Dreams to Die For (48 page)

For the first time Fadyar had sounded threatening.

As she opened the kitchen door Cindy called out “Yasmin, thank you for what you did for us.”

Fadyar turned, smiled and ran down to the jetty just as the grandfather clock in the hall started to strike midday. She sat on the wooden planks dangling her legs over the water, looking but not really seeing. Confused by the events of the morning, she needed some time to recover, to refocus, but for the first time in months she was not able to concentrate on the mission. Images of her parents, her homeland, her early life came flooding back brought to the fore by her conversation with the two captive women. More images, this time of the women in the kitchen standing or seated beneath the vile Donaldson, him walking casually away from the school in the dusty heat of Baghdad. She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. She looked up and saw the long, grey dam and slowly moved her head to the left taking in the high massif of Gleoraich, where already two people lay slain and where many more were likely to die shortly, but she continued to turn and gaze upon Gleoraich's brothers and sisters, the almost unending array of peaks until she faced completely away from the dam and looked down the loch towards Kinloch Hourn. She could not see the cottage where she and her friends had stayed, where she and Khan comforted and made love, it being too far away, but she smiled to herself as she recalled their first primitive efforts at casting a fishing line. She took in several deep gulps of the fresh, clean air and stood up. No time for sentimentality, no place for indecision, no second thoughts. The kidnap, her plan, her revenge.

Her brain cleared and her mind was sharp once more. She reasoned that the Donaldson intervention, though unexpected and dangerous, had actually enhanced the probability of its success. All the security personnel with the exception of the two CIA agents protecting Assiter were now dead, the communications and alarms at Mealag were disabled and the two women were restrained. One thing only slightly puzzled her. She recognised Mrs Crossland and wondered why people from her past had today, of all days, reappeared into her life. The banker, Crossland, was obviously not around and Fadyar had an uneasy feeling that perhaps those responsible for telling her to use his bank had lied about him. She had been told that he was not involved or linked in any way to their organisation making it safe to use his bank. Whilst he was perhaps less scrupulous than most bankers in taking on risks, he seemed essentially honest and not likely to arouse interest from the authorities. Yet here, at the remotest of places, was his attractive ex-wife apparently living with Truscott – who just happened to be entertaining the US Secretary of State and his wife. She did not like co-incidences and she liked even less the possibility that her controllers had lied. The whole ethos of the Abu al-Mazan organisation was based on absolute trust. It had to be. Seated on the jetty, engrossed in her thoughts, Fadyar had not noticed the rapid change of weather approaching from the west and was startled when a few heavy drops of rain splashed onto her head. She called Khan on the two-way radio and ordered him to pick her up at the jetty even though she could have taken the last remaining boat that was tied there, but she did not want to fiddle about attempting to start the outboard. She had tried doing that a couple of times on the reconnaissance missions, only to discover that the ageing motors were somewhat temperamental and required a considerable degree of physical strength. However, had she attempted to start the Mealag boat it would have fired up instantly, being better maintained than the rental one she had been used to. Clouds obscured the hill tops which moments earlier Fadyar had been admiring but the loch itself was still flat and calm, its surface haphazardly punctured by the heavy rain falling onto it. As she called up Mattar she watched the approach of Khan's boat slicing through the water, the large trailing wake evidence of its speed.

“Mawdud. All police at the lodge are dead, repeat dead. Communications severed. We now have to get our target. Do you understand?”

“Understood. They are in open country high on the hill, but we are having difficulty in following at a safe distance due to the cloud.”

“Mawdud. If it is that bad they will have to soon return. Be very watchful and stay in touch.”

“OK. Out.”

Ever cautious Fadyar deliberately untied the Mealag boat and secured it to Khan's when he came alongside. Khan opened up the throttle and crossed the loch, towing the Mealag boat behind them. Waiting in the Land Rover, Khan nervously tapped his fingers on the dashboard. Fadyar just stared at the dam wall and watched the water gently lap against the tarred slope. Five minutes elapsed, then ten, then fifteen. The silence was shattered by a sudden loud crack of an un-silenced rifle shot, its echo ringing around the hills for several seconds. Fadyar got out of the vehicle and looked up at the mountain behind her. It was still covered in cloud, if anything it had thickened slightly and was now a greyish colour rather than white. The light was poor, the murkiness acting like a blanket thrown over the hill. She could see nothing, but clearly someone had fired a rifle shot.

