Golden Eights

by Nigel Seed

  “It may be fairly dry in here, but I’m not sure I would take a chance on firing these, some really heavy pitting around the chamber and up the barrel. I think the vicar was lucky that Webley didn´t take his hand off.”

  “I think we were luckier that the ammunition was so old. Could have been a nasty moment.”

  Chapter 22

  The pounding of helicopter blades echoed within the bunkroom and they went outside to see the bright yellow and white helicopter flying low across the bay. It flared into a landing in a nearby field and seconds later was on its way again, snaking up a shallow valley to the north.

  “Was that them do you think?” said Geordie. “I didn’t expect a bright yellow aircraft. Bit obvious isn’t it?”

  “That´s the point. Who would expect a covert team to arrive in a yellow helicopter? It’s made to look like a civilian commercial one, hiding in plain sight, eh?”

  Their speculation was interrupted by a young man walking through the hedge below the barn and approaching them. He was tall and slim with a small backpack slung over one shoulder of his distressed leather jacket. He pushed his overlong hair back off his forehead as he reached them. “Major Wilson?”

  “That’s me and who are you?”

  “Your helpers from Hereford. Do you want to give me a rundown of the job you need doing?”

  “No names, no pack drill?”

  “That’s right, sir. Just point us at the job and you can be on your way.”

  “Us?”

  “My team are having a little look round, I’ll brief them once you are gone.”

  Jim took the newcomer to show him the two access points to the hide. “Let’s be clear here. Nobody goes in and nothing is touched inside until I or one of these two men come back here to relieve you. Your team may not withdraw except on my authority. Is that clear?”

  “Well, I can’t promise that. If we get called back by HQ we have to go.”

  Jim pulled the Prime Minister’s authority letter from his pocket and handed it over.

  “I am trumping any instructions from your HQ. On my authority, you will not withdraw from here without a direct order from me. You need to understand that this is a career stopper.”

  “OK. So how much force are we allowed to use to keep this hole in the ground secure?”

  “You will not use any force that might attract any attention if you can possibly manage it. This place must remain a secret at all costs. Just persuade people to bugger off and that includes the guy who farms here. He has no reason to go into that barn. If anybody pushes the point, stop them.”

  “Got it. We’ll keep your hidey hole secret and secure.”

  “Good. Now I am going to lie to the farmer and hopefully scare him enough so he stays away. You have control of this site. Is there anything you need before we go?”

  “No, we have everything we need.”

  With that the younger man turned and walked away towards the hedge line. Jim watched him leave, then shrugged and turned back to his own men.

  “Time we weren´t here. We need to speak to the farmer on the way out; he should be back down from his top field by now. Try and look seriously fed up with the state of the building.”

  A short visit to the farmhouse and a series of dire warnings about imminent collapse later, the three men were back in their car and heading for the motorway.

  Six hours later they crunched across the graveled driveway of Sir Richard’s house. Geordie gave a low whistle.

  “Nice place. Maybe I should have gone into banking.”

  “No mate, you’re way too honest for anything like that.”

  As they approached the door it swung open and the Governor of the Bank of England ushered them into the wide hallway of his house.

  “Come through into the study, we can be more private in there.”

  They followed him into the book-lined room and each took one of the green leather chairs while the governor seated himself behind the impressive desk.

  “Do you have news for me?”

  Jim leaned forward and deposited the gold coin in the middle of the writing pad that lay on the desk. Sir Richard picked it up almost reverently and held it up to the light, turning it over slowly as he gazed at it.

  “My God! You’ve found it. I hardly dared to hope. Where’s the rest of it?”

  “It’s still where we found it. We need to know how you want to transport it. I assume you want your own people to pick it up rather than have me hire a security truck?”

  “But what if someone finds it while you are here? That could be a disaster!”

  “It has been a well-kept secret for more than seventy years and now it has armed guards sitting by it full time. And before you ask they are completely trustworthy. We have a team from the Special Forces watching over it.”

  Sir Richard picked up the phone and dialled. He waited for an answer then said, “I want a security truck organized at once, ready to move at a moment´s notice.” He paused as Jim held up a hand.

  “Better make that two trucks,” he said, “modern security trucks are smaller than removal vans and there is a lot of stuff to shift. Plus, you will need armed guards.”

  The governor nodded and continued speaking into the phone. “Make that two trucks and set up a special escort from the Police.” He put the phone down and looked at Jim. “Special Escort is the term we use for armed police. Not used very often nowadays, but this one is important enough. Where should I send them?”

  “Not that simple. Unless we are with them to clear the way the guard team are under orders to stop anyone entering. It could get messy.”

  “Alright, where should they meet you?”

  “It’s Tuesday today so we will be at the Forton Service area on the M6 Motorway at 0900 on Thursday morning. Have your people park up there and we will make ourselves known to them.”

  “That seems a long delay. What are you going to do in the meantime?”

  “Oh we have a couple of things to arrange. We won’t be bored.”

  As they drove away from the imposing house Ivan said, “So what are we going to be doing until Thursday?”

