“We’re discussing what our next move should be,” Neelam said. “I think we should be doing what we can to stop this war. I know now that you and Dylan are right about it being our duty to…”
Lucy interrupted her before she could finish. “And I think we should be trying to find Aaron, Jay and Isabella. They’ve been missing for two days and I’m worried sick now Goulden is in town,” Lucy said. “We’ve done what we can to stop the whole Mendia thing and we failed. Let’s find our friends; I don’t want them to die as well.”
“I’m concerned about them too, but if we don’t stop the war, millions could die.” Neelam was frustrated. “Millions.”
“Well, we’ll stand a better chance of helping those millions with a full team back together and it’s too late to stop the war now anyway because Goulden’s already declared it.” Lucy was as adamant as Neelam that she was the one in the right, but her concern for her brother was clearly influencing her opinion.
“Dylan?” Neelam said, looking to him for suggestions.
“I think you’re both correct. Goulden may have already declared war, but he hasn’t deployed any troops, made strikes or taken any military action yet. If we can find out what his actual plans are, we can do something about them.”
He looked at Lucy. “It’s not too late for us to stop the war, but Lucy’s also right about us needing to find her brother and our friends. Not only do we owe it to them, but we’re going to need them to face this coming battle.
“I suggest that we split up temporarily, with Scarlett and I heading off to investigate Goulden’s war plans and the rest of you searching for Aaron, Jay and Isabella. They must still be in the city somewhere and with Lucy’s hacking skills and Neelam’s telepathy, you stand the best chance of tracking them down. Alex’s teleportation powers should help you follow any leads and get away from trouble in a hurry should you run into any.”
Lucy rushed towards Dylan and gave him a huge hug. Scarlett bristled with jealousy because of Lucy’s past crush on Dylan, but she knew that was all in the past so she told herself to stop being so silly and get over it.
“Thanks Dylan, you have no idea how much I want to find them all, but how will we keep in touch with each other while we’re separated? I don’t have the equipment to make any communication devices here.”
Dylan went quiet for a second, then came up with an idea. “Try to ’port back here every time you head somewhere new, write down where you’re going on a scrap of paper, then place it under the first step of the stairs. Scarlett and I will try to do the same and fly back when we can.”
“Good plan,” Neelam said. For once she looked impressed and didn’t have any issues or questions. “I think we should head to the Irwell Tower first. I can’t help thinking there’s more for us to see at that place.”
She turned to Alex. “Sound good to you?”
“Sure. You both ready to go now?”
Lucy and Neelam nodded, so he grabbed their hands and teleported them out of the hideout. The bulb Lucy had been powering flickered off, leaving Scarlett and Dylan in darkness.
A few seconds later, they reappeared and the light blinked back on. Lucy stepped forward and thrust a wad of £100 notes into Dylan’s hand.
“In case you need some money,” she said. “We popped up by a working cashpoint and you don’t see many of those these days, so I took my chance to hack in and empty it. Don’t worry, no one can trace me and I scrambled the CCTV.”
“That’s stealing…” Dylan started to say, but Scarlett shot him a look. “Nice work, Lucy,” she said. “We were starting to run out of cash.”
Lucy waved, then the three of them vanished again, plunging the room back into darkness.
“Well, I guess we should get out of here.” Scarlett said. “Where to first?”
“We’ll head back to the convention centre to snoop on Goulden’s meetings and see what we can find out. That news article said he’s attending the rest of the summit as planned despite this morning’s events. Hopefully, he’ll reveal more about where, when and how he intends to start this war.”
“Yeah. He’s such a show off that he’s bound to be gloating about it. I was thinking we could check out the Arndale Workhouse too. If they’re making weapons, they might be producing things for the war, so there may be some leads there.”
“Excellent thinking, we’ll make that second on our list.”
He scribbled a quick note about their plans for their friends and stuck it under the step as he’d instructed them to do.
“Ready?” he said as he stood up to face Scarlett.
She gave him a cheeky wink as she took his hand. “Sure thing, boss.”
Chapter 17
Soon, Dylan and Scarlett were standing outside the Manchester Central Convention Centre. Presumably because of this morning’s events, it was even more heavily guarded now. Two armoured vans were parked near the entrance and 15 police and security officers were lined up across the front of the building. As they didn’t have the advantage of Neelam’s powers to help them gain entry this time, getting inside was not going to be easy.
“This doesn’t look promising,” Scarlett said. “How are we supposed to get back in there?”
“There must be a way. Let’s check out the back of the building and see what we find.”
The couple strolled down the side of the centre, trying hard to look inconspicuous while scoping out every window and door they came across. Eventually, they found a door that didn’t seem to lead into any busy conference rooms or crowded areas.
Scarlett peered through its frosted window and saw nothing but shelves of bottles, boxes and cleaning products inside. A deserted storage cupboard seemed like the ideal place to sneak in, so she took a step back and telekinetically picked the lock.
