Red Hawk Rising

by Peter William Hall

  Hamilton had caught an early train from London and was on his way to Newcastle. He wanted to finish the work he had started and make sure there were no loose ends. Reflecting on things, they had to thank the observations of Corporal Hill for the big ‘clean-up’. The question was — what would Moscow do next? Things were pretty much under control now at Argonaut Industries. The launcher was pretty straight forward and no great improvement on the technology. The missile was already being tested at the Weapons Research Establishment in South Australia and also at the Woomera rocket range. That was the responsibility of MI6 and the Australian Security System. The tractor was different. It combined two operations into one vehicle which cut down the re-load time substantially. The design was not ‘high-tech.’ but the result of good method study and innovative engineering. It would be of interest to Moscow but they would most likely already be trying to get information if they hadn’t got it yet. The attempt to steal the klystron unit showed that they hadn’t got the key information yet but they had enough information to know what to aim for. The other key piece of information they wanted was the wavelength that the system operated on. That had to be protected at all costs. Then there was the death of their agent in London after he followed up a suspected lead on a leak in Air Ministry. Was that connected to this project or another? He was obviously too close for the comfort of that spy network. The woman in question was still being watched. What of young Corporal Hill? His earlier assignment (or should that be plural?) had caused enough pain to the other side to want him dead. If they associated him with the latest setbacks (and that was possible, given the press photograph) there would more attempts on his life. He wondered whether young Hill could be recruited into MI5. It was unlikely at present since he had already been recruited by another organisation that was obviously internal to the RAF. He thought he knew who controlled it and wondered who had set it up but only the head of MI5 and the top RAF ‘brass’ knew the answer to that one. For the time being Corporal Hill may be safer on an RAF station rather than travelling around the country but that decision was for the RAF. As long as MI5 kept an eye on him it could reap benefits in weeding out Britain’s enemies. His thoughts were interrupted by the dining car steward sliding open the compartment door and asking if he wanted breakfast. Hamilton nodded his assent and rose to follow the steward out.

  Back in Manchester, Major Garasov was having similar reflections. There was no doubt that the man in the photograph was their agent Vasiliy. The man holding him was reported as being a plain-clothes police officer but it looked extremely like the photograph of the Corporal Hill taken at Argonaut Industries. Garasov had both on his desk in front of him. Was he now at Wensley Electronics? If he was new on the JSTU would he visit the other contractors? One attempt at eliminating him had failed. If he was a policeman, he would have been a member of the Durham Constabulary but neither he nor Vasiliy appeared to have gone to either Darlington or Durham. They seemed to disappear, as had the others involved in the attempted theft of the klystron unit. That made it likely that it had been a MI5 operation. If that was so, was Corporal Hill really RAF or a member of MI5? Garasov decided to see if the man could be located with the RAF detachment at Wensley Electronics. He still had a personal score to settle with him but it would be better to get approval from Moscow on other grounds. With the Tyneside team seriously weakened, he would have to pull someone in from outside the area and he got on the telephone. No doubt security would have been increased but perhaps photographs could be taken of RAF personnel boarding their bus. That would be all he needed. Unfortunately for Garasov, he wasn’t the only one who had that idea.

  Hamilton arrived in Newcastle a little after 11.30 a.m. and was met by Louden. Driving out to Wensley Electronics, Hamilton brought Louden up to date. “I’ll talk with their security but I want you to watch for anyone wanting to take photographs of RAF personnel.”

  Louden nodded. “Young Corporal Hill may be in Major Garasov’s sights, particularly after the Scotch Corner episode. Garasov will have linked Hill to his recent woes and our successes. We need to take precautions.”

  At Wensley Electronics, Hamilton went to see Flying Officer Goodhew and was brought up to date on the RAF situation. Once the radar unit had been picked up on the Friday, the men would go on weekend leave and travel down to RAF West Sanby on Monday. Hamilton raised his concerns about Corporal Hill’s safety. “It would be better if he didn’t go to Wensley Electronics tomorrow if he is not needed. Could he be sent to RAF West Sanby tomorrow?”

