Chapter 15

Chris Henderson

Chris had watched the action on the television screen in amazement. This wasn't what he wanted; all he was trying to do was to show Sir Timothy that he could change the Association from within and now this!

Nothing in his plans had considered this, it would change everything!

He went to the door of his room and tried the handle but it wouldn't turn, the door was locked! He pounded on it and a guard opened the door and looked in, "Whadayawant?" He fired off at Chris.

"I have to see Grogan." Chris said and started to move forward only to be pushed back.

"You're to stay here until Lord Grogan sends for you." The guard said.

"WHAT? But I put 'Lord Grogan' into his position! I need to see him now!" Chris demanded now feeling like the age he was, with tears pricking at his eyes.

The guard wasn't moved, "I'll pass your request on, but until he designs to see you, you're to remain here, Lord Grogan's orders." Then there was a sarcastic sneer on the guard's face, "If you're very good I'll get you an ice-cream!" he pushed Chris further back and then slammed the door, locking it audibly.

Chris kicked on the door, "I don't like fucking ice-cream!" He said and threw himself back onto the bed, 'This wasn't right!' He thought about Sir Timothy and how much he had helped Chris, even if it didn't seem like it at the time.

Without Sir Timothy he wouldn't have learnt the tactics that he used while training his Association team, a team that put Grogan where he was. It wasn't until he'd introduced Grogan to Bemalin that he'd started to change ... Bemalin! That was the one; he'd started to train Grogan, to remould him, to make him into another Leader!

Chris got up from the bed and sat down in a chair, he closed his eyes to concentrate and his mind drifted...

... He was standing in a hallway, wood panelling lined the walls, a cough made him turn around, standing there was a man and woman, but they seemed so familiar that he immediately trusted them.

"It wasn't your fault Chris, Sir Timothy knows this. It was his destiny as it allows the prophecy to continue, just as it was meant to." The man said.

Chris couldn't believe what the man was telling him, "But how could he have allowed it? He was a good man!" Chris protested.

The woman nodded, "Indeed he was, but it was necessary and, as you know, what is needed is rarely fair. What may seem to be a backwards step is actually a leap forward." Her face showed the sorrow that she felt and Chris could almost feel the emotion from her.

The man nodded, "For the time being you must be strong. You are now choosing your path but it is the one that has really been mapped out for you. You will find there will be changes coming to you, do not be afraid"

Chris shook his head, "But why? Can't you at least tell me what to do?" He asked.

The man shook his head, "I'm sorry but you will not remember this until it is time, but you will know deep down that this is all part of the Grand Design." The two smiled at Chris and he closed his eyes.

When he opened them he was back in his room, he shook his head, 'What happened?' For some reason he couldn't meditate as he wanted to. He felt like calling Cathy and asking how she managed, and then caught himself. 'Wow! Where did that come from?' Cathy would probably get him locked up; after all he was with the ones who had killed Sir Timothy ... Oh yes, Sir Timothy, what did Grogan think he was doing? When he saw Grogan — or rather Lord Grogan! — He'd have a few choice words!

... But why didn't he feel angry anymore, it was almost as it this was right ... but for whom?

Grogan was in his main chamber, or rather his body was! His mind was now in the Dreamland with Bemalin; both were celebrating the success of their plan with the death of Sir Timothy. The Organisation would be powerless, there wasn't an officer fully trained to step into his shoes! Even his own daughter, Lady Helen, was known to have no interest in the post and so The Association's victory was assured!

It was during this celebration that Bemalin felt that something was wrong.

"Stay here, I'll be right back." He told Grogan who didn't notice anything as he was only away for a few seconds, there was a concerned look on his face. "They've got the Douglas girl here; they're trying to convince her to take command!" Bemalin said.

Grogan laughed, "What her? She's just a kid; we've already decided that she's going to be useless! You said that yourself." He said

Bemalin nodded, "Yes, but she's tricked me once when she was younger, there is a power within her, something I've never seen before!" He sounded worried.

Grogan caught his fear, "Maybe she's the one who's going to produce the twins, you know the TWINS! Maybe it's their power you can feel?" He suggested.

