‘We need bigger firewalls, Oliver. Bigger ones, better ones. The kind you can see from space.’
‘Ha, like the Great Wall of—’
‘Precisely.’
‘Not unironic, in the circs.’
She let him chuckle over that, accurately gauging the moment at which mirth would deflate into a sigh.
‘Diana, I am on your side in this.’
‘Why does that phrase drain me of confidence?’
‘But you can’t be unaware of the bigger picture.’
‘There is no bigger picture. We’re talking about national security, about protecting our virtual borders. For God’s sake, look at the self-harm we’ve inflicted in the name of national sovereignty. You’d have thought there’d be few lengths we’d not be willing to go in pursuit of that particular grail.’
‘Leaving aside your jaundiced view of recent history, you’re overstating the case. Besides, and don’t imagine I’m unaware of this, the last such restructuring was completed not twenty-four months back. After a significant, not to say unprecedented, budgetary dispensation.’
‘Two years is a long time in cyberspace.’
‘Be that as it may, this is not a case you’re going to find it easy to pursue in front of Limitations. Claude Whelan had friends Down the Corridor, remember. Forgive me if I’m treading on your amour propre, but you’re not quite as popular, perhaps because you’re not as ready to, as our American cousins would say, make nice.’
‘I’m not in this business to make nice, and I don’t like having to make do, either. Nor am I looking to Whitehall for friends or playmates. I just expect support from that direction when I’m looking to repel our common enemies.’
‘As witness the Kazan episode.’
‘Which received an ovation from the committee. In case you’d forgotten.’
‘It tickled the right erogenous zones, yes, but in the cold light of day, wiser opinion holds that now is not the time to pour oil on troubled wildfires. And some who’ve gone to the bother of examining the minutes have pointed out that at no time were you given carte blanche to perform the, ah, procedure in question. You were simply asked to examine the viability of such an operation.’
‘Well, I think I did that with exceptional clarity.’
‘And besides, there are other needs than yours, many of them equally pressing. I’m not saying there isn’t a case to be made for the upscaling you have in mind, but that’s what you have to do – make a case. Not simply assert your demands.’
‘And what if I told you that I won’t be making demands? That all I’m looking for is approval to refocus existing resources?’ She uncrossed her legs, then crossed them again. ‘All I require can be met through internal rebudgeting.’
This gave him pause.
‘I’m serious, Oliver. I’ve identified a saving.’
‘I thought you were cut to the bone.’
‘We are. But I can prioritise.’
‘Enlighten me further,’ said Nash. ‘Please.’
‘There’s a project called Chimera.’
‘Oh, very on-message. How come I’ve not heard of it?’
‘Because I run a tight ship. Chimera’s not appeared on any agenda within the last few years because it’s been doing precisely what it ought to do, when it ought to do it, within budget.’
‘Good lord. Are you sure you want to close it down? We could have it mounted and put on a plinth.’ He shifted in his chair. ‘All right, all right. A little levity never did any harm. Remind me, what’s the precise nature of this, ah, Chimera?’
‘Probably best if we don’t emphasise what we’re losing, and focus on the gains to be made.’
‘Of course. And I’m sure you’re right, and there’s no need to blind the committee with technical detail, but for my own peace of mind, I really do need a glimpse of precisely what we’re deciding we can live without.’
‘Very well,’ said Diana. ‘Chimera was set up in the mid nineties and involved long-term, real-time analysis of the psychological effects of operating under deep cover in domestic pressure groups.’
‘Ah. Animal Liberation Front kind of thing?’
‘I can neither confirm nor deny.’
‘All very … surreptitious. Subterfuguous?’
‘I don’t want to hammer home the obvious, but we are the Secret Service.’
‘Is there an adjective from subterfuge?’
‘I’ll make a note, Oliver. Have someone look into it.’
He said, ‘And this was costing enough that you can make substantial savings by closing it down?’
‘We’re a bureaucracy. Everything we do costs money, because it all has to be discussed by committee, every member of which is claiming expenses. So do we really need to debate first principles, or can I rely on your support when it comes to the next Limitations meeting? Redirecting funds, that’s all. With the committee’s approval it can be done in house, and the next you’ll hear about it, it’ll be in place. No fuss, no fireworks.’
‘I’ll give it some thought. But in principle, I see no objection.’
‘I’m grateful. Now, I’ve a call to make. Was there any other business?’
‘There was something.’ Nash checked his phone, which was where he kept his notes. ‘Ah yes. The minister’s been getting calls. An American, resident here, claiming that his partner, in the life partner sense I think, that his partner was murdered in Moscow. On Putin’s orders.’
‘And was he one of ours?’
‘A Brit, you mean? No, I gather he was a Russian citizen.’
‘So even if he was murdered, it wouldn’t be our business. Why are you bringing it to me?’
‘The minister had no particular instructions,’ Nash said. ‘He just wants to stop receiving these phone calls.’
‘That’s a police matter. Really, you can’t keep urging me to keep costs down on the one hand, and—’
‘Mea culpa.’
‘—offering my services to any of your Westminster cronies who have a passing problem.’
‘I’m sorry, Diana, you’re right. As always. Thanks for your time.’ He rose to go, putting his phone away, and said, ‘I saw something rather extraordinary on the way in.’
A wondrous mechanical elephant, she thought. A parade of fibreglass cows.
‘Please tell.’
‘There was a tour arriving as I came through the lobby,’ he said. ‘One of those Civil Service groups?’
These were regular outings: covens of civil servants given whistlestop tours round Regent’s Park, or at least, round those non-classified areas that were close enough to thrill by association. This is where Bond hangs his raincoat. Some floors below us lies the hub.
‘It’s not that extraordinary. They’ve been a feature for years.’
‘Ah, yes, no, I meant who was in the group. Damien Cantor? The boss of Channel Go, you know who I mean? Richest man in the country under thirty-five, I’m led to believe.’
Diana discovered something on her desk that required attention, and it was a moment before she replied. ‘And he was being shown around the building?’
‘Maybe he plans to make an offer for it,’ said Nash. ‘Diana? That was a joke.’
‘Good meeting, Oliver. Thank you.’
There was something forlorn about a house stripped of its furniture, or there was if you were its departing spirit. A stranger might find potential in this wide hallway, but for River – reaching it via the kitchen; he’d used the back door again, as had been his childhood habit – it was like entering a ransacked priory: the wooden chest which had sat under that row of coat hooks was gone, as was the engraving, a Howard Phipps, which had hung on the opposite wall. But these were secondary emotions: he was here for Sid, who was in the study, and to all appearances had not moved since the early hours. Sid was bright, Sid was sharp. Sid now seemed mostly weary, and greeted him the way a long-term patient might a regular visitor, reaching a hand out but remaining seated, her legs tucked under her. The white stripe in her hair looked an affectation: she was a punkish waif in a modernised Dickens.