Red Hawk Rising

personnel had been thoroughly checked security-wise and all had good clearance. The same applied to the civil servants involved.
It seemed that the security had been thoroughly checked but there was a leak. Hamilton spoke, “As we know, the information that Moscow has obtained is related to the missile itself. That means that a leak could be in Argonaut Industries but we should check all the links.”
“Could the leak have happened in Australia, sir?” asked Hamilton.
“Definitely not. We have had that covered pretty thoroughly since missile tests started there. Any chance of a leak was definitely locked out.” Denby was tempted to smile at the thought of the report he had received that covered that situation but he kept a straight face. Instead, he said, “As you are aware, we expect to be moving equipment to RAF West Sanby by the end of this month. We don’t want knowledge of this leaking out. It could cause complications. Hamilton, I leave it to you to have all the contractors’ personnel checked out again as well as their security systems. Dawson, you and the group captain and I will fly to West Sanby this afternoon before you return to Low Fenton. Griffiths, if you are free you might like to accompany us.” Griffiths looked a little surprised but recovered quickly and said that he thought it could be arranged. “We’ll meet here at 12.30 hours and go out to Hendon together. Let’s meet to review things in a week’s time.” The meeting then broke up.
They met at 12.30 hours without Hamilton, who was already in transit to Manchester. The staff car took them out to RAF Hendon where a Pembroke aircraft was waiting on the tarmac for them. When they were settled in it, the pilot obtained clearance and took off, heading in a north-easterly direction.
Less than an hour later, the aircraft was circling RAF West Sanby. The air vice-marshal ordered the pilot to circle a couple of times before landing. This gave them a good look at the base and surrounding area. The questionable area was the three hundred yards between the base and the sea wall but there was little they could do about that at this stage. The aircraft landed and the base commanding officer, a wing commander, was there with his car to meet them. Denby disembarked first and was greeted by the commanding officer. Clarkson, Dawson and Griffiths followed. Being a short, working visit there was no ceremony, this being at Denby’s instruction which was radioed in on the way up from Hendon. Griffiths was introduced. Wing Commander Saxelby and Squadron Leader Dawson had already met and knew each other from the planning stages of locating No. 28 JSTU on the base. They climbed into two cars and proceeded to the CO’s office. Once inside, Denby got straight to the point, " I want the security on this base reviewed urgently and any changes required to be implemented before the Red Hawk system arrives.” Saxelby said that he felt sure that it was capable of doing what was required but that they would certainly review it again.
“Let’s go to the control tower and view things from there,” suggested Dawson.
Driving through the security gate onto the airfield they were not stopped, only receiving a smart salute from the duty RAF policeman. Denby made a mental note of it. They drove round to the control tower and entered without being checked. Upstairs in the control room there was an excellent vision of most of the base. The building, being octagonal, had windows on all eight sides, giving 360-degree vision from the building. From its position, Denby could see about ninety percent of the airfield perimeter fence and much of the domestic site fence. The part of the airfield fence that he could not see appeared to be blocked out by the aircraft hangar but covered by the guardhouse at the main gate. The airfield was patrolled at all times by dog handlers and their dogs. At night, the dogs were slipped off their leashes when on patrol. The weak spot was the domestic site. The control tower was now used as a combination flight control centre and security post. It was manned twenty-four hours a day. The building was shared with base personnel, missile squadron personnel and the RAF police, who were responsible for security. It was not a usual arrangement but it seemed to work. Denby asked to look at the security log book. There were routine records of observations, often ‘Nothing to Report’, but anything non-routine was recorded. Yesterday there was an entry that a corporal had been seen exploring the perimeter fence of the domestic site and wandering around buildings. A subsequent entry noted that he was a Corporal Hill, new to the base. Denby smiled. He closed the log and looked up. The personnel on duty were standing and looking a little apprehensive. He thought, “And so they should.” He nodded to them and said, “Relax.” There was a visible sense of relief as they went back to their duties. Denby said, “Thank you,” and turned to leave. With a nod to the CO he went down the stairs and left the building. They returned to the cars and drove across to the hangars and workshops. The radar monitors were manned twenty-four hours per day and Denby wanted to see for himself what the security was like there. Access was by a coded panel set next to the room entrance. The door was self-locking and the room occupants could open it from inside without a code. Inside there was quiet concentration by the operators. Denby left them to their work. Outside he suggested they return to the office.
Back in the CO’s office, Denby expressed his concerns at what he observed as weaknesses. “I suggest that you insist that all persons be checked by security when entering the secure area. The corporal on the gate should have asked for