Invasion by Chris James

Author:Chris James [James, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780244465438
Publisher: Chris James
Published: 2019-03-16T06:00:00+00:00

Chapter 28

14.23 Sunday 26 February 2062

CORPORAL RORY MOORE sipped from the mug of hot, sweet brown tea he held in both hands, savouring every drop of the malty flavour. In the seat next to him sat Pip, blowing gently across the surface of her tea to cool it.

The door to the meeting room slid open and a tall, diffident woman stepped over the flange, ducking a little so her Royal Navy cap did not snag on the doorway. She walked up to the table and introduced herself: “Chief Petty Officer Pettifer,” and then added: “Julia Pettifer,” and Rory realised he must have failed to keep a straight face at the alliteration of her rank and surname. She continued: “Welcome aboard HMS Spiteful. Now, I know you’ve been asked a few questions already, but I’d like to clarify some things if that’s okay?”

Rory nodded and heard Pip answer: “If you keep giving us unlimited tea like this, you can ask as many questions as you like.”

Pettifer smiled and said: “Good, no problem. Right, Private Clarke, first question: Are you sure the special-ops soldiers you encountered were Spanish?”

“Yes,” Pip answered at once. “The insignias on their uniforms definitely included the Spanish flag, but as I told the debrief officer, I didn’t get close enough to them to see any more details, and at no time did they mention or offer to tell me their regiment.”

“Right, okay,” Pettifer said, looking down at a handheld screen. “Corporal Moore, you said that when you arrived on the beach, the engagement was over and there was nothing substantial left of the special-ops’ unit, yes?”

Rory began to wonder when the Chief Petty Officer would get to the difficult questions she must have come to ask. He and Pip had been debriefed immediately after their medical when the submarine had picked them up. In the intervening hours, Spiteful must have been in touch with London, and someone there wanted more answers. He said pointedly: “Yes, when I finally caught up with Pip—er, Private Clarke—the engagement had been over for at least two hours. I know this because, as I mentioned during the first debrief, I heard the engagement taking place and took cover outside the town.”

“So we only have the Private’s word for what happened on the beach?”

Rory shrugged and said: “Why wouldn’t that be enough?”

“Because both of you discarded your Battlefield Management Support systems,” Pettifer said, all of her initial friendliness vanishing.

“Yeah,” Rory answered, trying to contain growing frustration, “because if we hadn’t, we’d be just as dead as all of the other NATO troops in Spain.” He saw Pettifer glance down so he said: “Pity you subs couldn’t have given us some support instead of hiding under the sea out here, eh?”

“Steady on, Corp.,” he heard Pip mutter.

Pettifer’s face hardened. She said: “London wants to know exactly how two lower ranks such as the pair of you managed to be the only NATO troops to escape from behind enemy lines. Especially when we consider the number

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.