Looking at the evident distress on her face, it must have come as a shock to her to discover that there was such a direct and human dimension to her work. He thought again of his own wife and daughters and their accusation that he lacked empathy. GCHQ was going to need the Nicola Allenbys of this world in the dark days that were certain to come and he knew he ought to try to show some concern and understanding.

“I’m genuinely sorry if that came over as heartless, my dear. But there really is nothing you can do to help. You need to focus on the fact that what you have done has helped, is going to save countless lives. It’s not your fault he’s going back into danger and you cannot warn him.”

1900 hours, Friday, July 7, 2017

Forest south of Pravdinsk, Kaliningrad, Russia

DEEP IN THE dense forest, hidden in the carefully concealed patrol base, Morland, Krauja and Arvydas Lukša, the Lithuanian Forest Brother who had taken over responsibility for looking after the Mercian team, went through the detail once again of what they had learned from their recent reconnaissance of the Pravdinsk Iskander missile site. They were looking for any potential gaps in the plan for the next phase of the operation. Close by, Sergeant Danny Wild provided immediate protection, while around them the Lithuanians and Mercians cleaned weapons, rested or prepared their kit for that night’s operation. On the edge of a clearing the trail bikes, their means of transport up until now, stood hidden under camouflage nets.

Morland kept his voice low as he summarized what they knew. “We’ve got a pretty firm fix on the way the site’s laid out: barbed-wire perimeter fence, arc lights and sentry towers—together with the least exposed approaches. Also, it seems that the guards tend to follow the same pattern in their patrolling. In and out of the same gate in the compound.”

Krauja nodded. “And we know they always use the same track through that minefield along the northern perimeter too. I couldn’t spot whether it was marked or not, but at least we know it’s there. Thank God for that wretched deer blowing its leg off after straying into it. If we hadn’t been watching the perimeter fence when it did, we’d have never have known the minefield existed.”

“I only wish it had been us who got the meat instead of the Russians,” grumbled Captain Lukša, the broad-shouldered, former member of the Lithuanian national wrestling team, now of the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces. “We could all do with a hot meal.”