Alien Virus (6 page)

“Oh, I saw the way you looked at that big,
strong Welshman…”

“So? At least I didn’t ogle him like a
lovesick schoolboy. Isn’t Kate rather young for you?”

“Not for a schoolboy like me.” We enjoyed
the banter. Well, I did. After the tea we looked around the glass
houses, and then the gardens outside.

“You know, looking around here, Sandi, you’d
never know that the planet was infected with a deadly virus, would
you?” She looked at the beautiful trees, bushes and plants – the
gorgeous
colours
and designs.

“No, you wouldn’t. And I must admit, I’m
still not convinced. I mean, I know we’ve had bird flu in the past,
but that was nothing to do with aliens or anything like that. I
know the Government could be involved in a cover up of this avian
flu, as they call it. They could even be experimenting with
biological warfare – that wouldn’t surprise me. But intelligent
viruses from other universes?”

There seemed little point in trying to
convince Sandi, despite what she’d been through in London, and
after spending a good couple of hours in the gardens, we headed off
to the City to get some food. I knew a place in the Grassmarket
where we could get a decent pub lunch – and where the clientele
were mainly students, who would be unlikely to recognize us, or
even care who we were anyway.

We enjoyed our meal with a glass of wine,
and it was late afternoon by the time we left the pub. We took the
bus to Audrey’s place for the meeting with the rest of the gang. As
we drove up Bruntsfield Place towards Morningside, Sandi asked me
about Tony.

“As far as I know, he lives on his own,
teaches at the University, and found out about the virus through
Frank Peters. They went to University together.”

“He seems very sad at times,” she
observed.

“I know what you mean. I think he feels the
burden of being the leader. Everyone looks to Tony for direction –
him being the first to find out about the aliens – after
Frank.”

“Does he have anyone?” she asked.

“No – not that I know of.”

*

Audrey had prepared a little supper and the
usual cups of tea and coffee. We made ourselves comfortable in the
lounge – Tony, Sandi, Kate, Audrey and myself. Gareth had not yet
arrived. Tony waited ten minutes, then suggested we made a
start.

“I’ve got some news,” he started – just as
the doorbell rang with Gareth’s code. Audrey opened the door to an
out-of-breath Welshman.

“Sorry I’m late – I had a bit of
bother…”

“Emily?” enquired Kate. He nodded. Tony
continued.

“No worries Gareth. I just started to say
that I’ve got some news – and it’s not good. I heard today that the
government’s tightening up its legislation on salt. The ban of salt
in cafés and restaurants is now in effect…”

“Already?” quizzed Kate.

“I’m afraid so. But it gets worse. By the
end of the month, all salt packets must contain government health
warnings.
And by the end of the year, the sale of
salt in shops and supermarkets will be completely outlawed.
We’ve heading for a salt-free state. On top of that, with the new
strain of bird flu on the loose, the prime minister wants to
introduce a programme of immunizations for the whole country –
starting with schools and colleges and hospitals, then going on to
workplaces and old folks homes. They’ll be no choice in this: it’s
immunization or deportation. And the laws are expected to be worse
in other countries.

“For goodness sake, the world’s gone mad,”
exclaimed Audrey. Can’t they see how utterly ridiculous this
is?”

“Unfortunately not,” answered Kate. “What
are we going to do Tony?” Tony took a deep breath.

“I have a few ideas, but I want to hear what
you think first. We need to put our heads together – it’s the best
way of working things out. So who’s going to start?” Gareth was the
first to speak.

“We either run or fight. I can’t see the
point in fighting a losing battle, but I don’t want to just run
away either. A strategic withdrawal would be better. Live to fight
another day, that’s what I say. But I don’t know where to go.” Then
Kate added her voice.

“I agree with Gareth. I know we could go for
the
‘salt is good for you no matter what they say’
promotion. But with the way things are going, we’re just going to
be (a) shot down in flames, or (b) taken to prison or
deported.”

“What do you think Kevin?” Tony asked
me.

“I must admit, I can’t believe what I’m
hearing. What’s happened to the fight you used to have? Gareth
could have broken my skull when I first met him. Now he seems so
timid he’d run from his own shadow.”

