As we approach, one of the guards reaches for the door handle and pulls the door open for us, not saying a word as we go into the lounge.
With the fair amount of overseas travelling I did for Orion Securities, I am well used to these lounges; they are all much the same, although I’m not sure I have been in this one before. It has the same large windows, comfortable sofas, tea and coffee facilities, food counter and bar area as the rest of them. In here, however, all the large television screens are blank, switched off, so as not to upset or excite the ‘inmates’.
I see Emily, Catherine, Stacey and Stan immediately, but there is no sign of Lindsay, so maybe she is in the toilet or somewhere?
Catherine gives me one of her stunning smiles when she sees me and Emily who was sitting down gets up and comes over to me as I walk towards them.
“Finally, Dad,” Emily says as she gets near to me, “it’s boring in here, can we go now?”
“I missed you too,” I joke to her as I lean down and pick her up into my arms.
“Well can we?” she persists.
“I’m afraid not, I’ve got some more meetings and work to do.” There really is no point in me telling Emily the real reason we can’t leave, getting her upset and worried; it would be too much for her to process. I am going to totally play it down to her, tell her that I am just helping out with planning and other boring stuff. Emily protests more and asks more questions but I stick to my guns, play it down and tell her she will have to stay with Catherine and Stacey, for the time being. Eventually, Emily calms down and accepts that we can’t leave yet.
Lieutenant Winters has taken himself off into another part of the lounge with his phone stuck to his ear, hopefully making enquiries about my M4, although he may have more important matters to deal with.
“Where is Lyndsay?” I ask as I put Emily down.
“She left about ten minutes ago; her mum is coming to get her,” Catherine tells me.
“That’s good news,” I say, “how about you Stan, did you have any luck with your family in Bristol?”
“Yea, I’m due to leave, soon, I hope. I’m getting the train to Bristol.”
“At least the trains are still running,” I joke, badly.
“Have you seen Josh?” Catherine asks me.
“I’ve just left him, he is busy working. In fact, we are going to be working together, so at least I can keep my eye on him,” I say, mostly for Emily’s benefit. “How are you holding up, Stacey?” She has been very quiet since I arrived back.
“I don’t really know, Andy, I feel a bit numb about everything, I suppose it will take time to process.”
Stacey sounds tired and looks pretty down. She can’t know what to think; are her parents dead, infected or still holed up and hiding somewhere? The poor girl must be in turmoil, trying to figure out what has happened to her parents and to make matters worse, she is stuck in here with nothing else to do but think about it. It must be constantly going around in her head.
“I wish there was something I could do, Stacey,” I say, feeling very helpless and sorry for her.
“I know you do, Andy.”
“Catherine, can we talk for a minute?” I ask, indicating with my head for her to come with me.
She uncurls her legs and gets up from the sofa to follow me the short distance to one of the empty sofas, and she sits next to me, taking my hand in hers.
“This is a very strange courtship isn’t it?” Catherine says to me, smiling.
“I know, I’m sorry,” I’m suddenly worried that she has had enough of this situation, of me and my baggage already. “I wish things were different, normal.”
Catherine must have seen the worry cross my face, and her hand grips mine tighter and she looks deep into my eyes.
“That was a joke, Andy. You must admit it is strange though, and that’s not your fault; if it wasn’t for you, I’d probably be stuck at Orion with everybody else who was there, and heaven only knows what would have happened. Anyway, if things were still normal, I’d still be waiting for you to make a move, if you ever did, and you should know me well enough by now to know I don’t do normal,” Catherine says and I feel myself blush slightly.
“That’s lucky then because I don’t think things are going to be normal for a while yet,” I tell her.
“I can see you’ve got something on your mind; what does colonel Reed want from you now?” she asks.
“He wants Sir Malcolm’s safe and I’ve got to get it for him.”
Catherine’s whole face changes to confusion and anger, “He wants the safe, well why doesn’t he go and get it himself? Why on earth would you agree to go back to Orion? That place will be overrun by now. It’s too risky, tell him you’ve changed your mind and you’re not going back!”
“That’s exactly what I did tell him, Catherine, but he used Josh to force my hand.”
“What does that mean?” she asks looking even angrier.
“If I didn’t agree, he was going to send Josh in on the front line of the battle to take back the city, which moves out at ten o’clock this morning. I couldn’t let that happen.”
“That slime ball used your own son to bribe you? Wait until I see him!” Catherine looks livid now, and I wouldn’t like to be in Colonel Reed's shoes if she does catch up with him.
“He didn’t give me a choice; he knew I couldn’t refuse,” I tell her.
“So, what are you going to do?”
“I’m assembling a team to get the safe; that’s where Josh and Dan are now, starting to prepare.”
“Andy, it’s too dangerous. Let’s get them both and get the hell out of here.”
“We probably could, but not Josh. Josh is still enlisted, they would not let him leave and then you can bet the Colonel would carry out his threat. I’ve got to go through with it, I’ve just come back to tell you what’s happening and to see if you will wait for me until I get back. I don’t like asking you again.”