  “Well Geordie here is going to go home and see his new wife for a short while. I am going down to Henfield to see if Mr Greenly has remembered anything else since we saw him. And you are going to Cambridgeshire to see the people in JARIC to see what they can do for us by way of an aerial survey of the valley around Castleton. Tell them we are looking for a disused track up to a bowl in the ground.”

  “Bowl, what bowl? Where did you pull that one from, boss?”

  Jim tapped the side of his nose. “I have my sources.”

  “OK, be mysterious and give my regards to Mrs. Jennings, won’t you?”

  “Who’s Mrs. Jennings?” said Geordie from the back seat.

  “Oh, nobody special,” said Ivan, settling back into his seat with a small smile on his face.

  Chapter 23

  Jim pulled up outside the bungalow in Henfield a little before lunchtime. He felt like a teenager on his first date. In all the years since the divorce he had never even thought about trying again, but there was something about Helen Jennings that drew him in a way he had not felt for a long time. He swallowed and opened the car door. As he climbed out he saw that she was standing in the doorway waiting for him, in a simple but elegant, blue dress. He also saw that the net curtains were twitching in the windows of the houses either side. Helen noticed him looking at them and smiled.

  “Don’t mind them. It makes us all feel safe. They are more effective than a burglar alarm.”

  As he reached the step she gave him a light peck on the cheek.

  “Nice to see you too,” he said, “is your grandfather awake?”

  “He’s not here. Today is his day at the physiotherapy clinic and then he plays chess with his friends at the community center. He won’t be home until after seven.”

  “Oh. I was hoping to have a word with him to see if he has recalled anything else of use.
”

  “Oh really?” She gave him what his mother used to call ‘an old fashioned look.’

  “OK. I confess. That was an excuse to take you to lunch. You might at least have pretended to believe me.”

  She looked him straight in the eyes. “I don’t have time for pretense. Not in anything.”

  “Nice to know. Where would you like to go for lunch then?”

  “How about the ‘Cat and Canary,’ that’s not far away?”

  “The what?”

  “It’s a pub at the back end of the village. No false roof beams or copper warming pans just good food and cold beer. Unless you want something different?”

  “Good food and cold beer will always do for me as long as the company is attractive.”

  “Nice one. You’re getting back into the swing of this,” she smiled.

  “Is it so obvious that I’m out of practice?”

  She lifted a light jacket down from behind the front door, looked at him closely and said, “If you’re paying attention then, yes, it’s obvious. And by the way, before you ask, yes I am paying attention.”

  He reached for the car keys from his pocket while he absorbed the implications of that statement. But she said, “It’s a nice day for a walk through the village and the neighbors would be very disappointed if they didn’t get a look at you on the way by.”

  “Do you parade all your callers for inspection?”

  “Another good one. A little joke to cover a serious inquiry? At least I think it’s serious. Is it?”

  “Not sure yet, but I have a feeling it might be. So what’s the answer to the question I didn’t ask?”

  They walked along in silence for a moment or two. She linked arms with him “OK. The history of Helen Jennings. The short version so we don’t spoil lunch. Now where to start?”

  “How far to the pub?”

  “Only about a five minute walk.”

  “Then let’s just have the highlight reel for now. With a Q and A session later.”

  He tried to keep it light hearted, but was finding that he really did want to know about this tall, elegant woman with her arm linked through his.

  “Alright. I am thirty-three, divorced; no children, no job and getting a little bored being stuck in this village. Enough?”

  “Not really. I’d like to know more.”

  “OK, I met my husband at University. He was doing a Law degree and I was doing one in Biology. Nothing in common at all, but they say opposites attract. We married the summer after we both graduated. He left me for another lawyer in his firm just after I miscarried for the second time. That was just after my parents were killed in a car crash. I have no brothers or sisters so I moved in here to look after granddad. To be honest I had nowhere else to go. But it has worked out well. He is no great trouble, but he does need a little help and I am able to study for my Doctorate in Biomedical Science at Brighton University. And you are the first one I have paraded for the neighbors since I was divorced.” She paused, waiting for a reaction, then said, “No questions from the floor so that makes it your turn.”

  “Ah well, maybe I should invoke the Official Secrets Act and remain a mystery?” He looked at her. She didn’t reply, just waited for him to go on. “No way out, then?”

  “No and hurry up or we will be in the pub and you have no idea how nosy villagers are in this part of Sussex.”

  “Thirty-seven-years-old. I have been divorced for a little over three years after eight years of marriage. There was nobody else involved, she just couldn´t stand the constant separations and I couldn´t tell her about what I was doing most of the time. She lives in Spain now, writing children’s books. No kids. No entanglements. NFTR.”

  “NFTR?”

  “Nothing Further To Report. Sorry, not much of a joke.”

  “OK. Now what about Ivan? What’s the story on your minder?”

  “Well he’s not my minder, he’s my Sergeant Major. He’s unmarried and one of the finest soldiers I have ever served with.”

  “Strange that a big handsome man like that isn’t married.”