“Then what do you propose we do?”

“Join with other groups – get the message
out there. You said yourself there’s groups like us all around the
country – all round the World maybe. They can’t all just be
twiddling their thumbs – or running to hide under rocks – hoping it
won’t get any worse. What if it does? Let’s at least go down with a
fight, for god’s sake.” Then Sandi spoke.

“As I see it, there’s seven billion people
on this planet. If we could trigger just zero point one percent of
these people into positive action against the aliens, that’s seven
million people on our side. If we do nothing, we know, ultimately,
we’re going to lose. By running away we’re just delaying the
inevitable. If we fight it, we at least have a chance of winning,
however small.” With the atmosphere charged up with feelings, it
was Kate next to speak.

“There’s other places where it’s not so bad
as here or America – isn’t there Tony? Places like Scandinavia.”
Tony nodded.

“Yes, there are,” he conceded. “Sweden and
Norway in particular.”

“I don’t fancy going there,” said Gareth
shaking his head. For a big man, I couldn’t believe he was so
weak.

“I’m not suggesting that you do Gareth,”
continued Tony. “Though if it helps our cause, I’ll go there
happily.” Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement. “What I was
going to suggest is this: we set up a website – telling the World
about the virus. Everything about it: where it originates from and
all its effects – particularly on the mind; how it spreads; and how
it can be neutralized.”

“By salt?” added Sandi.

“Yes, exactly. But it wouldn’t be safe to
set up the site over here or in the States. Even though the
Internet was pretty much control free when it started, the
government’s been using anti–pornography and anti–terrorism laws as
an excuse for policing the net. Can you imagine any UK site
promoting the virtues of salt being given free rein just now?” We
all shook our heads. “Exactly. But if we were to register and
control the site in a more liberal country – Sweden say –
then
we could be in business.” Gareth was quiet after his
rebuffs by both Tony and myself. So was Audrey.

“What do you think about this Audrey?” I
asked.

“Well, to be honest, when people get talking
about computers and the internet, it may as well be Scandinavian.
I’ll have to leave these decisions with you young folk. But I can
tell you one thing: I agree with Kevin. If Frank had had more
support, he might be alive today. I’m not saying he was right, and
I’m not saying you were wrong. He had his path to follow, and so
did you. But I tell you this: if we can’t stick together against
this plague, whatever it is, then we may as well give up and go
home now.”

Tony turned to look squarely at the old
lady. “Sound words Audrey – very much appreciated. I want you to
know that I would do anything to bring Frank back. Apart from being
a wonderful human being and a great friend and teacher to me, Frank
was invaluable in our task, and things are going to be so much
harder without his passion and drive. I can only say that from his
efforts, we now have Sandi and Kevin – two people whom I know, with
certainty, are going to be a great asset to our cause and will do
whatever they can in any way possible.” Gareth, like the other was
nodding soulfully in agreement.” There was a pause, a respectful
silence for Frank, and then Kate spoke.

“Kevin – Sandi. I was wondering if you had
any contacts though your magazine for web companies we could trust
and approach?” I looked at Sandi for verification of the first and
most obvious thought that came to mind. Our magazine had a
subsidiary in Sweden, and they ran their own website. Sandi nodded
her unspoken confirmation and I turned back to Kate.

“Yes – someone called Frida Stronson in
Malmo. I’m sure she would help – she’s always been well disposed to
us. Sandi and Frida are like kindred spirits – they’re the same
age, and both have been lactose intolerant from a young age. ”

“Good,” replied Tony.” During the previous
conversation, Sandi had begun to look more and more intense, as if
trying to work something out. I asked her if everything was all
right.

“Yes – I just wanted to ask Tony something,
if it’s okay?”

“Sure – fire away. If we’re not holding you
up Audrey?” He’d turned to look at the old lady, who smiled.

“You could never hold me up, Tony. You can
stay all night if you want. I’ll make us all a cup of tea.”

