CHOGM Pt. 04

30

Sydney Morning Herald

Monday, February 12, 1978

TIGHTER CAR EXHAUST RULES DELAYED

Federal and State Ministers deferred yesterday the introduction of tighter emission controls for motor vehicles.

PM DEFENDS KERR'S PARIS APPOINTMENT

SHARP RISE IN UNEMPLOYED

IDENTITY CARD PLAN IN PNG

CO NOT LINKED WITH DRUGS: NUGAN.

Mrs French looked in on them several times before they once again stirred. They were just emerging from their sleep when the door opened and Russell's father and another man slipped quietly into the room. Russell recognised the other man as one of his father's long time colleagues whose sons had attended the same school as Russell and his brothers.

"Well young Russell what have you been doing to yourself?" He picked up Russell's hand and started to remove the dressings.

"I jammed it in a car door." Russell winced as the removal of the bandages caused him some discomfort.

"And I suppose you beat up this poor unfortunate young lady as she tried to get away from you."

"No. She has in fact been practising her circus act which consists entirely of her head butting fists."

"At least you haven't lost your warped sense of humour. I feel that you are going to need all of it when I start playing around with this mess you once called a hand." He examined the fingers, "Hmm, this will take some doing and you won't be able to play the guitar for some time."

"Will I be able to play it when my fingers get better?"

"Yes."

"That's great because I can't play one now."

"Ha, ha, but there is one thing that you will be able to much better, at least for a while."

"And what is that?"

"You will not have any trouble scratching yourself. What I'm going to have to do is to insert stainless steel rods into at least two of these fingers to hold them together while they bones set. The others I will splint. Now I'm going to need a table that I can use to operate and a couple of strong lights so that I can see what I'm doing. I will need to have a lot of local anaesthetic administered so that I can manipulate these, do you have any handy?"

The operation was carried out on the dining room table with Jenny standing at the head with her cheek against his whispering softly into his sedated and unhearing ears and sobbing quietly throughout the entire process.

At last it was over and Russell was carried back to the room that he and Jenny had shared the night before. He was laid in bed and Jenny kissed him before leaving the room. "Are his fingers going to be all right?"

"Yes, it will take time but they will mend quickly enough as long as he doesn't bump them or get them caught in another car door."

"Mrs French, would you mind very much if I stayed with him until he comes out of the anaesthetic?"

"Why don't you call me 'Mother' after all you are almost family, of course I don't mind if you stay with him but before you do don't you think that you should contact your friends and let them know what is happening?"

"Yes of course." She rang the newspaper office.

"Where are you?" Brian Thompson asked when he found out that it was Jenny.

"We are at Russell's parent's house and I have some bad news for you. Russell has been injured. He has had one of his hands badly smashed up and has just had an operation on his fingers. They are badly broken."

"Is he in hospital?"

"No, we thought it best if we kept away from hospitals."

"Listen I was just about to call the police to look for you. The others rang me this morning wanting to know if I knew where you were. It seems that they have been trying to contact you for some time and didn't know where you were."

"I'll ring them straight away."

Jenny rang Russell's flat, this time there was an answer. "Where are you, we've been trying to find you for some time?"

"We are at Russell' parent's place. What's the matter."

"I think you and Russell will have to find a new place to live. This place has been done over something fierce."

"What about my place?"

"Not much better, what have you done to upset whoever it is that you have upset, and where is Russell.?"

"Well, he's out to it at present. We were both beaten around last night by our friends and I guess that they are mad with us because we got away from them."

"What do you mean he's out to it?"

"He has had his fingers badly smashed up and has just had them operated on. I'll get him to ring you when he comes to."

"I think that you had better stay put until this blows over. I warned you that these guys could play rough. This was only a small taste of what they can do if they put their minds to it."

"I, that is we, intend to stay out of circulation at least for the time being, but as soon as we are well enough we will be back into the fray with a vengeance. In the mean time I have some ministering of mercy to carry on with. I'll ring you later."

