Out of the Shadows (Akira and Deane Thriller Series Book 1) (27 page)

Olsen stepped
out of the car and followed the other agents to the nearest lift,
under the murky lighting of the MI6 headquarters car park. The
S.U.C.O. leader caught sight of Ramsey waiting nearby. Olsen
noticed the stance and expression Ramsey had and gave him a look of
interest. ‘Don’t tell me, we’re going to be thrown to the wolves,
right?’

‘Something like
that, Olsen.’ Ramsey said wryly. The veteran agent led the team
members through several areas of headquarters before showing them
into briefing room one, where Drake sat.

Olsen paused at the doorway at
the sight of Drake, who he had always loathed with a passion. His
eyes gave a scathing look at the balding man who sat at the large
conference table with his hands linked together. ‘Where’s the Chief
of MI6?’

Drake didn’t
move and replied in a quiet tone. ‘Take a seat, gentlemen. I’m
afraid Mr. Elliott’s reign here has ended. As of today, I’m back in
charge. I suggest you all adapt.’ Drake’s last comment was aimed at
Olsen and nobody else. ‘As I’m sure you’re all aware, tonight’s
Operation did not go as planned. Procedure dictates that you are
all to be isolated to produce your reports. I’ve decided to give
you these five minutes to explain anything you feel the need to. I
suggest you take advantage of my rare display of generosity.
Well?’

Olsen listened
to every word but felt like he had missed something. He had first
met Drake when he was 20 years old. His mind recalled the memory of
standing in Drake’s office and being given a severe slating on
rules and procedures. In all the years Olsen had known Drake, he
didn’t think he had ever proved his worth as Chief of MI6. The
sight of him alone made him think of a career change or at the very
least, a change of assignment. ‘The Operation was a duff from the
start. The storage area my team stormed had nothing in it of use.
It’s possible they were tipped off; I can’t think of any
other-’

Drake leaned
forward, replaced his glasses and read several segments from a
report. ‘The Polish Police believe the five bodies are that of
Polish locals. Cause of death was from a Colt M16A2 rifle between
0100 and 0200. Now, would anyone like to explain this
anomaly?’

Olsen glanced at Ramsey
quickly, completely stunned at the news. His eyes were wide with
shock. ‘Hostages? There were no hostages.’

Drake took off his glasses and
tossed them onto the wooden conference table. ‘I see…does anyone
else have any comment?’

Olsen locked
his eyes onto Jordan, who sat motionless in his chair. ‘Alex…you
want to tell me what this is about? Alex?’

Drake
interrupted. ‘I think that about wraps this up. As of this moment,
you’re all suspended; S.U.C.O. is deactivated. You’ll be escorted
to separate interview rooms where I want you all to record your
events of tonight. An internal inquiry will be organised as soon as
possible.’ The Chief of MI6 rose from his seat. ‘I suggest you all
co-operate as much as you can.’

Team S.U.C.O. all departed,
except for its leader, who stayed in his seat. His fiery brown eyes
locked onto Drake. ‘This is out of line! You’re making us out to be
criminals. They knew we were coming! My team is innocent, whatever
happened in that house-’

Drake, who had always despised
Olsen for his reckless behaviour and headstrong attitude, snapped
back. ‘I disagree! If there is even a shred of evidence that proves
you were all responsible for the deaths of those innocents, you’ll
be hung out to dry! Now get out!’ Drake’s voice broke as he lost
control.

Several
security guards dragged Olsen out of the briefing room and escorted
him to one of several secure interview rooms one floor down.
Inside, he was presented with a small, drab looking room with one
table and two chairs. A tape recorder was in the middle of the
table, with a non-descript looking individual already
seated.

The interviewer
looked up from his notebook, pressed ‘REC’ on the tape recorder,
and folded his arms. ‘Now…why don’t you tell me, in your own words,
what happened?’

‘Can I at least have a drink
before we start? It’s been a long-’

The interviewer
ignored the request and flicked through several pieces of paper on
the table. ‘The events in Kraków, please, nothing else. Be
specific.’

