Lion Resurgent (62 page)

“We must.” Another voice from the darkness. “Also, we must move with the times. There are other targets now that can be equally destructive.”

“Telephone lines.” The truth was that most who attended these meetings rather enjoyed them. The leisured pace of discussions and the complete anonymity of the speakers meant that ideas could be proposed and approved or shot down on their merits.

“And satellite links.” The impression of the attendees thoughtfully nodding was strong. “Communications are a modern army weakness as much as fuel and supplies.”

“Batteries. Almost everybody depends on battery-powered equipment these days. If we can find a way of ensuring batteries went flat before they were used?”

Another long pause and when the next speaker brought up the idea, the reluctance in her voice was palpable. “Medical supplies. Perhaps we could poison blood banks or pharmaceuticals?”

“That would make wounded troops reluctant to seek medical attention. A major impact on morale. We should look into this.”

There was another pause for thought. “Infect, not poison. Poisoning could be detected as deliberate and would reveal our hand. But septicaemia or syphilis in blood supplies could just be an accident. And the rumor would be as damaging as the deed.”

“Good ideas. They will be studied.” Nobody quite knew how, but they would be. Somebody, somewhere would get a contract to study the degree of infection in blood banks. Somehow, that information would find its way back to be weaponized.

“Are there other matters?”

“The Government remained firm. Commendably firm. There was no sign of weakness and the ghost of That Man remains in his grave.”

The satisfied stir that went around the room was unmistakable. One of the key functions of the Auxiliary Units was to ensure that what had been done by Lord Halifax on June 18, 1940 could never be repeated. If a modern-day Lord Halifax tried, he or she would never survive the drive from Downing Street to the Palace and the Monarch would be spared the duty having their hands kissed by a traitor.
Who shall guard the guards?
A question that might be asked of the Auxiliary Units had they existed, which, of course, they did not. And the reply they might have given, had they existed, was
we guard each other.

There was another long, relaxed silence. Eventually, another woman spoke. “The Americans have been sniffing around. They have picked up word that we might exist.”

The possible consequences of that and how word might have leaked out were contemplated. “Is there a breach in our security?”

Another contemplative pause. “I do not think so. I believe they heard the legends and decided that where there was smoke there might be fire. So they investigated. One of the agents from the Office of Strategic Services was looking around. And asking discrete questions.”

“Victim of an accident?”

“In this case no. The agent is a person of importance and an accident would have resulted in a full-scale investigation with all the resources the Americans could throw at it. Also, asking questions and the questioner then dying tends to confirm the importance of those questions. Instead, the investigation was monitored and quietly sealed off from access to any possible leads. As a result, it died from lack of interest.”

“Very well handled.” A male voice from the darkness was filled with approval.

Slowly the meeting petered out. Once the discussions were completed, the attendees left. One by one they quietly slipped away in the darkness. Each left with enough delay between them so they would be lost in the passers-by outside long before the next one emerged. The house they met in had several exits and they were used at random. The need for security and absolute secrecy was maintained at all times, even when whatever was happening had concluded.

The woman who had raised the issue of the American investigation into the possible existence of the Auxiliary Units was one of the last to leave. The approval of her actions had pleased her greatly since handling the situation had been one of her first unsupervised missions. It had not been an easy one for her. In common with all Auxiliary Unit personnel she had training in unarmed combat and other deadly skills that was the best that anybody could receive anywhere. Allowing herself to be thrown around a hotel room by Igrat Shafrid had been hard for her to swallow. Still, she had fulfilled her mission and been praised for her success. With that, a contented Heather Watson adjusted her hat, put up her umbrella against the fine spring rain and unobtrusively mixed in with the civilians on the street.

THE END