"You had better contact us through the newspaper office. We only stayed here long enough for you to contact us. Jerry is out looking for alternative accommodation right now."

Jenny accepted the cup of coffee that Mrs French handed to her. "Thank you, Mother. Do you know that somehow I feel comfortable calling you that. I never thought that I would ever say that, I sort of had this feeling that the way things were going, I would be visiting my future mother-in-law in some retirement home."

"You don't know how much Russell's father and I have wished that someone would come along that Russell would like and with whom he would settle down. You don't realise how pleased we were when we saw you. You are more than we could ever hope for. Now go and tend to the injured."

Jenny slipped into the room and quickly undressed to her bra and panties before slipping into bed beside Russell.

It was getting dark when he began to stir. Jenny held him close as he slowly drifted back into the world of the living. "Darling how do you feel?"

"Whew. I feel awful. Ouch!"

"Careful. Those fingers of yours are going to be very sore for some time and you aren't to bump them on anything. Hold on a minute while I go and see if I can get you something to ease the pain a little."

She slipped back into her dress and left him to find some painkillers. "Do you have any Panadol or something, he has woken up and his hand is bothering him a little."

"I think there are some Panadenes in the medicine cabinet, they are a little stronger than straight Panadol or Aspirin. If you get a glass of water I'll go get them."

Russell was sitting up when Jenny returned. He took two tablets and leant back against the headboard. "What has been happening while I've been out to it?"

"I spoke to Brian and John. They know about what has happened to us and they have told us to stay away until this has blown over."

"Fat chance! As soon as I'm well enough I will be back into it."

"I know you will, but don't you think you should obey the doctor's orders?"

"Are you going to stay here with me to see that I do?"

"No. I'm going to find out just what is going to happen and why they are so concerned about our ability to stop whatever it is."

"Well if you are going so am I, and don't even think about trying to stop me."

"I know that I won't be able to. Oh and by the way we are going to have to look for somewhere to live after we are married."

"What do you mean? I thought that we could use one of our places and sell the other. What has happened?"

"Both of our places have been wrecked. It seems that our friends didn't take too kindly to losing us."

"I don't really want to get a new place but if I have to I will. My insurance will cover the damage so there will be no financial problems, I just hope that they haven't taken any of my prize possessions. I have some books there that are almost irreplaceable and I don't know what I'll do without them."

"I don't want to leave my place either I am fond of its location, but it is my place alone and I don't think that you will like it all that much so don't you think that we should look for a special place that is both of us?"

"I suppose that you are right."

Mrs French came in, "We have just had a call from your friends looking for their car. I said that you were not well enough to go out yet so they asked if I knew where it was so that they could go and get it. I told them that was not possible as it was locked up in the car park under your father's rooms. They want you to go and get it for them as soon as possible."

"They can't be too desperate if they are prepared to wait for me to get better. Did you tell them that it might take days for that to happen?"

"Yes but they were convinced that it wouldn't be that long, in fact they said that you would be well enough to get it tonight. You are expected at the newspaper office at eight."

"You can't do it." Jenny said. "You are in no condition to go anywhere until at least the morning."

"Look Darling, apart from a hand that is swathed in bandages, I feel fine. If it makes you feel any better I'll even let you drive."

"I suppose that will be alright. What time is it now?"

"It has just gone six."

"There is enough time for you two to freshen up while I organise something for you to eat before you go out. I'll organise for your father to drive you in and open up for you."

The shower was interesting as Russell was unable to use his left hand to wash those parts of his body that he normally used it for so Jenny had to help him. The process soon developed into a splashing fun filled occasion with both of them squirming when the other washed those parts usually associated with more carnal pursuits.

They both ate ravenously from the cold meat and salad provided for their meal and at seven fifteen they were both in the back seat of the BMW as Mr French drove them to fetch the Triumph.

"I want you to be careful with that hand." Mr French admonished them as they drove out of the carpark.

