Escaping the Cradle - Part 31

Escaping the Cradle

by Karen Page

Part 31

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Part 31
DATE:FC+125

"Update me," Georgina asked her AI agent as she stepped out of the shower to get dressed. It was part of her new ritual to save time. News and important occurrences that had occurred in the UK and around the world would be summarised for her.

Over the few months she'd been using this new module, it had got used to how long it took her to dress and apply makeup, not that she wore much. She preferred the natural look.

"Anything in my personal interests?" she asked, as it finished with the general updates.

"Two items. The Chicago Cubs lost against the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-8 at Wrigley Field. The road is closed through Epney. Police have implemented a diversion route."

People drove too quickly through those country lanes, thought the PM, and went to get breakfast.

She was just finishing off when there was a knock on the door, and Rupert came in. "Sorry to disturb you. You are needed next door."

"Very well," she said, abandoning her crockery.

If she'd been needed downstairs, that would have been her office. Next door was the Cabinet Office. This was a polite way of saying she was needed in COBR.

On the way Rupert gave a quick summary. "Two suspects are in custody after breaking into what was The Anchor pub in Epney, Gloucestershire. One of the suspects has been identified as Monica Peterson who was one of the fake CAA officers. Shots were fired, but nobody was injured. Mobile phone signals were blocked during the event. Other suspects escaped by boat down the river."

"Okay. Anything else?"

"Counter Terrorism arrived on scene just as the arrest took place. They were dispatched because the person who called was a CT witness. GCHQ are triaging some of the kit seized."

"Thanks, Rupert," she said as she arrived at the Cabinet Office Briefing Room.

When she entered, she saw some harried, and in two cases, tired looking faces. She took her seat at the head of the table.

"What's the latest on the two arrests?"

Lewis looked across at his boss. "They've been processed by Gloucestershire police and will be transferred to London this morning. Monica Peterson's fingerprints match those taken from Manchester, so we know we have a match. The male has given his name as Peter Guillam."

"Obviously fake," muttered Dame Charlotte Huggins, head of MI5, recognising the fictional name.

"We deal in facts," snapped Georgina. "You are chief of MI5. Do you have facts to the contrary?"

"We're working on all angles," she responded. "There was no chatter about this or Friday's event."

Georgina looked across at the GCHQ director, who was on a secure feed from Cheltenham. "Does GCHQ have anything to share?"

"The items we're looking at aren't commercial. You're looking at state grade. We're continuing to analyse to see if we can point to a specific state. Defence Intelligence has offered to help, but—"

Sir John, the cabinet secretary butted in. "Prime Minister, with recent issues with DI, I'd recommend it stays just with GCHQ."

Ron, the Defence Secretary nodded. "I'm sorry to say, but I concur."

The Prime Minister raised her eyebrows at that. He was the minister responsible for Defence Intelligence. For him to agree that they shouldn't be involved implied there were still unresolved issues there.

"Lee, if this is a foreign government, why weren't you aware?" the PM asked her National Security Advisor.

He sighed. "The situation is very fluid. The First Contact announcement and World Government suggestions has made some situations difficult to read. After the Pakistan General incident, governments are reining in their military, but some intelligence agencies are extremely interested in the technology. We've seen no indication any of them have gone off the reservation, but there might be some acting unilaterally. We already have watches for known people entering the country. We are checking if Monica is known but for now that has drawn a blank. Her accent and that of her colleague is a strong London accent. No hint of anything foreign."

"Is this linked to the murders of two members of ISAAC and the kidnapping of two children?"

Lewis answered. "We don't know if it's the same team or if there are multiple groups. This is an active line of investigation. Once Monica and 'Peter' are in London, there can be more active discussions. Until they are transferred, they are in police custody. The Terrorism Act states they must be held in authorised Counter Terrorism custody suites. Until then we are limited."

"When are they moving?"

