Game Of Justice

by Mark Radford

  ‘Where are you, Carl?’

  ‘I am back home and I…’

  ‘Are you mad?’ Denham cut him short. ‘The APA will be watching the house like a bunch of buzzards. They will kill you if they catch you.’

  ‘Not if I stay one step ahead of the game. I know what I’m doing, but I’ve got news for you. I have sighted General Skara and the curfew is a smoke screen to allow him to move around undetected.’

  ‘How did you find him?’ The Commander responded in surprise.

  ‘He ordered the execution of Edward Parsons for giving us the studio time and I saw him in the back of the car as it passed me. Have you heard the news about Parsons?’

  ‘Yes, it’s been on the news. Why did you go back to London and just leave a note for Selena?

  ‘I need to find answers fast on the setup to clear us of conspiracy charges and it’s easier to do it from here. How’s Selena doing?’

  ‘She’s doing well, considering your fight, and I have spoken to my undercover man at the APA headquarters. Selena was telling the truth.’

  Carl paused for a few moments at his own stupidity, that he had shown a lack of trust in her. Denham picked up on the uneasiness in the pause.

  ‘We have tracked down the telephone number dialled from Chief Fletcher’s office,’ Denham said, to give Carl something positive to think on. The Commander gave out the address for the number.

  ‘I will go and check it out tonight.’

  ‘It’s not safe, Carl. Wait for back up from us,’ pleaded Denham.

  ‘Time is precious as it is and I can’t afford to waste another minute. I have borrowed a bullet-proof jacket and taken a gun from your ammunitions store. I’m fully prepared.’

  ‘Well, play it safe, Carl and a dispatch team that I sent out earlier should be with you soon.’ There was no answer. Carl had already rung off from the conversation.

  ‘Get me the dispatch team,’ Denham ordered a soldier and turned to an assistant. ‘Who’s responsible for the security around here?’ He was concerned that their defence had been breached if Carl was able to slip out of Fort Trafalgar unsighted and taken a few items with him. Before the Commander got an answer, the emergency drill siren sounded.

  *****

  Carl arrived at the address given by Denham and found the place deserted. He had expected to find sentries in place around the office building, but there were none. He had a renewed vigour within him to know that his hunch on Skara being alive was proved correct and that Selena had been honest with him. He was determined that the General would pay the price for messing with his life, but first he needed the evidence that would blow the whole assassination cover wide open to the public. He made his way cautiously to the building and checked to see if there was any security apparatus, but there was nothing. Carl made his way to the back entrance and switched his gun to silencer mode and blew the lock open from the badly neglected door, that clearly been unused for quite a time. He slinked in and the building lights were on. He suspected that there was probably a security guard around somewhere. He came to the board that listed the offices in the building and found the one for AP Freight Shipping Limited that the Commander had given him. Carl made his way to the designated floor and once he found the office where the call was received, he picked the lock and unlocked the door. He entered the office and was able to look around; the hallway light gave exposure to the room through its inner windows. He closed the door and started to search among the papers on the desk for any evidence that could expose Skara’s faked assassination. No luck on the desk so he moved to the filing cabinet. He picked the lock and it was opened. Carl used his own small pocket-sized torchlight to scan the titles of files. One file name, ‘Mission Mercy’, aroused his suspicion and stood out since it did not seem to be related to any shipping terms as were the names given to the other files. He opened it up and started a brief read of the documentation. Carl quickly discovered that it was a goldmine of information and stated why General Skara was still alive. Carl looked at further files for more incriminating evidence to champion his cause but was interrupted by the sound of footsteps in the corridor. He switched off his torchlight and quickly closed the filing cabinet, keeping the Mission Mercy file in hand and hid behind the desk. The footsteps came to the door and he heard the door opened. The light for the room flickered into life.

  ‘You can stop hiding now, Carl.’ He was stunned when he recognised the voice.

