Over the last few weeks, Matt had seen Hudson deteriorate into a husk of a man, his eyes hollow, skin ashen, stretched and hanging from his now shrunken features.
‘Sir, please, you can’t do this to yourself. Parliament is meeting tomorrow. We need to take the recommendations from the heads of department, make some sound decisions and get them actioned.’ Matt immediately regretted speaking with such fervour. He hadn’t meant to speak so directly to the prime minister, and he waited for a severe chastising.
‘You’re right. Can you talk to the heads and come up with some proposals?’ replied Hudson, waving his hand vaguely in Matt’s direction.
‘What? Sir, you need to do this. You need to lead the heads. I can’t do this for you!’ demanded Matt, shocked into responding bluntly.
Standing up and walking to the fireplace, Hudson stared blankly into the flames. ‘Just get on with it Matt,’ he said in a feeble voice. ‘Now please leave.’
Matt opened his mouth, about to say something, then stopped himself. With his brow set in a determined expression, he walked out of the room.
Finding a quiet corner down the hall, he pulled out a coded mobile phone from his suit jacket. Looking around to see if anyone was watching, he dialled and, without waiting for a greeting, spoke into it in a low voice.
‘Hey, it’s me. Okay, I’m with you tomorrow.’ Matt paused. ‘So, can I see you tonight? Good, see you then. Bye.’ With that he ended the call, still looking around to see if he was being watched. Once sure that he wasn’t, he strode off to his next meeting, heart pounding.
Early that evening, General Stephens assembled Sarah Dempsey, General Fletcher, Colonel Main and Connor Adams at his house. The gathering had the distinct feeling of dejavu, with everyone sitting on the same couches as the last time they met.
General Stephens stood, staring out the window. ‘So the prime minister has surrendered. He finally realised what a futile exercise it was to try to stop the Chinese. Our troops should never have been in the firing line like that. We should have been smarter — we have to be smarter if we’re to get China out. And now, Hudson’s failing to even deal with the basic elements of running this country.’
Adams looked surprised. ‘Martin, it’s over. The Chinese have won, there is no getting them out now. They’ve already steamrolled South Australia and taken over the mines. The mining companies evacuated the mines and destroyed their equipment weeks ago.’
General Stephens turned to look at him. ‘Nothing is over. Nothing has even begun. It’s time for a new strategy to address the Chinese.’
‘What the hell are you talking about Marty?’ said Adams, irritated.
‘I’m talking about the adoption of a new military strategy, an approach that will eventually send the Chinese invaders back to their motherland,’ replied General Stephens.
Adams spoke levelly. ‘Martin, we spoke of this a few weeks ago. You know what you’re suggesting is madness, and it’s certainly not in the best interest of the country.’
‘Best interest of the country? Tell that to the thousands of people who live out in rural Australia — right in the path of the Chinese! Hudson has abandoned them — he’s done exactly what the Chinese were expecting the whole time, and then he happily surrendered to them. The “best interest of the country” was never taken into account from the start of this nightmare. My only interest is Australia — and regaining our land.’
‘And staging a coup is going to help the country?’ asked Adams. ‘Damn it, Martin. You may be right about the military strategy but have you considered what the people of Australia want? After what they’ve seen on BBCNN, do you really think they want more bloodshed in their own backyard? They’ve watched their kids being slaughtered in the desert — over what? A few lousy mines…’ Pausing for a moment, Adams composed himself and continued more calmly. ‘The Australian people need some stability right now — and they’re happy with the certainty that the killing has ended.’
‘You speak of the “Australian people” like they’re a bunch of scared children cowering in their homes, praying that it will all be over soon,’ replied Stephens. ‘I think you’re underestimating their resolve, their strength, their will to remain a free nation. Connor, you should give them more credit. I believe that the public is appalled at the surrender. It is my intention to fight the Chinese and to continue to fight until they have been driven from our land. A coup may not be necessary. I am going public with my views and then we will see if the Australian people have lost their will to fight.’
‘I’m with you Marty, I can’t stand that we’ve simply lain down arms and let the Chinese stroll in,’ said Fletcher.
Turning to Fletcher, General Stephens gave him a nod and glanced back at Adams. ‘Look, you don’t need to say anything more. I understand — but I think you’re wrong. To do this I need your help — so please at least think about what I am saying.’
‘All right, Martin, I will. I have to go now. Jane is cooking dinner for the family. Since all this started she’s been insisting on the entire family being together for meals.’ With a wry smile Connor picked up his briefcase and turned to leave. ‘I’ll see myself out. And I’ll be in touch tomorrow morning.’
When the front door had closed, Stephens turned to Fletcher. ‘Well, that went better than expected.’
‘Jesus! What were you expecting Marty?’
General Stephens replied with a half-smile, ‘Well, he could have called the military police and had me locked up.’
‘He still might,’ piped up Sarah, from her spot by the fire.
Laughing now, Fletcher added, ‘He’s more likely to call the local asylum’.
The tension of their earlier conversation was immediately eased by the laughter. They were all desperately looking for an excuse to laugh.
Once they pulled themselves together General Stephens looked to Sarah. ‘So, Sarah, you’ve arranged the press conference for tomorrow afternoon?’
She sat upright, her dark brown hair falling over her shoulders as she leaned forward. ‘Yes. The Australasian, The Canberra Times and all the major metropolitan news hubs will be there. Through the online polling system the news sites use we will be able to get a pretty good indication of the public’s opinion of what you’re suggesting.’
‘Very good. Now Fletch, how did you go approaching possible collaborators?’ Stephens asked, turning to his friend.
‘Better than we could have hoped, Marty. All the people on your list have said they’d support us.’ He grinned. ‘Hudson must be even more of a mess behind closed doors than he seems in his press conferences.’
‘Okay. The next step is your resignation. I’ve already tendered mine, but you’ll need to do the same. You too, Main. Keep me updated on your progress, but not by phone. You know where to find me.’
With that, Fletcher and Main left Sarah and General Stephens.
Sarah sat back on the couch with an exhausted sigh. ‘Well, General, there’s no going back now. Adams was the last piece and he looks like he’ll be onside when things get going.’
Stephens sat down beside Sarah and looked her directly in the eyes with absolute steadfastness. Her blue eyes returned his gaze unflinchingly. ‘Sarah, you and I have worked together for a long time now. But what we’re doing here is well beyond the call of duty. I just want to reiterate that you don’t need to come on this part of the journey with me. What we’re doing here is extremely serious and, well, illegal. We will go to prison for a very long time if it doesn’t work.’