www.able.co.nz Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Able 2016 Ka tev iet. OK. We go single file. Yeah? Keep your hands clear and visible at all times. Unbutton your jacket, Sandy - they want to see we're not carrying. OK? Right, Sandy, come on. Lord Langbourne. Welcome. Long trip on the high seas, sailor boy? Yes. THEY CHUCKLE Er...we got a little lost in the ocean. But we got here in the end. You did. Who is Mr Birch? This is Mr Andrew Birch. You are a great enthusiast for tractors and agricultural materials? That's right, yes. Want to feed the world. Like Bono. THEY LAUGH Let's get on with it, shall we? This way. Could we open this one, please? Yeah, OK. JAN GIVES ORDERS IN LATVIAN ROPER: Frisky and Tabby, you want to pick a couple each - make sure they're bona fide? Likey? Very much. Wait till you see the rest. Everything all right with you two? FRISKY: Yeah, it's all good. Right... I think it's signing time. SANDY: Yes, good evening, this is Sandy Langbourne, Trade Pass, for authorisation. I'm handing the phone to Mr Andrew Birch. APP BLEEPS Thank you. 'Please put Jan on the line.' 'The purchase has been authorised - it's all gone through.' JAN CHUCKLES JAN: It's all yours, my friends. JAN SPEAKS LATVIAN And this is for you, Mr Birch. To seal the deal. This is the best vodka from my home town, Daugavpils in Latvia. Is it? Yeah! But, shh... This is contraband. THEY LAUGH Thank you very much. Thank you! I appreciate it. Thank you. THEY SPEAK LATVIAN Right, let's get this stuff ashore and onto the trucks, shall we? LAUGHTER So how does it feel knowing that for the next 24 hours, you own enough weaponry to start a war? It feels good. Sure you won't join me? No, I'm fine, thank you. Where are they going? To the Haven. We'll fly out there tomorrow. Buyer will meet us there. You know, I had my suspicions about you. Suspicion is, unfortunately, a tool of my trade. Corky's jealousy is very infectious. Though it's not really jealousy - it's lust. What he'd give for a night with you. Actually, I know exactly what he'd give. Cos he claims it on expenses. "Uncorking," he calls it. JONATHAN LAUGHS Hundred bucks a time. Probably get it for less here, seeing as they more or less invented it. So what's your tipple? Men? Women? Young? Old? Get you anything. I'm fine, er... thank you, though. So you don't drink, and you don't screw. Not sure I can trust a man with no appetites. Well, er... ..you'll have to trust this one. Don't have to. I choose to. GRACE: It's gone midnight. You should really go home. ANGELA: I'd rather be here, thank you. Doesn't your husband mind? Mind what? You always being here. I mean, I know mine would. My husband knows why I do this. He knows about the school sports day. I mean, he shouldn't. Mr Burr's not cleared for anything more than... cooking risotto and taking the bins out. But I had to tell him about the school sports day. Er... I was in Baghdad in 2003, and, erm... I was attached to... ..the United Nations Monitoring, Verification and Inspection Commission. Catchy title. And, erm... we'd had reports of an incident in Rayat, on the Iranian border. Kurdistan. And the satellites couldn't make anything of it. So... the Head of Station sent me. That's not entirely true - I volunteered, actually. Mr Burr was absolutely furious when he found out. But, you know, what's the point otherwise? And, erm... when we got there, it was a sports day, well, it had been a sports day. You know, running races, long jump, picnics. It looked like it had been a really lovely day. Until someone had dropped two... ..gas shells on the playing field. One was sulphur mustard... ..and one was methylphosphonofluoridate. I don't know how your organic chemistry is. Sarin. Yeah, so... the idea of the mixture was, erm... to stop people from getting masks on. The, er, mustard gas burnt the hands and faces of the children... (Sorry.) ..melted the skin, and erm... SHE CLEARS HER THROAT Which allowed the sarin... ..to attack the breathing muscles. And a lot of the kids had... ..lung tissue around their mouths and on their faces. SHE SIGHS And that was the first time I saw Richard Roper. Roper... supplied the gas. No. SHE SNIFFS No, sorry. Erm, no, he had nothing to do with it. Er... No, that's not the point at all. He... ..started selling... ..sarin... after that event. Because of it. He saw what I saw. He saw... 112 children... and 58 adults, and he thought, "Business." That's the Richard Roper I know. Yeah. So Mr Burr knows I'm married to him and I will have his child. But I have to be here. PHONE RINGS Grace speaking. Yes. It's Singhal. There's a problem in Istanbul. PHONE RINGS HE GROANS PHONE CONTINUES RINGING HE PICKS UP RECEIVER HE SIGHS Yeah. KNOCKS AT DOOR Get in. What the hell do you think you're playing at? RECORDING: 'Jonathan.' 