CHOGM Pt. 05

"Oh, and who would they be?" George P. put on his best 'I am innocent but curious' voice.

"I think their names are BillyBob and Dwight but I do know that they are the two men who were directly responsible for the death of a Mr Petrelli. A couple of your people are supposed to be helping us find them but I don't think that they are trying all that hard."

"I really don't know what you are talking about."

"Then let me explain. I know that you and your government are providing Diplomatic protection to a couple of Trade Attachés. These men are assassins employed by your CIA to carry out a variety of tasks, quote, in the best interests of the US government, unquote. Unfortunately for you they have been carrying out their own personal vendetta against three British citizens and this got in the way of the job they were sent to do. Are you following me so far?"

"Yes. It's a very interesting story. Fiction of course, but very interesting. I presume there is more?"

"Yes. Their original task was to carry out some form of punitive action against the CHOGM conference which would embarrass the Australian government and destabilise the Indian government. Your people used the Ananda Marga, or at least its Proutist wing, to plant a bomb outside the Hilton Hotel. What the Ananda Marga were not aware of was that the bomb that they put in the bin was not the only one there. Your own people had also placed a much larger bomb in the bin which was designed to kill and maim anyone within fifty feet of the bin when it went up."

"You must think that I am inhuman to approve such an action?"

"I don't believe that you are directly involved in the decisions. I think that you are going to be left to clean up the mess that these loose cannons are going to be leaving behind. They are also involved in the kidnapping of two innocent women in an effort to prevent the newspaper for which I work publishing an article which outlined the CIA's involvement in Australia."

"I am not aware of this."

"Like I said you, we, have been dealing with a couple of really nice people here. They have set themselves up as judge. Jury and executioner. They have set themselves outside the law and their punishment will be also outside the law."

"Are you now setting yourself up as judge jury and executioner. I would suggest that you leave this to the police and not try and take matters in your own hands. You will be getting in over your head if you do."

"The police are the last place I would go for assistance. They are not the slightest bit interested in any of this because they have their orders from the highest source to have nothing to do with this."

"So what are your plans?"

"We will take our two friends and mete out a punishment which befits the crime."

"How do you plan to do that?"

"We will think of something. My suggestion to you is to distance yourself from what is about to take place."

Russell hung up the phone. "That should stir things along nicely."

"What you said about what these men have been doing, you have proof of it?"

"No, but it fits the pattern of similar operations around the world. The only difference is the involvement of our friends."

They lapsed into an apprehensive silence, both fearing the worst while at the same time aware that the action that was about to take place was necessary.

43

The Vaucluse street was silent. The residents having withdrawn to practise whatever ritual it was that cleared the street after eight o'clock. The still damp pavement reflected the light from the street lights and the occasional appearance of the moon.

The only sounds to be heard were the occasional yap of the family pooch, although the family and the dog would shudder at such a description, seeking admission after its mandatory post meal 'walkies'.

Unseen and unheard were several family cats, each slinking through the sodden gardens in emulation of its long time ancestor, searching for some suicidal beastie that it could catch and proudly display for its human family.

A large black car emerged from the garage and drove slowly towards the street. There was a stiffening of tension among the watching and waiting crowd, concealed in the shadows.

Having safely negotiated the short distance from garage to street the driver paused momentarily before turning left and accelerating quickly along the street.

He was not quick enough. In a practised manoeuvre, born of guerrilla operations in many previous wars, a broad canvas strap studded with many long nails was quickly pulled across the road. The driver did not see it in time to avoid it and his car shuddered to a halt no more than fifty metres from the tape, all four of its tyres flattened against the rim.

There were three men inside the car. They were safe from attack behind the bullet proof glass of the armoured limousine. It was just as well that it was armoured because before any of the occupants considered getting out, the car was surrounded by several armed men.

The driver spoke quickly and urgently into a two way radio handset, seeking instructions and relaying information to the house.

