Light of the Sun: They always make a mistake and when they do, we kill them...

by David Costa

  ‘You did not leave here since we met yesterday?’ he asked.

  ‘No, Teacher, as you requested, we’ve been here all night,’ replied Hassan.

  ‘Good. We do not have much time. I feel our enemies are close, but they don’t know exactly where we are yet. Have you both had breakfast?’

  ‘Yes, we’ve eaten, and I’ve just made a pot of coffee,’ answered Yasmin.

  ‘Then I will have a cup of your coffee,’ said the Arab as he joined them at the table.

  Yasmin poured a cup for him and taking it black, he looked at his proteges and smiled.

  ‘Don’t worry my children. Today is the day when we will make the Devil nation fall to its knees and tremble. Our plan is unchanged. Yasmin you will bring your package to Trafalgar Square and leave it where it will cause the most pain to our enemies. Do not forget the timer is set so you must not press the start button before 1 pm, it is set to go off at 3 pm. Hassan and I will be working to the same time so we must leave here at eleven. Hassan, please bring me the bag from yesterday.’

  Hassan crossed the room and from behind the couch pulled out the bag and brought it to the table. Reaching inside the Arab brought out the three Tupperware containers with the explosives in them and set them on the table. Then he took out two plastic shopping bags, the walking stick, two small backpacks and finally what looked like a roll of brown packing tape.

  ‘You remember which button to press?’

  Both students nodded. The Arab then placed one device into one of the plastic shopping bags then into one of the backpacks and pushed it across to Yasmin.

  ‘This is your weapon with which you will attack our enemy Yasmin. Treat it as your child, to deliver it in the name of Allah.’

  The Arab unscrewed the knob of the walking stick and tipping it up, slid out the three six-inch-long items from its tubing. The items looked like sticks of black rock, the kind you would buy at a holiday resort each, wrapped in a thick plastic type substance. In a way they also looked like sticks of black dynamite, thought Hassan. The Arab placed them next to the container with the red dot. Taking the three black sticks he held them against the container and secured them with packing tape. Finally, Hassan noticed he secured the end of the tape into a slot at the side of the phone timer. Satisfied, he placed the box with the taped sticks into the remaining rucksack and pushed it in front of Hassan.

  ‘The plutonium does not need to be attached to the explosives themselves. The blast itself will be enough to disperse the poison into the air and will not only kill many of our enemies but its financial strength as well. It has been that same financial wealth that has paid for its wars against our people and killed many of our children.’

  The Arab moved the third container with the green dot to the centre of the table.

  ‘This one will remain here when we leave. It will be set for ninety minutes after we’ve gone just by pressing the button. That way if they find this location, we will leave them a surprise, it will distract our enemy from our true target and give us the time we need to succeed.’

  The Arab removed his mobile phone from his pocket.

  ‘Are you ready to make your statement my children?’

  Both Yasmin and Hassan stood, and the Arab placed two of the kitchen chairs in front of one of the white walls. Taking a black flag with white letters in Arabic, he then pinned it to the wall behind his two students. Yasmin and Hassan sat side by side facing the Arab. Hassan fixed his shemagh around his head showing only his eyes and Yasmin did the same placing her red scarf around her head, her brown eyes the only visible sign. The Arab set his phone to video and recorded their statements. Yasmin first, then Hassan; stating they were soldiers of Allah and the Jihad. Hassan with his English accent said that their actions were necessary as the West and Britain had killed the children of Allah and they had to pay for this sin. Yasmin then continued, her strong Middle Eastern accent coming through, by stating that the West had brought terror to her people, she quoted Churchill by saying, ‘You have sent the wind, now you will reap the whirlwind.’ Both finished together, ‘Allah Akbar, God is Great, Allah Akbar.’

  The Arab played the video back and satisfied linked it to a number in his phone and pressed the send button.

  ‘Very good my children. Now, let us have some more of your wonderful coffee and we will talk some more about our mission.’

  As Hassan placed the chairs around the table, Yasmin brewed fresh coffee while the Arab watched the street through the net curtains. People were going about their business. It was still raining, and many walked with umbrellas up. Satisfied he returned to join his two students at the table.

  ‘What do you think our enemy is doing?’ asked Hassan.

  ‘A good question. If the other night is anything to go by and my close call when I came out of the Embassy, then they’re working hard to find us, and we can expect them to be alert. When we leave here, we must be alert. If they find us, we cannot surrender, we must fight. We have our bombs and our guns, and we must kill as many of the enemy as we can but always try to escape. Today, we will be two teams. Yasmin, you leave by the front door at 11 am. You will travel alone to your target and then, as we discussed, try to get to Bristol. At the same time Hassan and I will leave by the rear door. The Arab then spread a small map of the city on the table.

  ‘Yasmin, using your own route make your way to Trafalgar Square and complete your mission. Hassan, we will follow this route and take a taxi from here, then the train from here to our target. When we leave, I’ll walk ahead of you and the only times we will be physically together is when we are in the taxi and when we reach this point, we need to travel alone in case one of us is compromised. When we reach this location, then and only then we will agree on the best place for our attack. By doing it this way if we are compromised there’ll be a better chance for us to escape. You both must ensure you have the bank cards, money, and passports with you for we will not be coming back here. Only take what you need for today leave everything else, you can buy whatever you need afterwards. Leave the flag pinned to the wall as part of our message if the enemy finds this place before our surprise gift finds them.’

