Man out of Time

Chapter Twelve

"But you didn't"

The words seemed to reverberate around the room even though they had been spoken softly with not a hint of censure or blame it seemed all they could do was sit facing one another the space between them on the sofa becoming a chasm which each passing second. Suddenly the tension was broken as both their mobiles burst into life heralding a red flash and both of them as one exhaled the breath they had been holding as they stood glad of the interruption; glad that they would have more time to think about what their next words would be.

"Shall we take your car?" asked Malcolm "I came by taxi. There's no where to park round here is there?".

Ruth looked at him as though he was speaking a foreign language and Malcolm felt compelled to repeat his question; this time a little more urgency in his voice. "I don't think I'm up to driving" she finally said in reply. "And I must look an absolute mess. I can't go in looking like this."

"Give me the car keys while you go upstairs and change and then you can work the magic that all women seem able to do when it's needed. Go on I'll give you ten minutes. I'll be in the car waiting for you. Go on don't stand there looking at me Ruth we need to go."

Twenty minutes later they were driving at speed through the still negotiable streets of London; making better time than Malcolm had thought was possible. Ruth was sitting quietly by his side in a world of her own until she suddenly said "Should we be doing this Malcolm? Should we be going into Thames House together?" But when they stepped out of the pods Ruth's worries seemed to be irrelevant as no one looked up at them, everybody too busy to even care who or what had entered their closed world.

It was almost eighteen hours later when they were told to stand down. What had seemed at first to be a real and substantial threat had instead turned out to be as Adam had put it "Nothing to get hot under the collar about".

There had been an incursion on the border between India and Pakistan; something that happened much more frequently than was common knowledge but this time there was sabre rattling on both sides and because the new Indian ambassador was due to present his credentials to her Majesty before they were formally registered at The Court of St. James there had been chatter that some hot heads in the Pakistani community might take it into their heads to protest and the underlying fear was that others might use this protest to care as much harm and mayhem as they could.

Of course normal high security measures were in place as the new ambassador would be transported through the streets of London in the designated seventeenth- century carriage as was the custom and practice. It was all part of the pomp and circumstance of the occasion and was something that all ambassadors new and old seemed to relish.

It was something that they had dealt with before, many times and in some ways it was just routine but the posturing and threats made by both India and Pakistan along with the snippets of unsubstantiated information that were filtering through had unnerved the temporary section head who had neither the experience nor the confidence to see the artifice on both sides for what it was; nor had he the courage to wait and see if the threats of violence on the streets of London were real; so had he had decided without consultation and advice from anyone to call a red flash and then after he had done it he'd locked himself in his office seemingly expecting the team to just get on with it

And get on with it they did; ferreting out intelligence through painstaking investigation into known suspects; walking the streets, picking up on gossip and snippets of information here and there,by making the often difficult decision whether to call in favours or leave well alone in case those favours needed to be saved for another time. In short working as a well oiled team. Harry Pearce's team. At first everyone reported to Adam but as the hours went on and the information mounted a natural leader emerged. And if the senior members of the team were honest with themselves it was no surprise.

Ruth Evershed was the person closest to Harry; professionally that was. What their personal relationship was was an enigma to everyone. A puzzle that lot's of them had tried to solve but without any success. All they knew on that front was that there was something between them but it was something that could not be named or categorised. But that aside they were very sure that Ruth was the one who knew what Harry's take on the situation would be and they were more than happy to let her direct the operation, confident that they were in safe hands.

They all knew there was always someone who wanted to make a name for themselves; was misguided or naïve enough to believe the evil that was dripped into their ears by the corrupt malevolent cowardly creatures who were willing to use any method to achieve their vile ends. But it seemed that this time no such plan was intended. Of course having the new ambassador in a coach that belonged in a bloody museum was not exactly the safest mode of transport available but it was all part of the package and they knew from experience that the ambassadors loved the whole spectacle and talking them out of the coach and into a heavily plated car had been in past and no doubt would be in the future damn near impossible.

So by the time they had assured themselves and their masters that the event could, should go ahead as planned with extra security of course; just in case because you could never be one hundred percent sure they were all pissed off with the whole bloody thing. Adam had sent home the junior members of the team and made sure that the officers coming on duty were up to speed with what had being going on when the "boss" slipped out of the confines of Harry's office and made for the pods. He'd almost made it when Adam's voice stopped him in his tracks "Sir" he said a slight hint of menace in his voice "Don't you want to chair a de-brief? Harry always used to say we could learn something from every incident whatever the outcome. And I think we could all learn some valuable lessons from this one don't you?"

A silence descended across the space they inhabited broken only by the whirr of the many machines dotted around and the solitary ringing of a phone which was snatched up quickly by a junior members of staff desperate to do something so she wouldn't have to think about what was going on in front of her. The man mumbled something about an urgent meeting and pushed into the nearest pod eyes downcast, shoulders slumped without a backward glance.

As he disappeared out the other side and out of sight Adam banged his fist on his desk before saying "Core team, meeting room in ten minutes." Adam had at least the good grace to look apologetic as his co-workers groaned and huffed making their feelings plain. There was of course no doubt that they'd comply with his instructions but they felt the need to let him know they weren't happy about it. Not happy at all. He was about to silence them with a sharp word when his phone rang and after what would have seemed to anyone who had bothered to listen a very one sided conversation he spoke again "Okay change of plan; I've been summoned upstairs. For an arse kicking no doubt so get off home, get cleaned up, eat something and get some sleep and I'll see you all first thing in the morning.

As Ruth began to pack away her things making a last minute check of the latest intelligence coming from G.C.H.Q. Malcolm came over and stood next to her desk. " You did well Ruth." She shrugged her shoulders as way of an answer before she said quietly "Well someone had to take some of the pressure off Adam. You know that being tied to a desk isn't his idea of fun. And well it just seemed to come quite naturally Malcolm. I think we did a good job. Don't you?".

Malcolm nodded in approval before he bent in close so that his next words wouldn't be heard by anyone else "About the discussion we were having before we had to come in. What do you want to do? Shall we carry on where we left off or do you want to...?"

He was cut short by Ruth laying a small fidgeting hand on his sleeve "No Malcolm I feel as though I've done the hard part. I'd really like you to hear the whole story and I'd be more than grateful to hear your advice. That is if you want to?" and once again Malcolm thought she might cry there and then on the Grid.

"Of course" he spoke quickly not wanting her to imagine that he didn't want to help "I'll just go and set a couple of programmes running and tidy up a few loose ends and then we can get off." As he walked away Adam fell into step beside him "Things going okay Malcolm" he asked in little more than a whisper.

"If you mean have I tried to engage Ruth in a conversation about the way she is feeling at the moment mind your own bloody business Adam. You asked me to talk to the poor girl but I don't remember anything being said about me reporting back to you." And he walked off towards his desk leaving Adam staring after him.

This seems to go on for ever and get nowhere but I find myself obsessed with the back story of how Malcolm and Ruth and don't forget James came to be a family unit so please bear with me as I haven't forgotten about a solitary figure making his way to Switzerland.