A&E
Arriving in the emergency department had been a blur to Ros. She remembered the bumpy car ride as Adam seemed to hit every pothole in the greater London area but actually arriving in A&E had been different. She let her eyes fall closed as she heard the doctor talking to Lucas.
"Dr Michael Barrett has her full medical history." Lucas explained; relieved that he had sent Adam back to Thames House. The young doctor nodded. "All I know is this was how she was when she was found."
Ros pushed the oxygen mask away from her face as the doctor spoke.
"What did you give me?"
"Cyclizine for nausea." The doctor explained as Ros sighed. "Morphine for pain. Mrs Myers you have received a number of nasty injuries."
"I know." Ros snapped. "I was there."
Lucas touched her hand as she spoke.
"You have at least two fractures to your ribs. Your left scaphoid bone and you have a nasty soft tissue injury to your right knee. That is going to take a while to settle. The bruising to the back of your neck along with the boot print over your left shoulder could indicate internal damage. You need a CT scan."
"Boot print?" Lucas felt sick. Ros shrugged.
"Perk of the job."
"Ros."
"I'll live." She squeezed his hand. "I always do. I should call the Grid. Tariq will be having a nervous breakdown if Malcolm hadn't sent the boy catatonic already. Harry is probably trying to stop the Home Secretary from throwing a fit. I need to be back there."
Lucas shook his head. The knowledge that someone had stamped on her turned his stomach. He wanted to cry. Looking away for a moment he collected his thoughts.
"Lucas."
"I thought you were dead."
"I'm ok."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
Ros narrowed her eyes.
"What for? What haven't I been told?" She moved the bedsheets from her legs, struggling to get up. She was instantly back in work mode. Her body radiated tension.
"Lucas."
He turned to her.
"Nothing. I'm sorry I didn't insist on being with you. That I was too slow." He looked her in the eye. "I should have met him. Ros, if."
"That's enough." She took his hand as he fell silent. "I'm the Section Chief. My responsibility, not yours."
"I thought."
"That I was dead? So did I." She touched his face gently as he closed his eyes.
"Don't joke."
"I'm not."
"I."
"I'm fine."
"Yeah, there are three stitches in your scalp. A boot print on your back, broken bones."
"But I'm still here." A sly smile crept across her face. "They haven't won."
He kissed her lips gently, mindful of the bruises that patterned every part of her. She grabbed his shirt, using him as a safety net to stop herself from falling. She pulled away, resting her head against his chest as she thought about how close she had been to dying. Lucas kissed her hair.
"I love you." He whispered as she closed her eyes.
"Glad someone does." He smiled slightly, knowing that she may be physically battered but she wasn't broken. His Ros was still there.
Xxxxxx
"Harry." Alec looked annoyed as he walked into the Briefing Room. The rest of the team were already sat around the table.
"Good of you to join us."
"My phone is knackered. I had to ring in with my location. Sorry but when did we head back to 1975?"
"Well, the Americans are doing it." Calum huffed. Ruth smiled slightly. She loved her step son in law but knew he had a tendency to just say what he thought. Alec sat down next to Erin, still perturbed by not having a working phone.
"Alec, I am sure that you can manage without a smart phone for a while. You're not a teenager." Malcolm huffed. He hated the situation as much as the rest of the team. Technology had made his job so much easier.
"Why are we here?" Dimitri asked. Beth but her lip.
"We have good and bad news." Harry started.
Zoe and Zaf exchanged worried glances. The thought that something else had happened made Zoe feel uneasy. With three assets already dead and a missing nuclear file she couldn't help but think the worst.
"Good news is Ros is safe. She's currently having tests at the General but she's alive. Lucas is with her." Harry smiled slightly as a weight seemed to lift from the team. "The bad news. The file is still missing, we have been subject to a cyber attack."
"Whoa. Someone got through the firewalls Malcolm put in place?" Will was genuinely shocked. Beth shot him a death glare.
"Not for long." Ruth spoke. "But I've moved the files and changed the location of those assets Catherine and I could contact."
"Any more dead?" Erin glared.
"No." Harry paused. "Evasive action has been advised."
"Oh God. Hayley." Beth pushed she chair back.
"She's ok." Ruth smiled, knowing the teenage asset and her boyfriend were safe. "I spoke with her. She's on holiday. Abroad. Her and Sayed are ok."
