***

The exchange programme, nicknamed Material Transference continued apace as more men arrived at the laboratory from the prisons. The situation was getting somewhat out of hand because those sentenced to life imprisonment had been used up and Jordan was forced to take inmates who had only a reduced numbers of years to serve. The equipment was being used to the full and the staff at the laboratory had to be increased in order to cope with the volume. Despite the continued queues of people waiting their turn for exchange, there was little room for error and Wilson realised that there would be more miscalculations, either through human error or as a result of deficiency in the equipment at some time in the future. Whenever that happened, he was determined to shut down the system for a thorough investigation to take place.

On a day when eighty exchanges had taken place, a spark occurred in the radiome machine. At first it went unnoticed, being contained in metal housing, but it continued to spark until the machine exploded. At the time, there were two people inside the cubicles awaiting the exchange process to take place. One was a prisoner from Blackstock jail, the other was an eminent artist who had painted portraits of the Royal Family in the past and created a famous bronze statue of the Prime Minister which had been set on a pedestal in the town of his birth.

When the radiome machine exploded, the process went completely awry and the scientist were unable to maintain control. As it was halfway through an exchange operation, there was no possibility of saving either of the men in the cubicles and they both collapsed in a hopeless mess. The mutation of both bodies was a sight to be avoided at all times. The atoms of the tissues had divided but never had the chance to reform. Subsequently there was a confusion of flesh, tissue and bones which sank like mulch to the bottom of the cubicles. Even the scientists were nauseated by the sight of the debris, switching off the machine without delay. They started at the Chief Scientist for his recommendation but the man had rushed off to the gentlemen’s toilet where he vomited into the wash basin. It was an accident too horrific for any mind to witness.

The process was halted immediately while two scientists brought large plastic containers to remove the swamp of flesh, tissue and bones laying dormant on the floor of the cubicles, rushing them to the disposal machines in the next room. The cubicles were quickly washed out and the technicians began to dismantle the machine to determine the fault and repair it.

‘The schedule for this programme is far too severe. We’re overusing the equipment,’ stated the Chief Scientist on his return. ‘It was originally designed to process ten or twenty people a day. It’s doing something like five times that at the moment.’

Jordan stared at him solemnly. ‘Don’t blame me!’ he said defensively. ‘I’m working under orders. I’m only doing what they ask me to do!’

‘That’s what all the Nazis pleaded at the Munich trials,’ came the harsh response. ‘And most of them were executed!’ He paused as silence reigned. ‘We really can’t go on like this! If you saw the state of those bodies in the cubicles... ’ He tailed off screwing up his face as he relived the horror.

‘Everyone’s a pawn in this game,’ declared the government agent sadly. ‘You, me, the prisoners, those invited for the exchange... everyone! We’re all pawns!’

‘You realise it’s only a matter of time before the cat’s out of the bag,’ predicted the Chief Scientist glumly. ‘So many people have been exchanged that it’ll soon come to the attention of the media. I mean to say, how come very old men suddenly return to their jobs in society with such vigour. Maybe one or two might continue in their field of operation but not hundreds of them. Someone’s bound to smell a rat eventually.’

‘When that happens,’ returned Jordan candidly, ‘it won’t be my problem, although they’ll be looking for a scapegoat and I think I’ll be the one they target. The dam will break, the banks of the river will be flooded and the Government will do everything in their power to shift the responsibility on to someone.’ No doubt the politicians will talk their way out of it with gobbledegook and then we’ll find out who they intend to hang out to dry.’

‘I’m looking at the bigger picture,’ related the other man. ‘What will happen to the programme? They won’t let it continued, will they?’

‘That’s just it,’ exclaimed the government agent sombrely. ‘By the time the media get their hands on the story, at least a thousand prisoners will have gone through the process... many of them dying within a short time afterwards. The maximum security jails will be pretty much empty and the cost to the Government will shrink with regard to the costs of the prisons. A large number of eminent people will continued with extended lives but I have doubts whether their contribution to the nation will be any greater. Most of them will just enjoy living longer. After all, who would consider employing a military man of eighty-three years of age for any work, or engage a very old politician, or an ancient scientist? The idea’s good in theory but no one has evaluated the follow-through.’

The telephone rang at that moment and Jordan picked up the receiver to answer the call.

‘There’s a Bill Preston on the line for you, sir,’ stated the telephonist. ‘He’s the Governor of Lancaster jail.’

‘Put his through!’ came the response, as the government agent paused to look at the Chief Scientist’s face.

‘Mr. Jordan,’ began Preston hesitantly. ‘I have one hundred-and-ten prisoners left in my jail. What’s going to happen when they’re all gone? I’ve already transferred some of my warders. If I hadn’t done so, they would have eventually outnumbered the prisoners.’

‘What are you asking me, Mr. Preston?’ asked Jordan tiredly.

‘I’d like to know what’s going to happen to Lancaster jail as well as the remaining warders... and myself. In a few weeks time there’ll be no one left here. No one’s bothered to mention anything about my future. I think I’m entitled to know.’

‘How old are you, Mr. Preston?’ asked Jordan hoping for an easy way out of the conversation.

‘I’ll be forty-nine next week,’ came the reply.

‘That’s a bit too young for early retirement from the service,’ There was a pause as a number of ideas passed through the government agent’s mind. ‘How do you feel about leaving the prison service if an offer turned up?’

This time it was the Governor’s turn to pause. ‘I’m not against the idea,’ he said eventually. ‘What do you have in mind?’

‘How would you like to join ASA and help to control the exchange programme?’

There was a long silence at the other end of the line before Preston replied. ‘I’m not really sure I’d want to do that,’ he responded.

‘Why not? I was impressed with you at the initial committee meeting. You didn’t winge, moan or ask stupid questions like some of the others. Take a few days to think it over and call me.’

Jordan ended the conversation quickly to look up at the face of the Chief Scientist who was shaking his head slowly.

‘You deceived him, haven’t you,’ he told Jordan. ‘You know that the exchange programme has limited scope and you’re looking for a scapegoat... someone to take all the responsibility when the system collapses. He hasn’t go a chance in hell of getting out of it with a clean pair of heels.’

‘He hasn’t agreed to take the job.’

‘Not yet he hasn’t, but he will. What can the Governor of an empty jail do when the chips are down and no one’s offered him anything.’

Jordan smiled sagely. ‘The issue is one of total secrecy so it’s necessary sometimes to resort to subterfuge. Preston will simply be another victim. Now let’s get on with the real business. How long will it take for the programme to resume?’

The Chief Scientist continued the conversation but his mind dwelt of the awful remains of the two men in the cubicles after the radiome machine had gone haywire. It was a sight that would remain in his memory for the rest of his life. It would also haunt him in nightmares for a very long time.