Scheider felt his gut go tight. If Portman was planning on breaking the two Brits out of the villa, he was cutting it very fine. And any injuries would slow them all down. And where would they run to?
Unless he had other orders.
Jesus, surely …?
He turned to Wishaw to blank out the unthinkable idea. ‘Make sure Moresby has this footage right away, will you? And copy Vale. I’m going to call him now.’
He went over to his desk and dialled Vale’s number.
The SIS man answered immediately.
‘Don’t you ever sleep?’ said Scheider.
‘Sleep? What’s that?’ Vale sounded rough, and cleared his throat. ‘Sorry. Too much coffee and not enough fresh air. What’s up?’
‘Your man’s gone on the offensive. He’s blowing up boats and shooting people as we speak. He’s turned the place into a war zone. I’m sending you and Moresby the latest footage just in. I suppose you wouldn’t care to share, would you?’
‘Um, yes.’ Vale’s voice was flat, but he didn’t sound surprised. ‘Portman found evidence that these talks are a scam. There was never any intention of releasing hostages; the negotiations were a ploy to draw in our people.’
‘Why?’ Scheider could think of only one reason. Targeted kidnaps. The idea chilled him. It put anybody with official status or standing who went through the region in dire peril. But was it likely? ‘They can hardly need more hostages.’
‘It’s worse than that. Musa’s got the one he needs.’
‘I don’t follow.’
‘Angela Pryce. He’s going to execute her at dawn, along with Tober. Adrabu fawq al-’ana. You know what that is?’ Vale sounded tired. He’d been right all along about the mission and Scheider felt for him.
‘Yes. I know.’ As tough as he was, as accustomed to death and the deadly game played out by extremists, he felt himself shrink from the imagery Vale had placed in his mind. ‘Jesus, why?’
‘Propaganda, making a point – choose any reason you like. They’re extremists; what they do doesn’t have to make sense.’
‘I get that. But how do you know this?’
‘Portman got to somebody inside the villa. They’ve set up a camera ready to burn to DVDs. By tomorrow evening it’ll be beamed around the world to every website prepared to take it. Another twenty-four hours and it will be on sale in every radical mosque, shop and bazaar in the region. This wasn’t an impulse decision to change the game – this was planned.’
Scheider didn’t know what to say. ‘What’s Portman going to do?’
‘He’s going to stop it happening.’ A phone rang in the background at Vale’s end, and he sounded relieved. ‘I’m sorry – I think that’s me being called to a meeting. It’s probably about your footage. Thank you for that, by the way. It’s good of you. I appreciate it.’
‘Wait.’ Scheider was stunned by this turn of events and by Vale’s calmness. There was something the Englishman wasn’t telling him. Men with Vale’s experience didn’t give up that easily. ‘You’ve given Portman fresh instructions, haven’t you? What did you tell him to do?’
There was a long pause. ‘I told him not to let them suffer.’
Scheider’s breathing became choked. He thought he’d come across every scenario possible in his time, but not this one. It was nothing short of a suicide mission. There was no way any man could pull this off. ‘And he agreed?’
‘He gave me his word … and I believe him.’
The line went dead.
Forty-Nine
‘I’ve received disturbing reports from our American friends of unusual activity to the north of Kamboni, picked up with live footage from a CIA drone targeted over the area where the meeting is to take place.’ The dramatic statement came from Colin Moresby forty minutes later. He was standing behind his office chair, addressing Vale and the controllers for Africa and Middle East, Bill Cousins and Peter Wilby, and the duty MOD liaison officer, Colonel Mike Ventura.
They had all been summoned from their beds by messenger and fast car, and Vale from his office, where he’d been mulling over the revelations of what Portman had told him and now Scheider’s camera work.
‘What kind of activity?’ queried Ventura. A slim man with a stern face and a scar down one side of his neck, the result, Vale had heard, of close proximity to an IED in Iraq, he had the directness typical of most military men and none of the fondness for equivocation of the civil service.
