Dave arrived at Flemings Hotel in Mayfair shortly after 08:30, leaving everything he had brought with the porters who would take it up to the meeting room, he went in for breakfast. He had left Sally in bed, she worked as a receptionist at the university on a Monday, Wednesday and Thursday. Normally Dave would drive his Uber cab on Monday’s and Wednesday’s, Thursday and Friday he spent in London helping out at MI5, he used his alternative view to help out on cases where the researchers were stuck. Sally would join him most Friday’s. He sat trying to figure out what to do next, he would take guidance from Taff, he was more experienced than Dave. They had met when he spent six months in Hereford learning fieldcraft, Taff was a member of the SAS who had been stationed there.
In the meeting room, he poured himself a coffee, the first of many he would have in the room during the day. Firing up the laptop, he looked at the aerial images, he linked it up to the screen in the room, they were high quality, he zoomed in to where the bay was, then switched to the other side of the island, the pill boxes were still there. He phoned the Brigadier, “sir, yesterday, I asked for the Navy’s trawler to do a circuit round the island photographing everything from sea level, I haven’t heard anything, would you chase it up please, I have a meeting at midday.” “David, do you have a plan yet?” “No, there are a lot of possibilities, but nothing yet. I’ll let you know later this afternoon.” The next call was to Jane Goodley, head of MI5, “Jane, Sally has done a summary of the information you had sent over, I will email it to you now. I need you to put people on to finding out more detailed background stuff, the main ones being, who owns the trawler and where does it drop off the drugs it picks up, every vessel has some sort of device which identifies it, I’m not sure if it is you or the MOD who would know, can I leave that with you, find out the owner and we might be a little further on.” She asked where he was, “I’m at the hotel, but please don’t visit, I have a private meeting from 12:00, we don’t want to be disturbed.” She insisted he phone her when he had finished.
The Brigadier rang to say a link to the images would be with him around the time his meeting started. A plan was beginning to form in his head, hopefully Taff would agree with him, or come up with something better. The time was spent reading through Sally’s report again and making sure the map and the summary were ready, at 11:30, he poured another coffee, opened a packet of biscuits and closed his eyes, not to sleep, but to think. Fifteen minutes later, his phone rang, “We’re here, come down and get us.” Dave was puzzled, ‘us’, he thought it would only be Taff, he wondered who else was with him. He locked the door as he left, walked down the stairs to see Taff and his colleague Colin waiting in the lounge, he shook both their hands and led them up to the room. They both helped themselves to coffee, “bit bloody posh in here, I thought I better put on a suit when I looked it up.” Dave said it was where he stayed when in London, “it’s on expenses, I’m not paying the bill, if you want food, let me know, I can have it sent up to us,” Taff asked what it was all about. “There is an island off the north west of Scotland, around forty miles offshore, it should be uninhabited, but there is a suspected drug manufacturing operation in place. Three from the SBS pretending to be yachtsmen sailed into the small bay, their yacht was found wrecked on rocks with bullet holes in the hull. I have been given the task of finding out what is going on and presumably stop the operation. I have paper plans and a digital map of the island, the RAF have given us ariel views taken yesterday, I’m waiting for the Navy to give me images from their trawler.” “Let’s look at what you have first.” Dave spread the map out on the table, the three of them looked at it, “This is ancient, when is it from?” “The fifties I think, nothing has changed except the Nissen huts are gone, we can compare it with the RAF shots, I can put them up on the screen.” “Do that, we will go over it square by square, get some food in while we look, I want a burger and chips,” Colin wanted the same and apple pie. Dave ordered three meals to be sent up with cans of Coke. Colin said to start at the little harbour, “zoom in so we can see what’s there,” Dave adjusted the image to give a close up. Taff was making a sketch, Colin called out what he saw, “there is a small derrick on the jetty, a rib is tied up below it, there obviously isn’t clearance to get in any closer with a larger craft, small sandy beach.” He motioned for Dave to pass him the laptop, the image on the screen moved out a little further, “two wooden structures where the Nissen huts were, it looks like there are pipes going into the sea from one of them, maybe a desalination plant. Near the other hut are a bank of generators, they look small, perhaps they couldn’t get a big one ashore. I can see two quad bikes with trailers. There looks like loads of blue chemical barrels near to one of the huts, it’s hard to tell from these images, how many people there are or where they are living. I don’t see a way in other than using the jetty or landing on the beach.” Dave asked about the other side of the island. “It’s difficult to tell from the aerial shots, we could do with the images from the trawler, can you chase them up?” A phone call was made, Dave was assured they would be there within the hour. “Do you think the pill boxes are used?” Taff said if they were, then access from that side would be out. Colin said an email had just come in for Dave, he passed the laptop back. “It’s a link to the images, hopefully we can see a way onto the island.” A couple of minutes later the three of them were looking at the cliffs on the large screen. “There bloody high, probably 100 feet to the top, full of nesting birds, it will be slippery, I’m good at rock climbing, but we can’t rely on everyone being able to get up there. Move on to a different image, find one at the northern most point where it turns, the island is a giant wedge, it slopes down from the cliffs to the little harbour on the other side.” Taff called Colin to look at the screen, they both stood in front, Taff was tapping the image. “There were steps down from the top once, they look worn away, they will be treacherous, but it could be a way up. It’s near to the north pillbox, if we go in that way, the wind will drown out any sound we make, see if there is any place to bring a dinghy ashore.” Colin looked at more images, he located a suitable place around thirty metres away. Taff wanted to check out the southern end of the island, the problem was the cliffs were almost twice the height. “It’s the staircase or nothing.” The three sat round the table, Dave asked if Taff had a plan. “Yes and no, I can’t say what the final plan is until we have been on the island, Colin and I will go there as soon as arrange access, depending on what we find out, we can then plan the next part of the mission. Can you organise more food and coffee?” Dave rang for sandwiches and coffee. He then phoned the Brigadier, “sir, we have the beginning of a plan, my men want to go onto the island as soon as possible, hopefully tomorrow night, I will be with you in around an hour to discuss the outline.” There was a knock at the door, the food and coffee was brought in. “Dave we need to go back to pick up equipment, we will arrange to meet you tomorrow, take us up to where the trawler will be, make sure it has a dinghy on board. Colin, find out about the moon tomorrow night, a little light would help.” “If there is no cloud, then it is a full moon.” Taff swore, “let’s hope there is a bit of cloud.” Having eaten, Dave started to clear up, “We’ll talk later once I have spoken to the Brigadier, the money will be the same as usual, what about weapons?” “It won’t be a problem, we will have Glocks and Uzis, SA80’s will be useless on this job.” His next call was to Jane Goodley, head of MI5, “Jane, is there any chance you can meet me at the MOD, I am going there next, we have a bit of a plan, I can explain it to you and the Brigadier at the same time.” She asked when and for how long, “In an hour and probably for an hour, followed by a short meeting with you.” “I will be there.”
