by Damien Lewis
If Kilbride tried to escape by sea The Searcher would be ready to intercept him. If not, the local fighters would harry Kilbride until The Searcher and his fellow Assassins closed in for the final kill. They had fifty-odd Brothers swarming over the islands, and he had twenty Black Assassins with him in the speedboat, so seventy fighters in all. Plus the imam was rustling up further reinforcements back in Tripoli town. Either way, Kilbride was finished.
When the local Brothers had heard the news of the death of the Old Man of the Mountains, their grief and rage had known no bounds. Several had volunteered on the spot to martyr themselves and had equipped themselves to do so. It was wondrous to see true bravery, The Searcher reflected, the valour of the martyr for which the infidels had no equal. When faced with men such as these, how could Kilbride and his ilk possibly hope to prevail?
Leaving Mick, Brad, Smithy and Ward to load the last of the wooden crates, Kilbride took the rest of his men – Berger, Nightly and Johno – and set up fire positions at the mouth of the cave. It was a good vantage point from which to spot the enemy.
Most of the crates were loaded and in theory they could abandon the cave right now and make their getaway. The trouble was, Kilbride had no idea what enemy force they were up against and where they were positioned. For all he knew they might exit the cave and run right into an ambush at sea. It was better to wait for his eyes-in-the-sky to report in.
And the longer Kilbride stayed where he was and drew the enemy to him, the less chance that they might go searching further afield and stumble across the dhow. At all costs that had to be avoided. Once again, Kilbride and his men were acting as the bait. Only this time there was no prize to lure the enemy away from them. This time they were the prize, of that Kilbride felt certain.
Sally heard the aircraft before any of them. She pricked up her ears and that in turn alerted Kilbride. He turned to search the sky above and saw a faint shadow fleeting across the heavens. The Buffalo made one pass, high above the islands, and then Kilbride heard a ringing on the Thuraya.
‘What d’you see?’
‘We’re using night-vision gear up here and it’s quite a sight. The place is crawling, man. I’d say fifty, maybe more. They’ve just landed on the far side of your island.’
‘Okay, wait until they’re right on top of us, then let them have the foo gas. We’ll be in the cave, so don’t worry about us. Okay?’
‘Roger. There’s a couple of boats also, man, off to the north-east, but closing fast …’
‘Do what you can, Soup Dragon. Good hunting.’
‘I’ll call you when I’m fifteen seconds to point impact. You hear the Thuraya – that’s your warning, man. Take good cover, ’cause this island’s going to fry …’
Kilbride and Nightly positioned themselves on one side of the rocky entranceway, Berger and Johno on the other. They waited in tense silence for the enemy to come. Kilbride had Sally behind him in some cover. She would remain there, immobile, until he ordered her to do otherwise.
Kilbride levelled his weapon at the cave entrance. He was feeling mighty good about the pump-action shotgun he had slung beneath his assault rifle. It was the perfect killing machine for this type of environment. Nightly and Ward had grenade launchers, and Berger held the Minimi machine gun at the ready. Kilbride was confident that they could hold the cave entrance for at least as long as it took the Soup Dragon to strike.
Sally stiffened and growled. A shower of rocks scattered into the sea at the cave entrance. The enemy were coming. A larger rock dropped and hit the water. A split second later there was a massive explosion that roared and echoed around the enclosed space. The ‘rock’ had been a grenade – but luckily the water had absorbed the brunt of the blast. A shadowy figure rounded the cave entrance, the water up to his chest as he forced his way inside. Kilbride’s shotgun roared, throwing the enemy fighter back out of the opening and into the open sea. A second and a third figure tried to push their way inside, but the shotgun roared again and again, blasting a swathe of lead through the air.
There was silence for a few seconds and then a hand clutching an AK47 emerged around the edge of the rock wall. The gun belched fire, spewing a long burst of rounds at Kilbride and his men. Kilbride forced his body back against the wall and fired, pumping lead in the general direction of the hidden enemy. There was an agonised scream as shot tore into the soldier’s exposed hand, and his gun tumbled into the water. A second and third enemy fighter tried the same trick – hand around the wall and weapon spraying off on automatic – but Kilbride’s shotgun blasted each one of them in turn.
