Codename Angel (The Angel Chronicles Book 1) (40 page)

Chapter 109

Old Friends

The Weighed Anchor
Inn – 8:13pm

Stanford and
Frederick met outside the guesthouse and made their way down to the local pub.
A mixture of locals and visitors mingled. The atmosphere was lively and
laughter was the order of the night.

Frederick and
Stanford fought their way to the bar through the throng of people. ‘I didn’t
expect it to be this packed.’ Stanford shouted over the din of the crowded bar.

Frederick looked
behind him shaking his head. ‘There’s no way we’ll find the three men Mrs
McCloud mentioned in all this.’

The barman placed two
pints of locally brewed Highland beer on the bar in front of Frederick who
handed over the money. Stanford picked up his glass and took an approving sip.
‘I suggest we go back outside, I noticed some benches overlooking the loch.’

Frederick nodded, turned
around and walked straight into a short man who had his back to him. The man
stumbled forward a few steps spilling his drink.

‘I’m so sorry.’
Frederick apologized as the man turned to face him.

‘You!’ the man
exclaimed.

Frederick felt his
heart drop into the pit of his stomach. ‘Uh.... hello there.’ Is all he could
manage.

The man frantically
tapped the shoulder of the man standing next to him who turned. Fred Barnet
grabbed Frederick’s hand shaking it rigorously. ‘What happened to you last year
at Mildenhall?’ he asked with a young child’s enthusiasm.

Frederick struggled
to get in character. ‘I was released by the Americans, they gave me a slap on
the wrist and told me not to be naughty again.’

‘So were we, we
couldn’t believe it.’ Barnet laughed. ‘Albert was shot in the leg, but he’s
fine now.’ He then looked at Stanford. ‘Are you with him?’ he said, offering
his hand.

Stanford nodded. ‘Uh
yes I am.’ He replied shaking Barnet’s hand. ‘We were about to step outside,
it’s a bit too crowded in here.’

‘Excellent idea,
we’ll join you.’ Barnet announced.

All four men seated
themselves on a bench which was attached to a table overlooking the Loch. Fred
Barnet stared at Frederick with a mischievous look on his face. ‘I know who you
are now.’

‘I beg your pardon.’
Frederick said.

‘It’s obvious, I
pegged you last year, when you sneaked in to Mildenhall with us. There’s no way
you were just there for the fishing, and it’s more than a coincidence we should
bump into each other again all the way up here.’

‘I’m sorry I don’t
quite follow.’ Frederick said innocently.

Barnet nodded. ‘Still
playing us are you Mr Frederick.’

‘Obviously.’
Frederick replied taking a good swig from his pint glass.

‘You and your
colleague here and the two you were with last year are part of another UFO
research group.’ Barnet wagged his finger. ‘Don’t deny it; I know it to be
true.’

Stanford decided to
take advantage of Barnet’s ignorance. ‘You know what Mr Frederick we’ve been
rumbled.’

‘I knew it!’ Barnet
announced triumphantly. ‘So what’s your group called?’

Stanford gathered his
thoughts quickly. ‘We uh... represent the Flying Saucer Working Party.’

Barnet looked almost
disappointed. ‘Hmm, the Flying Saucer Working Party.’ He repeated. ‘Not a very
creative name I must say.’

‘It was all we could
come up with at the time, so it kind of stuck.’ Frederick explained, glancing
at Stanford.

‘So have you found
out anything interesting about our UFO friends or as we call them USOs.’ Albert
Atkins asked.

‘USOs?’ Stanford
queried.

‘Unidentified Submarine
Objects.’ Atkins said. ‘It’s a new term, I thought of it myself, due to the
fact that these objects seem to be operating underwater.’

‘I’m impressed.’
Stanford complimented. ‘We only arrived today, we haven’t had much time for any
proper investigation.’

‘We arrived two days
ago.’ Barnet revealed. ‘And we’ve spoken to quite a few locals who have told us
some fascinating stories about the strange goings on in the loch. Most of the
USO encounters have a common feature.’

‘Which is?’ Stanford
asked.

‘A static discharge.’

‘Fascinating.’
Frederick added.

‘Yes, our group
members believe that it’s created because of the propulsion system these craft
use.’

‘And what means of
propulsion would that be?’

‘We have yet to come
to any conclusions but we think it’s an exotic form of nuclear propulsion, far
more advanced that what we are capable of on this planet.’

