MERCURY'S SECRET

by Tobias Roote

  “If it gets to a point where you are of no use to me, then you know that I will just drop you overboard like I did with the amateur wet team you sent in to intercept us last week.”

  Tobler coughed as he tried to laugh, he just wheezed instead. “You won't win this time Charlie, you're way out of your depth and over the hill in terms of ability. The whole intelligence community is hunting for you. The best thing you can do is give yourself up and hand over the information you are protecting.”

  “Who would you like me to give it to, Tobler - The Brits, the Russians or your friends?” I checked his ties, feigning interest in his well-being. He didn't answer and just glared at me.

  I was watching for a sign he would talk and seeing none I stood and walked over to my holdall and undoing the waterproof membrane, pulled out the laptop. Plugging it back into its usual place I waited while it booted up.

  Taking my GREY and setting the Bluetooth application running, I set the pairing to the laptop and then opened an internet connection and fed it through to the laptop. In a few minutes I was connected to my mail service and downloading messages.

  The GREY was operating on a series of unlisted bandwidths that gave maximum speed connections anywhere in the world, piggybacking on any available network operator. There was no registration and no call logging on these unlisted settings and only a very few people outside of the major phone operators top people knew they even existed. The system also had the ability to switch to satellite linkage if it couldn't pick up a transmitter.

  Brett, was to my knowledge, the only person to have hacked into them so that even the operators themselves were unaware of the incursions.

  The email messages began to stack up. Mostly, the usual rubbish that finds its way into your Inbox. However, there was one subject that got my attention:

  Re: Air conditioning Unit Installation

  Dear Mr Mercury

  We wish to advise you that delivery of your unit is held up in Genoa, Italy. The supplier has informed that it will ship no later than Thursday. We will keep you informed as to firm delivery date.

  Customer Services

  I quickly pulled up my navigational charts. We could be there by morning.

  I hit reply on the email:

  Dear Sirs

  Please be advised that due to the costs involved I would prefer shipment by sea freight. I will expect to hear from you from Thursday morning onwards.

  Mercury

  I routed the new destination into the on-board navigation and reset the pilot. I watched as the boat came about to its new heading eastbound. I had things to do before we got there.

  Unplugging the mobile from the laptop I called Fletcher and gave him new instructions sending him to our new destination. It took about ten minutes to go over the plan I had and at the end he confirmed it was workable and I left him to it. Having a backup is always useful in case things go tits up.

  I went back into the main cabin, Tobler had shifted position, but wouldn't get anywhere fast. I left him and went to see how Alice was doing.

  I sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her face. She looked less pale and drawn and some colour was definitely returning. I stroked her cheek with my finger knowing it would rouse her without panicking her and was rewarded with a flutter from her eyelashes and a glimmer of a smile.

  “How you feeling?”

  “ummmmh! better, I think.”

  “Are you up to going on deck and getting some fresh air?”

  She nodded, “I think so, I might need a hand to get there though.” Looking up at me I could see the sparkle returning to her eyes.

  I took her arm and walking her past Tobler making sure he had no eye contact with her, we made our way up on deck. I sat her down on a small seat we kept there and watched as the breeze slowly drew the colour back into her cheeks. The stories that you read of people being sedated and coming around in minutes simply isn't true, it takes time for the sedative to work out of your system especially if like Alice, you have been heavily dosed.

  “We have a message from your parents,” I told her anticipating that good news would help in her revival. I wasn't wrong.

  “Really, are they okay?” she brightened and I got my first big smile since getting her back.

  “Yep! We are on our way to meet them now, I changed course for Genoa not ten minutes ago. We should be there in the early hours of the morning.”

  “What about Tobler, I saw him downstairs, are you going to kill him?” she looked at me strangely, as if I had grown horns.

  “Not if I can help it, I'm going to try and exchange him for some concessions to the highest bidder. I understand he works for Dubianko, so he might be of interest to MI6, or the Russians.”

  “Oh! Okay then,” she agreed quietly. I thought maybe she had enough of killing, or that as she now knew Tobler she didn't want him dead. People get like that. If its someone nameless, faceless and without prior interaction then their death is just a statistic and only if they themselves are involved with the one to die, do they show any emotion.

  “Don't worry,” I assured her. “I might be a heartless professional killer, but I don't do it needlessly, there has to be a good reason for it, or it doesn't happen. At the end, it's down to the level of threat they represent,” I finished, thinking back to the ones I had deep six'd behind the Island who would have been relentless and ruthless in their pursuit, and were therefore a high risk. I had been trained to eliminate risk as much as possible.

  I leaned against the boat and pulled her towards me in a reassuring hug and we both looked out over the sea while she regained her strength until at last she said,

  “I'm hungry, lets find something to eat!”

  CHAPTER 31

  It was two in the morning before we saw the marina lights in Genoa that indicated journeys' end. We had kept the boats lights to a minimum. I managed perfectly well using my night glasses to light up the entrance and negotiated my way quietly and without fuss to the nearest empty mooring.

