BlindFire (27 page)

  He told himself that he was safe. He must be, no one would attract attention by making all that noise if they thought they were being watched. Glancing to his right he could see Gunter slowly approaching.

  "Anything?" Danny whispered
.

  Gunter quickly got in to the prone position beside
his friend
before answering. "Nothing over there." He indicated with a slight nod.

  "Well that's his hideout..... There's
his van and I just saw the man
himself."

  "Looks easy enough?”

  Danny frowned
and nodded. "I don't know how, but he's built himself a stockade."

  "What! Give me those binos." He looked down the binos searching for a way past. "Damn that man..... We haven't any cutting gear."

  "There's one more problem......"

  Gunter closed his eyes. "He knows your here, doesn't he......."

  Danny suddenly
jerked his arm in to the air, immediately silencing Gunter. Rising to his feet, he turned to face the stockade. "They're coming out."

  Gunter once again peered through the binos, nothing. "How the hell do you know?"

  He actually got a feint whiff of his wife’s perfume, but wasn't going to tell Gunter that. "Call it a hunch. Come on."

  Leaving their position they moved right, to where the
van was parked
. They were careful only to expose a portion of their outline from behind buildings and walls as they observed for a way in.

  "Maybe we can go under." Said Gunter

  Crawling the last twenty meters on their stomachs, they slid silently in to the tangle of barbed wire.

  Gunter went first, getting caught up almost straight away. "It's no use I can't move." He cried.

  "B
e quiet." Demanded Danny
. He had been alerted to the movement of the three figures the second they had emerged from the doorway. "This is it..... Get through." He snapped.

  Gunter struggled f
rantically. "I’m stuck..... I can’t move!
"

  Danny’s
mind raced, there was no way through. In that case how did Mckay expect to get out? "Ok....Ok, keep still Gunter, and don’t let him see you. I'm going to try and catch him when he drives the van out."

  Gunter was furious with himself and with just about anything around him. "And who the hell are you? The Bionic Man?"

   "Just try to keep quiet; I'll be back as soon as I can."

  Flushed with panic and now remembering the time
his young son had been shot, Danny sprinted
along the barbed wire fence toward the three figures. Beth saw him first and elbowed Jack in the ribs, stunned, but not stunned enough he grabbed at Sahra and held her close using her as a shield.

  Beth froze when she saw the glint of the knife pressing in to Sara’s throat. Jack smiled and started the short journey to the van.

  "It's alright Sahra, don't be s
cared."  Danny shouted.  "Dad is
here."

  "Make one move and I'll sl
it her throat from ear to ear!
"

  "Don't you touch one
hair on her head?" Screamed Danny
.

  Jack ordered Beth to open the van door, then bundled her and Sah
ra inside. He turned to face Danny
. "Why can't you just do as I say, and no one will get hurt?"

  "Let them go......  Please."

  The Irishman
seemed to think for a second then started laughing. "OK. You can have one of them. Which o
ne do you want to save Danny
? Who means the most to you?" Jack cupped his ear wit
h his hand. "What was that Danny
?  Did I hear you say....? I want my wife....  Don't you care about your daughter then?"

  "I didn't say that
."  Danny cried
.  "I didn't say that."

  Jack shook his head in mock dismay, then
threw Sahra into the van and
climbed in to the driver’s s
eat before
started up the engi
ne.  "See you in the hills Danny
boy."  He said calmly, more of a warning than a statement.

  The engine revved, the wheels spun and with an ear splitting screech the van sped of
f in to the darkness. Danny
tried to keep up with it for some fifty meters before he had to stop to catch his breath.

  "Get me out of this fucking wire." He heard Gunter scream and headed back towards him.

  "I lost
him....  He's still got them
."

  "Why the hell didn't you shoot the bastard?" Gunter
said
angrily. "You could have had him."

  "I didn't want to risk hitting the wrong person."

  "Just get me out of this wir
e.... It's cutting me to
pieces."

