Heirs And Descendants Collection

6. Home-Made Plum Wine-2

“Possibly because he always seemed that way to me, back then.” I had added the "back then" quickly, as my lie about the close happy family ties in my previous recount had to be maintained.

“Hmm, yes…possibly, I suppose.” She opened the red and black book for the first time, and scribbled something quickly.

I had lied about Elliot"s reaction. On the Sunday, the day they all departed, he did something completely out of character. "Give me your hand, Harry. Congratulate me. I"ve been able to help my country," he said, before patting me heartily on the back. In my silent reflection I almost missed her next question.

“Did Willis and Howell meet your father separately or were they always together at their meetings?”

“Always together. I never saw father on his own with either of those two.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, certain.”

“Hmm…I see.”

This idiosyncratic "Hmm" seemed always to proceed the need of additions to the black and red book of hers; sometimes hastily, as though she didn"t want to stop the flow, other times more deliberately, as though she needed time to think about my reply. This was one of the latter. She sat with her chin resting on her clenched hands, staring at the pages. Her lips pouted in a frown, in deep thought, until at last she gave a tiny sigh and said, to no one in particular, “Could be.” Then she immediately carried on.

“When you were accepted into this BP buy-out company, how was Peter"s reaction? The same euphoria, or a different reaction altogether?”

“Different, yes, as though he expected it. He seemed a touch pensive, I remember him saying, “all well done then Harry. Get yourself settled, and I"ll be calling on you when I have the need.” Very perfunctory, it surprised me.”

“What was your role inside the petrochemical company? I"ve got the name on file, also your position, but I want you to tell it and, like before, expand on it. Tell me what you worked on, and what were its uses.”

“I first worked on Polymers and man-made fibres; that category breaks down into many products, all used either by consumers or in industry. Polyethylene is what your milk comes in all the takeaway cartons for coffee, soups, etc. Polyvinyl chloride, PVC, makes pipes, amongst many other things. Polypropylene goes into appliances and packaging, then there"s polystyrene and polyester, nylon and acrylics. All these products are made from spin-offs of the oil industry: liquefied petroleum gas, natural gas, or crude oil.”

“Let me try to summarise all that if I can. Where there"s oil these polymers can be made, is that right?”

“At present, yes, but you need the expertise. That"s where the science of chemical engineering comes to the fore, and folk like me. Bio-fuel is the future.”

“Go on, Harry. I"m all yours.”

“After a year or so they moved me into the speciality chemical field, which is a high-value, rapidly growing market where the products have diverse applications in the industrial world. There"s electronic chemicals, commercial gases, adhesives and sealants, coatings for high-grade projects, and the materials needed for the decontamination of anything from used oil to nuclear waste. The biggest growth of all is in synthetic organic polymers, and that was really my personal forte. They"re made from waste products ideal for the developing world, where there is no oil, or very little.”

“You might have to excuse my ignorance in something that you are obviously so expert in, but could you reverse this process, and create fuel from polymers?” Judith innocently asked.

“You have it. That"s the end game; fuel from waste products or existing bio-diverse products farmed for fuel, like used cooking oil or seaweed, for example, not the agricultural produce that was first suggested. There are investigations into other methods too, but I have no wish to appear too esoteric. Many compounds are found in polymers, carbon being the most important. It"s a common factor, so most have the consistency to ignite. Benzene used to be added to petrol as an aromatic compound polymer. It made it smell better but it can still be used for other purposes. It"s still used as an additive but also, in the right formula, a substitute. Phenol is used in anything from cosmetics to antiseptics, from aspirin to herbicides. Ethanol is pure alcohol. There are other elements that, if combined with phenol and ethanol, give you a petrochemical base constituent. From that, the replication of fuel could be, in theory, constructed. It"s a long way off replacing non-restorable assets, but it"s on the right tracks.

There"s another thing though that"s more relevant and more of today"s world. In the Northern Hemisphere, Russia and Canada in particular, there are billions of barrels of oil locked up in the rock strata and under deep sand, but the cost of extracting this wealth of oil and gas has been prohibitive. Now, though, with the technology that we have developed in this country, and the cost of conventionally drilled oil, it"s proving more cost-effective. There"s a theory going around that the Russians have cut back in production to hike the price up, so that their vast reserves locked away can be extracted. Their only trouble is that they don"t know how to do it, and don"t want to pay for the knowledge nor the expertise needed. They want to steal it!”

“That"s interesting, very interesting. All that within your remit, Harry?”

“Well, not just that now, no. I got shifted over into the biotechnology side, which is vast. I focus on metabolic pathways of pathogens, manipulating these using biochemistry. It truly is fascinating. Take protozoa, as an example. It"s a single-cell organism living in algae that feeds on organic matter and lives in the soil, so after drilling or extracting the oil…” I was not allowed to finish, as an obviously bored Judith raised her hand and waved for me to stop.

“As you say, a fascinating subject, no doubt, but I really have heard enough, thank you. Managed all this as well as us and the estate here, did you?”

“Oh yeah, easily. Part-time for them and you, plenty of time for other things. I found a niche for myself.” I would be a liar to deny that it was not my aim to be boring. I liked being in control for a while.

“Hmm. I can see that.” She rubbed the back of her fingers as if suffering the first symptoms of arthritis. “I want now to move on to your first venture into the field for us, and to how Trimble kept his reins on you.”

“He would simply phone. I was living in a company owned apartment, about 25 kilometres from Antwerp, in a place called Mortsel. He called me there three days before my first operation.”

“Before you go any further, was there any; "living in" company to soothe away your aches and pains in Mortsel, H?”

"living in"“No, no one permanent. There were a few transient relationships I pursued at the time but nobody stayed to do my washing and ironing, no.”

“You"re so romantic, Harry. I do so miss that age of romanticism, don"t you? I"ll need their names, give them to me at lunch, will you? Carry on. What did he say?”

“He said he had sent me something in the post. I was to open it, and take the contents to a Lutheran Church in Grönwohld near Hamburg, in Northern Germany, and to leave it there at the far end of the chancel on the lectern side of the church. I was to do this by nine-thirty on the following Sunday, one hour before the first gathering of the day.”

“What was in the parcel?” that narrowing of her eyes again.

“It was a small lithographic print of a robed figure giving communion to a bearded, kneeling man. I was to place it upside down on the shelf that holds the song books in front of the first pew.”

“What were you to do then?”

“Well, there was something I had to do before that. I was to knock on a house…number 17 Steinern and ask for a Dietmar Kohl. If I was asked who I was, I was to give my full name, Lord Harry Paterson, adding that I was an old friend.”

“You obeyed that directive, Harry?"

“Yes, I did,” I declared.

“Hmm…strange. After that, you went straight to the church and left the sketch…then what?”

“I didn"t find it quite as easy as you put it. I was trying to hold myself together a bit; I was thinking of Richard Burton in The Spy Who Came In From The Cold. Peter had said to wait until the congregation had left and then, to see if anything was left.”

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold.“Like what?”

“He didn"t say, only that whatever it was it would be underneath the pew where I had left the print on view.”

“Tell me that there was something there, Harry, please?” she demanded, excitedly.

“No, there was nothing there that time.” I paused just long enough to let the disappointment fill her face, then added, “But I found this; the second time I looked.”