The officer came into the cabin.
'Gentlemen, this is Lieutenant Parsons, he will be leading the assault tonight. Lieutenant, this is Major Hamilton, and this is Nick Knowles. Nick is very familiar with the type of vessel you are going after tonight.'
The Lieutenant saluted both of us even though we were not in uniform. I suppose old habits die hard.
'Lieutenant, gather your men on the stern deck, and I will brief them there.'
'Yes Sir, give me two minutes.' He went off to assemble the men.
The briefing didn't take long as the team was going to have to take action depending on who and what they encountered. The Captain emphasised that they must not use guns as that would be heard by the people of the town and they, in turn, would call the police. The crew would have to be silenced in some other way. He stated there were not likely to be more than four crew members on board, and it was possible that there would only be three. He also emphasised that it was essential that none of the crew had the opportunity to set off an alarm or communicate with the outside world. The whole operation depended on nobody knowing that they had been attacked and had lost the boat.
'We have to swim out there, but how do we get back?' one of the men asked.
'Once you have control of Golden Spirit then you will be able to use her tenders. You must bring the men you take prisoner, back to Dasher. Bring them one by one to avoid any problems. We will then transfer the gear to the captured boat, together with the crew who are going to go on to capture Habibi at Marmaris. Dasher, plus crew, will then depart immediately for Cyprus, taking the prisoners with them.'
'When do we leave for Marmaris?' Another of the men wanted to know.
‘Departure time from Lindos Bay will be around 7.00pm tomorrow evening; however, Major Hamilton will be catching a Taxi first thing in the morning. It is our intention to pick up the assault team from Faliraki and head for Marmaris Bay, ETA twenty-two hundred hours. The first task on arrival is to capture the other motor yacht Habibi.'
'Will we be safe here?' another of the men asked.
'We will stay on board and not go ashore, so we should be fine. If any locals start nosing around and making a nuisance of themselves, we can always go out to sea,' the Captain said. 'OK guys, we are about twenty minutes away from our destination can you please get ready in your wet suits. Major will you go with them, but you should stay on the shore when they swim out to the boat. Take one of the hand-held radios with you so as you can keep in touch with us in Dasher and with the assault team. Ensign Nicholson will you please stay with the Major, and you are also responsible for bringing the inflatable back to us from the inlet when Golden Spirit is secure. Good luck men and don't take any unnecessary risks.
By the time that we got close to the inlet where we were going to go ashore, the sun had gone down, and it was pitch black. There was no moon. All the navigation lights were switched off so there was no way that anybody could see us from the shore as we dropped anchor.
Just as we were about to board the dinghy, Captain Moffatt decided that Nick shouldn't go with the assault party. He explained that he didn't want to put him in danger. He could make the trip across to Golden Spirit when it was in our hands. Nick didn't look too upset by that decision.
There were six of us in total who got into the large inflatable with two of the men using paddles to get us to shore. I didn't have a wetsuit on but the others looked very sinister dressed all in black with balaclavas pulled down over their faces. We landed, fitted our night goggles and walked over the small hill of the headland. There before us in Lindos Bay was the dark outline of the motor yacht, at anchor, about eighty meters from the shore. It was possible to see the boat against the lights of Lindos.
We all moved down to the water's edge and spent about ten minutes observing the vessel. There were no lights showing other than an anchor light at the top of the mast. There was also no sign of anybody on board.
The leader of the assault team came over to me.
'Major, it looks as if they have left the boat without a guard on watch, but, just to be on the safe side, I will swim out to the boat with one of my men and check it out. If everything is one hundred percent, I will contact you on the radio.'
'I am sure that all the crew are eating ashore, but it is probably better to be safe than sorry.'
'OK, I'll see you later Major.' He took off his balaclava and put on his face mask. He then fitted his flippers and set off for the motor yacht.
Ten minutes later my radio blipped.
'All clear Major. Send out the other two.'
'Roger and out,' I replied.
I told the other two to join their leader on the Golden Spirit. Soon there was just Ensign Nicholson and me on the beach. All we could do now was patiently wait for the action to begin.
'Come in number four,' I heard through the earphone of my radio. It was Captain Moffatt.
'Reading you loud and clear,' I replied.
'Two here; is everything going to plan. Over?'
'Affirmative. Four men on Golden Sprit. All going well. Over'
'Roger. Good luck. Over and out' He signed off.
The sun having gone down it wasn't that warm sitting on the beach. I felt mosquitos biting my face. I had forgotten to smear on some insect repellent.
Just as I was beginning to give up hope of the crew ever returning I heard the noise of a powerful outboard motor coming towards us from the direction of the town of Lindos where the restaurants were.
My colleague for the night tapped me on the shoulder and pointed towards the dark shape of the inflatable with a bow wave in front of it. Although it was a very dark, moonless night, it was possible to see the outline of the inflatable with three men sitting in it.
I gave him the thumbs up.
The returning crew were in good form and were singing at the top of their voices. We were just able to see them tying up the dinghy and climbing on board. Two of them went into the cabin while the other had a pee over the side. He then joined his mates in the cabin.
