‘OK,’ said Westwood. ‘I guess we’d better make sure that we are smart enough. That helps a little with RAVEN. What about the message – or rather what it says?’
‘It’s still puzzling,’ Masters said, ‘and it looks as if we are dealing with a most unconventional assault – if that really is the right word. The fact that a “component” is being delivered to the West does not suggest a first-strike, or anything involving a normal weapon delivery system – missile, aircraft, submarine or whatever. It seems more likely to us that we’re talking about a slow and conventional form of transport.’
‘What, a ship or train or something?’ Abrahams asked.
‘Exactly. It looks like whatever this weapon is, it’s being mailed to us.’
Abrahams laughed, briefly, then stopped.
‘I’m still listening,’ Westwood said. ‘What you say makes sense. Presumably the delay between the component entering the West, as RAVEN puts it, and the plan to be implemented, is to allow time for the weapon to be placed in position and primed or whatever.’
‘Yes,’ Hicks interrupted, ‘and for an ultimatum to be delivered.’
After a brief silence, Westwood spoke again. ‘I agree with your conclusions. What I’m not sure about is where we go from here. We have no idea – I presume – about exactly what this “component” is, what it looks like, where it’s coming from or where it’s going to, so where do we start looking? And how the hell do we find it by tomorrow?’
‘There’s another problem,’ Hicks growled. ‘RAVEN’s message refers to the “last component”, which implies that there are others already in place. Finding and stopping delivery of the final component may not stop the implementation of whatever the hell this operation is.’
‘Exactly,’ Cliff Masters said. ‘If what we’re looking at is a number of bombs that are already strategically placed in American cities, whether the last one actually gets delivered to Washington or wherever is irrelevant. There could already be a high enough tonnage of weapons in place to ensure that the President would have no option but to accede to whatever demands are made.’
‘You believe that?’ Westwood asked. ‘You believe the President would just roll over and play dead?’
‘He might have no option,’ Hicks replied. ‘Put yourself in his position. If the Russians announce that they’ve positioned one strategic-yield nuclear weapon in the centre of every major city in the States, and that they’re going to detonate them unless he agrees to whatever they want, what else can he do?’
‘It would be a first-strike without any warning,’ Masters added. ‘There could be no warning, because the weapons are already here. The first we would know about it would be the detonation of the first bomb.’
‘I’m having a job coping with this,’ Westwood said. ‘If you’re right, then this completely negates all of our defences.’
‘Well, not exactly,’ Hicks replied. ‘I’ve had two meetings with the President already, and he’s quite prepared to go to the edge on this. We’ve already discussed the military preparations he’s approved. The threat of us implementing those measures might be enough to defuse this situation.’
‘It might,’ Westwood said, ‘but I wouldn’t put any money on it. Any progress with that Russian word –
‘
‘So what the hell are we going to do?’ John Westwood asked, leaning back in the padded chair in the Paris Embassy Communications Room. The room was air-conditioned and cool, but he was sweating.
‘OK,’ Walter Hicks said. ‘What we need is data – any data. At the moment, we have no idea what we’re up against. What I don’t believe is that nobody’s noticed anything. Christ, we’ve got spy satellites peering into everyone’s backyard, we’ve got the NSA reading just about every diplomatic signal that passes through the States, and the British GCHQ listening-in every time somebody takes a crap. Somebody, somewhere, must know something.
‘John, you have to lean on the French. Forget about diplomacy, protocol, Gallic sensitivity and all the rest. Kick ass if you have to, but get some answers. Roger, the same applies to you in London. Get back on to that Taylor guy and get SIS moving. You’ve both got top weight on this – I’ve already talked to SIS and the DGSE, and the President will be calling the British Prime Minister and the French President today.’ There was silence for a moment or two. ‘Questions?’ Hicks asked.
‘No,’ Westwood replied, echoed a second later by Abrahams.
‘OK,’ Hicks growled. ‘Get to it.’
Flag Officer Submarines (FOSM) is the head of the Submarine Branch of the Royal Navy and exercises operational control of some twenty-five nuclear- and conventionally-powered submarines, and is responsible for training and maintenance aspects of the Trident missile-carrying nuclear submarines. Operational control of the Trident boats, however, is vested in Commander-in-Chief Fleet (CINCFLEET), which is why the Top Secret, Military Flash signal from the Chief of the Defence Staff (CDS) was sent to CINCFLEET as the Action Addressee, and was copied to FOSM for information.
Communication with submarines is difficult, because water acts as a barrier. The greater the depth of water above the boat, the more difficult it is to communicate with it. Standard procedure is for all patrolling nuclear submarines to trail a short aerial which is designed to receive Extremely-Low Frequency (ELF) signals at the vessel’s normal operating depth. The disadvantage of ELF is that it is very slow, and only a limited number of characters can be sent in a given time period – normally about one letter character every fifteen to thirty seconds. This is not enough to pass a complete operational message, but what ELF can do is transmit a warning message to one or more submarines in coded form.
These warning messages are usually repeated sequences of just a few characters. The decoded text will tell the captain that his operating authority has a message to pass to him, what time the message will be sent, and how the message will be transmitted. At the appropriate time, the submarine will reduce its depth in preparation. Depending upon the transmission method selected, either the submarine will trail a long aerial which will float immediately below the surface of the sea, or the boat will extend an aerial above the surface from the top of the sail. The former method is the more secure, but reception is slow, while the latter allows high-speed transmissions to be received, albeit at the risk of the aerial being detected by radar from a hostile vessel or aircraft, or even visually in calm seas. Under no circumstances will the captain acknowledge any message – submarine communications are strictly oneway, to avoid compromising the vessel’s position.
Forty-five minutes after CINCFLEET received the signal from the CDS, a Group Warning Signal was transmitted via the ELF radio relay station just outside Rugby in Warwickshire. Thirty and thirty-five minutes after that, two Military Flash Operational Tasking Signals were sent via a communications satellite to HMS
Disneyland Paris is difficult to miss. Quite apart from the Mickey Mouse symbols and road signs advising travellers of their proximity to the Magic Kingdom, the unlikely towers of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle can be seen from a considerable distance on the autoroute. Davy Crockett Ranch lies to the south of the A4, the opposite side to Disneyland itself. The approach is down a private road, under an arch proclaiming the identity of the place, and into a car park outside the reception area. Inside, they spoke good English, which was just as well because Richter had left his French behind at school. He was given keys to his cabin, a number code to open the barrier which protected the camp from unauthorized visitors, or at least from those arriving in cars, a map of the place, and a three-day Disneyland passport. Richter doubted that he would be making much use of the last item, but he thanked them anyway, climbed back into the Granada, and drove on into the heavily wooded site.
The cabin, when Richter found it, was surprisingly comfortable and well equipped. He visited the general store, called the Trading Post, and bought coffee, tea, milk and biscuits, then returned to the cabin. He locked the door, drew the curtains and unpacked his suitcase, then reviewed his plans while the kettle boiled. The schedule drawn up by the FOE planners was simple but comprehensive. They had organized a meeting with the
