Saviours of the North Sea Part VII

[Silktie]

Warning: This chapter contains some suggestions of a sexual nature.

PART VII

07 March, 12:00
Shetland Islands

Harry runs into Ruth and Beth in the corridor outside his room. Ruth looks at the thunderous expression on his face worriedly.
“What happened?”
“Not now, Ruth!” He yanks open his door and slams it closed behind him.
Beth lifts an eyebrow at Ruth and pretends not to notice the slightly hurt expression on the other woman’s face.
Trying to change the subject, she says, “Right, I’m off to try my charms on McCintosh. Any advice?” She smiles at Ruth cheekily.
“Yes. Don’t knee him in the groin,” Ruth states flatly before disappearing down the corridor.
“Ookay,” Beth says to herself before walking in the other direction.

14:00

SMS message:
All to OC now. H

Harry is pacing the Ops Centre behind an uncomfortable looking Tariq as the others file in one by one. When all are accounted for, Harry states without preamble, “I’ve been ordered not to capture Gelashvili.”
He is met by various exclamations of disbelief.
Beth asks, “So what do we do now?”
Harry smiles mirthlessly. “We capture Gelashvili.”
Silence reigns as the others exchange uncertain looks.
Ruth, still a little miffed at the curt dismissal he gave her earlier, says more forcefully than intended, “You’ll have to give us more than that, Harry.”
He purses his lips. “Towers wants to protect McCintosh’s reputation, but I think there is a way around this.”
As he explains his strategy, Dimitri starts to nod. “You devious bugger, Harry,” he says approvingly.
Ruth smiles slightly, remembering again why she fell in love with this man in the first place.
Their boss ignores the comment and looks at them all. “Anyone who doesn’t want to be part of this scheme should say so now.”
No-one speaks.
“All right,” he says, “let’s get it done then. War council this evening after dinner.”

As they disperse with a spring in their collective step, Harry says, “Ruth, a word please.”
He waits until everyone is out of earshot. “Sorry,” he mumbles, “about earlier.”
She nods a little tersely. “Thanks.”
When she turns to go, Harry asks in a surprised tone, “Wait, you’re still angry? I apologised.”
Ruth rolls her eyes. “’Sorry’ isn’t a miracle cure for everything, Harry.” She adds, more gently, “I have to go meet with your daughter, so we’ll talk later.”
He is still standing in the same spot rather forlornly when she gets into the lift.

21:50

It is late when Harry finally gets to his room after a trying day. He is badly in need of a drink but doesn’t feel like mingling with the other guests in the bar, so orders a bottle of Scotch to be brought to his room instead. After shedding his jacket and tie, he gratefully pours the first of what he suspects will be a few drinks, and reflects on the day.

The one good thing that happened is that the logistics for the next day’s operation has been sorted out. Despite their earlier acrimonious encounter, Towers was willing enough to schedule a meeting with the business delegation for the following night to keep McCintosh out of the way. Beth will also attend to keep an eye on him. Since no Navy backup will be available, all three Coast Guard boats will be involved in apprehending the Russian vessel and its crew. This means that Dimitri had to secure another boat for his part of the operation, as well as find someone to pilot it. Harry decided that he himself would do it, to the surprise of the rest of the team and Ruth in particular. He could tell that she wanted to argue, but he gave her a warning look and she kept her misgivings to herself.

Sighing, Harry is surprised to realise that he is at present more concerned about Ruth being angry at him, than the fact that he may be about to lose his job for the second time in a matter of months if the operation goes wrong. He is thinking about calling her, not wanting to go to bed without straightening things out between them, when there is a knock at the door. For once, it is the person he wants to see that is on the other side.

He pours her a drink and waits in apprehensive silence for her to say something. She takes a sip first before smiling at him uncertainly.
“You’re determined to go with Dimitri then?”
“Who else do you suggest I use,” he asks, doing his best to hide his annoyance.
“Beth.”
He shakes his head. “I need her to watch McCintosh.”
“Tariq and I can do that, we can-“
“Ruth,” he interrupts gently, “neither of you are field officers. Things may turn ugly-”
“Neither are you, not anymore!” It is her turn to interrupt him.
He stares at her, trying hard not to be insulted by her lowly opinion of his field skills. “I’m only going to pilot a boat. Dimitri will be doing the heavy lifting,” he says as reasonably as he can.

