The Song of Mawu. Jeff Edwards
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Justine looked over at her friend, ‘Normally I’d agree and you’d be on the next flight out of here but I think we need you here for the next little while.’
‘Why?’ asked Eliza, ‘What can I achieve from here? I need to be out there.’
Justine looked around the table. ‘It’s the primary reason that I wanted to move the meeting down here to the War Room. I want to discuss things that we can’t talk about anywhere else.’
‘What’s that?’ asked Lana Reynolds.
‘When I saw the message for the first time I knew that we had to do something, but realised that to go against an armed force of unknown size and shape requires an armed force of our own, and that it would have to be of a greater size than Lattua’s to ensure victory. However, we have no army and I can’t imagine us supporting any such scheme.’
‘We’re a charity. We’re here to save lives not take them,’ agreed Toby.
‘So, if we can’t fight them, then we have to overcome the enemy some other way,’ nodded Justine.
‘The tapes!’ said Lana, looking up at the portrait of Jade Green behind Justine’s head. For a second she thought the woman in the painting actually smiled.
‘I thought you and Eliza didn’t have a high opinion of the tapes as a bargaining tool.’ said Toby.
‘I don’t,’ replied Justine. ‘And I still think they have less and less relevance with every day that passes, but we’re not looking at gaining some small advantage in a commercial venture here, we’re talking about going up against an entire government and that’s a completely different scenario. If we’re going to take on something that big then I want us to possess every advantage thatwe can.’
‘So you think that someone to do with the government of Namola may have visited Jade Green at The Garden of Eros?’ asked Brian, ‘It’s not a large country but a very poor one. I think we may be clutching at straws to establish such a link.’
‘There may not be anything on the tapes that will be a direct link, but we don’t necessarily need a direct link. Anyway we can get help from anyone we can ‘convince’ to help us in our battle.
‘All very well, but I want to go back to our people in Namola,’ said Eliza.
‘No Eliza we need you here,’ explained Justine. ‘As soon as we recover the tapes they will have to be downloaded.’
‘But I have to go back to Ashloko! Anyone can download the tapes!’
‘No, we can’t just let anyone do that. Only two other people outside of those people present here know for sure that the tapes still exist. That’s why we’re down here now. No one else can ever know that they still exist. That’s why it has to be one of us that does the work and you’re the one with the expertise.’
Crestfallen, Eliza had to conceed that she was correct.
Justine put a hand on her friend’s shoulder, ‘Don’t worry. We’ll make sure that someone is out there watching over the project and your people.’
‘Who?’
‘There are a number of other charities still working in the refugee camp. We’ll make sure they’re supplied with ample funds and supplies to look after our interests. If need be we can send for Sam Tait and Bree Lake. They’re currently in Singapore helping Wendy Chung set up our Asian office, but I’m sure they’d jump at the chance if we need them,’ said Brian.
Reluctantly Eliza had to agree with Justine and Brian’s assessment of the situation. She nodded, ‘But I want to be kept up to date with what’s happening. If they need any help out there, I’m going to be on the first flight.’
‘Of course,’ agreed Justine, with the rest of the board nodding as one.
‘That brings us to the topic of retrieving the tapes,’ said Brian. It seemed strange to be able to talk out loud about a subject of which they were all aware, but had been unable to discuss between themselves in public.
They all knew that the government was still searching for the prized tapes which acknowledged their worth to the holder of such explosive information. Every one of the board members was aware that their homes and offices could be bugged, no matter how often they were swept by Teddy Strang’s security staff. Each was aware that their trusted employees Sam Tait and Bree Lake were still on the payroll of the government’s Department of Inland Security and under orders of it’s head, John Thorpe, to seek out the tapes. The agents’ discreet questioning of fellow staff members and their midnight snooping in The Fund’s offices, was why the board had made sure they had been sent to assist Wendy Chung in her new Singapore office. Luckily the agents had formed a deep friendship with Wendy and happily accepted the assignment.
It had become a game, that both sides knew the rules to, and agreed to play by as long as no one was hurt.
That was why they had created the War Room as well as the secret floors above it.
‘How will we get the tapes down here?’ asked Eliza.
‘Certainly not by the front door,’ replied Brian. ‘I thought we were spending all this money and taking all these precautions in case they were ever needed. I never imagined that we’d actually be using them and certainly not this soon. We haven’t even finished moving into the building.’
‘The passage?’ asked Eliza.
‘It’s the only reasonable way.’
‘When?’ asked Lana.
‘As soon as possible. I’ll pay a quiet visit to Mark and Ellen as soon as we finish this meeting. We definitely want it completed before Sam and Bree return. I know they’ve done wonderful work on our behalf but their first allegiance is still to the government.’
Eliza sighed, ‘I’ll get my computer from the basement in London. I don’t think it’ll attract any unwanted attention if I bring it in with all the other equipment that’s being moved.’
‘I’ll drive Eliza up to London and help her,’ offered Justine.
‘I hope your driving has improved since I’ve been away,’ said Eliza with a small grin.
‘While you’re doing that, Ali and I will have to get together and make a list,’ said Toby, ‘We’re going to need a few things and if we buy them all at the same place it may attract attention. All of you will have to make a tour of the countryside, buying bits and pieces from different places, and make sure you use cash. We don’t want to leave any sort of a trail for someone to follow.’
‘Well it looks as though we all have jobs to do. I propose we meet at Mark and Ellen’s place at ten o’clock tonight,’ said Justine.
Brian nodded, ‘We’ve got a long night ahead of us. It’ll take a lot more effort to raise the old lady than it did when we lowered her.’
7
That evening Toby and Suzie Brown drove up the roadway that had once been a narrow, pot-holed lane leading to the farm belonging to the Brown family.
Now, newly erected streetlights showed the road to have been sealed and widened to two lanes, with other feeder roads branching off it at regular intervals. They were part of the new subdivision that Toby’s contractor was now undertaking. To the left and right of the roadway could be seen brand new homes, along with the skeletal outline of others still under construction.
They came to an ancient section of dry stone wall with a freshly painted gate. The gate was open and after turning in they drove past Toby’s former family home and around the back to where a large barn stood. Switching off the truck’s motor, Toby sat staring at the building. Memories came flooding back and it was Suzie’s gentle hand on his arm that brought him back to the present. ‘Come on love,’ she whispered, knowing exactly what he was thinking.
Toby