Chapter 13
The prison ship ICARUS III Fishguard, Wales, UK - 2028
A crisp wind blew in off the choppy Irish Sea as Christina tied her long blonde hair into a ponytail. She stood facing into the wind on the top of the harbour wall and took a long deep breath in an attempt to quell the nausea she was feeling.
‘Here they come, Deputy Minister,’ Captain Rees said as a small red and white ferry boat drew away from the large hull of the Icarus.
‘Good luck, Captain,’ Christina said.
‘Deputy Minister,’ shouted a voice from behind them. Christina turned to see the uniformed figure of Private Smith running along the stone path towards them.
‘What is it, Warren?’ Christina called.
‘Deputy Minister,’ said the out of breath private. ‘I have news before you head off.’
‘Well, what is it?’ she asked.
‘I have just seen Captain Schmidt and his men come into town.’
‘What!’ she shouted. ‘What the bloody heck is he doing here? He was on his way to Paris the last I heard. Did you speak to him?’
‘No, ma’am,’ Warren said.
‘Find him and inform him of our operation. He is not to do anything that will jeopardise these negotiations,’ she said. ‘And tell him, that it is an order.’
‘Yes, ma’am.’
Christina turned and looked at the ferry, which had nearly reached the harbour wall steps.
‘Right, Deputy Minister, time to go,’ Captain Rees said.
• • •
Twenty minutes of choppy sea later, Christina walked up a metal staircase and into a large corridor. The door in front of her was ajar, and she could see a vast array of instruments and panels inside the room. She strode forward and entered the bridge of the Icarus. Gibbs was sitting in a large chair with his back to the door, looking out through large binoculars at the coastline but more intently, the harbour.
‘Good morning, Deputy Minister. Welcome aboard,’ he said as he caught a whiff of her sweet perfume.
‘Good morning, Gibbs,’ she said.
‘Shall we get down to business?’ Gibbs said.
‘Yes, I take it that you’ve already noticed the line of trucks parked in the harbour,’ Christina said, nodding towards the binoculars.
‘I have. May I introduce two men who have served under me for many years?’ he said, indicating behind her. Christina turned around to see two burly men carrying machine guns, standing alongside the open doorway.
‘The short and stocky one is Shredder. He is the mouthy one. The quiet and marginally taller one, Killey,’ he said.
Christina nodded to them. ‘Before I give the okay to start transporting prisoners, I will need to see the ship’s chief officer and have a conversation with him. I have also brought the list of those prisoners who will have to remain behind.’
Christina and Captain Rees were escorted down a maze of ladders and small, cluttered passages. She gagged when they opened the door to the main cell tanks as the smell of unwashed men and overflowing toilet buckets burnt her nose and throat. Men who wandered around the crude cells, turned and looked at her before a chorus of wolf whistles rung out. She was led to the crew’s cell where she waited as they swung open the heavy door, then she looked into the poorly lit interior. ‘Oh my word!’ she said.
• • •
Gibbs was still sitting in the captain’s chair on the bridge when she returned. ‘Did you have to assault them like that, especially the CO? Some of those men are bleeding and in urgent need of care. You told me they were okay.’
‘They are fine. Safely locked away,’ Gibbs said. ‘We had to do what was necessary for the job at hand, and besides, it’s no different to what they would do to each other on a normal Friday evening in the bar.’
Christina looked into Gibbs’s brown eyes and just raised her eyebrow.
‘They are all there and all alive. How much longer they stay that way, depends on whether my men get off this boat.’
‘I gave you my word,’ Christina said and turned towards the door. ‘Please see to it that no more harm comes to the hostages.’
‘Yes, ma’am,’ Gibbs said with a big grin on his face.
She looked back at the men standing near the door. ‘Killey, escort me off the ship please.’ Then she walked through the low doorway and was gone.
‘There goes our best hostage, boss,’ Shredder said.
‘I know. I realise that you are a little less scrupulous than me, Shredder, but I gave her my word of safe passage.’
‘I know, but wow, that was a fine looking woman,’ Killey said.
