29th March
Two vans entered the driveway to Meadowcote Hall.
The livery on the vehicles announced that workers from ‘Luscious Landscapes Limited’ had arrived to maintain the Hall’s extensive grounds.
The vans halted on the gravel covered area behind the Hall and several men climbed out. They wore overalls bearing the name of the landscaping company on their backs.
A few minutes later, a car turned into the driveway of Meadowcote Hall. It stopped next to the vans, and Vladimir Paulov stepped out of the car onto the gravel.
Vladimir spoke to two of the men, ‘Take the mower out of the van and drive round the whole place – including the church,’ he said. ‘It looks like there’s no one here, but I want to be sure.’
Looking cautiously around them, Vladimir and the other ten men walked along the track, away from the house and deeper into the grounds, until they reached one of the metal cabinets that were set into the hillside. It had the words ‘Danger – Electricity’ printed upon it.
Vladimir punched a code into a keypad on the door. It opened to reveal one of the stairways that provided access to the bunker.
When inside the main chamber of the bunker, Vladimir pressed a light switch to reveal banks of computers and monitor screens, all facing a huge map that covered an entire wall of the bunker.
The lower part of the map showed the northern hemisphere with North America and Europe clearly visible. The upper part of the map showed a night sky with the constellation of Orion taking centre stage.
‘Get some food sorted for us, Sergei,’ said Vladimir, ‘whilst we get everything back online.’
Vladimir sat down at a consul and systematically ran checks on the systems. Finally, he typed instructions that illuminated the wall map.
‘I made for you an egg and olive sandwich, and here’s some coffee,’ said Sergei, placing the food next to Vladimir.
Sergei looked up at the illuminated map. ‘Do you think this is really going to work?’ he said.
‘I think it will,’ replied Vladimir, ‘but I wish we didn’t have to collaborate with ARK.’
‘Do you not trust them?’
‘They have the mentality of the Inquisition. They really believe in God, the Devil, demons and Judgement Day. It’s hard to relate to people who might have just arrived in a time machine from the twelfth century. I don’t fully understand what they’re capable of or what they might do.’
‘Is there no way of continuing without them?’
‘We’ll be trying to convince the US defence computers that orders have been issued by the president to launch twelve nuclear missiles. That can’t be done without knowledge of the PAL and the presidential password for the day.’ Vladimir took a sip of coffee and a bite of the sandwich. ‘The fundamentalist religious beliefs of the people with that information are the only thing that causes them to betray their country’s security. That’s why they provide the data to Arkangel and no one else.’
Vladimir removed an envelope from his pocket. ‘They’ve provided Arkangel with this new launch code for the thirteenth of September, but we’ll still need the presidential password that applies on that day.’
‘I guess the other question,’ said Sergei, ‘is about whether this is necessary at all.’
‘Tom Meadowcote and Sam Collins were convinced,’ Vladimir replied, ‘and I believe in them.’
Another man approached. ‘Excuse me, Commander,’ he said to Vladimir, ‘the grounds maintenance crew have reported that there’s no one else on the estate.’
Those of Vladimir’s men who were assigned to maintain the grounds of Meadowcote Hall had paid no attention to the Volkswagen campervan that had turned round in the entrance to the driveway.