As they crept inside and closed the door behind them, they both remained as quiet as possible in case they alerted someone to their presence. Scarlett tiptoed over to a door at the other side of the room, carefully avoiding several mops and buckets along the way, then opened it an inch so she could peer outside. The adjoining corridor was empty, so the coast was clear.
She signalled to Dylan to follow her as she stepped out of the cupboard, then started walking quickly and with purpose as though she belonged there.
“Where are we going?” he said.
“I don’t know, I’m just trying to look like I’m a highly important person on my way somewhere. The main entrance should be this way and there was a board there displaying all the rooms, conferences and times when we came in earlier, so I’m hoping it’s still there.”
“Good thinking,” Dylan said. He quickened his pace to keep up with her as they headed back to the front of the centre.
“Here we go,” Scarlett said when they reached the main entrance. She prodded the board as she traced her finger over a list of today’s speeches, conferences and meetings. “Goulden’s giving a speech to the country’s ‘top business leaders’ at 1pm, which is any minute now. Let’s get in there.”
“How?” he asked.
“I don’t know, I’ll think of something. Come on, it’s this way.”
She led him to the meeting room, where they found a group of journalists had congregated outside. Scarlett focussed on a young woman in her twenties who was clutching an iPad, notebook and press pass and suddenly hit upon an idea. She telekinetically nudged a handsome man who was standing next to the woman so that he fell into her, causing them both to drop their belongings. As they stared at each other with a mix of embarrassment and attraction, Scarlett deftly slid their press passes across the floor and placed her foot on them.
“I’m so sorry,” the man said. He picked the woman’s tablet and notepad up and passed them to her.
“Thanks and don’t worry,” she said shyly. “I’m Samantha by the way, Sam to my friends.”
“Hi there Sam, I’m Dave.”
Scarlett turned her attention away from the couple and bent down to pick up the stolen passes.
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“Here you go,” she said as she gave Dylan one. “These should get us in.”
A smart woman in a suit stuck her head out of the room and called the waiting group inside, checking all their passes as they entered one by one. She nodded obligingly as Scarlett and Dylan produced theirs and pointed them towards the many rows of chairs, which were arranged in a semi-circle in front of a low stage and podium.
“Sit anywhere you like.”
They headed towards the back row and sunk down into their seats. Scarlett breathed a huge sigh of relief that they’d made it this far; now they just had to make sure Goulden didn’t spot them, but they should be safely hidden this far back. The spacious conference room could hold at least 500 people, so that would help them to remain undetected.
“Good afternoon,” Goulden’s press officer, Sallie Sanders, said as she took the podium at the front. “Thank you to all the businessmen, decision makers and journalists who have taken the time to attend today. As you know, it has been a testing day what with the events that unfolded this morning, but the Prime Minister is still keen to speak to you all this afternoon. In light of the unrest in this country and indeed the world, he feels it is more important than ever that we take the important steps he has planned to make Britain a safer, happier place for everyone.”
“Yeah right,” Scarlett whispered to Dylan.
“Ladies and gentlemen, please give a round of applause for the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Mr Adam Goulden.”
The two of them pretended to clap along with the rest of the audience, who were exuberantly putting their hands together for their power-crazed leader.
“Why do they love him so much?”
“I have no idea.”
Goulden stepped into the room from a side door near the front, then strode towards the centre of the stage and took the microphone from the woman’s hand.
“Thank you, Sallie,” he said before smiling at the crowd charismatically. “Today’s events have proved that the world is becoming a dangerous place. We have many adversaries who wish to hurt us and take the things that we have strived so hard to make great about this country. This morning, some of our own countrymen, known gangland criminals from the Manchester area, teamed up with forces from Mendia to launch an attack on this country. An attack that resulted in the death of four brave young soldiers. We will not tolerate this.”
He paused for effect as he paced back and forth, then returned to the podium.
“As a result, I have now formally declared that we are at war with Mendia. This afternoon, troops will prepare to make their way over to the country to take part in an air and land battle that will reclaim the territory that belongs to the UK. Whilst I am hoping that this can be done in a short time frame and with no loss of life, we will persevere and keep the pressure on until the battle is won. We want to send out the message that the UK does not back down, the UK will not be bullied and the UK will take what is rightfully ours.”
The audience let out a cheer.
“It is possible that the rest of Europe, if not the world, will wade into this disagreement and take sides, so we must be prepared for the eventuality that we may end up at war with many other countries. If this happens, I will take all steps possible to ensure that we win, so today I am reintroducing national service for all British citizens under 25. All men and women of this age who are fit enough will be considered worthy of fighting for their country. They’ll be called upon to join the troops in the coming days, weeks and months. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who puts their lives on the line to represent the UK in the battlefield. We all owe our freedom to these brave men and women.”
Once again, the crowd applauded and cheered, while Dylan and Scarlett forced themselves to clap along.
“This is such rubbish,” he whispered. “Goulden doesn’t care about the troops, the citizens or anyone but himself. If anything, I bet he’s loving the idea of sending kids off to war. I can’t believe people are buying this nonsense.”