Her shoulders slump and her head drops down to the glass in her hands. “I know.”
“But?” he prompts.
“You know what they say about the best laid plans,” she says quietly, her voice laced with worry.
He laughs suddenly and sits down on the sofa next to her, letting his head fall back to stare at the ceiling.
“This relationship thing is a lot harder than one might expect, isn’t it?” She turns her head to him and smiles slightly. “You want to change the answer you gave me yesterday when I asked you if we could do this?”
“No,” he says emphatically. “I choose to see it as a good sign that we each prefer the other to stay out of harm’s way. I’d be concerned if you were willing to send me into danger without a second thought.”

Ruth sobers immediately, thinking back to that horrible day when she had let him go off to meet Lucas and face probable death. She lifts a hand to caress the exposed skin on his chest. “I like to think that I can learn from past experiences.”
He watches her, his eyes dark in the muted light. He knows, too, what she’s thinking about. Capturing the hand on his chest with his own, he brings it to his mouth and kisses the knuckles tenderly, doing his best to show her that he understands her actions that day. Unable to resist, he opens her fingers and slides the middle one into his mouth. When she happily gives in to his ministrations, he pulls back.
“Does this mean I’m forgiven for my rudeness this morning, then?” He sounds hopeful, and she pretends to consider the question.
“Hmm, not quite. It’ll require something more, I think.”
“I really do know that I shouldn’t take my frustrations out on you, but a man can’t change who he is in one day,” he says contritely.
Her eyes sparkle at him and she slides her finger back into his mouth.
“Thank you for that, but I was hoping for something along the lines of last night.”

Perking up immediately, he smiles around her finger, before reality reminds him of his age.
“I’m sorry,” he says, sounding embarrassed, “but my knees can’t cope with that two nights in a row. I am, however, open to any other suggestions you might have.”
Ruth sits up suddenly and removes his glass from his hand. Standing up, she looks down on him for a moment, her dark hair framing her face, before unceremoniously hitching up her skirt a little and straddling him.
“How about this?”
Harry groans a little. “Oh God, yes. Perfect.”
She runs her fingers through his short hair. “You sure you didn’t have any other plans for tonight?”
He is mesmerised by her eyes. “Well, I planned to drink, mostly,” he says distractedly. She shifts slightly, making him gasp before he almost reflexively lowers his head to her breast. “But this is much better…”

* * *

08 March, 16:00
North Sea

Andrei has been on the bridge for most of the day, plotting winds, currents and the ship’s speed. He is as precise in this as though he is guiding a submarine through a narrow passage. He knows that one mistake will cause him to miss his mark, and he’ll get only one chance at this. The Captain appears at his elbow and looks at the chart over his shoulder, then checks the ship’s position. He nods, satisfied.
“We’re right on schedule. I’ll slow her down now, make sure we don’t have to leave the shipping lane before it’s totally dark.”
“Good. I’ll leave it in your hands.” Andrei turns away to go and prepare his gear.
The Captain’s voice stops him. “Are you sure about this?”
“Yes,” Andrei says strongly. He looks piercingly at the captain. “Sometimes ignoble deeds need to be done to achieve noble objectives. This is for our country. Do not forget that.”
With that, he disappears through the door.
The Captain turns to look out the window with a troubled expression.

* * *

Same time
Shetland Islands

Ruth watches Catherine skilfully edit a piece of her documentary. She has stuck close to Harry’s daughter all day. As it gets closer to crunch time, everyone seems to be getting more on edge. On quite a few occasions throughout the morning she glimpsed Harry in the background, anxiously keeping an eye on his daughter. Finally losing patience, Ruth took him aside and told him quite firmly to leave Catherine to her, and to get on with his own responsibilities. A soft squeeze of his arm conveyed her understanding of his anxiety, and mollified, Harry gave her a thankful look before disappearing for the rest of the day.

Now they were closeted in Catherine’s room, and Ruth is determined to keep the younger woman here until everything has been settled. She glances at her watch; Harry should be in his room getting ready for his part in the evening’s events, and she wants to see him before he goes off.
“I’m going out for a while. Please don’t leave your room, okay?”
Catherine looks up with an exasperated expression. “Don’t you think my Dad is taking this protection thing a little far? Surely anywhere in the hotel should be safe.”
Ruth thinks for a bit, before sitting down again. “He worries about you.” She smiles. “He’s very proud of your achievements, but I think he often wishes that you wouldn’t go into all those war zones, or in this case try to unmask the corruption of a prominent and probably dangerous businessman, to make your films. He’s got a lot to focus on right now, so for his sake let’s make sure he doesn’t have to worry about your safety on top of everything else.”
Catherine sighs, and nods.