  At that same time Reece and Anna were passing the apartment in the black BMW. He was able to turn the wipers to intermittent as the rain seemed to be slowing down against the windscreen.

  ‘How do people live in this country?’ asked Anna.

  ‘What do you mean? I’m sure it rains in Israel.’ replied Reece with a smile.

  ‘Yes, but not with the coldness as well.’

  ‘Warm rain. At least you could have a shower outdoors then and save on the electricity bill.’

  Anna laughed at this idea.

  ‘The neighbours might not like such a sight.’

  ‘I don’t know, maybe if it was me, but not you,’ replied Reece.

  Edgware Road was quieter than usual, thought Reece. Maybe the weather, the rain, would make it a little easier to spot someone, but it would be the same for them.

  ‘You know I was just thinking in this weather with more people using umbrellas it will make it more difficult to spot our friends using CCTV, as most cameras are looking downwards. Our eyes on will be even more important,’ said Reece.

  Anna nodded in agreement.

  ‘All the more reason we have cars and people on foot.’ Anna replied.

  ‘Therein lies a problem,’ said Reece.

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘At any one time the likes of MI5 and the Met have at least three thousand active targets in the country. Many of those are already using up a great amount of their resources. I guess that’s only one of the reasons that both our bosses are pleased for us to be working together, it reduces the odds of these people getting through, even though we haven’t been too successful on that score.’

  ‘Control to Alpha One come in over.’ It was the voice of Jim Broad.

  ‘Roger control, send over,’ replied Reece using his body mic.

  ‘Can you call
me on your phone? Need a quick chat.’

  ‘This car has a hands-free phone.’

  ‘I know but apologies to our friend with you, but I need to speak to you on your own.’

  ‘Roger, give me a few minutes to park up.’

  Reece knew it could take up to five minutes to find a parking space in the area but in the event, as it happened it only took two as he parked outside a hotel in Sussex Gardens.

  ‘Sorry about this Anna, but when the boss says on my own.’

  ‘It’s the world we live in. It must be important.’ Anna smiled.

  Reece left Anna in the car and found a low wall to sit on. He was glad the rain had stopped, and the wall was dry. The traffic, although noisy, was far enough away allowing him to hear Jim Broad’s voice when he got through to him.

  ‘Thanks for getting back to me,’ said Broad.

  ‘You asked me to call, so here I am. What’s up?’

  ‘The reason I don’t want your friend to know, is that it’s to do with the searches we carried out on the Mosque and suspect houses this morning. MI5 bugged the Mosque and the Imam home, so you know how they can be about need-to-know and especially when it’s to do with their capabilities and the results coming from them. So basically, what their saying is that our friends from Tel Aviv don’t need to know.’

  ‘Understood. So, what you’re saying is that you have something to tell me that’s come from one of these devices?’

  ‘Correct, it’s not much, but it definitely confirms that we are on for today. Normally five would keep the device switched off for a few days to avoid it being found in a sweep, but on this occasion, it was decided by the gods on high that as all our intelligence indicates something is imminent, they would keep it switched on. Our friend the Imam had a conversation in his office with an unknown male. The unknown lives in one of the houses we also searched so he’s not a friendly. The Imam told him to stay at home today as the Jihad will be hitting the city. This is the interesting bit, he also told this unknown that the people who will be carrying out the Jihad are staying in an apartment he supplied to them on Edgware Road. So, you’re in the right area. They must be close.’

  That is what we’ve been thinking all along. So, if the target is Canary Wharf, then they’ll be moving soon if they’re not already on their way.’

  ‘I hope we find them before they get to Canary Wharf. It is more open there with too many ways to escape.’

  ‘Exactly David. But we have another problem now. The Home Secretary has been getting some sticky questions from the press. The kind of questions that would indicate someone is talking. That is another reason I didn’t want to talk in front of your car passenger. I’m not saying it’s coming from them. It might just be some over enthusiastic reporter throwing out some bait to see who bites. I think it’s all down to the politicians raising the threat level.’

  ‘More likely one of our own politicians. People in our line of work usually know how to keep a secret and why we keep it.’

  ‘I’m inclined to agree with you there David. You can tell her we have information from a source. If she is as good as I think she is, she will be able to work it out for herself. Find these bastards David. Find them soon and deal with them.’

  ‘I’m trying too. Do we have any air cover?’

  ‘We are trying but the rain has made for low cloud which we hope will rise just enough to get a spotter helicopter up. I’ve authorised a CCTV and camera communications van to park up and cover Canary Wharf, especially where the Princess Royal will be this afternoon. That will give us access to all cameras in the area, with or without the permission of those who own them.’

  ‘Thanks for the update, will you be there for the rest of this?’

  ‘Yes, me and Matthew.’

