Chapter 29

Donnie ended the call from Eric and saw that Anthony Brown was watching him. The First Minister was still tearing strips off of Glen Tantur, the Politics Show anchor.

"Now what do I do?" Donnie asked himself. "How can I explain knowing what Westminster is doing almost as fast as they are taking the decisions? Shit! Did Anthony overhear my conversation with Eric?"

Anthony wandered over at that point.

"Problems?" he asked, clearly referring to the phone call.

"No, no. Nothing I can't sort out," Donnie answered. "Do you think we should try and rescue the interviewer?"

Anthony looked at Glen Tantur withering under the continued verbal assault from Alex Salmond and he smiled.

"No, the little shit deserves everything he gets. You saw it was well as I did – he thought he had set the First Minister up for an embarrassing interview on live TV."

Donnie relaxed a little. From his comments it appeared as if Anthony hadn't overheard his conversation with Eric.

"Okay, so what do I do? If I tell the First Minister that Westminster are sending in the army, what would he do? What could he do? He couldn't fight them. Probably the only option would be to complain bitterly to other world leaders. Does that change if I don't share what I know?"

Donnie's internal debate ended with him coming to the conclusion that telling Alex Salmond about the army moving in would actually make no difference at all. The only outcome would be the First Minister asking where he had got his information from.

"Are you staying on for the cabinet meeting?"

Anthony's question interrupted Donnie's thinking.

"Yes, I think it might be quite interesting given the circumstances," he replied.

The BBC film and production team eventually managed to rescue Glen Tantur from the FM and they packed up their kit in record time before leaving Bute House. Having vented his anger on the journalist, the First Minister was actually in a reasonable mood.

"How do you think the interview went?" he asked Donnie.

"Good," Donnie responded. "Certainly a lot better than it would have gone if you hadn't known what was coming!"

"Indeed, and that's thanks to you. Come on," said Salmond, "let's head through to the meeting room and join the rest of cabinet.

There was a mix of expressions on the faces of the members of the SNP cabinet. Some looked grim at what Westminster was doing while others seemed to be thriving on the situation and were positively buzzing.

Alex Salmond circulated amongst them as they poured themselves coffee before the meeting started. The meeting itself was actually quite disappointing for Donnie. There was little that was new to discuss, rather it was a case of each of the cabinet members giving a detailed update on what they had achieved since the night before.

Things changed just as Alex Salmond was bringing the meeting to a close. Donnie watched as almost in unison the cabinet members' phones started to go off. Some had blackberry devices and these started to vibrate where they were sitting on the meeting table. In an ironic quirk, the First Minister was the only one not receiving any calls – probably because his advisers and cabinet were all in the room.

Donnie could see the First Minister looking round the room at the sudden activity. He had obviously realised that what was going on couldn't be a co-incidence, but as all of the others were either talking on their phones or scrolling through messages on their hand-held devices, he didn't know what it was.

The Transport Minister was the first to end his call and he immediately started a hurried explanation for the First Minister.

"All of the flights carrying the people we were sending out as ambassadors have been grounded," he said in a rush. "It's clearly co-ordinated, but I've no idea where Westminster would have found the names or details of their travel arrangements."

That started a series of updates, as each Minister finished their calls.

"The army have moved in to seal off Faslane and all of the other military bases," said the Finance Minister. "I've got messages from four different chief executives of big companies telling me that they have been warned not to cooperate with us. The nuclear power stations have also been surrounded by army units."

"Two minesweepers and a submarine have taken control of the fishery protection ships," said the Environment Minister. "I understand that the army have also taken control of the Grangemouth refinery."

One after the other the Ministers explained how Westminster had moved quickly to either stop the SNP plans before they could be put into practice or to completely reverse those things that had been done. The mood in the room was one of despondency, in sharp contrast to earlier when they had all seemed to be in control and driving events.

"Suggestions for how we should respond?" asked the First Minister.

Katie continued to stare at her reflection in the bathroom mirror. After Donnie had left she had decided to take a shower and get dressed, but that had led to a startling discovery. When Katie turned on the shower and dropped her bathrobe, she caught sight of her shoulder in the full length mirror. What she saw froze her to the spot. It was a brand, not the same as Donnie's, but definitely a brand. The shape was that of a Yew tree.

Katie's thoughts went back to the 'dream' she had had the night before and she wondered whether it could possibly have been 'real'.

"The dream was a dream, Katie, but it was also real. It was the best way for Fionne to speak to you. I asked him to give you one of his gifts."

"You're the one I sometimes hear talking to Donnie. Are you Beira, the mother of all gods and goddesses?"

"Yes, I am Beira and I watch over you just as much as I watch over Dòmhnall. You see, you have a special role to play in Dòmhnall's life. That's what I wanted to speak to you about this morning."

"What gift did ... what did you call the god? Fionne? What gift did Fionne grant me?"

"Run some water into the basin."

Katie turned on the tap and let the sink fill up.

"Look into the water, Katie."

Katie did as the goddess asked and immediately gasped. Instead of simply seeing the water in the basin, she was looking at the face of a girl. The girl's large brown eyes were accentuated by heavy black eyeliner and they were set either side of a graceful nose. The girl's face was framed by straight black hair and her features and complexion suggested she might be Indian or Pakistani.

"Who is she?"

"Her name is Amira; she is the one that Dòmhnall met last night."

"How are you doing this, how can you make her face appear like this?"

Katie heard the goddess laugh, a rich and sonorous sound.

"That's not my doing. You are the one that has conjured this up.

"That's impossible; I didn't even know what she looked like!"

"But you knew of her existence and you suspect that she is going to be important to Dòmhnall in the future. That was enough to allow your new gift to bring her to you like this."

"Why will she be important for Donnie?"

