War with Russia

The Toyota Hybrid Prius from the Whitehall car pool drew up at the gate of the Government Communications Headquarters and, after security checks, Walker was let in to the 176-acre site, dominated in the center by the concentric-ringed, steel, aluminum and stone “Doughnut,” the largest building constructed for intelligence purposes outside the USA. Staffed by 5,500 employees, the purpose of GCHQ is to provide signals intelligence to the British government, its various intelligence services and its armed forces. Soon he was at the helipad with the GCHQ Director, Ian Berry; breezy, early forties and fit, looking more like a rugby-playing, public-school housemaster than the head of one of the world’s most pre-eminent spy agencies.

But thankfully, before he found himself having to make small talk about radios or the internet, or whatever these boffins liked to discuss, the clatter and then the roar of the red-and-white liveried AgustaWestland helicopter of 32 Squadron RAF obliterated any chance of a conversation as it landed. Moments later the Prime Minister was out and being buffeted by the fierce downdraught before being whisked away from the landing pad and into the principal conference room of the Doughnut.

Walker walked in behind his boss to see, as well as the GCHQ team brought together to brief the PM, the shaven-headed Chief of the Defense Staff, General Jock Kydd. He was dressed in his habitual, faded jungle-green combats without rank badges, sleeves rolled up high to reveal large, hairy biceps. As ever, Walker found he was unsure whether he was impressed or frightened by the man. Impressed because Kydd had immediately made things happen, unlike his Machiavellian predecessor. And frightened, not only because of the feral nature of the man, but also because he had an uneasy feeling that, if he said the wrong thing, the general would happily rip his head off.

“Prime Minister.” Infuriatingly, Kydd did not wait to be spoken to, but launched straight in. “This is Dave McKinlay, the Deputy Supreme Allied Commander Europe. He’s just flown in from NATO’s strategic headquarters in Belgium for this briefing.” Walker noted a bulky, strong-looking, gray-haired general who, in his Royal Marines uniform and badges of rank, looked like another conventional soldier. However, a second glance revealed a steely look and the broken nose of a former rugby player and he realized that, although very different, the two generals were probably very much out of the same lethal mold.

“It’s good to meet you, General,” said Little, shaking his hand. “Where does NATO stand on this?”

“I’m here, Prime Minister, because nobody else, and that includes the Americans, can do what GCHQ have got planned and we fully support that plan. My role is to ensure the closest possible cooperation between what GCHQ can do and the NATO strategy. So, I’m here to listen in and take the plan back to SACEUR.”

“We really appreciate you finding time to visit us, Prime Minister,” said Berry, taking back control. “We’ve got a plan which I think you’ll find of interest. I’ve brought together the team who’ve been working this particular issue, so I’m going to leave it to them to tell you what they’ve achieved.”

“I hear you’ve found a way into Russia’s nuclear command and control system,” said Little, imposing his authority in turn. “If that’s so, it’s a potential war winner. But please continue.”

“Certainly, Prime Minister,” answered Berry. “But without going into technical detail. Not because we think you won’t understand it. More important, it’s not something you need to know, so it’s better left unsaid.”

“Look here, Ian,” said Little, “I only managed to scrape a Physics with Chemistry ‘O’ Level. There’s no chance of me letting any technical cats out of the bag!”

“Be that as it may, Prime Minister, but what I’m saying is, you may not want to know…” As he said this, Berry was looking hard at Walker, his meaning clear: he was not revealing any secrets to the Prime Minister’s PR man, regardless of his top level of clearance.

The Prime Minister also looked at him, but instead of leaping to his defense as his predecessor would have done, he waved a hand as if to push the issue aside. “Point taken. Continue.”

“Thank you, Prime Minister. In essence what we’ve done is think through the problem as if we were terrorists hacking a nuclear command and control network. I’m going to leave it to Nicola Allenby, the team leader, to talk you through it. She’s just back from PJHQ, where they are setting up this attack… If you authorize us to instigate it, that is.”