***
‘I intend to kidnap Mason and remove him from his position of influence’ John announced in his usual determined voice. ‘Garside will be that much weaker with his “advisor” not at his side. And he will no longer be able to recruit murder squads or carry out Garside’s dirty work.’
His friend and second in command listened and was shaken by this announcement, ‘John, my friend, do you realise how much power and call on resources this guy has? He is continually surrounded by heavily armed bodyguards; his car is bullet proof, bomb proof and John Judge proof! How on earth could you possibly even contemplate taking him out?’
‘I intend to gather him up in the middle of the night from his bed at his home. I want him to experience what he has been doing to many innocents for years. I believe we have the skills and the resources to pull it off. Do you remember when we lifted Abu al Hanardi from just over the border in Pakistan? He almost had an army of guards around him, but we did it and never fired a shot.’
‘Yes I remember John but we were a lot younger, fitter and fully kitted out. We had American spy satellite data, drones and a shed load of backup To my knowledge we’re a bit short on all of those things.’
‘We’ll just have to play it by ear my friend and who knows we might just get lucky.’
Terry shook his head in resignation ‘Ok I’m with you, so what’s the plan?’
The two spent the next three hours planning the operation; an operation that John thought would turn the odds in his favour if successful.
The following night Mason’s guards were disabled one by one along with his elaborate alarm system. John and his specially selected arrest team quietly entered mason’s house. Once they discovered the main bedroom, they entered noisily and shouted at the dazed and stunned MI5 man ‘Mr Henry Mason you are under arrest, get up, get dressed and come with us.’
His wife started screaming, Mason shouted for his security team to no avail. John commanded Mrs Mason to keep quiet and calmly told her that she would come to no harm if she did as she was told. Mason was still frantically pressing the buttons on his landline phone, which had been disabled, along with his guards. He reached for his mobile phone and one of the arrest team swept it away from his reach sending it clattering to the floor. The huge arrest team member crushed it under his size 12 boots. Mason started to quiver and asked ‘what is it you want? You realise that you will not get away with this.’
John ignored his comment and repeated ‘You are under arrest, Mr Mason. You are to get up, get dressed and come with us. If you do not do as you are told immediately, we will take you out of your bed as you are.’
‘What do you mean “under arrest”; you have no authority to arrest me.’
John nodded to the arrest team leader who together with another of his largely built men stepped forward and physically lifted Mason out of his bed. He was a small man dwarfed by the six-man arrest team who were physically carrying him out of the room clad only in his boxer shorts. Mason’s wife sobbed as the men carried her husband out of the house and into a waiting vehicle. John had decided to take Mason to Chancery Lane deep shelter where there was a suitable holding cell for his guest.
On arrival, Mason was given a one piece overall to wear which was a bit on the large side. He cut a pathetic figure for a man who wielded so much power. His cell contained a stool and a wooden framed bed with a very thin mattress on it. He was left there for several hours before John was to visit him.
‘John, I thought you were going to kill him in his bed. How come you’ve brought him back here?’
‘I never intended to kill him, Terry, come with me now and let’s have a chat with him.’
Mason’s cell door swung open, John and his Second in Command entered. Mason sat on his bed against the wall with his knees tucked up under his chin. John looked him squarely in the eyes, Mason turned away. ‘Look at me Mr Mason because I want you to see the level of hatred I feel for you when I tell you what I am about to say.’
Mason in a quivering voice said ‘I know you are going to kill me, what can I do to change your mind. I’ve got plenty of cash if that’s what you want. Or I can give you all you want to know about Garside; just don’t kill me, please.’
‘Believe me, Mason, nothing would give me greater pleasure than to remove you permanently from this planet but I’m sorry you have another destiny. You have been arrested under the new citizens’ charter and will remain in the care of my organisation until there is a democratic government in place. At that time, you will be tried for crimes against the people including corruption, murder and false imprisonment of innocent civilians. I sincerely hope you are given a death sentence, but that will be for the courts to decide. As to telling us what you know about Garside, there’s nothing you can tell us that we don’t already know.’ John turned and left.
‘You can’t keep me here, you have no right. You can’t do this, I have a family.’
John stopped at the door and turned towards his prisoner, ‘do you remember Gerry Small the politician? He had a family too and a respectable reputation until you destroyed him. No, Mr Mason I have every right and it is you who have no rights. At least you will be given a fair trial and an opportunity to plead for your life. That’s more than you allowed all those you disposed of on behalf of your boss.’ The door slammed shut behind John and his team and Mason was left to contemplate his predicament.
