D-Zero Meson Oscillation, 8/10
Part VIII - What to do about Watchers
After lunch they took the metro back towards the Embassy. Just after the third stop as the train rattled out of the station Katrina suddenly flashed an angry look, then sighed audibly.
“What’s the matter?” Tom asked.
“I don’t know about you, but I’m getting extremely fed up with this.”
Tom didn’t know whether to be confused or worried.
She turned towards him. “If I told you we’re being followed would you be stupid enough to look around to try and spot them?”
He decided to be worried. But tried his best to hide it, not very successfully. “A big part of me would really like to,” he whispered, “but no. Where are they?”
“Stop whispering. There is one to my left, up ahead in the next carriage along, and the other one is in a flanking position behind us, the same distance away on the right. Which means they have us at a slight disadvantage.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“First, you’re going to stop looking alarmed. Second, you’re going to trust me and third, you’re going to follow my lead. Accepted?”
“It might help if you do one of your disarming smiles.”
Katrina obliged.
“Well, that’s order number one taken care of. Now what?”
“I’m going to have to do something because I’m fairly certain they’re armed.”
Now Tom did look concerned. “Maybe you could turn the microphone back on? Ask for help.”
“Now that’s not a bad idea as it happens. Good call.” Katrina clicked the little button. “I’ll be damned, however, if I ask for Peter’s assistance. So, we’ll take care of the one on my left first. You just follow me a few paces behind and don’t react to whatever I do. Just stay standing and you’ll hopefully block the view of the one on the right. Understand?”
“Erm, yes. What are you going to do?”
“Just follow.”
Before Tom could object Katrina stood up and started walking down the central aisle to her left. Tom got up and followed, just as she told him to. As a member of what was supposed to be a military intelligence organisation he had at least developed some instinct for discipline and following orders, especially from someone who seemed to know what they were doing. He’d also been in the Combined Cadet Force at school. Although he didn’t much care for most of it at the time, especially learning drill, he suddenly felt grateful for the experience.
Those were the thoughts that for some strange reason flashed through his mind in the short time it took to follow Katrina to the next carriage.
He was equally grateful that she didn’t give him any time to react to what she was about to do. He hardly saw it himself, and the watcher certainly didn’t. Katrina suddenly shot out the flat of her palm against the side of the guy’s skull, just beneath his left ear. Just as quickly she caught his unconscious head and propped him up. Then she reached inside his jacket, retrieved his 9mm semi and swiftly cached it in her coat pocket along with her finger on the trigger, flicking the safety catch off as she did so.
Tom looked around. But none of the other passengers showed any reaction. It wasn’t just that she was so quick about it. But yours is a dystopia, remember – everyone was too absorbed in themselves or their smartphones to notice.
Katrina turned around and smiled reassuringly. “One down, one to go. All you need to do now is turn around and keep walking down the central aisle. Negative suggestion notwithstanding, try not to look around.”
“Well, fortunately I don’t know what he looks like.”
“That will help. You’ll shield me from his vision so hopefully we’ll have some element of surprise. And whoever he works for I seriously doubt he’s going to start shooting with all these people around. Not to mention the CCTV. So try not to worry.”
“How I’m doing so far on the anxiety front?”
She smiled again. “Not bad for MI5, as it happens.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
Katrina nodded to him to turn around and start walking. She followed a few paces behind, keeping the watcher focused in her peripheral vision. She told herself that any sign of him reaching into his jacket and she’d have to say to hell with the passengers and the CCTV.
Fortunately for them, the watcher made a little mistake at that point. He tried not to look up at them approaching. That would’ve identified himself, he thought. And he wasn’t entirely certain what had happened to his partner.
By the time he realised his mistake it was a little too late. Tom walked past him, Katrina suddenly sat down next to him and shoved the gun in his side.
And then smiled.
