Cell (60 page)

Aboard Barge No.
4,
Ali also had radio communication
with the skippers of the other barges. Not as sophisticated as
Sarge's, it still gave him warning of what was happening.

'We are being killed by gunmen ashore,' Mohammed,
skipper of the first barge, reported as his control station at
the rear began to sink.

'Stay calm. Be precise,' Ali ordered.

'All the men in dinghies who headed for the left bank have been killed. That is where the enemy is . . .'

'What weapons are they using?' Ali demanded.

'Automatic weapons. Many of them . . .'

'Where are the gunmen stationed?'

'Somewhere on the river bank. We didn't see them . . .'

Mohammed adjusted his headset. He voice was becom
ing hysterical. The deckhouse was now close to the water.
Soon it would be under the river.

'What about the bridge? Your objective?' snapped Ali.

'Waterloo is standing. We are sinking. The whole barge. . .'

'You should have told me that first. What caused it
to sink?'

'I'm leaving. I'm going to drown . . .'

The voice ended in a gurgle as the river flooded into the
deckhouse with terrifying speed. Mohammed was drowned
before he could make his way out.

Ali had heard the first gurgle, had guessed what had
happened. The trouble was all the skippers of the other
barges would have heard the calamitous news. Different
tactics were called for as they approached Westminster. He
took a quick decision.

Europeans always repeated their tactics. Especially when
they were successful. He had to surprise them. His voice
was calm as he spoke again.

'The plan will proceed. Mohammed was exaggerating.
He became hysterical. I am now coming aboard Barge
No. 2. Have a rope ladder at the stern I can use to come
aboard.'

He turned to his deputy, saw that he had anticipated
what Ali would need. He was lowering a small, powerful
speedboat at the stern. He then shinned down the rope to
take over the controls.

Ali was beside him before he had expected the com
mander's arrival. Ali spoke quietly, firmly.

'Top speed. Remember to
zig-zag-
the way you did once
on the Nile. We will trick them.'

49

The SIS and SAS units were in position roughly midway
between Westminster and Lambeth bridges. They were
well-concealed. Paula wore her night-glasses as the men
acing snout of the next barge appeared under Lambeth
Bridge.

Once again she spotted the second weapon stationed on deck to take down the main struts of the next target. She
reported to Sarge. The barge was clear of the bridge swiftly,
helped by the turn of the tide now flowing downriver, by the
wind which was gaining in strength . . .

She pressed the lenses closer to her eyes, puzzled. Could
not believe was she was seeing. It was important to tell Sarge
what she was seeing.

'Barge changing direction. Appears to be heading towards
this bank, towards us.'

'I have seen,' Sarge replied. 'Thanks for confirmation.'

'That's not all. Wait a minute. I must be sure . . .'

She was scanning the deck from stern to prow. Large
numbers of the enemy were crouched down on the port
side.
Their
side. Why? Then she saw the barrels of many
weapons perched on the gunwale. She made herself speak
calmly.

'Arabs in force stationed along deck. Almost hidden by
gunwale. A huge quantity of weapons ready to fire.'

'Thank you . . .'

Sarge raised his own glasses, swept them along the
deck. She was right. He grasped at once the new tactic. Diabolically clever. He issued a new order.

'No one, repeat
no one
is to open fire whatever happens.
They are waiting for us to do that - so they can locate our
positions. We may come under fire. Do
not
reply.'

The barge, looking immense the closer it came, was
sailing on an almost diagonal course across the river. Sarge could not fire his bomb and missile at this angle. But soon
they would have to change course or hit the Embankment.

'No dinghies came our way. They will later,' Buchanan
reported.

It was the first time the Superintendent had communi
cated with them. It told Tweed, Beaurain - and Sarge -
that the police anti-terrorist force stationed on the opposite
bank was in the closest touch with the situation.

'Turn, damn you,' Paula said to herself.

As though hearing her, the barge changed course to avoid
collision with the Embankment. Then it began. A storm of bullets raked the Embankment and the area beyond.
Once started, it never seemed to stop. Not knowing where their opponents were, the al-Qa'eda were doing everything
possible to tempt return fire - so their enemy's locations
would be revealed.

Paula crouched lower, pushed down by Beaurain. It
took incredible will-power to stay still under the barrage
of gunfire without returning fire. Paula gritted her teeth, hating this situation. She glanced at Tweed, was surprised at his clinical expression. Typical, she thought. In a crisis
he freezes.

