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  ‘Finally grown a pair, have you?’ Gibbs said. ‘Well you’ve woken me up now, so spit it out.’

  ‘In return for getting more information from the Dutch prisoners, I’m willing to throw out all the charges against you.’

  ‘Let me guess, you’ve got nowhere with them, and now need me with my so-called barbaric methods.’

  ‘It’s not going to work like that, Gibbs. You can interrogate the prisoners under the eye of two military policemen.’

  ‘The mercenaries have seen you undermine me. They won’t say shit with other people in the room. I have to do it my way. A way that works,’ Gibbs said.

  ‘I’m giving you a chance to get out of here.’

  ‘You’ve messed up, Warren, and now you need me to bail you out. Don’t try and make it sound like you are doing me a favour. Get the fuck out of here and let me sleep,’ Gibbs said, returning to his bunk, the sound of the metal latch slamming reverberating around his cell.

  • • •

  The interior hallways of the refinery barracks were yellow-walled, dark and sucked the life out of you. Last painted in the seventies, was the estimate by Captain Warren as he strode along the top floor corridor. A wall on his right side, paned glass windows on his left. He could see the parade ground below. His parade ground. A place where he could bring order to the hopeless troops under his command.

  The sound of someone running caught his ears. The click-clack of boots on old polished concrete floors got louder. He’d ordered them never to run in the building, so he moved to the centre of the corridor.

  The thump on his right arm and shoulder pushed him forward a step. A gasp of air as someone was winded came from the person who had clattered into him. The hair on the back of Captain Warren’s neck rose as the anger intensified inside. White papers in dirty brown folders came flying past him and exploded outwards as if they’d been fired out of a cannon.

  ‘What the hell?’ he said, his loud voice echoing in the narrow space. Spinning around, he saw a young man in brown army fatigues and black boots, his beret rolled up and stuffed through his left shoulder epaulette.

  The young man’s bespectacled face changed from wide-eyed shock to fear in seconds. His mouth closed then opened to speak. He couldn’t.

  Captain Warren grabbed him by the front of his shirt which wasn’t tucked in properly and slammed his slim frame back against the yellow wall. ‘What have I told you about getting in my way, Thompson?’ he said, teeth gritted and jaw clenched.

  ‘Sorry, sir. I’m late getting these files to the admin block.’

  ‘I don’t fucking care. You smashed into me again.’

  ‘You moved across the corridor, sir,’ he said, wincing as he was slammed against the wall again.

  ‘You ran into me last week, and that resulted in you standing out in the rain and sleet with a log above your head. I think you are getting an unhealthy attachment to that log. I mean, why would you keep running into me?’

  ‘Sorry, sir.’

  ‘You’re a snivelling waste of army money, aren’t you? Think I should take you outside for a PT session for a few hours to rid you of all that energy.’

  ‘Please, sir. I have admin files to complete before I go out tonight.’

  ‘Go out?’

  ‘It’s my birthday, sir. My lieutenant said I could have the night off if I finish my work.’

  ‘As the acting CO of this base, I rescind those orders. You will spend the night in the barracks.’

  The soldier’s eyes widened as he struggled for words. ‘Sir, I have invited family and friends to join me.’

  ‘I could also send you to solitary for the night if you don’t want to spend it in the barracks. You do realise that I don’t give a crap about your family plans.’ Captain Warren felt the resistance of the soldier against his hand fade, as he relaxed against the wall, his shoulders drooping.

  ‘Is everything okay, Captain?’ said a female voice from his left.

  ‘I’m busy here.’

  ‘Thank you, Private Thompson. You may carry on.’ The sweet voice was nearer.

  Captain Warren turned and looked at the woman who’d dared to interrupt him disciplining one of his troops. She was always around, interfering in the discipline of the men and women. He glared at her and clenched his fists as he barged past her in the narrow corridor.

  ‘I’d like to discuss Sergeant Gibbs with you,’ she said, catching up to him.

  He took larger strides as he heard more sounds coming out of her mouth, but he had more important concerns. He needed coffee. Getting to the end of the corridor they walked down ten steps and turned right into a second, much darker corridor. She was still talking as he turned into the first door on the left and spotted the vending machine. She carried on talking and then asked him a question. He wondered what she’d look like naked.

