Chapter Seven

Paul had always been a light sleeper, and was up and about a full ten minutes before the alarm shrilled: this despite being much later home than intended from JRK’s house the previous night.

As he killed the alarm, his phone sounded, seamlessly picking up the identical rhythm of the alarm: his musically trained ear told him that the phone’s pitch was a major third above the alarm’s.

“Paul: hi, John here …. Didn’t wake you, did I? … Good, I was pretty sure you’d still be an early riser like me! Listen, do me a favour: check your e-mail Inbox, then ring me back …. you have got a Skype connection, haven’t you?”

As a matter of fact, Paul had recently downloaded this useful item of free software, but until now had done very little with it other than assure himself it was in working order, with no unexpected glitches. Despite in making for virtually free phone calls to any PC anywhere in the world, and included a video conference facility, it was still relatively new: furthermore, surprisingly few people seemed to have heard of it outside of a fairly exclusive circle of experienced PC users.

“Hello? Paul? You still there?”

Daydreaming again, Paul: this will never do! he chided himself.

“Yes, John, receiving five-by: I was just thinking about something else totally for a moment! Sorry: what were you saying?”
“Can you be ready for a 4-way video conference in about half an hour? You can drag a comb across your hair, or whatever: I assume you’ve got a web-cam on your PC.”

“More important, I can crawl to the kitchen and kick-start my metabolism with a pot of coffee … you, me, and …………..?”

“Brian Stanney’s one: hopefully he’ll have more input about the dodgy character who gave him the “heads up” on how the Sun got their info. Number four is another Old Xav. You’ll never believe who rang me out of the blue this morning: none other than Bernie McCaul, ringing from Zimbabwe!”

“Bernie? The mad scientist with his test tubes and Bunsen burners? What in God’s name is he doing in Zimbabwe? No wonder the country seems set on blowing itself up … !”

“I stuck his name into a Google search, and he seems to have grown up a lot since we knew him! He’s the sole rep in Zimbabwe for a major medical company, and he’s published a couple of scientific papers with impressive sounding titles, all within the field of medicine as far as I can work it out!”

“What’s his interest in all this, then? And how did he find out about it, anyway?”
“He says he quite often looks for news from home if he’s working late, and he spotted my initials in the list of “Runners and Riders” last night. When I told him about the suspected dirty linen which might have to be dragged out in public, he seemed quite amused … but he can tell you himself! Make your coffee, drag a comb over your head, and I’ll see you on line in about twenty-five minutes, OK?” the connection was broken before Paul had a chance to reply. Replacing the handset, he wandered past the PC to boot it up on his way to the kitchen and the preparation of the day’s first caffeine fix, also known as the elixir of life.

Ten minutes later, riding on the buzz of the day’s first ‘hit’, he poured cup number two as he waited for the four-way video link to be completed. The PC monitor was divided in four equal sub-screens and he was chatting to JRK while they waited for the other participants to sign in.

“Any update on initial support, John?” he asked as he sipped his coffee.

“It’s been very positive so far, but that’s to be expected: people have become pretty jaded with the “same-same” sleaze and general shiftiness of the main parties, I sometimes think a pet monkey with a party rosette could get elected in some seats! Plenty of donation pledges, too, which will help with expenses. But I’d say we’ve at very least the support of enough voters to secure my deposit, assuming they all go to the ballot box – it has to be well over the two thou threshold by now, and there’s cash starting to appear on the account Nuala set up last night: the postie’s just been and there’s a load of envelopes which look quite bulky, as if there’s cash in them: we’ve even had envelopes pushed through the door during the night! So far, they’ve all included a name and/or a contact number and want to be involved in organising the campaign; it’s all good news so far!”

The third screen glowed and shimmered into life, revealing a caller with large, black Buddy Holly style spectacle frames.

“Brian! I’d know those glasses anywhere: how the devil are you?”

“As if you cared, Paul! You’ve hardly changed at all, you lucky sod! What’s the secret?”
“Steer clear of women and ale, Brian: that’s how I’ve managed, anyway!”
Brian shook his head at this.

