by Niv Kaplan
They could detect nothing, day or night. The compound was well guarded around the clock and no activity could be seen at the entrances of the apartment building or the mosque. Once during the night they caught a glimpse of a large van entering through the main entrance but could not make out any special identification marks and could not stick around to follow it if it came back out.
Elena tried to make friendly conversation with passersby in the area but it was not uncommon for buildings in Beirut to be fortified and guarded so no one paid special attention to the particular venue in their midst.
CHAPTER FORTY SIX
Another week passed before they got a break.
Christine managed to deliver some blueprints.
She sent it with a journalist, a colleague, who accompanied a French television crew doing a documentary on the recent Lebanese civil war. The compound had once been French police barracks built in the 1930s with an array of underground interrogation rooms and holding cells. Devlin studied the drawings with interest, realizing the part above ground was only a façade to an entire complex underground with what seemed like long tunnels leading to it from adjacent neighborhoods.
“No wonder we didn’t see any activity,” he commented to no one in particular, though everyone in the room was staring at him. “They never have to show their faces above ground. This is a perfect place to hide such activity.”
“Those neighborhoods should not have changed much under the ground since the 1930s,” Aziz commented. “The buildings have suffered battles over the years but the underground segments should be intact.”
“Can you tell where these tunnels lead?” Devlin asked, pointing to specific points on the drawings.
Aziz studied the blueprints.
The compound was situated in the Minet Al Hosn district bordering on the port district to the east and Ain Mreisseh to the west. Two tunnels were marked leading east toward the port while one tunnel led west toward the Ain Mreisseh. The drawings did not go much beyond the compound outer perimeter but it was quite clear to Aziz where they should be looking.
Furthermore, the sewer system provided additional links to the underground complex around the compound. The tunnel entrances were most likely guarded and watched, Aziz thought. The sewer passageways on the other hand, if passable, were more likely to be deserted.
“We’ll need to look for the entrances and inspect both the tunnels and the sewer system before we can make a decision on how to proceed,” Aziz said finally.
Everyone nodded in agreement.
“I’ll have my men search for possible entrances around the neighborhoods then we’ll send teams to investigate,” Aziz continued. “We cannot afford to be exposed so we’ll have to abandon any entrance that is guarded at this point.”
Aziz looked around the room then added. “On second thoughts, we may have to eliminate the watch in order to get in, but that’s only as a last resort.”
“What will we be looking for when we get into the compound?” Natasha asked, looking at Devlin.
“I am hoping we can find some records,” Devlin said. “Lists of names, addresses, maybe even photos. We could get lucky if they store the stuff so we can copy it off the computers but I doubt such activity would be properly registered.”
“So what if there are no records?” Elena asked.
“Then we resort to interrogation. We try to grab someone and take him back with us.”
“That is very dangerous,” Aziz said.
“It’s the best I could think of right now,” Devlin replied in frustration. “But an opportunity may present itself once we get going. Anyone got any other ideas?”
“We could watch the tunnels and follow whoever goes in and out of there,” Natasha suggested.
“That’s a possibility,” Elena agreed.
“It is, and it is also one that could take a long time to get us to where we want,” Devlin said.
“We could be noticed if we do that for too long,” Aziz pitched in.
“Or we could trap someone and interrogate him before we try to infiltrate the compound,” Natasha insisted. “That way we may find out if there are any records to be had or be pointed in some direction.”
They all looked at one another, assessing the idea.
“If he gets reported missing, that could be a warning sign which could launch evasive action,” Devlin said.
“Or we could combine the two measures,” Elena jumped in. “We could grab someone that could lead us into the compound, possibly through the tunnels if that's the way in.”
“What do we do with him when we’re done?” Aziz questioned.
“If we don't find records, we interrogate him on the spot. If he talks, we have him lead us, if not, we make it look like he suffered a heart attack or choked to death.”
All eyes were on Elena.
“Where did you come up with that?” Natasha asked in awe.
Elena’s face reddened. “I have no idea. I was just developing your line of thought,” she said, covering her face with the palms of her hands.
“Well, it sounds to me like the best of both worlds,” Natasha remarked, looking around the room.
“I’ll want to consult with Rolston, but this is definitely a start,” Devlin said, looking at Aziz for approval.
Aziz, listening to his interpreter, was nodding his head in agreement.
They went to work the very next day. Aziz marked the areas to be investigated for the tunnel and sewer entrances, and the group divided into ones and twos. Natasha remained in the apartment to coordinate matters.
Five sewer openings around the compound, all within one or two blocks away, were found within two days.
The tunnel openings were a different story. They were either well hidden, or did not exist where marked. The teams combed the area within a two block circumference of the compound but came up empty.
Aziz stumbled upon a tunnel entrance by chance.