  ‘Lieutenant, you’ll have to go over it all again. Why do I have to let the man go? He shot and tried to kill a prisoner of war,’ said Captain Warren, as he stood in front of the old vending machine in the empty officers’ mess hall, watching coffee flow into his paper cup. ‘I’d be more than happy to discuss this case over dinner. Maybe we could go to a club afterwards.’

  ‘That’s unprofessional, Captain, and I don’t operate like that. It would be seen as a conflict of interest if any tribunal should hear about it.’

  ‘Then I guess your client will remain locked up in solitary.’

  ‘I’ve been doing my own investigation, and you don’t have anything from the shooting to keep him locked up,’ Lieutenant Matthews said.

  ‘You’re representing Gibbs, so of course you’d say that.’

  The slim, blonde JAG officer folded her arms, squashing her breasts together beneath the ironed white shirt. He stared at them for a few seconds then looked back at her as she smiled at him. ‘Glad to have your attention back, Captain. It’s a little embarrassing for you because you drifted off there for a while. Is everything okay?’

  He shifted in his stance and took a sip of coffee. ‘Just bloody say what you came to say. I have work to do.’

  ‘I’ve spoken to all your witnesses, and it appears they’re either not willing to testify or claim they didn’t see Sergeant Gibbs deliberately shoot anyone.’

  ‘Rubbish. What about Corporal Kilfoyle, he was first into the cell?’ Captain Warren said.

  ‘Claims he didn’t see the actual shooting,’ Lieutenant Matthews said.

  ‘They’re best mates, so what did you expect he’d say? He is covering for him. Get him under oath, and I’ll get the truth out of him.’

  ‘I have a signed statement from Corporal Kilfoyle.’

  ‘They’re all lying bastards. I should throw him out of the army along with Gibbs. Dishonourable discharges all around.’

  ‘You can’t do that without just cause. The court-martial will accept his statement as fact unless you have other proof. It’s his word against yours.’

  ‘Fine, but there are the prisoners, and don’t forget the man that Gibbs shot.’

  ‘I spoke to them, and they did hint that they would be prepared to testify against Sergeant Gibbs if you guarantee them their freedom and safe passage back to Europe.’

  ‘What? I’m not going to release the terrorists responsible for destroying our storage tanks and pipelines. That will never happen on my watch.’

  ‘In that case, Captain, you’ll have to release Sergeant Gibbs. We cannot detain him any longer.’

  ‘Not so fast, pretty thing, what about the charge of striking an officer?’

  ‘Watch your tone and choice of language please, Captain. I’m a lieutenant with the Judge Advocate General.’

  Captain Warren felt his rage percolating to the surface. This was his army base.

  ‘Gibbs will be charged with striking an officer, and will face a court-martial, but you cannot hold him in a cell for more than forty-eight hours for that.’

  ‘I’ll release him when it suits me, Lieutenant. I am still in command of this ba
se, am I not?’

  ‘No, you won’t delay his release,’ she said. ‘You see, Captain, I have a witness who says you struck Sergeant Gibbs outside a nightclub.’

  ‘They were all AWOL. I was not.’

  ‘Shall we wait and see what the real Commanding Officer decides when he returns from vacation next week?’

  • • •

  ‘How was the vacation, boss?’ Killey asked as he and Shredder walked to where Gibbs was resting on a bunk in the centre of the row of neatly made up army beds. The barracks were empty at that time of day because all other men were on duty with the high alert status.

  ‘Very relaxing, thanks, gents. Three days in solitary was just what I needed to catch up on some sleep.’

  ‘You’d do anything to get out of doing a few bloody patrols, wouldn’t you?’ Shredder said, sitting down on an adjacent bunk. ‘But I’d advise you to stay out of Warren’s way for a while. He’s not very happy with you. His nose is badly broken, and his sweet feelings have been hurt. He’s been telling anyone who will listen that he is going to throw the book at you.’

  ‘I don’t give a shit, to be honest,’ Gibbs replied. ‘He typifies what’s wrong with the army nowadays. Full of incompetent desk jockeys who sit around all day shuffling paper and getting in the way of real army business.’

