Topham greeted him at the door with a warm handshake – the two men’s paths had crossed many times over the years, starting when Topham had been 22 SAS CO – and they made their way through to the kitchen.

‘House to ourselves?’ said Nicholls.

‘Yeah,’ said Topham. ‘Everyone else is up in Herefordshire.’

Nicholls nodded. ‘Thanks for hosting us,’ he said. ‘I thought it was probably best to be somewhere less… formal.’

‘Brew?’ said Topham, but just then there was a firm knock at the front door.

It was a thick-set, stern-faced officer from Scotland Yard’s Royalty and Specialist Protection team.

Behind him, and quickly ushered inside, was the Prime Minister, Penelope Morgan.

A few minutes later, the three of them were sitting around Topham’s kitchen table.

The curtains were drawn, and Topham had placed mugs of tea in front of all of them.

Morgan, looking tired but determined, didn’t waste any time.

She looked at Mark Topham.

‘You read the briefing notes, Mark?’ she said.

‘I did, Prime Minister,’ he said.

‘Can we go in?’

Topham paused for a moment. ‘Do we have the capability to launch an assault into a foreign country to resolve the situation?’ he said. ‘Yes, we do, ma’am. As you know, a naval asset left Devonport for the Med two days ago, as a contingency movement. She’ll be in Gibraltar later today. I could embark the Counter Terrorist Squadron at Gib, and steam them on into the Med from there. They’d be fifty kilometres off Sirte in three days’ time, ready to launch by Chinook when the moment was right. But there are many unknowns.’

‘Such as?’ said Morgan.

‘Firstly, where are the hostages?’ he said. ‘Justin’s putting them in or around Sirte, but that’s a huge area. I need a lot better than that.’

He looked at Justin Nicholls, eyebrows raised.

‘I’m confident we’ll get there,’ said Nicholls.

‘When?’ said Morgan.

‘That I can’t say, Penny. We’re moving assets around, and we have some excellent sources in-country – guys our people have worked with for decades, some of them grade A.’

Grade A sources were proven, reliable people, with a track record of providing accurate, independently verified intelligence.

‘They’re good men, are they?’ asked Morgan.

‘I wouldn’t go that far,’ said Nicholls, gravely. ‘Some of them are very bad men. But they’ll give us what we need, if they have it, and if the price is right.’

‘I understand. Go on, Mark.’

Mark Topham fiddled with his signet ring. ‘Let’s say Justin’s sources believe they’ve identified the building. I still need to have my own eyes-on before we launch the main assault, which means inserting a Recce Team first. Grade A or no, I wouldn’t risk my men’s lives without that, ma’am.’

‘I’m not a soldier, Mark,’ she said, apologetically. ‘Can you elaborate, please? And, please – it’s Penelope.’