Lottery Dreams Ch. 24: Dark side of the Moon

Chapter 24 The Dark Side of the Moon

Charley lay on his sofa the next day, with the banging in his head from the beer, the night before. The business proposal for the investment in their old factory had met with a frosty response, as expected, but the truth was now out. Of course, all the men secretly knew that Charley's offer was the only realistic future any of them could face. But there was a touch of defeatism about it as if they all knew that they would never really leave Cobol. Doomed to be trapped in there forever.

With a sense of panic, Charley leapt up and tried to organise his day. He was just about to go into the town when there was a knock on the door. On opening it, he saw the face of the man Durrant before him.

"Pierse would like you to come and help in a certain matter?" The man just stood there. Not threatening, and with not a trace of cynicism.

"What exactly does he want me to do?" asked Charley.

"Just witness something. To show where we all stand. Will you do it?"

"Of course, I will."

With that, he got into the big car and they drove off.

They drove in silence to the field where the helicopter stood, warming up its blades in the sunlight. As Charley climbed into the throbbing monster, he saw Pierse holding out his hand, to help him on board. Once he had settled into his seat and put on the headphones, Pierse spoke to him, in the tinny voice transmitted through the wire.

"I want you to see something," said Pierce, as the helicopter spread across the countryside.

"Where are we going?"

"Up North. To a place, few people know about. I want you to meet some friends I've just made. Once we have done business here, we can get on with the projects I was telling you about."

They travelled the rest of the way in silence. Not that it took long. The helicopter was a new design, given to Pierse as a gift for a defence contract he had helped to get through, with Iraq. Soon they were hovering over another grassy field, with a waiting car.

In the car, they drove through the wooded lanes, until they came to a big house. The whole place was filled with men in uniform, and Charley had visions of Rufus and his thugs appearing once again. But these men were in fear of Pierse.

"You have to see inside first sir," said one man, greeting Pierse with a brisk salute.

"What's happened?" was all he asked.

"They did it. Every one of them. You better come and see." The uniformed man pointed to the house.

"What does he mean?" asked Charley. "What's going on? And who's in there?" Charley followed the other men as they walked to the house.

"These are the people who used to run the world," said Pierse, leading the way through the French windows into the large study. "We are here now, and we have to clean things up."

What met them inside that room, stunned the men.

"They are all dead," Charley could hardly believe what he was seeing, as they slowly walked around the room. "Every one of these men is dead. Why?"

Pierse was also shocked by the scene, but it did not stop him from carrying on. He turned to the soldiers standing in the doorway behind them. "How long have they been here?'

"It was like this when we arrived this morning sir," the man reported back.

"So who are they?" Charley wanted to know.

"They were once great men. The most powerful people in the world." Pierse was almost in a dream as they walked amongst the dead bodies, slumped in chairs or fallen to the floor.

"How did they die?"

"Suicide," said the soldier. "Every one of them has died from their own hand. Poison; injection, tablets. They all took the thing which they knew would kill them, and just sat down here to wait."

"They all knew," echoed Pierse, almost to himself. "They all knew it was over."

"You mean, they knew that they didn't rule the world any more?" Charley was shocked and depressed by the sight. "But why did they have to kill themselves? Did you threaten to do away with them?"

"Not me," replied Pierse. "I was quite prepared to do business with them. I've worked with the Mafia and the Pentagon, so we could have got on just fine. There was no need for this." Pierse stopped and looked out the window. "Or was there?"

"What do you mean?" asked Charley, wanting to be out of the room.

"Maybe they knew the truth, way ahead of me. Maybe they knew there was no room for both of us in the world now. It had to be left up to me, to be run my way. They would have jealously guarded their secrets, and never would have granted me any real power. Maybe this was for the best?"

"How can all these deaths be worth it?"

"When you are in this game, you are in it till the end. There are no half measures."

"But to kill yourself?" Charley wondered what would happen now.

"These old warriors have done us a great service," said Pierse. "They have saved us the trouble of trying to get rid of them. That's how much they believed in this thing."

"What happens now? What happens to us?" asked Charley.

"We go on. You are with me, aren't you Charley?" Pierse looked across the room full of dead men, slumped in their chairs.

"What else have I got? How do you cover this up? The press will go crazy."

"Oh, I don't think the press will bother us any more, after that disagreement with The Brit. As for this place, we can clean it up the same way." Pierce turned to the soldier who was in charge of the party surrounding the building. "Get your people back and call in the air strike. Make sure they wipe this house off the map. I don't want anything left in the ashes."

Piece and Charley were walking to the car when they first heard the aircraft coming up the valley.

"Let's get out of here."

Pierce sat in the back with Charley as the car drew away. Behind them, the aircraft released the bomb and the houses exploded in a fireball.

The End?