Latent Hazard rkadika-1

by Piers Venmore-Rowland

  Kate called across, ‘Any chance you could find out exactly what work the boatyard has done to her?’

  ‘While Talal is in there, I can’t just walk in and chat to the boatyard manager,’ replied Gareth. ‘It would be too obvious. As we speak, I am standing outside, waiting to see when they leave, which is why I’m so frigging cold.’

  ‘Rather you than me! But that’s great work – do keep in touch,’ said John replacing the receiver.

  ‘Now we’ve found Talal and the sheikh’s yacht, what we could do with knowing is when it’s due to leave,’ said Kate.

  ‘I’ve an idea,’ interjected Emma. ‘If I could borrow Aidan for a few minutes and if the people at the Icelandic boatyard speak English, it might work.’

  ‘What do you have in mind?’ asked Kate.

  ‘Well… Aidan is the type of guy who could afford a boat like Golden Sundancer. If he had a contact suggesting the Reykjavik yard… And he then asks the yard manager about the cost of some work on his boat… Hopefully the manager will be interested in new business and won’t consider questions linked to his last four or five fit-outs as suspicious.’

  ‘Good idea,’ said Kate, before adding, ‘John, see if you can get the contact details of the yacht broker – Jeremy’s journalist friend, Pete, has been using.’

  ‘No problems.’

  Several minutes later, after a tortuous phone call, John had the broker’s name and phone number. ‘My God, that was like drawing teeth,’ he complained. ‘Journalists are too darn protective of their sources for their own good.’

  Emma took the piece of paper from Jeremy and dialled the yacht broker’s number. ‘Hello, I wonder if you could help me. I’m the personal assistant of Aidan Gilchrist, of Maine Leadbetter, international financiers in the City of London. My boss tells me that you’re the agents to speak to concerning the purchase of a large powerboat… Good, good, thank you. Could you please give me the details of what you have on your books in the €3 million price bracket? If possible located in Scandinavia, which is where his partner is from… I should mention that he’s thinking in terms of spending a tidy sum on getting the boat refitted to her taste – lucky lady!’ Emma chuckled. ‘Yes, I can give you some contact details… My boss is a bit impatient. Could you perhaps fax me something at your earliest convenience? Within the next ten minutes would be great. Thank you.’

  As good as his word, within five minutes the yacht broker had faxed through the details of three stunning motor yachts, ranging from twenty to thirty metres in length with prices between €2 million and €3.5 million.

  Aidan, briefed by Emma, picked up the phone and spoke to the Reykjavik boatyard. One could see very quickly why Aidan was a top financial dealer. He oozed charm, but came quickly to the point. It didn’t take long before the boatyard manager was chatting openly and describing the boats they’d worked on.

  ‘So, have you refitted anything seriously fast?’ enquired Aidan.

  ‘Yes,’ came the reply.

  ‘Excellent.’ And before Aidan could ask, the shipyard manager helpfully proceeded to give a lengthy description of what they’d done to a Sunseeker Predator 75. ‘She’s had a complete refit; new colour to the hull. We installed long-range fuel tanks, upgraded the engines and the air-conditioning, done work to the bridge and superstructure to make the vessel more comfortable in inclement seas and installed a de-icing kit to help her with the local weather. Basically we’ve enabled the boat to go virtually anywhere at any time of the year,’ said the manager proudly.

  ‘Did you do any work to the interior?’

  ‘Not much needed – we did put in a couple of very large ice boxes.’

  Aidan cut to the chase. ‘Thank you. My brokers and I are looking at…,’ he hesitated and picked one of the details of the boats in front of him at random, then continuing almost seamlessly, ‘A seventy-foot motor vessel, currently moored in Sweden. She’ll need her engines reconditioning and my partner doesn’t like the colours of the state room or the master bedroom. How soon could you start work on her? I’m thinking of putting in a bid this afternoon – subject to survey, of course.’

  Aidan paused and listened to the shipyard manager, and then said, ‘Oh that would be excellent. You say that the works to Golden Sundancer are completed, yes? So you can start as soon as my boat can be delivered?’

