Three Faces of West (2013) (38 page)

“Can we shut them down?” Asked Harvey to any of his staff,

“No,” Replied one of the staff, “It’s all over the internet, there’s no point in suppression. The television report is local news, nothing on the national outlets yet.”

“You can bet they will be carrying the story.” Harvey said, prompting him to think further,

“If the terrorists get wind of this, they could get spooked and go all out and release the poison anyway.”

It was a terrifying proposition.

On the site, John was still situated on the bridge. With no direct instruction coming through he thought it unwise to move, instead just choosing to observe. Still the white vans parked outside the warehouse were waiting but their tail lights flickering a deep red glow betrayed the fact that they were preparing to depart. John wanted to warn his superiors as it looked as if they were moving imminently,

“Control, this is Alpha 2. The vans are-‘

“…. Alpha 2, what is it?”

“Standby control.” John replied as he looked at the warehouse below. Crouching ever more behind one of the structural pillars, he looked on as more figures emerged from the building. They seemed to be in a hurry organising themselves into some kind of assembly line as they brought out equipment,

“Control, there’s activity outside the warehouse. It looks as if they are getting ready to move…They seem to loading something onto the trucks…the trollies!! Control they are loading the trollies laden with poison onto the trucks, it looks as if they are getting ready to move!”

Harvey listened to the situation relayed to him via the radio, and the Home Secretary wanted something done,

“Charles, you need to act now.”

“I know.” He replied turning toward one of his team, “Where are the locations of Alphas 1 and 2?”

“Charles, you are running out of time!”

“I’m well aware Home Secretary.”

A further message came over the radio,

“Control this is Alpha 2, they have loaded the trollies onto the vans, they are leaving!! What do you want me to do?”

This is serious Charles!” Said the Home Secretary, “You have no options left, you need to send in the Special Forces now!”

He was right, there were no options left. He had to make a decision immediately, knowing full well of the implications riding on his next move,

“Home Secretary, can you get senior government ministers and officials to the government shelter.”

“What?” Said the minister slightly confused,

“The Downing Street Nuclear Command Bunker. That 1960’s concrete underground complex built in case the Cold War escalated into World War III. I trust it’s still there.”

Slightly taken aback by the comment, the politician responded, “Charles that is classified information, a need to know basis only!”

“And I need to know now; as a backup plan! Just in case we can’t get you out in time!” Snapped Harvey,

“Yes it’s still operational but the plan here is to evacuate! Look this is on your shoulders Harvey, either you send in the SAS now, or otherwise I’ll put Plan Theresa into operation. And I’ll hold you responsible for the consequences!!”

It appeared checkmate as far as any other options were concerned,

“I’m risking my men being caught in crossfire.” Said Harvey, leaning over a chair head down,

“You have no choice.” Said the minister as one of the operatives spoke out,

“They’re waiting for the final order to depart. Harvey we’re out of time!!!”

Raising his head, it was time for Harvey to make the decision,

“God help us….send in the SAS.”

Crowds gathering in the adjacent streets began to swell. Rumours had fuelled the curiosity as to what was going on, but nobody could get past the cordons, manned by a heavy police presence. Further down the streets vans and cars carrying armed response teams and other officers swarmed around like bees in a hive. Something was definitely happening, intensifying in the last few minutes. The outskirts of the area, where all seemed quiet, only the superficial activity of the local police was obvious; still nobody had any real idea what was really happening. Everything was tense in the cold night; the orange glow of the street lights interrupted intermittently by the electric blue flash of the police vehicles was the only visual clue to something abnormal.

The sounds were quiet, only the rustling of the wind howling the loudest, until the next second. Suddenly and without warning the SAS struck. Placing plastic explosives strategically around the site, they blew their way into the compound at three points. The small charges, smashing perimeter fences and gates into small showers of sharp splintered debris,

“MOVE, MOVE, MOVE!!!” were the instructions as specially trained personnel followed and covered by armed police stormed APF Industries with lightening efficiency. SAS squads clad in black armour and body suits stormed the compound from multiple angles stunning the terrorists in the first moments of the attack. The rattling of gunfire began to ring out amongst the night air as the terrorists responded like for like in attack. Coming out in force from the initial shock, they fired without mercy on the Special Forces and their police escort. Bullets spraying everywhere ricochet of surfaces and walls, pinging and zapping dangerously close as the SAS men forced their way into the compound.

