Chapter 25

Dan and Samantha had been allowed to go home after a couple of hours and Eric had gone with them. His home was the scene of a crime and was being examined by the police. They had sat in the lounge drinking brandy until the early hours. They were all in shock and there was no room for grief yet.

They had been told that the police would call the next day to interview them and eventually they had decided to try to get some sleep. Phyllis had been babysitting and had made tea and poured drinks for the family who were clearly distressed. Dan promised to fill her in on the circumstances at an appropriate time.

Before the police arrived, Dan had to get his story straight. He had recognised the canister and had then set about clearing the room. Although he had helped save lives his actions could be construed as suspicious. Why had he known that the canister was dangerous when no one outside of a selected few from the MOD knew what it was?

There had been a lot of confusion when the window was broken and Dan hoped that would work in his favour. He would say that he had seen gas escaping from the canister, tin he would call it a tin, and had noticed someone beginning to choke. It was pure instinct which had made him open the door to let air in.

As he went back into the room, he would say, he had noticed people on the floor and had shouted at everyone to get out. Dan had then seen Sam and had run to save her. Breaking the glass on the French doors had provided another means of escape for the party guests trying to flee the gas.

Eric and Dan were to be questioned, but it was deemed unnecessary for Sam to go through the trauma. Eric's interview took a few minutes. As a member of the government, he was not under suspicion. He would not attack his own guests or kill his own wife. Dan went into the lounge for his turn and gave his version of what happened.

The police listened carefully and asked him to clarify certain points. They wanted to know the sequence of events and didn't seem to find anything that he said odd. The session didn't last long, but felt like hours to Dan. Once they had finished, he asked them the questions that anyone caught up in the drama would. What had killed the people at the party?

As Dan suspected they gave little information to him about the attack. They had some ridiculous story about a gas canister falling from a transport lorry. He had looked sceptical as they gave the explanation and they looked embarrassed to be telling it. The police said that they would get to the bottom of the mystery, but Dan was not sure that they would.

Phyllis had been there and she had produced refreshments for everyone. She moved discreetly through the house and waited patiently to hear what had occurred the night before. The only thing she knew for certain was that Sam's mother had died. Mrs Ellis was still in bed and Phyllis had called on one of her friends to take the children out. She did not want them to pick up on the terrible atmosphere.

Dan had tried talking to his wife to see how she was. Sam was in a terrible state now that it had been confirmed that her mother had died. She kept asking Dan who would do such a thing to innocent people.

"It was a party. We were at a party." She repeated those words over and over as she searched for some reason for Sarah's death.

There had been 51 people at the party and 8 servants. 4 of the domestic staff had been in the kitchen and three had escaped. The other one was amongst the dead. 16 guests had also died including the man from the MOD and another member of the government. Many had been saved by Dan's quick actions, but it was still a terrible loss of life.

Finally, they were left alone and Eric and Dan had a chance to talk about the party. His father-in-law was devastated about the death of his wife, but was trying to put on a brave face. Men did not show emotions or cry in this world and Dan watched his struggle and felt genuinely sorry for him.

"Did the police tell you what happened?" Dan asked Eric.

He was interested to know if the police were even aware of the truth behind the attack.

"Yes. I'm sorry Daniel but I can't discuss the details with anyone. They are top secret. It does seem however that this was the work of anti OWG rebels."

The members of the OWG government had been summoned to an emergency meeting. Eric had not been required to attend because of his recent bereavement. The topic of discussion would have been difficult for him considering what had happened at the party. He would get the minutes at a later date.

The OWG was made up of the Ministers from each of the departments and top civil servants. There was no prime minister as such but Nicholas Salter chaired all of the meetings and had the casting vote. His family had been members of the aristocracy before the meteor event. The titles were gone, but he still enjoyed the privilege of his ancestry.

He looked around the table which was surrounded by the others who were part of the One World Government. The men ranged in age from 51 to 82 and were mostly in agreement about how the world was run. There was some minor quibbling about the smaller details, but their aim was the same. Manage the world according to their main principles and hang onto power at all costs.

