‘ So the Prime Minister blinked,’ said Ahmad Razzaq, as he stood admiring the view from the window of Zorn’s study, entirely unaware of Carver’s presence less than five hundred metres from where he stood.
‘Sounds like it,’ his boss agreed, barely looking up from his bank of trading screens. ‘He’s ordered some kind of instant anti-terrorism conference. Orwell heard about it this afternoon. They’ve asked him to go along. Downing Street wants the US Ambassador to attend, too. And the EU Energy Minister is in town to give some speech tonight. I heard the Prime Minister called her personally to get her to come along.’
Razzaq turned his head towards Zorn. ‘Maybe Orwell should go. He can tell us what they talk about… and also where this event is taking place. I cannot get a location out of anyone.’
‘Me neither.’ Zorn nodded. ‘But Nicholas Orwell…’ Zorn pursed his lips as he thought for a moment. ‘Yeah, you could be right. He was going to do breakfast with Karakul Sholak, the Kazakh-’
‘Who is himself a terrorist.’
‘Yeah, he’s a rich one, and that’s all that concerns me. Ah, what the hell, his money’s in the bag. I’ll tell him Orwell’s been called away on top-secret government business, and promise he’ll hear all about it at the launch party. That should keep him happy, right?’
‘Absolutely… now he will be able to stay in bed all the longer with his whores.’
Zorn gave an indifferent shrug of the shoulders. ‘Again, that doesn’t concern me. OK… so I’ll call Orwell, tell him to say yes to the invitation. He’s not going to object, not with the number of TV cameras they’re going to have pointing in his direction.’
Razzaq frowned. ‘I cannot understand it. Orwell was Labour. The Prime Minister is Conservative. Why give publicity to an enemy?’
‘Because he wants to show the world that this is not a party-political issue. So he invites an opponent. But he picks Orwell, who can no longer hurt him politically. Plus, the more Orwell is seen as a world statesman, the smaller he makes the current Labour leader seem. No, it’s a smart move.’
‘And while they have their meeting, we will be showing the world what eco-terrorism really looks like.’
Zorn got up and walked towards the window. ‘They all set down there?’
‘Yes… but there is still time to call this off. Many people are going to die. Are you sure you wish to go ahead?’
The two men were standing side by side now, looking out at the vivid green lawn, across which the shadow cast by an ancient cedar of Lebanon was spreading.
‘What, you think I don’t have the stones for this?’ Zorn asked, with a genuine note of surprise in his voice.
‘It is not easy to have that many deaths on one’s conscience,’ Razzaq answered.
A lazy smile spread across Malachi Zorn’s face. ‘What makes you think I have a conscience?’ he said.