  Aidan drew breath. ‘My partner, Johanna, is rather particular. Would it possible for her to fly over, say, tomorrow or the next day to see the quality of your work on the Sunseeker 75?’

  He paused again. ‘Oh that is a shame – she’ll be disappointed that Golden Sundancer is putting to sea later this evening. Thank you very much for your time though, you’ve been most helpful. I have your name and contact details, so I’ll ring again on Monday to discuss the refit works.’

  With that Aidan gently replaced the receiver, stood up and bowed to a round of applause from Emma.

  ‘Good work – no – excellent work,’ said a smiling Emma. ‘I knew you could do it. So we now know that the sheikh’s boat is leaving within the next twelve hours.’

  Emma did some mental arithmetic. ‘That would tie in with a possible rendezvous with the trawler from Peterhead – off the north coast of Scotland tomorrow night.’

  ‘Time is running out,’ said Kate. ‘We have got to find the missing locations and the people who are going to fire the missiles.’

  Emma walked casually over to Aidan’s desk. ‘I didn’t realise you had a partner.’

  ‘Ah well, I can be rather deceptive.’

  ‘You can say that again,’ said Emma, looking a little crestfallen.

  Aidan smiled. ‘No you have got it wrong; it is my partner that’s the deception.’

  Emma brightened visibly.

  ‘Emma, I have a problem,’ said Aidan, changing the subject. ‘I could do with some more space. I was wondering if you could help. I’ve printed out the vast majority of the contract notes and I’m swamped with paper!’ He flashed one of his charming smiles in her direction. ‘Any bright ideas where I could go?’

  Emma muttered something under her breath which Kate didn’t catch.

  ‘Thanks,’ said Aidan. ‘But, I need to find a large table or floor: somewhere where I can lay out all this bumph,’ he said, pointing to the piles of paper stacked on and around his desk. ‘I’m almost there, but the lack of space is slowing me down.’

  Kate stood up. ‘You two follow me. Pass me some papers to carry.’ They left the room weighed down with printouts.

  Kate and Emma returned a couple minutes later to collect the remaining paperwork. ‘We’ve put him in the commissioner’s conference room and asked Beverley to keep an eye on him and to top him up with coffee. The commissioner is out, so he should get some peace and quiet,’ said Kate.

  Half an hour later Aidan called Emma. He sounded pleased. ‘Could you, Rafi and Kate come up to look at a few things, please?’

  They walked into the commissioner’s conference room and saw it was now almost entirely covered with paper – not just the large oval table but also the chairs, which had been pushed against the walls, and the carpet as well.

  ‘Thanks for coming.’ Aidan greeted them with a grin. ‘What do you think? Look at all the Post-its Beverley’s given me.’

  Emma looked around the room; each pile had a Post-it.

  ‘Is this entire lot colour-coded?’ enquired Emma.

  ‘Yep. It hasn’t taken nearly as long as I thought it would. I’ve categorised the contract notes, by colour, into various different types of deal. Things are falling into place,’ he said to Emma. ‘Rafi’s hunch is right: there’s definitely something afoot. Let me summarise where I’ve got to. I’ve been focusing on the long gilt contracts. The trades, individually, are modest in size, but when put together it’s a different matter. Someone has been position building for several weeks. I started with my book at Maine Leadbetter. There are six investors writing – that is selling – put contracts. On the other side of these transactions, Pr
ima Terra have been buying via an offshore account. I then looked at deals done by other brokers and I’ve been able to piece together a relatively complete picture. The other players buying the put positions are using intermediaries, mainly second or third division international banks.’

  John stuck his head around the corner of the door. ‘I thought that you might be up to something.’

  ‘Come on in,’ said Aidan with a smile. ‘I’ve identified a number of investors whose exposures could lead to huge losses,’ he said, pointing to the various piles strewn over the conference room table with pink Post-its. We’ve two building societies, two insurance companies, one local authority and one metropolitan authority… All have been investing the wrong way around: they should be buyers of these put contracts, not selling them! They have increased their risk exposure exponentially. Darn strange, darn silly and darn dangerous!’

