The Karl Lehman Affair

by Jonathan R Hayes

  ‘Bloody great!’ cried Parker. ‘And three cheers for NATO!’

  Almost immediately, two very fit and agile young men walked into the room.

  ‘Parker, meet SAS Paratroopers code named Alpha-1 and Alpha-2’

  The two men shook hands with Parker. Alpha-1 had fair hair. Alpha-2 had dark hair. That was all he could initially distinguish between the two SAS men.

  ‘So there’s no misunderstanding, Alpha-1 will be the mission leader.’

  ‘Sounds good to me,’ replied Parker.

  ‘Do we have any idea how long this ship will hang about in these waters,’

  ‘Until at least Saturday,’ replied Parker.

  ‘How do you know that?’ asked Hadley with eyebrows raised.

  ‘The kidnappers made contact. They want me to meet them at a secret rendezvous in Paris on Saturday and bring a glass vial containing a sample of iDrug.

  ‘Well at least that gives us some time to plan our attack. Now men, down to business. MI6 got clearance from the Ministry of Defense about an hour ago to kick-off this mission code named ‘Operation Wolf Rock’. Because we’re now planning to board the vessel, we contacted the Panamanian authorities. They sent an electronic copy of the Ship’s architectural layout plans.’

  Hadley opened a drawer under his desk and pulled out a large drawing. All four men poured over the document which contained a plan view of each level of the ship and an elevation view from the port side. Parker was now feeling very upbeat and he absorbed every detail of the ships layout.

  ‘Is there a room by any chance with the number 131?’

  Hadley scoured the drawing with Parker and quickly pointed to an area on the drawing.

  ‘Look here. Level three below the main deck. There’s a group of six rooms here about ten feet above the water line. The middle room is labeled No.131. What’s the significance of this room Parker?’

  ‘We think that’s where Nicole is being held’

  ‘Extraordinary!’ exclaimed Hadley with a puzzled look. ‘How in God’s name do you know that?’

  ‘Don’t ask, Hadley. It’s a long story.’

  ‘Now, based on our surveillance of these ships over the last number of months, they generally drop anchor and remain stationary at night away from busy shipping lanes. They are all equipped with the latest sonar and radar sensor technology providing full tactical and surveillance capabilities to the ship’s command, enabling targets with small radar cross sections to be detected even in the presence of heavy seas and rain clutter. What all this means is they can detect anything approaching them within a radius of twenty kilometers with great accuracy. Therefore, we are proposing that you three be taken by helicopter and dropped into the water tomorrow evening about three kilometers from the ship. We will conduct the drop in such a way that they’ll think it’s normal civilian traffic. There are exploration companies operating in the area in any case, ferrying people to oil and gas platforms.’

  ‘Only three people! Is this sufficient Hadley?’

  ‘Yes Parker. We believe it will ideally take three men to carry out this operation successfully. Anymore and the risk of being detected will increase dramatically. The element of surprise is vital here as well. You will need wet suits, scuba gear and a life raft to carry all the equipment, which will include diver propulsion vehicles (DPV’s), firearms, a rope ladder, a line thrower and finally, four limpet mines that will magnetically attach to the outside of the vessel below the water line.

  ‘What’s the line thrower for?’

  ‘It’s a device that has a swivel head and multiple hooks attached to the end of two ropes. On activation, it launches the ropes into the air up over the top of the ship.’

  ‘The device will be propelled by compressed air to minimize noise.’ added Alpha-1.

  ‘No need for you to worry about this detail,’ said Hadley. ‘Alfa-1 will fire the line thrower at sea level, which will attach itself to some part of the ship’s superstructure.

  ‘Not an easy task from sea level I can imagine’

  ‘No, not at all,

  ‘I can see carrying out this activity correctly will determine the success or failure of this mission …. and Nicole’s safe rescue.’