  ‘In that case I’ll get back to the car and do some more passes up and down Edgware Road.’

  Reece looked at the sky and he could see the greyness that indicated the rain clouds wouldn’t be lifting any time soon. He returned to the car to find Anna finishing a call on her own phone.

  ‘So, David, what’s up, anything new?’

  He wasn’t going to tell her everything, but he knew she was professional enough to understand that what he did tell her was what she needed to know.

  ‘They have definitely confirmed that our targets are in this area, so we can concentrate on this road. It’s a lot less to cover than the two-mile radius we were working on initially. No air cover because of the weather, but extra cover to assist on the ground at Canary Wharf has been dispatched. The press are starting to ask awkward questions which might make our job a little more difficult. Do you have anything new?’

  Anna held up her phone.

  ‘That was Kurt Shimon asking how things were going. I couldn’t tell him anything more than we had already been briefed. I did tell him that both Palo and I were embedded with the operational team, and we were out on the ground working the area. He told me he’ll be in the office of ‘C’ until this is over. He also said that as we expect it to be over one way or the other by tonight, he has booked us on the late flight to Tel Aviv; so, let’s get the right result when we leave.’

  Reece started the car engine.

  ‘Let’s get the right result then.’

  Chapter 30

  In the apartment the Arab was looking out the window once more. The street below appeared to be normal, shoppers, tourists and workers all going about their business. The rain had stopped, and his watch showed the time to be 11 am exactly.

  ‘Now my children it’s time to complete our mission. Yasmin put on her red scarf, tying it tightly around her face. She pulled the rucksack over her shoulders placing her arms through the straps and pulled up the zip on her long brown overcoat. Hassan pulled his shemagh around his neck under his parka, using it as a scarf which he could pull up to cover his lower face if necessary. The rucksack he placed over his right shoulder.

  ‘One more check, my children. Are you happy with your mission as soldiers of the Jihad and in the name of the holy one?’

  Both students nodded.

  ‘Good, you have your guns fully loaded and ready to use. You have your money and passports. I bless you my children, I have sent the video which will be circulated to the world at the end of this day.’

  The Arab pulled on his own coat and placed his gun in the right-hand pocket. Then he kissed both students on their cheeks before he activated the small device, they were leaving behind on the kitchen table.

  Leading the way out of the room, he watched from the landing as Yasmin went down the stairs opened the front door and closing it behind her, stepped out onto Edgware Road.

  The Arab and Hassan walked down the same stairs, turned at the bottom and left by the rear door that led to a small, enclosed yard.

  ‘Keep close but not so close that someone would know we are together,’ said the Arab. He opened the yard door and walked into the street that backed onto Edgware Road. He had memorised the names of the streets and locations he was to pass through to protect his identity. A London businessman would have no need to keep stopping to look at maps. He would know exactly where he was. He was happy with his new appearance; it was surprising how a simple pair of glasses and a flat tweed cap could change his appearance, adding to the confusion of anyone looking for him.

  The Arab continued his walk; watching, ever watching pedestrians, cars, reflections.

  He crossed Paddington Green and felt the rain starting to fall gently and he knew this was why there were not too many people on the green. In summer, the grass would be covered by people lapping up the sun and enjoying a bit of quiet peace in the middle of the city. Leaving the green, he turned and walked in the direction of the City of Westminster College that he could see in the distance, a quick look over his shoulder and he could see Hassan keeping his distance but stayed close enough to watch his every move.

  Yasmin walked slowly to the end of Edgware Road, stopping occasionally to look in shop windows as any shopper or t
ourist would. At the bottom of the road, she took her time. Using the pedestrian crossings, she crossed over into Hyde Park to Marble Arch. She had read somewhere that parts of Oliver Cromwell’s body had been buried near there. She stopped short of the Arch and taking out her phone took a photo of it and the park in front looking every part the tourist.

  Reece and Anna watched Yasmin as she raised her camera. They had spotted her on their third drive pass down Edgware Road. Reece had let the rest of the team and control know that they might have eyes on one of the suspects, the woman. He did not want to do anything yet, until he was certain. Although she fitted the general description and looked like the woman he had seen for a fleeting moment in Malta and on the screenshot security photos, in the light of day and with her wearing a headscarf, he had to be sure. They had parked the car in one of the side streets off Edgware Road, then called for Harrison and Palo to stay mobile close by, in case any of the woman’s friends appeared. Reece asked control to get the rest of the team to carry out a block surveillance for now. The team’s mobile and on foot would now hang back and cover the routes the target would need to use when moving to another location.

  ‘We can’t jump on her yet. Until we confirm her identity, or if her friends are nearby, we hang back,’ said Reece into his body mic.

  ‘Understood, will wait for your instructions. But if she tries anything funny you know what to do. I’m moving the troop vans into the area in case you bump into the other two and need back-up,’ replied Broad from the control room.

  ‘Understood.’ replied Reece.

  Reece and Anna started walking on a path that was parallel with Yasmin, never taking their eyes of her, but watching in a way that would look like they were tourists themselves, taking in the bigger picture, rather than focusing on the woman who stood in front of the Arch.