Another fifteen minutes passed then her radio crackled into life and an out of breath Mawdud spoke rapidly. “They are coming back! The same way as they went. They have shot a deer and have loaded it onto a pole. We will try and take out the CIA at the tunnel, but if we fail you can get them as they descend.”

“Ok Mawdud. Good luck. Out.”

Fadyar made a rapid assessment of the situation. Mattar and Bagheri would have the element of surprise, but there were actually four armed persons, not two, now descending the hill carrying a deer. The disciplined stalkers would have broken their gun and removed the bullets for safety, but it would not take long to make them function again.

“Nasra. You start to climb up. Stay just out of sight of the tunnel entrance. They may need help when the shooting starts but remember try not to kill Assiter.”

Khan immediately jumped out and quickly started his climb.

“Mawdud. Sharid. Nasra is coming up. He will be below you both, do not fire at him.”

“OK. We understand,” Bagheri was first to respond.

She watched Khan go, hoping she had not sent him to his death. She had deliberately ordered everyone's assignments to keep him away from the hill until the last possible moment, sending the others to take on the guards, keeping her sweet Nasra safe. There was nothing Fadyar could do now but wait.

Assistant Commissioner Manders had not stopped barking out his orders for a full fifteen minutes, whilst officers around him furiously scribbled notes of what he was saying. When he had finished, they scurried like rabbits back to their desks, each picking up their telephone or tapping away at their computer keyboard. Some would be briefing other governmental organisations, some notified the border control so that the ports and airports were on warning to ensure that any suspects could not easily slip out of the country. Others would be notifying all police constabularies across the UK of the incident and what was known of the suspects to ensure that road blocks and searches could be carried out anywhere, quickly and easily, should the need arise. The other emergency services, including every North of Scotland hospital, were placed on full alert via a coded message that told them to expect potentially significant casualties. This was a precaution. Manders knew that the target was not mass destruction, such as the tube attack the previous year, but if terrorists are on the run and desperate, they were capable of doing anything, anywhere. That might include running into a busy shopping precinct and either opening fire with machine guns or using explosives. Once his specialist officers had done all they could to address the immediate priorities, they would then turn their attention to allied investigative work regarding the terrorist plot itself – notably identifying who the terrorists were and, if time permitted, some would start looking into why the plot had not been discovered earlier. The ATU team, headed by Manders, could now do little more. The plot itself was now for other teams to handle and to neutralise if possible.

In the UK, terrorism is regarded as a crime and the police are the only law enforcement agency mandated by Her Majesty's Government to deal with crime, however major. Paradoxically, the UK is almost alone among nations of not having a singular force, such as the FBI in the United States, to take charge of major crime and terrorist incidents. The UK has however been copied by many other states in relation to its command structure for dealing with major incidents, such as terrorism, prison riot, major fires, serious hostage taking and so on. Essentially, when a major incident is underway, three command centres – Gold, Silver and Bronze are immediately set up.

The Gold Commander is in overall control of the logistic resources at the incident. The Commander will not be on site but at a distant control room called Gold Command (or simply ‘Gold'), where those present will formulate the strategy for dealing with the incident. The Silver Commander is the tactical commander who manages the strategic direction from Gold and devises sets of actions that are completed by Bronze. Silver Command is rarely located at the scene as it needs to be able to take a step back and review all the different Bronze resourcing. Silver will not become directly involved in dealing with the incident itself. Bronze Command directly controls the resources at the incident and will be very near to, or at, the scene. The Commander is usually under the main control of the police unless it is a fire and rescue-led incident or, sometimes, a prison incident, irrespective of which organization Bronze actually works for. This is to ensure safety and efficiency of all involved as far as possible. If an incident is widespread geographically, different Bronzes may assume responsibility for the different locations and if the incident is of a complex nature the separate Bronzes are given their own tasks or responsibilities at an incident – for example, intelligence gathering, cordon management or survivor management.

