@GeraldineBanksJanuary2025
The tortuous journey to the building Sandy would later get to know as Building 1, took a network of taxis and commercial vans. Sullen drivers/ chauffeurs who were remote and uncommunicative; they preferred to listen to their music rather than to converse with Sandy. She had been blindfolded at some points and she was sure that one of the coffees that she’d been offered had been drugged as she had fallen asleep in the back of a white van and woke up to find herself covered in a blanket. Sandy had lost all track of time and felt disorientated. She had been told not to wear any jewellery , not even a watch and carry only a small purse. Her suitcase had disappeared , and she actually became frightened that she was being kidnapped.
Nevertheless, after the gruelling journey and with a curt instruction to remember a six- figure security code and to keep facing forwards and in no circumstance to turn around, she was deposited outside the gates of the facility.
Sandy was greatly relieved that the gates opened first time. In the distance, along a tree lined drive she saw an unattractive corrugated iron building which because it was painted white stood out against the grey sky that framed it. The building had the P. Neel Ltd Logo on it. There was a large sign pointing to various fields that advertised
” Pick your Own”
Building 1 looked out of place , almost as it had been stuck in the middle of the Countryside.
“Maybe there used to be a Stately Home here once, she mumbled to herself.” Glad to talk even if it was just to herself.
She continued walking as she had been instructed to and as she got closer she looked up at the imposing white building, there was no obvious door. A tall man in a white coat approached her on her right side. He appeared out of nowhere, yet he arrived by her side in a heart beat. He spoke softly to her as she turned to look at him.
“Good Day Sandy, we are very pleased that you have been able to come and see us. We are sorry about all the Security, but as you can appreciate, our real work here has to be kept secret. We are to all intents and purposes a Private Agricultural Research Company and you are our New Research Assistant from Lithuania. All your papers are in order and your arrival will have been noted by the Local Constabulary. That is how ridiculous everything is nowadays, but it is a good cover and we must keep the Authorities sweet.
” Hello, please to meet you. I don’t know any Lithuanian , I hope they don’t want to come and interrogate me.”
The man in the white coat smiled. ” I don’t think their Lithuanian is that good either, but they will just want to see you arrive, well the back of you arrive. We know where all their cameras are. The only view they will have is your hair and the back of your coat. If they capture any facial recognition data, then they could identify you and within a few hours we would be raided.
“Oh I see”. Sandy gazed in disbelief at the man. The man continued.
” We have some cottages on the Estate, which will be ready now. Do you want to freshen up or would you like to see Alex, he’s just in the playroom at the moment.”
” Please , I’d love to see my little boy straight away. I hope I don’t frighten him, he might not remember me , it’s been so long!”
“He’s been with us now nearly four years. He’s six and a half. He’s a very sociable little boy and he helps others settle in here too. He always enjoys meeting new people, at first we might just say you’re a new play assistant, but in a short time we can explain who you really are. We have shown him the photos you sent, but I’m not too sure about the workings of the six year old mind. They tend to live in the here and now and he may not have realised what we were showing him.”
Sandy looked up at the tall doctor who showed her so much empathy. She was very nervous. She really didn’t think that Alex would recognise her and she would find that very painful.
” That’s fine with me , he’s only little, it’s a lot for him to take in, it would be asking too much for him to remember me I suppose.”
As they walked along the side of the building, they came to small security panel which the Doctor put his palm against. The door slid open.
” My name is Dr William King by the way” he turned and shook hands with Sandy as they walked through the door. I’ve been looking after Alex’s case, and I’m pleased to say that although he has been through a lot that he’s doing really well at the moment.”
Sandy and Dr King went through the door; once they were inside it silently slid shut behind them. They both walked down a steeply slanting corridor, with small porthole windows at shoulder height from which you could see rows and rows of plants and for about ten minutes they walked down the sloped corridor which twisted and turned like a very large spiral staircase. The ground floor of the building was indeed an enormous cultivation area with plants growing in tightly controlled laboratory conditions. At the end of the corridor they came to another door, which was hermetically sealed and had a sign “Air-Lock” on it. Once Sandy and Dr King entered ,Dr King pressed some buttons on a key pad and Sandy felt the air pressure rise.
” Don’t worry , it’s just some Ozone, we need to ensure that we don’t bring any infections into the Nursery and to equalize the air pressure so that no air from outside enters the “Nursery Building”. The next phase is you will have to shower and your clothes will be treated with U.V. light. If you just come with me I’ll show you where to go.” Once the atmosphere pressure had been raised to the required level , Dr King opened the door into the “Nursery Corridor” and signalled to Sandy to go into a door on the left.
After she had showered and put on an overall along with some white sneakers. Dr King again accompanied her down the “Nursery Corridor” again at the bottom was another door which Dr King opened with his palm. Sandy was astounded when she saw what was inside.
It wasn’t the cold laboratory conditions she had expected on first seeing Building 1‘s harsh exterior. There were children everywhere, some obviously quite poorly , but they was a joy about the place. It was like the most magnificent children’s school, hospital and nursery combined. The were a significant number of adult carers and lots of activities going on.
The Doctor looked around and smiled broadly.
” This is our real purpose… as you see we are state of the art but also very homely, we try and make the children feel this is their home. We have all the medical support available when needed, we are very like the Hospices of Old, we like it to be a Joyful place, full of fun and laughter, some of the staff are ex- patients who have grown up and come back to work for us. We have set them up with false identities, they can live off site and we know we they can be trusted and I’ve just spotted Alex….” Dr King looked over at a little boy and called him.
” Alex!”
Sandy saw the little boy Dr King was calling look up from playing with another child. Alex stood up and ran over to the doctor, who picked him up and gave him a big hug. Alex had grown so much and what happened next stunned her.
After greeting the doctor, Alex turned his head to look at Sandy, he gave her a big smile and reached out to her with his arms and shouted.
” Mummy. You’ve came. I always knew you would! You sent me photographs , it’s you! Where’s Daddy?”
Sandy was overwhelmed , and reached out her hands to the little boy. Dr King gently passed Alex to her and they both hugged.
Sandy felt the tears come to her eyes and she did her best to stop them.
” Oh Alex, my little boy, how you have grown!”
Alex touched Sandy’s hair, he wanted to make sure that what was happening was real and not a dream.
” Mummy, mummy , yes I’ve grown very big now, William says I’m doing very well, I don’t have the fits like I used to and I’ve put on weight, look at my tummy!”,
Alex lifted his little blue tee-shirt and showed his small abdomen, which Sandy noticed was covered in little scars made by operations and puncture wounds from needles.
” Wow, that is a big tummy! You have been a very good boy haven’t you! Daddy couldn’t come this time, but he’ll be able to soon. Do you like it here?”
” Yes , it’s so much better than the other nursery I was at , when I get ill they know how to make me feel better. That other place they didn’t know how to make me feel better, they made me feel worse. I was scared mummy. I have had to have some operations since I came here but I hope I don’t have to have any more.” Alex looked up at Dr King.
” I have lots of friends here, they told me that you would visit me one day and they were right! You are here!” Alex touched Sandy’s face.
” Yes , my brave little boy , I’m here!”
Alex’s eyes were large and round and innocent. Sandy thought how did we get to this?
Dr King intervened, there was a lot to do and Alex could show his mum around and introduce her to everyone. There would be tea and coffee and some food laid on If Sandy wanted anything she was just to ask a member of Staff , they would be glad to help. Alex could stay over night with his mum in the Estate Cottage as a special treat and Alex was delighted.
“
thenotsomightyom 