by Ted Tayler
“Everything went as planned,” Phoenix had replied.
“Do you think we’ve got the Grid on the run now?”
“Let’s not count our chickens yet,”
“Resources are stretched to the limit at present,” Athena had said, “but our meeting on Wednesday will be a happier one now despite that. It’s always good to report successes to Zeus, and the others, rather than excuses for lack of progress.”
At dawn on Wednesday, Phoenix and Athena had driven north to Manchester. They arrived at the conference centre in Fountain Street at a quarter to nine.
“Maria Elena was still half-asleep when she arrived wasn’t she?” asked Athena, as they took the lift to the second floor.
“Hope won’t have woken up for at least two hours. Maria Elena will be wide awake by now. I expect Hope is wondering where her parents have gone, though.
“I don’t enjoy leaving her,” sighed Athena, “but it’s vital we both attend these get-togethers.”
The lift doors opened, and the two senior Olympus agents walked along the corridor to the conference room reserved for their meeting.
“I agree,” replied Phoenix. “Look who’s here before us. Zeus, and Hera; there’s never any question of either of those two taking a holiday.”
Greetings were exchanged. Hera was keen to take Athena to one side to ask how little Hope was progressing. Phoenix and Zeus discussed the weather and the latest news headlines. It didn’t take them long to exhaust those topics. Zeus knew Phoenix wasn’t a great conversationalist. He was more interested in action than words; he switched focus to Olympus-related matters.
“You might imagine that we have enough on our plates, Phoenix, but you can rely on the authorities to give us even more work. A major review will soon be announced into allegations of historical sex abuse across every area of UK society. This was prompted by the Home Office’s failure to act on allegations that a paedophile ring operated at Westminster in the Eighties.”
“Another review into a cover-up, you mean; will it have any teeth, or is it destined to be another whitewash?”
“Well, the police are to get emergency powers to access phone and internet records, as I understand it. The government have had to rush them through after the European Court of Justice overturned the existing legislation.”
“Worst day’s work we ever did, throwing our lot in with Europe,” muttered Phoenix.
“You’ll get no argument from us on that one,” said Hera, as she and Athena re-joined their husbands.
“Is there a specific time-frame for this review, Zeus?” asked Phoenix.
“It will take a while to set terms of reference, and choose a figurehead to lead it,” replied Zeus. “Experience tells me the former will take many months, and the latter will be such a poisoned chalice the list of people they will need to approach will grow and grow.”
“So, the finished report will be due, sometime, never.”
“Ever the optimist,” said Athena.
“I believe we should check what the review uncovers, and then take direct action, without delay. One thing is vital. If Westminster figures still alive today, were guilty of offences thirty years ago, then they must be dealt with, at once. There’s nothing to gain by wasting valuable resources on dead men.”
“I agree,” said Athena. “Ah, here come the others.”
As normal these days, Heracles and Aphrodite entered the room together. It wasn’t long before the eagle-eyed Hera spotted the Duchess’s left hand, as she brushed her ash-blonde fringe from her forehead.
“Elizabeth, darling,” Hera cried, “congratulations. James, you old romantic. Congratulations to you both. What wonderful news.”
Phoenix strolled across to the side table to fetch himself a soft drink. He knew he may as well make himself comfortable for a while. This meeting would get nothing done until the women had gushed over the size, and quality of the ring Heracles had bought.
Although he wouldn’t admit it, he was pleased for Heracles. Sir James Grant-Nicholls was one of the Olympus hierarchy for whom Phoenix had a lot of time. Aphrodite was from the nobility, extremely wealthy, and with her big heart in the right place. Phoenix accepted her as a staunch supporter of the Olympus Project, and its ideals. But he could never imagine inviting Elizabeth to Larcombe Manor and chilling out on the patio with her over a few beers. The gulf between their social standing would always be far too great.
Phoenix sat and watched as Zeus, Hera, and Athena surrounded the happy couple. Apollo and Dionysus had arrived and had a brief chat with Zeus and then came across the room to join him.
