First Response

LAMBETH CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND CENTRE (2.10 p.m.)

Lumley took the call, then relayed the message to Kamran. ‘The van was empty. Abandoned. The phone was in the back.’

‘It would have been too easy for Shahid to still be there,’ said Kamran. ‘Get Forensics all over the van and the phone.’

‘The kids are coming out,’ said Waterman. The MI5 officer was standing at the door, looking at one of the big screens on the wall in the special operations room. The feed was coming from one of the police cameras, a close-up of the main door to the childcare centre. A blonde woman was holding the door open and ushering the children out. They filed out in a long snake, all holding hands, as if they were playing a game.

‘There’s Osman. Can you see him?’ said Kamran. The suicide bomber was standing behind the woman. ‘They’re handcuffed, right?’

‘Looks like it,’ said Murray, coming up behind him.

‘Joe, get a close-up of her and see if we can ID her. How many kids are out so far?’

‘Twelve,’ said Waterman. ‘Thirteen. Fourteen. Fifteen. Sixteen. That’s the lot.’

Police were breaking up the snake and taking the children away in twos. The worried parents were being kept back by officers in fluorescent jackets but at the sight of their children they forced their way through. The police resisted at first but then stood back and let the parents scoop up their kids.

‘Get them away from there!’ shouted Kamran. ‘That’s still a live bomb inside. Get everyone away.’

Lumley relayed Kamran’s instructions over the phone.

‘So who’s still inside?’ asked Kamran.

‘Two teachers, two office staff. Everyone else got out.’

‘So four hostages. That’s an improvement anyway.’ Kamran’s mobile rang. He rushed over to his desk. The caller was withholding his number but he answered. ‘So you have your children, Mo.’ It was Shahid. Kamran waved at Lumley and mimed for the sergeant to trace the call. On the screen the police were ushering the parents and their children away from the building. Armed police were still covering the main entrance.

‘Do you know what Shahid means, Mo?’

‘“Martyr”, I think.’

‘It’s more complicated than that. It’s an Arabic word that means “witness”. But you are correct. In recent times it has become the word that describes someone who dies for their faith. So today I am Shahid and my nine fellow warriors are also Shahids. But whether or not they become martyrs depends on you. You have seen our demands.’

‘We need to talk to you, Shahid. We need to discuss this.’

‘There is to be no discussion. You have the names of the six warriors we want released. They are to be taken to Biggin Hill airport. There is to be a jet there, fuelled and waiting. The warrior brothers will leave the country with the nine Shahids. And then it will be over.’

‘It’s not as simple as that, Shahid.’

‘It is very simple, Mo. It is either-or. Either the warriors are released or the suicide bombers become martyrs. It is now ten past two. You have less than four hours to release the warriors and get them to the airport. The plane must leave at six o’clock this evening.’

‘There isn’t enough time,’ said Kamran.

‘There is all the time you need,’ said Shahid. ‘You call the prime minister. You tell him that, if he does not agree to our terms, the bombers and their hostages will meet their maker in four hours. It will be on his head. Call him now, and I will call you back.’

The line went dead. Kamran looked at Lumley. He could see from the sergeant’s face that he’d had no luck in tracing the call.

‘Nowhere near enough time,’ said Lumley. ‘Sorry.’

‘Looks like he’s serious about using me as the sole point of contact,’ said Kamran. He ran his hands through his hair. ‘Thing is, I’m not trained for negotiation.’

‘You’re doing fine, so far as I can see,’ said Waterman. ‘But I might know someone who can help.’

‘Any assistance gratefully received,’ said Kamran.

‘We have a guy over at Thames House at the moment. He’s running a few training courses for us. Former cop but for the last ten years he’s been working as a private-sector hostage negotiator. He did a lot of work in the Horn of Africa when the Somalian pirates were at their peak. Chris Thatcher. He’s one of the best negotiators around.’

‘Get him here as soon as you can,’ said Kamran. ‘I’m starting to feel out of my depth.’

‘Something else I might be able to help you with,’ said the MI5 officer. ‘Twitter has gone into overdrive on this, as you know. Sergeant Lumley’s got a team combing through social media for intel, but I think it’s fair to say they’re overwhelmed at the moment. Hundreds of ISIS, Al-Qaeda and assorted jihadist accounts are retweeting everything and a big chunk of them are claiming responsibility for what’s happening. On the other side of the fence we have hundreds of anti-Islamic sites pouring out their bile, all with the hashtag ISIS6. We’ve got to the stage where we can’t see the wood for the trees.’

‘So how can you help?’

‘What I’d like to suggest is that we handle all social media through Thames House. We’ve got the manpower and the technology.’

‘Sounds good, and can someone there liaise with Sergeant Lumley? Make sure that I’m kept in the loop?’

‘Absolutely,’ said Waterman. ‘And if it’s all right with you, I think we should go more pro-active.’

‘In what way?’ asked Kamran.

‘We can make direct contact with the hostages who are online,’ she said. ‘We can talk to them directly and ask them for intel and photographs. It would help us immensely.’

‘I wouldn’t want the hostages put at risk,’ said Kamran.

‘To be frank, they’re already at risk,’ said the MI5 officer. ‘And they have been encouraged to use social media. This would be an extension of that.’

‘I worry that if they got caught talking directly to MI5 or the police there might be repercussions.’

‘Not a problem. We’ll use dummy accounts. We have people who are experts at this sort of thing.’

Kamran nodded. ‘Okay, run with it. But at the first sign of trouble, shut it down.’