by Julian Beale
They covered Carradine’s military career first, with Seb going through it and asking most of the questions. David felt that this was all easy going for Fergus, who knew that he had the track record. He certainly made a strong impression. They moved onto personal matters. David was good in interview. He could find his way into the burrows where secrets might lurk. He was never reluctant to ask and so he grilled. Fergus was open to most points for discussion, but he had his limits. David enquired about the two marriages and Fergus explained that his first wife had died in a car accident, while his second, an Australian, had been lost to cervical cancer. David asked if he would try again, to be told politely that the subject was off limits. Fair enough, David thought to himself and picked up a faint nod of agreement from Seb.
Then it was Carradine’s turn, but David wanted him to have fair run at it so he first told him the principles and objective of Zero, plus the status as at that date. He was completely candid: he was taking a risk but it would have been an unproductive conversation on any other basis. Fergus heard him out without raising an eyebrow, but when this introduction was finished, he embarked on his own interview and some of the questions which he asked of David and Seb were very testing.
After a couple of hours, they decided to call it a day. David was tired from overnight travel and he wanted time for reflection on his own. They agreed to meet in his hotel suite the following morning. Carradine took the initiative and his comments carried the supposition that he would be offered the job and that he would accept it. First, he was concerned about the timing. If it was unacceptable to delay the invasion date, then they would have to move fast.
‘To carry this off,’ said Fergus, ‘we’ll need to be at battalion strength, with five hundred in the front line and a hundred and fifty in support and administration. That’s an estimate because I don’t yet know the target, but from what you’ve told me, I won’t be far out. However, that’s a large number to recruit, as Seb knows. It’s never straightforward to find the right calibre of people. Then they have to be trained and worked into a coordinated team, but we are well served for a location. My choice would be Papua New Guinea. I know a bit about PNG. I can establish a camp in the Highlands which will be entirely discreet. The terrain is demanding and the climate taxing. You don’t ask questions in that country and expect to get polite replies. The total environment is not unlike Africa, and yet it’s more or less on the other side of the world. It will suit our purpose very well.’
‘You’ll want a few people immediately?’ asked David.
‘Correct. I can nominate the half dozen I’d like with me to get started, but there isn’t one amongst them who knows Africa. I’ll need your help there.’
Seb put in that he had Rory Trollope in his office on secondment from Bastion in the UK and he gave Fergus a quick brief on Rory’s African background and military record.
‘He sounds good and it’s useful that he was in the Reccies. I’d like to meet him but I assume he knows nothing of Zero yet, and that I will tell him as and when I judge it’s time?’
‘Agreed,’ said David and Sebastien in unison. Carradine nodded and moved to his next main point which was money. David had anticipated this and was able to answer that all the funding which they would require was already planned and would be available as and when needed.
Fergus raised his eyes.
‘The cost of materiel and people will be enormous, David. You don’t have the figures yet, but you sound very confident.’
‘So will you be when you meet Hugh Dundas. It’s good that you live in the same part of the world. I take it you’ll be staying here for the present?’
‘Yes I will. I have an apartment here in Singapore.’
‘There are people in London who you should meet: my business partner, my collaborators in this venture, Felix Maas who handles research and planning. When could you come over?’
‘I could come at any time, but I recommend that I should not do so until late next year. The best basis for covert action is always “need to know”, and they don’t need to know me yet.’
David said ‘I understand,’ and after a pause he went on, ‘Fergus, all three of us have been talking in language which says that you’re already on board. I’m very happy with that and I’d like to shake hands on it. We need, of course, to cover the detail of your remuneration and how it’s paid. How we communicate. But first, may I assume your acceptance in principle or have you anything else to ask first?’
‘Just one point. I’m surprised, Seb, that your UK partner Conrad Aveling isn’t here. I’ve never met him, but he enjoys a good reputation and had a relevant military career himself.’
David took the lead. ‘I’m surprised too, Fergus. Conrad is my oldest friend and his experience would be invaluable to us. But he doesn’t share my ambitions, is actually very opposed to them and as a result, he has voted himself out. I much regret his decision.’
Fergus nodded slowly.
‘Thank you for telling me. I’d still advise you to try and get him more onside. He knows conditions in Africa very well indeed and I would really like the chance to pick his brains. And now, you’ll want contact coordinates for me,’ and he handed over a business card. David saw that his email address began ‘cogs@’. He queried this.
Fergus said, ‘Oh yes, that. Cogs Carradine. It came out of typical Aussie humour. In the Mess, they thought I did the crossword too easily and pulled my leg about having a whirling brain. It’s a good alliteration and speaks of a hearty sort of image which can makes for useful disguise.’
‘And it’s not a challenge to your authority?’
‘Oh no, David,’ said Fergus softly, ‘I don’t make the policy, but when I give the orders, my people listen. And they don’t argue.’
THE OXFORD FIVE — 1997
Stimulated and relieved by his recruitment of Fergus Carradine, David flew back to London where he found the contract from Bastion waiting for him. This covered the action they would commence to provide data security for The Mansion House and their watching brief over Ginger McCabe. There was a hefty deposit to be paid and David cheerfully signed it off, explaining all the circumstances to Martin. They agreed that it was necessary and were delighted to recognise the contract as a sign of Conrad returning to the fold.
