Three Faces of West (2013) (31 page)

“According to the police, those Russians were actually Chechen rebels. That is how they knew Grey, with his Georgian background. It’s all very complicated, similar regional differences in southern Russia, they and the Georgians have never got on. And Chechnya is a potential breakaway region so it is a hotbed for radicals and terrorists. Their names are Nikolai, Sergey and Evgeny. Sergey apparently was the one with the firearm you confronted in Colchester, Evgeny was the one injured by Bruenstein.”” Confirmed Harvey, “Because of their background, they were the explosives experts, and we now know they were the ones who planted bombs on the trains, causing the King’s Cross bombing.”

Suddenly everything became clear, not just to John, but to all of them. It seemed very much like a huge dark weight had been lifted of everyone’s shoulders. For John, it was the first time in weeks that he finally had a sense of direction,

“OK, if that’s all. Let’s get to it.” Said Harvey as he stood up, prompting the others to follow suit,

“I’m due to personally brief the Home Secretary of the situation. My boss is briefing the Prime Minister on the on-going situation and his advisors are keeping the Palace up to date. Even so, Plan Teresa is being put on standby.”

“What is Plan Teresa?” Asked Jack,

“The contingency plan to evacuate both the government and the royal family out of the capital, to Scotland if an actual attack is underway.” Said Harvey, “All departments are now on high alert; 24 hours gentlemen, the clock is ticking.”

Turning out of the door Clive and Samantha both left, but John hesitated as he turned toward his partner,

“You know Jack, after all this I find you quite a complicated little character. You have three acts; your official act as an MI5 officer, your clandestine act under instruction by Harvey and your unofficial act, while you were ‘dead’. I could have shot you in that field and I would have. You’re not just two faced Jack, you’re three faced. The three faces of West.”

He turned to leave, with Jack and Harvey just standing there, a knock at the door interrupted John’s rather melodramatic exit. A secretary popped her head round the door before entering fully to hand Harvey a piece of paper,

“This has just been picked up. A transcript of a text message sent urgent.” She said.

Her entrance stalled John’s exit as he stopped to hear what the massage might contain as she swiftly turned and exited as quick as she entered. Her haste seemed to convey a sense of urgency without the message. Harvey’s eyes widened as he read the words that were picked up, passing it onto Jack without saying a word. Upon reading it, the meaning became immediately clear,

“Scarlet Dawn.” He read aloud,

“You know what this means.” Warned Harvey as John came close again to see for himself,

“An attack is imminent.” Said West,

“Yes, they are ready…tonight.” Harvey’s words signalled the start of the operation.

“Moonlight” was on.

Chapter 21:

APF Industries, London Docklands, 10:00pm. All seemed quiet and peaceful in the still evening air, on the inside of the compound. Beyond the perimeter, on the high streets subtle activity was taking place. Police surrounded the neighbouring streets, throwing cordons around the local area out of sight of the riverside factory. Within the cordon, quiet but frantic preparations were well underway for the final assault and ultimate foiling of this latest very real threat.

An unofficial exclusion zone had been set up around the boundaries of the industrial complex, a kind of unofficial no-man’s land, two streets wide which only authorised persons could enter. West and Hudson, clad in black polyester outfits, armed with their Walther P99’s tucked firmly in their gun holster vests complete with silencers and ammunition fitted tightly across their bodies. Boots and black gloves to reduce their visibility completed the set, making them look more like Special Forces than intelligence agents. Candidly they approached the perimeter wall, being careful to stay in the shadows as best they could to keep out of the sharp orange glow of the street lights. Staying well out of sight, they finally found a place to deploy before making the crucial infiltration.

Tension and anxiety was not only on the ground, Thames House also buzzed with the nervous uncertainty as the operation codenames “Moonlight” was about to begin. Harvey, along with every member of the section was keeping a very close watch on proceedings from their position. Coordinating the setup and the attack had to go according to plan, for there was too much at stake as the price of failure. Knowing there was two operatives active on the ground, Harvey decided to do one final radio check,

“Alpha 1, report.” Was the voice that crackled over the radio and into the personal earpiece in Jack’s right ear,

“Alpha 1, check.” Jack replied subtly,

“Alpha 2 report.” Said Harvey,

“Alpha 2, check.” Replied John equally as quiet into his own earpiece,

“What is your status?” Asked Harvey. Jack responded,

“Outside the main perimeter fence. Ready to infiltrate.”

