The day the women vanished...

Fourteen: Bedlam

MI5, Vauxhall. 1500hrs

'Chaps the world has gone to shits,' Jack Keown announced uncouthly as he walked into the bright room hurriedly set-up for the task at hand. The sun was still high and its rays shone through  though not sufficiently to cause any sort of irritation to the occupants inside the MI5 building. Brian and the professor - both changed into loose clothing; the former wore a blue shirt, cream coloured linen trouser and sandals while his unofficial protege wore a t-shirt, baggy jeans shorts and a pair of white plimsoles.

  Relaxed where they sat in the breakout area, both men were catching up on the news and were already ahead of Jack by the way they gave him cursory nods. Their eyes remained glued to the TV set stuck to the grey walls showing not just one channel but a dozen newsfeeds at the same time while Jack stood behind the leather sofa on which the two men sat transfixed by the scenes of chaos and carnage beamed from around the world by MI5 field officers on the ground.

  Jack was itching to give a running commentary as he would his vanished boss but the professor wasn't interested. He raised his hand for silence and got his wish. The smashing of public property, the burning of cars and bloody violence meted out by groups of men against each other needed no explanation; the three men could understand what was going on the world over without being told and these were no longer worrying events but the signs of things to come.

  The developing nations were mostly affected by the madness as opportunistic criminal and religious gangs took advantage of an already lax law and order system which had all but collapsed a day after the first vanishings. Now countries like India, Brazil, South Africa, Egypt, Ivory Coast and many more were destabilising too quickly for the overwhelmed military to do anything about it and the chaos was  spreading like wildfire.

  'How soon before this happens here?' Professor Johnson asked under his breath. He was sitting so close to the edge of the sofa that one inch more and he would find himself falling to the floor. His hands were clenched in a fist engrossed yet worried about the worsening situation.

  'We have the army on standby for all eventualities,' Jack answered. 'Right now though the police are doing their damndest to keep everything in check.'

  'For how long?' Brian joined in the discussion turning around to face Jack whose appearance was a far cry from earlier. He'd had a bath, a shave and a change of clothing - still a t-shirt and shorts due to the heatwave but tidier nonetheless. His fresh look elicited a smirk from Brian and a sneer from the beholden.

  'That would depend on you my dear chap,' Jack said. 'That's why we're here is it not - to make sure what's happening thousands of miles away does not happen on our shores?'

  Brian frowned. There was no quick-fire response to Jack's reasoning which annoyed him so just as his words had made the MI5 man slink back into his seat earlier, so did Brian turn back to watch the story of the world's imminent collapse unfold. 

  'So when do we start? We've been here a few hours waiting to get down to business,' the professor interjected as if to make up for Brian's capitulation. But catty comments aside, not a lot had happened since the two men were dropped outside the building and ushered up a few floors a few hours ago. They'd found a still ruffled Jack waiting for them who had then showed them to their shared quarters and the room which would serve as their nerve centre of their operations for the next week. 

  'I'm waiting for the rest of the team to arrive; six in all. They'll be here as soon as they sort out their own issues at home. Even you can understand these are not the best of times couldn't you professor?' Another cynical response but Jack wouldn't get away with it this time.