Mealag Lodge was now the location of a known terrorist incident. As such all three command centres would be headed by serving police officers but, given the idiosyncrasies of the British police force, the Chief Commissioner of Police for the Metropolis and Britain's highest-ranking police officer, can only advise a regional constabulary despite his superior rank, though any local commander would be wise to listen to the advice and be ready to explain, should the need arise, why he had ignored it. As Manders was briefing his team Sir Neil Roberts was in touch with Peter Duncan, the Northern Area Commander with a reputation for plain-speaking and fierce independence. Usually it is obvious who will head the command centres, but Roberts had voiced concern as to the expertise of some of Duncan's subordinates. All, of course, had received anti–terrorist training and would have passed the demanding training courses in order to be able to act as commander but the Scottish Highlands was not noted for its experience of such serious crime. The word Roberts used to Duncan about the current plot was “challenging”.

“Sir, I do of course concede that my two local senior officers, Maythorp and Curry, would not previously have encountered anything on the scale of this outrage, but they have enormous local knowledge and are excellent men. I am not sure if you are aware of the particular area, Chief Commissioner, but that knowledge will be absolutely vital.”

Roberts did not know the area.

“Possibly then, Sir, you are worried because Maythorp only carries the rank of chief inspector, not that of commander?”

“Well, it had crossed my mind that given the sort of media exposure these events generate, it might be better for you to request someone of higher rank. I would be happy to facilitate that.”

“Thank you, Sir, but with great respect it is not the number of flashes on the jacket that matter. Maythorp is our central area commander, despite having only the rank of chief inspector. He has passed every examination and been recommended for promotion several times, but he will not move outside of his beloved Highlands. It is not his ability that has curtailed his rank, but geography. Despite my personal recommendation, the last appointments review refused to raise his rank for the area he polices.”

Roberts was rapidly realising that Duncan's reputation was well-deserved and he was determined not to let the persistent Scottish colleague dictate the command structure. Duncan, also, was becoming concerned at the nature of the conversation. He did not wish to risk a confrontation with the chief commissioner. Roberts mixed in important circles and Duncan was aware that a word dropped in the ear of someone in Whitehall could see him sent on assignment to head up the training of a fledgling police force in some goddam Third-World country that had recently converted to something approaching democracy. Not his idea of fun. Duncan was also cognisant of the longer-term implications of the situation. If he asked for another commander to come in and take over, Duncan himself would be Bronze or Silver commander, when he should rightly be Gold. That could have unfavourable repercussions in any subsequent grading review, but in any event, he reasoned, how would Maythorp and the northernmost constabulary ever receive recognition for higher rankings if he now declined the so called ‘challenge' spoken of by Roberts? He had an idea.

“I shall, of course, take on the responsibility of Gold Command and for the reasons I have outlined, Keith Maythorp should head up Silver. John Curry should therefore be Bronze commander but perhaps the chief commissioner could spare a high-ranking ATU officer experienced in real front line situations to assist Curry. After all, Curry will be at the sharp end of all of this. It might be good for the press to know we put a top man there, alongside the expertise of the local chap.” Duncan spoke firmly, but not arrogantly.

The chief commissioner smiled thinly, highly appreciative of Duncan's cool assessment of both the tactical situation and the wider political implications and responded positively, “Detective Superintendent Bill Ritson of the ATU would be ideal. He has a lot of knowledge of this case and prior to joining ATU was a highly experienced Serious Crimes officer here in the Met. I will ensure he is tasked with joining up with Curry as soon as practicable. Thank you for the suggestion, Peter.” The Commissioner silkily replied, unruffled, charming.

Duncan lost no time in contacting Chief Inspector Keith Maythorp at Fort William, informing him that he would lead Silver command and be responsible for tactical decisions and that Inspector John Curry was to head Bronze command. Curry was therefore the operational Bronze commander, the man in charge on the ground, the man at the scene of the attack. Duncan left the mention of Ritson's appointment until the end of the brief conversation. There was no complaint from Maythorp.

