Disclaimer: All characters, names, settings etc belong to their respective copyright holders, only much of the convoluted plot, Night Wolf and a few other things are of my own creation (but inspired from many things under copyright, which aren't mine).
Chapter 33
Lethbridge Stewart stood in front of the large screen in the meeting room staring at the data on the screen.
Much of it had to do with Harry's plan.
A lot of it was just logistics.
ETA in system 5 days, estimated return 11 days.
That was the data on the indicator for the RSCS Firefox which was speeding towards the system to confirm the information and then would return.
It would be too late for his report to Geneva, which he intended to put forward in the coming days.
While Lethbridge Stewart trusted Harry implicitly, and in theory his craft had been constructed by Night Wolf personnel (though some might argue it had been, at least partially grown) there was something about checking your facts before you blew up a star.
RSCS Victory was on route from Research Outpost 3 where they had been assisting in scouting the system for hostiles. The Outpost had been attacked from orbit recently by an unknown assailant.
The major problem, Lethbridge Stewart admitted to himself was communications, currently they had no way of boosting a signal from such a distance.
According to the scientists within his own command and at Gibson and North Highlands the Q40 element would assist in that problem, it was one more reason why blowing up the star was…a better idea.
"Alistair are you hiding in here?" Birmingham chuckled as he walked in.
Lethbridge Stewart turned and scowled, he wasn't hiding, just mearly considering everything.
"It's not often that I need to defer to Geneva." He admitted. Geneva, in particular conducted various assessments and research into subjects which required academics and records held in UNIT central command in Geneva, while smaller research projects were conducted around the world in various UNIT bases or of shoots of UNIT the larger pieces of research were conducted there.
Lethbridge Stewart had been given full and free reign when it came to Night Wolf, he was in theory in charge of all their space based operations and everything concerning research, development in implementation on Earth.
But even Alistair knew he should probably discuss his (Harry's) plan with them, currently though he was avoiding putting together the final pieces of his presentation and report before heading out to a private airfield.
"And I'm not hiding Birmingham, just considering the logistics of this operation." He pointed to the screen.
"You signed off on Harry's application to UNIT and Night Wolf I noticed."
"Yes, now that Harry officially exists…"
"Though, we haven't actually offered him to join Night Wolf or UNIT…"
"If he doesn't Birmingham, I'll just tear it up…" Lethbridge Stewart said simply.
"Do you think he'll say no?" Birmingham asked.
"No…but every soldier needs a break after a battle, as will Harry…but he'll…"
"Want something else to do…he isn't the type to sit around and…"
"Sit in the garden watching the plants grow…" Lethbridge Stewart chuckled, that was where he had been…for a little while.
Birmingham chuckled.
"Yes…what about his friend?"
"Miss Granger?"
"Yes."
"I'll leave that in your hands for now Birmingham, standard research, family, friends, the usual, get MI5 to lay a hand. If she's nothing of a risk note it down for 'after the plan'."
Birmingham nodded to himself as he regarded the monitors as Lethbridge Stewart left the room.
--//
General Lethbridge Stewart walked through the United Nations Building in Geneva, deep into it and through a not unrecognisable door, but not a memorable door either which led into the buildings of the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, Geneva HQ.
After having his ID scanned once more he was allowed through another set of doors and down a nondescript hall way, which on any of the fire plans for the building was a simple walk way between a storeroom and a supply cupboard.
The door Lethbridge Stewart walked calmly through was a door unmarked door.
He walked for around 10 meters of bland hallway which had nothing in it except another door and a ID reader at the end. As he walked various scanning devices scanned his body and his case he was carrying. Scanning his body heat, his heart beat (paying close attention for a singular heart beat), scanning the case for anything unrecognisable, or anything recognisable which hadn't been cleared in its security before hand, and double checking that everything lined up to the person walking down the corridor.
If it didn't the corridor would be locked off, UNIT personnel would storm and force would be used to subdue the subject within the corridor.
Thus far nothing had happened, but it didn't stop Night Wolf scientists coming up with grander and more detailed scanning equipment and defence equipment to keep those who shouldn't be in, out of their building.