  "Be quiet." Fo
r the second time that night Danny
thought he could smell Beths perfume, he sensed they were no longer alone. Tension gripped his body. He was still nowhere near getting Gunter out of the wire, how could he defend him.

  He l
ooked to where the van had gone but n
othing there moved.
Then he looked
ahead and scanned around to his left, at the same time drawing his pistol.

  Something there did move, there, just beyond the darkness. He squinted to see better then slowly lowered himself to the ground. He could hear someone running now, getting closer with every step.

  "Danny
."  He heard someone shout.  "..... Where are you?"

  He
heaved a huge sigh of relief. "Beth we're over here." He cried.

  They hugged and kissed, then. "Where the hell is Sahra?"
He asked
suddenly realising she wasn't there.

  "He wouldn't let her go.....”

  Danny
released his grip on her and slowly
shook his head. "You left my daughter with that
killer."  He shouted.

  "But he made me go
!
”

  "How could you leave her?
"

  She stopped him mid sentence with a powerful st
inging slap across his face. Her husband
reeled backwards a few steps and then rubbed his reddening cheeks.

   “He threw me out of the van… Again!
I have been kidnapped, tied up, almost raped and if that
wasn't bad enough, that
psycho has been feeding us on fish, chips and mushy peas for breakfast dinner and tea." She paused for a second, if only to catch her breath.

  Gunter almost roa
red, silencing both Beth and Danny
. "Can you get me out of
this
wire before I kill the pair of you."

  Danny’s
shoulders dropped as he forced himself to relax. "I'm sorry." He muttered. "I was just.......  Well, you know."

  "We'll get her back, I promise."

  It took a lot of heaving, tugging and cries of pain before Gunter was freed. Once out he stood up, brushed himself down and inspected himself for injury. "Everything seems fine..... Let’s go and have a look inside his little hideout then, see what he's left for us."

  Beth led the way, taking the same route from which she had come. It wasn't long before the group was inside the lions den. It seemed somehow different to Beth now that she was free, not quite so harsh, not quite so terrifying. The building must have been a store at some point in the past, the interior, a catacomb of small rooms.

  "This is where he kept us."  Beth
said
. "He was always busy in one of these other rooms."

  "Lets split up and search the lot; we're looking for anything, any clue." Gunter
ordered
. "Pay particular attention to the rubbish bags."

  Danny
soon found himself in a sleeping area. He was surprised at the creature comforts the Irishman had afforded himself. There was a kitchen table and four chairs in the centre of the room and in the corner, just below the small window,
lay an old Army cot. He
checked the pockets of the smelly cloths that were strewn on the bed, but found nothing. His attention was drawn back to the table, to the five clean cups and five plates and then to the overflowing ashtray. He used to smoke as a teenager, at school behind the old gym, so he new that most people stick to the same brand until they curl up and die of cancer.

  The answer was there staring up at him from that ashtray, Jack had help and quite a lot of it. There were at least four different brands of cigarette stubs, some of them looked quite fresh.

  "You two, get in here." Danny
heard Gunter shout, he seemed excited about something.

  "Where the hell are you?" Beth cried from further down the corridor.

  Gunter didn't answer.  As soon as
Danny
entered the small room which Gunter was in, he
realised
why he didn't answer.  "Is this what I think it is?" He asked.

  The big man slowly nodded. "An Aladdin’s cave......  Of bomb making equipment."

   The room was overflowing with reels of wire, empty plastic cartons, plans, diagrams and tools of every description. Not to mention several specialist electronic devices and a computer linked to a telephone line.

  "This is incredible, I've never........."

  Beth finished the sentence. "......Seen anything like it."

  "I think we should take as much as
we can fit in the car." Said Danny
, recovering from the shock of not hearing Beth slip in to the room. "....McKay’s not coming back for it; especially the computer and disks."

  Gunter raised an objecting hand. "Wait a minute. There's something wrong here..... All this bomb making kit and no explosives?"

