by Tim Jopling
The prisoner’s huge frame moved for the first time as his eyes lifted from the desk to study his captors. He spoke in a slow and sarcastic tone. ‘You are British Government; you will not hurt me. I have nothing to say. I wait until you release me.’ A smile crept over his face.
Olsen leaned on the table again and gave a piercing look. ‘Wanna bet?’
Ramsey entered Technical Support and was led to the desk of a ‘J. Price’ whom he recognised but couldn’t recall when he had met him. The results for prints and DNA strands had proved to be negative. ‘What about the disk?’ he asked.
Price pressed a key to show a display window that listed three files. ‘Well sir, the disk contains three files, some minor encryption was present but I’ve got it all downloaded to JPEG format.’
Ramsey eyes narrowed. ‘Pictures? Can you display them?’
Price complied. ‘Yes sir. Hold on.’ The screen changed to reveal a colour photo slowly downloading line by line.
The Chief of MI6 looked in astonishment as the display showed Burton standing in a secluded alleyway, wearing the same clothes he had seen him in just hours before. Someone was behind him as Burton held several documents, looking ahead, though Ramsey could not make out anyone else in the photo. ‘Can you zoom in on those documents?’
Price complied. The computer enlarged a small segment of the display that gradually came into focus.
Ramsey felt a sudden surge of anger as he saw the words ‘MI6. S.U.C.O. CONFIDENTIAL.’ on the front of the files Burton was holding. His large hands gripped the back of the chair harder and harder. ‘Display the other two files. Now!’
Price nervously tapped several keys to show the second and third photos. Each one showed more of whatever meeting Burton was attending. The third displayed the most damning evidence as Burton stood alone counting a huge wad of money.
Ramsey stepped back, shocked at the damning evidence he had just seen. I knew he had problems but selling information to the highest bidder? He looked at Price again. ‘Print them out for me, will you?’ Ramsey walked over to the laser printer on the far side of the office and waited.
Price watched Ramsey, who was several feet away. With no sign of him returning to his desk, his fingers flashed across the keyboard and several screens appeared on the display. The last graphic showed an encrypted message board. Price made sure Ramsey was still at the printer and typed out his message. ‘R IS ONTO U. EVIDENCE. LEAVE NOW. JP.’ Price selected Burton’s ID code and then ran the message through several other displays to prevent it from being detected by the Network Controllers.
Ramsey returned holding the three printouts. ‘I’ll take the disk from here. Thanks for your help Price. Don’t talk to anyone about this.’
Price watched Ramsey leave the department, wondering what Burton, his gambling partner, was doing upstairs.
Upstairs, Burton finished sorting out his office and got up to leave, putting his trench coat on. As he was about to turn off his PC for the last time, a message appeared, flashing in a red window. Burton had not seen anything of its kind before and bent down to take a closer look. He read it several times and straight away grabbed his things and rushed out the door.
‘Sir?’ asked Dawn anxiously.
‘Found a lead that may help out S.U.C.O. be back later!’ Burton said quickly, he gave a passing warm smile to his loyal assistant, knowing he wouldn’t see her again.
Burton continued to puff out of control as he reached the lift doors, which opened to an empty elevator. He walked in and pressed the button for ‘Ground’ several times.
From the other side, Ramsey jogged down the corridor towards Burton’s office. One look confirmed his worst fears. It was empty. Not only that but it was a total mess. Papers were everywhere. A safe was empty and wide open. Had Burton been planning his escape all day? Ramsey shouted at the assistant nearby. ‘Where is he?’
Dawn looked up from her computer and noticed Ramsey for the first time. ‘He said he’s found a lead on something that will help S.U.C.O. he only just left sir!’
The clock on the wall read just past close to 12 p.m. Ramsey thought it over. Either Burton is heading to the pub or he really is leaving. Ramsey pulled out his mobile phone and sprinted towards the lift. ‘Front desk? This is Ramsey. Seal the exit doors. Don’t let anyone leave.’ Confusion could be heard on the other end of the line. ‘Just do it!’
Burton came out of the lift and jumped as the alarm sounded at Front Desk. He began to run as fast as his overweight frame could carry him. Several people were at the desk demanding to know what was going on. Burton couldn’t wait; he pushed past the waiting pack and leaped over the barriers. Security guards shouted at him as the metal doors ahead slowly covered the exit.
One of the guards caught hold of Burton’s arm but saw a large fist swing around and knock him into the Perspex clearance tubes as the corrupt agent turned and sprinted as best he could towards the exit.
In a last attempt at escape, Burton threw himself through the emergency exit glass door just before the metal shutters came down. As he landed on the other side, a number 36 bus could be seen on the other side of the street. Blood was pouring from his face as he stumbled down the steps.
Ramsey burst out of the lift and saw the disturbance at the front desk. None of the waiting people fitted Burton’s unmistakable appearance. At the exit, glass was all around the floor, as the guard at the desk approached. ‘Open the security doors.’ The guard grabbed his radio for confirmation. Ramsey threw his pass to the guard. ‘Just do it. NOW!’ The doors took agonisingly vital time to retract. Finally, it revealed Burton’s escape route as Ramsey crawled through what remained of the glass door and ran down the stairs to the street. Despite looking frantically in all directions and knowing Burton was not easy to miss, there was no sign of him.
