I Can See You by Michael Leese

Author:Michael Leese
Language: eng
Format: mobi
ISBN: 9781521517338
Publisher: Mike Leese Communications
Published: 2017-10-23T04:00:00+00:00

chapter 28

GCHQ was designed with an open plan area containing cubicles broken up by dividers. This was to stop the space feeling overwhelming and create a basic sense of privacy for the staff. Unsurprisingly, there were huge numbers of computer screens being studied night and day. It made the need for air conditioning totally essential. Opening a window was not really an option.

Naturally, there were some areas where the open plan approach was less in evidence. From time to time everyone needed access to some privacy, so rooms were set aside for that. The security team especially tended to favour out-of-the-way spaces when they could.

One of these was currently occupied by the head of security, Alan Smith, a man whose expression made him look as though he was stuck somewhere between anger and disappointment. A thin man, in his mid-50s, colleagues joked that his hair was suspiciously dark and suspected he was guilty of using a hair dye. If this was true, his little vanity sat at odds with his famously fastidious habits. It was even claimed he ate sandwiches with a knife and fork.

Sitting opposite him was his deputy, Georgina Moore, who could not have been more unlike her boss. Today she had a pink fringe in her straw blonde hair. Normally impassive, Smith had once made the mistake of narrowing his eyes when she had first turned blonde. After that she had made a habit of adding new colours at every opportunity. She was only 25 years old, but had risen fast because of her extraordinary expertise with surveillance technology. If there were candidates for the real-life version of Q - the James Bond Quartermaster - then she would have made the final list of candidates.

She found Smith deeply irritating and suspected the feeling was reciprocated. But they worked together well enough, neither willing to sacrifice their work over petty relationship issues, but never missing the chance to engage in a little jousting. Smith’s face had remained impassive as he listened to Roper’s conversation with Hooley.

Internal security had been stepped up in recent times, making his job more important. It wasn’t that they had any particular problems, but the extraordinary breach revealed when a US defense contractor dumped sensitive material on to the internet had made every intelligence service in the world sit-up. After initially laughing at the Americans the penny dropped - this could happen to us.

In the light of the new protocols, Roper had been upgraded to active targeting after he suddenly appeared to lose his way. With no obvious explanation for what was happening, the worry was that he might have been “compromised” in some way. And in the last few hours they had been ordered to include the Scotland Yard man Brian Hooley. There was a big fuss going on.

Smith looked at his younger colleague. Had he let his feelings show it was likely he would be sneering. He was especially drawn to her eyes - they seemed to be very blue today and he wondered if she was using coloured contact lenses.

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