SON MEETS FATHER AGAIN [302] At Wernicke's, Tabbins's caterwauling started Jack Brown dreaming yet again of his mother interrogating him hard and at length over the missing roll which in the end had turned out to be merely in another tin, then woke him. He realized that his brain had not forgotten old fears after all. He was some time getting to sleep again, and in the morning woke expecting to be bored, since his school was on a half-holiday. But Wheeljack, who was just back after ten busy days at Braithwaite's, offered to take him to Smith & Malton's to see a special consignment leave for the navy base at Scapa Flow in the Orkneys. After breakfast, they left. Wheeljack stopped at Smith & Malton's no.2 gate. A woman with an elaborately flowered hat was saying to the man in the gatehouse: "I'm Mrs.Elizabeth Brown. The dentist sent me to check up on arrangements for his visit here tomorrow for a mass X-ray screening of everybody's mouths.". "Yes. Good idea." said the gateman, "In the old days it was `if thy tooth offendeth thee, cast it out', that is, extractions only, and a pulled-out tooth can't waste any more of its owner's employer's time being messed about with; or put up with it; or have his own teeth seen to in his own time in an evening or a weekend. Now, every time a man goes to the dentist for a check-up, he takes half a day off, even if nothing's found but a bit of tartar to scrape off. But the dentist brings his stuff here, only takes a few minutes of each man's time to take X-ray plates of his mouth, and only the few that need long treatment get time off for it.". "What?! Her!" Jack exclaimed in dismay, recognizing his mother's face and voice. [see 124-134] He had many memories of his real parents, all bad, until Prowl had interfered and had taken him to a safer place, to Wernicke's. Elizabeth, hearing him through Wheeljack's open window, was not pleased to recognize "that brat in one of his new oversized tin transforming friends". "It's ! I'll stay near you" Jack said to Wheeljack, then noticed something else: "Look! She's wearing two coats!". "You're right, she is!" said the gateman overhearing this, "Two coats this weather! And man's trousers and woolly socks under your skirt! You look well padded! I'm sorry, but if you've got a temperature, you can't come in. Rules. Can't afford bugs passing round making the men ill. In my back room and let me take your temperature, if you insist on wanting to come in. Sorry, it's rules.". "Why you little telltale!" Elizabeth rated her harshest at Jack, "I can't afford to lose pay for time off! I owe! I've already had one `visit' taking stuff, when I fell behind that time when I lost my purse. And I see you've got like that James Wernicke, in a workman's overall even on days off, except when the school orders otherwise! And no dinner the next three days, for that lip.". "I will enforce no such order. He is no longer yours. And Smith & Malton's men don't want whatever you've caught." said Wheeljack. Jack, not trusting her, went into Wheeljack and `tooled up' in kit which was in Wheeljack, to feel safer. "And I suppose you'll telltale to my boss?" said Elizabeth sharply to the gateman. "You're right, I will!" the gateman replied, "Neither the dentist you work for nor his patients want flu or whatever you've got.". "If it wasn't for Wernicke's bossy robots," Elizabeth rated, "my Keith'd still be earning for me, I'd still be in Elliott's drama group, and you'd still be kept in your place, not allowed to touch or use anything without separate permission each time, no back answers, no complaining, no stuff of your own to wear out so it won't sell for as much. Never mind television and every luxury like a modern prison and no punishment at all! You're for it, when Keith comes out!". Jack finished kitting up and came out of Wheeljack again. "I'm not going back to your place!" said Jack defiantly to her, "I've learned a lot since I left you!, about what ordinary children are allowed and don't have to ask for each time. And they're allowed to complain about things. See what the Council Welfare says.". "Yakkh!" she shrieked in disgust and fright at suddenly seeing Jack in full riotsquad gear like one of Smith & Malton's workmen on action callout, body encased in a thick overall with plastic guards over particular places, head encased in a hard helmet with visor down, thick cloth mask, polycarbonate shield, heavy stick half his height long with wrist loop. All too clearly real kit scaled down to his size, not some child's flimsy toy made-harmless imitation of it. He held his stick at the ready in a jabbing position. "I thought so!" she continued, not liking seeing a boy of his age in that kit and apparently well trained to use it, "Give you half a chance and you go just like your father, plus a lot of fancy