MERCURY'S SECRET

by Tobias Roote

  He never checked it unless he thought there might be something there. I would get a message to him if I decided it was necessary. If anything happened to me he would know what to do with it. I still had no idea what was on the data stick although that might have to change on the strength of what he had just told me.

  Alice came around the door and walking over to me sat down in the chair opposite. I stopped stroking Mercury and sat back and looked at her. She definitely looked out of sorts. I wondered if distraction would help, but then thought we had so little time, events were beginning to move and if we didn't do something soon we would end up with everyone in the woods around the cottage and it would be Bonnie & Clyde time, going out of this life all guns blazing. I wasn't ready for that scenario yet.

  As if reading my mind Alice spoke up.

  “What are we going to do?” she asked. “If we just give them data will they let everyone go free? Can we not do a deal as my Dad suggested in the letter?”

  “Trouble is, who do we do a deal with? Who is the strongest to protect us from the others, and would they protect us and why should they?” I shrugged.

  I felt an explanation was in order so continued, knowing it was probably going to frighten her more, but not really having any choice.

  “According to Brett, just securing or recovering the data no longer provides the people involved who either own, or want it, with sufficient assurance that there won't be other copies floating around. They will seek to extract that knowledge initially, which means torture, or failing that, will set out to terminate the problem and hope for the best and dealing with other threats as they arise.”

  Her eyes widened with alarm.

  “So, you're saying we are going to be tortured and killed regardless,” she said in a quiet voice, “and it's not a matter of choosing sides, or looking for protection, because they all want the same thing.” She finished connecting all the dots together. Clever girl, I thought, proud of her ability to see clearly and get to the nub of the problem on her own.

  “Yes, that's about the sum of it at the moment,” I admitted.

  “But, you're not going to let that happen to us, are you?” her voice raised questioningly. I detected a faint tremor so knew she was troubled deeply, and then she added,

  “Surely Dad and Abbey thought all this through beforehand and knew it would come to this. Wouldn't they have come up with a plan to help us out and get us to safety?”

  “I don’t think they did, Alice. I think Abbey and John didn't realise that the knowledge they were holding was going to prove so volatile, or more likely they thought our only problem was going to be Dubianko, and that we could have used the information with one of the secret services, UK or Russian to secure our freedom and possibly theirs too, but I suspect not theirs as John intimated they would be unlikely to survive if the information was recovered.

  They seem to have made a lot of enemies and the information is obviously extremely valuable to any of the parties, and for those same parties John and Abbey represent too much of a danger to leave alive. What's in their heads will affect countries, or at least their national security which these days amounts to the same thing.

  They have too much information in their heads that either side can exploit. Whoever wins, or loses will seek to have them killed.” I shook my head. It wasn't going to turn out well for anyone involved in this. “They should have resolved this a long time ago, God knows what its going to take to sort it now.”

  She nodded dismally. Alice clearly believed that in this, her Father had failed her, and she was now potentially going to pay the ultimate price. She looked scared and there was nothing I could say to help her.

  I didn't want to betray her by lying to her and saying it was all going to be fine. I didn't know if it was going to be okay, but if I could, if it was the only thing I could achieve out of this mess, I would get her to safety, somehow.

  “I need to go and carry out some plans to draw out our enemies. I need to travel quickly and I need to go alone and do what I do best.” I watched her reaction keenly. I needed to know that she could hold it together. She nodded in agreement. I knew she understood deep down what was going to happen. I believe this is what the bedroom scene was all about this morning.

  We both knew that what was going to happen might result in our deaths. This morning was her way of making us both realise what was at stake. As if I needed reminding.

  “I want you to stay here with Mercury, keep him safe for me . The Farmer's name is Monsieur de Glaite, he will keep an eye out and his daughter, Aillie, will continue to drop off supplies as long as you are here. They will watch out for you, trust them. I will be back if I can within two days.”

  “And if you are not back in two days?” she asked timidly.

  “Ring this phone number.” I gave her a piece of paper with Brett's number on it. “He will find a way to get you to safety.” She bit her bottom lip pensively, I thought she would be okay. I needed to know she would be fine. She was the only reason for me to do this, and if she couldn't, I would take her and run to the ends of the earth and hide her from harm. This was a better way, but it didn't seem it at the moment.

  I got up to start making arrangements. I had a lot to do. I would see de Glaite on the way out and update him. He had two big sons, they would keep an eye out from a distance. It wouldn’t be the first time.

  CHAPTER 24

  After a subdued meal we set off in the evening sun to walk it off, arm in arm, with Mercury chasing everything in sight. I set an easy pace confident in my ability to hide us out here in my old ‘safe house’.

  The sun was just about to drop down behind the distant hills blacking out the view of the valley below already darkening with lights twinkling on in the black areas of the distant foothills. I felt as though we had achieved some measure of progress in our flight to safety and Alice was comfortable beside me. It felt good.