Then, towards the middle of May, they had a visit to Piccadilly from Pente Broke Smith. He arrived unannounced late in the afternoon and David cleared his desk immediately. They went for a walk together around the Park. Pente was very unhappy about the rift with Connie and David was pleased to be able to give him the latest and better news. The big man looked happier, but less than convinced. They went to eat in a small bistro in Shepherd Market, nothing fancy but perfect for a quiet conversation. They ordered, and David started straight in to ask about Pente’s deliberations over Zero.
‘I think you’d better hear about me first. I’m being moved out of Africa and back home to Hexham. The Abbot wants me to take over the Instruction of our novices and I’m due to start in October. I’m on some extended leave until then, but I’ll be based in Northumberland. I’ve already left Africa for the last time. Or maybe not?’ Pente beamed his big smile and it was good to see it back on his face.
‘Is this something to do with health?’
‘Yes, part of it. The new job’s genuine enough, but the last bout of malaria really did knock me out and I’ve been very slow to recover. Can’t seem to get my energy back and you get even more tired in the climate down there. They think I’m due a big change and a long rest: I didn’t argue.’
‘You’ve certainly earned both.’
‘That’s as may be, David and it’s a done deed now anyway. But it’s not been the main reason why I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.’
‘No?’
‘No. You see, I finished off with a few weeks convalescence at our Home in Dar. It’s a fine place which our Order of the Saints has there with a particularly attractive garden which is rich in peace and calm. I had
day after day to sit there and think things through. In the end, I came to a decision that I just couldn’t go through with it, that I couldn’t justify in my Christian conscience joining you to support your project Zero.’
There was a pause between them. Then David said ‘you say “couldn’t”. That’s past tense.’
The Priest stroked his greying beard and fumbled for his cigar box as he replied,
‘Well spotted, David. You were always the sharp one. No, well, what happened was this. On my way home, I diverted to spend a couple of nights in Kigali, Rwanda. The Abbot has recently settled a new Mission there and he wanted a first-hand account of how things are going with them. A reasonable request which I couldn’t refuse.’
He paused again and eventually David had to prod him. ‘And?’
‘Well, honestly, it’s just desperate. Oh it’s peaceful enough there now and there’s a bit of economic recovery. There’s a fair amount of local chaos of course, shanty dwellings, widespread begging, people looking seventy before they’re thirty, general deprivation. But a lot of that is just Africa and you’ll find it everywhere.’
David nodded his agreement and understanding, but Pente just kept talking.
‘What’s different and worse here is the underlying feeling which is quite palpable. It’s about three years on from the genocide and you still have the clear sense of every man jack looking over his shoulder and thinking “when’s it going to start again? What’s going to set if off this time”. But you know, David, the worst of it is the way those guys speak to you and just make you feel guilty with their disappointment. There was one, an intelligent and well qualified lawyer who’d lost all but one of his immediate family and just didn’t know the fate of many friends. He looked at me over a beer one evening and asked “why weren’t you there for us?” Just that. No recriminating. No fulminating: just that simple, gentle question which carried for me such a weight of well justified accusation. It wasn’t as if we Europeans turned the other cheek, you see. We didn’t. We just ran for cover and let them get on with it: our performance and that of the UN, why it was simple disgraceful. So, in that single instant in the bar it came to me. I’ve got to do better than settle for a sinecure in Hexham. If my friend David thinks he can bring improvement to the wretched shambles which covers so much of black Africa, well, I must do what I can to help. As you put it, it’s time to stand up to be counted. So here I am, yours for the taking.’
This was a moving moment which reduced them both to silence. Pente stayed overnight in a hotel and spent the following day in The Mansion House, much of it with Felix Maas from whom he learnt a good deal of the detail of Zero progress. Then he departed for Hexham, but thereafter kept in close contact, frequently on the phone and coming down to visit them every six weeks with a remorseless regularity.
Meanwhile, across the world in Hong Kong, big developments were taking place in the life of Alexa Bushell. There was no change in the situation of Hugh’s wife Janey and therefore no opportunity for Alexa to move in with Hugh, much less to marry him. But that status seemed less significant these days. She was by now so much a partner to him, not just in bed and matters of the heart. She was also in business with him and there was so much to do that she had resigned from Ince and Co so that she could spend her full time in helping to administer Hugh’s involvement in Zero. By now, he was full bore active in raising finance and he had started a new organisation, Dundas Securities, in order to keep the Project distant from his other business. He had known that they would need time to stock the war chest and how appropriate an expression was that. Hugh always thought big. Budget for champagne, he would say, if you need water. And, he argued, Zero was a project for which they simply could not have too much money. Of all the reasons for which they might fail, running out of funds would be the most unnecessary and ignominious. That wouldn’t happen with him in charge but the demands made on him were considerable and the amounts were stepped up by Fergus Carradine with whom he developed a close relationship through frequent phone calls and the relative ease with which they could meet. Then there was the new charity which Hugh established as part of his grand financial plan. There was much detail here also, despite the recruitment of his old friend Ali Shuib to run it out of Kuala Lumpur. David Heaven was hugely happy when Hugh told him about Orphans of Africa, and that was because he immediately spotted a second benefit which would flow from the charity.