‘Terry, move him out to the North but keep him away from Winterton. Make sure whoever is allocated to look after him that they treat him as a prisoner. There must be no mistreatment. On another matter, we have to ensure we gain control of the media as soon as we emerge to confront Garside and the State. Sooner rather than later irrespective of the odds, I have to face Garside and I want to do it with the media behind me. So let’s put some plans together on how we might do that. Arrange a meeting with JD, Mal and Paul and figure it out. In the meantime, I need to speak to Graham even though it is becoming more difficult for him to escape his workplace without being noticed.’
All hell broke loose the next morning when Mrs Mason reported the kidnap of her husband. Stapo patrol sirens howled through the streets. Stop and search activity was intensified and Army patrols were much more evident. Garside was clearly disturbed by the loss of his aide and confidant. He called an emergency Cabinet meeting and was particularly interested in what the military and the Police plans were to recover Mason from the rebels.
‘Have you considered the possibility First Minister that he may have already been assassinated?’ Carsforth was direct and unemotional.
‘Yes General, I have considered that possibility. But I do not believe that they would have removed him from his home if they were going to kill him, it would have been done when they entered the house. They wouldn’t have gone to the trouble of carting him off somewhere just to kill him. I am convinced that he is still alive and is being used as some sort of bargaining chip. So I want him found gentlemen and intact.’
‘That would mean me sending troops underground Sir and we have no idea where he is being held. Therefore, it would require a massive operation and I suspect there would be many military losses; the rebels have a major advantage below ground.’
‘Are you saying that you cannot take on this task General?’
‘Yes, Sir I am’ Carsforth replied in a matter fact way. The veins in Garside’s neck bulged as though they were about to explode.
The General continued, ignoring Garside’s imminent eruption. ‘There is another way that would eliminate the loss of my soldiers and still find out where Mr Mason is. ‘Garside’s rage subsided slightly and raising an eyebrow he waited for the General to continue. ‘I have a problem with an increase in desertions and will be putting three other attempted deserters up before a firing squad next week to set an example. I have some trusted young officers who I can rely on to stage a desertion and so infiltrate the rebels’ ranks. I’m sure I can arrange for two or three of them to undertake an operation such as th
is.’
‘I like what you’re proposing General, I’m impressed. Not only could they find Henry but also release him and perhaps, if the opportunity arose, even get rid of Judge and his senior people. I like it. Please get your deserters to desert as soon as possible.’ Garside’s ire had abated and he was now smiling.
The Deputy Police Commissioner said nothing and just nodded his head in supportive acknowledgement.
The following day the Deputy Commissioner called a meeting of his senior Officers and briefed them on what the Army’s intention were. ‘We are to keep our patrols clear of the area where the so-called deserters are to enter the underground. I cannot divulge where that will be until two hours before the event for security reasons,’ he announced. Graham Johns was included in the briefing and knew he had to get the information to John or Terry quickly.
The following morning John called his team together. ‘I have been told that we are going to get some more deserters soon.’ John described what he had been told by Graham. ‘The problem we have is how do we differentiate them from the genuine ones?’
JD said ‘I should be able to identify the real ones from the fakes if you let me spend a little time with them. We must in the meantime keep any new arrivals away from sensitive areas and personnel until we’re sure of them.’
John responded ‘that sounds ok to me JD; you vet them and let me know when you have the infiltrators identified and closely watched. Mason will be well gone before they get anywhere near where we were keeping him so what I would like you to do is tell them where that is and let them have their heads. We’ll have a welcoming party waiting for them in the cell when they break in.’
Since the announcement of the sentencing of the three soldiers, desertions had almost stopped so Carsforth knew he had to act before the executions in two days time. To wait until after the event would, he believed, completely eradicate any thought of desertion from the ranks and so make his infiltrators less credible. He briefed two of his most loyal young Officers and set them loose. They set out in the same way that previous attempts had gone, civilian clothes, no weapons except that they had cleverly concealed knives and a small 9mm Beretta inside their jackets. Their mission was, find and release Henry Mason, kill John Judge if the opportunity arose and any of his command team, the priority being setting Mason free.
