Chapter 128
President Connolly was sitting behind the huge timber Resolute desk in the Oval Office when Matt and Natasha entered.
"Come on in folks, please shut the door."
Matt and Natasha walked in and took two of the four seats on their side of the desk. As soon as they sat, another door on the opposite side of the office opened and two other people walked in.
Oleg Karpov sat next to his daughter and Bill Simpson sat down next to Matt.
"I am glad you could all make it here today" said President Connolly "I wanted to thank you for the fantastic work you did in finding Pashwari and averting a tragedy, not to mention saving my own life."
"Natasha and Matt please stand."
When they were on their feet, the President took some things from his desk drawer and walked around to the other side of the desk.
"It gives me great pleasure to bestow on you both a small token of thanks on behalf of the American people."
"Natasha Orlov, I hereby award you the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for services to the United States. This is the highest civilian award I can present." The President passed over a small box and shook hands with Natasha.
"Thank you Mister President, I am most honored to accept this."
Then President Connolly walked over to Matt.
"Matthew Peterson, I award you the highest award possible within the CIA. The Distinguished Intelligence Cross is awarded for acts of extraordinary heroism involving the acceptance of existing dangers with conspicuous fortitude and exemplary courage."
The President extended his hand and they shook firmly as the President passed over the small box containing the award.
"Bill and Oleg, I wanted also to thank you for your confidence in these two fine young officers. With young people such as these in the world, I am confident that our generation will leave our destiny in safe hands for the future."
It was clear that the meeting was over when the President stood and extended his hand to all.
As they walked down the corridor leaving the Oval Office, Matt offered "Natasha, I am buying, where would you like to go to celebrate?"
When they were clear of recording devices, Natasha pulled Matt close, put his arms around his neck and whispered into his ear "I have a better idea. How about we go back to your place?"
Acknowledgements
Firstly I want to thank my friend Brian (sorry I can’t mention his second name here!) who gave me the idea for this story. He was on-board a U.S. warship in the Gulf of Arabia when it shot down a light aircraft.
I must also thank my mom and dad (posthumously) for giving me an interest in firearms from an early age. They also introduced me to gambling, and we had a lot of fun together in casinos!
Tom Cullen was my first martial arts instructor and has been an inspiration to me from our first meeting over thirty five years ago. He taught me nothing worthwhile is ever easy.
Nabil, thanks for the kidnapping idea. It happened to him in real life, but in Beirut not Riyadh.
I borrowed the names of some friends, hope you like seeing your namesake in print!
Jenny, my partner, is a police officer and has been a help with police procedures and someone I can generally chew-over my plot with. Natasha’s chest burns from the hot bullet casing really did happen to Jenny at the firing range.
Debbie Brown was a willing editor of my draft manuscript, and helping me tidy up some of my writing.
Lastly, I want to thank Qantas Airlines. As well as being a wonderful airline, (in fact I have flown on most and I rate them Number 1), the Qantas Clubs around the world are great places to sit, grab a drink, plug in a laptop and work on a book! Most of this book was written in them.
Thanks to all, any errors are my own.
Of course this is a work of fiction, and I have taken liberties to make the plot flow.
However, the Bali bombings, the jailing of Schapelle Corby and the London bombings are real life events, although I had to modify these slightly to fit into my story.
I hope you enjoy my first book! I am working on a sequel right now.
About The Author
Rob Carnell was educated at Trinity Grammar School in Sydney, Australia. He later attended the University of New South Wales and University of Technology Sydney where he studied Engineering and Business Management. He works as a senior manager in the IT industry.
He has been a member of the Australian Benchrest Shooting Team, and is a former World Championship silver medalist. He holds black belts in both traditional karate as well as kung-fu and was a former full-time martial arts instructor. For a time he worked in security and worked back stage security for bands like AC/DC and Police.
He holds a private pilot license, and is a keen sailor. Rob has 4 children and lives in Sydney Australia with his partner Jenny who is a police officer.
www.robcarnell.com.au
rob@robcarnell.com.au