The Ringer

by Greg Hunt

  He again thought of his family. What would happen to them? He thought about his last few months in this gilded cage of a paradise. He had always loved the Alps and was a winter sports enthusiast. During his time in the military, he had had regular training in Norway and was an adept skier and survival expert. He had had more than enough time on his own, examining his position and it had allowed him to think about what was important to him.

  He stared at the picture again, and traced the outline of the figures with his forefinger.

  He had forty-eight hours to make his preparations. After that, he would not be at the pristine chalet in the beautiful wilderness valley or have use of the relaxation zone, the skidoos based in the basement below or the climbing equipment. He had to clear out, lie low and potentially set up anew. The message was very clear.

  Chapter 35

  Petty Officer Stuart Betts lived a surprisingly comfortable lifestyle. He had only recently found himself able to afford some of life’s luxuries that he had dreamt about over a long, hard career.

  When he had first started in the Navy with the enthusiasm and passionate ambition of youth, the young Able Seaman Betts was desperate to see the world and prove himself. It was a time when he had not been bothered about material goods or wealth.

  Since rising to the Non-Commissioned Officer rank of Petty Officer he knew that he was not going to advance any further. Betts was on the edge of retirement and wanted to go out with a bang. Whilst the military pension would pay adequately, and was one of the key perks of the role, it would never make him rich or allow him to pursue some of the interests that he wanted to be involved in, once retired.

  His hair had started to grey, activities were slightly more difficult, and he still could not believe that he had been millimetres out on the target shooting selection for Lieutenant Archie Malcolm’s secret mission.

  Serious work had been required to be back on side with the Lieutenant. It had been extremely difficult to hide his true feelings from both Lieutenant Malcolm and Commander Edgar Bennett, and it had taken skillful repair work to ensure that he was offered a place on the mission.

  If he was to achieve his dream of being comfortable in retirement, well, he chuckled quietly to himself, much more than comfortable, then he needed to carry out his objectives to the letter, and as quickly as possible, without being caught.

  At last, he felt alive and challenged again, and he had a purpose in life. He continued to stare at the aircraft ceiling; the monotony of the flight at this half-light morning hour meant that his body clock was objecting to the early morning start.

  He willed himself to snap awake. This was his opportunity to show just who the most skilled soldier was in this little contingent. He had proven life skills and was highly experienced. He would show his handlers just how experienced he was. They would then honour his own mission contract by transferring further monies to his bank account.

  The Petty Officer was next to jump. The Lieutenant had just dropped out of the hatch and Betts was the last of the group to go. He had noticed that James and Nick had exited at almost the same time, as had Jackie and Jo. Kevin, who had left just before the girls, had been weighed down by his communications equipment and had had to shuffle across to the aircraft’s hatch opening. It was Kevin’s chute he would follow.

  As Stuart Betts was freefalling, and enjoying all of the wonderful sensations that are associated with it, he took in Lieutenant Malcolm’s parachute direction across to the side of the glacier where he could see Jackie and Jo’s chutes lower down. Despite the half-light, Betts thanked whoever had gifted him with such good vision. For as long as he could remember his 20:20 eyesight had served him remarkably well. One of the reasons that he was such an excellent shot was due to his perfect eyesight.

  The Petty Officer let himself freefall for a few seconds longer so that he could catch up with Kevin, who was bearing to the wrong side of the glacier. Perfect, this would serve him well, Betts thought.

  It had taken surprisingly little money to convince the pilot to drop them off at slightly revised coordinates, the Pilot had half believed it was a last minute change to the plan. However, in order for him not to mention the revised drop off location to anyone else in the party, Betts had passed him a number of notes more and the Pilot just carried out his part of the drop off without reaction.

  Kevin’s landing was clumsy due to the weight of his kit. He had lost sight of the parachutes of the rest of the team halfway down his descent. Kevin would be able to track them easily enough using his radio and other communication equipment, but he would have to tramp through the snow, and with the extra weight this would be energy sapping.

  He was pleased to see that he was not the only member of the team that had strayed off course. Petty Officer Stuart Betts was close behind him and landed his parachute just a few metres away. Both of the men within the naval team proceeded to wrap up their parachutes and put all of their equipment in place for walking over to find the other members of the group.

  Petty Officer Betts then looked at Kevin with distaste. Kevin raised his head after having stowed his chute to see Betts’s expression, facing him with a loaded pistol and silencer pointed directly at him.

  Kevin raised his hands and spoke calmly to Betts, “What are you doing?”

  Betts replied, “None of your business; and you won’t be requiring that equipment anymore.”

  Kevin went in for the rugby tackle head on, but before he could floor Betts into the snow and push the pistol out of his right hand, Betts pulled his index finger down on the trigger and it went off into Kevin’s stomach.

  Kevin slouched to one side and his face expressed an exasperated picture of bewilderment. Betts was fully on his feet and let off two further rounds into the stunned man’s abdomen, relieved him of his communication equipment and searched for the nearest cliff to push the body over.

