Anyway, I survived my first jump, which was more than poor Grant had done; made one with Kalinda Black to witness the young Victoria’s coronation procession, during which she saw the parade and I stared at the broad back of the man in front of me and, finally, they let Sussman and me out together, to medieval Shrewsbury at last. We both came back unharmed and they ticked the last box and our rank was confirmed.
Later that year, I got yanked out of my Ancient Civilisation comfort zone and the three of us, Kal, Sussman, and I, got World War One. The Somme. And what a bitch that turned out to be. For Sussman and me, it was our first Big Job, as they were known. And afterwards, things were never quite the same again.
To begin with, I thought we were going to get the whole initiative, but our assignment turned out to be more specific.
‘A Casualty Clearing Centre,’ announced Dr Bairstow, dropping a box of reference material onto his desk. ‘Situated in an old French chateau and one step behind the Regimental Aid Posts. Reportedly destroyed by gunfire; whether enemy or friendly was never clearly established. Massive loss of life. The whole incident was buried as quickly as possible to prevent damage to morale. Controversy is raging again and there are anniversaries and bad feeling coming up. So we’ve been asked to investigate. You’ll need to be on your toes for this one because we don’t have an exact date.’
‘So we’re going into a war zone, knowing we’re a target, but not knowing exactly when we’ll be blown to bits,’ said Kal.
‘I don’t think you’ll be blown to bits,’ he said calmly. ‘After the initial explosion most of the hospital went up in flames. And very quickly too. It’s probably the fire you’ll have to watch out for.’
‘Is this for Thirsk, sir?’
‘They are acting as intermediary on this one.’ The client, as always, would be secret. The thinking was that if we didn’t know who they were or why they wanted to know, then it wouldn’t affect our findings. Thirsk would offer to undertake ‘new research’. We would nip in and out, then hand over our findings for them to present as ‘fresh evidence’ to the client. They got the credit; we got the money.
‘We need to get this right. After Grant and Baverstock, Thirsk are again talking about establishing a permanent supervisory presence here. Something we really need to avoid at all costs. So get the information, get the proof, get it right, and get out safely.’
‘For how long will we be there?’ I asked.
‘We hope to get you in between five days and two weeks beforehand. Records show the hospital as functioning at the beginning of October. By the 14 th it had been destroyed. When you return, of course, depends on events. Miss Black will head the mission.’
‘Could it have been an accident, sir?’ asked Sussman.
‘It’s possible. That’s the official version anyway.’
‘Have they thought this through? There’ll be a lot of blame and recrimination flying about,’ said Kal. ‘Isn’t this one of the times it’s better not to know?’
‘That’s not our job,’ he said sternly. ‘We gather the information. It’s up to others what they make of it. That is not our concern.’
‘How will we know whether the guns that blow us up are ours or theirs?’
‘I am not sending you there to be blown up, Mr Sussman, but to obtain information. And at vast expense too, so please try to refrain from being killed. Or indeed, incurring any sort of injury at all.’
We said, ‘Yes, sir,’ and backed out of his presence.
‘Bloody hell,’ said Sussman in the Library. ‘How did I get roped into this? Where’s Peterson?’
‘On leave,’ said Kal absently, examining the contents of the box. We were both startled. Leave? What was that, then?
Kal and I were going in as nurses. Sussman was an orderly/ambulance driver. Because of the considerable amount of interaction that would take place, we were thoroughly briefed. History and politics of both sides. An extensive field medic course, based on the treatments available at the time. They seconded us to a nearby army hospital for three weeks as part of the training; one week’s theatre training, one week on the wards, and one week in their A & E, which consisted mostly of burns, fractures, crush injuries, drunken brawls, and on one never to be forgotten night, midwifery. I am never doing that again!
We jumped early one Sunday morning. Chief Farrell and Kal carried out the final checks. Dieter, his senior technician, was fussing around outside, thinking no one knew he just wanted to be close to Kalinda.
‘Take care,’ was all the Chief said, looking at me and away we went.
Landing without a hitch, we peered outside. Even though it was only mid-afternoon, the day was dark and dreary. Rain was coming down hard and the few people around were scurrying along with their heads down. No one paid us any attention in our quiet corner.