Saviours of the North Sea Part III

[Silktie]

PART III

04 March
Harry’s Office

“What’s your thinking?” Harry’s total attention is focussed on Ruth. She has just relayed the information about the coded messages, and he’s not quite sure what to make of it. But he has total trust in Ruth’s deductive powers and instincts. Even after everything they have been through recently. If anyone can make sense of the information, it is his trusted analyst.

She frowns, and he can practically hear the wheels turning in her head.
“Well, it’s a strange coincidence that these messages are turning up shortly before a large conference on the islands. But to be honest, I have no idea what it could mean. There are too many possibilities at the moment for us to be able to cover all of them.”
“Agreed. Those coordinates indicate a spot in the North Sea, not actually on the coast of the Shetlands. So most likely a rendezvous spot for a ship?”
“Maybe,” Ruth acknowledges. “But for whom? And why? And perhaps more importantly, when?”
Harry leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head. “You say they’ve narrowed the origin down to somewhere between the Urals and the US east coast? I would hazard a guess that points to either the Russians or the Chinese.”
She looks sceptical. “If it is a government sanctioned action. But what would they want with an environmental talk shop? It’s not as if anything sensitive is going to be discussed.”
He concedes the point with a purse of the lips and Ruth continues.
“What if it is an independent interest group?”
Harry sits forward. “One of the militant environmental groups, maybe?”
“That would be the most logical possibility,” Ruth agrees.

She waits while he thinks it through. When he looks at her she can tell he’s made a decision.
“Okay, there is not enough evidence yet to get the Navy involved. Dimitri’ll have to investigate once we get to the Shetlands – see whether it is possible to launch any kind of weapon at the hotel from that spot, or to intercept data or sound from the conference. In the meantime, get GCHQ to look for any other communications from the same area in the same time-span. Let’s see if we can get more information. And tell them to narrow down the origin of these messages.”
Ruth nods and gets up to leave.
“Thank you, Ruth,” Harry says warmly and she turns to smile at him. As she leaves, both feel secretly pleased at how well the brainstorming session went. And at how well they compliment each other at work.

* * *

05 March, early morning
Scotland, Aberdeen airport

The team walks across the tarmac to the waiting helicopter that will take them the rest of the way to the Shetland Islands. Harry glances at Ruth, who has been uncharacteristically quiet since he told them the last leg will be completed by helicopter. He wonders what’s bothering her. She isn’t afraid of flying; he knows that since she was fine on the flight up to Aberdeen. However, he sees her look anxiously at the helicopter and realises that perhaps it is helicopters in particular that she doesn’t like, rather than flying in general. He can sympathise with that; while he himself isn’t exactly afraid of flying, he always hated flying on the Concorde. There is something unnatural about travelling faster than the speed of sound, he firmly believes. Perhaps Ruth feels the same way about helicopters.

“Ruth?”
She looks up at the sound of his voice.
“Do you mind sitting next to me on the flight – there are a few things I’d like us to go over.”
Ruth nods, and can’t help but wonder whether he’s seen how nervous she is. Thankfully no one else appears to have noticed. She dutifully sits next to him, and he talks to her all the way, making her think about work issues. Ruth recognises what he is doing, but even so it works a treat. There is no time for her to think about all the things that can go wrong with the helicopter, and his soothing voice in her ear is an effective balm against the nerves. When they disembark at the hotel she has not even broken a sweat, and smiles at him gratefully. He raises an eyebrow and merely shrugs at her, pretending he still hasn’t noticed her fear, and she adores him for it.

The rest of the morning is spent installing their surveillance equipment and setting up the operations centre. Dimitri, meanwhile, has gone off to meet with the Coast Guard members seconded to them for the duration of the conference. Most of the delegates will be arriving through the course of the afternoon, with the opening session scheduled for 16:00, followed by an evening cocktail. Harry knows that they do not have the manpower or the equipment to monitor the whole hotel, and carefully hand-picks a number of delegates’ rooms to bug. McCintosh is first on his list, and no-one dares argue with him. He is tempted to also bug Catherine’s room, but desists in the end, knowing that ‘fatherly concern’ won’t hold much water as a motivating factor if he were to be questioned about his use of resources at a later date.

