Scorpion's Reach, page 3
“Find Helen and Kevin.” She ordered, “I’ll sort out a sling, but can you go look for them, please.” She changed her tone slightly. Feeling special that he was paying so much attention to her. But there were others who needed help, and she really didn’t want to get into the ‘ordering her man about’ scenario.
“Okay, but first we call the Ambulance” Joey reached for the mobile he was carrying in his pocket. He handed it to Sandy. It had some interesting features on the phone. It was constantly monitored by MI6, and they both knew that Sir Michael would know of the accident before they got off the phone. It really was an emergency phone where they could be contacted at all times.
“I, I’m okay”. Sandy was a little shaky. Joey wanted to stay with her but knew what was coming next. “You need to go check the others. See if they’re okay, please.” She grimaced, clearly in pain. But a steely, determined look he’d learned to recognize and not argue with came onto her face.
The first rule in accident first aid is triage. To find and treat the most serious patients first, Sandy was injured, but nowhere near the most serious injury. The others would be worse.
“Give me the phone and get a move on!” Sandy was taking charge. “I’ll call the ambulance” he pulled the phone out, tapped the emergency number and handed it to her as soon as the operator came on the line.
“Which service do you require?”
Joey was already moving when he heard Sandy say, “Ambulance.” They were going to need all three, but the comms centres for all three were linked. As soon as one got the call, the others would pick it up and prioritize the fatalities and injuries, putting them right up there at the top. He could hear her giving details as he moved away.
The car had taken a ten-meter section of the crash barrier with it as it went down the incline. There was a gaping hole right there, and only the empty posts at the end of the section. He could see where the barriers had been ripped from the posts with the force of the car’s momentum. He took a quick look down the incline. The sight that met his eyes was gruesome.
Kevin had been next to them. With Helen a little further along, he could see Kevin, at least what was left of him, and it was horrible.
Joey had seen some pretty rough things in his time, but this was ‘right up there’ with the worst of them. The car had been travelling at speed and had trapped him between the car and the crash barrier, literally slicing him almost completely in two. Kevin’s torso and legs lay at an angle that even if the spine was broken, there’s no way they could twist that way and still be connected to the body.
“Guess that answers that one.” Joey said quietly to himself. “Better concentrate on finding the living.” He began looking again, scanning the incline first to check if she was there.
He found her at the other end of where the crash barrier re-started. She’d been hit a glancing blow and thrown over the barrier. But she wasn’t breathing.
Normally, you’d make sure not to move an injured person where possible. You might do more damage and could end up paralysing them for life. The only exception is when they’re not breathing. Then the priority is to get them breathing again, and that means doing CPR or ‘Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation’. Joey got straight into it without even thinking.
The first thing he did was check the mouth to make sure there was nothing blocking the airway. A quick visual check and a poke around with his fingers cleared the mouth of the two teeth that had been knocked out.
He was careful. Tilting the head back trying really hard not to move her head too far. He didn’t want to move the spine any more than he absolutely had to. Then he pinched the nose and took a deep breath. Then leaning over ‘mouth to mouth’, he breathed into her mouth.
“Six breaths and massage the heart.” Was his thought as he lay the head down and moved to the chest. One hand above the other, he pushed hard and reasonably fast on her sternum. Six hard quick pushes and he was back to the breaths. He kept going, alternating between the two until he heard the sound of sirens.
Joey’s senses were in overdrive. He was working giving Helen the CPR, but at the same time, his brain was taking everything in and noting where everything was. The threat assessment part of his training had kicked in big time.
There were no immediate threats to him and Sandy. But it was the little things his brain was noticing as he worked on Helen, noticing yet not actively looking. Noticing tyre tracks down on the beach. They were new and looked like 4x4 tracks. Then a man clad in black walking away from the McLaren. Joey wanted to yell at the guy, but something stopped him. He thought little of it at the time and he had enough to do, so he just ‘filed the information’ to talk to the cops about when they took his statement.
“I’ll take over now sir” he half looked up as a fireman threw himself down beside him and motioned him to move over. He gladly gave the job over and almost collapsed on the ground. Another fireman came up carrying a defibrillator, but Helen was already beginning to breathe on her own. They started first aid for the other injuries.
The Ambulance was the next to arrive, the Fire brigade and ambulance people were all volunteers and it’d taken time to get from their regular jobs to the vehicles. They took one look at Helen’s injuries and called for the rescue helicopter from Hamilton.
“You’ll be taken to the Hospital in Thames.” The ambulance officer told Sandy. “The other, the more serious injury will be taken down to Hamilton, that’s where the spinal and neurological unit is,”
“How bad is she?” Sandy was worried.
