Episode 7

Kelvin waited for the arrivals doors to open into the lounge.

He had been right to anticipate some fallout from the cabinet meeting.

His aide had had to field calls from reporters known to be press outlets for certain cabinet members.

This meant that whilst he could hold them off for now, before Thomas left the airport he would have to give his statement.

That could wait for now.

The doors opened and following a couple of men who were obviously the embassy officials he had been told were accompanying him, came Thomas. Behind Thomas were two injured men. Kelvin wondered about their presence but quickly turned his attention back to his son.

Thomas' body language was quite open to him and he could tell that his son was bearing a lot of guilt for what he'd done but that there was always that furtive undercurrent that made him think of a cornered rat looking for it's escape.

"Thomas!" He held his arms out, partly for appearances sake and partly because he really did hope that his son would just fall into his arms for comfort.

Thomas looked up. There was no chance of a warm re-union here. Kelvin put his arms down and walked up to him instead.

Putting his arm around him he felt his son tense up but then give in. "Dad." He said coolly.

"Firstly, I'm glad you're okay." Kelvin led him away from the officials. The two injured men watched them whilst taking a position by the exit.

"Secondly...What the hell were you doing over there?" Kelvin's anger was real enough but it was two part's fatherly, one part politician. He felt justified enough to show his anger from both standpoints.

"Fighting for freedom against the oppressive capitalist beast to stop it from swallowing up another country!!" Thomas' eyes lit up. His father knew which buttons to push with his son. They'd had this argument many times before. "You wouldn't know anything about fighting for the people though would you? You just another appendage seeking to control others!"

"Don't be an idiot! You performed a terrorist act out there in Egypt what did you think you were doing?" Even though he knew all eyes were on him, Kelvin felt this argument was necessary to clear the air. His impartiality and his postion must be in no doubt if he was to retain his authority in the situation. The officials would without doubt report back to someone in government and that would probably be the current Foreign Minister.

"It wasn't meant to be like that..." He listened to son, who was probably re-imagining everything that had happened out there. "They were who I was fighting for."

"Look, son. I know you probably thought you were doing the right thing, but come on. Taking lives. That's not you. What happened?"

"I was...I didn't...It wasn't just about the attacks." Kelvin could tell Thomas was holding something back.

"There was something else behind it? Tell me, Thomas. You're going to save yourself a lot of trouble here on in if you can just tell me what you got yourself into." His concern was real enough. Though he felt that nagging doubt that Thomas might spin him a fantastical story.

Thomas looked up at the ceiling and gave a deep sigh. He's resigning himself to his fate thought Kelvin. "There's nothing else to say."

Bringing his gaze back to Kelvin it was as if his son was a little boy again. "Dad, if I told you, you wouldn't believe me, so I'm just not going to have that conversation. I'm really sorry." Thomas' eyes were filling up with tears. "I'm sorry for all those deaths. It was my fault. It was all my fault."

Feeling like father and son again the politician put his arm around his shoulder. Softly, he spoke his name. "Thomas. I love you and I'll do all I can to help you." his voice cracked too, "I won't leave you alone again."

It took a few minutes for Thomas to pull himself together. Not many in the room were sympathetic to his misery, if they had to pick a side the majority felt more for Kelvin as the put-upon father.

"Do you think you're ready to leave?" Kelvin asked.

Thomas raised his head. His eyes had a far away look. When he spoke his voice was flat. "Yes."

Kelvin moved over to one of the officials, the same one Thomas had spoken to on the plane. "Can you let me know where he goes from here?"

"I'm sorry Mr Carter. This is going through official government protocol now. You will be contacted when you are able to talk to him. Before that you will probably need to go to the Foreign Secretary for more information."

Beuracrat! thought Kelvin, but he didn't want to jeopardise his chances of salvaging something positive out of this mess for Thomas and his own reputation. His lips stayed firmly shut.

"Myself or Michael will be available anytime." he said pointing to his aide.

"Okay, sir." The official presumed that was Thomas' cue to leave and he nodded to the two injured men. Kelvin realised that whatever happened to them they were acting as Thomas' security detail.

"Mike, any sign of the press?" He was worried he would have to run the gauntlet and deliver his statement here and now.

"None at the moment. We should be clear to get away."

Thomas was now shuffling toward the exit, led again by the embassy officials and trailed by the two security agents.

Kelvin watched his son walking off like a condemned man. He knew what would probably be in store for Thomas for refusing to co-operate and although he tried not think about it he couldn't help but tear up again at the thought of what the next 48 hours would be like for him.



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