Tested by Fire

by David Costa

  ‘Leave it with me, I’ll let you know how I get on. I’ll also be getting the police to give us a secure zone to work inside to deal with both locations and take care of civilians.’

  When the call finished, Reece noticed that Steve Harrison had brought the seat up from the recline position and had been awake during the phone call.

  ‘Sorry, did I wake you?’

  ‘No, I’ve been trying to sleep but I never can in these situations, I get some extra energy from somewhere I don’t know.’

  ‘By the look of things, the troop are going to hit the house in Irlam before daylight. I hope we can talk to the caretaker here before then and work out where our friends are staying.’

  ‘If we do find them what then?’

  ‘We have some time to prepare an assault but if they get news that we’ve hit their house in Irlam we might have to move quickly, we can’t let them escape. From now we start to prepare. I want everyone in their vests and armbands on and the H and K out of the boot we might just need the heavy firepower before this is over. I’ll go over and tell the others. You stay here and keep watch.’

  Reece walked across the square and getting into the back seat he found that April was asleep in the front passenger seat, waking when Reece opened the car door.

  Reece quickly brought Grey and Cousins up to date, telling them to prepare their equipment just as he’d told Harrison.

  ‘When the caretaker gets here, we need to have a quick chat with him. In the meantime, Steve and I’ll pick up Mike as arranged. April, if the caretaker arrives before I get back, have that chat.’

  ‘Are you OK with bringing her into a dangerous situation?’ asked Grey.

  ‘She’s lived with dangerous situations all her life. Even with his face change I believe she could still identify Costello and if she gives us that advantage, the risk is worth taking. I’ve talked to her about the risk, now that Costello knows she might be working with us her days are numbered if we don’t get him first. Our job now is to keep on the ball and get these people. The boss will be pushing the police to give us a secure zone for us to work inside and to stop civilians getting involved.’

  ‘Will they know we’re inside their zone?’ asked Cousins.

  ‘That’s the plan, but I don’t know when they’ll take up position, so keep alert.’

  Chapter Sixty

  Middleton and his assault team studied the aerial photos identifying all the approaches to the Irlam house and the buildings surrounding the target area. The rear garden was surrounded by a five-foot wooden panel fence, difficult to get past but not impossible.

  Middleton was thankful that the setup of the house was similar to the one at the SAS base and training ground that was used for assault drills and training. The fact there didn’t appear to be any innocent civilians made the choice easy, a hard assault through the front door and window with two soldiers covering the back door in case of an attempted escape.

  Every member of the team, including Middleton, who would go in through the front door were now dressed in their flameproof jumpsuits with full-face respirator masks to protect against smoke. Each trooper carried two stun grenades, a Glock pistol, and the standard Heckler & Koch MP5 machine gun – capable of firing 800 rounds of 9 mm Parabellum rounds per minute. Each machine gun was fitted with a sound suppressor making it easier for the troopers to hear each other in a noisy environment which would already be overwhelmed with flashbang stun grenades and blast charges on the windows and doors.

  Anything that can make the assault on a building where hostiles are expected inside was welcome and had come about from years of experience and practice learning what worked and what didn’t.

  Even then, SAS soldiers had it drilled into them to adapt as the circumstances arose. Put down overcoming firepower, cover each other, shoot to kill. The John Wayne wound in the shoulder or the leg was movie stuff…not real life. A wounded man can still return fire, a wounded man can still kill you, so kill him first.

  Geoff Middleton was confident he had the men to do the job. Each one knowing where he fitted in to the assault.

  Middleton finished the briefing, and everyone broke away to make the last checks and to prepare in their own way. The practice drills were over. Some of the troopers had already experienced real fire situations, only two would be experiencing it for the first time.

  ‘What do you need from me?’ asked Broad who had been sitting quietly at the back of the room watching Middleton brief his men.

  ‘Now that you’ve handed over to us it’s the aftermath where we’ll need your help. One of my troopers will be on comms here and you’ll be able to hear the whole thing going down. Afterwards, we’ll pull out quickly leaving the ground clear for the emergency services to go in and clean up. I’ll be first through the front door,’ said Middleton.

  ‘I’ve already spoken to Mister Lockwood and he’ll have the locals on standby ready to move in with an ambulance and fire brigade. There will be a senior police officer on the ground who knows they’ll have to seal the house and keep the residents tied down. There’ll be a door knock, and statements will be taken.

  ‘We’ll put out the gas explosion story stating there’ll be a press release when the area is declared safe and some idea of what has happened can be explained. This will give us time to find out where the rest of our friends are in Manchester. We will need similar backup there as well. I’ve informed the powers that be where we are and what we intend to do. We set our watches for 0600 and then with a bit of luck we’ll be able to move on the Manchester address before 11 a.m. If they try to leave before then we have the SG9 team in position to intercept. Good luck, Geoff, I’ll be here until this is over if you need me.’

  ‘Good, sunrise is 0710 so with any luck it will be all over at the house and if needed I can let your team in Manchester have a few of my men to help there.’

  Middleton turned and left to join his men and finish preparing his own equipment.

