‘As a result of this, we decided to take a very close look at the British nuclear energy industry – power stations and all other related areas. A short while after this incident, the controller of system safeguards at the United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority, a man called Horace Whalley, was invited to spend a short holiday on a yacht in the South of France by none other than Deke Sleder, the German industrialist. Sleder is a man on whom we have always kept an eye. His business practices are nothing if not sharp, and his allegiances have from time to time been a trifle dubious. In the last two years, Sleder has made big strides into the nuclear energy business – not in this country, yet, I might add. Sleder was joined, on this jolly boating trip, by a total of a dozen men from five countries: from the United States, Canada, France and Spain, and the United Kingdom was represented by Mr Whalley. Judging by the bevvy of girls on board, it wasn’t just a working holiday.

‘Now, at this point, it could be that Sleder merely wanted to get inside information on the nuclear energy business in these countries; the men came from different fields – some were working for governments, some for private industry.

‘The next thing that happened was that Sir Isaac disappeared. There was no immediate connection at all – until Mr Flynn, following Whalley, saw him pick up a videotape from a contact in Wales and deliver this tape to the BBC. That was the videotape that went out on the air last Monday.

‘The final thing, of course, was the discovery and rescue of Sir Isaac from the Aeroflot plane.’

‘Do you think, Sir Charles,’ asked Peter Nettlefold, the Commander of C4, ‘that the Russians are planning some form of worldwide sabotage of nuclear power stations?’

‘We received a report yesterday from Sir william’s department,’ Fifeshire was referring to MI6, an organization for which he normally had little regard, ‘perhaps you’d like to relate it, Bill.’

Sir William Atling had a dark sunken face, and his eyes were a long way back in their sockets, shrouded by enormous, squirrel-like eyebrows. He was fairly tall, but very thin, and wore a sombre dark suit and dark tie that would not have made him look out of place in the clerical department of a firm of undertakers.

‘This “Operation Angel” was mentioned in a report I received from Moscow in July, and it has been mentioned several times since. I do not know what it is – no one has been able to find out, and my people are trying very, very hard. In Moscow there is a complete veil of secrecy drawn over it. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that something is going on that is greatly exciting the Politburo. What it is, I do not at the moment know. It could well be this Operation Angel.