The murderous barrage continued. She heard a gulp
from her left, saw Harry clutching his shoulder. He had
been hit. Moving very carefully, she reached him, removed his hand - covered with blood. She felt inside her shoulder-
bag, took out her medical kit.

Using scissors, she gently cut away a portion of his
uniform from the top of his shoulder. She risked using her
torch, shielding the beam with one hand. The bullet had
grazed his shoulder, scooping out a shallow channel. She
squirted antiseptic water on it, removed the blood. Harry
was looking at her, smiling. He shook his head.
This is
nothing,
his shrug told her.

When she had cleaned the wound she used an antiseptic
pad to cover it. Fixed it in place with tape. No blood oozed
from underneath the pad. She put her mouth close to his ear. It was the only way he'd hear her with the infernal
gunfire continuing.

'Don't use your left arm. Not before we get back.'

'It's OK. I heard you. Thanks.'

A blasting explosion shook the ground under their feet.
Now grenades were being hurled from the barge at random.
Then the explosions ceased. She looked up.

The barge had turned away from the Embankment, was heading towards mid river. All around them the cluster of trees they had sheltered under were shattered. Paula, knowing she'd not be seen now, stood up. The barge was heading straight for Westminster Bridge, the prize target.

The SAS unit was stationed nearer the target, to the left of where the SIS sheltered. Sarge was now able to adjust his large mortar, using its laser beam to aim the bomb. He
looked at his subordinate, saw he was rapidly adjusting the
angle of the missile launcher. He nodded.

The huge shell sailed towards its target, dropped neatly
down the main hatch. At the same moment the missile whipped out of its muzzle, landed on the smaller weapon
at the bows.

Paula felt sure the massive explosion was greater than she
had witnessed with the first barge. The vessel shook from
stem to stern. Flames lit up the river, then dense clouds of
black smoke drifted above the flames. The barge began to
heel over to starboard.

In the deckhouse Ali was badly shaken, but nothing in his
expression showed. He realized the entire barge would be going down. He turned to the skipper he had taken
over from.

'I have to leave to check the other barges. You are now
in command . . .'

He shinned down the rope ladder still attached to the stern. The small speedboat had been moored above the rudder. His assistant was already inside the speedboat,
ready to operate the controls. AH lost his calm for a brief
moment. He shouted at his assistant.

'Get us the hell out of here. Back to Barge No. 4, my
original command post.'

'Immediately,' said the assistant, who had cut the moor
ing rope. He started up the engine, swung the speedboat
away from the huge vessel which was turning turtle. Ali
pushed him aside, grabbed the wheel.

'You forgot. For the sake of Allah we
zig-zag.
'

50

'Everybody into the jeeps. Move if you value your lives.'

There was an urgency in Sarge's communication Paula
had never heard before. Out on the river the barge was still
wallowing above the surface. She tried to help Harry as they
rushed to the jeeps. He smiled, pushed her away.

'I can get there. Shoulder just aches a bit. I can use both
hands to operate a sub-machine gun . . .'

Everyone was inside a jeep in record time, even carrying their satchels and weapons. The SAS unit had already swept
past under Lambeth Bridge. She looked back as Tweed
rammed down his foot on the accelerator. She then realized
the foresight Sarge had shown, the reason for his urgency.

The full length of the barge suddenly sank swiftly deep
down into the river. Its descent, so swift, added to its weight,
divided the river briefly. She felt sure she had a glimpse
of the river bed. Then two monster waves swept towards each bank, struck them like a cyclone, hurling unknown
tons of water across the Embankment and up the sides beyond the pavement. They would have been inundated. She sighed with relief as they sped under the bridge and
the river became normal.

There would have been no time for the crowds of men aboard to leave. They were now entombed in the sunken
barge lying on the river bed.

The Arab commander of the three remaining barges,
proceeding upriver, Sarge correctly guessed, would not try
the same trick again. Sarge simply moved his three firing points closer to the target bridges, but far enough away so
they would not be touched by his own bombs exploding.

Two barges were sunk by his bombs. They sank slowly,
giving al-Qa'eda time to lower men in dinghies. But this time, on Ali's orders, they headed towards the right bank.
None of them reached the shore alive. Buchanan's anti-
terrorist squad killed them all while they were still on
the river.

Barge No. 5, with Ali now aboard, assigned to destroy
Chelsea Bridge, received its bomb and missile as soon as it
was well clear of the bridge, earlier than Ali had expected.