by Tom Marcus
‘Roger that.’
I’d checked seven cars so far and nothing was coming up as a known vehicle. I angled the electric mirror on my right further out and up to get the last registration number. I could only make out the last letter, T, the rest being blocked by the vehicle next to me. Getting out of the car to check would look shit and immediately draw attention. Giving myself a minute, I rechecked the PDA to see if this dark blue Honda Civic was on the list of hundreds of cars potentially associated. It was a long shot but there was a blue Honda Civic listed, with the last letter of the VRN being a T. I needed help.
‘Team Leader, do you read Charlie Eight?’
‘Go ahead.’
‘I’ve checked all the vehicles in the car park, only one possible but I can’t get the full VRN. I can stay in position with direct on the front door of the office to give a stand by for MAROON OTTER if someone can check the VRN of a dark blue Honda Civic for me? Last letter of the VRN is Tango.’
The team leader didn’t get a chance to respond before Mark got on the net offering his help: ‘Charlie Nine Zero will check that.’
‘Roger, thanks Charlie Nine Zero. Stations, Charlie Eight has direct on the exit/entrance to the office, everyone else is plotted up. Let’s wait and see if MAROON OTTER comes out. Be mindful of other targets coming into the area please.’
‘Charlie Nine Zero, roger, two minutes, Charlie Eight.’
‘Roger, thanks mate. For your information, as you drive into the car park it’s nosey parked facing the entrance to the right.’
‘Thanks, mate.’
I’d probably just about be able to live my cover in this car park for an hour or two if I stayed still, but the moment I got out and returned to my car having gone absolutely nowhere I’d raise people’s awareness of me. And it’s always the third party that’s likely to kill you, not the actual target.
Mark immediately got on the net.
‘Charlie Nine Zero, VRN confirmed Papa Uniform five seven Uniform Uniform Tango. On the PDA this is HARBOUR FISH’s car from Operation GULL.’
Mark had obviously checked the details of the Honda on his PDA himself as he drove round to the car park, in case the VRNs did match, rather than just noting the VRN for Base. It’s little things like this, marginal time savings, that make the difference.
‘Base, roger.’
The speed at which the operations centre replied let us all know they were checking if this was just a coincidence or if HARBOUR FISH – a target from another recent operation – was involved in in some way. I was quite happy and settled in this car park waiting for MAROON OTTER to appear. Reaching down into the door pocket, I pulled the PDA out again, seeing if I had an up-to-date picture of HARBOUR FISH in case he came back to his car. I was just in time.
The sun glared off the front door of the building as it swung open. A male walked out, talking on his phone.
‘STAND BY STAND BY. That’s HARBOUR FISH OUT OUT of the office main door and towards his vehicle, the blue Civic, wearing a green baseball cap and white top. He’s solo.’
‘Charlie Six Six can go with this if you want?’
‘Yes yes, Base acknowledge please.’
‘Roger that. Team Leader, we’d like you to split and remain on MAROON OTTER too please.’
‘Wait one, stations, please. From Charlie Eight, that’s HARBOUR FISH into his vehicle, vehicle is reversing and towards the exit. Now out of sight to me towards you CHARLIE SIX SIX, he’s moving quick.’
‘Charlie Six Six, roger and have seen. I have control of HARBOUR FISH, vehicle is one up, and now northbound on Bradbury Road held at red, pole position showing a nearside indication at the junction of the North Circular.’
‘Roger, stay on this channel please, Charlie Six Six, unless we see MAROON OTTER. Base, can we have a spare channel for Charlie Six Six if we need it.’
‘Channel seven for HARBOUR FISH if you see MAROON OTTER.’
‘From Charlie Six Six, HARBOUR FISH has jumped the red lights and is now westbound on the north circular.’
This guy was clearly in a rush. We still didn’t know if he’d met MAROON OTTER operationally or if all this was a coincidence. I was just glad at this stage that I’d noticed the car in the first place.
‘HARBOUR FISH’s vehicle continuing west on the North Circular, speed now six five, seven zero miles per hour.’
