by Alan Wade
Title Page
Remember Remember
Alan Wade
Publisher Information
Remember Remember published in 2010 by
Andrews UK Limited
www.andrewsuk.com
This book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out or otherwise circulated without the publisher’s prior written consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published, and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.
The characters and situations in this book are entirely imaginary and bear no relation to any real person or actual happening.
Copyright © Alan Wade
The right of Alan Wade to be identified as author of this book has been asserted in accordance with section 77 and 78 of the Copyrights Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Acknowledgements
Many thanks to my wife Kath for her hard work and patience. Thanks also to Simon Wade for the book cover and John Butterworth for the title.
Prologue
August 11th Cabin 8310, Costa Atlantica, sailing toward Alexandria, Egypt
Alan Johnson put down his pen, re-read the letter and thought of P.S.’s to add, but then he shook his head; there were just too many other things to say.
He took out the gold bracelet he had bought earlier and placed two rings onto it, then walked to the bathroom, found an Elastoplast and carefully taped the rings and the bracelet to the inside of an envelope in such a way that they would not jingle. He placed his folded letter in the envelope, sealed it and addressed it; “To my darling Jacky, Cabin 8310.” He then placed the envelope into the inside pocket of his cream blazer and sat with his head resting in his hands.
Jacky had fallen asleep at least one hour earlier and now lay on her back gently snoring, oblivious to Alan’s writing.
He rose from the chair and silently padded to the bed where he bent over her and gently rolled her onto her side. He sat down, stroked her silken clad thigh, then whispered, “Sleep well my love, I’d like to think we could get through this together and that you would help me, but I know that only God can help me now.” He checked his watch and confirmed the time was 2.05 am. He knew he must get some sleep but realised that his thoughts regarding her and his actions later that day would offer little chance of rest.
They rose early to watch the ship enter the port of Alexandria and she noticed that he was quieter than usual.
“Are you OK love?”
“Yeah, I am, it’s just that Alexandria looks a bit grim, look at all these rusting hulks of boats, it looks like a bloody scrap yard.”
“One man’s rubbish Alan.”
“Yeah, but this looks like the world’s dumping ground.”
“Perhaps it is,” she replied, “but maybe it will get nicer as we enter the harbour itself.”
“I don’t think so love,” he turned to her and changed the subject, “let’s go up for breakfast.”
He breakfasted as usual on crispy bacon accompanied by a cheese omelette, she had fruit and cereal. Little was said and Jacky, sensing unease, squeezed his arm. He turned to her, smiled, bent towards her and kissed her full on the lips. “You’d better go and get ready for Cairo my love, we need to board the bus in forty minutes. I’ll be down soon, I just want another cup of coffee.” She squeezed his arm again, then let go saying, “Ok love, see you soon.”
He smiled, rose and walked to the coffee machine to dispense himself another cup of coffee then returned to his table. As he approached the table and before he sat down, he took out the envelope from his blazer pocket and placed it along with a €50 note between his breakfast plate and the tray on which it stood. His usual breakfast waitress approached and asked if he had finished with the tray.
His response was, “Please look under the plate on your return to the service station. Keep the money and put the letter in my cabin after lunch. Thank you for all your help,” he smiled and momentarily squeezed her hand then asked, “Do you understand?”
“I think so,” she responded.
“Good, then thank you.”
“Have a nice day Sir,”
“Oh I will, I certainly will have a day.”
He returned to his cabin and changed his jacket for a reversible anorak which could be worn grey or yellow.
07.30, Costa Atlantica, Alexandria, Egypt
Major Rashid had boarded the Costa Atlantica with the pilot. He had met with Major Rock and his team and offered Egyptian police assistance. His team had been monitoring foreign arrivals into Egypt for several days paying particular attention to those staying at the Cairo Pyramids Sheraton Hotel. He had four officers working there and was confident that if the Sheraton was the meeting place they would apprehend those involved.
They had discussed the ship’s itinerary and Johnson’s booking of a holiday excursion which included a bus trip from the Port of Alexandria to the Great Pyramids of Giza. A convoy of about forty coaches would carry the cruise ship passengers from the port to Giza and every coach would have on it a police escort. The pyramid site was flat and arid and very busy with tourists. There were also hundreds of touts and salesmen on the site, who continually pestered people to take photos of their camels or buy cheap trinkets and the group believed that a meeting between Johnson and fellow terrorists could take place there but it was unlikely. However, the site would be patrolled by Rachid’s staff.
The next stop for the tour would be the site of the Sphinx and although this provided some scope for a rendezvous with others inside the temples, again it was thought to be highly unlikely. However, his staff would be at the entry and exit gates which controlled the flow of tourists into this site.
The tour coaches would then leave the Sphinx and drive to Cairo central for lunch at the Cairo Pyramids Sheraton Hotel. This would be followed by city centre shopping which is where Rashid believed a terrorist rendezvous could take place, in the actual hotel or in one of the many close locations.
It was agreed that both teams would shadow Johnson on the tour and when the group entered the hotel; with Rashid providing extra staff in the hotel, plus road blocks and helicopter air support should it be necessary.
