First Response

by Stephen Leather

  LAMBETH CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND CENTRE (5.05 p.m.)

  Kamran looked up at the main screen on the wall. It was showing a feed from Sky News, a helicopter shot of the police transport van driving down a deserted road, police motorcyclists leading a convoy of marked and unmarked vehicles. Across the bottom of the screen a headline read, ‘RELEASED ISIS PRISONERS HEADING TO BIGGIN HILL AIRPORT.’

  ‘They’ll be there by six,’ said Gillard, as if reading his mind. ‘The roads are being cleared along the route. Did you get the RAF sorted?’

  ‘All non-essential personnel have been moved out,’ Kamran confirmed. ‘There’s a parking area they can use to wait in.’

  ‘What will happen to the TV news helicopter? Will they be allowed to fly over the airfield?’

  ‘We’re closing the airport as of five thirty, so in theory there’d be no problem allowing it, but I don’t want Shahid seeing what we’re doing. If he spots the van parking at the RAF base he might realise we’re up to something.’

  Gillard nodded. ‘Talk to Lisa Elphick. They can have news crews at the entrance to the airport showing the van and the coach arriving, but make it clear the helicopters have to stay away from the airport itself. The only chopper allowed above Biggin Hill is our own.’ He looked at the SAS captain. ‘Alex, your men are going to have to start thinking about moving their coach out of the hangar.’

  ‘How long have we got?’ asked Murray. ‘The more they rehearse, the better.’

  ‘What do you think, Mo?’ asked Gillard.

  Kamran rubbed his chin. ‘Eight to pick up but we’re clearing the roads so an hour and a half until they’re ready to head to Biggin Hill. Southwark to Biggin Hill is about half an hour on a regular day, maybe twenty minutes with the roads cleared.’

  ‘That takes us past the six o’clock deadline,’ said Murray.

  ‘The ISIS prisoners will be at Biggin Hill by six,’ said Kamran. ‘We’re assuming that’s the deadline that has to be met. I’d suggest your men continue to rehearse until six thirty.’

  Chris Thatcher stood up and waved a hand apologetically. ‘I don’t want to rain on anyone’s parade, but have you considered that this might be a way of them attacking the SAS?’

  ‘We’ve considered that,’ Murray said. ‘If they do detonate at the same time in the hangar, there’s a chance they could take out a dozen SAS men.’

  Gillard turned to Kamran. ‘Could that be what they’ve got planned?’

  ‘It doesn’t seem to be how ISIS or Al-Qaeda operates,’ said Kamran. ‘They want to inspire terror so they go for civilians wherever they can. The old IRA was a different kettle of fish. They tended to attack military targets. But these jihadists are looking for shock value and they would have got that by blowing up nine different locations in London at the same time.’

  ‘We need to do as much as we can to protect your people, obviously,’ Gillard said to Murray.

  ‘We’ve got sandbags in place and our guys will stay behind them for as long as they can,’ he replied. ‘But obviously if we have to storm the coach, all bets will be off.’

  Kamran’s phone rang and he answered it. It was Mark Biddulph. ‘We’ve spoken to the three passengers released from the bus,’ he said. ‘Something weird came up that I thought I should run by you.’

  ‘I’m listening.’

  ‘One of the kids says that Kash whispered something to him about condoms as he got off the bus.’

  ‘Condoms?’

  ‘I know, it’s bloody weird, right? But the boy swears blind that Kash said he wanted to know if the boy had a condom. A Durex, specifically. He asked him twice.’

  ‘Just as the boy was getting off?’

  ‘Yeah, he grabbed him and whispered in his ear.’

  Kamran looked up at one of the screens on the wall, showing the feed from Tavistock Square. ‘It wasn’t “Durex” he was saying, Mark,’ said Kamran. ‘It was “duress”. He’s under duress. Somehow he’s been forced into this.’

  WANDSWORTH (5.10 p.m.)

  Malik heard his name being called. ‘Sami! It’s me, Jamie. Can you hear me?’

  ‘I told you, I’ve nothing to say to you!’ shouted Malik. ‘Leave me alone.’

  ‘The coach is here to take you to the airport.’

  ‘What coach?’

  ‘The Belmarsh prisoners have been released,’ shouted Clarke.