  Goodhew responded, “His folks live at Alnwick and he’s been given the weekend off to visit them. He didn’t get his disembarkation leave when he was posted back to UK so we owe it to him to have this opportunity to visit his folks. We could arrange for him to either travel down by train on Sunday or see if he could travel down with one of the detachment in a private vehicle.”

  Hamilton gave it some quick thought and suggested that Corporal Hill get the train from Alnwick on Sunday and travel in civilian clothes.

  “He’s supposed to be going to Coventry but that could be postponed,” replied Goodhew. “I’ll telephone our CO and bring him up to date and offer your suggestion. We can arrange for the travel documents to be picked up at Ouston. I’ll brief Corporal Hill after getting confirmation from our CO.” Hamilton nodded his agreement and excused himself to go down and finish his work at Personnel. Goodhew telephoned the Unit CO and explained Hamilton’s concerns. Squadron Leader Dawson thought that one man was giving them a lot of extra work but that was balanced by the benefits to the unit and the project. Someone much higher up had obviously had him posted in deliberately with additional orders to those on his duty list. He agreed to the suggestion and said that he would discuss the changes with Flight Lieutenant Gaskin and find out what impact the delay in Hill going to Coventry would cause. He also said that he would get the adjutant to send a signal to RAF Ouston with Corporal Hill’s travel orders and authority to issue the rail warrant. After putting the ‘phone down, Squadron Leader. Dawson wondered about the security at both Davis Aviation and Jennings Engineering. A visit by Corporal Hill to each might turn up more security issues than they thought existed. Hamilton of MI5 was also due to visit them and review personnel and security.

  Back at Wensley Electronics, Flying Officer Goodhew called Corporal Hill to his office and explained the change in his orders. The official reason was that he was needed at RAF West Sanby a day earlier to help prepare for the arrival of the detachment. Unofficially, there was concern for his safety. If it was okay with his parents, the CO would prefer him to leave the base and go up to Alnwick tomorrow morning. He was to take all his gear with him and travel in civilian clothes.

  Andy nodded his agreement. “I’ll organise something this evening, sir,” he replied, wondering about the plans he and Alice had.

  “Oh! Corporal Hill, when the truck comes to pick up the tool kits and some test equipment, you should go out on it but sit in the back out of sight. The ‘techs’ will be going with their stuff so you go with them. That will be all.”

  Andy saluted and replied, “Yessir” and left the office. He went down to see Sarge and told him Goodhew’s instructions. The RAF team was busy helping with the preparation of the radar and ancillary equipment for transport by a RAF Leyland Hippo truck and trailer the next day. A covered three-tonner was waiting in the yard to load the toolkits and other gear of the RAF team. Flying Officer Goodhew came out and called to Corporal Hill to help with the moving of the filing cabinets to the loading dock. They would all go in the ‘three-tonner’. Andy was relieved to be of help and went to check the packing of files and manuals and the movement of the filing cabinets.

  By 15.30 hours the RAF Bedford ‘three-tonner’ was loaded and Flying Officer Goodhew gave permission for the men to go with the truck to RAF Ouston. The driver would overnight there before heading south on the Friday. The RAF personnel, except for Sarge, climbed into the back of the truck. Andy made sure he was well forward and o
ut of sight as the truck pulled out of the loading bay and headed for the works gate. Sarge headed for Flying Officer Goodhew’s office to discuss final arrangements and the reports they had to make. The men pulled the rear flaps of the truck down to hide their departure as they had been told. It would look like an ordinary RAF MU load going out.

  Sitting further down the street was a car, its driver with a camera on the seat beside him. In the security office at the gate, Louden was watching the car. He had already made a note of its make and registration number because the driver was still sitting in the vehicle. The RAF truck rumbled out after having the paperwork stamped and headed towards Newcastle. The car driver photographed the driver of the truck and this was observed by Louden.