riotsquad training from that Wernicke you live with and/or from Captain Blowtorch's security-thugs that did over my Keith's friends the Simmonses that time!, you coming here such a lot. And you look like they've put a lot of extra muscle on you, making you too strong for me to handle, you uniformed thuglet.". "You shouted at me for nothing all the time and only bread for breakfast, and no pocket money ever! I stay with Wheeljack." he said. "Oh do you?" Elizabeth continued, "Helmet, shield, baton, lot of fancy training, and me starting flu! It's 's ill this time! OK, OK, I'll go home and lose time and lose pay and get behind in paying for things again.". "Excuse, I'm a gateman, not a juvenile court judge. Mrs.Brown, please go, and let Wheeljack see to his -" said the gateman, breaking off to listen to his personal two-way radio telling him that an action callout squad was coming with some trespassers. A heavy rhythmical marching noise of hobnail-booted half-running men approached along an internal works road. [303] Earlier that day in Smith & Malton's, four men in office clothes, Paul and John and Joe and Peter, approached a foreman, looking nervously at his hissing lit backpack-blowtorch which he had been cutting casting risers off with. "Good morning, I'm from the `Daily'. Here's my pass to come in here. I am wondering if you could tell me a few things about your work here?" asked Paul. "This job's a pump for Thames Water Board." said the foreman, noticing that Paul's three followers were asking the workmen around a lot of peculiar questions and seemed to be very ready to hand out money. "No, I mean: do you have any unusual jobs? Perhaps I could buy your story of your time here?" asked Paul. "Sorry, but you'll have to wait till our teabreak, we're busy." said the foreman. "We won't be long - er - er - just a few words." Paul continued. "The rest of you talk to them. I'll go fetch some plans." said the foreman, and went into a room and telephoned. "This job's taken seventeen weeks so far." said a workman. "Hedge, fudge, issuedodge! Will I get any saleable info?" Joe thought photographing a machine. "And your feelings about Captain Hurlock?" said Peter to another workman. "I only know about that what's been in the papers and the telly." he was told. "And after that, what?" said Peter to a third workman. "Freeze, you four!" came a loud voice. Seventeen workmen in riotsquad gear and thick cloth masks and Smith & Malton's overalls with `Millwrights Dept' badges ran in with pickaxe handles at the ready and approached and surrounded them. The squad's foreman said: "Me and my mates don't like being interrupted from work for security callouts! You're the same four as was driving about saying you were delivering for `Specialist Steels Ltd.'. Are you them, or reporters, or neither? Captain Blowtorch [= Mr.Malton] only lets in reporters from good papers, not from rags [= popular press], not freelances, and not unless agreed first! Your kit and proof of your identity please.". John, who was 3rd dan judo and also knew a good amount of kendo and taekwondo, threw two of the squad men and was starting to think that Smith & Malton's men, riotsquad gear or not, were not invincible after all, when five of them including the squad foreman, too well equipped to need much of lengthy martial arts drill, boxed him up in their shields, between which their sticks jabbed in and out and were not gentle. "Handcuffs . He's a tricky one." said one of them. Peter and Paul and Joe put up much less fight and were soon expertly restrained by stick slammed across throat from behind and grabbed tightly by its thick end with the attacker's other hand, leaving shield to dangle on shoulder strap. The four were handcuffed behind their backs. "Huh! Better call me `666', for I am the weary beast that all this snooper's kit usually ends up as a burden for, and snoopers call us the devil." the squad foreman thought, mixing metaphors, as he felt his empty capacious pack on his back become heavy as his men loaded cameras and videocameras and notebooks and binoculars and a briefcase into it. Other news came over his walkietalkie, and he called his squad to march. "Kharkh - my videocamera." moaned Paul as it vanished into the squad foreman's pack and a stick pressed painfully on his larynx. "Telephoto lens on it! What were you snooping at? I'll see when it's been played back." came his captor's voice in his ear. "That ain't what I was telling 'im." said a squad man, looking at a seized A4 writing pad, "He's made maps of parts of the works.". [304] The squad arranged themselves into a box with the prisoners in the middle and set off at a hard marching jogtrot in step. "Right! To no.2 gatehouse! Move it! And keep the pace and in step, you four!" called the squad foreman. "Shall we run them twice round