No sooner had the message been received than the garage door once more rumbled open and another car shot forward. There was no hesitation in the driver of this car, he drove quickly down the driveway and out onto the street.

At first the watchers thought that the driver of the second vehicle was intent on rescue. No such intent was on the mind of the driver. Instead of stopping near the other vehicle he drove up onto the nature strip before he had reached the studded strap and accelerated, scraping along the fences and just squeezing between fence and roadside shrubbery.

Several of the watchers had to jump for their lives as the driver had no intention of allowing their mere safety to stop his escape.

His plan worked. Before anyone could react he had made it to the corner and, with the screech of tortured rubber the car disappeared from sight.

Several men ran for cars only to stop at Maria's command. "Only one car to follow. Tony you take three men and give chase. Gino you get onto the taxi radios and get our drivers looking for the car just in case we lose it."

Seeing the one car take off in pursuit the driver of the first car was once more onto the house by radio. Seeing this Maria called one of the men over to her. "Gino I want you to silence that radio, can you do this?"

"Yes. it will be easy." He moved towards the car, a large claw bar in his hand. Reaching the vehicle he jammed the bar under the bonnet he lifted. The panel bent and eventually the lock sprung. "Cheap American shit." He said to himself as he lifted the bonnet and disconnected the battery. "That should stop them."

Next he took a large hammer and punch from the bag he carried and approached the front door of the car, positioning the punch an inch beneath the door lock he struck it a firm blow several times with the hammer. He then inserted a large screwdriver into the newly created hole and pushed down on the handle. The door popped open. "Would you care to join us?" He asked the terrified driver.

With some little fear and trepidation the driver emerged from the car. He looked at the damage to the vehicle, "So much for armour plating" he thought as he was led away by several large and well armed men.

What the driver was not aware of was that the outer skin on the car had been designed to allow the bullet to penetrate. The metal in the skin would slow the projectile sufficiently for it to be stopped by an inner shield without any danger of ricochet with subsequent risk of injury to bystanders. The one drawback to this design was that it allowed relatively easy access to the door locking system from the outside.

Meanwhile at the rear of the house a dark clad figure emerged from a darkened doorway and crouching low, moved quickly across the expanse of lawn until he merged with the shadows along the back boundary of the property.

He quickly and quietly scaled the fence into a neighbouring property, his drop to the ground accompanied by the soft hiss of the cat that almost had its tail trodden on. The man didn't even flinch. Moving swiftly from garden to garden he headed in the direction of the harbour and Neilson Park where he would wait until it was clear before moving to his rendezvous.

In the other direction a high speed chase was developing into something from one of Hollywood's more spectacular epics, all full of noise and spectacular slides but not reaching any closer to a result. The lead car was providing most of the spectacle as it struggled to negotiate the twisting bends in the road. What it lost in its wild slides around the corners it picked up in a straight line as the brute horsepower of the American motor flexed its muscle.

As the two cars sped through Darling Point they were joined by a police patrol, its flashing lights and wailing siren disturbing the peace of the district.

The police car got within sight of the second car but even if it was able to get close enough to the front car it would do nothing, the driver had his instructions. His job was to try to pull over the second car and detain the driver at least that was the plan.

As this was taking place a small boat eased from its mooring at Rushcutters Bay and headed towards the Heads, its mission to pick up a passenger who would be waiting for it at the Eastern end of the Shark Bay swimming enclosure. This was part of a practised routine.

Back in the street the proceedings were taking on the role of a major production. The men surrounding the car noticed a blanket on the floor of the car and, on removing it, found a further two men crouching on the floor.

All three now stood against the car as they were systematically searched. While this was taking place Brian and a photographer strolled over to the group. Seeking out Maria, Brian introduced himself as Russell's employer. This was not accepted until positive identification was produced.

"I would like to take pictures of these men for the article that Russell has put together."

"I thought that you were not going to publish that."

