‘If it is the Russians, and I’m certain it is, I cannot think why they want Quoit. Information about our nuclear energy programme is freely available, and the Russians themselves are more advanced in many areas of nuclear energy technology than we are. This scaremongering speech is most peculiar. What do the Russians hope to gain by kicking up dirt about nuclear power stations? All right, they get the anti-nuclear protestors out, and get public feeling going against everything nuclear, and disarmament will no doubt rear its head and become a major issue. The government may back down a few steps on its current nuclear policies, perhaps make a token cut in some area which doesn’t matter, and agree to look into the situation regarding US missile bases. But the Russians have got easier ways to whip up public feeling than this. They’ve got dozens of members of CND on their payroll, doing a good noisy job. Maybe they feel they’re not doing a good enough job – but I don’t think that’s what’s behind this.’

‘You think it’s a cover for something?’

‘It must be – Operation Angel, whatever that is. Horace Whalley, Operation Angel, Libya, Deke Sleder, the Russians – what a pretty package. We need to open it up, Flynn, and I think we need to open it up quick. There’s an international game going on, and they’ve forgotten to send us a copy of the rules; we’ll have to figure them out for ourselves.’

‘I don’t understand about Whalley and this cassette – why on earth did he have to drive all the way to Wales to pick up the tape and take it to London? It seems very odd to me.’

‘Could be a number of reasons: to see if he is being tailed; or, more likely, to help break him in – start him off doing fairly simple jobs, get him used to operating. It was a simple job, but a bit demanding, physically, and clandestine enough to give him a small taste of excitement. They could have been checking to see whether he would obey instructions – standard practice with a new recruit. It also gets him implicated – makes it harder for him to back out at a later stage if he suddenly decides he wants out. And besides, you don’t know for sure that he wasn’t delivering anything. What did he do after he dropped the tape off?’