Underground Murmurs (Akira and Deane Thriller Series Book 2)

by Tim Jopling

  Carter followed his friend through the mess of wires and cameras. ‘Almost two hours is a long time for a couple of shots.’

  The ticket hall appeared to have been fully restored. It looked from a different era with its heavy wooden finish and green tiling around the ticket window. A sign was at the right of the window, ‘3d Single, 6d Return – Any Station’. He walked along the balcony and through a newly painted door. Two lifts could be seen on the right of him.

  Carter looked inside the lift and studied what looked like a hand painted sign with a layer of dust on the surface. Ahead was the spiral staircase. ‘You ready?’ he asked quietly.

  Olsen gave a look back to make sure no one from the TV crew was watching. He attached his Maglite torch to his wrist and cocked his Beretta. Taking the lead, he began to walk down the metal staircase, listening out for any sounds.

  After both men had slowly walked down the 119 steps, a disused London Underground station presented itself. The lower level didn’t appear to belong to the ticket hall and lift area. These looked restored and straight out of the 1900s, whereas the lower level had paint peeling off the walls along with several puddles of water along the walkway.

  Olsen sniffed the air. It was thick and musty.

  Both Olsen and Carter stayed in an aggressive stance, with their chosen weapons aimed ahead.

  Olsen adjusted the tiny microphone on the lapel of his light brown jacket. ‘There appears to be power down here, Lorna. Should that be the case?’

  Reed sat up in the car at the mention of her name. ‘You’re on the lower level? There should only be minimal power down there. The only way full power can happen is when it’s rerouted from the upper level. No way the TV crew could have done that.’

  Olsen looked around for the source of the weak light and found a torch lodged into a crack in the wall. ‘The cameraman’s torch perhaps?’ He led his friend to the abandoned lift shafts and made eye contact as they waited at the sides of the structure. ‘One…two…three!’

  They both spun around the edges of the wall and into a damp and murky lift shaft. Above them, a small passageway could be seen, looking totally out of place from the rotting shaft.

  Olsen walked back out onto the lower level, noted a dripping crack in the ceiling and jumped slightly. A strong breeze came rushing past him, bringing with it a stronger musty smell along with the rumbling sounds of a train passing through.

  Ahead of the two agents was a singular tunnel leading to the platforms. Almost all the lights were not functioning, just one partially sparking from time to time. Peculiar noises could he heard and what sounded like echoing thunder. They both began to walk down the tunnel, avoiding the puddles of water and hanging cables. Every few seconds, another gust of musty air powered down the tunnel. The sound of thunder could be heard again, a rumbling noise some distance away.

  Olsen assumed they must be close to an adjacent tube line and tried to control the adrenaline rush of fear he felt. As the sound dissipated, total silence surrounded the two agents. They reached the end of the tunnel, with Olsen and Carter taking one side each.

  Both men slinked out of the tunnel and onto the main platform. To their surprise, a train was sitting there. Minimal power barely lit half the platform. They turned their Maglites to full power and moved off in opposite directions.

  Carter flashed some light on the walls. Old advertisement posters lit up momentarily, together with directions for leaving the station. Occasionally he would turn his head in the direction of the train. It looked ancient and was deserted, with several seats missing. Dumped to be scrapped, I guess. He looked back to the end of the platform, aiming the torch in that direction. It was empty, with no signs of activity, so he decided to head back.

  Olsen led the way towards a semi-bricked wall nearby. ‘This must lead to the rest of the station.’ He flashed some light down the passageway. ‘Looks in worse shape down here, Dan. No lighting at all.’ Olsen went first as they both walked through a connecting passageway. ‘Heading to the second platform Lorna, looks in worse shape, this part.’

  Reed piped up. ‘That part of the station was closed in 1917. Don’t think it ever gets touched. What does it look like?’ she asked, with real interest.

  ‘The perfect holiday spot Lorna, you’d get a real tan from the lights down here.’ quipped Carter.