  Chapter Sixty-one

  With five minutes to go before 6 a.m. the police cordon moved in at the top of Kings Road.

  The sun was starting to rise but it would be nearly two hours before the light would be strong enough to pick out the SAS team who were now moving in closer to number 2 Henley Avenue. The attending police officers had been told very little. This was an anti-terrorist operation where they were only needed as backup and to stop anyone entering or leaving the road. The officers noticed there was also a fire engine and an ambulance parked up on the main road obviously under the same instructions as they hold back and wait for orders.

  A minute before 6 a.m. a Transit van and two blacked out Range Rovers parked on the main road and eight fully combat dressed, heavily armed soldiers all wearing respirator masks left the vehicles and made their way, in twos, down Kings Road.

  The police officers knew not to interfere or ask questions… this operation was way above their pay grade.

  There was a fine rain falling and the grass, pavement, road, and windows of the surrounding houses glistened in the reflection of the streetlights following the shadows left by the soldiers as they moved forward in crouching positions. The police officers closer to Kings Road could see some of the soldiers were carrying what looked like small window frames. These soldiers had their MP5s on slings over their shoulders while the others moved quietly with their weapons in the raised position pointing and sweeping to the front.

  Middleton spoke into his face mike, constantly reporting to Alpha Control the progress of the mission.

  ‘Alpha Control, Tango Team moving into position, will report when making entry.’

  ‘Roger, Tango One, waiting out your numbers,’ replied the SAS trooper in the control room.

  Jim Broad had covered many operations like this, and it was the waiting that was the hardest. Waiting and hoping for the best. There was always the silence. The straining to hear every word coming over the radio waves. The communication rooms were always quiet at these times, leaving the profes
sionals to get on with their jobs. It was always as if no one was breathing.

  The SAS team on the ground had moved into their pre-planned positions: two troopers moved to the rear fence, two to the front downstairs window, and Middleton and three other men to the front door.

  Middleton asked for a situation report from the trooper in the van who was monitoring the sounds in the house and was told that all was quiet. Middleton instructed the two soldiers at the rear of the house to move forward. This was part of the plan where they would quietly lift up one of the fence panels and slide into the garden before moving to the back door. The team had recognised the danger of being heard or seen from the target house, but it was a risk they had to take.

  The silence from the house continued as the troopers moved through the fence panel, let it back down into its original position, and moved up to the rear door. There was still no sound or movement from inside the house as the soldiers at the front window removed the sucker mike and placed one of the framed charges up against the window while Middleton did the same at the front door.

  The street was deathly quiet. Even the breathing of the SAS men was quiet and controlled behind the face masks. Middleton gave a thumbs up and the ten second fuses on the shaped frame charges were set and the troopers pulled back to the end of the garden path. The explosives were set in such a way that when the blast came the explosion was forced inwards. The flash, the bang, and the falling debris wouldn’t only waken the residents in the street but many people in the surrounding area but most definitely the people inside the house.

  Before the last of the debris had hit the ground, Middleton’s voice came over the airwaves, ‘Go, Go, Go.’ In seconds, the SAS troopers were inside the building, two taking the stairs, two inside the living room, and two into the kitchen after shooting off the back-door hinges. Two more men covered the building from outside. Inside the house, the troopers hit darkness and smoke was hindering their vision, but the respirator masks protected their eyes and breathing. Calling out ‘Clear’ as they moved through the house. The two troopers who had entered the through the kitchen door took over covering the living room while the two troopers who had entered through the front living room window turned to join Middleton and the second trooper who had headed up the stairs through the blasted front door.

  As they reached the main landing, Middleton turned right with a trooper behind him. He moved to the main bedroom and stood with his back to the wall and opening the door, he threw in a flashbang. At almost the same time the two troopers who had entered the house through the front window followed up the stairs, turned left on the landing, and executed the same procedure at the door to a front facing bedroom. Both flashbangs went off at almost the same time, brightly illuminating the bedrooms followed with a loud bang. The final two soldiers were now covering the open bathroom and the third bedroom door which were both at the rear of the house.

  As Middleton and his men were to discover the front bedroom he attacked was empty. It had been Costello’s room but was now vacant. The second bedroom contained a very shaken Imtaz who only had time to stand beside his bed and fire blindly with his pistol where he thought the door was, the blast and light from the flashbang had done its job. When the first trooper entered the room, he recognised the Asian man who’d been photographed going for the local shopping trip.

  The rounds he fired hit the bedroom wall to the left of the soldier. With his Heckler & Koch already levelled, he fired back with a burst of five rounds hitting the man who, afterwards, reminded him of a rabbit caught in a car’s headlights; eyes wide and scared. Three of the rounds hit Imtaz squarely in the chest and the other two hit his face and temple blowing his brains out the back of his head and spreading a halo of blood and gore over the wallpaper behind him.

  Middleton’s voice came over the airwaves, ‘Contact, wait out.’ That was the signal to the SAS radio operator and Broad that contact had been made with the enemy and there would be no more communications with them until the operation was complete.