The newcomers, Achilles, Daedalus, and Ambrosia were present today, ready for their first meeting. They looked uncomfortable, as they stood to one side, confused by what they saw before them.
“Good morning, Phoenix,” said Apollo, “it’s good to see you again.”
Dionysus nodded a greeting. Sir Malcolm Dunseith had earned respect through his civil service career, and his role on the Privy Council. He was as eager as Phoenix to cut this pantomime short and get into the meat of the meeting.
“Let’s make the three new gods welcome,” said Phoenix. “I checked the seating arrangements as I collected my orange juice. Each of us has one of them sat next to us. If we introduce ourselves and usher them to their seats, it might persuade the others we need to start.”
Phoenix had recognised Achilles at once. Ludovic Tremayne’s bearing showed him to be every inch the military man he had been before leaving the British Army to create a successful business empire. He offered his hand.
“Welcome, Achilles, I’m Phoenix.”
“Ah, Phoenix, I’m looking forward to working with you.”
Phoenix guided the ex-soldier to the oval table.
“We’re here,” he said and sat next to where he hoped his wife would be very soon.
His companions had joined them and all six were now seated. Zeus spotted the flurry of movement around him and realised it was time to move.
“Right,” he said, “perhaps we can begin,” and he took his place at the head of the table. Hera sat on his right-hand side. Athena sat on his left, next to Phoenix. As the others filled the remaining seats. Phoenix glanced towards the vacant twelfth chair. There would be no place for Aurora; not now, nor in the future. Her position within Olympus may have been denied, but Dawn Prentice’s death had been avenged.
As he reflected on the events leading up to her death, and the subsequent action he and Rusty had taken, he sensed somebody watching him. At the far end of the table, next to Dionysus, sat the diminutive Piya Adani, now known as Ambrosia.
Phoenix smiled. Ambrosia gave no sign she had noticed; her eyes had shifted to Athena.
“Ah, she’s giving each of us the once-over,” thought Phoenix, “weighing up the opposition.”
The successful young businesswoman had great ambition. She hadn’t transformed her father’s moderate family business into a global phenomenon by being afraid to make tough decisions.
Phoenix anticipated her having designs on reaching the summit of the Project. Zeus would step aside one day. Athena was next in line for the top job, with Phoenix by her side. How long before Ambrosia mounted a challenge against that eventuality, he wondered?
Zeus checked everyone had switched off their mobile phones and confirmed that the venue had been swept for bugs by Olympus staff before the gods arrived. Security was essential.
“Today marks the start of a new era, as we move closer to regaining our optimum number of twelve gods. Our three newcomers provide us with far more than the money they have agreed to commit to the Project. They bring valuable commercial experience, military intelligence, and in Ambrosia’s case, youth. These qualities will be essential to Olympus’s future.”
Over the next ninety minutes, he gave them an update on the Project’s progress in many countries around the world. He described the significant commitment of agents in hot spots on four continents, and the drain on financial resources
this represented. Athena and Phoenix listened as Zeus praised them for the successful actions, here at home, since the last meeting.
“The Grid is far from being beaten,” he cautioned, “but, week by week, we have dealt telling blows on their network, thanks to Phoenix and his teams. Leading figures have been removed, and as the summer ends, we will receive a welcome addition to the numbers of agents at our disposal. Perhaps, you can expand on that, Athena?”
“The first intake of new operatives will finish their training at Larcombe Manor by September,” Athena said. “The first batch of agents withdrawn from duty overseas are four weeks into their six-week reassessment programme. Our two teams of trainers have been superb. They have proved to be an excellent choice. The speed of training and re-training may be slower than we wish, but when the agents start active duty, they will be ready.”
“How many agents will that be?” asked Ambrosia.
“We can only train fifty new agents per year,” replied Phoenix. “The re-training exercise is for the one hundred agents we repatriated. We are handling a dozen agents on this course. So far, the physical and psychological tests they have undertaken haven’t eliminated anyone as unfit for active duty. This may not be the case with later batches. We hoped for an eighty per cent success rate. Early signs are good for bettering that, but it’s impossible to predict.”
