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The Company
Time: Monday, June 25, 2012 (early afternoon).
Place: Outside the bomb factory in London.
Last Event: Grabbing the bomb-maker and his four minders.
As soon as the bomb-maker and his associates are unconscious, disarmed, and zip-tied, it's time to bug out – it would be most inconvenient to be seen abducting five men in broad daylight! Paul runs to the van, hops in, and backs it down the alleyway, whereupon the Agents stack the prisoners face-down (and out of sight) in the rear. Only Wen and Zhang jump in with them, as loading 11 people into the rattletrap vehicle seems unwise. Paul hits the road the moment the doors slam shut. In the back, Zhang holds the group's sole handgun on the captives while Wen binds the wounds of the man Lev cut. Then Wen takes the pistol while Zhang brandishes the stun gun, ready to zap anybody who twitches.
Once the van is safely on its way, Hamid, Klas, and Lev calmly stroll over to the bomb-maker's car. There's no need to hotwire it – one of the prisoners had the keys. Hamid takes the wheel, Klas and Lev climb in the back, and the three of them leave the area at once.
The drive back goes well. Hamid stops briefly at a phone box to let Lev call ahead that Paul will be arriving with a van full of "produce," so Anabel should probably hang lots of knickers out the window. Even so, the car is by far the better of the group's vehicles, and arrives outside the apartments before the van does. A few minutes later, Paul swings past to show where he'll be parked, and then stops out of sight around a corner. Lev, Klas, and Hamid head inside, while Zhang, Wen, and Paul remain with the prisoners and try to keep a low profile.
Apparently Anabel's signal worked, because Belinda shows up within the hour. When the Agents explain that they've grabbed the bomb-maker, she seems surprised at the speed of their work, but also genuinely pleased. She says that her people (ostensibly Indian intelligence, but in reality MI5 or MI6, given what Terence told Anabel) can come take possession of the van and the prisoners at once – she just has to call it in. After settling on a password and a response, Belinda whips out a mobile phone and fills in her associates.
Before Belinda leaves, the team warns her that there's still a large, tricky bomb in the factory, wired to the door as a trap. They give her the address and describe the situation. Hamid figures that images of the factory interior and the device itself might help, so he hands over an SD card containing photographs he shot on site (though not before Qoqa thoroughly wipes it down). Belinda promises to make sure that the proper authorities receive the information, and hints that her people can arrange for this to happen in a way that will ensure that it's taken seriously.
Shortly after Belinda's departure, three burly men approach the van on foot, trying altogether too hard to look stereotypically East Indian, meaning that they're probably British spooks. They give the correct password, accept the response, and then trade places with Paul, Wen, and Zhang. Without further ado, the van chugs off while the three Agents rejoin their associates.
The team decides to celebrate with a night on the town. Everybody but Vinnie, that is – he's too injured for partying. The other nine leave him with the loaded pistol (just in case), and go out and have a good time. Qoqa even manages to stare down some yahoos who hassle Anabel, and intimidates them into buying a round of drinks to apologize.
Tuesday is uneventful until early evening. Truth be told, more than a few people need the day to recover from the previous night's fun. Just after dark, however, Belinda stops by once again. Whatever she has to say, she wants to say it to everybody. The entire team assembles in the spare apartment which Qoqa is using as a "hospital," because that's where Vinnie is.
Belinda informs the group that while the prisoners might have been master bomb-makers, they weren't terribly skilled at resistance. Several of them talked almost at once. With a little persuasion, Belinda's people got the men to reveal the identity of their boss: one Muhammad Asif, who lives here in London. When asked who Asif is, Belinda explains that her people haven't been watching him, don't have a meaningful file on him, and were surprised when his name came up.