  It was dark when I was ready to go. I had timed it to leave so that I would reach the main roads late which with lighter traffic and less opportunities to observe the car would help keep me undiscovered. I would switch the car for another as soon as I could safely do so.

  We stood wrapped in each others arms for a long time. There was nothing to say. I felt her tears on my shoulder and almost caved in to the temptation to run and hide. I, more than anyone on this planet, knew how ultimately futile that was. So many people had tried, but I had found them quicker than they thought possible. Others were trained like me. They would not hesitate.

  Finally, I drove down the dirt road, lights off. Using the moonlight only and my memory of the tracks which were good, I reached the edge of the field where the Farmers house was. I stopped off and gave him instructions. He snapped his fingers at the boys and they immediately sprang for their rifles and went out the back taking their jackets and grabbing bread and cheese, stuffing it into their pockets.

  I made my thanks, hugged Aillie, and with an assortment of farm cheeses and bread for myself hurriedly made up by his wife, I went off into the darkness.

  I needed to make some calls, but to be completely sure that Brett's GREY phones were not compromised by our own security services I didn't intend to talk to them until I was well away from the cottage. I needed to be sure I didn't lead anyone back to Alice.

  I stopped at a service area on the circular motorway just south of Paris and made my first call. The person who answered was not friendly. I had anticipated that. Tobler, the Section Head of MI6 was not known for his bonhomie. I knew I would get short shrift.

  I explained the situation from mine and Alice's perspective and asked him frankly what interest this was to him. I had years of dealing with the services so I could spot any dissembling on his part. I also knew the protocols they had in place so when he kept me on hold, I knew he was trying to track me. I wished him luck with that, Brett was that good I was sure he was still running the only uncrackable system outside of the Services in the whole of Europe.

  Eventua
lly when Tobler came back on he was a little more sanguine and I felt he was more prepared to deal. I needed answers first.

  “What is it that is of interest to MI6 that makes this something that won't go away?” I asked. I knew I was risking incredulity here, but he would also know that if I was carrying information it would not follow that I had looked at it. Actually I had, this afternoon, using the laptop we took from the boat.

  I needed to know if they knew what it was and how important was it to them. I would find out soon anyway, but I was hunting for information and the lack of it would be as important as a lot of it. I expected none. What I got was plenty.

  “We believe that Chapman was turned by his opposite number and although we don't think, or are fairly certain, he didn't specifically give up our agents in place or in the field, we do believe he had an insurance policy.”

  He paused as he took a breath or it might have been for effect I wasn't sure which.

  “We believe that information, or list, is now in your possession and if we have to we will instigate an STK with immediate effect if we believe you are going to be uncooperative in helping maintain the ongoing security of Great Britain and more importantly the safety of hundreds of secret agents still in the field.”

  “Are you?” he asked.

  “Am I what?”

  “Don't be obtuse Charlie, are you going to bring this information back in?”

  His use of my operational name was good, it meant he was still considering me an operative. If he hadn't, he would have called me by my real name to signify my non standing in the community.

  “I will be totally candid with you, Tobler, because you have been fair. My life and that of an innocent girl is on the line out here and the other players are likely to get to me before I can get to you.

  So, I will do everything I can to keep the files out of enemy hands, but if I am hampered by you or my old department or even MI5, then I'm going to do whatever it takes to protect myself and the girl. I expect you to keep your dogs at bay while I try and take out the opposition. If that happens we will talk again. Whatever the outcome the girl is not aware of the information, is caught up in this because of her Father and I want her left completely alone. Are we clear?”

  “You're not in a position to bargain Charlie, you need to come in now. You need to bring the girl with you,” he barked.

  “You are not listening, Tobler!” I warned him.

  I cut the connection, although I was now worried. I knew that Tobler would put a ‘Shoot to Kill’ on us as soon as he felt he could do so. My call was to try and delay that while I bought us some negotiating space. I think I probably failed on that point.

  I had thought that if I could reduce the intensity of the fire-fight that was coming our way it might give me a chance to get Alice off the hook. It was probably going to be the best I could do. I was trained to accept my life was forfeit in any operation I was involved in, it was ingrained. It would be the difference between me and the ‘new’ service where the operatives had no such training or commitment. Sure, they would be good, but putting their lives on the line wasn’t in their job description. When it came down to the wire, it was my edge.

  I came off the main circular carriageway and headed the car towards Paris. From memory I took a specific route, avoiding CCTV as much as I could and then drove into a car park and collected a ticket parking the car in the darkest corner I could find.

  The metro into the city-centre stopped outside and I caught it within the space of a few minutes of loitering near the stop and then leaping on as it started moving. Checking for tails or observers as I would always do, I mentally checked off my list of things to do.