Ruth is at the door when Catherine speaks again. “He made me what I am, you know.”
Stiffening, Ruth turns back, steeling herself to listen to a litany of Harry’s failings as a parent. But when she looks at Catherine, the younger woman has a smile on her face.
“He was a crap father, but he instilled an interest in the world in me. Did he ever tell you he took me to see the fall of the Berlin Wall?”
Ruth shakes her head mutely, and Catherine continues. “And when he had us on weekends, we’d often watch the news together.” She laughs. “God only knows why he thought that a suitable activity for small kids, but still. It taught me that there is almost always another truth behind the one we’re being told, and that there are causes worth fighting for.”
She meets Ruth’s eyes. “And that is one thing I am thankful to him for. You can tell him I said that.”
Ruth is quiet for a moment, a little overcome on Harry’s behalf. She looks at Catherine with new eyes. “I think, perhaps, that is something you can tell him yourself. It’ll mean the world to him.”

Harry is in the process of donning the last of his combat gear when the door opens behind him. That means it can only be Ruth, to whom he had given the spare key card after their first night together.
“I really should get you that cowbell.”
He turns and smiles at her as he fastens the utility vest’s Velcro straps.
“How’s Catherine?”
“Safe in her room.” Ruth comes to a stop in front of him, rather liking the way he looks in the combat outfit.
“I wanted to, erm…” She falters and looks away.
Harry stops fiddling with the vest and frames her face with his hands. “I’m glad you came.” He kisses her gently, before dropping his hands again. “I’ll be careful. I have something wonderful to come back to now.”
“Yes. Yes, you do,” Ruth says, and they smile at each other a little goofily.
“Now, can you help me with this damn vest?”

18:00

The team is gathered in the Ops Centre for their final meeting. Harry and Dimitri cut intimidating figures in their bulky combat outfits, while Beth is snappily dressed to play her part as Eve Lynn at the business delegation’s meeting.
“Okay,” Harry says. “You all know your roles. I don’t need to tell you that we’ll all probably be looking for other jobs if we muck this up. But I give you my word that I’ll do everything I can to protect you. So,” he looks at Beth. “Remember that Towers thinks the meeting is to prevent McCintosh from finding out too soon that his plan has failed and thus deny him time to implement an alternative plan. Don’t give him any reason to suspect differently.”
She nods.
“Nobody makes a move until we’ve confirmed to Tariq that the capture has been successful. Tariq, you’re sure we won’t have a communication failure?”
“As sure as I can be. I’ve also, erm, commandeered the thermal image satellite, so I’ll be able to monitor what’s going on through that.”
Harry looks at him approvingly, “Excellent. Right then.”
Beth and Ruth get up to go. Ruth pauses at the door and gives Harry a last lingering look before closing it behind her.

* * *

20:00
BP oil rig, North Sea

Harry eases the sleek, low riding boat to a standstill where the oil rig’s underwater structure plunges into the ocean. It is new moon and pitch dark, making the black boat and its dark-clad occupants with blackened faces almost invisible. He uses the engines to keep the boat in place, then nods to Dimitri. The younger man gives his boss a thumbs up before quietly slipping into the water. As he descends, he has time to reflect on the skill with which Harry has handled the boat. It is a source of great relief to him, as the operation may need some fancy footwork to be pulled off successfully.

He only switches on his light when his diving watch indicates that he has passed ten metres in depth. The current is extremely strong and he is thankful for the line tethering him to the boat. At fifteen metres he circles the piping until he locates the homing beacon. With the utmost care, and following Tariq’s instructions to the letter, he removes it before dousing the light and using the tether rope to find his way back to the boat.

Same time
North Sea

The Captain checks their position carefully before instructing, “Kill the lights.” Once the ship is totally dark, he changes course and slips out of the shipping lanes. Lifting his head, he nods at Andrei.
“One hour.”
“One hour, aye,” Andrei confirms, before finding his way down to the diving chamber by flashlight.

One kilometre to the west, the Coast Guard boat stationed outside the shipping lanes picks up the dark ship on radar. The Commander gets on the radio to Tariq.
“Base, we have bogey on radar. She’s begun her run-in. Should reach target in about one hour.”
“Copy that,” Tariq says, “I’ve got them on the thermal satellite. Fall back now, I’ll track their progress and let you know when it’s time to move in.”
He changes channels before murmuring more quietly, “Alpha One, bogey is on its way. Estimated arrival one hour.”
“Copy that,” Harry acknowledges just as Dimitri resurfaces next to the boat.

