The Power of Five Oblivion

after that, much of Hong Kong was destroyed by a typhoon and many of us believed that all five of you had been killed, particularly when we failed to hear from any of you. I knew otherwise. The spirits kept me informed. There is no time in the spirit world. They knew that you had been sent forward ten years and that if we could simply survive that long, you would be back.”
    “Excuse me,” I said. I hadn’t meant to interrupt but I had to challenge what I had just heard. “Are you saying that you talk to ghosts?”
    Miss Ashwood nodded slightly, as if the question was of no importance and the answer completely obvious. Then she went on. “A year after you had gone, on the ninth of May, the UK was hit by a series of dirty bombs – part nuclear, part biochemical. To this day we do not know who was behind the atrocity. It could have been religious extremists. It could have been anybody. It hardly makes much difference to the survivors. The government was completely wiped out. Any form of infrastructure disappeared. At the same time, the world was experiencing a series of catastrophes. Massive volcano eruptions in Japan. Floods in Europe and Australia. Famine in America. Plague in China. It was as if the four horsemen of the Apocalypse had finally arrived, only there were four hundred of them, riding in a stampede. We were left on our own. Nobody came to our aid.
    “I was brought here originally by Sir James Tarrant. You may remember him, Jamie. He was the assistant commissioner of the London police and a good man. He died two years ago … a heart attack. There were a dozen of us to start with but more people joined. Over the years, we’ve had seven casualties – mainly on expeditions above ground.
    “We have kept a long vigil here, watching the Old Ones tear apart what was left of our country. In some ways, we have been fortunate. We began with a vast depot of provisions and unlimited water … we have our own purification system. We have fuel and electricity. We are able to grow our own food both underground and on the surface. We even have books, DVDs and computer games!
    “Even so, it has not been easy. You could go mad living like this … so many of us, thrown together, buried alive. But we have had a common cause. Very occasionally we have heard from the other pods. We have had to be careful as there is always the chance that our radio signals will be intercepted. But above all, we have had hope. We always knew that one day the Five would return.
    “Seven years ago, once things had become a little more settled, I sent Graham Fletcher out to look for the door which I knew existed in the east of England, in the church of St Botolph’s. He had everything he needed on the Lady Jane and the river and canal system would allow him to slip unseen through the country. It was a great deal to ask of him but there was no other way. He had to find the door and wait there for one of the Five to appear and then to bring them here. He has succeeded. Although he has been separated from his friends and his brother for all these years, he has never wavered. We have much to be grateful for.”
    “St Meredith’s is still standing,” Jamie said.
    I was amazed how confident he was. He’d just taken all this on board but he hadn’t even blinked. I was freaking out and he was totally in control. But then this entire operation, these people, the nuclear bunker or whatever it was … all of it was only there for him. So perhaps it was natural that he should take command.
    “Yes,” Miss Ashworth replied. “But there’s a difference, Jamie. The Old Ones know about it. They may have even left it intact on purpose, as a trap to draw you in. It looks abandoned but we have sent out spies and know that it is permanently surrounded. There are shape-changers in London … and worse. They were always waiting in the hope that you would emerge there from Hong Kong. And they will certainly be waiting for you now.”
    “They think Jamie is dead,” the Traveller said.
    “That’s true, Graham. And it may help us. Maybe they’ll relax their guard. But we still have to be very careful before we try to go in.” She turned back to Jamie. “The doors aren’t working, are they?”
    “No,” Jamie admitted. “But that’s going to change.” Suddenly he was the centre of attention. It was as if Miss Ashwood had passed over her authority to him. “Matt and the others are alive,” he continued. “I’ve seen them in the