Standing Strong by Stephen Leather

Author:Stephen Leather [Leather, Stephen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2024-06-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 17

As with any potential op following a request from an MI6 operative, the first phase of the process started with an informal discussion between Standing and Colonel Davies. Standing summarised his briefing from Agnes Day and the Colonel then said ‘Okay, so as ever, the first question is whether it is worth our while to be getting involved in this. Is it going to give us a reasonable return on the investment of your time and our assets, and what will be the risks involved?’

‘Well, the risks are obvious and they’re pretty substantial,’ Standing said. ‘If the op is compromised and it all goes tits up, you’ll be losing a patrol and if they take any of us alive and resist the temptation to execute us on the spot, there may be some major political ramifications too.’

‘So those are the risks,’ the Colonel said. ‘What’s in it for us and are we able to refuse if we don’t think the cake is worth the candle? We’ll have OPCON - Operational Control - so in theory we can pull the plug, but it’s something I never like to do if it’s humanly possible to avoid it. So, what’s in it for Six. Why are they so keen?’

‘It’s pretty obvious, isn’t it?’ Standing said. ‘There’s zero risk to them but big kudos if it comes off, and you can bet they won’t be slow to claim the credit if so, though you won’t see them for dust if it goes wrong.’

‘Careful, Matt, your prejudices are showing,’ said Colonel Davies.

Standing gave a rueful grin. ‘So I suppose the other question is if we do the op, will it make any difference in the long-term?’

‘Possibly not. My guess would be that Putin will take out Prigozhin sooner or later anyway. The Wagner Group is becoming increasingly powerful and Prigozhin himself is getting to be more and more of a popular figure with the Russian public. You don’t need to know much about Vladimir Putin to realise that both of those things will be anathema to him. He does not tolerate any potential rival so as soon as he sees Prigozhin as more of a threat than an asset, he will react.’

‘So if we go ahead with the op, Six get a lot out without putting much in at all, whereas we will be in the reverse position to that: we’ll be putting a great deal in and getting not a lot out for our efforts.’

Colonel Davies nodded. ‘But I think we should still explore our options further, if only to prevent a diplomatic war breaking out between Six, the Control Group in the UK and ourselves out here.’ He shrugged as he intercepted Standing’s cynical look. ‘We’re a very long way from the levers of power here, Matt, so for the moment let’s keep our options open.’

Standing’s next move was to get his most trusted Group Leaders - Ireland, Parker, Coleman and now Macleod as well - together in an underground briefing room at the base.

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