When Dimitri returns, they hold a final meeting in the ops centre to ensure that everyone is on the same page. Harry opens by summarising what they know.
“We have no known, confirmed security threats against the conference. However, we have two very cryptic messages intercepted by GCHQ, which could point to a possible operation against the conference. One of these provided a set of coordinates for a point a little way off the coast of the island. We do not know to whom, what, why or when these coordinates were sent. Best guess at the moment, with the emphasis on the guess part, is that one of the more militant environmental groups have found out about the three oil concessions that will be awarded, and plans to use the conference to make the point that they disapprove of this. Anything else?”

He is greeted by silence.
“Okay. Dimitri.”
The younger man brings up a map of the island.
“The Coast Guard provided us with three patrol boats and their crew to assist during the conference. They will be on constant, irregular patrol patterns, concentrating on the eastern coast of the island.”
A click of a button illustrates the location identified by the coordinates in the intercept.
“I have organised to go with one of the patrol boats to check out this location first thing tomorrow morning. We will check to see if it is possible to launch some kind of attack on the hotel from there, as well as whether it is possible to intercept sound or other data from that point.”

Harry nods. “Good. Tariq, how are we doing on surveillance?”
“We have audio and visual in the rooms of the two senior delegates of both the business and environmental delegations, as well as in all meeting rooms.”
He glances at Harry a little nervously. “We have also bugged the rooms of the Energy and Home Secretaries.”
Harry smiles a little grimly. “Yes. We do not exactly have permission for this, so let’s keep that to ourselves, shall we?”
Tariq continues, “We don’t have eyes or ears anywhere else, but we do have some mobile equipment which I’ll issue to Beth and Ruth, and which you can use to snoop on someone from a safe distance should we need to target anyone else.”
“All right.” Harry glances at his watch. “The delegates will begin arriving shortly, so let’s get to it. Thank you, everyone.”

Once Ruth finishes dressing for the conference, she moves over to the window and admires the spectacular view. The hotel is situated a few miles north of Lerwick on a narrow bay. Perched high on the cliffs overlooking the North Sea, it is surrounded by miles of uninhabited green fields, and an abundance of birdlife. She peruses the hotel brochure, and notes with interest that a World War II bunker on the edge of the cliffs has been converted into a bird hide from which one can observe a nesting site of Atlantic puffins. She resolves to visit it as soon as she has a few moments to herself. But first it is time to join Catherine and begin the task for which she is here.

She finds the other woman in her room, setting up an impressive array of editing and other video equipment. They chat amicably about the documentary for a while, until Ruth decides to change the subject.
“Are you really here just to observe the conference?”
Catherine straightens up and brushes her hair out of her face.
“What do you mean?”
“It seems a lot of trouble to go to for what everyone expects to be a mostly meaningless talk shop.” She hesitates a moment, but decides to continue what she was about to say.
“And last time you became involved in one of our operations you were snooping around things that weren’t well known. None of your documentaries focus on the obvious angle that everyone with half a brain can figure out for themselves by watching the news. You have a knack for finding the hidden angles. I can’t see you being here just to include the meaningless discussions at this conference in your documentary.”

After regarding Ruth silently for a few moments, Catherine smiles a little ruefully and sits down on the bed.
“Wow. Dad was right.”
“About what?”
“You are a very good analyst.” A thought occurs to her and she looks at Ruth.
“Or is this what my father thinks?”
Ruth shakes her head.
“No, he knows nothing about this.”
“You haven’t told him about your suspicions?” Catherine sounds rather surprised.
Once again Ruth shakes her head.
“He has enough to worry about at the moment.”
Catherine tilts her head, frowns a little and ponders Ruth’s words.
So much her father’s daughter, Ruth thinks with a slight clench of the heart.
Watching her, Catherine wonders whether all Harry’s officers are as eager to protect him as his prized analyst seems to be. This thought decides her.

“Fine,” she says suddenly. “I’ll tell you what you want to know, but I want something in return. Information about my father.”
Ruth looks a little apprehensive.
“There’s a limit to what I can tell you.”
The younger woman rolls her eyes.
“Yes, yes, I’m not asking for a bloody state secret. I only want to know what’s been going on with him the last few months. He’s seemed very down… And about two months ago I got this really weird message from him. He sounded so lost, almost as if he expected never to see me again. It scared the crap out of me.”
She can sense that Ruth is suddenly very interested.
“When was this message?”
“Oh…” Catherine thinks back, and then provides the date. “I remember because I was giving a lecture on documentary making at the London School of Arts that day.”

