Chapter 294
“Jesus Christ, Felix!” Ian said as the Aston Martin slowly came to a halt in front of the town house that Ian had bought before they had left for America. For some unfathomable reason that had nothing at all to do with Mr. Göring's employees property prices were in free fall.
Felix was still busy reading the Times headline about the allied offensive that had started in Java three days ago, but he now laid the paper on the dashboard and turned to Ian.
“What?”
“Do you have any idea what you kicked off back there?”
Felix was well aware of that. The de-briefing had taken nigh on two weeks, and M had been less than pleased at the outcome. While they had admitted that their options in the situation had been limited at best they had also indicated that if something like this happened again he was better to not as open to starting shootouts in a neutral country. Ian didn't believe that this would have any influence on their careers, having long since resigned themselves to the fate of Intelligence Operatives. The type of Characters they had to have to stay alive also made sure that they almost never rose to flag rank, Edwards being the most notable exception to this rule.
“I am well aware of that, Ian.” Felix replied. “And I am also well aware that you didn't approve.”
Now what was that supposed to mean? Ian wondered. He parked the Aston in the garage and walked along the short path to the front door that wound through the vegetable patches in the front garden.
“Jesus Christ Felix....”
That said anything and everything. With one short phrase Ian had reassured Felix once again of what Felix knew and could always rely upon as long as Ian was briefing, that Ian would back him to the hilt.
“M did have a point you know.”
Felix caught up to him at the front door and sighed.
“I know. But Compton....”
“Felix in our job what he did is the least of the things they can do to us.”
Before Felix could reply the door opened and a beaming Sandra was looking at the two of them. Ian gave her a quick kiss and they stepped in. Felix grinned when he saw how his sister was hugging herself to her husband's side and was glad for his sister and his dear friend.
“Mom and Dad are out back, Felix.”
“Thank you, tiny.” he said, using her childhood nickname.
She slapped him on the shoulder and they made their way through the house to the back garden.
Here too Sandra and her mother were 'Digging for Victory' and Felix stopped and watched is father playing with his grandson.
His mother was sitting in a rickety beach chair that had come with the house with a cup of weak wartime tea in her hand and rose to greet them.
That evening, while Ian and Sandra had spent some time as a family and were putting Sean to bed Felix was sitting in the living room with his parents.
What he was about to tell them was probably going against orders but he knew that Ian wouldn't rat on him and he needed someone who felt the same or similar to talk with.
Screw it. He trusted his parents.
“We did get to go south of the border.”
His father almost dropped the book he was holding and just stared at Felix while his mother just stared at him.
“What?” was all that Jonathan said as a reply.
“I can't tell you why or what exactly we did...”
“Jesus....” his father said and Cathrine merely stared at her son.
“San Francisco even.” Felix said and sighed.
A few moments of utter silence followed.
“Dear god....” Christine said. They all soaked up every tiny bit of news coming out of what had been the United States of America but this was the first reliable news in months.
“Bad.” Felix said in answer to the unspoken question. “As far as I could see most of the damage from the Civil War was fixed, but the whole...air, atmosphere or what have you was strange.”
He took a sip from the glass of water in his hand and went on to explain.
“They didn't really let us talk to the locals unobserved but....how they carry themselves is strangely what it was like during the Civil War or in the Soviet Union during theirs.”
“In what way?”
“Well,” Felix said and paused for effect, “it's as if the war is a holy mission for them...”
Jonathan snorted. “Of what? Bringing the revolution to Japan?”
Felix grinned. “That's pretty much it, Dad. You see, while they have arranged themselves with us and Europe in general, the Japanese are not only the Yellow Peril but also the ideological anti-thesis to themselves.”
He paused again and gathered his thoughts.
“Total War. That's what it is. Compared to them the Empire treats the war as a sideshow.”
And that said a lot, considering how every part of British society was doing it's bit for the war effort.
“Fifteen year old Red Guards manning the Observer posts and Ackack guns, non-combat posts filled by people barely old enough even think about shaving. Not a single civvie car on the road and quite literally everyone not in the military and able to pull a lever working in the factories.”
No one spoke for a bit and then Felix remembered something that Ian had said one day at the airport just before they had flown to San Francisco. They had observed the news stands there and his father was intrigued when his son suddenly smiled.
Upon being asked Felix said: “It's just something Ian said. He said that their newspaper headlines were the biggest work of fiction since the Communist Manifesto. For some reason our minder didn't like that very much.”
The humour dissolved most of the tension in the room.
“Your...minder?” Catherine asked and Felix nodded in reply.
“You know, someone who officially was just another guide but in reality working for...the Home Office.”
No more explanation was needed.
“They were demolishing the Golden Gate Bridge.”
That astounded Jonathan.
“They never finished it and from what we were told the structure wasn't sound any more. Sufficiently Communist architecture everywhere, so I gather the bridge wouldn't have fit with their concept. I've never seen so much burgundy red brickwork anywhere.”
“Did you...”
“No. We never got any farther east than the Washington/ Idaho State line.”
The three people in the room looked at each other. The parents at their son and then, at that moment they understood what had happened to Felix over the last few years and then they laid it all to rest. They would always remember their home, but now, almost a decade after Felix had left home for the Academy they had really all come home again for the first time.
When Ian and Sandra returned they did have the impression that they had missed something but neither decided that it was worth following up. They all had better things to do. There was a war on.
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Comments, questions, rotten tomatoes?
After an unexpected cancelled class the inside of the local Starbucks is the best writing environment, overpriced coffee or no.
