“Be careful with her, mate. She’s turned into something else since you were with her. You know that the partners made her up to their personal liaison officer with the Government and Scorpion HQ. And don’t forget, she’s Old School. Crafty as a fox.”
“I’ve known her for years — slept in her bed for a few of them. We’re still good friends…”
Alix shrugged and gave Dillon a knowing look. “Tatiana is street wise — and don’t you forget it.” Alix said, and then immediately added.
“No offence meant, Jake. But you know what I mean, and you always did think with your dick. Trust no one, my old friend. Not Tatiana. Not even us. There are Scorpion Units that have been wiped out and others that are missing. You’ve been close enough to this thing to know what’s what, and we had enough fire power used against us, back in London to have been able to start a small war. Why do you think we came up here? Looking for some lively night-life? Our telecom has been compromised and Scorpion HQ is not responding to any communications… and if our Matrix G8 encrypted comms. are down, then nothing is safe. We know that something is terribly wrong and think it started at Kirill’s project establishment up here in Scotland. As you know there had been death threats against him and his niece. The main threat came from al-Qaeda. You sure this place isn’t bugged, Dillon?”
“I’m sure. I have the latest scanning equipment installed throughout the entire building. I don’t believe that Ferran & Cardini or Scorpion HQ have anything sinister to do with any of this. But the ministry — well they’re an entirely different can of worms… I reckon that Scorpion and my lot will have people working around the clock to sort this out.”
“Maybe,” said Alix. “But then, we’re employed to think. Because we trust nobody. And, because we get the job done with the minimum of fuss. We don’t have blind faith, Dillon old mate. There are people inside Scorpion HQ and Ferran & Cardini who are corruptible, they live in the real world, where they have real problems. Where a large sum of money would make their dreary little lives a lot more comfortable. As you found out yourself. Listen, the last email from Scorpion HQ was informing us of a special unit they are putting together to shut down the Taliban — permanently. Things are that close, Jake. The apparent betrayal by Kirill in Cornwall is being played down and kept very quiet. Don’t want to give the fuckers any warning, do we now?”
Dillon scratched at the back of his head, then his tired eyes. “Kirill. That bastard got exactly what he deserved.”
There was an uncomfortable protracted silence. Outside, snow had started to fall heavily again, large flakes falling straight down to earth through the absence of any breeze. Alix shivered, then grinned over at Lola. “You gonna keep me warm tonight, my South American beauty?” He winked, a cheeky boyish grin on his face.
“Alix, you couldn’t afford me.”
“Oh, don’t be like that Lola. I’m sure I could scratch together a fiver.”
“You cheeky bugger. I’ll cut it off if you even try to wave that weener at me.”
“Well, perhaps another time, another place, then. But enough of this banter — come on, we’ve been well fed and have warned our old friend of the impending danger. Time to get the hell out of here.”
“Where to now?” asked Dillon as they both got up, leaving a pile of dirty plates and pans.
“Not telling,” smiled Alix. “The less you know. You know the routine. And remember not to use your Ferran & Cardini mobile phone. It’s linked to our G8’s and most likely useless. Listen, Dillon. I have a bad feeling about all of this. A real bad feeling.”
“Alix, your bad feelings usually turn out to be sheep in wolves clothing,” said Dillon.
Alix shrugged. “I’m just saying man. Take it or leave it — but watch your back and lock up your doors and windows securely.”
Dillon nodded, then led Alix and Lola outside into the heavy snowfall and towards their van. They thanked Dillon for breakfast and, with Alix’s grinning face mouthing the words; “See ya around big man,” from the window of the battered Mercedes van, within seconds, and through a plume of thick black exhaust fumes they disappeared out of the main gates through the snow.
Dillon watched them leave and went back inside. He sat, gazing out at the snow. He toyed with the mobile phone, but no matter how many times he tried he could not get the device to activate. The screen remained black and lifeless as he tossed it from one hand to the other, as you would a soft ball.
A roaring fire burned, crackling occasionally, the glow warming the room and contrasting the inclement snowy wilderness on the other side of the large bay windows.
Dillon stared at the mountains, their peaks invisible through the low cloud and heavy snow. On the coffee table in front of him sat his Sony Vaio laptop computer, the page blank, the cursor blinking in the top left hand corner. He flipped the mobile phone onto the floor, and remained staring at the bright screen deep in thought for a moment. He wrote:
The problem is far worse than it appears: Scorpion units assassinated while on assignment. Kirill… and Zhenya’s involvement? SAS and security service possibly in on betrayal in some way — bribery or other incentive at the highest level?
The question is — who was the real target in Cornwall? Jake Dillon? Or the delegates/party guests? Or both? Most probable that Dillon was target. But why? And by whom?
Kirill — expert in software development — Russian born — Kiev, of independent wealth, with properties in UK and Italy. Defected USSR during mid-1987. Creator of the Chimera military software programme. Developed at Kirill’s top secret establishment in Scotland for the British armed forces, and currently undergoing field trials with a number of Scorpion units. Who is the enemy?
Scorpion HQ? Ferran & Cardini? Unlikely on both counts.
Where is Kirill now? How did he get out and possibly survive the explosion at his country residence in Cornwall?
Dillon stared at the words on the screen. Ferran & Cardini knew that he was alive. He had spoken to Tatiana. And, he had sent his report to LJ direct from the helicopter that had picked him out of Cornwall. They had okayed his return to his home in Scotland and told him to wait for Vince Sharp to contact him. If it had been the firm or someone in the ministry who had wanted him dead, he was sure as hell he would already bedead. Unless it was a rogue element withinScorpion working their own agenda. Perhaps it was a situation of biding time, waiting for the right situation to arise… Like Alix and Lola turning up on his doorstep? Or Tatiana making an appearance? Had Alix and Lola’s van been tracked?
No. He shook his head. Scorpion stood for everything that was good; the global fight against terrorism in whatever form it took, cutting away the cancer of modern society with the precision of a surgeon’s knife. Every detail always thought through, there were never mistakes… Not usually…
Dillon followed the premise: if whoever it was did want the Scorpion units out of the way for good, why the elaborate set-ups? If it were Scorpion themselves; why spend billions of pounds in recruitment of the most experienced field operatives — only to kill them off?
Something just didn’t add up.
And where did the Chimera Programme fit into this jigsaw? This puzzle? Kirill was in charge of its development, programming and refinement of the software that the Scorpion units were now field testing. Dillon knew very little about the project or the programme, except what Kirill had told him, but Tatiana had obviously been involved from the start as liaison officer between Ferran & Cardini and Kirill’s department and subsequently knowing more than most about it. Three years ago, when they had shared much more than just sex, she had trusted Dillon implicitly; she would talk to him long into the small hours after the warmth and lust of their love making, her features softened by candlelight… She would talk endlessly about the advancements in computer aided warfare, which would inevitably go straight over Dillon’s head, and always surprised him that she had such an avaricious appetite for technological knowledge. And despite Dillon’s extensive experience with military techno-systems the jargon had flown way above his head. Tatiana’s involvement with the Chimera project was also something that had many questions attached to it…