The head of the MOD was shuffling his papers and had a sheen of sweat on his face. He was about to reveal what his department had been working on. A few of the more senior members of the government had sanctioned the development of the chemical weapon, but others had no idea about it. Even in the OWG not everyone was equal.

The Minister stood up and the room came to order and focused on him. He cleared his throat before he delivered his statement.

"The work of the MOD is, by necessity, carried out largely in secret. We are tasked to keep the people of the world safe and that means that we have to consider all possibilities when it comes to creating new ways to do this. The development of new weapons is an integral part of what we do and all options are considered.

The chances of rebellion, whilst remote, cannot be ignored. We have been searching for a way to stop an insurrection of violent dissenters from happening. These people are likely to gather in large spaces in the labour zones and it is not feasible therefore to attack them with conventional means, guns and armaments, in case a factory, for example, is damaged. An alternative had to be found.

A proposal was put forward for, and the inner cabinet approved, the development of chemical weapons which would kill, but not harm infrastructure. A gas supplied in a canister has been tested and produced. It has proved to be effective for its purpose.

Most of you are aware of the attack which took place at Eric McBride's residence. This was carried out using one of the canisters of gas which had been stolen from an army base in Wiltshire."

Conversation broke out around the table. Nicholas Salter watched his colleagues and noted the shock and distaste. Were they unhappy that the gas had been developed or were they unhappy that it had been stolen? Questions were coming thick and fast and the head of the MOD was looking more uncomfortable with every minute that passed.

There was more to his statement, but it was just a summing up. He abandoned it and sat down. He would have to answer the angry ministers, but he would not remain on his feet for what he imagined would be quite some time. Over the course of the next two hours everyone learned of the raid which had led to the theft of the gas.

It was pointed out that the security at the base had been lax. The news of the gas had got out somehow and that meant that secrets were being leaked by someone. Protection for members of the OWG was not good either, if someone could walk up to a house, break a window and throw something inside.

The immediate consequences of the event were discussed, but more fundamental problems were being identified. The inner cabinet was not a formally recognised section of the government. The six members led by Nicholas Salter had got together regularly to make decisions quickly on important subjects. It had been acknowledged that matters of security were necessarily secret and often time sensitive. This smaller group could act with speed on behalf of the whole OWG.

Would the OWG have given the go ahead to produce poison gas? A few of the ministers were saying that they would have been reluctant to sanction something that would result in mass murder. One of their main duties was to protect the people not kill them, one of the attendees pointed out. The inflammatory remark led to furious arguments between those for and against the chemical weapon.

Eventually someone said the words which all of them were thinking. The existence of the unratified inner cabinet had to be examined. Was it right to leave such important decisions in the hands of only six men? Nicholas Salter felt the mood in the room and stood to address the increasingly unhappy crowd.

They had been acting with the best interests of the people in mind he explained.

"We had allowed experimentation and were planning to bring the details to the full OWG at a later stage. Much of what the inner cabinet does is mundane and simply stopped the other members being dragged to yet another vote." Nicholas said.

His reasonable air calmed everyone, but many still had doubts. A full debate on the inner cabinet would be held at the next scheduled meeting.

Salter saw the power begin to slip through his hands. His cadre of, like minded, ministers had been able to accomplish so much without the interference of the rest. He had hoped that the first use of the gas would be on a dangerous mob. The development would be justified and everyone would be grateful that the difficult decision had been made. Things had not gone as planned.

Members of Nicholas' family had served in the OWG since its inception. With each generation the Salter's had become more powerful and influential. Now Nicholas had created a niche where he was pretty much president of the world, backed up by his small band of apostles.

The inner cabinet enjoyed the privileges of their positions. They lived in grand houses with dozens of servants and the best of everything. The material benefits were important, but the power they wielded was what drove them. All of the members came from families who had been founders of the OWG. Change was not a word that they liked. Why alter a system which had overseen a peaceful well organised world?