The Olympus Project

by Ted Tayler

  Meanwhile just around the corner from Vincent Gardens, Colin was keeping watch. Dressed in a natty shirt and sweater combo with dark slacks, he felt like a tailor’s dummy, but at least he blended in. While he was sat in this trendy street café, nursing a hot cup of coffee, he was fine. Once he had got his fingers warm he would put his fleece jacket back on and go outside and brave the elements again. Mercifully, it was dry; but boy was it cold this morning!

  Colin had chosen this spot because it gave him the best view of Athena’s home and the adjoining main street, without actually being stood on her doorstep. There was no way she could slip by without him spotting her. Just as he thought he should go and ask for a refill, there she was!

  The sight of Athena striding down the street with a couple of shopping bags reminded Colin of that first day at Larcombe. A galleon in full sail indeed! Erebus had been right; other pedestrians seemed to scatter before her. Nothing or nobody got in her way. She marched into the side road, skipped up the steps to the bright red door and although she fumbled with her keys, ever so slightly, she was safely indoors in seconds.

  “Nine point five from the Swiss judge” said Colin quietly. He finished his coffee, picked up his fleece and made his way to the door of the café. A moving target was the order of the day. He walked further down the street and bought a paper in the newsagents.

  It wasn’t something he particularly fancied reading, but the Financial Times would prove a useful screen if Athena suddenly reappeared and took a second look at the man wandering up the pavement opposite.

  Time goes very slowly on a stakeout Colin discovered. One advantage of being in London was that there was always traffic and there were pedestrians by the hundred, so he never felt exposed. The odds of someone looking out of a window and thinking ‘who is that man lurking outside?’ were a million to one.

  The seventeenth taxi to turn into Vincent Gardens delivered Athena’s parents back home. Athena appeared in the doorway within seconds of the cab pulling up; she hugged her father and helped her mother indoors. Father was left to try to persuade the cabbie to lug a couple of heavy suitcases from the cab to the hallway and then pay up. Colin thought that judging by the cheery wave the taxi driver gave him as he left, he must have given him a tip that would go some way towards paying for his hernia operation.

  After the door had closed on the family Athena, Colin hoped he would have an hour or two free; he fancied a bite to eat and getting inside in the warm again would be a bonus too. There were plenty of places for people to ‘do lunch’ in the area and it didn’t take long to get sorted.

  Athena was listening to her parents attentively as they told her everything they’d been up to over the past few months. They asked her how she was and did she still enjoy her job working for the charity. Athena was more interested in finding out what was wrong with her mother.

  “Mummy” she said “the charity work keeps me very busy, but it’s so rewarding. We help so many people; I can’t tell you. Now that’s enough about me and all the beautiful people you’ve met this summer, what about you? Daddy tells me you’ve not been well.”

  Her father sat on the arm of the chair by her mother and laid a hand on her shoulder.

  “We’ll know more tomorrow when we see Dr. Ramanayake. He’s a consultant cardiologist and he’s top drawer; your mother has been diagnosed as having coronary artery disease. She had been getting chest pains; she was a little short of breath now and then too.”

  Her mother squeezed her husband’s hand and took up the story.

  “I had a few dizzy spells and nearly came a cropper in the shower several mornings. Your father said it was the champagne cocktails! In the end there was nothing for it; we had to see a doctor in Monte Carlo. He told me to stop smoking, change my diet and start exercising of all things! My dear, if I have to start taking Zumba or Pilate’s classes you might as well kill me now.”

  Athena asked what they though Dr. Ramanayake would suggest be done.

  “If making ‘minor’ lifestyle changes” said her mother throwing her hands up in mock horror “isn't enough to manage my heart disease, I’ll need medication help my heart work more efficiently. In due course I’ll have bypass surgery. The surgery isn’t a cure, but provided I make some of the adjustments they’re talking about it should be manageable.”

