Tammy: Flying High Part 4: Vernon Farm Shiraz Turvey & Alecia Snowfall

 
This story follows on from Tammy: Rank Stupidity and Snowfall's Butterflies, Asphalt & Insanity

Part 4: Vernon Farm

Sunday was quiet, with the girls spending time catching up with domestic chores and the large pile of laundry.

Tammy managed a little downtime to read the Smart Air AGM paperwork, not seeing anything that really concerned her. Maisie had kept that weekend free of bookings but spent time talking to her regular clients to confirm the next few weeks.

On Monday morning the two girls went into town on their bikes. Tammy went to the office whilst Maisie took herself to the Clinic for her appointment with Dr Adi.

Joey commented on Tammy’s mood.

“What’s up?”

“Maisie is with the Doc right now, we think she’s pregnant.”

“That’s wonderful, but why aren’t you there instead of sulking here?”

“Maisie wanted to do this on her own. I can understand it and I respect Maisie’s decision, but I would like to have been there?”

“I guess it’s because you can’t answer for her?”

“Yes, Joey, but I can hold her hand.”

“From what she’s told me she’s had to make almost every big decision on her own and it’s entirely likely that you won’t be around for all of the appointments? ”

“It’s best if I look up all the pregnancy information so I know what’s going on?”

“Yeah, although we did it at school but I guess you didn’t?”

“My school didn’t offer anything like that!”

“Okay, Tammy, is the pregnancy public yet?”

“No, we still need to tell our families so grateful if they don’t hear it another way.”

“Sure, but thanks for the heads-up. What about the wedding?”

“I’ll let you know.”

She phoned Joan.

“We’re back in town, when would be a good time to see you? I’m offering dinner with us.”

“Okay Tammy, we’re in meetings tonight and I’m told you are in a meeting tomorrow – how about Wednesday?”

“Sure, six?”

“That sounds okay, I’ll check with your father.”

“Thanks, mum.”

Maisie called a minute later, the girls met on their bikes overlooking the harbour.

“Dr Adi had me do a test and confirmed it. I’m in the system and a midwife will be in touch sometime. I’ve also been given loads of leaflets and information, there was so much I wish you could have been there?”

“I’ll be there next time?”

“Please. I need to tell Dad, what about your parents?”

“Why don’t we see your Dad on Wednesday morning, I’ve asked mine to have dinner with us the same day?”

“Without asking me?” Maisie giggled.

“So sorry!”

“And I bet you’ll want me to cook?”

“Why not?”

“Hey, I’m pregnant! I need to take it easy!”

“So I guess you have cancelled your classes?”

“Hey, why would I do that?”

“Because you’re pregnant?”

“Dr Adi said I could continue to work so long as I don’t over-exert myself, I should be good until Christmas if I stay fit.”

“So cooking isn’t going to be too much to worry about?”

“Hmmm. I’m off to see Mary at that farmhouse this afternoon, it really would be a great place for a gym?”

“I’m not sure we can justify the expense?”

“Hey, it’s just a thought, why don’t you come down with me?”

“What would I do?”

“Train with us, you could do with a session?”

“Let’s get home for lunch whilst I think about it.”

Maisie insisted on a sprint back home and a very light lunch.

They both showered and changed into fresh gym gear before riding Maisie’s van to meet Mary. Tammy hadn’t been this way before, as Maisie took them down to a long narrow access road, until it suddenly opened to a well kept area.

Maisie parked in a designated carpark behind an unused barn, obscured by trees from the road. It was quite sheltered there, despite the strong breeze that day.

Tammy’s phone rang with a secure call, Heather’s name came up.

“Tammy, are you free to talk?”

“Sorry, just about to have a look at a site and probably be forced into a bout of exercise!”

“Oh, where?”

“An old farm outside Thurso? Where exactly are we, Maisie?”

Tammy held her phone up for Maisie’s response. “Vernon Farm.”

“Did you catch that, Heather?”

“Yes, you must call me later.”

“Will do.”

They walked out of the carpark and across the road to a stereotypical farmhouse; it was clear that Maisie knew the way.

Beyond the farmhouse was a smaller two storey building and a long wall, plus a heavy steel gate. CCTV cameras were discrete and plentiful.

Maisie had been here before so pressed the door buzzer and waited. It wasn’t long before the door was open, a middle aged woman stepped aside so they could enter.