"We will." Jenny replied as she put the car into gear. They had gone no more than a hundred metres than Jenny spoke. "Don't look now, well you can look but use the mirror behind the sun visor, we have got company."

Russell pulled down the sun visor and could make out a pair of headlights about fifty metres behind them. "How do you know that it is following us?"

"It was waiting there when we arrived and as soon as we drove past it pulled out of its parking space. There was one man when we arrived at your fathers rooms and I'm pretty sure that I saw the other man standing on the other side of the road watching the building. Both of them were in it when we went past."

"Can we be sure?"

"We'll see." Jenny slowed down as much as she could without it looking obvious and waiting until the very last moment on a green light she turned off to the right and accelerated away. The car behind them ran the red light and gave chase."

"Hooked." Jenny said calmly as she turned left and gave the Triumph a large serve of accelerator. In no time at all she was back on the street that they had been travelling on in the first place. She drove as quickly as she could to the newspaper office where she parked as far as possible from the street entrance to the carpark.

The others were waiting for them to arrive. "I should be saying that it is good to see you but just looking at the damage I have to admit that it is not such a pleasure. Whatever happened to you?"

"We were taken by the same men that kidnapped our mothers." Jenny began, "They jammed Russell's hand in the door of the car and I am afraid that he has a couple of badly broken fingers. They have been set now but it will be some time before he will be able to use a typewriter."

"How on earth did you manage to get away?"

"That was my hero's idea. He was wonderful. We pretended to have a violent argument and when the guard fell for it and came to investigate Russell hit him over the head with a lump of wood and we locked him up, phoned home, picked up the Triumph and got medical attention for Russell's hand."

"And your face, don't forget that."

"You make it sound so easy."

"That is the easy bit. Now for the hard part. You might as well know that I have up until a couple of days ago, been working for the CIA. My job in this was to keep an eye on anyone lurking suspiciously around the Wentworth Hotel. When I told them about seeing Russell hanging around I was told to keep an eye on him. What they didn't count on was for me to find out about what they have been doing around the world and, more importantly, falling in love with Russell."

"How much do they know about us?"

"The people I worked with don't know much. I had to tell them some things while we were captured but I didn't tell them anything damaging."

"What can you tell us about their operations here?"

"I was recruited through the modelling agency that I work through, Solomon's, which by the way is run by an American. My job up until recently has been to recruit 'escorts' for visiting dignitaries. I wasn't one of them."

"What about the Ananda Marga connection?"

"Oh it's there all right, but the question is, why?"

"I think I can answer that," Russell cut in, "During my research I found that they were not averse to instigating, using dissident organisations such as the Ananda Marga, the overthrow of any government that didn't fit in with their particular warped philosophy, for instance Chile."

"They don't seem to have much involvement in India itself so why should they want to upset Mr Desai?"

"Could it be that he is threatening to tightening controls over overseas owned industry as a way of earning money?"

"Very likely. What is their main concern in Australia?"

"Drugs. Sydney is a staging point in their drug pipeline."

"How do you know this?"

"One of the girls that acted as an escort was used as a mule to carry heroin to the West Coast of the US."

"That fits, how do they control the finances for all this?"

"They have their own bank in Sydney. All the money used to buy drugs in Laos comes through the Nugan Hand Bank that they own in Sydney."

"How do you know this, surely you weren't high enough up in the organisation to be told this?"

"My friend the mule told me about the drugs and the fact that the money that she brought back from the States had to be deposited in a certain account at this bank. Her share was paid with a cheque drawn on the same bank, she showed it to me, ten thousand dollars for one trip."

"Christ that must have been some shipment, even if she only got the standard percentage that must have had a street value of several million dollars. How was the money moved around, was it by cheque or in cash?"

"Apart from her share it was all in cash, apparently none of it went through the banks books. She told me how scared she was knowing that she carried that amount with her on the way back."

"She was lucky she wasn't relieved of it on the way."

"An operation this size must have protection."

"What from?"