Ruth closes her eyes and turns her head away, but not before Catherine sees her sad expression. It is also a date that Ruth will never forget; the day Lucas died. She realises Harry must have called his daughter on his way to meeting Lucas on that rooftop. He would only have done so because he was convinced that he was about to die. For some reason this saddens her immensely. She takes a deep breath and turns to Catherine.
“We lost a colleague that day. Under terrible circumstances. Harry was… He was forced to make an impossible choice in order to save the life of another colleague. And he was held at gunpoint at one stage.”
Catherine pales a little at the last bit. “I see.”
Ruth continues as though the younger woman hasn’t spoken.
“Harry was blamed for some things that happened, and there was an investigation into his actions.”
She sees Catherine’s eyes darken in anger and hastens to add, “But he was cleared of everything in the end.”

Now Ruth decides that that is as much information as she dares to give, and changes the topic.
“Your turn. Why are you really here?”
Catherine regards Ruth with a speculative look in her eye.
“I don’t suppose it’ll help me any to ask you not to tell my father?”
“Well, that depends on what you’re busy with.”
Her shoulders sag a bit as she sighs resignedly.
“All right. I’m hoping to gather information on Jean-Paul McCintosh and his oil company.”
Ruth almost laughs. Of course, she thinks.
“Why?”
“I picked up indications that he or someone in his company tried to bribe the Saviours of the North Sea environmental group to sabotage some of BP’s oil rigs here. BP is already under immense pressure after the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Another big one and they’ll be there for the taking. I suspect McCintosh wants to cripple his main competitor and take over the company.”

Ruth’s thoughts immediately go to the mysterious message with the coordinates. Could it be the location of one of BP’s oil rigs? And if so, does this mean that McCintosh has persuaded the Saviours of the North Sea to do this?
“Are you sure about this?” She asks Catherine rather urgently.
Catherine regards her curiously.
“Very sure. The only thing I don’t know is whether Saviours of the North Sea agreed or not. They do have some militant members, but I’m not sure they’d willingly cause an oil spill. It is rather against what they stand for in the first place.”
“True.” Ruth looks at her watch. “We better get going, the first session is about to start.”

They are just in time to enter the conference room with the last of the delegates. William Towers is readying himself at the podium, then waits for everyone to settle down before he begins.
“Good afternoon. Some time during 2011, the world’s population will pass the seven billion mark. This puts tremendous pressure on the earth’s resources, and demands that government, environmental groups and energy companies work ever more closely together to meet the challenges we are facing…”
As he continues his address, Ruth looks around the room. She sees Beth, or rather ‘Eve Lynn’, looking every inch the business executive. She also notes that Beth is receiving quite a few interested looks from the males in the room. And then her eyes fall on him. Jean-Paul McCintosh. He is still an attractive man, she notes. His hair has greyed and his figure has filled out a bit, but he still has that confident aura of a man who knows the opposite sex finds him alluring, and who is used to getting what he wants. She smiles a bit, then becomes aware of a pair of eyes on her. Glancing to her right, she sees Harry standing inside the doors of the room, watching her watch Jean-Paul. He holds her look for a few seconds, his eyes dark and unreadable, before turning his head away.

When the opening speeches end, Ruth hurries to intercept Harry and tell him what Catherine told her, but he is deep in conversation with the Home Secretary. She doesn’t get a chance to speak to him before they enter the dining room where the cocktail function is being held. Her own attention is then demanded by Catherine, who introduces her to various members of the environmental delegation. As she finishes another conversation, Catherine nudges her.
“Look at that.”
She nods across the room, where Harry is chatting with an attractive woman which Ruth recognises as the Under Secretary for Energy. Catherine chuckles.
“She fancies him, and he hasn’t a clue. He really is hopeless.”

Before Ruth can respond, a loud voice calls out from behind her.
“Ruth?! My God, it’s Ruthie Evershed!”
She briefly closes her eyes, then plasters a smile on her face and turns around.
“Hello, Jean-Paul.”
While he tells everyone that will listen that they were at university together, she sees Harry looking at them over McCintosh’s shoulder. He has the same look of apprehension on his face that he wore when he first heard that she knew McCintosh. She brings her attention back to the man before her and engages him in brief conversation, before extracting herself at the earliest opportunity and moving on.

