Copyright Oggbashan February 2016
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
This is a work of fiction. The events described here are imaginary; the settings and characters are fictitious and are not intended to represent specific places or living persons.
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"Rory? Can you do without your car today? The garage has a slot for servicing it."
"Of course I can, Heather. I'll be working at home. See you soon."
That phone call was a coded message. The British Embassy had rung me at seven o'clock in the morning. But if her call had been traced it would appear to have originated at the garage. Her message meant 'your cover is blown and you'll be arrested soon. We'll get you away shortly.'
I was an illegal -- a spy working in this secretive dictatorial country but apparently nothing to do with the Embassy. My cover was as a businessman exporting collectors' toys to Europe.
The country's factories still produced 1940s style tinplate toys than sold well at collectors' events. So well that not only was I supporting myself, paying myself a good salary, but making profits for my apparent employers, who are really an arm of Her Majesty's Secret Service.
My British car was serviced at a garage also used by the Embassy, the only garage with a manufacturer's approval in the whole country. They serviced almost all British made cars for expatriates like me.
Heather is the name of the garage's secretary/receptionist. But the woman who had rung me hadn't been Heather. She was an Embassy employee, apparently a diplomat's wife working as a junior secretary, but actually the deputy spy chief responsible for every illegal like me.
My reply meant 'Yes, I'll be ready and waiting to go'.
How I would be extracted from the country I didn't know. How close the surveillance would be around me? I didn't know. Day to day monitoring was a normal occurrence. I had to live in a designated block of apartments for foreigners.
All access was from a central courtyard that was also the car park. Entering or leaving the courtyard by car was controlled by electric gates, operated by the security guards on a double gate system. Any car leaving or arriving had to pass one gate that closed behind the car.
Two security guards would then check the identity of the driver and passengers and do a quick search of the car before the second gate was opened.
Pedestrians went through the same procedure beside the guards' post. Anyone not resident or previously vouched for by a resident with documented details would be thoroughly searched. Even then the resident had to come to meet the visitor.
Most of the time that security was welcome. Any car left on an open street might be stripped of valuable items in minutes. My office car park was similarly controlled. Any unprotected apartment might be broken into a couple of times a year.
But now? If my identity as a British spy was known, I might be prevented from leaving the apartment block until the secret police arrived. They might be here in minutes or hours. If they knew I was at home, all they had to do was inform the guard post, and I couldn't leave, so they wouldn't have to arrive quickly.
What I could do, I did. I packed a few items into a carrier bag and made a production of taking things out and putting things into my car. Anyone watching, even if watching closely, wouldn't be able to tell whether there were more or different items in the car when I had finished. The things that mattered were in the car.
At ten o'clock I had an intercom message from the guard post. Heather from the garage had arrived to collect my car. Could I bring the keys to her at the guard post?
I went down in my shirt sleeves, carrying nothing except the keys. It was the real Heather from the garage. I handed over the keys in full view of the guards. She thanked me and walked to my car while I chatted to the guards as I might normally do while waiting for the security check. One of them did a cursory search of my car before Heather was allowed to drive out and away. A resident was slowly approaching the security gate from the courtyard. I waited for her.
"Hello, Rory. You're just the man I want."
Sophie is another British resident in the apartment block. She is well known locally because she is very large, seriously obese, walks with two sticks or rides around on the largest mobility scooter ever seen in this country.
We had been friends for a long time. When she arrived she was recovering from an operation after a road accident. I had driven her around until her mobility scooter was delivered. I liked her but wished she wasn't so obese. A slim Sophie might have been the woman of her dreams.
Sometimes she was, but in my dreams she shed a hundred pounds of weight.
I had spoken to her many times but we kept our conversations to bland topics because we were sure everything was recorded. She was wearing what I can only describe as a denim tent dress. It buttoned up to her neck and the skirt dragged on the ground as she walked.
"Hello, Sophie," I replied. "How are you? How can I help?"
"I'm OK, Rory, but my scooter isn't. It seems to be stuck on something, or it won't engage reverse properly. I need to go to the airport today. Can you have a look at it?"
"Of course, Sophie. Is it in its usual place?"
"Yes, Rory. Thank you."
This whole conversation was in front of the security guards who seemed to take no notice but we both knew every word would have been recorded on video.
Sophie's apartment was on the ground floor and had an addition to the side to house her scooter while it was being recharged. Sometimes she couldn't use it because we had experienced yet another power cut, and I would take her in my car to the department store reserved for foreigners and high ranking party officials. My car was the only one large enough to cope with Sophie's bulk.
We walked very slowly towards Sophie's apartment. She unlocked the scooter garage's door and we walked in. I was surprised when she shut the door behind us. She turned on a fluorescent light that hummed noisily.
"OK, Rory," Sophie said. "We can talk quietly now. That light jams any audio or video surveillance and my garage door is impervious to other devices."
"OK, Sophie," I said. "I understand, but what have we to talk about?"
"Getting you out, of course, Rory," Sophie replied impatiently. "You're coming out with me."
"I am? That would be great. But how?"
"I'm not really as fat as I appear, Rory. You will be riding my scooter inside my dress. I'm well known so won't attract any more attention than usual. Once beyond the security gates and around a couple of corners I and my scooter will be loaded onto the only taxi in this town that can take me, and driven to the airport. There I'll unload you in a disabled toilet. When you emerge you won't be Rory."
"If it works, that's wonderful. But I can't see..."