“Will a twenty-five per cent increase in UK-based agents be enough for Olympus to carry out the missions we need?” asked Achilles.
“Our resources are fully stretched with only five hundred agents available,” said Athena. “An extra one hundred and thirty will not be unwelcome.”
“Recent events have shown that as we step up the direct action against the Grid, we will experience losses,” Phoenix added. “Two men were injured on Sunday night in Scotland, as you have heard. When the 2015 intakes take up their posts, they might only replace men and women who have lost their lives in the fight against the Grid. Unless there’s a sudden cut in the number of volatile spots around the globe, then we cannot count on any agents arriving for re-training for the foreseeable future. In fact, if we lose people in actions abroad, we will need to replace them. So, it must be understood that not everyone training at Larcombe will end up being assigned to a UK-based team.”
“Maybe, we need to think outside the box,” said Ambrosia, “because operating from hand-to-mouth could lead to cutbacks in the services we offer. One only has to look at every other organisation in the country at present to see what damage that does.”
“If you have any suggestions on how to do things better during this period of austerity, then please, share them,” said Athena.
Phoenix could feel the tension in the room as the two younger women crossed swords for the first time. He was not alone; Mother Hen came to the rescue.
“I think it’s time we took a break for refreshments,” said Hera. “There’s much for everyone to take in, and our newcomers haven’t yet got to know everyone around the table yet. I suggest we relax and socialise for thirty minutes and then tackle the second half of the agenda.”
Zeus didn’t need telling twice. He marched off to the refreshment table at once.
Phoenix and Athena followed him to the side table together. They collected a plate of food each and refreshed their drinks.
“Let’s find somewhere quiet,” said Athena. “I don’t feel like socialising today.”
“I know what you mean. I prefer people-watching too,” said Phoenix. “Did you want to call Maria Elena, to check on Hope?”
“Would you mind?”
“Don’t be silly. You get off outside and see if you can get a signal.”
Athena left the room, and Phoenix stood against the side wall and absorbed the surrounding scene. Zeus and Hera stood with Ambrosia, Heracles, and Aphrodite. The Indian pocket-rocket seemed to lead the conversation. Phoenix doubted the subject was the recent engagement or forthcoming wedding.
Apollo and Dionysus were listening intently to Achilles; while Daedalus was on his own, a few feet away. He noticed Phoenix was alone and joined him.
“Bonjour, Phoenix,” he began, “I’m Daedalus. This is awkward, no?”
“Absolutely, yes,” grinned Phoenix, “I don’t do small talk either. Athena will soon be back. She’s checking in with our nanny. Our daughter, Hope is only six months old, and it’s hard to leave her for longer than an hour or two. Athena copes at Larcombe, but today is a trial.”
“Family is important to you, yes?”
“It’s everything, Daedalus.”
“Then that is why you do what you do,”
Athena re-entered the room, and her face lit up with a big smile.
“Hope’s well behaved, as usual,” she said, “and Maria Elena says she hasn’t once asked where we are.”
“Typical,” said Phoenix.
“Daedalus, at your service, Madame. Good to meet with you, at last.”
“It’s a pleasure to welcome you to your first meeting,” Athena replied, “do you have any first impressions you wish to share?”
“The provisional financials for the first half of the year were rather boring, n’est ce pas? I was keen to hear more news about the missions. I am a man of action.”
Phoenix bit his tongue. The Frenchman had been under suspicion for a period because of his unconventional marriage. Until Minos and Alastor confirmed Jean-Paul St Clair was not cheating on his younger wife, his elevation to the Olympus hierarchy had been on hold.
“Perhaps you can design us a robot agent that only needs programming, not twelve weeks training,” said Phoenix.
He glanced across the room to Ambrosia, who was still clinging to Zeus. She wasn’t going to let him out of her sight.
