Part 38 (1/2)
”Here.” Sasha pointed behind him at a dark heap beside the tree.
”And the dog?”
”Same place. Knife also.”
”Was it that German Shepherd that came along the perimeter wire last night?”
”I think.”
I turned to Pat and said, ”No point in trying to hide the bodies.
We need to get in and out fast before anyone comes looking. But there's a well here we can dump the chutes in.”
”OK,” said Pat.
”Let's go.”
We bundled the chutes down the old water tank, threw snow over the cover and hustled on.
I went as fast as I dared, trying to combine speed of advance with maximum alertness. The snow helped by deadening our footsteps, but all the way I was thinking that the surface of the field behind us must look as though a football match had taken place.
We came to the wire at the point where Sasha and I had lain to observe the baffler.
”This is it,” I told Pat.
”Once we're over, we'll be on target in less than a minute.”
”We need to tell base we're on our objective,” he whispered.
”They'll get the Chinooks airborne right away.”
”OK.”.
I waited as he quickly set up his Satcom and reported his position.
How long would it have taken for the sentry to make a normal circuit of the fence? How soon would his failure to return be noticed? We had a few minutes yet.
With the set back in Pat's bergen, we went up to climb the wire. Over the fence and hidden in the trees again, we held a quick 0-group.
”Now that the device has gone,” Pat began, 'that's knocked out one of our objectives. The summerhouse is no longer relevant. Forget that.
”I've designated three parties. Party A to block the road, Party B to a.s.sault the villa, Party C to watch the helipad and prevent any take-off ”Our objective is to rescue the hostages. But no one else gets out of that building alive. OK?”
He got a few grunts for answer, and went on, ”I've briefed the parties already, Geordie. But for your benefit, Party C consists of two men these two.” He pointed, but in the dark I couldn't recognise faces.
”Party A, the road, is these three. Two gym pis and a sixty-six. That leaves fifteen, counting Sasha. I want to leave two back somewhere to act as sniper-observers. That makes thirteen for the house a.s.sault ..
Pat had got everything well worked out. I knew he'd laid out plans of the villa, using mine tape, on the floor of the hangar in Kars, and that the team had walked through each phase of the a.s.sault. His plan was to keep away from the front of the house altogether, so that we didn't trigger the alarm systems. A bas.e.m.e.nt group would approach from the side and tape a demolition charge to the cellar door. The rear party would do the same to three ground-floor windows at the back.
Split-second timing was essential: the a.s.sault had to crack off from both sides simultaneously, and in that first instant one of the snipers would put a 203 grenade through the front door to increase the confusion.
As our ERV, Pat designated the helipad.
We moved out in single file, again at tactical s.p.a.cing, in an anti-clockwise circle round the target. First stop was the helipad, where we dropped off Party C in good positions among rock bluffs that commanded the pad only thirty metres below them.
Next we worked down until we could see the back of the house.
Lights were on in most of the windows, but curtains or blinds had been drawn. Some fifty metres above the building we left the main a.s.sault group (which included Pat) crouching in the trees.
Round at the side I dropped off the bas.e.m.e.nt group, to wait while I took Party A down to the point I had earmarked on the road. Then I hustled back up, glancing at my watch. The time was just before 8:30.
On the covert radio link I reported to Pat: ”All groups in position.”
”Roger,” he went.
”The a.s.sault will go down in figures three minutes. Move on to target at one minute before zero.
By now the moon was well up, its light filtering through the fir branches. Beside me was Paul Anderson, an EMOE specialist, who was going to blow the door. As we crouched there, waiting, I realised that our breath was steaming in the air.
For the past couple of hours I'd been so absorbed that I hadn't noticed the cold.
”Two minutes,” came Pat's voice.
I was hoping to h.e.l.l the raid would give us some clue about where the bomb had been taken. Maybe we'd find messages, papers, tapes..
Suddenly Jim Taylor, leader of Party A, came on the air.
”Stand by,” he said.
”There's a vehicle coming up the road at high revs. What do we do? Hit it?”
”Roger,” Pat answered instantly.
”Take it out. Other groups, close on target now!”
We burst out of the trees and ran towards the bas.e.m.e.nt door.
In seconds Paul had taped a line of det cord straight down the middle. We stood back, flattening ourselves against the wall.
”Thirty seconds,” came Pat's voice. But before he could carry on the countdown the howl of an electronic alarm broke out from the front of the villa and wound up to a scream. At almost the same instant a brilliant flash split the night, and the thump of a 66 rocket exploding thundered up the mountainside, followed by the rattle of machine guns as Party A engaged the car.
”Go! Go! Go!” Pat screamed.
I turned my head away as Paul closed his clacker.
BOOM!.
The door split in half and we pushed through the gap. As I went in I heard more rounds going down in the road-block.
The s.p.a.ce inside was full of smoke or dust. Clouds of the stuff caught our torch beams and made it hard to see what there was in the room. Answer nothing. Bare concrete block walls, bare cement floor, the room empty.