***
The following morning, Sir Robin Algar anxiously awaited Andrew Groves’ briefing about the media. But there was still no hint that anything had leaked, and certainly the Downing Street Press office had not received any media questions at all out of the ordinary. Although relieved, he was still anxious.
The Cabinet Secretary stayed behind after ‘prayers’ for a final word with the PM, during which he quickly briefed him about the events of the previous day.
“At the end of it all,” Sir Robin concluded, “there are three things outstanding, Prime Minister, where I’d like your view. First of all, we need, I think, a code word for this operation, for the reasons I’ve described, and secondly, I need to know whether you’re happy to use the man suggested by my contact at the Bank of England to tackle the financial side of this plan. According to Bridges, we could do it ourselves, but he doesn’t recommend it in case things go wrong - which they could, of course.”
“There’s probably no real alternative,” replied the Prime Minister. “At least this chap has proved to the satisfaction of an Old Bailey jury that he can do what we want done!”
The two men laughed.
“It’s not funny, really,” continued Tony Weaver, “and we shall have to be very sure about security while this man’s working, and especially when he’s finished. He’ll obviously have to go straight back inside afterwards, to minimise the risk of him talking.”
“We may even have to take better care of him than that,” said a grim faced Algar. “But we’ll cross that bridge later, when we see what this man can deliver.”
“In the meantime, I’ll phone the Governor, and ask him to authorise Vaughan to co-operate with us,” said Weaver. “As to a code word, I had decided not to give one to this operation, in case it leaked, but I suppose we do, after all, need one as your man from GCHQ suggested. What shall we call it?”
“Op. Hawaii would be neat,” suggested Algar, “but I’ll need to make sure it’s not already in use. I’m sure Paul Bridges will be able to find out for us. And that brings me to my final point, Prime Minister. The Air Commodore now knows that we want an additional, secure hot line to Washington, he also knows we need a special code and cipher system for a Top Secret operation, and he knows I have met with the Head of Security at the Bank of England, and why I did so - Vaughan is an old friend of his, and a retired Commander from Scotland Yard by the way. I’m quite sure he must have linked these events together, and I would now like your permission to brief him about the whole project.”
“He has a very high security clearance, doesn’t he?” asked the PM.
“Just about the highest you can get, and it’s regularly reviewed. He’s not only totally trustworthy, he is going to be a key player in this whole business, and is already more involved than most people.”
“Right. Let’s do that then. Go for the code name we agreed, and brief Bridges, but only on the first stage.”
“I’ll get on with that, after we’ve heard from the White House. Oh, and by the way! Bridges knows Clayton, too! It seems everyone knows Bill Clayton, except me. I really must meet this man, and soon.”
“I'm sure he’ll be over again in the next day or so if all goes well, so I’ll make sure you meet,” agreed Weaver. “But we still need word from the White House before we can really get things moving. What time are we expecting Bill Minton’s call?”
“About half past two. I’ll come to your office half an hour or so before that, as usual, shall I?” asked Sir Robin.
“Yes please, but no-body else needs to be here, or even know about the call if we can avoid it getting around.”
Sir Robin Algar was already in the outer office when the Prime Minister got back from his official lunch in the City, just after two. A man from the Cabinet Office Briefing Room was already there, preparing to open up the line and check the scramblers, as usual.
“Prime Minister, could I introduce you to Grant Piper, from COBR,” said Jane Parsons. “He’s taken over from Jack Bennett, who always used to open up the line for us.”
“Jack on leave, then?” asked the PM as they shook hands.
“Haven’t you heard?” asked Jane. “I’m so sorry, Prime Minister, I thought you had been told already, but poor Jack was knocked down by a motorbike and killed on Monday evening, on his way home.”
“How awful,” said the Prime Minister. “I am sorry to hear that.”
“And the bastard didn’t stop, either,” said Grant.
“That’s terrible,” said Weaver.
“The funeral is on Friday afternoon,” said Jane, “and one or two of us thought we might go, if that’s all right with you, Prime Minister.”
“Yes of course,” said Weaver. “And if there’s a collection for flowers, then I’d like to put a tenner in, if that’s appropriate. How about you, Robin?” he turned to the Cabinet Secretary.
“I've already, - um, - contributed, Prime Minister.”
Weaver immediately understood.
“There won’t be many at the funeral,” said Piper. “He didn’t have much of a family - wasn’t married, or anything - but his father’s coming over from Ireland. Tipperary, I think.”
It was 2.30 precisely when Minton was put through to Weaver.
“Just a quick call,” said Minton, “but I thought you’d like to know that we have what they call at Cape Canaveral, ‘ignition.’ And I must say a good deal of enthusiasm, eventually, among the colleagues I’ve spoken to.”
“That’s very encouraging news, Bill. Thank you for your efforts.”
“Not at all, Tony. We all appreciate here that you’ve got the sticky end of the stick, at least initially, and wish you good luck as well as sending you our support.”
“In that case,” responded Weaver, “as I think you also say at Cape Canaveral, let’s go for lift-off.”
“Let’s do that, and let’s talk again soon when we have the new links in place. Thank you for starting that ball rolling, by the way.” said the President, as the call ended.
“That’s it, then,” said the Prime Minister to Sir Robin Algar grimly. “Let’s get started. Although it seems you already have,” he added.
***