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‘Have another
pint?’ encouraged Madeline.

‘No, had two
already. That’s a point; I can’t tell how much you’ve had.’

‘Only had
enough to make me mildly tipsy and loose limbed,’ said Madeline
slightly slurring her words.

At that moment
an American couple were at the bar asking for a room.

‘No rooms
available,’ said the barman.

‘Are you sure?
We’ll take anything,’ said the American man.

‘I said… no
rooms available… don’t you sort understand English?’ said the
barman belligerently.

The Americans
left without a fuss. Several of the clientele including Adam and
Madeline cheered and clapped in unison.

‘Come on then
let’s go up, I’m developing a third leg,’ said Adam.

‘Better get
that fixed then,’ said Madeline saucily.

Both were
completely oblivious to the conditioning going on between their
ears.

It had
started.

Drip by drip,
faintly, the ultrasound was doing its worst. No one realised it, no
one suspected that they were being brainwashed in the most
subliminal way possible. The whole world was in on it - even people
of the USA began to loath themselves. No one stopped to ask
themselves why they hated the USA, hated the North Americans, hated
anything to do with the US, they just did. It was impossible to
oppose the negative thoughts. Hate felt good. Even the clergy
joined in with sermons stirring up the revulsion of the land the
other side of the Atlantic Ocean.

As days went
by, the negative feelings continued to build. Americans became the
vermin of the world. Once allies of the USA now became extremists
in their views. Everything North American was boycotted. People
stopped using their computers as they were all contaminated with
Apple or Microsoft. MacDonald’s restaurants were boycotted - young
children would rather eat broccoli than have a happy meal. No one
watched The Simpsons anymore and anyone with the slightest American
accent was stoned in the streets. No one cared to ask why this was
happening, it was just was the right way to feel.

There had been
no contact from Nuttall for nearly a month. Not that Madeline was
complaining but she really wanted to try out her new £60,000 watch.
At random, she pressed a few buttons on it.

‘Nuttall, can
you hear me?’ yelled Madeline towards her wrist.

Several minutes
went by before there was a reply.

‘Hi Madeline,
almost forgotten about you.’

‘Got anywhere
with Mark Titoo?’

‘He’s on the
back burner – all seems to have gone quiet now anyway.

More involved,
at the moment, with the bastards on the other side of the
Ocean.’

‘Send me over
there. Could do with a bit of laser practice,’ said Madeline
enthusiastically.

‘May take you
upon that.’

‘Did you manage
to duplicate Coley’s ear devices?’

‘Ear devices?
... Oh those, no, been side tracked as you can appreciate.’

This was all so
strange but Madeline couldn’t see it, nor could anyone else.

The first
nations to form a treaty against the USA were China and Russia –
fairly predictably. Asia and Japan then followed, joining the
treaty. All of Europe put aside any differences and united against
a common cause. Even North and South Korea temporarily united
against the evil USA. The Taliban and several other Islamic
extremists groups set aside their blinkered visions and joined
forced with their host countries. The countries of South America
joined forces with Australia and New Zealand and everything in
between. Eventually, in an historical event, all non-USA world
countries joined a common cause – to wipe North America of the face
of the planet.

It was going to
be a grossly one sided affair, the USA only having a thirteenth of
the world population but everyone knew their capabilities. As it
happened, this wasn’t really an issue. The people of the USA now
loathed themselves. For some unknown reason they felt despondent,
hated themselves and many were chronically depressed – the suicide
rate soared. Of course they hadn’t particularly done anything to
justify this world wide hatred and hadn’t done anything to be
ashamed of or sad about.

The people of
the USA really didn’t want to fight back – they had no wish to.
However they reluctantly knew they had to do the expected thing
even though they would never make the first move and only make a
move if a sufficient amount of nuclear weapons were heading their
way.

The rest of the
world didn’t particularly want Armageddon so they planned an old
style invasion.

