of Establishments division and I suppose you could call me a government shelter liaison officer
- one of the chaps who sees that our underground defence units are in running order and in a permanent state of preparation.'
He leaned forward on the desk as if taking the whole room into his confidence. 'It's because of that specific role that I have full knowledge of every underground shelter and deep shelter, both public and governmental, in London and the surrounding counties, and that I can assure you that we are neither alone nor isolated.'
At last there were murmurs among the gathering, at last a reaction. Dealey raised a hand to bring the room to order.
'Before I give you general details of these shelters and operations centres, I think it best we appraise our present
position and, of course, I'm sure the questions uppermost in your minds must be what exactly has happened, and what is the extent of the damage to our country?'
He placed both hands flat on the table. 'Unfortunately, we have no way of knowing the answers.'
This time the murmuring was stronger, and angry voices could be heard over the general buzz.
Farraday quickly cut in.
'Communications with other stations have temporarily been lost. For the moment we cannot even make contact with the underground telecommunications centre near St Paul's, which is less than a mile away.'
'But the tunnel network should have protected the system,' a black engineer sitting close to Culver said sharply.
Tes, you're quite right: the cable tunnels and deep tube tunnels should have afforded ample protection for the communications system. It would appear that the amount of damage nuclear bombs could cause has been badly underestimated and that vital sections in the network have been penetrated.'
Dealey spoke up. 'From information gathered before communications failed, we believe at least five nuclear warheads were directed at London and the surrounding suburbs.' He licked his lips, betraying the first signs of nervousness since the meeting had begun, and his next words came quickly, as though he were anxious to impart the information. 'We're not absolutely sure, but we think those targets were Hyde Park, Brentford, Heathrow, Croydon and the last somewhere northeast of the city. The nuclear weapons themselves would have been a mixture of one and two megatons, ground bursts and air bursts.'
Culver was confused. Wait a minute,' he said, raising a
hand like a child in a classroom. ‘You're talking about a cable system being knocked out, right?'
Although their recent conversations had been fraught, mainly shouted, Dealey recognized the voice.
That's correct,' he replied.
Then why can't we communicate by radio?'
Farraday gave the answer. 'One of the effects of a nuclear blast is something we call EMP - electro magnetic pulse. It's an intense burst of radio waves that can destroy electrical networks and communication systems over an area of hundreds of miles. Any circuits with sensitive components such as radios, televisions, radar, computers, and any systems attached to long lengths of cable - telephones, the electricity power grid - are subjected to incredible surges of current which overload and destroy. A lot of the military equipment has been EMP-hardened by putting sensitive circuits inside conducting boxes and laying cables deep underground, but it looks as though even that hasn't been so effective.'
'Jesus, what a fuck-up,' Culver said quietly and those near him who heard nodded their agreement.
Dealey attempted to still the disquiet that was rumbling around the room like muted thunder. 'I must emphasize that these conditions are only temporary. I'm sure contact with other shelters will be made very soon. Mr Farraday himself has assured me of that.'
Farraday looked at him in surprise, but quickly recovered. 'I think we can safely assume that other such shelters have been left intact and are already trying to link up.'
Culver wondered if his statement was as dissatisfying to others as it was to him. He was startled when Kate, her voice dulled but clear to everyone in the room, suddenly said: Why was there no warning?'
'But there was a warning, Miss, er...' Dr Reynolds leaned towards him and whispered the name '...
Garner. Surely you heard the si—'
'Why didn't anybody know it was going to happen?' This time there was an icy shrillness to the question.
There was a short, embarrassed silence at the top table before Dealey answered. 'Nobody, not one person in his right mind, could imagine another country would be foolish enough - no, insane enough! - to begin a Third World War with nuclear arms. It defies all sensibilities, all logic. Our government cannot be blamed for the lunatic suicidal tendencies of another nation. When the USSR land forces invaded Iran with a view to overrunning all the oil states, they were warned that retaliatory steps would be taken by the Combined World Forces ...'
They should have been stopped when they took total control of Afghanistan, and then Pakistan!'
someone shouted from the back.
'I'm sorry, but political debate is useless at this time. Remember though, at the time of the Afghanistan conflict, there was no Combined Forces, just NATO and the Alliance Pact. Simply, the Western powers did not have the muscle to turn back the Russians; or at least we weren't confident enough to exercise whatever strength we had. It was only when the Gulf States finally decided that the West was the lesser of two evils, that we were able to deploy our forces in strategic positions.'
'But if we hadn't starved Russia of grain and then oil in the first place, they would never have been desperate enough to invade!' the same voice came back.
'Mr Dealey has already said this is not the time for such a discussion,' Farraday interrupted, fearing the meeting could
so easily get out of hand. Hysteria was thick in the air; the smallest upset now could turn it into outrage and perhaps even violence.
'It may not even have been the Russians who fired the first missile, so until we know more let's not argue among ourselves.' He instantly regretted his words, realizing he had just implanted a fresh seed of thought.
Dealey quickly tried to cover the mistake. The point is that nobody imagined the situation had reached such a critical state. Our own government was making provisions for war, just in case, against all odds, it did break out.'
Then why weren't we, the public, told that it was so imminent?' Culver's cold anger was directed solely at Dealey, as though he, the representative figure of government authority, was personally responsible.
'And create nationwide panic? What good would that have done? And besides, nothing was certain; the world has had more than its share of false crises in the past.'
And the world had cried 'wolf' too many times before, Culver thought sourly. The girl was shaking her head, a slight, mournful movement that bespoke bewilderment as well as despair.
'I repeat,' Dealey went on, 'the prime motive for us all is survival. We've managed to live through the worst, now we must cope with the aftermath.' His eyes seemed to bore through the white gauze covering them, defying every man and woman in the room to deny the rhetoric. 'Retrospection in our present circumstances can be of no constructive value whatsoever,' he added unnecessarily.
The uneasy silence indicated reluctant agreement.
'Now perhaps our CDO can advise us on what will happen over the next few weeks.' Dealey sat back in his chair, his
masked face inscrutable, only the quick darting of his tongue across already moist lips again betraying an inner nervousness.
The senior Civil Defence officer decided he would carry more authority if he stood. Alistair Bryce was a small, balding man, whose jowls hung in flaps on either side of his round face; heavy pouches under his eyes completed the impression of a face made up of thick, spilled-over liquid. His eyes were sharp, however, and never still,
