Becca XXX - Spring Tide Ch. 01

"We think the same, but there's no training grounds or weapons stores near Sennen Cove. The intel is still coming in but we have found other clues as to what they might be up to. Arran, tell them what you found on the dark web chatter," she nodded at Arran to take over.

"We've intercepted snippets of communications from Russian chat room sites. The dark web is full of them. The translation isn't great, but we're pretty sure that it's Victor and his crew. They haven't mentioned a target, but they seem to be showing a great deal of interest in something with the initials GH."

"GH? What could that be?" asked Nat.

"Gloryhole," I laughed. "They must be looking for you Natalie."

"It could mean anything," said Lexa, ignoring my childish comment. "We don't know if it's a person, a place or an item. Our systems are still searching, but they have come up with one possibility."

"Really? What?"

"General Headquarters," Ethan stated. "We know it as GCHQ, but the Russians may have shortened it to GH."

"I thought that was in London - the MI5 building,"

"There are many locations for GCHQ all over the UK. The nearest one to Sennen Cove is at Bude. It's been there for years as a listening station and its now used for intelligence and data gathering," said Ethan. "It's about two hours drive from your location."

"Why would they target the station in Bude? Surely London would make more sense," said Natalie.

"The Bude station is currently tasked with monitoring troop movements and the advance of the Russian army in Ukraine. That information is being given to the Ukrainians to push back at Russia with western weaponry and training. If the Russians hit GCHQ at Bude it would give them an advantage. We'd be heavily weakened in providing intel to Ukraine."

"Surely they wouldn't be capable of hitting it though?" I quizzed. "Isn't it heavily guarded?"

"Of course, and we've informed them of the possible threat. They have increased security and are being more vigilant, but Victor is renowned for his brutality and quick thinking. If he can see an opening or a weakness anywhere, he'll exploit it without hesitation," said Lexa.

"OK," I replied. "But what if he's not planning on a conventional attack? What if it's a cyber attack of some sort?"

"He wouldn't need to risk coming to the UK for that," Arran pointed out. "He could do that from anywhere in the world. Russia and China are constantly looking for ways into our systems, but so far, our firewalls are holding them off."

"Arran's right," Lexa agreed. "Russia wouldn't send a man like Victor here without good reason. He and his men are fucking animals. Raping, pillaging and murdering are just a past time for them. Our systems will keep searching for other possible targets with the initials GH, but for now this is our best option."

"What do you want us to do?" asked Natalie.

"Find him and eliminate him. There's a kill order out for him and his team. It would be nice to find out what he's up to, but the main priority is to terminate him," said Ethan in a serious tone.

"How do we find a Russian team hiding in the UK?" I gasped. "We can't just drive around hoping to bump into them. They don't sound like the surfer types. We need something to go on."

"We do have another name which was picked up from the dark web chatter," said Lexa. "It's a long shot, but it looks like Victor has been in contact with a local Russian gangster in the town of Penzance. He may be holed up with him."

"Penzance? I thought that was a lovely little holiday town by the sea. Why would there be Russian gangsters down there?" I asked.

"Penzance used to be full of pirates and little has changed," Lexa explained. "There's a huge drug problem and it's also well known for smuggling. There are several small coves dotted around the Cornish coast which give easy access to smugglers. Weapons, drugs and even people are smuggled in and then distributed out of Penzance. A guy called Valentin Stalin runs the whole operation."

She nodded at Arran who clicked his keyboard again. Another mug-shot of a fat guy appeared on our screen. He looked like a walrus with a pudgy face, piggy eyes and a bushy goatee beard. He'd obviously been doing well in his gangster role and must have eaten most of the profits.

"Same story - different asshole," laughed Nat. "Do we have an address for Mr Stalin?"

"It's never that simple Natalie - you know that. He's a wanted man and rarely shows his face in public. He must be hiding out in Penzance somewhere, so start with the usual places like seedy bars and brothels or local drug dens. The trail will lead back to him eventually. From there, you should be able to find Victor. If Valentin isn't hiding him, he will probably know where he is. These fuckers always stick with their own."