“She’s an impatient one, that one,” said Daedalus. “The design process doesn’t allow for that much emotion. I always found it more helpful to take small steps, then test each stage, until I was confident to continue to the next. It’s costly if you get it wrong. You did not pick the training schedules out of the air. They are what is necessary, oui?”
Phoenix knew he would get on well with Daedalus. It was good to find a potential ally. Athena might not notice the changing dynamics within the group, but Phoenix could sense it this morning.
When the half-hour was up, they re-took their seats.
“The vacant chair will be obvious to everyone,” he said. “Before our next meeting, I want to have three, maybe four candidates to choose from to fill it. If any of you have a name to put forward for consideration, then Hera and I would be glad to hear it.”
“Rusty would be terrific,” whispered Phoenix. “I’ll tell him to buy a lottery ticket. Otherwise, he might be excluded for lack of funds.”
Athena kicked his ankle.
“We need another female,” she said, “there’s a seven, four split, at present.”
“I believe it’s more important that he should be young,” said Apollo.
“I agree,” said Dionysus.
“So, what we’re looking for is an extremely rich young man, who is intelligent, and has a social conscience,” Hera concluded.
“That counts out our professional sportsmen, and pop stars,” Phoenix muttered.
He had moved his feet this time; Athena missed his ankles.
“We meet again in London, in October,” said Zeus. “Please inform me of your proposals, with the necessary background checks, between now, and then. We must resolve this matter at that meeting.”
“We are fishing in a shallow pool,” said Phoenix. “You know that from the small number of candidates we uncovered in the last sweep. It appears on first impressions we have made good choices. I enjoy a lively debate. Today’s events suggest we have much more to anticipate.”
Daedalus chuckled.
Ambrosia sat up straighter in her chair but remained silent.
“It’s good to see that you’re on better form today, Phoenix,” said Zeus. “If only we could unearth the right person to help you at Larcombe
Manor. Athena has mentioned on more than one occasion that you take on far too many responsibilities. The potential burn-out of our most important asset is something Olympus cannot contemplate.”
“You needn’t worry about finding someone, Zeus,” said Phoenix. “I’ve saved you the trouble.”
Athena was taken aback. She had no idea what her husband meant.
“Rusty and I worked with the ideal person on Sunday night, up in Scotland. Hugh Fraser, fifty-one years old, and an Olympus team leader. He was a Captain in the First Battalion of the Scots Guards, based at Catterick. Fraser was a supreme logistics officer and has carried those skills into his new role. I want him released from his post in Edinburgh and re-located to Larcombe Manor by the end of the month.”
“That’s wonderful news, Phoenix,” said Zeus. “I’ll leave it to you to sort out the details, shall I Athena?”
“Of course,” Athena replied, “I can’t wait to meet him.”
“You’ll need a bigger desk in the administration office for all the reports he will write,” said Phoenix.
Zeus rattled through the last few items on the agenda and confirmed the date for the next meeting on Wednesday, the eighth of October. Phoenix wanted to get away as soon as possible so he and Athena could play with Hope before Maria Elena put her to bed.
As people made their way to the door, Heracles cleared his throat.
“Ahem, if you could hold on a second, please? Elizabeth and I don’t intend to have a long engagement. We have set the date for Saturday, the sixth of September.”
Elizabeth’s cut-glass voice sliced through the general buzz of the noise of congratulations.
“We shall marry at the castle. A small, private family ceremony,” she said, “and then we honeymoon in Martinique. James and I would be most happy if you could join us for a party at the Dorchester. Now we know the date of the next meeting, I suggest we make arrangements for the evening of the eighth of October. We will fly home to Scotland by the first of the month.”
“That sounds terrific,” said Athena.
“Why don’t we bring Hope up to town with us?” said Phoenix. “We can drop her off at your parents. They will enjoy spoiling her rotten, and we won’t have far to stagger back to Belgravia. The Dorchester is fifteen minutes from Vincent Gardens.”