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.“What about his accomplice?”“I’m afraid his ally was too careful,” Rivers admitted.“Our CCTV coverage near Regents Park has never been what it should be – and whoever was behind the blast knew to stay out of the camera’s field of vision.The chances are good that we have some footage of the bomb-maker, but we don't know it.At least, not yet.”He shrugged.“The bomber himself, we believe, was Aashif Shahid,” he continued.“He does have a file – he came to our attention after a number of outspoken comments in the mosque about the need to wage war on the Great Satan – but MI5 took a look at him and decided that he was nothing more than a loudmouth.No real contacts with the radicals who could provide explosives or weapons – and no sign that he was trying to build his own.And as for why he decided to attack the aliens.?”Alan shrugged.“Get a team out to the garage and see if you can pick up any clues that might lead to the bomb-maker,” he ordered.“And then draw up a list of his friends and family.I want them arrested and charged with harbouring a known terrorist.”“With all due respect, sir,” Rivers pointed out, “there is no evidence that anyone else knew about his plans.”“Do it anyway,” Alan ordered, sharply.He glanced over at the alien communicator on the table.God alone knew how it worked, but it was quite possible that the aliens were watching him at all times.Fear leaked into his voice as he spoke.“Do you want them to do it?”Rivers met his eyes in shared understanding, if for different reasons.The aliens could do it, all right, or they might bring in the heavy weapons.It was easy to imagine them calling down strikes on London, blasting entire buildings to rubble just to teach the imprudent humans a lesson.And then they’d be looking at thousands dead and God alone knew how many wounded.And it wouldn't give them a chance to track down the remainder of the resistance cell.And.“See to it,” Alan ordered, quietly.“We can't risk losing control now, or we might lose everything.”Chapter NineteenLondonUnited Kingdom, Day 15From a distance, the old garage looked harmless.Just another old business, struggling to stay afloat in the depression – and perhaps making questionable deals with criminals or terrorists to keep the money rolling in.But Sergeant Terry Graves knew better than to relax.CO19 – the Central Operations Specialist Firearms Command – had broken into terrorist bases before and, no matter how innocent they looked, they often had unpleasant surprises waiting for unwary armed police officers.The irony didn't amuse him as he beckoned the rest of the team forward, leaving two men behind to watch from a safe distance.They’d been sent into battle unarmed, at least without firearms.The alien ban on human firearms was still firmly in place.Terry cursed silently under his breath as they crept closer.In an ideal world, he and his team would be fighting the aliens – and they’d had time to conceal a small number of firearms around London in places they could reach them if the shit hit the fan.But for the moment, they had no choice, apart from collaboration.And if they failed to catch the insurgents who had struck out at the aliens, the aliens would take steps of their own.Given their willingness to use indiscriminate weapons fire in the midst of the civilian population, he had no doubt just how bloody and violent their steps would be.He held up a hand as he inspected the garage’s door.It was quite possible, judging by the blast that had levelled an entire technical college, that they weren't dealing with would-be terrorists at all.The moron who’d driven the truck could have been told that he would have time to make his escape, or maybe he’d known that he was going to die.And the person behind him, far from being an international terrorist, might be someone trained and armed by the British Army.Terry had seen enough SAS troopers during their cross-training sessions to dread the possibility that one of them might have gone rogue.The thought made him snort [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]