Chapter 50 Typically English
‘You’re not getting away with this, Goodall. That’s an old cliché I know, but the building is surrounded, you should have made your escape when you had the chance to, but you wanted to play being a hero in the eyes of the Soviet Union. Oh yes, we know all about your devious plans to defect with top secret documents.’
‘You know nothing Martin, absolutely bloody nothing – I’m going and you and no-one else is going to stop me.’
Goodall ran from the office, slamming the office door and locking it, all the doors were fitted with deadlocks in case of emergencies, but by pressing a red button they all unlocked after ten seconds. Perhaps Goodall had forgotten this.
Goodall didn’t go the way that Martin had expected, their office was on the second floor and it would be easier had he gone downwards, but he went bounding up the stairs. Martin was wondering why he had not used the lift, surely if he was going to escape by helicopter landing on the roof, it would be easy. Martin hesitated by the lift and pressed the button. He didn’t have long to wait, the doors opened immediately and he was about to enter when Roland appeared and shouted. ‘Don’t get in the lift!’
Sure enough the lift was not there. He would have plummeted to his death. The light that should have been on in the lift had malfunctured and the engineers that maintained the building were going to fix it, but forms had to be filled in triplicate before anything was done and then passed to the clerk of works etc.
Roland appeared by Martin’s side and said he had watched Goodall doing something in the basement and had noticed the boilerman who had to keep the machinery well oiled was lying unconscious on the floor. After attending to the man as best he could, he called for an ambulance. This of course must have fooled Goodall who thought that the police were on their way and he panicked, which was unheard of for Goodall to be anything than placid in a tight corner. Goodall reached the roof and the helicopter was still some distance away. There seemed to be a very high wind and the Union Jack flag was flying out from the mast and looked as if it would tear itself off any moment.
* * *
Martin moved away from the lift, but not far enough, and did a complete somersault and the doors of the lift closed and his leg was trapped by the metal doors, he could feel the crunch as the metal doors trapped him. The lift door opened again giving him just enough time to free his foot. He felt an added pain in his foot. He got up to follow Roland up the steps towards the roof, but crumpled to the floor. He wasn’t going to move with this foot being the way it was and his thoughts were with Roland, trying to do what he should be doing. At least he would stop other people trying to use the lift. He pressed the red emergency button and an alarm rang throughout the building.
* * *
The helicopter was too late to pick up Goodall, who had dropped the brief case he was clutching and it opened and paperwork flew about in the wind and swirled up higher in the sky. Goodall noticed that some of the paper was blank and on some papers were the plans of the new toilet closet system that was due to be installed in two weeks time near his office.
The helicopter arrived and hovered a few feet from the roof. Things seemed to get out of hand and the pilot decided to land the helicopter and help Goodall who was wrestling with another man. Goodall managed to get away from Roland and rushed to the other side of the helicopter, but unfortunately one of the blades hit the mast and cut it in half. Roland watched mesmerized by the events as the craft seemed to swing round in slow motion and he watched the flag and half the mast drape itself over the pilot’s line of vision and the helicopter slammed into the roof. Roland flung himself away from the craft, rolling as far as he could. There was a terrific explosion and flames soared across the roof singeing the back of Roland’s jacket. It took just a second or two and the flames reduced and Roland turned over to witness the other half of the rotor blade hit the top of the roof and slice into bits, careering off in different directions and would have brought instant death to anyone who happened to be in the way. Roland saw Goodall make a dash to the maintenance hatch followed by parts of the blade and one piece hit the side of the lift shaft and penetrated itself into the wall.
There were steps round the top of the shaft so that repairs could be made in safety. Roland got up, his head pounding and he felt blood trickle down his face. His trousers were torn and he staggered slightly, and trying to regain his balance, he followed Goodall down the maintenance hatch. He wondered where Martin was, he could do with some help. The steps were well worn as problems with the lifts over the years had been a constant problem and for no apparent reason stopped working without warning when it had eight people inside, although the number that could be carried at any time was 12.
