The Widow's Son

by Daniel Kemp

  She'd heard from Geraldine. In a conspiratorial voice she told how a letter from her younger sister had arrived on Saturday in which she explained how her life had suddenly changed. She'd become engaged three weeks prior to the letter and was bringing her fiancé for Christmas. Apparently there was a separate letter inside addressed to me.

  “Sorry, Patrick, but with all the toing and froing I clean forgot to mention it.” She passed a plain white sealed envelope to me, looking around for spying eyes. I popped my head around Fraser's office door, making an excuse to use the bathroom and went to read her note. Three minutes later my personal life was left bankrupt of Christmas partnerships. Geraldine had found love and relinquished casual sex.

  'Could you be a real sweetie and pay no special attention to me, Patrick? Elliot is a really observant man.'

  * * *

  Fraser had found Razin's first mention of Sakhalin Island dated February 1992, however that was not the only time he'd seen it.

  “It cropped up in general conversation over the Soviet mind-set leading to the break up the previous year. I asked about boundary changes and if other countries who had vied with the Soviet Union would press their claims on territory reform. Japan and the islands in the Sea of Okhotsk, including Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands came to mind. Razin reminded me of the overflying Korean airliner and I asked if there were any installations worth spying on. He reminded me that it was a US spy plane high above the airliner that rattled the radar installations and scrambled the fighters in the first place. Ronald Reagan was pushing hard against the outer beacons of the USSR, testing their defences, making the old guard belligerent and worried at the same time. This was an example of the panic in the air. Things were electric around the intelligence communities of NATO countries. A nuclear war would not have been a surprise.”

  Fraser had Hannah and me on the edge of our seats listening to his account of the 80s of Reagan and Thatcher with their combined aggressive stance against Communism. A NATO military nuclear release exercise had been pre-planned, but on the day it was launched with coded messages that the Soviets were unable to read and significant movement of essential military, commanders and politicians caused the cracks in the Russian resolve to begin to open.

  “The Soviet Politburo issued statement after statement exonerating the radar commander of blame, citing international law and failure of the Korean airliner to take notice of the attack aircraft when warned to alter course. They published what they said was radio traffic between the ground station and both aircraft, but at best it was confusing and at worst it was a total shambles. A US senator was on that flight, which didn't help to calm Reagan or the American war machine. We will never know how far the American led, but with huge support by Margaret Thatcher and the British military provocation would have gone. I remember it well as it's the only time I have seen the Defence readiness Condition DEFCON at One, its highest position. For some reason, I'm unaware of, the stand-down signal was issued and we all sighed in relief.

  “In 1992, when I questioned Razin about the area around Sakhalin, he was of a lesser rank, of course, than he is now, so his specific knowledge was of an equally lower level, in spite of that he knew of two concealed submarine installations on the island of Kurilsky, east of Sakhalin and one of the Kuril Islands. In ordinary circumstances those secret facilities would be enough for the Politburo alarm and nervousness, just the same, it didn't finish there. Slightly further inland from the coast, near a nature reserve, lies a town called Ukhta, on the Amur River. That navigable river flows into the northern part of the Strait of Tartary which separates the mainland from Sakhalin and from there lies the open sea. When the Korean airline was shot down Razin suspected that Ukhta was a naval support base. The depth of the river is sufficient for warships. But I won't ask you to guess what goes on in that town nowadays, because that would be totally unfair of me, laddie. I only found out recently and by accident.”

  He wasn't looking at me, he was looking at Hannah, but it was the same—I know something you don't, but if you are good I tell you—look plastered across his face that I'd seen so many times.

  “A short time ago I told you of an attachment to the Gladio B second file that I could not access. Well, that is not the case any longer. Suzanna carried the code for it when she arrived. I think we are now getting very close to infiltrating that inner circle of eight. Nowadays there is a chemical factory at Ukhta that has lost its Russian military classification. Because of that declassification there is no registration of it at Moscow Centre, nor in any files at Razin's Federal Security Service. There is no reason why anyone would take an interest in its existence, which the impenetrable surrounding forest only helps to aid.

