Remember Remember (45 page)

He took another sip of coffee, replaced his cup, stroked his forehead with his left hand and said, “The bottom line is that we sent Johnson on a mission to find out how many containers there were, what they contained and where they were located.”

“Why Johnson?”

“Because he had the contacts in the Middle East, in the very highest places and he was seen as a retired rebel who could be used by their side.”

Rock smirked, “He seems to have been used by their side very well sir, are you still sure which side he’s on?”

Bagshaw responded angrily, “I’m now not sure which side he’s on or whether he’s dead or alive Major, and that is why I want you to enter Syria and find him. If he is alive, then you must find out where his loyalties lie. Now, will you go?”

“Yes sir,” he asserted with a smile, “it will be my pleasure.”

October 30
th
, A High Security Storage Centre, Dover, England.

Chief Inspector James Burt walked slowly to the cordoned area and was met by Inspector Bishop. Burt smiled at Bishop and ordered, “Debrief please Inspector”

Bishop nodded his head and ducked under the tape replying, “We have four dead bodies here sir, but with no visible sign of murder, it seems they all died from natural causes.”

“Is the doctor on the scene?”

“Yes.”

“And what does he say?”

“He doesn’t know yet.”

“Of course Inspector,” the chief continued, “what do they actually do here?”

“This is a storage facility for imported goods. It has a high security rating and a good fire control system and this why the Docking Authority use it to store flammable and explosive goods, before they transport them to the customers.”

“Go on.”

“Well it seems that somebody raised the alarm. We responded with a squad car over eight hours ago and those two officers asked for forensics to seal and check the site. However, those two officers are now ill in the general hospital. Respiratory problems it would seem,” the Inspector paused to look at his boss who waved him on to continue, “the forensic boys arrived in full gear and are still onsite checking.

“What have they found in there so far?”

“From what they’ve told us, someone has dropped a pallet of fireworks, from a fork lift truck, which has burst open on the concrete floor. That’s all I know, obviously they’re testing the fireworks and everything else in the depot.”

Burt nodded and thanked him concluding, “I want that report on my desk by tomorrow Bishop.”

“Yes Sir, you’ll have it if I have it from forensics.”

“Push them Bishop.”

“I will Sir.”

November 1
st
, Police HQ, Dover, England.

Inspector Bishop whistled as he read the preliminary report from forensics, downed his tea, jumped to his feet and rushed to the Chief Inspector’s office. He tapped on the door, opened it and walked in.

Burt looked up from his desk, grimaced and growled, “Yes?”

“I’m sorry to disturb you Sir, but you must read this report urgently, I think we have a major problem on our hands.”

He pushed the report across the desk to the Chief Inspector who picked it up and grumbled, “This had better be good Bishop.”

“Read it sir.”

Moments later the chief responded, “Good grief Bishop, the place seems to be swimming in Anthrax. We must immediately seal off the whole area,” he paused and pointed to the Inspector, “that’s your job Bishop. I must see the Chief Constable,” he looked at Bishop and continued, “get every resource you need, seal the place and try to keep the bloody press away, at least until I come back to you.”

“Yes sir, I’m on my way,” said Bishop as he turned to go but then enquired, “oh, just one thing Sir, how large an area do I seal off?”

“I don’t know, at least that building, plus any other that may be linked, then ask forensics.”

“Ok Sir.”

Burt picked up his telephone, dialled and waited for a response then said, “I must speak with the chief constable urgently,” he grimaced at the reply and continued, “when will he be back?”

Again he listened to the response and hissed, “I see.”

He nodded to himself, thought for a while and then continued, “I must therefore ask that we go to code red and contact the Chief Constable immediately.”

Again he listened to the reply then raised his voice in reply, “Of course I know what I’m bloody well doing. Tell the Chief I have a code red situation and I need to speak to him urgently. This will not wait until tomorrow or even this afternoon. It is a matter of life and death for many people. This is a definite code red.”

It was thirty five minutes later when Burt’s phone rang. He grabbed at the receiver and listened.

“I am sorry for the delay, now what’s the emergency?” asked the Chief constable who then listened intently and replied, “I don’t want to be left with egg on my face after this Burt.”

“No sir, nor do I,” he replied.

“Then leave it with me to escalate this to Government; download that report to my Blackberry and then go down to the storage unit and take control of the site. Got it?”

“Yes sir.”

The Chief constable ended the call and immediately pressed three buttons on his mobile.

November 1
st
, 10 Downing Street, London.

Alisa Maine-Brown had worked throughout the night to gain as much information as possible to present to the speedily assembled war cabinet, who now sat reflecting on her presentation. The silence was broken by the Secretary of State’s question. “How many tonnes of these fireworks are in the UK?”

“We don’t know sir,” came her reply.

“Are we sure that this Anthrax is only in the LOLTS fireworks?” asked another cabinet minister.

