Jenkins raised his right arm and shouted… “Clear left…!”
Thomas did the same shouting… “Clear right…!”
Five seconds later there was the report of a loud sharp crack as the horsebox rocked on its suspension…A white plume of smoke leaked out of the enclosed rear of the trailer then all was silent again…As the smoke cleared images began to reappear on the monitor. Sergeant Mortimer was looking over 2nd Lnt Jenkins shoulder…
“Well that seems to have done the trick…Let’s have a look see shall we…?”
Jenkins collected a tool roll and followed his Commanding Officer into the rear. We had stood staring for a full two minutes before the two re-emerged.
Jenkins was carrying a sad bundle of wires while his CO walked to the rear of the first truck and placed the Semtex in a barrel…
“Well, that’s the first one dealt with… We’ll move the box out of the way then attempt the same on the second in a few minutes…Corporal Thomas…? Have the X-ray machine set up for the second VBIED will you…?”
“Yes sir…!”
I walked across to where 2nd Lieutenant Gibb was standing… “Lieutenant, are all the charges in the vans similarly wired…?”
“That’s the rub Chief, until we can haul them out under the arc lights and X- ray the buggers we have no idea. There are no photoelectric cells which tell us the maker is not that experienced or sophisticated but that doesn’t stop the sly ones attaching a solenoid to the front doors, bonnet or ignition.”
“Right, so clearly we’re not out of the woods yet.”
“Not really Chief … I wouldn’t let it curtail the movements of the men in Romford though, we confirmed earlier that none of the devices are armed so no one can detonate them remotely, I’d let them push on an take them…”
It was now 2235 and the second horsebox was under the same scrutiny as the first, no complacency, the Ammunition Technical Officers were just as thorough. The images from the X-ray machine confirmed that the device was identical. Sergeant Mortimer informed us that Jenkins and Thomas would apply the same strategy as before and that he would place the explosive in a separate container for transporting to Northolt. The rear access ramp was tethered as before and LC Thomas began to gingerly lower it to its vertical position, as he pulled the retaining bolts clear he allowed the ramp to move…
“Hold it there Corporal…for god’s sake…!”
It was Lnt Jenkins and he was running toward the rear of the horsebox, he stopped short, took a breath then walked slowly toward it. Very carefully he re-secured the retaining bolts…
“Lance Corporal there is a wire filament attached to the inside; the arc light caught it as the ramp moved. Let’s see where it goes, shall we…?”
Jenkins placed magnifying goggles on his face and began to trace the wire with the aid of a stepladder and powerful flashlight…
“Yes it’s wired to the Semtex and a nine volt battery, easy enough to deal with… I’ll just get my snips…”
Five minutes later and the ramp was lowered, this time both ATOs went over the interior of the horsebox very, very carefully. Lnt Jenkins returned…
“Sir, I’m confirming the VBIED is identical to the first… LC Thomas is preparing the ACDS.”
“Very well Lieutenant…Carry on.”
My cellphone began to vibrate, as previously I unconsciously walked toward the steel gates away from the stables and horseboxes…
“Section Chief…”
“Iain its Steve, there may have been a breakdown in communication…”
“How so…?”
“SO13 are under the impression we are mounting an assault, I’ve spoken to my Chief, I want you here… Chris too if possible…”
“Christ Steve, you haven’t left us much time, I’ll ring Chris…” “Time isn’t really a factor we can move in anytime it’s quiet” “OK, I’ll call back…”
I ended the call and dialled Chris’ cellphone. He was surprisingly alert…
“What do you need gaffer…?”
“I need you in a car and to pick me up from Brasted rapidly… I’m also tasking Norman to relieve Charlie here… It’s big Chris, massive…”
“Ok… Give me an hour tops.”
The call over, I returned to the group just as the second subdued crack could be heard from the rear of the second horsebox…
“Well there we are Iain, both boxes now rendered safe… We’ll manoeuvre them closer to the house then begin tethering the vans… I’ve decided to roll them out using the wheel barrows… When its daylight Lnt Jenkins and his men will remove the roofs from the horseboxes, there’s a flatbed with a fitted HIAB travelling with the tanker to lift the barrels free…”
“Excellent Bill…Thankyou… Charlie and I will be leaving shortly; my OC South will carry on here. I’m required at Romford with my Section Head.”
“Right oh…Jenkins and his men are returning to their truck for a break until morning. Lnt Gibb and his men will work on the vans.”
Although both trucks carried ROVs the Escort vans were pulled free and worked on singularly, this was deemed safer, well, psychologically anyway… If one of the devices was to detonate the rest would also. Still, I appreciated the gesture.