  Olsen led the way through the interconnecting corridor but stopped in his tracks as his Maglite torch dazzled on a pair of motionless feet sticking out from around the corner. ‘Dan…’

  Chapter 12

  Friday, July 27th 0:00,

  King William Street, Central London.

  Jordan allowed the car to coast down King William Street. London Bridge train station could be seen ahead, with the River Thames somewhere below. ‘Can you see Regis House?’

  Gibbs looked up from the map on the digital display. ‘It’s definitely on this street. Here it is, coming up on the left.’

  Jordan pulled over at the nearest space and turned off the ignition.

  Both agents checked their torches and made sure their chosen weapons were fully loaded. Jordan got out of the car and studied Regis House.

  It was one of many buildings in London that looked extremely modern and housed several IT companies. According to Lorna Reed, the expert from the London Underground, access to the closed station was possible through the basement of the building ahead after the main station building was demolished some years before.

  Jordan snapped a fresh magazine into his Glock .45 semi-automatic pistol and noted the concern on his friend’s face. ‘Don’t worry, if there’s any trouble I’ll deal with them. These people need to be taught a lesson.’

  ‘And you’re the one to give it to them?’ Gibbs didn’t share his former leader’s confidence.

  ‘Damn right.’

  Gibbs approached the window of the building and caught the attention of the front desk guard. ‘We’re working alongside the Police on security preparations for the Olympics; our people must have phoned ahead. We’re going to need access to your basement!’ he shouted through the glass.

  The stocky security guard opened the glass door several feet and stuck his head through the gap. ‘Yeah, they rang. In you come. What do you want to go to the basement for? It’s just full of old junk, I went there yesterday.’

  ‘We just need to get down to the basement as soon as possible please. Is there someone here who knows the layout of this building? Someone in authority?’ Gibbs watched the security guard dial a number on his phone. Almost immediately, a medium sized man, around 6ft tall, came from a side door, and introduced himself as the Head of Security. Gibbs explained the situation again and was led to the nearest lift.

  The lifts doors parted to reveal a basement full of stacked boxes and over filled bin liners. ‘We need to find a manhole of some kind.’ Gibbs exchanged a look with the security chief. ‘Look, I don’t know if you are aware but there is an abandoned Underground station below us and there should be a manhole around here so we can access it. Any ideas?’

  The Head of Security paused for a moment and looked at both men with scepticism. ‘Right. Well as far as I can remember, there is something of that description in that corner over there. That’s all I know.’

  Gibbs looked behind him in that direction and then spoke again. ‘Ok thanks, we’ll handle it from here.’

  The security chief studied the two men again, raised his hands in defeat and got back into the lift.

  Gibbs and Jordan began to move the boxes, finally revealing a large metal plate. ‘This is definitely it. You ready?’

  Jordan produced one of his trademark grins. ‘As I’ll ever be.’

  Both men moved the plate out of the way, which revealed a stepladder that led down to the darkened tunnel.

  ‘Not sure how safe that ladder is, it looks pretty corroded.’ Despite his concerns, Gibbs went first down the ladder and felt the heavy hot winds batter his body as he took it one step at a time. As soon as he reached th
e bottom, he whipped his weapon out of his jacket and completed a 360-turn, expecting danger straight away. Ankle deep water was all around.

  Aside from eerie noises and distant rumbles, there were no recognisable sounds and no signs of life in the abandoned ruins of King William Street Underground station.

  Gibbs heard Jordan begin to climb down and took two steps forward, allowing the darkness to consume him. He had always thought of himself as a brave man and one who had accomplished a great deal in his career but knew fear when it came and he didn’t mind admitting he was scared. I wonder if the others are feeling this? Gibbs squinted into the darkness all around him and felt despair, a nervous twitch in his right hand that carried his pistol. If there were an attacker in here, we wouldn’t know it until it was too late…

  Jordan kept his pistol out in front of him at all times as he slowly moved his torch across the blackness around him. One of the station walls had a small crack in the side, which had caused the ankle-deep water around him. As he walked further along, he shone his torch on the wall where a large poster lit up. ‘THIS WAY FOR FIRST AID POST’. Ahead of him, he could hear his fellow agent wading through the water. ‘It’s like a time capsule down here, who’d have thought this existed?’

