The Clinic

by Ray Carole

  Sully nodding his head recognising it was another great option pulled from nowhere.

  ‘This is where it’s at. Using organic infrastructures like the ones just mentioned and using them without their knowledge of what we’re up to, that’s the future and you’re already nailing it, nice work. Our unique ability to tap into all these resources without some egotistical line manager poking his nose in saves time allowing our footprint to stay low.’

  Gerry interrupts. ‘Santiago is covered now Boss and just to let you know our contact at GCHQ has been superb.’

  ‘Good to know Gerry,’ Sully replied with a smile and cheesy wink.

  You could tell the room were pleased by their efforts and Sully was content. If he hadn’t been, then the pressure would have intensified and the game would have continued to an uncomfortable new level.

  As it stood the OPS for OP IGNITION had now gone through a number of various versions. Sully now had the latest iteration.

  V401 would now be the name for the OPS, simply being the idiot’s guide to assassinating WHITEOUT. Icarus in 90 minutes would know the contents of V401. All timeframes and actions had been summarised and synchronised into a schematic diagram drawn up by the Beast. So even a five-year-old or Bob could follow it to the letter if everything else was sanitised or even lost. Like a cheat sheet in exams, it would get you a pass. That’s all they needed.

  This cheat sheet followed every element of the operation, where they would be in spatial terms of time, geographical location and what action each element would be executing to bind this operation together in total synchronisation. Contingencies were still in place for suspected grey areas or unpredictable parts of the plan. The go and no-go criteria were concrete and not subject to poetic license or mission creep, the job was done. All Icarus had to do was follow the instructions and the cheat sheet.

  ‘Gerry and I will head off shortly to meet the Asset. Beast you can keep things in check this end. I am happy for you to draw down for now, so Bob take a few hours to sort yourself out and you Beast, you deserve a rest.’

  ‘Okay Boss, you have V4 on the thumb-drive, itineraries and additional info will be sent to Sean’s ghost email account as we continually update. This is the hard copy for him. They fly at 1720 tonight to Oslo.’ Unceremoniously Beast handed Sully an envelope and the thumb-drive.

  ‘Thanks Beast. Again this is the start everyone. Talk about tip of the iceberg. This task will bear little significance on future tasks. As I said this is the thorn in our side, once Icarus execute WHITEOUT we will truly ignite a revolutionary era in attacking every fucker in this world that thinks the UK is a soft target.’

  Chapter 15

  Passport control was always a good benchmark in the underworld of Black Ops or standard criminality. It’s a conclusive measure as to actually how good you are and, most importantly, how trusted your close network of associates is.

  Sean observed the green light flash then followed the instructions to exit the retinal scan cubicle. He was the last through this border control measure and headed calmly off to collect his baggage and reunite himself with his team. The cover story for any operator working in a place he shouldn’t be is the lynchpin, that if not followed or executed fluently means compromise, imprisonment or a torturous death if you’re mixing with some seriously bad people.

  Sean knew that as a seasoned operative he only ever had to answer a few simple questions confidently at any time, any place. Who asks the question is another question in itself and another layer of intrusion to deceive. Whether you’re at passport control in Munich, in the queue at Carluccio’s in Downtown Dubai or booking into a hotel in Bangkok. You need to have a concise reason for that moment in time. Next layer is an entire story for that period of time after you have caught a few breaths. To really make sure you’re not killed, arrested or followed again, you need another life story to melt it all together seamlessly in to the biggest pot possible, because people would start stirring vigorously.

  Walking calmly down the concourse he united himself with Mick and Robby. Working as a three-man team in this alternative line of work had its downsides, though they only did a small number of jobs together to keep below the radar and reduce the footprint they created, safety in numbers was sometimes the opposite in this occupation.

  Icarus had no need to be nervous. They were here visiting Sully and knew nothing, even though knowing nothing could also have catastrophic consequences as any innocent victim of torture will tell you.