Scarlett shook her head to show she agreed as Goulden continued talking.
“Today seems like the perfect time to announce our Cities Of The Future scheme, which was the original main topic for this meeting. As a select few of you will be aware, I have been working with several businesses to develop a plan for sustainable cities that will be safe from the attacks that threaten us in this modern world and we will be trialling the first one right here in Manchester.”
The crowd started buzzing with excitement; it seemed that most of them were as much in the dark about this news as Scarlett and Dylan were.
“The threats facing the UK prove that my plans are exactly what this country needs right now. Allow me to enlighten you. The architects Royston Martin Ltd have drawn up a plan that will turn my vision into reality. This side of Manchester is already undergoing a lot of development, with five new skyscrapers popping up on the skyline in the last year, including the iconic Irwell Tower. Twenty more similar buildings are currently in development, 15 of which are in the final stages. All of the city’s finest businesses and apartments are now situated within one square kilometre, which makes Manchester the ideal location to pilot this scheme.”
He paused and pointed at a white screen behind him, which suddenly lit up with an image from a holographic projector. It depicted an artist’s impression of Spinningfields and the nearby luxurious parts of Manchester. They were all encased in what looked to Scarlett like a giant snowstorm, but without the snow.
“Kemperton & Hartley have built an amazing structure that I am in awe of and I know you will be too. This here is a large dome that will cover the city, well the parts of it worth protecting, ensuring that everyone who lives and works in this area will be safe at all times. The glass that has been used to build it can withstand any kind of attack, including traditional, nuclear, chemical and biological warfare. The country’s brightest brains have come together to ensure it is tightly sealed to keep diseases out, shatter-proof to avoid explosions and features radiation and electromagnetic pulse shields that make it nuclear proof. The air inside the dome will be clear, unpolluted air, so it will be healthier to live inside it too. I call it The Shield.”
Scarlett couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Had he gone mad? Was such a thing even possible?
“The inhabitants will live in designer apartments, they’ll dine out at the finest restaurants and they’ll go shopping in the newly built superstores and existing exclusive chains such as Kerridges. There will be no crime, no commuting, no stress; it will be the perfect life. And, best of all, it will be hot and sunny all year round because the atmosphere is climate controlled. Imagine that, a Manchester with no rain.”
The audience laughed.
“Now, you may be wondering how many years it will take to achieve this dream. Five years? Ten years? Twenty years? Not even close. The project is actually very close to completion and The Shield will be up by the end of today.”
Everyone gasped. Scarlett rolled her eyes. He’d definitely lost his mind. There was no way that could happen.
“The main structure of The Shield is already in place; you must have all noticed the tall, metal arches that have been sitting proudly over the city for a few weeks now. Four glass panes will be fitted inside these and we have spent many months constructing them underneath street level. The final stage, which involves raising them from the ground and securing them in place, actually began this morning. If you look outside now, you will see a team of thousands working hard to complete the project. With so many hands on deck, I’m hoping it will be ready by this evening.”
The audience applauded again upon hearing that Goulden’s plan was almost a reality not some far-off pipe dream that may never come to fruition. Scarlett couldn’t believe her ears. He was creating a special super city for the rich and it would be completed today? She couldn’t even put together a set of drawers from Ikea in that time. How did he do it?
“Of course, this will only
be phase one of the project, but I want to get the protective dome in place as soon as possible in case Mendia launches an attack on us now we’re at war. I asked for The Shield to be built in secret so our enemies wouldn’t sabotage it. By carrying out the visible part of construction in one day, I hope it will be completed without a hitch. I do love to spring surprises.”
He laughed and took a sip of water before carrying on.
“Phase two will involve the completion of the final skyscrapers, so as many people as possible can live their entire lives inside The Shield. They will be able to eat, sleep, shop and work within this area, so they never have to take the risk of venturing into the unprotected world outside. A second shield will be built in the Lancashire countryside, where Billington Farms will provide all the fruit, vegetables, meat, pulses and grains that the city will need with help from the government’s workhouse staff.
“This too will be climate controlled, so we can always be assured of plentiful crops and a diverse range of exotic foods. At first, the produce will be transported via canal, but in time, a shuttle train will link the two shielded zones to ensure food can still be supplied in the case of a global emergency. The Manchester Cities Of The Future plan is an experiment to see if it can become 100 per cent self-sufficient.”
“What about energy?” a member of the audience asked.
“There will be time for questions at the end,” Sallie Sanders said.
“It’s OK. I’m ready for questions now, Sallie. The energy will be provided by one of the country’s workhouses. The workhouse scheme now provides 70 per cent of the power in the UK, so there is no reason why we can’t make it 100 per cent. We are testing out using the workhouses to produce all the materials and resources this island could possibly need. This is excellent news for Great Britain. Once we produce all our own energy and food, we won’t have to trade with or get along with anyone else. It will give us an enormous amount of economic and political freedom.”
“So basically, he’s free to start as many wars as he wants,” Dylan whispered.
Out Of Time (Book 2): Heroes and Villains Page 13