‘Down, boy,’ Gibbs replied. ‘We have bigger priorities just now.’
‘Did you ask her if she was the one who sent you the note and keys?’ Killey asked.
‘No, I think it is a little too early in the process, besides, she is only a deputy minister in this new organisation. She must have a boss, and I don’t want to blow his or her cover, until we know who it is, and understand the reason they helped us.’
‘Maybe out of guilt,’ Shredder said.
‘Nah, I doubt it. They dispatched that John Mountford and David Kirkwood without much concern. So I doubt they’d lose any sleep over setting us up again. They want us for something, and I think we will shortly find out what that is.’
• • •
The morning sun warmed Christina’s face as she walked along the harbour wall. It seemed the usual cool breeze had disappeared in expectation of the hostage exchange, and she felt a little anxious. Instinct was a powerful driving force, and she had a feeling that Gibbs could be trusted despite what his criminal record indicated, but she now stood between him and his freedom. What’s more, the idiot Markus was still hiding somewhere.
Gibbs had taken up a position directly behind Christina and Captain Rees, as they walked towards the row of metal clad warehouses. The rest of his men were amongst the hostages, their SA80s raised to their shoulders as they all tracked in different directions, looking out for any signs of a trap.
The group finally made it to a large grey warehouse with its red roof and stopped in front of the huge rusty sliding doors. Gibbs slipped the muzzle of his SA80 into the small of Christina’s back. He could feel her tense up at the touch of the barrel. ‘Let’s you and I go through the door first.’
She nodded, and they walked towards the small door, set into the big sliding door. She reached forward and clicked the latch, letting the door screech open. Gibbs looked ahead over her shoulder and could see that the warehouse was reasonably well lit with natural light from the skylights.
He placed his hand on her shoulder, which made her jump. ‘I know it’s not very chivalrous, but you will be going in first and please stop a few feet inside the door.’
Gibbs looked around the large warehouse as he ushered her to a point just inside the door. Sunlight streamed through large perspex skylights and lit up a row of old passenger rail carriages on a dilapidated piece of track. Gibbs’s eyes quickly became accustomed to the contrasting light in the warehouse, and he saw that there were storerooms and derelict old offices down either side of the building. He signalled to those behind him, and the shuffle of feet could be heard from outside as the rest of the hostages were slowly moved inside.
‘Stay sharp, men,’ Gibbs whispered.
He gently squeezed Christina’s shoulder as he pushed her forward towards the abandoned train carriages. They stopped near one of the trains. ‘Well, Christina, all parts of the deal have been honoured but for our release.’
‘Once you have released the hostages and they are out of the building, we’ll discuss your release,’ she said.
From behind them, Shredder coughed. Gibbs’s stomach tightened, and he slowly turned Christina around to face Shredder, the SA80 still pressed into her back. He saw a small red laser dot flashed onto Shredder’s temple, and another on his chest. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw another thin red beam through the dust particles in the centre of
the room flash onto Killey at the back of the group.
Gibbs squeezed Christina’s shoulder and whispered into her ear. ‘Tell your men hiding in the shadows, to come out. All of them. If they don’t show themselves, all hell will break loose.’
‘Okay, Gibbs. Please just remain calm,’ she said. ‘These men did not travel with me, but I do know them.
Christina shouted. ‘Captain Schmidt! Will you and your men please show yourselves?’ Silence. Gibbs put a little more pressure on the SA80 in her back. ‘Captain Schmidt, I order you to come out now and show yourselves,’ she shouted louder, this time with more urgency in her voice.
Shadows moved and manifested. Men clad from head to foot in black Special Forces gear slowly stepped out from behind crates and old fishing traps. Two men appeared at the windows of one of the train carriages to cover the group. Slowly they approached and closed the circle. Weapons, with eerie red laser sights, wafted, searching in front of them, trained on the kidnappers.
The encroaching men moved to within a few metres of Gibbs, and his men then stopped, never taking their laser sights off them.
‘It seems that we have a bit of a stalemate here. We’re not going back to prison, and I suspect these gentlemen won’t be letting us get out of here,’ Gibbs said.
