Week Six.
There was a crowd in the range, the competition, which happened every Sunday was in three parts, inside with a Glock, outside using an SA80, the final part was back inside with a Colt C8, a modified model used by the SAS. Eight people were taking part, they had been given black overalls to wear, The Glock was to be fired in three different positions, lying down, crouching and standing up. Six shots in each position. Sally and Dave were next to each other in positions four and five, the order was given to begin, other than the sound of gunfire, there was silence from those standing behind. Lying down, Sally fired her six, she waited until the others had stopped, the targets were wound in, Dave had five shots close to the bull, Sally had three, both had all six shots on the target, next it was kneeling, Sally didn’t like this position, it reflected in her score, only two in the bull, Dave had four. Sally preferred standing, five in the bull this time to Dave’s four, she was pleased. It was outside for the SA80, Sally complained she had only fired it a couple of times before, it was heavy for her, although she hit the target, her scores were rubbish. There were coffees waiting inside before they fired the last weapon, Sally objected, she said she wanted an Uzi, there was a discussion before it was agreed she could have one. It was single shot, no rapid fire. She liked the Uzi, it showed in her scores, she beat Dave every time, not by much, but she was smiling. Before handing back the gun, she asked if she could have a full magazine. She spoke quietly so no one else heard, there was a short discussion between the officers who had organised the contest. It was announced that Sally would fire one more round, the other weapons were put away, a target was wound out, she was unaware, everyone was watching her. The Uzi, now with a full magazine was handed to her, she held it with one hand at arms length, she squeezed the trigger, there was a burst of fire, the centre of the target was gone. There was a cheer from behind her, she checked the gun was safe and handed it back. Pulling Dave down she kissed him, whispering in his ear how good it felt.
Dave was the winner, Sally came third, she said if it hadn’t been for the SA80, she might have won. Lunch was in the mess, a proper Sunday roast. There was the offer of plenty of drinks, however both declined, there was a lot of shaking hands afterwards, Dave said they would be gone in the morning and thanked them for their hospitality and for looking after Sally.
Dave sat on the sofa, Sally was on top of him, “what will we do when this is all over, I mean when there are no more adventures?” “Spend our time in bed making love. We will worry about that when the time comes, it’s not yet.” Around 18:00 his phone rang, it was Jane Goodley, “why do you cause trouble wherever you go. I’ve had the Met Police on the phone, it took me ages to track down the false ID you were using.” “It wasn’t my fault, a policeman was about to point his gun at me, I said I would kill him if he did, it kicked off from there, the SAS were not taking any shit from the police. It was all sorted out before we left.” “The reason for my call is to say you will be delivered to Chevening tomorrow, your escort will leave at 08:30, they will deliver you there, armed police will be there from then on. Are you ready?” “Yes, it was all printed out yesterday, I will need ten laptops or PC’s in the meeting room, can you organise it?” “I will be down in the afternoon, to make sure everything is ready, I expect to see a preview.” Dave said nothing in reply. When he had finished she said they were running out of clean clothes. “there’s a laundry room in the building, sort out what we need, I will sit in there, I have more thinking to do, I want to work on my talk.” She gave him everything, “two lots, one whites, the other normal.” He sat in the warmth of the laundry room going over what he wanted to say and how it was all to be explained. The clean clothes were transferred into the tumble drier, when Sally brought him a coffee, he was ironing some of the dry clothes, “another half hour will see it done.” She was in bed when he carried the clothes through.
At 07:30, there was a knock at the door, Dave was asked for his car keys, the car was to be fuelled up ready. They dressed quickly, the clothes Dave had ironed were put in the suitcases together with the rest of their clothes. With a check to see nothing had been left, it was all taken over to the office. They ate a quick breakfast, the two escort cars were waiting. Everyone helped carry the cases, plastic boxes and laptops out to the car. They left just after 08:30, it would normally be a three and a half hour drive, they arrived at 11:15. There was a lot of handshakes and thanks before the escort drove off. Inside they were shown to their room, Sally was pleased when she saw it had a double bed. Porters brought everything up to the room, the windows looked out over the grounds. Dave went downstairs to find out where the meeting room was, he was shown into a large room, there were tables and chairs set out like a restaurant. “I need someone to help me arrange the room.” Two porters arrived, between them the tables were arranged so it looked like one large table. He asked for extension leads to allow twelve laptops to be powered up. More tables were put along a wall for tea and coffee. Half way through Jane Goodley came in, “how is it going?” “It looks shit, surely there must be a better room than this?” Jane went out, she came back with a man, “We have a meeting in here for two days, is there a better room or different furniture, this is how we want it laid out, but it doesn’t look good enough, it looks like pub tables.” She was told it would be sorted within the hour. “The laptops will be here soon, how are you and Sally?” “She is worn out, it has been too much for her to do, we are both tired, we will be glad when it is all over, this is the sixth week of non stop work.” “I hope it is worth it, where are the reports?” “You aren’t getting to see them, not until tomorrow, no one will be given prior access to it. Trust me, you will understand why tomorrow.” Sally came down and joined them, they chatted until they were asked to check out the room with replacement furniture. “Much better, we will require tea and coffee during the day tomorrow.” Jane had taken over and was now in charge. “There is a dinner tonight, I have put you on a table with your American friend and the aide to the PM, the Admiral and Chief of the Defence Staff, the politicians and myself will be on the other table, the meeting starts at 10:00 with a break for lunch, it will go on until whenever, Wednesday morning may require your presence, I understand in the afternoon, you have another presentation to the British only, is that correct?” “Yes, pretty much so. When you see the reports, you will understand how much work Sally has put into this, I’ve only gathered the information, it is her who has put it all together. We have spent a fortune, the invoice will be a big one, I hope there won’t be any problems.” She shook her head.