Stanford finished the
rest of his pint and set it down. ‘Sounds like you chaps are well up on your
research into this phenomena.’

‘Well we are the top
UFO investigation group in the country.’ Atkins boasted. ‘Our members are
dedicated to investigating the unknown. I’m currently writing a book on the
subject of UFOs.’

‘Wow! a writer as
well.’

‘Well we as a group
feel that the public deserve an explanation of what these UFOs could be. We are
about to begin a campaign to lobby the government into releasing top secret
files regarding flying saucers.’

‘Dear lord, we should
have thought of doing that.’ Stanford said.

‘Clearly your group
lacks expertise on the matter of flying saucers.’ Atkins jibed.

‘Clearly.’ Frederick
said.

‘Anyway, we were down
at the loch this morning looking for signs of our USO friends and found a
considerable amount of diesel oil washing up on the shore.’

‘Fishing boats
operate up and down the loch day in day out.’ Stanford suggested.

Barnet shook his
head. ‘Not recently, not since the first sightings. The folk around here are
very superstitious. Since the sightings began there hasn’t been a single
fishing boat out on the loch.’

‘So what’s your
explanation of the diesel oil spill?’ Frederick enquired.

In a low voice Barnet
started to speak. ‘We believe that there are government investigators up here
looking into the matter of these sightings. And they’re going out onto the loch
in the dead of night looking for USOs.’

‘That’s going out on
a limb isn’t it?’ Stanford said.

Atkins shook his
head. ‘Not really, considering what we learned from our experiences at
Mildenhall last year. We believe that the British Government is actively
involved in clandestine operations looking into UFOs.’

‘Now you’re really
going out on a limb, I’m sure her Majesty’s government have better things to do
with their time.’

Barnet grinned
shaking his head. ‘We have first hand information, and the name of someone who
might be involved in a highly classified research group. We have yet to learn
the name of this group unfortunately.’

‘So who’s this chap
you mentioned?’ Frederick asked.

Both Barnet and
Atkins looked at each other. ‘If we tell you,’ Barnet said. ‘Will you promise
us you will not take credit for knowing such information.’

‘Cross my heart.’
Frederick promised.

Barnet remained
silent for a few seconds. ‘Henry Tizard.’ He finally said.

‘The radar pioneer.’
Stanford said.

Barnet nodded. ‘Think
about it, who better to head up such a group than the man who helped develop
one of the greatest technological achievements of the twentieth century.’
Barnet stood. ‘And that gentlemen, is all we are prepared to share with you.’

Stanford took a deep
breath. ‘And we are grateful for the information, our fellow group members will
be most fascinated to hear this, won’t they Mr Frederick.’

Frederick nodded as
he finished the rest of his pint. ‘Indeed they will Mr Stanford.’

‘Are you chaps having
another one?’ Barnet asked, holding up his empty glass.

‘That’s very kind of
you, yes please.’ Stanford said offering up his glass.

Atkins then stood
picking up his own glass and Frederick’s. ‘We’ll be back in a mo.’

Frederick and
Stanford watched the two men disappear through the pub’s main entrance. People
were starting to spill out onto the pub’s courtyard. ‘So what do you think?’
Frederick said.

‘I think we need to
find out how those two know about Tizard.’ Stanford replied. ‘His group is not
known in any public domain.’

‘Last year Barnet
mentioned that they have some sort of newsletter, and that The Duke of
Edinburgh is one of its many subscribers.’

‘That’s more than a
coincidence, considering that you encountered Peter Horsley while investigating
the Edith Jones case. I have a bottle of scotch back at the hotel I packed. Why
don’t we invite them out onto the loch later tonight? The brandy should help to
loosen their tongues a little.’

Frederick nodded.
‘Agreed.’

A few minutes later
Barnet and Atkins returned. Stanford held up his glass. ‘A toast.’ He gestured.
‘To brothers of a noble cause, the search for truth.’

‘Here here.’ Atkins
said clanking his glass against Barnet’s.

Stanford took a good
swig before setting his glass down. ‘Now, how would you chaps like to come out
with us onto the loch later on?’ Stanford invited.

‘You managed to hire
a boat?’ Barnet asked, suspicion clearly evident in his tone. ‘How? The locals
have not been hiring.’

‘We found a local who
was, although I had to give him a considerable amount of money.’ Stanford
looked at both men. ‘You were kind enough to share information with us a few
minutes ago, it’s only fair that we return the favour.’