Drake sat back down in briefing
room one and wiped his forehead with a faded looking hanky. ‘Olsen
hasn’t changed I see. I don’t think I’ll ever understand why he’s
been here so long.’

Ramsey sat down
opposite his superior. He had already decided that this time around
he wasn’t going to just go along for the ride as before. Lives were
at stake and if that meant falling out with Drake, then so be it.
‘Olsen is one of our best agent’s sir. You need to
understand-’

Drake
interrupted. ‘Olsen is reckless. He has no respect for the rules
and procedures of this agency. I’m on orders from the Prime
Minister himself to tone down everything here, reduce our profile
and take a back seat to world events.’

Ramsey sat up
at the news, his mind flashing back to his last discussion with
Elliott and the looming war. ‘Sir, no, I must disagree. The last
time I spoke with Mr. Elliott, we were in agreement that with the
loss of agents we’ve suffered over the last year, we need to
increase our numbers with reactivation and flush out our
attackers.’

‘We have lost too many agents
Kevin, that’s precisely why we should take a step back and allow
other agencies to take the lead. We simply aren’t equipped to deal
with these problems.’ Ramsey’s voice became more urgent as he leant
forward, imposing himself as best he could.

‘A war is
coming, sir. If you can’t see how much we need S.U.C.O. then I
suggest you-’

Drake overpowered his deputy
and looked to end the conversation. ‘There will be no war. We’re in
over our heads and it’s going to change. I want S.U.C.O. to stand
in the internal inquiry. Make it happen.’

Ramsey could
see clearly now just how difficult things were going to be in the
future. He was fully aware that with Drake’s attitude, many more
agents would perish just because of his denial. His mind was racing
with theories on how to depose him but he turned his thoughts back
to the problem at hand. ‘Will the inquiry be open? Allowing the
S.U.C.O. agents defence is the right thing to do.’

Drake shook his head
vehemently. ‘Out of the question. Those men will be allowed no
defence. The inquiry will cover what happened. That’s all.’

Ramsey didn’t
move. ‘I take it you’ll be selecting a random board of agents to
appear on the committee that will chair the inquiry?’ He felt a
tinge of fear that Drake was planning to select himself.

‘Of course I will.’ Drake
replied tersely. ‘The committee will consist of two randomly
selected agents and myself. We’ll get to the bottom of this mess,
quickly, and with the least amount of red tape.’

Ramsey’s heart sank at the
response. ‘Sir…you may not like what I’m about to say, but I don’t
believe you should be in any way, involved in this inquiry. Your
outburst to Olsen just moments ago proves that.’ He waited for a
response. ‘Sir?’

‘That’ll be all
Ramsey. Dismissed.’ Drake watched his deputy linger for a moment
and then exit briefing room one. The pale-looking Chief of MI6
raised his eyes to the ceiling.
I will
restore the pride of this agency and this country will be in better
hands for it.
A technician knocked on the
door, walked in and handed the Chief of MI6 another report. Drake
waited for him to leave and scanned the information. His eyes grew
ever wider as he read the Pathologist’s report on the death of
POL1. He focussed his gaze on the ‘Time of Death’ section. Drake
rummaged through several papers on the desk and found the final
report Bedford had sent marked with the time of 17:15 p.m. UK time.
He dropped the page and looked back to clarify the time of death on
Bedford’s Pathology report. There looking back at him was the
statement ‘BETWEEN 16 and 16:45 p.m. UK TIME’. Drake realised what
the news meant straight away. Someone else had sent that
report!

Drake chewed on one end of his
glasses and mulled things over. Despite the shocking revelation,
the Prime Minister’s words repeated in his mind and wouldn’t go
away. He made a decision and placed the report in his inside
pocket. Straightening his suit as he stood up, he returned to the
hustle and bustle of Operations Command.

Salenko ran a hand through his
hair and looked increasingly worried. Over the last two hours, they
had received threats from the current President and his band of
campaigners. All of which were very clear and becoming more
aggressive as time passed by.