the works perimeter first?" one of his men asked. "Nah. We've work to get back to." another replied. "Continuous hard trot, expecting us to keep to their pace. That foreman must be fit, this pace in his kit and that load also." Peter thought, looking at the foreman's capacious pack which bulged with several thousand pounds worth of observing kit which the four would not see again, "Curse all people who compare info instead of trusting.". "Don't let Specialist Steels's van out." the foreman walkietalkied as he ran. This was just in time. No.2 gate, operated by the gateman by a switch, slammed shut a few feet in front of the van. "Sorry, a security alarm." said the gateman to the van's driver. Wheeljack stayed silently parked, saying nothing. Jack stood beside him. The squad reached No.2 gate and halted. Its foreman went into the gatehouse and started to play the videocameras back. He saw enough and came out and addressed the four: "Lets see what we've got here. Prisoners 'shun! I said 'shun, not slouch. The tape in your videocamera was full of telephoto of windows and climbing routes up to them - asking my men nosy questions - your firm will -". "What's all this 'ere? Detaining my firm's men. So they had a look round while they were here. I'm John Thurlaston, my firm's delivery foreman. I protest most strongly about this!" the van's driver demanded, then with a helpless cold shock heard a familiar voice which he would have welcomed at any other time but not right then. "Keith! You out so soon! Just in time! Jack's here, and ..." Elizabeth Brown exclaimed. "Shut up, you ass bag, Liz!" he shouted in his habitual anger before could stop himself. "That changes things!" said the squad foreman approaching him, "You and that woman from the dentist seem to know each other.". "I don't know what you're talking about." said Keith threateningly. "It was in the newspaper about you those two times." said the foreman. "She must have mistaken me. There are sometimes people that look the same." said Keith. "He Keith Brown, nasty man, I hate him, I used to live with him and that woman, she's called Liz. They kept shouting at me and asking me questions and accusing me and punishing me and they never gave me anything." Jack exclaimed and went into the gatehouse. Keith, cornered, pulled out and fired a pistol and ran into the gatehouse, shouting: "No point you running in there! My hand's mended, you filthy little telltale swine. I'll soon serve you back for telltaling to school and Prowl Robot and all sorts and now ratting on me again.", then to the gateman: "Back off, gatey, unless your overall's bulletproof.". Inside, he put his gun into the other gateman's back, ordering: "Right! Open that gate and then come with me ..." - then yowled with pain and dropped the gun as a jolt like an electric shock went down his forearm. [305] He swung round and saw Jack, who had come up behind him and hit hard with his stick on the outside of Keith's right elbow hard on the `funnybone' where a nerve runs exposed between bone and skin. He realized at once that someone, probably James Wernicke whose own skill in riotsquad kit had more than once proved vital in fights with intruders, had trained Jack in use of it `in case of anything'. Shouting angrily "I'll #$%& soon get you away from Wernicke's robots and insubordination and nosybody officials and switching things on like you own the place, you filth pig rat little that deserves everything you got, never mind you dressing up fancy.", Keith reverted to habit and punched hard at Jack's face, ignoring the shield and visor. Jack crouched under his shield and jabbed his stick forwards as Keith's blow skidded off slippery sloping polycarbonate and its unused force jerked his elbow joint painfully hard straight against its stop. "Right, duck it and you get two, that's my rule!" he started to shout, but Jack's baton found the right place and Keith bent forwards groaning. Memory of years of oppression added strength to the final impact of Jack's baton against Keith's head. Jack quickly went for his handcuff pocket, but the gateman said "That's enough." and did the job instead. Keith soon came round and spouted an endless stream of threats and abuse and unenforceable punishments until the gateman wearied of it and threatened to gag him, and shoved him out to join the other four. "Leave the gun, I'll pick it up." said the gateman. "I know, James said not to mess up fingerprints and not to get my own fingerprints on evidence to confuse." said Jack. "Right! This changes matters! Either Specialist Steels Ltd'll be glad to know they employed someone with a criminal record, or you stole the van. What happened? And a firearm. Finish searching them." said the squad foreman. The five prisoners were restrained and thoroughly expertly quickly searched. Their