He said, only loud enough for her to hear: 'It won't always be like this.'

She looked at him indifferently. 'Won't it?'

The new voice was more typical of a broadcasting announcer. But it still held an unprofessional urgency.

'This is London. We bring you the first bulletin of the Citizens' Emergency Committee.

'The Citizens' Emergency Committee has taken over the government of London and the Home Counties owing to the unparalleled treachery of the late Prime Minister, Raymond Welling. We have incontrovertible evidence that this man, whose duty it was to protect his fellow-citizens, has made far-reaching plans for their destruction.

The facts are these:

'The country's food position is desperate. No more grain, meat, foodstuffs of any kind, are being sent from overseas. We have nothing to eat but what we can grow out of our own soil, or fish from our own coasts. The reason for this is that the counter-virus which was bred to attack the Chung-Li grass virus has proved inadequate.

'On learning of the situation, Welling put forward a plan which was eventually approved by the Cabinet, all of whom must share responsibility for it. Welling himself became Prime Minister for the purpose of carrying it out. The plan was that British aeroplanes should drop atomic and hydrogen bombs on the country's principal cities. It was calculated that if half the country's population was murdered in this way, it might be possible to maintain a subsistence level for the rest.'

'By God!' Roger said. 'That's not the gaff they're blowing - they're blowing the top off Vesuvius.'

'The people of London,' the voice went on, 'refuse to believe that Englishmen will carry out Welling's scheme for mass-murder. We appeal to the Air Force, who in the past have defended this city against her enemies,