by M J Dees
“Her favourite subject,” Henry whispered to Jim.
“There are no bankruptcies anymore. Nuggets don’t go bankrupt. They twisted the law around.”
“I saw a report on my stretch,” said Jim. “43% fewer bankruptcies than under the former government.”
He looked at his stretch, turned off on the table with the others in case any of the apps were listening.
“What about your work, Jim?” Camila asked. “Are you secure up there at the university?”
“They’ve spared me the axe so far because of my military record.”
“But there’s a problem with that, isn’t there?” Annabel reminded him.
“Yes, I wrote to the Ministry asking for the documents relating to my military service and they still haven’t arrived.”
“Why do you need those?” Henry asked.
“I may need to prove to the university that I served, I’ve made two requests, but nothing.”
“It’s a conspiracy,” said Annabel. “They are not sending the documents so the university can dismiss him.”
“I met a military police officer on the street the other day who said he recognised me,” said Jim. “Robinson, he said his name was. I pretended to remember him, but I didn’t have a clue who he was. I would have invited him home, but...well...you know. At least he’s a witness to my military service. Imagine him remembering me after all this time.”
“Listen,” said Camila. “You both sound like you need a bit of a diversion. Why don’t you go on one of those magical mystery bus trips?”
“A what?” asked Annabel.
“A magical mystery bus trip. They’re all the rage at the moment. The bus takes you on an excursion, but they don’t tell you where they are taking you. It takes about two to three hours and they take you somewhere for drinks and entertainment.”
“Jim can’t drink at the moment.”
“He can have juice,” said Camila. “You should both go, take your mind off things. Olivia will love it.”
Chapter Seventeen – 19 years 2 months before the collapse
Jim and Annabel queued for the bus along with the elderly and those with difficulty walking. Annabel was having second thoughts on whether the trip was suitable for a three and a half year old.
On the bus they sat behind an elderly couple who chatted so loudly that Annabel and Jim couldn’t help but overhear them.
“I know he was an immigrant, but he was such an excellent doctor,” said one.
“And such a nice family,” said the other.
“Imagine being deprived of his livelihood like that.”
Annabel and Jim exchanged glances and tried to focus on the pithy jokes of the tour manager, who also was the bus driver.
When they stopped for drinks, the tour manager staged some kind of cabaret act with jokes, songs and even a bit of poetry which Olivia seemed to enjoy even if she didn’t understand any of it.
On the way home Jim reminisced how he had opposed the war in the middle east although everyone else at the law firm where he had been doing his internship had been for the war and then, the next year, he had joined the military himself.
In front of them, the old women continued to chat. Jim thought they looked like Roberts’ supporters if ever he’d seen one, but their conversation surprised him. It was not full of nugget rhetoric, as he had expected.
“I can’t believe that the mood of the public is still behind Roberts,” Jim said to Annabel, who shushed him.
“Is your phone switched off,” she asked in a whisper. “You don’t know who might be listening. Anyone on this bus could be an informer.”
When the bus returned them to the terminal and they disembarked, Annabel and Jim bumped into Ava, waiting for her own bus and looking upset.
“Is everything okay?” Annabel asked after they had said their hellos.
Ava looked around to see whether it was safe to talk.
“They sentenced my brother to a year in prison.”
“What? Why?”
“They accused him of sharing unpatriotic stories via his stretch. He didn’t even agree with what he was sharing, but a person he shared it to turned out to be an informer.”
Ava cut her story short when her bus arrived and Annabel and Jim walked home in silence, listening to Olivia’s tired complaints. As they walked, Jim’s eyes were bothering him, sending pains to the back of his head.
“I need a pair of sunglasses,” he complained. “But that’s just another expense.”
At home, Jim browsed the stories on his stretch. Unity was having their annual conference at Wembley and supporters packed the stadium for a huge rally, with Roberts speaking from the middle like some kind of boxing promoter introducing a bout.
“The media loves Roberts,” he complained to Annabel. “It’s almost like he’s God and all the prophets rolled into one.”
Jim instantly regretted his words. Comments like these just sent Annabel further into her depression. He thought if only she could rekindle some interest in her music once more, it might distract her from the world outside.
*
“Thanks for inviting us round,” said Jim. “Did you not invite Elijah?”
“Have you not heard?” said Ben. “He’s emigrating. A university overseas has offered him a position. He’s off sorting the paperwork out now.”
“Logan and Alex White are leaving too,” said Jim.
“Admit,” said Ben. “Roberts is a genius.”
“You can’t be serious.”
“Never underestimate the enemy.”
“No, but...”
“Things could be worse, Jim.”
“How could they be worse? We went up to our plot yesterday. There are houses going up all around and yet we can do nothing because we don’t match the correct profile for finance. It’s making us ill, all this anxiety.”
“But you told me you both used to live on an allotment site. Things aren’t as bad as that.”
