Chapter 7
After double-backing on themselves for nearly half an hour through the various streets of London Commander Strong was confident that they hadn't been followed.
Once he was sure of this fact, Strong drove them straight to the one place they would be able to speak freely and that was how two of his favourite Marines found themselves on the unsavoury side of Soho.
Strong was reluctant to leave the 2014 black Land Rover parked on the street outside but there was nothing he could do, he just hoped the tinted windows discouraged any wandering hands in fear that it belonged to someone important and that someone would want to cut off their hands if they marked the paintwork.
They crossed the road in silence and stepped around some scaffolding as pairs of eyes turned to look at them with interest, three Marines walking up the street of Soho passing strip clubs and porn shops as if it was a common occurrence.
Near the end of the street stood a four storey red-bricked building with a mould and slime growing up the outer wall. The panel in the front door was smashed with bags of litter piled high to the side.
Jules glanced behind her as they stepped inside and the door slammed shut behind them. Instantly, the noise from outside was blocked and replaced with the buzzing of fluorescent lights.
The strong scent of bleach burned her nostrils but it did nothing to impede on the rotten stench that came from within. It was so strong that Julia wondered if they had tried to wash the walls down with it.
"What is this place?" Marc asked as Commander Strong led them up the narrow flight of stairs. Julia's boots slipped on something wet but she did not hang around to find out what it was.
"What this place is, is safe," Strong glanced back at them over his shoulder but his expression was lost under shadows since half the lights towards the second level had been smashed, "And that's all that matters right now."
Safe? Jules frowned, it did not look very safe to her when a door opened to their right and a half-emaciated man appeared with his dread-locked hair falling around his sunken cheeks and only a pair of, what used to be, blue pants hanging from his hips.
He stared at three Marines with dazed confusion, "Hey man," he slurred, "Is this a bust?"
Julia saw the track marks on his arms and her eyes turned to look at the table in the living room. It was littered with pieces of tin foil and needles.
Yeah, this was really safe.
They ignored the man and turned off down a corridor. When she looked back, he was just shutting his front door.
"This is it," Strong nodded to the last door on the right, "We should be alright in here for now," Strong produced a key from his pocket and it slipped effortlessly into the lock as if it had been used frequently.
Julia and Marc shared a look.
What was Commander Strong doing that he needed to rent a dodgy flat in the darker suburbs of London?
But he was still their Commander and he had answers concerning Safia so they didn't hesitate when he ushered them in.
As they stepped over the threshold Jules felt as if she had been transported to a different universe. The beige carpet, cream walls and bare surfaces was a world away from the yellow-tinged walls and stained tiled flooring that the corridor had had to offer.
The flat was almost completely empty except for a beige sofa, a few books stacked on the floor beside it that nobody ever read and a kettle in the kitchen.
"They shouldn't find us here." Strong shut the door behind them and Julia was reminded as to why she was here.
"Who's 'they'?" Marc asked him.
Strong pretended not to hear him, "I would offer you both a drink but I don't think I have anything in. I normally pop to the shops before I come here but today's visit is quite unplanned."
"How often do you come here?" Julia remembered the key, "Commander, what is this place? And what has it got to do with Safia?"
"Sit, sit," Strong ushered them towards the sofa and Julia reluctantly perched herself on the edge whilst Marc took the space next to her.
Commander Strong carried a chair in from the bedroom and set it opposite them. Julia felt as if she had been called in front of the head master and was expecting to be told off any moment.
"To answer your question, Julia, I started renting this flat a few days after I discovered that I was being followed. I thought it would be a good idea to have somewhere that probably isn't bugged."
Julia and Marc looked at each other from the corner of their eyes.
Strong leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees as he saw their small exchange, "So you two know that you're being followed. Good."
"But who is following us? And why?" Marc asked, taking the matter more seriously.
"And what has this got to do with Safia?" Julia added.
"I'm getting there," Strong stretched out a hand towards Julia, motioning for her to relax, before he answered Marc's question, "MI5. They're concerned you may something about an operation they're trying to keep under wraps."
Julia frowned, "But they only just started following us about a week ago, how could we know anything about an operation?"
"The operation has been ongoing for a couple of months now," Strong replied, "But only recently has international tension been this high and today-" Strong let out a long breath, "Today marked the third failed attempt to solve the issue."
Julia let out her own sigh as Strong kept tiptoeing around, "What is the main issue and why would MI5 think we know about it?"
"Because of me and our relationship," Strong's eyes turned sad at the corners, "They were worried that I could not remain impartial."
Julia and Marc could tell that this was difficult for him. His shoulders were slumped forward as he seemed to battle with himself as to whether he ought to tell them what he knew or not.
On the one hand he had signed a secrecy pact but on the other Marc and Jules were his Marines and this affected them perfectly. And MI5 had had their chance.
"And they were right," Strong sat up straight and his voice had raised in volume, "I cannot remain impartial, not any more, not when I believe the security of our nation to be at risk as well."
Julia and Marc's back instantly straightened, preparing for duty.
"Marc, pick up that book there." Strong pointed to a blue hardback book with the word 'Mathematics' stamped across the front as he got to his feet and disappeared back inside the bedroom.
Marc gathered up the five hundred paged book and turned it over in his hand. He arched an eyebrow at Jules as if to say 'what's so important about this?'
As he turned it over, Jules caught a glimpse of a slight gap about half way through the pages which shouldn't have been there.
Jules held out her hand and Marc placed the book carefully into her palm. Holding it shut, Julia shook the book slightly and heard something rattle inside of it. Marc frowned as he heard it too.
Taking care, Julia grasped the front cover in her left hand and the back cover in her right hand and turned the book upside down, pulling the covers apart as she did so.
