'Hello Sir' to Shaw.
'Hello’ he said ‘Please carry on, don't stop on my account, you lot look as rough as me, late night was it?’
'Not really sir' they replied in unison.
Shaw laughed then said 'Of course not I am sure you were all home by midnight' with a smile.
'Yes Sir' they replied laughing; Shaw laughed with them.
I am going to miss it here, why the hell are they sending me to the Falkland Islands at an hour's notice he thought to himself. After he had finished his smoke, he continued walking towards the officer's mess.
Upon arriving at the Officers mess James Shaw calmly walked past the palm trees outside and strolled in through the main door, he then set off at full sprint up the wide staircase taking two steps at a time, when he reached the top, he grabbed the bannister and used it to swing himself round and propel him down the corridor towards his room.
Fumbling around in his pockets for his keys he eventually found them, on the third attempt he got the key into the lock and turned it releasing the tumblers, he then pulled the handle down and pushed the door open, he then walked through the living area and in to the bedroom.
In the way people hurried but didn’t do things any quicker, Shaw pulled a Military issue black holdall from under his bed, flung open all the cupboard doors and pulled open the drawers on his chest of drawers without actually putting anything into the bag. Once he composed himself, he began stuffing clothes in to the holdall which consisted mostly of chinos, polo shirts and lightweight shirts, his wardrobe suited to the warmer climes of Cyprus more than the winter of the Falkland Islands. After packing his clothes and underwear he reached into the bottom of his wardrobe and pulled out both of the pairs of Clarks desert boots he owned and put them in the bag.
'These will never date, best shoes ever made' he said out loud.
He was just talking to himself as he was packing, next in was his iPad, charger and his Bluetooth headphones which he placed on the top of his bag as he would be using them for the flight. Shaw then stepped into the bathroom and picked up his toothbrush and toothpaste and put them in his soap bag along with a razor, a pack of blades and some deodorant, he used the soap bag as a divider in the holdall as he picked out two sets of multi terrain camouflage uniforms, his helmet and haversack which contained his respirator. Shaw jumped up and reached his hand to the back of the top shelf of his wardrobe and pulled down two Norwegian fleeces which fell onto his head. They smelt musty because they had been at the back of the wardrobe since Shaw had first arrived in Cyprus and the need to wear one had never arisen. He pulled them off his head sniffed them in disgust and said.
'Fuck it I will wash them when I get there' and put them in the bag along with his field jacket, he then threw his Apple watch in along with the charger and zipped the bag up, he then scanned the room to make sure he had everything he needed, everything else would be packed for him and sent to RAF Waddington waiting for him in the Station Commanders house, which he would be occupying when he got there.
Shit, Mum and Dad Shaw said to himself, as he picked his car keys up from his desk and grabbed his holdall on the way out of his room locking the door behind him. Putting the car keys and room keys in his top trouser pocket he then pulled his phone out to check the time it was 1335, he had twenty-five minutes before the plane left. Shaw ran out of the officer's mess doors into the car park, opened his car with the remote fob and threw his bag into the boot, he walked around to the driver's side which was on the right-hand side of the car, he had paid extra for this but didn’t mind as it made life a lot easier.
The day before he had forgotten to put his screen up in the windscreen as he was in too much of a rush to go out and now he was paying for it, as soon as he opened the door and leant in to sit down the heat hit him like a blast from a furnace, he put the key in the ignition and the big V8 engine growled to life. Shaw put the A/C on full power and shut the door. As the big American Muscle car rumbled, Shaw was leaning with his back on the glass of the driver's door and pulled out his phone to call home. After six rings the answer machine kicked in asking the caller to leave a message.
Give yourselves a chance to reach the phone he said in his head.
When the machine beeped Shaw said.
'Hi Mum, its James, I have just been told I have to go the Falklands today so I won't be able to holiday with you and Dad, I will try to call you when I arrive.'
The machine cut him off, he then put his phone away and got into his car and headed for the terminal at the airfield.
Shaw’s Dodge screeched to a halt a few minutes later as he pulled up outside the terminal building, putting the keys in the visor, as was customary in Cyprus, as car theft was virtually none existent especially on a Military base. Shaw stepped out of his car and grabbed his holdall out of the boot, when a young enthusiastic SAC came running up to him and said.
'Sir, I have been instructed to take your car and pack it up to send back to Britain.'
Shaw replied with 'Thank you, be careful with her the keys are under the visor.'
The SAC opened the door and said.
'Will do Sir' and he started the engine and drove away.
Shaw watched it until he could no longer see the orange of his car as it drove away into the distance, he then turned and headed into for the terminal.
'Wing Commander James Shaw?'
A voice called out from behind a check in desk. Shaw walked over and seen a Corporal sat behind the desk.
'Yes, that’s me.’
The Corporal stood up from his chair and stepped from behind his desk and asked to check his passport, Shaw handed it over, then took it back a few seconds later after the Corporal had checked it.
‘Follow me please Sir.’
Shaw followed him out of the building and on to the Aircraft Servicing Platform where there was a yellow Toyota Hilux parked up. They both got into the pickup with Shaw putting his bag in to the cargo area. They set off and were heading towards the grey Sentinel R1 in the distance.
