‘American defence strategy is forward-thinking,’ Villiers was saying, ‘forward meaning Europe, so as to prevent war on American soil. The American generals weren’t happy about the enforced pull-out. It’s all down to trust, and they weren’t about to trust a civilian Britain not under the US umbrella. Anything might happen. We all might become bloody Europeans, and it’s a short step from there to Euro-communism. They decided it wasn’t right. So it was decided that a base was needed, an underground base, away from prying eyes. RAF Buchan was chosen as the intended site. It has a surveillance system, a few dozen staff and even a couple of silos.’

‘Silos?’

‘Nuclear silos, Major. Built when Britain was expecting to play host to American missiles.’

Dreyfuss’ throat was suddenly very dry. ‘Are there missiles, too?’

Villiers nodded eagerly. ‘Yes,’ he said. ‘Isn’t that amazing?’

‘It’s impossible.’

‘Oh no, I assure you that it is fact. The missiles were already here. Instead of dismantling them, our cousins merely moved them around, stripping off a bit here and a bit there, then rebuilding new missiles from pieces of the old. Simplicity itself. After all, they already had more missiles here than anyone knew about.’

‘But why do you need silos?’

‘For the first strike.’

‘What?’ Dreyfuss’ head spun.

‘Buchan is merely the UK base. There are others dotted all over Europe. They are the centres of attack for a series of forthcoming coups, apparently by the armed forces of each country, but in reality by COFFIN. Soon after that, we launch the missiles.’

‘But why, for God’s sake?’

Villiers laughed. ‘I took you for an intelligent man, Major. Think about it. Can you see Eastern Europe accepting such a series of coups so close to their borders and – if you’ll excuse the pun – their satellites? No, they’ll be forced to attack. But they’ll be too late. We’ll have hit them first!’

‘This is mad.’

‘No, it is completely sane, Major.’

‘You’re saying nobody’s noticed any of this?’

‘Buchan is isolated, as are the other chosen bases. The fact that the troops were pulling out gave the perfect cover for some excavation and building work. There was already a small underground chamber there, to protect the systems against nuclear attack. We disguised a building programme as a dismantling programme. The Scots are a wonderful nation, Major. They keep themselves to themselves, and so long as no one’s interfering with them, they’re happy to turn a blind eye to most things.’

Dreyfuss nodded. ‘But,’ he said, ‘you couldn’t hope to hide the construction work from the skies?’

‘Exactly. Which is where Zephyr came in. I must say, the generals proposed a simple but ingenious idea. Tap into the surveillance satellite, and you can transmit anything you like. So that’s what they did.’