Carol had the radio on as we drove to her place, which partially distracted me from my thoughts. Was there a way to defeat the all seeing eye? I could think of surreptitious ways of communicating like texting under the blankets at five am, throat mikes and cochlear earphones were two of the more 'off the wall' ones.
There seemed to be no way to escape. I could make it difficult; moving at high speed along an erratic course like a rollercoaster was the best I could come up with there. It was going to be a fact of life we were going learn to live with.
Carol led us into a small passageway and down to the end door. The place was utilitarian rather than feminine, with geometric patterned wallpaper, plain dark blue carpet and a striped cloth three-piece living room suite.
"Make yourselves at home," Carol said, as she crossed through to a door in the far wall. "I'm going to have that drink now, a medium dry white okay?"
"Yes, that's fine by me," Sally answered, as I gave a nod.
We sat together on the three-seated couch and I slipped my arm around her shoulder as she snuggled in.
"We should be safe here for a day or two," I said, laying my head on hers.
"We'll have to get fresh clothes and things, we've only got what we're standing up in," she replied squeezing her hand around my back.
"Mm," I acknowledged. "The bigger problem is getting things done before they catch up to us. If anyone has any sense they'll be working to upgrade their tunnel to give them the fine tuning they need to capture the fine details of conversations and written stuff."
"Have you got a plan then?" she asked.
"Not really. I was going to ask Carol if it was possible to arrange a press conference at short notice -."
"What was that about a press conference?" Carol asked as she walked back in with a bottle and glasses on a tray.
"My solution to the problem. Hold a press conference; get the facts out there as soon as possible. You don't need me to front it, but if the headline speaker got arrested before he could make the announcement it would spice the story up a little," I answered.
"I'll say," Carol replied with a chuckle.
She looked thoughtful as she walked over. "Ordinarily, you'd invite the science and technology reporters but for this one we are going to invite some of the big names. We'll invite TV as well; send them all a teasing email about a world changing event."
She set the tray down and sat in one of the armchairs. "We can make a list, including all the foreign press, and I can start compiling addresses. What do you think should go into the email?"
She poured the wine as I answered, "Well, I'd like to pick your brains on that. We have to tell them enough to get them interested. The history aspect would be best to do that, but it would also give them the chance to extrapolate into the privacy controversy."
Sally unravelled herself from me to take the proffered glass.
"We're safe with astronomy, but how do we make that world shattering?" I continued on, as I took my glass from her.
"We go with history," she said firmly. "We emphasise ancient history, the Greeks, the Romans, and so on. We'll have your Tunnel there to demonstrate it, along with a giant screen."
"We've got shots of the Santorini volcano blowing up, the Atlantis mystery," put in Sally.
"There's a little problem sticking with that era, someone might ask to see Christ's birth or crucifixion. The last thing I want, is to stir up a religious controversy," I put in.
"What if we do the Aztecs or the period in Indian history where they made those pornographic temples," asked Sally.
"Or the burial of the first Chinese Emperor," Carol added.
"Yes, all of those are good. We could also go back to the building of the Pyramids or Stonehenge."
Where is the Tunnel now?" Carol asked.
"In a safe place for the time being," I answered.
"That's fair enough," she replied. "We'll need it set up in the Chancellor's auditorium. If I send the emails out by lunch time, I can try for an evening meeting. We may not get all the top guns there, but there'll be enough to make a splash on the late evening news."
"Good," I said. "I'll raise my glass to that."
"To success," Carol toasted as we leaned together to clink glasses.
After we'd taken our sips, Sally spoke. "Carol, seeing as we can't get back to our flat, we're a bit short on clothes. Is there any chance of you driving me to the supermarket so I can at least buy fresh undies?"
"Yes, if you want," she replied. "I could do with getting a few things in for breakfast tomorrow."
"Oh good," she said, delighted.
"We'd better be going now," Carol said, standing. "Before I drink too much to drive."
"Okay," Sally agreed, bending forward to pick up her bag.
"Carol, can I ask a favour? Can I ask you to pay for the time being? I would rather Sally not use her card, it can be used to track us. They'll have a time and place reference to locate her and follow you back," I explained.
"Yes, no problem," she replied turning her gaze to Sally.
"See you later," Sally said, bending to kiss me lightly.
As they walked out, I got up and went over to pick up the remote for the TV. Switching it on, I wandered back to my seat while it warmed up. I tuned it into the 24 hr BBC News and topped my glass up before kicking my shoes off and Curling up on the couch.
I let the words wash past me, thinking more about the earlier Tunnel session. We should have checked out the lab at GCHQ, seen what was happening there. I'd have to remedy that error tomorrow, I needed to know how advanced their model was.
My thoughts strayed to what a news program might look like after the Tunnel's introduction. They could be there to watch the story unfold, catering for those without Tunnels of their own and those too lazy or busy to do it themselves.
The internet was going to explode with clips and a lot of celebrities would find themselves wishing for obscurity. That led me to thinking of my watchers, those ghosts from a quantum future willing me to follow the path to their existence.
It was nearly an hour before Carol and Sally returned. I got up from the couch when I heard their chatty voices in the corridor and met them as they walked in. Both of them were carrying bags, Carol gave me a smile as she passed while Sally dropped hers to reach out and fold her arms around me to give me a hug.
"Mm," I uttered appreciatively, my hands rubbing her back.
"We got you some boxers and a couple of shirts. The collar size might not be right but the fit looked fine for you," she said as she loosened her arms and leaned back in mine.
"Socks as well?" I asked.
"Yes, socks as well, black with coloured toes and heels," she answered smiling.
"Thanks," I said, pulling her in.
She turned her elbows in, holding herself off. "I've got some sexy lingerie to wear for you as well."