  If an Asset does a job properly they will have no reason to arouse suspicion, no reason to be nervous and certainly no reason to not be three guys going on a skiing trip to Norway, then onwards to Antarctica to do a last degree expedition for a surprise 40th. Icarus had a clean record, so no one was going to get lit up at this stage.

  ‘Latte with hazelnut?’ Sean asked the small eastern-European girl behind the counter.

  ‘I will have a cappuccino. Robby will have a plain latte and two almond croissants,’ Mick added to the order.

  Starbucks in arrivals wasn’t the standard location for any team of mass murderers to chill out and take the initial edge off their jet lag, but it was their meeting point. Here they would wait for the SMS message for the pick-up directly outside.

  Right on time, Sean scrabbled for his pocket, and took his phone out. Obviously on vibrate he answered: ‘Hello?’ A British accent replied.

  ‘Hi Sean, on the pick-up circuit now, inbound three minutes driving a Grey VW Transporter van with a black tinted side window.’

  ‘Perfect, just getting our coffee, be there in three minutes’ Sean confirmed. Robby and Mick stood up and assembled their bags. Mick not wanting to waste the Starbucks, got a little cardboard tray, balanced the croissants on top then followed the guys outside to meet the VW Transporter that rolled in right on cue.

  The driver waved over like he had known them all his life. Sean waved back and walked the men to the van. The van was a hip modern-day affair. One window on the side door tinted black, to limit prying eyes from either an impromptu sexual liaison in a dogging car park or a deniable operation brief on the M25.

  ‘Hello lads, great to see you again, sorry about the weather,’ Jack commented.

  ‘I’m Sean mate.’ Talking quietly but directly.

  ‘Yeah Jack.’ The driver identified himself matching Sean’s tone. ‘Just throw your bags in the back and hop in. Sorry no food or drink mate,’ Jack said to Mick.

  Before Mick could threaten him, Jack quickly followed up with ‘Only joking, jump in before it gets too cold guys.’

  He slid the side door open. There were two rows of seats facing each other. Sully and Gerry, the reception party, were already sat on the rearmost seats. Normal protocol the guys gave a nod, brief hello but no big handshakes and bear hugs.

  The van pulled away. ‘Hello Sean, I bet you never expected that call, did you?’ Sully said shaking Sean’s hand.

  ‘Well we were a little busy Sully. Only three weeks of wasted surveillance, sleep deprivation and a diet of Big Macs and Subways. Not to mention possible compromise when we extracted under your orders,’ Sean’s dryness had an edge to it that was cutting yet blunted with sarcasm.

  ‘We have to keep you boys on your toes Sean, you are the best remember?’

  The banter was fine but all could sense the apparent rivalry between the two men and this was the first time Robby and Mick had met Sully. It was evident to them both straight away Sully would be the man that called the shots, though Sean’s tone indicated he was a man that had previous history with Sully who thought he had a certain amount of weight too.

  “So any North Face bags on this one?” Sean says smugly.

  ‘Luckily for you Sean, this next job may help you get rid of that fast food gut you’ve developed.’

  ‘Oh really Sully? What’s your excuse for that pot belly?’
Sean pointed at Sully’s slight overhanging paunch.

  Smiling, Sully quickly hit back. ‘Well, every time I fuck your misses she gives me a chocolate biscuit.’

  With that everyone grinned with them both. The penis-measuring contest had come to an end. British versus South African banter was forgotten, time for business.

  ‘You will never fucking change Sully. That’s why we like working for you so much.’

  ‘It’s not mutual. Anyway this is Gerry my right-hand man,’ Sean shook hands before the rest of the team introduced themselves. After that the weather was talked about along with notional concerns about each other’s families that none could really give a fuck about. Only when the van was cruising steadily along the M25 northbound Sully got his game head on.

  ‘Okay guys, brace yourselves, I am going to give you the OPS now en route to your hotels. No safe house this time, we are up against it, straight out of the gate stuff.’

  He was met with silent nods.

  ‘This job is another deniable operation. Not sure what government, but I am British and we’re in London…’

  Sully’s usual breaking-the-ice routine got a snigger. ‘OP IGNITION is the operational name. The objective: To take down WHITEOUT.’

