Free Dead in the Water by Brian Woolland Page B

know those arguments. But there’s no appetite for violence. And there’s something else about this which really puzzles me.”
    She nods, urging him to continue.
    “ The use of technology. Green is usually associated with low tech.” She nods. “I’m aware of the contradictions, believe me. Rubber inflatables with high powered outboard motors are quite high tech when you think about it, but when stacked against whalers and ships carrying nuclear waste they seem pretty basic.”
    “ Indeed.”
    “ I’ve only heard stuff second-hand, but from what I’m told, this is high-tech terrorism. You wanted to talk to me because I’m in touch with the Green movement. The trouble is there isn’t A Green movement. Green groups are composed of like-minded individuals – with the emphasis on individual rather than like-minded. People used to say it was a characteristic of the Left – that it was riddled with factionalism. Believe me, compared with the Greens, the Left is a model of coherence and unity. That’s the thing that really puzzles me about this. I thought I was pretty much on the ball when it came to the various different strands of Green thinking – but this … it’s come out of nowhere. And why Britain? Our record on the environment has improved enormously in the past five years.”
    “ These people clearly think differently.” She looks through her papers, and puts them in her case. That seems to conclude the interview, though she says nothing to confirm it. She looks up at him and smiles.
    “ I was a member of Greenpeace when I was at University,” she says. “I always wanted to meet you.”
    “ Shame about the circumstances.”
    “ Indeed. Thank you Mark. May I call you Mark? Thank you very much. We might need to talk again.”
    “ I’m keen to help.”
    “ Thank you. I appreciate that.” She gives him a card. “If you do hear anything that might be useful, please call me. That’s a private number. And a secure e-mail account. Thanks for your time.”
    Mark accompanies her down to reception. She lightens up again, and they talk about university. He wonders, hypothetically of course, how she’d respond if he were to ask her to dinner. They’re in the lift, just the two of them, when she says, “You do understand, of course, that everything we’ve talked about is covered by the Official Secrets Act. Which means that you shouldn’t mention anything about our meeting to anyone. Not even Joanna or Sara.”
    The lift doors open, she smiles at him again, shakes his hand, goes to reception to sign out and give in her visitor’s identity tag; and leaves.
    If he’s not a suspect, how does she know about Sara?
     

13 Caracas
     
    There has been no shortage of volunteers to get the offices cleaned up, but although much of the damage is from fire hoses and the sprinkler system, the offices still reek of smoke; and it would be impossible to work there, even in the unlikely event of the electricity being restored in the next few days. But they need to work from somewhere. By late afternoon, after spending much of the day making mobile phone calls and calling in personal favours, he has arranged a makeshift office in an empty storeroom in the Henri Pittier Library in the Jardin Botanico . No windows and not much space, but a couple of desks, a telephone line and a loaned computer with an internet connection. It could be a lot worse.
    Salvador has redeemed himself by doing much of the donkey work with the result that Jeremy at last has time to try to contact Rachel again. Nothing – there must be a fault with their satphone – but he’s not unduly concerned. In spite of the claims of the manufacturers, satphones are still not all that reliable; people often lose contact when they’re working in the field.
    When he locks the door behind him he finds Salvador waiting, still hangdog and laden with his guilt from this morning. So Salvador accompanies him to the nearby bar. If the guy is so determined to