‘That fits in with a couple of the targets we’ve identified,’ said Kate. ‘Your information is most timely and thank you for all the trouble you’ve taken.’
‘No problem; we Europeans have a duty to protect one another,’ came the reply. ‘Look after yourself.’
‘I’ll try to,’ replied Kate, ending the call.
Kate raised her voice for all to hear. ‘Our worst fears have been confirmed. There are four Chechen mercenaries on the terrorists’ payroll.’ She picked up the phone again and dialled Neil Gunton, Jeremy’s boss. Normally she would have waited for Jeremy to liaise with his boss, but time was critical. She got through on the third ring.
‘Neil Gunton speaking,’ said a gravelly voice.
‘Good afternoon, Kate Adams here.’ She cut to the chase. ‘The names Jeremy sent you earlier from Immigration – how are you getting on?’
‘So far we haven’t managed to get much on them. Our analysts suggest that three, possibly four, of them are Chechen. However, we do have chapter and verse on Kaleem Shah. We trained him at Sandhurst. He’s been working in Lebanon and the Middle East as a journalist with a number of the international networks.’
‘At this end we’ve had a bit of luck,’ Kate replied. ‘I’m emailing you the information we’ve just received from David’s friend at the Estonian Security Service. Unfortunately, four are Chechens and are as bad as they could possibly get. And we’re advised that in addition to the Kornet missiles, they have four South African 60 mm Vector mortars.’
‘Oh, hell!’ came the reply.
‘We’re making good progress at this end identifying likely targets,’ said Kate. ‘And we may be able to eliminate a couple of targets.’
‘What do you mean by eliminating?’
‘Well, if the fifth Kornet missile launcher is on the terrorists’ fast getaway vessel… Then there will be eight and not ten UK targets to find,’ said Kate.
‘What makes you think a missile launcher is destined for their getaway boat?’ asked Neil.
‘The terrorists have had a large cool box installed, and it is the right size to house the boxes containing the missile launcher and its missiles… We think we know the location of five of the targets, so we reckon we’re probably only missing three.’
Kate paused, then went on, ‘An alternative view could be that the fifth Kornet launcher is with the Arab, Kaleem Shah, and that he also has two targets. If so we are five targets short… We have a briefing meeting with the commissioner at 6 p.m. You would be welcome to attend.’
‘Thank you,’ said Neil. ‘Jeremy is keeping me well posted. You’ve pulled more out of the woodwork in the past twenty-four hours than we’ve been able to over the past two months! I’ve got a meeting with my boss too,’ there was an ominous pause. ‘Oh my God! I see what you mean. I’ve just decrypted your email attachments. These Chechens are mean buggers. I’ll speak to the boss immediately and ask that he puts the whole section on standby.’
‘Sir,’ said Kate in a diplomatic tone, ‘the work that you and John’s team have been doing points to the terrorists having many people in high places. I understand your list is still growing and includes a special adviser to Number 10, several Members of Parliament and a number of other very well-connected individuals. Should we be worrying about whether any of these people are moles or sleepers?’
‘Yes, we should.’
‘Well, sir,’ said Kate, hesitating briefly, ‘Our concern is that if the terrorists were to find out through one of these people that we are on to them, they will move to a plan “B” and change their targets, leaving us totally in the dark. With the Kornet missile launchers they can have a shot at practically any target they like…’
‘You’re right, Kate, it’s a very tricky situation. The potential damage that one of these missile launchers can do in the hands of a professional is unthinkable. Your reading of the position is very similar to ours,’ said Neil. ‘MI5 agree that it would be better to go after the terrorists at known targets rather than let them slip away and blow the ruddy daylights out of a series of other targets when the whim takes them.’
‘Thank you, sir,’ said Kate.
‘What’s your latest thinking regarding when the attacks will come?’ asked Neil.
‘Tomorrow between dawn and the London Stock Market’s opening at 8 o’clock. They’ll want as much news exposure as possible to undermine the financial markets, so that they can maximise the huge profits on their derivatives positions. Has Jeremy chatted to you about this?’
