Page 39 of End Game
‘All three of you head for the generator roomnow,’ William said. ‘There are two intruders. Arrest them and then report back to me immediately.’
‘On our way,’ said Ross, who was already running towards the generator room.
While William continued to look at the blank screen, he recalled that the generator provided emergency power not just for the internal security cameras but for the stadium’s lighting, as well as the media centre which transmitted radio and television broadcasts to hundreds of countries around the world. Now he knew why someone had needed the CCTV screens out of action for a minute, and why Faulkner had given the Russian Ambassador a thumbs-up sign. If only Rebecca had stayed put. It was now obvious the intruders were in no hurry and would have waited for her to leave. But would the home team get there in time to stop the generator being put out of action? If that were to coincide with a successful cyberattack on the National Grid, affecting power both inside and outside the stadium, and the stadium’semergency generator wasn’t working, there would be no opening ceremony. He glanced back at the Russian Ambassador’s box to see a smug smile on Mikailov’s face, as if he knew exactly what was going to happen next.
•••
Ross and Paul were within yards of the generator room when the two masked men came running out of the room. When they saw the two police officers, they charged off in opposite directions, with Ross and Paul following closely behind.
Paul tackled the first one, quickly turned him over and handcuffed him, while Ross continued running after the faster man. When Ross was only a yard away, he hurled himself at him and managed to pull off his balaclava, only to feel the full force of an elbow being slammed into his jaw, sending him toppling back onto the ground.
Ross was immediately back on his feet and began sprinting after the man, but it quickly became clear he knew exactly where he was going. And just as Ross began to gain on him, he was, without warning, tackled from behind by someone who was clearly part of a well-organized back-up team. Although Ross recovered in moments, by the time he jumped back up, both men had disappeared.
Ross swore out loud. Only one good thing had come out of the failed pursuit. He’d recognized the man he’d been chasing. The man from the Oval, the man who got into his taxi, the man he’d driven to Kensington Palace Gardens. Now Ross knew exactly who they were up against. He turned around and hurried back to the generator room.
Rebecca was the first to reach the generator room and rang William on her radio. She left the channel open so William could hear her conversation with the engineer. Once she’d removed the engineer’s gag and untied him, Rebecca asked, ‘How bad is it?’ And she wasn’t referring to his state of health.
‘They knew exactly what they were doing,’ said the engineer between breaths. ‘One of them, who was clearly in charge, tied me up while the other one smashed the distribution box attached to the back-up generator. But that’s only half the problem. When I first got here, I found a couple of circuit breakers connected to the power supplies for the stadium lights and media centre that shouldn’t be there. Not only that, they can be remotely controlled, so someone, anyone, out there could trigger them at a moment’s notice. And to make matters worse, because of the way they’ve been fitted, it will take some time to remove them. And as the emergency generator is now beyond repair …’
‘Can you fix the generator?’ asked Ross, as he ran into the room, only wanting to hear one response.
‘No one can fix it,’ replied the engineer. ‘It’s too badly damaged. We’ll somehow have to get hold of a replacement distribution box within the next thirty minutes.’
‘Why thirty minutes?’ asked Ross.
‘Because,’ said William, who’d been listening to every word, ‘that’s when the opening ceremony begins and the floodlights are due to come on, and when the whole world will be watching. Twenty-nine minutes to be exact.’
‘This must have been planned for weeks,’ said Ross.
‘Possibly months,’ said William. ‘So, if someone triggers the circuit breakers and we have no working back-up generator, the stadium could be left in darkness and there won’tbe a single TV station in the world showing the opening ceremony.’ William thought for a moment. ‘Hold on a second while I make a phone call.’
He quickly looked up a number and dialled it. He prayed it wasn’t engaged, or worse, just went on ringing, remembering the one man he needed was sitting somewhere out there in the stadium and, like everyone else, was waiting for the curtain to go up on the greatest show on earth.
It was some time before a voice came on the line. ‘This had better be good, Commander,’ said General Norton, ‘because my wife and I are looking forward to the start of the opening ceremony.’
‘Without your help, General, there won’t be an opening ceremony to look forward to,’ said William, and hurriedly explained what had just happened.
‘I’ll get in touch with Woolwich barracks immediately and speak to their Commanding Officer,’ said the General. ‘His outfit are the only ones who’ll have a spare distribution box available at this time of night. You’d better hold on, Commander, while I make the call.’
‘What happens if we can’t get a replacement in time and the circuit breakers are triggered?’ asked Ross.
‘If that happens,’ replied William, ‘the only people smiling will be the countless journalists and broadcasters from around the world who will all be claiming an exclusive on their front pages in the morning, and what’s more they will have enough copy to last them for the next month, by which time the Games will have ground to a halt.
‘On top of that,’ William continued, trying to sound calm, ‘if the cyberattacks are successful and the National Grid goes down, even if we did manage to evacuate the stadium safely, there would be no power for tubes, trains or even streetlights.It doesn’t bear thinking about. But what about those responsible? Did you manage to catch either of them?’
‘Paul arrested one of them, but he didn’t open his mouth except to swear at us, I think in Russian. I’ll question him later, but I suspect he won’t say a word.’
‘Where is he now?’ demanded William.
‘Paul took him off to the Olympic police cell – the one no one’s meant to know about – where he will no doubt claim diplomatic immunity.’
‘And the one you went after?’ asked William.
‘He got clean away, but not before I pulled off his mask,’ Ross admitted, rubbing his jaw. ‘I recognized him. He was the man who joined Faulkner at the Oval and who I later drove to the Russian Embassy. It turns out there were three of them, the two in the generator room and a third who came out of nowhere and felled me. I wouldn’t be surprised if it was the third one who caused our CCTV screens to go blank so the others could get into the generator room without being spotted. I expect the two who got away are now safely holed up in the Russian Embassy.’
‘So at least we know who we’re up against,’ said William, as the General came back on the line.
‘I’ve managed to locate a spare distribution box,’ he announced, ‘along with a couple of technicians to install it. I won’t repeat their sentiments when they were dragged away from their televisions at a moment’s notice, but be assured they are already on their way. The good news,’ added the General, ‘is that the streets are almost empty. It would seem that over half the nation is tuned in waiting for the opening ceremony to begin.’
