Post by Fitz Kreiner on Apr 18, 2012 21:35:50 GMT
Sunday, December 19th, 1999
Sergeant Lovatt put the letter down on the desk and stared at it before rubbing her eyes wearily. The official letter had come through, along with it, the cloth badge. She reached out and picked it up and turned it over in her hands. The cloth badge had been brought by courier that morning, along with the letter of confirmation of her promotion. No ceremony, no fanfare, no presentation; just a letter and badge. Of course, it had all the official stamps and authority of the promotion, but its low key arrival just went to accentuate the feeling of guilt that Lovatt felt about it.
Lovatt grimaced as she looked at the badge and dropped it onto the letter. Staring at it for several seconds, she let her head drop and her eyes close. In a faint despair, she rubbed her face and eyes before yawning. It was still early in the morning and she was the first officer in the HQ. The sound of footsteps from outside brought her round quickly and she dropped her hands to the desk to remove the letter as Captain Morris walked through the door.
“Morning, Corporal,” he began before trailing off as he saw who was in the room. “Captain, what’s-” Morris trailed off again as he saw what Lovatt had in her hands. “What’s that?” he asked.
“Sir,” Lovatt said getting to her feet. “I think I need to talk to you.”
“Alright, Seargent,” Morris said sitting down before correcting himself. “Alright Ally, my hat’s off, this is completely off the record.”
“I, erm,” Lovatt faltered. “I don’t really know where to begin.”
“I often find that the beginning is a good place in these matters,” Morris replied.
“Well, sir,” Lovatt said before shifting uncomfortably. “Sorry, this might be a bit disjointed.”
“If it’s family troubles, then you have my permission to take the day off and sort it out,” Morris said.
“No, it’s work, sir. Very work problems. You see, well, it started with Sir Daniel.”
Morris rolled his eyes. “What has he done now?”
“Well, it’s all to do with when you asked us to keep an eye on Tom, not that I’m blaming you at all, sir,” Lovatt added quickly. “nuts,” she breathed, “I think I’ve cocked up big time here, sir. I saw Tom in the HQ, he was here with some girl, a girl with blue hair, possibly the one you mentioned, but I let him go. I confronted him, went to arrest him as you ordered, but I couldn’t, he’s one of us, he’s a good guy. But after I’d let him go, I spotted a note that he’d dropped. I assume it was accidentally, it was from someone in the HQ, arranging to meet him. I was gonna bring the note to you, so we could sort this out internally and us not look like the joke of the army.
“I wanted to bring the note to you, sir, honestly, but Ashfield was in your office. I was torn between my duty and loyalty. I shouldn’t have done it, sir. I should have kept quiet until you got back.”
“Ally, what did you do?” Morris asked. His voice was stern but there was a soft element of compassion there.
“I gave Ashfield the note. I’d already disobeyed one order, to arrest Tom; I thought that this would at least deflect it off me I guess. Ashfield got an army unit to prepare a sting at the location; the Thamesmead storage facility. He wanted me there to co-ordinate it as it was a UNIT leak. He said that if I made the sting successful then he’d give me a promotion.”
With a look of barely contained disgust, she gently tossed the letter and badge towards Morris.
“Here it is,” she said, “the letter confirming my promotion with immediate effect to Warrant Officer One, Staff Sergeant. I always wanted to move up in the ranks, but not like this.”
“Who was it?” Morris asked. “Who went to meet Tom?”
“Suzanne,” Lovatt replied. “I’m so sorry, sir; I’ve betrayed you, I’ve betrayed Tom, I’ve betrayed Suzanne, all the troops. I’ve betrayed my duty and sacrificed my self-respect and self worth.”
“You did what you thought was right?” Morris asked. The question was so sincere Lovatt was caught off guard.
“Yes sir,” she replied bowing her head. “I deserve a court martial or whatever punishment you think.”
Morris paused, running a hand through his hair as he got to his feet and look out of the window onto the dark street below. “I think you should get out of that uniform and back into your civvies,” Morris said without turning round.
“I understand, sir,” Lovatt replied. “I’ll wait for the letter.”
“What letter?” Morris asked.
“The one you’ll send me.”
“No, Sergeant,” Morris said. “I want you to change back into civvies and then tell the rest of the guys here to do the same. Keep your guns handy but under clothing and make sure they’re easily accessible.”
