the dimming of the light (Part 31)

Peter Hunter

    the Bell Long Ranger helicopter, appeared over the trees from the south east, hovered low above the grass between our house and the lake seeming for a few minutes to be searching, assessing the situation

    probably deciding whether it was safe to land?

    settling rotors slowing before they vibrated down to a shuddering halt

   A door opened each side of the fuselage and two armed men dressed in combat camouflage appeared, wearing helmets and body armour and what appeared to be a gas mask

    looking strangely comical in the circumstances

   They spread apart one of them approaching our bigger house and the other the one where the Colonel had lived-in our pre-disaster days

    after a while they signalled to the people in the chopper and an elderly man disembarked to be joined by the two others - they then waked towards our house.

   Accompanied by Chris, I left the house to meet them both of us carrying loaded shotguns so as not to be intimidated when meeting our armed 'guests'

    as I stared at the older man the one obviously in charge, I felt a spark of recognition kindle in my brain

    ' is Mr Fisher here? Mr Peter Fisher' asked the older man, 'Alice isn't it?'

    'David you're David Fisheraren't you? As recognition settled into certainty 'It's been a long time'

     'You didn't visit me in prison' he rebuked 'Peter I'm here hoping to see my bother Peter' he asked hesitantly

   Seemingly strangely awkward and uncertain for someone who at the beginning of the millennium was often referred to as The Iceman

   'No he used to live here but he died several months ago' I volunteered to my brother-in-law

   He held out his hand 'I'm very, very sorry to hear that I am sorry in all these years we have not kept more in touch As you undoubtedly knew for most of the time I have been somewhat otherwise occupied

    as a guest of Her Majesty'

   'David Fisher the man who tried to take over the country' I tried to sound slightly flippant after that I was lost for words. Fisher gestured to the two armed men - instructing them to wait in the helicopter.

*

'It's difficult to know where to begin' David Fisher's eyes had a far-away look in them, 'it seems so long ago now - forty years in the past at least - when I started to get political ambitions. Not happy with the state of our country I began to formulate ideas and founded a political party called The True Democrats. Britain was now at her lowest in modern history - the establishment, parliament, the law, even the monarchy, all in chronic perhaps terminal decline. Corruption was endemic, authority held in total contempt, and a pitifully weak government

    as the nation slithered into anarchy

   For the first time in modern history a possible coup d'etat was discussed openly - if anyone emerged bold enough to grasp the opportunity. The ethics of the jungle ruled - the strong, plundering openly and more obviously than at any time in living memory - no place for the weak or the poor

    greed was king

    it was the time of the predator.

    although you are a few years younger, I assume you still remember much of those times particularly as Peter, my bother, your husband agreed with me - although he wasn't so politically ambitious. As you will recall I was very successful in business and owned a sizeable group of companies

    mainly in computer services, advertising and recruitment. I was and still am in the United States, a very rich man

   Towards the end of the last century I and many of my colleagues, were in a position to interfere electronically with much of this country's commercial systems, banking, air traffic control, command and control systems and such like

    we could - almost at a moments notice cripple whole sections of the banking sector for example. We could cause havoc'

   'I remember it well' I replied feebly, feeling totally out of my depth. 'what was called the long Bank Holiday, that sort of thing - a day when no one could withdraw cash electronically or make on-line transfers only for it all to be restored again in a moment.'

   'Just one example' he agreed. 'but in the end there were deaths - and there was the accidental explosion of an atomic warhead over the Irish Sea, the bomb meant for the European summit meeting at Chequers

    and to cut a long story short I and several of my colleagues, were sentenced to life imprisonment.'

   There was nothing I could add or comment on I had heard it all from my husband Peter, many times and judging from the state of the country at that time, I was not without sympathy

    despite the significant loss of lives

    I understood completely, that major change would not be brought about without many innocent people being killed

(To be continued)

Peter Hunter 2013

part of return Of The Eagle

the sequel to Time Of The Eagle on Kindle