To Kill a Grey Man (16 page)

“We would be out as well,” said Collins to Jonathan.
 
“We are not the bad
guys
son, we fight the bad guys.
 
What if this
owner decided to be a hero, what would you have us do?
 
Me
shoot him or
Surge beat him up?
 
No, we do not kidnap
innocents.
 
We need to think of another
way.”

Jonathan hung his head a little, “Sorry,” he said.
 
“I wasn’t thinking.”
 
Surge put a reassuring hand on his shoulder and
then stepped forward.
 
Collins was
surprised as Surge was usually the last one to speak during this type of
discussion.

“Anyone heard of a surge generator?” said Surge.
 
Everyone shook their heads.
 
“About ten years ago I was working in the
Ukraine and we had to break into a munitions factory.
 
I was working with a team from the
Stazi
, the former KGB, and we were in a similar situation
when one of the team used one of these on the system and knocked the burglar
alarm out.”

“What is it?” asked Collins.

“A very common piece of equipment,” continued Surge.
 
“They are used to find cable faults on the
national electricity grid.
 
As the wires
get old they develop faults that can cause electricity to stop flowing, these
faults are intermittent and very difficult to find.
 
A surge generator uses a bank of large
capacitors which are charged from the mains.
 
When they are connected to the system the
capacitors are discharged and they send down a huge pulse of electricity which
will automatically centre on the weakest part of the cable,
i.e
where the fault is.
 
Once there, it
literally blows the huge cables apart and from there it is easy to find the
fault.
 
Connect this to the burglar system
through the wiring on the siren and it will absolutely melt the burglar alarm
instantly.”

“But we will need the power in the building for the lasers,” said Dr
Alding
.

“No problem,” said The Grey Man.
 
“All burglar alarms are separately wired on their own grid.
 
If not all you would need to do is shut down
the main power to turn them off.”

“How big are they and how do we get one?” said Collins.

“They are about the size of a small washing machine,” continued
Surge.
 
“They are standard equipment for
anyone who fixes the national power grid, usually kept in the back of the
engineers’ vans.”

Collins turned to Jonathan and The Grey Man, “Can you find me one of
these guys who works locally?”

Within twenty minutes they were back.
 
“There is an engineer who lives not fifteen
minutes from here,” said The Grey Man.
 
“The depot he works out of is just south of London over eighty miles
away so almost certainly he will be working from his home office.”

Collins turned to Surge, “Let’s go have a look.”

Chapter 21

Thieving

The engineer lived in a nice little house on the edge of a small
modern housing estate just back from the sea.
 
Surge pulled the Range Rover on to a verge and they sat in the dark.
 
The engineer’s white van was parked in his driveway
and it had, in large but faded letters on the side, GP Fault finding HV and LV
and a telephone number.

Collins got out and wandered down the road.
 
Everything was silent except for the faint
whispering of television sets as he passed each house.
 
He bent down to tie up his shoelace as he got
to the van and took a look at the back doors.
 
Instead of the manufacturer’s lock, there was now a strong hasp and a
large standard padlock.
 
He moved along
the side of the van and looked back through the side windows.
 
He could see all of the equipment, various
cables and tools and a large box which he assumed was the surge generator.
 
He checked for any alarms but there did not
appear to be any.

He quickly walked back to the car and Surge drove off only turning
on the headlights when they were some distance away.

“What do you think?” said Surge.

“No problem,” said Collins.
 
“We just need bolt cutters and a lot of luck.
 
We’ll do it tomorrow night.
 
You and I will steal the equipment and then drive
back to the house and pick everyone up.”

The next morning at breakfast Collins ran through the plan.
 
He then sent Surge out to buy some bolt
cutters, overalls and a new padlock.

When Surge returned he brought with him a newspaper.
 
On the front page was a report of a gang
attacking a house in
Newcastle.
 
Four people had been killed and the house
almost destroyed by heavy machine gun fire.
 
The
family involved were
apparently ordinary
decent people and the police were baffled.
 
What could be seen on the front page photograph was a black Range Rover
parked in the drive.