"Imminently. Each of the prisoners demanded to see lawyers and doctors which they might have thought slowed things down, but it gave time for a secure convoy to be organised. We don't want someone attempting a grab en route."

"Did they request consular access?" The Foreign Secretary asked.

"No," Lewis said, checking his notes. "So, if they are foreign agents, they're playing it cool for now."

The Foreign Secretary continued. "If this is a state agency, I think we need to be careful. We don't want to impact the ongoing World Government negotiations. Perhaps repatriation rather than embarrassment."

"Noted," said the PM tersely. "Though I'm not sure how much goodwill I've got after two deaths, a hostage situation, shooting at police, breaking and entering and worst of all, the kidnapping of two primary school girls."

She glared around the room, daring anybody to challenge her assessment. Nobody did.

"Okay, we're up to date. Get me some answers. Intelligence, both domestic and foreign. Why did we not know about this? GCHQ, find out what we have and where it came from." Finally, she turned to the SO15 commander who'd been noticeably quiet. "A scientist managed to capture two suspects you'd failed to do. Don't let me down by failing to find out who they are and what they were doing."

She stood up and left the room before her anger got the better of her. When she'd moved through the connecting door between the Cabinet Office and Downing Street, she paused to calm down a bit. Reset, she went back to the normal routine.

Rupert was waiting when she got to her office. He was nervously clutching his tablet. "Do you have a moment to talk about your schedule, Prime Minister?"

"Come on in," she smiled. He knew her schedule better than she did.

When the door was closed, he said. "I've made a few tentative suggestions for changes to today's calendar."

She went to her desk and looked. Some meetings had been pushed out. Others set to tentative. There were now a few obvious gaps in her day.

"Good work," she murmured. He'd only moved from today the ones that could wait. He obviously felt she was going to be in COBR a few times that day. "I want a call with Ron at some stage. It might not be needed as I might be able to grab him after another COBR."

He made a note.

"Today's going to be one of those days. I know there will be interruptions, but hopefully tomorrow will be better than today."

He winced. "Yes, Prime Minister."

"I don't believe in superstition. We deal with the hand dealt to us. Sometimes it can seem the worst day ever, but then something good can come out of the worst situations."

She smiled wryly. "Oh dear. I'm quoting Hilda Saunders."

"A wise lady by the sounds of it," he said.

"Most leaders from the Asia-Pacific region attended a United Nations meeting last night to discuss the concept of a World Government. Can you see if you can get hold of the minutes from it?"

"It won't be available until 2pm," he responded, having checked on this while she was in COBR.

"Oh, thank you."

He smiled and left her to her work. Her first appointment wasn't for twenty minutes, so she went through her correspondence from ministers. The one from the Department for Transport caught her eye.

A suggestion from one of the CAA directors. "Due to the breach of launch licence, Star Bright should be barred from any launches and reviewed in six months."

The DfT response raised her eyebrows. "Star Bright did not break the licence, Beyond Satellite did for failing to properly verify people on site. I suggest a surprise security audit in a month at Beyond Satellite. As for Star Bright, what reason do you have for banning them for six months? Their launch was successful. They did place the satellite into the correct trajectory. Not all launches are observed and the data audits provided showed they went above and beyond what we required."

She shook her head. She knew the CAA were sticklers for the rules. They had to be, as lives depended on it. But surely they could see this was a rare success for the United Kingdom. Also, since an interdimensional tunnel launch was safer, did they need to review safety procedures? It wasn't her department though but thought it might be a good suggestion as part of the reviews Colin Hood was doing. Making sure that regulations were fit for the new era.

* * *

Georgina climbed the stairs back to the apartment above the office. A home where she was always on call. Her day wasn't finished. She had some foreign calls to make later but these could be done from there.

The day had been frustrating. GCHQ had carefully disassembled the seized equipment, but it didn't point to any specific country. Quite the opposite. Some components were Japanese, some Chinese, even an Italian-based RF chip. They'd gone to lengths unparalleled to not point to their country.