“Welcome back to Vernon Farm, Maisie. I’m Mary Fischer and you must be Tammy?”

“I am.”

They were in a lobby so now moved further into the building to an open area that contained a set of exercise mats. Windows looked over a typical farmyard enclosure.

“Mary, Maisie hasn’t said too much about you other than you want to move back to England and start up as an athletics coach?”

“Yes, that’s the plan. We’ve told the Agency that I want to move back to England and I gave them three months notice, that was two months ago, but they don’t seem to be talking to me right now?”

“Which agency?”

“The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority officially, but I’m not convinced they were the ones running the show here? I definitely got a whiff of spooks!”

“Oh. I have a few Government contacts in London so I’ll see if you can get confirmation that they know you’re leaving?”

“Thanks.”

“You said ‘we’, do you have a partner?”

“My sister is also here most of the time but has a second job at Dounraey itself. She’s at work now and will probably stay in town after I move South. The agency will probably arrange accommodation for her.”

Maisie had stripped down to her exercise kit so Tammy did likewise.

“If the day was warmer we could have done this on the lawn outside.”

Maisie took Mary and Tammy through their warm-up routines and then exited, crossed the road back to the carpark and started running rings around it. Maisie’s van was the only vehicle parked there. Maisie’s routine had them slowing to a jog then sprinting and repeating.

On the slower sections of their loop Tammy was looking at the high wall that ran along much of the carpark southern edge. Mary clearly noticed as she spoke whilst they were running on the spot on a warm down.

“Interested in what you can see?”

“I can’t see very much, and I suspect that was the whole point. Just trying to work out what the Decommissioning Authority did here?”

“Not much operationally, but I’ll show you when the torture finishes.”

They moved back inside and took positions on the exercise mats before Maisie launched into a fierce routine involving stretching, lifting and holding.

“Damn, Maisie, are you this hard on every victim?”

“No, Tammy, but Mary has progressed to the intense training that most of the others couldn’t cope with. That’s why we’re here rather than in a group session somewhere.”

It was another full fifteen minutes before they could fully warm down from the exertion.

“Thanks, Maisie, another good session.”

“No problem, Mary. Same time next week?”

“Sure. Tammy, I’m amazed you kept going?”

“Two months ago I was taking part in a triathlon before breakfast most days. My fitness has waned a little since then as we’ve been away on business.”

“Even so, you’re an estate agent?”

“And a student.”

“Well, I’m impressed; did you want to see what we have here?”

“Yes, please.”

Mary first tried to explain some history as they walked out of the farmhouse, crossing to the other building Tammy had seen on arrival.

“This ceased to be a working farm in the nineties when the farmland was sold partly to an adjacent landowner and partly to the quarrying company who extract gravel to the South East.”

“Why wasn’t this demolished and re-used, if it wasn’t needed?”

“At first it was used to store farm and construction vehicles but there was a leak of hydraulic fluid that affected one of the barns plus a larger secondary area. The site had to be cleared of anything that was free of contamination, the key matter was to stop the contamination spreading onto the farmland or the farm vehicles.”

“I see, so it’s safe now?”

“Yes. The local environmental protection officer insisted the contamination had to be cleared up, but that wasn’t fully covered by the insurance so the minimum was done and everything here, apart from the farmhouse and this reception building, was put out of action with a security fence.”

They passed through the reception building and exited the far side, now clearly inside the secure area.

Tammy made mental notes as Mary continued.

“There’s no access onto the farmland. When the Dounraey decommissioning project had arrived in Thurso they were looking for a site that was big enough, and secure enough for their requirements. Those requirements included administration plus monitoring equipment, and sufficiently away from Dounraey itself. They found this site and bought it for a fraction of the real value, but had to promise to complete the decontamination. ”

“I see.”

“My husband and I took on the place as site managers once the building work had been completed.”

“Husband?”

“Oh, I’ve been divorced for over five years as he liked to play away and indulge in narcotics. He’s doing time for supplying substances and assault. To be honest I don’t know what I saw in him?”

“Okay, but I can’t see any modern buildings?”

Mary led the girls the short distance to a large barn with a mezzanine floor high above the concreted floor. A small car was parked in the under-croft.