  “How do you know that it's a chemical factory, Fraser, or is that just a guess?”

  “Patrick! You've given me another opportunity to shine in front of your lovely personal assistant.”

  “More chances than you gave me when you had Heavenly Helen as your PA at Whitehall, Fraser,” I replied smiling thinking of the beautiful dark-skinned assistant that I'd met in the corridor leading to the office Fraser occupied as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee. My smile disappeared almost immediately I stopped speaking. Would I have to work within those oppressive walls? It was Hannah who was the first to reply.

  “I'm flattered by you both. But to be honest, I'd rather listen to the story as it unfolds.” Suitably scolded, Fraser continued, and I stopped daydreaming.

  “Martin Lennox of Armenia fame remember him, laddie? Communications director of the South Caucasus region of Eurasia? He was being taken through the history of his past postings by the boys at Cranleigh when he happened to mention that whilst stationed in Thailand he heard rumours of deformed births and unexplained deaths amongst farmers in Thailand, Burma, and Bangladesh who were buying insecticides from a distribution agent based in Bangkok. After doing what communications officers do to gather intelligence, he paid a visit to Laem Chabang, the largest port in Thailand and checked the manifests of ships unloading pesticides and fertilisers. He found a cargo ship that docked the previous day having apparently left Vladivostok, on Russia's eastern coastline. I've no idea how he did it but he checked and found a separate page in the ship's log noting Ukhta as its port of origin. Needless to say, before he was persuaded to tell us of it he passed the information he'd collected to Razin.

  “Christopher Irons got close to the place. He has the same stoical look of the Russians surrendering to their fate. I got him in close but not right in, the security was too intense, however, he found a talkative woman in a nearby town on the banks of Lake Udyl who told of her husband dying because of the factory and she knew scores of other women who had lost husbands or sons in there. Her description of his death suggested some sort of poisoning, but without exhuming the bodies we have no idea what poison he could have ingested. As I was thinking of abandoning it all we had a piece of sheer luck. A freighter exiting the Amur River was spotted and identified by one of Hardball's AIS satellites. The satellite took a thermal image of the area, and lo and behold there was a huge trace of sulphuric acid. The scientific analysis was that the proportion of measured sulphuric gas in the atmosphere could mean only one thing; the manufacture of pesticides and fertilisers.

  “Hardball's lot at Greenwich did not stop there. They traced the boat's registration, then its manifest and finally its destination. The same port it had used for six years. That ship and seven others who used the port were registered to the same company. That company's name was SanMonto. The port involved was Santos in Brazil and the listed cargo on arrival was Pesticides and Fertilisers manufactured by SanMonto. The British Embassy in Bangkok ran a trace on all shipping listed as leaving Ukhta or Vladivostok owned by SanMonto carrying pesticides and fertilisers and do you know what?”

  “Not one was listed as leaving Ukhta,” I replied.

  “You're right. According to the manifests all of them sailed from Vladivostok carrying agricultural parts.”
/>   “Did they manage to question the distributor about points of manufacture?”

  “They did, and surprise, surprise, he knew nothing of the whereabouts of the factory. Perhaps the owners of SanMonto could be in our top eight, laddie?”

  “Plural, Fraser? More than one owner of the company?”

  “More than one company under the same umbrella, dear boy, producing more than two products. One of the listed board members is the Israeli chap about to have a visit from Suzanna. By the way, laddie, did you manage to find out what happened to General Imed Hamed Mohamed's brothers' company of oil exploration and drilling services that were in competition over the Sakhalin project with Exxon Oil?”

  “Spencer never mentioned the outcome, Fraser. Hannah did some research before we met tonight. They pulled their bid the day after the general and his staff were found dead. Quite a coincidence, don't you think?”

  “SanMonto and the giant ExxonMobil oil. It's getting interesting, Patrick.”

