Jasminder looked at her watch; it was just eight o’clock. What time did these people get up on holiday? She said, ‘Thank you. Laurenz has a meeting this morning, and I wondered if anyone was going into town.’
‘There is a car and driver – he picked you up when you arrived.’
‘That’s right. Is he available?’ She hadn’t realised the driver was on call.
Kozlov shook his head. ‘Sadly, no. He is with Laurenz in Hamilton.’
‘Right. Well, perhaps I can call a taxi.’
‘Unfortunately, there is no telephone here, and it is impossible to get a signal for a mobile phone.’ Kozlov grinned.
This seemed curious. Her experience of the business world was limited, but it was odd that they would stay somewhere without any communications. Especially bankers. She wondered if there were buses nearby. Or maybe she could just stroll around the neighbourhood. Anything must be better than sitting by the pool, counting beetles. ‘There wouldn’t be a bicycle, would there?’
Kozlov looked at her as if she’d asked for the use of a horse. Then he laughed. ‘You seem very keen to get away. And this after I so enjoyed our conversation last night. Let us continue it. Sit down,’ he said, pointing to a matching armchair opposite his.
Reluctantly, Jasminder found herself doing what he asked. ‘It’s just that it would be nice to see something of Bermuda,’ she said.
‘Of course. I am sure that can be arranged. Later.’
She didn’t like Kozlov’s tone. He was acting as if he were somehow in charge of all of them. He continued, ‘I want to ask you some things.’
‘What sort of things?’
‘Laurenz has told me about the work you do. It must be fascinating. To have access to information other people would give their right arms to see.’
‘I think you have the wrong idea about my job. I am in Communications – like PR work. I just deal with the press and the media on behalf of my employers. I am not involved in secret work and I doubt if I know much more than you do, or any member of the public.’
‘That seems to me most unlikely.’ Kozlov’s expression was no longer as friendly. ‘From what Laurenz has told me, you have access to information that has been very useful to him. And that’s without your even trying very hard. He was grateful to you, and so will I be.’
‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’ She didn’t know how to deal with this man; inwardly she was furious. This was all Laurenz’s fault; he must have been boasting about her and her position in MI6. Some of her anger came out now. ‘This is not something I want to talk about. I am afraid you’ve been misled.’
Kozlov had got up from his chair now and was standing between Jasminder and the door. When he looked down at her it was from an intimidating height. He said, ‘Let’s not play Miss Innocent, all right? You passed on confidential information to your lover – that’s fact number one. You have access to information he and I and other colleagues would benefit from – that is fact number two. Fact three, in case you are wondering, we will be happy to reward you for your services. Cash is possible, or if that would be difficult, payment in kind – holidays, “gifts” (you may want a car some day), travel. None of these are out of the question. But they require delivery from you.’
‘Delivery? What are you talking about? What do you mean – delivery?’ She wished Laurenz would come back and sort this out. Whatever he’d said, this man had got the wrong end of the stick. How could Laurenz have put her in this position?
Kozlov seemed to read her thoughts. ‘No, I am not misled, and if you are right now thinking that your Laurenz has no idea that we are having this conversation, then you are sorely mistaken. I know everything that has passed between you, and all that you have so far supplied. Do you understand?’
She didn’t understand at all. She felt completely bewildered. Who was this Russian man and what did he want from her?
She didn’t have to wait long – he suddenly thrust a piece of paper at her, perhaps confusing her silence with acquiescence. Despite her better instincts, Jasminder scanned the page. It listed items of information: JIC meeting agendas; JIC papers on Russia and former Soviet satellites; internal MI6 strategic analysis papers on Russia and former Soviet satellites; field reports from MI6 officers in Russia and former Soviet satellites, especially the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Kozlov was still looming over her. ‘I want you to memorise this list, and then I will destroy it. When you return to the UK, I want you to begin collecting these materials immediately. Laurenz will brief you on the best ways to transport this information out of the Vauxhall building.’
She was frightened yet also outraged by what she was being asked. It was the stuff of spy novels and films – bribing an intelligence officer to provide classified information. She had never in a million years imagined something like this happening to her.
She had to put this man straight. ‘I think you’ve taken leave of your senses. And your attempt at bribery is insulting. I don’t know who you are working for, though I’m starting to have a pretty good idea, and I don’t think it’s a bank. But you can tell them I won’t do any of this – I wouldn’t dream of it.’ And she threw the paper on the floor.
She would have stood up but Kozlov was now only a foot or so away from her chair, looming over it threateningly. It suddenly struck her that their conversation was being recorded. She wanted to dissociate herself as much as possible from what he was claiming. ‘I have never given Laurenz any confidential information,’ she said loudly, knowing that, strictly speaking, this was not true. How she wished she had refused his request back then. ‘And if Laurenz knows we are having this conversation, then why isn’t he here?’
‘He’ll be back,’ Kozlov said flatly. ‘Though I think you may find him slightly different from the Laurenz you think you know. But that’s not the issue right now. You had better consider this: the help you gave Laurenz is documented – you took out papers from your workplace, which you are expressly forbidden to do. How do you think your famous C would react if he knew about that? You’d be out on your ear as the Americans say – and that’s if you’re lucky. Please don’t think I’m bluffing. If you refuse to help, you won’t get past Passport Control at Heathrow without your Special Branch asking you to speak to them in a small room. Your career will be over, your reputation in shreds.
‘But if, on the other hand, you act like a mature citizen of the world and help us with our modest requests, then you will continue to enjoy the prestige and benefits of your new position, continue to have a high reputation in your country, and if you like, enjoy some extra benefits as well of the kind I mentioned.’ He paused to let her take this in, then added in a softer, more reasonable voice, ‘Look, nothing we want you to do would endanger your country or its interests, I assure you. You would in fact be working for the peace we all want to have – nobody in Russia wants a return to the Cold War. So, will you help us?’
Jasminder suddenly went cold; her hands and legs were shaking. She had to get out of this room, out of this bungalow, into the air, but first she had to make it absolutely clear to this man what she was thinking.
‘I won’t do it,’ she said, firmly. ‘I would rather resign than betray the Service.’
‘You would rather go to prison?’
Jasminder had never been bullied successfully, and she wasn’t going to let that change now. What this man was asking her to do was inconceivable, whatever the consequences – she knew full well that if C or anyone at Vauxhall learned about what she had done for Laurenz, then her days at MI6 would be over. But she didn’t hesitate. She said, ‘Tell your people they have picked the wrong person to approach, both because I don’t know anything of value, and because I wouldn’t ever tell you if I did.’ Kozlov had taken a step back, so she stood up. ‘Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll take a walk.’