These gentlemen felt it their duty to take the gloomiest view and had urged upon their Governments the necessity for giving their peoples at least a week to prepare themselves spiritually for the ending of the world, or possible death if they happened to be in an area seriously afflicted by the comet.
While practical considerations had, therefore, swayed the Governments to withhold this information concerning the more terrible eventualities which might have to be faced, the spiritual could not be lightly disregarded, so it had been mutually agreed that the Heads of all Governments should make this announcement to-night.
In making it he could only stress the fact that, although the danger could not be ignored, whether it would be fatal to humanity, or even serious, was still highly problematical. Science had brought many benefits to mankind, but before each definite achievement it had made many blunders. Even to-day scientific theories were constantly being proved inaccurate as the result of further research. And if this were so with things which scientists could place under their microscopes or experiment on by trial and error, how much more was it true of theories about incalculably remote heavenly bodies rotating in space which, in itself, must for ever remain a problem insoluble to man.
Our knowledge of everything outside the confines of our own earth was still almost entirely theoretical. Therefore, the eminent astronomers might be completely wrong in their theories as to what would occur if the comet hit us. It might well be only a great mass of gas, small meteorites and dust, which would provide us with a splendid display of shooting stars but not damage us at all.
In any case, the Government had already taken such precautions as were possible by deciding that three days before the comet was due the schemes for the evacuation of women and children from the highly populated areas which had been worked out as a war measure, should be put into operation, thus ensuring that a minimum of life would be sacrificed should large meteorites fall upon cities causing fires and considerable destruction of property.
Finally, he begged that in the approaching crisis the nation would show that sense of order and discipline for which the British people had always been so remarkable. He and his colleagues would leave no stone unturned to protect the population and essential services from destruction. There need be no fear of any food shortage as their ample war reserves could be brought into use if required; but they must all be prepared to face whatever might befall them with that calm and courage which had ever marked the people of these Islands in great emergencies.
‘Damned good speech,’ said Sam, who had been listening-in with Lavina and Hemmingway at St. James’s Square. ‘The old boy’s been clever, too. He’s drawn the teeth of the Opposition—who’ll naturally have a crack at him for having withheld the truth for so long—by throwing doubt on the astronomers’ infallibility; and he’s evaded criticism from the die-hards who think he ought to have concealed everything up to the last moment, by pushing the responsibility for telling the nation now on to the Archbishop.’
‘Yes,’ Lavina agreed. ‘And, although he told them the worst, he gilded the pill very prettily by as good as saying he didn’t think it would happen. I wonder how the public will take it?’
‘Fairly well, I should say,’ Hemmingway remarked. ‘His speech was by no means alarmist and it was very well timed. We’ve got five days to go, which leaves two days for people to make their arrangements before the evacuation starts. During the next forty-eight hours they’ll be kept pretty busy preparing for it. Let’s go up to the roof and have another look at the comet. It’s a nice night again and it must be visible just about now.’
The three of them went upstairs and stared towards the west at the heavenly terror which was rushing towards the earth. It was no longer a pin-point as it had been the night before, but the size of a major star, and in the clear summer night it winked at them, red and evil.
Lavina felt a strange tremor run through her and some instinct made her reach out to take Hemmingway’s arm; although Sam was standing equally near her on her other side. Next moment Hemmingway’s free hand had closed over hers, gripping it tightly, and they stood so until the comet had disappeared behind some chimney-pots, upon which, with a self-conscious glance, he released her hand and they drew quickly apart again.
Next morning Britain woke to find herself under martial law. The Government was taking no chances. There were troops in the streets, tanks parked in the Squares, and on the roof-tops machine-gun nests by which main thoroughfares and Government buildings could be covered.
The papers carried the Premier’s speech in full, but as practically everybody had heard it, their major news line was ‘MARTIAL LAW—MOBILISATION—PARTIAL MORATORIUM.’
Under their emergency powers the Government had introduced a Finance Bill by which all writs for debt were indefinitely suspended, and during the ensuing week the banks were only allowed to pay out to their customers the average amount which they had drawn per week for the last three months. This ensured the payment of wages and that the public could secure cash for its necessities, but prevented a run on the banks which might have caused financial chaos. The Stock Exchange was closed by order and all dealings in shares forbidden.
The Fighting Forces and Reservists were called up, and a warning issued that on June the 22nd the Civil Defence Forces would also be mobilised. All A.R.P. Chief Wardens and Heads of Fire-fighting and Nursing Units were instructed to remain within reach of their posts and to make a thorough inspection of their equipment forthwith, so that any deficiencies could be made good immediately.
The B.B.C. announced these measures over the wireless and, interspersed with light musical numbers, gave appeals for the maintenance of order, anti-alarmist talks belittling the comet’s possible effects, and religious services. They also issued news bulletins of events abroad, and, with a view to reassuring the public, every one of these was designed to suggest that foreign populations were taking the crisis seriously but calmly.