The room was dark enough whilst still letting in a degree of natural light, a large screen occupied all of one wall, currently only the UNIT logo occupied the display.
"So Lethbridge Stewart, what's this grand plan that you've felt needed our attention?" Professor Jules Winter said smiling across from where Lethbridge Stewart stood at the foot of the table, a pile of folders next to him with the standard 'Top Secret' warning covering it.
"If you'll bare with me sirs, madam, Professor, Doctor…" Lethbridge Stewart looked around the room, at the people he'd requested, everyone had the highest clearance and he had thought it would be best coming from him personally.
"That's everyone General, now cut the cloak and dagger, been hanging out with MI5 too much?"' General McGeoch chuckled, he like the Lethbridge Stewart had had some time away from UNIT, him following the incident at Night Wolf command, but had returned when Voldemort had 'resumed hostilities'.
Lethbridge Stewart just chuckled.
"I believe it would…be best for me to…present my case before you read the finer print as it were."
For the next 15 minutes the collected scientists, Doctors, professors, and who ever else stared at the screen, and at General Alistair Gordon Lethbridge Stewart and considered whether he had just had one of the biggest cases of thinking outside the box, or whether they had another cracked solider on their hands.
Lethbridge Stewart passed around the folders containing the information and waited for the questions.
"Are you quite sane General?" McGeoch asked, he hadn't opened the folder but instead was staring at Lethbridge Stewart, studying his face, his body language and listening intently for Lethbridge Stewart's response, the inflection in his voice.
"No General…though the man who suggested this course of action did think he was going to be questioned on his state of mind." He admitted.
General McGeoch nodded and opened the folder.
Lethbridge Stewart fielded several questions through, none thoroughly in depth or about the scientific parts, more about his intentions behind his course of action, the science of what they were doing was…while not simple it was scientifically sound, relatively.
He had been asked to return in 36 hours for their answer.
Which Lethbridge Stewart thought to himself was a good thing, he hadn't been asked immediately to leave or had been escorted to the door and they hadn't said the plan was unsound scientifically.
Though that and pretty much everything else he had to thank all his people at Night Wolf Command, as well as the help his command had received from the Northern Highlands Facility and the Gibson Desert Research Facility.
Lethbridge Stewart paused as he made his way out of the building and considered looking in on the division dedicated to tracking, following and plotting the Doctor's movements, it wasn't just the Doctor they also focused on 'UNIT Standing Order, Priority A1' an order which had been in effect since his days and was still valid, despite them having caught the Master at least one and worked with him at least twice.
Alistair liked the Doctor as a friend, in many of his incarnations that he had known him...and as an ally he was priceless…
However there was also the other side to him…especially where Night Wolf was concerned, the Doctor…had a tendency to see things in terms of what the human race was 'ready for', and the analysts both psychological and military had determined that should the Doctor discover their 'off planet' excursions he might look favourably on them.
The amount of alien technology which the Doctor had destroyed because it was 'to early for you to discover'…whatever piece of technology, he'd either destroyed or stolen from UNIT storage.
The Doctor; Lethbridge Stewart thought, as did many was a blessing and a curse. Trouble followed him, sometimes he attracted and sometimes he dealt with it…and if he came after Night Wolf Lethbridge Stewart would defend it with all he had in him, even against his friend.
--//
At the scheduled time, late the day after Lethbridge Stewart re-entered the building and made his way to the same meeting room he'd been in a little under 40 hours ago.
The room was a degree less populated, with only Professor Julian Winter, Professor Glenda Moore and General Brendan McGeoch in attendance.
"Sirs, Madam."
"Have a seat General." Julian Winter gestured to a seat at the table, at all of the placements at the table were folders, a jug of water occupied the centre of the table.
Lethbridge Stewart sat down and looked around the table.
"You've presented us with…something General." Winter said with a smile.
"That was one of my thoughts sir when presented with it myself."
"This is a large project General, is he worth it?" Glenda Moore asked.
