Hallucinating (22 page)

CHAPTER NINETEEN

...interrogation...

Nulight and Kappa are sharing a cell. It seems once to have been a room in a house, but they wore blindfolds when they were brought here so they know nothing of their surroundings. The cell is about twenty feet square, with a solid door, and furniture—double bed, chest of drawers, sink, chemical loo, cardboard boxes in one corner. The single uPVC style window has been painted black on the outside, so it is impossible to see out. The smell inside the cell is full-on bleach. All the com ports have been pulled away from the skirting boards and trashed. The walls are painted a pale lime green colour. A lone spider waits hopefully in its web by the blacked-out window.

They can detect people moving outside the cell, and occasionally they hear talking, but everything is muffled. Nulight sits for hours with his ear placed against the door, but although he can hear voices, no single recognisable word can he distinguish. He feels dejected, isolated. Judging by the rhythm of light/dark they have been here, alone, for three days, with only the food and drink pushed through the door hatch as evidence of consideration. Nobody has bothered to come in and change the loo.

They shout and plead when their food is presented, but whoever is outside takes not a blind bit of notice of them.

There is however one hint of what might lie outside the cell. In the black paint is a single horizontal scratch, and by pressing his face against the window Nulight can see a glimpse of greenery and brickwork. He guesses that they are locked inside a ground floor room in an ordinary house, with their window backing on to a private garden.

Absolutely no hope of rescue, of course.

On day four there is a change in the routine. An hour after food and water is pushed through the door hatch it opens again, and a cigarette-hoarse voice says, "Oy, you two, all right?"

Nulight rushes to the hatch, bending down to look through it. He sees trousers and boots. "Who's that?" he calls out. "Fucking let us
out
of here!"

"Can't do that 'til the boss says, mate."

Nulight kneels down, trying to get a glimpse of a face. "Who are you?"

"Your jailor." The man also bends down, and Nulight sees a middle-aged, pudgy face with sideburns; brown hair, dark eyes behind specs. "Fred Buttons is the name."

"Well, Mister Buttons," says Nulight, "we're being held against our will and we want out."

"You're going to have a chat soon, so don't worry."

Nulight's heart skips a beat. "A chat? Who with?"

"Dunno. Not my business, mate. Anyway, you're okay? No illnesses?"

"Fuck you,
Buttons.
"

"Whatever."

Fred slams the hatch shut.

They wait. A couple of hours pass. Then comes the unmistakeable sound of a key in the door. They both rush forward as the door opens, but the first thing they see is Fred Buttons holding a gun. Standing beside him is a tall Indian dude with dreads going grey, wearing a Steve Hillage T-shirt, stripey trousers, and sandals. He is chewing gum.

"Sorry about the heaviness," he says, indicating Fred with a twitch of his head.

"Who the fuck are
you?
" Nulight replies.

"Greenstyle Patel. Follow me upstairs, we need to have a chat."

"Man," Nulight splutters, "you're telling
me.
"

"Please don't try any funnies. Fred's got orders to shoot you in the lower legs."

Nulight is appalled. "Orders? Who from?"

Greenstyle Patel turns to gesture at the lower steps of a staircase. "Let's go somewhere comfy, eh?"

The pair follow Greenstyle Patel up the stairs, to be led into a sunny, airy room with open french windows that lead to a railed-off balcony. Nulight can see the sea; sun dazzling off the waves, smell of the seaside. Hundreds of rickety roofs leading down to the sea indicate that they are being held in a coastal town.

"What the fuck is this?" Nulight asks Greenstyle.

The Indian does not reply, instead pulling out three chairs so that they form a semicircle around a table, on which Nulight can see jasmine tea and a packet of ginger nuts. "Sit down," Greenstyle says. "Help yourself to nibbles."

Kappa does as she is told, but Nulight walks to the open window. They are very high: no escape here. He turns and says, "Where is this?"

Greenstyle, sitting, indicates the empty chair. Nulight walks over and sits, huffing and puffing like a kid. He repeats his question in a louder voice.

Then Greenstyle says, "You're feeling disorientated—"

"Man, you bet—"

Kappa halts Nulight's outburst. "Let this man speak," she says.