In Parliament that afternoon the Prime Minister faced his critics, but the Opposition behaved well and gave him no serious trouble, since they realised that in such an emergency they must think of nation rather than Party. The only new point that emerged from the debate was when a Member suggested that the gravest risk from the comet would probably be big fires in the cities, caused by the intense heat setting light to inflammable materials.
This, the Home Secretary agreed, was a serious danger, but the number of buildings to be protected was so great that it would have been impossible to roof them all with asbestos sheeting, even if they had had ten years in which to do it. As against this, the Government had already commandeered all supplies of asbestos and vast quantities of sand, with which key-points were to be rendered immune from fire as far as possible.
It was stated that at a zero hour, to be announced later, everyone remaining in the cities was to go to ground in the A.R.P. shelters that had been prepared for war, taking their gas masks with them; and that all the shipping in the Thames had been commandeered so that if serious fires in London got out of control, that section of the population which had not been evacuated could take refuge in it.
Great crowds congregated in the streets that evening; particularly in the West End, round Trafalgar Square, Buckingham Palace and the Houses of Parliament. The police found it necessary to divert all traffic from the main thoroughfares, as the strolling masses slowly perambulated Piccadilly, Whitehall and The Mall. Except that there were no flags or decorations in evidence, it was almost like the night of a Coronation or Royal Wedding. The events of the day had caused considerable anxiety, particularly to parents who had young children, but that did not prevent the bulk of the people deciding to come out and see any fun that was going.
On his return from the House to Downing Street, the Prime Minister was loudly cheered, and when the King came out with the Royal Family on the balcony of Buckingham Palace he received much more than the usual loyal ovation, for it had just been announced that, although His Majesty w
as sending his family to Windsor, he and the Queen had decided to remain in London to face the approaching crisis in the midst of their people.
Lavina would have liked to have gone out to mingle with the crowds, but she could hardly do so alone, and both Sam and Hemmingway were much too busy that evening for either of them to take her.
From early that morning Sam’s co-directors and the principal executives of his many companies had been in constant communication with him to discuss what steps might be taken to protect their employees and the companies’ properties.
There were constant comings and goings and telephone calls at St. James’s Square, but none of the people concerned could offer any original suggestions. All the factories had their A.R.P. schemes which had been worked out to the last detail, and these would automatically be put into operation. The Government’s evacuation measures took care of the women and children in the congested areas as far as it was possible to do so, and the same fire precautions were to be adopted as if an enemy air raid was expected.
There were, however, innumerable detailed decisions which could be taken to render the factories less vulnerable. Stocks of inflammable material could be moved out into fields; temporary wooden structures could be demolished; coal and oil stores could be emptied of their contents, and so on; and it was the making of such decisions which kept Sam and Hemmingway busy with a succession of works managers and Trade Union officials far into the night.
Soon after breakfast next morning Derek Burroughs arrived from Stapleton to report that the Ark had been completed and launched the previous afternoon, and that the engineers who had constructed it were now packing up to return to their homes. He said he had decided to come up and report in person because he did not think it wise to give any particulars over the telephone as, if the fact that they had constructed an Ark down in Surrey once got out, any number of terrified people might make their way to it, in the hope of using it as a means of escape.
Sam agreed that he had been wise, and suggested that he remained at St. James’s Square to keep Lavina company; as Hemmingway and he would be frantically busy all day continuing their arrangements and inspecting such of his factories as were near London.
‘How about the servants here?’ Lavina asked. ‘We can’t possibly leave them in the lurch.’
‘We can’t take them in the Ark,’ said Derek. ‘There just isn’t room for more than the eight of us. It’s going to be a pretty tight squeeze as it is, if we have to remain in the thing for any length of time. So much space has had to be given up to the food, oxygen cylinders, and all the emergency stores we have collected.’
‘I was thinking of the servants when I went to bed last night,’ Sam replied. ‘I only wish we could take them, but since it’s impossible I suggest that we should only retain the new Rolls here, pack them in the other three cars, and send them all off to Wales.’
Derek nodded. ‘Tell them to find the highest mountain that they can, get up there and sit on it until the party’s over, eh?’
‘That’s the idea. I laid in a whole lot of tinned stuff as an emergency ration in the event of war—enough to last the household at least a month. They can take that with them so that they’d be independent of anyone else; and, short of sacrificing ourselves, sending them off with plentiful supplies seems the best we can do for them.’
‘In that case, the sooner they get off, the better,’ Lavina suggested. ‘The general evacuation takes place to-morrow, so if they start this morning they’ll be able to get well ahead of the crush.’
‘Clever girl. That’s just what I was thinking,’ Sam grinned. ‘And until we can get down to Stapleton ourselves, I take it you’ll manage to knock up any meals we may want.’
Lavina made a face, pulling down the corners of her mouth and the tip of her little Roman nose. ‘I’ve got all sorts of attractions, but I’m a rotten cook. We’d much better feed at the Berkeley Arms.’
Sam shook his head. ‘No time to spare even to go that far. You’ll have to do the best you can for us.’