  Gibbs allowed Jordan to catch him up and both men began to move forward together.

  The air was stale but cables still ran along the walls on one side, no doubt connecting to the nearest station, Jordan told himself.

  Gibbs moved past a bricked up wall and looked for any signs of activity. All he had seen so far was nothing other than an area that hadn’t been touched in fifty years.

  From within the deep threatening shadows, Ferec watched through the green tinge of his night vision goggles with interest. Ever since he had heard footsteps on a ladder at the other end of the station, he hadn’t moved an inch and had been waiting. Waiting for his next kill.

  Ferec could see the two men approaching his position slowly and raised his pistol inch by inch, just in case a sudden movement might be noticed. When he had been ordered by Jozef to collect the stores of charges earlier, never in his wildest dreams had he imagined he would have the chance to go up against two of the S.U.C.O. agents from Burton’s files. It would prove to be a real test of his ability and Ferec could hardly control his beating heart, so eager was he to take the lives of the men ahead. His eyes locked onto the targets and Ferec lined one of them up with his pistol. All he needed was the right moment to execute his attack. He sat perfectly still and waited…

  Carter saw the lifeless feet protruding into the darkened corridor ahead and got his weapon ready. ‘I’ll cover you.’ he whispered.

  Olsen rushed along to the edge of the wall and quickly turned around. In front of him was the cameraman’s body. A hefty looking camera was lying on the floor beside him. He felt for a pulse but to his dismay, found nothing. Olsen looked for a cause of death and found two bullet wounds that had ripped through the man’s shirt and chest. The wedding ring on the cameraman’s left hand made him feel responsible for what had happened. Another death at the hands of these maniacs.

  Anger boiled up inside of him; his mind conjuring up images of the countless, other innocents that he had seen perish over many years of service. No more death… He led Carter back into the corridor. His voice was hard; his eyes alight with determination. ‘We’re going to check every corner of this place and find out what happened. I want these bastards, Dan.’

  Carter took another look back at the sorry sight not far away. ‘I know.’

  ‘Lorna, you with me?’ whispered Olsen.

  Lorna Reed perked up in the car, having previously been watching a dubious looking blonde man who appeared to be heading home after a heavy night out and had been lingering on a nearby street corner. ‘What’s going on?’

  ‘Ran into a bit of trouble. I need you to leave the car and tell the film crew on the upper level to get the hell out of here. Understand?’

  Reed looked out of her window. ‘They’ve almost gone, Sam. I can see them loading up the truck. Just one or two at the door to the station.’

  Olsen felt a sense of relief, not wanting anymore unwelcome visitors joining them. ‘Go and tell them anyway and then lock us in down here. Only talk to us when we request it. Then get back to the car and lock the door.’

  Reed picked up on the serious tone and immediately felt a nervous wreck as she left the car.

  Olsen led the way through the corridor and past the body of the cameraman.

  In front of them were the remains of the second platform, with another corridor branching off to the right leading to several other rooms.

  Olsen swallowed hard, breathed in a lungful of the musty air and placed his hands together briefly, indicating they wouldn’t be splitting up. They both stepped out onto the platform and into total darkness. A sound echoed out from somewhere down the tunnel. That sounded like someone running! Olsen thought. Carter heard it too. Torches quickly turned in the direction of the noise, lighting up the supposedly deserted tunnel.

  Carter squinted as far as he could see. ‘What the hell was that?’ he said nervously.

  ‘Our killer, no doubt. Stay here, I’ll take a look, make sure he doesn’t double ba-’ the final words were drowned out as machine gun fire sparked off the walls, causing both men to dive back into the corridor. The attack continued from the nearby offices, pinning the two agents between both the platform and the corridor.