They had rehearsed their story well of how they abhorred the executions and wanted no part of it. They entered the underground late that night and made their way along the dark tracks. A sentry picked them up just east of Liverpool Street and radioed their position to JD and his waiting team. The deserters were held at that point until the arrival of JD. ‘Hello gentlemen, can you tell me who you are and what you are doing here?’
‘I’m Second Lieutenant Hargraves and this is Second Lieutenant Willerby or should I say we were second Lieutenants until tonight. We have decided to leave the Army and join up with you fellows. So we are in effect deserting.’
‘And why would you want to do that? You’re Officers, trained at Sandhurst with bright careers ahead of you.’ JD asked.
‘We’ve had enough of the top man who’s hell-bent on executing young soldiers. There’s another three facing his firing squad the day after tomorrow. We just can’t condone it or be party to it so we want to get away. And we’ve heard about your Mr Judge and what he gets up to. It seems to us that this is where the real action is.’
JD was already suspicious. ‘How long have you both been in the service?’
‘I joined the Regiment 12 months ago’ one of them said. The other had served just a little longer.
‘Ok gentlemen, welcome on board. I’ll take you to an area where you can get a hot drink and while you doing that I can brief you on what we are doing here.’
JD led the two men into Chancery Lane where they given hot tea. Since the Army incursion and shooting of civilians the shelter had been emptied and its occupants moved. ‘Until you are fully briefed I would advise you not to go wandering around, we have a very special prisoner here and we wouldn’t want him disturbed.’
‘Oh, where?’ one of the Officers asked ‘just in case I need to find a toilet,’ he added hurriedly.
These guys cannot be for real! JD thought. ‘Don’t worry we have him locked up in the quiet part of the shelter out of sight of everyone. You couldn’t mistake it for the toilets anyway it’s a large steel door. We don’t even have to lock it now; the poor bugger can’t stand up never mind escape. Look, you guys finish your tea; I’ve got a job to do and won’t be more than ten minutes. Remember don’t go wandering about, I’ll be back shortly.’ JD left and hurriedly made his way to an observation point where he could watch the two so-called deserters. One of his men had been told to brief John that his expected visitors would show up shortly, JD was convinced that his reading of them was correct. He didn’t have to wait too long. One nodded to the other in a ‘let’s go’ signal. They furtively scanned the area around them and moved slowly down the shelter searching for a large steel door. JD watched knowing that they would find the only steel door that was in that part of the tunnel. As they approached, they positioned themselves one each side of the door. Simultaneously they threw open the door and stepped briskly inside the darkened room. ‘Come with us Mr Mason, we’re here to help you escape.’
The lights were switched on and the two Officers faced John Judge and three of his heavily armed men. The colour drained from their faces and they turned towards the door as their only escape route only to find JD and two of his men barring their way. Willerby scrambled madly at his jacket frantically trying to extract his weapon. Hargreaves just stood motionless.
‘Gentlemen, please,’ John spoke loudly and firmly, Willerby suddenly ceased his futile attempts to arm himself. ‘If you make any move towards being hero’s I can assure you that it will be futile. No one will ever know that you died here tonight so before you get hold of the weapons you’re carrying and point them at me or any of my men you will be shot.’ John waited for a response; there was none.
‘JD, please disarm our guests and then we’ll sit down and discuss their future.’
After a calming period of time, Hargreaves asked ‘how did you know we were not deserters?’
JD answered ‘There was just one thing, that you wanted to join up with John Judge because that’s where the action was. None of the genuine deserters, me included, cared or even considered “the action” they just couldn’t turn their guns on their fellow citizens. All of the men who came underground also struggled with the emotional trauma of deserting and it showed in their demeanour; it took some time before they were able to come to terms with it. Neither of you had that haunted look. So for me you came across very different to the rest of us.’
John picked up where JD left off ‘Ok, get them some hot food and lock them up for the night. I’ll consider their fate in the morning. By the way, when are the three soldiers going to face your firing squad?’
Willerby was quick to answer ‘the day after tomorrow. Why?’
John didn’t answer just turned and walked out of the room.
‘I pray that your General Carsforth rots in hell for what he is about to do.’ JD spat the words out as he slammed the steel door behind him. He instructed the guards ‘make sure they do not leave this cell. If they need to piss, throw them a bucket, they can rough it for the night.’
The two young Officers cursed themselves for being so naive and spent the night in their unlit cell contemplating the possibility that they also may face death between now and the day after tomorrow.
John Judge Page 51