  The three just stood and looked at each other for a second, then. "You don't think he's?" Said Beth. Fear showing in her words more than she had hoped.

  "Let’s get out of here.....  Go."   Gunter
cried
. "Move.
.!
"

  Danny
was the first to move, pushing Beth through the door and then tripping on an old car battery. The powerful hands of Gunter were dragging him back to his feet even before he had time to hit the floor.

  "Go.... Go." Ordered Gunter.

  The first explosion shook the already cru
mbling building, and tossed Danny
and Gunter through the flame filled air like rag dolls. Then followed several more smaller blasts as a ball of white flames shot down the short corridor. Dense black smoke fil
led Danny’s
lungs as he awoke to find himself being dragged into the darkness. A second later he was outside coughing and spluttering, his clogged lungs screaming for oxygen. 

  He t
ried to shout for Beth, t
hen again.

  "I'
m here
.... I'm here." She fell to the ground beside him and Gunter.

 
Their cloths were torn and burned and their faces blackened.  

  "Is anyone seriously injured?" Croaked the big German.

  Both
were quick to shake their heads, as more explosions rocked the buildings around them sending flames shooting high in to the sky.

  "Let’s go before the police arrive."

  "I'll drive." Said Beth.

  Danny
spat out more black fluid and coughed hard in to his hand. "Look at this." He said.

  "What is it?"

  "It was on the floor when I fell down."  He frowned. "I think it's some sort of microphone."

  Gunter jumped up. "Let me see that."

  Climbing to his feet he
handed Gunter the microphone. "I think I saw more of these in there."

  Beth started toward the gate, and then turned to watch the burning vision of hell before her. “What the hell would he want with a microphone?" She whispered, and then turned once more to face her husband and Gunter. "We haven't got much time. Johns expected us in Keswick three hours ago."

***

171

BlindFire

CHAPTER 10

The Kings arms,
Keswick
,
Cumbria

    The pub had closed hours ago, and there was still no sign of them. He wondered what they had gone up against at the power station. Maybe they're all dead, he pondered over a worst case scenario and realized how much he'd miss them, especially Gunter.  A cold shiver ran down his spine, he was cold and the windows on the car were steaming up.

  The Colonel looked at his watch, it was two o’clock in the morning and they were running out of time. If they weren't here soon he would have to go it alone, or use the troopers from 'G' Squadron who were already in position. That thought reminded him to set the frequency on the PRC 351, he was miles out of range but he didn't care, he was bored.

  It was sometime later; he didn't remember when, that he drifted off to sleep.

  Danny
was driving now and Gunter still map reading, while Beth slept on the back seat. The sign posts said only thirty miles to Ambleside.

  "Not far now." He
Said.

  "It would be nice to get some sleep before we start walking."
Said Gunter.

  "Get your head down now, mate
. I know the way from here." Danny
was tired himself, but refused to let it get the better of him and wound the window down slightly, to allow the fresh cold air to buffer gently against his dirty cheeks.

  This, music and chewing gum was all that kept him awake during those final miles. Gunter was sound asleep in seconds, even snoring most of the way.

  It was just past five thirty in the morning and the first rays of light were piercing through the morning mist, creating
an almost eerie atmosphere. He
pulled over in front of the Kings Arms and gently rubbed his eyes.

  "Hey. You two." He said. "We're here."

  Gunter painfully pulled his head from the cold glass of the passenger side window and blinked hard trying to focus. "Can you see John's car?" He asked.

  "Yeah, it's behind us." He replied wearily.

  Gunter turned in his seat, to have a look. “Get some sleep, I'll brief him and see about some breakfast."

  Danny
simply smiled, closed his eyes and relaxed back in to his seat, as Gunter got out and walked up to the Red Ford Mondeo parked up behind.  He couldn't see John through the heavily steamed up windows, but he new the SAS Officer was asleep there. He tapped twice and heard immediate movement inside, then the door opened.

  "Did you sleep well John?"