‘Explosions and small arms fire.’ Moresby leaned forward and touched a button on his desk console, and a wall monitor behind him sprang into life. There was complete silence as the assembled officers watched, until Moresby switched it off again.
He looked, observed Vale, as if it had shaken him.
‘Any comments?’
‘Could be the Kenyan Defence Force,’ Bill Cousins suggested. ‘Kamboni’s right on their supply route in and out of the area. They might have run into extremists.’
‘We asked them that already. The Kenyans are denying any ongoing operations south of the port of Kismaayo, and no confrontations with extremists in the last twenty-four hours.’
‘Do you believe them?’
‘I have to. They’ve responded by accusing the UN of an unauthorized incursion, and demanding to be told how we know about the explosions. We’re playing dumb, of course, but something’s going on and it’s right on top of where the talks are taking place.’ As he spoke, his eyes settled on Tom Vale for a second before moving on. ‘It’s possible, I suppose – and I don’t discount the view – that a rival extremist group has got into a fight with Musa’s people. But until we get confirmation of that, we’re at a loss.’
And that, thought Vale, hits it right on the button. You don’t know and you didn’t think it out beforehand. He clamped his teeth together to stop himself speaking and keep his face under control. Tempting as it was to tell the assembled company about Portman, his private hit man, and the proposed execution of Pryce and Tober, it would serve no purpose. It was still Moresby’s operation and throwing that kind of grisly news into the air wouldn’t alter anything, short of setting the chickens running round the coop to no avail.
‘How did you hear about it?’ he asked. ‘I thought there were no assets in the area.’
‘Until a very short while ago, there weren’t. As you know, that was a condition of the negotiations – along with the immediate territory around there.’ He smiled thinly and drummed with one hand on the back of his chair. ‘But the Americans put up a drone and were right on target to pick up the action as it happened. They’re analysing the footage as we speak, but they’ve given me a heads up on first impressions.’
Jesus, Vale thought grimly, as Moresby’s eye caught his for a split second. He’s talking as if he’d had it stitched up all along. But I know different.
‘If it’s right where the meeting’s taking place,’ ventured Peter Wilby, ‘that’s not good news for our people, is it?’
It brought a frown to Moresby’s face and he shuffled around to take his seat. ‘No. Indeed. But until we get more information, I don’t think we should jump to conclusions. These talks always carried a small element of risk, but we know Xasan is keen to make a success of them, and getting these UN people out is a major factor in why we went ahead with it.’
‘What are their chances if they’ve been caught in the middle of a factional dispute?’ This came from Bill Cousins. He was referring to Pryce and Tober, not the UN hostages. ‘They’re hardly likely to be flavour of the month, are they? They’ll be shipped north to join the others.’
‘Tober’s a good man,’ Moresby replied sombrely. ‘He saw a lot of action in Sangin Province and he’s got a very cool head. It’s why he was selected for this operation.’
Vale kept his face impassive, although he wanted to jump up and rage at Moresby’s posturing. The man was making it sound as if he had personally selected Tober to ride shotgun on a picnic. The former SBS man was indeed one of the best specialist suppo
rt operatives they had. But he’d been placed in a hideous situation.
‘What about the Mogadishu office?’ Colonel Ventura suggested. ‘They’ve got a military attaché. Can’t he investigate?’ A new British embassy had just been opened, heralded by the British Foreign Secretary as a testament to the bilateral agreement between the two countries, especially on the issues of sexual violence – and the worsening growth of piracy.
‘It’s not fully functional yet,’ Moresby replied. ‘And our man’s being watched too closely. It’s making travel beyond the capital very difficult without a fleet of government minders watching his every move, and he’s getting little reaction from the Somali government without lots of delays.’
