by James Erith
‘You look a little pale, Sue, let’s sit down by the fire. I thought they might have told you.’ They walked inside, took off their coats, nodded at a couple of uniformed men who rushed by and sat down by the fire. ‘But I guess there have been other things to worry about.’
Sue’s face had gone white. ‘Seriously? Is it the truth?’
‘Indeed. Never more so. Why do you think Gus is in his little room? I believe it has been named Ebora, a rather crude blend of the Roman word for York – Ebor, and the Ebola outbreak in Africa. The problem is, these scientists have absolutely no idea how to contain it.’
‘None at all?’
‘Not only does it spread by touch and by bodily fluids, but it appears to fly through the air. And the strange thing is that, quite suddenly, it turned up the length of America, as though it flew west with the night. Maybe it did, who knows?’
‘America?’ Sue said. ‘That’s impossible.’
‘Yes, both sides of North America and South America too, apparently.’ He exhaled loudly and smiled. ‘In a way it’s a miracle neither of us has caught it. But, since they have no idea how it operates, there’s no preventative advice that they can give to those who haven’t been affected.’
Sue screwed her eyes shut and clenched her hands as the magnitude of what he was saying sunk in.
Solomon noticed, reached over and patted her arm lightly. ‘As you know, it all began right here in Yorkshire. Upsall is the epicentre, they say. On the meteorological charts, the storm mushroomed out of Upsall and covered a good part of the United Kingdom. The animations are most impressive. We’re here because we’re about the only people known to have survived. Our dear friend, the Commissioner, seems to think that there is something, or someone, in Upsall that can tell us more.’
Sue scribbled on the pad. There is.
‘Sue,’ the headmaster continued, alarm in his face, ‘do you know of anything that might somehow link this storm or the Ebora with Upsall School or with any of your friends?’
Sue’s eyes met the headmaster’s. Do I trust him? I have to – who else is there?
She pulled her pen out.
It’s the de Lowes, she wrote, allowing him to read the page.
She carried on writing and very calmly said, ‘No, not that I’m aware of.’
The headmaster smiled and gave her a very faint wink out of his right eye. ‘And does Gus know of anything, anything at all, Sue?’
‘I don’t think so,’ she said handing over the notebook.
He read it.
They have to find three tablets. Then kill an old woman – I think.
‘—Murder?’ he coughed, before realising his mistake. ‘In the village?’ he added, too late. He passed the notebook back as he waffled on about a rather curious death claim in the village, hoping to mask his slip-up.
Sue cringed. She scribbled again.
If they fail, we die. They’re running out of time
Solomon looked up, his face red from his gaff. ‘Exactly as I thought,’ he said. ‘I never suspected anything else from you other than complete honesty.’
How do you know? he wrote.
She took back the pad. I dreamt about it. So far, everything true.
She handed the book back to the headmaster. He smiled at her and tossed it onto the fire. ‘Thank you, my dear. Now, I think it’s time we’d paid a visit to the dear Commissioner. He’s been looking forward to meeting you.’
As they stood up, a crowd of people arguing loudly walked into the room. Solomon leant in very quickly and whispered into her ear. ‘Sue, whatever happens, you absolutely must trust me.’
SOLOMON AND SUE waited for half an hour in the ante-room outside his office as a stream of people filed in and out. Every so often they caught a few words or exclamations from Stone as the door opened and closed.
Dickinson, smart as usual, his hair neatly combed to one side, ushered them in and remained with them, sitting to the side of the desk, his tablet switched on ready for note-taking.
Stone rubbed his eyes, leaned back in his chair and drew a hand through his thick silver hair. He fixed Sue with a crooked smile. ‘So, I’ll tell you what we know,’ he began, talking directly to her. ‘And as I go, why don’t you fill in the blanks. And please, don’t muck me about, girl. We’re fighting a losing battle here and if I don’t think you’re co-operating, I have the means and the methods to make you talk, understand?’
Sue gulped and nodded.
‘Firstly, this storm and Ebora have both got something to do with Upsall.’ He lifted his eyes to meet hers. ‘Secondly, there’s a connection with the de Lowe family.’
