The Olympus Project

by Ted Tayler

  Back in the countryside near Crazy Well Pool, there was little change from the night before. The lamp had gone out just before dawn. It was as light as it was going to get today with the thick cloud and drizzle that hung over the moorland. There were no vehicles on the unnamed road this morning; nor were there any hikers or anoraked youngsters on organised walks.

  CHAPTER 18

  Colin had phoned ahead for transport and fallen asleep in the minicab on the trip back to Larcombe Manor. His driver had elbowed him awake as they drew up outside the stable block.

  “There you go Phoenix” he said “I should get your head down for a few hours mate; nobody in the big house is going to bother you today; the balloon’s about to go up and they’re tied up in meetings.”

  “Thanks” said Colin. He had dropped his rucksack inside the door of his quarters and crashed out on his bed. It was nine o’clock before he awoke and he headed over to the canteen for a meal. There were several other people around and the general chit chat concerned where and when this seemingly inevitable strike would hit. Colin gathered that London was odds on favourite; not that anyone was keeping a book.

  By ten o’clock Colin was ready to get back to his bed. All that exercise in the West Country had done him in. He unpacked the rucksack and sorted the things he had taken with him; ready to drop them back to the stores personnel in the morning. And so to bed, as someone said.

  In Milton Keynes three young men were resting. They had been awake since five o’clock. It was important to have a morning routine. Prayers, supplications and reading from the Quran came before a hearty healthy breakfast. They had been trained well. Eighteen months ago they had travelled to Pakistan where they studied alongside Al Qaeda and learned how to make homemade explosives. During their stay all three recorded martyrdom videos to be released after their deaths.

  All three – Arshad, Irfan and Karim had been born in Britain. They were the chosen ones, it was they who had volunteered to strap on an explosive rucksack and detonate it in a crowded place.

  Everything was prepared; all they had to do now was wait. Wait for the text message that would identify their target.

  The streets that surrounded the maisonette were covered with other little boxes that had smart new cars on the forecourt and their occupants went about their business with no clue as to what was being planned just a few yards away.

  Many miles away Erebus was chairing another Olympus meeting at Larcombe. Athena was sat on his right hand side, head down, contemplating the table top. Thanatos, Alastor and Minos were sat on the left of Erebus and they waited anxiously for their leader to tell them the latest information from the surveillance section.

  Colin Bailey was swimming length after length in the pool, alongside Rusty. Neither man was aware of the other; both knew that Larcombe Manor was as quiet as it had ever been. Everyone on site seemed to be holding their breath; waiting for news.

  Could the surveillance section track the whereabouts of the cell before the secret services? Could one or the other of them find the bombers and capture them before they left their hiding place and set out for their target? Or would there be another scene of devastation and misery similar to July ’05?

  Erebus studied the information in front of him. He pursed his lips and thought for a moment. Then he spoke.

  “We have traced some internet traffic between Pakistan and the UK that may prove useful. Various messages were passed to addresses in Birmingham and Leicester. If we combine this with mobile activity between Birmingham, Leicester and Milton Keynes over the past twenty days, it’s possible we have found some of the links in the chain; indeed, we might have the most vital link, the one that leads to the bombers themselves. Conversely, they may not have included the hit squad in the messaging loop yet. We may only get one chance to catch that message giving them the go ahead.”

  “Do we have people physically watching these addresses?” asked Athena.

  “We do” Erebus replied “and we are alone; the security services haven’t traced these links as yet. So we won’t be treading on anyone’s toes. We can’t however go into all three properties we have identified thus far all guns blazing without revealing our hand; we must attempt to take out the bomber or bombers and leave sufficient evidence at the property that a trained monkey could trace it back to the other members of the hubs.”

  Thanatos leaned forward in his chair.

  “How much do we know about the address in Milton Keynes?” he asked.

  “I think that’s the one to concentrate on for now” said Erebus “it’s more likely that the other two cities have the more senior members of the cell and that’s why the direct traffic is arriving there. The property in question is a two bedroomed maisonette owned by a shop owner in the centre of town; he rents out this place to college students.”

  “How many students currently occupy this maisonette?” Alastor asked “have we identified them yet?

  “The stakeout team have seen four or five different people entering and leaving the house; they were all around twenty years of age” answered Erebus “at this moment in time we don’t have a complete history on them.”

  “We should step up our efforts to confirm the Milton Keynes address as the bomber’s bolt hole” said Athena “and then move in and take them out before they can do any damage.”

  “Agreed” said Erebus “in the meantime we will put the surveillance section on red alert for any message between the known suspects that could be the instruction to start the mission. Our man on the inside may well have been compromised; we haven’t heard from him for a while. If we miss them getting a green light, then we’ll be chasing shadows; and probably too late to stop them. If there’s nothing else, I need to get Phoenix to come over to the house to debrief his Devon assignment. I’m confident it went without a hitch; but there has been no news yet on the demise of any former prominent politician.”

  As the others stood up and prepared to leave, Erebus called Athena back to him.

  “You will be travelling up to London this week I take it?”