Burton tried to control his breathing and looked out of the window as the number 36 bus slowly moved down Thorney Street, not far from Vauxhall Bridge. He had done it, escaped MI6. I just need to get to Victoria and then I’m home free!
Chapter 5
Wednesday, July 25th 19:30,
London Victoria train station.
Burton stumbled off the red Routemaster bus and looked out from the depot to the adjacent London Victoria train station.
The grand old building stood tall in the glorious evening sunshine and commuters were coming in and out of the many doorways. Some jumped onto the nearest bus, others clambered down the stairway to the London Underground network that would take them deeper into the capital city.
Burton, still puffing from all the activity and stress, crossed the street and walked through the nearest entrance that would lead into the station itself. Burton could feel himself panicking and had done ever since his daring escape from MI6. All through the bus journey, he had been working hard to control himself and not think of anyone or anything until he was on the train to Gatwick Airport. Despite his efforts, his guilty conscience had been the one thing that he just hadn’t been able to suppress, no matter how hard he tried. All the decisions he had made over the last few years had been playing out in his mind, with the consequences of his actions dominating his thoughts.
Stopping at the side of the vast ticket office, Burton surveyed the huge station concourse with his own eyes and imagined the large number of CCTV cameras that would be watching everyone’s movements. He considered several actions open to him but knew he would be detected at some point anyway and reasoned there was little point in attempting to hide. There simply wasn’t enough time.
Burton joined the queue of the ticket office. As he waited, he glanced all around him. To his left was a row of small shops selling everything from ties to pastry products and to his right was a large WH Smith store and an escalator that led up to the station restaurant. Burton looked behind him and studied the large departure board that detailed all the trains that were leaving from the 20 platforms the station supported.
‘Booth number five please.’ Spoke an automated
voice, informing the customer of the next available ticket booth.
Burton complied and rushed over to the booth. ‘Single to Gatwick Airport please.’
The ticket office worker, a man in his sixties with a white beard and cheery face, complied and punched in several instructions on the multi coloured keypad of his terminal. ‘Just a single?’ he asked casually.
Burton nodded frantically and looked all around him, desperate to get his ticket and run. ‘That’s the one.’
‘Right…’ The man in the ticket office casually tapped away on the keys and sighed, as he took his time. ‘So where are you flying to, anywhere nice?’
‘Tim-buck-two mate’ he snapped sarcastically. Burton rolled his eyes and focussed on the slit at the side of the computer terminal, wanting to see his ticket pop out as soon as possible. ‘Would you hurry it up, Pops?’
Ferec swerved the stolen car into a disabled parking space at London Victoria station and got out, leaving the engine running. Just minutes before he had received news from Jozef that the team watching MI6 had reported Burton’s escape and the news they had lost him. Ferec had been ordered to pursue and resolve the matter permanently.
As fast as he could, Ferec ran away from the vehicle and sprinted into the station concourse, stopping at the fringes and looking out at all the people and areas ahead of him. The noise level was high, with station announcements, music and voices, all contributing to a busy atmosphere. Ferec focussed and felt all the distractions fade away as his eyes scanned each individual and moved on to the next, determined to find Burton before he escaped.
Burton grabbed the ticket and dropped a ten pound note onto the tray as he ducked under the gate and began to rush over to the departure board.
‘Hey! What about your change?’ called out the ticket office worker.
Burton looked back and shouted, ‘spend it on your attitude!’ As he reached the huge board that towered over him, his eyes tried to find a train that went to Gatwick Airport and was scheduled to leave in the next few minutes. His eyes came across all sorts of destinations, until he found the only train that was calling at Gatwick Airport on the list of stops that was the journey for a service to Barnham. ‘There!’ He shouted and rushed to his right, heading for platform 19.
Ferec had been watching and didn’t take his eyes off Burton who was now moving away from the departure board and disappearing from view. Cursing to himself, he looked up to the vast ceiling of the station, knowing there could be anything up to 100 cameras tracking the day’s events at London Victoria. Ferec knew all too well he couldn’t confront Burton in the main station area and allowed his target to disappear from his view. Immediately, he left the safe haven of his position and began to walk calmly across the concourse, towards the area where Burton had disappeared, keeping his head down at all times.
Burton was jogging now and turned the corner to see the exit gates some way off in the distance. A sign read ‘Platforms 16 – 20 THIS WAY’ as Burton rushed by.
A noise disturbed his run and straight away, his eyes glanced to the right as a child’s scream pierced his determination to escape. An alleyway, with several trolleys and doorways leading to the station, showed a young Mum and her son of maybe three or four years of age, struggling with a large man.
Burton didn’t realise it but he had come to a standstill and watched the scene play itself out ahead of him. ‘HEY!’ He shouted at the top of his voice.
The attacker lashed out at the child, who had been attempting to protect his Mum and wrestled the purse away from the woman, who dropped to the ground. The attacker sprinted away and merged with the crowds.
