Remember Remember (22 page)

He smiled and raised his eyes “How grateful?”

“Jesus, can’t you think of anything else?”

“That’s all I do isn’t it, think about it.”

She took another sip of her cocktail and replied, “Let’s change the subject eh?”

“Yeah OK, what did you think of our last 3 ports of call, Katakolon, Santorini and Mykonos?”

“Well if Bari was a stop for the captain’s bit of stuff then Katakolon must have been for the chief engineer, I wasn’t impressed with that place.”

“Yeah it was small but very pretty, I liked those restaurants along the shore line, and not touristy at all.”

“That’s because tourists wouldn’t want to go.”

“OK, but I liked it.”

“Maybe you’re getting old.”

“Thanks, now what about Santorini?”

“Now that is some place. The cable car, the views, the shops, those cobbled streets, the atmosphere and the donkeys coming down those steps, out of this world. If I were a bloke I’d take a girl like me to Santorini, I’m sure she’d come up with the goods in a place like that.”

“Well you didn’t love, all you did was shop.”

“I needed more time, more time.”

“We’d have missed the bloody boat then wouldn’t we?” he growled.

“Yeah but it would have been worth it eh? They say they live on the edge in Santorini , every day there’s an earth tremor, perhaps you’d have felt the earth move more than once,” she teased.

“Oh yeah, just once would be enough at the moment.” He lifted his pint and quaffed the remains as a waitress, ever vigilant, approached. Two more drinks were ordered then he leaned forward close to Jacky and whispered, “tomorrow I need some time alone, not long, maybe a couple of hours, so I would be very grateful if you were to accompany me to Rhodes; but then do a damn good shop and after Rhodes I’ll be all yours again.”

“It’ll cost you,” she snapped.

“What’s new?”

“This is so different from Turkey, there you screwed me then paid hardly any attention to me at all after that. That sort of thing can really get to a girl you know, I mean maybe you didn’t like it. Wasn’t I good enough?” she asked.

“I was busy love, it’s that simple, I was busy. But I’m not as busy this time so after a couple of hours tomorrow you’ve got me all to yourself; the devoted boyfriend,” he replied.

November 30
th
, Socratous Garden Restaurant, Rhodes Town.

The system of using adverts placed in the Manchester Evening News and the London Evening Standard had worked well. Shan had received the information and a runner had been dispatched through Iraq into Turkey to inform Onar of the intended meeting.

Alan and Jacky left the ship at 10.40 and walked around the busy port to a small beach area. Here they parted company and he crossed the road and entered the old city of Rhodes by the Agekaterinis Mariners’ Gate. A quick left then right took him into Socratous Street where he found the garden bar of the restaurant. It was a perfect spot for a meeting with many trees and shrubs offering privacy at the tables. He saw both Shan and Onar sitting in a corner away from others including the bar staff and approached them.

“Good morning gentlemen, I see you’ve already ordered tea; I’ll have a beer if you don’t mind; good to see you both again.” He looked around the terraces to confirm they were alone and would not be overheard, he shook hands with his colleagues then sat down with them.

“Onar, can I start with you, how is our factory and its production?”

Onar leaned slightly forward, “all is well, the staff are working very hard and are loyal since we raised their wages. The material is being transported from the ship in the divers’ tanks as we agreed. We have received the outers from the UK and have now gained permission to export under the new name. LOLTS has also been accepted as an importable product in the UK, so we are ready to go with shipping the first 4 months of non tampered product.”

“Excellent, excellent,” exclaimed Alan, “I would now like you to begin as agreed and deliver the product into the UK from December this year, for four months until the end of March next year. I have agreed with over one hundred companies in the UK for each to receive samples of the whole range of our products. Therefore I think you will need to manufacture at least one hundred tons a month and have this imported into the UK. Once cleared through customs it will go to this distribution company in Kent,” He passed Onar the name and address of the company then continued, “they will send it out to the retailers. Can you manufacture that much product over those 4 months?”

“Yes, easily but I will need cash to pay for raw material, wages, transport etc.”

Alan looked at Shan, “this is where you come in again my friend. This is the second large call for money and it would be wisest to move it all through Turkey so that the LOLTS company can pay everything including the costs for imports and distribution in the UK.”

Shan nodded, “as you know gentlemen you have unlimited resources at your disposal. What about you Alan, do you need more funds?”

“I need some petty cash right now to fund the next few months but only a few thousand.”

“We don’t want you to be seen to be living beyond your means do we?” smiled Shan.

He smiled and downed his second beer. “I’ll try not to, at least not yet Shan, but soon, very soon, you will owe me a great deal.”

“Let’s hope so,” he nodded.

Alan Turned to Onar, “have you been successful with the mix using the WMD?”

“It works well, it is so robust it is virtually impossible to destroy and once mixed is undetectable without equipment. The only risk is that my staff may become contaminated while filling the product, but I have introduced protective clothing, masks and wash down procedures to reduce the risk and they have been accepted and are now being used. Then of course they may be detected when entering the UK.”

“That’s a risk we’ll have to take because I want you to mix the product such that 10% of it includes the WMD. I am estimating that 30 UK companies will take the full product range and order approximately 100 tons each. That means we need to produce and import 3000 tons. Can this be done Onar?”

“I think the factory has a safety permit to manufacture up to 500 tons a month so if I can get the raw material I see no reason why we will fail. But how will I know when to begin?”

“I think we have to agree that now” said Alan, “I think you should increase production from April onward. Can you still get hold of a UK Daily Mail?”

“Yes they come regularly, of course they’re a day out of date.”