The Sentinel R1 is a Bombardier Global express redesigned for the military, the engines are at the rear of the plane and the elevators sat atop of the tailfin. Were on the Global express there would be luxury seats, on the Sentinel they had been replaced by surveillance equipment and the windows had been taken out. As they approached Shaw could see the door was open and the steps were down, the Corporal pulled up alongside the aircraft, Shaw got out and walked to the back of the pickup, he grabbed his bag and thanked the Corporal for the lift before he drove off back towards the terminal. Shaw walked towards the steps, he could hear the humming of the planes APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) above the sound of his boots clanging on the metal steps, when he reached the top and stepped in to the fuselage he went left towards the flight deck and pulled the curtain to the side, he could see two men sat at the controls, they were both Flight Lieutenants which he could tell from the rank slides on the shoulders of their flying suits, which were green. They must have come from Britain this morning Shaw assumed.
'Afternoon Chaps, James Shaw' he said holding his right hand out.
Both the pilots turned in their seats and shook his hand.
'Welcome aboard Sir, safety brief is this, in the event of an emergency landing exit through the door you have just came through, toilet is just behind you, number one only please, take a seat at one of the consoles in the back, normal seat belts on here, for take-off and landing you need to face the front, pull the lever at the side of the seat this will unlock it then move it to face the front and make sure it is locked into place, when you are all strapped in shout ready and we will set off, other than that sit back relax sleep if you want, flight time is just over four hours.'
Shaw thanked them both, closed the curtain and grabbed his headphones out of his bag before moving the seat to take off position, he put his headphones on.
'READY' he shouted to the pilots.
'Roger’ came the reply.
Then the engines started
with a whine before they kicked into life, howling and the vibrations could be felt through the plane as they taxied to the runway. As the Sentinel made the turn on to the runway, the engines made an almighty roar as they had been pushed up to full power, the plane shook and bumped as it sped down the runway, Shaw felt every bump in his seat, then the aircraft lifted and a few seconds later left the runway and climbed up to cruising altitude and away from the Island of Cyprus.
FOUR
In one of the eastern suburbs of Seville, Spain, Javier Ramos was sat on a sun lounger at the side of his figure of eight shaped swimming pool which gleamed in the sunlight, it was located at the back of his white washed villa, which was surrounded by eight-foot fences which were topped with barbed wire. Ramos was waiting for a very important phone call, which was why he was sat up on his sun lounger, he was extremely tense.
'They should have called thirty minutes ago.'
He shouted whilst slamming his fist into the little side table next to him causing his phone to bounce up off the table and on to the floor. As he reached down to pick it up it suddenly burst into life vibrating and ringing.
Swiping across the screen to answer it he then said.
'Yes, the deal will be completed next week, the steel for the rigs has been ordered and is on the way, for our plan we are going to build low level platforms which will be ready in about eight months then we will continue and raise the platforms for drilling' he then listened and replied.
'Yes, the Englishmen have all the permits in place and they are connected to the company so when ESPoil buy them out we will keep the company name so as not to attract the attention of the British government which we cannot have happen, not yet anyway.'
He then listened again for a minute then replied with.
'I shall contact you when the deal is completed then you can start planning.'
He then ended the call and put his phone back onto the table next to his sun lounger before laying down and closing his eyes to get some well-earned rest.
FIVE
The Sentinel R1 carrying Wing Commander James Shaw began to level out over the Mediterranean at forty thousand feet so Shaw took off his seat belt, walked to the flight deck and asked for a bottle of water which he was told where in the fridge just outside the curtain.
'Thanks guys and if you don’t mind, I am going to get some sleep in the back.'
The pilot focused on the console in front of him and replied.
'No problem Sir, we will wake you just before we land.’
Shaw walked back to his seat and began adjusting the seat in front of his so that it rotated one hundred and eighty degrees to face him, he sat down in his own chair. pulled his phone out of his pocket and turned it back on. When his phone came on, he connected his Bluetooth headphones to it and put his feet on the seat he had turned around, he slouched down and pressed shuffle music on his phone. The first song that came on was Losing my religion by a band called REM.
Losing my marbles Shaw said to himself.
Still not comprehending what was happening, when just a few hours ago he was sat in his office trying to shake off another hangover and now he was on a plane heading for the Falkland Islands in winter with a bag full of summer clothes.
Trying to put it all out of his mind he closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep. His mind traced back to the beginning of his RAF career seventeen years ago, when he first arrived at RAF Cranwell to begin his RAF Officer training as a fresh-faced Officer Cadet. In his seventeen years of service he had completed two tours of Iraq, three in Afghanistan, a four-month assignment aboard a Submarine which after initial reservations he greatly enjoyed and now has the upmost respect for Submariners and of course his various assignments with Lawrence Sharif of MI6, which had taken them all over the world and they had both been paid well for the work that they did.