  Chapter 36

  Betts ensured that his parachute was fully stowed in its accompanying bag, and that all the communication equipment that he needed was removed from the dead man’s body.

  He then proceeded to drag the body towards the large overhanging cliffs to the side of the glacier where they had landed. This was much harder than he could have imagined, with the thick powder snow, the weight of Kevin in all of his heavy survival clothing and the lack of grip for footholds on the steep side slopes of the Glacier de Bellecote.

  Betts managed twenty metres before his breathing escalated to a level where he had to have a rest. Although the effects of altitude were slight, the exertion at this height made him desperate to have more oxygen and, as he was well aware, he was not becoming any younger.

  Once he had had a couple of minutes rest and his breathing started to return to normal, the Petty Officer walked ahead to see where the best place would be to drag the body to before pushing it over the cliff. He found a spot where the cliff provided a sheer drop. This led to the bluish haze of an ice sheet, and below the ice was the visible wooded belt of trees that helped to span the valley between La Plagne and Les Arcs.

  Betts then unhitched the coil of rope that he had been carrying with his parachute rucksack and tied this off to an upright, jagged rock adjoining the cliff face. He walked back down the slope and placed a coil of the rope under Kevin’s arms and tied the loop off into a bowline. He had been taught the beginnings of the knot by a yachtsman he had met in his early days. “It’s easy,” he used to explain. “The bunny rabbit comes up out of its hole, goes along the field, around the tree and back down into its burrow.” This in-built knowledge allowed Betts to complete the remainder of the rope work automatically.

  Taking the loose end of the rope he walked up to the cliff edge and used the leverage of the rock to winch the body up to where he was standing. It was then an un-ceremonial pushover that sent Kevin tumbling, his body falling like a sack of potatoes in mid-air until it hit the ice-sheet. The collision with the ice-sheet saw the body being catapulted forward for several
hundred metres before tumbling out of view.

  It was time for Stuart Betts to report in, otherwise his current position may look even more suspicious than necessary. He pulled out his CB radio and checked that he was using the correct frequency.

  “This is Comms. Seven, over, are you receiving?”

  After what seemed like a long pause Archie replied, “Hearing you, Comms. Seven, state your position, over.”

  “Above Glacier de Bellecote ice-sheet, will meet you at intended rendezvous. Comms. Three has had a bad landing, over, I repeat a bad landing.”

  It was clear that Malcolm was surprised as the voice that came back whilst still authoritative, was slightly shaken:

  “Bad landing noted, see you at rendezvous, 1200 hrs, out.”

  So Betts had approximately an hour to ski over to the original rendezvous located in the shadow of this mountain and protected from the stormy weather and higher winds. The good weather window was now closing and the cold front was pushing in with the wind starting to intensify. The sooner he was on his way the better.

  This mountain had served him well; his mission was more than on track and had already caused his leader rightful concern. Well, Lieutenant Archie Malcolm, there was going to be more of that concern, Betts thought. If Betts could influence the position, then Malcolm would not cope.

  Chapter 37

  Christoph led the French mountain rescue team that found the bright orange survival bag with the barely moving, three youngsters.

  He did actually say “mon dieu” when he saw the sorrowful sight of the three students. All curled up as close as they were able, with Joseph and Emma wrapped around their younger brother Sam, although his ski pole splint and leg did not allow for people to lie in immediate close proximity to him. Christoph realised that these kids had been on the mountain for at least twelve hours too long.

  His rescue team worked like a well oiled machine. Roles were automatically taken to place each of the three young adults into ‘blood-wagons’ to remove them from the mountain and back down to Plagne Centre as quickly as possible. The slope where the orange survival bag lay perched on the cliff edge and tangled in the jagged rocks was too steep and risky for a helicopter evacuation.

  An expert skier would snow-plough their skis in front of the wagon with each hand holding onto a long wooden pole. The poles were connected to a stretcher behind, which lay on a couple of skids. They were extremely effective for removing patients from inaccessible areas of the region.

  The rescuers had ensured that each of their captives were wrapped up properly for the journey and were comfortable. It would soon be discovered how dehydrated and in need of nourishment each of the skiers were. It was the role of the doctors in the resort town of La Plagne to provide the health check, following which they could make the right recommendations for casualties being brought off the mountains to be treated.

  It was important that Sam’s journey was smooth. His leg had become numb since the damage sustained on the rocks above the cliff edge. The rescue team decided to leave the temporary ski-pole splint in place, but worked around it to ensure that he would have as immobile a trip as possible, within a stretcher being brought down a steep glacier.

  Emma’s recollections of this period in her life, when brought round, were minimal.

  She had lost track of time, and was confused by what had occurred over the last twenty four hours. She remembered being cold, oh so cold, like she had never been before. She would have given anything for a hot water bottle at that moment. She then remembered attempting to cuddle up to her brothers to share any body warmth that they had and Joseph humming James Bond theme tunes so that Sam would also attempt to hum along and not drift off into unconsciousness.

