'But apart from Snow Hill Station.' Haynes broke in, 'there must be dozens of other such places harbouring bats.'
'Of course,' Littler replied. 'They have been sighted in scores of derelict slum areas, but it seems that once they are disturbed they leave and seek refuge elsewhere. We had one report of a large flock seen entering a derelict house hi Moseley. We followed the same procedure as with Snow Hill Station, but afterwards, when it was safe to enter, we found not one single dead bat. They had obviously flown before our arrival.'
'It's like the mythical burial ground of the elephants in Africa,' Rickers groaned. 'Somewhere that's never found. We have to find the bats' breeding places if we're to check their spread, and that's only half way towards solving the problem.'
'And what about the public?' Sir John Stirchley lowered his voice. 'The scenes on television and the accounts in the newspapers are pretty awful. Is it really as bad as all that?'
'Worse,' Littler said with a grimace. 'So far twenty-three people have died as a direct result of this virus. Doctors are working night and day, and surgeries and hospitals are besieged by terrified people who claim to have been in contact with bats. The Prime Minister is speaking to the country tonight. The Midlands is to be declared a disease-zone, a circle incorporating Stoke-on-Trent, Leicester, Kidderminster and Wellington. All roads will be closed to and from the Midlands in an attempt to keep everybody and everything in.'
'Impossible!' Sir John snapped. 'We have neither the police nor the armed forces with which to implement this. Just closing the roads and railways won't be sufficient. People will travel on foot.'
'We shall not be relying solely upon the police or armed forces as we know them,' Littler spoke uncertainly, as though he should not be disclosing the information. 'There can be ... shall we say, the formation of an additional force.'
'Like vigilantes?'
'Oh, no, the vigilantes are already making their presence felt. This will be a body of men. Armed. Well, I'll say no more, but it is the only way.'
'A police state,' Stirchley muttered.
'Only temporarily. While the bats continue to spread the disease,'
'All the armies in the world couldn't contain a colony of bats.'
'It isn't just the bats, sir. It's the people. If they begin fleeing the infected area then they are capable of carrying the virus to other parts, the same as the bats do. Likewise, we can't have a breakdown of law and order in the Midlands. Imagine the looting which would take place if everyone left.'
'What are the feelings of the citizens of Birmingham at present?'
'Panic hasn't broken out yet,' the Ministry man replied, 'but it could at any moment. Once people start dying in the streets and there aren't enough hospitals to cope with the sick, then all hell will be let loose. That's why the BVF is being formed.'
'British Volunteer Force.'
The seven people looked at each other in silence. There was no more to be said. No amount of talking could come up with a solution. Not unless Professor Newman discovered an antidote or someone found the main breeding quarters of the bats.
'I'm afraid the whole of the blame seems to have fallen on your head, Professor Newman,' Sir John Stirchley said, smiling wanly. 'Of course we know that it's just one of those things, but it's no good trying to explain that to the public. I am, however, going to try and get it through to Fleet Street that you are the one person capable of saving them from the bats. I'm sorry about the way you and Miss Wylie were treated by those louts, and about your bungalow, too. I take it you have fixed up accommodation elsewhere?'
'Yes, I've another bungalow.' Newman said 'At Chase-town Close to Chasewater.'
'Perhaps we should arrange for a police guard,' Stirchley mused.
'I don't think that will be necessary, sir,' Newman smiled at Susan. 'I am sure that that episode was purely a freak outbreak of hooliganism.'
'Well, if you need anything let me know,' Sir John nodded to Haynes, and the meeting broke up.
Susan followed Brian back into the laboratory.
'It's terrible,' she said, shuddering, and leaned against him. 'D'you ... d'you think there's any chance of finding an antidote now?'
'No,' he told her, 'to be perfectly honest, I don't. I've tried everything, and barring a miracle we'll just have to face up to the fact that there's no antitoxin.'
Then... what'll happen?' she asked.
'If it continues to spread.' he replied as he slipped an arm around her, I guess it'll mean the end of civilisation as we know it in this country. Or even the whole world!'
'We are in the midst of one of the gravest situations since the war,' were the Prime Minister's opening words as he began his televised speech on all channels, 'and as a result it has fallen upon my government to bring in emergency measures. A State of Emergency was formally declared at six o'clock this evening, and the British Volunteer Force, which has been formed only this week, has now gone into full operation. A disease-zone has been drawn up, incorporating most of the Midlands, and there will be no movement of persons either into or out of that designated area. It is our duty to contain the virus within those boundaries, and while every effort will be made to assist the people inside, under no circumstances must the virus spread beyond it. We are hoping that our scientists will discover an antidote within a very short time. In the meantime life elsewhere must continue as near as normally as possible, whilst within the zone it is in the interests of everyone to stay at home, stay indoors, and have as little contact with others as possible. Arrangements for food and other necessities will be made by your local authorities. Be sensible. Stay at home.'
Within an hour of the Prime Minister's speech traffic-jams were building up on all roads leading from the Midlands. Nobody had foreseen such drastic emergency measures in spite of the new terror which flitted from building to building in the gathering dusk each night. There were reports of deaths. Some still did not believe it. And those who did refused to believe that it could ever happen to themselves. Somebody was dying on average every half hour in a city the size of Birmingham. One accepted those statistics. The cause did not matter.
Now, suddenly, the presence of the bats was affecting everybody's life. Death was one thing. Military rule was another.
Gerald Pitkin had worked at the Treasury for five years. As an ex-Forces man it helped to supplement his pension after the age of forty-five. Thickset with short-cropped iron-grey hair, he had no other ambition than to see his time out there. At first he had had some difficulty adjusting to the new way of life, the systems, the lack of military discipline, but overall there were few problems. Until that fateful day when the bats had chosen to occupy the ventilation shaft in the Credit House. Fortunately for Gerald he had been standing in for one of the clerks on the bullion-vans who had stopped at home with a migraine. So by the time Gerald's van had arrived back at base order had been restored, and the Credit House clerks who had been in direct contact with the bats had been taken to hospital.
He accepted their deaths philosophically. Baxterdale's he delighted in secretly. But in the days which followed, Gerald Pitkin devoted much thought to the situation. It was rumoured early in the morning that the Prime Minister would be making a statement to the country that night, and Gerald had a good idea what the content of that speech would be. With his army training he forecast events. It had to be that way. They had to try and contain the outbreak of whatever it was, he decided. That meant calling up reservists (not from the infected zone, naturally) plus volunteers, men who feared for their own safety if the plague spread. Rabble. An armed mob with little or no training, just a few brief instructions. Keep the bloody Midlanders in, and if any of 'em try to make a break for it, shoot 'em down. They'd die, anyway. A bullet was quick, painless. The virus was slow agony by comparison. So what was there to lose?