“This barn was where the contamination started so the floor had to be completely dug up. In the end the whole structure was demolished. I never saw the work in progress but I’m told they had to dig down many metres to be certain of clearing the soil and stones. They finished building it in the same external style as the original barns. Follow me.”

They crossed Mary’s car charging point and entered a stairwell. Mary led them up to a landing where there were loos and a lift, Tammy couldn’t recall seeing a lift at ground level, but had seen some wooden doors that had been marked with Health & Safety warnings. She mentioned this.

“Oh, there’s also an external weatherproof door across the front of the lift lobby at that level. It’s kept locked most of the time and the lift is switched off. I haven’t found the switch for that yet!”

There was a small commercial kitchen plus rest rooms at this level before they walked out onto a mezzanine deck that looked out over the courtyard. There were a few tables here but it was otherwise bare with no clue to previous uses.

“This was a cafeteria whilst they were here, I ate here a few times when they asked me here for breakfast meetings. I’ve thought about doing something up here but really not sure. It’s too big for just me and my sister. There’s an emergency exit into the admin building plus a set of stairs to ground level over the far side.” She pointed across the floor.

“The view’s pretty impressive.”

“It’s triple glazed against the weather and the noise of the quarrying to the South of here. I’m told it’s bullet-proof as well in case of flying stones.”

Tammy was formulating ideas and noted that the pitched roof of the barn to the East was up to the same height as the top of the glass picture window, whilst the Southern barn was a flat roof. Those provided some cover from the winds in those directions whilst the barns were also adorned with solar panels.

What seemed odd to Tammy was that the number of panels seemed to be a considerable excess compared to the site’s apparent electrical needs.

A high wall covered the Northern approach over a garden. The courtyard certainly looked to be secure against any marauding locals.

“Isn’t triple glazing a little overkill given you’re already protected?”

“They brought a chopper in here from time to time.”

“Oh, in the courtyard?”

“Yes, but there’s a larger landing area on the far side of that barn.” She pointed across the courtyard. “The sites would need clearing of muck and debris at a minimum before they could be used again.”

They returned to the landing and Mary took them up another level.

“Up here it much smaller than the rest of the building. This is where the senior managers worked when they bothered to be here! There’s three offices, with small windows so the lights are always on up here, I haven’t found out where to turn them off!”

The three of them walked back to ground level then across the courtyard to the far barn. There were several large shutter doors, which were closed, plus two smaller doors along the length of the frontage.

Mary asked Maisie and Tammy to wait whilst she opened an unlocked door in the corner of the courtyard, a moment later it seems she had reached the control to raise the large doors; that was when the girls noticed that a small tractor was parked there. It appeared to have a towing bracket. Tammy pointed at it.

“Oh, that? It was left here as I think the warranty had expired and there was no-one qualified to maintain it. It seems silly but they abandoned it rather than have it serviced.”

Mary moved to the back of the barn and operated the shutter doors there. This started to open up onto land outside the secure area.

A much larger area was now visible, this was almost entirely concreted. There was clearly space for a larger helicopter to land. Over to the far right side was a partly sunken fuel tank and a large security gate.

“The tank is for diesel, there’s a little in there still but my car is a petrol electric hybrid. As you probably saw, there’s a charging point in that first barn and also in the carpark. Apart from me, I don’t know what else would have used them.

“That gate to the right leads out onto the A9 to the South of Thurso, there’s a filler for the diesel tank just outside the gate.”

Maisie finally offered a comment. “It’s a larger site than I thought?”

“The size of the plot can’t be judged easily except from the air, I’m told. The area here used to rise, but was levelled, note how the fields are much higher?” She pointed to the West.

“So how far is the boundary?” Tammy was having trouble judging distances.

“Almost a mile away at the furthest, ending at a concreted gully. That’s to catch any future contamination. The gully surrounds the site and helps with security as it’s two meters deep! To the South, North and West there’s a three meter wall outside the gulley that can act as a windbreak.”

“If the windbreak is a mile away, would that make any difference here?”

Mary pointed. “To the North that wall is much closer so that really works well, add the trees to that and it’s quite effective. For the West we have mobile windbreaks that can be dragged into position if needed, although I think I only saw them out once, they are parked near the fuel tank. We really don’t do much out here except check for weather damage from time to time.”

Maisie was looking back through the raised shutter doorways and towards the new barn.

