by Brian Cain
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
While Cadiche lived a relatively sheltered existence Stanton was giving himself an hour to get clear of Karachi before someone shot at him. He sat Mahir on the couch facing the balcony and asked a few pressing questions while he watched the door at the same time. Mahir was spacey and in pain from his head blows but responded. "Kadeem or whatever you want to call yourself, doesn't matter if you say nothing, I'm going to take you and put you in the hands of Al Ahmadi. He’ll know what to do with you; name rings a bell does it?" Stanton could see the fear in his face.
"Al Ahmadi, how do you know this man?" strained Mahir.
"I came upon him in 2003 in Baghdad. He was about to be murdered by a republican guard. He had his young son with him and his assailants met with an accident. I struck him again in Afghanistan only last year, he handed me a computer belonging to Jahangeer Mashir."
"Jahangeer Mashir was my blood brother, Ahmadi had him slain and hung in the street. You are a pig Stanton and you will pay for this."
"We’ll see how much courage you have when we present you to Al Ahmadi. He would have much more idea on how to extract information from you than I." Stanton began to dial numbers on his satellite phone.
"No wait," interjected Mahir. "I can get you out of Karachi if you agree to let me go."
"Pig’s arse. If I didn't want information from you I’d drain the life from your body with my bare hands. You'll only cooperate with me if it suits your circumstance. I'm sixty Mahir not sixteen. Al Ahmadi will be only too pleased to deal with you." Stanton pressed some buttons on his satellite phone which bounced the signal from his Florida dwelling and Hurst answered the call. "Bruce?"
"John."
"I have an hour at most and I have Tali Mahir. I’m in Karachi at the Sheraton and need a plane and some back up."
"I'm in Islamabad John."
"Too wide get me a plane, I’ll call back in five minutes," Stanton hung up and dialled another connection bouncing from Hawaii.
"Wayne speaking."
"Conrad I have Mahir, am in Karachi at the Sheraton and need back up."
"I'm at the Marriot two blocks away."
"Get down to the front of the Sheraton and watch for a silver Mercedes taxi, the driver’s name is Claude. If anyone looks like coming near us when the time comes let ‘em have it."
"Done." Wayne shouted instructions to Truman lounging on the couch and they sprang into action. Stanton made another call, a strong French female voice answered. "Louise Legrande."
"Louise, this is Stanton."
"Ah Monsieur Stanton, I have been waiting for you to call. I am in Karachi at the Sheraton shopping arcade."
"That figures. Ten minutes to the west Pan House area grounds car park off Khan Road. White Toyota Land Cruiser key top of front right hand wheel; take the vehicle clear towards the airport but not far. Look under the back seat and prepare what you find especially the M24 Remington and I will call you in around ten minutes."
"Oh Monsieur Stanton you have the best toys." Stanton hung up looking down the phone. Mahir listened with great interest.
"You are finished Stanton, you’d need the MI6, the CIA and the French Foreign Legion to get you out of here and you’d still have problems."
"Correct but it's a damn good start." Stanton called Hurst. "Where's my plane Bruce?"
"Masroor Military Airfield is just under an hour to your north east. We have an area there identified by two Apache attack choppers and a Hercules gunship adjacent to them directly outside our complex and offices; take the Hercules, one of the rare ones we operate on loan to allies, it's fuelled and armed. Barkly is at the Karachi embassy, he’ll be hard pressed to make it but he’s on his way. We don't have a pilot and it’ll attract too much attention trying to find one."
"Okay I can work with that, head for Sydney." Stanton hung up and called Claude on the mobile number he had given Stanton.
"Claude's taxi service, best and most reliable in Kar......"
"Shut up, this is John how close to the Sheraton are you?"
"Five minutes I have a fare to the airport."
"Ditch the fare and get here, think about where I can get a pilot that can fly a Hercules on the way."