‘Roger that, Bravo Five is backing and can if he keeps increasing his speed.’
‘Great thanks mate, can you now?’
‘Moving up now, can see the vehicle in the distance. For information, HARBOUR FISH’s vehicle has a brake light out on the offside.’
Having little visual indicators like a faulty brake light can mean an easy lock-on for anyone trying to get with the follow.
‘Bravo Five has control, vehicle is now alongside the area of the Ace Cafe to his offside, speed eight five, nine zero miles per hour on the North Circular westbound.’
HARBOUR FISH was clearly in a rush. Whether he was trying to get somewhere or get away from someone, we still didn’t know, but the transmissions were constant. Then I caught the door of the office building opening again. This was going to be a busy day.
‘STAND BY STAND BY, MAROON OTTER is OUT OUT of the office block and towards the car park.’
‘Bravo Five, roger, switching to channel seven.’
‘Charlie Six Six, roger.’
‘Base, roger.’
‘From Charlie Eight, MAROON OTTER is wearing a white shirt, black trousers, black shoes. Continuing out of the car park on foot. I can’t go with.’
I knew the team leader would now have both channels on in his car, listening to Bravo Five and Charlie Six Six, who’d taken on HARBOUR FISH, tearing around the North Circular, while at the same time listening to the rest of us with MAROON OTTER.
‘Stations from Team Leader, I’m joining the HARBOUR FISH follow. I have both channels on, Base acknowledge.’
‘Roger that.’
We needed to get hold of MAROON OTTER quick, and there was too much admin being sorted out on the net when all that mattered at this exact moment was getting hold of our target.
‘WAIT OUT, MAROON OTTER is out of sight to Charlie Eight, last seen towards Princess Way!’
I was being a bit arsey on the net here, but I didn’t want us to miss a whole day’s surveillance on the target because of bad discipline on the radios.
‘Yeah, Zero Four has control of MAROON OTTER, walking north now on the east side of Bradbury Road.’
Sarah, who was Zero Four, had moved in to the close in position when we took on HARBOUR FISH. I had to stay where I was, though. If I left the car to back Sarah on the foot follow, it would be obvious we were interested in MAROON OTTER. She was an incredibly hard-working operator. Surveillance didn’t come naturally to her but over the years she had developed the ability to see when our team had left a spot open that could potentially let a target slip through.
‘Five Nine backing.’
‘Six Eight is ahead with eyes on the North Circular junction.’
Everyone was fighting to get hold of MAROON OTTER. We all knew we had to work that much harder and smarter because the follow on HARBOUR FISH had reduced our team size by three vehicles.
‘Roger the backing,’ Sarah said. ‘Six Eight, he’s walking towards the traffic lights, can you and let me know direction?’
‘Yes yes, Six Eight has control, looking to cross over at the pedestrian crossing on the east side.’
Sarah would be getting into some cover to avoid being seen by MAROON OTTER at this busy road crossing. It’s natural to look both ways when you cross the road. The last thing we want as operators is to be caught in the eye line of anyone taking a look around them.
‘From Six Eight, that’s MAROON OTTER now walking across the North Circular to the north and towards McDonalds.’
‘Zero Four, roger and backing.’
I needed to get out of this car park. MAROON OTTER and HARBOUR FISH hadn’t se
en me hiding but it was pointless leaving it to chance if they came back. I knew the team leader would be up to his eyes in two different follows, I had to speak to Base on the phone.
‘Hello, can I help you?’
Standard opening line, never giving away names or what type of organization the phone number was connected to.
‘Alex, its Zero Six. Mate, have you got anyone monitoring the cameras?’
‘Yes, we do,’ our operations officer said. ‘What do you need?’
‘I’m going to switch the camera on in Charlie Eight and angle it towards the work address entrance for MAROON OTTER so I can get in on this foot follow.’
‘Switch it on and we’ll watch for good feed.’
