Their three VIP charges were in the cabins set aside for them, each with an armed marine at the door.
“Right,” Bond began. “We all know what this is about.
Our Captain, the Rear-Admiral, is determined to carry on with Stewards’ Meeting. My job is to coordinate security, and I want to get your feelings on the matter before I make a recommendation to Sir John - not that he’ll take my advice, but I’d rather we worked as a team, and a team has to be one hundred percent in accord on a business like this. We’ve had one death, and we don’t want any more.
Nikki spoke up for the Russians. “James, you must advise us.
We have a sacred duty here. The strain will be on us as from tonight. Do you think that the killing of the American agent should make us fear for the lives of those we have to guard?”
“It certainly means that this little terrorist outfit - if it is them - has managed to penetrate Invincible with at least one person.
If there is one can there be others? I must reveal to all of you that Edgar Morgan was a worried man. As far as I can tell, he slipped into the Wrens’ heads to record a series of names - names of people in this ship. He wanted a security check run on them.
Well, I ran the check through London. The only one that came out badly was the girl we arrested this morning.”
Joe Israel looked up, with interest. “This is the first any of us have heard of Ed having doubts. Can you be sure he was not just doing a random test? A sampling? Or was he in possession of intelligence not revealed to any of us?”
“I’ve no idea.” There was no point in Bond not being open and candid. “I still have to talk with the girl we arrested. She was what some people would call a “Stone Killer’. It’s not an expression I’m proud of. But that’s what she was, and is.”
“Can you give us the other names Morgan had on his list?”
Ted Brinkley asked.
“I don’t think that would be fair at this stage. They all came out ultra-clean from London.”
Brinkley conferred with his partner for a minute, in urgent whispers. Then Brinkley said that, as far as they were concerned, things could go ahead. “It would have been very difficult for any terrorist organisation to infiltrate a Royal Navy ship. That they got one in is a kind of miracle. Barring any outside attack, we consider it ninety-nine percent safe. We vote that things go ahead as planned.”
Bond nodded. In his head he still remained unhappy. They had thought of BAST as a bit of a tinpot outfit, yet they certainly had resources, and even one penetration worried him. He looked over at Joe Israel, “What about our United States contingent?”
“I guess we go along with you Brit,5. Sure there’s danger, but that comes with the job. We vote in.
“You’re one man short.”
“I gather that’s being taken care of. Admiral Gudeon’s been active and we’ve got another guy on the way.”
Bond made a mental note that he should speak with the Captain about this turn of events. Now he looked at Nikki.
“You’re senior officer of our Russian comrades, Nikki. What do you say?”
“Our people are the best in the world. We say go ahead.”
“Then we’re all agreed?”
Around the little messdeck there were murmurs of consent.
So be it, Bond thought. They all seemed to be good, tried and tested people. Now, he had to speak with Sir John Walmsley.
After that there was the girl, Deeley, though he did not have any high hopes of breaking her down.
“So, you’ve decided not to fight me on this?” Sir John Walmsley looked pleased, like a man who had won a great battle.
“It’s not a question of fighting you, sir.” Bond spoke with almost exaggerated calmness. “We weighed up the chances of this being a one-off incident. We’re not entirely convinced, but everyone here in the three bodyguard sections seems to think the risk is even.
“A sensible decision,” growled Walmsley, who knew he would have overridden any attempt to abort Stewards’ Meeting.
“I need answers to a couple of questions before I talk to the girl, Deeley Bond began.
“Yes?” the Rear-Admiral snapped. “If I’m allowed to answer, I’ll cooperate. Go ahead.”
“First, there’s one thing I have to know about Edgar Morgan.”
“He wasn’t US Secret Service, but I presume you know that already.”
“Yes, I realise he wasn’t just part of the normal bodyguard service. I’m pretty certain he was Naval Intelligence, and came aboard with a special brief.” Bond had not shown all his cards.
“That’s true.”
“Can you tell me anything about the special brief” Walmsley pretended to think for a moment. “Well, he had authority to go through the records of everyone aboard this ship.”
“Was there time for him to do that?”
“Mmmm.” It was non-committal, but the Rear-Admiral was playing Bond. Walmsley was the kind of man who liked showing his authority and, had the truth been known, he looked forward to a very rapid promotion if the Operation called Stewards’ Meeting went off without a hitch. Finally, he decided it would be safer to tell the truth. “He came aboard two days before Landsea “89 started.”
“Two days?”
Walmsley nodded. “He left the ship shortly before you arrived.
Then came on with Gudeon and the others, But, in those two days, he went through all the files. He was very interested in you, Captain Bond. Very interested.”
“And he carried on looking through the individual dossiers on his return?”
“He did. Now, anything else?”
“Yes, sir. I’ve been told that the Americans are sending a replacement. True or false?”
“True. He’ll be here before Stewards’ Meeting.”
“We have a name?”
“Dan Woodward. US Naval Intelligence. As you would expect, he’s known to his friends and colleagues as Desperate Dan. Now, Captain Bond, anything else?”
“Only a minor point. The Wren detachment aboard.”
“Damned women in the ship, I didn’t approve of it.”
“Sir, we both know why they’re here. We know it’ll make things easier when Stewards’ Meeting gets under way. Until then, could I ask you, sir, what duties have been assigned to them?”
“This because one of them turned out to be a dummy?”
“Partly.”
“Why not ask their officer, what’s her name? First Officer Pennington?”
“Because I’d rather have an independent source.
Rear-Admiral Walmsley sucked his teeth. “You know they’re all cleared at a very high security level?”
“I do, sir, and it worries me. The one intruder came in through them. I know London says they’re all cleared, but I want to check it out again.
“Right. We’re making good use of them, Bond. They’re doing everything they’ve been trained to do. We’ve allotted them shifts in Communications; in writers’ departments; and, just to keep their domestic hands in, some are daily assigned to galley duties.
I made that a condition of the draft coming aboard. Now, anything else?”
Bond shook his head. So, the Wrens were all over the place.
In the galleys, communications and writers. A writer is Royal Navy for clerk or secretarial duties.
“Good, because we’re still very much a part of Landsea “89, and we’ve still got three nuclear subs shadowing us. I have to get back to work. Can’t leave it all to Jimmy the One.”