‘Yes, thank you,’ answered Neil. ‘I have to dash, we’ll talk again soon.’
Rafi looked across at Kate. He sensed that she felt pleased with her team’s progress, but was shocked by the horrendous possibilities that were opening up in front of her. He looked across at the clock; it was 5.18 p.m. There was less than an hour to go before the evening meeting with the commissioner and the chief superintendent. They were still missing the extra pieces of property information and he was pinning his hopes on Manchester police unearthing something. However, he was worried that they wouldn’t have enough time.
Rafi felt out of sorts and irritable. Something he couldn’t put his finger on was missing. He stood up and walked around the office. His tired head ached and he was finding it increasingly difficult to concentrate on anything for more than a few minutes at a time. Bloody hell, he needed to get his act together. It was only late afternoon, but it felt like midnight. He walked over and poured himself a cup of black coffee. Back at his desk, he sipped the hot coffee, studied the valuation report again and picked up the last three sets of accounts for PREH, the terrorists’ property investment company.
He turned to the most recent balance sheet and looked at the property assets figure. Oh shit! Why the hell hadn’t he noticed this earlier? The figure in the accounts was greater than the total set out in the Dewoodson valuation report. Bloody hell! There was?7.4 million unaccounted for! His mind was like a car without synchromesh. He struggled to think of a reason why it might be different. Of course! Development properties could be held in the accounts at cost – and they wouldn’t necessarily be included in the valuation report. Rafi stopped and thought. So somewhere there had to be details of the missing developments -probably a letter from the valuer which simply stated that the developments had a value greater than their book cost. ?7.4 million wasn’t large, but it could conceal one or more key properties. ‘Oh yes!’ he exclaimed.
Kate looked across at him.
‘That devious little bugger Wesson is still hampering our investigations.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Kate.
‘We’re missing a letter which sets out PREH’s development properties. See if Rick can get Wesson to talk and get him to do a search for the word development on all their computers.’
John called across the room. ‘Want an update from MI5?’ It was a rhetorical question. ‘It seems that the journalist Kaleem Shah is running a group of suicide bombers. The good news is that they have traced and have under surveillance five of the suspected suicide bombers who received their training in Africa. These are the ones identified by Jeremy at the travel agency he visited.’
‘I just hope that they find the rest of the possible suicide bombers – and soon,’ added Kate. Her phone rang; it was Beverley, the commissioner’s personal assistant. ‘Oh dear, yes of course,’ replied Kate. She turned to Emma. ‘Could you and Aidan tidy up the papers strewn around the commissioner’s conference room, please? He’s back and would like to use it!’
Rafi sat there thinking. What else might he have missed? He dozed off.
At 5.55 p.m. Kate lightly shook him but he remained out for the count. She paused wondering which bit was safest to shake a little harder. She softly tapped his leg.
Rafi woke suddenly. ‘Ooouch!’ he exclaimed.
‘Don’t tell me you’ve got a bruise there as well!’ said Kate. ‘Sorry, but I’m running out of options as to what’s not damaged.’
‘No
problem! Was I asleep long?’ Rafi sat up to find everyone was looking at him. ‘Sleep has been a bit scarce…’
‘Time to see the boss,’ said Kate.
This was going to be make or break, thought Rafi, as he followed the team up the back stairs to the commissioner’s conference room. He was worried, key pieces of the terrorists’ plans were still missing. He arrived in the boardroom still wrapped up in his own world, but was brought back to reality by a gentle touch on his shoulder.
‘Are you OK?’ enquired Kate.
Rafi sensed that a bond had started to form between them. He turned and looked straight into her warm eyes, not two feet away. He hadn’t really had the opportunity to look at her face close up – it was her eyes that captivated him.
‘A… apologies,’ Rafi stuttered, ‘I was miles away – again. It’s just that the terrorists have been very careful to cover their tracks and plan to attack in several places at once. I keep worrying that I’ve missed something and it turns out to be costly.’
