‘Right.’ Hepton seemed satisfied with this, so Bert walked away from the car and towards his office, where a moment later he pushed the button that raised the barrier, allowing Hepton into the compound. Hepton gave a wave as he drove in, making for the other side of the administration building. There were plenty of parking spaces in front of the block, but he wanted to be far away from prying eyes. Thankfully, a few cars had parked at the rear, in a sort of courtyard enclosed by a picket fence, a hedge and an emergency generator, itself surrounded by high iron railings. Hepton did not drive to the furthest corner: there were no other vehicles there to provide cover. Instead, he made for the busiest point, where two cars had parked a bay apart, with another car a little distance in front of them. He manoeuvred the Cavalier into the narrow space between the two cars and turned off the engine. Yes, the new security man on the gate liked his job … They were moving their own men into the base. Slowly but surely, COFFIN was taking over.

He opened the driver’s-side door as far as it would go without denting the car next to him and squeezed out, then closed the door again but did not lock it. He wasn’t planning on staying long, and their leave-taking might have to be rapid. Unlocking a door took time, time they might not have.

He looked around. The place was quiet. There was a security camera trained on the back of the admin block and on the path that led towards the control building, but no camera, he knew for a fact, covered this rear car park. He unlocked the boot.

Dreyfuss blinked into the light and quickly, silently, pulled himself out of his foetal position. While Hepton relocked the boot, Dreyfuss did some limbering exercises. The boot had been a tight squeeze, and he was thankful he’d only needed to be in it for the last mile of the drive. He shook his arms loose of any stiffness and straightened his clothes.

‘I thought your pal at the gate was going to ask to see inside,’ he said.

‘To be honest,’ answered Hepton, ‘so did I. But I already had a story ready about the boot being jammed shut.’

‘Very likely,’ Dreyfuss said. He was taking deep breaths.

‘Okay,’ Hepton said. He pointed towards the meandering line of paving slabs, cracked and showing tufts of wild grass. ‘That’s the path we take. There’s a camera trained on it beginning and end, so look relaxed. Pretend I’ve just arrived on base and bumped into you.’

‘Fine,’ Dreyfuss replied.