"After what has happened over the last day or so, all bets are now off. Any understanding that existed up to now no longer exist, at least as far as I am concerned."

"Good. I was all for you publishing it from the beginning."

After taking several shots of all three of them Brian and the photographer left and the three men were ushered into a waiting car and driven off. Apart from three men hiding in the shadows the street was soon cleared of watchers. Some heading for home and bed, while others were headed for another destination where further interrogation of the prisoners was to take place. This group included Maria.

Brian rang Russell from his office. "We have achieved our objective, we now have photos of people to use in the article. I'll drop over as soon as the lab boys have finished with them. They are rushing them through for me and have promised them in around half an hour so I should be able to get over to you by around," He glanced at his watch, "say, one thirty, unless you want to go to sleep that is."

"No, come over as soon as you can. There is no way that either of us will be able to get to sleep until this is over."

"Okay. By the way, tell Jenny that her mother is doing just fine, in fact tell Jenny that she has one hell of a mother."

"I think that Brian is rather taken with your mother. He just said to tell you that she is fine and not to worry too much about her."

The relief at the news showed on Jenny's face as she hugged Russell to her. They settled down to wait for the next development.

Brian was the first to reach them and after looking at the pictures he brought with him they were not sure that they were too happy with events. There was a sense of both disappointment and foreboding in Russell as he leafed through them. It wasn't so much what was there that bothered him as what wasn't there.

Of the three men in the pictures, only the blurred image of the driver of the second car, the one that ran the gauntlet through the blockade, was of either of the two men for which they were looking. The others they recognised as being associated with one or more of the incidents that had taken place over the last few days, but they were not of the major players.

"If this is all of them then I'm afraid that the other one is either still at the house or has managed to slip through the cordon. I'm inclined to think the latter is the case. He is the one that we were hoping to get because he is the most dangerous of the two."

Brian picked up the phone. "Sorry to bother you at this late hour but I thought that I should be the one to bring you the good news that the main bird that we have been looking for has flown the coop, or at least that is our guess. What do you think will be their next move?"

"The train trip to Bowral in the morning will be the ideal time and place to pull off another stunt. It won't matter how well the route is guarded they can't possibly hope to cover every contingency. Whatever they do will be a token gesture only."

"I guess we should once more warn the powers that be, whatever good that will do, that there could be another attempt to throw a spanner in the works. In the mean time I want you three to spare no effort in finding what has happened to our hillbilly friend with the penchant for little girls."

After hanging up the phone Brian settled down with Russell and Jenny to wait for the return of her mother. The sound of the car coming up the driveway roused them from their separate reverie's. Each of them was lost in their own thoughts, only Russell and Jenny seated together gave any indication of mutual existence.

Maria and Tony walked in together, both looking tired and drawn. "Those men are more stubborn than we thought. They tell us nothing."

"Where are they now?"

"There is a ship leaving for America in about five hours time, They are on it. The captain has strict instructions not to release them until it reaches San Francisco and there he will turn them over to the authorities, minus any identification, as stowaways. They will eventually be able to talk their way out of the mess but not before their usefulness to the CIA is lost. We have friends who will see to that." The finality of the statement left Brian, Russell and Jenny in no doubt that it would happen as she had told them.

"And you found out nothing that would tell us what their next move will be?"

"They told us nothing. We tried many different methods of persuasion without success."

"And what about the man in the second car, where is he?"

"The two cars, his and ours, were being chased by the police. They drove very fast, too fast as it happened, and the American man was in an accident and is now in hospital. The police will not be charging him with anything and because they did not catch our driver they cannot charge him. The man is in hospital. He will not be there in the morning."

"You sound certain."

"He will also be on the ship when it sails."

Tony left them at around four to go home, promising to return as soon as he had had some rest. Maria excused herself and left to seek sleep. Brian stretched out on the sofa and Russell and Jenny went down to her old room to try and get some sleep.