“We said goodbye to the Whites the other day. Neither of them consider themselves ‘foreign’ and yet they feel they have to leave the country. Things weren’t as bad as that when we were living in that summer house. Did you not see the rally at Wembley the other day?”
“Hysteria,” Ben agreed.
“I was talking to my lawyer in the case against Zhang...”
“How’s that going?”
“Badly, it’s been almost a year now. He’s made a counter-claim and has come up with all this hostile expert opinion. But the reason I mention it is that I spent a decent amount of time with my lawyer and was telling him about the precarious situation at the university, and he was sympathetic. He said that he and the people he knew had always been against Roberts’ stance on immigrants, and they were all very depressed about how much trouble was being caused. Outside of the law in his opinion.”
A silence hung over the friends.
“All I want to see,” said Jim. “Is Annabel at the piano in our new house. Not to have to worry about anything. An end to this ridiculous government. Being able to write again without feeling ill with the anxiety, but I can’t see any of these dreams coming true.”
“What is most frustrating,” said Ben, “Is how many people have just accepted this situation as the new normal. They blame Europe, Russia, China and the US for our situation.”
“I envy Elijah,” said Jim. “I wish we could emigrate, but I can only just get a job in this country, let alone in another one. You know, Ben, we must not stop hating this regime, even for a moment.”
“I know, I heard of more dismissals today.”
“Here?”
“No, at other universities. You heard about Fernandez though, didn’t you?”
“No?”
“Retired. At fifty. Couldn’t take the stress. Who can blame him, after the vote next month we’ll be living in a one party state.”
“Well, no-one dare oppose Roberts and the vote is hardly going to be a secret ballot. There are three things I don’
t think I’ll live to see.”
“What’s that?”
“The fall of this government, the construction of our house and straightforward employment.”
“But you’ve made some progress on the house, haven’t you?”
“We’ve planted trees and now Annabel wants a wall or a bit of terrace. I’ll keep saying yes till the money runs out, but I think on my current salary that’ll be sooner rather than later. I’ll have to borrow from my insurance to have the cellar dug.”
“Talking of salary. Have they been deducting voluntary contributions from your salary?”
“Yes, for Roberts’s charities, it’s hardly voluntary.”
“I got an email saying the deductions would be automatic unless I objected. Who’s going to object?”
“Have you been writing, Ben?”
“What’s the point? It’d never get by the censors, unless I wrote about the criminals who agreed to the trade deals.”
“That is tempting.”
“But not helpful.”
“Yes, particularly as the Government’s solution seems to be further isolation and alienating as many countries as possible.”
“And yet everyone seems to think Roberts will make everything better. But moods change, Jim. In eight or nine months, the Roberts’ experiment will have proved a failure and they’ll kick him out.”
“That soon?”
*
As Annabel and Jim walked along the street, it looked as though everyone except them was wearing ‘Yes for Unity’ badges.
“What are we going to do?” Annabel asked.
“What do you mean, what are we going to do? We’ll ask the insurance company to lend us the money for the cellar. We talked about this.”
“No,” she whispered. “I mean, what are we going to do in the election? They’re bound to know if we vote ‘No’.”
“And do you think it’ll be a fair count,” whispered Jim. “Why be a martyr?”
“I know, but the thought of voting for this government’s referendum makes me want to vomit. You know the registration instructions are only in English now and you have to take a British passport to the polling stations. They’re excluding immigrants.”
“Do you know, I had two students at my lecture today, the rest were out campaigning, I imagine.”
“Who were the two who came?”
“Both foreign students. David Rossi reckons even the students are fed up of being expected to always go out and organise demonstrations. We can’t risk my position here, Annabel, I can’t do anything else. If you want your house in the country, we have to go with the flow.”
Supporters had covered everywhere with ‘Yes for Unity’ propaganda; posters, stickers, banners, cars with loudspeakers. They jammed social media with ‘yes’ campaign slogans. Roberts himself gave speeches about not letting foreigners divide the country and that a vote for Unity was the only solution.
The insurance company granted Annabel and Jim the loan with a repayment schedule that made Jim’s eyes water.
They went straight from the insurance company to the polling station. They entered and exited in silence, and walked a little way home before Annabel stopped.
“What did you vote?” she asked.
“I voted ‘No’,” said Jim. “You?”
“I left my papers blank.”
“We’re both in trouble then.”
“Do you think they have a way of knowing?”
“I don’t think it matters,” said Jim. “What matters is that people think they do, and that is enough to inspire fear. The propaganda for ‘yes for unity’ has been so effective.”
They went home to watch the results on the big stretch. The media was reporting a 95% turnout. Jim had never witnessed such a large turnout and doubted there had ever been one before.
As the results came in, Roberts had won a clear mandate, 93% of the vote. The big stretch reported that even the detention centres, which in a token of unity they had allowed a vote, had voted for Roberts.
“Coercion,” said Jim.
“Or fear,” said Annabel.
“Or falsification.”
*
“What is it?” Jim asked.
“It’s my foot,” said Annabel.
“Have you taken any drugs?”