Close up, Kate’s smile and her twinkling eyes had a disarming effect. Rafi wasn’t accustomed to such closeness; he moved back a pace to give himself a bit of breathing space and stepped straight into the path of the commissioner, who had entered the room at some speed, aware no doubt that he and David were running two minutes late.
‘Sorry sir.’ Rafi noticed that he’d scuffed the commissioner’s gleaming shoes.
‘No harm done,’ came the reply, ‘Let’s get started!’
Rafi turned and looked at Kate whose smile was bordering on a chuckle. She looked at him, and whispered, ‘Whoops!’
Kate and Rafi sat opposite each other. The commissioner looked around the boardroom table. ‘How are you progressing? As we agreed at our last meeting, this is crunch time. We will have to inform our political masters sooner rather than later. Kate, please update us.’
Kate looked at the faces around the table. They looked haggard. She just hoped she could do herself justice and convey the gravity of the position to the commissioner. The chips were down and she didn’t like what she was going to report.
‘Sir, let me summarise the position. Many things have happened since our recent phone conversation. We firmly believe that the missile attacks will come in the first couple of hours of daylight tomorrow morning. Through David’s Estonian contact, Colonel Matlik, we have confirmation that the terrorists have five Kornet anti-tank missile launchers and three or four missiles per launcher. As you know, these missiles are lethal pieces of equipment. In addition, we now find that they also have four South African 60 mm Vektor mortars and eighty high-explosive shells.’
Kate paused. ‘We’ve narrowed down the potential targets and I’ll come back to them in a minute.’ The commissioner nodded.
‘Following helpful discussions with the Immigration Office, we have identified two fast track and legitimate ways of getting UK visas, which the terrorists have used to get five people into the UK. Colonel Matlik and his contacts in Moscow have identified four as being former Chechen militia. We have been advised to treat Messrs Miromov, Dudayev, Popovskaya and Kowshaya with extreme caution. We are told that their training and experience is such that they’ll give the SAS a run for their money. The fifth person, a journalist called Kaleem Shah, is ex-Sandhurst and has experience of war zones in the Middle East and urban warfare.’
Kate paused again. ‘We believe that each Chechen mercenary has a Kornet missile launcher, a Vektor mortar and two targets. Jeremy has been chatting to a senior contact in the SAS, who advises that they are likely to be operating as individuals. As far as the fifth missile launcher is concerned, we think it is for their high speed getaway vessel, Golden Sundancer. She is in the North Atlantic, heading, we believe, for a rendezvous point off the north Scottish coast tomorrow evening.’
The commissioner sat bolt upright, unmoving.
‘Nine trained suicide bombers have been identified. Kaleem Shah is running them. Jeremy’s colleagues at MI5 have traced five of them, but unfortunately Mr Shah and four of the suicide bombers are unaccounted for.’
Kate looked at her notes. ‘Moving on to the ringleaders -Jameel Furud, Basel Talal, Maryam Vynckt and Sheikh Akram Tufayl – MI5 has them under constant but discrete surveillance. There is a fifth possible ringleader: Miti Lakhani, who MI5 believes runs their suicide bombers’ training base in Africa. Unfortunately he has vanished. Maryam and the sheikh are behaving normally. Jameel is enjoying his golf at a luxury hotel in Marrakech and Basel is on board their getaway vessel Golden Sundancer, off Iceland. Three of the terrorists’ deep sea trawlers are in port at Peterhead, Great Yarmouth and Troon and are ready to put to sea. This gives them three exit points.’
She looked across at her two bosses. ‘Our current informed guesses are that terrorist number one will attack Hartlepool Nuclear Power Station, plus one further target currently unknown.’ There was an audible drawing in of breath as the word nuclear was uttered. ‘They have a vacant industrial property which overlooks the power station,’ she explained.
‘The second will attack the St Fergus gas terminal and storage tanks and the North Sea oil pumping station at Cruden Bay. Both are close to Peterhead, where the terrorists own two vacant industrial properties. Number three will attack Heysham nuclear power station on the Lancashire coast, where they own a property with a clear line of sight. We think that he will also attack either Sellafield nuclear reprocessing centre or Hunterston “B” nuclear power station.’