pocket contents and a variety of hidden pouches and bags, and more observing equipment and hidden recorders and weapons found inside their clothes, vanished into a separate big strong polythene bag for each prisoner. His pack was already full, including some stuff of his own; and his men, called hurriedly from work, had no packs or chest pouches. "Excuse." he said, reaching for Jack's pack which had not much in yet. "Oi! That's mine!" Jack objected. "I didn't say it wasn't." said the foreman, "Only, if I'm 666, the beast of burden that gets called the devil by people that want to nosy and thieve everywhere, you can be 333", and opened Jack's pack and loaded the five bagfuls of seizures into it. "What's that lot you're putting in there?" said Jack as his pack became steadily heavier on his back. "That was a risky deed at your age mixed up in a grown up's fight, but it worked! Good for you!" said the squad foreman, "It's prisoners' property. It may be evidence or clues. Come on our van with us and you can help us take it to the police station and help describe what happened.". "James Wernicke had some intruder scares, he believes in keeping in practise in case they come, and he thought it was time Jack learned how to defend himself also if necessary." said Wheeljack. Some of the prisoners wondered where the voice came from. "Birmingham Prison on the line." said the other gateman coming out with a cordless telephone, "Keith Brown was let out for a day's compassionate leave two days ago, son dangerously ill in hospital. He didn't come back, he punched his escort and got away.". "Pack of lies, I wasn't ill or in hospital, and he and Liz had no children except me." said Jack. "Urkkh, that little ..." Keith started, but saw no point in continuing. The squad men clipped large numbered labels to the prisoners' clothing. "Articles found in their van." said the squad foreman putting three heavy full bags in Jack's pack. "Crumbs, they must trust you, letting you carry the seizures. Lucky you were there! Straight to his gun arm funnybone!" said the gateman. "OK, OK, you'll find out soon. The three men who we got the van off are locked up in a cellar at ..." said Keith, and gave an address, thinking "Lucky that little %$# doesn't know certain things, or he'd telltale and get me and Liz in the @#& with yet more people.". "Now 've telltaled, Keith. Remember ..." said Paul menacingly, struggling with his handcuffs. "I don't want to be had up for no manslaughter, if they die in there! I've put myself out enough for you lot." Keith complained. "One of our vans is being serviced, the rest are busy. Form up and march this lot to the cop station, never mind waiting ages for them to send a van." the squad foremen ordered. "How'd they've connected them with us?, you thick lout, enough wit to drive our van and no more." said Paul. "Yaah! Jack! That fancy riot gear and a lucky opening! Next time not so lucky!" Elizabeth shrieked. "Save it, woman, you'll only make it worse for all concerned, in court." said the squad foreman. "And you four, kept on coming round for money you said we owed you, or else. Not so fancy now, handcuffed and ..." she rated, and stopped herself too late, alarmed at what her temper had made her spill in public. "Gang wanting money, or services instead! And you, Keith Brown!" the squad foreman exclaimed, suddenly thus finding a missing piece that fitted several scattered parts of criminal jigsaw into one clear picture. "Now you've done it!, Keith, on top of losing a gun again." said Paul. [306] "OK! OK!" said Keith, "The beak and this four `may as well hang me for a sheep as for a lamb'! I borrowed money to set up as a general dealer. Someone warned me off it, said I was on his turf, so I thumped him. Then and two that were arrested with me before, stole my van with a lot of stuff in while someone else cleaned my shop out. That left me owing. I'd just married Liz. No way to pay it back, so it built up.". "Right!" said Paul, "This makes you a telltale! And where are the Simmonses?, that were with you on that matter and owed their share from it. You did a runner once, but we found you. I take it they did the same.". "All I know is they nosed round here and were caught, then they went scuba diving at Crabhaven and never came up again." said Keith. "I want fresh info, not parroting the newspapers and the telly to me! Those famous group scuba diver disappearances!" Paul demanded, "What did you expect?, setting up on our turf undercutting us! We warn you not to, first. Then you find a woman and plan to set up a bee-yootiful married love nest at our expense.". "I trade where I want to! No #$%'ed-up $#@'s going to tell me to $@# off or come round demanding all my profits!" said Keith. "I was the youngest of seven on a labourer's pay." said Elizabeth, "I had to