The Chosen One

29

Undisclosed location, Thursday March 23, 18.00 GMT

‘Are we on a secure line?’

‘Yes, sir. Maximum encryption.’

‘Good.’ He leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, bracing himself for the start. The technology was state of the art, but he still resisted this form of communication. Call him old-fashioned, but he preferred to look a man in the eye. Or several men, in this case.

The technical people had reassured him that there was no chance this call could be monitored by any intelligence agency, domestic or foreign, or indeed by any non-state actor. He knew, rationally, that he should accept that. But he envied his predecessors. They had operated at a time when all this would have been done in person. They would have sat opposite each other, face to face. Not in a windowless room, deep underground, staring only at a bank of monitors. Bad enough if it was just one person he needed to speak to. But a conference call?

Still, there was no alternative. The discussion was urgent and this was the way it would be done.

‘Gentlemen, we’ve all been following recent events.’

There was a murmur of agreement.

‘I know there is some concern about – how shall I put it? – the law of unintended consequences.’

A voice chipped in, on the line from Germany. ‘I worry that the cure might be worse than the disease.’

He cut him off, eager to maintain his authority. ‘I understand these misgivings. But I would urge colleagues not to underestimate the man we have chosen.’

‘I agree.’ Another voice, this time from New York. ‘He is not to be underestimated. But my colleague in Germany is right. Removing Victor Forbes has created at least as many problems as it has solved.’

Once again he felt the need to re-establish command. Had his predecessor ever been challenged like this? Perhaps he should have asked him during the transition. ‘Gentlemen, as I said before, I understand the anxiety. My strong view is that we removed a problem that posed an absolute and immediate threat. If it had been allowed to stand, our entire project would have been jeopardized. We acted swiftly and efficiently.

‘Now, admittedly, that move has left us with other challenges. But none of these, on its own, endangers us. They are manageable.’

‘What about Goldstein?’ Germany again.

‘As the chair of this group, I acted on live intelligence. The risk that he could have rendered our project void was too great.’

‘All right,’ said the voice from New York. He wondered if these two, Germany and Manhattan, were operating in some kind of tag team. Had they liaised with each other before the conference call? Should he be worried?

‘I’m happy to accept the decisions that have been taken. But it’s time to secure our asset, as it were,’ New York continued. ‘Otherwise, we risk defeating the whole object.’

‘Understood,’ he said, eager to seize on that declaration of support, however tepid. ‘That will be the next phase of our work.’

There was a murmur of agreement.

‘One last thing, gentlemen. It seems as if there is someone looking more closely at the Forbes case than we might have hoped. A woman. I wanted everyone to be clear that we are aware of her – and that we will ensure she causes us no trouble.’

‘Make sure we do.’ A first intervention from London.

‘You have my word,’ the chairman said. ‘She will be removed from the picture if necessary.’