At 08.50 Rashid disembarked with the ship’s pilot and Rock reported back to England to gain approval for the plan. Commander Bagshaw’s affirmative reply came quickly and Rock sat at his desk drinking coffee, confident his team’s actions would be successful and he would get the bastard this time.
At 09.30 a fleet of forty coaches left the dock at Alexandria and headed through the town inland to Cairo. At 11.15 the coaches left the Great Pyramids and drove towards the Sphinx. At 12.45 the coaches departed the Sphinx back towards Cairo and the Sheraton Pyramids hotel and so far there had been no reported sightings of Johnson or Jacky rendezvousing with anybody other than those on the ship’s tour.
Sheraton Pyramids Hotel, Cairo
At 13.00, Cairo airport aviation control received a message from a Syrian helicopter to enter their air space with a request for a landing at the hotel. This was one of many requests made each day and permission was granted. On board were five para-military men and Onar Ibsick, now known as Vernna Parlla. On landing the group entered the air traffic control block situated on the roof and manned by hotel security staff, one of whom, named Jimal, was an associate of Vernna’s; planted weeks ago to help the operation and monitor police activity in the hotel. Paperwork was completed, the landing confirmed and a brief private discussion with Jimal informed Vernna’s group of the presence of Rachid’s men and the security facilities of the hotel. Money exchanged hands and the
control block was temporarily handed over to Vernna. He despatched four of his militia to account for Rashid’s men located in the lobby of the 21st floor who were there to guard access to both the hotel and helipad.
It is virtually impossible for a man unprepared and without stab proof body armour to deflect an attack and within five minutes Rachid’s men were dead and replaced by the helicopter team; who now took control of the landing site and the doors to it leading from the hotel lobby.
Having successfully secured the site, Vernna now passed to his men a photograph of Alan Johnson and gave the following instructions, “This is the only man who enters this site and the helicopter, he will be wearing a bright yellow jacket to help identification; all others without exception die, are you clear on that.”
They nodded in assent as they passed the photograph around the group and back to Vernna who continued his instructions, “There will be approximately six hundred people from the cruise ship coming here to eat in the grand hall on the first floor. Alan Johnson has booked a meal for two, but Shan has decreed that Johnson’s girlfriend Jacky must not accompany him to the helicopter and if she does she must be stopped; so kill her if needs be.” He looked at the group to confirm their agreement then continued, “The meal is booked for 14.00 and I want you Yasim to come with me to the first floor and approach Johnson; you will dress as a wine waiter and we have a shirt and waistcoat for you to wear. I will identify Johnson then you will go over to his table and tell him that Shan says to go immediately to the lift shaft on the first floor.” He pointed to two others in the group and said, “Your task is to find a laundry trolley, take it in the lift to the first floor and place it in the lift doors to keep that lift there for Johnson. As soon as he is in the lift remove it and bring him to this floor. Shoot anybody else who tries to get in the lift with you. I will take another lift to the first floor and wait for Yasim to return, while giving back-up for you two.”
He looked at the two remaining men, “Your job is to secure these doors and shoot anybody who tries to enter this lift lobby other than your colleagues and Johnson. Also, try to get the other two lifts to this level if possible, it will mean that anybody who tries to follow us will have hundreds of steps to climb. I do not think we will encounter much resistance because the whole operation will last only a few minutes. However we cannot secure these doors from the outside so I will booby trap them from the other side with a small wired explosive to detonate when they are opened. That should give us enough time to get Johnson in the helicopter and airborne.” He paused, looked at his colleagues then said, “Now check your weapons and equipment; Bin Laden himself wants to meet this man to discuss and implement our future operations in the West, so I know you will not let me down, Inshallah.”
At 13.10, fifteen coaches parked outside the hotel and Alan Johnson with Jacky at his side walked through the entrance lobby. He had turned his grey jacket inside out and now sported a very yellow one.
Major Rashid had arrived a little earlier to check his team and had sent one man up to the 21st floor to assess the situation there. He had then met with Major Rock to discuss their joint operation and was unaware of the death of yet another one of his men on the 21st floor at the heliport.
On the first floor lobby two staff in white shirts, black trousers and trainers were attempting to roll a laundry trolley into a lift which had one of its wheels caught in the door tracks. Vernna Parlla and Yasim exited another lift and Vernna placed a small metal object on the floor between the doors while Yasim pressed an “Out of Order” sticker on the door. Hundreds of people then walked by but Vernna spotted Johnson in the yellow jacket and indicated him to Yasim.
Yasim immediately followed Johnson to his table, bent towards him and said, “Shan says to go immediately to the lift shaft on this floor.”
Alan looked at him, looked at Jacky, shook his head then whispered to her, “I will see you again because I now know that I love you,” he kissed her cheek then rose to his feet and hurried from the room, but as he did so Captain Smart and Sergeant Impey, two of Rock’s team, followed.
Johnson sped into the lobby looking for some clue as to what to do. He saw one lift door open where two members of staff were struggling with a trolley and all his instincts were against using that lift. He saw the exits to the stairwells guarded and then he saw Vernna and sprinted towards that lift. Sergeant Impey, younger and faster than Johnson got to him as he entered the lift and rugby tackled him to the ground, but as he did so two shots to the head from Yasim’s machine pistol killed him instantly. For a few seconds there was total mayhem in the lobby with Rashid’s men firing, the two waiters in the lift returning fire with MP5’s and Vernna and Captain Smart joining in.