“Yes, but get my bag, I’ll take some more.”
“What do you want to do?”
“I’m just going to stay in bed. It’s warmer here, the flat is so cold.”
Jim said nothing. He didn’t want to turn up the thermostat unless he had to, and he knew Olivia had plenty of blankets.
“Go to work, if you have to,” Annabel urged.
“It’s okay, they’ve given my oral exams to Asher and have rejected all my proposals. I only have eight students. They’ll have no reason to keep me on before long. Next term I might not have any and then it’ll be a fait accompli.”
Jim regretted these words. They could only make Annabel’s mood worse. His stretch saved him by vibrating.
“Who is it?” asked Annabel.
“It’s Elijah, they’ve sold their house.”
“Ask him if they can lend us some money? Offer a higher interest rate than the banks.”
“I’ll ask him,” said Jim. “But even if they agree, there’s a possibility the Government might freeze their account for leaving the country.”
His stretch vibrated once more.
“That’s not the only thing that’s frozen,” he said. “There’s a message from the builder. He can’t start the basement until the ground thaws out.”
“It’s not normally this cold in December,” Annabel complained.
“I bet they wish it was this cold in Brazil. If those fires continue, there’ll be no Amazon left by the end of the year.”
Jim went to fill the kettle, but the cold had frozen the kitchen pipe so he filled the kettle from the bathroom. There was no option now, he’d have to turn up the thermostat, irrespective of the cost of gas.
Jim’s stretch vibrated again.
“Elijah is in favour, in principle, but their money is in a blocked account and the Government is demanding 25% property tax. Isa is still here. He said they arrested her the other day for ‘reckless remarks’. They interrogated her until three in the morning and then she spent two days in police custody before being transferred to the court cells, where they eventually released her. She has to report to the police twice a day until she leaves the country.”
*
Annabel and Jim sat in their flat with only their cats, Wilks and Magennis, for company.
“Green sent me a message suggesting I publish abroad, but if I do that, I’ll lose my position here. We don’t want to go back to the London days, do we?”
“No, we have to think about Olivia.”
“Shall I call Charlotte Rossi?”
“Her dangerous ideas will get us into trouble, it’s best to not associate with people like that.”
“And look at the result, we’re alone on New Year’s Eve.”
“Well, what do we have to celebrate, anyway?”
“Did Garcia place the ad?”
“Yes.”
“And nothing?”
“Not yet. Who’ll lend us money if the banks won’t.”
“What about Elijah?”
“Nothing. But even if he wanted to lend us the money, I don’t think the Government will unfreeze his bank account.”
Jim took a sip of his drink.
“At least we have a little single malt left, happy new year.”
“Happy new year,” said Annabel, toasting with sparkling water.
“There is another hearing on the Zhang case next week.”
“Don’t think about it tonight. Let’s at least pretend we’re having a good time.”
Chapter Eighteen – 18 years 9 months before the collapse
“How did it go?” Annabel asked, hearing Jim come in.
“What a day!”
“Tell me all about it,�
�� she said, taking his coat and encouraging him to sit down.
“First, I went to the court for the hearing, but the judge whom they had assigned to the case was ill so they assigned it to another judge, which meant they’ll reschedule the hearing.”
“I can’t believe it.”
“Then I went to see Garcia, who has nothing for us, so our only hope is Elijah. It’s possible that the Government might let us use the funds as part of their job creation programme, but we still need Elijah to agree. Isa will speak with him.”
“Not all grievous news then.”
“No, and then I went to the dentist, which was terrible because I went to Dr Singh.”
“Why didn’t you go to Dr Bell?”
“Because I wanted to support immigrants.”
“Oh, Jim. How is it?”
“Painful. Dr Singh is the father of one of my few remaining students. But the incredible thing is that Singh uses the same anti-immigration rhetoric as Roberts’ supporters, even though he himself is an immigrant. Can you believe it? Now he’s feeling the effects of the anti-foreign sentiment.”
“What a day.”
“I haven’t finished yet. After that, I had a faculty meeting. The old idea of ‘self-government’ which was preventing my ‘voluntary’ retirement has gone. The Ministry appoints the chancellor, who appoints the governors who oversee faculty appointments and dismissals. Everyone in the meeting was whispering. Devi said he would have to hire either Shaw or Murphy, otherwise he would get in trouble from outside. With those guys in the department, we cannot speak openly at meetings anymore. Devi intends to meet in smaller groups to discuss anything of importance in the future. Anyway, enough of me. How was your day?”
“I went to the supermarket to check out those pains I’ve been having,” said Annabel. “The machine said it was neuralgia and prescribed Amitriptyline. I went to three chemists on the way home and none of them had it.”
“Do you want me to try some others?”
“No, it can wait until tomorrow, I’ll check on the stretch.”
*
On his way to the university, Jim had to stop to charge his travel app. They now registered all apps with biometrics, and Jim’s would no longer work. He waited for such a long time that he missed the start of the faculty meeting.