Chapter 14

The week before the May Ball of 1986, the penultimate week of the academic year started wonderfully. Andrew was collected by the DK Engineering Truck outside Peggy’s Café the same as the previous year. He had requested Len when he contacted them but did not know whether he would be the assigned driver or not. Andrew was pleased to see him there in the driving seat. They shook hands and negotiated their way back out of Cambridge.

“I checked the log at the storage hanger, she hasn’t been out since the last time 18 months ago or so. All the stored cars are checked and turned over, moved so that the tyres don’t get flat spots but other than that nothing.”

Andrew guessed there was a question in there somewhere.

“How many of the cars are driven regularly, more than once a month?”

Len thought for a moment.

“Not many, one or two. On the other hand most are driven more than once a year or once every other year.”

“I graduate next year, at that point I will look at driving her more. I need to find somewhere to garage her off the road, at both ends of the journey before doing that. Plus I will be a cop magnet from here to Edinburgh. One of the things I remember is that she is heavy below fifty but is effortless to get from 70 to 120. I was surprised how relaxing a ton felt. In my Golf you feel it, in the Daytona it seems like you are doing half that. I would be worried I would be nicked by accident.”

“She is smooth. It is only once you get past 150 that you feel it.”

“Wednesday is my 21^st birthday, this is my gift to myself. I will start to drive her more regularly next year but she is never going to be an everyday car. Ferrari’s need specialist mechanics, expensive parts and I don’t want her stolen. I will try and get out to a track a couple of times a year, take her up the motorway to Edinburgh, appreciate the wonderful thing.”

“Makes sense. Cambridge makes no sense for her.”

Len had first called the Ferrari her. Andrew had followed suit and it was now how he referred to the car.

“So, same scenario as last time. It really is your birthday so it makes it simple. Rental for the day from us, only you and I are insured, there will be time for pictures at lunch? That keeps all the punters happy and stops anyone from wheedling and begging to sit in for a lap. Most blokes know it is non-starter and know better than to ask but there are always one or two chancers who don’t take a hint. Let me deal with them.”

Andrew nodded. He thought he would be better at handling it than 18 months earlier but this way it stopped any crap before it ever started.

“Right then, talk me through the circuit, tell me how much you remember. But tell me like a racing driver. I don’t want ‘there is a hairpin at the end of the straight’. How fast will be going? Breaking point? Line? Gear? When do you accelerate through the corner? How do you recover if the tail gets twitchy?”

Bloody hell. Slowly at first, Andrew worked his way round the circuit. Leaving the pit lane there was a 90˚ turn to the right followed by a short straight before another 90˚ turn to the right. It was this corner that was key to achieving maximum speed because it was full throttle for the next three quarters of a mile. So you needed to come out of the first corner, be correctly lined up for this second corner and then find the limit of the car through that corner. If you went through perfectly then it was a sweeping left hand bend and a run down to the far end of the circuit. It was here that Andrew had reached his personal top speed the first time. He had touched 135mph before breaking hard for the hairpin bed at the end of the straight. From there it was a shorter straight before a 90˚ left quickly followed by a 90˚ right and then a longer flowing right that brought you back to the start finish line. Len was a very competent club racer and he gave Andrew a benchmark to compare himself to. They talked about the gears, breaking distances, turning into the apex, powering through the corner. Andrew was pleased that so much of it stirred memories within him.

His first time at the circuit had been a weekend and although the track was not packed it had been quite busy. But a weekend in November was still busier than a Monday in June and there were not many other cars out on the track. Inevitably a bright red Ferrari 365GTB/4 caught everyone’s attention but it was to be expected. Most people wandered over and when they found out they were going to be there all day and everyone could look at the engine and get their picture taken with it at lunchtime they left happy.

