First Response by Stephen Leather Page A

three.’
    Kamran took the call and the mayor got straight to the point. ‘So, Superintendent, do we shut down the Tube or not?’
    ‘It’s a tough call, sir.’
    ‘Yes, I’m aware of that, which is why I’m asking for guidance.’
    ‘General policy is to close the Tube only if and when there is a direct attack on it.’
    ‘So I guess my next question has to be, is it likely that they will do that?’
    ‘They haven’t yet, sir. And I would have thought that if they wanted to do a repeat of Seven/Seven then they would have.’
    ‘No Tube stations and no mainline stations have been targeted so far?’
    ‘A church, a shop, a post office, a childcare centre, a coffee shop and a pub.’
    ‘And there’s no discernible pattern to the attacks?’
    ‘Not in terms of type of places, no. But there does appear to be a geographical pattern. They started in Brixton and are moving clockwise around the city. We’re checking CCTV at the moment to see if we can spot the vehicle we believe dropped them off.’
    The mayor was silent for a few seconds. Kamran said nothing, giving the man time to think.
    ‘The problem, Superintendent, is that I’m old enough to remember how the IRA operated,’ said the mayor, eventually. ‘They would set off a small bomb so that a panic would start. Then they would detonate a second, bigger, bomb to kill those running away.’
    ‘You think they could be trying to drive people down into the Tube system?’
    ‘Multiple bombs above ground causing traffic chaos. They wait until the Tube is packed, then set off multiple devices below ground. Can you think of a more damaging scenario?’
    ‘I can’t,’ agreed Kamran. ‘But my gut feeling is that this isn’t about causing casualties. If they’d wanted to kill and maim, they could have just detonated the devices. I think they’re serious about wanting these ISIS prisoners freed.’
    ‘So you think this could actually be resolved without casualties?’
    ‘I hope so, yes.’
    ‘Well, we all hope so, Superintendent. I’m asking for your professional opinion.’
    Kamran took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. ‘They’ve gone to a lot of trouble to organise this so I do believe that they’re serious about their demands. If those demands are met, there is every possibility they will withdraw their threats.’
    ‘Well, I hope you’re right. So you’re saying we keep everything moving?’
    ‘That would be my advice, sir. Obviously at the first sign of trouble on the Tube we would react accordingly, but until then I would suggest business as usual.’
    ‘And the road closures?’
    ‘Nothing we can do about that, unfortunately. We have to establish an inner cordon and an outer cordon surrounded by a pedestrian zone, and all non-essential traffic has to be excluded from that.’
    ‘The problem TfL has is that even a single road closure can cause havoc with the buses. What we have already is approaching chaos and as soon as they work their way around one incident they get hit with another.’
    ‘I can see if there’s any way of limiting the size of the outer cordon, but most of the time our hands are tied,’ said Kamran. ‘What I can do is allow you to have a couple of TfL people here in the SOR. That way they can see what’s happening in real time but also they could give their input re road closures on the spot. That might smooth things along.’
    ‘We’ll definitely take you up on that, Superintendent. And as far as the negotiations are going, how likely is it that the ISIS prisoners will be released from Belmarsh?’
    ‘That’s a decision only the PM can make,’ said Kamran.
    The mayor chuckled without warmth. ‘Well good luck with that, Superintendent,’ he said. ‘Without a focus group to guide him, decision-making doesn’t come easy to our beloved prime minister. You’ll need to watch your back because if this ends badly he’ll be looking for someone to blame. Anyway, I’ll be in my office until this is resolved. Call