“Standby, Alpha 1 and 2. Armed police snipers on nearby rooftops, special services are also deploying around you.” Reassured that both West and Hudson were responding Harvey gave the order, “You’re clear to commence Alphas 1 and 2.”

With the whole dockside complex becoming surrounded, West and Hudson began to make their way in. A small wire mesh fence provided the only barrier between the street and the outer areas, which John made short work of. Pulling out from one of the many pouches that both their suits were furnished with, a small wire cutter was used to cut a medium but unnoticeable in the dark sized hole in the fence. The top of the fence was adorned with rolls of sharp razor wire to deter any would be intruders, but nothing had really been done about the fence itself. Each squeeze on the cutters from John’s hands forced the rather flimsy wire, snipping it in a sharp click. The sounds signalled one step closer to getting through. It took only a few seconds for the gap to be created as both men crawled through,

“We’re in.” Said Jack as both men crouched just on the inside,

“Standby Alpha 1.” Replied Harvey over the radio.

Both Jack and John, while still in the shadows pulled their Walther pistols from their holsters, “Acknowledged.” Jack said as they both screwed on their silencers while surveying their surroundings. In the dark it wasn’t easy, then again it wouldn’t be easy in the day, the layout was unfamiliar to those on the ground. Apart from moving blind, their only hope was a fix on a location as instructed from Thames House. There the activity became more frantic, now after conformation that their operatives had penetrated the complex, they had to prioritise and locate their targets. Staff worked furiously at their computers, pouring over maps and intelligence, Harvey needed directions as much as his men on site. By now West and Hudson both stealthily moved against the wall of a small shed just off to the right, having no idea of the strength of resistance inside or where the deployment of the special services would be, any figure in the darkness should be treated with extreme caution. Both men’s eyes scoured through the pitch darkness, looking for any signs of movement, but none came, just a maze of buildings,

“Alpha 1, Alpha 2 do you copy?”

“Alpha 2 here, copy over.” Replied John to Harvey over his earpiece,

“Get over to a building, 600 yards left of your position. There’s activity picked up there, investigate.”

Without delay, both men moved toward the source of the activity. All part of the APF site, they seemed to be heading into the dockside loading area, close to the water’s edge. The few hundred yards travelled passed without sight or incident,

“It’s straight ahead of you.” Said a voice in both agents’ earpieces. It was different, not Harvey’s, but another operative back at HQ, guiding them in remotely from his desk, monitoring all the info coming in via his computer. It was reassuring to know they were with them every step of the way,

“You should see it now.” Said the voice,

“Confirmed, we have a visual.” Said Jack as both he and John stopped and crouched in cover beside some packing crates. Before them a large brick warehouse dominated the water’s edge,

“Looks like some kind of loading and storage facility.” Said John,

“But what is stored?” Replied Jack.

“We need to get over there Jack.”

“What about that swing bridge? Can we move it?” Between them and the building lay a canal used for docking barges, spanned by a swing bridge, pivoted in the middle of the water but positioned the wrong way, as if to let ships through,

“There’s got to be a way to get bridge moving back so we can cross it.” Said John as they moved toward it in the direction of a large cabin as it honed into view out of the darkness. It was vacant as they entered, large control panels, obviously for the bridge sat before them. It was similar in principle but larger to the one used at APF in Southampton, and like the one they encountered previously, it was dead of all power,

“We need to get this bridge working.” Stated John,

“It must be powered from a source.” Replied Jack as Thames House crackled over the earpieces once again,

“Alphas 1 and 2, the power source for that bridge is located in a generator house on the other side of the complex to your left.”