“Sir?” Lovatt asked. “I don’t think I understand.”
“What I’m about to do, Sergeant, is a complete disregard for all direct orders. All orders to all UNIT personnel will from this point on come from me and me alone. This UNIT group is no longer under the orders of the British army or monarchy. Our duty is to our country and planet, and I’m making the executive decision that the orders and intentions of Duncan and Ashfield are against the interests of this country and planet.”
“Sir?” Lovatt asked again.
“Don’t worry, Sergeant,” Morris said. “I’m about to tender my resignation. If this all goes tits up, then I’ll make sure that it’s all on me and my shoulders. However, if it doesn’t, I’ll make sure that you keep that rank, Staff Sergeant.”
“Can I have that in writing, sir?” Lovatt asked.
“Give me the chance to write it,” Morris said. “The orders we got were wrong. The closer our investigations got into Duncan, the stricter the laws and orders became. I didn’t like this from the start and I’ve had enough. Inform all troops we have here, if any of them don’t like it, they can see me in my office for the next fifteen minutes.”
“You’re talking about treason, sir,” “Lovatt said, half in clarification and half in confirmation.
“I’m talking about restoring this country. Something we should have done long ago,” Morris replied. “Now, I believe you have orders to give the men, Sergeant.”
“Sir,” Lovatt said before turning and leaving the room.
Waiting until she’d gone, Morris turned and rested his arm against the window and then rested head against his arm. “I only hope I’m right,” he muttered.
*
Corporal Mark Hallam sat at his desk at the front of the Blackheath facility. He was furious at having to be called in on a Sunday morning for an emergency admission. He couldn’t exactly turn the call down, coming from Sir Daniel Ashfield the previous day.
The new admission, a corporal from the military investigation group UNIT, had been brought in under suspicion of treason and mutiny. Why she had been brought here and why Hallam had been called in, he didn’t know. The thought annoyed him and had taken him away from his bed and, mercifully, a Sunday meal with the in-laws. Still, it was the principle.
The sound of the door opening brought him crashing back to the here and now. He looked up as he saw two figures walk in, man and woman, in civilian clothes. The man had short ginger hair and a short goatee beard and moustache with set green eyes. His clothing was non-descript; dark blue jeans, grey rugby shirt, heavy boots and long winter coat. The woman also had red hair, except hers was held up in a pony tail. Her eyes seemed heavy as though she had something weighing on her mind. Her clothes were as none-descript as the man’s; combat trousers, polo shirt and fleece jacket. The clothes looked casual but verging on too casual, something that only someone who knew what to look for would spot; plain clothes officers.
Their faces set, the two crossed the room to Hallam’s desk as he folded his hands and looked up at them.
“May I help you?” he asked.
“Captain William Morris of UNIT,” the man said, pulling an ID card out of his pocket and holding it up so that Hallam could see. “And this is Sergeant Lovatt.” The woman also held out an ID card.
“What can I do for you sir?” Hallam asked.
“Your prisoner, Corporal,” Morris said, “I’m here to take custody of her.”
Hallam opened his mouth before closing it again. He’d not heard that anyone was coming to take charge of the prisoner, yet at the same time, the man was a superior officer. “Have you the warrant, sir?” he asked.
“Weren’t you informed we were coming?” Morris countered.
“Sorry, sir, but no,” Hallam admitted. “I do need to see a warrant though, sir.”
“Are you questioning my orders?” Morris asked.
“No sir,” Hallam replied, “but I respectfully ask that you appreciate that I need the relevant paper work.”
Morris pulled himself up to his full height and looked down at Hallam. “Corporal, Corporal Loding is a serving member of UNIT and as such, comes under my responsibility and therefore I reserve the right to take custody of her.”
“I understand sir,” Hallam said, reaching for the phone, “But I hope you appreciate my situation. I will need to phone to confirm your authority.”
With a swift movement, Lovatt pulled her pistol from a shoulder holster and placed the butt of the gun on the cradle, ending the phone call before it had begun, the barrel pointing directly at Hallam. “This is our authority, Corporal,” she said.
“What is this?” he asked.
“I asked you to hand over Corporal Lovatt to my custody, Corporal,” Morris said, drawing his own pistol, “now I am informing you that I will be taking her into my custody.”
“Sir, this is-” Hallam began.
“I know full well what it is, Corporal,” Morris replied.
“I can’t be party to this,” Hallam said.
