‘Hello, Matt. At first I didn’t think you’d have it in you to come after me. But then I got word you were on your way. It’s hard to move around Europe undetected, especially on your own passport.’ She smiled. ‘It was time we wrapped up operations here anyway, to be honest, so we’ve moved to another location, not too far away.’ She winked at the camera and pulled her seat in closer. ‘I want to congratulate you. I guess you know by now that the nuclear weapon was a fake, so it wouldn’t have mattered too much if you had failed in your mission. The Russians were testing us, to see if we would stop them offloading some of their old weapons. It so happened that at the same time the British were talking about pulling their funding on our joint operation, and I felt they needed a little incentive to stay the course – a quick win, so to speak. The SBS made short work of the Russians, which was obviously our main concern. It’s just a shame that my knuckleheads showed their true colours when they thought the weapon was real. Still, I should thank you for solving that little problem for me as well – and they, in turn, solved my Faisal Khan issue, so it was win-win.’ She paused, regarding the camera thoughtfully. ‘It can be a confusing game at times, espionage, nothing is as it seems, but you should know that my role here in the CIA’s Special Activities Division is to bring clarity to confusion.’ She smiled. ‘Thanks for your help, Matt. There’s no hard feelings, I hope. I’ll look forward to working with you again in the future. After all, you’re a fucking lion, remember. Oh, hang on’ – she nodded to a person standing just out of view – ‘someone else here wants to say a few words. A friend of mine.’
As the camera panned around Matt looked at JJ. ‘Can you believe this crap?!’
‘Hello, Captain Rix,’ said a familiar voice. Matt spun back to the screen to see Australia’s Special Operations Commander.
‘Well, bugger me,’ said JJ.
‘I do hope you realise that there will be no tea and medals for this particular mission, Rix? You see, Steph Baumer thought you were the right man for the job and when the government approached us on behalf of our American allies, well, your commanding officer and I agreed that to make this look plausible one of our own would need to work off reservation.’
Matt looked at JJ. ‘Jesus, the TAG call out was a set-up.’ Matt turned his attention back to the video.
‘Come home, Matt.’ The commander looked intently into the camera. ‘Report back to 2nd Commando Regiment next week. You too, Sergeant Jones. And good work, both of you.’ The screen went dead.
‘He knows my name,’ JJ said, turning to Matt. ‘Can you believe it? He knows my bloody name.’
The two men stood frozen for a moment, shock rendering them speechless.
Finally, Matt broke the silence. ‘I have no idea what the hell has just happened, JJ, but it appears that we’ve just completed a joint mission with the CIA Special Activity Division sanctioned by our command.’
‘Yeah, and SOCAUST knows my bloody name,’ beamed JJ.
‘C’mon,’ Matt said, walking to the door. ‘Let’s get going.’ JJ followed him out and into the cool Italian morning air.
‘So, what now, boss?’ The two of them looked out over the Italian Alps. ‘What about Steph?’
‘She can go to hell. It’s time to forget about her, and it’s time to move on.’
‘Right, so what’s next then for Captain Rix?’
‘Well, I guess I better start by packing up my apartment in Canberra and moving back to Sydney,’ smiled Matt.
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