It was decided
that an armada would be assembled on a scale never seen before.
Thousands of ships from every known part of the non-American world
had to be stocked with weapons and the best fighting men. Once
ready, all would set sail to arrive simultaneously and beat the
crap out of the heinous aberrations that happened to occupy a
filthy land mass on the northern hemisphere.

Chapter 17:
Adam on a garden seat

What was
unusual about this new imminent world war was that everyone (apart
from the Americans) was excited, positive and almost looking
forward to the bloodshed. It certainly wasn’t rational behaviour.
The whole world was possessed with illogical objectives and intense
hatred. No one was thinking straight – even Madeline, at this
moment in time.

‘
Madeline,
Barton here.’

‘Hello, you’ve
been quiet,’ said Madeline affectionately.

‘
Been busy.
Thought I’d let you know I’ve installed a noise cancelling audio
bandpass filter.’

‘I’d forgot all
about that. You shouldn’t have bothered. I think that problem has
paled into insignificance,’ said Madeline.

‘
Anyway,
I’ve done it now. It’ll screen out the all the ultrasound in this
room. I’m connecting it up… now.’
Barton threw a switch.
‘Any weird effects let me know.’

‘Ok, will do,’
said Madeline with indifference.

‘Barton?’ said
Adam.

‘Yes, he’s a
treasure. Apparently I’m now surrounded by a noise channelling auto
rock band filler,’ said Madeline with perhaps too many gin and
tonics in her system.

‘Sounds far too
technical for me,’ said Adam who also had perhaps had a few too
many pints.

They had more
or less claimed the snug area of the inn for themselves. They
absorbed the relaxing atmosphere and were on first name terms with
the barman. Evenings past quickly, joining in with the regular
darts match and skittles league. On the wall behind them, the
television had the news channel permanently on, sound turned off
but with subtitles. There was no ordinary News now, preparation for
the invasion had taken over. At the moment it was showing port of
Honk Kong where the Chinese were loading an impressive array of war
machines on to a war ship.

‘You never did
tell me about your trip to Warsaw.’

‘Lovely place,
lovely people,’ said Adam.

‘How did you
come to that conclusion, you spent most of your time locked up,
didn’t you?’

‘Barton’s be
talking, hasn’t he? …Snitch!’

‘Barton, he’s
called you a snitch,’ said Madeline.

‘Damn site
nicer than anywhere in the USA anyway,’ said Adam.

‘Oh come on!
What about Seattle or Atlanta or San Francisco? Beautiful places,’
said Madeline defensively.

Adam was
expecting Madeline to completely agree with him by she didn’t. She
broke the cardinal rule and praised something American. This was
unforgivable, even for his girlfriend. Madeline didn’t realise it
but the effect of the subliminal brainwashing was quickly wearing
off. A pin dropped in the far corner of the inn - everybody had
heard her blaspheme. It was exactly like a scene from the
Body
snatchers
, everyone’s expression including Adam’s was the same.
Time almost stood still as the penetrating hatred stares eroded her
soul. If anyone happened to be armed, they would have opened fire
on her without a second thought. If any one happened to have a pit
bull terrier with them, it would now be feeding on any flesh she
happened to possess. Madeline quickly realised what was happening,
it was as thought she’d emerged from a hypnotic state. She glanced
at the TV on the wall; immediately she knew Mark Titoo was at the
root of all this. She remembered the uncontrollable rage at
Capesdown hall when it was her, not the Americans being loathed.
There was only one way out of the situation...

‘Only joking… a
little bit of sarcasm, what do you take me for?’ she said slightly
trembling.

It took a few
seconds before the
Body Snatcher
mood withered and then
everyone resumed what they were doing as though the incident never
happened.

‘What was that
about?’ asked Adam sternly.

‘I was joking,
that’s all,’ said Madeline still trembling.

For the first
time ever, Adam scared her – everybody scared her. He was
completely under a spell - as
she
had been a few minutes
ago. The whole world was under the same powerful terrifying spell.
Madeline continued to accurately simulate Poppy’s tremble in her
tank. She could fight a small army with her incredible new body but
not the whole world. There was something she had to do.