'What's wrong? 'I just need to know that you're there.' 'Jed, we have to get off the line.' Well? Well, what? Well, are you conducting a relationship with that girl? What business is that of yours? (Oh, God.) Yes, he's here. Yes, it's what we suspect. Pine. ANGELA: Now, you listen to me, Jonathan. This is what you are going to do. You are going to go back to your room, 'and you collect your money and your passport,' and that is it. Do you hear me? Then you're going to down to the foyer, where you'll meet Rob and Pearl. 'They will put you in a taxi which will take you back to the airport.' Why would I do that? We're pulling you out because you've blown it. I don't think so. 'His girlfriend calls you from Roper's house phone in the middle of the night,' and you think you're safe? 'If I leave now,' you have nothing. I will have you not screwing up my operation - that's what I'll have. Without me, you don't have an operation. 'The arms were taken off a boat called the Leila Jane' in Istanbul Harbour late last night. They're now being taken by road to a place called the Haven. 'If I stay on the inside, I can take you directly to the arms,' and deliver you Roper and whoever's buying them, caught in the act. Without me, you've got nothing. You don't have Roper in possession of chemical weapons, you can't arrest him for corporate fraud, his name's not connected to Trade Pass. You have no phone taps, no witnesses. His deal will go ahead, and you'll be powerless to stop it. 'Am I wrong?' Just leave. That's an order. RECEIVER SLAMS DOWN The foyer. Five minutes. DOOR SLAMS . . HE SIGHS BANGS ON DOOR What the hell are you doing? I need to speak to the chief. Now. He's asleep. Then get him up. I'm sorry, boss. This better be good. JONATHAN SIGHS We're being watched. What do you mean? There is a British man and woman in the foyer. He's Asian, mid 30s, she's 40s, I'd say, but they're English. And I'd lay good money they're law enforcement. How can you be so sure? You've been on the run, you notice these things. Trust me. Tabby, check 'em out. Yes, sir. ROB: Still waiting. Yeah? 'They're police, all right.' Right. I want a full evacuation. I want all of us all on the road in ten minutes. Anybody home? HE GASPS Guys, you take the front car with Tabby. Sandy, you get in with me. Dicky, what the hell's going on? Coppers. Let's go. That's the backup. Get in the car! CAR ENGINE STARTS Go, go, go, go! TYRES SCREECH TYRES SCREECH You all right? I'm fine. GARDNER COUGHS I'm fine. He's gone. SHE SIGHS BANGS DESK SHE SIGHS What's this? That... is a coded account summary of the entire operation. A complete list of people cash flowing the deal. A summary of expenses, names of consultants, profit margins, the whole shooting match. Yet, somehow... ..this found its way into the hands of a British enforcement official called Angela Burr. Now, here's the problem. There are only two people in the world who have that list in their possession. Sandy Langbourne and me. So, how did Angela Burr get it? It's not Sandy. He'd never betray you. Anyone can betray anyone, Jonathan. You should know that. Whose handwriting is this? Apostol, our Spanish lawyer friend. That's why he's no longer with us. You should call off the sale. Oh, they would love that. Whitehall pricks in the foyer. I'm not going to give up that easy. Just have to plug the leak. It's Langbourne, Corkoran... Jed... ..or you. Is it you, Jonathan? No. Whoever it is... ..they are living on borrowed time. Good trip, sir? Very good, Jasper, thank you, yes. May I introduce Mr Andrew Birch, director of Trade Pass. We will be facilitating Mr Birch's sale. Pleasure to meet you, Mr Birch. I assume