Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One

by Mr Iain F Johnston

  *****

  “Chris, I need you to liaise with the Traffic Control Centre and follow up on the green saloon. They’re fairly sure they’ll have an index number for us shortly and route direction… We’re about to get something realtime from Cormorant at Swansea too…”

  “Aye gaffer, I’ve given a Jackie Harper my direct cell number. I’ve also ran her background, she’s ex-army INTEL…”

  “Really…?”

  “Yeah, she did her three years then left to have family, bloody good scores she got too…”

  My cellphone chirped: “Section Chief…”

  “Chief…? We’ve found it, an abandoned dairy west of Stourbridge on the outskirts of a small town called Kinver…”

  “Well done Steve, remember what happened at Wrington Hill…? Keep your men back and let SO13’s bomb disposal check it first…”

  “Don’t worry, I’ve spoken to Sergeant Mortimer and set up a safety zone per his instruction. The road isn’t that busy so we’ve sealed it off plus the air support unit confirms a negative on the infra-red… They’re gone, although not too long ago by the looks of things… Three or four hours tops…”

  “Understood…”

  Charlie had rapidly appeared at my side looking animated…

  “What’s got into you…?”

  “I’ve had a call from Seamus. He’s ringing back in five minutes… I think you need to get Robin.”

  He had been marshalling me toward my office as he spoke. “Now…? What gives Charlie…?”

  “Get Robin first… And Chris too…”

  I gave him my best cryptic look then registered the serious look on his face... Quietly I said…

  “Ok, I’ll get them both now... Your office…?”

  He replied with a curt nod then disappeared just as rapidly. Five minutes later we were all present, entering last I closed the door…

  “Do I need to do the blinds for this too…?”

  “No laddie, it’ll just draw more attention to us. As Sarah was my right arm in Belfast I’ve brought her in too…”

  Robin sat on the sofa…

  “Ok Charles, what gives and what required all this 1950’s RKO cloak and dagger stuff? I was half expecting Sidney Greenstreet or Peter Lorre…”

  “Sorry but, fifteen minutes ago a call was placed to the remote exchange which the RUC have been monitoring at the house in Armagh The caller knew we would be listening. Seamus is confirming the identity now before calling us back but he and I are certain it’s Robert Morris…”

  “So a mistake by one of the senior members at last…” “No Robin, he wants to speak to us…”

  “WHAT…!”

  “That’s right, that’s all he said.” “Nothing else…?”

  “He said he wants to speak to Compass and would call back in thirty minutes…”

  We were interrupted by the telephone: “Seamus…?”

  “Yes, as we thought Charlie, it’s Morris alright… He’s waiting now, what’s the play here…?”

  Robin answered…

  “Put him through Seamus please…” “Righto”

  I moved for the mute button on the speaker phone:

  “Hold on… Robin, say nothing, the less he knows the better, let Charlie do the talking… Agreed…?”

  “Agreed” “Charlie…?”

  He reached across and pressed the mute button: “Mr Morris, how are you today…?”

  “Charlie Haddon, so this is where they’ve squirrelled you off too, I hope you’re keeping your missus away from Oxford Street… A man’s bank balance can look a little shaky after an afternoon there hey Charlie boy…?”

  “Another offer like the one you gave Rod Catlin is it…?”

  The telephone fell silent, although the breathing on the other end told us he was still there.

  “No, not at all. You must know I had nothing to do with his wife’s death. I would never have agreed to that…”

  His voice had become more serious, business-like; “And our man on the ferry…?”

  “Come on now Charlie, you know that’s not my style. You’ve known that for many years…”

  “Aye, I do… It’s the only reason we’re talking… What do you want Robert…?”

  “If you lot are as smart as previous results indicate, you know this is coming from somewhere a lot warmer than the Falls Road…”

  “And…?”

  “It has to stop now. I no longer want a part in it, in any of it… Do you understand…?”

  “Robert, this is not a video game you can walk away from after you’ve run out of credit or you’re mother has called you down for your tea son…”

  “I know that, so I do… I’m away now, don’t waste your efforts or time trying to find me…”

  “As I said, what do you want…?”

  “I’ve told you… I want it to stop. Too many are dying for the bidding of others, others who have no understanding of our struggle or our constitution; others who are using us as cannon fodder…

  There is an opportunity for both sides here, a genuine ceasefire… In the years to come, maybe even the chance of some autonomy, for us to shape our own futures…? It’s a shame that there a still a ruling few, on both sides, Charlie, who don’t want it… I do…”

  “You’ve missed your calling; you should have been a politician…” “Not me Charlie, I’ll leave that to others…”

  Again the phone was silent, leaving only the heavy breathing… Was it just me or had the others in the room realised he’d just wasted our time for ten minutes…? They had.

