Sussex Drive: A Novel by Linda Svendsen

Author:Linda Svendsen [Svendsen, Linda]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: Humour
ISBN: 9780307362353
Publisher: Random House LLC
Published: 2012-10-02T04:00:00+00:00

11

IT WAS A FIFTEEN-HOUR TRIP from Ottawa’s Macdonald–Cartier International Airport, or YOW, to Camp Mirage, Canada’s openly flaunted secret base in the United Arab Emirates, with a two-hour stop for refuelling and mechanical putzing in Frankfurt. Lise found the Challenger 601 cabin about as comfortable as one of René’s trailers on set, le milieu camping-car saturated with Febreze, Windex and the stench of jitters, and also somewhat claustrophobic because she was cloistered with her thin-lipped underling, the omnipresent and ever-watchful Margaret Lee.

Also, the Afghan ambassador to Canada, Jabar Khan, ex-mujahedeen and former Khost loans officer, sat across the aisle from her, skimming through People—the U.S. election special issue. Très étrange. They’d previously hovered together when repatriating dead daughters and sons at CFB Trenton, in solemn advance of the family convoy along the Highway of Heroes to forensics in Toronto. Jabar also threw a terrific levee every Eid, featuring a spread of kebabs with coriander, ketchup, cumin and mayo.

After Greg had dropped his petit bomb at the Speech from the Throne, Defence had crossed the threshold at Rideau Hall later that afternoon, while she was in the panicked throes of packing for the trek through the stew of Africa, the sudden mini-parachute into the Afghan theatre and soothing jostled feathers at Senate security after Niko’s mini-scene. Defence, without his second, barred Margaret Lee from the meeting. The customary policy and procedure for a sensitive mission involved portentously slim briefing documents in svelte numbered binders, with code-issued pages and secure distribution lists, all kept under lock and key by a fastidious, constantly vetted clerk. In this case, Defence, a University of Waterloo engineer and Brahms buff, had said the mission was too Top Secret even to be committed to print. He’d been convinced to opt for a viceregal “verbal” and to discern her disposition toward the matter on the spot; she was to let him know immediately whether she was “in or out.”

“I have a choice?” Lise had asked.

“Really, no,” he said.

“Will I be in danger?”

He didn’t mince words. “Hell, yeah.”

As she reflected on the scale of this op, Defence turned away and said, “So I take this as a oui.”

Outside the plane window, the stars barely registered in the sky, like useless numbers scraped on an unlucky lotto ticket. Mon Dieu, she was depressed. René was below her, sleeping on Earth, back in Romania. Right then she could have been over the Caspian Sea, or the Black, and it didn’t matter. The pilot, an air force base commander, had invited her to the cockpit, but even his respectful conversation hadn’t distracted her from her concerns.

And Niko. Becky had promised to treat him like her very own, even touting Exhibit Pablo and his experience with trauma. Dr. Pelletier was back in the Glebe, with twice-weekly sessions on the books. And Lise had sat down with Niko, after René headed back to Europe, and disclosed her conversation about the Corporal with Becky.

Niko didn’t question anything. Either the meds were already subduing him or he bought the explanation, Lise wasn’t sure which.

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.