Mr Birch's merchandise got here safely? The trucks arrived this morning. You missed a hell of a storm last night, sir. It is not a fair world. No, it isn't. Syrian border's 200 miles to the south. Refugee camps are all around us here. They come here with nothing, lives ripped apart, homes destroyed. Who are the taxis for? The Western aid workers who can't get to the airport fast enough. Still, we do our bit, don't we, Jasper? Yes, sir. This is our little contribution. A safe haven for the wretched of the Earth. Hello, hello. How are you? How are you? Salaam Alaikum, Salaam Alaikum. Hello, how are you? How are you? Salaam Alaikum. Let's see what we have here. There we go. Oh, my goodness. See if we can get a picture. Let's smile to the camera, shall we? Excellent. Can you carry a box all on your own? You stay there and see if you can carry this all on your own. There you go. All right, very nice to see you. Justifies us being here. It means no-one asks any questions about our other activities. Right, Tabby, collect all the phones. No calls in or out. Frisky, see if you can get Mr Birch some suitable gear. Site been cleared? Happening as we speak, sir. Firework display. You're in charge. Got a lot of homework to do. Make sure you know what you are selling. Sir, this way. Welcome to the Haven. KNOCKING ON DOOR You asked to see me? Rex. The Royal Household have been in touch. Informally, so don't go spreading it around. The Palace do tend to get rather edgy about that sort of thing. They're looking for a new private secretary. Some rookie's made too many mistakes, so they want someone with tact and experience to take over the position. Tea with the Queen. Nice work if you can get it. And I'm going to get it, am I? Well, only if you want it... ..of course. PHONE RINGS The private jet left Istanbul at 8.20am, but we have no satellite information after that. Why not? The Turks say they need a higher level request for all flight intel. So, get me one. I've tried, ma'am, they said no. I've lost my boy and I need to know where he is! Right, so this is what we know - a British ship called the Leila Jane docked in Istanbul two days ago. It's got no right to be anywhere near Istanbul. It should be in the Azores and it should be full of crop sprayers. Now it's gone again. But a cargo was taken off in Istanbul and her cargo was this - British and American arms. Seven new deals in the last month. Now, they're selling to a no-go customer somewhere in the Middle East and the middleman is Richard Roper. He is going to Turkey to meet the buyer at a place called the Haven. I need more money, I need personnel on the ground and I need somebody to tell me where the bloody hell my agent is! Listen, listen. The Permanent Secretary has requested that I no longer manage Enforcement Agencies. As of the end of this week... I will be reassigned. The Permanent Secretary leaked my intelligence to Dromgoole. She's part of it. Her job is to preserve the status quo... ..whatever it takes. When a continent enters into chaos, that's when opportunities open up. The British knew it in China, the Yanks in South America. I'm doing the same here. We can train armies to fight in deserts, mountains, we can teach them anti-guerrilla tactics, how to deal with political insurgency. And for a small surcharge, we can even send in teams of our own to deal with specific targets. Assassinations, fake terror plots, even the odd coup. Can't we, Jasper? Yes, sir. Jasper looks like a teddy bear, but don't let him near your neck on a bad day. Good to see you, sir. How are you, Aiden? Good. Looking forward to playing with the new toys. Boys keeping fit? Not a bad set-up, is it? It's unbelievable. He's got his own country. Not just a country, old boy. This is a kingdom. ROCK MUSIC PLAYS HUBBUB OF CHAT Look sharp, Mr Roper on deck! MUSIC STOPS Morning, sir! Morning! ALL SHOUT GREETING All right. All right. All right. You fellows been busy while I've been gone? ALL: Yes! All ready for you, chief. Spick and span. Glad to hear it. Andrew, come here. Because Mr Birch here wants to put on a good show for our guests tonight. So I want you to give him all the help he needs. He has worn khaki himself, so don't feel you need to talk pretty. LAUGHTER Andrew Birch. Which regiment were you in? 1st Battalion, Fusiliers. You lost two men in Basra. 