  “He’s had some problems in that way. He was stationed at the weapon trials range in the Hebrides, some years ago, when a missile they were testing went rogue. It landed on his house and his wife was killed. They never found a trace of her so he has had difficulty coming to terms with it. It will have to be a very special kind of woman to get him to open up again.”

  “That’s so sad. Did they have children?”

  “Two. They live with their grandparents in Florida. Sorry; that was a depressing story.”

  “True, but it got us to the pub. So how about one of those beers I was telling you about?”

  Chapter 24

  Ivan’s military ID card got him into the RAF base without difficulty. He found the JARIC compound and parked his hire car across the road. Walking up to the front door he noticed that there was a key card entry pad on the right hand side and a call button above it. He pressed the button and waited until the distorted voice said, “Yes?”

  “Good morning. I am CSM Thomas and I have an appointment to see your commanding officer.”

  “Just a moment.” There was a pause while the intercom box hummed to itself quietly. “OK Mr Thomas, I have your appointment in the diary, please push the door and turn right as you enter.”

  The electronic door lock buzzed and he pushed it open. He walked into an empty hallway with the customary display cases on the walls showing the sporting trophies the unit had won, with a couple of cheap, military issue chairs next to them. He turned right as instructed and found himself facing an office with a half door and a small counter top. The RAF corporal stood up from his desk and approached.

  “Can I see your ID please, sir?”

  Ivan produced his photo ID and passed it over. The corporal fed it into a machine on a side table and waited patiently until it beeped.

  “That´s fine, sir. The CO’s PA will be down to collect you in a few seconds if you could just wait in the reception area.”

  Ivan walked back and was just about to sit when a voice behind him said, “Right this way, sir.”

  He turned to find a very attractive Army sergeant holding open the door to the corridor off the reception area. He followed her down the corridor admiring the view as he went. Too soon they arrived at the end door and the Sergeant knocked and opened it.

  “Mr Thomas to see you, sir.”

  Ivan walked into a well-appointed office to meet the officer who was approaching him hand outstretched. They shook hands and the officer waved him to the small conference table in the corner.

  “Well Sergeant Major,” he said as they sat down, “your message was intriguing. So what can JARIC do for the Royal Engineers this fine day?”

  “Well sir, first thing is that this task is highly classified.”

  “We are used to that around here.”

  “No, I don’t think you are, sir. There is no standard classification for this; we are way above ‘Top Secret.’ There is to be no written record that this meeting took place and there is to be no record kept of the task we need your people to carry out.”

  “I’m not sure we can do that. You’ll have to give me a pretty damn good justification.”

  “I can do just that sir.”

  Ivan brought out the Prime Minister´s authorisation letter and handed it across the table. He watched as the officer read it and smiled as his expression changed. The officer looked up.

  “This is pretty heavy-duty stuff. I assume you want something special from us?”

  “I need a valley in Derbyshire fully surveyed by all necessary assets to try and find a trackway that probably hasn’t been used in over seventy years and was probably not obvious even then.”

  “I take it I can’t ask why?”

  “It would be better if you didn’t.”

  The officer thought for a moment or two while looking over Ivan’s shoulder.

  “OK. We can do this, but it means deploying or dive
rting some expensive assets and calling in some favors from our American cousins. I can work up a cover story for that part, but before I do anything, I am going to have to verify that this letter is genuine. Don’t be offended, but this is not something trivial you are asking for.”

  He walked to his desk while Ivan watched him. He lifted the handset on the desk phone and dialled the number in the letter. The call was answered quickly and the officer stiffened as he listened to the reply to his query. He came back to the table and sat down.

  “Bloody hell! I didn’t expect to be put through to the PM in person. He was remarkably direct for a politician. It appears I am to ‘stop playing silly buggers’ and to do what you tell me. I think I need my technical specialists in here so we can work out what we need.”

  “Fine by me, sir, but you will need to make sure they speak to nobody they don’t have to about this.”

  “No problem. I will give them the Witch’s Warning about security, but you will need to explain exactly what you are looking for so we know what kit to deploy.”

  “I can do that, but could we also make this anonymous? They don’t need to know who I am and they don’t need to know who is tasking me.”

  The Commanding Officer nodded and left the room. He was back moments later.

  “The team we need is being rounded up now and my PA is sorting out the coffee.”

  There was a knock on the door as the first of the specialist team arrived, to be followed shortly by the other four. They all looked quizzically at Ivan who sat quietly at the table and just looked back. The coffee arrived as they were all finding their seats. The CO waited until they had all filled their cups and grabbed a biscuit before he spoke.

  “Alright gents. This gentleman has a task for us and I want it completed as quickly as possible. It is to take priority over all the jobs you are currently running including, your survey of nude sunbathers on Brighton beach, John.”

  “Oh, come on boss, I apologized for that one.”

  “Just twisting your tail John, you’ve been forgiven for that episode. I think it’s probably best if I let our guest tell you what he needs, but first I have to tell you this is highly classified. Do not mention it to anyone who has no need to know and there are to be no records kept at the end of the task. Is that clear?”