  Athena went over and hugged her mother. They both had tears in their eyes. Neither was a familiar occurrence; open displays of affection and emotion were not family traits. Athena could only remember a handful of occasions when her mother had held her close; when a grandparent had died or the first time she went away to school; other than that, they were few and far between.

  Inside the house the family continued to talk and to bond. Outside, Colin Bailey maintained his vigil, fully replenished after his lunch break. The evening drew closer and lights were coming on all around him. He had to be vigilant. Would Athena and her folks dine at home or would they go out to a restaurant?

  Colin tried to imagine Athena in the kitchen; he attempted to conjure up a scene of domestic bliss behind that bright red door, but it was no good. They would be coming out later on, he was certain of that; he wouldn’t be able to go off duty until they were home again and tucked up in bed for the night.

  Sure enough a taxi arrived just before eight and the three of them would soon be whisked off to somewhere expensive; Colin decided to set off towards Knightsbridge. Okay, he didn’t have a clue where they might go, but he knew it wasn’t a drive through McDonalds and his research had pinpointed the general areas they could get the sort of dinner they were used to. There was nothing else for it; he picked one of his short cuts and prayed they were heading towards the Brompton Road. He cut across to the Danish Embassy and up Hans Road. He jogged most of the way arriving about twelve minutes later.

  Colin allowed for the time it would take to get the three of them out of the house, into the cab and then negotiate the evening traffic; he was convinced he would miss them by a couple of minutes. They could be half a mile away in either direction. This was pointless. He was breathing hard and looking left and right on the old A4; he spotted a taxi coming out of the road almost opposite.

  “You beauty” he exclaimed, checking the number against the one he’d scribbled on the top of the FT.

  They were dining at Montpeliano’s; one of the best restaurants in London. Typical Athena, Colin remembered the quality of those first meals at Larcombe Manor before he’d been shown to his real quarters in the stable block. Her and her family were a class act alright.

  He couldn’t risk getting too close, but there were dozens of places of interest to occupy him for an hour or two; a quiet drink; a snack; a read of the newspaper and then a stroll up and down opposite the restaurant in Montpelier Street. It was half past ten before he knew it.

  The door opened under the blue canopy and a group of people emerged from the busy restaurant. A taxi pulled forward from twenty yards further down the street and stopped to pick them up. Colin had started to walk towards the main road and as he turned the corner and pressed himself up against the building, in the shadows, the taxi passed him and he recognised Athena’s father sat facing the back of the cab.

  “Nearly time for me to clock off and have a good night’s sleep” said Colin as he trotted back to their family home, retracing his earlier steps. The taxi had dropped them off and disappeared by the time he got to Vincent Gardens; there were lights on both upstairs and down, the people in his care were safe and sound until the morning.

  After a healthy rather than a hearty breakfast in the morning, Colin was packed and ready to leave the hotel by seven thirty. As Athena and her parents were due at Harley Street for an eleven o’clock appointment, he decided to go to Paddington, drop his kit off in Left Luggage and then get back to start babysitting duties. He couldn’t be certain when Athena would return to Larcombe, but Erebus was adamant she should return today; so, unless she elected to ride on the last train of the day, Colin would be on the one
behind her. The risk of being on the same train was too great.

  After the cold snap yesterday, Thursday morning had heralded a slightly warmer day and the sun was shining brightly. It was a great start! Colin took up his post by just after a quarter past eight. All was quiet. The red door remained firmly shut.

  Colin looked up and down the street. He saw an electric milk float making its way from delivery to delivery; other than that nothing. It was odd that such a busy city should experience these occasional moments of calm; odd and a little worrying Colin thought, is it the calm before a storm?

  In Milton Keynes one of the disposable cell phones buzzed. It was a text message.

  ‘Meet at Oxford Circus. Today 1.30pm’

  “It is time” said Karim as he read the message.

  “Let us read from the Quran” Irfan said “that we may become worthy martyrs and kill many infidels.