The room was silent.
‘And terrorist number four will attack the Bacton gas terminal. They own an industrial building in North Walsham, a few miles away. His second target is still unknown. This could be Sizewell nuclear power station, or the Grays liquid petroleum gas storage depot on the banks of the Thames near to the Dartford crossing. But our instincts tell us the missing target will be in London. We had the marshalling yards at Willesden at the top of our list, but MI5 report that there are currently no nuclear containers there, so we are still looking. We have outstanding leads on some development properties that the terrorists own and hope they will fill in some of the gaps.’
Kate paused and took a sip of water. ‘Missile launcher number five, we believe, is on board Golden Sundancer. Its targets are unknown, but at this point our view is that it is for defensive purposes only.’
Kate shifted in her seat. ‘Time is not on our side. The facts, as we and MI5 read them, point to the attacks coming early tomorrow morning, shortly after dawn. In the meantime MI5 has its operatives and anti-terrorist officers en route to these locations. They will remain very low profile.’
The frown on the commissioner’s face deepened.
‘Now for the terrorists’ overall game plan, as we see it.’ Kate halted briefly, not so much for effect, but rather to collect her thoughts. ‘Rafi and Aidan have been looking at the wider picture. This is where things get truly scary. We have reason to believe that the terrorists are trying to engineer the collapse of our already weakened financial system and UK plc. This, we believe, is their primary objective. By so doing, they expect to reap huge profits in the derivatives market.’
Kate paused again and looked across at the commissioner and the chief superintendent. They were looking shocked and sitting bolt upright, like schoolmasters during the saying of grace. Her face was unsmiling. ‘We have confirmation that the terrorists control two public quoted companies and ten private companies. These businesses employ over 250,000 people. Through these companies they have in their pockets a number of influential individuals who MI5 advise us are being paid exorbitant fees as consultants or non-executive board members. Included within the 300 or so people are: Members of Parliament, special advisers to the Government and people in strategic senior positions. It is MI5’s opinion that a number of these people could be the terrorists’ eyes and ears, and could therefore be invisible sleepers.
Kate looked at John, then Aidan ‘The terrorists have set up their public sector outsourcing businesses and six other fin
ancial institutions to go bust following their attacks. And Aidan says that the terrorists stand to make at least?50 billion if all goes to plan, which will add to the financial chaos.’
Kate glanced down the table at the stony faces of the two chiefs. ‘Now for the better news,’ she said, with the beginnings of a smile on her tired face. ‘Unbelievably, we… Actually, I should say Rafi – have come up with a plan which the Government could use to calm and protect the financial markets. Unfortunately, his and Aidan’s cynical view is that our political masters will instinctively move into spin, damage limitation and procrastination mode. This is what the terrorists are expecting. If the politicians procrastinate, all too quickly the downward momentum will become too great for even the Bank of England to stop. However, if – and it’s a massive if – the Government can keep the markets steady, we can beat them at their own game. If interest rates and gilt prices can be held stable, the terrorists’ derivative positions will become untenable and they and their co-conspirators will rapidly face huge losses. The scale of such losses would set terrorism back several years and even bankrupt many of their financial backers.’
‘Rafi’s plan is for the Government to put into place a war chest which will enable them to issue shares in Government Real Estate Investment Trusts, instead of tapping the gilts market. These can be used to meet the potentially large increase in their liabilities. It’s ingenious, in that they can draw down what they need, when it’s needed. Aidan reckons that this war chest could have?400 billion in it. This would be more than enough to placate the markets under all but the very worst outcomes of the terrorist missile attacks.’
Kate paused. Now for the difficult bit, she thought. ‘What we need is complete secrecy. MI5’s and our worry is that the terrorists’ well-placed sleepers include contacts in both COBRA and the Mayor of London’s disaster unit. MI5 are still working on the list of names that John has given them. Our concern, and a big one at that, is that if the terrorists were to be tipped off and consequently changed to a plan “B”, we would be completely in the dark as to how to stop them. I appreciate the chances are small, but the hazards are enormous.’
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