Ch29
In a private room in the back of the lab on a remote Island on Norway's Fjord coast The Mechanic tried in vain to regain communication with the flight he had been pinning his future hopes on. He had paced the room non-stop since the plane had reported radio failure and then inexplicably disappeared from radar without posting a mayday call. After half an hour with no contact his rage hit full flow, he pushed the contents of the desk to the floor as he saw his contingency plan had finally slipped from his grasp. His few allies were open to the highest bidder in the cutthroat enterprise they'd all signed up for, for a brief moment he had been the man with the most power but now he was losing his influence with every second that ticked by. As his control unraveled before his eyes, he realised his eagerness to impress with a quick and easy action would now be his downfall after he had allowed contact from Catherine at the Island to deviate him from his plans. As he flicked on the news for confirmation the plane had hit the ocean his mind was contemplating a Plan B as a matter of urgency. He had already made himself close to redundant to requirements by delivering the drones prior to The Hood joining the key stakeholders in the venture, once he had delivered everything requested he now considered his own death warrant would be signed, he would be just be one more to add to the list of collateral damage after The Hood's plans had been conceived. He walked the small room from end to end with the few choices he had left to stay key to the operation playing round in his mind mocking him for the failure that now left him flailing in the wind to regain the upper hand. He had played his hand too early, given them everything apart from the space bound prototype which was now his only remaining ace in the pack unless he thought on his feet. He toyed with the computer system, the risk of the discovery of the mole outweighed his need for back-up and he knew his most powerful ally would be The Hood. He increased its speed to its destination, certain that one of his few remaining plays was to be the one to make first contact and knowing the sooner he made it the better.
He switched to the CCTV screen and monitored the cell; the old man was lying on the floor in a mass of bedding rocking backwards and forwards clutching the mangled mess to his chest, painting the sorry picture of a man in the grips of mental failure. This man now had to play a part in his contingency and he was determined that he would not leave his sight, even when he made the journey to England to take ownership of The Worm, he would ensure against orders that he accompanied him for safekeeping. One final action was needed before he settled into his new reality, control of the whole plan now needed to be in his own hands, before leaving the room he sent the final protocol sequences to the drones. If his requirement was not secured then the army could be destroyed as fast as he had created it. He stopped to breathe and silence the voices of doubt now he had hastily come up with a best case scenario; he gave one final check looking for the transponder ping from the plane. His hope was in vain, there was nothing to reduce the fear that the body of The Hood's niece would be plucked from the sea off the coast of Western Australia. As he switched his attention to the Australian news channel he had been following he received the confirmation he had been dreading on the rolling live news feed at the bottom, the plane had been reported as missing presumed lost. For the first time he realised that this was not the news he wanted to deliver at first contact and first contact was what he had claimed for himself. With Catherine gone his enterprise would remain a firmly guarded secret but when they got to the Island to claim the satellite for their own his involvement with her re-location to North Island may yet be his undoing if the fate of his niece was made clear to him. His heart began to hammer a warning that his contingency may not be enough to save his life. In the hope of seeing the miracle that Catherine had crash landed in one piece on the ocean he pulled a satellite image of the planes last location at the time communication stopped. As the image hit his screen the door swung opened violently turning his attention from the screen as the bulldog appeared with the expression of a man who had swallowed a bee.
"Where is the girl, a small errand you said and she has been missing for nearly a day?"
The Mechanic studied him before delivering the news that would silence the man on the subject for good. "Dead Abbott, you wanted her dead and I have delivered your wish, now leave me alone to prepare for England."
The man studied him a half smile decorating his lips at the news that the man in front of him still knew how to respond to an order "You are not to leave until I say so, if contact is made in my absence you confirm extraction plans and wait for my return. It was agreed when we financed your development that all main players would be brought here to witness governments clambering to buy into this technology, I am returning to collect our bank-roller and conduct a little housekeeping only then do we set the wheels in motion."
The Mechanic reigned in his impulse to release an immediate termination of contract to the short man with one hell of an attitude, the news of his impending trip started to perk his interest and it seemed more important to keep him talking "You seem certain The Hood will want immediate action on his return to us."
Abbott absentmindedly picked up items off the floor placing them back on the desk "There are too many questions being asked, time is of the essence. And now there is the small inconvenience of a couple of passengers booked on the High Altitude shuttle that need to be met head on when they set foot on home soil. This is no more than the one loose end we never managed to tie up before we resurrected the technology."
The Mechanic could not resist the contradiction "Two if you count Stubbins."