"Thank God." Beth slumped back in her chair.
"In 1997 it was decided that certain files would be transferred to the computerised system. One of these was the TNA file. The paper copies were supposed to be burned." Harry spoke calmly. Adam narrowed his eyes.
"Only they weren't." Erin stated. "Were they?"
"No. Not all."
"The TNA file survived. It resurfaced before Christmas but the threat was believed to be negligible. The data was old, the technology outdated."
"Then the Russians started taking day trips to Cornwall." Adam snapped. "Ros said she was taken by a Russian man. I didn't get much more information before she passed out."
"So we can rule out North Korea and the Chinese out then." Catherine sighed. Ruth shook her head.
"Not necessarily." Ruth paused. "The Chinese would still want to get hold of it. They may still be in the background. If Khrushchev junior has the file then I'm certain he will want to sell it on."
"So we are still clueless." Catherine sighed. Ruth shook her head slightly. "Why wasn't the file destroyed when it was moved to computer?"
"It didn't make it to the computer. In 1997 the files were transferred to computerised systems in order to improve security. It was supposed to be straightforward but it wasn't." Harry paused. "The internet was in its infancy back then. Systems weren't in place for cyber security."
"I didn't work here then." Malcolm interjected as Harry nodded.
"Be that as it may, the files were stolen." Harry paused. "They resurfaced in 2000. Since then they were hidden with Andres Khrushchev. He had been cleared as a Sleeper in the 90s. Henry had Juliet run him as an asset."
"That's over twenty years ago."
"And probably wouldn't be a major issue if the file only contained outdated codes and blueprints but with the controversy over Trident ." Ruth replied to Beth. "But it's a lot more than that. It names assets - one, Sarah Jenkins died in March 2005 from cancer. Others , Piotr Romanov and Bernard Staltz died in a car accident in May 2013."
"The three assets now." Dimitri looked up. "Can't be linked to then. Twenty years ago not one of them were on the books."
Harry nodded.
"No, but code names get reassigned. Just as they do for us. I'm sure Rangefinder was in that file; just back then it would be assigned to another officer, not Ros."
"Whoever is doing this is showing that not only can they get into our system they have been able to find out who the names are assigned to and kill them." Ruth bit her lip. "In 2003 code names from the late 1990s were reassigned. One of them was Rangefinder another was Auntie."
"Connie is dead." Malcolm stated firmly. "She is dead."
"Of course." Harry answered. "Right now we need to get to the bottom of this. Malcolm you swept the Grid?"
"Nothing unusual detected. While I was running a check it seemed that cameras on the main Grid had been attacked. A webcam devise had been inserted into Ros and Ruth's computers."
"Oh my God." Catherine gasped. "You can't remotely put the cameras in. Someone had to put the things in."
"Yeah. The Grid isn't ever left unmanned." Calum frowned. "I've been through the footage. There's a fibre optic link to the cameras but someone had to have physically put them there."
"Have they been removed?" Beth asked. Malcolm shook his head.
"I want to put the things to good use. Use them to chase the signal back to its source." Malcolm explained. "Send them an internet worm. Drag out their identity and shut them down. But until I've custom made the pulse I have had to blow our system. I'll reboot them with higher quality security. I'm afraid I'm remiss in that I've not ensured that the cyberattack was not possible."
Harry sighed. He knew his old friend would blame himself. Before he could answer the phone in the outer office burst into life. Will slipped away, answering the phone. Moments later he returned.
"That was Lucas."
"And?" Zaf looked up. Will looked shaken.
"Er. He."
"Out with it." Harry snapped. Ruth shot him a look.
"He's ok. It's Ros. They took her for a brain scan. Said routine because she's been knocked out. But."
"But?" Ruth felt her guts twist. "Will."
"She started having a seizure in the scanner. They've had to intubate her. They've moved her from A&E to Intensive Care." He looked away as Erin swore. Alec closed his eyes. "Don't look good, does it?"
"Right." Harry paused. "We find those files and we find those responsible for this. Zaf; get to the hospital. The rest of you, you know what to do. Adam." He nodded to the blonde man before leaving the room. Moments later Adam had given the team their tasks. Ruth bit her lip watching her husband as he left. She knew he was desperately worried about Ros, but she couldn't help but think he was hiding something from them. She just prayed he would confide in her.
Xxxxxxx