Biggles and the Fast Track Trainee

[RAAF Spitfire Girl]

The more Horace's uncle pondered upon his latter thought, the more he became convinced this was the case. He needed to know exactly what Bigglesworth and his team had been up to in Scotland. He decided to call in his big gun connections and reached for his phone.

[Kismet]

A Rear Admiral, fishing in the Highlands, cursed as his phone vibrated under his waders in a rhythm which told him it was urgent and secret business. He'd thought his luck might change today but not that way.

[Fairblue]

At that very same moment, there was a tug on his line, which told him that his luck was in. Unfortunately, the phone was persistent in its intrusion.

[Kismet]

He knew his duty. He waded to the bank, checked there was no one within earshot and fished in his waders for his phone.

[Fairblue]

"Yes?" He barked, his irritation sounding in his voice. "This had better be good. What? Is that all? What the devil has haggises to do with anything?" He always thought this man was few cards short of a full deck.

[Kismet]

Instructions given to the Rear Admiral which would end his sport for a few days, Horace's uncle debated who to ring next. Mind made up, he tapped out the number for an eminent psychiatrist.

[RAAF Spitfire Girl]

He spoke with the psychiatrist for several minutes, wording his questions carefully. His eyes were narrow and his brow furrowed as he hung up, fingers tapping thoughtfully on the desk. The psychiatrist would see Horace. Horace's uncle was fairly certain his suspicions about Bigglesworth were correct. If only Horace could be induced to tell the truth about what happened and not keep gabbling about haggises!

[Kismet]

Horace's uncle made more telephone calls. If Bigglesworth had interfered with his nephew's memory, then the Big Five would have to meet. He summoned a mysterious artist and a senior Civil Servant conveniently located within the Tax Office.

[RAAF Spitfire Girl]

Horace's uncle prepared his study for the meeting of the Big Five. The Rear Admiral was on his way back from Scotland, the psychiatrist was interviewing Horace as the uncle arranged chairs around his large desk. The artist had reluctantly agreed to leave his commune in Cornwall and personally fly up to London immediately in his Lear Jet.

The Senior Public Servant had hawed and hummed before finally assenting to the meeting if Number One thought it was so urgent. "This had better be a genuine matter of national security, my man," he finished as he slammed down the phone, tidied his desk and informed his secretary that he would not be back till the following morning.

Horace's uncle smiled in satisfaction. All was proceeding well. The psychiatrist would bring Horace with him.

[Kismet]

The Big Five had great plans for World Domination. Some of their plans were short term, like Brexit. Others were long term and involved some very special fast track trainees being inserted into key London institutions. These fast track trainees had been provided with a deep cover stories by the psychiatrist, which they believed to be their real lives, and a number of mental commands which would enable the Big Five to order them to take certain actions to benefit themselves whilst the trainees retained no memory of their instructions. They were long term plans, and the commands wouldn't be implemented for some years, until they were in senior positions.

[Fairblue]

The SAP had been a particular thorn in the side of the Big Five for some time now. That particular department had proved to be unbribable, its Chief Pilot known to have had very notable successes against overwhelming odds. Coupled with a deep sense of honour and the ability to be anywhere in the world almost at the drop of a hat, this department had seemed impenetrable and immovable; until now.

[Kismet]

The Big Five had been prepared to wait a few years until Horace was promoted high enough to get the SAP closed down, but maybe they could take advantage of Horace's unexpected posting to them and dispose of them early. Accordingly, once everyone was present, the psychiatrist made his report on what he had learned from Horace.

[RAAF Spitfire Girl]

His report raised everyone's eyebrows. Horace stubbornly refused to change his story concerning the secret enclave of haggises in the Scottish cave. His final conclusion offered two possibilities:

• The SAP knew who Horace was and had filled his head with these delusions;

• Horace was telling the truth.

After a lengthy silence, all eyes turned on Horace.

[Kismet]

Horace, full of his memory altering drugs, gazed blankly ahead. He answered questions in an emotionless monotone unless haggises were mentioned, whereupon he became agitated.

[Fairblue]

"I wonder if that's his trigger," the psychiatrist mused. "He might have been hypnotised. I could do with time to study him further."

[Kismet]

Horace's uncle was impatient. 'It's interfering with his ability to do his job. Get him to forget all about haggises and then we can give him his next set of instructions. This is our chance to dispose of those interfering Air Police years ahead of schedule.' The other men remained silent. They knew of the connection between Raymond and Horace's uncle and how this affected him.

[Fairblue]

"We need proof, concrete proof," the Rear Admiral harumphed. He wasn't in the best of moods. Not only had his fishing been curtailed, but his gout was playing up.

[Kismet]

The psychiatrist wasn't hopeful. 'His memory has been so altered by us that it will be hard to tell if another has interfered. But perhaps if I interrogate his superego then his id will be temporarily constrained by his ego ....' He muttered technicalities which the others ignored. If Bigglesworth had been rooting about in Horace's mind, then this was serious and Steps Would Have to be Taken.

[Fairblue]

“Just get on with it!" the Rear Admiral harumphed testily.

[Kismet]

The psychiatrist lead Horace away whilst the others discussed how to use him to destroy the Air Police. They looked at all that had happened and how it could be used to discredit the SAP.

'Lissie's easy,' grunted the Rear Admiral. 'They shared a room. We can easily implant memories of a night time assault into Horace. One down, three to go.'

[Fairblue]

"Do we need to get all four?" Queried the Senior Public Servant. "Use that as an excuse to form the basis of an enquiry which, naturally, I shall Chair." Dreams of even higher office which, incidentally would put him in the position of an adviser to Buckingham Palace, flitted through his head. That would be one in the eye for several people who thought he'd reached his limit. People who would regret what they had said.

[Kismet]

'One's a good start,' nodded the artist, 'but it will be better if a second investigation is launched for seperate allegations. That will get people muttering that there's no smoke without fire and that there must be something in it. How can we get more information on this arms dealer who the missing millionaire was with? Horace was suggesting there was a connection between Bigglesworth and her. We can build that up into a nice scandal.'

[Spitfire666]

'I don't need to sleep,' Horace protested. He felt rather helpless. What would Biggles do, he wondered.

(Just catching up with this!)

[Tiffinata]

"And Lacey," he continued, "has the reputation of being a bit of a one for the ladies. Perhaps it should be looked into howhe has gained that reputation. See if you can find any witnesses who could be persuaded to say they had seen him add something to the drink of one of these ladies."

[StoneRoad]

"And that young whippersnapper, started off as a penniless son of a miner" he continued, warming to his theme "how did he manage to get involved with them, and stay as part of their team, there must be something in that ... ? "