That's the fifth this morning,' he said with some satisfaction The channel runs dead ahead...' he extended his arm in the direction he meant'... north-east.' He looked up and added, The undergrowth has certainly covered the area since the sewer was dug. Well have a hard job locating any openings.'
We're bound to miss more than a few,' Fender said, 'but that's not the point. Once the machines start pumping the gas into the main exits, the rats will have little chance of escape. They'll be finished before they know what's hit them. The object of this exercise is to stack all the cards in our favour.'
Whittaker nodded, the movement barely noticeable inside the helmet. He stood, folding the map so only the next relevant section showed.
'Do you think we'll be ready by tomorrow?' he asked.
We've got to be. We can't...' Fender frowned. 'Captain, tell your man to get his bloody helmet back on.' He pointed towards a soldier who was wiping his forehead with his sleeve.
The captain flushed behind his plastic screen. You, get it back on immediately!'
The startled soldier hastily began to don his hood. 'Sorry, sir, it's so bleedin' hot in here,' he said lamely.
Captain Mather glared at the small squad which formed a protective semicircle around Fender, Whittaker and Aper-cello. An army truck stood waiting in a clearing nearby, its engine idling, ready to move at the slightest hint of trouble.
You all know the danger,' the captain said, 'so let's not have any more silliness. Clear?' He neither expected nor received an answer as he turned back to the rat catcher 'Sorry, Mr. Fender, it won't happen again.'
That should do it, Luke,' came Apercello's muffled voice as he patted down the fast drying cement. 'No bugger'll get out of there.'
'Right,' Fender said, picking up the container of cyanide powder.
'Let's move on.'
The senior tutor fell in beside him as they trampled down foliage with heavy boots, helmets bent in constant examination of the ground before them, searching for signs. The soldiers fanned out on either side, also searching the ground but keeping a wider alert for any impending danger.
You were saying we have to be ready by tomorrow... ?' Whittaker prompted.
We can't risk holding them inside any longer,' Fender continued. We drilled probes with microphones attached, so we know they're there. I listened in myself it was bedlam. They seem to know they're trapped and they're panicking.'
'But we know these mutants can burrow why don't they dig their way out?'
'Oh, they will. That's why we have to move fast. At the moment hysteria is preventing them from using whatever sense they possess.
Pretty soon, though, they're going to get the notion to tunnel their way out. Fortunately, these sewers have been firmly constructed they'll hold the rats for a while.'
'And these holes we're sealing? Why haven't they come pouring through?'
'Don't tempt providence: they could do just that. My guess is that the rats are afraid. Remember, their ancestors were virtually wiped out in London. Call it race-memory, or sheer instinct, but they know they're under attack from their worst enemy: man. They're just plain terrified at the moment, too scared to come out and show themselves. How long they'll remain in that state is anybody's guess.'
They trudged on, both men lost in their own thoughts. It was Whittaker who finally broke the silence.
'I don't understand why the other animals haven't been slaughtered by the vermin. I mean, if they're so ferocious and there are so many of them, why haven't they overrun the forest?'
'Firstly, we don't know exactly how many there are. My guess is that there are a thousand or so they haven't reproduced like the normal rodent. It would still be enough to make them aggressive.'
'A thousand? My God, that's terrible.'
'Not really, not in an area this size.'
'What makes you so sure? There could be several thousand.'
Fender shook his head. 'I'm not sure, but I don't think so. If there were, they'd have been seen sooner. They would almost certainly have begun slaughtering the other wildlife. I'm sure their build-up has been gradual. Remember, compared to the normal rodent they're giants, and Mother Nature isn't keen on allowing her bigger creatures to have large litters.'
They're no bigger than dogs. Even pigs ...'
'In the vermin kingdom, the mutants are as big as elephants. Anyway there's the other side of the argument: these are freaks, mutants their genes have been altered in some way. Maybe the ultrasonics used on their ancestors did it, maybe not, but their difference could easily have changed their reproductive cycle.'
'But there were many thousands in London!'
They were mating with the normal species of Black rat. It's all theory on my part, but here, I think, we have the pure strain. I'll bet they're even stronger and more cunning than the first. They've been clever enough to keep out of sight -until now.'
'It makes you wonder if we really are going to beat them.'
We will.' Whittaker could not see the grim determination on the rat catcher face.
'All right, if there really are as you say just a thousand or so, it still doesn't explain why they haven't attacked the local wildlife before now.'
'Rats can survive on practically anything. You can be sure they've killed other animals, but on an unnoticeable scale. Their main supply of food has obviously been scavenged from other sources: houses, farms, allotments, the countryside itself. I bet if we were to check now, we'd have reports of all sorts of vermin trouble