Once the outboard motor had been switched off, there was a deathly silence. I had expected to hear some noise when they overpowered the crew members, but there was nothing until my radio went.
'One here; mission accomplished and three crew members in custody. Returning to Dasher.'
'Number two here; Ten-four. Over and out,' I replied.
I couldn't believe it. In a matter of minutes, we had achieved our objective and now had Golden Spirit in our control. While I had been waiting on the beach, I had envisaged all sorts of horrible things going wrong, but the experts had handled the process superbly, and the assault had been trouble free. Let's hope that the rest of the operation would run just as smoothly.
Ensign Nicholson and I retraced our steps to where we had left the inflatable; we launched it and paddled our way back to the patrol boat.
Captain Moffatt came down to the aft deck to meet us when we arrived.
'Major let's get the motor onto this inflatable so as we can use it to help transfer stuff across to Golden Spirit. We will also use the two tenders on the motor yacht as a ferry between the two boats.'
'We need to get Nick over to Golden Spirit so as he can start looking for any rogue tracking devices they may have placed on board,' I said.
'As soon as the outboard motor is secure you can take him across. They have just told me that they are on the way with the first prisoner. Can you please move the inflatable to the side so as the stern is available for the unloading. I don't expect that the prisoner will be too co-operative.'
We moved the inflatable as instructed by the Captain. Ensign Nicholson retrieved the motor from the locker, and we mounted it on the stern of the dinghy. Nick climbed in; we powered up the engine and headed for Lindos Bay.
The next hour was spent transferring men and materials between the two boats. Finally, the job completed, Dasher set off to return to Cyprus.
I thanked Willem in my thoughts when Nick found a trackin
g device that had been put there by the enemy. If Willem hadn't suggested that I search the boat, I would never have thought of it. That would have been a significant error which probably would have ruined the whole operation. Nick went over to the far side of the small bay and attached the device to the jetty.
There was a total compliment of nine who were going to have to spend the night on Golden Spirit. Captain Moffatt and six men were going to act as crew and would remain on the boat until they had fulfilled their mission. That would include capturing Habibi. In addition to that seven, there was Nick and me. I was scheduled to leave the vessel at 5.00am in the morning to get a taxi. I had to travel to Faliraki where I would meet the skipper of the Turkish Gulet plus the men who were travelling with me to Marmaris.
Two of the men remained on watch, so there were plenty of berths to accommodate the other seven. I excused myself and retired to my bunk. The morning would come around very soon.
Chapter 38
I woke up to find a burly rating vigorously shaking me.
'Time you were up Sir. It's 4.30am, and you need to leave in fifteen minutes. You have to get to the pier to catch your taxi. The Captain gave me strict orders to wake you in plenty of time to get you ashore.'
'Thank you; I'll be ready in ten minutes.'
When I arrived at the stern deck, the tender was waiting for me with its outboard engine already running. I got a great surprise when I saw that the helmsman was Nick.
'Good morning Nick, I didn't expect to see you around this morning.'
'I was so excited about all that is going on that I couldn't sleep. I decided that I might as well be the one to take you to your taxi.'
'I appreciate that; let's go.'
It was still dark; in fact, the sun wasn't due to rise until after six. There was no wind and no moon so we sped across the calm waters of the bay with only the lights of the town to guide us.
I had booked a taxi the night before and fortunately it was waiting at the end of the jetty with its engine running, ready to go.
I said goodbye to Nick and walked along the jetty to my taxi. I had only taken a few steps when I heard the engine rev as he started his return journey. I wouldn't see him again until after the assault that would be late this evening or tomorrow morning.
The Taxi made good time, and I was at Faliraki by ten to six. Corporal Cooper and his men were already there. I was struck by the attention to detail that somebody had gone to. Each man had a small backpack, but each one was different. They were all dressed in clothes that made them look like tourists. If you looked closely at their haircuts, you would be able to see that they were short back and sides, but some of them were wearing baseball caps that helped disguise their military style haircuts.
There were no tourists around at that hour of the morning, but there were a few fishermen loading their nets onto their boats ready for a day's fishing. They were too focused on what they were doing to notice our little group.
I looked out to sea from beside the lighthouse and saw the Gulet approaching along the channel to the harbour. The skipper pulled into the quay. We all climbed aboard and were heading for Marmaris by 6.15am. The sun came up on a beautiful calm Rhodes day.
The skipper's son and his friend gave me a wave when I arrived on board. I was surprised that they remembered me, but it was nice to get a warm welcome.
As soon as we were underway, the son went to the galley and came out with two steaming jugs of Turkish coffee and some plastic cups. I was agreeably surprised when they also produced enough bread and sliced ham to feed all of us.
'I thought that you might not have had breakfast this morning, so I asked a baker friend of mine to do an early bake,' the skipper commented.
'Thank you; I certainly didn't get any breakfast, and I am sure that my friends are hungry also.'
We couldn’t have had a better morning for the trip as the bow of the boat cut through the crystal blue calm water. I stayed on deck absorbing the sun and the fresh sea air. Some of the others went down below to find a berth where they could catch some rest. Evidently they had slept on the floor of the mess room at Maritsa airport last night, so a soft bed was very welcome. Sergeant Jones talked to me for a while, but, after he had been silent for a while, I noticed that he had succumbed to the heat of the sun and was now fast asleep. A few minutes later, he was snoring in time with the engine.
