[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

of cigar smoke.  It s your show now, he had said, passing
Gilmore a thick sheaf of notes  the Rules of Engagement.
Gilmore was met by his batman at the entrance to
Maybury Hall.  Coffee, he told the man,  black, three
sugars, in two minutes in my room. The man nodded and
scuttled off.
Gilmore strode up the corridor and opened the door to
the duty room. Staff came to rapid attention in their seats.
Sergeant Embery snapped to his feet.  Evacuation plans,
Gilmore passed him the thick document,  implementation
immediate.
The aroma of coffee filled his room. On the spare cot-
bed, his batman had laid out fresh battle fatigues. The
walnut handle of his service revolver protruded from the
holster placed neatly on the folded squares of khaki cloth.
Gilmore washed in a white enamel basin with cold water
from a matching jug. Cold brought a measure of sharpness
back. Dressing brought him more into focus, making him
more the man, more the soldier. But even the bitter coffee
couldn t eliminate the subtle tang of fear in his mouth. He
buckled on his gun belt with short savage tugs.
In a dimly lit hut twenty-three years ago, so newly built
that it stank of resin, he had watched flickering green lines
on a cathode ray tube as the WAAF operator intoned
courses and speeds into her headset, a litany of Stukas.
Within minutes the bombs had been falling among the
box-girder radar towers. They had heard the screaming
wail of a Stuka s dive, the death whistle of the bomb and
the dull crump of the blast. The operator had calmly
continued relaying flight information to Group Area
Command, her soft voice never faltering until a bomb
severed the landline.
That night he and the operator went down to the beach
together. He had said her name over and over again as the
terror abated into something else. The sea was a sheet of
silver; small waves whispered over sand.  Rachel, he had
said as the bombs went away.
Gilmore was transferred to training command in
Scotland the next day. As he drove away he saw a
formation of droning specks heading inland. Operator
Jensen was already reporting their vectors to HQ in that
soft calm voice of hers. Neither of them had ever married.
Gilmore pulled on his peaked cap. The badge was bright
from polishing.
Rachel was studying the Doctor when the group captain
came in. The little man was staring at the maps laid out on
the billiard table  staring at, but not seeing them. It was as
if he were studying another landscape that only he could
see, planning moves on some unimaginable gaming board.
 Well, Doctor? asked Gilmore.
 Group Captain, said the Doctor,  about the evacuation.
 I have been in direct contact with High Command and
they have agreed to a staged quiet withdrawal under the
Peacetime Nuclear Accident Provisions. They felt that
given the state of the current government...
 Thanks to Miss Keeler, said Allison.
 They felt, Miss Williams, Gilmore looked sharply at
the young woman,  that the initial stages could be carried
out under the aegis of the Intrusion Counter Measures
Team. The D-notice committee has been informed and a
cover story prepared.
 What is it? asked Rachel.
 I have no idea. said Gilmore with surprise,  not my
department.
Ask a stupid question, she thought.
 Now, Doctor, Gilmore said briskly,  since you hold my
career in your hands, I hope you can justify my faith.
 With respect, Group Captain, said the Doctor,  your
career is magnificently irrelevant.
Rachel saw Gilmore flinch as if he had been slapped.
Emotions rippled across his face  anger and wounded
pride. For a moment it was a face of a young lieutenant,
lost on a moonlit beach. Then twenty-three years of
memory clamped down and it became a warrior s mask
again.
 Any more transmission sites? the Doctor asked
Rachel.
Rachel checked the map.  Just the one at the school.
 Good, said the Doctor,  I need a direct line to Jodrell
Bank and, let me see, his brow creased,  1963  the
Fylingdales installation.
He seized a notepad and scribbled figures.  Order them
to search these localities for high orbital activity. He gave
Rachel the note: he had written six groups of three digits,
meridian and polar co-ordinates.
 The detector vans should be moved so they can cover
this area here and here. He marked the maps with red
crayon.  All air and ground forces must be ordered to avoid
engaging the enemy at all costs. We must act with extreme
caution.
 And if we don t? asked Allison.
 Goodbye civilization as you know it.
Ace was bored  really bored. The steam radio on the table
was playing music that was all windy strings. Some jazz
would be nice, a bit of go-go better, or even house or
something by that trio of blonde bimbos whose name [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]