  ‘It’s true,’ called Laura, from the changing rooms. ‘It’s all over Twitter. They’ve let the prisoners go and they’re on the way to the airport.’

  ‘It could be a trick,’ said Malik. ‘They could be lying.’ He walked slowly to the entrance of the store, pulling Zoe with him. He peered out and saw three armed policemen pointing their weapons at him. He pulled back. ‘They’re going to shoot me,’ he said to Zoe.

  The phone buzzed in his waistpack and he flinched. Zoe gasped, then they both smiled ruefully as they realised it wasn’t the vest. Malik used his left hand to pull out the phone and take the call.

  ‘Sami, my brother,’ said Shahid. ‘It’s time to leave.’

  ‘They’ve agreed to let them go?’

  ‘Of course they have, brother. There was never any doubt. Now this is what you have to do next. You and your hostage will be taken downstairs and put onto a coach with the rest of the brothers. I will be watching, so stay alert and focused. For this to work, everyone must be on the coach, do you understand?’

  ‘Yes,’ said Malik. ‘But if you have the ISIS prisoners, why can I not remove the vest now?’

  ‘Everyone must go to the airport, Sami. Everyone. Once there and once the prisoners are on the plane, then, and only then, will it be over. Do you understand?’

  ‘I suppose so,’ said Malik.

  ‘There is no suppose so,’ said Shahid. ‘You must do exactly as I say. Disobey me and everyone dies. We are close to finishing this, Sami. We will get what we want, but you have to follow my instructions to the letter. Go with your hostage to the police. Keep the trigger in your hand and show them that you are willing to press it. Take the stairs down to the coach. Do not let them put you in the lift. Tell them to keep their distance. At least ten feet from you at all times. And even when you are on the coach, do not relax. Stay vigilant.’

  ‘What happens when we get to the airport?’ asked Malik. ‘I don’t want to leave the country.’

  ‘One step at a time, Sami,’ said Shahid. ‘Just take your hostage down to the coach.’ The line went dead.

  ‘What’s happening?’ asked Zoe.

  Malik put the phone away. ‘It’s over,’ he said.

  ‘You’re letting me go?’

  Malik shook his head. ‘No, you are to come to the airport with me. You will be released there.’

  ‘I can’t,’ she said. ‘I’m seeing my boyfriend tonight. He’ll be really pissed off.’

  ‘There’s no choice,’ said Malik. ‘You have to come. But it should all be over by six. You can still see your boyfriend. And you can text him and tell him you’ll be late.’ He walked towards the shop entrance, tugging at the chain so that she followed. He raised his right hand in the air. ‘Jamie, we’re coming out! Don’t shoot!’

  ‘No one’s going to shoot you, Sami!’ shouted Clarke. ‘Just walk slowly and keep your hands where we can see them.’

  ‘We’re not to use the lifts,’ shouted Malik.

  ‘That’s not a problem,’ said Clarke. ‘We can take you down the escalators.’

  Clarke was standing next to another officer, both wearing black bulletproof vests with POLICE across the chests. Standing next to them was a figure in a green suit with a mask like a spaceman’s helmet.

  ‘This man will take you down,’ said Clarke. ‘His name’s Rick. He’s with bomb disposal.’

  Malik stopped and waved the trigger over his head. ‘Don’t come near me!’ he shouted.

  Clarke held up his hands. ‘It’s okay, Sami. Stay calm. He’s just here to escort you to the coach.’

  ‘Tell him to keep his distan
ce!’ shouted Malik. He pointed at the armed police who still had their weapons trained on him. ‘And tell them to get back, too.’

  ‘No one is going to hurt you, Sami,’ said Clarke. ‘We’re here to help, that’s all.’

  ‘You can help by keeping away from me,’ said Malik.

  Several more police officers emerged from the shop behind Clarke, all wearing black vests.

  ‘I’m serious!’ shouted Malik. ‘All of you, keep your distance!’

  The man standing next to Clarke said something to the other officers and they all went back into the shop. Malik moved to the middle of the walkway. He could see inside the shop the police were using. It sold sports gear. There were more than a dozen people there, some in uniforms and some in regular clothing, but they were all wearing protective vests.