He shook hands with Taff and Colin as they left, they disappeared into the people walking in the street, Dave climbed into a taxi. The Brigadier was waiting for him, Admiral Gordon Sheldon was also present, they waited for Jane Goodley to arrive, she apologised as she rushed in. Dave sat at the head of the table, “this afternoon, we viewed all the images and came up with an initial plan. Two people will go onto the island tomorrow night, they will perform a recce to see if they can gauge the opposition, depending on what they find, we will then come up with a way to take back control of the island.” Dave spread out a map on the desk, he pointed out what had been seen on the images, he indicated the proposed way onto the island. “We will travel out on the trawler, using a dinghy, the two will go ashore as soon as it is dark, they will then have around four to six hours before they need to be back on the trawler, depending on what they find, the next phase can be planned. I will travel up with them tomorrow, pick up the boat in Mallaig and begin.” Dave waited for comments from around the table, “who are the people going onto the island?” “My operatives, two highly skilled men, they know the risks involved, you will be paying them well, their identities are not to be investigated, say to the crew on the trawler they are special forces, I’m sure they will have balaclavas on.” The Admiral asked how much it was costing, “£20k per day for the two of them. The research today was free.” There was no objection. The admiral left the meeting, the next part didn’t involve him, he knew the plan, how it was carried out was for others. “Brigadier, can you make sure we can board tomorrow afternoon in Mallaig, there will be three of us. I will need night vision goggles, the others will bring their own equipment, can you supply me with a car, preferably with blue lights, I also need permission to be armed together with anyone who is with me. I think that is all, everything else concerns Miss Goodley, may we remain in here until we have finished?” The Brigadier said yes as he stood up to leave, Dave waited until he had gone. “There is much more to this than I’m being told, when will I find out?” “I don’t know what you mean,” “Jane, no one has objected to my plan, or the money involved, that never happens, I don’t want to be going into this not knowing the full details. Will you tell me?” “I can’t, there are very few who know, I don’t even think the PM has been told, they know about the island and the drugs, but not much else. This is very much an MI5 and MI6 operation.” “Are Sally and I in any additional danger?” “No, treat it as a normal operation, it’s the fallout later on. Sally won’t be at work this week, she will be working with you.” “Can I ask why there has been no background information gathered?” “The investigation has been suppressed so far, I have sent information up to Sally today, however I phoned her to say to not dig too deeply yet. After the raid, the two of you will have to act fast, whatever resources you need will be available, day and night. I cannot and will not say any more. Good luck and keep me informed.”
Dave sat with his eyes closed after she had gone, he tried to work out what was going on, his thoughts were interrupted by the door opening, it was the Brigadier. “The car and your night vision goggles are ready, the Admiral wants to see you and myself.” There was a tray of coffee on a side table in his office, “David, will you tell me what is going on?” “Sir, I’m trying to figure it out myself, there is more to this than a simple drugs bust. I asked Miss Goodley, but I didn’t find anything out. Whatever it is must be serious, no doubt we will be the last to know.”
As he drove home, he called Cyrus Grantly, his contact in the CIA, he wanted to ask if the Americans knew anything, but tried to be guarded, “David, what are you trying to find out, you are going round in circles not asking me the question you want to know the answer to.” “OK, I will come to the point, have you heard of anything big happening over here regarding drugs?” There was a long pause before he answered. “There is something, but I don’t know what it is, no one is saying anything.” Dave asked him to call if he found out any more information.
Taff phoned, he said to pick him and Colin up from Manchester Picadilly station at 09:15 the following morning. He called Sally to say he would be home by 19:00 and to have food ready for him, she asked if he needed picking up from the station. He said he was in a car and would be gone by 06:30 in the morning.
They hugged and kissed when the front door was closed. “Dave, what the Hell is going on, Jane sent me up a load of stuff, but then called to say not to dig too deep. the university has been told I won’t be in this week?” “I don’t know, it’s very odd, this isn’t just to do with drugs, there is a lot of secrecy surrounding what is happening, Jane has more information, but won’t or can’t tell me. Tomorrow I am travelling to Scotland with Taff and Colin, they are going onto the island to see what they can find out, we will then form a plan. I want you to go through whatever Jane has sent you, be ready to move at a moments notice, have a bag packed with overalls and a Glock, put in clothes for a couple of days.” There was silence as they ate, as soon as he had finished, a bag was packed for the next day. In bed, Sally asked him if he was going on to the island, Dave said he wasn’t, they only need two people, “Taff and Colin will work together, they will know what to do without talking to each other.”
Dave was still trying to workout what was happening as he drifted off to sleep.
© 10210ken 2026