  “Aye so laddie, what is the point to this conversation, pleasant though it is, we are a wee bit busy here…?”

  “Harraghy… Harraghy and McCauley, they are planning another. It’s underway now and won’t stop without intervention…”

  “Where…?”

  “The Catthorpe interchange, very similar to the one Crown was in command of… They will park the truck under the M1…”

  “When…?”

  “Within twenty four hours… That’s it, that’s what you get…”

  The phone was silent again; it was Seamus who responded…

  “He’s gone, the line is dead and we have no idea where he was calling from…”

  Morris stood on the bow of the fishing boat as it edged its way out of the Dee estuary and entered the Irish sea. Looking around, he took a deep breath before tossing the cell phone overboard. He had one last job to do, a job far harder than the betrayal of his comrades in arms. He had to face the man who started this, the man responsible for this; it wouldn’t end until he did. He had to face him then kill him.

  He had to kill his father…

  Chapter Thirty-one

  “Robin, I need to speak to Colonel March, he’s offered us further assets and there is something in particular I’m after…”

  “Which is…?”

  “The Royal Marine Armoured Support Group has Lynx armed with TOW missiles…”

  “Are you mad…?”

  “No… Realistic… If what Morris says is true there is a truck out there with massive destructive capability which those two wankers may decide to arm and detonate anywhere, particularly in a large populated area. If we can have air support with TOW capability it gives us the opportunity to take the truck out in a rural location…”

  “Yes Iain, I see your point, but a TOW impact together with a large VBIED detonation will not go unnoticed. The Home Sec’ will never sanction it…”

  Robin looked at the faces in the room before he continued…

  “Ok, listen; this is what I’ll do, when Sergeant Mortimer speaks to us shortly, we’ll run it past him. If his response is positive, then I’ll run it past the Home Sec’. Agreed…?”

  “Yes agreed…”

  “First you go shooting up the office, now you want to shoot up the countryside… What’s got into you…?”

  “Nothing Robin, just the need to stop these mad bastards from killing more people as quickly as possib
le, by any means necessary, so we can get on with the job of finding out who is actually sponsoring all of this…”

  Chris as usual stepped in as adjudicator.

  “It’s not as bad as that Robin. I wanted the Royal Navy to sink every passenger ferry leaving England and Wales…”

  Charlie was less charitable toward the director; he had felt for a while now that Robin had been less than forthcoming when guidance was sought by the young fairly inexperienced Section Chief:

  “Well maybe you shouldn’t have sanctioned or encouraged the removal of Rod Catlin to cover your embarrassment or issued a Delta Protocol which turned the M5 into a shooting gallery. Without your guidance Robin, how far does he know he can go…? Sarcasm isn’t helping him, is it…?”

  “No Charles…You’re right, these incidents have pulled us in all manner of directions making us reactive rather than proactive…”

  He thought for a moment before continuing;

  “Let’s re-evaluate what we have and where we are and maybe rescind the Delta. I’m sure the truck on the M5 could have been disabled allowing Garret to have further company at the Farm…”

  “Ok, we’ll re-do the boards…”

  “No… It’s bedlam out there. It’s 1445 now, let’s say 1500 in my office. It’ll give us a good half hour before Bill calls…”

  I turned to Chris,

  “Have the description of the second truck given to the Central Motorway Police Group. We’ll also need the local Leicestershire, Staffordshire and Northamptonshire lads to patrol the A roads…”

  “Plus a low key presence at Catthorpe…?”

  “Yeah Chris, I’m sure there must be a farmer’s field close by on the old Rugby Road one of their new Volvo 850’s can hide in…”

  By 1500 we had all the information and updates from Raven and Cormorant. Robin had rescinded the Delta Protocol although we decided that the Naval Air Support would remain in place.

  “So Iain how do we look…?”

  “Not bad, all things considered especially how thin our specialised assets are spread…”

  I began looking through the collated INTEL before continuing allowing me to give Robin only what was live and relevant.

  “The M5 closure has been successfully reported as a dangerous chemical leak from a transport vehicle. It will be another hour or so before EOD can transport it, also the Gordano service area has been reopened, the truck was made safe and is en route to Northolt…”

  “They’ll need a bigger hangar at this rate…”

  “The property at Wrington Hill is now a crime scene and has been handed over to Somerset. Apart from the 50lbs of Semtex ready for deployment, there was nothing further for us there…”

  “It’s being subjected to the same scrutiny as Kent, yes…?”

  “It is, as will Kinver when the all clear is given. We’ll have a specific update on that location from Sergeant Mortimer…”

  “Good… How is Raven coping in his role as TACCOM? He’s at the tunnel I take it…?”