“It was about the virus,” started Sandi.
“You said that parts of the World were not as badly affected as
others. Was that to do with cultural differences, or the way the
virus is transmitted?”

“Both,” answered Tony. “When the virus first
came to Earth, its main affect was in the central belt. As I
understood it from Frank, there were two main factors determining
the distribution of the virus. One, the spinning of the Earth –
which kept the virus away from the poles; and two, the oceans –
where the virus feared to tread…”

“Because of the salt water?” Sandi
asked.

“Exactly that. On top of that, Scandinavia
has always had a healthy respect for salt and a high incidence – if
that’s the right word – of vegetarianism. All in all, it’s missed
out on most of the virus – and that’s what makes it a good place to
keep in contact with.”

“It’s not such doom and gloom then?” asked
Sandi.

“No – except that no–one really ever listens
to Sweden, Norway or Finland. As populations go, they’re small fry
in an ocean of big fish. But still, we do have strong allies up
there. Only mostly they don’t know what going on over here. They
just think we’re an unhealthy nation obsessed with salt and
government control.”

Audrey brought in the tea as Tony finished
talking to Sandi. She distributed the hot drinks, then said:

“If we can set this website thing up with
Sweden, does that mean we can stay on here?”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t think we can
Audrey,” Kate replied. “If vaccinations become compulsory in
schools and colleges, it won’t be long before old folks homes and
workplaces are affected. It’s going to make life very difficult –
if not impossible – around here. I’m certainly not going to accept
a vaccination knowing that it contains the virus. And the next
step’s bound to be home visits. Also, if Tony’s gauged the mood of
the government correctly, it’s only a matter of time before
possession of salt becomes a criminal offence – and then we’re in
trouble. Where do we get sodium from? And without it, we’re open to
virus attacks.”

“Kate’s right,” confirmed Tony. “We can’t
stay here for much longer with or without the website. Moving to
Sweden is one alternative. But working there isn’t going to be easy
for any of us. There must be alternatives in the UK. Anyone got any
ideas?”

We all stopped to consider places in the far
reaches of the Country. Then Gareth spoke:

“I just want to say that I was wrong to be
so bloody negative. I don’t want to give you any excuses, but I’ve
been having a difficult time with Emily. I thought it was all over,
but it wasn’t. Going away somewhere different would personally be
the best thing I could do. I’ll even go to Malmo if need be.” We
all smiled at Gareth and thanked him for the sacrifice, though it
shouldn’t be necessary. Then inspiration hit Kate.

“Orkney!” We all looked at her quizzically.
“My folks used to take me there on holiday when I was young. We
flew up from Glasgow, I remember. We could also fly from Edinburgh
– or drive up to Thurso and take the ferry. There’s hundreds of
islands in Orkney, though not all inhabited, mind.”

“Which direction are we talking?” Gareth
asked. “The Western Isles?”

“No… the North of Scotland, head for John
O’Groats – right at the top, you can’t miss it.”

“Oh, now I know – Old Man of Hoy and all
that. Yes, I’ve seen it on documentaries. Safe enough I would think
– particularly if you find one of the Northern Isles. Next to
nobody lives there. And we wouldn’t be that far from Norway if we
ever need to abandon the place.”

“Good point Gareth, observed Tony.”

“And another thing,” said Gareth, now
anxious to make up for keeping quiet most of the evening. “Being so
near the sea, it might be possible to produce our own sea
salt.”

“Nice one, Gareth,” I said, encouraging
him.

“
Sorry to be a
complete
ignoramus,”
apologi
s
ed
Sandi.
“But can anyone show me a map of the Orkney Islands?
I’ll never know where they are ‘till I can see them.”

“Just be a minute, dear,” said Audrey, “I’m
sure Frank left his old maps here.” A few minutes later she
reappeared clutching a few dog–eared Ordnance Survey maps. “There
you are – I knew I could find them. They’ll be a few years out of
date now, but they should give you a good idea.” We all gathered
round the well–worn maps laid out on Audrey’s dining room table.
There were dozens of large islands, and scores more tiny ones – no
doubt uninhabited.

After carefully studying the old maps, Tony
straightened and said,