Chapter 14
The Waterloo tunnels were chosen as the Prime Minister’s temporary office for many reasons: the main one because of its secure and secret location. There were a dozen sites they could have used, but due to the disruptive nature of the riots, an underground location was deemed the best option. For the event of a terrorist threat or potential foreign attack, plans had been developed to protect and secure government officials. These two extremes had not been considered a real threat for decades and almost nobody could imagine a scenario when the whole British government would need to be moved for security purposes; nobody except Bob Bukewitz. He had taken it upon himself, much to the dismay of the national security agency, to meticulously oversee the planning and trial runs of this very procedure. Being the Defence Secretary had its downside - boredom. The armed forces still functioned as a potential fighting force, but the aftermath of the crash meant that they were mainly used in assisting with international emergencies, such as natural and humanitarian disasters. Thus, Bob Bukewitz in essence created a role for himself, with all armed forces personnel at his disposal and a budget that rivalled education and health care combined. Lanegan was very aware of Bukewitz’s flawed character. He had been reluctant to vote in favour of Bukewitz initially and went against his usually trustworthy gut instinct. Lanegan was also acutely aware that there was nobody more qualified to coordinate the movement of thousands of people. It would not be the full attack Bukewitz had dreamt of and there would be no weapons involved. Lanegan knew he had to be clear about that point and make him understand that a violent response was not an option.
Bukewitz paced the room he had not left for hours, anxiety and anger fuelling his inability to calm down. Achieving complete control was at touching distance and now he felt hatred for those who had prevented it. He was surprised to hear the knock at the door, and even more surprised at the voice that followed.
“Bob, its Tom, may I come in?”
“Tom - you must be after something, Prime Minister,” Bukewitz replied suspiciously.
“I am. May I come in?”
“Yes, of course, Prime Minister - welcome to my home for the foreseeable future.”
“Thanks. I’m short of time Bob and neither of us wants to drag out an unwanted conversation. I would like make you an offer. All I need is a yes or no answer; bearing in mind that I will find someone else if you say no.”
“I can’t wait to hear it, Prime Minister - shoot.”
“We are about to attempt an unprecedented movement of people. Our hope is to assemble as many people as possible into specific positions outside the cities.”
“What’s the objective?” said Bukewitz, confused.
“Ultimately, to inspire and awaken the population’s creative minds.”
“Haaaaaha, is this a joke?” Bukewitz replied.
This was not an unexpected response, although somewhat disappointing for Lanegan.
“You saw the video, Bob. There is no denying that we have found at least part of the cause of the rioting. We have come to the conclusion that to find a cure we must act now by redirecting the bad energy into positive energy. Hopefully by creating a community of ideas and rediscovering some of our historical innovations we can enlighten ourselves and bring back those who are lost.”
“And what do you want from me? To start playing the flute and dancing through the streets. Not a chance, I’m afraid.”
“We’re trying to help people, Bob, not scare them away. Your role will be to coordinate the progress into the cities. How do you feel about using a helicopter to be the eyes over the cities, guiding people to safe areas and out of bad ones?”
Bukewitz sat quiet for a moment staring at Lanegan. The proposition was not what he had expected.
“Take a minute to think it over and come to find me when you have decided,” continued Lanegan. “You will have to face everyone soon enough Bob, why not be humble and dignified, and show willing to participate in what could stop our country falling into the dark ages. I’ll be in my office. By the way, nobody else knows I have offered this role to you, and it will stay that way if you say no.”
Lanegan left quickly. He had not told anyone he was approaching Bukewitz, as he wanted him to agree to the role in front of everyone and appear sincere. It was also a test, to see if Bukewitz was willing to admit that he was wrong, an admission Lanegan knew Bukewitz would struggle with. It was of course a risk to put power back into Bukewitz’s hands. He would have to be monitored closely.
“Ah, you’re back,” said Ken. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes I’m fine, update me.”
“Everything is ready to go, more or less. Each bus has been allocated a team and all we need now is the recording.”
“Good, I’ll make it up as I go, we don’t have time for speech writing. I’m just waiting on something that will hopefully be resolved soon.”
“Any clues?” asked Ken.
Ken was immediately concerned.
