Red Hawk Rising

in a mess. After getting his meal from the servery, he headed for the area reserved for the corporals. There were four others already there. They were from the operational squadron of SAM missiles on the base and were keen to quiz Andy on what was happening. With good humour, he put them off, pointing out that he was new and had a lot to learn. They chatted about sport and social activities. One of those activities was to go into the nearby town of Louth for a few drinks. They invited him to join them but he declined, saying that he was still settling in. The reality was somewhat different. Andy needed to spend some time sorting things out in his mind after receiving a letter with new instructions on his additional duties.
The letter had a Lutterworth postmark and was ostensibly from a mountaineering club. The connection to its author was well hidden. The office of a mountaineering club did exist in Lutterworth and all its members were skilled in mountaineering but there were those whose other skills and occupations would cause some serious reflection by anyone discovering such facts. It was, in fact, a front for the ISU which had a specialised field of operation and didn’t compromise either MI5 or MI6 (Military Intelligence 6, responsible for external security related to Britain). One of Corporal Hill’s additional duties was to check out all the RAF personnel involved in security at RAF West Sanby. There was a concern there. He was due to tour all of the factories and get to know the equipment first hand. While MI5 was checking out personnel, he was to check on the systems and procedures relating to communications and documentation. He was to look for any weaknesses that could allow information to leak out. That was not going to be easy on some aspects of the civilian side. Still, the next two weeks should be interesting.
While there was still some daylight, Andy Hill decided that it would be good to check out the sea wall not far from the base. He had seen people walking along it so it was clearly open to the public. He took a small but powerful set of binoculars from his kitbag and stuck them in his jacket pocket. Andy had changed into civilian clothes and headed out of the base and down the road. When he came to a farm track about four hundred yards from the main gate, he turned off and headed south. After a couple of hedgerows, he noticed that he was clear of the base fence and headed east toward the coast. Andy noticed that the farm track continued south for quite distance with branches off to farming land. He wondered if it eventually connected to another road. That was for another day. After walking for about five minutes, he came to a broad ditch alongside the sea wall. He backed up a few paces, took a run and landed on the other side, throwing himself forward to avoid sliding down into the water. Then he climbed to the top of the slope and found a beaten track along the top of the sea wall. Beyond the sea wall was about fifty yards of undergrowth to a narrow beach and the sea. He looked out to sea and saw freighters waiting for the high tide to enter the Humber River. Andy walked northwards along the track until he was about mid-way with the RAF base security fence. He then dropped down the seaward side of the sea wall and wriggled up to just see over it. He studied the base and, even without binoculars, could pick out the individual missiles and launchers, the radar unit and the hangars. In fact, it was obvious that someone could spend a day where he was and record all the movements on the airfield. Using binoculars, undetectable while the sun was in the east, a person could observe even more. It would be possible to work out the times of the regular patrols, movement of equipment and personnel. It would be obvious when the “Red Hawk” equipment arrived and was assembled. Before then, the assembly of the new Trials HQ building would indicate that something was afoot. Andy had seen enough and so he headed back to the farmland and then to the base. Tomorrow he would be heading for Grimsby and travel by train to Manchester. He thought that after visiting the different factories around England, it might be time for him to buy his own ‘wheels’. He had the feeling that he was going to need them.
Back at the Parfleet St Peter harbour, Walmar and Berin took their gear onto the fishing vessel, Penny Jane, named after Walmar’s wife, and prepared to head out to sea. Three other vessels were also preparing to go out on the high tide and there were friendly calls and banter between the four boats as they prepared to leave harbour. For the crew of the Penny Jane it would be more than fishing as they sent reports and received instructions from Moscow.
At about the same time, down in London, a woman in her early thirties was sitting by the fountain in Trafalgar Square, ostensibly reading a magazine. Her hair was cut in a pageboy style and she was smartly dressed and had the appearance of being a public servant. As she flicked through the pages, a man approached the fountain and seemed to be heading straight for her. He was unshaven and looking a little unkempt — not the sort of man a woman would want to be accosted by. As he came closer, she looked up with consternation on her face, dropped the magazine and hurried off in the direction of the steps up to the National Gallery. The man paused and then hurriedly picked up the magazine and called after the woman. She looked over her shoulder but hurried on. He paused, shrugged