Page 59 - double revenge 3.

Albert Lawrence’s office was like a Radio Shack store. Die cast boxes with wires coming out were
everywhere. An aerial wire ran a couple of times the whole way round the ceiling and he sat in his
chair with a pair of large black headphones on his ears.

He took them off as I entered.

‘Hello Bryant, nice to see you. Just been building a crystal radio for my great grandson, sounds clear
as a bell but the Aussie’s are tearing us apart as usual. Here, this is for you, I’ve given George his
copy, nothing contentious in the memo, glad to say. Now, what can I do for you?’

‘How difficult would it be for you to get me into the Purple Room?’

‘How long would you need and when?’

‘An hour at most, sometime this evening if possible?’

‘Can I have your ID card?’

I passed it to him and he proceeded to attach a swipe machine to his computer and swiped my
card. He spent ten minutes typing on his computer and looked up.

‘There are two lockdowns tonight for security re appraisal. Does it have to be today?’

‘I would prefer it!’

‘OK. There is a lockdown at ten o’clock and another at five minutes to midnight. Would that be long
enough?’

‘Ample.’

‘Right. I will delay your accreditation so it takes effect at a quarter past ten and then it will have to
be wiped just before the second security lockdown. It means you will have to be out by ten to
midnight. OK?’

He swiped my ID card again and passed it back.

‘I have also added permissions for access to Oracle and the printer in case you need to print
anything off. Remember, you must be through all security zones before then otherwise the balloon
goes up and this will take some explaining! You will be on your own then.’

‘No problem Albert. I will be well clear of the building by then. And thanks.’

*****

The Oracle is the colloquial name given to the computer that sits three floors below ground level
and is the “House” computer. Anne’s computer had been removed from the system and all her files
expunged but there was a small chance that anything she had sent to the printer may still exist. It is
something that could easily be overlooked. The only way to find out was to get into Oracle itself
and that could only be achieved from within the “Purple Room” where Oracle was housed.

I entered the MI6 building at a quarter past ten, the lockdown normally only took about ten
minutes. My card successfully swiped the entrance gate as usual and I made my way to the lifts.