Roland slipped and tried to grab hold of the embedded rotor blade, but it was slippery and hot and his hands lost their grip and he slid down eight steps and landed on Goodall who was still clutching some papers with a look of disbelief on his face. Roland heard a familiar snapping of human bones and Roland believed that Goodall had a broken arm. Both of them plummeted down the lift shaft. Roland was saved, when his legs got tangled with the lift cables, but he felt his spine go as he jerked to a stop. Hanging upside down and an unbearable pain searing through his body, he passed out briefly. Goodall was less fortunate, he was hanging by his neck swinging backwards and forwards from the wind that was now flowing down the lift shaft.
The three men in the helicopter were killed and parts of the craft fell over the side, taking down part of the cornices and demolishing the raised shed holding some of the machinery that held up the lifts. One of the lifts had fallen to the ground and dust and debris had filtered up the shaft.
Chapter 51 Rescue
Joanna was still trapped in the room. There was no sign of Roland or anyone for that matter. It was clever of Goodall to use the top floor of the MI5 building as a place to hide someone as no one ever came to this abandoned and unfinished floor.
* * *
Goodall had made a visit to the boiler room to knock out the old man. He had doctored electric circuits that operated the lifts. It was his parting gift to Martin. Even if killing Martin was not on the books, he had done enough damage to keep him and the rest of the staff tied up with undoing all of his evil tampering. He hadn’t seen the two Stefan men he trusted and his last orders were to kidnap Roland James and Martha and keep them prisoners, along with Joanna James who was in the other room.
Goodall had placed packs of dynamite round the room hidden in holes which were then filled in and sealed by a loose covering of screed and a thin layer of plaster. Everything was to be fired electronically by his little black box with four switches and a red button.
His mission now complete, he had the plans of the new invisible stealth bomber packed away in his brief case, all he had to do was get to his desk and collect one vital piece that when the aircraft was rebuilt in Russia from the plans he had, this vital gadget was the only copy that had been made and he needed it as the final piece of the jigsaw.
He didn’t know how it worked, but the technicians in Russia would be able to take it to pieces and sort out all the component parts, although it looked seamless, almost like a complicated lever made of chrome.
He walked into the office, no-one appeared to be there and he rummaged through his desk and find the piece he was seeking. He was about to walk out when Martin appeared from under his desk. Martin walked round his desk and leaned against it and challenged Goodall. Martin was brandishing a gun and he had it aimed at Goodall’s heart. A few words passed between them and before Martin had a chance to use his firearm Goodall had disappeared out and slammed the office door which activated all doors in the building to lock down. It would take a few hours and to counter-act this it was decided to install an electrical red button that when pressed would unlock the doors after ten seconds.
The only trouble with Goodall’s plan was that he couldn’t move his switches to prime the dynamite and press the button to detonate until he was safely aboard the helicopter and safely away from the MI5 roof. Perhaps he wasn’t so clever after all.
* * *
The thunderous noise that Joanna heard above the ceiling of her room was ear splitting. She was frightened and didn’t know which way to run, although her limit was just as far as the chain round her ankle allowed her to go. She decided to sit in the chair that was fixed to the floor. She could hear metal cracking, the ceiling was smoking with heat and bits and pieces were sinking into the ceiling as it melted away. The walls of her room fell away. The makeshift bed and flooring disappeared. The wall where the tubular bar was fixed bowed outwards at one end and an enormous chunk of wall fell away. Joanna had a split second to escape as she and the chair that had been ripped up out of the floor slid across the room towards the gaping hole. It all depended on her cowboy reflexes of whipping the chain in the opposite direction, like lassoing a bull or a runaway horse, but doing the opposite of getting it unhooked before she and the chair fell through the hole.
Joanna’s right knee was taking all the pressure as it was tucked under her left leg as she was being dragged across the floor into the upright girder which must have damaged her knee cap. She was aching in all the wrong places and trying not to let go. Luckily she was able to clutch hold of a steel girder that had held the wall when the building was constructed. She was holding on for dear life as the chair had disappeared and the chunk of wall was swinging backwards and forwards with the bar still attached and had fallen the wrong way.
Part of the inner wall collapsed along with the door that had been locked to keep her from prying eyes should someone had come along and the roof fell at a slant from the door, so, even if someone had come to rescue Joanna, they wouldn’t get past the door end of the room.
