Covert Action

by Dick Couch

  “Tonight?” Garrett asked quietly.

  “Tonight, mon,” he replied, then gracefully swung into the chair across from Garrett.

  Akheem Kelly-Rogers had joined GSI only five months ago. Except for some training exercises, this was his first actual operation—their first together. In the short time that Garrett had known him, they had become almost like brothers; they were so alike—and yet so different. Garrett was a team player, but not one to be easily given over to deep friendships. However, with Kelly-Rogers it had been different. Much to Garrett’s surprise, they had become close in a very short time. Initially, he had been a little disturbed when Fagan had hired Kelly-Rogers without first consulting him. His résumé was impressive, and on paper he seemed ideally suited for the work they did. His military credentials were impeccable. But their work was dangerous and demanded absolute trust. Garrett more than trusted Steven Fagan, but he also found it odd that Steven hadn’t talked with him before he actually hired AKR.

  He vividly recalled the morning of their first meeting. Garrett had been up early, preparing for a morning run. They were at the field training site on the Big Island of Hawaii. GSI occupied a large tract of land on the western slopes of Mona Kea, midway between Kailua and Waimea. It was here that Steven Fagan developed the infrastructure and facilities to support the training of the Intervention Force, or IFOR. Garrett had come to work for GSI soon after the completion of the complex. It was a modern, compact military training facility and completely self-contained. Garrett knew that Kelly-Rogers had come in late the night before, and assumed that he would still be sleeping. The sun was just coming up as Garrett finished his stretching routine. Suddenly a tall man was standing before him, arms folded, regarding him quietly. He was dark, with chiseled features, broad shoulders, and a very narrow waist and hips. Except for an inch or two in height, he was built very much like Garrett.

  “Mind if I run with you?” he asked. He spoke with a crisp British public-school accent.

  “Not at all,” Garrett replied, and they set off at a brisk trot.

  They were at three thousand feet, well above the lava fields of the Kona Coast, and the trail wound up the side of Mona Kea, gaining close to five hundred feet every mile. The chill in the air did not entirely mask the smell of decaying vegetation from the previous day’s heat. The only sound was the padding of their running shoes on the crushed lava roadbed. In the growing light, Garrett glanced at his running companion. He was not really black, but more of a deep chocolate color, and he ran with ease and grace. Garrett was aware that the new man was in his early forties, the same as himself, but he carried himself as if he were much younger.

  “How far do you want to go?” Garrett asked.

  “How about until one of us drops?” Kelly-Rogers replied.

  Garrett didn’t say a word, but gently picked up the pace. Not another word was spoken, nor would there be until it was over. The two men were silently locked into battle, one that could only end when one or both of them had reached the end of his endurance. There are few men who can willingly turn a casual morning run into mortal combat, but Akheem Kelly-Rogers and Garrett Walker were two such men. In many ways, it was the basis of their relationship and their evolving friendship; neither was a man who would yield to another, which amounted to asking for quarter. When they arrived back at the base camp two hours later, both of them were out of breath and spent. Neither man could have maintained the wicked pace had the other not been there.

  “Garrett Walker,” he managed, holding his hand out.

  “Akheem Kelly-Rogers,” the newcomer replied firmly, taking Garrett’s hand. “But my friends call me AKR.”

  AKR was an unusual man—a study in cultural contradiction. His father had been Sir Bernard Rogers, late of Her Majesty’s Foreign Office. Sir Bernard was landed by birth and spent a lifetime of service to the crown, rising to the post of deputy home secretary just before his death. He had met Rose Kelly during the war. She was a WAAF, working in one of the Home Chain radar stations, tracking incoming Luftwaffe raids, and he was a hurricane pilot. They married a week later, just the two of them at the home of a local magistrate near Biggin Hill. Rose had joined the RAF against her family’s wishes. They were upper-middle-class Dubliners, and while they were not Nazi sympathizers, they were none too keen on their youngest daughter joining the British military, nor of her marrying what they regarded as some British Tommy. Rogers’s family was mortified that he would take up with what they openly called “that Irish tart.”