  In the town I used a passport that I had secreted in my safe house and hired a car from a main agency paying extra for damage waiver. I wasn't expecting to get it wrecked, but it might get a little rough and I thought they deserved a little extra cover in case I had to leave the car somewhere in a hurry. I'm generous to a fault.

  Picking up the GREY phone from the car seat, I called Brett.

  “Hi Brett, do you remember Frankfurt?”

  “How could I forget, you chump, that was some hornets nest!”

  “Well I'm going to set it up again,” I said and talked through the details and timing, and also made preparations for getting Alice out of the country if it all went wrong.

  Two hours later I returned to the car park and backed up to the Mercedes having first ensured there was nobody observing the car. This meant sneaking down from an upper level to view cars in the vicinity first and then when it all checked out clear, driving down and transferring all the contents from the boot. I placed the keys to the Mercedes up the exhaust, within reach but not in view.

  I drove out in the hire car, another Citroen, heading east of Paris before aiming for the German border. My next move would be from there.

  By five in the morning I was in position. I had chosen a village south of Frankfurt. There was a large aggregate distribution company with easy access to the Rhine river. It provided me with a lot of options for spotting and observing. I had been here before in an earlier life and knew the ground extensively.

  The phones I had collected from various parties now were activated and the numbers passed back to Brett. I set the bait and waited. It was going to be a long day.

  As I crouched down to look under a pipe structure for a view of a different section of the open ground, I felt something digging into my groin. I stood back up to return to my lookout post, put my hand in my pocket to retrieve the offending item and looked at it in my hand.

  It was Alice's keyring. The plastic top had popped right out and the photo was now in my hand along with the keyring and another slip of backing paper. It also had a bit of plastic, which I realized was another microSD card. These little memory sticks had massive capacity these days. Why was it hidden in the keyring?

  I remembered Abbey's last words that evening. “If you need answers they are under our bed, Alice’s key and her birthday will tell you all you need to know.” This must be Alice's key. I had missed the significance because it had been hidden in the message.

  I sat on the pipe and considered what I now held in my hand. If my intuition was right, and it usually was, then this represented the other half of the equation that had all the security services running around trying to kill us. I think this was supposed to stay with Alice, although I suspected without her knowledge.

  My GREY suddenly vibrated, I had turned the ringer off, it was Brett.

  CHAPTER 25

  “Charlie?”

  “Yes, Brett. I’m just about ready to run the trap on our hunters.”

  “If anyone is still in your safe house you have problems, I'm picking up chatter on the Section network that they are about to tie up some loose ends in your neck of the woods. I think they know the location of your place.”

  “Shit! Are you sure?” I panicked.

  “Yes, pretty certain, they have nothing else going on down there and this all began a few hours ago. I'm betting they have known of your place and up to now hadn't twigged you were there, they must have some means of knowing, or someone has told them,” Brett finished.

  I was already moving through the yard towards the exit I had set-up.

  “I talked to Tobler a few hours ago, I’m betting he didn’t like my answer and thinks to take me down.”

  “I will check the GREY for any leaks, I’m absolutely certain though, that they cannot hack into my system,” Brett said convincingly.

  It sounded like they knew where I would be, or had checked satellite imagery and located heat sources there. They would be onto Alice faster than a mongoose with a rattlesnake.

  “Alice is still there, the backup she's got won't handle a Wet Team from Six. I need to get back, can you run this without me and identify the players when they get here?” I asked, a note of desperation in my voice as I thought about Alice dealing with the cold hearted MI6 spooks, and she knew nothing. I had deliberately
not told her much of what was going on with the information for just this reason, to keep her safe.

  “Yep! Can do, go get your lady!” he clicked off.

  I ran for the car. It would take me ten minutes to get to it as I had left it out of range of interested parties. It was no good calling Alice as I hadn't left any phones behind as they were traceable. Damned hindsight! If it wasn't such a perfect science I wouldn't feel so bad. Driving back to the cottage gave me plenty of time for self recrimination. Its a really good pastime to occupy your negative side when you cannot do anything effective.

  I knew de Glaite's sons would be covering the house, but I didn't believe they would be very effective against an MI6 team, which is what I believed would be sent. On the contrary I was really concerned for them. I wondered briefly how de Glaite would manage without them. Too late for these thoughts.

  I cut things very tight on my route back to the safe-house. I made it in under three and a half hours! Looking at the trail up the hill in the headlights I could see it was churned up by at least two four wheel drive vehicles. I was going to be too late.

  Instead of driving to the cottage I continued past the access track and another quarter of a mile further on took a different turning up into a small copse of evergreens. I turned off the engine and took everything I needed out of the boot of the car.

  I was slightly higher up the hill than the cottage and the path we had taken, and I would guess that if the spooks were here, then they probably knew I was too. That didn't mean I had to be predictable or walk into their arms. I needed to know what I was up against then deal with them as best I could. Alice might be safe, or she might be already dead. I didn't want to think about it.