“I’m not asking you to be party to it, Corporal,” Morris replied. “I’m telling you that I am taking my Corporal back and she will be leaving with me. You simply have one choice, either you agree, give me the key and we will be on our way, or we shall take the key and take you into our custody.”
“You know I can’t do either of those, sir,” Hallam replied.
“And I’m not one to offer those choices,” Morris replied. “I vowed to serve Queen and Country, not some jumped up no-body who no one had ever heard of five minutes ago. Now, I repeat; you can either surrender the key and Corporal Loding to us, or we shall take her by other means. I have men standing by outside ready for my word, the choice is yours. If you give us the key, we will leave; you’ll be free to contact whoever you want after we leave.”
Hallam looked from Morris to Loding and then to Loding’s gun, still pointed at him. “Very well, sir,” he said, standing up and unclipping the keys from his belt. “But I feel it is my duty to inform you that the moment you’ve gone, I will be raising the alarm.”
“I understand, Corporal,” Morris said holding out his hand and collecting the keys. “I expect nothing less; thank you.”
Turning, Morris moved to the door to the cells, unlocking it and disappearing down the corridor. Lovatt stood by Hallam, her hand tight on her gun.
“Please sit down,” she said, indicating the seat on the other side of the desk. “We don’t want anyone to try anything silly, do we?”
“No, Serg,” Hallam said, he voice dull.
After several tense and uncomfortable silent minutes, Morris returned through the door, Corporal Loding following close by, still in her uniform. She was wearing a bemused expression on her face, but saying nothing. Morris still had his pistol drawn and was again holding it in the direction of Hallam.
“Five minutes, Corporal,” he said, edging towards the door. “You don’t know who’s outside and how far away they are, if you catch my drift?”
“Sir?” Hallam asked.
“Let me clarify, Corporal,” Morris said, motioning Lovatt to head to the door with his head, “You’re now in direct sight of the window. We will have five minutes to get clear, after which, you are free to do what you wish and contact who you wish. Clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Hallam said, bowing his head slightly.
“Thank you,” Morris smiled, slipping through the door and closing it softly.
Hallam breathed a huge sigh of relief as soon as the door was closed, turning his head to see that he was truly alone. Through the window, he could see Morris, Lovatt and Loding getting into a black Mercedes outside. He looked cautiously at the rooftops for any signs of a sniper. He couldn’t see any, but that didn’t mean there weren’t any. Morris was a soldier, but a soldier committing what was technically high treason. And UNIT, he’d heard of UNIT and had no idea the access to exotic technology they may have. A UNIT sniper could be twice the distance any normal sniper could be.
Turning back to his desk, Hallam looked at it, keeping glancing at the clock on the wall, and waited for eight minutes, just to be safe. When he was sure, he reached out and picked up the phone.
*
“Sir?” Loding asked as she sat back in the back of the Merc.
Lovatt tossed a rucksack over to her. “Dress down,” she said. “We’re doing what we all should have done from the off.”
“What’s that?” Loding asked, shooting a quizzical look at Morris who nodded.
“We’re supporting Tom openly,” he said. “I’m just sorry that you had to do it on your own and behind my back, Suzanne. You should never have ended up in there, and we should never be in this situation.”
Loding finished shrugging off her tunic and pulled on the jersey that Lovatt had prepared for her. “Sorry, sir?” Loding asked.
“You heard,” Morris replied, turning back to look out of the front windscreen. “I’ve ordered all available troops to meet us at the Tower. We’re going to help Tom in any way we can and get Duncan off the throne. He doesn’t belong there any more than what my dog left in the living room last night.”
“You’re not suggesting we storm the Tower are you?” Lovatt asked.
“Not at all, Sergeant,” Morris replied. “I have means and methods that may or may not be viable.”
“You’ve been taking lessons off Tom and the Doctor with this vagueness and mystery, haven’t you sir?” Lovatt chuckled.
“I trust that that Corporal will do his duty and open the door for us,” Morris said.
“You’re thinking that he will report our actions and they’ll just invite us in?” Loding asked. “You’ve just broken someone who has been arrested for treason from jail and are planning to commit treason with them. Sorry, I don’t see the logic, sir.”
“I also trust in Tom, that he will manage to get something done in time for us,” Morris replied. “He and the Master and Lethbridge-Stewart are in the Tower. I would be surprised if they didn’t have some semblance of a plan between the three of them.”