"Customs, other dealers and enthusiastic DEA's. You have mixed in dangerous circles. It would be best if you made yourself scarce."

"Did all of the drugs end up in the US?"

"No, not all of them. Some of them stayed here while a lot of it ended up in England and Europe."

"As I thought."

"What do you mean by that?"

"We were involved in an operation that started with a shipment of bad dope hitting the streets of Europe around nine years ago. There was strong evidence to suggest that it came from the Golden Triangle and the CIA was behind the shipment. It resulted in the death of a couple of addicts in both England and Amsterdam as well as a couple of Drug Squad detectives in England who were only trying to find out where it came from."

"Were the killers found?"

"No. There were rumours of diplomatic immunity being used to protect the culprit but we never any hard evidence."

"So what happened next?

"Well there was raid on the supply route out of Laos, the destruction of a shipment of heroin and the demolition of a manufacturing plant where the raw opium was converted into heroin."

"That must have set them back a bit?"

"It was estimated that the amount of heroin destroyed, on the streets of New York or London would fetch something of the order of fifty million US Dollars."

"Phew! I can understand why the people behind the raid are not very popular in certain circles."

"No we weren't."

"You were there?"

"We actually led the raid for Interpol."

"Could it be that this is somehow connected with that raid?"

"I think that you should keep thoughts like that to yourself. It hardly bears contemplation."

"But what if?"

"It could explain a good many things, like how they knew we were coming in on that flight when our cover has held for so many years. Why there have been several attempts to stop us here and why there will most likely be more attempts."

"What will you do?"

"The first thing is to contact London and see if we can confirm this theory. May I?" He pointed to the phone on Brian's desk.

"By all means."

Burroughs dialled a number that was answered promptly. "Direct line to the boss, doesn't go through the switchboard. Bugs Bunny here, yes we have a problem and I suspect that we have a mole in the place. You can't be serious. Look we can flush out the mole, if in fact one exists, by completing what we have set out to do here."

The voice on the other end of the line was adamant, "The risks are too great. It has taken us years to establish your cover and all of that effort will come to nothing if you are caught out on this job. The orders are non-negotiable. You are to return immediately and as quietly as possible. I don't even want the opposition to know that you have even left the country, do I make myself clear?"

"Very. Our cover has already been compromised and if that is the way you feel then I have no option but to tender my resignation effective as of now. You will forward my severance pay care of the GPO in Sydney. I have a feeling that I might enjoy my retirement. I feel that my partners will also feel the need to resign," He paused long enough to receive the confirming nods from Frank and Jerry. "Yes, they also resign. Written confirmation of the decision will be sent through the proper channels as soon as we can get them away. Good day to you Sir."

He hung up the phone. "The stupid bastards want us to drop the investigation and return to London immediately. I'm afraid we are not going to comply, after all, who in his right mind would want to go back there in the middle of a freezing bloody winter when we are enjoying so much sun here."

"How will this affect what you have started here?"

"We will no longer have any official status here, not that we ever had any. What we need is another reason to continue."

"I think that I can give you one," Brian said. "How would you three like to become instant journalists and work for us here?"

"But we can't type."

"Some have never let that problem stop them, have they Russell?"

"Oh, so you're criticising my typing now. Kick a man while he's down why don't you."

31

"Welcome to real world and our team." Brian held out his hand which was taken and shaken by all three new employees of the National News. "Now that the formalities are over let's get back to work."

"Where do we start? Jenny and I think that we have had our fair share of the floor, we seem also to have had our fair share of the action."

"We have all had our own moments of drama. Jerry was looking out of the window of your flat when he saw several cars pulling into the street and parking just up the road. He recognised a couple of the men that got out as being unfriendly so we scarpered from there as quickly as we could. We almost didn't make it and I'm sure that Mr Budget will not be impressed with what has happened to the pride of his fleet. It took all of Jerry's skills to shake them loose. Unfortunately your flat took the brunt of their anger. There isn't much left. We checked Jen's flat and there isn't much left there either."