by Chris Harris
“Found you!” he said.
“Didn’t know we were lost,” I replied, smiling and gesturing towards an empty chair at the table.
“Well this is as good a place as any to talk to you.” He sat down, turned to his aide and politely asked him if he could get us another round of drinks.
When he’d returned, carrying three pints on a tray, Jon told him he wouldn’t be needed for the rest of the night. The soldier saluted gratefully and went off to join his friends at the bar.
“What’s all this about, Jon?” I asked.
He reached into the briefcase he’d been carrying and pulled out a photograph. “I think we may have an answer on that community we looked at today. We flew the UAV over them a few times today, but got nothing conclusive until the last flight of the day.”
We both leaned forward and studied the photograph on the table. It showed the same farmhouse, but this time there appeared to be a large bonfire in the field next to the farm.
Before Jerry and I could ask another question, Jon placed another photograph on top of the one on the table. It showed a close up of the bonfire, with a few people standing in a group beside it. Next to this group was a pile of bodies.
We both looked up at Jon. He said, “I think that answers the question, don’t you?”
The community appeared to have been taken over by the people who had ambushed us. We had to assume that the men in uniform in the photograph belonged to the same group. It seemed too much of a coincidence otherwise. There were clearly too many bodies to be disposed of by digging a hole to bury them, so just as we had done before, they had chosen to burn them.
“What are we going to do about them?” I asked.
“We?” replied Jon, frowning. “I like your attitude, Tom, but I think this is my fight. They attacked my men as well.”
I disagreed, “No Jon. We knew those poor people, you didn’t. I think I can speak for our whole community when I say that action needs to be taken against these people, and that we need to be involved somehow. Anyway, we could be next on their list of targets; we’re an obvious choice as we’re probably the best supplied and equipped group in the area.”
Jon leaned back in his chair, took a sip of his beer and thought for a moment. “We need to get this Gumin attack out of the way first. The initial reports are good. All our observers are in position and reporting in, and they’ve managed to identify most of the ringleaders. The only unknown quantity is whether Captain Berry’s men will be able to get into position to protect the young ones in the morning and whether the rest of them will rise up against Gumin. They’re fairly confident that the first part of the mission will be a success, because the guard routine looks predictable and very sloppy. The last report stated that most of the guards are already drinking heavily or appear to be high on something. The only problem is that’ll make their behaviour hard to predict.”
“What time is the attack due to take place?” asked Jerry.
“Sunrise is at 06.48 so they plan to be in position before then. There’s no point in it being dark, as they won’t be able to see the planned UAV flypast, so unless something changes, that will be when it all starts. After the dust has settled, we’ll take a look at this other group.”
“Can we be in the control room to observe the attack?” I asked hopefully.
“Of course,” said Jon, “I was going to suggest it anyway. It’ll give you a better understanding of our capabilities in case you need to call on them in the future.”
“Yes, that’ll be useful. Thanks, Jon,” I said. Then thinking about the conversation I’d just had with Jerry, I continued,
“I was wondering when we’ll be able to get back home. It’s been fascinating visiting here and I hope I’ve been of some help, but I’m not sure what else I can do. Besides, I’ve only been here just over a day and I think I’m already getting soft. All these hot showers, and nice meals and... ” looking round me slightly wistfully, “the pub’s great! Maybe when your plan’s up and running and everyone’s above ground, you could keep this place open as a holiday camp, so that people can experience ‘the good old days’ and get a break from the daily grind!”
Jon grinned at the idea. “Don’t worry,” he replied, “Let’s get this attack over and done with and then we can talk about getting you home. Unless there are any unforeseen problems, I imagine you’ll be back in the next couple of days. We’ve been having a lot of meetings about the recovery plan and the changes we’ll need to make to it, and I think some people may still want your opinion on certain aspects before you leave.”
He paused to stretch before going on.
“We’ve also had a requisition demand from the engineers at your place, so we’ll try to combine their supply run with returning you home.
“It’s strange you should mention your holiday camp idea. I’ve only just come from a meeting in which one of our psychologists presented a paper and gave a talk about how, in his opinion, people are becoming too used to the conditions down here. He believes this could, potentially, cause problems when we try to move them above ground again. He’s recommending a re-education programme of sorts, to remind people that the base was only ever intended to be temporary, and that we all face a lot of hard work in the future.”
Jerry spoke up, “I can see what your psychologist is on about. This place has taken people in and offered them safety and security. Some of them may find it very difficult to leave if they’ve already experienced the terror of trying to survive. I wouldn’t mind having a word with this expert of yours to see what he plans to do.”
“No problem, Jerry, I’ll get the two of you together tomorrow. He wasn’t just referring to our new arrivals, though. He was also talking about all the original personnel. Look around us,” he said, waving to all the people who were relaxing, chatting and laughing in the bar.
