Chapter 2, part 3
“Yes sir. Sorry to bother you sir, but there is a little something that has cropped up. Purely by coincidence we think, but your instructions have always been explicit in this area.”
“And this area being what exactly?”
“Sir, at approximately 1033 hours this morning an encounter took place that was not expected and subsequently developed into a further meeting.”
He sighed again and leant back into his chair. This looked as if it was going to be one of those reports that were officious and pernickety and would end up being nothing. They would only end up being nothing after an exhaustive and interrogative discussion with the Duty Manager who had seen fit to call him. Why these people couldn’t just get straight to the point and tell him what was up was a never ending source of annoyance.
Duty Manager this morning was Natalie Turner, ferociously inquisitive, and able to connect dots in many directions to give a very early picture. Often the picture just ended up being a pleasant view, but sometimes the view was a window into unfolding events that needed detailed examination, and the earlier the view, the greater the advantage they gained.
“Ok Turner, start at the beginning.”
“Yes sir. The initial encounter was observed purely by coincidence by one of our team who was on a training exercise.”
Training exercises were, by necessity, often carried out in the full view of the public. There was little point in practising only in front of your peers. If your job needed you to pass unnoticed, there was no better training ground than amongst the public. It seemed that one such training exercise had taken place this morning. There would have been at least one trained observer in the vicinity as well as the operative or operatives undertaking the exercise.
“Yes sir. Sorry to bother you sir, but there is a little something that has cropped up. Purely by coincidence we think, but your instructions have always been explicit in this area.”
“And this area being what exactly?”
“Sir, at approximately 1033 hours this morning an encounter took place that was not expected and subsequently developed into a further meeting.”
He sighed again and leant back into his chair. This looked as if it was going to be one of those reports that were officious and pernickety and would end up being nothing. They would only end up being nothing after an exhaustive and interrogative discussion with the Duty Manager who had seen fit to call him. Why these people couldn’t just get straight to the point and tell him what was up was a never ending source of annoyance.
Duty Manager this morning was Natalie Turner, ferociously inquisitive, and able to connect dots in many directions to give a very early picture. Often the picture just ended up being a pleasant view, but sometimes the view was a window into unfolding events that needed detailed examination, and the earlier the view, the greater the advantage they gained.
“Ok Turner, start at the beginning.”
“Yes sir. The initial encounter was observed purely by coincidence by one of our team who was on a training exercise.”
Training exercises were, by necessity, often carried out in the full view of the public. There was little point in practising only in front of your peers. If your job needed you to pass unnoticed, there was no better training ground than amongst the public. It seemed that one such training exercise had taken place this morning. There would have been at least one trained observer in the vicinity as well as the operative or operatives undertaking the exercise.