He had stopped at a food stand on one of his rounds and while devouring his kebab noticed unusual activity at the back of the store behind the two attendants. Two or three people entered the stand but did not stop to buy food. Instead, they disappeared. As he sat there wondering where they had gone, he noticed two different people coming out from behind the attendants.
The place looked quite small to have anyone but the two attendants occupy it and it looked rather strange to have people walking in and out, so he decided to take a peek behind the attendants as soon as someone entered the back. He waited for an hour before an entourage of no less than four men walked in and disappeared. Aziz hurried to the stand for a second kebab and managed to see the back of the group disappearing into the floor, a large trap door closing over them.
Later when he checked the position of the food stand in relation to the compound his suspicions were further confirmed as it stood in direct line with sketch of the western tunnel, two blocks outside the boundary they were searching.
He sent two of his men to stake out the place and found the food stall to be manned all night.
The two eastern tunnels were believed to be functioning in similar fashion, one out of a car garage, the other out of a fruit and vegetables stand.
They had no concrete evidence that these were the actual entrances to the tunnels but further inspection of the activity at the three locations convinced them to send a team to infiltrate one of the establishments and find out for sure.
Of the three, the garage tunnel seemed to be the most vulnerable after business hours. The food stand tunnel and the fruit tunnel were almost impossible to penetrate without having to use force with two guards present at all hours of the night and no additional entrances to speak of at such small space.
The garage, on the other hand, had two entrances, one at the front and another at the back where repaired cars would exit. Those were locked after hours but not regularly watched during the night. Aziz had driven his car into the garage at one point pretending to need an oil change and noticed a trap door
at one of the two oil bays beneath the cars being serviced.
After further preparations at the apartment, a team of five made its way along the quiet narrow streets of Beirut’s port district and reached its destination at half past midnight.
Devlin, Aziz, and Amar, one of Aziz’s many nephews, armed with flash lights, a two-way radio, pistols, metal cutters and crowbars, were to go into the tunnel while Saeed was to watch the front and Jaras, a burly giant of a man, the back. They were to alert the team via a two-way radio and fend off any undesired surprises as best they can.
Saeed took his place watching the two guards at the front of the garage drinking coffee and puffing on their cigarettes. Previous surveillance had timed patrols at one hour intervals by one of the guards around the garage. So the team waited for the next patrol before making their move.
Two clicks on the radio alerted the team that the guard was approaching and when he had disappeared around the corner of the garage, they carefully approached the back doors.
The two metal doors were held with a stout combination lock securing them to one another through metal hinges but Jaras had little problem cutting them with the metal cutters. The team had brought a replacement lock to cover their tracks.
Aziz led them in the dark amongst silent vehicles to the closest oil bay which they carefully entered and shone the flash light for a brief moment to look for the door. They found nothing but oil bowls and car repair equipment.
Quickly moving to the second bay in the shadow of a pick-up truck, they descended the few stairs and flashed the light again. Once again there was equipment - but the trap door was there.
And it was unlocked.
Devlin led the way. The door creaked a little as he pulled the handle and revealed a dark abyss beyond the door. There was also faint odor of aging sea water. A quick flash of light revealed a rusty metal ladder attached to the wall which Devlin grabbed and began climbing down.
He carefully climbed down the ladder, flashing his flashlight at intervals to see where he was going. The ladder descended several meters before Devlin felt he had reached solid ground and the tunnel was revealed to him through a round opening which he had to slither through. Once in the tunnel he could see his surroundings by means of bare light bulbs that hung along the ceiling at lengthy intervals, providing enough light to see the way.
The tunnel was quite spacious, allowing him to walk almost fully upright with plenty of room on the sides. It was built of aging rectangular stone blocks forming an arch over his head. It was cool and damp and smelled of weathered seaweed.
His two companions were right behind him as they carefully inched their way forward. The tunnel wended its way on a subtle decline for the first few hundred meters then began to subtly rise again.
Devlin worried about surveillance cameras and unexpected obstacles such as guards posted along the way. He carefully surveyed each section from behind a bend before giving the signal to proceed. The tunnel stretched for almost a kilometer before he could detect a change in ambiance. He reached one final bend before the tunnel joined into a large hall that was dimly lit. He peeped in and immediately saw a man slumped on a small couch in front of a television that was broadcasting white noise.
The man was snoring heavily, his AK-47 leaning on the couch next to him. Devlin sneaked behind the unconscious man and silently took hold of the gun. Using hand signals he ordered Amar to remain with the man while he and Aziz went off to investigate.
The place seemed deserted. They walked silently through a maze of corridors not really sure where they were heading. The ancient structure had darkened nooks and crannies which they used to proceed until the formation turned more modern with steel doors and glass windows. They tried to decipher the composition of the rooms they were passing through the windows but they were all darkened.
