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There is no separate Minister of Defence, so the Justice does that as well. In effect, the Garrison and the Constabulary are the same thing. It’s one government department with one boss.
Marines and constables might look like they’re from different organisations, but in reality it’s a unified system. Crime is relatively low and even though there’s a prison at Kingsway Hall it’s rarely more than half full. And half of those inmates are prisoners of war.
The core Chamber is augmented by four lay members:
- The Captain (head of the Garrison);
- The Chief Constable (head of the Constabulary);
- The Economist (from the business community); and
- The Historian (honorary role held by Franklin).
The emergency session of the Chamber hasn’t started formally, because the Captain and the Professor haven’t arrived yet. Franklin is still en route, so the Provost is about to give a brief history of Wolfland.
Commander Crush arrives.
“Sorry I’m late! The Captain’s a bit preoccupied right now,” says CandiCrush, “so I’m here instead. However, I’ll need to leave soon as I’m leading the cavalry south!”
The Provost begins.
“More than 200 years ago, the exhaustion of fossil fuels changed industry and agriculture dramatically. The Great Famine reduced the population of the world almost by half. Rising sea levels wrought havoc on coasts and low lying areas. Some powerful nations declined, and some smaller places rose in importance dramatically.”
“What was once London became a chaotic place, sparsely populated by the Chalkies and beyond that, the Swampies. The North Sea reclaimed much of East Anglia, Essex and Kent. The posh houses in Kensington and Chelsea were under water. The parts of the City and the West End which hadn’t been flooded
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