Sir Charles asked.
‘That’s correct, sir,’ Sumners confirmed.
‘That’s a very dangerous game,’ Sir Charles warned, frowning disapprovingly.
Nevins glanced at Jervis and Van der Seiff for any reaction but neither man was giving anything away.
‘The minister does not have the right to risk that information falling into the wrong hands,’ Sir Charles continued, haughtily. ‘I mean, you say the Americans now have it, but if they don’t know they have it who’s to say they actually do, or that it can’t be lost again, for that matter? If no one is controlling it then it could still end up in the wrong hands. The Americans would never forgive us. And I wouldn’t blame them for a moment, either. Oh, no.’
‘That’s all understood, Sir Charles,’ Nevins said, suppressing a sigh. ‘We believe the tablet is still inside Durrani and, well, he’s going nowhere for the time being.’
‘Not the point, old man,’ Sir Charles said. ‘Doesn’t the minister realise this could cost him his job, if it hasn’t already?’
‘Frankly, Sir Charles, the minister’s job security is not our concern. What I am concerned about is the security summit meeting next week in Washington. A revelation like this will put the minister in a weak position with the Americans at a time when we can ill afford to be . . . In the simplest of terms, we need to get the tablet back or destroy it before the Americans find out about it. The reason we are all sitting here today discussing our options is because we have some. There is a window of opportunity to retrieve or destroy the tablet before we are forced to come clean with the Americans. It’s an opportunity we are here to thoroughly explore. At this moment in time, no decisions have been made.’
‘Playing with bloody fire even thinking about it, if you ask me,’ Sir Charles mumbled.
Nevins wanted to tell Sir Charles that no one was interested in his opinions about the conduct of operations, only in his contributions towards their success. But he also knew that despite Sir Charles’s doomsday reaction the old boy would give his all at the crease if his turn to bat came.
‘Do we ’ave a plausible reason to ask the Yanks for an interview with Durrani?’ Jervis asked, putting an unlit cigarette in his mouth just for the comfort of it.
‘None that won’t cause some bright spark to become suspicious enough to dig around,’ Nevins said. ‘The minister hasn’t been particularly supportive of the American propensity for shipping prisoners, terrorist suspects or otherwise, out of countries without the express permission of those countries’ sovereign governments and detaining them indefinitely for interrogation purposes. The hypocrisy of us suddenly asking to join in would raise eyebrows at every level.’
‘Assuming that your bright spark is already digging around, even routinely, what could he find out about Durrani’s operation?’ Van der Seiff asked.
‘Durrani could be linked to the shooting-down of the helicopter and also to his master, Mullah Ghazan,’ Nevins said. ‘Let’s assume the Americans know there was something of importance found in the helicopter wreckage. They know it was carrying a senior British intelligence officer. Let’s even assume they know that what was found was brought to Mullah Ghazan in Kabul. Outside of this room and our intelligence staff in the Kabul embassy only four other men know the contents of the case: Mullah Ghazan, the doctor Emir Kyran, Sena - Mullah Ghazan’s servant - and, of course, Durrani himself. Naturally, none of them know the significance of the tablet.’
‘I take it that the servant, Sena, is the informer,’ Van der Seiff said confidently.
‘That’s correct. But he works strictly for us. Doesn’t like the Americans and would offer nothing to them. If they brought him in for questioning Sena’s handler would be able to inform us.’
‘Then the danger lies in the Americans questioning Ghazan and the
‘That’s correct, sir,’ Sumners confirmed.
‘That’s a very dangerous game,’ Sir Charles warned, frowning disapprovingly.
Nevins glanced at Jervis and Van der Seiff for any reaction but neither man was giving anything away.
‘The minister does not have the right to risk that information falling into the wrong hands,’ Sir Charles continued, haughtily. ‘I mean, you say the Americans now have it, but if they don’t know they have it who’s to say they actually do, or that it can’t be lost again, for that matter? If no one is controlling it then it could still end up in the wrong hands. The Americans would never forgive us. And I wouldn’t blame them for a moment, either. Oh, no.’
‘That’s all understood, Sir Charles,’ Nevins said, suppressing a sigh. ‘We believe the tablet is still inside Durrani and, well, he’s going nowhere for the time being.’
‘Not the point, old man,’ Sir Charles said. ‘Doesn’t the minister realise this could cost him his job, if it hasn’t already?’
‘Frankly, Sir Charles, the minister’s job security is not our concern. What I am concerned about is the security summit meeting next week in Washington. A revelation like this will put the minister in a weak position with the Americans at a time when we can ill afford to be . . . In the simplest of terms, we need to get the tablet back or destroy it before the Americans find out about it. The reason we are all sitting here today discussing our options is because we have some. There is a window of opportunity to retrieve or destroy the tablet before we are forced to come clean with the Americans. It’s an opportunity we are here to thoroughly explore. At this moment in time, no decisions have been made.’
‘Playing with bloody fire even thinking about it, if you ask me,’ Sir Charles mumbled.
Nevins wanted to tell Sir Charles that no one was interested in his opinions about the conduct of operations, only in his contributions towards their success. But he also knew that despite Sir Charles’s doomsday reaction the old boy would give his all at the crease if his turn to bat came.
‘Do we ’ave a plausible reason to ask the Yanks for an interview with Durrani?’ Jervis asked, putting an unlit cigarette in his mouth just for the comfort of it.
‘None that won’t cause some bright spark to become suspicious enough to dig around,’ Nevins said. ‘The minister hasn’t been particularly supportive of the American propensity for shipping prisoners, terrorist suspects or otherwise, out of countries without the express permission of those countries’ sovereign governments and detaining them indefinitely for interrogation purposes. The hypocrisy of us suddenly asking to join in would raise eyebrows at every level.’
‘Assuming that your bright spark is already digging around, even routinely, what could he find out about Durrani’s operation?’ Van der Seiff asked.
‘Durrani could be linked to the shooting-down of the helicopter and also to his master, Mullah Ghazan,’ Nevins said. ‘Let’s assume the Americans know there was something of importance found in the helicopter wreckage. They know it was carrying a senior British intelligence officer. Let’s even assume they know that what was found was brought to Mullah Ghazan in Kabul. Outside of this room and our intelligence staff in the Kabul embassy only four other men know the contents of the case: Mullah Ghazan, the doctor Emir Kyran, Sena - Mullah Ghazan’s servant - and, of course, Durrani himself. Naturally, none of them know the significance of the tablet.’
‘I take it that the servant, Sena, is the informer,’ Van der Seiff said confidently.
‘That’s correct. But he works strictly for us. Doesn’t like the Americans and would offer nothing to them. If they brought him in for questioning Sena’s handler would be able to inform us.’
‘Then the danger lies in the Americans questioning Ghazan and the
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