  "Where the hell have you been?"
T
he Colonel
asked
. "I've been waiting here all night for you."

  "We had a problem." Gunter said sarcastically. ".....Beths here."

  "And Sahra?"

  The German fell silent and stared at the floor.

"...You’re not telling me she's dead."

  "Oh no, she's alive, only Jack got away and took Sahra with him." He went on to tell John about the power station and bomb factory.

  "So you think he's got help?"

  "I was coming to that. It looks as if he's got at least four men with him. Probably professionals, either Mercenaries or help from
Northern Ireland
, I'd say the latter."

  "Don't worry." Smiled the Colonel
mischievously. "We're not entirely without help ourselves."

  "What about weapons?"

  The Colonel stretched as he got out of the car. "MP5's, Four nine mi
llimeters
and all the ammo you can carr
y. Oh, and a pump action for Danny
, I know how he likes them so much."

  "Well, I'll take that. He's brought the Spas
twelve
."

  "I've got a cache dumped at a location close to Ambleside. We need to pick up ASAP."

  "Let’s get going... You lead."

  Gunt
er drove this time, allowing Danny
some more sleep. At exactly ten past seven in the morning both cars pulled up in the rear car park of the Ambleside Fire Brigade station.

  The Colonel wound his window down. "Park your car up, we'll take mine the rest of the way."

  Once more
underway.
"Where are we going now?"  Asked Beth.

  "A place called Rosthwaite."

  "Can we get any breakfast there?" Asked Gunter.

***

  A narrow rocky track carved its way up the slope, on the left a steep ravine and on the right a near vertical green hillside. The sheep continued to graze on the lush green grass which it presented to them, seemingly unaware of the DPM clad figures with green
Berge
n
’s on their backs yomping up the hill towards a loose pile of large grey rocks.

  The Colonel raised his hand, then knelt, took out an ordinance survey map of the area and unfolded it on to his knee.

    He pointed up the hill. "The weapons should be about two hundred meters up ahead I think."

  "Those rocks?" Beth
said breathlessly
.

  The Colonel refolded the map and scanned the horizon. "Right." He said. "We've got company from now on. I don't want any of my men shot, so be careful."

"What if we see them?" Said Danny
, he knew the answer even before the question was asked. It had been a thing to make fun of the SAS ever since John had become their Commanding Officer.

  He simply shook his head and laughed.

  "And you thought they were sheep."  Quipped Gunter.  "BAaaa......  BAaaaaa"

  “Don’t GSG9
also do
sheep also?"

  Gunter set off up the hill once again. "Not sexually my dear Colonel..... Not sexually."  He cried back over his shoulder.

  Whilst Gunter made a much needed coffee on an old Trange burner, the Colonel handed out the weapo
ns and ammunition. Then he gave
Beth a crash course in MP5 weapon handling.

  "From now on everything is tactical. Beth, if you’re not sure of procedures....
Play safe and keep close to Danny
. The route is all uphill and the terrain is harsh, so watch those ankles. If we get split up, and one of my men doesn't rescue you, head north for Buttermere."

  Danny
passed Beth the steaming mug of coffee, of which she only took a sip. "That is disgusting." She
said and
spat
it out
.

  The Colonel took a sip and burnt his lips on the metal mug. "At least it's hot."

  The team rested for a
further twenty minutes, with Danny
on first watch, the others prepared their webbing and
Bergen
rucksacks for the long hike and possible fire fight.

  Danny
tried to make his webbing more comfortable as he watched for anything on the hillsides. That was the first time he saw one of them, crawling from behind a rock and freezing every couple of seconds to have a look. H
is scrim was almost perfect. He
raised his binos for a better look and found himself staring down the barrel of a snipers rifle.

  "John..." He
w
hispered edgily and looked sideways at the Colonel. "If this guy is one of yours, can you ask him not to point that thing at me?" He looked back and the sniper was gone from sight. "Where the hell did he go?"

  They moved out in single file, all the time staying off the tracks. The Colonel took the lead as they worked their way down a steep hillside and walked along a streams edge.