“I suspect I’ll have to start issuing orders for most of these men and women to get out there and help with the recovery plan, to work hard, day in day out, living in basic accommodation with an uncertain food supply. I guess it would only be human nature to think about this place and the people left behind with a hint of envy. Yes, if you look at it logically, it’s the only course of action to take to survive in the long term. But when has envy and jealousy had anything to do with logic?” Pausing, he added quietly, “I may have to deal with a mutiny as well as trying to get the country back on its feet.”
Jon looked away for a moment, then looked at Jerry.
His face, for the first time, full of anguish. “You know what, Jerry, occasionally, when it’s all getting to me down here, I do wonder if I would have been better off making my way to your house and just concentrating on helping my own family to survive.”
Jerry reached forward and grabbed his arm, “Bruv, you don’t mean that. You’re the right man for this job. You don’t have the kind of ego that wants to take over the world, you’ve only ever wanted to help people. You always looked after me when we were growing up. If anyone can do this, you can.”
Jon took a few moments to compose himself. “Sorry, Jerry,” he said tiredly,
“It’s been a very long day! And I’m pretty much at the top of the tree here, and I don’t really have much chance to offload onto anyone. The loneliness of command and all that …” He smiled at his brother, “and now that you’ve turned up, you’ve given me a load more work to do. I mean, we were quite happy hiding in our bunker, watching the end of the world through our monitors and then YOU get on the radio and now we have to save everyone.”
Laughing, and recognising that it was a good time to give the brothers some time alone to catch up, I made my excuses, and spotting Captain Hardy and Lieutenant Turner at the bar, I went to join them.
Prior to turning in for the night, (I wanted to be up bright and early in time to observe Captain Berry’s attack), I spent a pleasant hour or so in the company of Ian and Barry.
Thinking about what Jon had said about the issues he might potentially face from
his own officers and men, at one point I steered the conversation towards what I thought we would need to do to ensure our ongoing survival. I didn’t mention the official plan, as I wasn’t sure if they knew about it.
Their reaction was reassuringly positive. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to stay in the bunker forever, and hoped that at some point they would be able to leave. They were both intelligent young men and understood the need for crops to be planted and harvested, if we were to stand any chance of feeding ourselves in the long term. They also understood that it would probably involve a lot of physical labour. According to them, most of the men were keen to get out there and start doing something. I was heartened by their positivity and made a mental note to have a quiet word with Jon. Hopefully this would put his mind at rest and give him one less thing to worry about.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By the time I arrived at the control centre at 6:30 in the morning, it was already a hive of activity. One of Jon’s aides showed me to a chair in front of an unused row of monitors, and asked me to stay there, as it would be the best place to observe what was taking place, without hindering any of the soldiers in their duties. Jerry joined me about five minutes later.
A large screen at the front of the control centre was showing the live feed from the UAV circling Gumin’s compound. As it was still dark, the camera on the UAV was set to night vision mode. As the camera zoomed in and out and the operator responded to requests to look at specific points, a clearer picture of the complex began to emerge. Captain Berry’s convoy was situated about half a mile from the front gate of Gumin’s industrial unit and they were sheltering behind a row of buildings. He had four armoured vehicles and two lorries at his disposal.
The screen also showed the locations of the men he had sent in as observers and snipers. Whenever they came into view on the screen, a blue icon appeared beside them, indicating who they were. The known positions of the guards in the compound were represented by red icons, and as soon they moved, their icon tracked them. It was not unlike some of the video games I’d seen my son play.
“Team A is going in to secure the children,” announced one of the officers. The tension in the room mounted, and it all seemed slightly surreal, as we watched two of Captain Berry’s men move from their positions, cut a hole in the fence surrounding the site, and then creep through into the compound and crouch down outside a building. The speaker on the radio they were using was broadcasting to the entire room, and I could hear one of the soldiers at another desk keeping the soldiers on the ground updated on the position of the guards.
The camera zoomed in on the two soldiers. The icon next to one of them indicated that he was Private Horine. I remembered him as the man who’d told me to reload after I’d shot the men who’d attacked us on Christmas Day.
As we watched, the speaker broadcast, “Entering now.” We all seemed to hold our breath as he entered the building and disappeared from view. The other soldier stayed outside, guarding the door.
One minute later, Private Horine spoke again, “Guard eliminated. Children secure.” We all breathed sighs of relief.
The soldier on the ground turned, re-entered the building and disappeared from view.
I heard a soldier speaking a few desks along from us and her voice broadcast over the speaker, “Stay in position. We will advise of anyone approaching.”
Captain Berry’s voice came through next, “Preparing to move. It will be light enough in five minutes.”
Not much happened for the next few minutes, apart from continual updates on the positions of the enemy guards.
After five minutes, Captain Berry carried out a radio check with each of his observers and with the UAV operator. All confirmed that nothing had changed and all was still looking good.
“Moving into position …”
It was light enough now for the cameras to switch to normal daytime mode. The screen changed from a flat monochrome to full colour high definition. We watched as three of the armoured vehicles drove out from the building they had been sheltering behind and slowly approached the security gates.
