Red Hawk Rising, стр. 66

of impending arrivals. He noted that the small team on the transporter/loader were due to arrive from Jennings on the morrow and the detachment at Davis Aviation were due the following Monday. Andy arranged for the SAC clerk to draw up site plans to be run off on the Gestetner and typed up the allocation of billets onto the waxed master for the Gestetner. The pink correction fluid smelled like women’s nail polish and Andy wrinkled his nose at each use of it. With the domestic matters dealt with Andy turned his attention to preparing a report for Flight Lieutenant Gaskin. After that he would set up the recording system and start an inventory of equipment and spares. It was about 11.45 hours and he heard familiar voices in the orderly room. Andy left his desk and went out and greeted Lance and Dan. ‘Sarge’ followed them in. Andy gave ‘Sarge’ a map of the base and showed him where the sergeants’ mess was. He then gave the corporals a plan of the domestic site and a list of billets. He had put them in bunk rooms next to his. Andy said he’d go over in ten minutes and see them over there before they all went to the mess for lunch. As they left, the SAC clerk said that there was mail for Andy. It had come in a little earlier and he had just finished sorting it. There were two letters for him. One was from Alice. She must have posted it on the Friday without him knowing. The other was a typed address with a Lutterworth postmark. He put them both in his pocket to read when he went over to his room. He finished off his report and then headed for the barrack block. Shutting the door of his room he slit open the letters. Alice’s gave off a whiff of perfume but he read the Lutterworth one first. It confirmed what Corporal Rogerson had told him. Rogerson was to provide Andy with support but also he would be looking for the source of the radio messages to Moscow. It had been picked up because it was a radio frequency not used by shipping and was known to be used by the USSR. Andy was to observe security on the base and also any activity of people observing the base. Andy put the letter away and took Alice’s out of the envelope. She had written it on the Thursday evening after he and Lance had returned to the base. Alice had written of how happy he had made her and how much she was drawn to him but she added words of caution about her feelings. Clearly, Alice had some sound common sense and that pleased him. Apparently Alice had given the letter to her sister to post in Hexham on the Friday. There was a banging on his door and Lance asking if he was in there. Andy yelled for him to enter and put the letters away. They called out to Dan and the three of them headed for the mess for lunch.

After the lunch break the new arrivals organised their bedding from the base store and settled in. At 14.00 hours Corporal Andy Hill reported to Flight Lieutenant Gaskin with his report. Gaskin read it with interest. Andy had focused on the technical aspects of his visits and not the security issues. Gaskin asked him why those aspects were not in the report. “I was at that factory to get information for our trials analysis recording, sir,” he replied to Gaskin’s query. “The other incidents were reported through other channels and I didn’t see the need to report on them again.”

Gaskin responded by saying, “I’m the officer you report to and I want to know what is happening with the men in my section so I expect more than a technical report in future. The CO has received complimentary reports about your work and your actions beyond the technical side. And, of course, I have been told, but I want to hear it from my men themselves.”

Andy felt distinctly uncomfortable at that statement. It wasn’t his style. He nodded in reply and said, “Yes sir, I understand.”

Gaskin went on, “I’ve received information that the team at Jennings Engineering will be arriving here tomorrow and the MLTwill be arriving Wednesday afternoon so you won’t need to go down to Coventry. I may send you down to Luton on Thursday. You should be able to get all the information on the launcher in one day. Okay, that will be all.” Andy got up, came to attention and then left Gaskin’s office. He decided to locate the recording equipment and get it unpacked and start setting it up. Andy headed for the security gate into the airfield area and noticed that they checked his F.1250 (ID card) and a list they had of JSTU personnel before they would let him in. That was good. It was a brisk walk round to the hangar allocated to them on the north side of the airfield. He passed the airfield rescue with the fire engine and ambulance parked outside, then the control tower. Andy noticed someone looking down at him with interest. The person wasn’t wearing his tunic so Andy couldn’t see his rank but he appeared to be in his thirties age-wise. He waved to the person who then turned away. Passing the construction site for the unit headquarters, Andy paused to have a look at progress. It was a prefabricated building that was being erected. Trenches from their hangar to the building site showed that the services were in the process of being connected. Tradesmen were busy inside the building. He walked on. At the unit hangar, Andy found Sarge and his team busy checking their toolboxes and the equipment ready for the arrival of the radar unit in the morning. Test equipment was being set up inside one of the rooms in