‘What’s the plural of Trojan Horse I wonder,’ he had exclaimed to Hugh over an open line, and then, ‘don’t worry. It’s brilliant and I’ll explain when we’re next together.’
Other aspects of Alexa’s life were less happy during those months. Her father Joffrey died at home outside Limoges and her mother was hit hard by his loss. Alexa wanted to be there for Elizabeth and she was, but it entailed some frequent visits and thus many hours in the air between Hong Kong and Paris. At least this made it easy to keep up with Tepee and one day the two of them managed to meet up with Aischa for lunch outside Guildford. They were happy to have a girly chat, but before the end of their meal there were worries to exchange and the focus of their moans was David Heaven. Aischa was concerned from the moment David reported with pleasure that Connie had taken the brief to watch out for Ginger McCabe, only to vanish immediately afterwards to see Seb Mantel in Singapore.
‘He told me,’ she said, ‘that he saw no reason to say anything about that trip and he was sure that Seb would have said nothing either. I told him that was barmy. Seb and Connie are two parts of the same business and of course they’ll share everything. What’s worse, I said, is that you didn’t tell Connie yourself. You’ve chucked him a crumb and passed the cake to Seb even though Connie reckons it’s a poisoned chalice,’ and she finished with an apology for her mixed metaphor.
Tepee sought to give them all comfort by reporting that Connie had never mentioned the incident to her. She said he seemed better and more his old self these days but adamant on the few occasions when the subject arose that his strong disapproval of Project Zero had not diminished an iota. Alexa had less to say on this subject, but in her heart she was truly concerned. She had more experience than her friends as to the effects of stress and trauma and knew that blocking things out was one of them. Instead, she talked of the weird feeling of being somehow unfaithful to Connie through her commitment to Hugh and the close relationship, introduced by her, which had developed between him and David. Tepee and Aischa said that they could quite understand what she meant. They ordered another bottle of wine and agreed that men could be just so perverse, sometimes with all the sensitivity of a concrete block.
Alexa was entirely correct. Connie was soon aware that David had gone to Singapore and hired Fergus Carradine with Seb’s help. It both hurt and infuriated him. Then the matter was made worse by hearing that Rory Trollope had transferred onto Carradine’s staff. In his challenged state of mind, Conrad was able to overlook the fact that he had never told a soul about the events of Ndola and the brutal reprisal from Rory in 1992. He had sent Rory to Seb’s office at the end of that year, to keep him out of Africa and hopefully to learn, but he had not revealed the horrors of his action: not to Seb and certainly not to Tepee. It was all part of the load he was carrying.
During the late summer, King Offenbach came to see David at The Mansion House bringing news which pleased David very much indeed.
‘I’ve been offered the chance to retire from the CIA. In Washington, they’re fixing to devote way more resource to Africa and they want to beef up a couple of our offices down there — in Kenya and Cameroun. Both have a regional brief right now and operate out of the US Embassies. Well hell, that’s OK and quite a compliment, I guess. The new outfits are to answer to Langley direct and no longer through me in London. That’s OK again, except that supremo Stateside is to be a young schmuck with the brain of a peanut and an attitude a mile wide. It’s their call of course, but they know I can’t work like that. Also, would you believe I turn sixty years old in September ’98 — just
next year — and they’ve made me a generous offer to go while the going’s good. I’ve already said yes and thank you kindly Uncle Sam. I’ll be free come this Christmas and I figure to get myself an apartment somewhere in London and settle down where I can perhaps be a bit useful to you guys in making Zero fly. I’m in David.’
As the world move towards the close of 1997, David was pleased with the progress of Zero. He was delighted to have both Pente and King close at hand. He was mesmerised by the startling figures which Hugh Dundas bandied with such confidence.
‘I’ll feel comfortable with a total fund of five billion dollars,’ he said, ‘right now, we’re halfway there and I can see where the other half’s coming from.’
The reports from Fergus Carradine were regular and reassuring. He was getting his act together, satisfied with progress in establishing the human and materiel resources which they would need. He was now based at their training ground in PNG: it had all they needed and was comfortingly remote. He could also report that Rory Trollope had settled well and was proving of real value as his ADC.
Felix Maas continued to present David with impeccably presented project management information and this despite his increased workload which had resulted from the disappearance, almost overnight, of Ginger McCabe. It happened much as Felix himself had predicted. Ginger had done excellent, even inspired work for The Mansion House but after a year and more he had become bored with routine and his own achievements. According to his phone call on the Thursday of that week, there had been also the matter of his new friend, a long and lissom graphic designer who had been on assignment to a London agency but was now returning to his home in Brussels — or was it Paris? Honestly, Felix couldn’t remember and now it didn’t seem to matter. David agreed with him. They must concentrate on finding someone else.