ACV's 1 Operation Black Gold (16 page)

The roar of approval shook the building.  ‘I, I don’t know what to say, I couldn’t ask for more Abie, thank you.’

‘Is that your phone Johnnie?’

‘Yes it is.’

‘Thought so,’ he laughed.  He had already made comments about the quality of my one and sensed he was having a fly dig at me on the side.  ‘Well store my number and give us a bell a couple of weeks beforehand and we’ll get it organised.  Jim fit are you doing now?’

‘Just finished my coffee.’

‘Well shift your fucking arse, we finished dinner ages ago.’  Samantha visibly winced, I just grinned.

‘Right, on my way.’

The CO shook his head.  ‘I’d forgotten what a cheeky little bastard he was.’

I laughed.  ‘Aye well don’t worry, he’s my problem now.’

‘I owe you a big one Jim.  I tell you what; I’ll make sure you have the best seat on the night.’

‘Oh very nice, why don’t you just nail me to a door and light a slow fire under my balls.’

He blinked rapidly for a second before his memory returned.  ‘Oh of course you don’t like Football do you?’

‘Detest it, the farther away I am from the place on the day the happier I’ll be.’

‘We’ll see.’  He escorted us to the door chatting but something seemed to be bothering him.

‘Go on then ask.’

‘If you’ve got Ritchie...’

‘All of them,’ I cut him off.  ‘Including Whitton.’

‘Whitton wasn’t he a medic or something?’

‘That something’s now a surgeon and the hub of our team.’

‘That’s quite a team the Brigadiers put together.’

I shrugged.  ‘Some would say that, others would say we’re a bunch of troublemakers he’s trying to keep out of the way.’

‘Maybe.’

I could see he wasn’t buying it.  ‘Well we’d better head off.’  I shook his hand and left.

‘What was that all about?’  Sam asked 

‘Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about.’

The adjutant joined Johnny Johnston as he watched them leave.  ‘You look troubled sir.’

‘I am Adjie, I am.’

‘Who is he sir, he doesn’t seem very officerish.’

‘No I don’t suppose he does, but don’t let that fool you Adjie, he could probably run rings round both of us.’

‘Really sir.’  The adjutant didn’t seem very impressed and the CO grinned at the doubter.  ‘He did seem a little comical, sir.’

‘Does he now? Well consider this Adjie, that comical little chap with a little sleight of hand just initiated a complete training program for all these soldiers and to boot he’s given them an incentive to half kill themselves in the process.  I can see very few not wanting to be in that top platoon at the end of the day.’

‘Ah yes, but,’ suddenly the Adjutant didn’t quite seem so sure of himself.

‘But.’  The CO’s grin widened a little.  ‘Consider this as well Adjie, how long do you think it will take the news of this football day to get round the rest of the training establishments.  What will happen, then?  How long before we’re inundated with calls from other CO’s looking for a piece of the action.’

The Adjutant took a deep breath and held it for a second before letting it go.  ‘Do you think he’ll have thought of that?’ 

‘If he hadn’t, he will have by now.’

‘So what do we do now sir?’ 

‘We wait and see what happens.  It wouldn’t surprise me if Brigade got involved, it might even be taken out of our hands.’

‘But what about Mr. Ritchie?  If that happens he will have to be informed, he might not be able to cope and cancel the whole thing.’

‘Do you think so Adjie?’

‘It’s a good possibility Sir.’

‘How would you like to put a bet on that?  I’ll say Mr. Ritchie will be well aware of what’s happening and will have made plans to cope with anything the Army can throw at him.’ 

‘OK sir, I’ll just say he hasn’t, how much.’ 

‘Oh twenty pounds, say.  Gentleman’s agreement?’

‘Done, but….’

‘But what.’

‘Well if that were his intentions, why?’

‘Exactly Adjie, why?  I served with him for almost a year before he left the army.  The response I was expecting was who gives a fuck.  He never did anything without a good reason and what reason would be good enough to motivate a whole army.  The very thought frightens me.’

‘May I ask sir in what capacity did you serve together before?’

‘He was my platoon runner.’

‘Your runner sir, you mean he was a private.’ 