“You’re relying on them?” Lovatt asked.
“I think it would be safer to say that we’re relying on each other,” Morris replied. “I would imagine that whatever they have in mind won’t play out without some back up in some form. And what we need to do, we can’t do without someone on the inside.”
“And what do we need to do?” Loding asked.
“We need to stop Duncan,” Morris said. “Tom has got pretty conclusive data that there is some alien involvement, and last time I checked, that was our remit.”
*
The black Mercedes slowed as it drove through the throngs of crowd on Tower Bridge. Tower Hill, Trinity Street and Trinity Square Gardens had been turned to fully pedestrian for the coming few days, with a fenced off section for police and official transport. Tower Bridge had been kept mostly clear, readied for the procession to Westminster Abbey on Christmas Day.
Morris’ driver drove steadily down the parade route as a police officer stepped out before them, waving them down. As they approached, Morris wound down his window, the police man leaning forward to speak to him.
“Captain William Morris of UNIT,” he said, showing his ID badge.
“One moment, sir,” the police officer said turning and speaking into his radio. After several seconds, the officer turned back to the car. “Proceed along the road; pull in just before the gates.”
“Thank you,” Morris said before winding his window up and nodding to the driver.
The car drove slowly up the cordoned off section of the road. Along the river bank, large screens had been erected to display the broadcasts from Duncan. More of these broadcasts were expected in the coming days. The other side of the barriers, there were large crowds of people, wrapped up from the December cold. Few of them were paying attention to the car as it drove past. A few flashes from cameras went off from civilians who didn’t know who was in the car. The majority of the crowd were transfixed on the screens. Some were showing live news broadcasts, whilst others were showing a Sunday service from Westminster Abbey.
“I’m glad I’m not in the middle of that lot,” Lovatt muttered, looking at the crowds.
“Just be steady and follow my lead in this,” Morris said, looking back over his shoulder to Lovatt and Loding. Looking further, he looked through the rear window; the two other cars, each with five occupants, all the men he could muster from the Camden HQ, followed on behind.
Approaching the gate that the police officer had mentioned, the cars slowed.
“Ready?” Morris asked, getting nods of agreement from Lovatt, Loding and his driver.
As they got out of the car, they were approached by a group of red uniformed Tower guards, all armed and lead by a dour faced Captain.
“Captain Morris?” he asked as he approached the group.
“Yes, that’s me,” Morris replied, glancing round to see more of the guards and several of the armed police moving forwards and towards them and the two cars containing the troops.
“Captain Shane Hodds, of the Sovereignty Defence and Command Unit,” he said.
“Sovereignity-?” Morris trailed off, his eyes briefly wandering, “No, never heard of you. Not you personally, I mean the Sovereignty Defence and Command Unit. Sounds a bit, y’know,” he trailed off catching Hodds’ eye.
“Newly set up, to protect the interests of the King and country,” Hodds said, unclipping his holster and drawing his pistol pointing it directly at Morris. “And you, Captain Morris, and your UNIT group, are acting against the interest of King and Country. You will all consider yourself under arrest.”
“Can’t you see what you’re doing is wrong?” Morris asked, looking from Hodds to the few men approaching behind him. “We’re marching down the path to dictatorship and a police state. It’s because I swore an oath to Queen Elizabeth and this country; not some upstart with ideas of becoming a monarch, someone who has contrived his way to the top.”
“Keep talking, Morris,” Hodds said, “you’re only further implicating yourself in this treasonous action.”
“You really can’t see it, can you?” Morris said, looking around.”None of you? The reduction of liberty, the swearing unwavering loyalty from the armed forces and the police, the cracking down on information. Duncan has the army, navy, air force and police under his thumb, he’s creating new laws on a whim, and creating personal armies. Don’t you see any similarity to this and Nazi Germany?”
“It’s no good, sir,” Lovatt said stepping towards Morris and getting nudged by one of the soldiers, “he’s not listening.”
“Will you stand down and surrender your weapons?” Hodds asked.
“Ah, sir?” Loding said cautiously stepping forward and round the armed police officer who was standing over her. “Look,” she said, indicating up to the large screen that had caught the police officers attention.
Glancing up, Morris and Hodds took in the sight on the screen. “I don’t think so,” Morris replied, looking back at Hodds. “I think, if anything, you should start accepting my orders.”