“Tammy, that mezzanine floor would be great as a gym? And maybe put a proper track in the courtyard?”

Mary looked confused. “Are you thinking of buying this?”

Tammy answered. “Maisie won’t want to keep running around the streets or parks and by Christmas she’ll find that very difficult, so we were looking for a static site.”

“Pregnant?”

“Yes.”

“Congratulations, but of course I’m not the one you would need to talk to if you wanted to buy it!”

“We’ll make some enquiries, Mary, but I’m not sure if it’s inside our price range?”

“You seemed interested by the helicopters?”

“I’m a qualified pilot, both rotary and fixed wing, whilst my family owns Smart Air over at Wick Airport.”

“I see.”

“Was there an tank to refuel the helicopters?”

“No, I don’t remember one but I do recall them bringing a small tanker in from time to time to refuel the helicopters if they couldn’t get to Wick. I was told that the fire and safety regs are quite tough if you want to do on site refuelling all the time!”

They walked back to the courtyard, with Mary lowering the shutters as they went.

Tammy spotted some doors that may have led to offices plus a set of loos. Once out in the courtyard again, Tammy could see the garden over to her right, plus a large greenhouse and a gate.

“I take it there’s road access into here?”

“Yes, the road you used extends to that gate next to the greenhouse, via a security gate next to the carpark. The other access is the one by the fuel tank. We tend to use the smaller gate by the farmhouse to get my little car in and out, but we’re supposed to go through the two gates for extra security.”

“How are you doing with the garden?”

“It’s really sheltered because of the barns and the Northern wall so the garden gets plenty of sunshine when the sun’s out. The pitched roof of the Southern barn was dropped so more of the sun gets into the garden. I can grow most herbs, salad and root vegetables here. That’s probably what I’ll miss most when I head back to England.”

Tammy’s thoughts now turned to how she might finance her purchase of the site. She kept these ideas to herself.

“Thank you Mary, this has been really interesting.”

“I glad you did, most of my visitors really aren’t that much interested!”

The girls made their way back home and showered again, as they didn’t need to go anywhere they adopted onesies for the rest of the day.

They had agreed to tell their parents about the pregnancy on Wednesday so Maisie went to phone her father to arrange a visit, whilst Tammy went to her office before sending a text to Lizzie to make certain she was going to be around for an inspection.

The pile of mail was still sat there so Tammy opened a few official ones finding one from Colonel MacTaggart confirming their duties and Tammy’s rank had been restored. Her Captaincy was now substantive and a suggestion of suitable training was noted on an attached compliment slip.

Tammy had taken a few photos at the farm without being obvious and now transferred them to her official laptop before emailing a report to Colonel MacTaggart, in which she explained their site visit and Tammy’s concerns. She added thanks for his letter.

It wasn’t long before her activities were noticed in the Caribbean. Her secure phone rang, she recognised the voice immediately.

“Yes Carl, I guess you want the same info?”

“Of course we do. But this time you include everything that wasn’t in the first report.”

“Sure.”

“We have all your photos already, but your phone needs charging.”

“Okay, okay. Did everyone get home in one piece?”

“Those who were heading back here, are back, yes.”

“And the helicopter that was obtained?”

“There was this dude ….”

“Okay Carl, speak later.”

She started editing the report and submitted it half an hour later.

As an after thought she called Heather in Redruth.

“Hi Tammy, thanks for getting back to me. I was going to call you.”

“Okay?”

“There’s two things now: firstly Burgess, nobody is entirely certain where we are legally, so how many of the staff could end up in court over this?”

“Sorry Heather but I can’t help you. As I said to someone else a few days ago, if he has to walk then he has to walk. My guess is that he would avoid a court case that could bring unwanted information into a public arena.”

“That’s an opinion that others share, but it’s not a ‘get out of jail free card’ that works in the real world. Some reassurance would be useful.”

“Have you seen the initial medical reports, Heather?”

“Yes, the sanitised version. I’ve been the acting head of unit for the last week and will be until next weekend so I get a wider inbox than normal. There’s no doubt he has a serious mental health condition but legally the medical staff don’t know if they can treat him.”

“I see. I wonder if a High Court Habeas Corpus application can be used as a way to establish his presence at Abigail Adams House? On medical and security grounds, of course.”

