The Weekly Dormouse. (aka Bike, est. 2007) Part 3352 by Angharad Copyright© 2022 Angharad

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This is a work of fiction any mention of real people, places or institutions is purely coincidental and does not imply that they are as suggested in the story.
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I heard back that the experiment with the agar seemed to be doing the trick and it made me smile to think of Trish and her Häagen-Dazs in the formula. In a few weeks, she was going to be studying physics and maths, Dannielle would be taking biology and so would Sarah. I might be involved if they do any ecology on their courses but I didn't think there was anything much as it was more laboratory-based than out-in-the-field stuff. It was what the other universities were doing and were competing with them. The environmental science we did included some ecology and because I had degrees in both I could teach ecology and biology but of course I not be able to teach my own family, of which Sarah was now considered a member, because of possible conflicts of interest.

Life drifted back to normal and I applied myself to problems at the university, one of these was the rise in fuel and energy prices which had risen nearly 100% in the past few months, mainly due to the effect of Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Now they were accused of a cyber war against Moldova a tiny country that had gained independence from Moscow and had even joined NATO. It was harder than ever to think of Russians as evil although I knew the ordinary people were like us only Putin and his gang could be seen as truly evil.

The university council was summoned for an emergency session to sort out some sort of policy for energy use and using my experience of creating policy for High Street Banks, it fell to me to draft one for the university. I would remind them of my efforts the next time there were any jibes about me being a director there. Diane and I worked on a policy for a day or two and we also did a variation on it for the bank, which Henry liked. Basically, I decided on reducing temperatures and told people to wear more clothes as the need arose or we would close branches, which was a possibility yet.

I sent a copy to Simon once Henry had approved it but it still had to be passed by the bank's board and we had a meeting in a couple of days. It was a coup as Henry pushed it through with little or no dissent and the same happened with the university which approved my suggestions nem. con.. I tried to adopt a low profile afterwards but it was leaked enough to be mentioned on the local news and then later on the national news. The next day it was featured in the newspapers with headlines of, Don't forget your vest and University tells students to wear extra clothes..

That morning I had various news outlets contact me for sound bites to include in their next issue or to play on their news bulletins. For two minutes I achieved notoriety again and was referred to as 'Dr Dormouse,' as they recalled my successful films. Thankfully, it was short-lived and I was allowed to get back to my normal duties of writing begging letters to get sponsorship for research projects, which were harder since we'd fallen foul of the research monies we used to get from the EU. Once again I cursed Boris and his con-trick which caused the morons who make up the electorate, to vote us out of the EU. It was only now that the problems I had forecast were showing, that everything cost more and took longer. This caused by a government which was going to cut red tape presumably by changing the colour and doubling the amount.

At the weekend Simon came home and I walked funny for a couple of hours the next morning, no one said anything but I suspect that they were still thinking it. I wasn't ashamed, I happen to love my husband and like to show him. We did it again on the Saturday and once more I walked stiffly the next morning and again I received the knowing looks from my children, but they said nothing, it was almost less hassle when they did say something instead of the smiles I got now.
It was about two weeks since we had given the formula to the MOD that it happened. Simon had taken my car to the garage to get a minor fault sorted, I was taking the tarpaulin of my old Jaguar and was inside the garage out of sight of the others, Meems might even have gone with her dad. I was busy folding the tarpaulins when Something was jabbed in my back and a strange accent demanded that I didn't move. Although I was standing quite still I felt my blood pressure climb and my heart rate increased.

"You think you are so clever, girlie-boy, don't you?"

I was tempted to answer that I was compared to him but said nothing.

"I have come to kill you."

Again I said nothing except try to get my mind to think about how I might escape. I had tarpulins in my hand and he had the drop on me and was standing about a yard behind me. It was at this moment Danielle chose to come and see me. "Mummy, if you are, oh who are you?" she said as she stumbled upon us in the garage.

I whipped around and hit him with the folded tarpaulins which knock the gun out of his hand and threw myself at him. "Run," I shouted her and she disappeared.

"No matter," said my attacker and started to try and strangle me. I did realise who much difference adrenaline makes to strength as broke his grip and pushed away from him trying to get a breath into my empty lungs. He lunged at me again and this time I shoved the heel of my hand into his face. I think I heard his nose break but still he came at me. Given his superior weight and strength it was only a matter of time before I succumbed. Once more his hands grabbed my throat and I managed to head-butt him in the face, he stepped back and I did a back-kick which had him stagger backwards into Danielle and Daddy, the latter who came armed with his shotgun and whacked the Russiian across the back of his head. He went down like a stone. I picked up the gun he'd dropped and warned the others that there was probably another about, perhaps with the engine running for a quick escape. The gun had a silencer, so they weren't waiting for a shot to mean the job was done. I tied the would-be assassin with some rope we had in the garage and unfolding the tarps I began, with Danielle's help, to roll him up in them.

We needed now to get back to the house, so with Daddy waving his gun about and me holding the hand gun to hurry back to the house, once there I phoned Simon to warn him and next I phoned Toby.

It only seemed like a few minutes and the place was crawling with armed police and a helicopter was hovering over the place. Because the response was so quick, they caught the accomplice of the assassin, as he was being taken away, I told him to leave me in peace or next time I would kill him and anyone else who they sent. It was pure bravado but I was so psyched-up by it all I was ready to kill anyone who threatened me or my family.

Once the police had departed and Simon had returned with my car, I shook and cried in his arms. He told me that the bank would retaliate if they had a chance by taking investments out of Russia and by making a donation to the opposition parties to help them destabilise the government by exposing the corruption. He also told me he'd ask Sammi to do something nasty to their computers if she had a chance. Usually, we were busy keeping them out, the Russians and the Chinese were the worst, now, for a short time we'd go on the offensive and when she rang a little later she had left presents for the Russian energy giant, Gazprom and also their military sites. She said she'd enjoyed it reminding her of her earlier life as a hacker. GCHQ in Cheltenham was told briefly what she had done and if their attack on her mother had been successful, she'd have destroyed everything she could of their computer resources. We may not be a superpower but we could still inflict damage. I likened it to not being able to land a killer blow, but being able to land a kick in a tender spot, which reminded them not to mess with us.

Henry was informed and when I attended the board meeting some days later he unveiled a series of measures to inflict more damage on the Russian economy and his intention to act with other banks to maximise their effect. My paper on reducing energy use was well received and I was invited to see where else I could save energy and thus money. I just had to hope the university didn't get wind of it or they'd be chasing me as well. I suggested they use an environmental science postgraduate and sponsor him. Henry immediately backed me and it was agreed unanimously.

Now all I had to do was find someone and supervise them, but we had achieved another research grant and that was what my job was all about. The nightmares were easing and I no longer had Kiki sleeping on the top of the landing. Hopefully, soon I'd be back to normal, it was just that I couldn't understand why one person could cause so much trouble worldwide. If only he didn't have nuclear weapons and now he's agreed to fit planes from Belarus with a facility to carry nuclear weapons. The man is a disease he's beyond contempt but my hating him achieved nothing except it gave me a headache. It was Monday morning again and I was back to work. The cycle was back to normal.