  Gunter stopped by the crystal clear water. "Is this safe to drink?" He asked and took out his water bottle.

  The Colonel nodded, and then
took out his map once again. H
e studied it for a short while, and then put it away. After seeing Gunter take a sip from his now full bottle. "..Some say that you can actually taste the sheep’s piss in that water......"

  Gunter
gargled the fluid
.
"
Adds flavor..!” He laughed.

  "Oh that’s disgusting." Beth cried
.

 
Five hundred meters past the stream the team cut left in to a deep crevasse.  Craggy outcrops of jagged rock jutted out from the steep bankings of grass. The ground rose dangerously on the far side and as they picked their way along an old sheep path, the ground on their right dropped away to over a hundred meters.

  The Colonel stopped again, this time taking off his
Bergen
. "I've got to make a call." He disappeared around a large boulder, taking the PRC 351 Combat net radio with him.

  "Hello Guardian One zero this is Loose cannon over."

  The static crackling in the handset changed in tone then came a reply. "Guardian One zero over."

  "Send sitrep over."

  "Possible enemy sited at zero six hundred hours, two kilometers north of your position. Four man patrol heading west on Sca Fel
l
. Will continue to observe."

  "Roger out to you. Hello Guardian Two zero this is Loose cannon send sitrep over."

  "Am continuing to shadow your team, over."

  "Roger out."

  The Colonel switched the radio off and walked back to where the others were resting up.

  "It seems there are at least four of them....."

  "I knew it."  Interrupted Danny
.

  "They're a couple of   K
ilometers
away at the moment heading west." He looked at his watch. "I'd say we have about four
hours to get up to the summit.
Let’s get going."

  Invisible against the lush green background and inaudible because of the rushing water on their left, the team moved forward. The Colonel signaled for Gunter to scout ahead for a base camp where they could safely leave their heavy loads.

  He returned minutes later, and led the group to a small waterfall.  "There's a cave behind the water. It's just big enough for our kit." He said proudly.

  As soon as the kit was stashed the team moved out, gaining altitude with every step.

***

Gunter and John lay concealed on a rock outcrop just below the crest of a hill. They had been following the unknown four man patrol for an hour, after sighting them setting up a tented area on low ground. They had kept to the right flank, just out of sight of the point man.

  The Colonel slowly lifted his binos and focused on the group of men who were barely thirty meters away.

  "They have AK47's and standard Ninemilli's. They don't look Irish though"

  "You think Mercenaries."

  "From the way they move, I'd have to say Tourists."

"What about Jack! Can you see him or Sahra?"

  John studied the terrain, looking for more tents. "No. He's not here."

  "Better get a closer look then. If we can get her out now, all the better." He took the binos from John and studied the lay of the land. "If we skirmish right in to that dip, it should give us the cover we need."

  Exiting the outcrop, they slid forwards on their stomachs until out of possible sight. Gunter was first to reach level ground and started running along a dry stream bed that ran parallel to the ridge.

  Moving now with deliberate stealth across the open areas, Gunter drew his pistol and signaled to John to do the same, then dropped to the ground behind the only available cover.

  After telling the Colonel to maintain a rear guard Gunter edged forward on his stomach. A vast amount of information can be gleaned from a soldier’s personal equipment, for example country of origin, level of training and even future intentions.

  He turned his attention to the nearest man. He was cradling an AK47, the weapon favored by many Armies of the world. A thick set man with dark skin and straight black hair, he seemed to be the groups leader,
he wore binos and seemed to be struggling to fold a
map
in the gusty conditions
.

  The others looked like a rag tag bunch of ex tramps. Gunter was surprised to see that none of them wore the correct footwear for the conditions or wore cold weather clothing. "Amateurs
.
.
!
" He almost uttered.

  He slowly backed off and as he did so
he also
realised that they didn't seem to be carrying any communications equipment
either
. The whole set up stank of men playing at Soldiers.