Alice asked, “When will you know?”
“We’ll know the duty roster by Tuesday but anything else may not have much warning,” he said. “I miss you, Alice. It seems as though we’ve been apart much longer than we have,” Andy continued.
That pleased her and she cheekily asked, “What else, Andy?”
He knew what she wanted him to say but he replied, “You know how I feel about you. This is a public place.” Alice let it go at that and they talked about going up to Alnwick to stay with Andy’s parents. The time was up quickly with the operator asking if they wished to extend. Andy said, “No,” and told Alice that he would call her again tomorrow and they set a time and he hung up the ‘phone. Andy went back into the bar and told his friends that he would be going up to see Alice, all being well. Margaret’s parents had invited Dan to stay in their home and the Waltons had extended a similar offer to Lance. They would go up in Lance’s car. Andy had to work out how he and Alice would get up to Alnwick since they wouldn’t get away from base until 17.00 hours. Their discussion was interrupted by some squadron airmen challenging them to a game of darts. They accepted the challenge.
Back at RAF West Sanby, a ‘civilian’ driving a late model Wolseley pulled up at the main gate. He presented his identification and asked to speak with the CO. The identification showed him to be one Wing Commander Hamilton of MI5. Although officially retired from the RAF, he retained military rank and had been promoted on retirement. The duty policeman rang through to the CO’s house in officer’s married quarters. After speaking to him he handed the telephone to Hamilton. In view of the incidents of the last two days, Hamilton had decided he needed to talk to people on site. He had received a call from Air Vice-Marshall Denby telling of the latest incident and Hamilton couldn’t help smiling when he heard of Corporal Hill’s involvement. Now, with Denby’s permission, he wanted to talk to both young Andy Hill and Jamie Rogerson. The CO knew of the attempted hijack but not about Jamie Rogerson and Hamilton didn’t tell him. It was arranged for him to be a guest in the Officers’ Mess and Hamilton was given instructions on how to get there. Hamilton knew his wife was disappointed at him not being home for the weekend but it couldn’t be helped.
It was well after midnight when the Penny Jane came up the channel into the Parfleet St Peter’ harbour. Walmar and Berin had agreed to say that they had put the visitor ashore at Cleethorpes at his request. That would explain his non-return. After tying up they unloaded the fish that they had caught and put them in the small cold store in Walmar’s shed. They would transfer them to the main cold store in the morning. Walmar said goodnight to Berin and headed for home where he would have a late supper before going to bed. No doubt Penny would hear him and come down and sit with him while he ate. He enjoyed those quiet intimate moments of them being together in the warmth of the kitchen. She would bring him up to date about their children and any other home news. He would listen happily and savour those moments. Walmar thought himself to be a very fortunate man. Back at the flat, Berin had other thoughts. On the Monday he had to go to Coventry to carry out the instructions he had received. There would be a package for him to pick up at the post office in Coventry. This time he would not be using Walmar’s van. Berin wondered when he would be going back home to Russia. It would be good to see Leningrad again and visit his parents. He headed for bed and sleep.
***
It was 08.00 hours on Saturday (8th) and Colonel Kharkov was having breakfast with the Consul-General in the Russian Consulate in Manchester. He was feeling very pleased. A signal had come in during the night to say that ‘John Matheson’ had been picked up successfully and was on his way back to Russia in a Russian nuclear submarine. Once again it had been a successful operation in stealing British secrets. There was a knock at the door and Major Garasov entered. The Consul-General waved him to sit at the table with them and point to the food and hot drinks on the buffet. Garasov helped himself to an Earl Grey tea, which he was partial to, and joined the others at the breakfast table. He had already eaten. The men spoke on the current affairs in Britain and the success of the dinner the previous evening. It had brought trade opportunities for Russian goods as well as the chance to obtain technology from industries not linked to defence. They did not discuss the espionage roles of consulate staff. At the end of breakfast the men went their different ways. Garasov went down to his office and studied the papers laid out on his desk. His assistant knocked and entered with the Daily Express and the folder with newspaper cuttings. On page two was a report of a daring attempted hijack of a RAF truck delivering equipment to a base in Lincolnshire. The article gave lurid details of the struggle and the way the airmen repelled the would-be hijackers, ending in the death of one of the hijackers when driven over by a car. There was a photograph of the three airmen standing by their truck being interviewed by police. Garasov’s assistant opened the file to a photograph taken earlier in the month when another hijack was foiled in Yorkshire. He pointed to one man seen in both of the photographs. “Get me the file on the RAF
