field ops, and, frankly, Stratton could say what he wanted to the man without any real fear of repercussion. But the very same reasons that made him answer the phone in the first place pushed him to find out what Sumners wanted.
‘I’m at Heathrow Airport.’
‘I know where you are.You work for me now, and if you want to go anywhere you ask me first, or have you forgotten how the system works?’
‘But I thought—’
‘What? That you’re off the assignment? Stop acting like some prima donna for God’s sake. I’ll tell you when you’re off the assignment. Have you checked in yet? Or are you in the departure lounge?’
‘I’m in the departure lounge,’ Stratton said.
‘I need you to get over to terminal one. You’ve got half an hour. You’re booked on an Olympic Airlines flight to Athens then on to Rhodes. You know Rhodes?’ Sumners asked.
‘The largest of the Dodecanese islands. Rhodes is also the name of the old fortress city which was built by the Knights of Saint John in the fourteenth century.’
‘I’m impressed,’ Sumners said, though he might not have been had he known Stratton had just read as much in his Templar book which was still open at the relevant page.
Stratton was about to ask what the job was and decided against it. The message was clear. He was back in the game and he could not help feeling good about it.
‘I’ll have your baggage transferred to the Olympic flight.’
‘Not my skis,’ Stratton said. He did not want to look a complete wally walking around Rhodes carrying a pair of cross-country skis.
‘That might be too much for the system but I’ll try. I’m going to give you a ticket re-locater number,’ Sumners said.
Stratton took out his pen and notepad and scribbled down the number.
‘They’re expecting you.They’ll hold the plane but don’t take all day.’
‘Do I get to know what this is about?’
‘Can’t say anything on this means, other than you’ll be meeting a familiar face who you recently had a little adventure with.’
Stratton’s heart sank. He thought he had seen the back of Gabriel.
‘Your friend’s been in Turkey the past few days and now he needs to go to the Mediterranean. Stratton. Listen to me. I stuck my neck out for you on this. The Boss voiced doubts about you but I assured him you were up to it. I’ve never done that for any operative before in my life. The Agency assigned one of their own people to him in Turkey but nothing came of it. Despite your misgivings about him, it seems you made some kind of connection. He asked for you personally.’
This was not particularly good news for Stratton. He wanted to ask if anyone else could do the task, but it did not take much to work out that either he went on the assignment or he let the side down. The facts were obvious. He was familiar with the job and its linch-pin, namely Gabriel. Saying no to Sumners now would be saying no to any other MI job in the future.
Stratton stood up with the phone to his ear. ‘I’m on my way,’ he said sighing to himself.
‘Stratton. One more thing.You still have your ID, don’t you?’
Stratton automatically felt his pocket where his wallet was, not so much with his hand as with his mind. ‘Yes,’ he said.
‘I don’t suppose it ever crossed your mind why I never asked for it back?’
Oddly enough, it had not.
‘When you arrive in Athens one of our people will meet you and give you some bits and pieces,’ Sumners continued. ‘I’ll talk to you later.’
‘Sumners?’ Stratton quickly said.
There was silence for a moment and Stratton thought Sumners had gone. ‘What is it?’ he said, sounding as if he wished he had disconnected.
‘I’d like some extra tools,’ Stratton said.
‘Tools?’
Stratton felt Sumners was being deliberately obtuse. ‘You know what I mean. We’re heading east. This job could end up anywhere. What if we have another incident like last time?’
‘I see what you mean. I’m afraid I can’t do much about that right now. Greece is a difficult one at the moment. She’s being a bit of a bitch. I’ll see what I can do . . . Anything else?’
Sumners hadn’t even tried to disguise the insincerity in his voice. Greece wasn’t the only bitch being difficult. ‘No,’ Stratton answered.
‘Have a good trip,’ Sumners said in the same tone, and the phone went dead. Stratton put it in his pocket as he dug out his MI6 ID and looked