…” She suddenly felt very tired. “Yes, very well, I shall call it off for now. I believe we can come to an arrangement about the future of the city, Henry. I am happy to assist English Heritage in their endeavours. After all, we have 3,500 civilians down there. We must put their interests first…and the history alone…”

  Alice was waiting for him to respond. “Hello, Henry?”

  He was no longer there.

  Chapter 91

  Charlotte was seated on Charlie’s office chair, writing a piece on Microsoft Office. The other four screens were turned off.

  Charlie answered the door. “Hey! How’r you doing? Come in, come in.”

  Nick Vaughan coughed as he stepped into the room and Charlotte spun about. “Nick. What a lovely surprise.”

  Nick Vaughan made a motion for Tim Trainer and Brett Welsh to stay outside. “There’s no room in here for all of us,” he said.

  Charlie saluted them before he closed the door in their faces.

/>   Nick Vaughan had his hands buried deep in his trouser pockets. “Where have you been, Charlotte? You’ve been AWOL.”