Fugitives, p.24
Fugitives, page 24
part #9 of Steven Gordon Series
‘No, I can’t be bothered. That snatch group could find itself in a world of pain any moment though.’
‘Are you actually worried about them?’
‘To some extent.’
The van started its engine. ‘You need to stop them before they move Ico.’
‘The room isn’t ready yet. I could remove their engine though.’
‘Good idea. Put it at the back of my grandfather’s shed out of sight somewhere. My dad said that his old van could do with a new engine.’
Komoru burst out laughing. ‘You Scots are terrible.’
‘It’s got to be in the blood.’
‘What are they doing now?’
‘Probably cursing the driver. He will have realised that something has gone badly wrong and will be arguing with the rest of them. They are going to send him out to check the engine. At that moment the jig will be up.’
‘The observer seems to be leaving Charlie.’ Ico switched the screen.
‘His job is done; the kill teams will take over from here. Keep an eye on him.’
‘I will put a tracker in his trunk.’
‘That won’t do any good if he swaps cars.’
‘You have a point.’
It took longer for them to send out the driver than Charlie thought. By then the room was filled with gas. As the driver reached for the latch, Ico grabbed them. Simultaneously he grabbed everyone else involved in the operation. Charlie went into the room himself and put restraints on all of them. To finish the operation, Charlie had Ico beam out petrol from his doppelganger’s car. When the car stuttered to a halt, he beamed the petrol directly into the passenger compartment of the car. The two men drenched in petrol were pounced on by the paparazzi.
Within a few miles, the person who had acted out the part of a reporter changed vehicles. Ico planted a tracker in it.
Chapter 52
Charlie walked around the room. It was full of people lying on their stomachs with their hands secured to their legs. Charlie knew from experience that the position they were in was almost impossible to get out of and extremely uncomfortable. He had left them alone for over an hour, but they had barely talked to each other. These guys were professionals.
Charlie eventually sat down on a chair by the door.
‘Two teams. A snatch squad and three groups of three, each with a sniper’s weapon capable of taking my head off. What you are going to do now is tell me who ordered this operation. Or, should I say, operations.’
He was met by a wall of silence. ‘There is no way you were ordered by the same person to catch me and kill me at the same time. Killer group, who sent you?’ He waited a moment. ‘Alright, snatch squad, who sent you?’
He shook his head and passed the information he was gathering from their minds to Ico.
‘I want you all to look up at the screen on your left. Ico, please lower the illumination in here for them and put the President on.’
A moment later the President appeared on screen.
‘Is that you Mr Murison? It is rather bright in there.’
‘Sorry about that Mr President.’
‘You have had some problems I believe.’
‘Ico, please show the President what we have here.’
The President was quiet for a moment as he observed the figures.
‘Gentlemen.’
‘There are ladies present too.’
Michael Montgomery shook his head. ‘Ladies and gentlemen then. I am Michael Montgomery, the Earth’s representative amongst the Federation. I am quite sure you all know who I am. Charlie Murison is under Federation protection. I have issued orders that have been sanctioned by Earth’s leaders that he is not to be arrested or harmed by members of Earth’s intelligence community. I am ordering each and everyone of you to supply Mr Murison with the information he requires to track down the people responsible for your actions today. If you cooperate, you will be returned to a place of your choosing later this evening. Or is it morning Charlie?’
‘Almost morning Mr President.’
‘It looks like you have a long day ahead of you.’
‘It would seem so. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.’
‘I am sick of issuing orders to the intelligence community on this matter Charlie. You have a free hand to sort it out in your own way if they do not cooperate.’
‘If they do cooperate?’
‘Then I will have those in charge dealt with. You will let them go.’
‘Of course, Mr President. They are soldiers, just as I was once; I have no beef with them.’
‘Thank you. Good night then Charlie.’
‘Good night sir.’
An hour later Charlie and Komoru dropped off the snatch group at a base in England. At the same time their commanding officer was being arrested by the military police.
‘A good result as they say in your part of the world.’
Charlie looked over at her. ‘I suppose. The orders obviously came down from someone higher up, but their commanding officer will pretty much be given the same deal.’
‘What about the other nine?’
‘They haven’t spoken a word. That lot are deep operatives. Conditioned for years. They don’t know who their boss is, let alone anyone they can point a finger at.’
‘Where are they from?’
‘All European.’
‘No Asians?’
‘No Asians, no Yanks.’
‘Want to toss them out an airlock? If we tossed them out at the right height and speed they might burn up during re-entry.’
Charlie laughed, ‘You are a piece of work and a half. No, simply killing them won’t do us any good. In fact, all it will do is cover up the fact that they tried to have me killed. These people no longer exist, their disappearance will do nothing.’
‘Then what about the opposite route? Maybe Richard and Abby can do a special on it.’
‘I think someone with the clout to stop you getting into Scottish airspace has enough clout to get it stopped before it is aired.’
‘Even on the internet?’