There was a moment’s pause in the assault, the smog of cordite drifting with a faint breeze into the rear of the cave. Kilbride reloaded his weapon, punching eight new shells into the shotgun. A corpse washed at Kilbride’s feet, carried into the cave by the swell. Kilbride glanced down at it. It was the body of a young soldier, but the features were pulverised into an unrecognisable mess. The dead man’s tunic hung open, and Kilbride caught sight of a string of explosives strapped around the man’s middle. The enemy were wearing suicide belts.
There was a noise from above like a man running and a figure dropped into the space of the cave entrance. Suddenly there was a blinding flash, and the figure disintegrated in mid-air. The cave walls channelled the blast from his suicide belt inwards, blowing Kilbride off his feet and flinging him against the cold rock. He recovered his footing just in time to see Bill Berger spraying the cave entrance with a long burst from his Minimi. Dark, screaming shapes crowded into the cavernous space, weapons spitting fire. Kilbride swung the shotgun around, flicked it to auto mode and fired from the hip. The Remington roared, pumping out eight rounds in less than three seconds, blasting the enemy soldiers off their feet and hurling them against the walls. Berger’s Minimi barked and barked again, as wounded enemy fighters tried to swim away from the kill zone. Finally, the machine gun too fell silent.
The big American dropped back into the shadows of the cave wall, his weapon held at the ready. Kilbride went to reload. He noticed another body in the water at his feet. Suddenly, he realised with a shock that it was Nightly … He reached down and grabbed his comatose form, hauling him up and onto the ledge. As he turned him over he saw sightless eyes staring up from beneath a shattered forehead. What looked like a fragment of shrapnel had hit him straight between the eyes. Kilbride groped for a pulse, but even as he did so he knew that it was hopeless. He laid Nightly down on the ledge and gently closed his eyes.
Kilbride leaned back into the shadows, and alarm bells started ringing inside his head. He looked around himself, trying to work out the source of the danger. His ears were still deafened by the gunfire, and it took several seconds to register that the Thuraya was ringing. The Soup Dragon had to be in the last few seconds of her attack run. Kilbride screamed out a warning to his men to take cover, grabbed Sally and dived into a crevice in the rock wall. There was the roar of the aircraft overhead, and the sudden crack of AK47 fire as the enemy loosed off wild rounds at the shadowy form of the Buffalo.
As he approached the cliff face Burt pulled hard on the yoke and put the Buffalo into a steep climb. At the same time he gave a thumbs-up to Shortie to lower the aircraft’s rear ramp. As the Buffalo roared across the enemy positions at 270 miles per hour it was already clawing steeply into the air. The ramp yawned open and Shortie released the chain that held the tanker in place. Gravity pulled the heavily laden truck earthwards, and it accelerated down the last few yards of the Buffalo’s hold.
Before it jerked out onto the open ramp Volker chucked a grenade in through the tanker’s open window. Suddenly the truck was falling free of the aircraft and plummeting downwards like a stone. It struck the cliff top rear-end first, the steel plates of the tanker rupturing and a fountain of foo gas spurting into the air. A split second later the grenade exploded, and Ramkine Island was engulfed in a sheet of boiling flame.
Terrified figures leaped from the cliff face into the ocean in a desperate
effort to douse themselves. But the tidal wave of orange flame roared after them, until the sea itself became a sheet of blazing fire. The wave of burning foo gas sucked the oxygen from the cave entrance, hungry flames licking inside its walls. As the very air crackled and burned, Kilbride and his men pressed themselves back into the furthest shadows, shielding their faces from the searing heat of the inferno outside.
Once the flames had subsided a little, Kilbride readied himself to get the hell out of there. They would use the cover of the foo-gas strike to bust their way out of the cave. Kilbride gave the order to move out, and with Berger’s help he grabbed Nightly’s body and loaded it into one of the RIBs. Last of all, Kilbride coaxed Sally into the lead craft. Cautiously, they headed towards the cave entrance, using their oars to fend off the cave walls. As they drew closer Kilbride could sense the salty taste of the open sea, coupled with the reek of the burning foo gas.
Suddenly, a voice rang out, echoing through the cave. ‘KILBRIDE! I know you’re in there, Kilbride!’
