They were sitting in one of the lounges offering a view of the Burj Al-Arab when Watkinson called.
‘They’ve made contact,’ he said, ‘and we need to talk. Where are you?’
‘The Jumeirah Beach Hotel. And you?’
‘I’m in a car heading out of Dubai City, so I should be with you in about ten minutes.’
A quarter of an hour later Watkinson sat down and joined them. He took a sip of iced orange juice and put the glass down on the table. ‘You were right,’ he said, keeping his voice low. ‘It is extortion, but in a whole new league. The Americans are using Inspector Hussein as their mouthpiece. They’re holed up in one of the Royal Suites in the Burj Al-Arab with a tactical-yield nuclear weapon, and they’re going to detonate it unless the Dubai government gives them three billion dollars within the next twenty-four hours.’
The Americans were happy with the way things were going so far. Hussein had relayed all their demands to his chief superintendent at the Old Fort, who — after a brief period of flat disbelief that ended when he checked the situation with a near-hysterical Salim Barzani on a second line — had agreed to tell the Dubai government.
O’Hagan had ordered a two-watch system, with himself and Petrucci taking the first shift while Wilson and Dawson slept. At six that evening, they would change over, and again at midnight. Nothing was likely to happen before mid-morning the following day, but they hadn’t come this far to fall at the last hurdle. They’d be better prepared to handle any eventuality if at least two of them were fully rested.
Richter took a thoughtful sip of his Coke. ‘Apart from the money, that’s more or less what I expected. The Gulfstream carrying the CIA agents diverted to Cairo with a technical fault. That was where the air ambulance carrying the stolen Russian nuclear weapon landed, and so two plus two was pretty much bound to equal four. How do you think the Dubai government will react, Michael?’
‘I’m not sure, to be honest. Nothing like this has ever arisen before, but my guess is they’ll agree because the alternative is too horrific to contemplate. The sum demanded may be enormous, but it’s probably less than the Burj Al-Arab alone would cost to rebuild. And by Dubai’s standards it’s pretty much small change. The Burj Dubai development alone will cost about six billion dollars before it’s finished, and recent building projects around the city amount to three hundred billion. When you contrast the ransom demand with the long-term consequences for Dubai as a whole if they detonate the weapon, it’s utterly insignificant.’
‘So they’ll just roll over and play dead?’ Jackson demanded.
‘If you want to put it like that, yes,’ Watkinson said, ‘and I don’t blame them, either. There’s no sign that these four men are bluffing. They supplied details of the nuclear weapon, and about half an hour ago Vauxhall Cross has confirmed that the serial number checks out. They’ve already killed two police officers in the Burj Al-Arab who—’
‘They’ve killed a lot more than that,’ Richter interrupted. ‘I’ve only just made the connection. I was wrong about Holden’s premonitions diverting attention away from Nad Al-Sheba. He was nothing to do with those Arabs — it was much simpler than that. All those people in Syria and Bahrain died for one reason only — so that a team of alleged CIA officers could get a suitcase into a high-security hotel without anyone stopping them to see what was inside it. The last thing anyone would think of checking would be a case carried by CIA agents who were in the UAE at the request of the government, and even escorted by Dubai police officers. Hell, the Burj Al-Arab’s own staff probably carried the weapon into the hotel for them! It was a brilliant scheme.’
‘And the reason they stole the nuke is obvious, too,’ Jackson observed. ‘They couldn’t hope to get enough conventional high explosive into the hotel to make their threat viable. The worst-case scenario would have been the destruction of a couple of suites or maybe one whole floor, and the Dubai authorities might have been prepared to risk that level of damage. To make it work they needed something powerful enough to destroy the whole building.’
‘Exactly,’ Richter agreed. ‘The question is what do we do now?’
‘I don’t think there’s anything we can do, unless you’d like to make a contribution towards the ransom,’ Watkinson said. ‘I’ve already signalled Vauxhall Cross requesting instructions, but they’ll probably just tell me to keep a watching brief. The consul will no doubt tell the Dubai government that we’ll provide all the help and assistance possible, but in reality there’s sod-all we can do. This is their problem, and they’re going to have to solve it.’
‘I’ve got two questions,’ Richter said thoughtfully. ‘First, is there any way of hitting the suite they’re occupying before the ransom payment’s made? It’s a hypothetical question.’
‘The answer is not easily, and it would be very ill-advised. The Americans have let Hussein see everything they’ve done so far. They’ve mounted explosive charges on the doors and there are no other ways into the suite. They’re armed with pistols but they know they’re facing the death penalty if they’re captured, so if it comes to a fire-fight, they’ll just trigger the nuke.’
‘OK. The second question is what happens after they leave the suite. These guys are stuck in the hotel with the weapon at the moment, but how are they going to keep the threat believable once they get the money and walk?’
‘They’ll set the weapon on a four-hour timer before they leave the building. The delay will allow them to transmit the abort code once they’re well clear of UAE airspace.’
‘That’s interesting.’
‘Why?’
‘Well, if they’re telling the truth, which I wouldn’t put any money on, that means there is an abort code. What’s interesting is that most nuclear weapons don’t have one. They usually rely on an external signal and an explosive charge to blow up the warhead once it’s been launched, but before it actually hits the target.’
‘But this weapon was specially designed by the KGB for terrorist use,’ Watkinson replied. ‘It was intended to be concealed and then blown up on a timer, so a code to stop the detonation does make sense.’
Since Hussein had relayed the Americans’ demands to his superiors, the telephones in the suite they occupied had remained silent. But in the middle of the afternoon one began ringing, and O’Hagan got up to answer it. Or, to be exact, he picked up the cordless handset, took it across to Hussein, pressed the ‘answer’ button and held it to his ear.
The voice at the other end spoke Arabic, with only a brief message to convey and one question to ask.
‘They’ve agreed to your demands,’ Hussein translated, ‘and are hoping that everything will be completed no later than ten tomorrow morning. They would like to deliver the heavier items like bullion and cash this afternoon and I said that wouldn’t be a problem. The financial instruments will take longer to prepare.’
‘Good. I thought they’d see sense.’ O’Hagan replaced the handset, picked up his mobile and called Roy Sutter’s cellphone.
‘We have a go,’ he explained. ‘Get to the plane within the hour, and expect to stay there until we finally leave, so take along everything you’re going to need. The first consignment should arrive this afternoon, and it’ll be the heavy stuff, so check the weight distribution and make sure it goes in the right place. We should be with you by late morning tomorrow.’