  The three young men gathered together and embraced. This was their destiny. In just over six hours their work on earth would be done. As Irfan and Karim started to read, Arshad referred to the train and tube times to have all the details to hand for their journey.

  At Larcombe Manor the surveillance team were alerted by an unusual piece of traffic. They had picked up a direct message from Pakistan to the address in Milton Keynes; no intermediary in Birmingham or Leicester had been used on this occasion. The order had been given!

  Erebus and the three remaining senior members met briefly to decide on what action to take. They ordered an immediate strike on the Milton Keynes address. The agents who had been carrying out the surveillance of the property were unarmed; in case they attracted the attention of the police, but there were several other Olympus personnel within an hour’s drive from the maisonette who could provide the firepower this sortie needed.

  Five armed men, dressed from head to toe in black, burst through the door of the property in Milton Keynes all set to take out the three would be bombers before they left for London. The maisonette was deserted.

  “The birds have flown” the squad’s leader reported to Larcombe “repeat, the birds have flown.”

  Erebus had already planned his next moves; he instructed Brad the squad leader to leave the items he had been told to take with him on the raid. He was to leave contact numbers and names for the cell members in Birmingham and Leicester. They were to appear to be casually left by the bombers, perhaps tucked into a copy of the Quran to highlight a favourite text or in a bedside drawer.

  They were for the security services to discover and thereby give them the pleasure of cleaning up the remnants of the cell. They just needed to be careful not to make it look like the information had been planted there. MI5 would receive an anonymous tip off later today; regardless of the outcome in London. Erebus hoped they would still have time to stop the bombers; before someone would have to clean up the remnants of them and heaven knows how many innocent people in Oxford Circus.

  The squad were to proceed to the next stage immediately that task was completed. They were to change into civilian clothes, carry concealed weapons and travel to London. Erebus calculated that they should be at the tube station by noon at the latest. This gave them ninety minutes to trace the bombers and neutralise them. All this had to be done without alerting the public, the police and the security services; not to mention the bombers themselves!

  To reinforce the attack squad from Milton Keynes, Erebus ordered Rusty to take two men with him and to drive to London.

  “I know I can rely on you Rusty” he said “it’s all hands on deck for this one; ring Phoenix on this number and add him to your crew. The more eyes and ears we have at Oxford Circus the better. It’s going to be like finding three needles in a haystack! A haystack that has eighty five million people a year bustling through it!

  Rusty and his men were heading for the M4 in an unmarked car within thirty minutes. A team of paramedics followed behind at a more sedate pace in the ambulance. Erebus wanted a means of bringing the bombers back to Larcombe alive, if possible. He had also had to consider an additional scenario. If there were Olympus casualties he wanted them returned to Larcombe for treatment or burial. They couldn’t afford to leave anyone behind on this mission.

  In Belgravia Colin watched as yet another taxi arrived to collect Athena and her parents. They had a fifteen minute journey to make to Harley Street. He would be there on foot in thirty five minutes if he pushed it. His mobile phone vibrated in his pocket.

  “Who the heck is that?” he wondered. There was no ID on the caller.

  “Yes?” he asked.

  “Morning Phoenix, it’s me Rusty; the shit’s hit the fan mate. Get over to Oxford Circus tube station for twelve o’clock. No funny cracks mate but we’ll meet you outside Top Shop on Oxford Street. I’ll fill you in then.

  “Okay Rusty” replied Colin “Athena and her parents will be on their way home to Belgravia by then I guess. It’ll take me less than ten minutes to get to you from Harley Street. See you later mate.”

  In fact Irfan, Arshad and Karim were already on Oxford Street.

  They had left Milton Keynes at just after eight o’clock. First there was a thirty five minute journey to Euston; there they mingled with other people on the station who didn’t seem to be in a rush to get somewhere. They had time on their side. Three young men dressed in casual western clothes; blue jeans, trainers and the ubiquitous hoodie. Even the rucksacks slung on their backs didn’t attract that much attention. Eventually, they drifted towards the tube line for their next stop, Victoria.

