The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comKiddie accepted the new assignment with relish but found that she wasout of her depth. She had no technical training and was unable tounderstand the specifications and drawings of the equipment. She neededhelp from somebody with an engineering background, so she recruitedAlbert Constantine, a 60-year-old former merchant seaman and engineerand an old friend of her first husband. Constantine was one of life'sunfortunate souls whose career seemed to disintegrate around himwhichever way he turned. He had started work in the Durham coalmines at16 but was made redundant when the mining industry started to falter.He obtained an apprenticeship in the Tyneside shipyards, but he'dpicked another doomed industry and shortly after he was qualified hewas made redundant again. He went to sea with the merchant navy and hadjust qualified as a First Mate when he was seriously injured in a carcrash. As a result of his injuries, Constantine lost his merchant navymedical certificate and that career too. He drifted around doing simpleengineering work for many years and then, in his late 50s, washed up asa commodity trader with a import-export trading company in London.When Kiddie asked Constantine to help, he was delighted. He wasstruggling to make ends meet from his low-paid job, and the extra cashwould come in handy. A few months later, in April 1994, Kiddie andConstantine met up in South Mimms motorway service station, just northof London. Unbeknown to them, their meeting was under surveillance. TwoPTCP officers, posing as travelling salesmen, sat at an adjacent table,recording their conversation with a sophisticated directionalmicrophone mounted in a briefcase. From that surveillance and thetelephone intercepts of Constantine, it became apparent that he too wasunable to understand the technical specifications provided by Fahd. Butthere was no way that he was going to let on to Kiddie just yet - hebadly wanted to be in on the deal.Normally if MI6 wanted to worm its way into a piece of quasi-criminalactivity such as Kiddie's dealings with Fahd, they would try tocultivate and then recruit one of the key individuals, such asConstantine or Kiddie. But Badger was adamant that Kiddie would panicif approached by MI6 and pull out of the deal, denying us theopportunity of disrupting the Iranian operation. He ruled outcultivating Constantine, too. He was more level-headed, but was loyalto his friends and he would probably tell Kiddie. Badger was adamantthat the only means to get into the operation was for me to approachKiddie or Constantine under cover, win their confidence and trust, andhope that they would recommend me to Manbar and Fahd.It would be difficult to get alongside Kiddie directly. First, sheworked alone at home, so was not easily accessible via intermediaries.Secondly, telephone intercepts showed that she was wary of strangersand only trusted them if strongly recommended by somebody she knew. Iwould have to get alongside Constantine first, then hope that he wouldintroduce me to Kiddie.Delving into the files turned up Constantine's home address inSouthampton on the south coast of England. A quick recce trip on mymotorbike revealed that the house next door to his terraced cottage wasvacant. `Why don't you rent it and get to know him as a neighbour?'Badger suggested. Returning to Southampton to visit the estate agentthe next week, I found it was already too late; a young couple had justmoved in. I had to find another plan.page- 129 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com