  “My parents are back from the South of France on Wednesday; my father is concerned about my mother’s health. I’d like to be with them after they’ve returned from her appointment in Harley Street on Thursday.”

  “That’s perfectly understandable my dear; go with my blessing.”

  Colin had a call at about five to eleven. He was to meet Erebus in the orangery on the hour. He walked quickly across to the building and found Erebus sat in a chair already; he was deep in thought. Colin sat beside him and waited for the old man to speak.

  “Was your trip successful Phoenix?”

  “It was” replied Colin.

  “Good. What do we need to do next?”

  “The body will be discovered eventually; there will be marks found on the body at the post mortem which will show that the target was secured by the wrists at some time before he died. He will also have some bruising in the midriff and possibly other bumps and scratches received while he was in the water. I left incriminating material I discovered in a holdall for the police to follow up on; and there should be enough clues for them to uncover his murky past.”

  “We can help with that; I’ll make sure the police are tipped off by a concerned member of the public that Sir Godfrey was suspected of interfering with young people. There’s a big enough witch-hunt for crimes of that nature committed decades ago already; they can’t afford not to add it to the list. A word in the right ear and the bruising could be dismissed as part and parcel of a predilection for rough sex. Well done Phoenix! Onwards and upwards,”

  “Scotland?” asked Colin.

  “Exactly” said Erebus “but not until the weekend; I have another task for you between now and then. Athena is travelling to London to spend a couple of days with her folks. I want you to keep an eye on her while she’s in Belgravia; for God’s sake don’t let her know she’s being watched! I’m concerned about her. The imminent terrorist attack is too close to h
ome for her, losing her partner in the manner she did. I fear she may try to exact some degree of revenge. The Olympus Project can’t allow her to endanger our secret organisation with a vigilante attack on any cell members she tracks down and clearly, as my designated successor, we can ill afford to lose her.

  “I understand” said Colin, wondering what clothing he needed to wear in Belgravia. He wasn’t sure he had the right stuff in his wardrobe.

  “You will have a dossier on Donald MacDonald to look through when you get back to your quarters; everything you will require is in there. I’ll get you some more cash to cover your expenses while in London too. I could give you the name of a good tailor but we haven’t got time for something to be made to measure. Just try not to stick out like a sore thumb won’t you old chap! The details of Athena’s trip will be with you later today.

  Erebus gave notice that the meeting was over by getting up and walking out. Colin went back to his quarters. Sure enough; there was the promised dossier. Colin lay on his bed and started to read through it.

  He glossed over the preliminary stuff he was already aware of. The surveillance team and an agent on the spot had added a few interesting items in the past week. Donald MacDonald’s internet connection had mysteriously gone down and he had contacted his provider. An Olympus agent had arrived within half an hour and had sorted the ‘problem’; at the same time he had downloaded a copy of everything on the crafty copper’s computer. He noted that the invalid father was no longer on the premises.

  A couple of possible scenarios had been planned for to deal with the arrival of the engineer from the real internet provider, but sometimes you just get lucky. The policeman had suddenly gone out for an hour or two after the bogus repair guy had left; the real engineer arrived and finding nobody in, he left a card. When Donald returned he threw it in the bin thinking that a second van must have turned up by mistake. He was none the wiser about what had happened.

  It didn’t come as a great surprise to the computer ‘techie’ who carried out a forensic analysis of the policeman’s hard drive, to find around fifteen hundred images of girls and almost one hundred hours of video footage. About 95 per cent of the images depicted girls under 14 of age; more than 400 of the images fell into the most severe category, Category A. The analysis also revealed some of the video footage had been watched the evening before it had been retrieved by the Olympus agent.

  Colin knew that if this material was to magically find its way into the hands of the Fife constabulary that Donald MacDonald would be banged up for less than a year and would be signing the Register; but that wouldn’t stop him offending again. To save any more young women in Dunfermline being targeted by this pervert, direct action was essential. He started to formulate the most appropriate exit strategy for his next target.

  It only took Colin an hour to put the details into his laptop; he printed off the itinerary to pass to Erebus for approval and sent an equipment list to the stores for collection on Friday. This babysitting duty in Belgravia with Athena was scheduled to be over by Thursday night. Erebus wanted her back in the fold at Larcombe by then.

  Colin lay on his bed for a while thinking about Athena and the prospect of keeping an eye on her for a couple of days.

  “It’s a dirty job” he thought “but someone has to do it!”

  His thoughts drifted to the morning when they had been in the pool together.

  “This isn’t doing me any favours” he muttered “I’d better get off this bed and either have a cold shower or maybe go to the pool and cool off for an hour.”

  Colin spent the next few hours exercising; firstly in the gym, then in the pool. He had a light lunch and returned to his quarters. The promised cash had arrived and his email inbox had a positive response from the stores. Everything he needed would be ready on Friday. The details of Athena’s trip were there too, but they were a little sketchy. He might need to be adaptable. If she stuck by her parents for most of the time it would be okay, if she suddenly went off piste, he might be in trouble.

