Three Faces of West (2013) (32 page)

The team at Thames House could hear everything that was said. Weighing up the options, Harvey knew that his next decision could be crucial,

“Standby Alpha 1.” He stalled, “Can we detect any activity coming from any other building?”

“There’s some activity on the far side of the compound…some kind of storage buildings, out houses mainly.” Confirmed one of the operatives. Reasonable suspicion was enough,

“Alpha 1, affirmative, you are cleared to search the outbuildings 500 yards behind your present position. Alpha 2 proceed with the bridge and investigate the original building.”

Hearing his orders, Jack nodded to John before leaving him. John was now faced with the investigation on his own,

“Right, let’s see if we can get this bridge moving.” Deep down he prayed that it wasn’t noisy enough to attract unwanted attention. Pressing the lit up buttons, the bridge began to shudder into life. Softly humming, it began to rotate slowly toward him, its iron frame gliding through the night air,

“There are no ships around here. Whoever shut the power off to this bridge wanted to keep whatever is on the other side private.” He thought to himself. Finally it came to rest in position meaning the way was clear to get to the warehouse,

“Thank god nobody heard that.” John thought as he began to move across head crouched, gun still in hand,

“Alpha 2, proceeding now.” He whispered along the way. He reached the other side fairly quickly, his alertness on high as he had no idea if there were others around him,

“Alpha 2 be careful, there is multiple activity in your location.” A voice from Thames House warned. The landscape on this side was different; the ground sloped more steeply to the dockside edge. And this led to John to look around for access points,

“There’s a silo on the roof of the warehouse.” He said looking at his target,

“A silo? Must be some kind of apparatus to store something.” Said Harvey, “Alpha 2, proceed to the roof.”

Looking around there wasn’t a direct way onto the top of the building that he could see, but a small gantry slightly raised off the ground and connected to an adjacent roof provided a decent way in. Checking to see if the coast was clear, he climbed onto it, running across in the night air. By now he was in full view of the police sniper scopes, which by now were deployed in position on top of adjacent buildings, tracking him all the way across the rooftops and onto the warehouse.

In the middle, the large steel silo dominated the area. It certainly could hold a large quantity of something which fuelled John’s curiosity to investigate further. A small maintenance ladder ran up the side to a small access hatch, presumably to check fluid levels. He grabbed the first rung and started climbing; it wasn’t very far to the hatch, about five feet or so. Luckily it wasn’t locked, and was easy to open, telling john that it wasn’t full; opening it immediately gave off an overwhelmingly pungent smell,

“There’s definitely been something in here.” He said,

“Alpha 2, what is the smell?” Asked Harvey,

“Smells like…garlic.”

“Garlic?” Asked Harvey to himself. His first thoughts could not connect something like that to the poison plot. However Clive, now entered to monitor things picked up on this straight away,

“Is it strong?” He asked John over the radio,

“No not really. Just enough to make it noticeable.”

That was what Clive wanted to hear, looking back to Samantha, who was also present, the both nodded to each other before turning back,

“John, that garlic smell indicates the presence of Arsine.”

“Arsine? The poison?”

“Yes. Arsine gives off a slight garlic smell when it is oxidised.”

“All the pieces of the puzzle are fitting into place.” Said Harvey to himself quietly, and worryingly.

By now John had climbed back down onto the rooftop swiftly and quietly, he could hear the sounds of manufacture inside and the activity of voices within. He had to find out more,

“I’m moving down the back. Going to try and get a better view of what is going on inside.”

Harvey thought this was a good enough idea, “Proceed with caution Alpha 2.”

John had spotted a fire escape at the rear as he was approaching the rooftop. Now he was climbing down it one staircase at a time. Once on the ground at the back and sheltered in complete darkness, he made his way to nearby corner; the sound of voices attracted him to investigate. Peering round ever so slightly, his restricted view showed him people only 25 yards from where he stood, beside white vans waiting to leave. The heart thundering as fast as a freight train in response to the perilous situation he was now in.

