system. By destroying our faith in the Church.’
Kettering’s eyes were wide and flecks of saliva sprayed from his mouth as he spoke.
‘They want the population compliant, like cattle. And they’ve pretty much done it. They push us and prod us and control every second of our lives, from the cradle to the grave. Someone has to bring the people to their senses, to tell them that they have to stand up and fight before it’s too late.’
‘Is that what the guns are for?’ said Shepherd quietly.
Kettering didn’t appear to have heard him. ‘We have to show the world what’s really going on. We have to open people’s eyes. Look at Nine-Eleven. No one gave the Muslims a second thought before the Twin Towers were attacked. They were getting on with their lives, not making a fuss. Bin Laden could see how that would be the end of his religion. If people don’t fight for something they don’t value it and they don’t complain when it gets taken away from them. So he ignited a fire that has continued to burn. And when Bush and Blair invaded Afghanistan and Iraq they fanned the flames. Now look just how strong and united the Muslims are. The world is scared of them. Look at how our own government bends over backwards to accommodate them. Well, it’s time for the British people to stand up and inspire that same fear. It’s time that the world respected us again.’
‘But how does killing civilians achieve that?’
‘By making them think about their lives. By showing them how weak and defenceless they have become. That’s what Anders Breivik achieved in Norway. And that’s going to be repeated across Europe until the people rise up and defend their countries.’
‘Steady, Simon,’ said Thompson.
Kettering looked at Thompson as if seeing him for the first time. ‘We’re among friends,’ he said.
‘We don’t know that,’ said Thompson. ‘Not for sure.’ He looked over at Shepherd and raised his glass. ‘No offence. I mean, we’ve known Sean and Roger for donkey’s, but you two are the new kids on the block.’
‘None taken,’ said Shepherd. He smiled across at Kettering. ‘The Norwegian’s the one that killed all those kids, right? Please don’t tell me you’re planning to kill kids.’
‘It was a socialist camp,’ said Kettering. ‘He knew what he was doing. He knew that by killing the way he did he’d get his whole country talking. The whole world.’ He drank more champagne. ‘Are you going to pull out of our deal? Is that what you’re thinking?’
‘Once the guns leave my hands it’s not my problem,’ said Shepherd. ‘They can’t be traced to me. I doubt that you’d tell the cops where you got them from and even if you did it’d be your word against mine.’ He shrugged. ‘Money’s money, that’s what I always say.’
Kettering nodded, then leaned over and clinked his glass against Shepherd’s.
‘Doesn’t it worry you, what’s happening to our country?’ asked Thompson.
‘I don’t give it much thought,’ said Shepherd. ‘I don’t pay tax, I come and go as I please and I do pretty much as I like. I leave my money offshore, so even if the cops were to get on to me I could move overseas and they’d never get me. I’m bulletproof, mate.’
‘At the moment. But what will you do when they get rid of money and everyone is chipped?’ said Thompson.
‘Chipped?’ repeated Sharpe.
‘They’ll do away with money and you’ll have a chip under your skin that you use to buy everything, and the moment you step out of line your chip is wiped,’ said Thompson. ‘It’ll be the ultimate controlling tool. If we get to that stage it’s all over. The rich will get richer and richer and the poor will stay poor.’
‘I’m not poor, mate.’
‘Compared to the Russian oligarchs? Compared to Tony Blair and the Bushes and the rest of them? Compared to the bankers? They’re the ones who are taking over, unless we do something.’
‘You’re a great one for conspiracies, aren’t you?’ said Shepherd.
Thompson’s eyes hardened. ‘You need to read more,’ he said. ‘You know what a false flag is?’
Shepherd did but he wanted Thompson to continue talking.
‘It’s when the government does something but blames it on someone else. Hitler did it when he burned down the Reichstag. The Yanks did it in the Tonkin accident when they claimed that the North Vietnamese attacked one of their destroyers. The biggest false flag of all time was Nine-Eleven.’
‘You think the Americans killed their own people?’ asked Shepherd.
‘It was Bin Laden who brought down the Twin Towers,’ said Thompson. ‘I’m not one of those morons who think they used explosives. Of course they used planes and of course it was Bin Laden behind it. But who was behind Bin Laden?’
Shepherd didn’t say anything. He sipped his champagne.
‘The Americans,’ said Thompson. ‘They trained him, they funded him and they told him what to do. And afterwards they killed him. Why? Because they wanted Iraq’s oil and they wanted the world in fear, because a population living in fear is easier to control. You’ve read
Shepherd shook his head.
‘You should,’ said Thompson. ‘George Orwell was way ahead of his time. Read
‘I’m starting to wish I hadn’t asked,’ said Shepherd, trying to lighten the moment. Kettering and Thompson were both staring at him intently.
‘It’s not a joke, Garry,’ said Kettering. ‘This isn’t a race war; it’s a fight for the survival of our species. Because once the elite has total control there’ll be no going back. They’ll control the food, the water, the money supply, the land, everything.’
‘So what do you guys do, when you’ve got the guns? Do you attack Downing Street? Do you take hostages? What’s the plan?’
Kettering grinned and tapped the side of his nose. ‘That, Garry old lad, is on a need-to-know basis.’
‘And you don’t need to know,’ added Roger.
‘Amen to that,’ said Sean. He raised his glass and smiled thinly. ‘No offence.’
‘Well, that was just plain weird, wasn’t it?’ said Shepherd as he drove away from the pub and headed to Hereford. He beeped his horn at Kettering and Thompson, who were climbing into their Jaguar. They waved as he drove away. Sean and Roger were sitting in the back of the Jaguar, deep in conversation.
‘What was weird was the way that you brought Ray into the frame,’ said Sharpe. ‘That wasn’t right, you know that?’
‘I needed to find out what they were planning to do,’ said Shepherd.
‘Yeah, but mentioning Ray like that just makes them associate us with him even more. It made it sound like Ray had been talking to us about them and they won’t like that.’
‘It went okay,’ said Shepherd, accelerating past a mud-splattered tractor.
‘We should tip Ray off and give him the option of pulling out.’
‘You’re over-thinking it, Razor,’ said Shepherd. ‘It was a brief conversation and then we were straight on to the great conspiracy theory. They were so fired up about that they won’t remember where it started.’
Sharpe sighed and folded his arms. ‘Aye, maybe.’
‘The Roger guy, the bald one, is Roger McLean. Button reckons he met with that Norwegian who shot all the kids. He’s anti-Islamic, big time. Button’s going to be very interested to know that he turned up.’
‘And that Sean, what do you think? UDA?’
‘Military-trained, that’s for sure. He knew how to handle the Yugo. I’ll run him by Charlie, see what she says. So what’s your take on the Bin Laden thing?’
‘The conspiracy?’ Sharpe shrugged. ‘I can just about buy the Americans getting Bin Laden to attack the Twin Towers, but the whole global-conspiracy thing is a bit much. But it makes for a good story.’
‘What about the theory that the West demonised Bin Laden?’
‘That’s true enough,’ said Sharpe. ‘And they used him as an excuse to invade Afghanistan and Iraq. But that doesn’t make it a conspiracy. A conspiracy needs some very clever people and it was George W. Bush, for God’s sake. Didn’t he have an IQ of 91?’
‘I think that’s an urban myth,’ said Shepherd. ‘But what they seem to be saying is that it’s bigger than