"It sounds like our best option," I agreed. "Are you proposing that we pose as customers or working girls?"

"I'll leave that to you," said Lexa. "Just try and keep the collateral damage to a minimum. It is a holiday destination after all and we don't want to scare people off by having a terror incident down there."

"We'll do our best," I laughed. "But I can't promise anything. These guys don't look like they'll go down without a fight, but if we can take them out quietly, we will."

"I'm sending you everything we have on Victor, his team and Valentin's operation," said Arran, tapping away at his keyboard. "As more intel becomes available, I'll forward it on."

"Report back when you have something for us," demanded Lexa. "Good luck and happy hunting down there."

"Is that it?" I asked, sounding pissed off. "It's not much to go on. The way Hamilton was carrying on, it sounded like all hell was about to break loose. The guy was willing to start World War three to get people to take the Russian threat seriously. Surely, we must have more intel."

"I wish we did, Becca, but until we find these guys, we have no idea how serious it is," said Lexa. "That's why we've sent you down there. If anyone can find out what's happening - it's you two."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," replied Natalie, butting in before I got myself into trouble with my back chat. "We'll do our best."

"Ok. Stay safe and we'll speak soon," Lexa closed down the video feed.

Natalie gave me a look and followed it with, "Really? Why do you always try to start an argument about the intel?"

"Because it's shit... as usual," I shrugged

"That's why we're employed, babe. If it was that easy, they'd send a man to do it," she laughed.

I laughed too, but it didn't stop me wanting more to go on. The lack of information on these missions always annoyed me. I was about to say something more, when the laptop chimed with incoming emails. It was the secure intel packs from Arran which would contain everything they knew about Victor and his crew, along with Valentin's operation. We'd need to digest all the information and then make our move into Penzance as Lexa had suggested.

Natalie started to wade through it, but I had a phone call to make. We may have been short on intel from The Facility, but I had a back up plan and my own team for the first time since I started this line of work. Natalie was fully aware of Arrow and Naomi as I didn't want to keep her in the dark. Lexa on the other hand knew nothing about it and I wanted to keep it that way. Nat watched me pick up the phone as I dialled in the number, but she let out a long sigh.

"Lexa won't be happy about you calling your own team," she sighed. "You're breaching so many security protocols by involving civilians that she'll blow a fucking gasket if she finds out."

"You'd better keep quiet about it then," I winked.

The phone rang four times before Naomi answered.

"Naomi's Gym," she said in a professional tone. "How can I help?"

"Naomi. It's me, Becca."

"Hi Becca. How's it going down there?" she replied.

She knew that I'd been deployed to Sennen cove in search of Russians, and about our cover story, but at the time that's all she knew. I'd told her everything about Hamilton's demise and his final words and that I'd need her to help Arrow in gathering our own intel. After getting them both out of prison, they were more than willing to help me.

"It's going as expected. We've got virtually fuck-all to go on. I'll send through what we have, but I need Arrow to start searching for me."

"She's been waiting for your call. You know how excited she gets if there's computers and conspiracy theories involved."

"I wish they were conspiracy theories," I snorted. "Tell her I need her to find out everything she can on a Russian operative called Victor Morozov and a local villain in Penzance called Valentin Stalin," I said the names slowly so she could write them down. "Also, get her to search for any potential targets down here with the initials GH."

"Anything else?" she asked.

"No. I wish I had more to send to you, but intel is sketchy. Hopefully Arrow will work her magic."

"I'm sure she will. As soon as we have anything to add, we'll be in touch."

"Thanks babe. Speak soon."

"My pleasure. Stay safe."

I hung up the phone.

We may have had a lovely, carefree morning surfing and fucking, but I knew things were about to get a whole lot more difficult now that the assignment was ramping up.

In this line of work, things never stayed calm and peaceful for long.