12 Minutes (#2 in Military series)

Chapter 36

"There," Wallace let out a deep sigh as she stepped back and turned to Strong and Truro with a steel-like gaze, "Now that that's dealt with-" She strutted past them towards the telephone from which the Prime Minister was listening and raised the receiver to her ear, "Mr. Prime Minister your niece is safely on board our aircraft and they will shortly be entering the safety zone. Do you wish for us to proceed?"

Strong and Truro shared a look as well as everyone else in the control room. People had stopped what they were doing and were watching apprehensively. They had not known about a second stage to their plans.

Wallace seemed to be listening intently, the corners of her lips pulled tightly inwards before she gave a nod of her head, "It shall be done, sir." She placed the receiver back in the cradle, walked back to the centre of the floor and turned to address everyone.

"As of one minute ago everyone in this room who doesn't need to be here must leave," She ordered them, "Please turn off all mobile devices and wait outside. You will be called back in shortly."

It took a few moments for her words to sink in but the commanding tone of her voice made everyone get to their feet and almost march out of the room single file without a second blink. Strong and Truro looked to Wallace for guidance on whether they ought to stay or leave when she answered the question for them.

"You two may stay but Commander everything from here on in never happened, are we clear?"

"Perfectly Ma'am," Strong found himself almost clamping his boots together and saluting before he caught himself, "Can I ask wha-"

"-No," Patricia interrupted, not turning from the room as she watched everyone leave, "You may not ask anything."

Strong felt as if he had been chided until he heard the distant buzz of the only door into the control room locking, leaving them the only three people in the room. Truro looked around at the empty control room in confusion- he couldn't remember the last time he had seen it this empty.

"This is in the strictest confidence from the Prime Minister," Patricia divulged to them now that they were alone, "And, as I said before, this never happened."

"Okay, but what is it?" Truro asked but Patricia just turned away and didn't reply. Truro and Strong exchanged a look of disconcertion. Wallace lifted the same black transmitter she had just been using a moment ago to her lips and spoke into it.

"Ghost1, what is your ETA, over?" Patricia asked as she arched an eyebrow, staring at the screen where the drone was still circling the compound. The speakers had been turned off so their conversation only came over the radio and only they could hear it.

Looking to the screen like Patricia was Strong saw the dozen or so heat signatures of the insurgents that were left were dotted about the screen. He assumed they were probably looking for Abbas's body to bury as well as scavenging their weapons. He wondered what these men would do now that Abbas was dead; would they disperse and fade out of the radical lifestyle but Strong's training told him differently. His training told him that there was already somebody beneath Abbas preparing to step up and take his place which was why they always tried to capture, if they could, and not to kill the leaders. They were no good to them dead, but alive they were a wealth of knowledge, knowing far more than a foot soldier that had just been recruited to blow themselves up. But all the knowledge Abbas had known was lost to them, and Strong did not mind that too much this time considering what Abbas had schemed and done. Turning his head a fraction to the left he could see the lone screen which had been set to the local news station where a repetitive stream of images and amateur footage of the crisis unfolding in London was being played and he found himself immediately standing straighter and trying to imagine being stood next to Jules when she shot the mastermind behind this. He wished he had been the one to pull the trigger.