The doors were unlocked.
They walked into one of the rooms, quickly flashing their lights around and found they were in a classroom of sorts with a blackboard, and two rows of tables and chairs. There were several cupboards with some paintings hung above them along the walls. They quickly looked in the cupboards but found nothing of interest.
Looking more closely at the paintings they realized were pencil sketches of guns and grenades, fighter aircraft, armored vehicles, submarines, and boats.
There was no indication of whom or what age the students were but from the sketches it was obvious they were children’s sketches.
They skipped into an adjacent room along the corridor and found another classroom with more sketches, world maps, Middle East maps, United States maps, Biblical maps, chemistry tables, multiplication tables, and various other teaching aids but no indication of who the students were.
There were no names and no duty rosters.
There were two more rooms on the opposite side of the corridor. They split up. Devlin walked into a Muslim prayer room, empty with mats thrown about. Aziz walked into a storeroom filled with shelves loaded with office supplies.
Continuing on, Devlin almost walked into a door that suddenly burst open. A burst of light illuminated the corridor as two men hurried out arguing passionately in Arabic. The two infiltrators hugged the wall behind the door as the arguing men walked in the opposite direction not noticing the threat so close behind.
The door swung back closing with a metallic click as Aziz and Devlin scooted low waiting for the two men to disappear behind the corner. As soon as they did, Devlin ran quickly for the corner stooping, hoping to see where the two men were heading. As he reached the corner he saw them entering a different room with light pouring out of its windows. He checked both his flanks as the corridor split in two directions, looked this way and that and practically crawled to the window to take a look, Aziz right behind him.
It was a communication center loaded with electronic and communication equipment. They could see several men and women in gray fatigues moving about the room, the two men who had just entered hovering over a computer screen.
Beyond the communication hub, the corridor had opened into a square courtyard which revealed the night sky. Devlin could see stars and realized he was standing by the square they had seen from Rolston’s surveillance apartment.
There were rooms along the entire perimeter of the square and they began trying the doors, hugging the wall, keeping in the dark. The doors were, again, unlocked. Devlin surmised security had slackened off. The terrorist organization was feeling quite invincible where they sat.
The first room along the square was an office. Two desks were pushed against the walls, both with computer terminals on them and several cabinets situated between them. Devlin watched the door while Aziz quickly searched the cabinets. The top drawers contained accounting data. The bottom drawers had various alphabetized files. It was awkward for Aziz to thoroughly check the files having to try and conceal the light from his flashlight but as he looked he could see photos attached to each file. His heart began to race as he scrutinized the files more carefully realizing he was looking at files of employees or operatives of the organization. They had no means of photocopying the files so Aziz did the next best thing he could think of. He found a pen on one of the desks and quickly jotted down on his arm three names with their addresses, leaving everything in order.
They continued along the square, entering two more offices but finding nothing they could use. At one point they could hear voices from the direction of the communication room and heard a door being closed as the voices faded. They did a complete round of the square, finding one room empty and three rooms locked. They had no means to force the locks open and were not about to risk making a racket so they returned behind the communication room and scooted low below the window to the darkened corridor that had split from the main corridor they came through.
It was a narrow corridor with no lights and no doors on either side. They quickly ran through it and nearly fell off a flight of stairs at its end.
Carefully descending the stairs into an abyss,
not daring to flash their lights, they reached the bottom of the stairs feeling a hard concrete floor under their feet. The dampness had returned as they inched their way forward not really seeing where they were going. Feeling their way along the wall, they reached a steel door that was locked. Dead end!
They returned to the stairs and climbed back to the empty corridor that led to the communication room then slipped back to the main corridor that led to the entrance hall where they left Amar with the sleeping guard.
They emerged from the trap door in the garage one hour after they had entered and signaled Saeed on the short wave radio that they were ready to come out. Five minutes later they received the signal.
Jaras was waiting for them outside the back doors, fitting the new lock and silently locking the doors behind them.
“They won’t know the combination,” Devlin whispered to Aziz as the four men sprinted for the safety of the closest street before the guard would make his next round.
“Mix up,” Aziz replied in English, flashing a smile of crooked white teeth in the dark. “Someone changed the combination. I doubt they’ll notice it’s a different lock.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Devlin muttered to himself then recalled something. “Say, what did those guys we nearly ran into argue about?” he asked Aziz as they were taking a wide berth around the garage area heading for their waiting vehicles.
“A delivery of weapons that was missing certain items,” Aziz replied instantly. “One of them was pissed at the other for paying the full amount before checking the merchandise.”
“So they get screwed by suppliers too,” Devlin remarked sarcastically.
“I guess they do,” Aziz agreed, marching ahead.
"So you do speak English," Devlin remarked eyeing the Lebanese agent walking next to him.