The Annals of Fear

"No!" Mello was pacing. "I have nearly all of the pieces, just..."



Hal rushed into the room, "They\'ve got Century!" Her hand was over her mouth. "But something\'s wrong." She had their full attention. "We don\'t know until we see him. Two of the airmen left there have had to come back too."



"Hal." Deontic said calmly. "Just tell us what you do know." They could hear the helicopter approaching. The windows shook with the force of its descent. "Injured?"



Mello didn\'t wait. He started running towards the door and was quickly followed by Matt. One of the ground crew rushed towards them waving his hands, but they had stopped anyway. Deontic and Hal hurried behind them and they all waited. Mello sounded on edge, shouting above the sound of the propellers. "What were you told, Hal?" There were people descending from the helicopter now, but none of them were Century. Bizarrely, one of them was Mr Roberts the caretaker.



"That something was wrong and they wanted to make their report face to face." Hal swallowed, staring at the door of the helicopter, willing Century to step out of it. "Let me see what\'s going on." She started forward, but a group were already detaching themselves and marching in their direction. Mello pulled Hal back and they all waited together. For a few moments, it seemed that Mr Roberts was having a full escort, until they realised that two of the airmen were also being covered. As soon as they were level, Hal asked, "Where is he?"



The response was lost in the sound of the helicopter rising again. Deontic pulled on Hal\'s sleeve and pointed back to the barracks. Hal nodded and gestured for them to all follow. No conversation could be held until they were inside as it was simply too noisy out there. As soon as they were in the mess, it was Mello who asked. "Where is Century and why is Mr Roberts here?"



Mr Roberts seemed to be in a state of near nervous collapse. It was him who gushed out. "We flew via Bronglais! They took him in on a stretcher!"



Mello raised his hand for silence, addressing the Flight Lieutenant instead. "You tell me. What\'s going on?" Behind them, the door burst open and more soldiers entered, including the Squadron Leader. Orders were barked out by the hierarchy, but Mello was impatient with it. He stepped around the Squadron Leader, standing right in front of the airmen whom he\'d discerned had been at the house. "Just tell me."



"Mello." Hal sighed. "Let them do their job."



Mello roared out, "And let me do mine! Is someone going to tell me what\'s going?"



The order was given to speak and the story tumbled out. Most of the talking was done by a man identified as Airman David Moffat, who stood to attention throughout. "Airman Marsden and I were patrolling the property, when we sighted an individual running down the mountainside towards us. Caucasian male, about 1.8 metres in height and roughly 168 pounds. Black, shoulder-length hair and a calf-length, black coat. Dark blue trousers and military issue boots."



"He matched the description given to us of the boy." Airman Ethan Marsden, beside him, interjected.



"And what happened?" Mello demanded.



Airman Moffat swallowed. "He started coming towards us with Mr Roberts running behind him." His brow creased. "He was nearly there and Airman Marsden called out for him to halt, when..."



"Gunfire." Mr Roberts croaked. "There was gunfire."



Mello\'s eyes opened. "You opened fire on him!"



"No!" Both soldiers said together.



"Neither of us did." Airman Moffat added. "But he reacted like we had. He flew up into the air and backwards, like the shots had come from us."



Mello took a step closer and there was a certain tension in the military all around him. He glared at each of the airmen in turn and, though they remained upright, staring rigidly forward, their fear was apparent in their eyes. These were men who had seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan, but they were inwardly shrinking from Mello. His voice dripped ice, "You had better tell me who did shoot him then."



"No-one." Airman Moffat rasped. "There wasn\'t a mark on him."



Mr Roberts touched Mello\'s arm, which solicited a look of such venom that the caretaker instantly removed it. "It was his heart, see? It stopped! These gentlemen gave him the kiss of life, until an electric thing could be brought up."



"A defibulator." Airman Moffat\'s voice seemed a little stronger. "We resusicated the casualty."



Hal finally remembered to breathe. "His heart stopped and you brought him back. Thank you." She reached forward and touched Mello\'s arm. He glanced at her and she pulled him back. "Where is he?"



"Bronglais General Hospital, ma\'am."



Hal nodded. "I need to be there." She was ignoring the look that Mello was giving her, instead meeting his gaze, "Mello, you\'re in charge. I\'ll be at the hospital and I\'ll call when I know something. For what it\'s worth, my advice is that, after you\'ve interviewed these people, you get some rest yourself. Ok?"



Deontic was forming the words. "Shot, but without bullets or wounds."



Hal glanced at her, but directed her attention back on Mello. "Solve your case." She hurried away to grab her things and to organise a lift into Aberystwyth.



"Hal?" Mello called after her.



She stopped and turned. "What?"



"Get them to check his heart for calcium ions. Call me back."



She nodded. "Will do."