Chapter 23: Disruption in the Detention Centre

A group of three inmates at the Excel Detention Centre was standing and waiting apprehensively in the centre’s workshop. The detention regime envisaged that inmates would carry out useful work and learn skills that would help them re-integrate into society. This seemed to mainly involve learning how to make uniforms for the prison staff using the banks of sewing machines lined up on the tables. The lucky ones got to stitch skirts – straight-ish seams and hems even if it was black thread with black cloth. Less lucky and you worked on the shirts; much more fiddly and white thread on white cloth. Still less lucky and you were stitching leather belts by hand which was hard work and hard on the fingers too.

“Hello boys. I thought we should have a chat after that silly business yesterday.” One of the warders was standing with two of her colleagues. She was weighing a riot control baton in her hand as if she was really hoping for an excuse to put it to use. “And you three always seem to know what is going on around here.”

“No, I don’t think we knew anything about that, Ma’am.” Hugh had long since learned that a respectful response reduced the risk of trouble. “It was as big a surprise to us as it was to you when the wall came in.” The other two nodded their agreement.

“Are you really sure about that, Hugh?” the warder was standing behind him, pushing the tip of her riot baton up against his arse. “I mean, really, really sure.”

She had her lips close to his ear, he thought she might lean forward and bite. He could smell tobacco on her breath. He was dying for a cigarette. Tobacco was like gold dust in the Centre. He wondered what he could do to get some; what she might make him do if she knew he wanted some. The effect on his cock was unwanted. He could feel it stiffen at the thought. Luckily the trousers of his detainee coveralls were baggy. She wouldn’t notice. He hoped she wouldn’t notice. He hoped neither of the other officers would notice. He hoped his fellow detainees wouldn’t notice.

The other two detainees stood by, intimidated and motionless, under the watchful gaze of the warder’s associates.

“It’s just that we were a bit surprised as how you had all turned up for lunch at the same time. Like you had all decided that cook’s lunch time delights couldn’t be waited for a moment longer than absolutely necessary. I mean someone cynical like me might think that somebody knew something was going on. You could see how I might think that can’t you, Hugh?”

Another prod from her baton brought a grunt from the man she was talking to. She had moved around in front of him now. Her baton was so close to discovering that his cock was just as hard. He was trying to distract his thoughts while making sure he gave the impression of respectful attentiveness.

“Now, I’ve got a proposition for the three of you. You tell us what you know about this little escapade and we’ll say no more about it. If you keep quiet about it we’ll let everyone of your fucking mates in here know that you’ve told us exactly what we wanted to hear. How is that as a deal? You can be shits and no one will know or you can be heroes and have everyone think you are shits.”

The three men looked glum. They knew which was the better option. And anyway, as Hugh told himself afterwards, there wasn’t anything much the warders would do with the information anyway. It was pretty obvious that they had had a tip off before the wall had come in. After all, why else had there been a van load of red flaps in the courtyard that morning?

... Florence Daniels the Home Secretary was having a difficult conversation with Nina Henning the junior minister in charge of rehabilitation and reform. “So, Nina, what do we think happened?”

Nina was feeling relieved that the events at the Excel Detention Centre hadn’t been as bad as she had feared when she had first been warned that a mass break-out was being plotted. It was embarrassing that such a thing could happen but encouraging that the security services had given enough warning for the plot to be contained. It had been unfortunate that it had been planned for a day when there were so many press in the vicinity but that had hardly been her fault. The security service briefing had been accurate and she’d been able to get the MCF to intervene in time. “As far as we can tell it was instigated by a group outside the Detention Centre. There was some level of communication with inmates about it but we still don’t have complete control over unauthorised contacts between inmates and the outside. According to information gained by the Centre’s staff someone threw a ball into the recreation area from outside and there was a message in that. What we don’t know is how the inmates knew it was coming or why they believed what the message said. MCF did a pretty good job of preventing the break out as planned but then they were able to prepare. The intelligence services are confident that the group involved has been disrupted for the time being.”