Bemalin thought for a moment, "This could be true, in which case we need to get our hands on the girl as quickly as possible, and either try to turn her ... or kill her." He said.

Grogan shook his head, "How can we turn her against the Association? It's going to be difficult." He said

"She hasn't chosen yet! There may still be time!" Bemalin said, he held onto Grogan and the pair disappeared from the room to appear again in another, in the room Grogan could see a young girl with the dead Sir Timothy, another girl and an older woman along with the enemy Sir Robert. The older woman was speaking.

" ... You must take command! For the sake of the Organisation. You HAVE TO!" The older woman said.

Bemalin spoke up. "Don't push her! She knows that she is too weak! The Organisation is finished! Let it die like the entity it is!" he smiled at Cathy as she looked at him she seemed to be concentrating on Grogan and so Bemalin hid him as a shadow.

"But Bemalin, she is aware of her power and can sense that it's the right thing to do!" Robert De Sable said in defence of Cathy.

Then Sir Timothy got to his feet, "Cathy as always the choice is yours! All we can do is to appeal to you to accept this." He said.

"Yes girl, choice! But be aware should you choose badly then you would be a target for the Association and its forces! My minion here will ensure that your face is known and our people will be after you! Say no and you will live in peace!" Bemalin said resting his head on Grogan's shoulder.

Cathy turned to look at Bemalin and frowned, "Why are you so scared of me Bemalin sur Nisir, afraid that I'll trap you again as I did when I was younger? Or is there something else that you can see?" Cathy asked him but received a sneer in reply. Cathy turned to Sir Timothy. "But I'll make mistakes! People could get hurt!" She said.

The older woman put her arms around Cathy. "We all make mistakes, but we learn from them! People always die and sometimes it's due to others not doing what they can! Nobody will blame you for trying ... but please don't give up on us. Now is the time to fight!"

Cathy now looked at Bemalin, "If the Association continues it will cause havoc and death! I don't think that by my saying 'no' you would stop..." She said.

Bemalin shook his head. "But you would remain unharmed! My people will assure that you yourself will survive!" He said smiling.

Cathy now the older woman, "What can you, or the Organisation, offer me?" She asked.

The woman spoke again, "Hard work. Long hours, and very little sleep. But you will have all of us behind you." She said sadly.

" ... And we will hunt you down! Just say no and be safe!" Bemalin said slightly mockingly.

Bemalin hoped that Cathy would decide to keep safe, it was what he would do and so he didn't say anything more but watched as she turned to Sir Timothy. "I accept!" She said.

"NNNOoooooooo!" Bemalin said as he and Grogan were banished to their own part of the Dreamland!

Grogan looked at Bemalin; the man was beside himself with anger! "The ungrateful female dog! When you go back you must make it your main task to force her to join the Association — by whatever means you can! If not kill her! With her out of the way the Organisation will fall!" Bemalin directed Grogan who gave a nasty grin.

A grin that was wiped from his face as the whole room seemed to shake slightly; he looked at Bemalin who was staring around with a strange look on his face. "What is happening" Grogan asked.

Bemalin shook his head, "It can't be ... this is wrong!" Bemalin said and the room shook again, this time even harder, "This is deep magic ... she is powerful, very powerful!" There was another violent shake and then the room was quiet once again. But Bemalins' face was troubled he looked at Grogan. "Oh Allah! What have we done?" He said.

Chris was sleeping when he was woken by what he thought was an earthquake, he jumped out of bed but found nothing wrong and then he felt his legs buckling but in his mind there was a joyful cry. He somehow knew that Cathy was behind this and he gave a smile, The Association had made a bad mistake, now he could start his work on the Association.

With the last 'quake' he found his mind was opening up, things that he hadn't realised before now were clear; he could do something that he'd never thought of before. He looked at the door and the lock was clearly visible, he could make out the shape of the guard outside but couldn't affect him, for fun he unlocked his door, watching the tumblers move as he did so, if only Archie Andrews was here he'd weep at Chris's skill.