“That’s OK, a day won’t matter. I will place an ad in the Daily Mail’s Monday edition only. The first Monday of April, then May then each following month. If you are to cease or reduce production, the advert will read, ‘UK Public Company requires 200 staff to work on a new project from home. Large and local territories specified. Of course the 200 will refer to the reduced tonnage. If the advertised number reduces to 10 then cease production. Do you understand Onar?”

“I understand.”

“Good, now let’s concentrate on the WMD product. How quickly can you mix the raw material and the WMD? Can you, for instance, have 400 tons ready for April?”

“That is not a problem because the proportion of WMD to the total tonnage is minute, but how much would you require me to mix from May onward?”

“There will always be a risk of detection by UK customs so I think we should change our initial thoughts and reduce the mixed product to a maximum of 50% of the total exported. But that’s still a lot of tonnage, do you think it can be done,” enquired Alan.

“It’s not the tonnage of mix, so much as the amount of WMD per ton.”

“Do we have enough?” he asked.

“There’s enough WMD in that one container to kill half the population of Europe, so I think we’ve enough.”

“And of course we have access to other containers should you need them,” interrupted Shan.

“So I am sure we’ve enough,” confirmed Onar who then continued, “if you need to know the detail I mix about one cylinder per 50 ton of product so I will need a lot more cylinders. I already have 4 cylinders available, so it means just a few more visits to the ship over the next 6 months.”

“That seems feasible, I’ll drink to that,” Alan waved to a waiter who seeing him wave approached their table and in perfect English asked for their order.

“Do you have any champagne?”

“We have Freixenet Sir, but not champagne.”

“That’ll do then, and two more teas please, he turned to his colleagues and asked, “do you gentlemen want anything to eat?”

They both declined and Shan watched the waiter retreat to the bar before he enquired, “I know I’m not a technical man, I just wonder if one cylinder per 50 tons will give you the coverage you need.”

Alan looked around to confirm he would not be overheard then responded, “It won’t give a lot of cover in any one area, it will be totally random, which is the beauty of the plot and with people dying all over the country panic will set in. Even if they get to know why they are dying they may still not know how they came in contact with the anthrax and that is why it may continue until our ultimate goal is met; which is the massive use of perhaps thousands of tons of LOLTS products in one single event.”

He then toasted his companions with Freixenet and turned to the banker. “you mentioned that we have access to other containers should we need them, how will we be able to gain access? Who do we ask?”

“Me initially,” whispered Shan, “I will need to make some enquiries and within days the location of further containers will be supplied and moved to where you want them; once it has been agreed on their purpose.”

Onar turned to Shan and asserted, “I may need one more container for this operation but after it is completed I was hoping to take my money and the second identity and leave Turkey.”

“There is no reason why you cannot do that but I may wish you to do other things, especially in the United States. Because as you know, the people who funded this operation see the US as the ultimate goal,” whispered Shan.

“What about you Alan, what will you do after August?” asked Onar.

“Wait and see the outcome of our plans, get myself inoculated and watch.”

“That seems macabre.”

“I won’t be waiting for dead bodies to fall, because as you know my battle is not with the people, it’s against the government and its bloody smug civil service. I want to watch those institutions crumble.”

Shan nodded and smiled but Alan noticed a certain menace in his face and began to reassess the man he called his friend, “He could always get money, but he could also get people, contacts, access it seemed to anybody and now WMD,” he thought.

“Alan, Alan,” Shan was looking intently at him. “Whatever the outcome of this operation I have some people who wish to meet you at the end of this year. They are already aware of what you are doing and think you may bring to them certain Western expertise and ways of thinking which will greatly help their cause.”

He nodded acceptance and replied, “You know I hate meetings, they are the one thing that may help give us away.”

“I know and therefore you will decide how, when and where, but it must happen.”

His emphasis on must left Alan in no doubt he was now in this for life and he knew he would have to reassess his choices, if any, of what to do.

It was now 1.30 pm and Alan found himself fighting his way through the crowds of people shopping on Socratous Street. The meeting had been successful and would be the last for the three. Production of both clean and WMD product had been agreed. All the financial requirements would be met by Shan and Onar would disappear into his new identity later in the year.

However his thoughts turned uneasily to Shan and the comments made by him. For the first time he had the feeling he was not the leader of the group and that Shan was not just a friend but an extremely powerful, politically motivated, unscrupulous Muslim. They had agreed to meet again on September the 1
st
at York Races by which time everything either would or would not be in place.

He passed back through the Mariners Gate set in the wall between two round castellated towers and set off back to board the Costa Victoria which looked magnificent in the distance, easily towering over all the other vessels and surrounding buildings. He would go directly to his cabin for a sleep and concentrate the rest of the short cruise on another ambition. Tomorrow the ship would enter the port of Dubrovnik and then sail back to Venice for Saturday morning, giving him only two more nights with Jacky.

16.30, Port of Rhodes.

Major Rock’s flight to Rhodes had been uneventful; he was met at the airport and driven to the port to board the Costa Victoria. Clearance had been gained to board the ship and Steve was now in a meeting with Captain Vernon and his chief security officer Ifan Berlio.

Ifan had the records of Alan and Jacky’s booking, their cabin number and their shore excursions. It seemed that they were a quiet couple, who had caused no problems and had acted as any couple might on a cruise, disembarking the ship together at each destination and arriving back in plenty of time for embarkation. Ifan gave Steve a print out of the dates, destinations and times when they had left the ship to tour each port of call, along with the times of their return. It seemed they had left together and returned together on all occasions but one. The one exception being Rhodes, where they had left the ship together at 10.40 but returned at different times.