Sue gasped. ‘How do you know that?’
‘So you agree, do you?’ Stone shot back.
‘No, I ... er, I never said that.’ She flashed a look at Solomon.
Stone knew he’d struck gold. ‘We know – don’t we, headmaster – that there’s something a bit quirky with this family? You see, your friend Kemp told us.’ Stone said, going straight for the jugular.
‘Kemp? He’s alive?’ she stammered before controlling herself. ‘What would Kemp know?’
Stone smiled shiftily. ‘Oh, he appeared to know all about it.’
‘About what?’
‘You tell me.’
For a moment there was silence. Stone leaned forward. ‘Tell me about your dream, Sue?’
‘Dream?’
‘Yes, those things you have at night, you know, while you sleep – I’m told you had one all about the de Lowes. A kind of premonition? Am I right?’
Sue nodded.
‘Why do you think that was?’
‘I don’t know. I dream quite a bit and I write them down. I like trying to work out their meanings.’
‘How very interesting. I used to write a diary at night when I was your age until my mother found ink smudges all over my pillow.’
Sue smiled. ‘Oh, I use a Biro or a pencil so it doesn’t make such a mess.’
Stone pressed his intercom. ‘Has it arrived yet? Good. Send it up when you’re ready.’ He turned back to her. ‘Excellent. That means your diary won’t have deteriorated in the floodwaters too much.’
‘You can’t do that,’ Solomon stormed. ‘They’re a girl’s private thoughts—’
Stone slammed his hand down on the desk. ‘Screw her thoughts, Headmaster. I can do what I damn well like.’ They glared at one another. ‘Where are the de Lowes, Sue? Where are they right now?’
‘I have no idea,’ Sue stammered. ‘We last made contact on the rowing boat a couple of days ago. I think they were at home, although the text didn’t say.’
‘You’re lying again,’ Stone said. He turned. ‘Dickinson. Was anyone at the property when you flew over?’
‘Our thermal-imaging camera found the outline of one female adult. More than likely that of their housekeeper, Mrs. Pye. No others, sir. We circled the remains of the house twice, sir. No other bodies in sight.’
Sue felt sick. ‘I don’t know. Really I don’t.’ She fought back her tears.
‘First Kemp vanishes, now the entire de Lowe family go absent,’ he yelled. ‘Dickinson, has anyone found the parents yet?’
‘Negative, sir. We have a team scouring their last known locations.’
‘Tomorrow, at the crack of dawn, I’m sending in a little expeditionary team to check out their little hovel on top of the hill. You better be certain they’re not there, Miss Lowden.’
A knuckle rapped at the door. A man with a protective facial mask entered and handed a plastic bag to Dickinson. ‘I’ve given it a bit of a dry, but it was pretty well protected by the bag,’ he said, before exiting.
Sue recognised it immediately. ‘That’s mine—’
‘Actually, I think you’ll find it’s Government property,’ Stone smiled as he opened up the pink hardback diary. ‘Tell me, what date did you say you had this epiphany?’
Sue face turned to thunder. ‘About two weeks ago.’
Stone flicked through,
eyebrow raised. ‘Gosh. What drivel, all these feeble girlie thoughts. Ah. Here we are. Entry for Tuesday 28th October.
‘Another nightmare,’ he read.
Stone looked up, his face puce with anger. ‘Is that it?’ He flicked through several other pages. ‘Another nightmare? Is that all you wrote? What about all this “recording your bleeding dreams”?’
‘I did,’ Sue exclaimed. ‘It’s all there.’
Stone hurled the book at her. ‘Find it! NOW!’
Sue nervously flicked through.
Next to her, Solomon burst out laughing, stood up and reached into his pocket.
‘What’s so damned funny?’
‘It’s just that, oh dear,’ Solomon mopped his eyes with a handkerchief. ‘Are you, my dear cousin, trying to ascertain what her dreams were all about?’
‘Of course I ruddy well am.’
‘Well, why don’t you simply ask? Sue told me and I have to say that, when she told me, they were so ludicrous I didn’t feel it was worth mentioning.’