“I’d never earn an honest penny that way – and I’d go crazy if I couldn’t blow my horn most nights of the week, anyway!”
“Still playing, then?” JRK cut in, not wanting to waste time but they were still waiting for Bernie to link in from South Africa, and a few minutes spent catching up couldn’t hurt.

Brian look straight at the camera, giving both Paul and JRK the impression that this was a one-to-one private conversation – a drawback with video conferencing which could be a bit of a distraction.

“I’m living in London, these days: there are plenty of basement jazz clubs and the like where a blues freak can get paid a few shillings for sitting in on a session!”

Brian’s first love – and apparently still his only love – was trad jazz and his trumpet. After scraping through the ‘A’ level course at school, he’d dropped off the face of the planet for a few years, drifting around the seedier nightclubs in a variety of European cities while the rest of his year group went on to one or another form of higher education.

He gave a potted account of the intervening years in a few brief sentences before a soft chime indicated that Bernie was about to join the conference.

Further greetings were exchanged, but briefly: there would be more time for reminiscences later on.

“Bernie: what’s behind you contacting us from so far away, and after all these years?”

JRK brought the meeting to some semblance of order.

“To be quite honest, John, things aren’t as …. Rosy as the world might be thinking, out here” Bernie replied, cautiously, as if weighing each word. He hesitated, then continued:

“Is this line secure?”

Puzzled, JRK shook his head.

“I never even considered …. Brian’s probably best placed to speak on this, I really don’t know! Let him answer if he can: I’ll be “tallyman”, I think, make sure everyone who wants to speak gets the chance. We won’t need to keep minutes, this is automatically being recorded but if that’s a problem it can always be deleted after we’ve finished, okay? Brian, Bernie seems worried about security ….”

“Thanks, John. Bernie, what are you thinking about?? Is it the infamous South African police we used to hear about? Are they still a real threat out there?”
“More than you might think, Brian! Not much gets reported through the official news networks, but I know of a couple of people who’ve suddenly disappeared without warning: nobody seems prepared to talk about them after they’ve gone, either, and to be honest I’ve been looking for an opportunity to pack my tents and steal softly into the night for some time now. I’ll always be Johnny Foreigner here, and even people I work with every day make it quite clear that I can never hope to be accepted in the upper circles, amongst those who count, the shakers and movers who still control society.”
“Does that really still exist? Apartheid in all but name, and everything else? I must admit, everyone in the UK thought that had disappeared along with the late and unlamented Ian Smith!”

“That’s why I’m asking, Brian! I don’t think they can spy on every conversation, and going through a PC should be a lot more secure than the phone lines – I’m pretty certain they lave listening posts on every international call made, even with direct dialling! – but if the police think there’s something odd about the length or number of calls a foreign national such as myself is making, life might become, shall we say ….. unpleasant?”

“Fair enough, Bernie: in your position, I’d be concerned.” Brian agreed “ … but at the same time I tend to agree, they aren’t going to cotton on straight away, and if you think it’s too risky we can always arrange for you to be contacted from this end, so you aren’t making an outgoing call anyway. Will that do you to start with?”
“Brilliant, Brian! Okay, my main point is, I’ve made my contribution out here, done what I could to improve the quality of life for a significant number of people, and I’ve put a tidy bit by in savings. Find me a safe passage, and a way to get my cash out, and I’m on my way home: with what I can cram into a single suitcase if necessary!”

“Jeez, Bernie: is it that bad?”
“Better believe it, John! No disappearances in my department, as yet, but it’s only a question of time and I don’t want to be around when the police come with the “midnight knock”, thank you very much!”

“Bernie, if you really need to get out a.s.a.p. with as much of your …. Assets, or whatever you call your ill-gotten gains …. ”

“Steady on, Brian! After all I did say they were legit. Savings ……….!”

“Point taken, Bernie: I was just checking! But if you want out, you might have to choose between getting out quickly and salvaging as much as you can.”
“Give me a rough timetable, Bri: I haven’t had anyone breathing down my neck yet, and I haven’t said anything to anyone – but I’d like to keep as much as possible of what I’ve earned through my own blood, sweat and tears, you know!”