Then the two prisoners. They were ensconced in the Counter Terrorism suite in London. They were talking, but not about what happened. They wanted to talk about how Arsenal football club should have won more games, and how their manager should get sacked. They were pros.

She had a special reason to get back. She'd been thinking about it most of the day. Entering her bedroom, she located the small phone that had been discreetly given to her six months ago. They hadn't talked for quite a while, but the Prime Minister felt it would be helpful. She couldn't imagine why someone like Laura Taylor hadn't increased security.

The call wasn't answered promptly, and the Prime Minister was about to terminate the call when it was answered. It was a male voice, so not Sally. "Hello."

"Sorry, I was trying to reach Sally."

"Prime Minister, Sally is not reachable at the moment. She asked me to cover this number in case you reached out. You can call me Sean."

"How many aliases do you lot have?"

"As many as needed," responded Sean simply. "What can I do to help you, Prime Minister?"

"I take it you are familiar with what happened in Epney last night?"

"Yes."

"I'm just curious. Laura Taylor has a reputation for protecting her staff. They seem to be left rather exposed."

Sean paused, weighing what to say. Eventually he said, "Not all security is visible."

"What does that mean?" Georgina said sharply.

"This is an old discussion we had months ago; what was the best way to protect them? There were two main options. There was more considered, but two main ones that were analysed in more detail. First was to have onsite security. We went down that route last year before the ship test last December. Six personnel were onsite, with one of them at Jenny's school. While it protected them, it made them all jittery."

"Okay. And the second option?"

"We monitor from afar and try to get to the root of any danger to them."

"And how is that working out?"

"There were four main groups trying to infiltrate. At the moment it is two. That Pakistan General did you a favour. Some countries took a more detailed look at their agencies and military and brought them under control."

The Prime Minister was having trouble with this. Here was information being given to her that her National Security Advisor couldn't give her. "What about the two left?"

"Of the two left, the first one tried to get information out of one of your government scientists and killed him. They killed Martyn after he realised the tortured person knew the location of the scientists. They got some mid-level crooks to kidnap Jenny to see the reaction. They were planning on something a week or so after but paused when they found out about the other group. They thought they might have a better chance, so have held off to steal from them whatever they took."

"So, you knew they were going to infiltrate the satellite launch?"

"No. Friday's events weren't on the radar. When we found out about it, we set on discovering and diverting their plans. Star Bright were moving offices, so we managed to leak enough information to get them to steal something of little consequence. All the important items had already been moved."

"You got them to rob from yourselves? Why?"

"Knowing the other group, they would have tried to take it by force. Even if some members survived in each team, it wouldn't have been enough for them to continue."

"And one of the staff stayed overnight and got the police involved. Plan foiled by your own."

Sean sighed. "We are back to monitoring them and nudging the situation. It's not ideal but we can't infiltrate them. They are two agencies, so closed teams."

"Can you give me their locations, so we can grab them?"

Another considering pause and Sean said, "The team from last night are still mobile and might go out of country for a bit. The other has a splinter group ready to act if the main group is captured. It might not be a bad idea for them to be taken out of the equation. But you can't use standard groups. I'd suggest you speak with Ron. There is a team called Moonshine. Don't discuss it with Ron over standard lines, yours are not secure for that. I'd suggest calling a COBR for an update and discuss after."

"How come you know about these teams, and we don't?" she asked Sean.

"They're your allies. They know your systems, and in some cases, have access to your systems. That's the problem with intelligence sharing."

Georgina paused before saying slowly, "Your plan might not be dead."

"Go on," Sean said sounding interested.

"The team that slipped away last night; the other side won't know what they got. The police are all over the news. If you seed the idea they escaped with something, the rival team might move. Especially if they think the prize is being smuggled out."