  Alice jumped off and tied off the bows as I killed the quiet low running engines. As I slipped off the aft end to tie up there, I took the time to drop some buffers down the side to protect the boat as I went. It was a smooth and silent operation, I thought, worthy of my old team skills.

  Nobody should know we were here except John and Abbey so I was not expecting any company until later that morning. After a quick look around to imprint everything in my mind, I went back down below.

  Pulling Tobler out from the recess I had planted him in while we were working on the boat, I turned to Alice as she came back from the bow. She looked pensive and I wondered if she was nervous of her parents coming. It was going to be the first time they had met since she found out who, and what, they actually were.

  “Alice, I think you should get some kip for a few hours,” I said, turning to her as I worked Tobler into a comfortable position again. “Your parents wont be here until morning I wouldn't think, which means we have time.”

  I looked back at Tobler, his attention was on Alice, he seemed like he wanted to say something, but I put my hand on his head and twisted it away from her view and as I looked back at Alice I saw the anxious look in her eyes, her pensive look was deepening. She nodded at me, looked briefly at Tobler, then made her way back to the cabin and closed the door.

  I tied off one of Tobler's hands to the recessed ring in the deck and then gave him a bottle of mineral water and cooked him an omelette. I watched him as he ate with one hand.

  “Thank you for the civilised treatment, Charlie, I will remember that when the boot is on the other foot,” he nodded smiling at me lifting his loaded fork in salute. I remained silent, something was nagging at me in the deep background, a feeling was all. The plate was soon empty.

  “Push the plate and the bottle away from you Tobler, I'm not in the mood for any of your mind games.”

  I waited until he had placed the fork and plate out of his reach, the bottle rolled away from him and I snagged it
all and placed it onto the worktop.

  “I need to use the head,” he said, his face was down in shadow I couldn't see his expression. I wasn't ready to loosen him up yet.

  “You will have to wait, I'm afraid, at least until a second person can train a gun on your head. It shouldn't be long, a few hours at most.”

  He nodded. “Fine, have it your way, but if I soil myself I'm not going to clean it up,” he smiled sarcastically. I ignored him, I knew he was trained. He would try to gain advantage, we were trained to manage these things. He hadn't had much to drink and the weather was warm. His body would absorb the little amount of the liquid he had drunk.

  I lashed his hands together and attached him to the cleat in the deck again. He wouldn't be able to go anywhere.

  I settled down for a long wait drifting automatically into meditation mode, enabling me to keep an ear out for anything that didn't fit whilst letting my body and mind rest. I would be refreshed in an hour, or less. I had learned this technique while waiting, sometimes for days, for an opportunity to take out a target.

  I slipped into it almost immediately. As I did my senses relaxed listening for things that didn't fit a pattern, out of place. The lapping of water against the hull, the sense of drift as the slack in the mooring ropes ebbed and flowed.

  The general noise from the Marina at three o'clock in the morning was subdued, little foot traffic along the gangways. Most in the boating fraternity wore canvas or similar soft soled shoes that didn't abrade the polished plastic decks yet kept them from slipping.

  Some time later I awoke from my mental and physical nap with a sense of a change in the surrounding ether. Nothing discernible yet, but there nonetheless. When the boat's dispersal changed minutely, I felt it. Someone had stepped aboard, a moment of nothing and then again, another. Two bodies on board coming from the bow area, I thought.

  Standing up and slipping into action mode I flipped the safety off my gun chambering a round quietly as I moved to the shadows near the main entrance to the cabin.

  Taking in Tobler's silent form, I didn't for a moment think he was asleep. I took a cloth off the chair where I had left it and using my left hand forced him to accept it into his mouth while I covered him with the gun at his temple. He could feel the cold hard silencer and knew me well enough.

  He resisted only for a second, making his silent protest then reluctantly opened his mouth and accepted the gag. He couldn't remove it easily and anyway I only needed him quiet for a few seconds. In the dark, if he moved, he would probably get himself shot by me or the visitors.

  The bulkhead's shadow totally covered me. I controlled myself keeping to a shallow purposeful long slow breath so I could hear and feel every nuance of movement coming from above. They were quiet, professional. I thought perhaps it wasn't them. It takes a real pro to take your time and break up patterns in footfall, alternating the balance so the rhythm cannot be read. They had separated, coming now from two sides, I could almost feel the impact impressions as their bodies traversed the outer deck. It wasn't looking good.

  The first one reached the step into the cabin. The gun came through first, held firmly, two-handed. As they stepped into the cabin I moved across the dark space and my silenced Glock made it to their temple. With my other hand I covered their gun hand and took hold of it, forcing them to give it up. Their fingers splayed and I took the weapon and slipped it into the back of my waistband. They had not moved.

  My now free hand took the other's gloved wrist guiding them further into the cabin, holding them ahead of me so that the second member of the team would have to shoot them to get to me. My gun was still trained on their temple.

  As the second gun entered the cabin, I called.

  “Drop it, you're covered!”

  At the sound of my voice the person I was holding on to stiffened.

  “Dan?” the voice said and the relief I detected in it was evident. I knew immediately it was Abbey.

