Settlement 24

Settlement 24 once had a different name and a different location. To the east of its current position the top few floors of a tower block could be seen at low tide; a reminder that a town had been there before the rise in sea level had swamped it. 

The view reminded Professor Jolami Henderson that many of her students had no idea what the world, or even their small part of it, used to be like. This was not their fault; they are too young to have known. She was there to teach a lucky few of them; the mistakes of the past must not be repeated. 

"Eastbourne was originally a fishing hamlet, then it became a popular holiday spot for 18th Century gentry. It was of course the Victorians who transformed it into a major seaside resort."

From the windows of the University on top of Beachy Head the students had a perfect view down into the former old town and the Pevensey Levels to the east. Not that anyone could see them. The whole area was drowned beneath rolling grey waves all the way round to the cliffs at Hastings; now Settlement 23.

"As we discussed last time, the world reached a tipping point in around 2030, after which the opportunity to prevent global disaster was lost. Of course, the USA, India and China among others ignored this and carried on as before. We are lucky that the UK took a series of unfortunate decisions that ultimately led to isolation. This forced us to innovate to regain our position on the world stage. We became world leaders in renewable energy technology and sustainable farming practices. Do you know why that was? "

She waited for an answer. 

"Brexit?" someone piped up. 

"That's right. But of course we couldn't avoid the global effects of climate change, which is how we lost so many of our places."

A student in the back row took a sip from his water bottle and, a few minutes afterward, collapsed onto the floor looking pale and sweaty.

*************

Henry Solomon was working in one of the huge greenhouse farms near Settlement 24. He was not good with numbers, so found the system of numbering places inconvenient. Henry’s job was to measure the quality of the water coming into the farm to make sure it was suitable for the crops being grown inside. He had to take a sample every 15 minutes and analyse it speedily to avoid damage to the crops.

For the past few days they had been on high alert for problems, and it seemed they had one now. The weather had been against them - somehow still and cloudy - and the solar and wind-powered evaporators had failed, which meant the settlement was reliant on an emergency desalination plant, and the farms on an experimental wastewater processing unit. If anything went wrong in the decontamination process the water would be rendered undrinkable and they would be in trouble.

He double checked what he thought he’d seen, made a note, then called a colleague over to verify his findings. The water supply would need to be cut off for the foreseeable future.

*************

Raven’s Ait was a small island bang in the middle of the Thames, not far from what used to be Kingston. People often said it looked a bit like a pleasure yacht, only it didn’t really, as it was covered with buildings and had a big glass (rather phallic-shaped) tower in the middle (but no one was supposed to mention the shape). If it was a yacht it had long-since run aground on the dry riverbed.

People were always arguing about whether it was natural or manmade, and whether it used to be a Spoons or a Yateses, but that didn’t particularly matter because - who cares? The important thing about it was obviously that T. Ronald Dump, World’s Greatest Orator and overall Great Guy (both self-proclaimed), lived there and supposedly ran the place.

The Ait was also the home of the English Parliament, shifted from Westminster after the Thames Barrier was repeatedly breached around forty years ago. 

Environment Minister Sarah Treewater paused in the great glass atrium at the centre of the Ait and looked up at the blue sky through the glass roof. She was on her way to a meeting of the cross-party group on the Environment and was hoping to grab a nasty coffee from the vending machine and have a few minutes to think before the meeting started. The thought that so many people were working for a common goal under that same sky made her feel there was some hope in the world after all, despite the many signs to the contrary.

Sarah’s gaze landed on a window high up in the glass wall before she quickly averted her eyes back to the sky. That lazy old pig Dump was letching on her again from his prime spying position. She was certain he was watching her walk, and admiring her tight grey trousers and white blouse, his mouth agape. Sarah knew the effect she had on Dump, and while a part of her hated the idea and wanted to hide under a huge coat, a bigger part enjoyed his attention and knew it was a good way to distract him and get him to sign off on her policy decisions.

“Sarah!” a strident, nasal voice broke through. So much for snatching a few moments to herself before the meeting. “I’ve brought you a coffee. Have you got a minute before we go up to see His Lordship?”

Tim Waygood, Food Minister, was approaching from the entrance. He was not the sort of person Sarah would associate with if given a choice. He certainly wasn’t the companion she’d pick to take on a six-month tour of the country if her job didn’t require it of her.

She wanted to say no, but instead plastered on a smile and nodded.

“Thanks for the coffee, Tim. Yes, I’ve got a few minutes to spare, what is it?”

When she turned to face him fully, the look on Tim’s pale, narrow face made her pause. She took the coffee from his outstretched hand and waited for him to speak. Her nose told her it was a decent coffee, possibly from the Pre-Change era.

Tim didn’t speak but ushered her into a meeting room off the main atrium. It was not a meeting room but a supply cupboard. Sarah dreaded to imagine the hell they were going to get from Dump over this for at least the next 6 months; she was certain he’d seen them go in.

Tim launched in without preamble. 

“Sarah, there’s terrible news from Settlement 24. You need to know before we go into the meeting. I have just heard it directly from the Settlement Manager.”

Sarah couldn’t imagine what the news could be (or rather, she preferred not to imagine) so she stayed silent.

