but the Big Ear gives us fuller access, in a far more efficient way.”
I would have liked to say something about the moral implications of spying on people you’re supposed to be protecting. But I really couldn’t. Not when my family listens to the whole world, every day. We do it for a much greater cause than national security—but we still do it.
The grand tour came to an end at the security control centre, where monitor screens covered the whole exterior and interior of Lark Hill. Short- and long-range sensors observed the surrounding countryside twenty-four hours a day. I leaned in for a close look at one screen, showing the soldiers guarding the gates I’d passed through earlier. The screen next to it seemed to be showing a bare expanse of open countryside. I looked at the Commander.
“That is what lies on top of this centre,” he said. “Off-limits to the general public, of course. Protected by land mines, and other nasty hidden surprises, to discourage visitors.”
“Do the locals know that?” I said.
“Of course not,” said the Commander. “No one outside this base knows. If anyone knew, they wouldn’t be surprises, would they? We’re miles away from the nearest town, and the perimeter is fenced and guarded. No one has any good reason to be out there.”
“Has anyone ever actually got inside the centre?” I said.
“No,” said the Commander, with a certain pride. “And we are determined to keep it that way. Security here is top-notch. First-rate.”
“Then how is important information getting out?” I said.
“We don’t know! We’re on top of every form of communication that goes in or out of Lark Hill! It’s impossible for anyone to make contact with the outside world without going through several layers of oversight. But someone is alerting and warning off the very people we’ve identified as security risks. It has to stop!”
* * *
The Commander escorted me to his very private and secure office, set behind a steel door that opened only to the right numbers punched into a computer keypad. Which he was careful to block from me with his body. He needn’t have bothered. Never met a keypad my armour couldn’t crack. The office turned out to be unsurprisingly spartan, with not even a single family photo on his neat and tidy military desk. The Commander sat on a hard-backed chair on his side of the desk, while I settled myself on the equally uncomfortable visitor’s chair facing him. For a while we just sat and stared at each other. In the end, the Commander leaned forward across the desk to fix me with his steely gaze.
“We’re going to have to work together, Graves. The situation here has become unacceptable. Our country’s safety is at risk. It appears . . . somebody working inside this centre has betrayed us. As soon as we identify someone as worthy of our attention, someone here tells them they’ve been found out. Warning them! So they can run bleating to their lawyers, or the media—or just disappear.”
“You’re sure this is an inside job?” I said, just to show I was paying attention. “There’s no chance someone could be intercepting your communications? Maybe even tapping into the Big Ear itself?”
“No. Completely impossible. We checked, of course, but no, it has to be one of our people. All the military personnel were personally selected by me—men and women I’d worked with before. I trust them implicitly. So that leaves just the civilians. Scientists, technicians, computer people, and security. But they were all exhaustively vetted before they were allowed anywhere near Lark Hill! So it can’t be them either.”
“Perhaps someone here isn’t who they’re supposed to be,” I said.
The Commander shook his head. “We’ve checked everyone’s fingerprints, retina scans, and DNA. Twice.”
“I’ll run my own checks,” I said. “Just in case.”
“You were invited in to come up with new ideas,” said the Commander, “not cover old ground.”
“This new device of yours,” I said. “The Big Ear. I’m going to need to see it at some point.”
“No,” the Commander said immediately. “I don’t care what your papers say; you don’t have the necessary clearance. No one gets to see the Big Ear except me.”
I didn’t argue. I could see he wasn’t going to budge. I fed him a few cheerful platitudes, told him not to worry because I was on the case now, and said I’d take a walk around the centre to get the feel of things. The Commander wanted to send a couple of soldiers with