  He and Zoe moved to the centre of the walkway. They looked over the railing at the lower level. There were more than a dozen officers in fluorescent jackets. ‘You all need to keep well away from me!’ he shouted.

  He took Zoe to the escalator and they stood together as they went down to the ground floor. He held the trigger up in the air and shouted for them to stay back.

  Jamie Clarke appeared at the top of the escalator. ‘Sami, I’m coming down!’ he called. ‘I’ll lead you out to the coach.’

  Malik and Zoe moved away from the escalator and waited until Clarke had come down. He pointed off to their left. ‘This way,’ he said.

  Malik glanced up. The armed police officers were looking down at them, their rifles at their shoulders.

  ‘Tell them to put their guns away,’ Malik told Clarke.

  ‘It’s standard procedure,’ said Clarke. ‘They won’t shoot. Their fingers aren’t on the triggers.’ He started moving towards the car park. ‘Come on, let’s get you on the coach.’

  Malik walked slowly, constantly looking around, fearful that at any moment the cops would rush him, but they all kept their distance.

  ‘Sami, they’re more scared of you than you are of them,’ whispered Zoe.

  ‘I’m not scared,’ he said.

  ‘It’s nothing to be ashamed of,’ she said. ‘I’m scared, too. We’re all scared. Nobody wants to die.’

  ‘I’m just worried they might fuck up,’ said Malik. ‘Cops shoot people all the time.’

  ‘Yeah, but they know that if they shoot you the vest will still explode. They’ll have been told not to fire.’

  ‘It only takes one idiot to make a mistake,’ he said.

  ‘It’ll be okay,’ she said. ‘Just so long as we all stay calm.’

  Malik forced a smile. ‘I’m glad I chose you,’ he said.

  Zoe snorted softly through her nose. ‘I wish I could say the same but, to be honest, I wish you’d chosen anyone but me. No offence.’

  ‘None taken,’ said Malik. They reached the coach and Malik went up the stairs first, Zoe close behind him. He frowned when he saw the priest sitting next to an Asian man in a suicide vest. The priest was wearing purple and white robes and dabbing at his face with a red handkerchief.

  The Asian was staring straight ahead. Like Malik, he had a trigger in his right hand.

  Malik took the seat opposite the priest, then realised that Zoe had to go in first. She took the window seat and he slid in after her.

  The door closed and the coach moved off. Malik leant forward to get a better look at the Asian man sitting next to the priest. ‘All right, brother?’ he asked.

  The Asian turned to him. ‘No, I’m not all right,’ he said. ‘On what fucking planet could this be considered all right?’

  ‘Brother, I was just trying to make conversation,’ said Malik. He sat back in his seat.

  LAMBETH CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND CENTRE (5.12 p.m.)

  ‘Duress? He definitely said he was under duress?’ Chief Superintendent Gillard stared at Kamran over the top of his glasses.

  ‘The boy heard it wrong. He thought Talpur said “Durex”. But I think he was getting a message to us through the boy. Duress. He’s being forced into this.’

  ‘But we ruled out a tiger kidnapping, didn’t we?’

  Kamran nodded. ‘All his close relatives are accounted for. But they could be applying pressure in other ways. Threats, perhaps.’

  ‘They threaten to kill a family member unless he helps? Would he believe that? Wouldn’t he be more likely to ask for protection?’

  ‘I don’t know,’ said Kamran. ‘Maybe it’s something else. Maybe it’s not something we can protect him from.’

  Gillard sighed. ‘Which doesn’t help us much, does it? Even if he’s acting under duress, it doesn’t change the situation we’re in, does it? The ISIS prisoners and the bombers are heading for the airport and nothing is going to change that.’

  ‘The fact that he tried to get a message to us suggests that he thinks there is something we can do,’ said Kamran. ‘But for the life of me I can’t think what that might be.’

  BIGGIN HILL AIRPORT (5.20 p.m.)

  Sergeant Hawkins was studying the handle on the emergency exit at the rear of the coach when his mobile phone rang. It was Captain Murray. ‘How’s it going, Jim?’

  ‘I wish I could be more optimistic, boss, but this is a bloody nightmare.’

  ‘Keep at it, Jim. There’s still a chance we can negotiate this to a peaceful ending.’

