День триффидов
Conference
Inspiteofhisofferinglittlebutgeneralities,therewasamorealertairintheplacewhenhesatdown.
TheColonel,whofollowedhim,waspracticalandfactual.Heremindedusthatforreasonsofhealthitwouldbeadvisableforustogetawayfromallbuilt-upareasassoonaspracticable—whichwasexpectedtobeatabout1200hoursonthefollowingday.Almostalltheprimarynecessities,aswellasextrasenoughtogiveareasonablestandardofcomfort,hadnowbeencollected.Inconsideringourstocks,ouraimmustbetomakeourselvesasnearlyindependentofoutsidesourcesaspossibleforaminimumofoneyear.Weshouldspendthatperiodinvirtuallyastateofsiege.Therewere,nodoubt,manythingsweshouldallliketotakebesidesthoseonourlists,buttheywouldhavetowaituntilthemedicalstaff(andherethegirlonthecommitteeblusheddeeply)considereditsafeforpartiestoleaveisolationandfetchthem.Asforthesceneofourisolation,thecommitteehadgivenitconsiderablethought,and,bearinginmindthedesiderataofcompactness,self-sufficiency,anddetachment,hadcometotheconclusionthatacountryhoardingschool,or,failingthat,somelargecountrymansion,wouldbestserveourpurposes.
Whetherthecommitteehad,infact,notyetdecidedonanyparticularplace,orwhetherthemilitarynotionthatsecrecyhassomeintrinsicvaluepersistedintheColonel’smind,Icannotsay,butIhavenodoubtthathisfailuretonametheplace,oreventheprobablelocality,wasthegravestmistakemadethatevening.