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Carl emerged from behind the desk, surprised to see Chief Fletcher standing in front of him. The Chief shook his head.

  ‘What part of suspension did you not understand?’ he asked Carl. ‘You have defied my orders.’

  ‘I couldn’t just sit around and do nothing when I knew that an injustice had been carried out.’

  ‘How can the assassination of General Skara be an injustice? Please enlighten me.’ Fletcher sat down in a chair as he said this, and gestured for Carl to do the same. It looked like they might be in conversation for a while so Carl took the seat behind the desk and faced his Chief.

  ‘How did you know I was here?’ Carl fired his question as he probed the face of his boss for giveaway clues. The Chief gave a mere chuckle.

  ‘I just knew that you would break your suspension so I had your home put under surveillance and the moment you turned up, I was informed. You are too good an officer to stay quiet over an impending investigation.’

  ‘It doesn’t answer my question.’ Carl baited him.

  ‘I followed you here from your home,’ he replied harshly. ‘Your standards are slipping for you not to double-check your route here.’

  It bothered Carl that he had been followed despite the extra care he took to avoid detection.

  ‘I thought I did. How did you avoid the APA?’ More burning questions, Carl hoped for Fletcher to get careless and reveal something he could use.

  ‘I’m on official business, tracking a renegade officer – you.’ He coolly demolished Carl’s stance and line of questioning. ‘I can book you for breaking and entering and defying a curfew order.’

  Carl now felt like he should give his Chief the benefit of the doubt. He remembered the President’s speech and that he had stated that those on official business were exempt from the curfew.

  ‘Okay, read this. It will explain the resurrection of General Skara and put me in the clear.’ Carl passed the Mission Mercy file to Fletcher who opened it and started to read the notes. ‘There was a military classified cloning experiment being done overseas at a time when it was an outlawed practice to replicate humans. It was something that I had heard about in my training years but I didn’t think it had ever happened until I read in the file that Skara had been successfully cloned in readiness for the battle of democracy in 2020. I guess that it was the clone that snuffed it in your office.’

  ‘How did you trace this to here?’ The Chief showed great interest in Carl’s findings.

  ‘I only found out tonight that the telephone call that Skara made from your office, the one he claimed was to the President was actually made to here. I had my suspicion that the General was still alive and when the President made no reference to the phone call in his curfew speech…’

  ‘You don’t miss a trick, do you Carl?’ Fletcher smiled at him and held the file up. ‘What were you hoping to achieve with this?’

  ‘It’s obvious, isn’t it?’

  ‘I’m sorry, Carl, but I can’t allow you to walk out of here with that information.’ The Chief solemnly pulled a gun on him. ‘General Skara has been good to me through the years.’

  It didn’t surprise Carl that his boss was using undesirable ethics after the way he had just showed up to the office without backup. However, he had always portrayed the Chief as a stickler for the law.

  ‘Carl, is Fort Trafalgar the headquarters of the Black Phantoms?’ Fletcher asked.

  ‘Why do you ask?’

  ‘It’s under attack by the APA this very moment, with live television bro
adcasts of it under the President’s instructions. Heavy casualties were being reported just before I came here.’ The Chief took delight in delivering the news. It stunned Carl.

  ‘You’re lying.’ He bitterly spoke in defiance, sure in his mind that it was a ruse to glean information.

  ‘Am I? Why not turn the television on?’ The Chief goaded him and indicated the television in the room with the brandished gun.

  Carl turned on the television and watched, horrified at the coverage of the unfolding drama. Fort Trafalgar was slowly being reduced to rubble, huge chunks taken out by the APA’s heavy artillery, but Carl could hear machine guns blazing away from inside the fort. However, hope of a Black Phantoms uprising for freedom against the military rule enforced on the country was, disappearing by the minute.

  ‘I can’t see any chance of survival for the Black Phantoms,’ Fletcher remarked. ‘Is Selena there?’

