Chapter 8

Jimmy Papadopolous was a worried man. Yes it has been said that he is paid to worry but it is also his job to not have created or to remove any possible cause of worry. After all, if a Roy Pendergast is worried and if Roy is worried, 'A' is worried and the last person on earth Jimmy the Greek wants worried is 'A'. That could be fatal. The worse part is that Jim knows the cause of his worry and can't do a thing about it. 'A' started the train off. Against his and Roy's advice 'A' began the removal of Johnston, ordering Jimmy to send in number one removal team to finally retire Johnston who he now believes to be a fatally insecure embarrassment. 'A' has always concerned himself with Johnston's desertion, perpetually seeking an excuse to finalise his retirement. Jimmy tried to tell him to just fix Johnston's problem and he would just disappear again. But no, he wouldn't listen to Jimmy and hence their problem. Johnston trained him and Jimmy knows how he will react to being treated this way he just doesn't know what he will do about it. Three of number 'one' team were clinically retired, one, their most talented 'up and coming' disappeared completely the other two had a wet conclusion. Four of the cleaning crew simply disappeared underground while trailing their quarry. The explosion this morning had none of Johnston's trademark so it was therefore almost guaranteed to be caused by him as Johnston did not have an MO. Each operation was different, imaginative, fresh with a flare yet still anonymous. Jimmy 'the Greek' Papadopolous always admired Johnston however he wants to survive his profession to take up the pension gracefully in a few years if that was possible around 'A'. He was seriously beginning to doubt this.

Jimmy increased the security staff permanently using two of 'A's' security/cleanup staff members as part of the standard staff on sight. It was just as well that they were with them as the remainder of the security cameras went out in sympathy when the replacement cameras came back on line. Until repair was complete the only cameras working were the exterior public ones. To further complicate matters staff members were increasingly becoming ill, the staff doctor claiming it seemed to be a reaction to the air-conditioning however not everyone was reacting to the problem so he was wasn't positive about this diagnosis. Within twenty-four hours two thirds of the staff were down ill, (including the doctor) and Jimmy decided to bring Roy in on his day off to help with manning. Staff were dropping like flies around him and he had to admit that he was also not feeling the best. The more replacement staff which were brought in, the more people which were quarantined, the more people that came down with same symptoms, sweating, raging fever, intense headaches, swollen tongue and painful joints, ending up asleep and hence into a coma. Within five days eighty of the ninety-five permanent staff were hospitalised and the front door to the secret establishment was closed until further notice leaving a skeleton crew in charge.

On the sixth day 'A' appeared in the office unannounced, as if nothing was a problem assuming that he will take over automatically and in his own inimical way, fix all the problems. In truth most of the surviving staff did not even recognise him. With him were fifteen germ and chemical warfare experts seconded from the US Secret Service plus a hand picked security contingent from the Canberra office. All were covered from head to toe in white protective gear, re-breathing equipment and more detection equipment than could easily be held inside the closed environment.

It was quite easy to tell which of the white covered bodies was 'A'. He was the one throwing his arms about and spitting the dummy when informed that there was no sign of chemical or biological weapon in the unit. Grabbing two of the original armed personnel he immediately did a sweep of the complete compound methodically entering each airtight room and corridor as if they were being held by an armed contingent. The last time anyone saw him was when they were all seen entering the computer compound, guns aimed, which was environmentally separate to the remainder of the compound locks. This was controlled by his voice and iris print alone of the original management staff. This could not be entered without his physical presence and usually had two armed guards on both sides of the doors but was now left unattended all remaining security in hospital. The remainder of the security contingent, all imported, watched them go and wished them good riddance. Three hours later a full security sweep of the compound only proved that 'A' and the other two security staff members were not longer on the premises and that major damage had been caused to the computer with almost all memory erased and all backed up memory bases simply gone. Someone had formatted the hard drives. Every time any of the computers were turned on the words "goodnight and thanks for the memory" displayed on the screen and that was the only data in the memory banks. 'A' and the final two security staff had disappeared without trace, no one had seen them leave the building no matter the computer enclosure.