The Remote Traveler (The Remote Series Book 1)

by Finian Blake

  After touring the equestrian property Suki, took Phil over to Russian Hill. He was thrilled to see Sidney over at the gun club. He was surprised to see the extent of the armaments and the degree of sophistication of the machine shop. Sidney was able to personally select all of his equipment because Suki gave him full authority over the club which was something that he took full advantage of. Suki held on to Phil’s arm tightly as Sidney conducted the tour.

  “I had no idea that all of this was here. How did you get a license for your shooting club?” Suki gave him a devilish smile.

  “That is classified beyond secret, but I can say that we have the full support of our government. This is one cover operation that actually pays for itself. We are having a get together at the pub and our chef went out of his way when he found out he would be cooking for a general.” Suki made it a point to drive through the hedgerows which were actually access tunnels. “You can go anywhere in the resort without driving out in the elements. Phil, the resort caters to the ultra-rich. We also cater to foreign dignitaries for the home office.” Suki pulled up to the pub. Phil was surprised to see Carl, his former ordinance specialist keeping the bar.

  “You are using Carl as a bar keep?” Suki could understand his surprise.

  “Carl has his space at the gun club. He does this as a side line. Carl mixes some dynamite drinks and makes some good tips.” The General laughed at the pun and settled down for a drink ordering a Glennfidich Scotch neat. He was more than pleased when he found out that it was their special reserve fifty-year-old scotch.

  Eight of the women came down to the pub with their escorts. They were surprised to see the General there. Phil was at the corner of the bar talking to Mark, Sidney, Ray, and Ted, they had served under him at different times in their career. Even in this social atmosphere they respectfully called him General. Dan just discretely stayed in the side room of the pub.

  “Ted, why did Nadia select these women, for your crew?”

  “We do contracts in the Middle East. They have very particular views about men training their women. You were going to cancel the program anyway. I decided to see if they wanted to do what they were trained for.” The General pointed at Nadia.

  “Ted, your boss let you hire them?”

  “Actually Suki is my boss. I am Nadia’s boss. Mark recommended me and Suki hired me as her second.”

  “After your second day on the job you are calling the tune?”

  “Mark’s recommendation went a long way. Suki made me her second and closed her eyes.” The General was amazed that a woman was in charge.

  The general stood his ground, “I still don’t go along with women in combat roles. They are emotionally unstable.” Dan could hear the General’s loud comment all the way in the side room.

  Dan offered a loud retort, “No more than an unstable General!” Suki waved to Victoria.

  “Vicki darling get Dan out of here before there is open warfare.” Vicki undid the top three buttons of her blouse and walked over to his table whispering a few words in his ear while he examined her cleavage, they left together quickly.

  Suki continued her discussion with the General, “The Russians have been doing it for decades. Over in Afghanistan, Nadia has sixteen confirmed kills and sixty unconfirmed. She saw sniper duty in the hottest areas, so I would put her up against any man we have.” Phil was stunned by the news that she was Russian.

  “Do our intelligence gurus know this?”

  “She has been with us for twenty-five years. They sometimes use her for debriefing defectors. She is fluent in five languages and can converse in a few more.”

  “So Ted, you are with MI.” The General was still uncomfortable with a woman being in charge.

  “No, we are a private company and contract out to MI,” Ted answered. “We have no official ties to the government, but we do have their interests at heart.”

  “Well they seem to have your interests at heart. They pushed through your requests in a matter of hours.” The General scanned the room looking at all of the former instructors. “You certainly have the talent. I see that you have two of our newest instructors here. Are you going to claim them too?”

  “No, their mother owns this place. They were trained by our ‘Old Men’ from the time that they could walk. They actually live here on the other side of the road next to the stables with their mother Susan.” Suki observed Nadia walk in to the pub with the other two women. “If you will excuse me General I need to talk to my recruits.”

  Nadia grabbed a large table with a reserved sign at the extreme back of the pub. She went straight to the heart of the matter.

  “You have each had your tour and Ted has explained your duties. General Smyth has allowed seventy-two hours for your answers. You will have to resign from the Service if you accept. Do you have any questions?” Esha was the first to speak. “If we accept, how long is the assignment?”

  “We have had people quit for their own reasons. Not one person has ever been let go or made redundant.”

  Fiona was the next with her question. “Where will we live? Will we stay somewhere in the area?”

  “All of our regular employees live on the property. It is part of our security. You each will have a cottage for your housing or you can live where you like. The cottages will be compensation for your extra security duties.”

  Marjani raised her hand. “I hate to be the mercenary one of the group, but what is our compensation?”

  “You will receive a salary, a percentage of each assignment, benefits plus a 50,000 Pound signing bonus. I will also be using you for chauffer and body guard duties for which you will be well compensated with salary and commission. The average will be about 80,000 a year depending how much you work.” Nadia saw Edward and Layla walk in the door.

  Jamie the fifth recruit only had one comment, “You can tell the General that I signed on.”