  Gerry automatically handed over his iPad to Sean to show an overview of WHITEOUT with images and a brief history in a Word document. Mick and Robby leaned in to get a glance. ‘We have a few loose ends to tie up as regards a couple of former government agents that are causing problems. It will be a straight takedown of the target and retrieval of everything they possess. Okay so far?’ Sully enquired.

  ‘Did you lot miss a trick Sully? Clearing up your fucking mess again? I take it the A-Team has dropped a bollock and the real men are here to clear it all up?’

  Sully did not bite at Sean’s response but shared another brief smirk acknowledging the cheap shot before responding.

  ‘Keeps you fuckers in business I suppose. Right? In fact Sean, this is actually phase two of an ongoing operation that my primary team,’ Sully pronounced with a sarcastic tone, ‘have just finished and, due to keeping their exposure limited, we need fresh faces to finish this one off.’

  ‘Glad to hear it, so any information on the phase one job or is the usual “need to know” in play?’ Sean asked placing the ball back in Sully’s court. Sully grinned inwardly. He had taken the bait.

  ‘No you can listen to this actually, phase one was nothing short of genius Sean, even I was envious of the mastery.’

  Not expecting this reply Sean and the team sat silently waiting for Sully to disclose the operation he appeared so happy with. Sully cleared his throat.

  ‘Okay a quick overview of the current situation. A pair of former government agents who have done something that we are not happy with. What they have is irrelevant to you guys but it is information that’s critical. It is information they have in their heads, and critically on a Memory Stick too. This information is a game changer and these individuals are the only guys who have it, and effectively know how to use it. Extremely time sensitive is an understatement, when we got this tasking they wanted these guys dead months ago.’

  A complete change of tone could be felt across the back seats of the van. Even Gerry had to get his poker face on as even he was wondering where Sully was going with this.

  ‘WHITEOUT, our first target is a man who was heading towards the South Pole unsupported and unassisted, it’s the sort of shit you couldn’t make up guys.’

  Sully expressing dramatic surprise to the men with wide saucepan eyes and hands in the air. ‘This means he had no immediate support team to physically help him. The support mechanism in place was a minimum of 400 miles away at a base camp. The whole infrastructures in place were civilian, with the main components being satellite communications, a beatracking device that updates WHITEOUT’s position every six hours. If he was to get into trouble they have a number of aircraft to extract him, if the weather is okay. The balloon will only go up if he does not check in for 36 hours, and most importantly his beacon update does not show movement. If the beacon shows movement they will not launch a rescue operation or overfly his position; it costs too much and beacon movement is evidence that he is okay.

  ‘WHITEOUT is unarmed. All he has is bare essentials for this trek, mainly being food, communications equipment, and equipment to allow him to survive – tent, clothing and navigation equipment etc. That’s it. WHITEOUT had around 200 miles left to get to the South Pole and this is when I was informed we have to go and track him down and assassinate him,’ Sully said in a tone that made it clear that he thought the request was ridiculous. Sean let out a sigh non-verbally agreeing before Sully moved on.

  ‘WHITEOUT needs to be assassinated I am told and we have been given the task. Immediately we crashed an asset out for a brief. Once we briefed them they flew to Norway for a three-day polar expedition workshop with Conrad Dickinson, who infact trained WHITEOUT in cold weather expeditions and is also his mentor. During these days they were refreshed on the essential skills required to execute a mini-style expedition to live and survive in extreme cold weather environments. All the kit and equipment they used was flown with them to Antarctica upon completion of the refresher course. This allowed them to tweak all of the equipment to their personal liking in Norway to save time. The team had two accomplished members who had worked in extreme cold weather on many occasions. Two members also were tasked with reading all the research on a famous Irish explorer Tom Crean to cover a filming and documentary angle. I will explain how these teams were broken down, everyone with me so far?’ Sully paused for more nods to come back at him.

  And they did.

