Free A Fear of Dark Water by Craig Russell Page A

here, Freese, our world, our ecosystem, is being raped. In the time it takes us to have this conversation, four million barrels of oil will have been pumped from the Earth. And all that carbon will just as quickly be pumped into the atmosphere.’ The Commander paused to allow Niels to process the information. He knew that you had to allow time for Niels to process information. He had noticed Niels’s limp again as the younger man had come into the room. He knew that the neurological damage behind the limp came from the same cause as Niels’s unique intellectual architecture. Oxygen deprivation at birth.
    ‘This is a war,’ said the Commander. ‘A real war. And a war needs good soldiers. I need good soldiers. And you, Freese, are one of my very best. And that is why I am entrusting you with one of the most important missions we have ever undertaken.’
    Niels felt the pride bloom in his chest. All he had ever wanted to do was to be a good soldier for Gaia.
    ‘I’ll do whatever it takes to protect Gaia,’ said Niels proudly.
    ‘You have to understand, Freese, that I am asking you to take this war to a new level. Burning cars in the Schanzenviertel is not enough. The stakes are higher.’ The Commander nodded to the man in the grey suit, who pushed an envelope across the table to Niels. Niels opened it; it contained two photographs, one of a man in his early forties and the other of a car: a huge Mercedes cabriolet. There was also a piece of paper in the envelope with a time and an address written on it.
    ‘Who is he?’ asked Niels.
    ‘All you need to know is that he is an enemy of Gaia. A real enemy. His activities have got to be brought to a halt. You have carried out a number of successful car-burnings with Harald. I want you to team up with him again and torch this car …’ the Commander tapped the photograph of the Mercedes. ‘… while it is parked outside the café at this address. Do you understand?’
    ‘I understand what I have to do, but I don’t understand why burning his car will stop him doing whatever it is he has been doing.’
    The Commander turned to the silent grey-suited couple. The woman reached into her handbag, brought out a clear plastic bag and handed it to the Commander, who slid it across the table to Niels.
    ‘When his car goes up, he’ll be inside the café. He meets a woman there. You wait until they’re both inside, then torch the car. And make it spectacular. I want you to bring him out of the café. Then I want you to use that.’ The Commander nodded to the plastic bag and its contents, which Niels had not yet lifted.
    ‘ Can you use that?’ asked the Commander. ‘It will be the first mission of its type.’
    ‘This man is an enemy of Gaia?’ asked Niels, still staring at the bag.
    ‘More than that, he is threatening the whole success of the movement. He has done things … well, like I said, his actions could be disastrous for all we stand for.’
    Niels picked up the plastic bag, opened it and removed the automatic pistol and ammunition clip from it before placing them in the patch pocket of his combat jacket. As he did so, he had the feeling that he had seen and held the weapon a dozen times previously. But he knew he had never held any gun before.
    ‘I’ll do it,’ he said.

Chapter Ten
    Horst van Heiden was a man of middle height, stockily built and with a brooding face framed by a grey-white continuum of hair and beard. When he walked into van Heiden’s office, Fabel was struck by the same impression that he always had on seeing the Criminal Director: that he wore an expensive suit as if it were a uniform. It fitted, because most of van Heiden’s career had been spent in the uniformed branch, including some time on attachment to the Harbour Police, and even after ten years in the post he did not look suited to the role of chief of detectives.
    Van Heiden looked at his watch as Fabel entered. The Criminal Director wasn’t making a point: it was simply a habit