Vale waited for the briefing to end and said nothing, eager to get back to his office. Dramatic gestures or statements right now wouldn’t do a thing to help Portman, Pryce or Tober. It was already going to take a small miracle to get any of them out in one piece, and throwing what he knew into the mix, when it was clear little was going to be done to help them, would not improve matters.
He just hoped and prayed that Portman could deliver … or follow through on his final instructions.
Fifty
‘Follow me and stay close.’ I handed Tober the dead guard’s AK-47. He stripped out the magazine with barely a pause and fed in a replacement taped to the stock. Angela Pryce followed him out into the light, with Madar stumbling up the steps in her wake. He looked badly bruised but good to go.
Tober had come out of the basement like a bull from a gate, ready to kill. Luckily for me, I’d stepped back and let him see me. He’d looked surprised, then nodded.
‘Good to see you, whoever you are.’
‘Portman. We have to move fast. Are you all mobile?’
‘Yes.’
It wasn’t Stanley meeting Livingstone, but we didn’t have time for lengthy introductions. Any minute now Musa and his men would come charging along the track from town, alerted by the explosions. Things were about to get seriously hot and we had to get out of here.
Tober found a canvas bag containing spare magazines near the door. He grabbed it and I led the way outside, stopping to pick up another AK. I tossed it to Pryce. She snatched it out of the air without blinking and checked the magazine, then nodded that she was ready.
We almost made it. We were halfway up the slope with Tober hustling Madar along, when the flash of headlights and the roar of engines coming along the track signalled the arrival of Musa’s men.
I pointed beyond the hide and shouted to Tober, ‘Head that way and keep going until you hit a track. Wait there until I join you.’
He didn’t waste time asking questions or voicing what ifs, but gestured to the other two to follow him and set off up the slope at an easy trot.
I made my way to the hide and kicked aside the branches, scooping up my backpack, then moved to where I’d left the last three triggers and the AK. The approaching vehicles were now less than three hundred metres off and coming in fast, the headlights flickering wildly as they bounced over the rough terrain. One or two shots were already coming my way, and I ducked down and waited. The condition of the track wasn’t helping their aim any, but a random hit can kill just as easily as a precision shot.
There were two vehicles, the lead one a pickup. I couldn’t make out any detail but I guessed they were the same two from before, come to see what the fireworks were all about. From the position of their lights, one was about thirty metres behind the other. Both were travelling fast and eager to get in on the action. Luckily for me, the track was too narrow for them to come in abreast or to split up. But that suited me fine. I waited until the lead vehicle reached a point about eighty metres away, then pressed one of the triggers.
It was guesswork as to whether I’d timed it right, but it worked. The pickup lifted off the ground, the force of the explosion combined with the vehicle’s forward speed flipping it sideways and on to its nose, tipping out the armed men in the back. I was hoping Musa was one of them, but instinct told me he’d have opted for the more stately and probably air-conditioned SUV, leaving the lead vehicle to take the first hit.
The driver of the SUV reacted fast. He stamped on the brakes and steered away to avoid running into the wreck of the other vehicle. In the flicker of flames I saw men leaping out of the back and heading for the sides of the track.
I hit the second trigger. The flash was vivid and lit them up nicely, but they were too far away to be badly affected by the blast. Even so, they all hit the deck fast, rolling into whatever cover they could find. If it disorientated them enough to fear further explosions, it would give me time to get clear.
I turned towards the villa and pressed the last trigger. This was the one that was going to seriously piss off Musa.
The two charges I’d wired together were right underneath the boxes containing the remaining C-4 and detonators. The double blast was spectacular, battering the air even where I was standing. Part of the garden immediately in front of the beach disintegrated, rising for a second in the air, then dispersed all over the surrounding area, debris clattering down like hard rain. If it blew out some windows and brought down the front wall of the house, I wouldn’t have been surprised, but I didn’t wait to admire my handiwork.
I grabbed the AK and got out of there, heading for higher ground, with shouts from Musa’s men echoing in the background.
