Milo Moon: It Never Happened (15 page)

‘Yes sir, I understand fully.’

‘Very well. Please enjoy a little of Bern while we make the arrangements for you. You’ll be advised before midday,’ the man said, and Marie took that to indicate the end of their meeting. She rose and the two men rose also, and they then showed her to the door. The gentleman who had greeted her earlier was waiting outside the meeting room and escorted her back to the front entrance.

Once out of the building, she started to think about the stories she had heard over the years about how secret the Swiss Secret Police were. Her meeting had done nothing to dispel the stories. She had just had a meeting with two nameless men working for a nameless department in a nameless building with a nameless gentleman on a sofa receiving nameless visitors. The only public name given to the Swiss secret service was Strategischer Nachrichtendienst (SND) (Strategic Intelligence Service), but she had a very strong feeling that her meeting this morning hadn’t been with them. She had met with the secret unnamed secret service that all the stories were about.

After walking for a half an hour, she bought a newspaper, found a café and ordered a coffee. And waited for her telephone call. The phone rang at eleven forty-five. Without greetings or introduction, a woman’s voice gave her the details. She was given the time and address only. Marie put the phone back in her handbag and looked at her watch. There was plenty of time for lunch before her meeting at two thirty, just two blocks away. She thought about calling Dr. Fleury to ask about Milo and Mary’s condition, but decided not to as she had been instructed not to discuss the matter with anyone. She presumed she would find out that afternoon about, who she could discuss Milo and Mary with.

‘You look much better this morning Mary,’ Dr. Fleury said, as he walked into Mary’s ward.

‘Thank you doctor. Yes, I’m feeling a little stronger, but I’m so worried about Anne. Will she be all right?’

‘I’m not sure Mary. We’re trying to do what we can. You have been very ill you know.’

‘Can I see Milo?’

‘Soon hopefully Mary. He’s still very sick. We’re keeping him sedated for the time being, so he can’t speak just yet.’

‘Did we do something wrong?’

‘Of course not Mary. Why do you ask?’

‘Everything would’ve been ok if we’d just been erased I think. Maybe George asked us to do something wrong.’

‘Oh Mary. No, you didn’t do anything wrong. Quite the opposite. You and Milo, as well as Anne and Michael were very brave. And I think George must have been a very caring man from what I understand.’

‘I hope so doctor.’

‘Let’s just think about you and Milo getting stronger and feeling better huh?’

‘Yes. I want Milo strong again.’

‘And you too Mary.’

‘I miss Anne, doctor.’

‘Yes, I understand Mary. I understand.’

Milo had at least stabilised overnight and was maintaining good heart rhythm once again. A change in the dosage of his drugs seemed to have helped, but he was still having problems with his lung function and needed help breathing. After checking Milo, Fleury was a little less pessimistic than he had been the previous day. He spoke to the head nurse and said he would be back later in the afternoon. His mobile rang and he saw the incoming caller. Pierre André.

‘Good morning commander.’

‘Good morning doctor. I was just calling to see if I could get an update on their condition.’

‘Stable is all I can say commander. But still serious. Very difficult to know much more at this stage.’

‘Well thanks for the update.’

‘Oh, by the way commander. I tried to call Officer Dupont earlier. Do you know if she’s on duty today?’

‘Oh I’m sorry doctor. No she’s not. Do you need to contact her urgently?’

‘No. It’s just that I’ve been keeping her updated, and she usually answers her mobile.’

‘I’m sure she’ll contact you doctor. It’s not unusual for police officers to turn off their phones on their days off.’

‘Yes. Like doctors commander.’

‘Yes, exactly.’

Marie caught the nine fifteen pm express train from Bern to Geneva. It had been a long afternoon, and she was exhausted. She was now temporarily a federal agent, and would have to return to Bern as soon as she was advised that Milo and Mary were being transferred there. The timing would depend on their condition, but it was hoped it could be possible soon, so they could be accommodated in a more secure situation. Until then she was assigned to keep contact with them in the hospital in Geneva, and to discuss the matter with only Dr. Fleury and a single contact telephone number she had been given for her agency contact. His name was simply Martin. She would announce herself to Martin as Barbara.

Marie fell asleep and was woken by the announcement when the train arrived in Geneva. She took a taxi home and checked her mobile on the way. Two messages. One from Dr. Fleury and one from Jean-Paul. Her new mobile was clear.

Once she arrived home, she showered and changed for bed, but couldn’t sleep. A small glass of Abricotine and a book helped, and finally she slept.

*****

‘Do you think it’s possible?’ the President asked, as an agent outlined the plan to try to use a probe though the ducts that Michael Fischer had described.

‘We have the maps they used, but they only marked the lower levels of the system. The plans of the new system incorporated in the Hadron collider are in our possession, so it is a matter of trying to combine the two.’

‘So where do you start from?’

‘The exhaust outlet that they say they exited from next to CERN and Route de Meyrin sir.’

‘That’s a very open area. Won’t it have the danger of being noticed. We don’t want anything of this to get out.’

‘There’s a gas line running through the field where the exhaust shaft is located sir. We plan to create a small gas leak, and close off a secure area in the middle of the field. We can then work under the cover of gas line repairs sir.’

‘And how deep can you probe?’

‘Using fibre optic cable sir, we can go to any depth,’ the agent said, as he handed the president what looked like a small child’s toy about the size of a cigarette packet. ‘It had six small wheels and what looked like four small legs with suction caps.’

‘So what’s this?’

‘It’s the probe sir. There are small cameras on the front, back, sides and top. We can remotely control its movement. In an environment such as aluminium air ducts, it’s ideal as it can easily adhere to the duct and give us high resolution video images.’