  Waheed had been in the rear bedroom of the house. His mind had been spinning about what the morning and daylight would bring. He and Imtaz had slept fully clothed to be prepared for all eventualities. The loud blasts had woken him from his light slumber, and he knew immediately what was happening. The enemy were here, and he was prepared to become the martyr he’d always known he would be one day.

  That day was here.

  He stood beside the bed facing the door as it opened. He could see for a split second the black gloved hand as the SAS Trooper threw in the flashbang. Waheed knew what to do he’d trained for this in the desert. As the flashbang sailed through the air, he dived behind the bed, closing his eyes and placing his hands over his ears. Even then the noise and flash that came burnt into his eyes and ears. He armed the small bomb he had beside the bed and tossed it towards the bedroom door as the first of the two troopers crept in.

  The soldier saw the device flying through the air and instinctively dived to the left of the bedroom door when it exploded but the blast, in the confined space, killed him instantly. His body armour unable to provide protection at such close proximity to the explosion with the nails embedded into the Semtex doing most of the damage shredding his skin and penetrating deep into his body destroying the rear bedroom wall of the house. Waheed, still down beside the bed, had been protected although some of the nails tore through his back arms and legs.

  He was still conscious and rose with his pistol in hand to continue his battle with the infidel. As he did so, he called on his God, ‘Allahu akkbar, Allahu akkbar.’

  SAS soldiers trained for such a situation: don’t stop, keep fighting until it’s over. The second soldier and Middleton, who had joined him, rushed through the door with rifles raised and they both fired at the rising Waheed hitting him twenty times and throwing him back against the wall before he fell forward onto the shredded bed. The wall behind him covered with blood and mixing with the cement and bone sticking to the bullet holes that peppered the wallpaper.

  The SAS men checked their downed comrade confirming the worst.

  There is a collapsible Clock Tower which is assembled on special occasions on the Parade Ground at the headquarters base nicknamed the Head-Shed by SAS operators but known the world over as the Hereford base of 22nd SAS Regiment or Stirling Lines after the regiments founder David Sterling. The Clock Tower also bears the names of every SAS soldier killed in action. Soldiers of the regiment who survive such operations call it beating the clock. Unfortunately, on this occasion another name would be added to the Clock Tower list.

  Rolling the body of the terrorist over to take a photo of his face as they did with all such enemies, Middleton noticed the dead man was smiling through teeth that had a wide gap.

  Middleton’s voice came across the airwaves once more. Jim Broad listened with intent. ‘Alpha Control, house secure, two enemy and one friendly KIA, bring in a cordon.’

  It was Broad who answered. ‘Roger, Tango One, will do. Sorry to hear you’ve lost a friend. Return here as soon as you can for a debrief and reassignment.’

  ‘Roger, Alpha Control, on our way.’

  On the command from Broad, via the Gold Command in Manchester, the emergency services moved in to secure the house and the street.

  The residents had been wakened by the explosion and the confusion that came from such a rude awakening. The troop Transit and Jeeps moved to the end of the street and Middleton and his men having lifted two mobile phones and the few documents they could find were quickly picked up and driven out of the Kings Road and Irlam back to the hanger.

  As the police, fire, and ambulance crews moved in to surround the target house and seal off the street, GCHQ, on the instructions from Broad, froze the phone, Internet, and mobile signals within a quarter of a mile of the street.

  Gold command would, when asked to, release the agreed press release of a suspected gas explosion and the area would be sealed off until a full check of the area had been made.


  Broad sat in on the de-brief of the assault team when they returned then phoned Sir Ian Fraser to brief him.

  Chapter Sixty-two

  ‘What happens now, Jim?’ asked Sir Ian.

  ‘From the weapons and explosives used by the two at the house in Irlam, we can expect the rest of these people to be similarly armed, so we take no chances. We hit them hard, if they want to come peacefully they’d better put their hands up quickly. We’ve been trying to contact the building society people and the building’s caretaker without success. There’s a company number with offices opening at 9 a.m. we will chase both. The caretaker comes on duty at 8 a.m. so we’ll be there to talk to him when he arrives. Reece and his team have the building under close surveillance and the police are moving in a cordon as we speak.’

  ‘Thank you, Jim, I’ll update the PM and Martyn Bryant. My feelings are that this won’t end well, but we all knew why the Department was set up, so let’s get on with it.’

  ‘The next few hours will tell a tale. I’ll be letting Reece know after this call to get in there and sort it.’

  The Prime Minister was an early riser even though he’d been awake to past three in the morning working on his Conference speech. Now sitting in his suite with Bryant and Sir Ian he was quickly taking on-board the latest update from C, his head of Her Majesty’s Secret Service. Although he’d been expecting the operation to come to a head, now that it was here, he still felt some unease in his stomach. He’d experienced this feeling many times before when he knew people would be looking at him for the leadership he’d so strongly desired all his political life. The decision had been made, the operation had started, and one of the reasons he’d been up so late working on his speech, was that he had to work on a different opening which would encompass the resulting deaths and what it would mean for the war on terrorism, the future of the country, and the type of politics he’d put in motion when agreeing to the formation of the Department SG9.