  ‘Their risk management systems should have picked this up, unless the contracts were booked in a hidden holding account,’ continued Aidan. ‘If they were, no one other than the dealers would be aware of the positions. The expectation would be that they would be traded on for a profit in a matter of days.’

  ‘I’d bet the terrorists have bought off these dealers with large bungs into overseas bank accounts. And with the scale of potential losses you have uncovered, if things go as the terrorists plan -given the delicate state of the financial sector – contagion would rapidly set in, wouldn’t it?’ asked Kate.

  Aidan nodded.

  ‘Sorry – I’ve heard you talk about contagion before, could you possibly explain what it means?’ asked John.

  ‘If you get measles you’re contagious, right? In the financial markets contagion sets in when the troubles of one player are transferred across to another financially healthy player, who, for their part, gets into difficulty and passes the problem on to more players. We saw it happen in the recent credit crunch when a number of banks that had been financially sound, suddenly found themselves to be short of funds. Basically it’s a matter of there being too many forced sellers and too few buyers. Prices of assets fall dramatically, which leaves the financial sector lacking capital. In our case, the terrorists have targeted six institutions. And they will very quickly become insolvent. Other banks, insurance companies and financial institutions get sucked into the downward spiral, unless the provider of liquidity of last resort, the Bank of England, steps in very quickly and provides sufficient cash to help those in trouble,’ said Aidan. ‘What makes it particularly dangerous is that the losses will initially be heaped on just six players!’

  ‘The Bank would have to act very quickly and decisively or the downward momentum could become unstoppable,’ added Rafi.

  ‘I do not think they will procrastinate, given their recent experience with the banking crisis.’ Aidan scratched his head. ‘What concerns me is that the UK Government can’t keep on borrowing vast sums of money to bail out companies in the financial markets. Very soon they will hit the buffers and find that international investors will not lend to them. Or if they do, it will be at massively increased interest rates. And then it will be crunch time.’

  ‘In addition there could be big costs associated with the missile attacks.’ Rafi looked thoughtful. ‘So part of our plan must be to put across to the Government the downside hazards, in such a way that they can make informed decisions quickly.’

  ‘Good idea,’ agreed John. ‘What scares me is that the terrorists have resources which rival those of a small to medium sized country. We should not underestimate the damage they are capable of inflicting.’

  Kate’s mouth was wide open. ‘Thank you for describing the scale of the bad news. This is seriously frightening. But first things first – we have a lot of loose ends to tidy up and time is short. In order of priority, we must stop the terrorists’ attacks or at least significantly limit the damage. And then, Rafi and Aidan, we need you to come up with a solution to stop the markets going into meltdown.’

  ‘And third, pigs might fly,’ added John.

  ‘No, thirdly we’ve got to break this appalling news to our bosses – and soon.’ Kate stood up, looking pale and drawn. ‘Aidan, thanks for your excellent work.’

  Rafi had been thinking quietly about the practicalities of getting the Government and the Bank of England to move quickly. ‘One last item, please? Devising a strategy to avert the financial chaos will take time, and time is a commodity we don’t have! I’d like to suggest, at our meeting with the chiefs, that we get permission to bring in a small team of financial experts, who could draw up a briefing document for the decision makers at the Treasury and Bank of England.’

  ‘Good idea,’ replied Kate.

  Jeremy returned, positively bouncing. ‘Who’s been clever boy? I’ve had a most fruitful time with Dominique, the manager at the travel agent. We looked at the typical characteristics of the tickets they bought. The vast majority were low-cost packages to locations throughout Africa and were mostly last minute bookings on flights which had unsold seats… The typical visit was between one and three months.’

  He smiled. ‘Then I got Dominique to see if there were any tickets which were out of the ordinary. She wasn’t impressed, as there were thousands of them. Specifically, she went searching for business class and full cost tickets, and trips where there were prearranged stopovers. My logic was that if they were recruiting bombers they’d look after them and want them to go to a training camp as well as do their voluntary work.’