Turning back the yellowish light from a window shone out causing John to creep over to take a look. It was dirty, obviously neglected over its lifetime, but this was an industrial building, cleaning was not a priority. Carefully and trying his upmost to expose as little of himself as possible, he tried to see as much as he could. Inside was nothing all that special at first glance a typical industrial production line was in full flow. Populated with workers, all bust processing the materials inside, closer inspection revealed something more sinister,

“Control, inside is an industrial production facility.”

“Can you make out details Alpha 2?” Asked Harvey,

“Stand by.” John replied as he looked further. Crates filled with bottles, some empty and discarded lying around looking somewhat familiar,

“Control, there are bottles laying around…it looks like arsenic!!”

“Do you have a visual?” Asked Harvey,

“Yes.”

This was a revelation at Thames House. Clive tried to step in again but Samantha beat him to it,

“Arsenic is a slow acting poison. If added to a compound mixture, it would finish it off.”

“Just perfect for a substance exposed to people, just enough time to make them go mad before dying of poisoning.” Concluded Harvey like a prophet of doom. The reality was that he wasn’t far off the truth,

“Alpha 2, what else can you see?” He asked returning to the radio link. Watching through the window, he could see the whole operation, the mixing of chemicals, and the loading of them onto some kind of contraptions. Then it hit him,

“Whatever they are mixing they are loading it onto carts…wait!!”

“What?…what is it Alpha 2?…come in Alpha 2 report!!” Said Harvey,

“I’m OK. Those carts, they are for laying tar. They are the ones we saw in Lewisham!!”

“Can you confirm this?” Asked one of the operators at Thames House,

“Yes they are the ones, presumably used for distribution of this poison. Although whatever they are putting in them is definitely hazardous. The workers are wearing masks, so not to get it in the air.”

The team at Thames House wanted to know more, “Can you find out what Alpha 2?” Said Clive. John tried to look around; the silos and containers made it difficult to see, his presence was still unknown as he looked on at all the individuals, all wearing overalls and other suitable industrial equipment. As he looked, he suddenly saw a familiar sight,

“Three men inside, amongst the workers. They’re the Russians!!”

“What?!”

“Those three Russians picked up in Colchester! They are here overseeing the bombs in the carts. What the hell are they doing here?”

Harvey thought for a second, “Waterson must have corrupted evidence to facilitate their release if they were ever caught. Some kind of evil legacy in case he died.”

“Well they are here, and doing everything they can.” He said as he could hear shouting from the inside, evidently they were rushing to meet a deadline. The arguments continued on and on, unwittingly providing John with precious intelligence. It seemed to be nothing special, just a conflict of views and general orders, but during the heated exchange of views, there arose a series of alarming words,

“Alpha 2 to control, they are mentioning various chemicals stored on site.”

“What chemicals?” Asked Harvey as Clive and Samantha came closer,

“Chlorine, scopolamine, arsine.evid Control, these are they ingredients used in this mixture, along with the arsenic. If I’m right, they plan to detonate these carts somewhere releasing the poison across London.”

The plan was now exposed. The carts, filled with poison, were to be set out across the capital, causing catastrophe. Clive advised a stark reality check,

“If that’s the case then if this is distributed, it’s going to cause mass delirium and widespread death.”

Harvey, as well as anyone knew of the consequences of the events happening over at the docklands,

“I’m well aware of that.” He said,

“Well you need to do something about it.” Rebuffed Clive. Harvey, standing his ground, just looked at is college straight in the face without rising to the tension. Eventually he turned away,

“I know.” He said quietly. Privately he had good reason to fear the worst.

Chapter 22:

Everyone at Thames House was now fixated on the developing situation over at the docklands. The plan and the setup had been totally exposed, although the terrorists didn’t want it that way, still unaware their plan had been utterly compromised, they carried on with the preparations to deploy the carts and their lethally poisonous cargo. Just like the personnel on the ground, the team at the headquarters were nothing short of total concentration,

“Harvey, the SAS are finished deploying.” Said one of the operatives in a heightened tone, “The armed police want to storm the compound alongside the Special Forces, shall I tell them to proceed?”