Leaving my car there, with the covert camera giving the operations centre a live feed of the building, was the best way of splitting our assets. It would allow me to get out of the car park and on the foot follow while retaining a constant feed on MAROON OTTER’s work address. Using the small remote control, I angled the camera towards the rough area of the door, the quiet dull groan of the motors moving the camera lens giving me the reassurance that this would work.
‘How’s that picture?’
‘Yeah, we have picture, can you zoom in tighter please? We’ll only get the back of him if he returns to work but it would be nice to have a clear facial image of anyone coming out.’
‘Yeah, roger that, how’s that?’ I gave the slightest of touches on the remote to zoom in.
‘Perfect, Zero Six.’
‘Great, what I’ll do now is switch the camera to remote so you can control it from there if you need to.’
‘Roger, thank you.’
Hiding the remote control away and switching my personal radio on, I quietly got out of the car, locking it manually to avoid the four-way flashes ‘lock’ buttons set off, and walked out of the car park. As soon as I was onto the main road walking north, I put my hood up and morphed into the environment. If you don’t want to stand out, you match your speed and posture to others around you. In a dodgy area, you might slope along, hands in your pockets. In the City you would be suited and booted, walking quickly with purpose. Today I walked with the slightly hunched-up look of a bloke on the way to the Job Centre. I could see Sarah up in front. She still had control, and using her as a guide I tried to see MAROON OTTER in the distance but there was way too much traffic.
‘Zero Four from Six Eight, for information he’s into the area of the McDonalds on the north side now, I can give him in if you want to go with?’
‘Zero Four, roger.’
‘Sarah, that’s him in now, IN IN to McDonalds north side of the North Circular. Crews, for information, this is on the junction of Saint Raphael’s Way, north side of the North Circular, page eighty-six in your map books.’
‘Base, roger.’
‘Team Leader, roger. Crews, for information, we have HARBOUR FISH under control in the area of RAF Northolt on the Alpha four zero, west of your position.’
‘Zero Four, roger that. This McDonalds is busy so I’m going to go straight in.’
It didn’t take long before Sarah gave us the signal over the radio that she had control of MAROON OTTER inside the McDonalds. Rebecca gave the acknowledgement that we’d all heard her control signal outside.
I knew Sarah would be trying to get covert video footage of MAROON OTTER inside. It was a waiting game for the rest of the team outside.
‘Stations from Base, we have the cousins from yesterday DEEP BLUE and GREEN GARDEN into the office.’
When you’ve been in this world for as long as I had, you know when seeing multiple targets in the same area is just a coincidence and when it’s all clearly linked. HARBOUR FISH, MAROON OTTER and now DEEP BLUE and GREEN GARDEN had all been seen going through the same door within a couple of hours.
‘Team Leader, roger that, crews stay on MAROON OTTER.’
As Sarah acknowledged the previous messages from inside McDonalds, Base sent a further update.
‘From Base, White Team is deploying now to take on the cousins.’
Base had been constantly updating the intelligence officers on the desk in Thames House as this operation unfolded, and clearly they wanted a tight grip on all the players in this job.
‘Stations from Base, be aware that’s DEEP BLUE and GREEN GARDEN OUT OUT, on foot, both dressed in dark clothing.’
Multiple targets running around in a small area, an MI5 surveillance team on the ground and a second one rushing to the scene, all while people went about their daily lives none the wiser. I loved it. You could be walking your kids to school or nipping to the shop for some milk and not realize you’re surrounded by terrorists and MI5.
Sarah sent another covert signal on the radios to acknowledge that the cousins were back out in the open. A good twenty minutes went by before I caught sight of them both walking over to our position north of the office.
Even though White Team were obviously here to control the cousins, we had to keep a loose eye on them too in case they met up with MAROON OTTER. There were now more MI5 operators in this area than normal civilians going about their daily lives! I had to be careful because I’d been so close to the cousins yesterday in completely different settings, first on the tube then playing football in the park.
‘STAND BY STAND BY from Six Eight, that’s MAROON OTTER OUT OUT walking towards the main now, Base acknowledge.’
‘Base roger and White Team informed.’