“Fractured Vertebrae in the neck, I can’t say if the spinal column has been affected yet.” The ambulance officer, a young girl with a ponytail and gentle manner, replied. Sandy was impressed with this girl as she seemed younger than her but was taking all this carnage ‘in her stride’ yet able to care for those still needing the care. “Then there’s a couple of fractured ribs, broken pelvis and two broken legs” the girl had finished her examination of Sandy and apart from the dislocated shoulder, a few deep bruises that had originally had them thinking ‘internal bleeding’ and a sprained ankle that would need binding up for a couple of days she was ‘good to go’
Police were the last of the three services to show up. The operator had mobilized the three services in the order they would be needed with the Fire brigade first. Then the Ambulance and lastly the Police to take statements and take over ‘traffic management.’ The Police was one ‘copper’. A senior constable (by the looks of the rank insignia on the uniform) who headed straight down to the McLaren. Just as he got there, another two squad cars arrived and began setting up a traffic cordon. They were going to close the road until the McLaren was recovered, and a scene examination was done, a tow truck was on the way.
Joey made his way back to Sandy, who was getting first aid by a very attentive fireman, that is until Joey showed up, and then he became a little more ‘businesslike’.
He sat down beside Sandy and put his arm around her. She was in shock and looked totally numb.
The St John’s ambulance staff had taken over the treatment for the three of them. Helen had been stabilized, and the rescue helicopter was on its way. “It’s ten minutes away.” The paramedic treating Sandy had said. She was a quiet and efficient worker. Joey wondered what she did in her normal job. ‘Probably a helpful sales assistant’ he thought to himself.
They’d been given thermal blankets to wrap around themselves. Joey gave his up and wrapped it around Sandy. She didn’t seem to notice. All he could hear from her was “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry”
“Hey” Joey spoke softly to her. “It wasn’t your fault!” She just looked at him as he gently put his arm around her. Sandy wasn’t one to show emotions. She usually kept them bottled up inside. Afraid that if they got out, people would think less of her. But somehow it was just different with Joey. Around him, she felt safe. She felt she could show her true self even with the emotional baggage. Instead of pulling away as she’d do with anyone else, she turned and moved closer to him, feeling safe.
The dam that was her emotions and had withstood so much in the past would have ruptured. Flooding everything in its path, but she’d found one with whom she could open the ‘sluice gates’ of emotion and relieve the pressure. The dam would not break while Joey was there to turn to. She simply turned towards him and the tears quietly came.
It was a full five minutes before he heard those tears subside. He didn’t interrupt or say anything. The truth was, he did not know what to say, anyway. He just sat there quietly, trying to think of something to say, yet knowing whatever he said just wouldn’t be adequate. Finally, as the tears subsided, he heard Sandy’s voice quietly say, “Thank you”
He almost asked “What for?” as he’d no idea what he should be doing or saying, yet it seemed the right thing to do. Instead, he just said, “You’re welcome.”
They were still holding each other when one of the police approached. He was fairly young looking copper. ‘Probably not long out of Police College’ was their initial reaction. Black hair, brown eyes, muscular build standing about five nine in height ‘rugby build, Joey guessed. “Which one, union or league?” He asked.
“Huh” the cop was a bit thrown by the question. He was meant to be the one asking questions. “League,” he replied. “How'd You work that out?”
“Sorry, just very observant,” Joey replied in an almost apologetic tone. The last thing he wanted was to annoy this guy; he was only here to take statements after all.
“Thank you for your patience,” the copper began. “I’m officer,” he began. It wasn’t like they were going anywhere. At least he was being polite, just trying to help what he must have thought were two shattered and terrified tourists. Sandy still had a bit of a vacant look about her, but Joey was quietly watching everything. Taking all the details in. “My name’s officer Kingi and I’ll be starting your statements, just the basics, then the senior constable will run through them with you later when you’ve had time to compose yourselves. Did either of you see the car before the crash?”
“Oh” they both replied almost in unison, it was odd as police normally like to get the statements properly at the start and only go over them if there’s a discrepancy, at least that’s what the movies show. It was almost as if the sergeant was saying “I don’t trust you” at the start.
“I saw everything.” Joey spoke up. “The car came round the corner doing at least a hundred,” he began.
“Kilometres?” Officer Kingi asked.
“No, miles,” Joey replied, “Take a look at the tyre tracks on the road, you’ll see they’re way bigger than they’d be for someone doing a mere sixty miles an hour,” he pointed to the skid marks they could see from where they were sitting. “He was still accelerating, but trying like crazy to stop, which was nuts. He was bricking himself.” Joey saw the cop look confused. “I mean scared shitless.”
“Never heard that one before,” Officer Kingi replied, glancing up from his notes, “but point taken now.”
The next ten minutes were taken up with Joey recounting the encounter in graphic detail. He noticed that the copper was wearing a name badge saying ‘Hene’. His full name was ‘Hene Kingi.’ Joey filed that information away in his brain for future use. But the copper was having problems accepting all that Joey was telling him, it’s well known that people can make things up so they seem more important than they really are in an investigation. He wondered if Joey was doing that.
“You seem pretty sure of what happened,” Hene began. “Are you sure of what you’re telling me?”
“Absolutely,” Joey replied with no hint of offence, “I’m used to dealing with high-stress situations.”