“Negative, tell them to standby.” Clearly he was stalling, knowing that timing was everything, too soon, and some key members such as Bruenstein and Grey may get away. Too late didn’t bear thinking about,

“Where’s Jack?” He asked coming back into range of the radio mike, “Alpha 1 report.”

“Alpha 1 here. Entering the compound now.” Jack responded as he climbed over another small wire fence into the storage area of the docks. There didn’t seem to be anyone around at the moment as he moved forward with his silenced pistol ready in what seemed to be a total maze of small building and sheds typical of this part of the site. Carefully walking forward as silently as he could, he made his way over to the nearest of the structures as his eyes continuously flitted from point to point almost half-expecting someone to confront him, but nobody came. By now he had arrived at a medium sized wooden building which appeared to be unlocked, but Jack could not be sure. Pressing on the door, it came slowly ajar telling him it was not at all secure,

“Careless.” He said to himself.

Inside, various boxes stored away in piles greeted him, nothing too suspicious on the face of it but Jack investigated further just to be sure. He opened one of the boxes that were, like the door, not locked either,

“Careless again.” He said as he looked inside to examine the contents,

“Alpha 1 to control, we appear to have stumbled upon a weapons cache, semi-automatic rifles and ammunition.”

“Can you ascertain why they are there Alpha 1?” Asked Harvey,

“No, it’s probably surplus supplies but there’s no way of telling from here. The only thing we can be sure of is that these terrorists are extremely well armed.”

The tension in Thames House was now beginning to rise even further. With the discovery of the heavy weapons, the stakes had by now risen considerably,

“Proceed with extreme caution Alpha 1.” Warned Harvey.

West knew to be careful in such a precarious situation, but for now he had to explore other outbuildings. Perhaps there was more to be discovered,

“Alpha 1, you have a contact!! Approaching your position fast!!” Said a voice over Jack’s radio earpiece in a rapid, alarming tone. Instantly, without replying, he turned and shut the door. Crouching below a dirty, window, Jack froze in the darkness as he heard the pounding of footsteps. Louder with each one confirmed that whoever they were, they were heading in this direction. Suddenly he flinched in the shadows as a beam of light from a torch shone through the frosted glass, illuminating some of the boxes. This, of all points, was when he realised that he did not fit the lid of the box he had been examining correctly. He knew that if it was spotted, it would arouse suspicion. However, luckily the torchlight faded as whoever was outside moved away from the window, causing West to dare to breathe a slight sigh of relief which only lasted for an instant. Daring not to move his body, instead Jack moved he head slightly just to get a better view or to position himself for better hearing. The door began to rattle, West froze as the door latch began to shake, whoever they were, they were trying to get in, had they seen the disturbed box? Had he been discovered? He was about to find out to be sure, but it never came. The rattling stopped as suddenly as it started because the door had locked behind him thus denying the intruder access. Relief flooded Jack’s periodically shattered nerves as he heard the footsteps gradually move away and get fainter with each second,

“Alpha 1, report.” Asked Thames House,

“Control, Alpha 1 here. I’m still in the same position. Approaching contact has moved on, attempting to move now.”

“Acknowledged Alpha 1.”

Gingerly, almost frighteningly Jack gripped the handle of the door and turned it slowly. Tensing up as it clicked he unlocked it from the inside as he opened the door only slightly ajar. Pausing for a second, his hearing in overdrive, ever listening for the sounds of other footsteps. None could be heard so he proceeded, by peering out and looking left and right to check the coast was clear. Once satisfied, he moved out, carefully closing the door behind him to eliminate any signs of presence as he moved quietly to probe further on.

Coming to the corner he paused once again. He could see a guard, most likely the one who had almost stumbled across him, patrolling further down, he could only see him from the back, but it was clear he was not one of them,

“Contact,” He whispered quietly into the radio,

“What do you see?” Asked Harvey,

“A guard,”

“How many?”

“Just one. Looks like he’s patrolling.”