take them along. They would all have to board the platform. It would be easier than trying to go it alone, anyway. But nothing about the situation made him feel any better.
There was another consequence to the turn of events, of course. When the team had set off from MI16’s HQ they had all been rebels. Now they were bona fide operatives. If Stratton continued with his part of the plan he would be the traitor.
9
The Chinook thundered out across the ocean, a couple of thousand feet above the growing North Sea swell. Outside, it had darkened significantly, with the dropping sun masked by thickening clouds. The aircraft began to buffet as the gusting winds took hold of it.
Stratton sat on one of the team boxes studying a chart. He glanced up as rain began to pound at the glass portholes. The storm would give the team good cover. But if it grew too powerful it would affect their ability actually to reach the target.
He had serious misgivings about the approach to the platform. And if he was concerned, why wasn’t London? It was part of the reason he still could not fully accept that the operation had been allowed to proceed with the scientists. Surely Jervis knew these clowns were not up to a task. Granted it was only a surveillance job, and if carried out procedurally they should never come into contact with the enemy. But it was still high risk and, even though London was not averse to taking chances, they were not usually of this nature.
Stratton got to his feet and, keeping a hand against the bulkhead, made his way to the front of the cabin. The chopper was buffeting heavily, as much as he could ever remember having experienced - with a live pilot still in control of the sticks, that was. He put on the headphones and asked for the operations room to recalculate the tidal speed and direction from the drop-off point. Heavy storms such as this one - which was only going to get worse - had a habit of shifting such things. The fast currents in the North Sea moved in long sweeping curves. If the drop-off was not accurately calculated they could miss the platform despite the speed the sub could reach.
Five minutes later the drop-off latitude and longitude were relayed back to him. Stratton gathered the team to brief them. Jackson, as it turned out, was not only a helicopter and fixed-wing pilot. Mansfield had sent him on a mini-sub operator’s training course in Norfolk, Virginia, at the beginning of the year. Stratton wondered how far the MI16 boss’s ambitions extended.
Stratton explained how the team would manoeuvre in and out of the tight-fitting vessel and how they should conduct themselves while it was under the water. When the briefing was complete the team climbed into lightweight dry-bags, tightened harnesses and clipped on fins, masks and the small transfer air bottles they would need when they were not connected to the sub’s breathing system. Binning strapped the surveillance device securely to his side and jumped up and down a few times to ensure it was solidly attached. He had clearly seen it done on some kind of military training film since it did not quite apply to a dive operation. At least he was keen.
Stratton allowed the team to carry pistols but insisted that he alone would have a sub-machine gun, a silenced H&K to go with his pistol and two stun grenades. He neglected to mention during the briefing his own private operation: the only points he covered were the planting of the surveillance device and the move to the rendezvous pick-up location. The way he questioned Jason on all details of that last phase of the operation ought to have suggested something to them. In truth, it was blatantly obvious that he wouldn’t be able to get Jordan away from the oil platform on the submarine, assuming of course that he could rescue him at all. As far as he could see the only option he had was to secure one of the platform’s lifeboats: a broad enough plan - if it could be called that - for him not to have to think of it any more. First he had to locate Jordan, then separate him from the hijackers. He couldn’t do much planning for that. Every stage would be a process of discovery, assessment, action and follow-on. Another reason to put it to one side.