  Nadia looked at the rest of the recruits. “Think it over and let me know what your decisions are.” Nadia made it five feet from the table before she received her answer from all of the others.

  “When do we start?” Nadia waved Cherry over.

  “Cherry darling, these women will need a full wardrobe plus their uniforms. Five will be your decision and five will be theirs. Ladies I leave you with Cherry.” She walked past the General who was talking to Suki at the time, and whispered in his ear. “We will be keeping all of them Phil.”

  The general looked at Suki, “Am I mistaking or does Nadia hate me?”

  “She has a problem with generals over all. It is a personal thing with the rank. I will explain that and other things to you back in your cottage. We can have a private dinner served there while we address the more sensitive issues.” Suki took Phil’s hand and led him out of the pub. “Of course you know that all of this is ‘Beyond Secret’. I am sure that you have that clearance.”

  Nadia stopped by Sarah’s table as she was heading to the bar, “We will be requiring ten sets of papers for the ladies.”

  Edward and Layla were standing in the corner of the pub talking to his brothers and sisters. Nadia grabbed a pint and joined them.

  “I think that you shook up Ted this morning. When he found out that Esha had a broken arm, he confirmed that you are the real deal. Has anything stopped you yet?”

  “No, but we are still experimenting. We never tried viewing things from separate locations before. I thought that we had to start together.”

  “Ted had no idea that there were two people that could do this kind of thing or that you could be so specific. To tell you the truth it surprised the hell out of me.” Nadia looked at Noah, Adam, Susan and Lynn. “Do you think that could be genetic?” A concerned look came over all of their faces.

  “We never gave it any thought.” Layla having a natural curiosity had to push.

  “Lynn, have you ever had dreams that seemed to come true?”

  “Everybody does…”

  Layla smiled. “Have a few drinks and we can get togethe
r in the morning?” Lynn nodded and Layla extended an invitation, “How about ten o’clock at our house. We are still going to do our morning run, but right now we are going to enjoy the party.” Layla surprised herself with the easy way that she accepted Susan’s guest cottage as her home and yet it did seem natural.

  Noah noticed Esha walking away from her table. He wanted to catch her apart from the other women.

  “I see that your arm is in a cast. I hope that it is not too serious.”

  “It was a simple break the doctor says that it should heal quickly. It is not even very painful. Are you here with the General?”

  “No, I live here with my mothers, when I am not on the base.”

  “Your mothers…?”

  “Yes Susan and Lynn, they are partners.”

  “What about your father?”

  “He and Anna are talking to Nadia and Ted over there.” Noah indicated the four people standing at the far end of the bar.

  “You are twenty-five and you live with your mothers. Are you gay?”

  “No,” Noah laughed, “It is not contagious. I was just looking for a beautiful dark skinned, raven haired woman with impossibly deep brown almond eyes.” Noah looked straight into her eyes. Esha caught the hint.

  “You had all that time at the base. Why didn’t you…?”

  Noah shook his head, “I was one of your instructors then. It would not have been proper. I was waiting for training to end before I made a pass.”

  “What about now aren’t they my bosses?”

  “Ted, Suki and Nadia run the security company. Nadia is my sister. Anna is her mother. Adam, Edward, Susan and Lynn are my brothers and sisters.” Esha was looking both dazed and confused. “It is complicated could I talk you into having dinner with us it will be easier to explain.” Esha thought for a minute Victoria had been her guide for the day, and never mentioned Noah. Noah seemed charming and she had to learn her way around since Victoria seemed to have disappeared and dinner seemed to be the best way to accomplish that.

  Esha consented, “I would love to meet your family. Is there a table large enough?”

  “Not for the whole family. Victoria, Cherry, Nadia, Irina, Cassandra, Jeff, Nina, Filiipa, Alex, Anna and Edward’s wife Layla are here. Angela and her husband Troy are not here but will be around later. We will be at the kid’s table.” Esha was hooked she had to understand the clan.

  “Can you explain all of the family in one dinner?”

  “No, but we can make a good start.” Noah offered her his arm and escorted her to the table. Dinner took a good three hours, and by the time the pub closed Esha found that she was deeply interested in Noah.

  Nadia and Ted walked back to the apartment with Esha and Noah. Esha was surprised that Ted and Nadia both walked into the apartment.

  “How long have you been together?” Nadia understood her surprise.

  “I have known Ted for four days now. He’s my boss.”

  “I thought that you were his boss.”

  “No Suki hired him to replace Mark and that makes him my boss. We are going to run at six AM. Why don’t you join us?”

  “I will sleep on it.” Esha said as Nadia led Ted to the bed room. They undressed and showered.

  “What is the matter,” Nadia asked noticing that Ted was acting strangely.

  “I can’t get comfortable, after seeing what Edward and Layla can do. I feel like I am being watched all of the time.”

  “I never considered that aspect of things.”

  “If they can read a piece of paper on the general’s desk they can watch us.”

  “Then we need to show them some serious shagging. You know something really special.” Nadia laughed pulling Ted to the floor of the shower. “They have better things to do than watch something like this…,” in two minutes Ted did not care who was watching.

