‘To make sure it all runs smoothly. There are some protest groups, including one pretty big one called USA Stay. They said they intended to stage some kind of resistance. You know, linking hands around a camp, or putting a padlock and chain on the gate. Symbolic stuff mainly. But the brass wanted to know what they were up to.’

‘The brass?’

‘Yes, the military. They’ve been keeping an eye open. A couple of high-rankers were on site when Zephyr malfunctioned.’

Hepton was trying not to be melodramatic. He wanted to state facts rather than his own suppositions, just to see what Dreyfuss and Parfit might make of it. This was the first time he had told anyone the story – Jilly excepted – and it felt good. Almost like the confessional.

‘Then,’ he continued, ‘a friend of mine who works beside me thought he had something on his computer, some data showing interference with Zephyr. Next thing I know he’s been rushed to hospital, and soon after that he’s supposedly hanged himself in a closet. Then a woman called Harry tried to shoot me, run me over, and shoot me again.’

‘Harry?’ Parfit sounded almost excited.

‘Yes. Do you know her?’

‘I think so. We had a run-in with her four or five years ago. I thought she’d retired.’

‘She tried to kill me.’

‘Surprised you’re still alive then. Killing is her job. But how in hell is she mixed up in this?’

Hepton stared fixedly at Sanders. ‘My friend, the one who died. He told me to watch for someone called Villiers. I think Villiers and Harry are working together.’

‘But working on what?’ asked Parfit. ‘That’s the question. What does this satellite …’

‘Zephyr,’ said Hepton.

‘Yes, Zephyr. What does it do exactly when it’s hovering over its target?’

‘It takes photographs and sends them back to control.’

‘Control being where?’

‘Binbrook.’

‘Are these still photographs or videos?’

‘Stills, mostly. The data is beamed down to us, and the pictures develop on a machine almost instantaneously.’

‘Ingenious,’ Parfit said, as though he meant it. ‘A little like a fax then?’

Hepton smiled again. ‘A little, yes.’

‘But clear?’

‘Clear enough. In focus, if that’s what you mean.’

‘Ingenious,’ Parfit said again. Then: ‘Sorry, hold on a second, will you?’ There were muffled sounds at the Washington end, the sounds of a conversation. Hepton thought he heard the name ‘Johnnie’ mentioned at one point. Then Parfit’s voice came back, loud and more or less clear. ‘Sorry about that. Right, so are we any further forward, do you think?’

‘Well, we know that Argos locked onto Zephyr,’ said Hepton. ‘Probably using the satellite it was launching. What we don’t know is why. I had the idea it was all some kind of secret test, trying out some capability of the satellite that the powers-that-be wanted to keep hidden from even the ground controllers.’