The formal part of the recording is strong stuff with a potential to be political and military dynamite. Binnie tells the story about what happened with his family in Iraq, then goes on to make an impassioned justification of the destruction of the American Embassy. He says he is at war with America and its allies and other attacks are in various stages of planning. He warns that his war will continue until the Americans punish the soldiers who murdered his family and stop interfering in the Muslim world. Jackson challenges Binnie’s motives – two wrongs don’t make a right, he asserts – but these are swiftly and angrily swept aside. When Jackson tells him that he cannot hope to survive his war, he replies that he doesn’t care, so long as the destruction of his family has been avenged.
Mack wants to talk to Marina Kerner before the interview is sent back to London. He tells Pete to help Farouk prepare the interview for transmission while he and Jackson talk to her.
******
Marina’s immediate reaction is enthusiastic, but when Mack informs her there are very sensitive matters to be discussed, she insists that Robert Horsfield be called into her office.
“Do you have to?” Mack asks.
“Yes I do. He’s my deputy, for God’s sake, and he must be kept in the loop about delicate policy issues.”
Marina calls out to Robert to join her and she puts the conversation on speaker.
“Well Mack, it sounds to me that Jacko has got another hell of a scoop, so what’s the problem?” she asks.
“There’s an awkward reason why he gets some of these scoops. He went to school with Bin Hassan and they were great mates.”
“Ooooh, I see! How come no-one has discovered this?”
“Back then I was known as Roger, so no-one made a connection with my broadcasting name,” Jackson explains.
“Is there any mention in the interview of you and this chap having been to school together?”
“No, not in the actual interview.”
“Are you still mates?”
“Hell no!” exclaims Jackson.
Mack intervenes. “Jacko has tried more than once to convince Bin Hassan to quit terrorism before it’s too late and in the interview his questions are quite aggressive.”
“How urgent is it that we use this interview?” Marina asks.
“It could be held a day or so, I suppose.”
“Good. Get an encrypted version sent direct to me straight away so that Robert and I can view it before transmission.”
Robert comes on the line. “We have to think this through very carefully, Mack. It will also need to be seen by the Editorial Policy and Legal departments – perhaps even the DG.”
“Okay, but don’t let too many people see it until transmission.”
“Of course not,” assures Robert, “but we must go through certain processes so that our backs are well covered.”
******
Two days pass before a carefully-edited version of the interview goes out as a headline on all major corporation outlets, with an extended version leading Newsnight. There is much emphasis on Jackson’s aggressive questioning to avoid any perception that the corporation is condoning terrorism. The presenter explains that Jackson and Pete were given no warning that they were about to be snatched off the street by armed men and offered an interview with Bin Hassan. No mention is made that Jackson and Bin Hassan were once friends.
The story gains traction around the world and Jackson’s rivals in Armibar are once again irate. Jane Kubinski and Omar Abbas complain bitterly that their bosses are furious that they have been scooped yet again. They want to know why he didn’t, at least, give them a nod and a wink that the interview was about to be broadcast. They want to know how they can contact Bin Hassan for an interview and are disinclined to believe him when he insists that he has no way of making contact.
Another angry person is Thomas Fulham. He accuses Jackson of betrayal by not telling him about the interview. Jackson explains how it came about, but Thomas cannot be pacified. He replies that Bin Hassan must be caught before he carries out any more terrorism and that, like it or not, Jackson should be on standby to help when called upon.
That night, a stressed-out Jackson buys a bottle of whisky on his way home and pours himself a large one immediately he gets in the front door. As the alcohol takes hold, he goes into his bank account and sees that his monthly salary is there. He transfers $1,000 into his Towering Treasures Inc account and begins gambling. Three hours later his losses have mounted and his whisky bottle is half empty. He falls drunkenly into bed, still fully clothed and without setting his alarm.
******
Jackson is woken next morning by his phone. It is Samira wondering why he isn’t at the morning editorial meeting. “Sorry, my alarm didn’t go off,” he mumbles. “The battery must need changing. I’ll just have a bite of breakfast and be in as soon as I can.”
“Skip breakfast, Jacko. Get yourself in here right away. There’s a crisis that needs dealing with urgently.”
Jackson is now wide awake. “What sort of crisis?”
“We’ll explain when you get in. Make sure you’re looking presentable as you’ll have to go on air to defend yourself.”
“Christ! Defend myself against what?” he demands.
“I’m not going to discuss it with you on the phone. Just get your backside in here as soon as possible. Yassin is on his way to pick you up.”
She ends the call. Jackson puts on the kettle to make an instant coffee and takes a couple of paracetamol. He goes to the bathroom to splash cold water on his face and to shave. He has a thumping headache and is full of self-loathing at getting so drunk and losing so much money on the gambling site.
Jackson’s hand shakes as he shaves, but he manages not to nick his face. He gets dressed, gulps down his coffee and goes downstairs. Yassin is waiting for him as he emerges from the apartment block. “What’s going on, Yassin?”
Yassin shrugs. “Big trouble. I told nothing.”
******
On his arrival at the bureau, Jackson finds Mack in his office furiously sucking on a cigarette and in a huddle with Pete and Samira. He hurries in. “What’s this about?” he demands.