  At five thirty Nadia was banging on Esha’s door.

  “Come on, it’s your arm that is broken not your leg.” Esha looked out the window of her room seeing that Noah was stretching in the yard below with Lynn, Susan, Adam, Edward and Layla. She quickly pulled her sweats out of her bag and was down stairs in ten minutes. Esha picked a spot directly in front of Noah to do her stretches. Nadia was right her legs were just fine and she intended to stay in front of Noah all the way which was perfectly alright with him. By six there were twenty people in the pack. Esha made it a point to stay in front of Noah the whole way. Noah was happy with the view so it was no problem having Esha lead. On the way back as they passed the stables Noah pulled up next to her pointing at the large home just ahead. He put on a burst of speed leading Esha to the porch. Two older women were sitting on the porch dressed in Jodhpurs and scarlet riding jackets. Esha watched all of the others continue on.

  “What about your brothers and sisters?”

  “I wanted to introduce you to my mothers’ Lynn and Susan.”

  Lynn started, “Esha, Noah had been talking about you for months. It is nice to finally meet you. He would not approach you while he was your instructor. Have you introduced Esha to your father and your other mother?”

  “No I wanted you to have the first formal introduction.” Susan and Lynn both caressed his cheek. “I am happy to see that there is nothing wrong with your eyesight, Esha is absolutely beautiful. We will have a luncheon in the pub so that she can meet the family. Of course her friends are welcome too. Lynn and I are going riding. Would you care to join us?”

  Noah begged off, “I have something planned with Layla and Edward. Perhaps Esha could join you. Esha might be interested.”

  “I have never been riding. I am not sure that I can hold on with my cast, and I believe that Nadia had something planned this morning.”

  “Then we will have to make it another time. We will see you for lunch.” Noah went in the house for a shower and Esha ran up the hill. Nadia fixed breakfast and met all of the ladies at the gym. Nadia kept Esha’s work out to lower body.

  Suki came in with Phil. The general was impressed by the size and condition of the training center.

  “Suki, I thought that this place was smaller from the view outside.

  “Terri angled the structure so that it would not look so large from the courtyard and there is a basement where we do classroom instruction. Between the three levels we have 30,000 square feet under roof and four acres out back. We have the latest equipment because Lynn keeps enough back from each job to insure the facilities are kept in good order. We frequently bring students from other countries here for training. If you look around the corner, you will see the outdoor training court which is the same size as the building.”

  Phil could not believe his eyes, “From the outside the place looks like a 100-year-old factory in disrepair. Inside it looks like it was finished yesterday.”

  “That’s the idea the place looks like an old village from the air and the ruins on the other side of the quadrant are our urban training area. Sometimes the movie studio uses us for a movie set. You may recognize us from some of the movies that you have seen. All four properties are truly agricultural property. We supply all of our own food, sell the excess produce and flowers in the market, and manage to turn a profit every year. If you go to the farmer’s market in Manchester, you may see some of the girls selling vegies. The Inn offers a secure retreat to wealthy guests and dignitaries. The gun club is fully licensed with a full machine shop and Sidney will make custom weapons for those that can afford it. He even does medieval weapons and armor as a hobby. He has made several suits of armor. Do you know what a hand knit suit of chain male brings? The equestrian property supports itself and we have a full studio of our own. The whole operation is licensed and approved in every respect. All of our cover operations turn a handsome profit.”

  The general was floored by the revelation, “I can’t understand why I haven’t been made aware of this place.”

  “That’s because we are one hundred percent civilian. These ten women will become civilians as soon as you release them. Not
hing that is done here has any official connection with our government. If we run an operation, it is fully private.” Nadia called a halt to the practice and sat down with the women. Suki told the General, “Nadia will debrief the women and find out what their other skills are. We believe in using all of the talents that our people have, developing any skills that they wish to develop. The two medics will have the chance to attend medical school. Carl is one hell of a bar tender, Sidney enjoys tinkering on cars, and Randy is more than a fair hand at farming. Nadia will handle the next few days and arrange for their training.” Suki led Phil back outside. Phil still found it hard to believe that a woman ran the operation.

  “What is your specialty?”

  “Electronics, I am an electrical engineer. My end of the deal is setting up the defense systems. I hold a few hundred patents some of the designs are used by military forces all over the world. The area around the target is analyzed. We go in and we set up traps along the most likely lines of travel employing a wide spectrum of active and passive systems. We recently started using laser detectors that indicate the source of the origin. Now days, laser ranging systems are used by most groups and our new system will detect their origin. I have a harness using the laser detectors that will tip off the wearer when he is being targeted and locate the direction of the laser.” Suki led Phil back outside. “I have an invitation for lunch this afternoon would you care to join me. You are of course welcome to spend the weekend.”

  Layla gathered Edward and the other siblings in Susan’s parlor. She made some simple flash cards to do some preliminary tests.

  “Thank you for going along with this exercise. I want to ask some brief questions and work with these flash cards. Susan, can we start with you?”