As the pages swung apart, a small white memory stick dropped into her lap. Picking up the memory stick, barely a few inches long, Julia placed the book onto her lap and opened it up halfway through.
A small square, roughly three inches long and three inches wide, had been hollowed out inside the pages to conceal the memory stick.
"Ah, you found it." Strong reappeared carrying a metallic grey military style laptop, "Good. Hand it over."
Julia did as she was told. The book on mathematics stayed open on her lap.
Everyone waited in silence as the laptop booted up and Strong typed a few strings of code into the keyboard before plugging in the USB.
"This is everything I could get my hands on," Strong told them as his eyes searched the screen, opened a few folders and selected the right images, "Here."
Turning the laptop around, he passed it over to Marc and let their eyes digest what they were seeing.
Julia stared at the screen for a few moments before she realised what she was meant to be seeing. There were images of three separate compounds and layouts, images of individual children and Jules spotted Safia among them.
Marc clicked on the keyboard and a video podcast filled the screen. The video would glitch and some of the screen would go black but they could both see a large group of children sat on the floor, hugging their knees to their chests, as men with armed guns stood around them.
The voice of a man was speaking over the video in Arabic.
Julia saw Safia sat on the outer left side of the circle with her head buried in her knees as the rifle end of a gun hung low over her shoulder.
Jules clenched her jaw as she saw the fear she was in, "When was this taken?"
Strong didn't respond straight away so Julia looked up.
"I'm sorry," Strong swallowed, "But this video was taken nearly three months ago."
Three months?
"Three months?!" Jules exclaimed, her hand forming a fist by her side.
Marc reached across and covered her hand with his as he spoke to Commander Strong, "Why are you telling us this now?"
Julia was caught off guard by Marc's action since he had avoided touching her for weeks now but when he touched her hand it was natural and easy, like it had been before.
"Because MI5 aren't getting anywhere-"
"-So if they had saved them, would you ever have told us about it?" Julia demanded.
"You know I would have," Strong locked eyes with Julia and the authority in them made her back down.
"-I think there is a leak inside the security agency," Strong continued.
"A leak?" Marc whistled.
Strong nodded, "This is the third time they have sent out a rescue mission and the third time its failed. We are able to locate where they're holding the children but by the time our teams arrive they've miraculously moved on in the nick of time. So either its damned good luck . . ."
"Or someone is tipping them off." Marc finished.
"Exactly, and if we're going to save the children and protect our country then we're going to need some outside help."
"And that's where we come in?" Jules shook her head softly. MI5 couldn't do their own dirty work so they shove it off onto them.
Collateral damage, Jules thought the phrase was.
"MI5 are desperate for this information not to be leaked to the British public-"
"Of course they are," Julia scoffed, "26 children and three botched rescue attempts! They'll look like laughing stocks!"
Strong didn't appreciate her sarcasm, "Hence why we've got our little friends following us everywhere, and I wouldn't be surprised if they haven't tapped our phones as well."
"But why Safia?" Julia ran a hand across her mouth, "Where is the threat to Great Britain from kidnapping twenty-six children?"
"It's not the children, at least not entirely," Strong commented, "The Taliban have been taking children to turn into child soldiers for a while now."
Julia remembered where they had found Safia, she had been on her way to being one of those. To think that they had simply delayed that terrible fate made Julia want to be sick.
"However, this is the first time they've taken children from a high-end orphanage, they usually attack low-risk orphanages where the children aren't going to be reported missing. Some of these children however have ties to some of Afghanistan's most prominent officials, hence the ransom photographs and videos."
"But you said it wasn't the children, not entirely." Marc frowned.
"The threat to our country comes from-" Strong leaned across and tapped on the keyboard, bringing up the image of a young woman with light brunette hair, large doe-like green eyes and prominent cheek bones, "-this lady."
"Who is she?" Julia stared at the image; the woman couldn't have been any older than twenty-five.
Strong didn't speak for a moment and Julia and Marc both turned to look at him.
"She is the Prime Minister's niece," Strong bowed his head a little.
"No wonder they wanted it kept under wraps." Jules murmured under her breath.
"We don't yet think that the Taliban are aware of whom she is, but it is only a matter of time."
"What the hell was she doing over there?" Marc asked.
"Volunteer work," Strong rolled his eyes.
"I'm sure I don't have to tell you what could happen if the Taliban figure out who she is, do I?" Strong looked between them and they both shook their heads.
"Does the Prime Minister know?"
"He is aware of the situation, yes," Strong nodded and they all fell into a stunned silence as they absorbed all the information into their brains.
"Marc, Julia," Strong said their names softly, looking down at his hands, "What I'm going to ask of you now is going to be-"
"-You don't have to ask us anything sir," Marc placed the laptop to the side and rose to his feet.
Julia stood beside him, her hands clasped behind her back and eyes straight ahead.
"That is very commendable Lieutenant, Sergeant, but you must be aware that this will be an unsanctioned mission," Strong stood and addressed them, "You will have no support from your government."
"We are aware, sir," Julia replied, her lips dry.
When neither of them appeared to back down, Strong felt a small smile of pride touch his lips.
"Very well," Strong coughed to cover the catch in his throat, "We must return soon or our absence shall be noted, but we shall talk soon."
"Lieutenant," Strong removed the USB from the laptop and pressed it into Marc's hand, "You should keep this."
After they had cleaned the apartment and replaced anything that they had moved out of place, they slipped out of the apartment and back down the corridor.
The junkie man they had passed on the way up did not reappear and as they left the building, Jules was struck by a strange sense of certainty that she would never be coming back here.