The Home Secretary had already decided to chair the Cabinet Office Briefing Room (COBR) unless the Prime Minister decided to intervene and do so himself. So far, he had declined. The COBR, sometimes referred to as Platinum command, role was to liaise closely with the Strategic Co-Ordination Group (SCG) headed by the Gold commander. The Home Secretary had gathered around him the chief commissioner of police, the heads of both MI5 and MI6, a senior representative from each of the remaining emergency and rescue services and a few trusted very senior civil servants. The Scottish Secretary from the UK government was in attendance and the Deputy First Minister from the devolved Scottish Government would be arriving within an hour. Two secretaries, whose role would be to ensure the huge white boards were written up with every development and time logged, plus some ancillary administrative help, completed the group. Urgency had been vital in setting up the command structures but it had still taken over an hour before all were in place.

The Emergency Support Unit (ESU) is area-based throughout Great Britain and is always on a high state of readiness to be deployed once Bronze and Silver command have identified what particular resources are required. The ESU principally aims to put in place as much technical support as is needed by the command structure and to provide quality and up-to-date intelligence. It is staffed mainly, but not exclusively, with police officers who have received highly specialised training in a particular function, discipline or skill, and can, in extremis, include experts from outside the force. ESU personnel can be rapidly brought together and carry with them a vast array of technical equipment, often utilising specially adapted vehicles. Their luggage varies according to requirements but routinely will include silent drills for boring through walls into which minute cameras and microphones can be placed enabling the police to see and hear exactly what is happening inside a barricaded or closed room. Mobile cameras, electronic jamming devices and a plethora of other sophisticated gadgetry can also be deployed, along with items such as computers, lighting and noise generators. Trained riot control officers, hostage negotiators, explosive experts and so on, can all be part of an ESU task force. The TSG (Territorial Support Group) is the manpower equivalent to the ESU, providing non-technical but highly experienced and specialist personnel that will routinely include qualified firearms officers. Like ESU, the TSG will be called by Bronze when needed. Both ESU and TSG travel to the scene of an incident in unmarked vans and cars, and it has often been assumed that the UK's world famous military SAS force is sometimes deployed at incidents under the guise of the police ESU and TSG units. The local ESU and TSG units were alerted within minutes of Mealag Lodge being identified and confirmed as the location of a terrorist attack.

Gold, Silver and Bronze commanders, and COBR, sit in specially designed and equipped rooms used for no other purpose but for an emergency. One of the very first tasks is to switch on the monitors and sound equipment so that whenever the ESU can supply the link to an incident site, the command centres are ready to receive it. Curry, with a few officers, took over the Eagles Rest Hotel and declared the Bronze command centre operational at 1:45pm. On the way to the hotel, he called in the area ESU with his initial assessment of his requirements. Some travelled at full speed by vehicle from Inverness to the hotel, where they began setting up their satellite broadcasting equipment, whilst the remainder were forming and obtaining other necessities. A helicopter equipped with a surveillance camera and long-range microphones was also despatched. TSG officers started to arrive an hour later. Initially they made the hotel fully secure and safe, clearing it of residents, but later TSG would assist with any possible attack on the terrorists. It was 3pm.

The delay frustrated Curry. As with all commanders faced with the awesome responsibility of dealing with an outrage, he needed quality information and resources. His limited forces were gradually mobilising, but he was desperate for more manpower. Had the incident occurred in a large city, officers for things like traffic management and control could fairly easily be found, but the Scottish Highlands were thinly resourced and geographically were a long way from the big metropolitan forces. Curry did what he could. He set up a road block at the A87 Kinloch Hourn road junction and ensured that the Skye bridge at the Kyle was also closed and blocked. As other traffic units raced to the area, he was able to seal off more roads, limiting and finally closing potential vehicular escape routes. He decided not to risk sending Greaves, or anyone else, along the dam road until he had further intelligence and increased specialist support at his disposal.