The Traveller Page 2

  “Each room has its own safe, and larger items can be left safely and securely with the reception desk.”

  Cooper had almost been expecting this.

  “What else is in these rooms?” demanded the official.

  “You will find everything you need, including a small bar with wines and spirits, and of course a radio and television.”

  Cooper knew this would be the last straw.

  The Korean minder turned to his colleagues. “You will not drink or watch television,” he commanded, and immediately wished he hadn’t.

  Cooper added salt to the wound, tongue in cheek.

  “Of course, you may have the newspaper of your choice delivered to your room first thing every morning during your stay, so that you can keep up with world events.”

  “No newspapers and no TV,” commanded Moon.

  “I have chosen this Hotel specially as it is centrally placed in Oxford, and it will be easy for you to explore this historic University City,” said Cooper. “You are, of course, free to do whatever you like, and go anywhere you wish.”

  “We will stay together in the Hotel,” decided the Korean.

  “I know you all speak English,” said Cooper, “but if you would find it helpful, I could join you for dinner later when you have rested and perhaps explored a little. I could then help you with the menu in the excellent Quod restaurant, or we could visit a different bar or café if you wish. There are some excellent eating places in Oxford, including some first-class Chinese restaurants if that would make you feel more at home. Shall I meet you in the bar at, say, seven o’clock?”

  Choi Shin spoke up before their civil service colleague could say anything. Although they had not previously met Moon Pak, the two scientists recognised him as a decent man, but with a job to do, which he was determined to do to the best of his ability.

  “All this is most kind of you, Mr. Cooper. I am sure we shall be most comfortable, and that we shall enjoy exploring Oxford. Seven o’clock would be ideal – thank you.”

  “Good! I can then outline the arrangements for the rest of your stay, and what we have in mind for your visit to Culham tomorrow. If I can arrange it, I will even invite one of our scientists from there to join us for dinner this evening.”

  “That would be an excellent idea,” said Shin. “And I have a special favour to ask you while I am here.”

  “What is that?” asked Cooper. “I’m sure we will be only too pleased to help if we can.”

  “We are here, as you know,” said Shin, “to be briefed on your efforts to harness nuclear fusion as an unlimited source of carbon-free energy, and we know that you are leading in this field of research.”

  Cooper nodded.

  “As you may know, my own special field of research is to do with nuclear fission and in particular the enrichment of uranium. I wondered if it would be at all possible to visit your own research facilities in this area while I am here. At Aldermaston, I believe?”

  Cooper thought for a moment.

  “In fact, our main nuclear research facilities are run by the UK Atomic Energy Authority at Harwell, not far from here. Aldermaston is our Atomic Weapons Establishment.”

  “Regrettably, nuclear weapons are my field, not general research, so a visit to Aldermaston would be a wonderful opportunity for me to compare notes, shall we say, with others in the same field.”

  The Korean official, Moon Pak, their guide and minder, immediately saw the wisdom of this request. What a coup for his country if such a briefing could be given! Add this to the briefings they had received in America, and their beloved leader would immediately become one of the best informed of all world leaders, as he already was in so many other fields. He would make sure on his return that his lords and masters knew what a brilliant man Dr.Choi Shin was to have suggested such a thing. It crossed Pak’s mind that he might even try to claim credit for the idea himself on their return.

  Cooper thought for a moment, as the car drew up to the hotel entrance.

  “I am sure that such a visit could be arranged, although it is short notice. However, my scientist colleague who I shall invite to join us later will be well placed to arrange such a briefing if that is possible. I shall ring him immediately, and look forward to seeing you all again this evening.”

  “Thank you Mr. Cooper,” said Shin.

  “My pleasure,” replied Cooper with a wry smile.

  ***

  When Lee Cooper got back to his desk in MI6, there was a note stuck to his computer screen. He slung his jacket over the back of his chair and walked to another office a short way down the corridor. He knocked on the door marked ‘James Piper. Head of Section 7’, and walked in without being asked.

  “You wanted to see me, boss?” he asked as James looked up.

  “I’ve had the Americans on,” announced James.

  “What does Auntie want this time?”

  “Dr. Choi Shin.”

  “So do we.”

  “They know he’s over here.”

  “And we knew when he went there.”

  “They want us to share any information we get from him.”

  “Like they shared with us?”

  “They didn’t get anything, apparently. Nothing worth sharing, anyway.”

  Cooper sat down without being asked.

  “What’s the deal, then?”

  “They seem to think Choi is turn-able, and that we might be able to do it. They tried while he was there, but he was too afraid of the consequences back home. His brother and wife are already in one of their prisons, and he doesn’t want the rest of his family to join them.”

  “Who else is there?”

  “A nephew, apparently, who he is looking after while his brother is inside. Sounds a bright kid – just started at their new University in Pyongyang.”

  “Interesting.”

  “They know Choi Shin is working with the Chinese on their nuclear programme, and want to know what the Chinese are up to.”

  “So do we,” agreed Cooper. “That’s why he’s here.”

  “How’s it going then?”