The reason they were paid so well for their work was mainly due to their targets being too dangerous to be arrested and potentially released without sufficient evidence so they needed to be taken out of the equation. These orders usually came from the security services chiefs of staff and even on occasion the Prime Minister. Shaw's military bosses didn’t even know what he was involved with, all they got told was that he had to be in a certain place at a certain time and to leave as soon as possible. Even though he had to terminate people, sometimes with his bare hands such as happened five years ago in Florence, Italy he was a relaxed and easy-going man. Shaw’s mind drifted to Florence and he began to recount what happened in his head.
The civil war in Syria was in full swing and the refugee crisis was really starting to become a problem and many of them had made their way to Italy. Among them were terrorists looking to inflict damage in Western Europe. A group of five men who were part of a Middle Eastern terror network had arrived seeking asylum in Italy, this was not granted to them but they had fled a detention centre before they could be deported. They had paid cash for an apartment in Florence and had gotten cash in hand jobs, such as working in the nearby vineyards picking grapes. They caught the attention of MI6 when they communicated with other members of the group in the Middle East using an internet-based messenger service.
The plan was for the five of them to cause simultaneous explosions in Milan, Frankfurt, Paris, Brussels and Amsterdam hitting the main financial centres of central Europe, London was off limits due to not being able to transport explosives across the channel, causing death, disruption and financial meltdown bringing the continent to its knees. Shaw and Sharif had been tasked two weeks before they planned to carry out the attacks. On their second day in Florence Shaw and Sharif were on their way back to the hotel they were staying at, after they had been scouting out the terrorist's safe house, when one of the terrorists spotted Shaw and began to run off. Shaw gave chase through the Palazzo Vecchio, past the replica of Michelangelo's David and then past the Uffizi gallery knocking over tourists as they sped through the city on foot. Shaw caught up to him on the packed Ponte Vecchio bridge, he kicked at the back of his legs, which led to him tripping him up and the terrorist crashed to the ground, the crowd of onlookers gasped in horror, then Shaw landed a blow to the back of the head with his elbow, causing the terrorist's head to smash into the floor with such force it killed him instantly. Shaw quickly checked for a pulse which was not there. He then got back onto his feet and pointed at the body on the floor and shouted ‘Pickpocket.’
The crowd clapped and cheered Shaw as he swiftly made his exit back in to the city from the bridge. Later that day Shaw and Sharif let themselves into the safe house and waited for the other four to return home, when they did, they shot all four of them with silenced weapons so as not to attract attention. Job done they headed to the airport and returned home after another successful mission and Europe could sleep safely for another night.
The Sentinel R1 hit turbulence and jolted Shaw awake, he took a sip of his water and closed his eyes again. This time his thoughts turned to his love life or the lack of one. Shaw had had relationships over the years, none of which lasted longer than a few months, however he had enjoyed plenty of encounters with the opposite sex. The truth was he had never had the time for a full relationship and all the energy that went in to them due to the nature of his job, not to mention his second job which meant he could be called away at a moment's notice, not knowing when he would be back or if he would come back. At the age of thirty-six he was beginning to actually want a relationship. Maybe this is something that I will think about when I get back from the Falklands, I can look then he said to himself.
Shaw still had his looks and had not aged much, a few lines around his eyes mainly from squinting with all the time he had spent in hot and sandy places, his eyes were still icy blue and after spending the last few years in Cyprus his hair was now blonde, but would go back to light brown when he returned back to England. As he sat there slouched in his chair, he continued to think about settling down and how he would like to have children. He would have to stop his side
line work if he did. His thoughts then drifted to leaving the RAF in five years once he hit the twenty-two years' service mark, making him eligible for his pension, which leaving as a Group Captain would be very handsome and he could get a job in the private sector but didn’t have a clue what he would do or even how to write a curriculum vitae.
Shaw was awoken again this time by his stomach lurching as the plane began to descend, the call came from the cockpit that they were fifteen minutes away from landing. Shaw sat himself up and fastened his seat belt, he then turned his phone off. Exactly fifteen minutes later the undercarriage came down and Shaw could hear the flaps being adjusted on the wings even though he could not see them, he put his arms on the armrests and held the end of them with his fingers and sat upright preparing for touchdown. A few moments later the Sentinels main wheels touched the runway before the nose wheel touched causing James to jolt forward in his seat but the seatbelt restrained him. The pilot reversed the thrust and began to brake, slowing the aircraft down with shakes and shudders as the earth regained the aircraft. After taxiing off the runway it came to a complete stop and the engines began to shut down, Shaw released his seatbelt and stretched before standing up and grabbing his bag and heading towards the door, which one of the pilots had just opened.
'Nice sunny day' Shaw said not expecting sun at Brize Norton even though it was spring.
Shaw thanked both pilots before stepping out into the sun and surprising heat. As he stepped down the steps and his eyes adjusted to the light it became clear that this was not RAF Brize Norton.
In the near distance Shaw could see a Mcdonalds sign high up on a pole and the sea to his left, this was a place he had never been before but he knew exactly where he was even before he turned around. As he took a step forward Shaw turned around to see the Rock of Gibraltar protruding from the ground of the sunniest part of the United Kingdom.
One Last Time Page 5