Chris thought about this, he was able affect inanimate objects but not live ones ... so...

He concentrated on the guard's shoes, the next time the guard moved he fell over as the laces had been tied together. "Whathafuck!" the man said and tried to untie them, but the knot was so convoluted that he had to cut them apart.

Chris watched this from inside the room and gave a laugh, this was wonderful! Why hadn't he known about this before? Now things would get better.

It was some hours later when the guard opened the door, he was looking at the key wondering why he'd forgotten to lock the door even after the instructions from his sector chief. "Lord Grogan will see you now kid!" He snarled.

Chris smiled as he stood up, he knew the way to Grogan's chamber and was going to make the guard work for his money. As soon as the door was opened Chris was out of it and marching quickly down the corridor, the guard was having to run to keep up but with his shoes untied it wasn't too soon before he lost one and was limping down the corridor trying to catch Chris.

By the time Chris had arrived at Grogan's chamber door the guard was hopping along trying to remove his remaining shoe while still keeping Chris in sight. "Don't bother!" Chris said and entered the room.

Grogan was pacing on the floor in front of his desk, he looked up as Chris entered, "This Douglas girl what do you know about her?" Grogan demanded without explanation.

"Only that she's trouble! If anything happens to Sir Timothy she'd be the one to take over!" Chris said, "So you'd better keep Sir Timothy safe as once he's gone..." He didn't finish the statement.

Grogan stared, "Didn't you see the television reports? We whacked Sir Timothy; he's out of the picture permanently." Grogan said. "It was working too, the Organisation didn't know what to do they were running around like headless chickens. Then it all went wrong. It was as if they had a chief again! We think this Cathy girl is now in charge!"

Chris shook his head and sighed, "Don't you ever follow the plans? And since when have you spoken like some cheap imitation film hoodlum?" He said, "Sir Timothy is known to us! His actions are almost programmed in. But Cathy won't work like him, she's more proactive. With Sharon, Kathy and Charlotte acting like her backup team. If they're in charge then we might as well give up." He said noting how Grogan's face whitened with the news.

Chris sat down, "Okay then the mistake has been made! So now we have to put things right. The original plan was that we find this computer and use it to plan the major moves, this way we'd be able to work out the possible actions that the Organisation could take, but what happened? You give up that plan and try to follow the original Association plans based on the world over 800 years ago! What went wrong Grogan?" Chris said.

"Nothing, the original plan was worked out long ago and will work! Taking over this country is central to the plan! After this country falls then we can expand the empire back over the world." Grogan said but the words sounded to Chris as if Bemalin was talking.

Chris shook his head, "England is no longer the centre of the known world. To take over the world you need to invade America, and we just can't do it!" He said, "So we have to work small and build up, just like the terrorists in Iraq, you'll have to be another Osama Bin Ladin. In this way you'll gain the power you deserve." Chris said.

Grogan rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "It's possible, that way we could destabilise the country and get people to rebel quickly. But I can't see the public getting behind me like that."

Chris smiled he could see Bemalin's hand behind Grogan's thoughts now. Their thoughts were strictly 1300's style — where Sir Robert had moved with the times Bemalin hadn't! So his tactics would have to be in the form that Bemalin would understand.

"What we need to do is to get separate groups in each city, working on the main industries, cut the lines of transport and then take out some of the more obvious targets, factories, shops and landmarks." Chris said.

Grogan nodded, "But then what? If I say that we're responsible then it could turn the people against me." He said.

Chris nodded, "That's true, if you admit to doing it, but you don't! You make out that the Association is working for the safety of the population, get other teams to 'arrest' the people, people that we're going to set up to take the blame, all we have to do is to work out how..." he gave Grogan a smile that boded ill for somebody

Grogan, however, wasn't fazed by Chris's words he nodded with a wolf-like grin on his face, "Yes ... that would do it, convince them that the Association is the best for them, I'd be king in all but name. Lord Grogan the man who saved England and the Empires. We'll start on the plans now." Grogan said and pressed some buttons on his desk, "Get the team leaders here now, we've got business to conduct!"

