Strayker replied, “I have never understood how the roads become so quiet during that time, surely not everyone disappears on holiday corporal?”
Corporal Edwards replied, “One of lives mysteries sir; one of lives mysteries; we should be at Downing Street in fifty minutes sir.”
Strayker sat back and relaxed, he pulled a file from the rear pocket of the seat in front of him.
The file was marked highly confidential with the title, ‘Security updates to Hesters Copse and Downing Street.’
Fifty minutes later the Vauxhall was rounding Parliament Square and turned left into Parliament Street passing King Charles Street on the left and then The Cenotaph on the right.
Downing Street came up on the left and the new security measures were immediately evident.
Following the attack on the Prime Minister whilst in Number 10 several weeks ago by two Russian rogue SPETSNAZ, whom had gained access to the inside of the building security, had been increased.
Where’s before members of the public could walk up Downing Street, this was no longer possible.
Gates had been installed at both ends of the street; retractable barriers barring access now protected the main entrance at Whitehall.
A guardhouse now stood at the gated entrance accommodating several uniformed armed police from The Metropolitan Police Service’s DPG (Diplomatic Protection Group).
Corporal Edwards approached the security barriers and an armed Police officer approached.
Edwards powered his window down and showed his identification, the Police officer examined it and then looked at the passenger in the rear seat and said, “may I see your ID sir?”
Strayker had his ID ready and passed it to corporal Edwards, who passed it to the Police officer.
The Police officer immediately recognised the ID and returned it to the driver.
He gave a signal to open the gates, as they opened corporal Edwards drove the car up one of the most famous streets in the world.
Colloquially known in the United Kingdom as “Number 10”, it is the headquarters of Her Majesty’s Government and the official residence and office of the First Lord of the Treasury, an office now invariably held by the Prime Minister.
Almost three hundred years old, the building contains about one hundred rooms.
Corporal Edwards pulled the car up outside the famous black door that had recently been upgraded from an oak made door to a blast proof steel door, which outwardly did not appear any different to the old one.
However, the new door kept with the original traditional style, a six-panelled door surrounded by cream-coloured casing and adorned with a semi-circular fanlight window.
Painted in white, between the top and middle sets of panels, is the number ‘10’.
Looking closely at the numerals the zero of the number ‘10’ is set at a slight angle as a nod to the original number that had a badly fixed zero.
A black iron knocker in the shape of a lion’s head is located between the two middle panels and below the knocker is a brass letterbox with the inscription, ‘First Lord of the Treasury’.
Setting the door off is a black ironwork fence with spiked newel posts runs along the front of the house and up each side of the step to the door.
The fence rises above the step into a double-swirled archway, supporting an iron gas lamp surmounted by a crown.
Corporal Edwards exited the car and opened the rear door allowing Strayker to emerge.
The officer at the door saluted Strayker and the black door that could only be opened from the inside was opened.
Miss Douglas the Prime Ministers secretary was waiting inside to escort Strayker to the Prime Minister.
Strayker observed the familiar scene, black and white marble tiles on the floor in the entrance hall. Along with a Chippendale guard’s chair situated in one corner.
Once used when police officers sat on watch outside in the street, it has an unusual hood designed to protect them from the wind and cold and a drawer underneath where hot coals were placed to provide warmth.
Their pistols rubbing up against the leather caused scratches on the right arm.
Kent’s staircase is the first architectural feature visitors see as they enter Number 10. Black and white engravings and photographs of all the past Prime Ministers decorate the wall; they are rearranged slightly to make room for a new picture of the most recent former Prime Minister, two photographs of Winston Churchill stand out amongst these.
Miss Douglas led the way to The Pillared State Drawing Room, she opened the door allowing Strayker to enter and he observed several faces that were familiar to him.
The PM was seated at the head of the table; she was in her second term as the British Prime Minister.
She had a reputation for getting things done and was often referred to as the Iron lady.
The other members were all part of the Everest group, this group had been formed when the OSC had been set up.
The Everest group was for all intent and purposes the reins that held onto Strayker’s OSC teams. They met on a monthly basis to share Intel and review the OSC’s progress.
The group was made up of; Jonathan Troy head of MI5, Pierce Evans head of MI6, Sir Richard Evans head of the British Army, Admiral Sir Robert Fox head of the Royal Navy and Sir Toby Percival Head of the Royal Air force.
Strayker sat down near the PM.
The PM opened the meeting with the first item on the agenda, directed at Jonathan Troy of MI5.
“Jonathan; what information do have you on the aircraft that went down in the Atlantic?”
Jonathan Troy spent a few minutes bringing the group up to speed with the recent Intel on the disaster, including a recent addition that some of the cargo had been salvaged two hours ago; zero five thirty hour’s local time.
The Prime Minister turned to Pierce Evans head of MI6 and said, “What additional Intel have you got on the two CIA men and the Russian FSB agent Pierce?”
