Summer Vault

From the summer vault.........

The next thrilling instalment of "MR MURDOCH COMES TO TOWN".


Murdoch looked round. It was a traffic sphere, like a hovering beach ball made of metal. A flashing arrow appeared on one of its visi-screens, indicating the rooftop below. Murdoch trained the pod's navi-camera on to the building and let the controls take him down.

The sphere was waiting for him. Light danced across his features, scanning him in, and an approximation of his face appeared on a screen, looking stern. He was the law, or something that looked like him, wearing the hat and uniform of a policeman. "Do you know what lane you were flying in, sir ?"

He smiled, they might have his face, but they didn't have his voice. "The MSP hover lane."

"Correct, and do you know the fine for hacking into their flight code ?"

Murdoch smiled. "I didn't. I am a MSP."

"Really, sir ?"

"Honest."

Murdoch reached into the pod and took out his briefcase.

"Hold that up to the scanner," his face ordered. "Now !"

"It's okay. It's just a letter."

"A letter ?"

Murdoch nodded, opening his case. He held out the letter which was a bit chewed in places and had holes in it, but he had done the best he could to tape it back together. "This is my confirmation letter."

The policeman almost looked puzzled. "You have a letter ? Aren't you on line ?"

"No."

"What happened to it ?"

"My dog got it first."

"Uh, huh."

"I've got other stuff. Proof," Murdoch said eagerly, reaching into his case. "News clippings, photographs."

"Alright, I believe you," the policeman said. "What are you ? SNP ? Lib Dems ? Twentieth Century Scottish Socialists ?"

"Highlands and Islands Coalition Against Road Charges."

"Never heard of it."

Murdoch tried not to wince and forced a smile. "You will."

"You better hurry, Parliament is opening soon."

"It is ? I mean, it is." Although he wasn't exactly sure when it was supposed to open. One of Bodger's bites had obliterated that part of the letter and the dog had chewed almost all of the booklet telling him about the workings of the Parliament.

He climbed back into the pod and waved to the sphere. The policeman with his face didn't wave back. Hovering again, he could see the newly built Parliament Building, almost an exact replica of the Welsh Assembly, but larger, and cheaper. Outside, stood a statue of Alex Salmond, stoned to death on that very spot, as he tried to placate the Local Council Tax Rioters of 2012, before they stormed the Scottish Parliament and razed it to the ground. To Murdoch's surprise, the pod flew over the building and kept going. He pressed a few buttons, but the controls wouldn't come back to him. Auto lockout. Damm. If he was already late, he was going to be even later now.

He set down in a field of pods. He couldn't even see the parliament over the surrounding buildings. Then he was a sign. PARLIAMENT TUBE LINK. But there was no stop, no shelter, no escalator downwards, nothing.

"State your destination,"

He looked round. There was an intercom below the sign.

"State your destination."

"This is Donald Murdoch. I'm a new MSP, I - "

"State your destination."

"The Parliament Building."

He screamed as the ground disappeared below him.