“In position. Looks like we haven’t been spotted yet. Is the UAV ready for flyby?”
“Affirmative, ready to go,” confirmed the UAV operator.
The camera angle changed as it descended. There was silence for a moment. It was difficult to believe that the vehicles had reached the gates without being noticed. The guards were clearly very careless.
“Team A, get ready. We’re about to wake them up.”
The four snipers still surrounding the building, and the two inside guarding the children, all confirmed their readiness.
Captain Berry broke the silence. “This is Captain Berry of her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Gumin, we know you’re in there. We’ve been watching you for days.”
In the heavy silence that followed, the camera of the UAV zoomed in on the front of the warehouse. For a long minute, nothing happened, and then four men holding what appeared to be guns, ran out of the building and threw themselves down behind a car.
“Sniper One. I have a clear shot.”
“Sniper Two. I have a clear shot.”
Captain Berry spoke over the open radio channel, “Shoot if they point any weapons towards us.”
The men crouching behind the car kept standing up, looking towards the gate and then turning towards the warehouse.
They were either reporting back about what they could see, or they were receiving orders from whoever was inside.
Sitting in the control room and watching what was happening was a very strange experience. We had live video and audio feeds so that we could see what was going on, but we could only hear the radio conversations. You almost felt cheated that you couldn’t hear what the other side was saying. We were watching in the third person, observing real life as if it was a video game.
“Sniper One. I can hear shouting, but I can’t make it out.”
One of the men hiding behind the car suddenly stood and aimed his weapon at the gate, where Captain Berry and his armoured vehicles were currently waiting. The radio remained silent but we watched as the man fell to the ground and lay at a strange angle. The person beside him also collapsed.
The remaining two must have realised that they were being shot at because they turned and began to run back to the safety of the warehouse.
Neither of them managed more than two steps before they too were lying motionless on the ground. The picture was clear enough to show the red stains spreading out from the bodies.
We watched, as one by one, the other sentries were eliminated.
A calm voice announced over the radio, “Sniper One. All clear, no more targets.”
This was closely followed by, “Sniper Two. All clear.”
A minute later, Captain Berry spoke again.
“Do not fire upon us, I repeat, do not fire upon us. Anybody pointing a weapon at us will be killed. I’m now addressing anyone who’s taken shelter here. We know that you’ve probably been forced into doing some terrible things for the sake of your families. We understand that, and you will not be blamed for your actions. You now have a choice.”
“In ten minutes, if Gumin has not been handed over to us, dead or alive, we will open fire. If you hand him over, you will be treated fairly. If you do nothing, we will destroy the building you are sheltering in. You have ten minutes.”
Captain Berry now addressed the UAV operator, “Do the flyby now if possible please.”
It was difficult to know what height the UAV was at because the camera kept zooming in and out. Our attention shifted to the UAV operator, as she spoke over the radio. She was sitting just a few metres away from us so we could hear what she was saying directly, as well as listening to her through the speaker.
“Descending to three hundred feet. Camera locked to front view.”
When I looked at the screen it felt as if I was sitting in the cockpit of an aeroplane. The angle changed as the UAV banked, and we could see that i
t was now flying quite low, on a straight course.
I was surprised at how slowly it seemed to be flying. Further ahead I could see vehicles in the road, then a few seconds later I could make them out as armoured vehicles.
I heard Jon, who was standing behind the UAV operator’s desk, say, “As slow as you can please, Sergeant Anderson.”
“Yes, Sir. This is about as slow as it will go. With the missiles on the wings I have to maintain a higher airspeed.”
The UAV passed over the armoured vehicles and the camera focused on the front of the warehouse. Faces could be seen looking through the windows.
The UAV operator spoke again into her microphone, “Captain Berry, I’ll do one more pass and then gain altitude and return to over-watch position.”
We watched the screen as the UAV made a tight banking turn and passed back over Captain Berry. Then the camera turned up towards the sky as it climbed back to its normal altitude. The camera swivelled downwards to continue its surveillance.
Sniper Three reported in, “I can hear a lot of noise coming from inside.” He paused for a second. “Gunshots from inside.”
The other snipers confirmed that they were all hearing shouts and occasional gunshots from inside the building.
Suddenly, on the screen, a group of people burst from the front of the building. They were bending over and running, while trying to hold their hands up in the air.
“Sniper Two. They’re all unarmed and they have children with them.”
Captain Berry’s voice came back over the speaker. He was on the loudspeaker again and he ordered them all to stop and lie down. Most of them obeyed immediately. One turned and ran towards the perimeter fence. He fell to the ground as one of the snipers shot him.
Everything became very confused, as multiple reports came in simultaneously over the radio. We could see more groups of people spilling out of the building. Most of them immediately threw themselves down, as instructed by the loudspeaker.
One or two foolishly raised a weapon towards the armoured vehicles or tried to run away. The end result was always the same, another body lying on the floor either dead or dying, as the blood ebbed away beneath them in a spreading stain.