“I am afraid we cannot be sure Sir.”

“What will be the consequence if hundreds of tonnes of these fireworks are exploded?

She ruffled through her papers until she found what she was looking for, looked back at her audience and replied, “I have spoken with the germ warfare lab and it may be that great areas of the country will become uninhabitable; we may also suffer many hundreds of thousands of deaths.”

“Good Grief,” groaned the Prime Minister, “are there any other effects we have to worry about?”

“Yes Sir, this stuff could lie undetected in the ground for many years and all livestock, farming and wildlife would be put at risk.”

The Secretary of State solemnly nodded his head and responded, “Thank you for that.”

Maine-Brown responded, “I am so sorry I cannot give you more information or reassurance but this situation is unprecedented, totally new and terrifying.”

The Prime Minister interrupted, “we have to make some very quick and accurate decisions before we close this meeting,” he paused and looked to his right at his Chief of Staff then continued, “Air Chief Marshall, what do you think.”

Air Chief Marshall Graham slowly nodded then replied, “If we cannot be sure of how many fireworks there are; where they are and of what manufacture, then we must plan to stop all fireworks being exploded.”

“But how the hell are we going to stop 20 to 30 million people celebrating Guy Fawkes,” responded another cabinet minister.

“I do not know,” replied Graham, “all I do know is that the general public will be starting today and for the next five to ten days to light bonfires and to let off fireworks. Therefore if we don’t stop them somehow; then within the next few days we may not have a population or a country to govern.”

November 2
nd
, Antaky, Syria.

Mohammed Al-Bari smiled as he passed the Times newspaper to Hassan and smirked, “Look at the headline, just look at the headline.” It read;

GOVERNMENT NOTICE.

MOST URGENT TO ALL THE UK POPULATION

WE HAVE DISCOVERED DEADLY AMOUNTS OF ANTHRAX IN FIREWORKS; THE WHOLE POPULATION MUST IMMEDIATELY CEASE IGNITING ALL FIREWORKS UNTIL THE GOVERNMENT IS ABLE TO IDENTIFY WHICH ARE SAFE AND WHICH WILL KILL.

ALL CIVIL SERVICES INCLUDING, POLICE FORCES, FIRE BRIGADES, AMBULANCE CREWS, LOCAL GOVERNMENT, THE ARMED FORCES, THE TA, THE WOMANS INSTITUTE, THE CHURCH AND SCHOOLS WILL BE MAKING HOUSE TO HOUSE CALLS.

YOU TOO CAN HELP BY TALKING WITH YOUR CHILDREN AND NEIGHBOURS ABOUT THIS PROBLEM TO ENSURE NO ONE IN YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD SETS OFF ANY FIREWORKS.

ALL LOCAL HOSPITALS WILL BE SUPPLIED WITH ANTIDOTES SHOULD THESE BE NECESSARY.

PLEASE DO NOT PANIC, BE VIGILANT AND DO NOT IGNITE FIREWORKS OF ANY DESCRIPTION.

THERE WILL BE HOURLY UPDATES ON ALL TV AND RADIO STATIONS.

THIS IS NOT A HOAX

SIGNED

Prime Minister

November 3
rd
, Whitehall, London.

Air Chief Marshall Graham looked gaunt and tired as he sat down opposite Commander Bagshaw who poured him a coffee and offered biscuits.

Graham sipped the coffee, replaced his cup in the saucer and clearing his throat enquired, “Have you discussed with her Majesty the arrangements.”

“Yes, there will be approximately 350 in the Royal party, flying throughout the day in four separate planes to Canada.”

“Have the government and opposition agreed on locations.”

“We believe there will be many unaffected islands around the UK and they intend to use the Channel Islands, the Scilly Isles and the Isle of Man to house the Government, the Opposition, some Ministries and parts of the Civil Service. The Forces will be distributed around the globe, with the Air Force using existing bases in Germany, Malta, Canada, the Far East and Australasia. More Army bases will be made available in Germany, Cyprus, Malta and parts of the old Commonwealth. The United States have offered facilities for up to two Army Groups; as well as safe harbour for some Navy ships along with existing facilities around the world. Of course some forces will remain for security purposes.”

Graham smiled and nodded but said nothing, Bagshaw took a sip of coffee, turned over a page of notes and continued, “We aim to distribute NHS staff, mainly Doctors and Nurses, within the EU and all English speaking Nations; this also applies to the Police; Fire; Ambulance and all other Emergency services; although we have asked up to one million volunteers from all walks of life to stay behind. Many multi-national companies will use their offices around the globe to continue business and house any necessary staff and we also estimate that up to six million people could be housed abroad with family and friends and in second homes. This leaves us with nearly fifty five million people needing somewhere to go, so I hope our God is with us because if what we are trying to stop fails, I have absolutely no idea what to do for them.”

To be continued...