Greenstyle continues, "I've brought you up here to tell you something of what's going on. Not everything, of course. Now then, Detective Sergeant Hall mentioned a few of the questions that you asked him, and one of them concerned government in Britain. There is a new government in this country and it is based right in this town."

"Where are we then?" asks Kappa.

"Lyme Regis."

Nulight bursts out laughing. "Lyme?
Lyme?
You gotta be kidding, man."

Greenstyle allows the mocking to cease, then, in the same tone of voice, he continues, "Lyme Regis is the perfect spot, Nulight. It is coastal, so we have access to the sea, a crucial advantage in these all but car-less days. It is small, and fared moderately well after the alien invasion. It is surrounded by fertile land that we are farming to its fullest capacity—"

"Yeah," Nulight interrupts, "sure, I bet you are, fucking
chemicals
and all."

"We only use organic methods. Chemicals can't be obtained any more, even if we wanted them, which we don't."

"Is that so."

"Let Greenstyle speak," Kappa says, irritation in her voice.

Greenstyle continues, "Then there are the roads that lead into Devon and Dorset, allowing us to use wheeled transport if we need to. We have wave and solar technology to give us power. And Nulight, the people in Lyme Regis
want
us—they want security and they want government. They want something doing about the aliens."

Nulight says nothing for a few moments; then he attacks. "You can't have no government without no country. You can't rule a people who're ruling themselves. They'll totally reject you. Also—there ain't no rule of law any more, so you
can't
arrest me."

"There is always law, Nulight. No citizen of this country can abdicate their responsibility and pretend to be an anarchist. We had the police arrest you because you were inciting riot. This is a delicate time for the new government, and we don't want it ruined by you."

"Well you ain't got no choice, man, because I'm never gonna stop ruining it."

Greenstyle pauses, as if considering what he has heard. "Perhaps you think so now," he says, "but I haven't yet told you about our hopes. We have no intention of working against the true heart of this country. We want to work with you—"

"I'm sure you do! Of course, yeah, makes perfect sense."

"Your sarcasm does you credit," Greenstyle remarks. "No, I mean it. You see, we want to set up Voiceoftibet again, amongst many other organisations. We aren't like the old government. Our job is to manage the future of this country, not to offer it dogma and authoritarianism. And think of the many other countries that are struggling as we are. We need to normalise relations with them."

"What, like Wales and Cornwall and Scotland?"

"You know what I mean."

Nulight grunts. "Hey, man, I thought the EU broke up. No way are you gonna get it back again."

Greenstyle says nothing as he eyes the pair. Silence for a minute, then Kappa remarks, "I'm not so dead against you as Nulight appears to be."

"As I am," Nulight corrects.

"But you haven't really answered our main point, have you?" Kappa continues. "How can you just set yourself up as the government of the country when you've no idea what's going on in it? There is no country, it's millions of tiny settlements and communities. They don't need you at all."

"Right on," says Nulight.

Greenstyle nods, as if accepting that this is the fundamental question. "We know alot more than you think—we've been going all year, and we've sent out lots of people to gather information. Let me tell you something that you might not realise. People
want
their old lifestyles back, and they want technology in particular. It's our duty to give it to them, and that's the main reason the government was set up."

"Well, let me tell you something," Nulight replies. "We know the people a hundred times better than you do. We've been on a quest, man, a quest to find out what people really want. They want food, water and good times, man. They don't want you. You're a liar trying to get me on your side. You'll never succeed."

Greenstyle stands up. "You'll see the truth eventually."

"Oh, right, yeah, and you'll keep us locked up until then?"

"Of course. We can't work with you if you're gadding about the country."

"Work with me? You bastards ain't
worth
my time, don't you
see?
"

Greenstyle gestures at the door. "Back to your cell, please."

...the minister for the environment...

Second time in the light, airy room and they meet an actual member of the government. It is a woman of about forty with short dark hair, wearing black jeans and a white cheesecloth top. Greenstyle Patel and gun-totin' Fred hang loose near the door.