2005. I was there. Yes, sir. Good friends of mine. Why'd you leave? Same as you, I'd imagine. I'd done three tours. Time to cash in the chips. And become a mercenary. Every soldier fights for money, Andrew, if he's got half a brain. You were paid in Iraq, weren't you? These men are selling their skills, same as anyone else. MEN SHOUT AGREEMENT Actually, no, not the same. What you're looking at here is the real United Nations. ALL: Yes! You've got Americans, Russians, Ukrainians, Serbs, Croats, Angolans... Latvian, come on! One Latvian, but a very loud one. All living, working together. One big happy family. Aye, but with no mum! Well, in that case, I will be mother. Don't be a tit, Sandy. These men are about to operate some extremely heavy machinery. Besides, that won't be anything like cold enough. How have you been, Alexai, leg all right? Good, glad to hear it. Something's wrong. He's treating me like I just shot his mother. He thinks there might be a rotten apple. What do you mean? Don't be ridiculous. Mr Barghati, salaam alaikum. Alaikum salaam, Mr Birch. Just this way. Please have some tea. OK, Jasper, let's start the show. Yes, sir. Frisky, you're going to need these. Cheers, Jaz. Mr Langbourne, sir. Thank you. Mr Barghati, sir. Thank you. Will it be loud? I certainly hope so, sir. LAUGHTER This is Guy Fawkes. All players, on the flare in ten. 'Copy, Guy Fawkes, on the flare in ten.' Mr Barghati. Would you care to do the honours? Why not? Thank you. 45 degrees straight into the sky, it has a little bit of a bit of a kick. GUNSHOT Thank you, sir. Ah. We appear to have a visitor. VEHICLE APPROACHES Friend of yours, Mr Barghati? It's very hard to tell. Unless biometric software identifies... enemy contact. EXPLOSION The FGM Javelin light anti-tank missile. A fire-and-forget system with an effective range of up to 2,500 metres. Who was driving that car? Don't worry, sir. Here he is. And would you believe it, Mr Barghati, he doesn't even have a driving licence? It has a tandem warhead. Fitted with two shaped charges. Guaranteed for penetration of surface and base reactive armour. They're using four-to-one tracer for our benefit, Mr Barghati. Of course, in reality, IR guidance would render that unnecessary. Pretty, though. WHOOSH OVERHEAD FIM Stinger. A man-portable surface-to-air missile, weighing only 15kg. The new 92F model contains a rollover sensor and modified control software. AUTOMATIC GUNFIRE GUNFIRE AND EXPLOSIONS CONTINUE You miss it, do you? Being down there with burnt cork on your face, dagger in your teeth? No, not at all. I'd much rather be up here watching. Thank you. Quite right, too. War as spectator sport. We are Emperors of Rome, Andrew. Blood and steel, the only elements that ever meant anything. Now, Mr Barghati, we have taken the liberty of assuming that neither you nor the other members of your consortium are signatories to the Oslo Convention. UN takes a rather dim view of cluster munitions on the basis that, and I quote, they pose an "indiscriminate threat to the civilian population". We prefer to use the term... democratic. Do you agree with my definition? Yes. Good. Now, the grand finale. Pay close attention. We cleared a whole village for this bit. PLANE OVERHEAD Nothing quite as pretty as napalm at night. Hard to get hold of these days, of course, but then that's why you come to us. Oh, you're very kind. Thank you. Excellent. Thank you. Captions were made possible with funding from NZ On Air. Mr Barghati, safe journey. Goodbye, Mr Birch. I will be singing your praises to my consortium. Well, do send them my best wishes. Where are you flying to, sir? Ah, that's a question you do not ask. Just as I do not ask where the goods came from. This is a long and noble tradition. The supplier is silent, the buyer is discreet. And business is done. I went to London School of Economics. I learnt everything I know in your capital city. Did you? Do send it my best wishes. I will. Mr Barghati, your carriage awaits. Hope you have a very pleasant and safe journey. My best to your family, of course. Thank you. Thank you. Do you know, I have, er, a couple of