Pierce Evans was aged 55; and 6-foot three inches tall and of medium build with grey short-cropped hair, his career had been mainly army intelligence until he retired 10 years ago.
He had made many influential friends and when the position for head of MI6 came up 2 years ago, he was nominated and became the head of the department.
Pierce opened a manila coloured folder and read from it, “interestingly it appears that the two CIA men were keeping eyes on the Russian KGB agent Ivan Balagula, even though the CIA state they were on board on a routine flight back to the states. The Russian had flown in the day before on a Russian Aeroflot flight; that same plane had a pallet on it that was transferred the next day to the British Airways flight 323. It would appear that this cargo was of extreme interest to both the CIA and the Russians, Ma’am.”
The PM paused for a few moments before responding, “Have you any ideas what the cargo was that ended up on the doomed flight Pierce?”
Pierce replied, “Nothing concrete Ma’am, just rumours.”
The Prime Minister said, “Regale us with these rumours Pierce?”
Pierce Evans had always felt uncomfortable when the PM moved into this line of tact, he was a man whom worked on facts and not supposition, however his previous encounters with the PM had taught him too play along.
“Ma’am, gentlemen; this is all hypothetical. Over the last several months, we have been aware that something called Red Mercury is potentially being developed by the Russians. It appears to be some sort of top-secret nuclear material that is used in the building of boosted fission weapons.”
Pierce paused for a moment before continuing, “Let me explain, the boosted fission weapon is a second-generation nuclear weapon. It is based around the idea of making a fission explosion more efficient and capable of converting more of its fissile material to energy, by increasing the number of neut
rons available during the critical stages of detonation. Its explosive power is so great that it is rumoured that Red Mercury can trigger a fusion reaction.”
The room was notably quiet as Pierce finished the Prime Minister broke the silence, “I want this given top priority we need more substantial evidence on this Red Mercury. I want both MI-5 & 6 looking into this Red Mercury.”
The Prime Minister turned to Strayker and said, “See if ICIS can come up with anything Major?”
Strayker gave a nod.
The Prime Minister continued, Jonathan; I want to know what was in the cargo that is retrieved ASAP and I want to know what the hell the Russians are doing and what the Americans know. Now Major if you could give us your report?”
Major Strayker replied, “Ma’am, gentlemen, as you are all aware the beefed up security is now completed here at Number 10, the front door is now made from bomb and blast proof metal, the steps down towards St James Park have been blocked off and are now controlled by a gate with a Police officer in attendance. As you have all come in from Whitehall you will have seen the added security, the rear garden and wall are now monitored by sophisticated surveillance systems. We are just waiting the final item to complete the security, which is a scanner to be located just inside the doorway in the next two days. I can confirm that upgraded security has also been completed at Hesters Copse OSC HQ and ICIS.”
The Prime Minister replied, “thank you Major; I think that concludes our meeting.”
13
OSC Headquarters
Whitehall place
London SW1
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.4 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.5 minutes West
Friday 8th September 1989 (same day)
Zero eleven thirty five hours BST
Following the meeting at Number 10, Corporal Edwards had driven Strayker the short distance to the OSC’s HQ.
Strayker exited the Vauxhall and approached the flight of steps with a black railing around them and he climbed the ten steps.
Strayker entered the non-descript door and was greeted by a face he had seen before, the man in a neat two-piece dark blue flannel suite, stood up from behind his table and said, “good morning sir.”
This man known was the Rook; he was armed with a concealed handgun in a shoulder holster.
Strayker replied, “Good morning private.”
As soon as Strayker had approached the door his face had been scanned by a hidden camera, within seconds he was positively identified.
A palm signature device built into the door handle that monitors a three-dimensional image of the hand completed the security check by checking the pattern of veins in the hand and the geometrical analysis of fingers in a split second, allowing Major Strayker to open the door.
Strayker walked over to the nearby lift as he entered he pressed the alarm button again a finger print recognition scanning system operated.
The doors closed and the lift descended, even though no levels below ground were shown on the keypad display.
The lift came to a halt and the doors opened, in front of him was a bulletproof plate glass screen; on the other side were two men in army fatigues both carrying HK-5 pistol machine guns each with a clip size of 32 rounds.
These Two men were known as the Sentinels.
A female electronic voice spoke, “please carry out identification process.”
The ceiling had circular vents, which looked harmless, however these were an integrated part of the security system, should identification process be unsuccessful a non-lethal sleeping gas would be instantly emitted rendering a person unconscious within five seconds of inhalation.
The metal floor also had the capability of discharging a powerful electric current; that would disable a person in less than a second.
A recent addition had been introduced, in that a steel plate would descend down across the glass panel in front.
Strayker approached a nearby eye and voice recognition scanner with a flashing red light; he looked into the scanner and at the same time said, “Eagle 2 returning to nest.”
The scanner light turned to a steady green and the female voice replied, “Eagle 2 confirmed.”