‘Zero Six roger and I have control, MAROON OTTER waiting to cross over the North Circular outside McDonalds, very relaxed, no looks back. Is there anyone south I can let him run to?’
‘Yeah mate, Nine Four is south and can give him back towards the office.’
‘Cheers Nine Four, that’s MAROON OTTER now making his way through the traffic south across the North Circular, towards you.’
We were passing the target around the team; there was no sense in all of us moving from our positions, especially now White Team were here and the cousins were in the open. Remaining still and living our cover was the perfect thing to do in this situation.
‘Nine Four has control, MAROON OTTER is still walking south, now on Bradbury Road on the west side, looking to cross.’
‘Nine Four from Base, we have picture of the work address, you can let him run if he goes towards.’
‘Roger, great, thanks. MAROON OTTER still very relaxed and now over to the east side of Bradbury Road towards the junction with Princess Way.’
As I stayed in my position at a bus stop, I could see the cousins continuing to walk east away from the McDonalds and the office of MAROON OTTER. Absolutely no sign of White Team, which was great. I knew they would have control, but if we couldn’t see them then the targets wouldn’t be able to either.
‘Base from Nine Four, that’s MAROON OTTER back towards the entrance of the office, all yours.’
‘Base have seen, that’s MAROON OTTER now IN IN to the work address.’
‘Team Leader, roger that, we are back towards you now. HARBOUR FISH has gone to his home address, so we’re leaving him there.’
‘Base, roger that. For information, we’d like you to stay on MAROON OTTER for another hour then withdraw.’
As the team leader acknowledged the news from the operations officer at base, I knew I wouldn’t get home again tonight. Fuck me, my wife would be struggling. That hour dragged as I moved into a position from which I could retrieve my vehicle from the car park.
As the team leader called for us to withdraw from the area, Base sent us hotel details to our phones. We didn’t bother going back to Thames House for debrief because we’d be back on the ground in a few hours anyway. I’d checked into the hotel when I thought ‘fuck it’ and got back in the car.
It was getting late when I pulled up outside home, still with all my operational kit on. I knew Lucy had probably just fed our son and put him down.
Creeping through the front door and upstairs, I listened at the bedroom door for signs of
life. The gentle breathing of them both told me they were asleep. Not wanting to risk waking the baby, I quietly but quickly whipped around the downstairs of the house. Bin bags were put at the front door ready to take outside when I left. I folded the clothes that Lucy had dried earlier that day and stacked fresh nappies next to the changing mat. Toys put away, bottles into the sterilizer ready for the morning. Pots back in the cupboard and cutlery back into the drawers. I swept the kitchen floor and wrote a quick note to Lucy before grabbing the bin bags and leaving the house.
Sorry, job is overrunning, tried to do as much as I could without waking you both. Be back in the morning hopefully. Love ya.
As I drove back to the hotel I asked myself, was I so detached from reality that I couldn’t recognize I was spreading myself too thin or was my MI5 surveillance mindset completely taking over my personal life? My first response was, Shut up Tom, stop being such a dick and get back to your team.
I joined the military to belong to a family. An environment I never had as a kid. When I was recruited into MI5 I joined an even tighter family unit, my team. But now, with a real family of my own, I felt my loyalty being tested and I couldn’t honestly decide how to deal with it. My family, or the country’s freedom, I had no fucking idea which was more important.
6
HIDING IN PLAIN SIGHT
‘Zero Six is in the area.’
It was dark, but thankfully the food and coffee I’d grabbed on the way down was kicking in, so I felt ready for tonight’s job.
It was quite simple really. With MAROON OTTER’s office being closed during the night it should be fairly easy for one of our tech teams to gain entry and plant eavesdropping devices, thus making sure we completely understood the full intelligence picture around the businessman.
‘All stations, MAROON OTTER is showing up in the area of Willesden, to the east, on the junction of Wilkins Lane and Stockford Avenue.’
‘Team Leader, roger. Stations, let’s get control of MAROON OTTER quickly to allow the tech team to get on site.’