‘I’ll help you,’ Derek volunteered. ‘I’m a dab at scrambled eggs and, until we decided to shake the dust of London from our feet, I’ve got nothing else to do.’
‘That’s settled, then.’ Sam stood up. ‘I’ll leave you to talk to the servants, darling, and see them safely off. Say good-bye to them and wish them luck for me. I wish I could do so myself, but I’ve got to get down to Brentford with Hemmingway now, to inspect the Mayo-Thompson works.’
‘Will you be back to lunch?’
‘I’m afraid not, my sweet. I’ve got a whole round of inspections to make to-day, just as a check-up on what’s being done. Actually, I don’t think there’s much more that we can do, but at a time like this the work people will expect me to put in a personal appearance and say a few words to them.’
When he had gone, Lavina sent for the butler and asked him to assemble the servants in the drawing-room. She then explained to them the plans that Sam had suggested for his staff and added that, if any of them did not wish to go to Wales, they were perfectly free to join their own families or go anywhere else they liked.
Several of them offered to stay on, and Lavina thanked them but said that as she and Sam would shortly be going to the country they were closing down the house and, after a brief consultation, all but two of the staff agreed to Sam’s proposals that they should pack up and leave at once for Wales.
The cars were brought round from the garage, the tinned provisions and baggage of the staff were loaded on to them, and then the servants all came in to say good-bye to Lavina.
She did not know any of them well enough to be really distressed at the thought that she might never see them again, but it was a queer little ceremony to be shaking hands and wishing good luck to all one’s domestics dressed in their best clothes in the middle of the morning.
A few of the younger women seemed a little scared, but the second footman, who appeared to be the jester of the household, kept cracking jokes with the others, as they piled into the cars, about the adventures that might befall them when they pitched camp upon their Welsh mountain-top; and at half-past twelve Lavina and Derek waved them all good-bye from the front doorstep.
When they were inside again, they found the great house strangely silent after the continuous hustle which had been going on all the morning. At first they thought of lunching out, but everything seemed so unsettled that they decided against it.
Derek mixed some cocktails and Lavina turned on the radio. A lecture on fire-fighting was in progress, so she promptly switched it off again as she never listened-in unless she could get dance music. As she was passionately fond of dancing she had a big selection of the latest dance-band records, and picking eight of her favourites she put them on the gramophone-attachment instead.
For about ten minutes they wandered restlessly about the room, glasses in hand, while singers crooned at them and trumpets blared. Somehow, there didn’t seem to be anything to talk about except the comet and both of them wished to avoid that subject if possible. It was also the first time they had been alone together since her marriage.
Suddenly Lavina set down her glass and started to kick back the Persian rugs.
‘Come on,’ she said, ‘we can’t gloom about like this eternally. Let’s dance.’
Derek sank his cocktail and smiled. He was a good dancer, as she remembered well, and something of his old attraction for her came back as he put his arm round her and they moved slowly up and down the parquet floor in well-timed rhythm.
‘Remember the last time we danced together?’ he asked.
‘No,’ she lied. ‘Years ago we danced together so often.’
‘Then I’ll tell you. It was at the Hazlitts’; a party they gave for Hugh’s coming-out.’
‘Was it?’
‘Yes. I can even tell you the dress you wore. You had on a lovely thing made of golden satin which went wonderfully with your fair complexion and golden hair. It was a slinky sort of frock and
much too old for you, but, all the same …’
‘Oh, shut up!’ she exclaimed, digging her nails into his arm and giving him a little shake. The next second she had left him, flung up the lid of the radiogram and switched it off.
When she turned again her grey eyes were dark and angry. ‘It’s rotten of you, Derek, to dig up those old memories. That’s all past and done with and I’m happily married now.’
‘Of course you are.’ He thrust his hands deep in his pockets and smiled at her. ‘But what’s all the excitement about? I wasn’t making love to you or anything.’
‘No?’ she regarded him doubtfully. ‘It sounded suspiciously like it, and I warn you I’m not having any. Since we’ve been thrown together again like this it’s best we should forget what we were to each other. If Sam suspects that you’re still in love with me it will make things abominably awkward for all of us.’
Derek lit a cigarette. ‘You needn’t bother your little head about Sam. I’m not given to poaching other men’s coverts, but asking me to forget the past is an altogether different matter. I loved you then, and you loved me. I love you still and I believe, if you told the truth, you still love me a little bit. Anyhow, I’m quite certain that you’re not in love with your husband.’
‘You’re wrong there. I…’
He held up his hand. ‘One minute. I’m not saying that you won’t be loyal to him; and, please believe I haven’t the least intention of trying to break up your marriage.’
‘You couldn’t if you tried.’
‘I know that; but when the smash comes a lot of us may get killed. It’s even possible that the whole social order as we know it may go down the drain and that money and position won’t mean a thing any more to those of us who come through.’
‘Well, what of it?’
‘Simply, that we’ll just be men and women, without any trimmings. You might as well know now that if anything happens to Sam, but you and I survive to live on in a strange new world, you’re going to be my woman.’
Sixty Days to Live Page 10