  Following the war, Bernard took an advanced degree at Oxford and joined the Foreign Office. In the early 1950s he was posted to the embassy in Nairobi. After more than ten years of marriage, the couple were as in love as the day they met, but there were no children. Then fate intervened in the form of a maid who presented them with a month-old baby boy, before promptly disappearing into the bush. The prospective parents found the infant swaddled and lying in a basket on their kitchen table. Bernard fussed about the kitchen while Rose changed him. Bernard might have wavered, but when he saw Rose sipping her tea from a porcelain cup in one hand and cradling the baby in the other, he knew the decision had been made.

  “What do you fancy we should call him?” he asked as if in passing as he unfurled the East African Post.

  Rose paused, but only for a moment. “I believe Akheem will do nicely, wouldn’t you think?”

  When the adoptive grandparents were informed of the new arrival, there was stormy weather on both sides of the Irish Sea. In rare concert, the elders insisted that the child be given over to a Kenyan orphanage. Having weighed the concerns of their families and not wanting to slight either, Bernard and Rose christened their new son Akheem Kelly-Rogers.

  Akheem grew up in Africa and saw England only on those home visits when the Foreign Office periodically repatriated their diplomats for consultation and home leave. The young man followed his parents through postings in Botswana, Rhodesia, Nairobi, and a short stint in Pretoria. He spoke French and German fluently, as well as Swahili, Shangane, and a smattering of other African tribal dialects. When he was fourteen, Bernard and Rose packed him off to the Lucton School in Herefordshire. Bernard and his father had both attended Lucton, and Akheem was accepted on the strength of his family name, never mind his breeding. He was an instant success at Lucton, and due to the home schooling by his parents, he was more than prepared, taking honors in his first form. Akheem was very popular among his classmates; being black, bright, British, and affluent were all to his advantage at an upscale rural English boarding school. Tall for his age and an accomplished batsman, he was quite handsome in his blazer and school tie. But during his second year he became bored, and his grades slipped dramatically, a common occurrence among the sons of the service posted abroad. Rural England was quite mundane and dismal when compared with the adventure of living in colonial African capitals. Akheem might have been expelled for poor academics but for a chance meeting with a resident inmate of another boarding institution in Herefordshire.

  During term break, when most of the other boys were home with their families, Akheem made his way into the village of Ross-on-Wye, looking for some diversion from the school dining hall. He was seated in a quaint pub in the village center, giving his order to the proprietor, when a group of skinheads stormed into the establishment. They were up from Liverpool, uniformly turned out in tight jeans, white T-shirts, jackboots, and tattoos.

  “ ’Ey there, gov’ner, leave off with that wog and get some pints around for us ’ere wots got a thirst.”

  “I’ll be with you in a moment,” the owner replied and turned back to Akheem, who was seated in a booth in the corner.

  “At’s not good enough by half, gov’ner. Ge’ ’im over ’ere, Sharkey.”

  One of the skinheads grabbed the old man roughly to drag him back toward the bar, and Akheem was out of the booth in an instant. The ruffian was caught flatfooted, totally unprepared for the speed and power of the punch that snapped his head back and pu
t him on the floor. It was not the kind of punch that one would have expected from a fifteen-year-old preppie. The proprietor retreated to the bar as the other four closed in around Akheem.

  “So wot we ’ave ’ere is a cheeky kaffir needin’ to learn some manners,” the largest in the group snarled. “An’ wer th’ blokes ’at can do just that.”

  “Leave the lad be,” a cold voice from across the tavern demanded.

  The big man whirled in the direction of the new challenge. “So you be wantin’ a piece of this as well? We can oblige that.”

  He faced a man in his late twenties, medium build and height, but with a singularly composed manner about him. The man eased himself from the stool but did not relinquish his hold on the pint of ale that he’d been drinking. He let the large man come to him, watching only his eyes as he approached.

