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Authors: Iain Rob Wright
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skeleton crew inside a place that must
have cost millions? There was only a single guy guarding the entrance, for
Christ ’ s sake.”
“ They ’ re closing us down, Captain, ” Palu
said. Not this minute, not this month, but the writing is on the wall. After
9/11 the CIA, FBI, Police, Interpol, MI5 & 6, Scotland Yard, and the Army … they were all given huge additional funding and free-reign. It was
messy, to say the least. The MCU was supposed to bring things together, to
stop the in-fighting and bring cohesion to the US and UK counter-intelligence
operations. ”
Sarah ’ s
eyes narrowed. “ So, what happened? ”
“ The economy happened. The other agencies resented our funding and
held back their Intel, repeatedly refusing to co-operate. The MCU has become
benign and costly. In the last six years we have been scaled back by
nine-tenths and have been stripped of most of our authority. Most of our
Intel, we get from our contacts within the other agencies. We live off their
scraps, where the initial plan was for MCU to be at the centre of everything.
Regardless, we still do everything we can to help protect this country. ”
“So why the hell are you letting Bradley go?”Sarah asked,
nodding to the kid.
“ I
made the decision to leave, Captain, ” Bradley said, lingering by the exit.
Sarah didn ’ t
care. “ Having
a member of an already undermanned team quitting is bullshit.”
“ It ’ s already done, ” said Palu.
“ Then undo it. You want my help, then Bradley stays. The more able
bodies you have, the better. Wouldn ’ t you agree? ”
“Fine,” muttered Palu. “Bradley, your
resignation is hereby denied. You are to return to work immediately until such
time that the current crisis is resolved. Sarah, you too are operating on a
limited mandate. We will discuss your role here in greater depth once we deal
with the current situation. ”
“ Whoop-de-do. ”
Bradley took a seat back at the table, looking
nervous but committed.
Howard rolled his head on his
shoulders and let out a sigh. “ So, ” he said, “ what do we have? ”
“ Not much, ” Palu said. “ The Army has bomb
specialists going through each location as we speak. It looks like more
suicide vests from early witness reports. The Upper Ferry was the target in
Dartmouth; a local pub in Studley; and in Arborfield a supermarket was hit. I ’ m getting statements for all three attacks and CCTV footage from the
pub in Studley. ”
Sarah frowned. “ You did all that from your phone? ”
Palu nodded. “ It ’ s a mobile satlink with a proprietary operating system. We ’ ve been scaled back, but I can still access the Government ’ s internal systems. Anything the police or other UK agencies have,
I can get. We even have limited access to the FBI and CIA. Our biggest asset,
however, is our liaison Downing Street. ”
Sarah was actually impressed.
Most of what she ’ d seen of the MCU had been pretty pitiful, but it was quickly
gaining her respect. “ Do we have any files on Jeffrey Blanchfield? ” she
asked. “ We need to know if he had any connections to known terrorist groups. ”
“ Maybe he was part of Al-Qaeda ’ s
over-60 cell, ” Dr Bennett quipped.
“ Maybe, ” said Sarah, acting as if she hadn ’ t noticed the American woman ’ s
sarcasm and giving back some of her own by mocking her Georgian accent. “ There ’ s a fine chance this here attack was connected to today ’ s commotion. If it is, then old Jeffrey has a done rubbed shoulders
with some mighty bad people. ”
Dr Bennett scowled.
“ I agree, ” said Bradley, oblivious to the cold war going on
between the two women. “ We need to know if there ’ s a link between
Sunday ’ s attack and today ’ s. I ’ ll get on it right now. ” He pulled a
wafer-thin laptop out of his satchel and immediately began typing away on it.
“ Get me the CCTV footage for the
have cost millions? There was only a single guy guarding the entrance, for
Christ ’ s sake.”
“ They ’ re closing us down, Captain, ” Palu
said. Not this minute, not this month, but the writing is on the wall. After
9/11 the CIA, FBI, Police, Interpol, MI5 & 6, Scotland Yard, and the Army … they were all given huge additional funding and free-reign. It was
messy, to say the least. The MCU was supposed to bring things together, to
stop the in-fighting and bring cohesion to the US and UK counter-intelligence
operations. ”
Sarah ’ s
eyes narrowed. “ So, what happened? ”
“ The economy happened. The other agencies resented our funding and
held back their Intel, repeatedly refusing to co-operate. The MCU has become
benign and costly. In the last six years we have been scaled back by
nine-tenths and have been stripped of most of our authority. Most of our
Intel, we get from our contacts within the other agencies. We live off their
scraps, where the initial plan was for MCU to be at the centre of everything.
Regardless, we still do everything we can to help protect this country. ”
“So why the hell are you letting Bradley go?”Sarah asked,
nodding to the kid.
“ I
made the decision to leave, Captain, ” Bradley said, lingering by the exit.
Sarah didn ’ t
care. “ Having
a member of an already undermanned team quitting is bullshit.”
“ It ’ s already done, ” said Palu.
“ Then undo it. You want my help, then Bradley stays. The more able
bodies you have, the better. Wouldn ’ t you agree? ”
“Fine,” muttered Palu. “Bradley, your
resignation is hereby denied. You are to return to work immediately until such
time that the current crisis is resolved. Sarah, you too are operating on a
limited mandate. We will discuss your role here in greater depth once we deal
with the current situation. ”
“ Whoop-de-do. ”
Bradley took a seat back at the table, looking
nervous but committed.
Howard rolled his head on his
shoulders and let out a sigh. “ So, ” he said, “ what do we have? ”
“ Not much, ” Palu said. “ The Army has bomb
specialists going through each location as we speak. It looks like more
suicide vests from early witness reports. The Upper Ferry was the target in
Dartmouth; a local pub in Studley; and in Arborfield a supermarket was hit. I ’ m getting statements for all three attacks and CCTV footage from the
pub in Studley. ”
Sarah frowned. “ You did all that from your phone? ”
Palu nodded. “ It ’ s a mobile satlink with a proprietary operating system. We ’ ve been scaled back, but I can still access the Government ’ s internal systems. Anything the police or other UK agencies have,
I can get. We even have limited access to the FBI and CIA. Our biggest asset,
however, is our liaison Downing Street. ”
Sarah was actually impressed.
Most of what she ’ d seen of the MCU had been pretty pitiful, but it was quickly
gaining her respect. “ Do we have any files on Jeffrey Blanchfield? ” she
asked. “ We need to know if he had any connections to known terrorist groups. ”
“ Maybe he was part of Al-Qaeda ’ s
over-60 cell, ” Dr Bennett quipped.
“ Maybe, ” said Sarah, acting as if she hadn ’ t noticed the American woman ’ s
sarcasm and giving back some of her own by mocking her Georgian accent. “ There ’ s a fine chance this here attack was connected to today ’ s commotion. If it is, then old Jeffrey has a done rubbed shoulders
with some mighty bad people. ”
Dr Bennett scowled.
“ I agree, ” said Bradley, oblivious to the cold war going on
between the two women. “ We need to know if there ’ s a link between
Sunday ’ s attack and today ’ s. I ’ ll get on it right now. ” He pulled a
wafer-thin laptop out of his satchel and immediately began typing away on it.
“ Get me the CCTV footage for the
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