The glass door parted and the two sentinel guards moved aside allowing Strayker to proceed down the corridor and into the third door on the right, which was his office.
Strayker entered his office and sat down and he made a phone call to Vince Edwards at ICIS.
Vince Edwards answered the phone, “Vince here!”
“Good morning Vince.”
Vince recognised the Majors voice and replied “good morning to you sir, I presume you have something for us?”
Vince Edward’s had collar length silver grey hair, he wore glasses and typically, a tweed suit, he looked like a science teacher from the late fifties, yet he was only thirty-two years of age.
Vince had a British Mensa I.Q of 191.
Strayker replied, “yes Vince; I need everything you can find out about something the Russians may have developed, called Red Mercury.”
Vince Edwards replied, “Ah yes; I came across it a few months ago in a Russian report that I had a sneak look at. From memory, it is all theoretical. It is supposed to facilitate the enrichment of uranium to weapons-grade purity; such enrichment is usually done with Zippe-type centrifuges, and takes several years. Eliminating such equipment by using Red Mercury would in theory, greatly ease the construction of a clandestine nuclear weapon.”
Strayker paused for a moment digesting what Vince had just said, it sounded too technical for his mind with the exception of the last few words, ‘greatly ease the construction of a clandestine nuclear weapon’.
“Okay Vince, I also want everything you can get on a Russian KGB agent Ivan Balagula; do your stuff Vince and get back to me ASAP.”
Strayker terminated the call and sat back in his chair, going over the briefing at Number 10 along with what Vince had just said.
14
BA-323
Salvage site
North Atlantic Ocean
Two hundred and twelve miles
East of New York
Lat = 39 degrees, 47.8 minutes North
Long = 68 degrees, 59.6 minutes West
Friday 8th September 1989 (same day)
Twenty-thirty-three hours EDT
Four hours behind UK time.
Since the initial recovery of some of the cargo, the past fifteen hours had been spent recovering virtually all the cargo pallets that had been strewn across a relatively small area of the seabed.
Although the aircraft had broken into three pieces, the cargo hold area had fared well.
The salvage vessel named Sea Mist was captained by Cory Wilson, a bespoke salvage vessel built in 1980 by a Norwegian company and with a crew of fifteen; she was 234 feet long with a 55-foot breadth with a top speed of 15.7 knots (18mph).
The accommodation consisted of five suits with dayroom, bedroom and bathroom.
Five two-man cabins, 16 two-man bedrooms attached to dayrooms and one two-bed hospital.
The captain had just been advised all the recovery submersibles were topside and secure; he winched up the anchor and set sail on a heading of two hundred and ninety-two degrees west by north west into choppy waters with six-foot high swells, back to The Port of New York and New Jersey.
Captain Cory Wilson picked up the radio and made a call to London.
15
Newark Bay
Port Authority
Of New York and New Jersey
Lat = 40 degrees, 40.3 minutes North
Long = 74 degrees, 8.5 minutes West
Saturday 9th September 1989 (Next day)
Zero nine eleven hours EDT
The Sea Mist had made good
time and had docked in Newark bay waiting to be offloaded.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (PANYNJ) is a bi-state port district authority, established in 1921.
The Port District is irregularly shaped but comprises of a 1,500-square-mile area roughly within a 25-mile radius of the Statue of Liberty.
Samantha Lockhart from MI-5 had arrived in JFK airport New York one hour earlier and along with her team had just grabbed a couple of taxi’s enroute to the Docks twenty-three miles away.
Watching the Sea Mist from a parked up dark grey Ford SUV were two CIA agents.
Sydney Carter was a black afro American having served with the CIA for the past ten years, his partner was Sean McFaul an Irish American a CIA operative for five years.
Just as they were observing the Sea Mist, a large dark blue semi eighteen-wheeler drove past them and a few moments later parked up on the dockside alongside the Sea Mist.
Carter said, “That’s our man, he is bang on time.”
The driver of the semi was another CIA operative named Mike Banks, a native New Yorker with a military background who had recently joined the ranks of the CIA.
He climbed down from the rig and walked over to the gangplank leading up to the Sea Mist; he momentarily looked up at the boat and then walked up the gangplank.
He was dressed in a Port of New York uniform and carried a clipboard.
Captain Cory Wilson had seen the semi drive up, had walked down to the deck, and met the man now on the ship’s deck.
The Captain said, “How can I help you?”
Mike Banks handed the clipboard over to the Captain and said, “I am Mike Banks with the New York port authority, I have come to take your cargo to a secure warehouse captain.”
Captain Wilson looked at the paperwork on the clipboard and everything looked in order, he took a pen out of his breast pocket, signed the document, and handed it back to the man.
Mike Banks retrieved the clipboard from the captain and tore off the top copy and handed it to the captain and said, “How soon can we begin offloading captain?”
Captain Wilson replied, “Immediately, I will have the crew drop it on the dock alongside your rig.”
Red Mercury Page 6