Countdown to Terror

Chapter 19

Since his visit to Samir’s parents, Aisha and Mansoor Khan, on 18th June, Inspector Bill Lambert of GMP and his colleagues had been hard at work checking out Samir and any other persons who had been absent from their homes or work and who had links to the mosque in Cheetham Hill. They had narrowed it down to six people, whose absence was still unexplained. Lambert, of course, already had a tip-off about Samir’s potential involvement in a terrorist plot and this was enough for him to link the other two of Samir’s friends from MMU, Ali and Abdullah, as connected. The other three absentees would have to be eliminated in due course. Meanwhile, gone missing was one thing but not conclusive of involvement. He knew they were probably in London, but where and what the target was remained unknown. He was being pressured by MI5. It was now Friday 22nd June, four days after his visit to Samir’s parents, and he could only give them names and confirm that they were still AWOL.

Other related crimes were now occupying his resources. There had been a spate of copycat vigilante attacks on takeaway shops in other parts of Manchester, but even more alarming was a string of attacks on Asians of any ethnicity, be they Muslim, Hindu, Sikh, Buddhist or whatever. The situation had provided a perfect excuse for far-right groups to attack ethnic minorities and immigrants of any persuasion – in fact; it was the best opportunity for mayhem since the riots of summer 2011. A group of sad characters, originally calling themselves NNI (‘Nights of New Islington’), was an attempt to invoke thoughts of the Knights Templar, famous for their ventures in the crusades, before somebody pointed out their obvious lack of attention in school: the name was promptly amended to KNI. New Islington, a regeneration area on the Ashton Canal in Ancoats Manchester, appeared on the eighteen forty Ordnance Survey map. At the last attempted regeneration in the 1970s, it was known as the ‘Cardroom Estate’, the latter more aesthetic name chosen by the residents along with a projected tram stop giving hope for longevity and prosperity.

It was Monday morning on 25th June at ten thirty, and John Latham, department head of JTAC MI5, was chairing a meeting to update on the Sword of Allah situation.

‘OK, guys, we’ve had a report from GMP identifying a group from Manchester who have gone AWOL, probably in London, but no idea as to where or what they might be targeting. Anyone got anything to contribute?’

Ralph, MI5 IO, was first to raise his hand, ‘I have no information coming to me direct from my local agent, but I’ll check out the names in this latest GMP report with him.’

Latham didn’t actually groan, but his face told a story as Monty from MI6 raised his hand.

‘I have expressly requested full updates from colleagues in my department together with contacts in all other departments and do potentially have something to offer at this time.’

Latham was exasperated. ‘Monty! Get on with it, man.’

‘Yes, sir,’ Monty ploughed on. ‘I would not normally name names for security reasons, but delegates at this meeting may be familiar with Harry Farquarson, a long-standing MI6 handler. It would seem that because of a recent incident he has had to change his alias to Jack Spinner.’

There were murmurs of confirmation from the meeting attendees as to being aware of Harry Farquarson.