It was quite a
while since she’d used her gift of flatulence. The gas was only
intended for Adam so only a small amount was administered. Adam
slumped over on to his pint. She took Adam’s mobile phone out of
his pocket.

‘Barton, what’s
your take on the Americans,’ she said, talking quietly into Adam’s
mobile so as not to arouse suspicion.

‘
Well, I
don’t hate them anymore if that’s what you mean.
’

‘How the hell
has this happened?’

‘
I think
we’ve all been caught with our pants down. It’s time to prove
yourself and do what Madeline Bull is best at doing. The whole
world is now in your hands.’

‘No pressure
then. You do realise the consequences of leaving that room we’re
both in?’

‘
Or if
there’s a power fail?’

‘Well you do
your bit and I’ll try and do mine,’ said Madeline firmly.

No ‘lots of
love’ to finish off this time. A modicum of rectitude was now
appropriate. Finally Madeline Bull was in demand and back at work
even though the rest of the world didn’t know it… yet. One thing
she couldn’t bear – being deceitful with Adam. Priority was to sort
that problem out first.

‘Could you help
me carry him outside for a bit of fresh air? Looks like he’s had a
bit too much to drink,’ Madeline asked the barman.

‘Sure love.
Can’t take his drink very well, can he?’

‘He’s on
antibiotics. Shouldn’t really have been drinking at all,’ Madeline
lied.

Madeline could
easily have carried Adam – for miles, but that certainly wouldn’t
have gone unnoticed.

The barman
eased him on to a garden seat.

‘Thanks, he’ll
be alright in a few minutes.’

‘Give me a
shout if you want me to carry him upstairs,’ said the friendly
barman.

It was all so
strange - as though having a purposeful common hatred had made
everyone nicer to each other. This was a fact. Terrorism, racism,
homophobism and all other ism’s had all but disappeared. Wars had
stopped as had slavery, human trafficking, shop lifting,
burglaries, murder and rape. All personal differences had been set
aside, everyone was extremely courteous, helpful and kind each
other. Every person’s hate and negativity was now directed solely
towards the North Americans. On reflection, if Mark Titoo’s
brainwashing (if indeed Mark Titoo was behind it all) was to hate
Martians or Venusians instead of the Americans, the world would be
a wonderful place. Of course all the world’s natural resources
would be used up in building a fleet of heavily armed spaceships –
so perhaps not such a good idea.

Madeline had no
intention of returning to her room, she had to get to Capesdown
hall. She spoke into her watch.

‘Nuttall, I
need to see you urgently.’

‘
Can’t it
wait?’

‘I’ve uncovered
a British faction supporting the USA,’ said Madeline.

She knew with
the present climate, only one subject matter would get the required
attention. What she said was certainly true although for now, the
faction only amounted to two people.

‘
I’ll send
the helicopter.’

Chapter
18: Nuttall’s Aston Martin

This time
Nuttall was waiting at the helipad. Madeline disembarked carrying a
slumbering Adam on her shoulder.

‘We have to go
down to the ‘V’ room,’ Madeline yelled to be heard above the noise
of the helicopter. ‘There are traitors about again.’

Neither of them
said a word until they were in the ‘V’ room with the door securely
shut.

‘What’s the
matter with Adam?’

‘I had to put
him out.’

‘So, what
evidence have you got?

At that moment
Adam started to stir.

‘What the hell?
Where am I?’ protested Adam.

‘Bear with me,
you’ll understand in a few minutes sweetheart.’

‘Come on, I’m a
busy man. Where’s your evidence?’

Madeline slowly
edged towards the door and discretely prepared her laser finger.
The end of her finger hinged down silently.

‘It’s me, I’m
your evidence, I’m supporting the Americans,’ said Madeline
calmly.

‘The hell!’
Nuttall yelled as he reached inside his jacket for his hand
gun.

‘Don’t bother,
you know it’ll have no effect. All I’m asking is that you both sit
quietly for five minutes and then lock me up, if you still want
to.’

‘Lock you up!
I’ll have you dismantled for this!’ steamed Nuttall.