LOCATION:
MEMBERS PRESENT:
Finn Braxton, Operations Director
Dr Sadie Mann, Director of Psychiatric Evaluations
Dr Pascal Foley, Deputy Head of Neuroscience
Ministry of Defence (MoD), Porton Down
MI5
William Harris, HM Government’s Minister for Central Intelligence
NON-MEMBERS PRESENT:
Prime Minister Diane Cline
PRIME MINISTER: I’d like to keep this brief. What’s the status of the programme?
FINN BRAXTON: The five most recently appointed Minders from Cycle Three are a year into the programme with no reported complications or side effects.
PRIME MINISTER: And we are still tracking them?
FINN BRAXTON: Yes, Prime Minister. Communication remains minimal through social media channels but the transdermal patches they wear and the bioresorbable health sensor implants keep us up to date with their physical and mental statuses.
MoD: And as former special forces personnel, these candidates continue to remain discreetly armed at all times. But there have been no occasions to date when the necessity has arisen to draw their weapons.
PRIME MINISTER: By my calculations, thirteen months remain until they and the last remaining Minder from Cycle Two will find their beads dissolving. Is that correct?
FINN BRAXTON: Yes. But our programmers are four months ahead of schedule. In all likelihood, we will be the most unhackable country on earth by March next year. At that point, Cycle Two and Three Minders will be recalled and their data retrieved.
PRIME MINISTER: Tell me about the retrieval process. We cannot risk a repeat of what happened to your predecessor Dr Porter when she was subjected to it.
DR PASCAL FOLEY: Her methods have now been redeveloped and perfected, seemingly with no negative reactions.
PRIME MINISTER: Good. One last thing – when Miss Kennedy has been recalled and her data retrieved, I’d like to meet her. can you ensure that is arranged as soon as possible.
MoD: Is that a good idea, ma’am?
PRIME MINISTER: She has sacrificed more for this country than anyone else in recent times. Her will to survive despite all the odds we have put her through is remarkable.
WILLIAM HARRIS: She will be financially recompensed when this is over.
PRIME MINISTER: Money cannot buy five lost years and erase threats to her life. The very least I owe her is a handshake and a personal thank-you. Has there been any contact with her?
WILLIAM HARRIS: We know roughly her whereabouts but there has been no direct contact, no.
PRIME MINISTER: She has no idea of how appreciative we are? I will do my best to rectify that sooner rather than later.
EPILOGUE
FLICK
The mid-April heatwave was approaching 32 degrees, according to the digital temperature gauge attached to the top of the lifeguard tower.
As Flick slathered her face and arms in factor 50 UPF, she welcomed the light breeze coming in from the sea. A beach marker revealed that half a metre of land had been lost to the water in the space of two years. Global heating was shrinking and eroding many unfortunate coastal towns, including Aldeburgh. The construction of an unsightly three-metre-high sea wall further up the coast was a temporary solution. Flick wondered how much of the town she loved might be left fifty years from now.