  Jeremy smiled. ‘We have ten. Yes, ten individuals who were given favoured treatment by Basel and Jameel’s charity. And guess what? One of the names that came out of the computer was that of a Ima Adwafeeq or, if one puts the space in the right place, Imaad Wafeeq, the Bishopsgate bomber! I’ve passed all the names to my colleagues, who will send through as much information as they can find on each of them. As we speak all the suspects are being traced and will be put under surveillance.’

  Jeremy beamed, after a ripple of applause. ‘The offer of coffee and doughnuts did the trick. Within half an hour she’d gone back three years and identified all the people who fitted our search criteria. There were literally hundreds of flights that matched. In a tick she had them sorted alphabetically. The number of different names on the list wasn’t that great – just below fifty – but only ten had a pre-booked stopover in Somalia. When I pointed out Imaad Wafeeq’s name, she went white. She thought I was there to prove she was involved. It took me five minutes to calm her down and to emphasise the importance of keeping what we had found totally confidential.’

  ‘As a matter of curiosity, where exactly were the stopovers in Somalia?’ enquired Emma.

  ‘Mogadishu,’ replied Jeremy.

  ‘Hold on a minute – where was it that the other PhD student, Miti someone, came from?’

  ‘What a good memory you’ve got,’ said Jeremy. ‘You are spot on. Miti Lakhani’s family have a business operation in Mogadishu. I wish I had remembered that before you did,’ he said with a smile in Emma’s direction.

  Colonel Matlik was punctual. At 5.15 p.m. Kate’s phone rang. She was pleased to hear his telltale accent on the line.

  ‘Good evening, I have more news for you,’ he said, in his customary laconic manner. ‘I received the names and photos you emailed me. You have caused quite a stir. We looked at the mugshots and straight away identified three of them as being highly undesirable. I hope it’s OK – I bounced their details on to the FSB, the Russian Secret Service. The phone lines between here and Moscow have been red-hot. It seems that four of them are on their most wanted list! They are using false identities. In reality, they are: Rudnik Miromov and Dakka Dudayev, two former Chechen army officers. The Russians lost track of them ten months ago. The other two are: Aslan Popovskaya and Sergy Kowshaya, whose last known occupation was as part of a specialist Chechen hit squad – they also disappeared. Be advised: all four individuals should be treated with extreme caution. They have no scruples and are trained in everything from unarme
d combat and heavy machine guns, to missile launchers and high explosives. In the words of my Russian friends these four are “wermin” – the sooner they can be exterminated, the better! Kornet missiles in their hands are a recipe for disaster.’

  ‘I see,’ said Kate hesitantly.

  Kate, I must tell you, the next person on your list had the Russians rolling with laughter. He’s an Arab, from the Gulf originally. Kaleem Shah trained as an officer cadet at your army’s Sandhurst! No doubt your records will confirm this and where he went subsequently. They have him down, until a year ago, as being attached to an international news corps as their minder in the battle zones of the Middle East. We have nothing untoward on the other names you e-mailed me. I have asked a colleague to email you all the details we have on these undesirables. He is sending you copies of both the Russian files and our translation of them. I hope that they help. Sorry to sound like an overprotective father, but if the Russians say they’re real shits, tell your SAS to treat them with the utmost caution.’

  ‘Colonel, thank you,’ said Kate.

  ‘Unfortunately, I have some further information from the manager of the rifle ranges. It is not news you will want to hear. In addition to the Kornet missile launchers, he delivered four South African 60 mm Vektor mortars and eighty high-explosive shells. They’re compact and deadly. Their barrel length is only 650 mm, but they have a range of up to 2 km if the firer opts for a ballistic trajectory.’

  ‘Sorry?’ queried Kate.

  ‘The explosive round detonates in the air above the target,’ explained the colonel. ‘In the hands of a professional, the firing rate, is twenty shells a minute. If aimed straight at its target the range drops to half a kilometre and the shells can go through 500 mm of armour or over one metre of reinforced concrete. Basically, they are nasty little weapons – rather good at attacking soft targets, I would suggest.’

  ‘Such as?’

  ‘In ballistic trajectory mode, their blast radius is thirty metres. They would work a treat against,’ the colonel paused, ‘Fuel tanks – oil and gas storage plants in particular.’