  ‘I heard that he was trying to get you thrown out on a dishonourable discharge,’ Killey said.

  ‘Let him do his damnedest. I am done dealing with bureaucrats like him,’ Gibbs said. ‘The good thing about a few days of solitary is that it gives you time to think. I haven’t said anything to you guys before, but this bloody posting and our role here has been bugging me for quite a while now. I think my days are numbered in the service.’

  ‘No shit, Sherlock. You’ve been grumpier than a hyena on her monthlies,’ Shredder said. ‘What are we going to do now?’

  ‘It’s time to hang up my beret and look at doing something else. Maybe a little mercenary work in the private sector. Like those prisoners in there.’

  ‘You being serious, boss?’ Shredder said.

  ‘Yeah. I want to have another chat with them to see if they’ll pass on any of their contacts,’ Gibbs replied.

  ‘I did manage to sneak a look at the intelligence file that Warren received on the Dutch guy who led the attack. He’s quite the accomplished veteran, so may have good contacts,’ Shredder said. ‘Although I’m not sure he’d be too happy to see you after you shot one of his team members right in front of him.’

  ‘Plus, if you do get discharged for attacking a superior officer, a vast majority of the agents won’t be too keen to put you forward for projects,’ Killey said.

  ‘Bollocks, lads. With our military records, we’d be snapped up for any type of work. And, the agencies are only in it for the money anyway. You’ve both met mercenaries during your travels so don’t tell me that we’re worse than they were.

  ‘Fair point,’ Shredder said. ‘What’s next?’

  ‘We’ve seen a ton of action together, but I can’t ask you to join me when I go over the wall. You have to make up your minds on this one,’ Gibbs said.

  ‘Going AWOL is serious business, Gibbs. I’ll need to think about it,’ Killey said, glancing across to Shredder.

  ‘I’m the only one going AWOL, you muppet,’ Gibbs said. ‘You two can go on a sabbatical or get an honourable discharge if you choose to do this with me. Anyway, I’m going to need to get as much information from the big Dutchman as I can and pretty damn urgently, and that’s where I could use your help.’

  ‘What’s the bloody hurry?’ Shredder asked.

  ‘You know my previous shooting record. Do you think they won’t consider a prison term for me after this latest stunt? I’m not taking that risk, thanks. Now, how are we going to sneak me into that lockup tonight?’

  Shredder laughed. ‘You are bloody joking, right?’

  • • •

  Gibbs eased the brass key into the lock and slowly pushed the passage door open. Looking back to the guard room, he saw it was closed as negotiated. He walked down the corridor and stopped in front of the green door for cell twelve. Slipping the noisy metal hatch open, he knocked twice. The sound reverberated around the empty corridor like thunder.

  ‘Ton,’ Gibbs said. ‘Wake up.’

  A few seconds went by before a drowsy Ton de Geest appeared at the opening, squinting through the hatch to acclimatise to the bright light from the corridor.

  ‘What the hell do you want? I thought you’d have been locked up for attempted murder by now.’

  ‘Calm down, Ton. You’d have done the same as I did to extract information from a prisoner,’ Gibbs said.

  ‘Don’t compare us, Sergeant,’ Ton said, his eyes narrowing. ‘You behaved like a cold-blooded thug. A disgrace to your uniform.’

  ‘Look, Dutchy, I didn’t bullshit my way back into this prison to argue with you. I managed to get a look at the file our intelligence people have on you and realised that we’ve served in many of the same campaigns. You knew the risks of mounting a cross-border sabotage mission into the UK. You knew that if you got caught during this mission, you’d be detained and interrogated. Besides, we’ve both killed for a lot less so let’s not debate whose conscience is clearer.’

  ‘What do you want?’ Ton asked after a few seconds.

  ‘The details of the agent who recruited you for this sortie.’

  ‘Don’t your intelligence people have all those details by now?’

  ‘I’m sure they have the names of all the men who paid the bills, but I want the man who recruited you,’ Gibbs said.

