‘You’re not hearing me,’ he says, rounding on me. ‘We’re talking about the government here, the army, the whole fucking establishment.’

‘None of that matters,’ I shout, pushing at him. ‘The rot runs far deeper than just me… it’s just I’m probably one of the only ones 238left who can, beyond reasonable doubt, prove the whole lot. And I’ve got a national network microphone to do it with, haven’t I?’

‘That’s the point. That’s the fucking point. There’s a reason they started to come after you again. It probably never occurred to anyone that you’d be smart enough to crowbar your way to the position you’re in now. No one ever bothers to think about the victims beyond the fact they were victims. Christ, I’m surprised you’re even still alive.’

‘They couldn’t stop me even if they wanted to,’ I spit, shrugging into his hands. ‘I’m too close to everything now, and you’re right – they were always so focused on what I could do for them that they never considered how many cards I might end up holding myself. It’s far too hard to disappear a news producer so close to someone like you … to someone like Jemima…’

‘Jesus, Marie!’ I recoil as he leans forward, shouting into my face. ‘People disappear all the time. Don’t you get it? Look at Parish – the man you’ve just discovered was your actual father. You’ve even got different names. You and your brother grew up with no idea who he was to you, or what he’s been to anyone else. His own family never once questioned how he was killed in action. How do you think that was possible? And what do you think went on to convince him that grooming members of his own flesh and blood was fundamental to issues of national security? This is a top-down coverup, because it has the potential to bring down half the government. Making you disappear without trace will be the least of it.’

‘And that’s why we need to get moving. We haven’t got time to work out how they got away with it. It only matters now that they think they still have… they’re expecting me, they left me under no illusion of that…’ I finger the egg, still swollen on the side of my head. ‘I’m on the clock every time there is a new Andromeda line. They expect to hear from me. That’s the deal. All we need is some incriminating audio, and we’re golden with everything else you’ve got. We can blow the whole thing wide open tonight.’239