"You've read my command's reports…"
"I have…"
"Yes it is worth it. The budget from our past assaults and battles against Voldemort's forces, not just UNIT's but the British Armed Forces and that of the various emergency services around Inner and Greater London have been stretched." Lethbridge Stewart paused, knowing that he was making his case with what he said here and now. "My command has needed to redirect vast amounts of time and resources towards combating Voldemort's troops both directly and in directly assisting the emergency services…not to mention the loss of life in so far."
"And how many lives will be lost in this endeavour General?" General McGeoch asked regarding Lethbridge Stewart as he spoke.
"The man who plotted this plan has a team of people ready to face Voldemort, Night Wolf will only be acting as distance back up, and the support of equipment and delivery of the final stages of the plan. I would like to say no casualties will occur in this plan, but this conflict has been going on for long enough for me not to make such assertions like that."
General McGeoch nodded, it was the correct answer…though perhaps not the right answer, not that there was a right answer in these situations.
"Your people are right about one thing General." Julian Winter said leaning back into his chair.
"Sir?"
"Voldemort will continue to be a…shall we say destructive element?"
"The effects of the fires in London, the attacks on Dover and the various attacks around the United Kingdom have greatly destabilised the world market, in Europe there have been effects of Voldemort moving his troops through towns, the effects will only increase…it's making everyone very nervous, even the Americans." Moore added following Winter's statement, the Americans and in particular their reaction to problems was something of a concern within UNIT. But UNIT held only a small post within America, the Americans preferring to handle it 'their way' without 'outside interference'.
"We're approving of your plan General. You have Geneva's support and approval to go ahead with your man's plan to destroy a star, on the condition that your ship…the Royal Space Core Ship Firefox's data is sent to us for final approval." General McGeoch stated with a small smile.
"Just to make sure that you're not existence of any developed life form." Winter added.
"Sirs…madam…thank you…" General Lethbridge Stewart stood taking the folder and placing it within his case.
--//
Birmingham leaned back in the Brigadier's chair, staring at the paper work, a lot of it regarding the training and preparation for 'The Plan'.
"It really needs a name." He said to himself and then scolded himself, he was determined not to talk out loud to himself, that was why his office door in the Sorcery division was always open…unless he closed it.
Hitting a couple of buttons he located Harry, he wasn't with Colonel Jones or one of the others preparing, and he wasn't in the room he'd been given to plan and plot out the finer details of his plan, when he'd been given the room he'd appeared in it with large reams of paper, large sketches and star maps of various areas of space, he'd just mumbled 'had them around at home'.
He was sitting in the mess alone reading something which wasn't related to his plan, from the feed it appeared to be a UNIT branded folder, something obviously top secret, there wasn't much that UNIT got involved in that wasn't.
Birmingham pushed himself off the chair and made his way for the mess.
"Harry." Birmingham said as greeting as he sat himself down opposite Harry Potter.
"Birmingham." He said briefly looking up from the folder. "How goes…everything?" He asked after pausing for a moment searching for a word.
"As good as can be expected." Birmingham smiled briefly. "How come you're here?"
Harry shrugged closing the folder, Birmingham glanced over at it, it stated it was the follow up report to the WOTAN incident in 1966.
"I've been going over the plan…training…that sort of stuff…" Harry said vaguely.
Birmingham nodded, he was silent for a moment considering how introduce the concept of joiing UNIT to Harry appropriately.
"So Harry what do you think you want to do?" Birmingham asked after a short silence.
"What?" Harry looked up slightly startled from the folder he'd reopened during the few moments of silence.
"It's your last year of Hogwarts coming up. It's when most 'witches and wizards' think about what they want to do career wise." Birmingham said. "Do you want to be a world star Quidditch player shocking the masses going faster than the speed of sound and astounding your team mates?" Birmingham said making Harry chuckle.
"No…I'm sure that's what a friend of mine would like." He said with a slight smile.
"Are you going to head off to the ministry, you did say once that you were going to change it…" Birmingham offered remembering in one of their first conversations Harry had made suggestions that he would enter the world of wizarding politics and 'give it a good shake up'.
"That's happening on its own; Rufus Scrimgeour replaced Fudge after he was executed by the American ministry." Harry paused as he thought to himself. He's more level headed than Fudge ever was…I don't want to be an auror, goddess, I'd become some pinup boy for them…" Harry sighed shaking his head slightly.