Christina turned to look at Gibbs, the SA80 now pointing at her stomach. Her throat was so dry she could barely get a word out. ‘We cannot let everyone go at once, Gibbs. You and your men will have to let the hostages go first and then surrender your weapons. We will detain you overnight, and tomorrow we will process your release.’
‘And we’re just supposed to trust you after this ambush, giving up our leverage and our weapons. And you will just let us walk out of here? Forgive me for being sceptical,’ Gibbs said, nodding towards the man with the laser sight trained on him.
‘That is the only possible solution we have now, Gibbs,’ Christina said. ‘What I can tell you is that your presence is required in London. That’s all that I’ve been told.’
Gibbs scanned the faces of his men. Their eyes locked and focused on their attackers. Could she be lying? Was she the one who sent him the keys wrapped in the note? ‘On your head be it,’ Gibbs said to Christina as he lowered the SA80 and handed it over to her.
‘Drop your weapons, lads. Let’s not give any of these trigger-happy jokers any reason to shit themselves,’ Gibbs said.
The nearest soldiers moved in quickly and secured all the weapons from the five kidnappers. A few others kept their weapons trained on them. One of the men ushered Gibbs and his men to the side. Christina indicated to the hostages to follow her out of the warehouse, and they were led away leaving only Gibbs and his four men.
The soldier in front of Gibbs lowered his weapon and straightened up, removing his black balaclava. He looked at Gibbs with cold piercing blue eyes. ‘Sergeant Gibbs. I am Captain Markus Schmidt. You will come with me for the moment while your men remain here.’
Gibbs nodded and turned, smiling. ‘You gents heard what El Capitano said. Be good. I’ll see you soon.’
Gibbs walked towards Markus, who stepped aside and led Gibbs towards an open storeroom door. He walked into the dark room and started to turn around when he felt a sharp pain to the back of his head. His legs buckled and he blacked out.
Chapter 14
Fishguard, Wales, UK - 2028
Christina leant against the warehouse wall, her arms folded. Her nerves had only just begun to settle after the previous few hours, although the knot in her stomach was still present. Private Smith had given her a small shot of something impersonating whisky, which had certainly helped take the edge off for a while.
‘Markus!’ she shouted at the tall man as he left the small storeroom and headed across the courtyard. ‘I want a word with you.’
He gave her a cold look and reluctantly walked over to her, tucking in his shirt and straightening out his dark red epaulettes on his shoulders. ‘Yes, Christina?’
‘What the bloody hell are you doing here? You almost caused the death of all those hostages, and what’s more, I could have been killed with them,’ she said, shaking with anger.
‘Lord Butler told me to join the mission to make sure we get Sergeant Gibbs on board, and that’s what I did.’
‘Why didn’t you inform me of your plan beforehand? You undermined my authority and nearly got people killed! You had no concern for the hostages. Or for me either.’
‘Christina…’
‘Don’t interrupt me, Markus. Captain Rees and I had this under control. We were about to start negotiating with Gibbs and were going to use the release of his men as leverage. You have probably ruined this opportunity,’ she barked.
‘Calm down, Christina! I was instructed to recruit his men as well. Check with your beloved Lord Butler.’
Christina clenched her teeth. ‘Captain Schmidt! I outrank you in this organisation and from now on you will address me as Deputy Minister. Is that clear?’
Markus’s face reddened, and his eyes narrowed.
Christina felt her stomach turn. She took a slow deep breath. ‘You will not have any further dealings with Sergeant Gibbs or his men unless I say so, is that clear?’
Markus raised a finger and pointed at her.
‘Is that bloody clear, Captain?’
‘Yes.’
‘‘Yes, what?’
‘Yes, Deputy Minister.
‘Good. Now I will call my beloved Lord Butler and inform him of what has happened here. You are dismissed, Captain.’ She stood and watched as the Phoenix Guard captain raised his hand in an exaggerated salute, then stormed off.
Christina felt the tension subside from her shoulders as she dialled Lord Butler’s number. He answered in his usual upbeat manner. ‘Hello, my dear.’