“This is a little more than just as ‘high’ stress situation” Hene replied, “Fatal crashes usually”
“Are usually the worst,” Joey finished the reply. “In my line of work I’m used to dealing with them, and often dealing with fatalities as well.”
Hene decided he really didn’t want to know what line of work could expose a man to this sort of carnage.
Just as they were wrapping the statements up one of the Ambulance crew came back towards them, they’d managed to carry Helen down a little way and two of the crew along with the Doctor and Paramedic from the Helicopter rescue unit were busy strapping her into the back of the helicopter, as soon as she was strapped in the doctor and paramedic climbed into the back, the engine pitch changed and the vessel began to rise as soon as the door was closed.
“They’re taking the Lady to Waikato Hospital.” The crew person, the petite blonde who’d treated them earlier, explained. “We’ll take you to Thames for treatment, and then arrange for transport for you to get to her,”
“Thank you” Sandy was grateful. She didn’t really want to be separate from her sister right at this moment, but there was no way they’d all fit into the machine, and Helen really needed the urgent attention. “There’s no need though, just point us to where we can hire a car for a little while”
It was just then that Sandy’s phone buzzed, they’d forgotten that when she called the Ambulance someone else had listened in to the call. It was them texting now. The message was simple and said: “Report in ASAP!”
Chapter 4
The mobile phone is actually a miniature radio capable of transmitting messages over vast distances. We don’t notice it because the frequency they use is too powerful to stay near the earth’s surface and head off into space in a straight line. Put a ‘rebroadcast station’ in the line of sight though, and you can transmit incredible distances.
The way the telecom networks get around it is put another receiver/transmitter out into space to rebroadcast the signal to earth. We call them satellites. One such picked up Sandy’s call, a small piece of computer code built into the phone and transmitted, told the satellite someone else needed to know about the call so it was recorded and sent to both locations.
Twelve thousand miles from them and after a journey of twenty-six thousand miles, a computer picked the information up and an alarm went off, and it wasn’t a silent one.
“What the?” Sir Michael was wrenched into waking. He propped himself up and looked at his clock. It said 3.45am, but it wasn’t the clock alarm. He reached for his phone and looked at the number. He recognized it straight away, GCHQ Cheltenham. The top-secret branch of the government responsible for eavesdropping on whomever they need to.
Reaching for the phone, he hit the ‘answer’ icon and without identifying himself simply said, “at 3.45am! This better be important”
“Sorry for waking you Sir Michael,” the male voice on the end of the line didn’t sound sorry at all. He sounded businesslike and got straight to the point. “You requested we monitor several mobile phones, one of them just placed a call you might be,”
“Good God man, can’t this wait?” He hadn’t meant every damn call, for heaven’s sake! ‘are these people thick?’ was his thought.
“It was to the emergency services sir,” the operator continued, “reporting a car accident, with multiple fatalities, sir!”
That got his attention. He sat bolt upright “When?”
“Call just came through the satellite link sir,” the operator replied, “We’re listening to the Police and ambulance system now, its agent Little calling for the emergency services.”
By now he was out of bed and already heading for the door to his private study, he’d need coffee to help him think this through. Was this an attempt on them or was it just a ‘fluke?’ He was a spy and didn’t accept the idea of just dumb luck! You always treated everything as ‘suspicious’ until you’d nailed every reason as to why it wasn’t. It was that simple.
“As far as we can tell.” The operator came back on the line. “Both our operatives are still alive, though one of them may be injured. The Fire brigade are already on scene and they’re reporting that the deceased are two in the car and one cyclist, but not our operatives.” He emphasised the last part.
“Send everything you have to my personal file.” He reached out to turn his desktop on. It took a couple of seconds for the system to ‘boot up’, then went to the GCHQ website. Entering his own personal password he accessed the system and began searching for the files he needed, they’d just ‘arrived’ and he listened to the recordings.
This was a nightmare. That was putting it mildly. He’d only just got the team out of the country, and to the safest places he could think of. Now, as usual, the proverbial had hit the fan. Had they been compromised? That was the first thing he thought of, he’d have to get onto it and have answers before anyone else found out.
Listening to the recordings didn’t take long. More arrived as he was listening; it was clearly still ‘happening’ as he was listening.
Working remotely meant that he didn’t have access to the equipment, making the live recordings, and was at the mercy of the operator. But this was to prevent the ‘live system’ being hacked or hijacked. They could get access (in theory) to the recordings, stored for other operatives and government bodies to listen to. But not to the originals which are stored on separate systems and have to be manually transferred to be sent to whomever requests them.
“Was this a breach in security?” That was the big question. Had the ‘mole’ found them? The same mole that had passed information who was stealing the drug money from the drugs barons and had got Steve Chambers taken. Their retaliation had been swift by sending Scorpion One into Iran to get him back. From then on, they knew there was a price on the heads of each of the team, that is, until they found out who was passing the information.
Splitting the team up and giving different people part of the information as to the whereabouts of various members seemed the best way forward. That way, they’d be able to work out where the ‘leak’ was. Was this the ‘mole’ showing themselves?