“If you don’t tell me who you work for,” she spoke softly, unnervingly, “then you need to understand that I’m the type of girl who couldn’t care less about the consequences of leaving you in need of a new kidney.”
He hesitated. Tom turned around. Katrina motioned to him with her head to sit down the other side of him.
“Is he dead?” The watcher glanced down the train with his eyes.
“No. But he’s going to wake up with the mother of all hangovers. So which one of you is going to be the lucky one? You haven’t answered my question.”
And then the watcher responded in a completely unexpected way.
He smiled.
“I believe you’ve already met the man in question at the Embassy. He said you can keep the watch, if it means that much to you.”
Katrina sighed. But flicked the safety catch back on and replaced the gun back in her pocket.
“We were hoping we might provoke you into another demonstration of your abilities. Sorry.”
“Very clever. But don’t try and tell me you’re sorry. Because in my experience, people who work for the Circus are never sorry.”
Of the three of them, as the train shuddered onwards, I think it was Tom who breathed the heaviest sigh of relief.
#
“Sorry about your watchers.”
“They’ll live.”
“Now I have this watch, and Little Miss 9mm, Peter, I do hope you’ll refrain from having me followed everywhere. I’m really not going anywhere, like I said.”
“They’re partly for your own protection, you know.”
“Where’ve I heard that one before? So why didn’t you just tell me that in the first place?”
“Now where’s the fun in that?” he grinned.
Katrina leaned back and sighed. She had to admit she understood him perfectly. And agreed, for what it’s worth.
Peter held his hands out. “Ok. Fair enough. Your latest demonstration has clearly shown you can take care of yourself. But I want you to make full use of the emergency features on that watch. Don’t go getting heroic ideas in your head, understood?”
“Yes, Sir!” she said it a little sarcastically, but he could tell she accepted it.
Then Peter retrieved a file from his in-tray, passed it over. Katrina opened it, raised her eyebrows, then handed it back.
“Does that look like a signed immunity document to you?”
Katrina nodded. “Yes. And you’ll tell her the defector in question specifically asked for the immunity? I won’t have her thinking I betrayed her. And you give me your word no harm will come to Sarah?”
“I give you my word as an officer and a gentleman, yes.”
Katrina sighed. “Accepted.”
Peter said, “So if you agree to the debrief, I think it’s time we moved you out of that cheap hotel and into one of our safehouses, unless you have any objections?”
“Hmm. I have a few regrettable experiences of MI6 safehouses.”
“Hah! Well, you’ll like this one. It’s a charming little apartment in the Montmartre.”
“Oh. Well, in that case, it’s in my interest to tell you everything, drag it on for a while. Like Scheherazade.”
“That’s what I was hoping you’d say. And I have an initial question I’m still curious about. I don’t believe you mentioned your P6 callsign to our mutual friend from Five?”
“Emmanuelle. Or Emma, for short.”
“That’s nice. Kind of suits you too. Did you choose it?”
“Sarah did. It’s partly a reference to my being a little Catholic. Also because my main alias was a half-French girl called Sylvie Castell.”
“Hmm,” Peter searched his memory for pop culture references. “Oh! Like Sylvia Kristel, from the blue movie?”
Katrina just raised her eyebrows and smiled seductively. “And the Emma, well, I suppose that’s another oblique pop culture reference and a little KGB humour on Sarah’s part.”
“I don’t get it. Explain.”
“Emma Peel from The Avengers. Played by Diana Rigg. Who also played Teresa in OHMSS. My favourite Bond film. Well, favourite of the ones I wasn’t in.”
“I still don’t get it.”
“Teresa was my real KGB codename.”
“Ah. Now I definitely believe you. Only the KGB could be that arrogant.”
“You mean self-confidence, remember. Besides, don’t we all want to get discovered, in the end?”
Peter gave a short, almost resigned little laugh.
“Yes,” he said, looking down sadly and nostalgically, “we all want to just let it all go. In the end…”
##
I knew she was a badass!