Kilbride brought his RIB to a stop. He pulled Sally to her feet and manhandled her into a shadowy crevice in the cave wall. He put a hand to his lips to quieten her and signalled for her to wait.
‘KILBRIDE! You remember me? You recognise the voice? It’s hopeless, Kilbride. I know you’re in there. Answer me. We may be able to do a deal.’
Kilbride signalled the boats further back into the cave. ‘Knotty! How you doing?’ he yelled out. ‘It’s been a long time.’
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
‘KILBRIDE!’ THE SEARCHER’S voice ran out again. ‘I knew you wouldn’t have forgotten your old friend. It’s Muhammad Mohajir now, Kilbride, just so you know.’
‘Muhammad Mohajir? Bit of a mouthful, Knotty. Anyhow, how’re you doing?’
‘How am I doing? Not so well, Kilbride. Lost a lot of the Brothers yesterday. And His Holiness … You never got to meet His Holiness, did you, Kilbride? Pity. You would have grown to like him. He would have shown you the way to the light. Now he’s gone, Kilbride, and I hear that you’re responsible …’
‘I’ve got a great alibi, Knotty. I was here unearthing several tons of gold.’
‘Is that right, Kilbride? The gold, you say. I figured as much …’
‘Five hundred million in gold bullion, Knotty. Think about it. It’s a lot of loot.’
Kilbride turned to his men and signalled for them to follow his lead. He grabbed one of the dive masks and an air bottle. He slipped the harness over his shoulders, leaving the mouthpiece hanging free so that he could talk. And then he pulled a canister of Agent BZ16 nerve gas out of his jacket pocket.
‘You’re up against the best, Kilbride,’ The Searcher yelled. ‘I trained them. And unlike us, they’re young and fit. Give up, Kilbride. Surrender, and I’ll guarantee you safe passage out of here. We’ll settle for the gold. You get away with your lives. How about it, Kilbride?’
‘What guarantees do we have, Knotty?’ Kilbride yelled back at him.
‘My guarantee as an honourable Muslim. My guarantee as an Assassin, a disciple of the Old Man of the Mountains and a brother to Saladin. You remember Saladin, Kilbride? We used to talk about him, back in Afghanistan, when you and I were on the same side. Saladin’s word was his bond, Kilbride. And now you have my word.’
‘What about your “Brothers”? Who guarantees them?’
‘They take orders from me, Kilbride. I’m their trainer, their military leader. My word rules them. Throw down your weapons and come out, one by one. You’ll lose the gold, but you’ll get to live. Life, even for an infidel, is sweet, eh?’
‘I want to see your face, Knotty. I want to look into your eyes. That’s the only way I’ll know you’re telling the truth … Otherwise, there’s no deal. We’re old men, Knotty, and we don’t have one hell of a lot to lose.’
The Searcher glanced at Sajid and the other Brothers gathered at the cave entrance, and mouthed a few words at them in Arabic.
‘Keep your weapons down, Kilbride,’ he called out. ‘I’m going to show myself. I see a weapon raised, the deal’s off, and we’ll blast you out of that cave. It’ll be your watery grave.’
‘I hear you, Knotty.’
‘Right – I’m coming into the entrance now.’
The Searcher stepped into the black opening of the cave. He had an AK47 held at the hip, with a torch attached. He shone it into the depths of the cave. ‘How many of you are there, Kilbride? I count only five. Where’s the rest of your troop?’
‘Injured, invalided out – you know how it is. That’s all of us, bar the one dead and a couple of wounded. Pretty fearless of you to come in here alone like this …’
‘It’s the deal you asked for, Kilbride. In any case, since finding the one true faith I haven’t known much fear.’
‘Paradise awaits, eh, Knotty?’
‘You can mock, Kilbride. But you’re an intelligent man – I’d have expected more of you. Knowledge of the One True God has given life meaning, conquered my fear.’ He pulled aside his robe to reveal an explosive belt strapped around his torso. ‘See? No fear. No fear of death. No fear at all …’
‘Is that right? So how’s the fear of dogs, Knotty? Remember the one that ripped your face open in the Panama jungle? You hated them back then …’
The Searcher glanced around himself nervously, shining his torch into the shadows. ‘In Syria we eat dogs,’ he snapped. ‘Let’s get on with it. I want you to show me the gold. Then I want you to walk towards me, in single file, and no weapons – you first, Kilbride.’
