***
Adam French had just finished eating a hot meal when he was joined by John Judge. ‘Alan you are relieved I will take over from here; please return to your section.’
‘Yes, Sir’ Alan got up, holstered his pistol. As he turned to go Adam French said ‘thank you, soldier.’ Alan nodded an acknowledgement and left.
‘Yes, he is a good soldier too Adam. His hands were badly crippled by one of your Stapo Conpen guards some years ago and he has every right to be bitter. But he’s learnt that we do nothing simply for revenge sake, there always has to be a reason.’
‘But when you despatched the squad at Southgate police station yesterday wasn’t that revenge?’ Adam asked.
‘Come with me, I want to show you something that may answer your question.’ John led the way through the tunnels to Bank deep shelter. Adam was amazed at the organisation. At each junction or new platform, armed guards would stop them, confirm their identity and then allow them to proceed. Sections of armed men would pass in military fashion, disciplined, organised and purposeful. John was immediately recognised by everyone they encountered. Adam noted the admiration in their faces.
They eventually reached the deep shelter at Bank. As they approached, Adam could see hundreds of families in what looked like makeshift rooms. Blankets were slung over ceiling railings for privacy and bunk beds were fully occupied by elderly people and children. The more able family members cooked, washed, and generally managed their small space Just as if it was home. It is a fact, that’s exactly what this space had become.
John saw the look of wonderment and surprise on Adam’s face. ‘There are over one thousand people here and there are several other deep shelters just like this around London with similar numbers occupying them. You may ask why they are here and why not in their homes above ground. Let’s go ask.’
There was an excited buzz around the shelter as people realised that John Judge was here. One of the first families they saw was a middle age woman, two small children and an infirm elderly man. John asked ‘why have you come here, ma’am? I’d like you to explain to my colleague.’
The woman spoke. ‘Well, John you can guess these children are too young to be mine. They are my grandchildren. Their parents were taken by the Stapo’ she spat on the ground trying to remove the bad taste the mention of the name left in her mouth. ‘They just came one night and took their father away. He’s never been seen since. His wife, my daughter, tried to force them to tell her where he was and was told he’d been in an accident and was dead. She kicked up such a fuss that she was arrested and hasn’t been seen since.’
‘Thank you, ma’am, I’m really sorry to hear that, I truly hope we will find her soon and bring her home to her children.’ John noted the anguish on Adam’s face.
They walked through the tunnel stopping every few metres to speak to the families. The stories were all similar although they weren’t all disappeared; some were known to be in a Conpen or prison. Old people who couldn’t survive above ground and young children without fathers formed the bulk of the underground population.
‘We’ll make our way back now Adam and on the way I’ll answer your question.’
After a couple of kilometres, John spoke ‘you asked was it revenge? I believe not. Each time we have eliminated an assassination squad or attacked the establishment we have limited their ability to make more children fatherless. Fewer families have to escape underground, we have brought nearer the day when our elderly will cease to die earlier than they should and brought nearer the day when we can return to a full and free democracy. So, Adam, my answer is no, it is not about revenge. What I do and have done is about the future; revenge is about the past. Before I release you, I need to know whether you believe that.’
The pair soon arrived back at Goodge Street and sat on a dusty ledge away from the troop’s rest area. ‘Have you learned anything from this last 48 hours? John asked.
‘Yes I have and it shames me deeply to know I have been party to inflicting the misery that these people have to endure. I don’t understand how any of us could have let it get this far. When the riots and the lawlessness were at their peak, I felt justified and even patriotic in helping get the society back to some normality. I never saw where it would lead when the power and control we were given took over. I can’t change the past John, but I can do something about the future. Just tell me how I can help.’
‘I somehow figured that was the sort of response I’d get from you so I have a proposition for you to think about. First of all, how likely is it that your ex-colleagues at Southgate will have been discovered by now?’
‘It’s quite possible that they haven’t yet. In the short time we were there we were only contacted once and there was no requirement to call in. There would be no check calls from HQ because as far as the force was concerned we were seconded to special duties and no longer part of normal routine.’
‘Ok, but it is still a possibility that Winterton has tried to get in touch.’
‘Yes that’s possible John and if he has then a physical check would have been made. It has only been just over 24 hours and my guess is that they are still undiscovered. What are you proposing?’
‘We, first of all, establish that the fate of kill squad is still unknown and if it is then you would go back there and raise the alarm. You would be bound and gagged and, unfortunately, will have to receive a nasty bump on the head to make your story believable. You would continue to play the part of a hit squad working for Winterton. I want to know where Winterton lives and who is giving him his orders. I know this is asking a lot and it may mean you having to carry out some of his dirty jobs for him. Unfortunately, it would be necessary for you to be seen as an enthusiastic member of his set up so you must have no qualms about that. The quicker we eliminate him and his boss the quicker your task will be complete and you can go back to being the good cop I know you are. What do you think?’
‘How would I explain the disappearance of Charlie?’
‘That’s easy, you pointed him out as the copper responsible for Kenny’s death and we took him with us when we left. We left you alive to deliver a message for Garside –tell them this when you’re debriefed “We will continue to seek out these assassination squads and they will be found and eliminated. You, Mr Garside, will also soon be judged.” I’ll get someone to get you a hot drink while you’re thinking this out. We don’t have much time so don’t take too long.’ John got up and started to walk away.
Adam stopped him. ‘I don’t need any thinking time let’s do it.’
‘Ok, we’ll get the show on the road. I will arrange for an advance party to check out the Southgate location and if it’s clear just you and I will go inside.’
Orders were given and a small reconnaissance party left to check the Southgate police station. John and Adam followed a short time later. During the journey, they discussed how Adam would be contacted and how often. There would also be an emergency signal similar to that used for Graham Johns.