“This is what it’s about,” says Mack angrily as he turns his computer screen towards Jackson.
Jackson sees the front page of the London Daily Mail. There is a headline in large type: “BBC man friend of top terrorist”.
“Oh shit!” exclaims Jackson.
“Yes, shit indeed, laddie! And there’s a full page inside on your friendship with Binnie, or whatever you call him. They’ve really gone to town on you. They now know you were at school with Bin Hassan and they’ve been talking to some of the others who were in your class. No doubt the quotes are selective, but most are rather unflattering. They’ve also talked to your former headmaster who is lukewarm about your academic record and very upset that his school is the subject of scandal. Put bluntly, it’s a classic full-frontal Daily Mail assault on its hated BBC.”
“But how can they do that?” I made it clear in my interview that I didn’t accept Binnie’s views, and anyway, how did the Mail know we used to be friends?”
“Well, Jacko, that’s the Number One question: how did they hear about it? They’ve got direct quotes from the private chat you had in the middle of the recording.”
Mack turns to Pete. “Are you absolutely 100% sure you cut that private bit out of the interview recording?”
“Most definitely, boss, and I made a final check before sending it off to Marina Kerner.”
“Shouldn’t we get Farouk in on this?” suggests Samira. “He did the editing?”
“Yes, he should be here,” agrees Mack.
Samira calls Farouk into the room. “Farouk, have you got any idea how someone in London got to see the private part of the Bin Hassan recording?”
Farouk is surprised by the question. “Well, I sent it to Dick Passick.”
Mack explodes. “You fucking what? You sent it to Psycho? Are y
ou fucking mad?”
Farouk can’t see what the problem is. “Why are you shouting at me? He phoned me just as I was about to finish work and said he’d been asked to review Jacko’s interview. He said there seemed to be an edit in it and I told him that there was. He asked me to send him the full uncut interview, which I did. What’s the problem?”
“The fucking problem, my useless friend, is that no-one – absolutely no-one – outside the bureau was meant to see that bit of the interview,” shouts Jackson.
Farouk is growing angry. “I’m not your ‘useless friend’,” he shouts. “I did what I was told by one of the big bosses in London. If no-one was supposed to see it, why didn’t anyone tell me?”
Mack bangs his hand on his forehead. “Didn’t you know no-one outside this bureau was supposed to see it?”
“No, boss. No-one said anything.”
“Oh fuck!” declares Jackson. “Didn’t Pete mention it?”
“No,” says Farouk, still unable to comprehend the gravity of the situation.
“Sorry, but I didn’t think to,” admits Pete. “I just thought everyone knew how sensitive it was.”
Mack lights another cigarette. “What a mega fuck-up!”
******
Mack sends everyone out of his room and calls Marina, who had been on the phone first thing in the morning with some blistering, career-endangering observations on the problems she now faces with the Daily Mail story.
Marina is awaiting his call and has been discussing the crisis with Robert Horsfield and the Head of Press Relations, Tristan O’Mahoney. Mack tells her that he wants Dick Passick to be present.
“Why’s that?” Marina asks.
“I’ll explain when you get him in.”
Marina can be heard calling for Dick to come from his office down the hallway.
While Mack waits for Dick’s arrival, he lights yet another cigarette and taps the desk in frustration.
Marina comes back on the line and reports that Dick has arrived and everyone is listening on the speaker.
Mack goes on the attack. “Before I explain anything, perhaps Dick can tell us all why he called my technician and demanded the uncut interview of Bin Hassan. And why the fuck did he go over my head to do this?”
This is news to Marina. “Did you, Dick? Did you ask for the raw video? And if so, why didn’t you raise this with me first?”
Dick is caught off guard. “Well, um, as you know, I was one of those on the panel asked to review the interview before it was broadcast. Knowing certain things about the Armibar operation from my recent time there, my instincts told me there was something missing from it. It just didn’t flow smoothly.”
“What do you mean ‘knowing certain things’ about my bureau?” Mack bellows.
“Yes,” interjects Marina, “what do you mean, Dick?”
“Oh, there were just things that worried me, but I don’t want to say any more in this forum.”
Mack is rapidly losing control of his temper. “Look, you creepy prick, just let me tell you…”
Marina interjects again. “Stop it! Let’s get back to how this embarrassing business got into the press. I hope that it was nothing to do with you, Dick.”
“Hell, no! Course not, Marina. I’m sorry that I was slightly out of order in asking for the uncut video, but I wasn’t the only person to see it. Farouk put it up on the open circuit, so it could have been seen by any number of people who wanted to make a quid out of selling the story to the Mail.”
Tristan O’Mahoney joins in. “Marina’s right. Our first priority is to decide how to deal with this matter. My press office is inundated with calls from hacks here and abroad wanting to know why a well-known BBC reporter is friends with a terrorist.”
Mack interjects. “Let’s make this very, very clear, Tristan. Jacko is not – repeat not – a friend of a terrorist. He is a brave and honourable journalist who once had a friend who’s turned to terrorism. He strongly opposes what Bin Hassan stands for and made that very clear in the interview. Can we really be responsible for the behaviour of school friends who have turned bad? Of course not!”