‘You said remote control, but also fibre optic cables. So it’s not fully remote controlled.’

‘The vehicle is remote controlled sir. We attach a fibre optic cable for higher resolution. In a duct system it is practical as we can feed any length of cable behind it. The cable is so fine it creates hardly any drag. However it can send images in lower resolution by radio signal if we need, and can also detach the cable if necessary. For instance, if we wanted to leave the vehicle for permanent surveillance or perhaps if the cable became tangled or caught on an obstruction.’

‘Just one more thing. What are your chances of being able to find anything?’

‘If there’s anything there sir, we’ll find it.’

‘And how long?’

‘We’ll have it operating twenty-four hours a day sir.’

‘You didn’t answer my question.’

‘I can only say as soon as possible sir.’

‘Very well. Go ahead. For one week of surveillance only. Report back as soon as you start the operation, and I want daily reports from then on. We’ll review the operation after one week and decide if it’s worth pursuing.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘Thank you gentlemen.’

By the next morning, radio and television were reporting a gas leak in Meyrin overnight, and advising their viewers and listeners that it was already under control, and Route de Meyrin had been re-opened to traffic at five am that morning. A yellow tent structure in the middle of a green field of grass was all the evidence that there was any danger.

Marie heard the news on her radio while she was having breakfast and took no notice of a story about a gas leak in Meyrin. She was too occupied with thinking about Milo, Mary, Jean-Paul and secrets.

Chapter 15 - Unpleasant Truths

‘Milo is making steady progress Marie.’

‘That’s great news. Can I see him?’ Marie asked Dr. Fleury.

‘Of course. Anytime you like. I’ll be at the hospital this afternoon about three to check on them.’

‘All right. I’ll see you there about three.’

‘Good. See you then.’

Marie clicked her phone call off, and went about getting ready for her first day at work in years, without a uniform. She started laughing to herself as she realised how difficult it must be for other women to decide what to wear to work everyday.

Until Milo and Mary were transferred to Bern, Marie only had to make sure she spent time with them each day and perhaps gather some further information that may be useful in investigating their claims. Her main role would commence when and if Milo and Mary were well enough to assist the investigation in a more concrete manner. For her first day out of uniform, she planned to spend four or five hours at the hospital, and then look forward to dinner with Jean-Paul in the evening. As she was deciding what to wear, a meeting in Bern was considering much weightier things.

‘Shall we begin?’ the Swiss president asked his Federal Council. The Federal Council comprised only seven members including the president, whose post was rotated every year among the other councillors. As there seemed to be agreement to begin, he introduced the first item for consideration.

‘Fellow councillors, I recently received disturbing information relating to the possibility of a secret laboratory on, or should I say under Swiss territory. You all have a copy of the file that was obtained from two people claiming to have escaped this facility. I must point out at this stage that nothing has been corroborated, and I’m waiting for further information from our intelligence services. I have approved a covert operation to try to establish its existence.’

‘The location?’ the councillor responsible for defence, Alfred Letsch, asked.

‘Directly under CERN,’ the president replied sternly, and was greeted by silent surprise by the other councillors. ‘Which makes this a very delicate matter.’

‘Is there any indication of who may have been responsible for maintaining the operation of this facility?’ the foreign affairs councillor, Françoise Klausner asked.

‘If there is any truth in the documentation we received, we may be facing the possibility that the US, UK and Russia may be involved.’

‘Under a European nuclear research facility on Swiss soil?’

‘Yes. But we shouldn’t jump to conclusions just yet,’ the president said, trying to keep the discussion on a hypothetical footing for the time being.

‘Well, I must say that UK involvement would be bad enough. But if it turns out that the Americans and Russians have been operating a secret facility on our soil, the ramifications could be extremely dangerous.’ Klausner stated firmly.

‘I agree. The fallout from this, if proven, could lead to any possible number of outcomes. And all bad I would think,’ the justice councillor, Marc Guyer added.

‘Where does it stand at the moment?’ the home affairs councillor, Antoinette Haller asked.

‘I’m hoping to have information from an operation to try and establish if this really exists. A small remote controlled surveillance device is being prepared as we speak to try to traverse an air extraction system that we believe may lead down to this facility. We have plans of the system at its lower levels, which were in the possession of the two people in our custody. These have been compared with the air system of the Hadron collider, which we think is above the possible facility. I have asked to be briefed on the operation within the next seven days. I would recommend that we all consider the possibilities, but defer any discussion on actions until at least I have received this forthcoming briefing.’

‘And if any other information comes to light, or if there’s news from the surveillance before next week?’ the defence councillor, Alfred Letsch asked.

‘This is such a sensitive issue, that if I receive any information that indicates a stronger possibility of its existence, I’ll call an extraordinary meeting of the Federal Council immediately.’

As all councillors were in agreement with this, they moved on to other matters. Little did they know that the president would need to call an urgent extraordinary meeting within forty-eight hours.

Down in Sootere, the disappearance of Michael Fischer and Anne Drayford had not gone unnoticed. Reports of their disappearance were noted, compiled and completed by staff at ARC, and forwarded along the lines they had always followed. They had no way of comprehending that their reports would travel so far that they would end up on desks in Washington, Moscow and London. As the Swiss Federal Council ended their meeting, someone in Washington was picking up the telephone to make two very difficult phone calls. Arranging for measures to be taken to eliminate M41-6779-78-gamma-13.bod and F47-7876-81-beta-15.bod before any worthwhile or damaging information was gained by anyone. The eliminations would be best completed while the targets were still at HUG in Geneva as it would be much more difficult if the targets were transferred to a secure location.