  ‘Correct! However Alpha-1 is expert in this aspect of the mission. Now the first thing you must do when you get beside the ship is place the limpid mines in position. Place two mines on each side of the stern. Pick a separate steel plate on the ship’s hull for each mine to ensure maximum damage so the ship sinks quickly. Alpha-1 you position mines on the port side, Alpha-2 you handle the starboard side. Parker, you must keep the life raft steady and tie it off close to the ship’s hull using a magnetic anchor onto the side of the vessel. When you get on board, all three of you must first search for evidence of WMD material on board the ship and photograph it. We believe it may be in a stainless-steel container like this one,’ said Hadley holding up a picture of a similar vessel. ‘You must survey the Laboratories as well to see what else they’re up to. Clear?’

  ‘All three men nodded in agreement.’

  ‘Only then can one of you go in search of Ms. Lehman and rescue her. Understood?’

  Parker was not happy about this, but he was extremely grateful to be given any chance of rescuing Nicole.

  ‘There has been no physical confirmation of what was inside the steel container before it went on board. We failed to confirm this in Algiers. We can’t simply destroy a ship on suspicion of wrong doing. NATO are insisting we must have hard evidence to comply with International law.’

  ‘Holding somebody hostage on board a ship, is that not wrong doing?’

  ‘Yes, it is wrong doing Parker. However, kidnapping a person on its own would not justify sinking a ship with an estimated one hundred souls on board.’

  ‘What are they planning to do with this material?’

  ‘MI6 are suspicious Python are manufacturing canisters containing deadly bacteria and viruses and selling them to so called Rogue States for use in Germ Warfare.

  ‘I see,’ replied Parker gravely. ‘Our priority is to sink the ship. What if I can’t get to Nicole?’

  ‘I’m afraid Parker you’ll have to fight your way to her cabin on your own. You may only have minutes to do so. Alpha-1 and Alpha-2’s priorities are to get off the ship with hard evidence and detonate the mines as quickly as possible before the ship can weigh anchor.’

  Parker shrugged his shoulders and remained silent. Alpha-1 shot a glance at him.

  Hadley continued, ‘We will have some large support team monitoring things in the background. If you get in trouble we have re-enforcements at the ready, but in this business, there are no guarantees. We can only use these resources as an absolute last resort. We don’t want to raise the profile of this top-secret operation if we can avoid it. Understood?’

  ‘Understood,’ responded all three together.

  ‘Pull this one off Parker and you can come and work for us full time.’

  ‘No thanks Hadley. I think I’ll finally retire from ‘active’ service after this mission is over.’

  With that, the briefing session ended, and the two SAS Paratroopers left Hadley’s office.

  ‘Now! Your visit to Moscow?’ Hadley enquired sitting back in his chair.

  Parker leaned over the desk and passed a sealed brown envelope to the MI6 officer.

  ‘This document contains a list of names of the top brass in Python. There are other confidential documents inside relating to recent operations involving Zoran.’

  ‘What is the source of this information, Parker?’

  ‘Obolensky himself with some help from diplomatic channels. Original source? I’d say the KGB.’

  Hadley opened the sealed envelope and glanced over the list of names and raised his eyebrows when he recognized some names amongst the list but disclosed nothing to Parker.

  ‘Very good! Well done Parker. Mission accomplished here alright! Don’t concern yourself any further with Python or Professor Obolensky. We
will look after things from here. Rest assured Obolensky and his family will be well protected in a safe house until this whole affair is fully sorted.’

  81

  Parker left MI6 Headquarters after the briefing session and went back to his penthouse in Earls Court. After pouring himself a cognac, he called Durand.

  ‘Where are you now, Raoul?’

  ‘I’m in the car, about twenty minutes away. ‘

  Soon Durand arrived at the Penthouse in Earls Court. Parker already had a glass of his favorite ‘poison’, Gin and Tonic with ice and lemon, sitting on a table and ready for him.

  ‘I had an important meeting with our friends in Vauxhall Cross this evening Raoul. The operation is of course classified ‘Top Secret’. What I can tell you, everything is now ‘Go’ for a rescue attempt tomorrow night. ‘

  Raoul, hardly believing his ears, griped Parker around the shoulders.

  ‘If we’re successful, I will bring Nicole straight back here to the penthouse.’

