The Secret

He opted for a piece of flat ground to the right of a large barn next to the main farmhouse building. Still no one had emerged from inside, making Steven feel anxious. He thought Scott Jamieson might have come out to welcome them with a wave or to point to a suitable landing spot but of course, Jamieson didn’t know how or when he was coming.

The helicopter settled gently on the grass, the pilot ready to gun the engine at the first sign of any instability in the ground but it seemed firm enough. He kept the rotor blades turning while Steven decided on the best way of approaching the building. He made his decision and told the pilot to keep the engines running until he gave him a signal that all was well. Steven removed his helmet, and released himself from his seat harness and communications wiring before opening the door and dropping to the ground.

His plan was to sprint into the lee of the barn and approach the house using the barn as cover, not because of any belief that he was in danger, more a case of old habits dying hard. The plan was made redundant when the farmhouse door opened and Scott Jamieson appeared with a smile on his face and a pistol in his hand which he now let dangle by his side.

Steven signalled to the pilot to cut the engines and the beat of the rotors faded as he walked over to the house.

‘I wasn’t sure it was you,’ explained Scott.

‘I thought that might be the case. What’s with the weapon?’

‘I confiscated it from him indoors. I thought the copter might be full of his pals.’

‘The vandal?’ asked Steven sounding surprised.

‘Yep, he says he knows you.’

Steven’s face registered disbelief as he was led indoors and into a room where a man was secured to a chair with rope bindings. ‘We appear to have a conflict of interests,’ Jamieson announced.

Steven couldn’t believe his eyes. ‘Ricksen!’ he exclaimed. ‘MI5.’

‘Then you two do know each other,’ said Scott. ‘He wouldn’t tell me anything, said he’d only speak to you. I saw him slashing the tyres of a car belonging to a research microbiologist who lives about twenty miles from here so I tailed him, hoping he’d lead me to the organisers of the Popular Front for the Liberation of ME Sufferers. Instead I end up holding an MI5 officer in one of their own safe houses. I was going to ask John what the hell I should do with him but chummy here kept insisting he knew you and you’d want to hear his side of things.

‘Wow,’ said Steven. ‘I think we can do away with the bindings.’

‘How are you, John?’

‘I’ve had better days,’ replied Ricksen, appearing more than a little crestfallen.

‘Has Five been behind all the attacks on ME researchers?’

Ricksen nodded, adding, ‘Christ, what a mess.’

‘It’ll make a cracking story for the Sun,’ said Jamieson.

‘D notices will fall like confetti,’ snapped Ricksen.

‘So what’s it all about, John?’ asked Steven. ‘And what’s the hole you’re now in to do with me?

‘C’mon Steven, we’ve known each other a long time,’ said Ricksen. ‘We’ve even looked out for each other on occasion. Okay, there’s a bit of rivalry between Five and Sci-Med but when push comes to shove we know we can call on each other for a bit of help.’

Steven nodded. ‘True,’ he conceded, ‘but everyone’s been snubbing Sci-Med lately and this is quite a hole you’ve dug for yourself... and Five. I’m getting dizzy just looking down into it.’

‘Look, there’s a lot of strange stuff going on; I hoped we might come to an arrangement... exchange what we know... pool our resources?’

Steven and Jamieson exchanged doubtful glances.

‘There’s a big secret...’ said Ricksen, immediately capturing Steven’s attention.

‘Go on.’

‘That’s the thing, only people at the very top know what it is and they are going to enormous lengths to keep it that way. The Americans are involved and I get the impression that Pakistani Intelligence are in the mix too.’

‘They are,’ said Steven. ‘One of their agents, a guy called Ranjit Khan has gone rogue. He’s killed five people so far, trying to get his hands on this secret. He killed my friend, Simone Ricard and it was him who was responsible for the deaths in the North lab, including the two the other night.’

‘Shit, we knew Khan was in the country. We thought he was working with Six.’

‘So presumably does MI6,’ said Steven. ‘Apparently he’s decided to become self-employed: he wants the secret for himself.’

‘That’s worth knowing.’

‘Perhaps you’ll return the favour. Why have you been targeting ME researchers?’

‘HMG wants research on ME to stop but no one’s saying why. It’s connected to this damned secret. Our brief is to do what we can to stop current research on ME and discourage anyone from entering the field.’

‘By pushing them under a bus?’ said Jamieson.

‘I swear to God that was just a terrible accident: it was never meant to happen. He was just meant to appear foolish.’

‘And he ends up appearing dead,’ said Jamieson.

‘Christ, I don’t like it any more than you guys.’

‘Yeah, shit happens,’ said Jamieson without a trace of sympathy.