“Hello James.. I mean Jay..” Patrick shook Jay’s hand “..So.. you found this place alright?”
“I wouldn’t exactly say it was easy.. but I worked it out eventually thanks”
Jay was somewhere in the Kings Cross area, standing in what looked like a row of dilapidated old buildings standing by railway sidings. He had retrieved the location details and entry instructions from the web site the previous night and committed them to memory.
“Have you destroyed all traces of your username and password?”
“Yes.. yes.. That’s all taken care of” Jay looked around him. The internal walls of the building had been removed to form one long, white and not particularly well lit room. There were no clues giving the buildings true purpose away from the outside. Jay wasn’t even sure if he had arrived at the right place - he couldn’t see any inside lighting when he arrived. Jay noticed a man doing bench-presses at the far end of the room.
“That’s Chen.. You’ll meet him in a minute.. but before we do that I need you to think of a nickname for yourself.. something you will remember”
“Err.. ok.. but why?”
“No-one should ever get to know your real name.. not even insiders.. It’s for your own protection.. Likewise.. no one on the outside must ever get to know the name you choose to use here.. Is that understood?”
Jay nodded.
“That sort of knowledge could prove fatal”
“So Patrick.. is Patrick not your real name then?”
“Maybe” Patrick smiled.
“Hmm.. Do I have to use a proper name?”
“It has to sound realistic.. yes”
“Can I keep my first name.. and just use a ‘nom de plume’ for my surname?”
“Yes.. some do ..And I suppose that would be safest so you don’t get ‘caught out’ as it were”
Jay considered the options for a moment.
“’Jay Snow’.. Is that ok?”
“Sounds good.. Just remember that you have to use this name at all times from now on ..ok?
“Got it Patrick”
“Good.. Now.. on to the plan!”
The ‘Plan’ sounded very simple, making Jay suspect that some things were being kept deliberately hidden from him, but he put his trust in Patrick and the S.I.S. After all he thought, they must know what they are doing and besides, what alternatives did he have? Jay would travel to Kuwait and sleep overnight in a hotel. The next morning he would meet up with Hakim, a local ‘computer equipment salesman’. The two of them would drive a small pick-up truck filled with used office equipment and a cross country motorcycle to the ferry terminal and take the ferry to Bushehr where they would book into another hotel overnight. At nightfall, they would both ride the motorcycle to the nuclear power plant, approximately twenty-five kilometres away. No-one should see them leave the hotel. They would need to get as close as possible to the power plant in order to connect to the internal wireless network. Jay would then copy the files over to the server and start up the ‘back door’ program. Once completed, they would return to the hotel and wait there until the next morning. The equipment would then be ‘sold’ to an Iranian trader who would meet them at the hotel. They would leave on the afternoon ferry back to Kuwait.
Kuwaiti passports and visas had been ordered. Jay’s Kuwaiti name would be Salman Al Saleh. He had to practice saying it as fluently as a Kuwaiti would. Patrick informed Jay that the SIS had deleted all public Internet pictures of him so that he wouldn’t be recognised before, during or after the ‘operation’. Jay was amused by Patrick’s militaristic use of the word ‘operation’.
Jay’s beard had already reached the stubble stage, itching incessantly as he scratched equally voraciously. Zu had expressed her dislike of his new style, adding that it was ‘up to him how stupid he looked’. She was equally unimpressed when he told her that he had to go on a course in May. This was further compounded when he informed her that all communications with the outside world would be strictly banned. He daren’t think what she would say once he started to use the sun bed.
“Jay? ..I’d like you to meet Chen.. your Tae Kwon Do instructor..” Patrick nodded towards Chen “..Did I pronounce it correctly?
“Which?.. Chen or Tae Kwon Do?..” replied Chen, grabbing Patrick’s arm “..Just pulling your leg.. you pronounced both perfectly”
Chen had an Asian look about him, but spoke with a very British ‘public school’ accent. He was obviously very athletic as well. Chen turned to Jay, clasped his hands together and bowed. “Pleased to meet you Jay”
Jay attempted a half nod back, feeling rather awkward “Err.. and likewise”
“I’ll leave you to it Jay.. Contact me via the website if you have any questions.. ok?”
“Well .. now you mention it ..there is one thing actually”
“What’s that?”
“I’d like a quadcopter”
“A what?”
“A remote control helicopter.. a mini drone if you like..” Jay whispered in Patrick’s ear “..I’d like to use one to fly the wireless repeater into the compound”
Patrick whispered back “Good idea! I’ll sort that out for you.. ” Patrick began speaking normally again “..But it’s ok Jay.. Chen knows all about the operation”
Jay began speaking normally too “Oh.. ok.. err.. it also needs to have a camera fitted.. and be able to carry the weight of the repeater.. I’d also like it to be collapsible so the whole thing can be dismounted and hidden inside a PC quickly ..and last but not least ..I need to be able to control it from a pad computer so it’s not too conspicuous”
“Ok.. Hereby noted.. I’ll see what I can do.. See you soon Jay.. I’ll leave you in Chen’s capable hands for now” Patrick walked towards the exit.
“Ok.. see you” Jay picked up his sports bag and changed clothes in the changing room.
“What’s that Jay?.. Is that something you found in your old secondary school satchel?” asked Chen, pointing to Jay’s very worn and very outdated sports clothing.
“No.. not at all!.. I’ll have you know that this stuff is barely eight years old!” Jay smiled as Chen led the way down to the training mats.
“You know.. joking aside.. I would normally insist on you putting on proper training gear.. but that isn’t going to be very relevant for where you are going.. Oh.. and the sun bed is in there by the way” Chen pointed into a narrow side room.
“Ok.. Thanks”
“So Jay.. have you done any martial arts before?”
“Nope”
“Ok.. What do you know about Tae Kwon Do?”
“Very little I’m afraid.. I tried to do some research on the Internet.. but I just managed to confuse myself”
“I can imagine..” Chen smiled as he straightened himself, standing sideways on to Jay “..You have to use your legs a lot in Tae Kwon Do.. There’s a lot of kicking.. Let’s start with the most basic.. the frontal kick or ‘Ap Chagi’.
Several high kicks and a couple of hours later Jay’s muscles had made their tiredness very apparent, but Jay felt strangely invigorated. He spent ten minutes on the sunbed before taking a shower and heading home with a degree of self-satisfaction.
___________________
Zu stood by the steps to the tube platform.
“Hello my hard-working angel” Jay grabbed Zu from behind and kissed her before she could speak.
“Good God Jay!.. You made me jump!”
“Just call me Jay!” replied Jay with a wry smile.
Zu swiped Jay’s shoulder with a light slap “Very funny! ..Shall we take the next train home my little devil?”
“Why not wait for the one after? ..Then I can drive you home? ..I have to give Omar his quadcopter back anyway”
“Ok.. Did you manage to fix it?”
“Yes.. It was just a loose connection.. A bit of soldering did the trick”
“Soldiering?” Zu shook her head in confusion.
“No.. solder
.. It’s just melted metal that.. “ Jay could see from Zu’s facial expression that her interest in the topic had already waned “..Anyway.. how was work?”
“It was ok.. well.. very hard ..and very boring really.. I really don’t like cleaning for so long”
“Me neither!”
“How was your tie-your-shoelaces thingie?”
“Tae Kwon Do.. It was good thanks.. Actually.. it was very good..” Jay clutched his ribs ”..but I can feel it now though”
“Oh.. you poor thing!..” Zu tugged playfully at Jay’s shirt “..I’d better give you a cuddle when we get to your home then”
“Mmm.. I’ll look forward to that!” Jay tapped Zu’s buttock before kissing her cheek.