Traitor

vessel, even a small stealth version, a high-risk option, considering how elabor - ate the rest of the operation was. The planners could not have guaranteed the arrival of such a storm to mask their escape, for instance, even in the North Sea. One has to assume that they had an all-weather escape plan. A small submarine of the type we believe was used could have made it through our cordon, particularly under the prevailing conditions.

‘The question must be asked, then, how the planners could justify such an expensive and elaborate operation. The answer is simple. The value of the tile is many times more than the cost involved in stealing it. I’m afraid its uses as a tool for industrial espionage are incalculable.’

‘This was all about industrial espionage?’ Stratton said.

‘Elements of the Russian government clearly played a part in its theft - the submarine, for example - and I’m sure they didn’t do it for charity. The tile is a new generation of decrypter. Hackers have successfully infiltrated the most sophisticated databases on numerous occasions - MI6 and the CIA have been victims over the years, as have many corporate and financial institutions,’ Sumners explained. ‘The problem they have always run into is the decryption of the stolen data. The tile has so far shown the potential of being able to crack every encryption it has been tested against. It hasn’t been completed but Binning may be able to finalise the design. There are foreign governments and corporations willing to pay anything for it. To put it in perspective, imagine what the Nazis would have paid to get their hands on Ultra, the decryption device that ultimately lost them the war. Relatively speaking, the hijackers acquired the tile for practically nothing.’

‘Excuse me.’ Stratton felt obliged to interrupt once again. ‘Was Deboventurer working with Binning?’

‘We don’t believe so. He took her as a hostage to assist in his escape. We can only assume that he didn’t leave her on the lifeboat because she has some value. That remains unclear for now. The investigation into MI16 is intensive and ongoing. As for the other players involved in the theft, those behind the planning and funding of it, we know some of them. As I said earlier, it looks to have been a joint venture involving private individuals and elements within the Russian government. There is no evidence of direct government or FSB involvement. But state resources were clearly misused by people of influence within those organisations.’

The seated men exchanged glances.

‘You may recall a certain Russian naval vessel called the Inessa,’ Sumners said, glancing at Stratton, well aware of his failed operation on that mission. ‘One of its uses is as a “stable” for long- distance mini-submarines.The operation that Stratton failed in was completed a week later by MI16.’ Sumners showed no sign of revelling in the comment. Stratton knew him well enough to know how much he really was.

‘The Inessa was monitored leaving the North Sea at a time and place that calculations indicate could have enabled a rendezvous with a submersible from the area of the Morpheus not that long after its sinking. It is also interesting to note that while Jackson was holding position in the SBS mini-sub after dropping off Stratton and the others, its Doppler sonar picked up a significant shadow about as large as a medium- sized whale. Close examination of that recording revealed that he had inadvertently registered another submarine. Since we did not put all of this together till well after the incident, nothing was done about the Inessa at the time.’

Sumners picked a glass of water off the table and took a sip, giving the others time to digest the information so far.

‘Working on the principle that the guilty are usually far closer to home than one might expect to find them, a subsequent investigation into the owners of the Morpheus revealed some interesting facts. I won’t go into all the details simply because of the time factor. But in summary, one of the major shareholders of the group that owned the platform has been in financial difficulties for years. During the last twelve months they uncharacteristically began putting money into the venture, spending it mostly, apparently, on costly improvements. That increased its insurance value. The controlling cadre is made up of four significant characters: two Arabs and two Russians.’

The men’s images appeared on the sceens - the four in Abu Dhabi who had given Deacon the go-ahead by satellite phone.

‘The character we’re going to examine is one of the Russians: Dimitry Robalesk. He has a brother in the Russian Ministry of Trade, Vlad Robalesk. Vlad has financial interests in mining along with his brother. Vlad also has a history of industrial espionage. The pattern of relationships between businessmen and government officers grows more nefarious and complex the deeper we dig.

‘Suffice it to say that it all boils down to a collection of significant pointers relevant to our subject. First of all, those who owned the oil platform would not lose any money from its destruction, by natural or terrorist means, due to the insurance cover. Close friends and associates of those who owned the platform would pay a high price for obtaining the tile.

‘Binning was the “operative” who succeeded in recording the Inessa’s data after the failed SBS operation. His disappearance after the Morpheus disaster and the theft of the tile naturally prompted an intense investigation into all his MI16 projects, as well as a closer examination of the one operation he carried out against the Inessa. The timings reveal that he had adequate opportunity to liaise with and board the vessel. We believe this is what actually happened and where he was able to meet representatives of the players personally and finalise the plan, and no doubt his own deal. We believe as part of the arrangement he was allowed to gain certain information about the Inessa and thereby succeed in his operation. The meeting was obviously prearranged. In short, gentlemen, a large portion of this highly complex and, it has to be said, quite brilliant plot was probably engineered by Binning himself. But it also has the hallmarks of government sponsorship written all over it.’

A moment was left for the clearing of throats and the exchanging of glances.

Sumners continued: ‘Can you bring up the map of Russia, please? North of Plesetsky.’

The operations officer tapped several keys on his console and the large monitors came to life.

‘Now,’ Sumners said, clearing his own throat. ‘Where does that leave us and our counter-operation to retrieve our stolen goods? Well, Vlad Robalesk owns several mines, two of them in the Plesetsky area.’

One of the monitors gave a satellite view of the vastness of Russia before zooming in on the central region.

‘Some forty years ago the Russians converted an old mine into a research and development laboratory. The reason they needed something deep in the ground was, you won’t be surprised to hear, not only security against prying eyes in the sky but also because it was to be a chemical and biological weapons laboratory. They needed to be able to seal the place off if something went wrong. The facility’s in this area here.’

A large square graphic appeared on the screen.

‘Robalesk acquired the converted mine shortly after the collapse of the communist government, apparently with the intentions of cleaning it up and reopening it as a going concern. We don’t think that happened. And neither did he close the facility down. Now this is where it helps to have an intelligence organisation that knows how to cross-reference information not only by subject but also in depth and time. Two years ago, when the Inessa was being fitted for its current role, in our efforts to try to discover its purpose we naturally followed every lead we had, in and out of the shipyard. One of them led to the chemical warfare mine, as it became known, in Plesetsky. It was from there that we constructed our understanding of the relationship between Vlad Robalesk and certain players in the FSB and the Russian government. We have been closely observing the area for the past two weeks and there has been significant activity along the road that links the town of Plesetsky to the laboratory. Vlad Robalesk has been identified twice, along with several other significant players. This is certainly an indication that something of great interest has recently arrived at the mine.

‘The surveillance photography, if you don’t mind,’ Sumners asked the operations officer.

Several grainy photographs appeared in layers on the screen. They were of a sedan driving along a road covered in snow. The photo zoomed in to reveal a figure seated in the back. It was difficult at first to identify him but as the pixels adjusted his features became clearer. Other similar images appeared, a time-line shot of the same vehicle moving along the road.

‘A close examination of the photographs confirms it is indeed our man Binning. These photographs were taken eleven days ago. The Inessa arrived in Sevastopol two days before. One might be allowed to assume that Binning was on board. A day of debriefing and then to work. I think it’s also safe to assume that Binning has not only provided them with the tile but that he also has a new employer.’

Sumners took another moment to allow the information to be digested.

Stratton was already thinking ahead to what the operation might be.

‘We currently have a surveillance operative in the area, the person responsible for the photographs. Binning