Thus, the team's next assignment is a thorough assessment of Asif: watch him, follow him, and learn whether the captives were telling the truth about him before taking more direct action. Anabel, Qoqa, Vinnie, and Wen take turns prodding Belinda to share what little she does know about Asif. Belinda reports that on the surface, Asif is a legitimate businessman who makes significant donations to charity. He resides in an exclusive, high-security apartment building in an upscale area by the river – meaning lots of camera surveillance – and travels in a car chauffeured by a security professional. This tidbit, an address, and a grainy photo are all that Belinda has on the man.
Everybody is surprised when Qoqa speaks up to say that she remembers the building where Asif lives from her time working as a housekeeper in London. She notes that it is indeed quite posh, and claims that the majority of its residents are wealthy landed immigrants who work in the international import-export business. She also confirms that the area isn't exactly skulker-friendly, being well-lit, well-policed, and well-endowed with cameras. Checking out Asif sounds like it might be a serious challenge.
Before Belinda leaves, Wen asks what became of the bomb at the factory. Belinda tells her that the call went in to New Scotland Yard, whereupon the MPS descended on the building and dismantled the device. The Agents realize that whoever the real boss might be, if the bomb-maker's abrupt disappearance didn't alert him that something is up, police officers swarming one of his secret facilities surely did. Which adds "possibly alerted and wary" to the list of challenges surrounding the Asif investigation.
Once Belinda is gone, Anabel announces that she intends to pay Terence another night visit, this time to see what she can learn from him about the team's new assignment. While Anabel changes into something more comfortable, Hamid and Jili duck outside to sweep the stolen car for bugs and tracking devices. They find nothing but a generic LoJack transceiver, which they skillfully remove and disable. With that done, the car is deemed good to go. A while later, so is Anabel.
Paul volunteers to serve as Anabel's chauffeur, and Wen decides to come along for extra security. The three make it all the way to Terence's neighborhood without catching sight of a tail, but as Paul makes a precautionary pass by Terence's house, he notices a car parked in exactly the place where he would park if he were keeping tabs on Terence. He warns Wen and Anabel, and pulls around the corner to let them out. The women sneak through back gardens to Terence's kitchen door, while Paul stays put and keeps his head down.
Anabel picks the lock and slinks inside, leaving Wen to wait outside and look for garden gnomes to steal. This time around, Terence seems happier to see Anabel, and is also better-prepared: there's champagne in the fridge. As the two greet each other as lovers, Anabel looks around for something to write on. She sees that Terence bought more than wine – there's also a stack of fresh notepads and soft pencils on the kitchen counter. Thus, the interesting conversation happens on paper.
Terence's first note congratulates the Agents for their capture of the bomb-maker. He wasn't involved with bringing in or interrogating the man, but the quiet capture of such a figure a mere month before the 2012 Summer Olympics – and the ensuing defusing of a sizeable explosive device – was cause for celebration among those at the Box. Anabel asks whether Terence has any access to the raw interrogation transcripts. Unfortunately, he doesn't.
This leads Anabel to change the topic to the mission at hand: Muhammad Asif. She fills in Terence on the job (although she suspects that he already knows), and asks what he knows about Asif. Terence replies that he doesn't recognize the name and hasn't read any briefings that sound as if they're connected to anyone like that. As far as Anabel can tell, Terence is being truthful. Anabel tells Terence that it would make her really happy if he could find out more – if not for her then for the good of the UK, as Asif may well be dangerous, and she and her friends get results quickly. Terence promises to do his best.
After that, it's time for recreation. Anabel shows off a bit, sabering the champagne bottle just because she can, and then demonstrating that isn't the only trick she knows that involves deft hands and a sword. Wen and Paul wait patiently, in the shrubbery and the vehicle respectively. Well after midnight, Anabel exits by the kitchen door, chucking Wen a snack on her way out, as if feeding a dangerous beast. The two women steal back to the car and rejoin Paul, who leaves at low speed with the lights out, selecting a route that doesn't take him past what he suspects is a surveillance team. The three stroll back into their apartments in the wee hours of Wednesday, June 27.