  It was late by the time we left, and my impulses said 'ask Hannah to stay' when Jimmy stopped outside number 67, Lavington Street, yet my captious side disapproved, arguing for the opposite. Would my invitation to stay be solely because there was no satisfaction to unpack on Christmas Day or any other day I was staying with the Ugherts? Was that such a wicked reason for an invitation? Did I have to be in love with Hannah to have sex with her and just have lechery in mind with Geraldine? Safety with Geraldine against the danger of attachment with Hannah? I wanted to give in to my primal instincts except that would mean Jimmy and Frank would know and I certainly didn't want that for her or me.

  “Thank you for a wonderful evening, sir. You were great company.” We were standing on the pavement beside the rear car door, it was open with my hand resting on it. I felt awkward in offering a goodnight handshake and more so a goodnight kiss. She took the initiative. She leant and kissed my cheek whispering, “I don't want this night to end, but I don't want my job to end either.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two: Desolation

  Monday came and went without news of Henry Mayler or Razin. I managed to square everything away with Oliver Nathan about remaining at the Hole as Chairman of the Joint Intelligence Committee before moving my stuff into Whitehall. It was his suggestion that the offices at Whitehall could wait until this inquiry, as he put it, was finished. That, of course, suited me admirably. My mind wandered back to Fraser's times there and to his protective secretary, Mrs Janet Bayliss, beyond whom nobody entered without an appointment. The dream continued as the maelstrom became my normality.

  Hannah already succeeded Heavenly Helen in every physical department within my imagination; at Whitehall I could elevate her to a heavenly status that would require only worship from one side of a desk and no more, but would that be enough? I didn't think so. I needed another approach, a separate plan, one where our night would never end and her job would not be at risk. It was impossible for me to separate my heart from my personal life and with both came the certainty of torment, yet what would life be without the pain of attachment, but for now, however, all I wanted to attach was Henry Mayler to Arnold and Arnold to Razin avoiding any screams in protest.

  I drew lines on blank sheets of foolscap paper from places I knew Henry had been to dates where Razin could be in the same area. I had the first Gladio B file open on the computer and referenced the known facts on there to the points where Razin and Mayer's paths might have crossed, but nothing corresponded. The only thing going for the theory that Henry Mayler was Arnold was Robert Zaehner's drop-off at the Medical Mission in Yerevan, and Henry being in Armenia at the same time. As for Razin, the possibility of him being the mysterious missing link was his failure to say where Henry Mayler went to when he flew into New York in November. With both him and Henry missing I had no chance to ask either to expand on that.

  I spent hours delving into everything I could find on a Christian Rosenkreuz, who was said to be the legendary founder of the Rosicrucian, or Rosey Cross Order. According to some researchers, Christian Rosenkreuz was the last descendant of a German family named Germelshausen which flourished in the 13th century. The Germelshausen castle stood in a forest not that far away from Magdeburg, the hometown of Henry Mayler's grandfather Arek. The whole Germelshausen family, except for the youngest son who was only five years old, were put to death by the same Konrad von Marburg that Razin had quoted at Henry Mayler in the café in Kabul after the suicide bomber was arrested. The youngest Germelshausen son was carried away secretly by a monk who placed the child in a monastery in France, where he was educated and made the acquaintance of the four other brothers who were later to be associated with him in the founding of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood.

  The myth surrounding Germelshausen tells how the castle and village of the same name was swallowed by the ground when cursed by Konrad von Marburg. The legend went on to say that the son, Arnold, set out on a never-ending path to find his home. Then one day the Germelshausen castle rose from the earth and on the battlement stood the beautiful Gertrude who Arnold immediately fell in love with. Once every hundred years it's said that event takes place with Gertrude disappearing and Arnold left to walk this life alone. Did Henry see himself as the mythical Arnold waiting for a certain time and had Bernard Higgins been his Gertrude?

