to think I was trying to wheedle out of it,’ Andy explained. ‘Is anyone else on campus trained to use AutoCAD software?’
John shook his head. ‘You’ve had over twenty hours’ training, there’s no way we can get anyone up to your standard by this evening.’
‘Strap me up and I’ll get through it somehow,’ Andy said bravely. ‘I’ll just tell everyone I got hurt playing football or something.’
‘I can get Nurse Halstead to apply some strapping,’ Dr Kessler nodded. ‘But you’d still be in a significant amount of pain. A painkilling injection would help, although the injection is intra-muscular so it will hurt, and the affected area will feel quite peculiar; the same kind of numb feeling you get after a filling at the dentist.’
‘The choice is entirely yours, Andy,’ John emphasised. ‘You don’t have to put yourself through this. If you pull out of the mission nobody will hold it against you.’
Andy shook his head determinedly. ‘Rat’s been trying to get us into Kurt Lydon’s house for over a month. I’ll do what it takes.’
Dr Kessler headed back across the ward and unlocked a wheeled rubber cabinet, fitted with hundreds of tiny drawers. John pulled a wodge of paperwork out of his jacket.
‘It’ll take about ninety minutes to drive to Milton Keynes,’ John said. ‘And I want to get on the road before the kids get out of school. So I need you to go through your mission background document and the detailed briefing. If you’ve got any questions now’s the time to ask.’
Andy took the papers and shrugged. ‘I’ve read all this twenty times already.’
‘I know,’ John nodded. ‘But I’m always paranoid that my agents will forget something at the last minute. Do me a favour and give it a final once-over, OK?’
Andy nodded reluctantly as Dr Kessler headed back holding a sterile syringe pack.
‘This should be good for twelve to sixteen hours,’ Kessler said. ‘But remember that the muscle underneath is still damaged. You’ve got to avoid doing anything too physical.’
After swabbing Andy’s chest with a sterile wipe, the doctor ripped the plastic wrapping from the syringe pack and twisted off a plastic bung, unveiling a long needle.
‘Bloody hell!’ Andy gasped. ‘Is that going to hurt as much as I think it’s going to?’
‘Oh, it’s ten times worse than it looks,’ Dr Kessler said sarcastically. ‘Just take deep breaths and keep still. It’ll only take a few moments.’
Andy let go of John’s paperwork and dug his nails into the mattress as the needle pierced his stomach.
*
***CLASSIFIED MISSION BACKGROUND
DOCUMENT***
FOR GREG ‘RAT’ RATHBONE & ANDY LAGAN
DO NOT PHOTOCOPY OR MAKE NOTES
MISSION BACKGROUND – THE NUCLEAR CLUB
Since the United States detonated the first atomic bombs in 1945 many other countries have attempted to build their own nuclear weapons. At present eight other countries are known to possess nuclear weapons (Russia, United Kingdom, France, China, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel) while others such as Japan and Germany have nuclear technology but have chosen not to make bombs.
For every country that has nuclear weapons there are many more that want them. Some of these countries are poor and have no realistic chances of developing a nuclear arsenal. Others, particularly in the oil-rich Middle East, are wealthy but lack the scientific and industrial base needed to develop them.
These countries will pay huge sums of money to anyone who can supply them with nuclear secrets.
THE DARK SUN NETWORK
Over the past sixty years many groups and individuals have tried to cash in on the market for nuclear technology. In 2004 a joint operation between British and French intelligence officers led to the arrest of a woman who’d illegally purchased several tonnes of maraging steel. This specially hardened metal is mainly used in the nuclear industry and its production and export is strictly controlled.
Facing a lengthy prison term, the suspect agreed to cooperate. She gave the French intelligence service valuable information on a criminal organisation known as Dark Sun. Over the following months it became clear that Dark Sun was a sophisticated network that bought and sold secret nuclear technology. Its customers included governments in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.
THE CASCADE
The most difficult part of producing a nuclear bomb is turning ordinary uranium metal into the weapons grade variety needed to fuel a bomb. This is done by heating the metal until it becomes a gas and spinning it at very high speed in a centrifuge.
To make weapons grade material, uranium gas needs to be passed through a network of up to fifty thousand centrifuges