All of them were as spectacularly unsuccessful in their efforts as the others and it was with some relief that the sound of the newspaper hitting the front wall and announcing the start of a new day.

44

Sydney Morning Herald

Tuesday February 14, 1978

FRASER CALLS TROOPS

500 TO GUARD LEADERS' TRAIN

More than 500 troops will guard a special train carrying 12 Commonwealth Heads of Government and about 120 Officials from Sydney to Bowral today.

MASSIVE HUNT FOR HILTON BOMBER

NSW Police began an intensive investigation to catch the bomber responsible for the tragic explosion outside the Sydney Hilton.

ANANDA MARGA SEES RUSSIAN PRESENCE

Officials of the Indian based Ananda Marga religious movement called a Press Conference to deny emphatically any complicity in the bomb incident.

"It's started then." Russell looked up from the newspaper.

"What has started?" Brian sat up from his position lying on the sofa.

"The trial by implication of the Ananda Marga."

"What do you mean?"

"What Russell is getting at is," Jenny said, coming in to the room with a pot of coffee and three cups, "The implication of persons or organisations in various incidents can be achieved by asking them for opinions on those incidents, or by someone within the organisation suggesting that they make a statement denying involvement before questions are asked. Either way it implies involvement and the average person who doesn't know the true situation is led to believe that they are involved. The CIA are past masters at this sort of propaganda. But then I guess that I'm teaching your grandmother to suck eggs."

"But wouldn't most people see a 'No comment' as not wanting to admit involvement." Maria came into the room with a tray containing a plate of toast and pots of jams, marmalade and butter.

"There is a difference between not being involved and not wanting to admit involvement. The real trick is to not get drawn into making a statement in the first place."

"And if the Ananda Marga is really involved?"

"The same conditions apply, say nothing and don't get drawn into making any comment."

"The government's reaction is interesting."

"What reaction? I haven't seen too much evidence of it."

"Why aren't they using all of the resources at their disposal to locate those involved in the bombing. They could be combining with the state Police in this, they could use ASIO to carry out enquiries, but oh no, they have turned the whole matter over to the NSW Police and are concentrating on increasing security for the remainder of the conference."

"Without wanting to sound too cynical, could it be that they already know who is involved and are under strict orders to do or say nothing?"

"Just who is running this country?"

"We are, isn't this supposed to be a Democracy?"

Brian interrupted this by-play, "I think that we should try to get some sleep now. There is little that we can do right now and besides I think that we are all too tired to think straight. Russell, could you and Jenny drop by the office sometime this afternoon, I want to run through this whole mess and review what has happened up until now to see if there is anything that we might have missed along the way."

"We will continue our search for that man." Maria spoke in a deceptively soft voice. "We still have to avenge my husband's death. If we find him we will contact you."

"What about the one that is in hospital?"

"He is being attended to. I think that about now there will be some very worried people around town."

"What do you mean?"

"Not now. I will tell you later."

Indeed there were some worried people, especially in a certain house at Vaucluse.

"What do you mean he has gone?" George P. was beginning to show real signs of worry.

"Just what I said. When we went into the hospital to bring him here we found that he had supposedly been transferred to another hospital. When we checked there we found that he had never reached there, and to confuse matters even more, they were not expecting him. He has disappeared."

"What about BillyBob, did he get clear?"

"Yes, we delivered him as arranged and he was picked up from the boat at Mrs Macquarie's Chair as planned."

"At least one thing has gone right. I am dreading what will happen next, this whole thing has been one enormous cock up after another."

As if on cue the phone rang. "Yes."

"What the fucking hell are you playing at up there?" The very angry voice on the other end of the line was that of the US Ambassador in Canberra. "I have just had another long session with the Foreign Affairs Minister and he has accused me, you and our government of complicity in a whole range of things that have happened around this country over the last ten years, and do you know what disturbs me more than anything else?"