As much as he tried, he had
never quite gained the mental invulnerability that seemed to come
to Akira so easily. He looked at his strongest ally and tried not
to sound worried. ‘Their resources are far bigger than ours.
Perhaps we should try to-’

Akira got up to
leave and cut off the would-be President of Russia in his stride.
‘There is nothing to discuss. I control the Press and the FSB,
which is more than enough to silence them. Denyer here will make
sure of that. We will return their threat with one of our own, as
well as some action.’ He turned to Denyer. ‘The President is
overstepping his mark. Activate the rest of your Black Knights and
apply some pressure.’

‘Any suggestions?’ Asked Denyer
in a casual tone, this not being the first time he would be
‘applying pressure’.

‘Whatever pleases you. Just
ensure the President gets the message and turns his vipers onto
someone else. I have no patience to deal with this. If we hear
anything from him again, I will be looking at you.’

Denyer watched him go and
started to wonder about how he would deal with the current
President’s threat. After all, he was supposed to be at his
disposal, not Akira’s. Care was needed.

Akira left the
room and made his way back to his quarters. The threats didn’t
worry him; it was just the current Government’s way of trying to
create something out of nothing. They had already lost the race and
were resorting to desperate tactics.

In his mind,
though, he knew he wasn’t exactly focussed; Marraud had made sure
of that. Not that he’d seen him, he just couldn’t stop thinking
about what to do. Normally there could be no one to stand between
him and his vision but Marraud was different. They had both lost
their loved ones because of the paths they had taken in life.
Neither had asked or deserved what had happened.

Akira sighed
loudly. He was not used to bouts of emotion and he was struggling
to deal with it. It saddened him greatly to go against Madeline but
on this occasion he simply couldn’t help himself. Why he had
remembered Marraud’s loss, he didn’t know but there had to be a
reason. Was it fate that had sent him here to be tested? To be
shown why he was on the wrong side? To eventually join him and
ensure he was successful?

Akira was at a
loss but he had to confront him, take him hostage if needs be; if
only to give himself some time to convince him. Marraud was still a
threat, none the less, but he had to be given a chance; they were
one and the same, whether he saw it or not.

Chapter 18

Friday, March 16
^th
10:00 (1
week later),

MI6 Headquarters, London,

Internal Inquiry - Operation
Reprisal.

Drake passed his assistant and walked
into his office. Waiting in the room for him was a man and a woman
who were already seated. Sitting down behind the large mahogany
desk, he didn’t look at them straight away but instead chose to
rummage through several files and find his glasses from his faded
pinstriped suit. For the first time he initiated eye contact.
‘Thank you for coming today. As you know, you are both to sit on
the Inquiry Committee for…most probably today and tomorrow.’ Drake
leaned forward and glared at them both. ‘We’ve all known each other
for many years and both of you owe me favours. Just to be clear,
I’m calling in those favours today. I have my own agenda and my own
desired outcome from this inquiry; neither of you will interfere
with that. Is that understood?’

The woman sat up straight and
nervously spoke for the first time. ‘What is the outcome you are
looking for Peter?’

‘It’s very
simple. I want S.U.C.O. deactivated and consigned to history. I
also want the likes of Olsen and Jordan taught a lesson and demoted
to menial duties, in the hope that they will leave the service. Now
that I’ve returned to MI6, my reign will be trouble free and the
quietest time in its history. My desired outcome from this inquiry
will certainly achieve that.’

The man spoke
for the first time, sizing up Drake with every word. ‘Are we to ask
any questions to the agents involved? What exactly do you want from
us?’

‘Obviously I
want you to ask questions but nothing that will cause any problems
or show the accused in a positive light.’ Drake glanced at both of
them. ‘I want this inquiry to be seen to be as fair as possible, so
both of you need to think hard about what you will ask and when you
will ask it. Clear?’ He watched them both agree. ‘You’ll follow my
lead at all times and back me up on any matters I choose to
concentrate on.’ Drake smiled at the two individuals and sat back
in his chair. ‘That will be all for now. I’ll see you both in
briefing room three in one hour for the start of the inquiry.
Remind yourselves that your careers are in my hands.’ Drake watched
the man and woman nod their heads in agreement and move to leave
the office.