Back to where it all started...

And so MI6s Enhanced Team disappeared, and their influence on World War II was locked away in official secrets. I didn’t hear from any of the team again. That was until February 1948, six years after that fateful train journey. My commanding officer at the SDECE called me into his office, and with a look of disgust handed me my new orders. I stared at the piece of paper, shocked at what it said;

Report to Major Sawdon.

Hanslope Park.

With immediate effect.

Those were the last lines of ‘Memories of a Mockingbird’ written by the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Michelle Wein. And now Mimi Dubois is back in 'Memoirs of a Mockingbird' taking us from the devastation of World War II into the shadowy world of the 'enhanced' involvement during the Cold War.

London, February 1948

How did I end up here again? How is it that I am standing on the platform of Euston Station waiting to catch the last train to Bletchley so that I can make my way back to where it all started? Back to Hanslope Park. Just as last time I was here, it is raining in London. I light another cigarette and contemplate my life since I left England six years before.

My name is Mimi Dubois, and I was part of a group of exceptional individuals that killed Hitler and helped to win the war, but only a handful of people know that. After that world changing event the team slowly drifted apart, Sven rejoined the Norwegian army and continued to support their efforts in the war, Madeline was picked for more and more solo missions and eventually we didn’t see her again, Frank and I had a whirlwind love affair that eventually ended when I joined the Forces Françaises Libres and he joined the British Forces as part of Operation Overlord. 

The war continued in the Pacific, that is until the Americans flattened Yokohama, Hiroshima, Kokura, and Nagasaki with their infernal nuclear weapons. With the war over I joined the newly restructured Service de Documentation Extérieure et de Contre-Espionnage and drifted into a back office role using my, and others, skills to disentangle the spiralling internal bureaucratic disputes. And then on the morning of Monday 23rd February 1948 my commanding officer handed me my new orders and what had turned into a dull grind of a life was just about to get exciting once more.

Hanslope Park, Buckinghamshire, England, February 1948

Having disembarked at Bletchly station, and convinced a very nice Captain based there to drive me to Hanslope Park, I finally got into the room allocated to me just before midnight. The following morning I headed down for breakfast and to my utter delight saw a friendly face sat at what used to be 'our' table in the officer's mess. Madeline Forsyth was sat thoughtfully looking out of the window, she was dressed in her military uniform and I spotted that it was now sporting a Major's insignia. I stepped up to the table and snapped off a crisp salute before sitting down and and catching up on lost time.

She had arrived early the day before me and in true Madeline style had already begun work. She quickly filled me in on what she knew. There had been an explosion in the secure enhanced development building destroying the equipment and injuring several of the scientific and military personnel, it also appeared that some of the equipment from the enhanced facility had been stolen and that the explosion had been set to cover the perpetrators tracks. That night, Madeline had donned her specialist operations clothes and had slipped out of her room and in shadow form had investigated the scene of the crime. She had been able to ascertain that it had not been a demolitions device, but that the equipment itself had been rigged to overload and explode. She had also discovered that several individuals that had been caught in the explosion had been adversely effected and were being housed in a temporary medical centre on site near the location of the incident.

Sven arrived in the early afternoon have travelled from Oslo via Edinburgh and then onto a nearby RAF base. He barely had time to drop of his bags, and for me to notice that he too had been promoted in the intervening years, before we were all called to a briefing with Major Sawdon. The Major informed the three of us that he was in charge of military intelligence at the base and that we would all be reporting directly to him, I looked across at Sven and the Oberstløitnant insignia on his uniforms lapels and realised that technically Sven outranked Sawdon but possibly not in the British military.

Sawdon informed us that there had been a serious incursion on the base less than a week prior to our arrival, and that their investigation had turned up precious few clues and that it was hoped that our, at this point the Major paused as if searching his mind for the right words, he eventually settled on the phrase unique skill set, would help in discovering what had happened and who was behind it. Madeline locked eyes with Sawdon and asked what he believed had happened.

Major Sawdon looks uncomfortable for a moment and then his professional mask falls into place and he says;

We received an official communicae informing us of a spot audit. The auditor arrived, accompanied by two military police officers and proceeded to carry out their audit of the enhanced testing facility. We now believe that these individuals were imposters and that they used the cover of the audit to sabotage the equipment and cause the resulting explosion to cover the theft of specialised equipment. The equipment that was destroyed was an integral part of the enhancement refining process. Those that were caught in the explosion have been...