“Talk amongst yourselves for a few minutes while I check a few figures ….” Brian mumbled. He turned slightly away from the camera and appeared to be scribbling furiously in a notebook just off the screen, consulting a book or ledger of some sort while he wrote.

After a few seconds silence they realised that Brian meant what he had said literally, as he ignored them completely while he completed whatever research he felt necessary. Paul poured another coffee, looked at it carefully, and added a shot of whisky.

“Bit early for that isn’t it, Paul?”

“Jealousy will get you everything, Chris: but not, unfortunately, a share of my 15 year old Jameson’s – at least, not until you drop in on me!”

“You can bring a bottle to the next meeting, wherever we hold it …. ”

“Done! I propose we don’t finish the meeting before the bottle’s empty.”

“Alright you two: that’s enough for now!” JRK cut in “Brian, are you anywhere close to an answer for Bernie? If he’s worried about nosey-parker eavesdropping, perhaps we should carry on ……..”

Brian tossed aside his pen and appeared to read silently what he had written. His lips could clearly be seen moving, but there was no sound. He appeared to be satisfied with what he was reading.

“Bernie, I can send you – privately, after this conflab is over! – the number of an account I ……. Shall we say, I set it up as a sort of “contingency plan” a couple of months ago, but the client who asked me to set it up never actually used it.”
“Why not?”

“He had the gall to get himself shot by someone, before he’d even paid me! Most inconvenient for all concerned: but since there was no grieving widow and half a dozen kids to claim it, nobody other than me ever knew about the account. Also, the £10 I used to open the account was my own money – I would have invoiced him for it if he’d lived another day or two! If you want to close the account and transfer the money electronically it can be sorted in five working days. A cheque – or better, cheques plural in various amounts, ideally in Yankee Dollars or GB Sterling – will take a bit longer, say two weeks total, but might be harder to trace, especially if they’re sent from different places and timed to arrive on different days. Does this help? Were you hoping to get out faster than that?”

“Hmmm. I like the idea of posting myself cheques in various amounts from different towns and other places as I travel – something I can still do without causing too much comment, by the way! As it happens, I have several small accounts here and there, which I suppose I could close without drawing too much attention to each one individually. I could leave my principal account – the one my salary gets paid into – untouched until I’ve made all my preparations, then transfer the balance electronically at the last moment. Brian, you’re a genius! Send me the account details, please! And to make sure there’s no repercussions for anyone else, I won’t fly direct to the UK. I’ll buy a ticket for Oz: I’ve an ex-wife and son who went back to live with her parents. People will assume that’s why I’ve decided to leave: by the time they check it all out I’m long gone and untraceable (if that’s what I want!) somewhere in the UK.”

“No problem, Bernie. John, Paul, Chris: I think we’ve covered a lot of useful ground for one night ……. ”

“Day, Brian!”
“Speak for yourself, Chris: who said I was in the UK for the moment?”
“Sorry.”

“No problem. As it happens I’m only one hour ahead of GMT but I’ve been on my feet for nearly 24 hours and I’m totally shagged out. If I say night, for me it’s night!”

“So it’s goodnight from him ……….”

“Typical, Paul: you were always good for a quote. Nothing changes, does it?”
“Guess not, Brian! Right, folks, it’s still just about a.m. here, time to get out collective asses in gear and start calling in a few favours….”

“Just a minute” JRK’s voice cut across just before anyone hit the mouse button to break the conference link

“As Convenor I see I have to remind you that we can’t end this meeting without agreeing on the time for the next. Can I suggest same time tomorrow morning – and every morning at 0900h unless something urgent happens ……….?”

Realistically, there were likely to be more exceptions than fixed time meetings in the foreseeable future, and they were all acutely aware of the fact. On the other hand, they had to have a “regular” before they could propose an exception be made, and nine a.m. was as good a time as any other to use as a starting point for bargaining ….