Дэвид Уоллес - Island of Fog and Death

Mitchelson contributed, “Nagasaki, 1945. After seeing the effect of the bombing of Hiroshima, the Japanese told us about something in Nagasaki that they begged us to take care of. I think we all know the result.”

Wilkinson offered, “Lake Nyos, Cameroon. Something killed two thousand people. Explained by a limnic eruption.”

Mitchelson again. “Mount Saint Helens, 1980. We had to blow up half the freakin’ mountain to deal with the thing that was bottled up there.”

Finally Li contributed. “Do you think we wanted to flood the Three Gorges?”

Peri gaped at them. “They were all… all… alien infestations of some kind?”

“We think so. At least some of them,” said Mitchelson. “Remember Clark’s Third Law? For all we know, they were magical creatures. We know a lot less than we would like to.”

“Where did they come from?” asked Peri.

The answer from Rostovich was an eloquent shrug. “Who knows? There are speculative theories, but no science.”

Peri slumped in her seat, and cradled her head in her hands. “This is mad.” She looked up again. “You are seriously saying that Earth has been attacked by monstrous creatures, that may or not be extra-terrestrial, several times? And that the true causes have successfully been concealed, over and over?”

Wilkinson gave her a smile that was almost apologetic, and simply said, “Yes.”

She nodded. “Yes, actually, when I think about it, I can see it working. Offer a simple but plausibly natural explanation, and people will leap at accepting that, over an alternative that is, essentially, ‘Demons did it.’ Am I right?”

Li nodded. “You have done very well, Peri. You clearly have a mind that is at once receptive, undogmatic, analytical and open.” She looked at Wilkinson, and added, “She will do very well, Damon. I propose that we appoint her at once.”

“Seconded,” said Rostovich.

“Agreed,” said Mitchelson.

“Carried unanimously, I think,” said Montrache.

Wilkinson nodded. “I’ll make it happen.”

“Whoa!” Peri exclaimed. “What’s the rush? Come to that, what’s the sodding job ? And you said I’d get a chance to decline…”

Mitchelson laughed. “Does she really want us to shoot her, Damon?”

Li shook her head, and said, “Really, Dwight. Peri, let me try to answer your questions. We are recruiting a new head of a small team that works under the auspices of the UNSC. The position is primarily about assessing and managing risks to the whole of humanity arising from preternatural sources. It will involve open source research, information management, analysis, risk identification and mitigation planning. There will be some classified information feeds from the intelligence services of our five nations, and some reporting to them, but that should be low volume and of minor importance. The team leader – you – will be responsible for overseeing the work of the team.”

“How big is the team?” asked Peri.

“Today? Yourself and two researchers. But I expect early recommendations about the necessary size and composition of the team for the future, based on an assessment of threats and workload.

“There will also be international liaison work, which I expect will fall to the team leader and will of course be facilitated by this committee. Only a handful of countries have any organisation or plans in this area. Our five, plus select allies, are aware and are networked. Others are active but tend to operate independently of each other.

“As to the rush… the team leader post has just become open. In fact, the first task I would like you undertake is to look into how he died.”

“What? Died?” Peri was shocked. “When did this happen?”

“His body was recovered from the sea yesterday.”

Wilkinson spoke up. “He was in North Wales, so we have you booked on a flight to Heathrow today…”

“Hold it, hold it!” Peri protested. “What do you mean you have me booked today? My knowledge of the subject matter and what the job entails is approximately the square root of fuck-all. Be reasonable! Give me the weekend to think it over and decide, then we can arrange whatever…”

“You want to think it over? You have ten seconds, Peri,” said Wilkinson.

“What?”

“Nine.”

“Ah, shit.”

“Eight.”

“When’s the flight?”

“JFK, seven fifty-five. Seven.”

“Don’t be ridiculous! That’s just not possible.”

“Yes, it is. Six.”

“All right! I’ll do it, but not on a five to eight flight. Come on, I need to get to Brooklyn Heights to pack some things, get to JFK, check in, go through security…”

Wilkinson looked smug. “Your luggage is at the airport already, and NYPD will blue-light you right to the door of the plane.”

Peri gaped at him. “That’s why Ewan and Janice stayed behind?”

“I want you on your way by six forty-five at the latest, which means I have less than an hour for a briefing.”

“You just told me to shut up and listen, didn’t you?”

Wilkinson nodded.

“We will give you the room, Damon,” said Li. “It was a great pleasure talking to you, Peri. I look forward to working with you.”

Wilkinson did not utter another word until he had swept the room with a hand-held detector that had been in his briefcase. Peri could not sit still. She paced, and finally broke the silence. “Aren’t we all friends here?”

He held up a raised finger for silence and carried on. Only when he was satisfied did he reply. “We are better described as ‘frenemies’. We work together on certain areas, but our national philosophies differ, and in some cases, remain fundamentally at odds.”

“Shame. I liked Colonel Li.”

He scowled. “I could see that she liked you, and I can’t say I’m altogether happy about that . Solidarity of the geeks, perhaps. You’re GCHQ and she’s…”

“Third Department of the PLA Joint Staff. China’s SIGINT service. Why would you be unhappy that she liked me?”

“Later. Pay and rations first. You’re on a temp promotion now, aren’t you, so with this appointment you get made substantive plus you get a temp to the next grade up. Officially, you are no longer a liaison between Cheltenham and the UK Mission here, you are seconded to the UN Security Council as an adviser. Clear?”

“Clear. And thanks.”

“Management and direction. In line management terms, you get me, I’m afraid. Your previous line manager is not cleared for this. You take up a post that reports to, and takes direction from, UNSC Ad-hoc Committee 23. That is an extremely important point. You must be careful to compartmentalise your roles, because you are both a British intelligence officer and an officer of a multi-national organisation, and these two roles will sometimes clash. In the event of a conflict of interests, come to me. Clear?

“You are, as of ten minutes ago, the head of a unit designated ‘United Nations Transnational Incidents and Emergencies’. For better or worse, to the few who know of it, it’s known as UNTIE. On paper it is a sub-department of UNTNC, but only on paper. The unit is physically based here in Annex 3, along with most of the UN’s other secret squirrel units. Not as nice as Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, but much less in the public eye. You have two members of staff, but we don’t have time to meet them today.

“Your predecessor. UNTIE leadership rotates around the five permanent members of the security council. The other members don’t know it exists. Last time, China supplied the boss, and this time it’s Britain’s turn, hence you. Your predecessor was a certain Chen Yongjun, known to his Western contacts as John Chen.”