Again, Major Sawdon paused as if searching for the right words;

affected. Perhaps it would be best if I showed you.

The Major led us from the manor house towards the temporary medical facility that had been set up near the incident. Inside, Sawdon held back one of the sterile curtains separating the various cubicles and we could see within a young man under armed guard and clearly heavily sedated, the Major nodded in the patients direction and said;

One of the guards caught in the blast, has displayed a constant extreme rage and immense strength.

We followed our new commanding officer to the next cubicle, this one contained something that did not even look human but more closely resembled a cube of flesh, but the Major assured us that it was indeed alive. We passed more cubicles, two containing individuals caught in the blast but as yet not displaying any enhanced abilities, one that looked like a human being had been turned inside out, and a bed that’s bedsheets clearly showed they were coving something but there was no one visible to see. Major Sawdon paused and pointed at the outline of the person in the bed;

That was, sorry, is Doctor Jakobi!

Sawdon then motioned to the cubicles on the opposite side of the corridor, he pulled back the surgical curtain on the first of them and within I could see that there were two beds occupied by unconscious identical twins, which I thought was odd, but that wasn’t the half of it. The major moved to the next cubicle and drew back the curtain and within were another two unconscious men, both of them identical to the first two. Sawdon continued to uncover another three cubicles until we had a total of ten identical men. As decuplets would be highly improbable I guessed that this must be another casualty of the enhanced explosion. 

Back in Major Sawdon's office we are informed that our mission is two fold. Sawdon admits that they lack the expertise to train the newly enhanced individuals and that he would like our assistance, he also reaffirms that he requires assistance in discovering who was behind the sabotage and theft in the enhanced laboratory. Madeline nods and responds;

We will need to interview the investigating officers as well as see all of the evidence that has been gathered to date.

The Major agrees and then I try and push him to see how desperate they are for our assistance, I request our own hut in the most secluded part of the base as well as a variety of equipment and Major Sawdon agrees to it all and allocates a Lieutenant Cranshaw to act as our aide. And so while Madeline and Sven head back to the medical facility to review the newly enhanced, Cranshaw and I head for Hut 20 to set up an incident room for the investigation and get all of the dorm rooms ready for us to move in.

An hour later Madeline and Sven join me in Hut 20, I had sent Cranshaw to retrieve all of our belongings from the manor house as well as pick up some of the equipment that I had listed, and they filled me in on what had happened at the medical facility. Only one, or is it ten, of the enhanced had regained consciousness. Corporals Baldrick had all come round within minutes of each other and when Madeline and Sven entered one of the cubicles the two Baldricks in there sat up in bed and saluted, unknown to everyone but the medical staff monitoring the other eight Baldricks, the other Baldricks did the same and saluted empty rooms. Madeline returned the salute;

At ease soldier. What's your name?

Ten voices echoed in the medical rooms;

Alfie Baldrick sir!

Madeline had questioned Corporal Baldrick, all of them, and had discovered that he had been passing the enhanced laboratory just after lunchtime on Saturday 21st February when he was caught in an explosion, there was a bright blue flash and then he woke up in several hospital beds. Madeline informed the newly enhanced soldier that he had been imbued with unusual abilities, and that he appeared to have been copied. As all of the Baldricks were answering her questions, she asked if the copies could hear each other's thoughts and the corporal confirmed that they could. With that they left and Sven told the medical staff to inform Hut 20 once Corporals Baldrick were medically cleared for active duty.

The three of us agreed that we believed that the crime quite probably had inside help, and therefore no one was above suspicion, including Major Sawdon and those in charge of the project. I checked one of the lists that Lieutenant Cranshaw had given me and read out the names of the lead scientists at the camp;

Professor Vincent

Doctor Tutte

Doctor Jakobi

Sven raised an eyebrow at the last name, it was the same Doctor Jakobi that we had seen, or rather not seen, in the medical facility. Checking further I discovered that the invisible doctor was the lead Enhanced Biologist for the facility, I guess that's why they no longer had enough experience of dealing with enhanced abilities. First of all we agree to take a stroll around the grounds so that I can push out with my senses and see if there are any hidden enhanced on the base, and after ten minutes we have found that there are twenty five enhanced beings within the perimeter of Hanslope Park. The majority of them were within the medical facility, but I was surprised to count eight of them not within the facility, and two of them were within the lodge at the entrance to the base.