  “Can’t say yet – they only just got here. But we left their Embassy man standing at the airport, which won’t be popular, and they’ve got the usual minder with them who could prove to be a more than usually difficult pain in the arse.”

  Cooper looked at his watch.

  “I’ll have to go soon. I’m meeting them for dinner in Oxford. Dr.Choi is interesting, though, and I tend to agree with our cousins – possibly turn-able. What’s remarkable is that he’s already asked to visit Aldermaston, to see something of our military nuclear fission research, which is more his field than Culham. He even suggested it would be a chance for him to ‘compare notes’. Perhaps that means he is prepared to talk, at least.”

  “If we are all right, and he is a candidate, can you turn him?”

  “I’ll have a damned good try, but he is probably not here long enough. And that minder is going to be difficult to avoid.”

  “Enjoy your dinner.”

  “I’ve got to organise some help, first,” said Cooper. “I thought chums in Defence Intelligence might like to join us this evening. They know more about bombs than I do.”

  2.

  THE DINNER

  Lee Cooper had a lot to do before dinner that evening.

  For a start, he had to organise in double quick time, colleagues who could join him. He knew who he wanted to be there, and he also knew that they weren’t so much going to be invited as told to be there. James Piper would see to that.

  Professor John Williams was no real problem. He was Director of the Nuclear Research Laboratory at Culham, which the party of overseas visitors was scheduled to visit, so in many ways he was the host. He lived not far from the laboratory, and was therefore not far from Oxford either.

  But Cooper wanted someone in authority from the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston. Choi Shin had specially asked to be allowed to visit the place, and Cooper was k
een that he should, if only to meet people.

  The right people. People who would be able to ask Choi the right questions, and perhaps entice him to stay. He had information everyone wanted, and had already talked about ‘comparing notes’. The sooner he was given the chance to do that, the better.

  The problem with Aldermaston was that AWE was a civilian organisation, run by a consortium of technical specialist companies on behalf of the Government. Paul Sheppard was one of the senior technical directors and was working there on secondment from the Ministry of Defence. Still one of us, so to speak.

  That’s who Cooper wanted at the dinner table.

  He didn’t live near Oxford, but near Reading and the AWE complex. But he knew about Choi Shin from the Americans and our own UK Intelligence sources, so he took no persuading to meet him. A son’s birthday party suddenly went up in smoke.

  Having fixed his dinner party hosts, Cooper thought for a minute.

  There would be three of them, and three of ‘us’. But an extra pair of eyes and ears would be useful, he concluded. Our team could sit one either side of Choi, isolating him from his colleagues, which was essential, but it would be useful to have someone sitting directly across from Choi. Perhaps someone from Defence Intelligence could do it. That would leave him to look after the ‘minder’ and the other scientist.

  James Piper suggested Martin Davis, a weapons expert with experience of the Far East. Cooper rang him, and although they had never met, they got on well on the phone. Davis quickly got the plot, and agreed to play the part selected for him at the dinner. He’d not been to Korea, but knew Vietnam, which was close enough Cooper thought.

  Cooper had booked a private room for their meal at the Hotel, and rang Piper for one more favour.

  “We need the place wired up,” he said.

  “I’d thought of that, and already got a bloke organised. Len Ellis is one of the best technical officers there is, and he’s been trying to get in touch with you on the secure mobile.”

  “Where is he now?” asked Cooper.

  “Already of his way to the Old Bank Hotel.”

  “He’ll do. I’ll meet him there.”

  Ellis got there first, and was already at work with a couple of other technical colleagues in the private dining room when Cooper arrived. Another of Ellis’s team was outside, keeping the hotel staff away, although they had already laid the table and done whatever else it is that hotel staff do at these times.

  “The most important bloke will be sitting here,” Cooper pointed.

  “I’ll give him two bugs all to himself then!”

  “Where will you be?”

  “There’s a camper van in the car park. I’ll be there with a couple of chums making sure we don’t miss anything. I’ll have separate feeds into the van from each person, but you’ll have to identify them afterwards. I’m assuming you don’t want video as well – there’s hardly time to fix that.”

  “Audio will be enough, thanks. How does that work?”

  “Micro-chip wireless transceivers. Short range, but enough to get to the van.”

  “Where are you putting them?”

  “Mind your own business! No-one will find them; guaranteed.”

  “Hope you’re right. Shit will hit fan if you’re wrong.”

  “Relax. I’ve done this before.”

  “You’ve been recommended.”

  Ellis knew his stuff, all right. No doubt about that

  “Drop in to the van when it’s all over, and have a quick listen to what we’ve got,” invited Ellis.

  “I’ll bring a doggy bag.”

  ***

  After the introductions and a welcome glass of Champagne before dinner, the party relaxed. Most of them, anyway. Mr. Moon Pak didn’t look as if he’d ever relaxed in his life, although that didn’t stop him having a second glass of pre-dinner Champers.

  But he was plainly on edge, knowing that it would be impossible for him to monitor, let alone influence, what was said to or by his two scientist colleagues. He could only hope that they stuck to the rules. Not that they had so far. He knew that Dr Shin had already been out of the Hotel for a walk around the city centre, exposing himself to the appalling life style enjoyed by the West, and leaving himself open to be influenced by the decadence to be found in the capitalist life style of alcohol and drugs enjoyed by the youth who purported to be students in this University city.