‘That’s right Adjie.’

The Adjutant was aghast.  ‘I’m sorry sir but I can’t believe that a private soldier, no matter how good he was is capable of achieving what you accredited to him with.’

The CO was grinning again.  ‘Don’t you?’

‘I’m sorry sir, no I don’t; I think I should have put a hundred on.’

The CO slapped him on the shoulder.  ‘Oh I couldn’t do that to you Adjie, I don’t believe in taking candy from a baby.’

‘Hardly.’

‘Come, let’s grab a quick drink before we go back to work and I’ll tell you a little story.  Of course most of it is supposition, as no-one really knows what happened.’

‘What’s it about?’  He sounded intrigued.

‘It’s about a comical little chap and a few of his friends, who single handed, stopped a war in the course of an afternoon.’

The man stopped dead in his tracks and the CO could not resist a dig.  ‘Close your mouth Adjie it isn’t very officerish,’ he smirked.

The new commanding officer of the Glencourse Training Unit was to win his bet.

CHAPTER 16

‘What’s the matter?’  She took a breath to say something and then let it go.  ‘Rule No l. around us if you’ve got a problem with anything then say so.  If you’ve something to ask, doesn’t matter what it is, just speak.’

‘OK, it’s, oh I don’t know, it’s nothing, it’s everything.’

I glanced at her, ‘Are things going too fast for you?’

‘Not the work, no.’

‘What then, me?’

‘Well yes and no, it’s not just you.’

‘Whit, that lot as well.’

‘It’s just that, oh I don’t know; you’re all so strange.  One minute your all so cruel and the next, well almost kind.  I mean, take, what do you call him, Gigs, with Reginald this morning.  One minute he was ripping the shit out of him the next he was giving him a pen that cost a couple of month’s wages.  Then you and that Abie Ritchie at different times this morning you were both vicious to the point of extremism.  Then between the both of you, you make the lifelong dreams of nearly a thousand men come true.’  She had stopped walking and started gesturing with her hands, clearly exasperated.  ‘I just don’t understand how can you be like that?’

‘What, cruel then kind.’

‘Well yes sort of.’

I thought about it for a few seconds.  ‘I don’t know, but if it’s any help we’re normally a damn sight crueller to ourselves than we are to anybody else.  As a matter of fact we’ve a tendency to leave the general population well alone.’

‘Then why all that with Reginald and me?’

‘That’s different.’

‘Why?’

‘Because we’ve got to work with you, I’ll try and explain.  We’re heading for a war, right.’

‘Wait.’  She checked her watch and a small blue light appeared at the touch of a button.  ‘OK go on.’

I was puzzled, but carried on.  ‘Alright, we’re headed for a war, now before that they’ll know every weakness you and Reginald have and how it will affect them in any given situation.  They’ll know your strengths and weaknesses, how and where they can trust you and with what, do you understand?’

‘Sort of.’

‘I’ll give you an example; say you had a phobia of spiders.’

‘OK.’

‘Well for every square meter of earth there’s about fifty to a hundred spiders say, so eventually at some time in the future you’re going to meet one in the field start screaming your head off and compromise our position to the enemy.  Reasonable enough assumption?’ 

‘Well yes I could see how that could affect them.’

‘It would never happen.’

She was surprised, ‘It wouldn’t!’

‘No.’

‘Why not?’

‘Because by then you’d probably keep them as pets.’  I still wasn’t getting through.  ‘They would desensitise you.  You’d find them in your knickers, your bra, your bed your locker, they’d have a hundred rubber ones hanging from the roof, they’d throw them at you from every angle at every opportunity.’

‘Yes, yes I’m beginning to get the picture, but what would happen if it didn’t work.’ 

‘If you didn’t end up in the loony bin.’

‘Yes.’  She shuddered involuntarily. 

I shrugged.  ‘Well I suppose the first thing you’d notice is a change in attitude towards you; they would most probably become formally polite.  That’s if you were above them in rank.  If you weren’t they would just ignore you.  Eventually you’d find it impossible to work with them and request a transfer.  Well that’s how it used to work.  They’re all different now, a lot older and if anything a lot less tolerant of fools than they ever were.’