River View provided an excellent grandstand to watch as Bruenstein observed the drama below. With Jack hidden behind him, he watched as his target became rather uneasy at what was going on. Bruenstein was not too concerned he had already given the order to deploy, not knowing that Jack had already struck. Looking on to the ground, he saw dark figures moving in and being fired upon by his aides, yet the trucks filled with the trollies still had not moved. The warehouse where the poison was being manufactured seemed to be the focal point for the operation. Jack meanwhile had Brusenstein in his sights, slightly distracted by the timing of the start of the action but he had by now composed himself. All he had to do was pull the trigger.

Beside the warehouse was the area of greatest resistance. SAS squads moved in to seize the haul of trucks, blocking their way out of the compound. Taking cover behind stacked pallets and drums, they seemed to be pinned down as a small group of henchmen laid down covering fire as others tried to get inside the vehicles in a vain attempt to get them away,

“Watch your fire!!! Don’t hit the trucks!!!” Shouted one of the officers as the SAS group responded. Bullets hit the pallets, smashing splinters out of them as each one carved a hole in the wood, mercifully not a high enough calibre to penetrate completely through. Such was the intensity of the fire that the group was effectively held back by the terrorists; however their presence effectively stopped the trollies from getting out of the compound.

By now the streets were filled with people as the police presence increased dramatically to control the flow of the crowds, as caught on camera by a local television crew. A reporter on site tried to capture the night’s events,

“Activity has increased dramatically in the last few minutes. I can tell you that in the past few seconds we have heard three large explosions coming from just down the street behind me followed by gunshots…. The police are….yes…. I think we are being told to get back now by the police…”

Numbers of police officers manned the blue tape marking the cordon gradually moving forward in a line, gently but firmly gesturing the public into cooperating with their instructions,

“Get back!!, can you get back please!!!” One officer shouted as he forced everyone away for their own safety, the reporter tried to get a scoop,

“Can you tell us what exactly is happening in the compound? Is it another terrorist incident in the wake of the King’s Cross bombing? Are they related in any way?”

The officer stood his ground in his indifference,

“Can you get back please?” He instructed, coming as a vibrating noise permeated overhead. Looking upwards, a police helicopter flew overhead, its infrared cameras ready to monitor the rapidly fluid situation from its unique vantage point. It was the police’s and the SAS eyes in the sky.

On the bridge, John, still taking cover behind the structure had by now removed his silencer from this pistol. There seemed no point as he observed the commotion that engulfed him. He could see the warehouse in front of him only few hundred yards away but getting there was easier said than done. By now the entire roof was occupied by terrorists and firing down onto the compound, causing John to cower as live rounds struck the metal around him,

“Bloody hell!!” He shouted loudly to himself as the rattling noise seemed to come from all directions. He never noticed some SAS squads approach the bridge from behind him, carefully as they did so, reaching a position where they could communicate with him,

“Can you get across?” Shouted one squad member,

“No, they have fire coming from that roof. That’s where the poison mixture a being made.”

“We’ve got teams down there trying to seize the vans, but they are pinned down. Who the hell are they?” Replied the SAS man,

“God knows!! Look I need to get across; can you lay down covering fire?”

The squad leader tried to comply, “Rabbit 1, Rabbit 2, covering fire on the roof, now, now!!!”

The three special service personnel emerged briefly as much as they ever dared, firing their MP5 sub machine guns in deadly unison. The hail of bullets, only partially effective, succeeded in pinning down one or two on the roof as far as John cold make out, but it only alerted some of them to divert in supporting the ones helping out near the vans and turn toward the bridge,

“Shit, get down, get down!!!” shouted the SAS squad leader as bullets rained down on them. Hunkered down behind a girder, John knew he would be shot as soon as he emerged,

“Alpha 2 to control, Alpha 2 to control, can you hear me?!!”