Stone puckered his mouth. ‘So tell me what she told you, Solomon. I’ll be the judge of that.’
Sue shot the headmaster a worried look. I have to trust him, she thought.
‘Sue’s dreams were about the de Lowes finding three tablets that had code or whatever it is on them to save the world.’
Her heart sank.
‘Tablets?’ the commissioner said. ‘What kind of tablets?’
‘Computer tablets, I imagine – you know, iPads or the like – such as Dickinson’s holding. Isn’t that right, Sue?’
Sue’s eyes almost popped out of her head. She laughed nervously. ‘Er, yeah. I told you it was a bit weird.’
Stone eyed them both. ‘Well, why isn’t it on the recordings then?’
‘Because, my dear old fellow, Sue was so embarrassed about telling me that I asked her if it might be easier to write it all down. So she did, on condition that I burned it afterwards. If you seriously believe there is anything worth following up concerning Sue’s dream you’ll probably find that the de Lowes have long departed Eden Cottage in search of these electronic devices. They’re probably looting the High Street as we speak. Otherwise I think you might have to consider that Sue simply had a premonition about a very great storm. People do, you know.’
Stone swivelled on his chair and clenched his fists. It didn’t add up.
‘You dreamt about a storm, Sue, and in particular its violent nature. You also dreamt of the de Lowes, correct? So what’s to say there isn’t some fragment of truth to all of it?’
He stood and paced the room, shaking his head. ‘Let’s consider what we have. One ancient family who live by a ruin next to an ancient monastery, a biblical storm and a biblical plague, and you think electronic iPad tablet devices are involved?’
‘That’s what I saw,’ Sue lied.
Stone moved right up to her, almost sniffing her. ‘We’ll find out tomorrow then, won’t we?’ he whispered quietly into her ear. ‘If the de Lowes are home then I’m going to squeeze them until they squeak – for a bloody month if need be. If they’re not, then believe me, I’ll track them down.’
Stone returned to his seat and took a deliberately deep breath. ‘Now, where do you think they would they go for these things? York? Leeds?’
Sue thought quickly. ‘Perhaps, if there’s any truth in the matter, you might be looking at this the wrong way. In my experience, Commissioner, dreams often highlight things that hint of something else. Dreams detect signals of worry or stress in the brain. So if you look at it like that, the key question isn’t where do you find the tablets, but, perhaps what you might use them for. In which case, sir, there’s every likelihood they may already have them.’
Stone stared at her and then the headmaster. ‘Do you get this kind of shit all the time, Solomon?’
He turned his gaze to Sue. ‘So, what you’re suggesting is that they’re after some kind of digital ... code?’
Sue shrugged. ‘I don’t know. A code or a sequence or something.’
‘Do they own iPads or similar tablets?’
‘Not as far as I’m aware.’
Stone nodded and checked his watch. ‘Right. Thank you, both. Sue you may go.’
A rush of relief swept over her. ‘I’m here to help, sir,’ she said. ‘Please – if there’s anything I can do to assist—’
‘Thank you, I’ll bear it in mind,’ he said, smiling badly. ‘Right now, Miss Lowden, I have other business to attend to. I’ve noted your offer and I’ll let you know.’
NINETY
SOLOMON’S THEORY
Stone sat down heavily and yawned. ‘Still getting bloody nowhere,’ he said to Solomon, irritably.
‘I’ve had everyone screaming at me all day. Do you have the faintest idea what kind of huge turd is hitting this continent-sized fan? Well, I’ll tell you. This place should be called Turdistan. No one has a bleedin’ clue how this Ebora is getting around. It’s a total bloody mystery.’
He rubbed his eyes as a wave of fatigue swept over him. ‘And now the scientists say they need at least six weeks before they can crack it. Current estimates tell us we don’t have six days, let alone six weeks!’
Solomon frowned as an idea popped into his head. He looked up as he accepted a cup of tea from Dickinson.
‘Charlie. Something has struck me. Do you have a world map – even better, do you have a world map where the known outbreaks are marked?’