“It’s not about waiting for you; of course, I will. I’ve told you I’m with you, but it’s about you going back to that building. I don’t want to lose you now and I’m thinking of Emily.” Catherine looks like she was about to get upset for a moment, but she quickly pulls herself together, I squeeze her hand.
“It is risky, but I’m getting two Special Forces teams to go in with. We will fly in, get the safe and get out, and if all goes to plan, we should only be there a very short time. Colonel Reed’s operation is going to be huge and will act as a diversion. With any luck, it will have drawn most of the Rabids away and out of the building,” I tell her, sounding as confident as I can.
“That’s too many shoulds, if’s and lucks for my liking, Andy.”
“You’re right, but if I think it looks too bad when we get there, I’ll turn us around and abort.”
“Yea, like that’s going to happen,” she says sarcastically.
“We’ve got to move out by three at the latest so I estimate we will be back by four and the Colonel has given me his word that we can all leave here then. I haven’t much of a choice, but I’ll get it done, you’re not going to lose me.”
“We had better not, Andy, so don’t try to do anything foolish.”
“I won’t. I’d better get back to it, I’ve just told Emily that I have meetings and work to do around here, there is no point worrying her.”
“No there isn’t, and don’t you worry about her, she will be with me, so do what you’ve got to do and get back to us in one piece, okay?”
“I will,” I just manage to say as Catherine leans in, giving me a long forceful kiss on my lips and for a moment, I forget about the mission and all the other shit, losing myself in her soft luscious lips. My feelings are growing for her by the second and I promise to myself that I will get back to her as soon as I possibly can!
Mine and Catherine’s spell is broken too soon, however, by the sound of more sniggering coming from a certain young lady sitting nearby. Suddenly, I feel like a schoolboy again, kissing my very fi
rst girlfriend while our friends snigger in the background and as Catherine and I pull away from each other, I am sure I’m blushing a bit.
Emily is still sniggering behind her hand as I get up from the sofa; this is definitely the first time she has seen me kiss any woman apart from her mother and I am not surprised by her reaction. She could have reacted totally differently, badly even; it feels awkward for me so why shouldn’t it for her? I know she likes Catherine and I’m sure she will get used to us.
I pick Emily up just as she calms down, and hug her tightly into me, saying “I’ve got to get back to work now, I’ll be as quick as I can, so be a good girl for Catherine and Stacey, okay?”
“Yes Dad, try not to be too long.”
“I’ll try,” I put Emily down and tell her I love her, and she seems fine and I’m glad she doesn’t know what is really going on.
“Are you going to be alright here for a while longer, Stacey?”
“Yes, I’m alright thanks, Andy,” she tells me, attempting a smile.
“Stan, good luck with your trip, I hope everything works out in Bristol, mate.”
“Thanks, Andy,” he says as he gets up and gives me a vigorous handshake. “It will be cool I’m sure, and if not, at least I’m at a seaport so I’ll get on the first boat back to Jamaica,” he says, laughing deeply.
“Right I’m off, see you, girls, later.”
Before I leave, I can’t help but give Emily one last kiss on the cheek.
“Don’t forget me,” Catherine says, and I don’t.
Lieutenant Winters is standing over by the exit, checking his watch and looking eager to get on with things as I approach him.
“Right, Lieutenant, let’s get on with this.”
“Yes, Sir,” he says as he turns to get the door.
As we leave, I take one last look back at the girls before they disappear from view. I now have to try to put them to the back of my mind, knowing the best thing for a successful mission is concentrating on the mission with no distractions, and that is what will give us the best odds of getting us back together as soon as possible, all in one piece.
Chapter 9
Lieutenant Winters and I have made our way back through the Departure Lounge without much said, and are climbing back into the Defender.
He quickly starts the engine and before I know it, he is turning the vehicle into a sharp 180-degree arc and we are aiming in the direction of the new Forward Operating Base for the mission, at the hangar where Josh and Dan are.
As we drive toward the FOB and the Apache helicopters, we are met by an obstacle and I can only hope that this is the worst one we will come across today, wishful thinking maybe.
The path through the centre of the Apaches that we came upon on our way, is now cordoned off with bollards and a man in a high-vis jacket. He is directing us to go right and down the side of the long hangar that goes all the way down to the quarantine area. My first thought is that the American pilot we startled on the way and who slammed his hand on the bonnet has put a complaint in and so the through path has been closed.
“Bloody hell,” Lieutenant Winters exclaims. “I’ll get this idiot to move the bollards and let us through!”
He is about to pull up and stop. However, the sound of one of the Apache motors starts accelerating up to full power, the noise whining through our doors’ open windows. We can’t see which one of the Apaches it is though, in the mass of helicopters before us. Lieutenant Winters pulls up short of the bollards just in time for us to watch as an Apache Attack helicopter on the far side from us, starts to lift off, raising above over the rest of the helicopters still on the ground. The powerful motor of the helicopter has it lifted into the air in no time and as it lifts, it starts to fly forward, its body and rotors silhouetted by the sun in front of us as it goes. Then another less obvious whining noise starts as another Apache starts its take-off, and it too is soon in the air and following the first. Within two or three minutes, four more Apaches are in the air and they all follow in the direction of the first, towards London.