“We read you Alpha 2 go ahead.” Replied Harvey; the background noise almost drowned out any understanding of speech,

“It must be chaos there.” He said to himself,

“Control I still have the primed bomb, I’m trapped on the bridge, but I can’t get anywhere near it!! They are firing from the roof!!! We’re pinned down” Said John,

“The police snipers can’t get clear shots.” Aazim interrupted.

“I’m unable to sabotage the poison stockpile, what do you want me to do?”

In River View, Jack was still held up behind Bruenstein, his pistol still primed and ready to fire as he watched his nemesis flinch at the proceedings below. Still distracted by the conversations in his earpiece, he was fully aware of the situation his friend was in, yet here he was, the target in his sights still, all he had to do was fire,

“Alpha 1 listen carefully. ” Harvey snapped over the radio, causing Jack to freeze,

“Alpha 2 is in trouble. He’s pinned down by fire on a bridge, and can’t get to the warehouse. Get over there and link up with him, see what you can do. I don’t care what you are doing, that poison warehouse is the priority.”

West hated to admit it but he was right. If the assault had started, then there would be every risk that the terrorists could release the deadly mixture instantly, they had to be stopped. Silently he pulled his pistol down. Bruenstein has not attempted to flee, obviously thinking that his original order to his henchman had got through and was just waiting to see it through to the end. Obviously he had no idea that Jack had already got to him,

“He isn’t going anywhere.” He thought to himself as he slowly backed off into the darkness.

Now that the operation had started, the trailer that John had come across was still locked by the three SAS squad members who were still in position where they had been earlier. Inside, the situation was very different, the warm cosy atmosphere quickly became shattered as the three Russians picked up on the gunfire almost instantly. Sergey, the obvious belligerent of the three took a dominating role,

“Come on!! Out!!!” He shouted as the three got up picking up their pistols as they did so. Nikolai rattled the door handle expecting it to open, completely unaware that it had already been locked before,

“Sergey, it is locked!!! The door not open!!!”

The aggressive man pushed past Nikolai to try his hand on the handle. Even he could not budge its locked fast position. As the rattling and shouting raged outside accompanied by the hum of the helicopter overhead only served to fuel the anger of the three trapped inside. Their frustration witnessed by one of the SAS men waiting all the time outside, observing through the small window at the side. The ragged net curtain provided some visual obstacle but not much; it didn’t do much to protect the presence of the observer either. Soon the inevitable happened when Evgeny turned innocently to his right, directly at the window,

“Sergey, Nikolai!!!! Look!!!!”

As all three turned to the window, it only took a split second for them to spot the man looking through the window. Instinctively they reacted, even though they each possessed a pistol, it was the volatile nature of Sergey who took the action,

“Swine!!!!” He shouted as he raised his weapon. The silver Colt .45 glistened in the artificial light of the yellow bulb above. Without hesitation he fired, three times, the snapping crack sounding as each bullet discharged. Through the smoke from the gun residue, the SAS commando screamed as each bullet hit him, thick red blood and dark lumps of flesh blew out the back of his head resulting from him being shot in the face. The glass with the three shattered holes and the net curtain inside stained indiscriminately as he slumped to the ground dead. One was killed, but the Russians fate was now sealed by the other two colleagues outside as the second one took his place at the window. Without hesitation he fired his MP5 straight into the trailer, the red covered glass shattering into a thousand pieces as the second SAS man unloaded his entire magazine into the Russian terrorists inside. The recoil of his weapon shuddering as he never released the pressure on the trigger as round after round slammed into the three trapped men. Their cries drowned out in the noise, anger and adrenalin of the moment. Only once the magazine was empty did he let up and moved down and away, only to be replaced by the third man who was busy priming a grenade. As the shooting stopped, it provided the cue for the explosive to be tossed in to make sure of the Russians,