"Hi, I'm May Dee Ash, the Minister for the Environment."

Nulight wants to laugh at this absurdity, but he forces his emotions down. "Is that right?" he says.

"Okay, so Greenstyle told me you're suspicious of us—"

"Suspicious? Hey—understatement of the year."

May Dee shrugs. 

"How can you be Minister for the Environment?" asks Kappa.

"Very easily—"

"Wait, wait," Nulight interrupts. "You mean there's a Cabinet? An actual PM?"

"Of course."

Nulight looks in amazement at Kappa; and she is pretty shocked too. Kappa says, "But how can there be?"

May Dee answers, "The Prime Minister of Britain—"

"There
ain't
no Britain!" Nulight shouts.

"Of what used to be England," May Dee continues, "is Kensington Forbes, and he has a Cabinet of sixteen ministers, of whom I am honoured to be one."

Kappa mutters to herself, "Who are these people?"

Nulight shakes his head and glances at her. "It's just the same old shit," he says. And the look in Kappa's eyes suggests that despite her pragmatism, she agrees.

May Dee tries to regain the initiative. "Look, I came over here to make you two an offer. I have the authority to do this."

Nulight lets the full force of his scorn shine though. "Man, Greenstyle obviously didn't
brief
you very well. You don't come to us and start using the word
authority.
We don't recognise your
authority.
"

May Dee is not so chilled as Greenstyle. "Is that so," she says. She is biting her lip now, and her face is turning from pink to red.

"Yeah," comes the reply, "it fucking
is.
"

Silence for a few moments. Then May Dee says, "This is my offer. We want you two to work with us in the Department of the Environment. We want to set up a whole range of organisations to help us return this country to what it was before forty-nine. You'd get the chance to change things, to bring in your own ideas. You'd be in charge of alot. Look, being serious, you must realise that you can't make it on your own."

"Don't you believe it," Nulight replies. "Don't you
get
it? The moment you bring back technology and the old economy you've set up the conditions for a second invasion. The blue bastards are up there now, orbitting. Ain't you seen 'em?" He is shouting now. "They no like big capitalist music—they remix it auton style. It'll happen again, sure it will, the moment you bring back the old ways."

But May Dee is not taking this in. "You might think so," she says, "but we believe otherwise. Our Department of Xeno Affairs will see to that."

"Oh, right, sure," Nulight scoffs, "you put a quick
Xeno
into your gobbledigook and think you understand the aliens. You just don't get it, do you?"

"And I suppose your quest has come up with an answer?"

Nulight rockets out of his chair. "It has, yeah. And
you
ain't gonna hear what it is."

"Can I remind you that you told our officers at Stonehenge?"

"You think a few wazzack pigs are going to remember, let alone understand what we said on that stage, what we
did?
No way! No fucking way!"

May Dee Ash departs the room. Greenstyle and Fred gesture at the stairs. Nulight and Kappa return to their cell.

...A New Way To Say 'Hooray!'...

They remain in the cell for the next three days. It is as before. Solitude.

Depression hits them. They both want to argue, but they are aware that they must not give in to temptation. The government wants them pliable. They must keep strong their resolve. No bickering and falling out, therefore.

But it ain't easy when there's no hope.

Day eight: a man arrives to inspect the cell, checking conditions, he claims. Nulight is suspicious. The check is thorough and afterwards the loo is changed, as are the bedclothes, while the leaky tap is fixed and also the flickering neon tube.

"Sweets, they're just manipulating us," Nulight tells Kappa. "They treat us bad then they treat us good. You wait—Greenstyle'll be back with another offer. I bet they roped him in 'cos he's Indian, yeah, I bet those dreads are a wig."

Kappa says nothing.

"You all right, sweets?"

Kappa offers no reply. She is pissed off.

But then... well, day nine, and something freaky.

The cell door is unlocked. They stay where they are, Kappa lying on the bed, Nulight sitting on the chair, doodling on a piece of paper, both of them too dejected to move. Nulight glances up to see Fred Buttons, his gun, and a visitor, an old man... kinda familiar. He is a handsome dude, though, no slouching oldster—love that purple hair.