“Well, how do you propose we deal with this?” Marina asks.
“The best way is for Jacko to offer himself for interview and explain the situation as it really was, and is. I’m sure that sensible people will quickly appreciate that the Mail is an axe-grinding anti-BBC rag that has misrepresented the true situation. If Jacko handles these interviews well, I’m sure the story will blow over in a few days and it may even add to his status as a source of reliable news about Bin Hassan and Soldiers of Allah.”
“That seems to be the best way forward,” agrees Tristan. “We’ll arrange the interviews with some supportive hacks if you brief Jackson on how to handle them.”
“Well, that’s it,” says Marina, “but I will say to Dick that while I accept that he would not lower himself to leak stories to the press, his behaviour in this affair does not meet with my approval.”
“I understand that, Marina, but I hope that you’ll come to accept that my actions were carried out with the very best of honourable intentions.”
The conference call ends and Mack calls Jackson and the rest of the team into his office to explain the plan of action. They all agree with what has been decided, although Jackson is still not over his hangover. Mack also suggests that the CNN and Al Jazeera crews, along with the local newsagency reporters, be invited around for peace-making drinks and snacks and the offer of some previously unknown titbits about Bin Hassan and his schoolboy friendship with Jackson. Again, they agree.
What follows is an exhausting series of back-to-back live interviews for Jackson with BBC and rival outfits explaining how the Bin Hassan interviews came about and how sad he is that his former school friend has turned against western society. Tristan O’Mahoney is pleased with the way Jackson handles them and reports that early feedback indicates that the Daily Mail attack is being neutralised.
As Jackson takes a break and returns to his desk, Samira tells him that his mother has been on the phone. “I can’t talk to her today,” he replies grumpily.
“You won’t have to,” says Samira, “her call was to me this time. She was very upset about the newspapers stories and insisted that I pass on the message that she thinks you are a disgrace to the family name. She was so embarrassed that she’d had to resign from the bridge club.”
Jackson thinks this is very funny, but Samira warns that his mother had vowed never to have any contact of any sort with him ever again.
“Oh well, every downside has an upside, I suppose,” he says grimly. “The less I hear from that self-centred destructive woman the better.”
******
Mack is chain-smoking again as he makes calls to his mates in London, trying to establish who leaked the story to the Daily Mail. None has any useful information. Then he gets a call from Mary on the Foreign Desk confirming his suspicions about Dick Passick.
“I thought you should know that I overheard Psycho boasting to a couple of others in the pub that he had settled a few scores by letting a journo cousin on the Mail listen to the private bit of the Jacko recording. He was well pleased with himself.”
“Fuck! Thanks, Mary. He’s an unconscionable shit!”
“He is indeed. I’m wondering whether I should tell Marina.”
“I wouldn’t do that. It might backfire on you. Psycho will deny it and Marina won’t want to risk keeping the story going by holding a disciplinary hearing. We’ll just have to let this one go, but at least we know he’s an enemy within.”
CHAPTER 26
A week goes by and although the international anger about the destruction of the American Embassy remains high, Jackson hears nothing more from Thomas Fulham. He is hoping against hope that any plan to capture Binnie will now not include him. To avoid drawing attention to himself, he decides not to do the television feature on the Foaud Rehabilitation Centre for the time being. The postponement gives him a chance to visit
Felicity to explain why, but more importantly to see her again. He arrives at the centre with a large bag of oranges for the patients and apologises to Felicity for not having any spare cash for another donation. She and the patients are grateful for the oranges.
“Sorry that I’m postponing the feature,” he says, “but there’s a lot on at the moment and I don’t want to rock the boat further with Thomas.”
“Are you and Thomas back in contact? He’s not mentioned you recently.”
“I bumped into him at the American Embassy the day before it was blown up, but otherwise we don’t see each other.”
“Well, I don’t see that much of him, either,” Felicity admits, “and when I do, he seems totally pre-occupied – probably by what happened to the Americans. I’m worried that the next attack will be on the British Embassy. He says the Soldiers of Allah are not thought to be targeting the Brits, but I think they’re asking for trouble by providing temporary accommodation for those diplomats who survived the embassy attack.”
“I’m sure he’ll be okay,” assures Jackson without really believing it.
“I get the feeling that he wants to move back to London,” she says, “but the children are happy and doing well in the International School here and I don’t want to abandon the kids at my rehab centre until I’ve had a chance to train my assistants.”
“What makes you think Thomas wants to leave?”
“Nothing concrete, just little things like him being embarrassed when I spotted him browsing real estate websites for family properties in London’s commuter belt. He says he was just checking the housing market out of idle curiosity.”
Felicity’s comments intrigue Jackson, but he chooses not to press the subject. They go into the centre’s kitchen and Felicity makes coffee and raises the controversy over the Daily Mail article. “Is it really true you went to school with this terrorist who blew up the embassy?”
“Yes, it is, but it’s nothing like the Mail presented it. They tried to make out that I was being the mouthpiece for his jihadi campaign. Absolutely not true.”
The Mortal Maze Page 26
