“I noticed that the Penny Jane is still in harbour. Is that unusual?” he asked innocently.
“Apparently Bill’s got a friend up from the south and he wants to go out with them. Walmar preferred to go out in daylight hours to let the visitor see things rather than it all happening in the dark. He’s a kindly man,” said Yvonne.
“Yes, he must be,” replied Jamie. “I’ll have a coffee before I go back to West Sanby.”
“Fine, said Yvonne, “how do you take it?”
“White with two sugars,” was the answer.
“I’ll have one with you. It’s quiet at the moment,” responded Yvonne. They sat at a table by the window where Yvonne could watch for customers coming. That suited Jamie because he could watch the harbour. “We’re having a dance here in two weeks’ time,” said Yvonne. “Why don’t you see if you can get the time off and come over for it? It’s a real community affair and folks will be coming from West Sanby as well.”
Jamie looked at her face and could see the invitation in her eyes. He wondered if he could mix business with pleasure. “All right, I’ll talk to my boss and see what we can do,” he replied.
Yvonne’s face wreathed into a smile and the pleasure shone out of her eyes as well as being in her voice. “That’ll be great if you can make it,” she said. A car pulled up and people got out and headed for the shop. Yvonne got up from the table and headed for the counter. “Come back about one o’clock,” she said over her shoulder.
“Fine,” answered Jamie. “I’ll see you then.” He left the shop after the new customers entered and headed for the van. Jamie was curious about Bill Enderby’s friend and hoped to see him. As he drove back to West Sanby he decided to bring a camera back with him to get some photos of Bill and that friend.
At the Russian Consulate in Manchester, Colonel Kharkov and Major Garasov were feeling particularly pleased with themselves. The colonel would fly back to Russia on the Saturday carrying diplomatic bags that contained the details of the new vehicle for transporting and loading the missiles. That evening they would be having a formal dinner at the consulate for business leaders which would help to hide the real purpose of Kharkov’s visit. The second set of notes and drawings would return to Russia by a different route. It was a pity that the pick-up at sea was delayed but it couldn’t be helped. The discussion turned to the key elements needed to nullify the SAM system. Most important was the wavelength that it would operate on. If they could obtain that then they could jam signals and neutralise the missile once it was launched. The other was the klystron. They discussed having a second attempt to obtain one but knew it would not be easy. Information had also come through that the system trials would begin at RAF West Sanby on 20th October. Their navy would ensure that an intelligence-gathering vessel was in the area to ‘listen in’ to the trials.
CHAPTER 10
It was after 12.30 hours and the RAF transport from Luton had reached Peterborough. The drivers decided to have a lunch break and found a suitable transport cafe near town to pick up some hot tea. They pulled into the car park and Andy offered to stay with the vehicle while they got their tea. The two drivers left the vehicle and went in to the cafe. They had been inside about a minute when Andy heard something at the back of the truck. There was a question and the reply was “Da!”
“Russian,” Andy thought and was instantly alert. He crouched down in the cab with his feet toward the door and waited. Footsteps came along the side of the truck and someone grabbed the handle of the cab door, heaved himself up and swung the door open. The man was wearing the uniform of a RAF senior aircraftman and his face registered surprise at seeing Andy. Uncoiling like a spring, Andy’s legs shot out and slammed the door wide open. The intruder fell back off the truck and landed on his back. Levering with his arms, Andy propelled himself out of the truck, landing on the man’s stomach, winding him. The noise brought the truck driver out of the cafe in time to see another man getting into the passenger side of the cab. He yelled for his co-driver and ran towards the truck. Andy turned and pulled himself back up into the cab to be met by a fist to his head. He held onto the back of the driver’s seat to prevent himself from falling off the vehicle. By this time, the co-driver of the truck was running towards the vehicle as well. The driver reached the winded man and kicked him down as he tried to get up, then dropped his full fifteen-stone weight onto the man’s chest and finished by kneeling on him. In the cab, Andy managed to grab the arm of the other intruder, also in RAF uniform, as the man struggled to get out of the cab. The co-driver, seeing the struggle, ran to the passenger side and climbed up. Hanging on with his left hand, he put his arm around the intruder’s neck and then jumped back pulling the man out with him. They both landed in a heap and the intruder pulled himself free and started to run for a vehicle near the back of the truck. It had a driver and the engine running. Andy jumped out backwards and managed to avoid the two men on the ground. He then took off at a run for the rear of the truck to head the man off. The driver of the vehicle accelerated towards Andy, meaning to run