tickets for the French Open later in the year if you're interested. I don't know if that's something you would enjoy. That would be absolutely wonderful. Splendid. Wonderful. All right, sir, have a safe journey. I left Pearl with a small team in Istanbul, in case our boy makes contact. Yeah. What chance of that? Joel's advised we burn our boy completely. He thinks Roper's turned him. What do you think? Well, he attacked our own people. Whether he wanted to or he had to, I don't know. And I tried to get access to those bank accounts of the, er, companies on the Tradepass list - every request blocked. I need a sodding warrant and I can't get a warrant because I don't have the authority. When I left the house this morning, there was a car at the end of the road. Might you have imagined it? I'm just saying. You're tired. I'm tired. I'm pregnant. I'm emotional. I saw a car. Yeah, all right! PHONE SLAMS DOWN What is it? Limpet's been closed down. Funding withdrawn. Whose authority? All I know is we're being mothballed. I'm being called back to Washington this afternoon. Goddamn it. Back to chasing Mexican gunrunners in Arizona. Is there anything you can do about it? Not a goddamn thing. I'm sorry. There is just too many people who don't want us doing what we're doing. When was the last time you got some rest? Why don't you go home, get some sleep, huh? Come on. It's OK. VEHICLE APPROACHES It's not like him to mix business and pleasure. Jed, darling. How was your trip? It was fine. Not too bumpy? You look gorgeous. Corky. Sweetie. Andrew, come and join us. Having a drink to celebrate. I have allowed Sandy to unleash the Moet '73. The trucks are in the Turkish mountains should be at the Syrian border at 6pm tomorrow, give or take. Great. In the meantime, I suggest a toast. To Tradepass, and all those who sale in her. I think that is something we can all drink to. CAN'T WE?! Good Christ, what a miserable bunch. We've just had a triumphant opening night. The reviews are in. We're a big hit! Here's to us! Here's to us. Tradepass. Tradepass. Tradepass. Corky, why aren't you drinking? I'm off it, chief. Off it? Taking a break. Sandy. Mm-hm. I've been calling the brothers... How are you, Andrew? Fighting fit. Thank you. You seem very at home here. Do I? Who can blame him, darling. All these uniforms. Still, it's not as pretty as the seaside cottage, is it? Not as romantic. Did I say something untoward? I should probably get some rest. You can sleep when you're dead. I don't know if it has occurred to you to why he brought her here? I'm just an outside observer - you've made sure of that - but from where I'm sitting, it doesn't look very good. It doesn't look very good at all. HE SCOFFS You'll also get free SKY installation, free MY SKY and free calling to five NZ mates, so you can talk about sport, sport, sport, sport, sport and sport! Unlimited broadband, unlimited sport. Hurry, don't miss another game. Call Vodafone now to sign up. DOG BARKS SHE YAWNS PHONE RINGS Angela Burr. 'Dromgoole here. I wondered if you were free for a tete-a-tete?' Er, I'm asleep. 'You don't look asleep.' 'I'm alone.' You going to let me in? We can talk just fine here. I like you, Angela. I admire your tenacity. It was always a source of regret to me that we lost you from The River. What do you want? I wanted to ask where you got those papers? What papers? The ones you took to Apostol. That resulted in some Arab cutting his neck open. Oh, it was an Arab, was it? They are doing business with Richard Roper, and, well, they don't appreciate a lawyer they can't trust. And you? Are you doing business with Richard Roper, too? I'm looking after the strategic interests of my country, Angela. And lining your pockets. Where did you get the papers? I don't know what you're talking about. You've been lying to me about Limpet. You've had someone on the inside all along. I need to know who. This isn't just about me. There is a whole system that keeps our country where we want it, amongst the elites, punching above our weight. It's a state of being. An ontology, if you like. And it has to be maintained. We need Richard Roper, America needs Richard Roper. Whether you like it or not. For your own safety... do not get in the way.