‘I still need to look into your eyes, Knotty. It’s the only way we can do this – the only way that I’ll trust you. Take a few steps my way, Knotty, just so I can see you and be sure.’
‘This is bullshit, Kilbride,’ The Searcher yelled angrily. ‘I can just step back out of here and we’ll torch this place – and you’ll all fry. So stop fucking with me.’
‘The threats don’t work, Knotty. You need us – or rather, you need those boats loaded with the gold. Sooner or later the Lebanese authorities are going to put the navy or air force out here to find out what the hell’s been going on. If you mallet this place, trust me, the boats are going down. The gold’s at the bottom of the sea again, and you’ll never get to it before the big guns arrive. Like I said, you need us, Knotty – which means we do this my way or not at all.’
‘All right – I’ll take six paces into the cave, Kilbride. But I’ve ordered my men to waste this place if you try any shit.’
With a few shouted words in Arabic to his men outside, The Searcher took six careful steps into the cave.
‘This far and no further, Kilbride,’ he announced. ‘Now, let’s get on with it – show me the gold.’
‘Ready, lads?’ Kilbride muttered. ‘One last thing, Knotty,’ he yelled. ‘Before we let you see the loot, there’s someone I think you should meet. SALLY – KILL!’
A giant wolf-like shadow leaped out of the darkened flank of the cave entrance, launched herself in the air with a savage snarl and sank her teeth into The Searcher’s gun arm. As he toppled backwards Knotty let out a blood-curdling cry.
‘I’ve never forgotten your fear of dogs!’ Kilbride yelled as The Searcher hit the water, the big attack dog on top of him. ‘Meet Sally, mate, and piss yourself with fear.’
The Searcher surfaced and let out a choking, gasping scream. Sally’s teeth closed to the bone as she tried to drag him towards the inner end of the cave. The Searcher reached with his one free arm and punched the detonator button on his explosive belt. There was a faint phut beneath the water but nothing more: the suicide belt was soaked in sea water and had short-circuited.
Kilbride dropped off the cave ledge, hit the water and came back to the surface. He reached up with his right arm, hurled a gas canister towards the entrance of the cave then dived towards the cave depths. It spun end over end through the air and landed with a metallic clank against the far wall, hissing out a cloud of gas as it did so. The rest of his men
followed his lead. As Sally dragged at The Searcher’s lacerated flesh he began screaming in Arabic for his Brothers to attack. Black figures piled into the cave entrance, their weapons levelled and searching for the kill, but the cave appeared empty.
From below the surface of the water Kilbride watched the progress of the enemy fighters, their torch beams probing the shadows. A weapon fired, bullets fizzing into the sea, but Kilbride and his men were already well beyond their range. Suddenly, Kilbride saw a torch beam waver, and then a dark silhouette stumbled forwards and fell. Another Brother lost his footing and slumped into the water, his weapon drifting downwards towards Kilbride and his men in a slow, lazy corkscrew. And then another and another of the enemy figures went tumbling to the ground as they were hit by the cloud of nerve gas.
Kilbride gave it ten minutes, then signalled for his men to surface. As they did so, his first concern was for Sally. He spotted the attack dog slumped in the shallows at the rear of the cave, her comatose jaws still locked around a human form. Kilbride rushed across to her and dragged her out of the reach of the sea. He stooped until his cheek was next to Sally’s and detected the faint warmth of her breath against his skin. She was still breathing. He lifted her up and carried her towards one of the waiting boats. The lads started the engines and manoeuvred the RIBs so that they faced the sea. They dragged Sally aboard and laid her down across the wooden crates in the bottom of the lead craft.
Kilbride and his team were still breathing from their diving tanks since the cave was thick with the gas. Just as he was about to give the signal to depart, Kilbride glanced back at the comatose form of The Searcher. Fuck it, he decided, they’d take the bastard with them. It would be one more prize for The Project, one more thing to distract them from the gold … Kilbride grabbed Berger and Ward and together they dragged The Searcher’s body into the boat, laying him down alongside Sally. If the bastard came to he’d have the fright of his life when he found the massive dog at his side.
