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 financial 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.’
The commissioner almost interrupted, but held his silence.
Kate continued. ‘Our advice is that the London Stock Exchange and Euronext.liffe must, at the last moment, not open tomorrow.’ She paused, ‘Also, we believe that it’s too large a risk to take to expect our political masters to fully and quickly comprehend the scale of what they’re up against. Spin, procrastination and aggrandisement are so ingrained amongst some ministers that we seriously wonder whether they’ll move quickly enough. Accordingly, as of now, Rafi would like to bring together a team of four or five senior City gurus, who will be tasked with drawing up an economic plan for the consideration of our political masters, so that they will be able to make decisions based on facts and not on short-term political expediency. Realistically, by this time tomorrow evening Rafi and Aidan will be ready to drop and won’t be in a fit state to pitch a financial recovery plan to the Bank of England or the Treasury. Who knows, the City gurus might even come up with a better plan!’ At this point Kate shot Rafi and Aidan a cheeky smile.
‘Agreed,’ said the commissioner, letting Kate carry on.
‘Our next proposal is that the SAS and anti-terrorist squads should be brought in to neutralise the terrorists and to search all the properties we have identified as their bases. The individual terrorists must be stopped from causing destruction, but if feasible they should be allowed to escape to the trawlers. We can then follow them and hopefully pull in all those in charge of the terrorist operation.’
‘Lastly, we could do with another Nimrod – AWACS. We have one monitoring Golden Sundancer. It would be useful to have a second keeping an eye on the trawler in Great Yarmouth.�
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The commissioner looked carefully at the team around him. ‘Thank you, Kate. What you’re asking David and me to approve, in terms of our careers, is suicide – if you’re wrong! I only have one question for you: have you corroborated the facts as if we were taking these bastards to court?’ There were nods all around.
‘We’ve sought supporting evidence to confirm each link in the chain,’ said Kate. ‘The final proof will be if the terrorists are where we say they are. If they’re not, we don’t have a clue where else to look.’
‘So your suggestion is that the SAS and anti-terrorist squads are put in place to prevent the terrorist attacks?’
Kate nodded.
‘I have a fundamental problem with this suggestion,’ explained the commissioner. ‘We’re duty-bound to treat this threat with the seriousness it deserves, but with the recognition that if we mess this up, it’ll be ranked amongst the biggest police cock-ups on record. The SAS will require full military support at each of the locations, plus field hospital and medical support, in case any of the missiles reaches its target. We don’t have the powers to run this scale of operation alone.’ Giles turned to David. ‘Who do we need to persuade?’
‘I reckon we need the say-so of four people: the Home Secretary, the Secretary of State for Defence, the head of MI5 and the chief of staff of the armed services. The Home Secretary is out of the country until tomorrow attending an inter-government conference in Germany. We’ll need to get his stand-in. From a practical point of view they’d need to be based here, as this is where all the information is. I agree with MI5: it would be too risky to use COBRA, given the likelihood of there being embedded sleepers.’
The commissioner turned to the chief superintendent and said, ‘Are you willing to gamble your career and pension on this?’
‘Sir, as I see it, I’ve no choice. If we don’t follow this covert route and MI5 are proved to be right, and the terrorists do have moles within COBRA, it would be a total disaster. They would be alerted and could change their targets.’
‘Right, it’s agreed - you and I will take full responsibility for this if we’ve got it wrong.’
‘Agreed, sir,’ said David gravely. ‘I have one other issue, but it can be discussed at a later time… I’m uncertain if it would be wise to let any terrorists leave the UK mainland.’
‘Perhaps one could view it as letting them move to a location where it would be safe to capture them, and where the chances of collateral damage would be low,’ suggested Kate.
The commissioner tipped his head to one side, taking on board her comment. ‘Thank you - your observations and the hard work of your team are noted. However, before our political masters arrive for a briefing, I have two strong requests. First, get confirmation that there are only four missile launchers on the mainland. Second, find the whereabouts of the unknown properties.’
‘David, will you please phone the Home Secretary’s office and see which minister is covering for him and get their phone number? Also, get the number for the Secretary of State for Defence. I met with the head of MI5 a couple of days ago concerning Rafi, and I promised to keep him in the loop. I’ll call him and invite him. I’ll also speak to the chief of staff of the armed services who, as luck or good planning would have it, is due to have dinner with me tonight at my West End club. I’ll arrange for them to be here for a council of war at 8 p.m. I’ll then invite the two ministers. Kate and the rest of you, please find me the missing pieces of the jigsaw puzzle.’
As Kate’s team was leaving the room, Jeremy turned to John. ‘I think we did rather well there, don’t you?’
‘Yep, I couldn’t have put it better if I’d tried,’ said John.
They shot an approving glance at Kate, who had heard their comments.
‘Thanks guys, I’m so pleased you kept quiet!’
At that moment the phone next to the commissioner rang. It was Jeremy’s boss at MI5. Giles switched the phone to conference mode.
