The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comglass of water and slice of bread before shackling me on to the bedagain. It seemed like four or five hours before they took me backbefore my interrogators where they asked me the same questions again,only this time more impatiently. `We have interviewed your companion,with whom you were arrested,' snapped the moustache. `So tell me, DrNoonan, where did you meet him?' Hoping that APOCALYPSE had stuck tothe agreed cover story, I explained that he had seen me reading TheEconomist in a cafe‚ and had introduced himself as a fellow Brit.APOCALYPSE must have remembered, because the moustache seemed satisfiedwith my explanation. He changed tack. `Do you know who I am?' Withoutwaiting for a reply, he continued. `I am Major Claudio Pagalucca, ofthe airborne carabinieri.' He puffed out his chest with pride. `I havethree medals, won for bravery. Do you know what that means?'I was tempted to reply flippantly but bit my lip. `No, I've not a clue.I'm just an academic - that sort of thing's got nothing to do with me.'Pagalucca looked deflated. The airborne carabinieri are Italy'sequivalent of the SAS. Their role is to work against the mafia and theyare parachute-trained in order to launch surprise attacks against mafiahideouts in Sicilian valleys. When asked the same question in hisinterrogation, Hare had been unable to resist a jibe at Pagalucca'svanity. `Some sort of parachuting aerial traffic warden, is it?' hereplied flippantly. Pagalucca held him in detention for four hourslonger than the rest of us.Between interrogation sessions, the only discomfort was boredom, andthere was no physical hardship. The resistance to interrogationexercise I had done in the TA was tougher physically. But whereas onthe SAS exercise the actual interrogation interview was easy - we justhad to ensure that we did not give away any more than our name, rank,date of birth and army number - here the difficulty was keeping everydetail of our cover story entirely consistent between interrogationsessions. One little slip would be spotted and exploited ruthlessly andonce the cover story started unravelling, it would be very difficult toretract the damage. But by my third session, some four or five hourslater, my interrogators had not prised open my story. Pagalucca gave upand only the wrinkly asked a few easy questions. The session lastedless than ten minutes, so I guessed that they were close to releasingme.I had not been in my cell for long when the door opened again. Theguards pulled off my blindfold, released my handcuffs and handed overthe bag containing my clothes. I fumbled for my watch. It showed 5p.m., just over 24 hours since the arrest. Once I was dressed, theguards led me out into the evening darkness over to another building upa short flight of steps and, with a friendly smile and a handshake,indicated that I should go inside.Ball, Long, Eric and APOCALYPSE were all waiting to shake my handinside the room. `Congratulations,' said Ball. `We had to let you outearly. We just couldn't pin anything on you - you did an excellentjob.' He ushered me over to a trestle table laden with food, beer andwine. `We'll debrief you properly later. For the moment, get yourself adrink.' Over a beer, Ball explained what was going on. `Some of theothers should be along in a while, but they've still got a bit ofexplaining to do...'page- 62 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com