* * *

20:55
Shetland Islands

Beth stifles a smile as McCintosh glances at his watch for the umpteenth time, while Towers drones on. The Home Secretary is delivering quite a performance, and she wonders how he will react to what happens later. Beth has had her doubts about whether she wants to stay with MI5 after the whole Albany mess. She has always prided herself on her ability to read people, and her faith in herself has been badly shaken by her failure to recognise what was happening with Lucas before it was too late. Similarly, she still can’t believe that she never picked up on the depth of feeling between Harry and Ruth until Ruth had been kidnapped and Harry made his desperate play to save her. After all that, she doubted whether the team would be able to come together and work as an effective unit, but she has been impressed by the professionalism shown by all. And she is even more impressed by the daring ploy Harry is undertaking here. For the first time since she’s joined, she fully understands the high regard her boss is held in by all who’s ever worked for him. She is glad to be a part of it.

In Catherine’s room, Ruth is listening to developments through her earpiece, while the younger woman paces the floor restlessly. It makes Ruth smile. Finally Catherine loses patience.
“What’s happening?”
She knows she shouldn’t, but Ruth takes pity on her companion. After removing her earpiece, she connects it to Catherine’s sound equipment, allowing them both to listen in.

Same time
North Sea, near BP oil rig

An alarm sounds through the ship. “All hands, prepare to flood diving chamber. Andrei, launch in two minutes. Repeat two minutes.”
Andrei shoves his breathing apparatus into his mouth and checks that the satchel with the explosives is securely fastened. He then ensures that the hand-held sensor is activated, and takes a firm grip on the propelling device. The water begins to rise around him in the diving chamber.

“Alpha One, bogey has stopped… Woah,” Tariq says as the thermal blob moving away from the ship flares more brightly.
“Target appears to have a propelling device. He’ll be on you sooner than anticipated.”
“Copy that,” Harry’s voice answers calmly.
Dimitri is already sliding into the water.
“Wait, Alpha Two, check your emergency signal first,” Harry instructs the younger man. Dimitri activates it and the tracking device on board comes to life.
“Okay, good hunting.”
Dimitri waves and disappears beneath the water. They are stationed about one and a half kilometres east of the oil rig, and its lights are the only blip in the surrounding darkness. Now all Harry can do is wait.

Dimitri descends to fifteen metres, where the homing beacon is attached to the rope anchored to the boat, broadcasting happily on its very specific frequency. He unsheathes his diving knife and concentrates on his breathing. Now all he can do is wait.

Andrei focuses on the illuminated dial of the hand-held sensor, making sure he keeps the dot precisely between the two little lines. The current is carrying him along swiftly and he knows that if he overshoots the oil rig he will have to use up all the battery power of the propelling device to come back around. That will leave him an exhausting swim to get back to the ship.

Dimitri spots the low glow of the sensor’s dial from some way off and readies himself. When Andrei estimates that he is about twenty metres away from his target, he switches on his light. To his confusion, there are no oil pipes to be seen, only a line dangling down in the water and a diver hovering behind it.

The unexpected light momentarily dazzles Dimitri, but he recovers quickly and kicks forward powerfully towards the other man. He has the advantage as his opponent’s hands are occupied by holding the sensor and the propelling device. When he is almost on him, Andrei suddenly drops the propelling device and swings the sensor towards Dimitri’s mask. Luckily the water makes swift movements difficult and Dimitri has time to avoid the blow. The two divers tangle, trying to come to grips with each other.

Up on the surface Harry sees the light going on, followed momentarily by large amounts of air bubbles rising to the surface.
“Alpha Two has engaged the target,” he reports. He glances at the emergency signal to ensure it is still working before checking the line securing Dimitri to the boat. As he does so it goes slack in his hand. Alarmed, he pulls it in, and can see that the end has been severed with a sharp knife. Cursing, he scrambles to the controls, and swings the boat around to keep pace with the emergency signal.
“Alpha Two’s line has been severed. I’m switching on the searchlight. Get the Coast Guard to move in now!”

Several feet underneath him, Dimitri and Andrei are tumbling through the water, borne along at a rapid rate by the current. As they are grappling, both are trying to bring their knives around and sever the other’s air pipe. They are locked together, face to face, when a powerful light suddenly illuminates the water around them. The two protagonists stare at each other momentarily before Dimitri’s eyes light up triumphantly. His knife slices through the other man’s air pipe, but his euphoria is short-lived as Andrei follows suit only a second later. The current continues to drag them along as they struggle to get to the surface, lungs bursting. Darkness starts to creep in along the edges of his vision and Dimitri looks to the surface, still such a long way off. He realises that neither of them will make it. His last conscious action is to release his weight belt.

Harry is concentrating on following the emergency signal when he suddenly becomes aware of a droning sound close behind. At the same time Tariq yells in his ear: “Alpha One! The bogey is right on top of you! Get out of there! Get out of there now!”

The last thing Ruth and Catherine hear is Harry’s voice saying, “Oh Christ…” followed by a loud bang.

tbc