Sir Adam Keeling put down his pen, looked up sharply and gave them his full attention. ‘So,’ he began, folding his hands and looking from one to another across his desk. ‘You’re both back from Lithuania. That was good work, you and Jenny getting the flash drive. It’s brought us a valuable piece of the jigsaw.’ Even as he was saying this, Luke suspected that any congratulations would be short-lived. And he was right.

‘But I have to say,’ Sir Adam continued, ‘that I’m deeply concerned by what you, Luke, have relayed to Angela.’ He paused, frowning, looking down for a moment. This didn’t seem to Luke to be a good moment to interrupt.

‘All our analysis,’ the Chief went on, looking directly at Luke, ‘points to Moscow being behind the Svalbard outbreak. And by Moscow, I mean the Kremlin. So I’d like to hear, in your own words, Luke, how exactly you think Earl Grey’s product fits into that analysis?’

Luke adjusted his position on the chair and returned the Chief’s stare. He knew this was a make-or-break moment for him. Get this wrong and his career at MI6 might never recover. But he didn’t hesitate. He was ready for this. ‘That’s just the point, C. It isn’t the Kremlin per se.’

‘What d’you mean, “it isn’t the Kremlin”?’ Sir Adam’s voice bore a distinct note of irritation as he said this. ‘Every single lead on this case goes back to Moscow. Everything we’ve been pulling in, from our Oslo and Moscow station heads, from GCHQ, from Norway’s NIS, it all points clearly and unequivocally to this being a GRU operation. That’s what we’ve given the Joint Intelligence Committee and that’s what the data supports. And you’re now asking me to throw all that out of the window and tell them there’s a non-state actor to blame?’

Luke felt the change in the atmosphere of the room even as the Chief was speaking. He started to answer when Angela cut in, speaking from the couch to his left, over by the window. ‘C, I think what Luke is trying to say is that this may not be quite as straightforward as we thought.’

Thanks, Angela, I knew I could count on you for support, Luke thought, but I’d best mount my own defence here. ‘I know it looks like GRU,’ he said. ‘That’s what they want everyone to think. But this is a false-flag operation made to appear as if the Russian state is behind it. And based on everything Earl Grey has divulged, this doesn’t point to the Kremlin.’

‘So who in heaven’s name do you suppose it is, then?’ Sir Adam exclaimed. He was leaning forward in his chair now, eyes glaring at Luke from behind his huge desk. Luke knew there was absolutely no time for hesitation.