‘Know anything about the patrol boat in the Caspian?’ I asked, to get a reading of them, at least; their tension, their accents. ‘Is this true?’

‘We can’t comment on that,’ the driver said.

‘Are you guys in the Caspian?’

‘No comment.’

The business district was crawling with riot police, sniffer dogs, busy within the red and blue flashing lights. Only speed, visible weaponry and a uniformed gravitas kept us moving. Piper called again.

‘Galina’s conscious. She was still in the hotel when it happened. The bomb went off beside the President.’

‘There was a battalion of security at the hotel. How did they get that close?’

‘I don’t know.’

We sped up. I was about to ask Piper about the security setup at the hotel, then it occurred to me that GL5 must have been involved somewhere along the line. I said I’d speak to her at the office and hung up. My chauffeurs faced frontwards, unmoving. The doors were centrally locked. I reached down and clicked the release for the hand axe, then checked we were on the correct route. We arrived at the Saracen offices a few minutes later, which didn’t feel like a huge relief. I was hustled past security barriers to the lift where, to my surprise, we went down.

Doors opened directly onto a bunker office, one half of which was crowded with forty staff. The other half, through a glass partition, was a conference room with a large oval table. Both ends had multiple TVs showing CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera, Russia’s Channel One – plus screens carrying maps and satellite feeds of the various fields. The lift kept chiming, Saracen executives arriving from the party in their evening wear, faded by ash. Medics had set up a small first-aid station in the corner. Piper had a list of names, hammering the phones, checking off all employees and members of the trade delegation who were in the area. Some of the Kazakh staff were crying.

I went over to a live satellite feed of the Conqueror field and tried to see activity. Nothing, which was ominous in itself. The Sigma battalions were preparing, I felt sure. Piper hung up and came over. Tiny specks of glass glittered in her hair.

‘We’ve got a plane on stand-by to evacuate the delegation, soon as we know it’s safe to get there. Trying to get clearance to fly.’

‘Where’s Callum?’

‘On his way. I just spoke to Galina. Obviously she’s not in a good way psychologically, but her injuries are superficial. She wasn’t at the front when it happened.’

Through the panic and confusion, the trained officer in me still felt the need to brief those in a position to act.

‘There’s no succession plan. There’s nothing to guarantee she ends up in charge.’