  I took the gun away from her temple and blurted “Damn it ! Abbey, I nearly killed you!”

  I saw the other gun drop and the remaining blackclad figure came into the cabin, hands by his sides offering no threat. I pulled back so that I could cover them both until I was sure that they were alone and not an immediate threat.

  “It's me, John! We saw you arrive, we were watching the Marina after your email,” the other figure said.

  “Are you both alone?” I asked not yet wanting to relinquish command of the situation. It wouldn't be the first time I had been caught out by friendlies in a hostile situation.

  Abbey responded quietly bringing me up to date “Yes, we're alone. We were not sure that you were, hence our silent approach, we couldn't see who was piloting when you came in. You surprised us mooring where you did, it wasn't the obvious choice and our view was spoilt.”

  “Are you in the clear? “ John asked, pulling at his balaclava. Abbey was pulling hers off. She had her grey hair pinned back and was looking pinched and drawn. It cannot have been an easy operation for her at her age and leading like that. What a girl, lots of pluck!

  “Yes,” I said “just one prisoner and Alice is out back sleeping.”

  “Oh! you have a prisoner?” John asked, “That's interesting, who might that be then?”

  I switched on the small 12 volt lights and the room was illuminated in their white halogen glow.

  “Tobler!” John spat, pointing his gun at him threateningly ready to shoot him.“Why did you let him live?” He turned to me accusingly. “He's a bloody Russian mole!”

  “Exactly, which is why he's not dead yet,” I said, “in fact he is more than possibly Dubianko's man, we have yet to be certain, but its a strong case we have against him.”

  “Aaah!” John sighed, “So you're thinking of trading him either to the Brits or the Russkies. I would make it the Russkies, they will have the most fun with him.”

  “I can almost guarantee it,” piped in Abbey who was glaring at me, obviously no less enamoured with our unwelcome guest.

  I put my view. “It is no good going to the Brits, Butler is a Russian mole too, so whatever we do, he will ensure the agents under him are compromised.” I guessed the 'modus operandi' of that bastard, thinking of my team that were massacred, someone still had to pay for them.

  Abbey spoke up. “How do you know that Butler is Russian and Tobler is Dubianko's man, Dan?”

  “I have my own sources and we have traced both their origins back to twenty five years ago. A time when both of you were still active.” I looked pointedly at Abbey, her face remained blank in the white light of the halogens. They were both professionals as they had proven coming onto the boat tonight. I would not discount either of them being involved in something like this.

  I covered my visual appraisal of them with my decision. “We need to wait and see what happens, now you're on the scene we might be able to orchestrate an end to this altogether.”

  John glanced at Abbey and caught her eye, they neither looked happy nor confident of that outcome. I understood their concerns, we had a temporary respite, a window of opportunity is all. Whether it would amount to anything lasting there was no way of knowing just yet. Yet again I was reminded of differing agendas and resolved to watch my own back even here.

  We got ourselves organised, there would be time to talk and plan later, but first we had to be secure.

  John and I had decided we would be safer out of sight of land and in the midst of preparing to cast off, Alice came out of her room having been woken by the noise of people moving about and everything stopped for a tearful reunion.

  I watched as John and Abbey calmed Alice who was now getting a little angry in reaction to the pressure she had been under, as well as the long term deceit she had endured. I indicated to John that Abbey should go into the bedroom with Alice while we got ourselves to sea.

  He nodded, whispered to Abbey, and five minutes later he released the bow line while I stood aft and slipped the cable which I had left looped over the bol
lard. With the engines quietly chugging on their lowest setting I steered the boat back towards the open sea.

  CHAPTER 32

  Before anything else occurred, Tobler was given an opportunity to stretch his muscles and clean himself up. I wanted him in good condition and he hadn't harmed Alice so I felt no serious animosity towards him. Yet.

  If I'd had Butler there instead, I think I might have dropped him over the side, but Tobler wasn't a member of my department and would not have been involved in operations back then so he was immune from my fury.

  John took Tobler and locked him in the bedroom while we sat down two miles out to sea with a sea anchor dragging at the aft end to keep us stable in the calm sea. It was time for us to plan some kind of counter to the attacks on Alice and me. First though we needed to know what John and Abbey had been up to.

  “After you left for the beach we got a call from Dimitri down the road. We had asked him to keep an eye on the approach road telling him we were having problems with foreign worker gangs. He said there were two motorbikes parked up. One of them left to follow you, the other was holding position on the corner hidden by an old ruin of a barn.”

  I nodded at him, “Yes, the one that followed us on the bike came close to killing us before we had even got away! He’s dead on the beach now, thanks to the Glock you left in the secure box,” I added gratefully.

  Abbey was nodding and keeping up with the conversation, but I could see she was watching Alice closely, Abbey had her frown back. What was it she kept picking up on, I wondered.

  John continued.“We already had the escape route planned and took off up the back trail. We were gone only about ten minutes when the alarm went off on my phone and the CCTV internet link sent me pictures of a whole team turning up in a black SUV, accompanied by the bike, six attackers in all. If we had stayed just a few minutes later, we would have never got away.”