“Given that those applications are normally used for the reverse purpose, that could be rather unique in law – but worthy of research with Treasury Solicitors. Thanks Tammy.”

“That would give his legal team the right to challenge it, but once he was established in the UK he could be arrested?”

“Correct, opening a can of worms in the process!”

“Okay, Heather, what was the other thing?”

“The site visit you did earlier?”

“We’re only just back from that. What’s your involvement?”

“Sorry Tammy, but Dave Brown asked me to liaise and it seems he knows much more than he told me, but had a few questions for me. I think that’s where you and I come in, what can you tell me? I need to know if we’re on the same page.”

“Okay, the site is a former farmhouse and barns plus a courtyard and a large yard. There’s no farmland or farm activities on the site now.”

“Okay.”

“The Dounraey decommissioning team are the current owners but have left the site, leaving a manager in the farmhouse. She’s quitting and moving South.”

“Okay, Tammy.”

“The manager suspects there was a security service involvement at the site, and that’s why I was going to call you. My guess is that Five had access to the site or had reports from the site, but I can’t work out why?”

“Right, we are talking about the same place. To answer your question, it was mostly the latter. There was a suspicion that a terrorist group would try to seize radioactive materials during the power station decommission. That was enough to bring Public Health Scotland’s Radiation Protection Department into the site, and they notified us. It’s quite possible that they all turned up in black suits with shades, trying to look officially spooky?”

“Ah, so Five gets the blame despite not being there!”

“Exactly. You know there’s a basement?”

“In the farmhouse? Almost all buildings of that age would have a cellar?”

“No, under the new barn and the courtyard, there’s a sunken control centre. They could remotely monitor the whole Dounraey site from down there.”

“Hold on, Heather, I walked over that this morning? The site manager said nothing?”

“She might not know it exists, probably didn’t need to know.”

“Ah, she did say that she could find where the power switch for the lift was?”

“That’ll be in the basement. It has a heavy concrete roof so would be protected against everything except a direct attack. There’s air filtration and isolation doors.”

“Woah. I’m guessing that the plans submitted to Caithness council didn’t include that?”

“As it’s still designated farmland, the planning law is different. Put a government tag on it and the basement doesn’t exist.”

“Thanks Heather, now I need to know who really owns the site?”

“Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy.”

“Hmmm, a mouthful! I wonder how much they want for it?”

“Tammy. unless someone there is cleared to Top Secret, it’s a farmhouse, three barns and pretty much nothing else. I’m told it can’t be returned to farming usage because of contamination so it counts as ‘brown field land’. Not forgetting that it’s pretty isolated, given how little there is in that corner of Scotland.”

“Ah, so there won’t be much demand for the site?”

“I wouldn’t have though so.”

“Thanks Heather, could you send me anything that I’m cleared for?”

“Sure, Tammy. How’s Maisie?”

“Pregnant with our first.”

“Congratulations, I guess you saved enough of your genetic material to get this far?”

“Indeed, via the IVF route and an excellent professor with foresight. That reminds me, we should call the IVF team at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and let them know the news!”

“Good idea, you’ll need them for round two!”

“If, and only if, it’s viable!”

The call ended and Tammy was having mixed thoughts about Project Spinnaker. It was impractical for Maisie to have her fitness classes overlooking a pseudo civilian helicopter base and Tammy wasn’t keen on bringing strangers into her living room in the way that Mary had.

Following Heather’s conversation she wondered if there was also a bargain to be had? There was definitely a clear need to transfer the premises to private hands, protecting their home even if the project folded.

Tammy tried to work out a pricing and failed. The sticking point was the mezzanine floor, what uses did it have? The lack of disabled access was one potential block to the sale, given that the lift was out of action. Tammy guessed that a site visit by an OTIS lift engineer might be an expensive one … so that floor wouldn’t be able to be used by the public under Equality legislation.

Tammy parked these thoughts and wandered down to the kitchen, finding Maisie making a curry.

“We haven’t had one of these for a while and I had the time to start this whilst you were busy up there. How many did you speak to?”

“The Colonel by email, Carl and Heather. Two written reports and one verbal report. Oh, you need to phone the IVF unit and let them know!”

“I did that this morning, Dr Adi reminded me.”

“Great, I’m new to all of this.”

“So am I, Tammy, so am I.”