An hour later, Harry is sick and tired of making small-talk. He finds himself next to Catherine in a relatively quiet spot. Looking around, he fails to locate Ruth and turns to his daughter.
“Do you know where Ruth is?”
Catherine merely lifts an eyebrow and grins at him.
“What?” He looks at her questioningly.
“She fancies you, you know.”
And for once in her life, Catherine sees her father totally flustered.
“Er, she told you this?”
It is Catherine’s turn to be confused.
“What? No, obviously not. Why would the Under Secretary for Energy confide in me?”
“The Under… Oh.” He trails off, and Catherine swears there is disappointment on his face. Before she can pursue it, he continues.
“Never mind that. Ruth? I need to talk to her.”
“She said she was going to check out the bunker bird hide.”
“Okay, thanks.”
He can feel his daughter’s eyes on his back all the way across the room.

It is a pleasant 200 metre walk to the bird hide, but there is a definite bite in the early evening air and he is glad of his coat and gloves. When he reaches the hide, he unexpectedly hears McCintosh’s voice and is suddenly filled with dread about what he may find, but he never considers turning away. He steps through the door quietly. His first impression is of Ruth and McCintosh standing very close together, and his heart sinks. Then he notices Ruth’s very closed-off stance, her arms folded tightly across herself, and when she looks at him he sees panic in her eyes, quickly replaced by relief.
“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” Harry keeps his voice light, but the threatening undertone is unmistakable. McCintosh swings around, weighs Harry with a quick look, and picks up on a dangerous edge the other man is exuding. He prudently decides against challenging the new arrival. He smiles broadly and steps away from Ruth.
“Not at all. We were just catching up on old times.” He looks at his watch.
“Well, I must be off. They’ll be missing me.”

He brushes past Harry, who turns and watches him until he is out the door. When he looks back to Ruth, she is still in the same spot.
“I think it’s time you tell me what the story is between you and him, don’t you?”
As she is about to answer, they hear the heavy bunker door slam shut. Harry swivels and strides to the door, but before he reaches it, he hears the outside bolt slide into place. Leaning his weight into it, he tries to shove it open, but it doesn’t budge. He bangs against it, then clearly hears McCintosh laugh as he walks away. After aiming a swift kick at the door in frustration he turns back to Ruth.
“The bastard locked us in.”
Digging out his mobile, he starts pushing buttons, but nothing happens.
“Oh bugger,” he says, consternation showing on his face. “There’s no signal.”
Her eyes widen, and they stand looking at each other, shocked into silence as the realisation sinks in.
They are trapped.

tbc

[Aria]

You are evil Silktie Loving this.

[Tea Lady]

Haha, I do love those "heavy bunker doors" Silktie.

I am a bit worried about Ruth though. Did she take a coat with her? She may catch a chill, if she is not careful

[Angie]

(20-02-2011 05:04 PM)Tea Lady Wrote:  I am a bit worried about Ruth though. Did she take a coat with her? She may catch a chill, if she is not careful

If Ruth is in a locked room with Harry then I'm sure there will be enough atmosphere in there to make her feel very hot indeed!

I'm glad Harry has stepped in and interrupted what looked like a very uncomfortable moment with Ruth and McCintosh. I definitely want to know more about their history....and so will Harry now. So I guess while they are stuck there, there will be plenty of time for her to tell us all what happened....

Looking forward to more...

[DogSoSmall]

Don't worry, I'm sure Harry will share his.

[A Cousin]

Why, Silktie, you tease you!

Hmmm.... Stuck in a bird hide together. I trust that there will not be a cross bow involved? Please say that they won't be as hopeless locked in a small inescapable space as they are left to their own devices in the open?

For as astute an observer as Catherine is, she has completely missed her father's true feelings, hasn't she? She needs to get on the ball.

[HellsBells]

Great story Silktie. Can't wait to find out what is between Ruth and McCintosh.
But what will Harry and Ruth do locked in an old bunker together?!!

[Byatil]

Can't wait to read the next installment! This is truly gripping stuff