Sacred Stone

“Prince Charles is scheduled to a

“Use a decoy,” Cabrillo offered.

“If the plan is to hit the concert,” Fleming said, “and the weapon is not already in place, then they have to deliver it to the site.”

“If you have teams covertly check all the areas near the concert with Geiger counters and no radiation is found, then we have to assume they are pla

“So we eliminate the areas near the concert, and if we find nothing,” Fleming said slowly, “we just need to control the roads leading into the Mayfair and St. James areas.”

“Exactly,” Cabrillo said. “The traffic is already horrible in the area. You just station trucks on the side streets that can be moved into place to seal off the roads. I don’t think it will come to that. If we’re correct and Lababiti isin control of the bomb, we know it is not in his Jaguar but it must be close. I think our only hope is to keep surveillance on him as thick as flies on a carcass. Then grab him when the time is right.”

“If we’re wrong and he doesn’t lead us to the bomb,” Fleming said, “then our only hope to stop it is the ring around Mayfair and St. James.”

“If you place your trucks correctly, there isn’t a car in the world that can make it through those streets.”

“But then will we have time to defuse the bomb?” Fleming asked.

“The farther away from the concert we locate it, the more time we’ll have. Make sure all your men have diagrams so they know what wires to cut in order to stop the timer from ru

“Lord,” Fleming said, “if only we knew exactly where the bomb was.”

“If we did,” Cabrillo said, “this would be a hell of a lot easier.”

40

OVERHOLT WAS BRIEFINGhis commander in chief.

“So that’s where we are, Mr. President,” Overholt said early on New Year’s Eve morning.

“And you offered the British any help we might have?” the president asked.

“Absolutely,” Overholt said. “Fleming, who heads MI5, said there’s nothing we can do at this point other than have a couple of our nuclear experts from Mindenhall Air Base on standby.”

“And you did that, of course,” the president said.

“The U.S. Air Force helicoptered them down an hour ago,” Overholt said. “They are in London now and should be linking up with the Corporation and MI5.”

“What else can we do?”

“I have contacted the Pentagon,” Overholt said. “They are preparing relief and medical supplies if it goes badly.”

“I’ve ordered all nonessential perso

“I don’t know what else we can do,” Overholt said, “but pray for a positive outcome.”

ACROSS THE POND, Fleming was briefing the prime minister.

“That’s the latest,” he finished. “We need to evacuate you and your family as soon as possible.”

“I’m not one to run from a fight,” the prime minister said. “Evacuate my family, but I’m staying. If it goes bad, I can’t let my countrymen die when I knew of the threat.”

The debate raged for the next few minutes as Fleming pleaded for the prime minister to allow himself to be taken to safety. The prime minister held firm to his decision.

“Sir,” Fleming finished, “you becoming a martyr ca

“True,” the prime minister said slowly, “but stay I will.”

“At least allow us to take you to the bunkers under the Ministry of Defence,” Fleming pleaded. “They are casehardened and have fresh air generators.”

The prime minister rose. The meeting had ended.

“I’ll be at the concert,” the prime minister said. “Arrange the security.”

“Yes, sir,” Fleming said, rising and heading for the door.

OUTSIDE THE APARTMENT on the side street bordering the Strand, four parabolic microphones were hidden on nearby buildings and directed at the windows of Lababiti’s residence. The dishes picked up vibrations on the glass of the windows and magnified the sounds until everything inside the apartment could be heard as clearly as a high-definition recording.

A dozen MI5 agents were posing as London cab drivers and patrolled the streets nearby, while others walked the street staring into shop windows and eating in restaurants. At the hotel directly across the street from the apartment, agents sat in the lobby reading newspapers, waiting for something to happen.

TRUITT STOOD UP from his seat near the driver as the bus came to a stop in front of the Savoy. He had called Cabrillo from his cell phone, and Meadows and Seng were waiting in front of the lobby doors. Truitt filed off the bus, followed by the rest of the team, and walked toward the lobby doors.

“We’re supposed to meet in Cabrillo’s suite,” Meadows said, opening the door.

As the team filed past, Seng handed each a room key. A few minutes later they were all crowded into Cabrillo’s suite. Once they all found seats, he spoke.

“MI5 has decided that there will be no attempt to intercept the device until there is movement,” he said. “We will be working a support role in the off chance the weapon somehow makes it close to the area of the concert.”

“What’s the status of the principal right now?” Murphy asked.

“We have listening devices trained on the apartment,” Cabrillo answered, “and right now they are sleeping.”

“What exactly will we be doing?” Linda Ross asked.

“Each of you is trained in disabling the device, so you will be placed along the possible routes into the area of the concert. We will wait there in case we’re called upon.”

Cabrillo walked over to a cork bulletin board on an easel. A large map of London was tacked on the board and a series of lines had been highlighted with a yellow marker.

“Based on where the apartment is located, these are the highest probability routes,” Cabrillo said. “We believe that, wherever the bomb is now, whoever has it will stop by and pick up Lababiti and the other man so they can place the nuke at the concert together.”

“You believe that they’re going to hide the device, then set the timer and escape?” Kasim asked.

“That’s what we’re hoping,” Cabrillo admitted. “This type of device has a fail-safe switch that requires ten minutes from arming to detonation to avoid unwanted explosions.”

“So you can’t just flip the switch and start the fission process?” Julia Huxley asked.

“No,” Cabrillo said, “the Russian devices are similar to ours in that respect—they require a series of steps before the device is operational. The one we believe they purchased is a ‘baby bomb’ designed for targeted destruction. The entire device could fit in a crate five feet long by three feet wide by three feet deep.”

“What’s the weight?” Franklin Lincoln asked.

“Under four hundred pounds.”

“So we know they can’t carry it or transport it by something like a bicycle,” Pete Jones said.

“They’ll need some type of vehicle,” Cabrillo said, “so that means they’ll need to travel over the roads.”

Cabrillo pointed to the apartment on the map.

“From the apartment,” he said, “there are a couple of routes they might take. The first is right behind us. Turn off the Strand down Savoy Street toward the Thames and turn on Victoria Embankment heading south. Once on Victoria Embankment, they have several choices. Turn at Northumberland Avenue then head down the Mall, or they could continue on to Bridge Street and Great George Street, then drive down Birdcage Walk. The second possibility is for the driver to head straight down the Strand to the Mall, but that takes him through the Charing Cross section as well as Trafalgar Square, where the traffic is usually very heavy. Thirdly, they have a variety of side streets they could cut across and piece together a route that, while not as direct, would be harder to follow. At this point we’re really just guessing.”