It was so peaceful that it was hard to believe that we would be going into action this evening. Even though, I had the easier part of the plan to carry out, I was still slightly nervous. There were some unknowns that I had to deal with, and I didn't like unknowns. We knew that the head of the operation probably lived in Icmeler. We had labelled him the 'Heist Boss,', but we didn't know his exact location or what constituted his headquarters. He was also likely to have a number of guards, but how many, and how good were the defences we would have to overcome.
Of comfort was the knowledge that I had five highly trained men at my command, and they were used to dealing with overwhelming odds. Provided I kept my wits about me; I should be OK.
As we entered Marmaris Bay, I was very relieved to see Habibi still on her anchor at the eastern end of the bay. She was moored at the opposite end of the bay to the derelict complex at Green Sea Bay and also well away from the main moorings along the Marmaris waterfront. Any action involving her would not be seen by anybody else once night descended on the area.
As we motored through the entrance to the bay, I pointed out the location of the various points of interest to the Sergeant, who was now fully awake. The last time he had been in action in the locality it had been night time and nothing had been visible.
We were fortunate that being a Saturday the Customs launch didn't seem to be around, and we got through to the main pier for disembarkation without being stopped. I paid the skipper, and he left immediately to return to Rhodes.
The next step was to get transport for the team.
I reckoned that we would need three cars. One for the Sergeant so as he could drive to his post at the top of the mountain. Two 4x4’s; one for the Corporal and his men and another for my use. It was decided that I should take Private Wood, one of the SAS men, with me in my car for support, protection and back-up.
I would have liked to have gone to look for the Heist Boss with the Corporal and to have left two of the men on the stakeout in the car, but I decided that the Corporal might feel that I was showing a lack of trust if I went with him.
We found an Avis office close to where we had landed, and half-an-hour later, were heading along the coast road to Icmeler in our rented vehicles. The Sergeant left us there and headed up the mountain road away from the coast to take up his position on the top of the mountain. He would position himself directly above the site of the derelict buildings.
I parked my car close to the harbour at a spot where I had an excellent view of the road to Green Sea Bay. Once they saw where I was basing myself, the Corporal, plus his four men, went up into the upper reaches of the town that sprawled across the side of the hill. Their mission was to search for the villa that was being used by the 'Heist Boss.' The task was simplified in that there were only about two hundred properties in the town.
Once the others had gone I sent Private Wood to go and purchase two coffees. I reckoned we would have a long hot day of waiting, and our patience would be tested to the full. Coffee would keep us awake.
Around 1.00pm I left my partner to go and find some food. I discovered a small take-away close to the beach where I purchased two kebabs and a couple of cokes. The purchase and eating of the kebabs wasted another forty minutes of the day.
Sitting in the sun, my kebab safely tucked away, my eyes started to close.
'I'm going to have a bit of shut-eye,' I told Private Wood. 'I can't keep my eyes open. You can do the same after I have had a short sleep.'
'You go ahead Sir; I am not feeling sleepy,' he replied.
I was woken by my left arm being gently touched.
&nbs
p; I opened my eyes; immediately awake.
Private Wood pointed to a large black Mercedes 600 which was turning the corner in front of us and heading towards Green Sea Bay, along the coastal road. There was tinted glass in the windows, so it was impossible to see who was inside.
'Well done; it looks as if our wait here has proved fruitful. That must be the car that the Superintendent told me about. The Heist Boss is on the move.'
'What do we do now Sir?'
'We turn the car around so as we are ready to follow him when he returns.'
Just then there was a knock on the back window of our car.
I unlocked the rear door, and a breathless Corporal Cooper climbed in.
'Did you see the Mercedes Sir?' the Corporal gasped.
'Yes we spotted it and it has now gone down the coastal road towards the Green Sea Bay complex,' I replied.
'We spotted the villa that it came out of, and I left my men keeping an eye on the property while I ran down here to report to you,' the Corporal continued.
'Well done; that means that I won't have to follow it with all that entails. I will go with you now to see the place for myself.'
'The road up to the villa is very steep, will you be able to manage it Sir.'
'I will be fine Corporal, provided I don't have to run.' I smiled.
I moved the car and parked it nearby in the shade, in a concealed spot behind a hotel. I joined the other two on foot. We started to climb the hill to where the Corporal told me the villa was. The villa stood out from the surrounding properties as it was the largest and most spectacular. It also had a very high wall surrounding it.
The sun was beating down, and the temperature must have been in the forties, so it was not very pleasant to be out in the heat and the dust.
After ten minutes, we reached the place where one of the Corporal's men was keeping an eye on the villa. Rather than squat down in the road where we would be very visible I suggested that we went and sat in a bar that was nearby.
'Have you seen anything of importance,' I asked him.
'No Sir; I can only see the gate from here and can't see into the property over the wall.'
Curse of Thieves: Another Major Vince Hamilton Investigation Page 25
