The Planet Stealers

Chapter 2. Safety in a Safe

IT SEEMED TOTALLY inconceivable to me now that that moment should ever have happened, the moment when a crazy, kickass hell broke loose on the planet Earth. Because it can't just be this city. A drone, plane or helicopter would have sounded by now had it just been London. I remember quite clearly how I was sitting in my office chair, in the process of phoning up one of my colleagues, when all of a sudden the phone whistled out a high-pitched note forcing me to pull the phone abruptly from my over stimulated ear. I for one knew what this meant. In a matter of seconds, the whole office block was aware of my unfortunate discovery—Dark Energy War. Undoubtedly, an atomic explosion at the central digital switching exchange, about twenty miles west in Slough, was responsible for the high-pitched squeal, which was caused by the actual melting of the mobile-server equipment in the heat of the blast.

I remember very clearly the absolutely ridiculous message which was repeatedly broadcast over the public address system...

"Please remain calm! There is no need to panic! Please make your way to the ground floor fire assembly point just outside the Italia refectory... Please remain calm! There is no need to panic!"

At the time, I recall how surprised I was at the calmness exercised by the majority in such an incredibly hopeless situation. Being British might explain this. Who knows? Of course, it was only later that I realized to my absolute astonishment that the voice was my own. I had made the recording only a few months ago and only one red button, in the telephone reception office, was required to activate it in the case of most emergencies. In this case, the ultimate emergency. I was in charge of the office block's Emergencies group, one of my supplementary duties. As a consequence, it was little old me who implemented most of the procedures for cases of emergencies. Of course, the provisions laid out for an atomic attack were wholly inadequate; all we had was a fire assembly point at which people could congregate and be instructed further from there. Alarm bells, some screams of terror, and not only from our office block, accompanied my repeating warning message. My blood sort of ran cold. I was stunned. A feeling of fear such as I had never experienced came upon me. I stood bolt upright from my chair and staggered towards my office door, I got only half way before an uncontrollable dizziness mushroomed inside me, forcing me into a kneeling position on the floor. My brain started to function in an extremely unusual manner, giving priorities to the serious and the ridiculous in equal proportions. I remember staring down at the carpet. The blue plush carpet, which had been fitted only just the other week.

My ears were filled with terrifying screams, horrifying cries and utterly confused commands. What could I do? What would I do? I remained on the carpet, my kneeling slumped and my head bowed. And the British sense of order and calmness in the face of overwhelming catastrophe finally gave way to common sense. The screams of panic grew louder. On the other side of my door, my ears were battered with the noises of human flesh smashing into walls and doors and even one another, in a mad frenzy, attempting to escape the gruesome fate that confronted us all. Intelligent people suddenly stripped of all reason, honour and esteem, behaving disorderly, like jungle animals fleeing the forest fire all forest fires. Panic stricken. Running selfishly for lifts and stairs in a frenzied drive to the ground floor, where they had hoped safety might somehow lie. I could hear from my window a continual chorus of pandemonium rising from the streets below; some terror—ridden cries standing out amongst the others. I couldn't see them, but I imagined a mob of people running, screaming, pushing and falling, an epic hopelessly horrendous human stampede.

Then my office lit up with a flash of light from a nearby detonation. I felt totally inadequate. Here I was, Personnel and Safety Officer on my knees, glued to the floor. A grown man incredibly scared, frightened to death, a lifeless lump of human flesh, quivering. "It won't be long now, Any second, now, I had thought as I waited uninvitingly. Sweat began to pour from my skin. My shirt was soon sticky, irritating me physically subtly adding to my mental torment.