Abbot spat his retort "Stubbins hasn't remembered her own name for more than a year." He stopped picking up items from the floor and adjusted his tone "You are right but one thing at a time the immediate threat first and soon enough time will be up for Amelia."
The Mechanic smiled "and you are the man for the job I suppose, slight deviation from lap dog and coffee maker."
Abbott glowered red faced, his short fuse ready to ignite "Remember who you are talking to, without your British connections you would be rotting in an army jail." Beads of perspiration mapped their way down his brow and The Mechanic watched their trial before Abbot turned on his heels and left his parting shot at the door "Remember all players need to be on their way here before extraction and Hugh will require more time than the others to plan his leave from the GDF, contact him and give him forty-eight hours."
The Mechanic smiled "As ever your wish is my command."
"Just don't forget in my absence who you work for, The Hood has the co-ordinates to the Island, he is not your ally in this, you work for us, He will have his freedom, his niece and all the earth bound machinery he could wish for but it will all be redundant when we kick-off the global conflict from their space station."
The Mechanic smiled at his counterpart, playing two sides was always the best way to make sure you came out on the winning side and part of his new Plan B would be to keep his options open.
…..
Penelope eyed every passenger with mistrust at Perth International Airport, before making her way to the private lounge she needed one thing confirming, she knew the answer of course but something about the confirmation from John would mean she was one step ahead if only for the next eight hours. Taking Parker's arm she gave it a squeeze and excused herself to go to the airport bathroom. She noted his arched eyebrow of enquiry before she entered and smiled her retreat as unbidden he posted sentry outside the door.
Penelope scanned the toilets for company, entered a cubicle and took out her compact.
John smiled his greeting "Lady Penelope, it must be all of half an hour since we spoke. Can't wait for an update on the status of the plane?"
Penelope kept her tone level and her face expressionless "I have no doubt it is in your possession John. If I could impose on you to confirm if any passengers flying on my flight today have re-arranged their plans from yesterday's flight I would appreciate it."
John looked at her and his smile disappeared as the realisation of her need for the information hit "Penelope we can pick you up and take you back to the Island."
Penelope gave one of her well practised warm re-assuring smiles "No other assistance is required John."
John returned the findings in seconds "Two passengers, both male, same booking they missed check-in and re-booked for today's flight and a stewardess who reported sick yesterday and is taking the flight back today to make her next shift. Penelope is this something we should be worried about?"
Penelope laughed "Old habits die hard John. It's a routine enquiry when you change your travel plans in my line of work, now not a word about this call to Gordon."
John held her gaze for a moment which didn't flinch under the scrutiny of his eyes "I would have believed you Penny if you hadn't have added the bit about Gordon."
Penelope resigned herself to the truth of his statement "We'll make an agent out of you yet John Tracy."
John held her eyes then released them "Stalker maybe, I'll be monitoring you on all available CCTV feeds. Do you want me to contact the GDF?"
Penelope waved a dismissive hand "Quite capable of the call John if I deem it necessary, I don't want to gain a reputation for an over active imagination." With that Penelope terminated comms and went outside where Parker gave her a look confirming the adrenalin was pumping around his system.
Penelope knew the shuttle pod she had booked would give her some privacy, but the name at the top of Brains' list Archibald Drummond-Mason was her boss with eyes on his payroll all over the planet and it had unnerved her from her first perusal. As she entered the VIP lounge with Parker every sense she possessed was heightened to a potential threat, her eyes darted around the lounge looking for the misplaced, a person trying to blend in but standing out by default. The shuttle took fifty passengers if full, ten pods of five, she had taken the sole booking of one, a luxury her money could afford. She was counting the passengers now, covertly using Parker to allow her to take a turn around the room as he linked her arm feigning a leg cramp, if her instinct was right she was being watched. She took in her first impressions; all passengers were accompanied by the tell-tale adornments that would accompany those that could afford this method of transportation. The beautiful thing about money was it bought you a certain standard, each pod had their own table in the VIP lounge she had been allocated table nine. Tables eight and five were so far empty, she considered that even in this day and age when capitalist culture had gone mad certain services would not allow a discounted rate to fill spaces. Parker stumbled slightly guiding her to the view of table six, a family of four engrossed in the excitement of travel and a lone female. All eyes momentarily caught them in view and then went back to the game they were playing and book the young blond was engrossed in. Table one held an couple obviously in love whether legitimately together or illicitly, but quite possible those that had missed the flight if they had been as engaged with each other yesterday as they seemed to be now. The flight would be practically empty but pods three and four were full of business types enjoying the expenses paid trip. The others held lone passengers those with the biggest representation of wealth adorning them. God she had missed this, in less than five minutes she had done the full rotation with faces committed to memory, if her hunch was right one if not more of her fellow passengers would be tailing her out of the airport.