  ‘Look, we’ve been captured and will no doubt serve time in one of your local prisons. I see no reason to land our agent in trouble as well,’ Ton said. ‘Why do you want it?’

  ‘I have many reasons,’ Gibbs said. ‘Let’s say I may soon be up for a bit of private work myself.’

  Ton stared at him through the prison door hatch. ‘Get us out of here and down to London, and I promise I’ll introduce you to him myself.’

  Gibbs burst out laughing. ‘I’ll have to respectfully decline. I’m in enough trouble as it is, so I won’t be breaking perceived terrorists to the UK out of prison anytime soon. Besides, there must be a few agents out there looking for good men so with a bit of asking around I could probably find my own.’

  ‘Not anymore and certainly not without a decent referral, you won’t,’ Ton said. ‘They’ll check your military records thoroughly and would want current references. Ten years ago, you could have easily got an agent to put your name out there, but in today’s climate, most of those agents have disappeared. If you don’t have a referral to go along with the AWOL, there is no chance in hell you will get any decent work.’

  Gibbs felt the anger rising within him. The man was right. ‘Enjoy prison, mate,’ Gibbs said and closed the metal hatch.

  • • •

  ‘Sergeant Gibbs, wake up. Please, you need to get up now.’

  Gibbs stirred and rolled over onto his back and looked up at the white ceiling. He’d had a skinful of beer with the boys the night before in a local Grangemouth bar, and felt like something had crawled inside him and died. Opening and closing his mouth, it tasted of an old man’s sandals. He blinked and slowly opened his eyes to see an attractive blonde woman in a full military dress suit, standing over his bed. He smiled and sat up in bed, all too aware of her apparent awkwardness at him being naked.

  ‘Cover yourself please, Sergeant,’ she said, looking across the empty sleeping quarters.

  ‘Hello, Lieutenant Matthews,’ he replied. ‘How did my hearing go yesterday?’

  ‘It would have gone better had you bothered to turn up.’

  ‘If I recall correctly, you told me it was a tribunal to determine what charges would be brought against me and that I didn’t need to be there.’

  ‘That may be the case, but Captain Warren is trying to nail your lily-white backside to the wall, Sergeant. Your presence at the tr
ibunal would have gone a long way to show remorse for what you did.’

  ‘My lily-white arse feels no remorse for giving that idiot those black eyes. It was the least I could do for humanity. I do, however, feel at a disadvantage now that you have seen said lily-white arse,’ he said. ‘What is your first name, Lieutenant?’

  ‘You can call me Lieutenant,’ she said with a smile.

  ’Well, that’s just silly. How are we going to have a conversation over a romantic dinner if it’s all Lieutenant this and Sergeant that?’

  ‘A dinner that will never happen, Gibbs,’ she said.

  ‘Take me up on the offer of a meal while I am still here,’ he said. ‘You’ll miss me when I am gone, you know.’

  ‘Much in the same way I’d miss root canal treatment?’

  Gibbs chuckled, his voice hoarse from singing along with a live band the night before. ‘So how bad is it for my lily-white arse?’

  ‘You’ve been stripped of your rank, and have been confined to these barracks on full pay, until the court-martial next week. Who knows where it goes from there? We’re still busy preparing your defence, but judging from your file, it’s going to be tough to keep you out of detention barracks, and in the army.’

  ‘Guess it’s my time to pay for all the fun I’ve had here. We all have to pay the piper eventually.’

  ‘What? You could be locked up for a while before being turfed out into the world with nothing to show for all your years of service.’

  ‘I might just like that to happen, you know.’

  ‘Be serious.’

  • • •

  A few days into his confinement, Gibbs lay on the bed with his hands tucked behind his head. Killey was face down on his bed snoring loudly while Shredder sat on the bed across from him and listened to some or other loud rock band. Boredom was starting to take its toll on men who thrived on action.

  Gibbs stared at the same cracked white ceiling panel he’d looked at all week. A big fly walked along the crack, and he could see it washing its eyes before it flew off. His phone rang with the caller ID showing Aunt Rhona and his spirits lifted with the chance to talk to her. She was the spitting image of his mother with the same temperament, and always stirred up memories that had long been beaten out of him.