During dinner, he was asked many times about the report, the questions were put in different ways, each one trying to tease something from himself or Sally. Neither of them would say anything. They didn’t stay for drinks after the meal, both of them wanted an early night. In the morning, they were first down for breakfast, they ate quickly before asking one of the porters to help them with the plastic boxes, Dave carried the rolled up printout of the relationships. Sally powered up the laptops, each one had a stick inserted, she made sure they all worked before removing them and putting them where she would be sitting, the laptops were then switched off and closed. The printout was being hung on the wall behind where they would sit. A copy of the two reports were put in front of each person, a waitress wheeled in a trolley, on it were cups and saucers, “do you have any biscuits to go with the drinks, and bottles of water when you bring through the coffee please.” Place names were sitting ready to be put round the table, Dave picked them up and looked at them, he took out the two for Sally and him, at the far end of the table facing himself, he put the Prime Minister, Richard Carlton, next to him was his aide, John Carswell, Cyrus Grantly, was to the side of the aide, with Nathaniel Dawes between him and Jane Goodley. To her side was the Admiral. Opposite them were the three politicians, the Home Secretary, Peter Stockdale, The Defence Secretary, Sir George Makin, next to him was the Foreign Secretary, Harriet Travers. The last place was taken by the Chief of the Defence Staff.
From 09:45, people started to arrive, everyone stood talking while they drunk coffee, no one spoke to Sally or Dave, it was as if the weren’t there. Sally was wearing a business suit, Dave, she had forced, to wear his suit, he had wanted to wear casual clothes. At 09:55, he tapped a glass with a spoon, “would you all like to sit down, we have a lot to get through, it will take some time.” He waited for them to be sitting before he stood up, “I want to thank you all for coming, I hope last night you all got to know each other, I don’t think we need to go round the table introducing ourselves, however I will explain to those who may not know who Miss Fellowes and I are. I am a former military investigator, I am called on when there is a situation where my brains and field craft are required, I work outside the system and care little for the rules which those employed have to obey. Much of what you will see and here was gained in that way. Miss Fellowes is one of the best researchers, and a field operative. She makes sense of my findings, turning it into a report others will understand. Many of you have asked why there has been so much secrecy surrounding this investigation, from the start there has been a lack of information, we were never told the complete truth, something was always being held back from us. As we dug deeper, we found it went beyond drugs into something much more dangerous, that is why we have been surrounded by security and have said nothing of our findings. In front of you are two reports, we will discuss the larger one this morning, it concerns events within the UK, following lunch, we will move on to the discoveries regarding the USA, depending on how long it all takes we will either discuss what to do tonight or tomorrow morning, there is a third report which does not concern the Americans and we will present it to the British only.” He paused to drink some water. “I will give you a summary of the events which took place on the island and our subsequent investigation, when I have finished, you will find a more detailed account of who was involved and where the money came from and went. You can ask any questions you want as you read through, please do not interrupt me as I am talking, write down any questions for afterwards. Behind me is a chart showing the relationships between all the people involved, you may look at it later, a copy on a stick will be issued this afternoon, it expands into conversations between people.” There was a pause while he drank more water. He then recounted the chain of events on the British and Irish side of the Atlantic, it took over an hour before he said he was finished and they could open the report and ask questions. Sally answered while Dave poured a coffee and ate biscuits, she was being asked questions about the raid on the island, she said what had taken place saying how many had been killed and wounded. She wasn’t phased any longer by speaking to politicians. Others were reading the report, notes were being made, whether it was for follow up questions or for something to be done afterwards, Dave wasn’t sure. Others left the table for coffees, he took over answering the questions while Sally had a drink, the Foreign Secretary, who hadn’t met Dave before wanted to know why it was him who did the investigation and how he managed to find out all the information. “As I said earlier, we don’t play by the rules, if I want information, I find it out, I don’t ask for permission, if it all goes wrong, then I am blamed, not the government.” Three hours later, they broke for lunch, it was a standing buffet, Sally was being asked questions, Jane Goodley pulled Dave to one side. “There’s not much so far, I hope this isn’t a waste of time,” Dave smiled at her, “you will find out this afternoon. Later tomorrow you will be shocked.” He ate and drank orange juice, his throat felt dry, Cyrus called him over, “what happens this afternoon?” “You find out why this involves you.”
© 10210ken 2026