  It dawned on Carl at that moment, just how precious Selena was to him and he feared for her safety, despair suddenly engulfing him. Carl was angry with himself that their last moments together ended in a quarrel. He couldn’t bear the thought of losing her now; the harrowing scenes ate away at his soul.

  ‘It’s all over Carl. You are effectively a dead man with nowhere to run,’ Fletcher said as Carl heard the heavy pounding footsteps in the hallway. The Chief smiled. Carl’s heart sank at the expression, the knowledge that the soldiers of the APA were upon him.

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  As the soldiers came into view of the office’s windows, the smile was wiped from Fletcher’s face. These men were not APA soldiers at all, but the Black Phantoms. He pointed his gun at Carl but it was futile as a shot downed him instantly. Carl was relieved to see the rescue party, as he looked up at the Phantom who had just saved his life.

  ‘Carl, we are the dispatch team sent by Commander Denham. He warned us that you were coming here and it’s a good thing that you’re still here. We need to get you to a safe house right away.’

  ‘What’s the point? The war is over.’ Carl stated as he pointed to the gruesome images on the television.

  ‘The Commander is alive, and so is Selena. They got out in time with the elite task force unit and are making their way to the safe house. It’s only a matter of time before the APA will realise that, so we need to get moving fast. Did you find anything?’

  Carl’s was so relieved and elated to hear that Selena was alive.

  ‘Yes, sufficient evidence to bring down General Skara,’ Carl responded and handed the Mission Mercy file to the officer in charge. ‘There may be more evidence in the filing cabinet but I got interrupted.’ He looked down at Chief Fletcher, shot dead in the line of duty.

  ‘Check it out.’ The dispatch team leader instructed a few soldiers to the cabinet and the men started further searches of the files. ‘We need to make copies of all useful evidence and put everything back exactly as it was. We can’t afford to compromise anything. We need the APA to think we still know nothing about what is going on.’

  Further incriminatory evidence found, the dispatch team finished off their tasks swiftly as the TV pictures showed the APA entering Fort Trafalgar. The team left the building, Carl in tow, disposing of the Chief’s body away from the building.

  *****

  After a studious journey that avoided any potential encounters with General Skara’s soldiers, the dispatch team arrived at the safe house undetected. Selena rushed up to Carl the moment she saw him and hugged him tightly.

  ‘I was so afraid I wouldn’t see you again.’ Her voice choked with emotion as tears began to show in her eyes.

  ‘I’m sorry for not believing you earlier. I should have trusted you...’ Carl began, but Selena hushed him and kissed him, just happy to have him back in her arms. He broke off after a few moments and looked away from Selena to see Commander Denham looking sombre, a man seemingly resigned to defeat, when the dispatch team officer entered the room.

  ‘We may have a solution, Commander, for an outright victory in this war.’ The officer reported and gave Denham the copies of the files they had found.

  Denham looked at the first document, his eyes widening in total surprise at this breakthrough material which could lead to their salvation.

  ‘This schedule information is extraordinary!’ Denham’s sombre mood was replaced by a look of optimism. ‘Who found this?’

  ‘MCO Treyer found it, Sir.’

  The Commander continued reading and looked at the list of contents for the schedules, the serious implications that they held. The destination was the Presidential Palace. He looked for the carrier which showed as being from overseas.

  ‘The next delivery is two days away. Should we try and intercept it, sir?’

  ‘No, let it through, but I just realised that the deliveries tie in with President Masterson’s executive committee meetings. I believe it extends further than that and if we can capture that moment in hard evidence,’ Denham paused to get his breath back, ‘We are looking at the surest sign of victory and the President’s downfall.’

  ‘We need to find a way past the Palace security to pull it off.’ Carl wasn’t sure the task would be possible.