She took a deep breath, ‘Yes OK, I can understand that, but where does the kindness part come from.’

‘Where, well everywhere I suppose.  When you come right down to it, once you get beneath all the bullshit we’re actually a decent bunch of blokes.  We wouldn’t go-out of our way to cause harm or distress to anyone.  If we can help, we will, and enjoy doing so.  I know for a fact that Gigs and Nommy both have trust funds, the interest they earn sponsor children in the third world countries.  They were talking about it in the pub the other night.  Neither knew the other had done it.  It wasn’t a mutual agreement or anything; it was just something they felt they could do to help.  They never discussed how much was in the funds but by the way they were talking it’s probably more than I’ll ever make in a lifetime.’

‘I find all this a little bewildering.’

‘Come on let’s get going.’  I walked off in the same direction we were heading. 

‘Wait.’

‘No!  Look, Sam dinna even try to understand us OK.  Just accept us as we are, watch and learn, go with the flow.  Just dinna try and apply any of that female logic on us, especially me.’  I walked off again spotted a sign for the MT and veered off in that direction.

‘Hey hold on a minute mister what was that supposed to mean?’

‘It was meant the way it was said.’

She had her daggers out again, ‘are you trying to tell me something about women.’ 

‘No!’  I winced at the tone of her voice.  I wished I’d never opened my mouth now; her feminine intuition was on red alert.

‘Don’t you like working with women?’

Here we fucking go I thought.  ‘If they get on with their jobs, work hard and leave me in peace I don’t particularly care who I work with.’

‘That’s not really what I asked.’

‘No you’re right, what you really want to know is do I like women?’

‘Well!’

‘I don’t think you’ll like the answer.’

She grabbed my arm and whirled me round.  ‘Try me.’ 

‘OK you want it, you’ve got it.  I’m afraid I have only one use for women.’  I didn’t have to elaborate.  I could see it go home like a slap in the face.  ‘But if it’s any consolation, it’s one more use than I have for men.’  I tried to turn away but she grabbed my arm again. 

‘Wait a bloody minute there, what the hell did you mean by that?’  I wrenched it free taking a step towards her.  I was getting angry now and she took an involuntary step backwards.  ‘I’m not in the habit of explaining myself to anyone, but since we’re going to be working together and these are exceptional times, I’ll try and make it simple.  I live on my own, not because I have to, because I want to.  I have very little time for people full stop.  I rarely feel the need for interaction with others.  I don’t look upon loneliness as a disease but as a preferred state of mind.

I’m a loner, plain and simple.  If I ever feel the need for company, I give Buff a phone and through him, I can keep in touch with the little piece of humanity I have any time for.  I don’t expect you to understand that, or even try to, just live with it OK.’

‘But, but what about...’

‘What sex?’

‘Well that sort of thing.’ 

‘If I feel the itch I go scratch it.’

‘Where, at a brothel.’  Scorn and disgust flitted across her face.

‘No I don’t go to brothels, I tried one once when I was a teenager and found it a totally frustrating and dissatisfying experience and have never gone back.’

‘So what do you do?’

‘Excuse me, but-I don’t think my sex life’s got anything to do with you.’  I got away that time she just followed.  ‘Oh and before your mind starts having a feel day my sexual orientations are perfectly normal.  I have no perversions whatsoever.’

‘So really you look upon women as a necessary evil.’

I hadn’t thought of it that way before, ‘well I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.’

She veered off, ‘It’s over this way.’  I followed on.  ‘So you’ve never thought about children and a wife.’

‘Done it.’

‘You’re married,’ she exclaimed in surprise.

‘Lord no, divorced years ago, last I heard she was on her third marriage.’

‘Children?’ 

‘A wee lassie, shocked?’

‘After what you’ve just told me, yes.’

‘Came as a fucker of a shock to me too at the time I’ll tell ye.  One moment I was a happy little jock bumbling along minding my own business, the next I had an expectant mother on my hands and was standing at the altar.  For the next two years I lived in a perpetual nightmare, in the end, it was my sanity or her; she lost.  It took me a long time to get over that.’

‘You mean you loved her but still ended the marriage.’