  He delivered the proposed itinerary for the Dunfermline job to Erebus in the main building.

  “Ingenious, dear boy” he chuckled “that shouldn’t raise too many suspicions, well done. Good hunting at the weekend. It’s a long trip, so if you get home late from London, you can catch up some sleep on the train on Friday morning.”

  Colin was about to leave when the old man added:-

  “Try to remember what this London job is about won’t you Phoenix? The bright lights of London and the beautiful people it attracts can be beguiling; you must be on your guard throughout; there must be no, shall we say, distractions.”

  “Absolutely” agreed Colin “I’ll be on my best behaviour.”

  He was almost through the door and was closing it behind him when he heard the old man say, quietly:-

  “Ah, but will she dear boy, will she?”

  CHAPTER 19

  Meanwhile down it deepest Devon it was Tuesday afternoon. The lousy weather of the weekend had cleared and a worker from a nearby farm had passed the Range Rover for the fourth time. Alarm bells started to ring; literally.

  Later that afternoon the local newspaper carried a brief statement in the ‘Latest’ column on its website.

  ‘The naked body of a man, believed to be in his seventies, was discovered in a tent near Crazy Well Pool, Princeton earlier this afternoon; clothing and other camping equipment were found at the rear of the tent. Police are not seeking anyone else in connection with this incident. Next of kin are being informed. More news in our next update.’

  A copy of the extract was delivered to Colin by the surveillance section. He asked them to pass the information on to Erebus and to make sure the boss saw the future updates too; Colin explained that he would be away for the next seventy two hours. Maybe Erebus wouldn’t need to feed the police any misinformation about Sir Godfrey after all; but better safe than sorry, the next updates might be a bit different if the police can’t find plausible answers to all their questions.

  Colin had trawled through his wardrobe and found a few things that would fit the bill. He had asked around the others in the stable block to see if they had anything to spare without much luck. He discovered that the ‘dressing up’ box wasn’t a lot of use for this job either; most agents were trying to blend in with the lowlifes of the world, not rub shoulders with the high rollers.

  In the end he settled for a minimum of choice for his shirts and trousers, but selected a variety of jackets and coats. He might as well be comfortable and warm on this stakeout at least! He wanted to get to London and find a place to stay tonight and thereby avoid bumping into Athena on the train up to town in the morning. He was also conscious of the fact that he needed a hotel that was suitable. Erebus might baulk at paying three hundred quid for two nights bed and breakfast!

  Colin Bailey knew his comfort zone; he could rough it in a band wagon or sleep in a field if he had to, but if he had the chance to spend a couple of days in the ‘smoke’ he had to stay true to his roots, even if someone else was paying! There would be no five star accommodations for him. He’d be just as happy to find the closest budget price hotel to Athena’s parents gaff and use that as his base.

  He arrived at Paddington Station at about a quarter to six that evening. A ten minute trip took him to Kensington Road and his wish was granted. He soon settled into his forty nine pounds a night room and felt at home. Well, maybe not at home, but not out of place anyway.

  The next couple of hours were tied up with reconnaissance of the Belgravia residence and the surrounding district. Colin didn’t stand around in any one place too long in case the local neighbourhood watch reported a down at heel character in the vicinity. He travelled over to Harley Street to familiarise himself with where Athena’s mother was coming for her appointment. He made copious notes of tube and bus time tables; he identified a couple of short cuts that might prove useful. At about ten o’clock he found a pub and had a beer; then he found himself stra
ngely drawn to the Pizza Express. He was powerless to resist. It was just the thing to help a man have a good night’s sleep – exercise, beer and a pizza. He slept like a baby and dreamt not of Athena but a cuddly comedian from Dudley, West Midlands.

  Athena had endured the commuter packed journey from Bath to Paddington and had been swept along by the crush of people leaving the platforms and making their way down into the bowels of the earth. She hated this mode of transport, she much preferred the car. Preferably something with a bit of a growl under the bonnet; if it was open topped even better.

  The problem was that these days London was a nightmare for a car driver travelling in from the sticks; congestion zones, bus lanes and nowhere to park that didn’t cost an arm and a leg. The train and tube were a necessary evil; made even more horrid because of her experiences six years ago.

  Athena cut herself off from the world in general, and the horns and sirens in particular, with some white noise through her headphones. Nobody ever looked up or talked to anyone nearby on the underground anyway. She just hoped she didn’t run into a face from the past. This trip was a quick dash into her parent’s house, wait for them to get home and then give her Mum moral support tomorrow, when she had that worrying appointment with the specialist. As soon as they knew exactly what they were dealing with, then she would decide on a plan of action with her father and return to Larcombe Manor.

  The next stop was Sloane Square; she had opted for this as it was handy for her family home plus she could pick up a few things at the shops as she walked to Vincent Gardens. She must get her Mum some flowers and a bottle of wine for herself for a start. Perhaps milk, bread and a few basics would be sensible too; her parents had been out of the country for a while. Athena doubted the fridge would contain anything edible. Her list was growing as she headed out of the station and made her way home.