by David Barker
“But surely this mission has just proved they still need us. How can they put a price on saving the world?”
Wardle shook his head. “Never as simple as that. As usual, the glory is getting shared out. The CIA is taking credit for capturing Jember Abdi and obtaining the link to ESCO. The Chinese insisted that they be the ones who return the warhead to North Korea. Apparently, they’re using it as a means to gain some trust and re-open channels of dialogue. So, we can’t claim that we found the bomb in case it upsets the delicate machinery of the diplomats.”
“That is so messed up. What about our jobs?”
“Don’t worry, I’ll put in a good word for you with the other agencies. Maybe a desk job this time? Now that you’ve got a little one on the way, eh?”
Sim smiled and then felt his stomach churn as he thought about meeting up with Rosie again. Ten times worse than a first date. But more important than how he felt, he just wanted to make sure that the shock didn’t do anything dangerous to her and the baby.
The car pulled up outside their small home on the outskirts of Dornoch. One of those days in late August when the sunlight seemed just right. Not too harsh and bright like June, or feeble and watery like the rays of winter. Sufficient to let everything radiate its true colours. Sim stayed in the car while Wardle knocked on the front door. It opened and there was Rosie. Her face a little more worn and a little rounder than last time he saw her. But his bonnie lass.
Wardle said something to Rosie and her face creased in confusion. Wardle put his hand on her shoulder. Her hand went to her mouth and tears gushed out. She bent down and then stood again, flinging her arms around Wardle. Sim pulled the handle of the car door and stepped back into his old life.
As the leaves changed colour, Rosie’s belly continued to swell. Sim would meet up with his old boss, every so often, to go fishing together. It still felt weird calling him Alan, but Sim was getting to know him better. Alan’s enthusiasm for fishing was starting to rub off on Sim. The midnight sessions on the silvery Tay were helping Sim to overcome his heartache whenever the Moon shone through. Often the conversation would turn to their colleagues. Freda had decided to explore the oceans with Captain Hamilton. No doubt continuing to swap old film quotes.
“I thought she said she was homesick,” said Sim.
“Freda’s one of those people with Wanderlust. Like a yoyo, Sim. They have to return home from time to time, but to come alive, they need to be in continuous motion.”
Gopal and Rabten had set up a hostel in Kathmandu, offering guided tours of the Himalayas and helping tourists enjoy the majesty of their country. If he could persuade her, Alan was going to take his wife hiking there next year.
But what Sim enjoyed most of all was lying on the sofa with his ear pressed against Rosie, listening to their unborn child and feeling the little movements. Rosie often ran her fingers over Sim’s face, tracing out the bumps and contours that remained from his disguise. After the mid-term scan, they discovered that they were having a baby girl. Sim had known straight away what he wanted to call her and Rosie had agreed: Luna.
Standing in the middle of the garden, Sim heard the grandfather clock strike 2am. He was looking up at the full Moon, thinking about Yvette and Lin, the scientists up at Moon Lab One still striving for a breakthrough on clean energy. Down on Earth, the Terror Formers’ network had been busted open. The cleanup would take years, but they were winning. For the first time in a long while, Sim was feeling optimistic about the future. Rosie waddled out into the garden in her pyjamas, looking gloriously round.
“What you doing out here? It’s freezing,” said Rosie.
Sim just shrugged.
“I thought you’d run off on another mission. Come back inside, yer daft bugger.”
Sim smiled and put his hands on her bump and knelt down to kiss it. “I’ve never going to leave you two again.” There was a kick from inside that made him jump.
“She’s a fighter, just like her daddy,” said Rosie. And that was when the contractions began.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Well, this has been quite a journey for Sim, Freda and for me! Who knows whether we’ll hear from Sim and Freda again, but for now, I’m done with their adventures. It’s time for a new challenge. Quite what that will be, I’m not sure yet. Watch this space…
As always, top of my list of people to thank are Matthew and Kerry-Jane, directors at Urbane, for their passion and support throughout these past three years. Tara Gladden’s editorial work has made a huge difference to the quality of this trilogy, with her keen eye for detail and for the structural changes that have helped the flow of the story.
Thanks also to my family and friends for their support throughout this mid-life change of career. I haven’t dyed my hair, nor have I bought a sports car, so I’m not sure if it counts as a mid-life crisis. But your time and messages of encouragement have helped enormously.
Most of all, thanks to you the reader for sticking with Overseas Division through thick and thin. I hope you have enjoyed the highs and lows of the whole plot. Feel free to drop me a line to let me know about your favourite (or least favourite) characters and scenes using the ‘contact me’ button on my website below.
I can’t resist finishing with a quote straight from Freda’s library: I’ll be back!
www.davidbarkerauthor.co.uk
David Barker lives in Berkshire with his wife and daughter. He can often be found travelling into London where he works as an economist for an international fund.
His debut, Blue Gold, was published by Urbane Publications in May 2017 and its sequel, Rose Gold, came out in May 2018. White Gold is the final part of the Gaia trilogy.
David attended the Faber Academy How to Write a Novel course in 2014 with the best-selling Ali Land (check out Good Me, Bad Me). He also appears on the Radio Berkshire monthly show Radio Reads with Bill Buckley and Claire Dyer.
You can find blogs, short stories and more about David on his website: www.davidbarkerauthor.co.uk
And you can follow him on twitter: @BlueGold201 or on facebook: @DABauthor
BLUE GOLD – BOOK 1 IN THE GAIA TRILOGY
The near future. Climate change and geopolitical tension have given rise to a new international threat - a world war for water. This most vital of resources has become a precious commodity and some will stop at nothing to control its flow. When a satellite disappears over Iceland, Sim Atkins thinks he knows why. He is given the chance to join the hallowed Overseas Division and hunt for the terrorists responsible. But his new partner Freda Brightwell is aggrieved to be stuck with a rookie on such a deadly mission.
Freda’s misgivings are well founded when their first assignment ends in disaster - a bomb destroys a valuable airship and those responsible evade capture. Seeking redemption, the British agents follow the trail to a billionaires’ tax haven in the middle of the Atlantic ocean and uncover a web of deceit that threatens global war. Whom can they trust? As the world edges ever closer to destruction Sim and Freda must put their lives on the line to prevent Armageddon - and protect the future of ‘blue gold’.
David Barker’s gripping debut will thrill fans of Richard North Patterson, Scott Mariani and Steve Berry.
ROSE GOLD – BOOK 2 IN THE GAIA TRILOGY
Rose Gold is the thrilling sequel to the bestselling Blue Gold.
In the aftermath of a world war for water, geopolitical tensions remain high and terrorism is a daily fact of life in the 2030s. But a mining base on the moon offers a rare example of international cooperation and a possible solution to the world’s energy problems. Yet not everyone on Earth is keen for this endeavour to succeed...
Sim Atkins and his wife are desperate to start a family. But a shocking message from the moon base tells Sim that he is already a father and that his son’s life is in danger. The mining station is full of suspects and, worse, the woman who fathered his child. Can Sim rescue his son and save his marriage?
Gopal and Rabten - the Gurkha and monk who helpe
d Sim on his last assignment - are on the trail of terrorists and a giant airship. What the agents discover in the cargo hold makes Sim’s mission even more vital. When they get trapped, Freda Brightwell - Sim’s old partner in Overseas Division - is called out of retirement for one more mission.
Once again, corporate greed threatens the lives of millions. Overseas Division’s finest are back at the sharp end. And this time, the stakes are far more personal.
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