  “Yes, there is also an SO13 team with him, plus a couple of the EOD lads, the feedback we’ve received is positive. Railtrack are understandably anxious to start repairs but are holding their tongues and not making a fuss…”

  “The sight of a group of serious chaps wielding MP5s will do that…”

  “The story to the press regarding a fatal Railtrack vehicle collision is also holding there are press on a nearby road bridge but Raven thought to move them on would only make them more curious…”

  “Quite true… And Cormorant…?”

  “He’s busy at Swansea, there’s a good chance of a positive and he’s following it up…”

  “Very well… The news from the Farm is this… Garret has disclosed the safehouse in Southern Ireland he stayed at also his mode of transport across the Irish Sea. He has also made hints in regard to the properties in Holland and the attack in Germany. The boy knows nothing in relation to the bigger picture but is assisting with explaining his role in the campaign also some interesting intelligence regarding his recruitment. Garvie is also there now and the appropriate medicinal encouragement is tying him to Garret and the demise of O’Hanlon, plus what he had in mind for the McQueen girl…”

  “We have nothing from SO12; they are still busy with Chiswick, the house and garage, Romford and the Insurance repair business owned by Griffiths…”

  “So we are upto speed then… Good”

  Robin reached for his intercom,

  “Janet could we have the mess bring sandwiches, tea and coffee please…? Thank you… We’ll eat in here and have ten minutes peace before Bill calls…”

  A little after 1530 Robin’s deskphone rang, Sergeant Mortimer’s call switched over to the speaker phone:

  “Good afternoon Sergeant, a busy day for you and your men…” “Indeed Director…”

  “We have the prospect of a further device for you; almost identical to the construction of the VBIED intercepted earlier on the M5…”

  “Understood, the core construction is becoming quite well known to us now. There have been a few subtle differences of course and we tend to think of them as their identifying personality. It a quirk with all bomb makers, a little of themselves go into them. Infact it’s telling us great deal in regard to our most recent finds. The Brasted devices were constructed by inexperienced hands, quite rudimentary and straight forward. The device which was discovered leaking on the M5 service area was the work of a more experienced maker probably learnt his trade during the late seventies, early eighties… Preliminary indications point to that for the device further north too…

  Now the property in Kinver is proving tricky. We have discovered multiple booby-traps. The constructor knows his craft, very similar to what we used to find in derelict properties over the water. This would indicate experienced brigade personnel involvement…”

  “Understood, that point correlates with our intelligence…”

  “Excellent…Now, the Severn Tunnel device is of interest. The blast area and fallen hazard zones tell us that this VBIED was designed as a show. The damage is far lighter than it would have been if the device had been located more strategically. We are assuming of course that the triggerman would have had all the time he needed as the area is unpopulated and cannot be seen from the road; there is a bridge in the vicinity although the A road is national speed limit for a further quarter mile beyond so most drivers would have been travelling a fair lick…”

  “Again, understood…”

  “On to composition then: The chemical signatures of the non- initiated devices are identical. There is no doubt: Our mobile analysers have had no problem corroborating that. The information will be available soon for your bods to trace its ancestry. The mix components are similarly identical too. Here at Severn those answers will take a little longer but there is little doubt of the outcome, residual composition will be the same too…”

  “Very good Sergeant, excellent job is such a short space of time…Thank you.”

  “My team here are mostly finished. I take it we are heading in another direction…?”

  “We’d like you to head east toward Rugby. We have extremely reliable INTEL that this is the destination area of the final device, we believe it to be en route now…”

  “Righto, we’ll stow our gear and be on our way. Once mobile I’ll contact you with an ETA…”

  “Thankyou Sergeant…”

  I turned to Charlie…

  “He sounds done in. They’ve been at this for days now…”

  “He’s certainly not as chirpy as he was on Sunday, that’s a fact…” “We need to get these lads a spot of leave when we’re done…”

  Robin reached for his telephone,

  “I’ll make that happen now. You lot need to chase Cormorant and Camera Control…”

  “On our way…”

  On entering my office I immediately dialled Cormorant’s cell phone.

  “Chief…”

  “What do you have
…?”

  “A positive: Francis Riddell walking through the terminal, purchasing a one way ticket and walking along the foot passenger gangway to board the ship. The name on the ticket is Tony Woodcock…”

  “That confirms it… It’s quite a long crossing isn’t it…?”

  “Yes Chief, eight hours, so unless he’s the man from Atlantis, he’s going nowhere for another five…”

  “Right, we’ll have the Garda greet him at Cork…” “What next…?”

  “Jump in the Lynx and head slightly northeast, a degree or so… Have the pilot call in for refuelling waypoints, his CO will bring him upto speed. Oh and Kevin…? Robin has rescinded the Delta Protocol…”