  ‘That’s the easy part,’ Denham assured him with a quick grin, and turned to the officer. ‘I want a debriefing session in place within the hour.’ The officer acknowledged the instructions and left the room. The Commander gathered everyone else together. ‘We will not allow those who sacrificed their lives tonight to be forgotten. From the jaws of death when all seemed lost for us, an opportunity has presented itself,’ waving the documents in his hands, ‘for us to redeem ourselves and snatch the freedom we have been struggling for so long. Stay strong in your beliefs and don’t waver from our chosen path. Let’s say a prayer for those who perished for our cause tonight.’ They all took a moment as Denham spoke a few words praising their deceased comrades. The debriefing session began, the plans debated and outlined for the final throw of the dice, the future of democracy at stake.

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Deep underground in the long-forgotten, dank and disused sewers from the Victorian era, Commander Denham’s team waited for further instructions. Carl had joined them because he, too, had a part to play should proceedings go according to plan. He now understood what Denham had meant about the entry to the Presidential Palace being the easy part. Their underground passage had led directly from the safe house and they were now beneath the Palace, a short distance from a secret chamber that led into the building itself. They had not been detected at all. A question was raised at the debriefing as to why the tunnels had not been used for an earlier assault by the Black Phantoms to finish the conflict. Denham merely stated that it would have been a suicidal mission if they’d gone in with no back up plan in place to restore democracy. The discovery of the documentation at the office of AP Freight Shipping Limited had given them the ammunition to turn the situation to their advantage, and it was a lifeline they grabbed desperately.

  ‘The delivery is under way,’ an officer relayed silently to the Commander, informing him of the images coming through his hand-held projector from the Spynet satellite. The control of Spynet had now been given to one of their overseas allied partners after their communications link had been destroyed when the APA invaded Fort Trafalgar. The images showed that the freight had arrived at the gates of the palace. The duty sentries of the palace guard were going through their formalities with the driver and allowed him the usual access after the paperwork clearance.

  The Commander peered at his watch in the darkness. Everything was on schedule. It was now a matter of waiting for the key players to assemble for the President’s executive committee meeting.

  *****

  Selena was locked in a meeting with the Director General of the BBC television network. She was accompanied by members of Denham’s team for protection.

  ‘I understand the repercussions fully should the Black Phantoms fail in their mission, but they are confident of their a
bility to win this battle.’ She assured the director.

  ‘It’s too risky.’ He replied. ‘We all know what happened to Edward Parsons. I would rather be living under fear of the president than risk my life.’

  ‘Come on, Eric. You owed me a favour when I took the full flak of our affair all those years ago and had my career ruined while you got on with your life quite nicely.’ He sighed in resignation.

  ‘What exactly is this incriminating evidence you believe could be an exclusive?’

  ‘I can’t’ tell you yet. Too many lives are on the line.’

  ‘However,’ one of Denham’s men offered, ‘if the evidence we seek materialises and gets shown on national television, you will be involved in ending the war and the tyranny of both the president and General Skara.’

  ‘The General is already dead.’ Eric replied.

  ‘Is he?’ Selena curtly responded.

  ‘What are you saying?’

  ‘Take the risk and find out,’ she badgered him. Eric hesitated for a few moments, wrestling with his conscience on the issue.

  ‘If I agree to this and the hard evidence is not forthcoming, will you protect me from the APA?’

  ‘We will do our best, but I really don’t think it will come to that,’ assured Denham’s man.

  ‘Okay, we’ll carry the coverage, but only if the evidence is there.’ Solomon laid down his terms.

  ‘Thanks, Eric. Believe me, you won’t regret it,’ Selena promised him.

  ‘After this, I don’t owe you anything anymore,’ he added.

  Selena nodded in agreement as one of Denham’s men got straight onto the phone and informed the Commander that they had just secured a television network. The stage was set for the showdown.

  CHAPTER TWENTY THREE

  The president’s executive committee meeting was drawing to a close, held in The Picture Gallery with its dominating skylight domes that allowed the natural light to shine down on the large oval meeting table. President Masterson rose up from his chair and raised his glass.