Moving quietly they made their way under the instruction from their support guiding them toward where they wanted to go. Immediately they made their way off in the instructed direction toward what turned out to be one of the entrances to the docklands. The muffled sounds and hints of movement indicated there were people up ahead; reactively Jack and John paused and took cover awaiting instructions. Their movements tracked by computer back in Thames House gave Harvey and the team the best possible view to the overall situation. Their present location was being monitored avidly by one of the operatives as both men almost ran into trouble,

“Alphas 1 and 2 stop there! You’ve got movement up ahead, cannot confirm if they are friendly, possible hostiles I repeat possible hostiles. Do not engage!”

Harvey then stepped in, “Alphas 1 and 2 back off!! Do not engage! Make your way to the generator house, your priority is that bridge.”

Sensibly and without argument, West and Hudson retreated back the way they came, utterly unnoticed.

A few minutes later they arrived at what they perceived to be the generator house. Its concrete build and symmetrical shape evidently more distinctive than the others prompted the close attention of both men. With both guns primed and ready, they gingerly opened the steel door which thankfully was not locked to make their way inside. The slight hum of the generators instantly hit them, providing power to the rest of the operation as they shut the door behind them to deter any prowlers outside. The machinery, old but perfectly serviceable ticked over as Jack and John tried to find the correct one for the bridge,

“These are the generators, but where are the power switches?” Asked John,

“There may be a basement, see if there are trip switches you can activate. Careful, we have no way of telling if there is anyone about.” Said a voice from Thames House,

“Careful.” Ordered Harvey, getting his opinion in.

They looked around the darkened facility, the half-lights inhibiting something that may be easily observable,

“Over there.” Whispered John, clearly spotting something,

“I see it.” Replied Jack, “It’s a staircase.”

They moved toward it, at one side, the steep metallic steps flanked by railings for support, both men went down, firearms fixed, adrenaline running high as ever.

As they entered the lover compartment, there seemed to be nobody immediately around. With hearts pounding they looked on at the line of 6 foot high metal fuse boxes each locked and containing trip switches along the opposite wall,

“They’re identical. How the hell are we supposed to find the right one?” Said Jack.

“Are they marked?”

“Yes. Look you keep watch at the staircase. I’ll try to locate the correct one.”

John moved to the foot of the metal stairs, looking up almost in trepidation for any signs of others,

“They should be marked. Look for one that refers to the bridge, it may either be writing or a symbol.” Radioed Thames House. West began looking for something, anything that referred to the bridge,

“Why don’t we just shut off the power to the whole complex, then that will stop the plan dead in its tracks?” Asked John,

“Negative, you’re only authorised to get power to that bridge. The SAS are deploying around you, we can’t afford any mistakes.”

Jack looked, up and down the panels on the wall,

“Bridge.” He said, “It has to be this one.”

“Try it.” Said John as Jack pulled out of his pocket a set of lock picks. Carefully he inserted it into the relatively simple barrel lock and applied pressure through turning. As John kept watch anxiously, Jack turned and twisted inside the mechanism until he felt it suddenly click loose,

“Got it.” He said to himself as he opened the door. A large electrical panel presented before him, full of lights and switches; only a larger black lever in the “up” position was different. Pressing it down, the panel clicked and hummed against the backdrop of the higher pitched whine of the generators above,

“Get back to that bridge.” Said Harvey over the radio,

“Come on.” Said John as they proceeded with as much caution out of the facility, following their orders. In Thames House, the tension was reaching breaking point as everyone, including Harvey could only watch and wait for the drama to unfold.

A few minutes later West and Hudson both arrived back at the control cab. Their hopes were that the switch they had just operated was indeed the correct one for their purpose,

“Look, the controls are lit up.” Said John as they entered it, “Alpha 2 to control, we have power.”

“Proceed.” Said Harvey, but Jack interrupted,

“Wait, what about the stockpiles of existing poison?”

John looked puzzled, “They should be in the in that building.”

“What if they are not? What if they are stockpiled somewhere else. Alpha 1 to control permission to investigate the existing compound to secure existing stockpiles.”