condensed master
Will Bonner people that would cause you to react this way?" "No. I started to take precautions after Dan appeared that night." The whole incident had overshadowed his reason for being here in the first place and placed him in no mood for discussing what had occurred earlier in the day. It was as if Margaret was reading his mind. "Your reason for being here must be urgent otherwise you would have phoned, add to that the fact that you're here late in the evening when you could be with your family is another indication." "Dorothy knows I'll be late, but if she knew I was alone with another woman in a secret hideaway she would use more than a shotgun on me!" Margaret laughed. "Your conscience is still bothering you then?" "Yes, it always will." He was now beginning to feel more relaxed and thinking of how to start. The problems of purposely leaving information out, in an endeavour to offset any trouble he may encounter, were uppermost in his mind. But he concluded that it would eventually resurface with devastating effect, prompting him to start from the beginning and relate everything that had happened. Margaret's eyes opened wider with every sentence. He could see that she was having difficulty containing her excitement. She got up and walked towards the kitchen and then turned. "Do you realize that you are probably the only person in Australia outside the small group of politicians that will be involved, that's privy to this information?" "I'm not privy to any information other than the fact that there is to be a gathering of people and a talk. It may turn out to be only just that." Will was trying to put a negative emphasis on the discovery, hoping to lessen the intensity of interest. He would have to fight every inch of the way to keep his involvement in this affair to a low-key. "You know as well as I do Will that the content of those tapes, slides and film will be classified. We can't do anything about the film, but the tapes and slides will have to be copied." Will could feel the noose tightening around his neck, but he was looking for any excuse to offer up resistance. "There's got to be at least two hours of slides and synchronized taped conversations, plus commentary on the night. Without specialized equipment it would be a mammoth task, practically impossible!" 286
The Reluctant Agent A Compelling Story of Espionage "Just tell me what you want and I'll get it, the possibility of getting hold of any of this information will be paramount!" "There's something I can't understand." "What's that?" "You say this information will be classified?" "Yes." "So Australian Government Intelligence will end up with it, or may already have copies, so why can't you get hold of the information through government channels?" "It will initially be held at the highest level, and any inference that we know of it's existence, will cause questions to be asked, and trouble for us. In any case, we'd never get hold of it." "With all that's being said, I can't see what value the information will be to you anyway?" Margaret noticably hesitated, her manner indicating that she was not prepared to answer any further questions. "You're beginning to ask me questions that I can't answer." "Because you can't, or won't?" "To be blunt, because I won't." "It's only academic to me anyway, and would probably cause me more problems, so I'd best forget about it." "I think under the circumstances that would be a wise thing to do." "I'll leave you to do what you have to then." "No, I need to know what you'll be doing when you go back there." "My intention is to take some test gear and thoroughly test the facility." "What then?" "Well, if it all tests okay I'll make one final check on Monday, before they get started." "Could you visit on Friday as well?" "Yes, provided I had a good enough reason, but I can't concoct one. It must be genuine and watertight, from an engineering point of view." "I bet you could come up with something if you really tried." "Perhaps, but why Friday?" "We must have every bit of time available to us." She hesitated and Will was 287
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The Reluctant Agent<br />
A Compelling Story of Espionage<br />
"Just tell me what you want and I'll get it, the possibility of getting hold of any<br />
of this information will be paramount!"<br />
"There's something I can't understand."<br />
"What's that?"<br />
"You say this information will be classified?"<br />
"Yes."<br />
"So Australian Government Intelligence will end up with it, or may already<br />
have copies, so why can't you get hold of the information through government<br />
channels?"<br />
"It will initially be held at the highest level, and any inference that we know of<br />
it's existence, will cause questions to be asked, and trouble for us. In any case,<br />
we'd never get hold of it."<br />
"With all that's being said, I can't see what value the information will be to you<br />
anyway?"<br />
Margaret noticably hesitated, her manner indicating that she was not prepared<br />
to answer any further questions.<br />
"You're beginning to ask me questions that I can't answer."<br />
"Because you can't, or won't?"<br />
"To be blunt, because I won't."<br />
"It's only academic to me anyway, and would probably cause me more<br />
problems, so I'd best forget about it."<br />
"I think under the circumstances that would be a wise thing to do."<br />
"I'll leave you to do what you have to then."<br />
"No, I need to know what you'll be doing when you go back there."<br />
"My intention is to take some test gear and thoroughly test the facility."<br />
"What then?"<br />
"Well, if it all tests okay I'll make one final check on Monday, before they get<br />
started."<br />
"Could you visit on Friday as well?"<br />
"Yes, provided I had a good enough reason, but I can't concoct one. It must<br />
be genuine and watertight, from an engineering point of view."<br />
"I bet you could come up with something if you really tried."<br />
"Perhaps, but why Friday?"<br />
"We must have every bit of time available to us." She hesitated and Will was<br />
287
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