Lieutenant Gibb and Lance Corporal Wiseman thoroughly investigated the bodywork of the first Highways Agency van reporting all clear… The rear doors were opened using a hook and line attached to the second wheel barrow…Silence, we could all breathe out… LC Wiseman entered the rear of the vehicle very slowly on all fours… He exited in a similar fashion six minutes later carrying two fuses and an electronic initiator in his right hand and walked over to Lnt Gibb…
“All clear sir… Clean and simple, there was also a wired solenoid to the driver’s door which was connected through the door card to the catch. When fully primed, closing the door completed the circuit. If anyone opened the door and broke the current…Well…?”
“What else Lance Corporal…?”
“These appear a little more sophisticated sir but not rocket science, designed to be armed and detonated remotely using a cellphone. The number could be dialled in from Outer Mongolia and no one would be any the wiser, sir… I’d also wager that the other two will have solenoids but to different doors…”
Looking in my direction he carried on…
“I’d hold off from the safehouse…The other two vans could be detonated by anyone in there hiding in the say the attic or airing cupboard.”
“That’s duly noted Lance Corporal, thank you.” “We’ll have the second one out in a jiffy sir…”
Gunner Jimmy Grant and Signaller Andy Lambert attached the tow cable to the next van and the wheel barrow as Lt Gibb reversed their truck through the gates onto the road. The courtyard was becoming crowded… Signaller Lambert began to take up the cable slack and the Escort began to edge forward out of the stable. Once in situ the second ROV performed the same task as before, this time Lambert stopped short of allowing the door to fully open…He had caught a glimpse of a wire on his chest mounted monitor…
“We have a wire here…”
Lt Gibb moved in to investigate; removing a pair of flattened wire snips from his fatigues he slid the tool through the narrow opening and cut…
And breathe out…! I don’t think I held my breath as much when I swam…! I was also beginning to find a trip to Romford quite appealing.
After the solenoid was disconnected the device itself was rendered harmless as easily as the first. At that point Norman arrived…
After introductions were made we settled to view what we hoped would be the final act of our macabre Sunday evening entertainment… The ATOs now had it down to a fine art, however; the third van had both driver and passenger doors wired to two separate solenoids which required disconnection before LC Wiseman could turn his attention to the device itself. This done and the explosive placed in another barrel there was now a palpable relief in the air…
“Norm, once 621 EOD have cleared up
Kent Police is to remove the vehicles for forensic tests, their SOCO boys are to go over the house too.”
“Ok boss, what’s next…?”
“There is a tanker and HIAB en route from Northolt. The tanker is for the 5000lbs of slurry in the southwest section of the stables. The HIAB will lift the barrels out of the horseboxes. The Kent boys are to keep this section of Chart Lane closed off until the official all clear is given… Once EOD have finished your free to leave too…”
“Where are you off to…?”
“The Romford safehouse with Chris, apparently Steve is having communication issues with SO13, I think they want to use storm troopers and go blasting in. I need to go and knock that little adventure on the head…”
“Yes we want them in one piece…Sarah has remained at the Birdcage so if you need anything when your over there it can be actioned, I take it Charlie is off home…?”
“He is… I want him fresh for the Intel from the safe house and you never know, one of them may give something up without too much of a fight.”
“That’s another chink in their armour boss, the lilywhites could scare easy…”
“That’s what I’m hoping Norm…Well considering the lack of knowledge we have, I don’t think we are doing too badly… This has been amateur hour to a point, these Romford lilywhites have been a bit too gung ho and naïve, there are many who won’t be.”
“Here’s Chris now…I’ll sort it at this end…Good luck in Romford.”
“See you Norm…Charlie…?” “Aye…?”
“Get yourself off; we need you fresh as a daisy for the Intel take from this.”
“To hear is to obey…!”
Charlie bid farewell to the EOD lads and was gone… Chris took one look around and added his professional interpretation…
“Fuck Me…! This place would have left you with limp gaffer…” “It certainly would have chaffed Chris and made my eyes water…”
I walked across to Sergeant Mortimer who appeared to be bedding down for a few hours…
“Bill, it’s been…. Educational…”
“Indeed it has Iain…Until the next time Section Chief…”
“You too Sergeant, thank your men for me… I’ll see to it that something official is mentioned sir…”
“We never say no to the raising of an elbow with a glass of something Chief…”
“We’ll do that someday, be safe...”
“Yes, you too…”
With that Chris and I were away, speeding along the A25 toward the M25…
Chapter Twenty
“So, what’s the plan…?”
“Steve sounded a little alarmed, maybe he feels it’s getting away from him. I think he’s worried that SO13 might be a little too eager to drop the subjects.”