  ‘Suicide bombers tend not to negotiate, in my experience,’ said Hawkins. ‘They’re usually in a rush to get to their seventy-two virgins.’

  ‘I hear you, but this whole thing has been weird from the start. Anyway, two things you need to know. The coach should be arriving close to eighteen thirty hours so you really need to be getting the practice coach out by eighteen thirty hours. And until we know for sure that we’re going in, keep your men behind the sandbags.’

  ‘That would be the royal “we”, would it, boss?’

  Murray chuckled. ‘Believe me, Jim, I’d much rather be there than here, trust me. The good news is that Terry McMullen will be driving the coach. That will give you an edge, but you’re not going to be able to communicate with him before he gets there so we’ve locked in his contribution. At the first sign that the coach is being boarded, he’ll take out the terrorist directly behind him. And the one behind him. Then he’ll play it by ear.’

  ‘Please don’t tell me he’s wearing his lucky hat?’

  ‘Hey, whatever makes him happy. Anyway, keep on doing what you’re doing. Just make sure the hangar is clear by six thirty.’

  ‘What about the negotiations, boss? Are they sending a negotiator down?’

  ‘There’ll be a negotiating team on site but at the moment they’ll be told to keep away from the hangar. The negotiations, such as they are, have so far been handled through the SOR here and it looks as if that’s going to continue.’

  ‘And one more thing, boss. A few of the lads aren’t that happy about the camera.’

  ‘Not much I can do about it, Jim,’ said Murray. ‘The cops need to be able to see what’s going on.’

  ‘They just don’t want it plastered all over YouTube. If we end up slotting the bastards, there’ll be others out for revenge.’

  ‘I’ll make sure the video doesn’t get out,’ said the captain. ‘But to be on the safe side, do whatever you have to do to conceal your identities. And, Jim, be bloody careful, okay? We need to get the hostages out but it could very easily go tits up.’

  ‘I hear you, boss.’

  LAMBETH CENTRAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMAND CENTRE (5.23 p.m.)

  ‘Chief Superintendent Kamran?’ A pretty black girl with bright red lipstick was looking down at him. Kamran didn’t recognise her and didn’t recall seeing her in the special operations room before. She sensed his confusion and smiled. ‘Sorry, I’m Rose Taylor, with Transport for London.’

  Kamran stood up. ‘It’s Superintendent Kamran,’ he said, ‘but please call me Mo.’

  ‘We were wondering, now that the situation has been resolved at Brixton and Wandsworth, are we okay to open th
e roads? The closures are causing chaos, what with it being rush-hour and all.’

  ‘We should be able to cancel the outer and inner perimeters straight away,’ he said. ‘The premises themselves will remain as crime scenes but I don’t think we need the roads blocked off.’

  ‘Who do I talk to about that? We’re being told that the roads have to stay closed.’

  ‘I’ll handle it, Rose.’

  ‘How soon after each bomber has gone can we open the other roads?’

  ‘Pretty much straight away,’ he said. ‘I’ll talk to the Silver Commanders of all the scenes.’

  She frowned. ‘Silver Commanders?’

  He smiled. ‘I’m sorry. The man in overall charge today is the Gold Commander, Chief Superintendent Gillard. At each scene there is a senior officer in charge and he’s called the Silver Commander. He has Bronze Commanders reporting to him.’

  ‘That sounds awfully complicated.’

  ‘Actually, it makes things much simpler. There’s no doubt who is in charge at any point, no matter what ranks or services are present.’

  She laughed. ‘I think we could do with a system like that at TfL,’ she said. ‘Lots of chiefs there and no one who wants to do any real work.’

  ‘All bureaucracies are the same,’ said Kamran. ‘They grow to the point where they lose sight of what their purpose is. The Gold-Silver-Bronze system does help streamline things.’ He peered up at a screen showing a map of the coach’s progress through west London. It was about to arrive at the Fulham post office.

  FULHAM (5.25 p.m.)

  Hussain heard the coach pull up in front of the post office. He went over to the window. The armed police were still there but the cars that had been blocking the road to their left had been moved. ‘It’s time for us to go,’ he said to Rebecca. She glared at him sullenly. ‘We’re going,’ he said. ‘We’re going to get on the coach. The prisoners have been released. It will be over soon.’ She stared at him but her face was a blank mask.