  “As I wuz sayin’, you be wantin’—”

  He moved like a snake, almost too fast for the eye to follow, whipping the ale in the glass directly into the big skinhead’s eyes—too quickly for him to even blink. His next strike was a kick to the blinded man’s crotch as he brought a forearm across his face, exploding the large man’s nose like an overripe tomato. The skinhead went first to his knees, then forward onto the planked flooring on his face. His mates watched in stunned silence, disbelieving that their leader had gone down so quickly. Heads turned to a sharp, splintering sound as Akheem took a wooden chair and crashed it over the head of another of the skinheads. The one he had decked earlier attempted to get up, but Akheem kicked him hard in the ribs, sending him back to the floor. He curled into a ball and began to moan.

  “I’m thinkin’ that you boys had best be leavin’ the premises,” the proprietor said, brandishing a heavy burled walking stick, “while you’re still able.”

  The five men collectively gathered themselves and made for the door. They helped each other into a Ford van and drove quickly away. The pub owner took the empty pint glass from the bar, refilled it with ale, and pushed it back across to the young man as he reclaimed his stool.

  “Seein’ as how the pint was only partway done,” he said with a straight face and a twinkle in his eye, “I’ll not be chargin’ you for this one. Just this one time, mind you.”

  “Well, Gavin,” the man replied, “that’s quite decent of you.” He took half the pint in a single draw, smiled in satisfaction, then got up and made his way over to where Akheem still stood by the booth.

  The proprietor took up a dustpan and broom and begun to clear away the debris. He glanced up at Akheem. “And you, lad, given that you joined the fray unprovoked, I won’t be chargin’ you for the chair. But you’ll have to eat elsewhere; kitchen will be closed for the rest of the evenin’.”

  The stranger looked Akheem over and, as if liking what he saw, held out his hand. “Simon Carter, here.”

  “Akheem Kelly-Rogers,” Akheem replied.

  He tossed off the ale with another long pull. “Looks as if we need to find you something to eat.” He turned and headed for the door, and after only a moment’s hesitation, Akheem followed.

  “I’m not sure there’s anything else open this time of day,” Akheem offered, once they were outside.

  “Well, then,” Simon Carter replied, “I suppose there’s nothing to be done but to head back to the mess. C’mon.”

  Again Carter led and Akheem followed. They rounded the corner and approached a battered Land Rover Defender, obviously a military vehicle from its light dune color, but lacking any markings. Carter motioned for Akheem to get in. The Rover started instantly with a smooth, powerful roar that was not in keeping with its shabby exterior. After a fifteen-minute drive they came to a gatehouse with a single sentry. He wore a British Army uniform with no insignia save for a parachutist badge.

  “Evening, Simon,” the soldier said, then bent to look into the Rover at Akheem. “What we got here, a new recruit?”

  “Could be, Bertie. For now I’m just taking the lad up to the mess for some tack.”

  It was a large base, and it took them another ten minutes to get to a cluster of barracks. “Word of the altercation at the pub is bound to get around,” Carter said as they pulled up to a nondescript building. “I’d be obliged if we could skip over the part where you dropped two of those goons and I accounted for only one.” He then added with an easy grin, “Follow me, and we’ll see about a bit of tea.”

  Carter led him into a large, comfortable pine-paneled room with swords and plaques covering the walls. One end of the room had a faded Persian carpet, dated leather armchairs, and floor lamps. The other had circular tables with casino-style lighting, ashtrays, and condiments clustered in the center. A half dozen men sat at the tables and that many more in the armchairs, smoking and reading newspapers. It had the smell of a private men’s club, which in a way it was. It was the sergeants’ mess of Her Majesty’s Special Air Service. Akheem took it all in; it was an impression that he would carry with him for many years.

  For the next several months Akheem took even less interest in his studies. All he wanted to do was join the SAS, and he would have left school for the army had he been old enough. He was on academic probation and just on the verge of being expelled when he was visited by an Oxford classmate of his father’s. The Lucton headmaster had given over his private office for the meeting. Akheem was at that age when his parents and the headmasters of his parents’ generation had little influence on him, but this visitor was a lieutenant colonel in the Army and a SAS battalion commander. He was a commanding figure, and Akheem jumped to his feet when he entered the room.

  The tall officer took a seat at the headmaster’s desk while Akheem stood before the desk at attention. The colonel took a long moment to appraise him. He made no motion for Akheem to sit down.