Parker took the seat in pod six with the body language of a man of eighty, embellished with a sharp groan as his body bent to take its seat. She looked at her watch, thirty minutes until they were in the air, the game of cat and mouse was about to begin and was now bigger than imagined when Colonel Casey had first advised her of the breach in the British secret service. She couldn't help feeling there was something she was missing, the money made from any deal to obtain the technology was not enough to entice the already filthy rich Drummond-Mason. She had known him a long time, even before he took his latest post and that man had no need for additional funds which amounted to small pocket change. She now had a deal breaker, in her time in England she would need to find the motivation behind the corruption.
She was pulled from her musings by her personal hostess indicating it was time to board, in eight hours she would be back in London and firmly planted into the lion's den. She was under no illusion that her supposed vacation had linked her to the Tracy's; Catherine had had plenty of time to make her a marked woman if she wasn't one already. She smiled at the hostess, showing no sign of the fragmented thoughts swirling around trying to make connections that would help her stay ahead of the game. Her thoughts in Perth had gone from worrying about her family to taking in everything the Colonel had been trying to tell her before Catherine had been taken in by them and she now knew with fear mounting that she had placed her Aunt Sylvia in danger. She was under no illusion that the dear old girl was well equipped to deal anything their line of work could throw at them, but to leave her with a list of enquiries and no prior warning of their significance was unforgivable.
They were settled into their pod and Penelope closed the doors indicating to Parker to scan the surroundings for listening devices. They were best placed now to make sure that if they were tailed out of the airport they had the luxury of a plan B, something unexpected. She gave a sigh, for the first time in a long time she felt the hairs in the back of her neck stand on end, this would be like St Petersburg all over again and she may as well start the ride with a glass of Krug.
"To blighty Parker and may it not be the end for us both."
Parker clinked his glass against Penelope's then returned it to the table eyeing the bubbles with suspicion "It seems to me M'lady, that Miss Kayo was in no fit state to be used bait and there are two of us."
Penelope noted the action and poured him a scotch "I knew you'd see the necessity of trying to draw them out Parker, we need them to make mistakes after all."
….
As Thunderbird Two dropped off G-QRCK onto the Tracy Island airstrip Scott lifted Kayo into his arms and waited for the feeling of wheels on the ground. The urgency for him to get her to the infirmary had been building with ferocity over the last half hour, her head had burned fearful heat into his arm as he cradled her. He had spend the last ten minutes feeling her raised heart rate beating it's increased rhythm into his chest indicating that a price had been paid for any information gained. He had a barely allowed the steps to hit the ground when he left the plane, in his urgency to get her into the infirmary he broke into a run, carrying her towards the equipment that would soon indicate whether her action to redeem the plane would have a lasting effect. He rounded the side of the pool and his eyes met Gordon's, sensing the severity of the situation Gordon ran to meet them and took the dead weight of Kayo from his arms.
"I've got her Scott, we prepped bay 2 for her."
Virgil made his way as quickly as he could from the hanger to the med wing carrying Catherine over his shoulder, passing her to Gordon to relocate and lock her in bay 5.
Virgil attached monitors, took bloods and tubed them down to the lab asking Brains to get to work in them immediately. He inserted an IV for fluids and easy access for any drugs he may need to dispense and then scanned the injury to the brain. Scott and Gordon watched transfixed as he worked silently while waiting for Brains to contact them from the lab with the results.
Virgil took the first readings from the equipment and addressed Scott directly "Scans clear, that's good, the nanos are still active and making the repair, as soon as we know what's caused her temperature to spike I'll treat it. Two's ready if I need to transport her to New Zealand."
Scott watched Kayo's pale figure started to shake violently "Virgil! For fucks sake Virgil do something."
Virgil ignored him and leaned over the patient allowing the seizure to take its course as he talked to her in a soothing tone, calming Scott and Gordon by default as he showed no signs of urgency while he waited for the seizure to abate. Virgil swallowed hard refusing to look at the eyes that were burning a hole in his back hoping that the reaction Kayo had was down to overdoing it on an ill advised transport back from Perth. It had been his decision to move her and he had agreed to her going after the plane he just hoped that the reaction she was suffering now could be treated at home, another transfer even with the safety of the medical equipment on Two would be ill advised until he knew what he was dealing with.