‘Evening all. Just a quick call to update you before your meeting ends,’ said Neil. Kate and her team moved back into the room and stood by the door. ‘We’ve a lead on Kaleem Shah. There are two suicide bombers with him. One of them used a credit card in Tilehurst, on the outskirts of Reading. Our informed guess is that they’re going to attack the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston and/or Burghfield, where nuclear warheads are put together. Both sites hold stocks of plutonium. Kaleem Shah, the cell leader, has many years’ experience of living on battlefields. It is likely that he will want to lie low somewhere near to the targets.’
‘Thank you for the update, Neil. While you’re on… Do you happen to know where your boss is?’ asked the commissioner.
‘He’s sitting next to me as we speak.’
‘Good evening, Giles,’ said the head of MI5.
‘Hello Ewan. Can you attend a briefing and strategy meeting here at 8 p.m.?’
‘My pleasure. See you then.’
The phone line went dead.
‘Right, you’ve got until 8 o’clock to find me the missing targets,’ said the commissioner.
Kate looked at her team, seated around her in the fourth floor office. They looked exhausted. She had to keep their adrenaline flowing. ‘We have less than two hours to find a way to get confirmation that the fifth missile launcher is on board Golden Sundancer, and we have to find the missing properties. Emma please chase up Rick in Manchester. In the meantime, Rafi please decide on who you want on the economics team The commissioner has put his head on the block. Time to tie up some loose ends! We have to deliver!’
Emma phoned Rick Feldon in Manchester. After a brief conversation it transpired that the word search of the computers had revealed nothing relating to the missing development properties.
‘Wesson is being as uncooperative as ever. He has a huge persecution complex. How long have we got?’ asked Rick.
‘Well, put it this way, by dawn tomorrow it could be too late.’
Rick went quiet for a moment. ‘I’m really getting nowhere with Wesson. He’s cantankerous and tired; if I push him any more I reckon he will go into his shell and won’t come out again for a long while. And Stone has clammed up and is refusing to talk to anyone.’
‘Good luck,’ said Kate, and hung up.
Rafi’s thoughts had turned to the economics team when Kate came and sat on the edge of his desk.
‘How do you think the briefing went?’
‘Rather well,’ Rafi replied. ‘You were outstanding.’
‘Thanks. This economics team of yours – I’m looking forward to meeting them, especially if they’re anything like you and Aidan!’ she said with a twinkle in her eye.
Rafi nodded, but his thoughts were already back on the economics team.
Sensing that his mind was elsewhere, Kate returned to her desk.
Rafi started with the easiest choice: the real estate analyst. It would have to be Bob Tieson. Bob worked for one of the big US banks and Rafi spoke to him on a regular basis at work. His knowledge of European and North American REITs, and the real estate investment trust sector was second to none. Yes, Bob was his first choice.
He called across to Jeremy who was sorting out a supper order with Luigi’s. Jeremy sensed that he was needed and gave Luigi carte blanche. ‘Supper for, say, ten… No make that fifteen, please. Something we can eat whilst working. And orange juice, water and some strong coffee, please, delivered in, say, three quarters of an hour? Great, thanks Luigi.’
Jeremy put down the phone and looked across at Rafi. ‘What can I do for you?’
‘I’ve five people that I need brought in to work with Aidan. Kid gloves approach, but no taking no for an answer. OK?’
‘Who did you have in mind?’
‘The first person is Bob Tieson.’ Rafi passed Jeremy the contact details. ‘I’ll let you have the next four names in a couple minutes.’
‘Good,’ replied Jeremy, ‘That’ll give me time to track him down.’
Now for the
financials analyst, Rafi thought. He wondered who Callum would have picked. His first idea was the sector’s star analyst, Steven Moreland, but both Callum and he viewed him as a bit of a prima donna and he was not really a team player. Rafi moved on to the next name: Matthew Wilson - who worked for a large European bank. Yes, he was highly regarded, very bright and would work well with others under pressure. And he’d been around for long enough to understand how painful extended bear markets could be.
Rafi passed Matthew’s details to Jeremy. He now had two excellent people, but neither had any experience of dealing with the Treasury mandarins or the Bank of England. The economist would have to be someone to whom they’d listen. Rafi had a choice of five or six individuals. Then it came to him: why not get someone from the inside? Yes, Alex Lynton – the relatively new senior economist at the Bank of England. Before joining the Bank he’d held down impressive posts in the private sector and in academia. Was Alex a gamble? What if he’d become institutionalised and unwilling to take painful decisions? The more Rafi considered him, the more sure he became of his choice and passed Alex’s details to Jeremy.
For the corporate finance specialist – he needed someone who understood real estate investment vehicles. Rafi thought of a name straight away: Donald Hollingsworth. He was a friend from his from his corporate finance days, where he had been Rafi’s boss. He still ran a very successful corporate finance team. Several years ago he had become a non-executive director of a leading listed property company. Donald knew his way around the corporate finance market blindfolded and had a good working knowledge of the commercial property market. His experience would be a great help and he was undoubtedly very well connected in financial circles.
Jeremy took the fourth name and what Rafi could remember of Donald’s contact details.
LATENT HAZARD: On the Edge Page 17