There is a lull in the action following the lift-off of the sixth Apaches, it seems that these are only the initial sorties, probably providing air cover for an offshoot of the main mission, due to move out in only another forty minutes or so.
The Defender springs back to life almost as soon as the lull begins and Lieutenant Winters drives straight for the bollards and the high-vis jacketed man, coming to a sudden stop in front of him.
“Let us through,” the Lieutenant shouts as he pokes his head out of his window.
The man in the high-vis who is clearly a civilian, more than likely an airport worker, is having none of it. “Sorry mate, the road is closed; you’ll have to go down that way,” he says, pointing again down to our right and the long hangar.
“For fuck’s sake, man, we’ve got urgent business, now move those bollards!” Lieutenant Winters’ sudden outburst takes me by surprise; he struck me as a man who would not lose his cool so easily.
“Sorry mate, more than my job's worth, this road is closed,” the man says, not intimidated at all by the outburst. He doesn’t move and smiles at us, his bushy moustache raising, following his lips.
“Fucking jobsworth,” the Lieutenant says under his breath as he pulls his head in, getting even more irate.
He slams his foot on the accelerator and just as I think he is going to plough through the bollards or even through the man, he swerves the Defender to the left in the opposite direction of the one the man told him. The man moves, suddenly thinking the same as me, and he jumps to the side, falling over himself and knocking over some of the bollards. He ends up in a heap on the ground in amongst the bollards.
The Lieutenant motors down, accelerating as we go parallel to the helicopters; he only slows a little as we go up a small verge and onto the wide grass area that runs between the helicopters and one of the airport's runways. Immediately turning right, he picks up speed again, travelling in the direction of the FOB and I have to hand it to him, this is a much quicker route than our friend in the high-vis jacket pointed him to—even if the grass does throw up quite a few bumps.
No other Apaches take off as we travel past them on our right side, while on our left are ten Chinook helicopters, lined up in two rows of five, lengthways on as we pass them. Their double rotors hanging low give the impression our roof might hit them. Not that that slows down Lieutenant Winters who is almost giving chase to a USAF C10 Galaxy transport plane that has just come into land on the runway, away to our left.
With the Apaches coming to an end and then behind us, the Defender veers slightly right. We almost jump into the air as the Defender hits a larger grass verge and we hit the tarmac again. Thankfully, the FOB is now in sight and this seems to calm the Lieutenant a bit because he eases the speed slightly and his hands relax on the steering wheel.
“It looks like your team has arrived,” the Lieutenant says just as I’m thinking. Two military vehicles are parked up outside the roller shutter of our hangar FOB.
“Yes, it looks that way, now the fun will really start. Have you any further information on who has been assigned?” I ask.
“I’m afraid not, I just sent the request up the chain, I did stipulate a demolitions expert, for the safe though.”
“Good, he will be needed, I’m a bit rusty,” I tell him.
“I’m not surprised, Captain, it’s been a few years.”
“It certainly has, I never thought I’d be putting a uniform on again, but that is one of the least surprising things lately.”
“You can say that again.”
“Are you assigned to us until the mission is complete, Lieutenant?”
“Those are my orders.”
“The Colonel likes to keep a close eye on his assets, doesn’t he?”
“You know him well,” the Lieutenant says sarcastically, with a hint of bitterness.
“I certainly do. What’s your first name, Lieutenant?”
“Robert
, Sir.”
We park up next to the two new vehicles outside the roller shutter and I thank the Lieutenant for an interesting journey.
I have to admit to myself that I am actually quite nervous, now that I actually think about the job as I enter the hangar. I was in charge and gave out orders at Orion Securities the whole time I was employed there, and it came naturally to me. It was, in fact, easy compared to the military. The whole dynamic at Orion was different. I was dealing and responsible for employees and Orion only employed the best professionals in every aspect of the business, people who took pride in their work and were rewarded for it. The orders were, therefore, in effect, instructions and it was very, very rare that there was a threat to life in the instructions I gave. Now, I have to revert back because I am going to be dealing with hardened Special Forces operatives who know their shit and don’t take any. They can smell weakness a mile off and I have been out of the mix for a long time, so something tells me it is going to be very testing earning their respect in such a small amount of time.
Lieutenant Winters may see my trepidation because he takes the lead, opens the door and heads straight into the hangar.
“Right, form up!” the Lieutenant says loudly and forcibly almost as soon as we get into the hangar.
There are three separate groups of people milling around inside the hangar. I am pleased to see Alice is with Josh and Dan over by the tables with the computers and comms equipment on; Josh and Alice are seated in chairs and Dan stands by them in his new combat uniform with his arms crossed across his chest.
The other two groups stand in small separate circles talking, and immediately I see that one of the groups all have the sand colour beret of the SAS whilst the others have the green berets of the SBS. This should be interesting, I think to myself; this is not the dynamic I would have chosen, all SAS or SBS would have been preferred but you can only play with the toys you are given so we had all better make the best of it!
Capital Falling Trilogy Box Set [Books 1-3] Page 31