  “I’m given to understand that you would like to join my regiment.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Life is not easy in the SAS. Are you prepared to make the necessary sacrifices for a life in the service?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Beginning this very minute?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Then sit.”

  The tall officer leaned forward on one elbow and looked at the boy straight on. Then he continued in a measured tone. “Have you ever heard of Sandhurst?” This question would change Akheem’s life forever.

  The transformation to model student was immediate and complete. Akheem Kelly-Rogers went on to graduate at the top of his class at Lucton and won an appointment to Sandhurst, England’s West Point. After the mandatory five years in the regular army, he joined the SAS. Enlisted men in the SAS call their officers “Ruperts,” a term that is not entirely complimentary. While at the SAS, Akheem became known as the Black Rupert, and his reputation was legendary. Those who served with him regarded him as the finest combat leader in the Special Air Service. One evening, in the very same SAS mess where Akheem had first dined, a young sergeant who had not served with Major Kelly-Rogers made a rare derogatory comment about the Black Rupert. He was promptly and unceremoniously knocked on his ass by a senior warrant officer named Simon Carter.

  That evening Garrett was seated comfortably on the stern deck of the Ragtime. A cut crystal tumbler of tonic and ice sat at his elbow alongside a tray of papaya and passion fruit. It would be an interesting evening. Kelly-Rogers had left about thirty minutes ago in the RHIB, the small rigid-hull inflatable boat that served as the yacht’s tender. It was mounted with a forty-horse outboard and crossed the blue-green waters between their anchorage and the Charlestown city dock like a scalded dog. Garrett was pouring himself another tonic when the RHIB returned. AKR brought it smoothly to the docking station on the swim platform and held it there as a portly man with a bad comb-over pulled himself aboard. He mounted the short ladder and stepped through the companionway in the stern rail to the stern deck. It was a few minutes before six, a time when most in the islands were on their second cocktail.

  “Ah, Monsieur Lyle,” he said, extending one hand
while mopping his brow with a handkerchief clutched in the other, “it is a pleasure to finally meet you.”

  “Mr. Klein,” Garrett replied, formally nodding his head, “welcome aboard. Please, this way.” Garrett led him to a low, oval glass table and motioned for him to have a seat. “May I offer you something to drink?”

  “Rum and tonic, tall, if you don’t mind, monsieur.”

  It was a very warm evening, and while the Ragtime was air-conditioned, with ample generator power to keep the interior spaces cool and dry, Garrett had no intention of asking him inside. A little sweat would do Martin Klein some good. Kelly-Rogers stood to one side, awaiting further instructions from Mr. Lyle. Garrett snapped his fingers, indicating to him to build a drink for their guest.

  That afternoon they had made the eighteen-mile run from Basseterre on St. Kitts to Charlestown on Nevis in a little under two hours. Nevis was a sleepy little island, circular in shape and between seven and eight miles in diameter. There was little nightlife, save for the entertainment at a marvelous Four Seasons resort. Garrett and AKR had elected to stay close to St. Kitts but had booked a suite for the week at the Four Seasons just in case. They were, after all, players, and no one knew that better than Monsieur Klein.

  St. Kitts and Nevis had been possessions of Portugal, France, and England, with the English ultimately winning out for control of the two tiny islands. The island pair gained their independence from the UK in 1983, and now enjoyed federation status as a constitutional monarchy with a Westminster-style parliament. Basseterre is the little federation’s capital and hub of most of the commercial activity. The two islands enjoy the same government and the same porous banking regulations, but Nevis has earned a singular reputation for financial flexibility. Depending upon which side of a given nation’s tax code you happen to be on, it was a haven or cesspool for financial dealings. A lot of dirty money gets laundered on Nevis. For decades, both St. Kitts and Nevis had been way points for drugs coming up from South America to the United States and Europe. Those who value their banking relations, especially those with ties to Nevis, recently asked the cartels if they would not use the islands for drug transshipments. The drug cartels, who take direction from no one but who also understand the value of pliable banking relationships, were most accommodating. They rerouted their product through other islands.