Page 62 of Tempus Genesis

Jack Splinter toured the streets of Balham, Battersea and Lambeth North in his BMW X6. He awaited instructions on what to do next. Chemical fumes filled his car. He had the window lowered an inch to prevent his eyes from watering so much he’d be too blinded to drive. In the boot he had a large rucksack. It contained a large plastic drum and sloshing about inside it was a heady mix of volatile chemicals. Several bags of fertiliser were packed around the device. Jack had attached wires and conductors and connections for a battery. A syringe drive was placed at the top and contained a catalyst which would create a reaction in the mixture of chemicals once added. He had placed the battery by his side ready to attach to his home made device when the time was right.

  “Why have you got me out so early, I barely slept?” he asked for the third time. Once again they explained records had been found and police radio broadcasts had been witnessed that suggested he would be lifted from his home shortly after five a.m.

  “Oh,” Jack said in response to the clarification.

  “So when do I do this thing? And where? Where do I end all of this threat and harm to human kind?” Jack questioned out loud to the voices which spoke inside his head. They asked him for patience, converging on a point could take weeks and months in their time. It was complex. They were grateful he was so receptive, not everyone was accessible. Jack took this as a compliment.

  Jack drove for a while longer. He cruised the back streets and quieter avenues, they said that soon the Police might come looking for him.

  “I need a pee, I’ll find a café,” Jack said. Don’t stop it could compromise the mission, just urinate yourself, it’s easier. So Jack did, releasing warm urine into his underwear and soaking his trousers. Another unpleasant smell to add to the list.

  “I’ll be glad when this is over, and my wife you promise she’ll be spared? She knows nothing I never discussed business deals with her, I made no notes, nothing. I do this and it’s gone, so leave her alone, promise? Good.”

  Jack smiled having secured agreement through the softly spoken woman, he liked her he thought. Jack gunned his car towards Balham for the second time in the last hour.

 
Michael McCourt's Novels