The beginning of the day was identical to the first time. Get the engine started and let it warm up. Trying to do too much before the car was ready was guaranteed to break something. The gearbox took upwards of 20 minutes for the oil to flow. Len did not put the car in second gear until 30 minutes after the engine was started. 1^st to 3^rd was safer until everything was up and running. The comparison to modern cars was stark. This was a temperamental beast that needed to be handled with care. And there was no flat out running for close to an hour. Andrew was happy to let Len show him again how to prepare the car so that it lasted all day at the track and they didn’t unnecessarily stress the engine or any of the other mechanical systems. Andrew also asked Len to do half a dozen laps as the driver while he re-familiarised himself with the car and the track.

And then it was his turn. There were no real time memories. The memory was of concentration and ‘wheeee’, just loving the whole experience. Because of his height the seat was a long way back, DK built a special track for the seat to allow him to move the seat back beyond the standard maximum. But the roof started to slope down at the back so Andrew was in an odd, slightly reclined position. The car was heavy and it made Andrew work hard on low speed turns, such as gently edging out of the garage. It was not until he was past 45mph that it started to lighten and felt more manageable.

For people who are not car nuts, and other than this one car Andrew was not like that either, it was difficult, indeed impossible, to see what all the fuss is about. For Andrew, it was a boyhood dream come to life. His love of the 365 was one of the very few things that predated cancer. As an 11 and 12 year old it was his favourite car. Why? He couldn’t explain it. Looking back he thought it was partly to be different. Everybody else loved the Lamborghini Countach, the wildly exotic and angular supercar. But the thing is for all the impression of speed even when it is just parked on the street, it only went three miles an hour faster than the 365. At least the first one’s did. So Andrew thought of the 365 as a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Go and look at the pictures of the Muira and the Countach and then look at the 365. The 365 beat the Muira for the title of the world’s fastest production car, held it for half a dozen years before losing it to the Countach. But the two Lamborghinis look like they should hold the title. The 365? Not so much. As a 12 year old boy Andrew had a poster of the 365 on the wall in his bedroom. It was one of the very few things that was still old Andrew.

As for the day at the track, enjoyment and frustration all rolled into one. He didn’t play golf but from talking to the few people he knew who did, Andrew had asked why they tortured themselves when so much of the time they don’t seem to be having any fun. One of the most common answers was ‘when you hit the ball just right and it soars high and straight going exactly where you aimed it, it only takes one shot like that to bring you back’. Lapping any circuit is like that too. Mess up the braking at one corner and it impacts the speed of the lap, the chance to try and reach 150mph (his goal that day at Snetterton), and you have to go back round the track once more before you can try again. Great racing drivers are consistent above all else. But if you have a great lap you can’t wait to show that it wasn’t a fluke, you are constantly striving to beat your best time, or best speed.

So Andrew worked hard pushing himself and the car trying slight variations, subtly different lines, any and everything. He was a 21 year old in a Ferrari and was having a blast. He also needed to take several breaks. The car could take the laps without issue but Andrew’s neck and shoulders were tense and tight from the intense concentration and death grip he had on the wheel. Lunch was much needed and he did swimming strokes trying to loosen up his arms, neck and shoulders There were only six or seven other cars on the track that day, maybe 15 blokes in total, and yes it was all men. Everyone wandered over in small groups and Len raised the bonnet so that they could see the huge V-12 engine. Everyone was just really pleased to get the chance to see one. There were a few comments that he was a lucky bastard to get to drive one but most agree it was a very cool 21^st birthday present. Andrew had seen a few guys taking shots as he lapped in the morning and more took shots in the afternoon. They only ever made 150 or so right hand drive cars for the UK market and so it was a rare spot for most car enthusiasts.

As for Andrew’s driving it got better and he had managed 147mph at the end of the straight, about 8mph less than Len. But the jump from 135 to 145 was okay, after that he had to be perfect coming out of the second corner to have a chance. It gave him something to work on next time! All in all it was a great day playing the boy racer. There was one point near the end of the day when the track only had a couple of cars on it and so after the hairpin Len got Andrew to stop the car. He then had him practice low speed manoeuvres going from side to side of the track. It was safe to do this as they could see the approaching cars coming down the longer straight beside them. Andrew went across the track and back less than half a dozen times and his arms were tired. The 365 was not a town friendly car. Even two minutes of practice convinced him of that.