leave school and earn at 12. I soon learned not to take bits of food, not to mither, not to keep money back, not to back-answer, not to say I wanted things. Once my father went with a bunch and gave the local flicks [= cinema] manager a good hiding because children kept being let in there without parents and a lot of errand money ended up there. Soon stopped that! Keith the same! Then we married and we thought we were set up properly, but happened. We couldn't afford kids, but one came anyway. We to count up odd bits of food and 'lectric, and not to listen to excuses and `gimme-gimme-ing'! Modern generation's too soft. And when the baby grew up, always whining and going ill and costing us bills, and the law wouldn't let us take him off school to make him earn.". "Oh, I see." the squad foreman replied, "What a hard life you two've had, and it's made you as hard as nails. Why didn't you tell the police about that lot long ago?, never mind your $#@ pride thinking you could endure it all unaided. Why take it out on Jack? It wasn't his fault. didn't ask to be born!". "But we still owe! Once I had to give them a ring I had from my grandmother! Enough `visits' without Prowl Robot [see 124-134] tearing the place to pieces to get stuff we couldn't afford to use up to babynurse Jack for just flu!" said Elizabeth. "No, you wouldn't owe, if that lot were prosecuted and put inside. That debt was not legally enforceable." said the squad foreman. "I'm not having no school teachers and social workers telling me how to run my household! The law's only to support the rich against the poor." she said. The gateman answered the telephone. "OK, you two were hard up." said the squad foreman, "What's that to do with never a loving word for him, never comfort for misfortune, only shouting and questions and never believing him and imagining that every stray remark was an insult?". "Love?" she accused, "All he was good for was to be a mouth to feed and hang about and go ill and whine.". "Meaning that you two can't stand him and you don't know why." said the squad foreman, "Your own childhood's no fault of his. And now by defending himself physically and legally, he's done something real against you two at last, and you don't like it. Boo hoo what a pity. Now you two go to the children's welfare court or whatever it's called.". The gateman rung off and asked the squad foreman: "Your boss asks how long you'll be on this action callout? There's work waiting.". "OK, OK, squad and prisoners form up! To the police station, quick march!" ordered the squad foreman, and to the gateman: "A dust filter mask for the woman. We and the cops don't want her flu.". The squad set off at a hard jogtrot down the road. Jack, loaded with seizures and his riotsquad gear, gamely kept up with the rest, running two steps to the men's one, at one side of the foreman at the head of the column. Wheeljack followed. "Ow!, my ankle." Paul exclaimed. "Painkiller and make him carry on." said the foreman, experienced in countering malingering and evasions. "Doesn't matter." said Paul, realizing that his trick to make delay hadn't worked. They continued at a steady hard pace. After two and a bit miles they entered the police station yard, and the foreman called a halt. The five prisoners were shoved into cells. The police took statements. "`1''s a puncher and `5''s a judo artist. Handcuff them before we take our handcuffs off them." said the foreman. "Five prisoners, as he phoned." said a police sergeant, "How many escort? 17 - and a half!? You've started young!" he said to Jack, thinking "Umf! I see children in all sorts of odd gear, play space suits, play Ghostbuster kit, Batman and Superman cloaks; but a boy his age in full real riotsquad gear and well trained to use it! Somehow I don't quite care for the idea. James Wernicke's idea, I suspect.". "Wheeljack brought me to see two loads go off from Smith & Malton's, then all this happened. Keith was so bad that he tried to punch me again although I had my shield and visor on." said Jack. "Lets unload you." said a policeman, going behind Jack and opening Jack's pack. "The polythene bags are the prisoners' property, the rest of the stuff in there's my own. I didn't touch anything with bare hands, so none of my fingerprints anywhere." said Jack. "Now." said the policeman, "You doing our job at your age. Keith Brown has been arrested, he will be summoned to court to be tried, that is justice; you have arrested, you will be summoned to court to give evidence, that is the policeman's burden!". [307] The police locked the five prisoners up and took everybody's statements, and sent a report on Keith and Elizabeth Brown to the council children's welfare officer. Jack rode in Wheeljack as he and the callout squad went back to Smith & Malton's to their interrupted work.