"Interesting. That could work. I'll see what can be done,"

Georgina ended the call and set the little phone down on her desk. In COBR she had demanded facts and been handed shadows; here, in the quiet of her flat, she had not only been given answers but had offered one of her own. Yet they were answers she could never quote, never prove, and perhaps never trust. For a moment she wondered which was worse. Being kept in the dark or helping to shape a game she wasn't supposed to be playing.

She switched the phone off and slid it back into her bedside drawer. Whether Sean was playing her or not, it no longer mattered. If there was a dangerous unit out there. A failsafe team. She couldn't risk ignoring it. She marched to her home office, lifted her official phone, and dialled her overnight Private Secretary.

"Prime Minister."

"Can you please arrange a COBR with Home and Defence in one hour. They need to be here, not via secure comms. Get SitCen to provide updated situation on the CAA issue."

It would destroy their evening but needs must. She had an hour. This would give her chance to eat and plan. She always thought better on a full stomach.

The hour arrived, and she was in the most secure briefing room. Sir John, the cabinet secretary, was the first to arrive. Lewis and Ron appeared a few minutes later.

"Sorry to impact your evenings," she opened and moved to press the button switching off all microphones. SitCen wouldn't be able to hear and respond. This COBR was secure.

"Any change with the two in custody?" she opened.

"No," responded Lewis, wondering why the Prime Minister had effectively sealed them from the outside world. "They are refusing to talk. Their identities aren't on UK records, but we've not found them on any other records we have either."

She turned to Sir John. "Can you be careful what you minute. I'm about to say a few things which you may want to consider first."

He nodded. It wasn't unexpected when she'd sealed the room.

"I'm told there are two allied agencies on UK territory. At least one of them has access to our systems via intelligence sharing."

"Why isn't the National Security Advisor not here then?" asked Lewis.

"One of those teams. The one that killed the ISAAC members, has a backstop in case their main team is captured. I was told Moonshine would be required."

Sir John put down his pen and crossed his arms. It was a dramatic gesture that said that this discussion never happened.

Ron paled and his leg shook a bit. "How certain are you of this?"

She considered. How could she phrase it. "This contact has been highly accurate. They're also trusted by someone I trust. I might question why this droplet of information appears now, but if it's as bad as it appears, then I'm not sure we have a choice."

"Do you have a location?" he said tightly.

Georgina nodded and handed him a slip of paper. It had the location, and some other words that she'd never heard of, but Sean had said were important. Whatever Moonshine was, Ron wasn't happy. "Can you tell me? I don't want specifics, just a hint of what I'm asking for."

"Ever since Salisbury, there is a team on four-hour standby to neutralise and contain a nerve agent attack. That's all I'll say."

"Get them moving then," ordered the Prime Minister. She knew this was something that would never be seen in the news. This was something none of them would ever discuss. 'Why do we find it acceptable to dance so close to the brink,' she thought morbidly.

Ron interrupted her thoughts. "There's also one thing to consider. The third nerve agent listed ... only two countries have that. Russia. And America."

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Footnotes:

COBR / COBRA	The UK government's crisis coordination hub in the Cabinet Office. Originally “COBRA,” referring to Cabinet Office Briefing Room A, the most secure room at the time. As other rooms were upgraded, the official term became COBR (Cabinet Office Briefing Rooms), though the older name still lingers in media shorthand
CAA	The UK Civil Aviation Authority. While best known as the aviation regulator, it also licenses and oversees spaceflight and satellite launches under the UK Space Industry Act.
GCHQ	Government Communications Headquarters. UK's signals intelligence agency, equivalent to the US NSA.
SO15	The Metropolitan Police Counter Terrorism Command. Sounds London‑based, but in practice they have operational hubs across the UK.
Salisbury	Shorthand for the 2018 Novichok nerve agent attack in Salisbury, England, which led to the creation of rapid‑response chemical/biological defence teams.
SitCen	The Cabinet Office's Situation Centre, a 24/7 crisis monitoring hub