  Carter cursed silently and spoke in a frantic tone, his out of control breathing clearly apparent. ‘I count two at least! We have to move now! There could be more of them, if we don’t go-’

  Olsen gave him a small shove. ‘We stay! Head back over there.’ He pointed to the interconnecting corridor. ‘Wait for the attacker in the offices to surface, I’ll take out the platform guy. Go!’ He flashed his Maglite torch onto the wall of the tunnel on the other side of the platform and saw what he wanted to see.

  Before leaving MI6, he had read as much as he could about disused stations. One such feature which he thought might come in handy was the anti suicide pit, a trench which ran between the two track rails.

  Olsen felt the danger of the risk but tried to direct his feelings in a positive way, thinking of the dead cameraman and other potential innocents. His temper boiled up inside him and fired through every inch of his body, fuelling his motivation to go through with the move. He made sure his Beretta pistol was loaded and without so much as a moment’s thought, threw himself through the air, landing in the anti suicide pit.

  In the shadows, one man could be seen raising his weapon but Olsen was quicker and emptied three bullets from his Beretta into the attacker. Without even a look to see the damage, he spun around and checked every corner of the tunnel with his weapon and Maglite. Olsen could see no other threat, inspected the nearby body and was satisfied there was no further threat.

  Olsen ran down the platform, coming back to his original position, near the corridor that led to the offices. An empty magazine slid out of his Beretta and was replaced with another from his pocket.

  Carter breathed a sigh of relief at the sight, pointed down the corridor and showed four fingers to his team leader.

  Olsen flashed his torch down the corridor, focussing on the fourth room down. ‘We know you’re here!’ he waited for a response but heard nothing at all. ‘The only way out is through us. Your friend is dead. Come out into the corridor, keeping your hands where we can see them!’ he shouted.

  Silence.

  ‘This is your last chance! Roll your weapon towards us, or we’ll be forced to come down there’

  Silence filled every inch of the abandoned station.

  Three shots from a handgun blasted down the corridor, causing the S.U.C.O. leader to dart behind the wall once more. ‘No time for this…’ Without any consideration for his own safety, Olsen screamed in rage, ran down the corridor, slung around the wall and fired a warning shot.

  The attacker wasn’t at all intimidated and fire
d back, just missing Carter who had followed and now had to dart across the doorframe. He shouted word after word of a foreign language and continued firing.

  Olsen caught sight of Carter who was shielding behind the rotting wall and thought over the options. Even if we capture this guy, we’re out of time to pressure him to talk. I have to end this now! Taking several deep breaths, he dropped to his knees, rolled into the doorway and fired straight for the temple, catching the man unawares.

  The blasts sent the attacker hurtling backwards and onto a heap on the floor.

  Carter stepped into the room and never once lowered his weapon. ‘Oh Jesus…they don’t come much deader than this.’

  Olsen said nothing as he was already searching the body for anything of use.

  Carter had to look away for a moment and wonder how much longer he could stomach the images he witnessed through his job.

  ‘Wait a second…’ Olsen said in an excited tone. ‘What the hell is this?’ He pulled out two pieces of crumpled paper from a back pocket. ‘Looks like a shopping receipt.’

  Carter caught sight of it. ‘May be worth looking into, considering the number of leads we have but first let’s check the rails, from here they will connect to the main line.’ He looked around the room that was deserted aside from a rotting table and chair.

  Olsen completed his search and got to his feet. ‘I agree. I’ll get this checked out by headquarters. He followed his partner down the murky corridor and onto the rails of the platform. He set his Maglite to maximum intensity as he examined every aspect of the area. ‘Here! Look at this; these black devices right under the rails. You can barely see them!’

  Carter knelt down to study the device whilst high intensity light poured in. ‘They look brand new.’

  ‘We need a specialist team down here, now!’ Olsen started to jog through the remains of the station, passing through the different areas, confident he was closer than ever to stopping the destruction they were trying to prevent.