Atkins and Barnet
then nodded enthusiastically. ‘We were planning on heading back home tomorrow,
but I’m sure we can manage a little boat trip.’

‘Excellent, I have a
fishing rod back at the hotel I’d like to grab.’ Stanford said. ‘Even if we
don’t see anything spectacular, we’re guaranteed a sumptuous breakfast in the
morning.’

Chapter 110

The Boat

Loch Ness – 10:56pm

The full moon shone
down on the Loch’s mirror like surface, creating a mesmerising reflection of
the star filled sky above. The four men had been out on the loch for just over
an hour and had yet to see anything. Stanford had already caught four good sized
salmon and had just thrown his line back. Frederick manned the sonar, but all
he had sighted so far were shoals of fish that passed under the boat.

Albert Atkins sipped
from the tin cup which Stanford had just handed him and gazed at the heavens.
‘You know considering the amount of stars there are in our night sky it’s
impossible to imagine that we are the only planet with life on it.’

Frederick glanced up
taking in a lung full of air. ‘How many planets do you think have life on
them?’

‘Dozens perhaps, or
even hundreds. All of them inhabited by beings who are probably wondering the
same thing as we are right now.’

‘It’s an interesting
hypothesis.’ Stanford said giving the sky a quick scan. ‘Let me ask you chaps
this, why do you believe in UFOs?’

‘That’s easy.’
Barnett answered. ‘For me it’s a fundamental drive, life has formed on this
planet and has spread all over. Why can’t the same be true with the rest of our
universe? In nature we see patterns all the time, repeating all over the place.
That fact alone demonstrates that the same must be true out there amongst the
millions of stars that exist. Besides anything has got to be better than this
planet.’

Frederick fixed his
stare on the sonar, An object was showing up below them.

‘How so?’ Stanford
asked with puzzlement.

‘Look at us.’ Barnet
stated. ‘The way we act towards each other with all our wars and other methods
we use to happily kill each other. When you see what’s happening in the rest of
the world, it almost makes you ashamed to be human.’

Stanford didn’t have
an answer and sipped from his cup.

‘I’m not sure but I
think we have something.’ Frederick announced breaking the silence. The sonar
started to ping steadily. ‘It’s below us moving quite fast, four hundred feet.’

The other three men
were now looking over the side of the boat and were aware of a shimmering blue
light coming up from the depths of the loch. ‘Incredible.’ Atkins gasped.

‘Three hundred feet
and closing fast.’ Frederick announced glaring at the sonar which quickened its
ping. ‘Two hundred and fifty feet and closing.’

The blue light below
began to expand beyond the fishing boat in all directions. ‘Two hundred feet.’
Frederick shouted. ‘One hundred feet....’

The blue light engulfed
the small fishing boat bathing it in a sky blue aura. ‘BRACE FOR IMPACT!’
Stanford screamed.

All four men grabbed
what they could to stop themselves being flung over the side, and held their
breath.

After what seemed an
eternity Frederick looked at the sonar. ‘It’s stopped twenty feet below us.’ He
said.

Stanford could feel
his heart beat again and looked down into the loch. The object glided
effortlessly off to the side and moved down the loch. ‘There’s no way we’ll be
able to keep pace in this bloody tub.’ Stanford cursed.

The sonar continued
to ping ominously. ‘There’s something else below us, one hundred and fifty feet
and closing fast.’ Frederick revealed.

The shimmering blue
light had gone, leaving nothing but the reflective surface of the loch. ‘I can’t
see anything!’ Atkins shouted as he stared into the black water.

‘Seventy five feet
and closing.’ Frederick barked.

‘Shit.’ Stanford
seethed. ‘Here we go again, hold on to something!’ He ordered.

The water under the
boat started to surge, causing the vessel to lurch to one side. Atkins and
Barnet clung to the side rail. ‘Hard to bloody starboard!’ Stanford yelled.

Frederick grabbed the
boat’s wheel and spun it, pushing the throttle. The boat’s idle engine roared
into life and the boat surged forward.

‘We’re clear!’ Barnet
cried.

‘Clear of what
exactly?’ Stanford demanded to know as he looked behind.

In the light of the
full moon Frederick could make out the black lifeless silhouette of a submarine
which had just surfaced a few dozen yards behind. Frederick grabbed a torch and
shone it along the side of the submarine. His heart skipping a beat as a
Russian Red star came into view. A hatch was flung open and several heavily
armed men appeared pointing their guns at the small fishing boat.