Charlie shook his head, ‘They have both been ridiculed before as idiots. It could still get taken down and stuck in the realm of conspiracy theory nuts. It would also expose Dick, Abby and any of the rest of the crew who saw them to danger. They would simply rub them out.’
‘Well what then?’
‘I’m stuck.’
A slow smile spread slowly across Komoru’s face. ‘I think I have an idea. Put them back to sleep please Ico.’
Chapter 53
Sonya and Sabrina both came to consciousness at the same time. To Sabrina, the noise that surrounded her was very familiar. The roar of a London bus made her open her eyes. The fluttering of wings made her look round. They were surrounded by a sea of legs. She also noticed something else: the cold of the cobbles beneath her naked body. No, not quite naked, she was wearing underwear. She looked to her front and found Sonya staring back at her. They were shackled together around a lamppost.
Both pushed themselves up into a sitting position. Cameras were being shoved into their faces. Sabrina spotted one little wide-eyed girl.
She smiled at her, ‘Could I please borrow your hair clip?’ Her cultured English voice began a wave of speculation in the crowd. The little girl dashed forward before her mother could stop her. She whipped the clip from her hair.
‘Thank you.’ Sabrina took the offered clip.
‘Come away!’ There was genuine fear in the eyes of the mother.
‘So how long have you both been assassins?’ Asked one grinning guy.
Sabrina ignored them and within a matter of seconds the shackles dropped free. She handed the clip to Sonya, who performed the same trick with the same lightning speed. The two athletic women got up and began to walk away. Both saw the sign hung from the lamppost.
‘We are assassins and spies, please post our pictures all over social media to prevent us ever being able to work again as killers and murderers.’
Sabrina glanced across, ‘Did you see it?’
‘Yes of course. Our immediate problem is getting away from here without being arrested.’ Her eastern accent sounded sexy, even to Sabrina’s ears.
‘I saw four policemen moving towards us. We couldn’t have been unconscious for long.’
‘This sounds like your country, any ideas?’
‘I am walking towards it right now.’
‘Our lives are over.’
‘Only if we get caught.’
‘I mean from our own people.’
‘Only if we get caught.’ Sabrina repeated. ‘This way, quickly.’
It was quite painful running in their bare feet but Sabrina knew exactly where they were going. She guided her companion down a small alley three streets away and into a small charity shop. The shop assistant’s mouth dropped open at the sight. A gasp came from her left between an isle of winter jackets.
‘Sabrina!’
Sabrina turned, ‘Hello Aunt Hettie.’
‘You are dead!’ Sabrina caught the old woman before she collapsed. ‘We held a memorial service for you.’
‘It is a long story Auntie. A James Bond type of story. Right now, we are in a lot of trouble.’
Hettie seemed to grasp the situation a lot faster and better than Sonya would have believed.
‘This way then.’ She led them through to a back room where lots of things were stored. ‘Have a look in here for clothes. I am afraid I can’t give you what is on the shelves, it has all been inventoried. Everything here has been washed and cleaned. Take what you need.’
Within ten minutes they had changed into jeans and t-shirts. Each managed to find sunglasses that partially covered their faces, as well as sun hats. They had also found jackets. Hettie returned with cups and a teapot.
‘We don’t really have time.’
‘You do, we just had the police in. I told them you both ran in, grabbed some jackets off a rack and ran out the back door. Give them a little time to gain some distance on you.’
Sabrina smiled for the first time that day, ‘You know your stuff Auntie.’
Her smile was returned, ‘I always did wonder you know. We had many a night in when you were a teen watching James Bond movies. I presume they asked you because of your wonderful shooting abilities?’
‘It isn’t anything like that.’
‘Of course not, but I always believed you would be much harder to kill than they said.’
Sabrina’s smile faded away, ‘How is everyone?’
‘Your mother hasn’t been quite the same since she received word that you passed away. Your father has become rather bitter in his later years. Am I allowed to tell them?’
The smile returned, ‘This morning we were compromised in a way we can never recover from. In fact, I would rather it came from you. It will soon be all over the internet anyway.’
‘How can we get in touch?’
‘I still have my old phone stashed away. I will reactivate it. Give me half a day.’
‘You are going to have to hide, aren’t you?’
‘Yes we are. Don’t worry, as far as I know they never had that number.’
‘You are talking about your own people now?’
‘Yes.’
‘Oh dear. I hope we don’t lose you again.’
Sabrina put down the teacup with a very satisfied sigh, ‘I will do my best. We haven’t worked out what to do yet. Right now, I cannot afford to get anyone else involved in this for their safety. Tell mummy and daddy I love them and have never forgotten them.’
‘I will. Take a few minutes to decide what you are going to do.’
‘We will.’
Hettie left them to it. They both took another tea and a biscuit from the tray.
‘You have put her in danger.’
‘I know. I have no idea how to keep her safe either. Do you have any ideas? What is your name by the way, your real name?’
‘Sonya.’
‘I am Sabrina.’ She offered a hand.