"You can answer that question for yourself, Katie. In fact, with the gift that Fionne has given you, you will be able to answer all of the important questions that are going to affect Dòmhnall's future path."

With that final comment, Katie sensed the goddess had left her.

"It's just like Donnie says; there's never a straight answer from the goddess!"

Looking down at the basin, Katie saw that the image of the girl was still there. She concentrated on the girl's face while thinking of why she would be important to Donnie. It was difficult to keep the thought in her head though and maintain the link to the image appearing in the basin at that same time. Katie could see the girl's face fading in and out of focus.

"Come on, Katie! Concentrate!" she told herself.

Blanking everything else from her consciousness, Katie held the girl's image in the sink and concentrated on the single thought of why she would be important to Donnie. A frown suddenly flitted across the girl's face and then Katie saw the image beginning to turn. When the girl was side-on, her sleeve-less dress allowed Katie to see that she had a brand on her shoulder. The brand was in the shape of a claymore sword.

At that moment something happened that caused Katie to lose the image altogether. The girl spoke.

"Who are you and how are you controlling me like this?" she asked.

Given what had been said, the main news programmes were very quick to pick up on the interviews given by the Prime Minister and the First Minister. The constitutional crisis was the lead item on all of the channels and as always there was a seemingly endless supply of 'experts' willing to offer their views on what had been said and what the outcomes would be. Douglas McGregor watched one 'expert' and wished that Donnie was with him so that they could discuss what was said.

... if Scotland is going to be independent, then how do we work out what share of the public finance deficit should be passed on to them? I don't think that the Scottish Government has really thought this through."

"But what about the revenue that the UK Treasury is taking from north sea oil?" asked the journalist. "Isn't that coming from Scotland's territorial waters?"

As the day progressed, updates reported that the UK Government was taking actions to nullify what Alex Salmond had said the SNP were going to do as part of their Unilateral Declaration of Independence. The reports were all repeating the same description of events up and down Scotland over the course of the day.

... an increased number of armed troops have also been reported at Faslane submarine base and at Lossiemouth Royal Air Force base. The troops dismissed the presence of members of the police force and we can confirm that Highland Constabulary has recalled all of its officers...

... the flights all have one thing in common – they each had a passenger believed to have been appointed as a prospective ambassador by the Scottish Government. Obviously none of these people has been able to depart to try and take up that new role...

... the skippers of a number of trawlers have radioed ashore with reports that the Royal Navy have boarded and taken over command of three fishery protection vessels in the north sea...

... all approaches to the Grangemouth refinery have been closed off and patrols of armed soldiers can be seen inside the perimeter fence...

... a quite sensational confrontation between police from the Lothian and Borders force and troops from the Special Air Service here at Torness Nuclear Power Station. The SAS troops removed the police officers from the power station at gunpoint and made it clear that...

In Scotland, public anger at the Westminster Government's actions resulted in spontaneous mass demonstrations in both Glasgow and Edinburgh. These were no token protests either, police estimates put the number of protesters as high as one hundred and fifty thousand. In the main these went off peacefully.

Meanwhile Alex Salmond had spent most of Sunday evening giving interviews to the world's media in which he urged the international community to condemn the coalition of the Conservatives and the Lib Dems for their actions.

"How can they continue to claim to be supporters of democracy and yet flout the wishes of the Scottish people as expressed through the ballot box?" he asked. "I have written to the United Nations to ask them to intervene on our behalf to end what is, in effect, Scotland being held against its will by England!"

Donnie remained with the First Minister on Monday and Tuesday; with Katie now back at the Bridge-of-Allan apartment so that she could attend classes at the university. By Tuesday, it was clear to the members of the Scottish cabinet that the international community weren't going to do anything and it seemed that the UK Government was going to get its way.

Donnie was feeling just as depressed as the cabinet ministers at the FM's briefing meeting, until an idea occurred to him.

"Why don't we legislate?" he asked.

"Legislate on what?" the FM asked.

"On all of this," Donnie replied, his enthusiasm suddenly returning. "Pass legislation in the Parliament that confirms independence. Include clauses in the legislation that make it illegal to use troops to prevent us from making the changes that independence requires. Include a clause that covers tax raising powers and another to explicitly establish our ownership of the north sea oil fields. If Westminster tries to repeat what it has done in the last few days, it will be illegal."

"But even emergency legislation will take weeks to pass," said one of the ministers.

"What else are we going to be doing over the next few weeks?" Donnie asked.

"I think the idea has merit," said the FM. "Can we sound out the other parties to see whether we would have enough votes in the parliament to pass legislation like that?"

With something positive to work towards, the energy levels in the room began to rise again. The First Minister walked round the table and put his arm round Donnie's shoulder.

"Good thinking once again, Donnie. Well done," he said.

Donnie blushed and tried to shrug off the praise. He turned his mobile phone back on now that the meeting was ending and it range immediately. Standing up, he gave Alex Salmond an apologetic look and wandered towards the door as he answered the incoming call.

"Hello?" he said.

"Donnie! It's Eric; thank god I managed to reach you. Are you still with Alex Salmond?"

"Yeh, why?" asked Donnie.

"Listen! No arguments, I want you to stop whatever you're doing and leave the building you are in immediately! Don't stop for anything, just get out of there. Phone me when you're in the car and on the road. Get moving, NOW!"

Donnie couldn't imagine what had spooked Eric so badly, but he had heard the urgency in his voice and he thought it prudent to act on it. He quickened his pace and left the meeting room. He headed along the corridor, down the stairs and passed security to get outside St Andrew's House.

Donnie's car wasn't in the car park today, but was in a space controlled by a parking meter in a nearby street. Unlocking the door, Donnie got into the car and slipped his iPhone into its cradle. He hit the speed dial for Eric's number, as he pulled away from the kerb.