Dickinson nodded. ‘Yes, it’s on the global updater, sophisticated software developed in Estonia – I can hook it up to the projector if that’s of any help.’
‘Yes, it would be. And Dickinson, would you be able to play the recording back of me and Sue? There’s something I said which may have a little more truth in it than I realised. About a third of the way through, I’d say.’
He sipped his tea while Dickinson played with his gadgets.
‘This better be good, Solomon,’ Stone said, eyeing him cautiously.
‘It’s a ruse, Charlie. And you may well throw it back in my face, but I think we’re going to need to search a little more ‘out of the box’ as those young management fellows say.’
Dickinson pressed play. Their voices came across remarkably clearly.
Solomon perked up. ‘A little further along. Not much. Yes – here.’ They listened.
‘... not only does it spread by touch and by bodily fluids, but it would appear to fly through the air …
‘And the strange thing is that, quite suddenly, it turned up the length of America, as though it flew west with the night. Maybe it did, who knows?’
‘America? That’s impossible.’
‘Yes, both sides of North America and South America too, apparently. In a way it’s a miracle neither of us has caught it—’
‘Stop,’ Solomon said and bit his lip. ‘Play it again.’
When the passage finished for the second time, Stone piped-up. ‘Headmaster, are you suggesting that this virus can fly?’
‘No, not exactly.’ He turned to Dickinson again. ‘Can you spark your projector into life? Jolly good. Now, is there a kind of electronic gizmo which displays a time-line for when these occurrences took place?’
‘By “occurrences”,’ Dickinson said, ‘I take it you mean the approximate recorded times of Ebora infection?’
‘Absolutely, I’m keen to see if there’s a link to the disease being reported in relation to the time of day.’
‘OK,’ Dickinson said, ‘I think I know what you mean.’ Dickinson tapped away for a little while.
Soon, a large map of Yorkshire and the Northern half of England filled the screen covering the white wall. At the top was the date and time.
‘Right, with any luck, this graphic should play the sequence from the very first engagement with the disease right up to the current minute.’
Dickinson dimmed the lights. ‘The map should zoom out as the virus’ spread increases,’ he said, as he hit a key and the sequence began.
/> They stared in silence as the map stayed put while the time-clock flickered through the motions. ‘OK, now it’s midday on Friday – this is when the storm struck,’ Dickinson said. ‘Would you like me to super-impose the meteorological map as well?’ He tapped away, reversed the time and then pressed play.
On the screen, a huge storm-cloud in purple, yellow and red colouring mushroomed out of Upsall moving at an amazing speed until it covered a circular area reaching from Northumberland to Nottingham to the north and south and Scarborough to Manchester on the east and west axis.
‘As you can see,’ Dickinson said, ‘at about five p.m. the bulk of the storm suddenly dissolves into ordinary rain clouds.’
‘Dickinson. Pause it there, if you will,’ Solomon said. ‘Thank you. Is there any way you can overlay a night and day shadow map on top—’
‘Showing the sun’s passage around the globe? No problem.’
Solomon shook his head. ‘Amazing what these little tablet things can do, isn’t it?’
The adjustment took a little longer. ‘Right,’ Dickinson said. ‘By the way, just an observation, but notice how the torrential rain cloud dissipates at the exact moment the sun goes down?’ He returned to the current graphic. ‘Anyway, let’s see how this works.’
The map continued on its time-led journey. As the clock ticked through Saturday, a few specks in red, denoting the virus, began to appear, growing in number but generally spanning out only across the immediate area of the Vale of York.
The map then went darker, showing night.
The red dots began increasing in number though the night and the map zoomed out a little to include reports of infection from London and the South of England. Through Sunday, the red on the map widened a little but mainly intensified in Yorkshire, the north and midlands. As Sunday night came around this pattern was repeated.
On Monday, three days after the event, the general increase continued overnight when suddenly the map zoomed out. As morning extended, a vertical line of red dotted the atlas, spanning an area in the northern hemisphere from Reykjavik in Iceland to Lisbon in Portugal and Marrakesh in Morocco.