“Well it wouldn’t be the first time we’ve lost the chance of solid Intel due to someone being trigger happy.”
I noticed Chris had put his foot down, the speedometer of the Ford Scorpio read 110mph…We reached the outskirts of Romford by 0030, I rang Steve…
“TACCOM…”
“Steve, ten minutes, we’re in Romford now, I’ll fill you in on a couple of things before we move.”
“OK… Approach from the east, we’ve set up our command post at the junction with McIntosh Road.”
“Roger that… Do a left here Chris, then third on the right.” “Ok, now where…?”
“If this A to Z is correct, we should see them when we turn right at the end here.”
“Yep…got it…!”
Chris and I approached the steps to the Command trailer… “Make a hole officers”
“And whom might you be…?”
“We’re no one, we’re not here…We don’t exist…Steve…?”
“Let them through lads.”
We sat down then got straight into it….
“Steve first point is that any one of the four in the house could have remotely detonated three of the VBIEDS at any time…We must tread softly here, there could be more”
“Three of them…?”
“Yes Frank, there were five all together, ready to go, ready to be armed… There was also enough product there to have constructed another five.
We need these four in a state where they still require oxygen and not a priest. Especially now as Garvie has not given us much and the lilywhite in Germany who travelled from here is dead… They haven’t committed themselves for this length of time and penetrated this deeply for just the one campaign… I think there is more.”
“What about the woman…?”
“McQueen…? She’s no longer important nor of any consequence.” “Ok Chief understood… This is what we have at this point.”
Frank unrolled two A1 sized sheets of paper…
“We’ve evacuated three houses either side, any more than that would have aroused too much outside interest, we’re still expecting the media to turn up any time so the officers on the street are pretty switched on about it, hence the questions you two faced when you pulled up like Bodie and Doyle…”
“We have two men inside the adjoining property with listening devices to the living room wall and an upstairs bedroom. The only problem there is, the living room is against our targets dining room which is invariably quiet… The bedroom audio is giving good signals though; one of them is asleep in there. We also have two officers opposite the property with night scopes and one to the rear.”
Chris and I were looking at the operation plan as Frank spoke…
“We had hoped the other three would have bedded down by now but judging by what we are getting from the visual scopes they are still in the living room. The neighbours have confirmed that they don’t seem to go to bed that handy and have regular late nights.”
“Let’s hope they’re having a drink or two Frank, we know Garret likes his whiskey… This is good, I like it… Chris…?”
“If Charlie Eight and Nine can open the front door quietly, the hallway should give good cover, equally so for Charlie Ten and Eleven at the rear french doors and Charlie One and Two at the back door… It would alleviate the need for “flash bangs” and would allow say ‘Nine and ‘Eleven to penetrate the upper floor quietly.”
“Has anyone asked the landlord if they have a spare set of door keys…? That would make life far easier.”
“We’ve chased the two office staff, no joy… We had a car at each of the addresses, both houses were still in darkness as of thirty minutes ago…We think the details are out of date.”
“That helps Steve; it may be interesting to find out how complicit they are… So, let’s have a final breakdown, and then we move… I can’t stress the point enough: we need them viable to the point of issuing Taser guns if we feel we have to Frank.”
“There will be no problems Chief…”
“Ok, let’s have the lads in for a final briefing”
The six SO13 officers assembled around the table quietly… Frank began…
“Right gents…We will do this quietly, we can’t afford to annoy semi-detached suburbia especially when they have to go to work in the morning…Covert is the watchword…Two of these targets have been actively building vehicle borne devices five of which have been defused today…”
“Sir where were the devices placed…?”
I touched Franks shoulder to indicate that I would answer…
“A stable complex approximately twenty miles west of Maidenhead, we’ve been there all day with 621 EOD…Two were installed in horseboxes, 2,500lbs each and three Semtex devices, 50lbs each were in the rear of Escort vans…Two of these have Highways Agency liveries and one for Railtrack…There was also enough gear there to build another five…So you see officers we need these men alive, they are established and very serious…”
“You were there with them…?” “I was, yes…”
The officer, I knew to be Charlie Nine nodded knowingly, he then pointed to Chris and said…
“What about you…?”
“Me…? Not o
n your life sunshine, I came out to play when it was nice and safe…If you think I’m going into harm’s way with a Scouser, I suggest you see a medic…!”
The tension bled away a little with Chris’s light-hearted response but the SO13 lads knew…Chris had that look. Chris continued…
“Lads we know there is a lot of emotion here tonight. To confirm another rumour for you, yes, these same two were responsible for the incident in Chelmsford…She was the wife of one of ours…The other involved is on a slab in Germany…”
Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One Page 20