There was much less chat on the way back to Cambridge, Andrew was aching in odd places and couldn’t wait to stand under a hot shower and ease his tired muscles. He thanked Len for all the hints, tips and instruction and told him he would try for a day in the autumn. When Andrew got back to College he confused his Grandma when he called her. He thought she would wish him a happy birthday. And she was wondering why he had called two days before his birthday. Andrew had to laugh, the day had been fantastic and he had started to believe the story he and Len had made up for the other people at the track!

So the week started brilliantly. The next day was the absolute antithesis of it.

Andrew was up early, in London with time to spare, and killed that time in a café before finally making his way to the Old War Office Building for the interview. Which turned out to be three interviews as well as a long chat with an old friend. It started with a three person interview group which was not an interview more of an explanation of what had happened so far. There was a Personnel person, typically cheery, who was excited about this ‘new extension to the summer student program’. There was one of the two vetting officers from his interview, who was only there at the beginning. And finally there was a security officer who once the other two had left conducted a separate discussion.

Andrew had been accepted in the Ministry of Defence’s summer student program for the third year but he would not be returning to the Ministry of Defence Police. It was noticeable that none of the three of them said what Andrew would be doing instead. He had passed the Positive Vetting and the vetting officer spoke at length about what to do when approached by individuals asking questions about the job. The job they had not told him about yet. He was given the extension number of the Personnel man and was to call him when he ‘had finished up here’ and Personnel would get all his updated information for payroll etc. Then the two of them left.

The security officer, Mr. Armstrong, talked at length about the difference between Secret and Top Secret clearance. Positive Vetting had nothing to do with security classification, it was the process where the government decided what level of clearance you were given. To get Top Secret clearance you had to be Positively Vetted. Armstrong’s talk also lowered expectations by telling Andrew that it was in fact unlikely he would have access to any Top Secret material. And even if he did it would not be unsupervised.

“I see from the report from the Chief Constable of the MoD Police that you were a significant asset to two major investigations. The second one ended up being classified as Top Secret, although that was retroactive when the extent of the fraud on our NATO and UN allies was discovered. The operational reports I have reviewed speak very highly of you. It was clear that however unusual the initial posting was, the MoD Police embraced you and utilised you to the maximum extent possible.”

It was a strange speech as it ended the conversation, they wrapped up after that. And it had not really been an interview, more of a chat. Armstrong led Andrew to a meeting room further down the corridor for the third interview, and possibly the strangest interview of his entire life. Armstrong stood with Andrew at the back of the room until the other four participants had assembled and then indicated for him to sit opposite the group. There were two men and one woman in civilian dress and an Army Brigadier. A senior bloke.

The interview was hostile from the start and the questions were, for Andrew at least, unanswerable. They were all variations on the theme of ‘why do you think you will be good at counter-intelligence work?’ There are only so many times that you can answer honestly with ‘I do not know’. One of the men and the woman were angry, and not even really at Andrew, they seemed frustrated at just being there. His ‘I do not know’ answers were greeted with triumph. They wore an air of ‘See, I told you.’ But it was intensely uncomfortable and Andrew could feel his armpits were drenched in sweat. At this point still nobody had actually told him what they were proposing to do with him for the summer. The silent civilian quietly held up his hand and the other two piped down immediately.

“You were told that if you passed Positive Vetting then you would be able to work, even as a summer student, in areas of the Ministry which until now have only been open to permanent employees?”

“I was told it was a possibility.”

“And that these areas included organisations and departments related to intelligence and counter-intelligence within the Ministry?”

“Yes. I was told that too.”

“It has been decided that you will be employed as a summer student within the Ministry. You have been Positively Vetted and will be granted Top Secret clearance. As a result you will work within one of the counter-intelligence organisations. I should warn you that you are unlikely to see Secret material never mind Top Secret but all staff that work in this area have that clearance. Is that clear?”