Collins said, “We now know what we are up against so let’s
be
careful tonight.”

They spent the rest of the day in quiet reflection.
 
The Grey Man slept on the sofa in the front room,
Surge and Jonathan worked out in the garage, Collins was up in his loft
workspace stripping and cleaning his guns and the doctor found an old book and
sat outside on the terrace alternatively reading and enjoying the view.

As soon as it turned dark Collins went to see The Grey Man, Surge
and Jonathan.
 
Quietly, without the doctor
hearing, he said, “Gather what you need.
 
No matter what happens this evening, we will not be coming back here.”

Just before 9.00 pm Surge and Collins, both dressed in dark clothes,
drove to the engineer’s house.
 
The van
was parked in the drive and the curtains on the house were drawn.

Collins drove as near as he dared and stopped.
 
He turned off the lights and they sat in
darkness to see if they had been noticed.
 
Surge then slipped out and went up to the house window.
 
He could just see the family sitting round
the television which was blaring out.
 
He
went back to the Range Rover and got the bolt cutters and cut the padlock on
the van.
 
The sound, as it broke, caused
a crack to reverberate down the street but no one appeared to notice.
 
Collins dropped the tailgate of the Range Rover
and he and Surge ran across some long cables, tools, and a large extension lead.
 
Collins tried to lift the surge generator but
he could not shift it.
 
He stood back
sweating.
 
They had taken far too long
and made far too much noise, anyone looking would have seen immediately what
they were up to.

Surge in an incredible display of strength lifted the long
rectangular box up and staggered to the car.
 
Collins pulled the van doors shut and slipped on the new padlock which
was the same make and size as the old one.
 
If they were lucky, the engineer might think there was a problem with
the lock when his key would not open it in the morning and they might gain a
couple of hours before he contacted the police.

They shut the tailgate as quietly as possible, jumped in and Collins
freewheeled a few yards before starting the engine and quietly driving away.

They looked at each other.
 
Both
were sweating profusely.
 
“Not exactly
professional,” said Surge.
 
“How the hell
did we get away with that?”

“Of all the jobs I have been on,” said Collins.
 
“That was by far the most nerve racking.
 
Remind me never to go stealing with you again.”

Then they both started to laugh until the tears rolled down their
cheeks.
 
By the time they had got back to
the house they had recovered.
 
Surge
threw all the bags over the tailgate covering the stolen items.
 
The doctor got in the back and Jonathan
helped The Grey Man in before getting in himself.
 
Surge sat in the front with Collins driving.
 
“Are we ready?” said Collins.
 
Everyone nodded.
 
“Okay, let’s go.”

They drove back the way they had come in the day before then turned
left after Corfe and went down all the country roads and small lanes to avoid
being spotted before finally coming to the ancient town of Dorchester famous as
the birthplace of novelist Thomas Hardy.
 
They drove down the main street where the old houses stood crookedly on
either side of the road complete with yellowing plaster and oak beams and occasionally
a thatched roof, all of which told of the long history of the town.

At the bottom of the hill they turned right into the sprawling
modern industrial estate.
 
Almost on the
other side of the estate was the E&O factory surrounded by a chain wire
fence with the car park lit by overhead neon lights.
 
As The Grey Man had said there was no
gate and they drove through the gap in the fence into the car park and right up
to the front door.

Jonathan slipped out, grabbed the long extension cable and ran round
to the side of the building.
 
Here was an
external electrical socket used by the gardener.
 
Jonathan flipped up the plastic cover and
plugged in.
 
Meanwhile Surge had plugged
the surge generator into the other end and turned it on.
 
The whole box made an alarming buzzing noise
as the huge capacitors started to charge.
 
Jonathan ran back and jumped onto the tailgate and from here he jumped
onto the roof of the Range Rover.

Surge grabbed the power cables which ended in giant crocodile clips
and he clipped them to his belt.
 
They
had parked directly under the siren.
 
Surge
also climbed up onto the roof of the Range Rover, gave Jonathan a screwdriver
and then cupped his hands for him to stand on.
 
Surge boosted Jonathan up onto his shoulders
and lent his back against the wall.
 
