section7mfu | The ABC Affair: Stonehenge. Chapter 4 Letter D (Reply)

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3

The Prompts: druids, ditch

There was some discussion about the BBC crew’s presence as that would make keeping what the agents were investigating under wraps nearly impossible.

Napoleon, ever the strategist, came up with a plan, and it would require his partner’s skills at sabotage

Illya’s reaction was to simply flash one of his crooked half-smiles.

Solo approached the man in charge of the television crew pretending to be a member of the American press.

“Hi there, Eddie King from the New York Times. I wonder if you can fill me in on what’s going on here. I might be able to get you a few lines in the paper back in the U.S.”

“The New York Times you say? That would be marvelous!” The man held out his hand, introducing himself as Nigel Davies.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance Mister Davies. My curiosity got the better of me as I couldn’t help but notice all the equipment you have here. I heard mention that you’re doing a documentary on Stonehenge?”

“Why yes sir we are. May I ask what brings an American reporter here?”

“Funny thing is I just came here for a visit as I’m on vacation. I’ll be leaving here for Vietnam in a few days. I'm sure you're aware that in March two battalions of Marines became the first American combat troops deployed there. Thousands more combat forces are being sent. I’m afraid the Vietnam conflict is now becoming an American war…”

“You Yanks can’t keep your bloody noses out of other country’s business.”

“Hey, I’m not for a war in Vietnam...but that’s a discussion for another time. Please Mister Davies, tell me about your Stonehenge?”

“Oh well yes, it’s quite an amazing place isn’t it?”

“Well I suppose, if you find a bunch of big rocks interesting...granted I know they date back at least five-thousand years, but they’re still just stones.”

“One could think that, especially when you’re from a country that has been around less than two hundred years. Then again you have some rather large rocks in the Grand Canyon...though that’s Mother Nature’s doing. Here in England we have an human history that goes back thousands of years; we have more than 1,300 lesser-known stone circles in the UK, and there are numerous fascinating prehistoric sites to explore. For example, Callanish Standing Stones, found on the Isle of Lewis in the Outer Hebrides in Scotland... the pattern in which the stones are set is believed to be for astronomical observation purposes. The Callanish Stones actually predate Stonehenge and even the Giza Pyramids! Still, Stonehenge is the most architecturally sophisticated and only surviving lintelled stone circle in the world.”

“You don’t say,” Napoleon took a quick look at his wristwatch and wondered what was taking his partner so long to do his thing.

Davies continued his chatter, "The earliest stage of the monument is one of the largest cremation cemeteries known in Neolithic Britain.The stones were dressed using sophisticated techniques and erected using precisely interlocking joints, unseen at any other prehistoric monument. Not to mention the site has been tied into the rituals practiced by the ancient druids.”

“Druids?”

‘The Druids, my dear chap, were the priests of the Celtic tribes in Britain. They were also political advisors, teachers, healers, and arbitrators among the tribes.They were a sort of glue holding together Celtic culture. We know however, that the Druids used both animal and human sacrifice”

“Fascinating. Human sacrifice you say? So could this site be some sort of sacrificial site or a tomb?”

Their discussion was interrupted by a sudden electrical surge, apparently emanating from the on site generator.

Solo and Davies watched as sparks flew, traveling along the wires that ran to lights erected on tripods. One by one the bulbs exploded with a loud pop, followed by several cameras that suddenly began to burn..

A pungent odor filled the air along with spirals of black smoke that rose and were carried in a sudden breeze.

“Good Lord!” The crew chief shouted.

Napoleon stood by, hiding his smile behind his hand.“Good job, tovarisch,” he whispered to himself.

As Davies ran off, Napoleon backed away, heading to the perimeter of the henge. It was there he found his partner laying in a ditch, of all places.

“What are you doing? And nice job shorting out all the equipment by the way. The lights exploding were pretty spectacular, along with the sparks traveling along all the cables…”

Illya reached up with his hand, looking for some help out of the ditch.

“A little assistance if you do not mind?”

“Oh, sorry,” Napoleon grabbed Kuryakin’s outstretched hand and yanked him up.

“I had nothing to do with what happened my friend,”Illya bruished the dirt from his trousers. “I fell into this on my way to…”

“You didn’t do it?”

“I think I just alluded to that, Napoleon.”