The operative was stunned but did not show it.
‘Come on, man. Say something. Your face is almost worth the whole caper.’
‘You’ve been planning this a long time, I suppose,’ Stratton said.
‘A couple of years. It was complicated. Binning and I play three-dimensional chess. We’re practically unbeatable. This was every bit as complex. You see, it’s all about calculating the opponent’s next move in respect of yours and then his next, and yours and so on. We must have gone to about twenty moves ahead,’ he said, looking at Binning for acknowledgement.
Binning raised his eyes in appreciative agreement.
‘Who were your opponents?’ Stratton asked.
‘London.Your people. Never saw that damned helicopter coming, though. But then, that’s why we chose you. One of the more interesting aspects of the plan. We needed one of the best to get us through the tougher physical issues. You were perfect. Thank you.’
‘Why?’
‘You wouldn’t understand. Something beyond your paltry intelligence’s ability to grasp. In simple terms, the Russians could give me what our side wouldn’t. Head of MI16 was all I was ever going to be. A brain for hire. The Russians offered me power, and business opportunities.’
‘Money?’
‘That’s a given. This plan alone is evidence of our genius. I have to admit there were a few times when I thought it was perhaps a little too ambitious. You see, it wasn’t just about handing over the tile - you’ll notice I said “handing over” as opposed to stealing it: it belonged to us, the copyright is a minor issue. But the essence of the plan was about succeeding without London knowing of my involvement. You see, I’m going back. My handover’s not quite complete. There’s more to be had.’
‘Your recording device at Sevastopol wasn’t faulty, you’ll be relieved to know,’ Binning said.
‘You needed to discredit me to allow you to do the job and complete the arrangements with the
‘And then get you to MI16 in order to carry out the platform task,’ Jason added.
‘Chaz never brought anything into the airlock,’ Stratton surmised.
‘No. I thought we’d blown it trying to get the helicopter to drop us off with the mini-sub. That was a big hurdle, London allowing us to continue to the platform. Once again you tipped the scales in our favour.’
‘Jordan was Jason’s idea,’ Binning said proudly. ‘A real stroke of genius, on top of superb analysis.’
‘Thank you,’ Jason said to his friend. ‘It was all about finding the right pieces and then fitting them together. Much the same thing we do every day with our designs,’ Jason bragged. ‘It was a complex mathematical problem. That’s how we laid it out in the theory room.’
‘Was destroying the platform a part of it?’
Jason smirked. ‘Of course, we have partners who have interests of their own that they threw into the calculation. I understand the owners needed the insurance money. London has its suspicions about that but it doesn’t affect our operation.’
‘The Russian government is in on this?’ Stratton asked.
‘Elements are aware, of course. Sumners was quite correct. But at the end of the day it’s a matter of all’s fair in love and espionage. There are winners and there are losers.’
‘And Rowena?’ Stratton asked.
Jason smiled. ‘A pawn, like you. She’s being kept in another part of the complex. I need her for the next stage of the plan. You see, you die. I succeed in our task. I go back to London with Rowena, who will think I rescued her. Her innocence will improve my credibility. I will of course say wonderful things about you, and probably more wonderful things about myself. That’s the advantage of winning, Stratton.’ Jason came closer to the operative to look deeper into his eyes. ‘I wish we’d finished that fight. It would have been a perfect climax. The great John Stratton. Beaten by a civvy.’ He chuckled. ‘You’ve never come up against anyone like me before. Rowena was right about you. You’ve always been lucky. But brilliance doesn’t need luck. In fact, I can’t afford it.’
Jason lingered long enough to gloat before turning away.
‘Jason,’ Stratton called out.
Mansfield paused at the door to look back at him.
‘I was right about you. You
‘We won’t be seeing each other again,’ Mansfield said, continuing through the door. ‘I’m going to insist they get rid of you right away. Chain him up well, Major,’ he shouted. ‘He’s very lucky.’
Binning took a moment to look back at Stratton, his grin apparently ineradicable. He raised his eyebrows as if to say ‘That’s life’, and padded after his boss.
Before he followed the others, the major glanced at the guard in a way that conveyed his need to remain alert.
Stratton stood there in stunned silence. This was a bloody mess. He slid the chains down the bracket, sat on the wet floor and went over the situation. One aspect of it had apparently changed. He wouldn’t be spending years in a Russian jail after all.
Stratton remained where he was for many hours. At one point he drifted off to sleep, the long hours and violent events of the day getting the better of him, despite the grim prospect of his impending end. He woke up at one point after hearing a sound close by only to discover that it was the young guard holding a cup of water out to him. Stratton drank it as the man held the cup.
During his conscious moments, Stratton considered every possible avenue of escape, one of which included getting back down into the emergency tunnel and taking his chances with the vertical shaft. But no matter what he came up with, while he was chained so heavily to the bracket and with a guard seated at the door holding a gun and watching him, the opportunity for any kind of escape attempt looked highly unlikely.
He had no accurate sense of the passing time and how long he had dozed off for. The only clue that it had been several hours since his capture was that his clothes had practically dried on him. The lights remained the same and the only sound was the constant hum of machinery. After another period of pondering a variety of dead ends he fell back into a fitful half-sleep, his bottom aching on the cold concrete floor, his back uncomfortable against the rock wall, his wrists chafing against his chains, his bruises and burns combining with the other pains and discomforts.
As Stratton dozed he was distantly aware that the lights had gone out and although he heard the door open it was not enough to drag him fully out of his slumber. Even the sound of a dull thud followed by the clatter of something metallic on the concrete floor came like a distant echo and could easily have been part of a dream. But something deep inside his mind called to him to wake up and it was eventually a rush of fear that startled him into consciousness.
He opened his eyes to a room in near darkness, the only light coming through the open door and from the glowing bulbs on the pumping machine’s control panel. A figure crouched by another that was lying on the floor. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light Stratton realised the guard was lying prone and the other figure was searching his pockets.
The figure stood up and walked towards him. The red and green lights on the machine beside him revealed its identity: Rowena, in a boiler suit a few sizes too large for her. She crouched beside him, holding a couple of keys.
‘Are you injured?’ she asked calmly as she tried the first key in the lock.
‘No,’ Stratton replied, getting to his knees.
‘That’s good. I suspect we’re going to have to run at some point. And maybe more than that.’
He could only stare at her as she fitted the next key and twisted it in the lock that then popped open. He removed the chains and got to his feet.
She stood up in front of him, looking into eyes that were full of questions. ‘I always suspected Jason,’ she said. ‘Not of being a traitor, though. A woman knows when a man is hiding something from her. I thought he was cheating on me. But my digging only led to him and Binning. I even wondered if they were gay. I was almost relieved when I found out. Female ego.’
‘How long have you known?’
‘Couple of hours. I thought you’d all perished with the platform. I watched it sink from the lifeboat. Then the
