EPILOGUE
Sam Olsen stared vacantly at the water below him as he stood on Vauxhall Bridge in London. A couple passed him by, and Olsen’s gaze followed them as if they might have been a threat. Not that they were, as they walked on and discussed their lunch plans.
Olsen looked again at the water below and felt lost on so many levels. Only a day had passed since he had resigned from MI6, and only two days since the verdict from the inquiry. Naturally everything felt raw, but Olsen hadn’t expected to feel so lost so soon. For so many years he had defined himself as a government agent and now he felt as if his identity had been ripped from him.
At home, Rachel had been supportive but, on some level, he felt she hadn’t done a good enough job to hide the fact she was glad he had left MI6. Despite all her efforts, he had felt trapped and had to get away. A lie about meeting Dan Carter for lunch had been enough, not that he had any plans.
Olsen looked again at the couple who were now pointing at the London Eye in the distance, and he felt jealous. Not that he knew a thing about them, they just seemed settled and happy, feelings that evaded him the most.
A red number eighty-seven bus slowly drove past, and Olsen started to walk to the end of the bridge. To his left was MI6 headquarters, standing tall in cream and sea green colours. As he came off Vauxhall Bridge, he saw the bus station to his right and the busy crossroads of traffic ahead of him.
Olsen knew he was torturing himself, but he couldn’t help it. As he kept walking, he stopped outside the entrance to the MI6 building, one he had passed through so many times. It saddened him to think he no longer had access to the building. Carter could probably get him a guest pass, but why return as a guest? There was no way to make a difference as a guest.
At the top of the building stood two arrays of satellite dishes. Olsen studied them and thought of Operations Command located below ground level and all the data that was being fed into the hub of the building.
An armed policeman came out from behind the metal sea green security gate and Olsen started walking again. The void inside of him threatened to take over and despite all his training he had no idea how to deal with it. Rachel was at home, but she wouldn’t understand, how could she? Even Thomas Deane couldn’t help him, he had spent his life with MI6 and had no idea how to live a normal life.
With every step, he felt a sense of panic. Would he be able to adapt to a normal life? What job could he do? Olsen didn’t want to admit it, but he had already thought about going to work with Deane again, even in an unofficial capacity. Anything to escape the void.
Rachel had said to him more than once that time would heal his wounds. Olsen felt like he had no choice but to believe her and wait. He thought of Alex Jordan who was facing the void alone and not for the first time he felt lucky to have Rachel. His mind cleared a little and he started walking towards the nearest tube station so he could head for home and focus on the future rather than the past.
Thomas Deane tried again to focus on the latest security report that was displayed on the computer screen ahead of him. Though it had taken a few attempts, he had read through the update on the Middle East and had started to scan the sections on the escalating crisis in Russia.
For the fourth time, he gave up and looked away. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't stop thinking about Sam Olsen. It didn't seem real, let alone right, that someone of his talents had been forced out of MI6.
As he sat back in his chair, at the MI6 headquarters, Deane looked out on the office floor ahead and noticed for the first time just how many empty desks there were. With Peter Drake in charge there was no denying that MI6 was changing and not for the better.
An image of Olsen threatening Drake in the corridor came to his thoughts as did the anger he felt towards Peter Drake. Unlike Olsen, he wasn't about to let a man like that get to him but in the future, there would come a time when Drake would need his help and he planned on making the most of that moment.
Olsen's future was uncertain, but Deane hoped there was a way back for his former partner. He had been waiting to see Kevin Ramsey to start that conversation, but his personal assistant didn't appear to be clear on his whereabouts.
'Excuse me, sir?'
Deane looked up to see one of the team leaders from the communication analysis team. 'Edwards. Something wrong?'
'I'm not sure, sir. We've received a partial communication packet from Russia. The Head of MI6 is at 10 Downing Street at present and with Mr. Ramsey no longer here I wanted to escalate it as soon as possible.'
Deane nodded in agreement but then looked up in surprise. 'What do you mean Ramsey is no longer here?'
'Sorry, sir, I thought you knew? There was an internal communication released earlier, Kevin Ramsey has left MI6. The announcement surprised everyone considering how long he's worked here.'
Deane took a moment to absorb yet another change. Ramsey had left MI6? Did Peter Drake have any idea as to how much experience he was losing? He was building his own empire, there was no doubt about that. Deane suddenly felt uncertain about his own future with so many of his friends being pushed out.
'Sir?'
'Sorry, Edwards, I wasn't expecting to hear that Ramsey had left. I thought there had been enough change today.' He smiled faintly and gestured at what Edwards held in his hand. 'You mentioned a report?'
'I did. It's not from one of our assets but from a French Special Agent named Patrice Marraud. I was told by that you've worked with him before?'
Deane leant forward in his chair. 'I know Patrice. What do you have?'
Edwards gave Deane a sealed brown file. 'It's not a complete report, I'm afraid, and I don't know why he sent this to us and not the French DGSE. It looks like his connection cut out whilst he was sending the data.'
Deane opened the file and scanned the report summary. 'You've flagged this with the French authorities?'
'Yes, sir, they've not been able to raise him as yet. If you think there is anything of use in this partial report let me know and I'll co-ordinate with our teams and our French colleagues.'
Deane nodded and watched Edwards walk away. He started to flick through the pages and hoped his old friend hadn't bitten off more than he could chew. There had been enough change and more than enough loss.
The report focussed on Russia and the impending election with Russian puppet Michail Salenko the front runner. There was page after page of data where Marraud had clearly catalogued Salenko's movements and the people he had met with. At the end of the file were several surveillance photos and the images immediately grabbed Deane’s attention. Some of the images were incomplete, but they were enough to show a hooded figure as Salenko’s constant companion and judging by the body language the Russian President looked to be taking orders from him.
Deane studied each picture and then read through the notes that Marraud had sent through. The notes were incomplete and referred to pictures that hadn’t been received but it was clear Marraud believed Salenko was the puppet of the hooded figure and the threat needed further investigation. There was enough evidence that would authorise such an operation.
Despite all the change at MI6 and the loss of so much experience Deane felt a surge of energy that his old friend Marraud had turned the tide. The report contained crucial information that could prevent another war, possibly on a global scale. He jumped to his feet and set off to find Edwards and then Peter Drake to convince him to authorise an operation to prevent any uprising in Russia.
Thomas Deane felt hope once more.