  There was something else, and it kept ticking over in her mind, nagging at her. She just could not work out what it was. She attempted to take in her surroundings. Her whole close family was now around her and her parents were massively relieved that all three of their children were all going to be alright. Nothing had been anyone’s fault and there was going to be no blaming, but her parents had been hugely worried and when they first saw Sam, they had only just managed to refrain from tears.

  Joseph seemed to have braved the worst of it; he sat on the edge of a temporary bed in the hospital centre with a steaming hot drink in his hands. His eyes and whole face had lit up again. He was telling their parents how good the snow had been, how they had done justice to the powder at the very top of the off-piste; how it had been a freak hidden rock that had pulled Sam’s ski away from his boot and then how the ski had rocketed over the cliff edge. Joseph did not mention the visitors that had been present prior to the French rescue team. He seemed to have forgotten about that episode within the story.

  Emma was still mulling things over in her head and all of the bits just would not fit together. She was sure that Joseph had left their winter survival bag momentarily. Again, the times were unclear and, try as she might, the facts that she had would not straighten out. The one thing that was just weird and was unable to fit in the jigsaw was the voice of someone that she knew. My goodness, the voice of Archie Malcolm and what did he have to do with this mess. She went back to sleep. Sleep could only sort out the confusion and even if it did not, she knew that she really, really, needed it.

  Chapter 38

  It was twenty-four hours since the Woodcutter had received his Code Red message and he had had little sleep since. Try as he might to be overly busy, cooking his full fry-ups for breakfast, utilising the relaxation zone pool and sauna to put the events out of his mind, chopping as much wood as possible for the wood burner in the lounge area and carrying out general maintenance work on the chalet, the thought that the overall mission may be compromised was eating away at him.

  His military training pointed him towards the direct action route. He had always reported back through to Portsmouth so it did make sense to go there and find out exactly what was going on. It was imperative that the overall mission was not compromised and that his family were safe.

  As part of his military training, in abandoning a post, it was vital that no clues were left as to how that post had operated. Furthermore, if anyone hacked into the information that was retained on the hard drive of the computer systems within the first floor converted bedroom, many peoples’ lives would be at stake. So there was much work to be done to ensure that the whole of the chalet would become just another holiday home.

  The Woodcutter started to sensitively and painstakingly remove all of the gadgetry from the first floor converted bedroom. It was important to leave the room without any evidence of his having been there. He would wipe all surfaces, swab down the walls and areas behind where the computers had been installed. For now, all of the contents were being walked down to the basement and loaded into skidoo carrier compartments. He would then personally destroy what he could. A big fire would probably be best, he thought. A long distance from the chalet and then he would bury whatever had proved resistant to a good burning.

  He determined that the equipment supplies for the chalet for the last few months and much of the winter clothing, climbing and skiing paraphernalia would have to be removed. If the chalet was going to be completely vacated within the next twenty-four hours then he needed to act fast.

  He also checked the basement area to see if his emergency escape route was still all in place, and satisfied that it was, he proceeded to continue to clear out his communication hub. This had been the centre of his life for the last few months.

  Before the light completely disappeared, he also wanted to allow time for a cross country ski around his favourite tracks, which would take in the wonderful views of this winter wilderness valley, with the Mont Blanc massif in the far distance. The chalet was always discreetly hidden, but he had become familiar with the lie of the land and how to best locate the building.

  Once most of the internal works had been completed, he removed the thin cross country skis from their plac
e within the basement store and put on his specialist walking/skiing boots that allowed the front straps of the skis to go over the toe area of the boots. As these were cross country skis, there were no click in bindings required for the back heels.

  Skiing away from the chalet he sighed to himself and considered that he was nearly at the end of an interesting few months. Months that would shape his life forever, either for better or for worse. As he neared the Alpine forest closest to the chalet where some of the wildlife tracks began, he heard a very faint, small but unmistakeable noise. It was totally foreign in this still, alpine environment, yet totally clear.

  It was a cough, and it had not been made by any animal that he knew.

  Chapter 39

  Archie and his team had eventually made it to the head of the wilderness valley that corresponded with all the details that had been on the original surveillance. Jackie and Jo had painstakingly memorised the lie of the land of this ten square mile patch.

  Peering into their scopes, the steep contours of the higher mountain smoothed into the gentle roll of snow in front of them. Lower down, there were snow covered openings leading into the picturesque, pine forest that lay well away from any other habitation.

  The dark brown of the trees, with their frosted tops and the steep hummocky slopes of the valley side, provided a secluded location and from where the team was currently lying, stretched out with their heads leaning forward for the best possible view, it was clear that if there was any activity within this valley, it was extremely discreet.

  Archie was still coming to terms with the death of one of his team. Kevin, an experienced communications specialist and a veteran of similar parachute drops, should not have had any concerns with the landing. Yes, the plane had dropped them off course from the intended landing zone and yes, the conditions were far from ideal with an increasing wind and the onset of light snow before worsening conditions, but something felt odd about the course of events.