Red Hawk Rising

all about?” he asked. Andy warily replied that he had made a mistake. Hamilton pulled his identification out and showed it to Andy. “Tell me about it,” he said. Andy explained in detail what he had observed and what was said at the gate. “Thank you. If anything else happens, put a report in to your CO about the incident. I’ll look into it for you.” With that, he indicated that Andy could go.
Andy headed back to the canteen but the RAF team had gone back to the test lab to finish their work so he decided to check the waste bin marked ‘For Incineration’. It hadn’t been emptied, so he dug into the papers and had a look at some of them. Many of the carbons were legible and he could read what had been typed. Andy noted that the dates were all yesterday’s and not today’s. Since all such waste was incinerated nightly, there should have been nothing with yesterday’s date on it. It confirmed what he was thinking. He headed back to the test lab via the canteen. By now, he thought, the cleaner will have moved on to a different part of the complex. It was time to ‘phone in a report but that would have to wait until he got back to Handwell. Andy apologised to Williamson and assisted in the test recording. By 20.30 hours they were finished and telephoned for transport back to base. Back in personnel, Hamilton pulled the files on the two security officers based on their photographs and decided to look into things further. He would need to check on the cleaning contractor and its employees working at Argonaut Industries. Hamilton decided to leave some of the checks until the morning when there would be different personnel on duty and he could make enquiries without raising suspicion.
It was well after 21.00 hours when they got back to base. Williamson and the crew headed for the NAAFI before it closed. Andy headed out of the main gate to find a public telephone box and ‘phone Lutterworth. He walked toward the centre of Hollinlane, not wanting to use the telephone box near the main gate. Two blocks down he came to another telephone box, went in and closed the door. Andy dialled the operator and gave her the number. Soon the operator came back and said, “Your number wishes to offer reversed charges. Do you accept the offer?” He agreed to do so. A familiar voice came on the line and asked for identification.
“It’s Bluey here. Need some scrambled help.”
“Switching,” came the reply and the call was put into scrambled mode. Andy then gave his correct identification and explained the situation.
Meanwhile, back at Argonaut Industries, Hamilton received a call from MI5 offices in London. He was told to radio in from his car as soon as possible. Hamilton packed up his papers, checked out of ‘Argonaut’ and drove down the road towards Wilmslow where he was booked into a hotel. At a convenient spot, he pulled up and radioed in to MI5. Hamilton was put through to his boss.
“Reggie has bought it,” he was told. “The last message we got from him was that he was following a male who had received a ‘pick-up’ in Trafalgar Square from a female civil servant. He had called in from Soho while the suspect was in a café buying a coffee. They must have got onto him. He appears to have been shot in the back from a distance by a rifle, judging by the angle and the impact. Reggie’s body was found in an alleyway by a policeman on foot patrol. Watch your back.” Hamilton then reported the incident at Argonaut Industries involving Corporal Hill and asked for help in checking on the two security men and the cleaning firm. They would have to be careful not to scare off the suspects in the process as they wanted to see where the trail led to.
***
It was his second day (Friday 23rd) on the detachment and Andy had been up early and had a workout in the gym before breakfast. After breakfast, he headed to the office to wait for the bus to the factory. The engineering officer arrived at about the same time and called to Andy to follow him into his office. He told Corporal Hill that he was told of an incident by the MI5 man who was visiting the Officers’ Mess. It was clear to Andy that the MI5 man must have told the Engineering Officer about it so he held nothing back and explained what he had found. The officer then asked him about progress on his work. Andy explained what he had achieved and what was left to be done. He was then told, “I need to report this to the CO, Squadron Leader Fraser. Complete your work as quickly as possible. Keep your eyes open but don’t take any action. You are aware that MI5 is alerted to the situation so let them handle it. If you see anything that concerns you then report it to Hamilton or myself as quickly as possible without alerting anyone. I hope that’s understood.”
 Andy responded with a “Yes, sir.”
 “Okay, Corporal, good work but in future be more cautious. You’d better join the others.” Andy stood up and saluted and headed out. He received some quizzical looks but no-one said anything as he joined the group going to Argonaut Industries.
As the bus headed for the factory, Major Garasov was settling in behind his desk at the Russian Consulate. A clerk brought in the mail and a glass of Russian-style tea. Garasov sipped the tea. It was a habit he had got into since being posted to Manchester — starting his office day with the refreshing taste of the tea. He slit open an envelope with nothing but his name on it. Having received a number of such envelopes in the past, he