"So is this what you'd like to do?" Birmingham tapped the UNIT folder.
Harry looked up from the paragraph he was reading and nodded slowly.
Birmingham smiled.
"With the amount of time you've spent here you're practically an honorary member, The Brig asked me to ask you if you wanted to make it official."
Harry sat up a bit straighter and stared at Birmingham.
"Wouldn't I have to join the army?" He asked slightly worried.
"Why?"
"To join UNIT, Jones and the others came from…"
"You can train, with him even, and gain a military rank." Birmingham explained. "But you can enter UNIT with a rank of Sorcerer, it's recognised throughout UNIT…throughout the higher classified areas in any case." He added. "The Brig can fill you in about the specifics of the military details. Now let me test you…I assume you've read the training manuals."
"Some of them…this isn't…." He asked nervously.
"Just a bit of fun Harry, see what you know. Ok…now if I can remember my own test…" Birmingham took a bite of an apple he'd brought with him and chewed thoughtfully.
"Birmingham…what about someone else joining UNIT?" Harry asked curiously.
"Someone else? You think one of your friends at Hogwarts?"
"I told you about Hermione Granger?" Birmingham nodded, he'd finished her and her parents check through UNIT and MI5 were compiling a list of any associates that could be a problem, if there were no problems it would be simple enough to create high school qualifications for Miss Granger, and then the UN could assist her in gaining university qualifications, if that was what she wanted to do, according to what Harry had said in the past she'd probably want to devour their library at Night Wolf.
"She's probably the smartest person in my year at Hogwarts…" Harry smiled and trailed off. "But she doesn't know what to do, when she finishes Hogwarts I mean. She said basically there's no options other than the Ministry, or a publisher that she was going to go to a regular university and build from there…I sort of said…"
"Without saying anything of…" Birmingham regarded Harry seriously, it was after all a serious breach of security if Harry spoke to someone about what they did here, without them having perused the Amended Articles and Official Secrets Act.
"Of course." Harry said immediately a little off put at the suggestion. "Just that I'd get back to her."
"The Brig will give you the final yes or no on Miss Granger."
"I was sort of sticking away from his office, it seemed my plan has caused him…" Harry said a little ashamed.
"A bit of paper work? Blowing up a sun isn't something you casually mention and expect everyone just to give it a tick of approval, it's a good thing that you've got some time in between telling us and doing it." Birmingham said good naturedly. Harry nodded thoughtfully.
"But he should be back from Geneva later tomorrow, I'll have you put in his appointment book." Birmingham rubbed his hands together. "Now your quiz…the first incident recorded of Dalek intervention on Earth?"
Harry thought hard, there were lots, and not just a few there were lots everywhere.
"What do you mean recorded, I mean recent discoveries and everything…"
"Alright first military encounter in England?"
Harry knew it right away. "The Shoreditch Incident." Birmingham Harry had obviously been reading up on events prior to UNIT's formation.
"Correct. If you're fighting a Cyberman what can you use to fight it?"
"Gold, or gold bullets, although conventional firearms can be used to some effectiveness, high impact explosives are also successful." Harry said an almost direct quote from a training manual from the late 1980s.
"What is UNIT standing order, priority A1?" He asked with a smile, Harry thought for a few minutes.
"It was initiated in the Brig's time…" Harry paused as he thought about it. "It had to do with their scientific advisor at the time, a friend of his or something… Birmingham smiled to himself, something indeed. "It's to be on the look out for an 'international terrorist' was the official line…" Harry said making air quotes as he answered.
"Good…that was the line that UNIT put out to the other international agencies, American and what not. "You have to dig a little deeper for the truth…but very good Harry, I think the Brigadier will be impressed." Birmingham said truthfully.
"Thanks Birmingham…I think I'll get this back to the library and go out for a fly…maybe head home, I'll come back tomorrow to see the Brig…"
"Probably after lunch Harry." Birmingham said as Harry rose to leave.
"Right…and thanks Birmingham."
Birmingham watched Harry leave, he was definitely a little more chipper and confidant as he walked out of the room.
--//