The problem with fighting at night is that your own eyes are as vulnerable to the flash of gunfire and explosives as those of the opposition. I had blank spots in my vision, adding further to the blackness all around me. If confronted by one of the Somalis, it would be bad enough to get me killed, so I majored on getting as far away as I could rather than staying to fight an enemy I couldn’t see clearly.
The ground was as rough as I remembered from the other night, but I had the advantage of having been here before; I had an idea what the main obstacles were. I headed back towards my insertion point across the border, hoping Tober wouldn’t open fire when he heard me coming.
But he was better than that. I heard a sharp whistle, brief enough to almost miss, and slowed down until I caught a movement off to one side.
I stopped and caught my breath, sucking in air and checking my AK to make sure I hadn’t stabbed the end of the suppressor into the dirt, and waited until he showed himself.
‘Where are the others?’ I asked.
‘Up ahead. The kid’s struggling so I called a halt. You OK?’
‘I’m good.’
‘What happened back there?’
‘One vehicle and passengers down, another one stopped but the men are out and on the loose. We have to keep moving.’
He grunted and turned away, and we jogged side by side until we saw a pale flash in the dark. It was Pryce’s white blouse. She had taken off her jacket.
‘You might want to put that back on,’ I told her. ‘The guys behind us have good night vision.’
She slipped the jacket on without saying a word. I don’t think I’d made another friend, but better that than a dead body.
I checked Madar was OK to move, and he said, ‘Yes, Mr Marc. I am sorry to slow you down.’ He was a gutsy kid and sounded perky enough, so I clapped him on the shoulder and led the way, leaving Tober to bring up the rear.
We ran across the track and eventually reached the line of border posts. I couldn’t be certain in the dark, but I figured we were close to the point where I’d killed the sentry. I gave it another ten minutes of hard walking, then called a halt. Although we were in Kenyan territory, we weren’t in the clear by a long margin. Musa’s men wouldn’t be in any mood to acknowledge the border, and there was the added danger of running into a unit of the KDF on border patrol or an anti-poaching team. They would be armed and ready to fight, and not about to ask questions of a bunch of people sneaking about in the middle of the night.
‘We’ll rest up here,’ I said. ‘I’ve got to make a call.’
Tober was standing next to me. I s
ensed him looking at me, but he didn’t ask questions. Instead he said, ‘I’ll go and check our back-trail. Won’t be long.’ With that he was gone, melting into the dark.
I didn’t argue; he had some excess steam to work off after being cooped up in the basement, and focussing on doing what he knew best was his way of dealing with it.
‘Where’s he going?’ Pryce asked. She was breathing heavily and sounded as if she wanted to be sick. After what she had been through I wasn’t surprised.
‘Checking we aren’t being followed.’ I wondered if she was put out at not being consulted. Tober was, after all, her colleague, not mine, and we hadn’t exactly had time to establish any boundaries. ‘Don’t worry – he knows what he’s doing.’
‘Like you, you mean? Did Moresby send you?’ Her tone was calm and her voice steady enough, in spite of being out of breath, and she undoubtedly wanted to know who the hell I was. It was a natural question but not one I wanted to get into. In any case, having to answer the same questions from Tober later would be doubling up.
I said, ‘I’ll explain in good time. For now we have to get you out of here.’
I got out my sat phone to call Piet. Dawn wasn’t far off, and I was surprised at how quickly time had passed. I needed to get him in here to make the pickup.
Just as I was about to dial his number, I heard a pop-pop in the distance behind us, followed by a burst of automatic fire.
Then silence.
Fifty-One
‘Move,’ I said, and urged the others to follow me. Madar was ready to go but Pryce wanted to argue. She grabbed my arm and held on.
‘We should wait for Doug. He could be in trouble.’
I shook off her hand. ‘If he is, there’s nothing we can do to help him. If he’s in the clear he’ll find us. If we stay here and they get past him, they’ll be all over us inside thirty minutes.’
The Watchman Page 20