“This isn’t the time for secrets,” he said. “We can’t have any surprises or anything going wrong now – If I need to know something …”
“No - now let’s move on.” said Lanegan bluntly.
Silence clouded the room as curiosity grew. There had been a feeling of openness between them all until Lanegan returned. For reasons unknown, he was now making it clear that he was still in charge.
“We can do the recording here,” said Ken. “It can then be delivered to the radio station where it will be broadcast on a specific frequency. The details are all being printed for each member on each bus.”
“Great. Before we start I would like to thank you all. In a relatively short period of time we have accomplished – well let’s just say we have more than we began with. The next few days will be tough and will surely throw more obstacles in our path. That being said, we are running out of time. When our resources start running out we will see a change in people. It will become a race at first and then survival instincts will kick in. It is human nature to survive – eventually at any cost. But on a positive note, we don’t know what we will discover when we start exploring. In government we like to think that we are in control and are aware of the activities that the citizens of Britain participate in, but I’m guessing we’re in for a few surprises.”
At that moment Jenny opened the door just enough to reveal her face.
“Prime Minister,” she whispered, “You have a visitor, it’s…”
“I know who it is, Jenny, send him in.”
Bob Bukewitz walked into the room.
Gasps of disbelief filled the room.
“What is he doing here?” whispered Isabelle.
“I want you all to listen to me,” said Lanegan. “This may appear wrong but I honestly think it will work in our interest if Bob is part of this,” continued Lanegan.
“How exactly?” asked Stephanie.
“We need somebody to coordinate a large number of people back into the city. This is a military style operation that needs a military person to control it. I didn’t like the idea at first either, but I know nobody would be better than Bob at this. He is an ex-military commander and he has extensive knowledge of large scale planning, such as finding and securing this building which we are currently living and working in. In any case he hasn’t accepted my offer yet. Bob would you like to say anything?”
All eyes fell on Bob Bukewitz. He wasn’t afraid of being unpopular so took his time.
“I want what is best for my country and its citizens and I will do what is asked of me to ensure this happens.”
“You shouldn’t even be allowed in this building, let alone part of an operation that will be reliant on you,” said Isabelle.
“You’re probably right, Mrs Franklin. I would like to apologise to Jacob specifically, for the way I acted towards you. You didn’t deserve it and I admire your courage in a hostile environment.”
“Hostile environment! You are unbelievable. If it was hostile, it was entirely your doing, M
r Bukewitz,” Isabelle said, finding it hard to control herself.
“I accept your apology, Mr Bukewitz,” said Jacob calmly.
“I beg your pardon, how can you …”
“ISABELLE - calm down,” ordered Lanegan. “He won’t be travelling with us on the bus. This is a difficult decision that I believe is for the best.”
Isabelle’s instincts were to defend Jacob. She saw a vulnerable side to him that could easily be manipulated by characters such as Bukewitz, whom she mistrusted.
“Tom’s right Isabelle,” said Jacob. “This isn’t the time. We need to get past this. Our personal feelings are insignificant, we must put them aside.”
“This is on me, Isabelle,” said Lanegan calmly. “It’s my decision and it’s final. Do you accept that?”
She looked at Jacob and recognised a maturity in him. He may not have had the strength to go head-to-head in the political arena with an experienced veteran such as Bukewitz, but he did have the ability to see the big picture and that not all decisions were easy to make. He had learned that sometimes the difference between right and wrong was small.
“I do,” she replied.
“Good. After I’ve finished the recording we leave.”
As Lanegan stood up to leave, Ken followed him to the door.
“Tom,” he said. “You may want to reconsider …”
“Ken, we need all the help we can get on this,” Lanegan interrupted. “It’ll be fine. I have another thing that I would like to do on our way to the New Forest.”
“Which is?”
“I would like to stop off in Bagshot to see Wilfred.”
“I assume he is still there?”
“He was when I spoke to him earlier. Bagshot has not been badly affected and I think he could be very useful to us. We need inspiration and as much help as possible.”
“I agree,” said Ken.
They left the room to gather their possessions.
The orders were to bring only essential items onto the buses. There would be no room for luxuries. They all felt good to be active, even with the uncertainties and ignorance that surrounded them.