Deadly States (Seaforth Files by Nicholas P Clark Book 2) (55 page)

relaxed to the point
of informality. They were either trying to lull him
into a false sense of

security, or they were every bit as bored with the sound of Jack’s voice
as Jack himself was.
After all of the questions and additional questions
in light of his responses Jack feared that the main points of the mission
had been lost in a mass of the irrelevant.

At six o’clock on the Friday
evening the interrogations finally
ended and Jack sighed with genuine relief. It was memorable to Jack as it
was such a
civilised hour to bring the proceedings to an
end. For a
moment he could imagine what it would be like to work in a normal
profession,
keeping to strict
business
hours in an
effort to
maintain
the right work-home balance. Jack wondered if the
men asking the
questions
did stick to such a routine, and were their loving families
waiting for them to get in from work on time at the weekends so that
their precious time together could begin—Friday night supper, and a
Saturday trip to the zoo with the kids; perhaps an early Sunday morning round of golf? His musings were brought to an abrupt end when a
secretary
entered the
interrogation
room as
the
proceedings
were
being wrapped-up.

“Commander Deeley wants to see you at the front
of the building
when you have finished,” she said, directing the instruction at Jack.
Jack nodded to indicate that he understood. The fact that she had
simply referred to Jack as “you” somehow made the effort
of a verbal
response from him seem unnecessary. It was somehow fitting and unsurprising that Deeley wanted to see him one last time before he left
as he had barely left him alone for a minute since he returned. When he
went down to the front
of the building he found Deeley sitting behind
the wheel of a black Range Rover. The make of vehicle, and the colour
in particular, somehow seemed to marry perfectly with the man’s pretentions. The motor from the electric window
on the passenger’s side
stuttered, and then purred, as the glass slowly lowered. The stuttering
electric window somehow took the drama out of the moment.
“Get
in,” Deeley
instructed, in a tone which was lost in the no
man’s land between formal instruction and friendly request.
Jack struggled to suppress a teenage roll of his eyes before he obeyed
the commander. Jack got into the car and he shuffled slightly in an
effort to
make the hard seat a little
more comfortable—he was not
successful and so he gave up. Ten minutes later and much of Greater

London had been left behind them. They had been driving in complete silence and Jack was determined not to be the one to break that
silence. Eventually Deeley
began to explain what was going
on. Jack
tried to respond as little as possible. He was tired and he wanted some
time to himself. He had a life outside work, such as it was, and if losing himself in a bottle of Scotch as he obsessed over the loss
of
Alexa
was
how
he chose to spend his
personal time then Deeley
had no
right to stand in his way.

“Officially
everyone back at HQ is in a right state over what you
have
done,” Deeley
said.
“And Whitehall
has
been
getting
into a
complete spin. Though a
parking ticket
on a
ministerial limousine is
enough to get Whitehall into a complete spin these days.”

A pause.
“And unofficially?” Jack asked, almost passively.
Deeley smiled.
“Unofficially, you did
one hell
of a job. The entire region is in a

more dangerous state than ever and with extremists on both sides carrying greater sway
over
policy, it is
only a
matter
of time before one
side
or the
other does something that starts the biggest conflict since
the last World War. With the old guard in Russia still firmly in charge
of the
military we are looking at the possibility
of an international
conflict involving nuclear armed superpowers. What you stopped out
there may never be made public but the fact that the intelligence communities in the countries that
matter
know about it
means that all
sides will be more careful about the kind of bullshit they try to pull.
At
least for a time. They know that we are watching them. Or, to be honest, Israel knows that Washington is watching them.
America will be
very
careful
before they
step in with
military assistance if a real
incident
does take place in the future.
At least we hope that there are
enough
cool
heads in Washington to keep them
out
of a self-made
crisis.”

“And how long is,
a time
, sir? How long before some genius comes
up with another fool proof scheme that takes the world to the brink?”
Jack asked, with resignation in his voice.

“Honestly Jack... Months. Maybe a year
or two if we are very fortunate.
You
know
how the game is
played. A hell
of a lot
of
back
breaking work for very little compensation—but it is that tiny reward

that stands between civilisation continuing, and everything we know
and love coming to an abrupt
end.. Luck, tenacity and sheer
bloody
mindedness is all that we have in the end.
And thank god you have all
three in spades.”