I told the others and Sven stepped behind the cover of a tree and transformed into a thrush and flapped into the sky in the direction of the lodge. As he landed on the roof of the building a police car was pulling up, one of the gate guards comes out to meet the policeman and Sven overhears the police officer say that they had discovered an abandoned military car dumped not far away. The soldier asks the policeman to wait and steps back inside the lodge, the thrush Sven hops down onto the window sill and looks inside where he can see the soldier talking to another guard, and sat next to the second guard is a large mastiff, which Sven pays particular attention to.

The first guard leaves the lodge and climbs into the police car and it drives away, Sven makes the decision to follow. It doesn't drive far and stops in a grove of trees, and deep within the grove Sven can see a partially covered military car. Sven flies swiftly back to Hanslope Park to inform us of the discovery. While he was away I had pushed out with my senses to discover the strongest enhanced abilities of those within the lodge, I found that one of them was imbued with animal empathy and the other enhanced strength. A thrush landed beside us and then seconds later Sven was letting us know what he had discovered.

Madeline quickly headed off to commandeer a troop truck while I headed to the medical facility to see if Corporals Baldrick were ready for active duty, as I was sure that we would need the man power to search the area. As luck would have it, the Corporals were just putting on a mish-mash of uniforms and as the truck pulled up outside and Madeline dismissed the trooper driving it, I was able to get them bundled into the back of the vehicle unseen. I hopped into the driver's seat with Madeline and Sven next to me and we set off to investigate the abandoned car.

As I am racing to the copse of trees, and throwing the truck about a bit, we hear a commotion from the back of the truck. I pull over and we rush to the back to see what is up with Corporals Baldrick. We are greeted by a disturbing sight. The Corporals are squished together, their flesh melding, so that they look like fewer men with far more limbs than should be possible. As we look on several of the Baldrick's are absorbed into the others so that we are left with just two. Madeline asks how they feel and while they looked a little shocked they seem ok. Madeline asks if the Baldrick's can imagine the others that have been absorbed. The Baldrick's nod;

I can remember them, and I remember their memories.

Madeline tells Alfie to concentrate on those memories and see if he can bring them back. Both Baldrick's close their eyes and concentrate hard, and then one of them splits into five Corporals. As we stared on a pair of military jeeps passed us heading towards the grove. Madeline leapt into the back of the truck and I followed the jeeps. By the time I pull in there are a number of senior officers stood around pointing. We grab one of the Baldricks and head over to them. Madeline convinces Major Sawdon to let us examine the scene first and when he agrees she quickly orders all of the Baldricks out of the truck to sweep the woods, by this time there are seven of them.

While the Baldricks are sweeping outwards from the abandoned car Sven drops to one knee and starts to observe the ground looking for signs of tracks. After a few minutes of silence he looks up and says;

There were three vehicles, the military car and another car as well as a light truck. Three people, wearing army boots, got out of the military car and met six others here. They then left in the car and light truck heading north towards Tathall End. I would be able to tell you more but there has been too much footfall.

Madeline and I searched the car, it didn't take long as it was instantly clear that it had been professionally scrubbed of any evidence. The Corporals return with several cigarette ends, but very little other evidence. Madeline approaches Major Sawdon and asks him about the other enhanced on the base outside of the medical facility. The Major is momentarily shocked, but quickly recovers his composure and confirms that there are four enhanced guards accompanied by four enhanced dogs. We climb back aboard the troop truck and head back to Hanslope Park, by the time that we arrive Corporal Baldrick is a singular individual.

We were met by the bases Deputy Director, Commander Denniston, he told Madeline that they had been able to confirm that the military car had been stolen from Bletchley Park two weeks previously and that the records confirm that it was definitely the car that the auditor and two military police arrived in. Madeline thanks Commander Denniston for the information and then we all head back to Hut 20, taking Corporal Baldrick with us. Madeline suggests that Baldrick bunks in Hut 20 with the rest of us, and he takes it as an order and moves right in. I complete multiple requisition forms for eight Lee-Enfield rifles and two Sten submachine guns for all of the Baldricks, as well as one for a rifle for Sven and a Browning HP pistol for myself. As I handed the forms to Lieutenant Cranshaw for processing he said;

The medical facility have just sent a runner Ma'am. Doctor Jakobi has regained consciousness!