  He picked up the telephone to Hamilton in the personnel office. “Right,” said Hamilton. “I think we should have a talk with this fellow. Put a trace on the car and then ‘phone the local office of the SIB and ask them to send a team out. We may as well have some support as I don’t want to lose him.” While waiting for Hamilton, Louden put in a call to their London office and gave the details of the car and requested a trace be made. He then telephoned the SIB with Hamilton’s request and explained the situation. He was told that they couldn’t help immediately but would do the best they could.

  When Hamilton arrived at the office, they discussed the situation and decided that they should take the car and drive to come around behind the parked vehicle and then confront its driver. Louden drove out of the gate and turned away from the vehicle and took the first turn right and drove around the block to come out behind the vehicle. They parked a few yards back and Louden got out and walked to the car in front. He tapped on the window and the driver wound it down. Louden showed his identification and asked the man to get out. The response was to reach for the ignition key but Louden’s hand shot in and closed over the driver’s hand to prevent him starting the car. Meanwhile, Hamilton opened the passenger door and climbed in and put a gun in the man’s side. The driver froze and appeared to relax.

  “Get out of the car,” said Louden, and he stepped back to open the door. As the driver climbed out, so did Hamilton. For a moment his back was turned to the driver. At this moment, the driver stood up and yanked the door shut. Louden, who had been holding the top of the door with one hand, was caught off guard and his fingers were jammed in the closed door.A knife slid down from the sleeve of the man’s jacket and into his hand. He made a lunge at Louden but Louden managed to deflect the aim at his stomach and took the knife stab in his ribs. He grabbed the man’s arm but the driver tore himself free and ran across the street. Hamilton ran around the car to check Louden, who waved him after the fugitive. Hamilton gave chase, dodging the traffic on the road.

  Suddenly, a police car went past Louden and swung across the road and onto the pavement in front of the fugitive. Two energetic policemen leapt out and grabbed him. Hamilton caught up with them and showed his card. “That’s brilliant timing,” he said to them. “We need an ambulance for my partner who was stabbed by this man.” One of the policemen went back to the car and radioed for an ambulance. The fugitive was handcuffed and placed in the back of the police car. One of the policemen explained that they had received a request at their local Byker station from the SIB to provide support urgently. They were just in time to see what was happening.

  Hamilton said, “Once my partner has been taken by ambulance, I’ll follow you down to your station. Can you arrange for the arrested person’s car to be driven down for examination, please?” The senior constable said he would arrange it. Hamilton hurried back across the road to Louden. He had freed his hand from the door and was holding his side, but blood was seeping through. Louden was leaning against the side of the car in obvious pain. As Hamilton looked for something to use as a pad, the ambulance arrived and took control of the situation. The ambulance officers strapped the wound and put Louden in the back and headed for the Royal Victoria Infirmary (RVI), the bell clanging loudly. Hamilton took control of the camera from the fugitive’s car. The police car with the fugitive left and a third policeman climbed into the fugitive’s car to drive it to the police station. Hamilton followed him in his car.

  Oblivious of all these happenings, the RAF truck had turned up Northumberland Street as though it was heading up the A1 north to Acklington. Past the Haymarket, the driver turned left into Claremont Road to cut back across to Cowgate and the Stamfordham Road to go to RAF Ouston. In the back of the truck there was talk of the coming weekend. They all expected to see the loading finished by lunchtime on Friday and then they would be free to head off. None of them were married but most had girlfriends or family in the area and wanted to make the most of the weekend before the detachment moved to RAF West Sanby.

  On arrival at RAF Ouston, Andy headed for the administration building to get his papers and travel warrant. The corporal there suggested that Andy get the train from Corbridge in the morning and change at Newcastle Central for Alnwick. The MT section could run him down to Corbridge once he had finished clearance. Andy nodded agreement. Once he had finished there, Andy headed for the telephone box and telephoned his parents. Andy’s mother answered and Andy explained the change in his orders and would they mind him coming up tomorrow morning? She was pleased about it but asked about Alice. He said that he still had to talk to her and work that one out.

  “Couldn’t Alice get the train up tomorrow evening?” his mother asked.

  “Thanks for that suggestion, Mum. I’ll see what Alice thinks,” replied Andy.