  ‘London would be much safer than Grasmere,’

  ‘Agreed!’ replied Parker without elaborating on his role in the operation to board the ship. ‘It’s not going to be easy Raoul, 50:50 at best.’

  ‘You’re a brave man Harry Parker. Fortune favors the brave. I have every confidence in you.’

  Durand's mobile phone buzzed. ‘It's the American law firm that handles Dr. Philips communications,’ whispered Durand with the phone held away from his ear. ‘They want Nicole to call and collect another envelope, same as last time.’

  ‘Tell them we'll get back to them on Friday, in two days’ time,’ suggested Parker optimistically.

  Durand repeated the message to the person on the phone and hung up. ‘All going well Harry, we might have Nicole back to collect the envelope herself. Now that would be a fine outcome. If only!’

  ‘If only’ repeated Parker gazing into his glass of cognac and thinking of the dangerous mission ahead of him. ‘I have to show up at an army barracks in Woolwich at 7am in the morning for some special training, so I best get some shut eye. Take any room you fancy. There are three to choose from. I will keep in contact with you when I can.’

  Both men stood up and Durand shook hands with Parker and patted him on the back.

  ‘Be safe, Godspeed, bring her home!’

  82

  Shortly after 8p.m. the RAF WS-61 Sea King helicopter circled around the drop zone in total darkness, three miles southwest of the Wolf Rock lighthouse in the Celtic Sea. Parker and the two SAS Paratroopers waited anxiously for the ‘off’, already in their semi-dry suits with scuba tanks strapped on their back, lead weights strapped around their waist.

  The RAF duty officer gave them last minute instructions on jumping into the water and securing their life-raft before the large cargo door opened.

  ‘Any second thoughts now?’ probed Alpha-1.

  ‘Bring it on,’ yelled Parker over the loud noise of the two Rolls Royce Gnome turbo shaft engines.

  ‘Gentlemen, we are now three kilometers away from the MV Asclepius, currently anchored off the main shipping lanes,’ advised the duty officer wearing a headset. ‘I'm going to inform the pilot the cargo door is about to be opened.’

  The three stood anxiously beside each other holding on to strap handles suspended from above before the large door slowly opened. Instantly a strong gust of cold, wet and salty air hit them face on.

  The chopper was circling slowly and hovering over the drop zone at about thirty feet above sea level.

  Parker gazed down at the uninviting restless sea. Too late now for any second thoughts. He jumped first, followed by Alpha-1, then Alpha-2. All three hit the choppy sea and felt the immediate shock of the freezing water hitting their faces. Soon the life raft was dropped into the water and the men swam across to it. It contained all the essential rescue equipment including a hand-held rocket launcher that could take down a helicopter. The chopper quickly ascended and flew away in a westerly direction leaving the three men alone in the dark, stormy Celtic Sea.

  The raft, black on the outside, was difficult to see for tactical reasons. It had a black bullet proof Kevlar-lined rain canopy on top, zipped closed to protect the equipment inside. Alpha-1 pulled himself up onto the craft, partially unzipping the cover before leaning in to fetch the three DPV's. Each man had a compass strapped to their arm and a miner’s headlamp attached to their hoods, set off in a south-easterly direction, powered along by the battery-powered propulsion units.

  They towed the life-raft along behind them tethered by a rope. The sea was rough, and the raft tugged and pulled at them in the swirling sea.

  They travelled submerged below the water line for three kilometers. After twenty minutes they stopped and surfaced. They could see the ship in the distance, about two hundred meters away, illuminated by its 'Vessel at Anchor' navigation lights.

  Alpha-1 signaled to continue forward. When they were about fifty meters away, the three surfaced again and switched off their DPV's.

  A large swell ebbed and flowed around the ship’s waterline making conditions perilous as the three fought against the elements to stop themselves being dashed against the ship’s steel hull.

  Alpha-1 pulled the raft by its rope closer and hauled himself up on top, unzipped the rain canopy before crawling inside. His miner’s lamp illuminated the bright yellow interior.