“The solar evaporators have failed and so has the wind backup, and the emergency cyclical water supply experiment hadn't worked out. The water is contaminated. They’re trying to sort something out as the people can’t last long without water, let alone the farms, but it’s not easy given their total reliance on sea water evaporation. We will need to hold an emergency meeting later on today to find a solution.” Tim’s voice had started off a little wobbly, but as he firmed up what could be done, and came to the conclusion that a meeting should be held (something with which he was infinitely comfortable), he seemed to have regained his composure.

“Hold an emergency meeting later?!” cried Sarah, throwing up her hands. “Why on earth are we about to go into a non-urgent meeting when people need solutions now?”

Sarah might be a woman but she was no pushover, as Tim had found many times before.

“Why are you telling me this in a cupboard, anyway? We need to call a Cabinet meeting now, without delay! Forget the tour. And before that we need to get on the phone to the Logistics Fleet to get tankers of drinking water over there.”

Tim looked pale and uncertain, and Sarah realised he’d only suggested calling a meeting because that was his default solution to everything. She felt vaguely sorry for him, only not really. He was the type who was only in government by default as one of the few people left who were educated in Pre-Change times. Having any kind of Pre-Change university degree was worth a lot these days, when most people were home or self-educated. 

“We’ll have some of the top scientists in the room with us in a few minutes’ time, so why don’t we discuss it then?” Sarah no longer wanted the coffee; she didn’t need it. The situation had her fired up enough.

Tim looked even paler, if that were possible. “Erm, well… Dump is attending the meeting this morning, so I thought it might be best to avoid it and just arrange another meeting, with all the relevant people, for later in the day” he said nervously, glancing at the door.

He had a point. If there was one thing Sarah could stomach about Tim was that he had about much respect for Dump as she did. They agreed that T. Ronald Dump was about as useful to today's society as a petrol car.

“Good point, but, this time I think we just need to tell him how it is. We cut him out of the conversation if need be. This is an emergency after all. Let’s go, Tim!”

Sarah marched to the door, wrenched it open and steamed up to the top floor meeting room.

*************

The Southern University was facing an outbreak of a nasty stomach bug, seemingly linked to drinking water. Jolami and her students had abandoned their lecture and she’d headed off to find out what was going on. As she walked across the campus, the university alert system started to flash in red, and the screens displayed “Caution; do not drink tap water” and then “Water supply to be switched off”. She sped up and arrived at the staff meeting room at the same time as everyone else.

The room was buzzing with chatter and movement, and it didn't take long to find out what had happened.

Everyone was sent home and he University buildings were to be closed down. Jolami volunteered to stay behind and help close up as she knew many of her colleagues had families to get back to. She didn't. She had left her family in Kenya almost forty years ago and had never seen them again. The temperatures rise and unpredictable weather had ruined the crops year on year, and then an ebola outbreak swept the weakened country. Jolami had never confirmed whether her parents and siblings had perished, but she did know that T. Ronald Dump had been British Foreign Minister at the time and had refused to provide additional aid to Kenya.

*************

The meeting could have gone better. Dump had been enraged at what he perceived to be an attempted takeover by Sarah, and Tim had not backed her up until everyone else had railed against the PM. Then he had done his best to look as though he’d been on their side all along. Tim Waygood gravitated towards power like a seagull to a bag of chips.

Dump had stormed out. No one knew exactly where that left them, but at least they were able to discuss the issue at hand.

It was decided to send in emergency desalination units to serve the all-important Hydroponic farms, as the loss of crops could devastate the food supply for the whole country. Tankers of drinking water would provide the general population with a rationed water supply.

Sarah had argued for more help to be given to the people, but it was no use and she knew it. The farms concentrated by the sea in the sunniest part of the country which also had reliable wind levels were of utmost importance to the national food supply. The current weather was very strange and could not be explained easily, but it was thought and hoped that it was temporary.

Everyone in the room hoped that Dump’s exit was not temporary. It was him who had held back the country from truly embracing greater reforms away from technology and towards nature for so long. He was desperate to hold onto the old world despite everything that had happened, and making progress was like wading through treacle. It was too much to hope that he was out of the picture.

*************

Henry was incredibly surprised to find the British Prime Minister, T. Ronald Dump, striding across the yard outside the greenhouses. What was he doing here? Henry guessed it must be an official visit due to the water problems, and so looked around for someone else more senior to go and greet the PM. Although he had often fantasised about giving Dump a piece of his mind, he was far too shy to actually do so.

But it was after 6pm and no one else seemed to be around. They’d all gone home to check on their families, but as he lived on his own, Henry had volunteered to stay behind and look after the place until the night shift guys turned up.

This could be an opportunity to do something he had been thinking about for a while.

He steeled himself, then went outside to welcome the PM and give him a tour of the farm. 

*************

As she locked up one of the final buildings on her round, Professor Henderson noticed someone approaching the place in a big car. Thus was odd given the instructions to go home, but what was even more odd was the car's single occupant. 

In the driver's seat sat Prime Minister Dump. He pulled up and quickly hit out of the car, looking around the empty courtyard. 

Jolami walked towards him and fur a strange moment she felt as though she was part of a spaghetti western showdown. Then Dump asked if she was the cleaner. 

"No", she replied coolly, "I'm a professor". 

*************

The morning following the water issues at Settlement 24, the emergency measures had been put into place and things looked calm once again. Someone stood on the edge of the cliff at Beachy Head and peered down into the grey, turbulent waters. Amid the chalk rocks in the beach below was something else; something that looked rather like a person. 

"There's someone down there!" came the shout that the coastguard answered.

That someone was Prime Minister T. Ronald Dump. Dead.