Sonya shook it, ‘It may be better if we split up.’
‘Do you think it will make a difference in the long run?’
‘No not really. We are both dead. We would need to get off this planet to have any chance of survival.’
‘We would need to get much further than that.’
‘I suppose that is an option.’
Sabrina managed a faint smile, ‘I suppose that is an option.’
‘I doubt if we would make it. If we are quick, we might make it to the moon, but it takes months to get a ticket to Federation space. Do you know anyone with their own spaceship we can steal?’
‘Could you fly one if I did?’
‘No, neither could we navigate it.’
Something sparked deep inside both women. Sabrina felt something cold and hard slide into her gut.
‘I only know one person with their own ship.’
Sonya shook her head, ‘No! That is by far the long-shot.’
‘Is it? He is Scottish, how did we wake up?’
Sonya shrugged, ‘In our underwear.’
‘Exactly, not naked. He left us our dignity.’
‘That is thin, very thin. If we knew something, anything, then we might have a chance.’
‘What do you truly think of men Sonya?’
‘They are animals.’
‘We are two very highly skilled individuals. We know the operatives that work for the same organisation as we do. We can protect him, offer our services. Hell, we can offer our bodies if you want to go down that road.’
‘Wasn’t it the strangest interrogation?’
‘It creeped me out, but you got the briefing. He can read body language like some people can read a book.’
‘Which means we would have to be honest, and I don’t want to sleep with him. Do you?’
‘No, but what man could refuse a three way?’
‘If I ever find one, I will marry him.’ They both managed to laugh. ‘Men are beasts by nature. I hate them.’
‘Even your father?’
‘I grew up in an orphanage. I have been abused half my life.’
‘Are you gay?’
‘No, but I wish I could be sometimes.’
‘Then do you have a better suggestion?’
Sonya’s head moved slowly from side to side. ‘I wish I did.’
‘Then we have a mission. Do you have a stash here in London?’
‘Of course I do. Central Station, what about you?’
‘Saint Pancras.’
‘What do you suggest?’
‘I suggest that now we have been exposed we travel as who we really are. They might not expect that.’
‘Are your old bank accounts still active?’
‘Yes. I have been feeding small amounts of money into them for years. Cash deposits. What about you?’
‘I have my old passport and cash.’
‘Then we have a plan.’
The two women split up. Three hours later they boarded a train together, then took the shuttle to the nearest space port. Sabrina was able to charge her phone on the train. She took a deep breath and switched it on. It rang almost immediately. The hardcore assassin was quickly brought to tears by her mother’s voice and took to the toilet for some privacy. Sonya had bought a phone with cash and was now catching up on the news. By the time Sabrina had finished the call, she had caught up on all of it.
Sonya passed her phone over as soon as she sat back down.
‘Our companions were treated the same way we were, only they were buck naked. All of them were arrested.’
‘Where?’
‘In every major capital in the world. You were right, we were left our dignity. We were on the Japanese ship. It has just been announced that our target last night has returned to the moon. The media are going mad. World leaders are going mad. They are promising a swift response, and very long jail sentences for those caught. The second group have been absolved of blame, but their commanders will be taken to task.’
‘We were never told there was a snatch squad.’
‘Would you have killed them?’
‘Of course.’
‘The Japanese woman gave the press a full briefing an hour ago when she returned from the moon. Charlie hasn’t been seen since.’
‘He must be hiding on his ship.’
‘Then we have to find it first.’
‘According to the briefing, it is docked at the main moon base.’
‘If he is still there.’
‘Let’s hope so.’
‘Are our pictures being circulated?’
‘Yes, and on the news. We need to do a makeover, change our hair styles.’
‘Let’s get back to the toilet then.’
A couple of hours later, Sabrina stood with her heart in her throat at the ticket office. To her surprise both passports were accepted and they received their tickets. An hour after that, they boarded their flight to the moon.
Chapter 54
Charlie was surprised to see the two women walk across the hanger. By the time they had wandered around the outside of the ship for five minutes, he had picked up every panicked thought and had a good idea of what they wanted. They eventually came towards the ramp, and one of them actually knocked on the hull. It amused Charlie and he lowered the ramp. It took them a good five minutes to find him on the bridge. They stood there, uncertain for a few moments. Just as they were about to speak Charlie beat them to it.
‘You two are the last people I expected to see today.’
‘We want to talk to you.’ Sabrina ventured.
‘Obviously! He spun his chair round and stuck his feet up, he looked them both over very coolly. ‘That’s a very pretty English accent. English nobility?’
‘Very poor English nobility.’
‘Lara Croft or James Bond?’
Sabrina managed a small smile, ‘A little of both, maybe more Lara Croft.’
He looked at Sonya, ‘Speak.’
‘I presume you wish to hear my accent.’
‘Eastern European, Czech?’
‘Yes, very good.’
‘Orphan.’
‘Yes.’
‘Sexually abused from a young age, joined the army so you could beat up the old guys who had been abusing you.’