At the Southgate Tube tunnel, John’s radio crackled into life. ‘The target is still intact and surrounding area clear; you are good to go.’
John and Adam pressed on and cautiously entered the police station. Adam winced as saw the dead bodies of his former colleagues. It wasn’t that they were his colleagues; that was a relationship forced upon him, but it was more the eeriness and smell of the room that shook him.
John started to tie Adam’s hands, ‘I’m afraid I will have to knock you out to make your delay in raising the alarm believable so I apologise in advance. When you wake up, you’ll find you are hooded. I will knock the station phone off the desk as I leave and it will be conveniently close enough to you for you to use, with difficulty. Good luck Adam.’
Before Adam could respond, he was knocked against the wall resulting in a large bruise on the side of his face. John didn’t hold anything back when he sideswiped his new colleague on the side of his head with the heavy end of his machine pistol.
Adam sank to the floor unconscious. John hoped he hadn’t seriously hurt him, but he did what was necessary if Adam was to be believed.
It was two hours before Adam came to and despite a severe headache; he groggily managed to dial 999 and alert the police. A large contingent of Stapo arrived within minutes of his call finding the bound and hooded officer lying close to his murdered colleagues. Paramedics were summoned and Adam was stretchered off to the hospital. DS Walters was informed and reported the discovery to Mark Slattery, who immediately asked to speak to the First Minister. The police Commissioner was ushered through the hall to Garside’s meeting room. ‘Good evening Commissioner and what is so urgent that needed my attention tonight? I have a dinner engagement at City Hall so, please get to the point.’
‘Three police officers were murdered sometime in the last 24 hours, another is missing presumed dead and one other seriously hurt and in the hospital. These officers were not under my jurisdiction and from what I can gather were on special duties...’
Garside interrupted ‘why on earth are you bothering me with this Commissioner? Surely, this is a police matter. You know as well as I that there are some dangerous criminal gangs around and I trust you to remove them from our streets.’
Slattery continued, ‘It’s not as straightforward as that Sir.’
Garside looked perplexed.
‘The surviving officer was able to give a brief account of the attack on the officers at Southgate police station, a station we understood was not manned. He was given a message by the apparent leader of the attackers and it was to be given to you.’
Garside became very uncomfortable ‘and what was this message’ he asked haughtily.
‘The exact words we believe were, “We will continue to seek out these assassination squads and they will be found and eliminated. You, Mr Garside, will also soon be judged.” ‘There are a number of questions that this episode raises First Minister because this is not the first time the words “assassination squads” have been used.’
Garside was incensed, his face was red with rage and he sat with his fists clenched tight. ‘I have no time for this nonsense. I have no idea what that message means and I don’t care. I have far more important business to take up my time than answer cryptic messages from a bunch of criminals. Now I suggest you leave and get on with capturing them and putting them out of action.’
‘I will do that Sir, but I must know what those officers special duties were and what were they doing at Southgate police station, an allegedly unmanned station.’
‘You must know, you must know, Commissioner... you must nothing.’ Garside raged and spluttered. ‘Just remember I put you into that job, I can just as quickly remove you. Now get out of my sight.’
Slattery got up and turning his back on Garside left the room. He cursed his naivety in accepting this role and realised his position if not his life was in jeopardy. He was slowly putting pieces of the jigsaw into place and needed to be extra careful. He would call a meeting with DS Walters and his new Superintendant both of whom he believed he could trust.
Garside cancelled his dinner engagement and sent for Mason. He paced up and down his office waiting for his MI5 man. The threat message was clearly meant for him and scared the hell out of him. This Judge fellow seemed to know what he was doing and so far, he appeared unstoppable which made the threat even more frightening.
‘Ah Henry, thanks for coming so quickly. I take it you are aware of what has happened.’
‘Yes I am Tony, my man Winterton has briefed me. It’s obvious that they were after the two officers who beat one of their men to death while he was in custody. I don’t know how they found out that they had been attached to the special unit. The surviving officer was left alive to pass on a message to you and I believe Slattery has passed that onto you already.’
‘Yes he has; our Commissioner worries me greatly. He was demanding to know what special duties your men were on and what they were doing in Southgate. I’m afraid he’s becoming dangerous.’
‘Do you want me to release one of our squads as we did for Reynolds?’
‘Absolutely not. We can’t have two Police Commissioners being killed in such a short space of time; it would be too suspicious. And anyway we would have to recruit someone else and that would not be easy with their predecessors life span being so short. No, we need to find something that we can use to keep him quiet. I’ll leave the details to you. More importantly what do we know about Judge and his men and how are we going to stop him?’
‘We know his personal details and his military background we also know he and his group are well armed, well trained and organised. And we now know that their base is anywhere underground. They are utilising the underground network which, of course, has been disused since the bomb attacks about 15 years ago. If you remember, the government of the day decided against repairing the tube and blocked off every entrance. He has managed to develop bases in different parts of the network, which has given him the ability to move around London at will. But more than that we don’t know. I don’t believe the two captured individuals can tell us any more than they have.’
‘So, Henry how is he going to be stopped?’
‘We have considered flooding the tunnels, but that would have a devastating effect on London’s ability to carry out its daily business because of the amount of infrastructure that is woven into the underground system. We have toyed with the idea of using Sarin gas, but containment of the gas within the tunnels would be impossible. I believe our best option is to use the military in a seek and destroy operation. We don’t know exactly which part of the underground Judge and his forces are at any one time as they move around frequently. By using some of Keatson’s highly trained and well-equipped crack troops, it shouldn’t take them long to find and eradicate Mr Judge and his followers.’
Garside was enthusiastic about the idea ‘I’ll get the Major General to come in first thing in the morning and I will brief him on his new task.’