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The Scottish Government Bunker
MacIntosh raced them home. The Scottish Highlands passed by in a blur. Perthshire’s high, purple heather-covered hills, sitting behind green valleys chocked full of trees, were almost as blurry. Almost. It was more populated here, and the roads were in a poor state so the convoy couldn’t travel at such speeds. The crowds gathered as they moved further south along what used to be the A9. Communities had CB radioed ahead, she assumed.
Perhaps Rory, or his people, had relayed the information of the Government’s intentions to ensure their safe passage. Or maybe she compared it to their forward journey, with McPherson and his crew on their tail. Either way, their journey home was untroubled and well observed.
The convoy reached the Kincardine Bridge just before seven p.m. Three hours to home. If they travelled unmolested, they’d be home for a late supper. Siobhan recalled the three great bridges which used to span the Firth of Forth, and the shock that rippled through the residents of the Scottish Government Bunker when terrorists blew up the three bridges simultaneously with lorries packed with explosives. That was early on, right after the Stock Market Crash. Siobhan had been young, but the memory remained. As a child she hadn’t appreciated the beauty in the structures. The tall upright beams of the new bridge, the Queensferry Crossing, and the elegant flow of the wire cables sat snapped, and the road was chunks of concrete and support metal. She had viewed it on drone footage. Those bridges would have cut their total journey time home by more than an hour if they’d still spanned the Firth of Forth.
Siobhan’s conflicting emotions warred within her as she approached the large metal doors set in the concrete wall behind Arthur’s Seat in Holyrood Park. They drove through the enclosed up-ground compound abutting the hill, which formed the only outside section of the Government’s base. The doors opened to her home and driving in only increased her discomfort. This had been home for what seemed like her whole life. A place where she had been secure and brought up with the love of her father and the approval of her teachers and mentors.
Now she returned a different person. Siobhan had lived up top and, as dangerous as it had been—and could still be—she longed to be back. Back in the Highlands with her untamed man, Rory—her husband. A small ache began. Siobhan missed him already and now longed to be back with him and feel those loving arms around her once more. His gentle lovemaking of two nights ago held the promise of a satisfying marriage in the sex department.
Shivers of memory began on her neck. She could sense his soft lips making their way along to...
No. Don’t go there.
It would only make it more difficult to be without his love. Who knows how long it would be before she could return to him?
Siobhan had a job to finish. She would officially install her assistant, Louise, into her new position as head of Nuclear Surveillance. And she had to convince the PM that her own presence up top in the Community situation was ideal for the dialogue and involvement of non-government groups who would have a role in restoring the Scottish Government’s rule.
The presence of her sister-in-law, Angela, who seemed an ambitious handful, would help greatly.
Siobhan caught Murray in her side view as they descended the long, dimly lit, sloping tunnel to the heart of the Bunker. She’d had little to do with him so far and she vaguely remembered him from her childhood. Murray was exactly the same then, as she saw him now, thin and nerdy looking. He was excellent at mathematics. Siobhan had promised to keep him safe but what from, she wasn’t entirely sure.
Looking out the left rear vision mirror she could see the armoured vehicle which contained the components of The Time Machine, as Rory simply called it. More like a ticking time bomb, if Rory was right. And he was. Rory, she had discovered, was a very good judge of people’s character. Siobhan would have to form an ethics committee, being part of it herself, who would devise and adhere to protocols safeguarding time and history. They were to ensure no one tampered with either.
Like that would be easy.
They reached the parking bays of the garage areas and got out of the vehicles. Siobhan smiled at Murray as he scanned the garage level of the Bunker with wide-open eyes. He briefly noticed her smile and flicked one back.
“Okay, Murray.” MacIntosh slapped Murray on the back, causing the young man to flinch. “We’re going straight to the labs where you will set this machine up for us. Okay?”
“Ah, okay.” Murray chewed his bottom lip and went to the vehicle containing The Time Machine.
“I’ll come down in a while, Murray. I have to report to the PM first,” Siobhan spoke to his retreating back.
Murray glanced over his shoulder and nodded, frowning; a sheen of sweat glistened on his brow.
She’d better get to him in the lab as soon as she could.
But she must see Aunty Rajna first.
***
SIOBHAN’S CONVERSATION with Bethany Watts took an age. Had so much happened in only six days? And she had returned a married woman. Married to a leader in an outside Community, no less. And Antony was a changed man. Or maybe, they had finally exposed the real Antony. They would prosecute him as soon as was practical.
“I must get to my new younger brother-in-law, Murray. I promised Rory I’d look out for him.” Siobhan excused herself from the PM’s office.
***
THERE WAS A TENSION in the air of the lab, where most of the activity appeared to be taking place.
“I’ll try it again.” Murray’s voice came from behind a green metal console.
Thick electrical wires ran along the floor to a strange-looking cubicle. Made of fibreglass, it had three sides. In it was a cat struggling to get out of a transparent brown bag, which was made of a plastic or resin-like substance. A pod, Murray called it.
“Re-do the calculations.” MacIntosh’s voice held irritation verging on impatience.
“I’ve recalculated three times now. The final check with my slide-rule gives the same numbers.” Murray used a tone as if speaking to a child.
It wasn’t lost on MacIntosh who glanced up, his mouth was a thin line.
“Hi. How’s it going then?” Siobhan stepped over the thick cables along the floor. She made her voice sound cheery. It might dispel the tension in the lab.
“For some reason, the machine isn’t working,” MacIntosh said through gritted teeth.
“Well, actually, you should only be assembling it, not using it yet. We need to devise a Code of Ethics before we do any time travelling.” Siobhan stood with one eyebrow cocked. “So, no further attempts at time travel should occur until then. And you’d better free that cat before it suffocates.”
The animal ceased its scratching and now its low growls were getting softer.
“It doesn’t work, anyway. We’ve been duped.” MacIntosh glared at Murray and stormed out of the lab, leaving Murray and Siobhan alone.
“I can’t understand it, Ms Kensington-W...I mean Siobhan. You know it works. And my calcs aren’t incorrect. I’ll stake my life on it. It’s a mystery.” Murray shook his head as he spoke to her and then turned his gaze to the machine in question, chewing his lower lip under a frown. His shoulders hunched, and he blinked often, his usual amicable expression fading. He was just like the cat in the pod.
“Somebody put gloves on and free that animal!” Siobhan yelled to the only other member of staff present.