“Thank god indeed, sir,” Jack said, dismissively.
A longer pause.
“You may find it hard to believe Jack, but I do understand some
of

what you are feeling right
now. I
have had to give up people in the
past.
People who I
cared about. When you first
entered the service
you were told that it would be a lonely life. Even when you were surrounded by people you would always carry weighty secrets that would
leave you feeling lonely and exposed. A wife and kids is not for
men
like you and I. It doesn’t make it any
easier to bear by having me tell
you what you already know, but there it is.
Alexa and you were never
going to happen. You know that better than anyone. ”

Uncomfortable
pause.
Maddening
delight
etched across
Deeley’s
face.
“I understand Jack. I really
do. But I have to warn you that you
must put all ideas of seeing her again out of your mind. I know you. I
know that you are not the kind of man who simply walks away from
something important.
And I get the feeling that she was perhaps the
most important thing to enter your life in a long time. For your sake,
and in protection of her life, you must let her go.”
His words were sincere, but perceived or real, Jack detected a sadistic tone running through everything he said.
“As I have already said, sir, it is done.”
“I hope that is true Jack. I really do.”
“Like I said, it’s done.
And besides, I’m hardly likely to go jetting
off
to the Middle East when I can’t even take a piss these days without you
there looking over my shoulder,” he added caustically.
Jack turned away from Deeley and he looked out of the window as
the city slowly gave way to countryside. He had thought about asking
where they were going but the thought
of asking anything from Deeley, even something that simple, grated on him—he would not give
the commander the satisfaction.
For a short
eternity nothing further was said, until finally Deeley
broke the self-imposed impasse.
“We are going to
our country residence for the weekend,” he announced.
Jack remained silent, stoic, and fuming on the inside.
“The events
of the last few
days have illustrated to us all, and to
you in particular, just how dangerous the world has become. Jack, you
are
one
of the few
men in British intelligence who understands how
important it is for us to be ready for the day when some mad men finally slip through the net and light the touch paper
on a conflict that
could end everything. Politicians can have the realities
of
our world
explained to them a million times but what we tell them is so abstract
and distant from the world that they inhabit that it all goes in one ear
and straight
out the
other
ear.
And unfortunately that information
finds no resistance whosoever as it makes that short journey.”
Jack smiled slightly. Perhaps there was some hope for Deeley after
all? If he had the humanity to make a joke in the middle of such an
earnest
speech then
perhaps Jack
could connect with
him
on some
level.
“The building we are about to enter is completely secure. You have
been there before. In that one place we are free to talk about all things
without fear from our
own side or from our foreign enemies. In that
place we can imagine those nightmares that the political class shy away
from and we can make preparations for the day when one or more of
those nightmares becomes reality.”
“If we do our jobs right, sir, then that day might never come,” Jack
said.
“In over ten thousand years of recorded history, we can be certain
of
one thing. The nightmare always comes, in the end. It is up to us,
and us alone, to make certain that something of us and our way
of life
survives. I want to share with you our plans for survival because you
have the experience to see the possibilities. That is why we are here.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Jack said, as they drove past the security checkpoint at the entrance to the estate without being stopped.
For two days Jack was lectured on surviving theworst case scenario.
His mind was elsewhere and try as he might he simply couldn’t engage
with what he was being told. It was disaster planning on an obsessive
scale, and it indicated to him that within their organisation there were
simply too many
people with too much time on their hands. A quick
shot
of reality would help them see a little perspective. By the time he
had listened to dozens of ways in which the world might end and how
the British way
of life was to be preserved, he felt every bit as disinterested as those politicians whom Deeley
had so roundly
dismissed as
fools. If any of the doomsday prophecies came to pass he would make
his way to Scotland and do what he could to look after his family—
maintaining a command structure, military defence and response, and
even a working civil service, would be the last things
on his mind at
such a time—it would be a time
of
personal crisis, for
everyone. By
the time Deeley
dropped Jack
off at the safe house in London,
midmorning on the Monday, it was clear to the commander that Jack was
not as impressed by the weekend as he had hoped.
As Jack was getting
out of the Ranger Rover Deeley said one last thing to him.
“Just remember, Jack, the mad men eventually get their way. It is
up to you to make sure that they
don’t get everything that they want.
Denying them total victory
may be the only thing that we can do by
way of a response, and we must be ready to act. Always.”
“You know how to get in touch with me,” Jack said.
Jack never thought for
one moment that as he walked away from
the Range Rover it would be such a long time before he would speak
to Deeley again. Nor did he imagine that the mad men
of whom he
so passionately spoke had been all around him on that weekend. They
had decided that Jack would never be one of them. A useful foot soldier
perhaps,
given the right set
of
circumstances,
but a
co-conspirator? That would never happen.
As long as there was that possibility
that he might be of some use to them, no matter how minor that role
was, Jack was safe, but the moment he posed a threat to them, he was
a marked man.
He
eventually
got to that
bottle
of
Scotch,
but release from the
pain
of losing
Alexa was not found at the bottom
of the bottle. He
would not give up on her. Not
ever. She was his reward for the life he
had given over to the protection of others; she was his soul mate; she