Jonathan was now level with the siren and as quickly as he could he
undid the screws and passed the cover down to Surge.
 
Surge passed back up the crocodile clips and
Jonathan clipped them on the two main terminals.
 
He jumped down and both he and Surge clambered
of the roof which was now quite dented.

Surge looked at the box.
 
On the
top were a number of analogue displays and dials one showing voltage in
thousands of volts and one showing kilo joules which he knew was the energy.
 
He turned both dials to the right giving
maximum power and the green light that had been flashing now turned red.
 
The device was armed and ready to go.
 
Surge looked around.
 
Everything was quiet and peaceful.
 
He flipped the plastic guard cover and pushed
the button.
 
There was a massive bang
inside the building as 60,000 volts with a huge
ampage
hit the 240 volt burglar alarm system and for an instant light shot out of all
the second floor windows.
 
Then there was
a crash followed by an eerie silence.

“Pull the cables,” said Collins.
 
Jonathan yanked hard so they came away from the siren.
 
“Okay, let’s go inside.”

On the side of the building was a small access door with a simple
lock which The Grey Man picked in a few seconds even without his
eyesight.

The Grey Man looked back, “Time to see if it has worked” he said.
 
He pushed the door in and walked forward.
 
Nothing happened.
 
There were smiles all round.

“Right,” said Collins.
 
“We
will go directly to the laser.
 
Surge you
check on the burglar alarm as it may still be working in parts and the police
could be on their way.”

Surge immediately charged up the stairs, and the rest of them formed
a small convoy as they walked along the narrow corridor into the main reception
and then followed the doctor through to the display rooms.
 
The windows here were blacked out so as not to
disrupt the laser and the doctor threw a light switch.

Surge came down into the room, a smile across his face.

“What’s up?” said Collins.
 

“The burglar alarm is definitely not working.
 
In fact, it has blown right off the wall and
is in a thousand pieces all along the corridor.
 
Unbelievable.”

“Perfect,” said Collins.

“What about police sweeps,” asked
Jonathan.
 
“They probably patrol the estate.”

Collins laughed, “In the car park is an eighty thousand pound Range
Rover.
 
Trust me burglars do not normally
use that kind of vehicle.
 
If the police do
come by they will probably think someone is working late.”

Dr
Alding
now took charge turning on all
the lights and powering up various computers and equipment and started to
arrange his instruments.

Collins looked at his old friend and could see The Grey Man was
living up to his name.
 
All the
colour
had drained from his face and his fear was palpable.

In the centre of the room was what looked like a dentist’s
chair.
 
Dr
Alding
sat The Grey Man in it and wheeled over a
box with a chin strap below it.
 
The Grey Man
rested his chin on it and looked directly into the box.
 
An image of his eye showed up on the computer
screen by the side of it.
 
The doctor called
over Collins and showed him exactly where the blockages were and where he was
going to cut with the laser.
 
From here
the doctor laid the chair down and The Grey Man’s head slotted in
between two bars one either side to keep it straight and steady, the eye lids
were taped back and antiseptic drops were carefully inserted into each eye.
 
After about a minute the doctor took out two
clamps and inserted these around the eye ball inside the socket.

Jonathan’s face went white.
 
“I
have to leave,” he said and Surge joined him outside in the corridor before
going off to make another sweep of the building.

Collins stood there fascinated.
 
The doctor then brought over the complicated looking machine with ‘
Laser
’ stenciled on the side.
 
A device was pulled over the right eye that
put pressure on it by pushing out a high volume of air and sounded like a
vacuum cleaner.
 
He carefully lined the
laser up and turned it on.
 
There was a
soft hum and the smell of burning.

“I am now cutting a flap in the cornea,” Dr
Alding
said and after about thirty seconds of the laser humming he gently flipped a
section on the top of The Grey Man’s eye out of the way.
 
He pushed the machine back and brought over another
smaller laser.
 
Once that was in position
he switched it on and it made a slightly different noise, a bit lower and noisier.
 
Five seconds later the doctor switched it off
and flipped The Grey Man’s eye flap back into place.