  The same pattern followed; a casual stroll around the old station visiting several of the shops, just browsing. When Irfan indicated it was time to move on they made their way onwards via Warren Street to Oxford Circus. There was plenty to see there too and hundreds of people to share the experience with.

  When Colin ended his phone call with Rusty the three young men were leaving the station and were beginning to wander up and down Oxford Street West. Colin continued to make his way to Harley Street to keep watch; he couldn’t help being distracted by thoughts of what lay ahead of him this afternoon.

  CHAPTER 20

  Erebus was pacing up and down in the drawing room. He was impatient and nervous in equal measure. He had nine well trained men on their way to Oxford Circus station. He had the paramedics travelling there too as back up; what else could he do? Would they prevent a tragedy or would some of his people be caught up in the suicide attack? His mind was in turmoil. Had he made the right decision?

  Thanatos watched his boss and reflected on the past couple of hours. Suddenly he thumped the table with his fist. Erebus stopped pacing and turned sharply towards him.

  “What is it Thanatos?” he asked.

  “I think we’ve missed something” Thanatos replied “the message from Pakistan threw us off the scent.”

  “Go on” said Erebus, sitting back down at the table.

  “Well, look at it; it reads ‘Meet at Oxford Circus. Today at 1.30pm.’ The bombers are travelling together, so they won’t ‘meet’ each other will they? The message arrived early this morning from Pakistan, so if a fourth person was meeting them, they couldn’t get there in time for lunchtime today. The logical answer is that the fourth person is already here.

  The surveillance section needs to track the details of traffic between the UK and the Pakistani link over the past twenty four hours or so to find the outgoing version of the message. It may be coded or in a cryptic form.”

  Erebus nodded towards Alastor. He left the room immediately to start the hunt.

  “When they were watching the maisonette in Milton Keynes there were several youngsters seen coming and going” said Erebus “we need their details, and especially any photographs we have of them. We must get this information to Rusty’s team and the guys travelling in from MK as soon as possible. Time is of the essence!”

  Thanatos continued to outline his idea.

  “The next thing we need to consider is what role would any additional players
fulfil on this mission? We know the young men contacted at the property were the bomb carriers. Therefore, it’s logical to assume that the fourth man will detonate the bombs remotely. What the bombers are carrying, probably in rucksacks on their backs, are improvised explosive devices with nuts and bolts, a cheap cell phone, electrical wire, a fuse, batteries, electrical tape and a solid-state semiconductor device. This last piece lets you wire into the cell phone speaker; the speaker phone has more power going to it and is more commonly used when putting together an IED like this. When the phone is called, it activates the ringer, which makes the connection between those two components and kicks off the signal to detonate the explosive. This fourth person could be some distance away; however, if I’m right he or she also plans to be inside Oxford Circus station. It is such a busy thoroughfare and there are loads of potential exits. My guess would be they intend to wait until the bomb carriers are at the optimum points to cause the maximum damage, spread across the site. All the bombs will be triggered simultaneously. It will be carnage.”

  The others listened quietly to Thanatos and his grim predictions of the scenario unfolding one hundred miles away in London. Alastor had returned to the meeting and heard his colleague’s gloomy prediction.

  “Do we have the capability to shut down the cell service in the area?” he asked.

  Erebus shook his head “Not practical old chap.”

  “What about using those jamming devices you used in the military? They might at least disrupt the signal to some of the phones and reduce the effects” posed Minos.

  “We haven’t got time to mobilise them” said Thanatos “if we had rumbled the true meaning of the message earlier we could have maybe used the lightweight signal jammers we have in stores; but they only have a maximum range of fifteen metres. Fine for our guys masking mobile traffic out in the field back to us here at HQ, but in this situation the agents would have to be too up close and personal for their own safety.”