  “I could ‘phone Judith Walton, if you like, Andy,” his mother suggested.

  “I’ll let you know, Mum. I guess Dad’s still at the office so you can explain.” They finished the call and Andy headed back to the barracks. It was still too early to telephone Alice as she would still be at work. He found Lance and Dan sorting out and packing up their gear. They asked him what he was going to do about Alice now he had to leave early. Andy said he’d have to talk to her first. Then Lance offered to drive him over to Corbridge if the girls were free that evening. Andy thanked him for the offer.

  Over at the Byker Police Station, Hamilton and a detective were interviewing the man with the camera. His foolish action had got him into serious trouble and he would go to prison. His driver’s licence showed him to be George Pattison from Sunderland. The camera had been dusted for his fingerprints so they had the proof of his use of it. The film had been removed from the camera and was being developed. He had a charge of causing grievous bodily harm to Louden and other charges were being determined. He was refusing to say why he was taking photographs or who he was taking them for. Pattison claimed to be taking a picture of the RAF truck and that was all. It would take a little time to determine whether he had a criminal record. Hamilton had guessed correctly about Major Garasov and he wondered what the next move would be. He also wondered whether there was more to Garasov’s interest in Corporal Hill than just the current project. Had the two of them met in the past and if so, what had happened? He would instigate enquiries and hopefully get some answers that may clarify things.

  Major Garasov had received information about the work going on at RAF West Sanby, indicating a move soon of the trials unit to that RAF station. He would need to put planned moves on standby. Despite the failure of the attempt to seize a klystron unit they would go ahead with other plans. Equipment being transported between factory and the RAF station was vulnerable. He wondered when he would receive the photos from George Pattison. On a lighter note, he was looking forward to time with Yvonne at the weekend.

  At the same time, sitting in his office at Air Ministry, Air Vice-Marshal Denby was reviewing progress of the Red Hawk programme with Group Captain Clarkson. He noted the breaches in security at the main contractors’ factories and the way they had been highlighted by Corporal Hill and he smiled to himself. He was a useful operative and Denby was glad that he’d pulled him back from Australia to join 28 JSTU. It was unfortunate that he appeared to have becom
e a marked man by the KGB and they would have to solve that problem. He was a promising operative and Denby didn’t want to lose his usefulness. Clarkson would be having a third meeting with Dawson, Hamilton and Griffiths on Monday and he, Denby, would catch up with Hamilton. The security reviews had taken longer than expected but they had made progress. They still needed to solve the leak here in London. He didn’t want to tread on the toes of MI5 but was tempted to bring one of his own people in. Technically, it was an internal matter for the RAF but MI5 had wide-ranging responsibilities. Clarkson called him back to the Red Hawk system. All parts of the system had been cleared by RAE as ready for the trials. They would start assembling the system at West Sanby in the days to come. Clarkson thought that initial trials could be scheduled to commence in four weeks’ time. That would give the whole unit time to settle in, shake down together and get the Red Hawk system operational. Denby thought that his might also be the time to lay a trap for the leak in London. He would need to discuss those plans with Hamilton without letting the others know. Denby thanked Clarkson for the briefing, who closed the folder and walked into the outer office and put the folder into the walk-in safe where all the files of ‘secret’ classification and above were kept. After Clarkson had gone, he picked up the ‘phone to the Lutterworth-based organisation.

  At the supply section of Air Ministry, Griffiths was also reviewing the progress of the Red Hawk system. The latest report showed that the system was ready to be moved and assembled at RAF West Sanby in the coming week. He needed to follow up with the JSTU and determine what spare parts would be needed from the contractors and when, and then get them ordered in. There would also be progress payments to be made to the contractors at this stage. He buzzed for his secretary to come in. Miss Lisa St. John entered his office carrying her shorthand pad and pencils. She was in her early thirties and still single, wore her hair in a pageboy style that suited her features and made her look attractive. Lisa was smartly dressed and had an efficient manner which Griffiths found helpful to his work. She spoke with a slight brogue that placed her as from Northern Ireland. “Yes, Mr Griffiths?” she queried as she entered the room.