‘Hello, Francis. Did you send Markus to interfere with my work here?’
‘Yes, Christina. We thought he would be of assistance.’
‘The idiot ambushed us while we were negotiating with Gibbs, who was fully armed. It could have gone horribly wrong. We could have been killed, Francis. Markus is a dangerous fool.’
‘I had no idea he would try and take control. I will have a chat to Andrei about his behaviour. I will also re-emphasise to him that all the Phoenix Guard captains, present and in the future, will report to you. That includes Captain Gibbs, once he is on board.’
‘Thank you, Francis,’ she said. ‘By the way, how did the meetings in France go?’
‘Not as productive as we’d hoped. The Givet area will not budge, but, we were able to convince them that their security was inadequate, and they agreed to let us put a Guard unit in place for a while. It’s even more vital that we speed up Gibbs’s recruitment. Get him on board and back to London, Christina.’
‘We are working on it,’ she said and hung up.
• • •
Christina woke early in her sparsely decorated room and got up out of the army bunk. She walked over to wash her face in the old and cracked ceramic bowl provided, which was on top of a wooden chest of drawers. She put on her grey work suit, and then walked down the stairs, pulling at the occasional peeling bit of green wallpaper as she went. It was going to be an interesting day.
Out in the crisp sea air, she saw Warren sitting, drinking coffee on a wooden bench near the main door.
‘Morning, Warren,’ she greeted, and sat down next to him.
‘Good morning, Christina. Did you sleep okay?’ he asked, pouring her a mug of coffee from a metal flask.
‘Yes, thanks.’
‘That was quite a day yesterday.’
‘Don’t remind me.’
‘He is a real arsehole, isn’t he?’
Christina laughed out loud. ‘Couldn’t have put it any better myself.’
A few minutes later, she entered the icy warehouse, blowing hot breath onto her hands to warm them up. She walked past the old train coaches where she could see Shredder and the others standing together, blankets wrapped around them to ke
ep warm. They stopped talking and stared at her as she walked past. She could feel their glares burrowing into her back as she walked away.
Christina walked up to one of the side office doors and nodded to the GGC guard posted outside, who opened it for her. There was a steel table in the middle of it, with a gas lamp on it. Files and folders were scattered all over the table top. Gibbs was sitting on a wooden chair near the table, his hands cuffed behind his back. He looked up at Christina, and she gasped.
‘My God, who did that to you?’ she said, staring at his bruised and swollen face.
‘Good morning, Deputy Minister. You should redirect that question to the arsehole standing behind you,’ Gibbs said, looking past her.
Christina turned to see Markus standing in the doorway arms folded.
‘Captain Schmidt. Was this your doing?’
Ignoring her, he stared at Gibbs in silence.
‘Captain, wait outside while I talk to Sergeant Gibbs. I will deal with you when I am done here.’ Markus Schmidt scowled, clenching his jaw. ‘Before you leave us, Captain, remove the cuffs from Sergeant Gibbs.’
‘He is a dangerous man not to be restrained.’
‘Just obey your orders, Captain. Then get out of here,’ she said. ‘You can still follow orders can’t you?’
Markus glowered at her and walked over to Gibbs, pulling the keys out of his pocket. Gibbs sat grinning at the man. Markus stood looking down at Gibbs, his fist clenched.
‘Get out, Captain or I will have you arrested and placed in cuffs yourself.’ Christina said, then watched the man skulk out of the room.
Christina walked over to the table, pulled another wooden chair out and sat down in front of Gibbs.
‘I can only apologise to you Gibbs,’ Christina said, looking at his battered and bruised features.
‘I have suffered worse, Deputy Minister,’ Gibbs said.
‘Please call me Christina,’ she said.
Gibbs looked into her blue eyes. ‘Okay, Christina. What the hell is going on?’
‘For a start, we can get back to what we were discussing before the masked marauders showed up,’ Christina said. ‘I am sure that you have already realised, by the swiftness with which your demands were granted, that we want something from you.’
The Journey of Kyle Gibbs Box Set Page 33