  ‘Whilst the teams were on the refresher course there were a number of other elements in motion in Punta Arenas, the main hub for all Antarctic expeditions, whilst also in the UK, the planning and research was continuing to ensure smooth transit and entry into Chile.

  ‘A surveillance team locally sourced in South America was tasked through our contact down there who flew in to Punta Arenas. They were given some vital tasks. They watched the Russian crew that pilot the aircraft Ilyushin, this aircraft flies every expedition in and out. The team then carried out surveillance of the crew’s movements and gained a pattern-of-life picture. The team then planned to set up a honeytrap in the guise of prostitutes to use as a bargaining tool later. Also weapons for the job were sourced through usual back-channel contacts we don’t need to know anything about. The minimum arsenal of weapons was AK-47 or M16 variants, pistols and a stun gun, pepper spray and knives.

  ‘In the UK, the main priority was speaking to ALE, the company that organises all logistical requirements for trips into Antarctica. We broke the Team into two. At short notice we arranged for Team 2 to fly into Union Glacier as a film crew who were filming a documentary on a legendary explorer Tom Crean. Crean was on two of Scott’s expeditions and on Shackleton’s, he is known as the unsung hero of Antarctica. The film crew would request that they wanted to base themselves at the base camp and also fly to the South Pole to film there too.

  ‘We also informed ALE that Team 1, consisting of two men, wanted to use the Ilyushin flight to do a reconnaissance for an up and coming free-fall jump into the South Pole station. This has been attempted years previously but ended in disaster. The team wanted to use the aircraft for around ten hours as a conditioning flight to judge the feasibility of the attempt. They then returned direct to Punta Arenas. Simple stuff again.

  Two teams, Team 1 doing a reconnaissance for a free-fall record attempt the following year. Team 2 filming a documentary. ALE gave us the thumbs up to both. Everything was set for the two teams to arrive in Punta Arenas. Proper A-team stuff so far Sean hey?’ Sully commented.

  ‘You have my attention and the teams, so carry on to the more exciting parts,’ Sean fired back.

  ‘Team 2 finished the training package
and headed back to UK for a minimal period to receive a fully updated intelligence brief. Team 1 was refreshed in a few free-fall parachuting basics. This will become apparent. All their kit was placed in a transit tube used to infiltrate equipment via static line insertion. The second team was refreshed on operating the standard Canon MKIII50 field camera, they were qualified in this already from another job so it did not take them long. The brief also confirmed whether the surveillance team had been successful in Punta Arenas, and it had. Weapons had been sourced so all good to go at the sharp end.

  ‘Next with all their expedition kit the teams then flew in two packets to Punta Arenas.

  ‘In the previous few days, Gerry,’ Sully indicating to Gerry with his thumb identifying it was him not another operator before continuing, ‘and the surveillance team approached the Russian pilot. Only using the incriminating whorehouse antics as back-up if the initial bribe they proposed didn’t work. The main source of co-operation was a huge fee for their services; we’re talking over a million dollars cash.

  ‘ALE organised all of the flight movements and requests so had obviously already talked to the Ilyushin crew about the reconnaissance team wanting a fly-over of the South Pole, so the initial meeting was not suspicious.

  ‘The meeting then turned from a simple legitimate reconnaissance of the drop zone at the pole for a future record attempt, into the real operation. The operation would involve two men being dropped low-level behind WHITEOUT. With all their equipment in the drop tubes, the team would regroup on the ice. They would land a tactical bound behind WHITEOUT so he does not notice or hear Ilyushin’s footprint in the area.

  ‘The Ilyushin team would be blind to what the team is doing; they just know it’s below the radar and worth a 7-figure sum, to not ask. So they have no idea they have just inserted an assassination team.

  ‘The fee for this deviation off the intended flight plan would secure the future welfare of all the crew and families. If the Captain hadn’t wanted to play ball or had freaked out when Gerry proposed this scenario then the bargaining chips would have come out. Gerry would show them the camera footage of them fucking whores and gauge the response. This tactic would definitely secure co-operation for the plan. If not it would have been be old school tactics of threatening their family’s lives or simply them.