Read Online Undersea Prison by Duncan Falconer - Free Book Online
Authors: Duncan Falconer
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doctor,’ Van der Seiff said.
‘Up to this moment they have not. We are monitoring the possibility. I believe, at this present time, the Americans do not know that Durrani is carrying anything inside his body. The tablet is non-magnetic and has such minuscule metallic properties that it cannot be detected by a regular scanner.’
‘What about if they X-ray him?’ Jervis asked.
‘It would show up on an X-ray,’ Nevins admitted. ‘But we know it is not part of their standard procedure to X-ray detainees.’
‘This is ridiculous,’ Sir Charles scoffed. ‘They probably have the damned thing already and aren’t telling us.’
‘That’s why you’re here, Sir Charles,’ Nevins said, glancing at him with a chill in his eyes which he quickly warmed with a thin smile. ‘If there’s anyone who can sniff such a change in the wind, you can.’
‘And if they have it?’ Sir Charles asked, brushing off the ego stroking.
‘We’ve covered that already,’ Jervis said, barely hiding his irritation with the old soldier. ‘The minister will be buggered.’
‘He won’t be the only one, either,’ Nevins muttered.
Jervis smiled at the squirming that would take place throughout the organisation when this thing broke open.
‘What if our American cousins ask us to contribute to Durrani’s file?’Van der Seiff asked, staring into space as he often did when having such conversations.
‘I don’t see the point in addressing that until they do,’ Nevins replied.
Those who did not know Van der Seiff might have expected him to take Nevins’s response as lacking in courtesy. He did not. ‘Are we prepared to add further lies to the original deceit? That is my question.’
‘I know,’ Nevins replied. ‘I was asking for time to consider that one.’
It was unclear if Van der Seiff accepted the answer but the lowering of his gaze suggested he was not entirely pleased with it.
Jervis’s apparent lack of serious interest in the topic was due to the fact that his area of expertise was operational planning and not diplomacy. He knew he would eventually have a significant part to play in this meeting otherwise he would not have been invited so he was anxious to be done with all this banter and move on. He gave his assessment: ‘So the continued secrecy of this tablet depends on Durrani and those other characters not telling the Americans that he’s carrying something inside his belly.’
‘In a nutshell,’ Nevins responded, eager to move on himself.
‘Bloody marvellous,’ Sir Charles grumbled. ‘Now we’re relying on Taliban terrorists to keep our secrets for us.’
Nevins wanted to tell Sir Charles to stop being so melodramatic but he continued to disguise his irritation.
‘I take it everything’s in place to knock off the doctor and the mullah,’ Jervis said matter-of-factly.
‘Of course,’ Nevins said with equal callousness. ‘If it’s any consolation, what little information we have on Durrani is that he is regarded as somewhat special among the Taliban, hence him being entrusted with such an important mission. He doesn’t seem the sort to give it up easily . . . And the Americans would have to know what they were looking for before they began searching for it.’
Sir Charles made a disagreeable harrumphing sound.
‘Gentlemen,’ Nevins declared, as if the word might clear the air. ‘I would like to move on to the next phase of this meeting. I want us to examine the feasibility of getting close enough to Durrani to neutralise the tablet. Are we all in agreement?’
‘Do we know where he is?’ Jervis asked, displaying his characteristic impatience in the face of protocol, a habit at the root of his unpopularity among his peers.
‘I’d like us all to move forward together,’ Nevins said. There were some basic ground rules in this game that every man in the room knew well enough and Jervis was obviously trying it on.These meetings were recorded and anyone agreeing to proceed to the next
‘Up to this moment they have not. We are monitoring the possibility. I believe, at this present time, the Americans do not know that Durrani is carrying anything inside his body. The tablet is non-magnetic and has such minuscule metallic properties that it cannot be detected by a regular scanner.’
‘What about if they X-ray him?’ Jervis asked.
‘It would show up on an X-ray,’ Nevins admitted. ‘But we know it is not part of their standard procedure to X-ray detainees.’
‘This is ridiculous,’ Sir Charles scoffed. ‘They probably have the damned thing already and aren’t telling us.’
‘That’s why you’re here, Sir Charles,’ Nevins said, glancing at him with a chill in his eyes which he quickly warmed with a thin smile. ‘If there’s anyone who can sniff such a change in the wind, you can.’
‘And if they have it?’ Sir Charles asked, brushing off the ego stroking.
‘We’ve covered that already,’ Jervis said, barely hiding his irritation with the old soldier. ‘The minister will be buggered.’
‘He won’t be the only one, either,’ Nevins muttered.
Jervis smiled at the squirming that would take place throughout the organisation when this thing broke open.
‘What if our American cousins ask us to contribute to Durrani’s file?’Van der Seiff asked, staring into space as he often did when having such conversations.
‘I don’t see the point in addressing that until they do,’ Nevins replied.
Those who did not know Van der Seiff might have expected him to take Nevins’s response as lacking in courtesy. He did not. ‘Are we prepared to add further lies to the original deceit? That is my question.’
‘I know,’ Nevins replied. ‘I was asking for time to consider that one.’
It was unclear if Van der Seiff accepted the answer but the lowering of his gaze suggested he was not entirely pleased with it.
Jervis’s apparent lack of serious interest in the topic was due to the fact that his area of expertise was operational planning and not diplomacy. He knew he would eventually have a significant part to play in this meeting otherwise he would not have been invited so he was anxious to be done with all this banter and move on. He gave his assessment: ‘So the continued secrecy of this tablet depends on Durrani and those other characters not telling the Americans that he’s carrying something inside his belly.’
‘In a nutshell,’ Nevins responded, eager to move on himself.
‘Bloody marvellous,’ Sir Charles grumbled. ‘Now we’re relying on Taliban terrorists to keep our secrets for us.’
Nevins wanted to tell Sir Charles to stop being so melodramatic but he continued to disguise his irritation.
‘I take it everything’s in place to knock off the doctor and the mullah,’ Jervis said matter-of-factly.
‘Of course,’ Nevins said with equal callousness. ‘If it’s any consolation, what little information we have on Durrani is that he is regarded as somewhat special among the Taliban, hence him being entrusted with such an important mission. He doesn’t seem the sort to give it up easily . . . And the Americans would have to know what they were looking for before they began searching for it.’
Sir Charles made a disagreeable harrumphing sound.
‘Gentlemen,’ Nevins declared, as if the word might clear the air. ‘I would like to move on to the next phase of this meeting. I want us to examine the feasibility of getting close enough to Durrani to neutralise the tablet. Are we all in agreement?’
‘Do we know where he is?’ Jervis asked, displaying his characteristic impatience in the face of protocol, a habit at the root of his unpopularity among his peers.
‘I’d like us all to move forward together,’ Nevins said. There were some basic ground rules in this game that every man in the room knew well enough and Jervis was obviously trying it on.These meetings were recorded and anyone agreeing to proceed to the next
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