The Editor said, ‘We need to be absolutely sure. Who knows how many other cells have been activated? With those already at the fence it looks like we may be hit by a concerted attack.’

The pressure of fear on Rosie squeezed out a squeak. ‘We’ll be surrounded!’

The Editor was startled and looked down at her. Anna drew her hand across her eyes, and her hand was shaking.

Geraldine told Rosie, ‘Don’t be ridiculous. We can’t be surrounded by half a dozen people.’

But at the word ‘surrounded’, the uproar around them grew out of control. The Editor ordered the newsroom, ‘Quiet there.’ But his staff took no notice. Terror made them reckless. They shouted at the Editor, tugged at their friends’ sleeves, told them it was time to get out. The Editor’s handsome head surveyed his newsroom; this insubordination was unheard of. Anna said, ‘Why don’t we go back to London? If they’re closing in on us here.’

Geraldine rounded on her: ‘Leave the newsroom at five hours to deadline?’

The Editor’s great voice thundered across the chaos: ‘Listen to me!’ To make an example, he singled out Rosie. Pointing at her, he told his staff: ‘Do not listen to this counsellor of surrender.’ Rosie jolted as if electrocuted. ‘This is precisely the kind of cowardice that the terrorists want to force us into; and if we allow them to do so, they have already beaten us.’

The noise did not die down. The Editor’s words were not going over. Rosie’s complexion lost its colour as the blood left her head. She went dizzy and moved to stand up, to get up and out, anywhere, to fresh air. But the Editor put his big hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down into her seat.

‘What would have happened if Britain had given in to fear in 1940, when our small island kingdom stood alone, and stood firm, with all Hitler’s legions arrayed against it? What would have happened had we listened to the appeasers and the Quislings in our midst?’ A sob escaped Rosie, and her hands grabbed her mouth as if to hold it closed. Jeremy sought Max’s eye to confirm: they were staunch hacks, staying where they were. Max nodded and Jeremy made a slight wince on Rosie’s behalf. Max wasn’t interested. The Editor was right. And if this broke her, it was better to find out now that she couldn’t take the strain.

The Editor orated above them, not winning over his staff. Several people were actually leaving. ‘They will never – can never – defeat this country by force of arms. Terror is their only weapon. If we do not give in to it, it does not exist. This girl, this—’