‘I suppose I did, but it was the bairn I really missed, but I took care of that, it’ll no happen again.’

‘What, children.’

‘Aye.’ 

‘You got sterilised.’

‘Aye.’

‘But why?’

‘Because I’m a coward, that’s why.’ 

She forced me to stop.  ‘A coward.’

‘That’s right, a coward.  I knew our relationship was coming to an end, so I got the snip.  I knew losing that bairn was going to hurt, that’s an understatement if ever there was one.  Losing that bairn ripped my soul in half.  I knew then I’d done the right thing.  I could never live through that again, I’d rather kill myself first.’ 

I saw her golden curls again, her beautiful smile and felt my heart swell once again.  ‘The love of a child is a wonderful thing Sam.  They don’t care who you are, what you are, who your friends are, or what you look like.  They have no adult expectations to live up to, they just love you cos, you are, you.  Anyway, I did try living with other women, but everyone went the same way.  I don’t blame any of them, and you can only start again so many times Sam.  Now I don’t really bother with relationships, I don’t get involved.  A bit of casual sex then move on OK, so now you know my life’s story can we get on?’

I didn’t need directions now, the grotty buildings in front of me and the stink of fuel that assailed my nostrils designated their function in life.

‘Far the fuck have you been?’

‘Fit the fuck has he been up to, is more like it.’  The traditional greeting warmed my ears.

‘Far’s the fluffy?’ 

‘She’s away to pick up the DOE guy.’

Abie cornered me and I explained what had happened.  He seemed to find the whole thing amusing.  ‘I never thought I’d see the day you went out of the way to get somebody a game ó fitba Jim.’

I had to grin back.  ‘Aye, I suppose it doesn’t sit very well; but none of the fuckers have a clue what’s coming and if they’re that wee bitty better prepared, it might save some lives.’

‘Do ye think the idea will catch on?’

‘I would expect so, Sorry about that.’

‘Dinna worry about it, we’ll wait and see whit happens.  We could probably fit all the training establishments in to one stadium.  If it gets any bigger there’s always Murray field or the Olympic stadium.’

‘Could ye de that like?’

‘Och aye should do, a few phone calls will tell us.’

‘Jim.’

‘Aye Buff.’

‘Reginald’s needs to speak to ye about something.’

‘Aye you’d better sort him out,’ Abie added. 

He seemed to be fitting in quite well.  I walked over.  ‘I believe you have something you want to discuss.’

‘Oh yes.’

He started to stand.  I stopped him.  ‘Talk.’

‘Could you tell me what time I can expect to finish tonight sir?’

‘I don’t know, when we’re finished I suppose.  We might not find somewhere straight away and keep looking.  Once we do find somewhere you’ll have to peg out a work area then furnish me with a list of your requirements.  At the moment were trying to find our way in the dark.’

‘Oh dear.’

‘What!  Spit it out.’

‘Couldn’t we speak in private sir?’  The room went quiet at that and he noticed. 

‘You’ll never find any place more private than where you’re sitting right now Reginald.  If it’s medical or financial we’ll all respect that and we can go somewhere else on the other hand.’  I left the sentence unfinished.

He looked around feeling very uncomfortable.  ‘Well sir, it’s just that I need to be back at HQ Scotland for five o’clock.’

‘Why?’

‘Well, it’s my wife sir...’  He hesitated looking down at his hands.  It looked like Gigs had hit the nail on the head.  When no one started laughing, he seemed encouraged.  ‘I’m afraid if I don’t get home on time she’ll start to worry.’

‘Don’t you have a phone?’ 

‘Yes sir, but she will probably think I’m having an affair or something.’  Still no one laughed; he seemed to relax a little more.

‘Why HQ?’

‘I left my cycle there.’

‘So you bike to work every morning and back again at night, at exactly the same time.’

‘Yes sir that’s right.’

‘What have you told her about this operation?’

‘Nothing sir, I was told to keep it to myself.  I don’t know how long I will be with you or what I’m really supposed to do.  I’ve only been told the general circumstances and to help you as much as I can.’

I started pacing.  ‘How old are you Reginald?’

‘Nearly fifty.’

‘Do you ever work weekends?’