  The raft all the time pitching up and down violently, made it difficult to move around. He reached out and grabbed the line thrower. Meanwhile the other two, held on to the side of the raft, doing their best to steady it. Alpha-1 popped his head out and signaled to Alpha-2 to connect two DPVs to the underside of the raft. These would power them away from the ship during their escape. Alpha-2 disappeared under the vessel and re-emerged a short time later having snapped the two propulsion units into position.

  ‘All OK’ signaled Alpha-2 with his thumbs up.

  ‘Let’s get the mines positioned.’

  Alpha-1 holding two bags containing two limpet mines in each, handed one bag over the side to Alpha-2.

  ‘You place these two on the starboard side. I’ll place the other two on port side.’

  ‘Copy’ confirmed Alpha-2 taking the bag and disappearing under the waves.

  Parker, buffeted by the rough seas, crawled up onto the life raft and secured it to the side of the ship using a magnetic anchor pad and waited for the two men to return.

  Alpha-1 found a spot in the middle of a steel plate in the hull about fifteen feet below the surface. He removed one of the mines from the bag and placed it gently against the side of the hull. The powerful magnets firmly fixed the mine to the side of the ship with a slight clunking sound. He hoped the sonar devices didn’t pick this up. He moved forward another twenty feet and gently placed a second mine in a similar location in the middle of a large steel plate.

  When he returned to the raft, Alpha-2 was already there clinging on to the side. Alpha-1 boarded as Parker slid over the side to join Alpha-2. All was now set for the boarding to proceed. Alpha-1 signaled he was about to launch the line thrower but needed to be about ten meters further out from the ship to ensure a sixty-degree angle for launching.

  Alpha-2 untied the rope securing the life raft to the ship and tied it around his waist. He swam out as hard as he could and slowly but surely pulled the raft further out against the boiling sea with Parker hanging onto the side, kicking with his legs to help propel the craft along. Now in position Alpha-1 aimed the line thrower upwards. Hesitating to get a steady aim while the raft pitched and rolled, he squeezed the trigger and the device flew high up into the air above the ship and disappeared over the far side. The line came to rest somewhere over the ships large super structure. Both men waited anxiously to see if any alarms would sound. All they could hear was the howling wind and the water lashing off the side of the hull.

  Alpha-1 tugged on the lines and found they were secure. He tied the rope ladder onto one line and pulled on the free end. The rope ladder rose into the a
ir and slid up the side of the vessel’s hull.

  The two in the water now hauled themselves up onto the life raft. Alpha-1 signaled for all to shed their Scuba gear and drop it over the side. Parker immediately unstrapped his gear and let it sink to the bottom of the ocean.

  ‘There’ll be no room on the raft for the diving gear when four of us are on board,’ thought Parker optimistically.

  Alpha-1 strapped the wrist watch sized detonator panel on to his wrist and signaled to the other two they were now going to ascend. Alpha-2 was to be the first up the ladder followed by Parker, then Alpha-1. The first man tried to step off the raft onto a rung while the raft pitched wildly up and down. He over balanced but luckily Parker grabbed his leg and managed to steady him. Finally, he got two feet firmly onto the ladder and started ascending.

  Parker grabbed the ladder and hauled himself out of the raft with great difficulty and started his ascent, with a spare Kevlar jacket and a Heckler & Koch mp7 submachine gun strapped around his shoulders.

  Alpha-1 was the last man onto the ladder. He also carried an H&K machine gun.

  Alpha-2 slowly but surely got to the top and peered over the parapet, pistol at the ready, checking the coast was clear.

  He waited for Parker to arrive up behind him before going over the top.

  One after the other, they skipped over the steel parapet onto the deck.

  The place was dimly lit by deck lights. The three crouched down and hid in a dark corner of the deck area until they got their bearings.

  A door opened unexpectedly, and a kitchenhand walked out close to where they were huddled. Alpha-1 removed the safety-catch on his revolver just in case. The man emptied a container full of food scraps over the side and walked back inside.

  Alpha-1, with the ship’s layout ‘photographed’ in his brain, signaled the other two to follow him.

  They sneaked carefully along the deck while the large ship slowly rolled from side to side in the stormy sea. He was looking for the eighth door along from the kitchens.