The Malthus Pandemic
Page 80
CHAPTER 76
Kevin Parker's routine had returned to relative normality since the get together at Daniels apartment in London. So, being nearly midnight, he had just returned to his Clifton flat from the pub. Unexpectedly, that night, Tom had also been there so they had sat together in the corner discussing the most recent update from Colin.
"The Egyptian police visited that place down the Nile and then took away that Dutch bloke, Jan de Jonge and Guy Williams," said Tom.
Kevin already knew this so he added in his own snippet. "Yes and they raided the Shah Medical Centre in Cairo and arrested El Badry's wife. I've been sleeping better since I knew that she and her husband are out the way. I wonder if his Chelsea apartment is up for sale."
"And Greg OBrian's been flown to the States to face charges," added Tom.
"And what about that laboratory that Daniel found in Bangkok - in Solomon's apartment. Surprising that no-one knew what he was doing in there." said Tom.
"But where is he?" asked Kevin. "Colin said they lost him in Malaysia or somewhere. But at least they got that bugger who shot Jimmy Banda. We never got to meet Jimmy but he sounded a bundle of fun."
"And Singapore 2100 was in the paper again. Did you see that, Kevin? Must have scared the shit out of the Singapore government. But they only arrested one guy. Is it still operating? Do they post on the Malthus site?"
"I'll check tonight," said Kevin. "I haven't checked anything for a few days. I've been so busy."
"And what about Larry?" asked Tom.
"Resigned from his job at the Embassy. He's got so much spare time now he's coming over to see Daniel and Anna. Perhaps you and I will get an invite to a wedding, Tom?" Kevin laughed and drained his glass.
Kevin was now sat on the edge of his bed and had just opened his laptop to check the Malthus Society website for the first time for a week. As he logged on, his phone rang. It was something else that hadn't happened for a week.
"Tunj. How are you? Just going out? It's nearly midnight - time for your social life to begin."
"I'm feeling tired, Kev. And my head and eyes are hurting. I think I'm sickening for something."
"Too much hard work and attention to detail, Tunj. You need to relax. You should have used that money you were given to go to Nigeria and gone somewhere where normal people go to relax. And that's not Lagos, Tunj. People avoid Lagos like the plague. When was the last time you heard of package holidays to Port Harcourt or Maiduguri? No, I'm talking Tenerife or Ibiza or somewhere in between like Brighton."
"Please don't mention the plague, Kev. My head and eyes hurt."
"Wear sunglasses, Tunj. The sun in Barnet is too strong and bright for a man of your complexion."
"Now I've warned you before about your racist comments, Kev. If you don't stop it I'll tell you a story about a white Englishman and his favourite hobby."
"I'm a white Englishman, Tunj, but my hobby is a very private matter. "
"Well, I know one who thinks his hobby is a very public matter."
"Who's that Tunj?"
"David Solomon. Haven't you seen his message on the Malthus site?"
"No," said Kevin, suddenly pressing keys on his laptop. "I was just about to check it."
"Well, call me back when you've seen it and tell me if you also feel as if you've got a headache and a bout of flu coming on."
Kevin logged on and there it was. A posting from 'Solomon'.
"Well, they closed down one laboratory but they were, as always, too late. Unlike the politicians we saw it coming. We had a plan in place. It has already been said by others but democracy cannot survive overpopulation. Common sense will always stay a step ahead and will, one day, rule over democracy. But we cannot wait. Thomas Malthus was always right. The Malthus A virus is now ready and we will release it."
CHAPTER 77
I started this by venting my frustration with the system of governance in the West. Whether this is a symptom of the impossible challenges imposed by trying to manage a world that is already overpopulated is, perhaps, a subject that Kevin might like to take on. For me, this is neither the time or the place. But I'll finish with a short story that might go some way to explaining my original rant.
In the hillside village of Nah Noi in Kamchanaburi, Thailand, Pah heard her father shouting as she crouched over the clay cooking pot and fed fresh lumps of charcoal into the embers. As the smoke and sparks from her small fire rose vertically into the still air, she had been quietly humming to herself as the distant, orange and blue glow of dawn broke over the far off hills. Until then, the only sound had been the early morning calls of birds, the croaking of frogs in the rice field and the familiar but faint whimpering from inside the wooden house as her six year old son, Lek, woke to the reluctant realisation that it was probably school today and that he did not feel well.
Pah’s house stood on wooden stilts just out of sight of the others, down the track and over the slope where her mother and father also lived.
On hearing her father's call, Pah stopped humming and stood up, wiping her hands on the sarong around her waist. Little Lek, tottered outside onto the platform of the house, shrouded in his sleeping blanket. He crouched near the top wooden step, rubbed his eyes and coughed. He had been feverish for two days. “Meh!” he cried, and coughed again.
“Go - wash your face. Meh’s cooking your rice for school. You want fish?”
She then heard her father shouting her name. “Go, wash your face,“ she called once more to Lek. “Meh will be back in a minute.”
She ran passed Boon-Mee's house where six year old Suchin, and in the same class at school as Lek, lay outside on a blanket. Suchin, too, was coughing. Her grandmother, Sinee sat alongside her, fanning the child's hot and feverish face. Sinee said nothing but pointed to Pah's parent's house.
Pah's mother had also had a high fever for three days. Last night she had started coughing. When Pah arrived, her father was crying and holding her mother's limp hand.
Pah is Anna's sister.