Agent Running in the Field

Nat is taken to a small, windowless room and made to wait. After a long time, he is led to another room with a circle of padded chairs and made to wait for the others to arrive. The others include Ghita Marsden, Marion, Percy, Guy Brammel, an internal security officer named Joe Lavender, a man whom Nat doesn’t know named Anthony, Moira, and a psychiatrist named Gloria Foxton.

They begin to question Nat about his relationship with Ed. Nat tries to be as honest as possible, telling them all about their badminton games and the political conversations that Ed tried to rope Nat into. They also ask a variety of questions about Nat’s awareness of Ed’s mother, who is a political radical, as well as Ed’s mother’s contacts with Prue, of which Nat knows nothing. Nat’s colleagues behave suspiciously, clearly suspecting him of passing on information to Ed as a double agent, which Nat vociferously denies. They also tell Nat that Ed can expect a prison sentence of up to 12 years for his crimes.

Nat feels angry at himself for being manipulated by Ed, wondering where the traditional signals that he was being recruited as a double agent were.