Ken McClure - Lost causes

Stella Mornington, a pleasant-looking woman who exuded common sense rather than the air of authoritarian formality exhibited by many senior police officers when talking to the media — the reason she’d been chosen for the role — appealed for calm in the current emergency and urged people to go about their daily business as usual wherever possible. She stressed however that those not complying with emergency regulations in areas affected by cholera would be dealt with severely, as they would be putting their fellow citizens at risk.

Finally, Lydia Thomas, another pleasant-looking woman whose natural charm overcame any barrier her upper class credentials might otherwise have put up, gave details of the various helplines available and how they should be used.

Edinburgh, Tuesday 1 June 2010

‘I hate to tempt fate,’ said the chief executive of Edinburgh City Council, ‘but I think we should give ourselves a little pat on the back.’

The other members of the major incident team did not disagree.

‘I think we’ve been very lucky so far,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘We’ve managed to contain the outbreak, with only sixteen cases occurring outside the immediate vicinity of the flats. No more deaths in the past three days, and vaccination already started for the very young.’

‘The mass clinics will open on schedule next Monday,’ said the chief exec. ‘Eight halls are to be used across the city, all staffed by volunteer medical and nursing staff with the assistance of medical students. The vaccine itself should be here some time on Sunday.’

‘Civil unrest has been minimal,’ said the chief constable, joining in the self-congratulations. ‘Restriction on movements has been kept to a minimum, and I think the decision not to close all public places was the right one.’

‘Mind you, the NHS 24 phone lines have been going like a fair,’ said Lynn James, ‘but that was only to be expected. People are naturally very worried, but we’ve been able to reassure them that the authorities are on top of things.’

‘It could be the lull before the storm,’ cautioned Alice Spiers. ‘I hate to go all Scottish on you and look on the black side, but if there should be another attack…’

‘Then all bets are off,’ conceded the chief constable. ‘Everything could change in an instant. We could be faced with blind panic all over the country.’

‘Our hospitals and medical services could be absolutely overwhelmed,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘We’re only getting by at the moment because we’ve managed to largely contain the outbreak to the flats where it originated and treat affected people in their own homes. I take it the police haven’t arrested anyone for the attacks?’

‘I’m afraid not,’ said the chief constable. ‘But if the perpetrators were home-grown as the intelligence services believe, they may well have returned to their communities where there’s a good chance they’ll be regarded with suspicion and even informed upon.’

‘On the other hand, they could still be out there, planning phase two,’ suggested the chief exec, whose early optimism had faded away.

‘There’s also the possibility that they may have contracted cholera and be dying in some lonely barn in the middle of nowhere,’ said Alice Spiers. ‘It takes skill and training to handle dangerous bacteria. It’s the easiest thing in the world to infect yourself if you don’t know exactly what you’re doing.’

‘A happy thought,’ said the chief constable.

The chief exec smiled wryly. ‘So we hope for the best and prepare for the worst, as someone once said.’

Forty-five miles away, Anwar Khan and Muhammad Patel were preparing to ensure that the chief exec’s preparations would be justified. They had driven up from Northumberland to Waheed Malik’s newly rented premises in Glasgow three nights before to receive instructions for their second mission. The success of their first attack had done much to dispel the nerves they had both suffered from last time, although in Khan’s case these had been replaced by a different feeling of unease when he heard details of the target. It prompted him to ask questions.

‘In Edinburgh it was just a case of gaining access to water tanks in some old buildings,’ he said. ‘Pumping stations will be different. They’ll have security.’

Malik shook his head. ‘No,’ he said. ‘We have been monitoring the station for some time. There’s no security. The water board doesn’t do security.’

‘But surely after what we did last time…’

‘They’ve secured blocks of flats all over the country. That’s the way security works in the UK. They prevent the same thing from happening again. There has been no new security put on water board pumping stations. We’ve been watching.’

‘If you say so,’ said Khan, still sounding a bit doubtful.

‘Courage, brother. This time tomorrow you will have struck the blow which will damage morale so much that our victory will be guaranteed.’

Malik spread a plan of the pumping station on the table and went over the details again. ‘Once more I remind you, the critical thing is that you introduce the solution to the pipe after it exits the blue valve of the filtration and chlorination unit located here.’ Malik stabbed his finger on the map. ‘Remember its location in relation to the door you’ll enter by… here.’

‘Which will be padlocked,’ said Khan.

‘The bolt cutters will make short work of that.’

‘But are you sure about the perimeter fence?’ said Patel, beginning to share Khan’s anxiety. ‘No barbed wire?’

‘None,’ replied Malik. ‘Simple five-foot railings. You’ll be over in a flash.’

‘But there are houses nearby. What if someone sees us and raises the alarm?’

‘They’ll all be asleep at three o’clock in the morning and the station is located on a hill. You put the van in neutral and coast down the last two hundred metres. Then you sit and wait to make sure all is quiet.’

Khan and Patel had run out of questions; they sat in silence until Malik suggested they check they had everything they’d need in the back of the van.

‘What time did you say we should leave here?’ asked Patel.

‘Ten o’clock. We don’t want to risk disturbing the neighbours by leaving any later. Drive to the car park we decided on and wait there until it’s time. It’s only used by hill walkers so it will be empty at that time of night.’

The three men watched the TV broadcast of the government’s advice and information panel at seven p.m., remaining impassive as Oliver Clunes, the government’s chief medical adviser, reported to the nation that only thirty-eight new cases of cholera had occurred across the country in the past twenty-four hours.

‘We have also heard from the laboratories at Colindale that the bacterium is sensitive to antibiotics,’ announced Norman Travis. ‘We’re not out of the woods yet but it does look as if we could be getting the upper hand.’

Stella Mornington reported that the public had been behaving with the good common sense that the British were noted for in times of emergency, and very few arrests had been made for non-compliance with the emergency regulations.

Lynn Davies reminded the public about the helplines that were available, and urged everyone to find out the location of their nearest mass-vaccination clinic well before the commencement of the programme on the following Monday.

All four managed a smile as the programme ended, even the chief medical adviser, who made it look like an unnatural act.

‘They won’t be smiling tomorrow, my brothers,’ muttered Malik, ‘when they start drowning in rivers of their own filth. They’ll be demanding that their troops be withdrawn from the Middle East and an end put to their imperialist adventure with the American pigs.’