An agonising look came across Burton’s face, knowing that his train would be departing in 10 minutes. There was no time for distractions. As he watched the woman get to her feet, Burton breathed a huge sigh of relief and started to walk back in the direction of the exit gate that would lead to freedom and his family.
‘HELP ME, PLEASE!’
Burton wheeled around and saw the woman cradling her young son in her arms with blood now on her cream coloured jacket. Burton’s mouth was open wide as he saw the horror of the scene ahead and looked back up the alleyway, hoping to catch sight of the attacker.
‘MY SON! HELP ME SOMEONE!’
Burton did nothing and felt his stomach ache with gut wrenching power. He looked back at the exit gate and saw his train, waiting to take him back to his family. Then he looked back at the young mother and saw another woman had joined her but she simply stood around with her hands in her hair, clearly not knowing what to do to help.
Burton looked again at the train and then at the scene in the alleyway. His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing. Burton had taken and passed so many medical courses in his past, he knew all too well he could help and possibly save the life of the young boy in front of him. But my family! That train will take me to them, I don’t have time for this! I can’t help anyone anymore!
The young mother locked onto several shocked bystanders and began screaming uncontrollably.
Burton still didn’t move and was stunned to see people walking past, not even stopping to see if they could help. He reached out to one young woman, now torn inside as to what to do. This is someone else’s responsibility, they can help this time, and I have to leave! Burton grabbed the arm of the young woman. ‘Hey! Help her, she needs your help!’
The young office worker flicked the hand away and raised her arms in defence. ‘It’s not my problem!’ She rushed off, heading to the exit gate to board her train.
Burton cursed at her and gritted his teeth as he looked back again, still standing in the same spot. His eyes were full of sympathy and he felt sharp pangs of pain in his chest, a heaving feeling, knowing that he should be helping the boy by now. ‘I can’t. I’m leaving…I’m going home to my family…’ Burton was sobbing as he lowered his head in shame. He looked around him and saw similar looks of desperation on all the decent men and women that had stopped and wanted to help. The only problem was, none of them knew what to do. Only Hal Burton did.
Several miles from the capital of Russia, Salenko stood in the middle of a large stage in the small but important town of Smolensk.
Smolensk, a crucial commercial and manufacturing centre, was home to a vital railway junction and had a long history of producing processed foods, road building machinery and textiles.
In the distance, several buildings could be seen, in particular the famous Cathedral of Assumption, one of the many famous 12th century churches that could be found all over Russia.
The impressive structure captured the history and beauty of his homeland. Salenko’s distinguished features and thick black beard seemed to make him appear far taller than his actual 5’ 11” frame. He looked out to the huge crowd of several thousand ahead of him and continued the speech that was music to the ears of his followers.
The crowd screamed uncontrollably. ‘RUSSIA! RUSSIA! RUSSIA!’
Salenko raised his arms in the air and finished with as much emotion in his voice as he could manage. ‘There will be no more famine, no more weakness! I will take this once great country and with hard work, we will emerge victorious and far stronger than we have ever been before! We will regain our position as the world leader and take back the power we have lost!’ Salenko spoke even louder as he continued, taking delight in seeing the crowd’s joyous faces. ‘Only with me can we achieve this my friends, only with me can we restore the power we once had and make ourselves a feared nation that can change the world forever. JOIN ME!’ Salenko held up his clenched fists as high as he could and managed a powerful look of determination on his face as the crowd erupted into hysterics.
Akira stood in the background and watched Salenko complete his speech. A look of delight came over him at the sight of the raucous crowd roaring in agreement, with some in the front rows screaming at almost uncontrollable levels as Salenko stood tall on the stage, seeming to send out waves of encouragement that stirred the crowd even further.<
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Akira remembered what Madeline had said to him the night before and believed it even more now. As ever she was right. Salenko was just a puppet but a powerful one at that. In time, he could become a threat but with enough ego building and precaution he would remain a loyal servant and vital to the cause. Salenko would always need his guidance and Akira was always ready to give it and remind him of his place.
Looking out at the scene ahead, he had to admit to himself that Salenko was an expert at manipulating a crowd and was in the middle of giving a master class. His eyes studied as many faces as he could and felt inspired at the chanting of ‘RUSSIA IS POWER!’ and the looks of total dedication on people of all ages. The election so far was going far easier than even he had expected. Salenko’s opinion polls were soaring and the nearest contender was a long way from even half of what they had secured. At this rate, Akira was certain the election was theirs to win and Salenko would prove to be his admirable puppet in the years to come. Years of change he told himself, years of justice.
The election would be decided at the end of June, just weeks away and Akira had struggled to sleep or contain himself at times; such was his desire for the campaign to end and see Salenko take office. More than that, he was desperate to put other aspects of his plan into action. With a Russian President under his control came access to every FSB Secret Service agent, as well as the prestigious Black Knights team, the elite group of Russian agents who had proved in the past to be more than a match for S.U.C.O. agents, CIA agents and the like. To Akira, a man on a date with destiny to change the face of the world forever, it was a mouth-watering prospect. Having a huge super power like Russia under my control will be the catalyst for unstoppable change. Defeating the West will only be a matter of time.