  I also read of a religion known as Zoroastrianism, closely connected to the fraternity of the Rosey Cross or Rosicrucianism. It is the belief of a single god in a world balanced by good and evil, but goes on to predict the destruction of evil. It is ascribed to the teachings of the Iranian prophet named Zoroaster who exalted his beliefs of judgment after death, Heaven, hell, and free will. Following on from the Damascus Spring uprising and the arrival of the Islamic theocracy in Iran, Zoroastrianism is having a strong revival amongst many Iranians who want to express discontent towards the dictatorial regime in both Syria and Iran. To me everything I read pointed towards Henry Mayler having a significant influence on what was contained in that second Gladio B file. Unrest within the Sunni Kurds was widespread and the world was already witnessing violent clashes with the Turkish administration as well as those in Syria, Iraq and Iran. It wouldn't take much to ignite a war on several fronts that would desolate the Middle East. I needed to see what was contained in the second Gladio B and we all needed to find Henry.

  * * *

  Fraser had a provisional appointment with the Prime Minister set for Tuesday at 11am and I was expected to be there with him. For that to happen without me appearing to look a complete fool, he would have to open both Gladio B files. I didn't trust computers then and I don't now. Face to face in a secure environment was my first choice for any revelations approaching this magnitude. Another journey to Chearsley on another freezing afternoon was called for. This time I took Michael Simmons with me, but before we left together I told Hannah that I was placing her in charge of Group. There were no arcing of eyebrows or the gaping mouth and lashing of arms and legs of a child in surprise, instead there was a steady probing stare from those once remote eyes that now shone with pride. In my professional opinion she would make a top-class Joseph, and for my personal life that would make things very easy for the two of us to explore parts that were presently hidden; in all senses of the imagination.

  * * *

  Despite Molly being her normal hospitable self, she was perturbed about Geraldine's letter and Hannah's absence. I reassured her on both counts, hoping my voice conveyed sufficient conviction to allay her worries. Seemingly I had succeeded as her attention turned towards Michael, who she escorted off to her spicy smelling kitchen where her brother and sister-in-law were helping with the preparations. Fraser's brother's family were braving the outside elements walking through the adjoining woods. As for myself I was searching for the solution to the puzzle that was engrained in my mind. Could it be solved in Fraser's office?

  “I've been thinking about that place where the agricultural chemicals are being shipped from Ukhta, Fraser. And I'm wondering if it is really our job to
hunt down discreditable companies, or is that something best left to environmentalists and the like?”

  “If it was just that to consider then yes, you're right, more for the Department for the Environment or even the UN to police and prosecute. But we're looking at the intentions of a few that will affect millions of others, including all in the UK in one way or another. That's where my concern lies. My interests fade at our coastline.”

  “That brings me nicely to the Gladio B files. I want to be able to speak with confidence about any threat to this country at Number 10, Fraser. I want those files opened and shown to me, please.”

  “As your new position now dictates, laddie, and I should apologise for not showing you sooner. I will also drop that form of address, although I've only ever used it in a paternal sense, never in a derogative fashion.”

  He was obviously uncomfortable and I assumed that was because theoretically I outranked him. He gave me his chair at the computer screen as he saw to the whisky pouring ritual, retiring to the fireside to enjoy his comfort.

  * * *

  The first file carried the distinctive stamp of the military on its opening pages. In total there were over three hundred listed interferences in sovereign nations' affairs by covertly funded incursions. The minority were carried out by various American specialist forces, however the majority were local insurrections funded through numbered bank accounts predominately in Panama City. Appendages to the file were added against most of the bank accounts listing information from the Drug Enforcement Agency correlating drug cartels to the same accounts. It was of course all history and although controversial, nothing could be done to change the results. It was the second file that damned the future. An invasion of Iraq was planned in detail starting off in March next year. In the short term that would mean the stationing of American Air Command and military in Saudi Arabia. However, despite some withdrawal at the end of the operation others would remain for the long term, to be further garrisoned when other ambitions were imminent. It spelled out in detail the reasons for that decision and I could understand why only a Prime Minister would be allowed to read those details. It was shockingly obvious to even the insane!