Johnson dived into the lift with bullets ricocheting off the walls shouting, “Close the doors, close the fucking doors.” as Vernna hit the twenty-first floor button and Yasim returned fire.
The whole first floor lift lobby sounded like a mini war zone as round after round from 9mm machine pistols thudded into the walls, floors and ceilings. Within seconds Yasmin and the two waiters in the second lift were killed as Vernna and Johnson desperately tried to close their lift doors. As they did so Captain Smart sprayed his machine pistol at the lift and bullets ricocheted from wall to wall miraculously missing Vernna but hitting and disabling Johnson before the lift doors closed and they began to rise to the 21st floor.
Captain Smart, Rachid and three of his men jumped into the lift which the dead waiters had temporarily disabled, but had no idea where to go. Smart yelled, “Go to the top, go the bloody top, we can work down from there.”
Johnson had seen death in the Falklands and Middle East and knew that without fast medical treatment he too would die from the three bullet wounds to his right chest, left arm and leg and Vernna knew he only had seconds to act as the lift arrived at the 21st floor and the doors opened. He screamed at his colleagues there to help the dying Johnson to the helicopter, then rushed through the doors and indicated to the helicopter pilot to start engines. Johnson, now in a critical condition, was aided to the chopper as Vernna took a machine pistol from one of his guards and ran back to the lifts. He saw the lights above one lift flash from 17 to 18, 19, and 20 then stop. A second lift ascended and climbed to 21. Vernna then indicated to his colleague to spray the lift with bullets as the doors opened while he sprinted to the stairwell doors. Again, all hell let loose as bullets ricocheted off the lift sides and wall panels, but within ten seconds it was quiet. Rashid and two more of his men were dead and that attack suppressed, but now Vernna could see and hear movement on the stairs and knew they had little time. He fired more rounds down the stairwell towards level 20 then sprinted to the doors which allowed access onto the roof, set his booby trap then rushed across the roof and dived into the waiting helicopter yelling to the pilot to take off.
“Where are the others,” moaned Johnson who seemed to be fading in and out of consciousness.
“All dead,” gasped Vernna who sat at the open door of the chopper watching the flat helipad roof for incoming until the helicopter took off and as they gained height, he heard the sound of a small explosion before they were gone.
Vernna, now knowing they were momentarily safe, turned to Johnson to speak but could see he had now lapsed into unconsciousness. One of his colleagues strapped Johnson’s arm and leg above his wounds in an attempt to stop the loss of blood, but could do little with Johnson’s chest wound.
Vernna, knowing that Johnson had little time to live shouted to the pilot to fly toward the military hospital at Latakia but shook his head in despair knowing the chances of Johnson living were slim as the helicopter headed towards Syrian airspace and safety.
Major Rock’s report proved chilling reading. He had lost both SAS men; Sergeant Impey to gunshot wounds to the head and Captain Smart killed by a boobytrap grenade, Major Rachid was dead along with five of his men. They had engaged and killed three terrorists bu
t Alan Johnson had escaped by helicopter.
Rock had requested air support to track and even bring down the helicopter but with the death of Rachid communication with the Egyptian authorities had been difficult. However, the helicopter had been tracked flying across Egyptian airspace until it was lost entering Syria.
They had analysed blood samples taken from the lift in which only two men ascended and also taken samples from the twenty-first floor and the heliport and this had been confirmed to be the same blood type as Johnson’s. There was so much blood congealed in the lift and on the twenty-first floor, to make Rock believe that Johnson had been critically injured and without fast emergency treatment would die.
The report concluded that the operation was unsuccessful on three counts, those being that no terrorist cell had been observed or apprehended, Johnson was not in custody and finally there had been much loss of life. Furthermore the operation had been designed to apprehend and interrogate Johnson to discover his intentions, then minimise and contain risk; but without Johnson or any of his cell that too had failed. Rock’s final statement had been to offer his resignation from Special Branch Counter Terrorism and await a formal response.
September 10th, The Brown Cow, Hillgate, Stockport.
Jacky had returned to work a different woman. She had spent fifteen days in interrogation, firstly with the Egyptians in Cairo, then with both the Americans and British in the UK.
The fact she knew nothing and was not involved in any joint terrorist act became apparent within days. The change from love of Johnson to sadness, sorrow, then anger, hate and despair took longer. She was released when it was believed she was now “on side” and would be of no further help to Johnson. She had lost over a stone in weight, which had lined her face and her greying hair seemed to have aged her ten years.
Her cheery confidence, assertive style and self esteem seemed to have drained from her and her work behind the bar of the Brown Cow now seemed like that of a robot, capable but without character. She felt alone and abandoned having no idea of Johnson’s feelings as she had not read his letter which had been confiscated by ship’s security before her return. The mood in the snug of the Brown Cow was now dull, with most people in a state of shock but trying to support her as she worked through her disbelief and despair.