Chris excused himself for a moment and went to the main control room, he looked at the men there, "Lord Grogan wants to know if his room was monitored?" He asked.

The captain in charge looked puzzled, "Of course, its standing orders. Lord Grogan wants his reign to be recorded in its entirety." He said.

Chris nodded, "Good! Ensure that a copy of that is made, it's the turning point of the whole Association." He said and then returned to Grogan's chamber.

Chris outlined his new plans to the team leaders and each one was assigned a section of England to control, it would be their responsibility to find locations to house people, and look after them, building them up to their role in the Association, one of being a scapegoat.

The Association was still working on its campaign in London, although the shock of Sir Timothy being killed by Lord Medway had brought tighter security around the Capital, it made things problematical but not insurmountable.

Chris and Grogan began arranging their plans, first of all the bombing campaign in London would be scaled down while stockpiles of the explosives would be bottled and placed into storage.

Grogan looked at Chris, "So where are we going to get our victims from?" He asked.

Chris gave a feral smile, "What is the main group that the British hate?" He asked.

Grogan looked puzzled, "I don't know? The Arabs, the niggers?" He said.

Chris shook his head, "Not at all, in fact the most hated are the immigrants who sneak in, all the illegal aliens! The government take them and place them in detention centres, feed them and house them before they decide whether to send them back to wherever they come from. If you tell most of the coloured people to go back home they'd tell you they are home! But these immigrants are different! Also the public are scared of jail-birds, especially the high security ones, so what we're going to do is to break them out!" He said

Grogan looked at him, "And just how are you going to do that?" he said.

Chris smiled, "This is how..." he said

Over the weeks the teams found houses in various parts of the country, all of them near factories or another target area. The next stage was for arranging of transport for the expected passengers and so a fleet of articulated vehicles were found and parked near the detention centres.

The delivery schedules of the soft drinks vans were intercepted by The Association's intelligence people and the appropriate livery and paperwork were also copied onto Association vans.

Eventually everything was ready! The delivery vans were loaded and sent out to their destinations. Special crates were marked and sent to the prisons, for delivery to the canteens.

Drivers delivered soft drinks to the detention centres and loaded up the vending machines with the bottles, the refrigeration units within the machines would ensure that the critical temperature wouldn't be reached, the bottles were marked and leaflets were distributed explaining that 'friends outside' had arranged for this to happen, and also where to find transport that would take them to a safe house — this was a weak spot! If the security people found these they would be alerted. So things had to be made top secret.

At a prearranged time the trustees in the prisons were handed the bottles and distributed them around the prisons near alarms and walls, some were casually placed against the main wall in small groups

At the detention centres the vending machines were broken into and the special bottles were removed and placed where they leaflets suggested, some were thrown over the inner wall to rest beside the outer-wall, in the direct sunlight, others were placed near the main entrance and guard house and then everyone waited for the sun to do it's work.

Grogan read each report as they arrived, he beamed at Chris. "This is perfect; we've got so many immigrants in our control! We're sending them off to the cities to hide as I arranged. — He'd taken it for granted that the plans were his, not Chris's!

"You certainly know how to run the Association my Lord." Chris said but his mocking tone wasn't noticed by Grogan who accepted it as part of his due.

"Thank you, I must admit that Bemalin and I did have our doubts about you, we weren't sure if you had the stomach for this life, but I must admit that you are doing well now." Grogan said ingratiatingly.

"Well I thought it was time I grew up and played with the big boys!" Chris said, what he hadn't told Grogan was that the copy of the original meeting and subsequent ones were now in his possession and in a safe place.

He walked to Grogan's desk and sat down, "Now we're going to need to have someone trained to look and speak like Cathy if we're going to get the Organisation to work for us." Chris said making Grogan look at him.

"What are you going on about?" Grogan asked.

Chris sighed, "We're going to have to kidnap Cathy, but it means that we're going to have to have someone give the commands for the Organisation to follow our orders. I don't think we're going to be able to get a body double so a voice double will have to do. I've stayed with Cathy for some time so that I'll be able to coach her in what Cathy knows and how she'll react." Chris said with a smile.