Chuck checked the flights to get to Cannes. He'd have to fly from New York to London, or Paris, and then take a flight to Nice. It was about 30 minutes by taxi from Nice to Cannes. He worked out he could be there by Wednesday afternoon.

James had not really slept since New York. He had fitful bursts in the economy section of the BA plane, and then while waiting in London. Now he was in Cannes. He knew he should sleep to be sharp for the next day, but a combination of adrenaline and anxiety had kept him awake. 

After the horrific incidents in Egypt, James had a simple plan to create distance and to monitor his sources for any reports of what had happened.  The helicopter strike on the truck in the desert and the cold-blooded gunning down of Karen Martin would make normal news feeds unless the authorities were trying to pull a security curtain over what had happened.  

TWO WEEKS EARLIER

Karen Martin was already waiting in Robert Alton's office. She had taken the call from Dorothy and, realising its importance, come straight across.

TWO WEEKS EARLIER

Jake was just leaving the offices of ‘The Triangle' for the evening. It was in the trendy part of Hoxton, not far from the well-known Hoxton Square, which had its own bustle every evening.

When Jake had started the company with Clare and Bigsy, they had decided it needed a base in London. They had come into serious money as a result of a previous escapade and the advice they received made them think it wise to create a proper base for whatever they decided to do next.

They turned from the walk alongside the Thames back onto a busy main road. 
"I wanted this to be away from normal recording because I think we may have a loose tongue somewhere inside the Department," said Robert Alton, "I need people I can trust on this."

NOW

Muhammad Mubarain was contacted by his team boss Doug. He was being asked to meet Robert Alton off-site, although close to the main SI6 headquarters building. This was unusual, even for Robert. 

NOW

Robert Alton had been reading routine information feeds from his office in SI6. He'd just seen an unverified incident from Cairo. Some sort of shooting. He knew that SI6 had an operation in that area.

NOW

16:00 Eastern European Time (EET). 

 James expected this to be a short, sharp mission. He'd be paid and out of here in another couple of hours. He'd hand over the bag and be gone.

 He sheltered on the edge of a dune. The vestigial grass had a razor-sharp edge, scratching his arm as he slithered into a comfortable position. 

1. mainly to keep going.
2. Cough when there's an error. It'll make a huge blip on the recording line which makes it easy to find and edit
3. Use a microphone and be reasonably close. Some people say a hand span away
4. Talk off-axis to avoid pops and so on
5. Set the level rather than using the auto level control.
6. Fix misspeaks at the time to get the same audio profile.