  He knew, though, that Choi Shin was a strong character, well able to resist any temptations which he might come across. As a scientist, the Doctor had an enquiring mind, and no doubt his brief excursion was in the interests of research more than anything else.

  Pak could not have been more wrong.

  Choi Shin’s ‘brief excursion’ had only one object – to help him decide if this life-style was better than that in North Korea, and if so whether it was worth the enormous risk involved if he should decide to defect and stay there.

  He had already concluded that it was certainly better than he had witnessed in America, and that both were better than his own. He longed for the freedom enjoyed here. Living in this country, he would have access to everything he could wish for, but which was denied him at home, where he and his fellow citizens were weighed down by restrictions, suppressed by an overbearing state machine and denied the very basic of human rights. Here, he would be able to openly discuss his work with others and have access to every imaginable research tool he could wish for, not only radio and television which was independent of Government influence, but a free press producing literature and news - and comment - about every aspect of life here and abroad. He was able, as he had demonstrated quietly in his hotel room, to access the internet with its endless array of research opportunities. He had been able this afternoon to browse through scientific journals openly on display in newsagents. He had visited the Bodleian Library, with its world famous collection of books, manuscripts and learned papers, any of which he would have been able to study if he had wished in one of the many reading rooms.

  And the people – freely able to meet together, to talk, to discuss, to argue, to eat and drink, to come and go as they wished. Dr Choi had been out of his hotel for only an hour or so – he lost track of time – and had not seen a single policemen or official in uniform. Yet his own country, in which he was a prominent citizen, had chosen to send with him and his colleague their own ‘policeman’, the civil servant minder Moon Pak. The British, though, were sufficiently trusting to let him come and go freely as he wished. They had not dictated what he did or where he went, and had not imposed any restrictions on him or followed him wherever he went.

  He had not noticed the two men on a motorbike.

  ***

  But the dinner had gone well.

  Even the hotel staff thought so. They were used to visiting dignitaries from abroad, but they were usually entertained by University staff. This seemed to be a smaller party than usual, and was certainly not sponsored by one of the university colleges. It was a small reception, hosted by the Government, with people up from London, entertaining people from the Far East, it looked. Some said they were from Korea, but how can you tell? They all look the same. They enjoyed their food, were polite to the staff, and everything went well. One of the Government chaps said so afterwards and thanked them, as well as thanking the Manager, which was nice.

  It was a late night, though, for the hosts. After coffee in the lounge, the two scientists and their civil servant colleague, Moon Pak, went to their rooms, while the others held a quick de-brief.

  John Williams started the ball rolling.

  “That man Dr. Shin is a worried scientist if ever I saw one,” he pronounced.

  “In what way?” asked Cooper.

  “He’s worried about what he is doing back home. Reading between the lines, he sees that his country could well be heading for some sort of nuclear disaster if their current research programme continues unchecked, and the Chinese are pushing them along at all speed. The development wor
k he’s involved in is world-leading, so far as he can tell, but if it is successful, he has no idea how his Government will use the new weapons. He acknowledges that it is an unstable regime, which could do anything.”

  “I get much the same impression,” said Paul Sheppard from Aldermaston. “He seems to understand that once they have managed to develop their revolutionary method of enriching uranium, they will be able to produce weapons far more quickly than anyone else and in greater numbers.”

  “He sounded frustrated that he could do nothing about it, either. He sees no way of stopping the programme, short of military action by the West, which he considers out of the question.”

  “I hope he’s right,” said Cooper. “So what can be done?”

  “It seems to me,” opined Martin Davis, “that we need to know in some detail what they are doing so that we can perhaps develop some form of defensive counter measure.”

  “I agree,” said Sheppard. “The man plainly has information which is vital to us, but can we persuade him to give it to us?”

  “He would need to defect and stay here to do that,” said Williams. “You simply cannot pass on that sort of information over a cup of tea one afternoon. We not only need to know what it is they are doing, but how they are doing it and what the Chinese role is. That means technical information, specifications, drawings and all the rest of it.”

  “Which he won’t have brought with him,” said Sheppard.

  “Even if he does want to co-operate, I doubt he would want to stay over here. He’s too afraid of the consequences for his family and friends back home.”

  “And it’s big ‘if’, too. He hasn’t actually said in so many words that he wants to help us has he?” Cooper asked. “It’s only an impression we’ve got.”

  “I wouldn’t mind listening again to what he said over dinner,” said Williams.

  “That can be arranged,” said Cooper. “I didn’t tell you beforehand, but the whole evening has been carefully monitored and recorded.”

  “I’ll be damned!” exclaimed Sheppard. “I should have guessed you guys would do something like that.”

  “I’ll arrange for you to have transcripts tomorrow morning.”

  “It’s nearly that, now,” said Davis.

  “Tomorrow, we’re all due to visit your establishment John. I suggest, if you can arrange it, that we get Choi to Aldermaston, on his own, the next day, prior to the final day at Culham before they leave the UK.”