Vortex (9 page)

Annie responded with a wide-eyed, uncharacteristically frightened look.

'Come on,' Ben said reassuringly. 'I'll show you.' He stood up, and started walking towards the old man, with Annie close behind.

'Joseph!' he called gently when he was near enough for the old man to see them, but not so close that he would be too alarmed by their presence. 'It is Joseph, isn't it?'

The old man looked up like a startled animal, spilling his hot tea over his hand as he did so. The scalding liquid didn't seem to worry him.

'How do you know my name?' Joseph hissed. 'Who are you?'

'I'm Ben,' Ben replied confidently and with a smile. 'We spoke last night in the youth hostel. Do you remember?'

Joseph seemed to shrink back against the tree, looking first at Ben then at Annie. There was not even a spark of recognition in his face.

'We talked about this place,' Ben persisted. 'About Spadeadam. You told me about Blue Streak. Don't you remember?'

The old man started nodding his head furiously. 'Blue Streak, yes,' he gabbled. 'Spadeadam. Strange things happening at Spadeadam.
Strange things
.'

His voice crumbled once more into a meaningless mutter and Ben and Annie cast an anxious look at each other. 'I thought you said he'd recognize you,' Annie breathed.

Ben grimaced, then looked back at the old man before taking a tentative step forward. As he did so, his foot landed on a twig. It cracked, the noise sounding much louder than it should do. Instantly the old man stood up, his hawk-like eyes peering at Ben. He held the now empty cup above his shoulder as if it were a missile that he was prepared to hurl. 'Stay away,' he warned. 'Who are you? Why are you following me?'

'We just want to make sure you're OK,' Ben said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone of voice.

Again the old man peered at Ben and Annie, as though looking at them for the first time. 'Kids,' he said shortly. 'Spadeadam's not a place for kids. You must leave, now. Leave me alone. Get out of here.'

'But, Joseph--'

'Get out!'
the old man roared, and for a moment Ben thought he saw real madness in his eyes. Both he and Annie stepped nervously back.

The old man looked around him yet again, and started muttering once more. This time, Ben managed to catch something of what Joseph was saying. 'I have to find the place,' he was whispering to himself. 'They don't know I'm here, and I have to find the place.'

'What place, Joseph?' Ben called with a confidence he did not feel. 'Who doesn't know you're here?'

Joseph shook his head. 'Leave me alone. And get out of here. You
have
to get out of here.' He turned away from them, picked up his plastic bag and returned the Thermos flask, then walked further into the trees. The deeper he walked into the copse, the more indistinct he became in the mist, but before he disappeared from sight, he turned round to speak to them once more. For an alarming moment, his bright green eyes seemed to shine like emeralds in the mist, clear and knowing. 'Leave me alone,' he called again, before continuing on his way.

Ben and Annie watched as the figure of the old man grew increasingly ghostly among the trees. Ben stepped forward after him. 'Come on,' he said suddenly. 'We have to try and talk to him again, find out what he's on about.'

But Annie had grabbed him by the arm. 'Ben, he's incredibly frightened, can't you see? Keep disturbing him and we'll send the poor guy over the edge.'

Ben looked anxiously after him. 'What are we going to do, then?'

Annie bit her lip. Ben half expected her to suggest that they go home, but when she spoke it became clear to him that she was as intrigued by Joseph and his mysterious warnings as he was.

'Let's follow him, from a distance. We'll have to be careful and keep out of sight, but at least we'll be able to see that he's OK.'

Ben nodded. They grabbed their rucksacks, put them on and then, as silently as they could manage, started to trek deeper into the forest. And deeper into RAF Spadeadam.

Chin-Hwa's driver had deposited him outside the government building a couple of hours ago. He had rushed inside in a matter of seconds, but the heavy rain had still saturated his cheap clothes. Since then, he had been waiting on his own in a bare, chilly room containing nothing but a few old plastic chairs. There was no point asking anybody how long it would be until he was seen: Chin-Hwa would be called when his presence was required, and no sooner.

The door opened and an expressionless government worker appeared. He spoke to Chin-Hwa in a voice devoid of respect. 'They will see you now,' he said.

Chin-Hwa nodded, and followed the government worker out of the room and along a succession of corridors that all seemed identical. In all the time he had been coming here, Chin-Hwa had never managed to learn his way around. Sometimes he wondered if the place had been built like that on purpose.