The girder was beginning to loosen from the flooring and eventually gave way altogether. She and the girder plunged out towards the ground, the bar snapped and the rest of the wall fell away. Joanna let out a high pitched scream which seemed to echo out to those on the ground looking up in horror. By some quirky fate the girder became lodged at right-angles into the next floor verandah, but Joanna who was clutching near the bottom end started to slip down passed the railings that went round the building. Her quick thinking saved her – she grabbed the chain round her ankle and whirled it round in her hand and it looped several times round the parallel bar of the railing. The girder dislodged itself and fell to the ground and Joanna who managed to grab hold of the railing found herself hanging precariously over nothing. The railing was beginning to buckle because of the heavy debris that had fallen from the roof top and it had bent parallel with the level of the balcony flooring, but luck was on her side. It had held its position.
Eventually one of the tallest cranes used for building high rise blocks of offices came along complete with a large bucket attached and two men managed to place her in the bucket and cut away the chain from her ankle. Had Goodall realized that the chain would save her life, I doubt whether he would have attached it
What a way to start married life – Joanna with her right knee in bandages on crutches, and with quite a few bruises and cuts. Roland had sustained burns, cuts, bruises and was in a wheelchair.
* * *
The carnage of parts of the helicopter and sizeable chunks of the roof and one side of an office wall and floor had collapsed and those pedestrians below were showered with glass and many were taken to hospital with cuts, bruises and shock.
Seven ambulances were in attendance and from two districts fire engines were called for by officials.
The Newspapers were somewhat perplexed, which was unusual for them. Usually any story they didn’t understand they would make up to sell their paper. Whether an embargo had been placed by the Government as soon as the incident had happened it was not clear. But a somewhat staid headline was in all the papers the next day. ‘Soviet Helicopter crashed on MI5 Building – bad weather blamed.’
Nothing was mentioned in the newspapers about the drama that happened within the walls of MI5.
Another headline in the newspaper appeared the next day. Brutal Murder Mystery – An unidentified body of a man found floating in the sea.
Chapter 52 Blame it on The Paperwork
Martin was wondering how the plan was supposed to work. The Cobalt Exercise had been successful in some ways and a few good men had met their untimely deaths, although it was supposed to be a “friendly” exercise.
He was now in charge of the Department and Goodall had met his “Waterloo” and not how Martin had envisaged. The irony of the situation was that what had now befallen upon his shoulders was the fact that to save the Government’s face, there was to be a special service of thanksgiving for Graham Goodall O.B.E., the head of MI5. The funeral had been four weeks back, and a grand affair it was, a special guard of honour by members of the armed forces, a salvo of shots over the grave to salute a hero of the hour who had defended this country from tyranny and blah…blah….blah.
It was unbelievable as Martin sat at his desk thinking of the task ahead and for his silence regarding the real truth he had been promoted to….well Goodall’s position as head of MI5.
Roland got his woman, Joanna Stefan, real name Joanna Stafford. He would be a in a wheelchair for some considerable time, for he was the real hero of the hour and he was the cause of Goodall’s unfortunate accident which he, Goodall had set for Martin. If Roland had worked for the government what a formidable team they would have been.
He was thinking about the award of the O.B.E. for the part he played. Martin’s sigh was quite audible and many of his co-workers looked his way. He hadn’t noticed their stares as he was far away with his thoughts.
Roland travelled by taxi to his rehabilitation unit. He was excited because he was going to attempt walking for the first time since the accident. He needed to do this as he was to be awarded the M.B.E., and he needed to be able to walk unaided to receive this award which was in six weeks time. Joanna, his new bride was by his side giving him encouragement.
Martha and Charlie Stefan were heading for sunnier climes. The American branch of the Mafia had invited Luigi Stefan to come over and explain his failings. A private plane was at his disposal and Luigi thought it couldn’t be all bad as they sent a plane for him. Apparently he made a big splash in the sea, somewhere.
Giorgio Stefan, the hired bodyguard to Joanna, aka P.C George Tully was arrested and sent to prison for the attempted murder of Joanna Stefan.
Chan received a posthumous pardon and his parents moved back to the district and rebuilt their lives and the house.
Richard Somer retired from the Government and became a gardener.
Martin would carry on as a Government servant until it was time for him to retire, which seemed too far away to even think about.
The End.
Short stories to follow