Finally the government worker stopped outside another door and knocked respectfully before opening it.

'The scientist,' he announced to whoever was waiting inside. He stepped aside and allowed Chin-Hwa to enter.

There were four people in the room, the same four Chin-Hwa met with every time he came here. They wore suits that marked them out as high-ranking government men, but Chin-Hwa had immediately recognized them from their pictures in the newspaper when they had first met. The most important of them - the man to whom they all seemed to defer - sat at the head of the table. Behind him was a large picture.

Everybody in North Korea recognized the man in that picture. Kim Il Sung - president until his death in 1994, when his son Kim Jong Il succeeded him as leader and declared his father Eternal President of the Republic. His picture hung at every train station and in every school; there were more than 800 statues of the Eternal President scattered around the country. Not knowing who he was would be unthinkable.

The leader of the government group nodded cursorily at Chin-Hwa. 'Sit down,' he instructed. Chin-Hwa took his place at the table. 'The Vortex device will be delivered the day after tomorrow, as discussed,' the leader informed the assembled group.

The other three government officials nodded in satisfaction; Chin-Hwa did his best not to let dismay show in his face.

The leader turned to one of the officials. 'We are sure that the British government knows nothing of what is happening?'

The official nodded. 'The British scientists developing the device work in secret, and the military personnel at the RAF camp are ignorant of their activities, with the exception of a handful of renegade officers who have a serious financial incentive to keep the research private.'

'Good,' the leader replied. He turned to Chin-Hwa. 'And you,' he said abruptly. 'You are sure that once the weapon is in our hands, you will be able to examine it and copy its design?'

Chin-Hwa's lips went thin. He had never made such a claim, but he knew that to suggest he couldn't do this was to sign his own death warrant. 'I am sure,' he replied quietly.

'Good,' the leader replied. 'I can now inform you of the president's wishes. Before Vortex is delivered to us here, he wishes to establish that it will be operational. He has instructed that it be tested on a major Western city.'

Chin-Hwa's eyes narrowed. He looked around the room for any sign of concern on the faces of the assembled officials, but he saw none. It was hardly surprising, of course - they all knew the implications of questioning the president's wisdom. But in a moment of recklessness, Chin-Hwa felt he could not let the silence that followed go unbroken. He coughed. 'May I ask,' he said, his head bowed humbly, 'what the president's target is?'

The leader looked at him impassively, as though wondering whether or not to allow that piece of information to be relayed. Finally he spoke.

'London,' he said. 'And when we have established that it works, there will be strikes against New York, Los Angeles and Madrid.'

His words seemed to echo around the room as they sank in.

Chin-Hwa knew he should not speak, but he couldn't help it. 'And, respectfully, the president is aware of what Vortex can do? He is aware of its capabilities? Of the devastation it can cause? Of the lives that will be lost?'

There was a horrible silence. The leader blinked.

'You question the wisdom of his excellency the president?'

Chin-Hwa bowed his head again. 'No,' he muttered. 'No, of course not.'

The leader nodded. 'Good,' he said shortly. 'You may leave us now.'

Chin-Hwa scraped his chair back and stood up. He bowed awkwardly to the officials, then left the room, desperately wanting to be out of there as quickly as possible, but not daring to move with anything other than a measured, calm slowness.

The Korean officials watched in frosty silence as the bumbling scientist left the room. Even after he closed the door behind him they remained quiet for a moment.

'Was it wise to tell him of our plans?' the first official said finally.

'It was necessary,' the leader replied. 'When we make our first strike against London, people will hear of it. It is not a good idea that it should be a surprise to him.' He turned to a second official. 'Are you sure he can be trusted?' he asked.

'We have no reason to believe otherwise,' the official replied. 'He is being closely watched, and does not appear to have mentioned Vortex to anyone.' The official smiled coldly. 'He will do anything to keep his mother safe, it seems.'

'Be that as it may,' the leader responded, 'there is no room for error.' He turned to look at the picture on the wall. 'The Eternal President would never have approved of his son's unwise decision to weaken our military capabilities. It is essential that the Vortex device is delivered to us if we are to be successful in our coup against the government. I want the surveillance on the scientist doubled. If he so much as thinks about jeopardizing our plans, I want him arrested. He can do his work just as easily from a prison cell as a laboratory. Are my instructions clear?'