"Oh yes, oh yes." Claude dumped his fare on the side of the road and sped off to the Sheraton. Stanton continued to make good use of his satellites and made more calls. "Louise."
"Oui Monsieur Stanton."
"Masroor Military Airfield to your north east; British complex building. Two Apache choppers and a Hercules gunship; gain high ground above the Hercules, cover us with sniper fire. Silver Mercedes Benz taxi. As soon as the Hercules is moving make the end to the runway down wind so we can pick you up."
"On my way Monsieur."
Another call. "Conrad silver taxi will be outside in a couple of minutes, follow us to the Masroor Military Airfield to our north east. I need a pilot that can fly a Hercules."
"Truman's a pilot, he's with me; B52s I'm sure he can handle a Hercules."
"Tell me what you’re travelling in and we have sniper cover within two thousand metres of the plane."
"We’ll be in a cab, will let you know." Stanton watched the street below and could see Claude's taxi about two kilometres away. He gathered his things and held Mahir in front of him by the electrical cord around his wrists hidden with his Uzi by his light hand luggage.
"You can walk to the transport or I can carry you makes no difference to me, if I have to carry you it will hurt."
"I will summon the security guards from the hotel," threatened Mahir.
"No, you have too much to lose or I would have rendered you unconscious by now and used an ambulance or we can always revert to that. We’d get to where we are going quicker in an ambulance so don't tempt me." Stanton entered the lift and waited in silence, his back in one corner and Mahir in front of him as the lift descended to the ground floor with people getting in and out on the way. Stanton marched Mahir directly out the door as Wayne and Truman caused a ruckus in the entrance way, playing drunks and drawing the security away from their posts. Stanton pushed Mahir into the back of Claude's taxi amid the ruckus and they took off. Claude was familiar with the airfield and Stanton informed Louise of the second taxi’s identity. Claude knew a pilot friend who was in the Pakistani air force but he flew supply choppers. During the course of heading for the airfield Stanton secured his services to test fly an Apache attack chopper to assess his suitability to join the elite front line Pakistani attack force.
The airport was in sight and time would now soon run out. They got as close as possible to the sight before having to negotiate a security check point but Stanton was not surprised to find it unmanned and noticed a fire in a complex well to the right in the airfield some three kilometres away. "Barkly," he muttered. "Must have made it."
Mahir was becoming sharper, recovering from his head blows. "What are you doing? This is a military establishment, we will be targeted by security forces. I tell you, you are a madman Stanton." They were now in range of Louise's M24 and Stanton noticed a white Toyota parked to the rear of the British complex as they turned right around a roundabout and headed up between aprons with Apache choppers to the right and the Hercules to the left. Claude pulled up on the apron adjacent to but clear of the Hercules; they alighted and Stanton could just see Louise's head above the top of the two storey building alongside the apron and roadway. Mahir was dragged from the car kicking and screaming so Stanton broke both his arms forcing them up his back with the cord until they cracked.
"I told you Mahir you could cooperate or it would hurt." Mahir fell to his knees and whimpered in pain. Wayne and Truman opened the Hercules up and checked the inside, all was clear. Truman manned the cockpit and began crank up procedure while Mahir was loaded into the seats at the back of the flight deck and tied in. Claude got his friend to go straight to one of the Apaches on the opposite apron; Stanton had Hurst clear it in the security system. Stanton then convinced the pilot he had to take off and pr
otect the Hercules until such time as it left Karachi airspace then land the chopper in the British embassy grounds and someone would meet him. The Apache took to the air and circled them.
The word was out and a shot was heard from Louise's M24 and a tyre blew on a Pakistani military vehicle heading along the runway, it skidded to one side and overturned. The Apache engaged an armoured personnel carrier some three thousand metres away with an air to surface missile blowing the ground up in front of it causing an undercarriage failure as it hit the crater. Louise was now bearing fire on three fronts in an alternate pattern and the assailants backed off out of range and regrouped.
Stanton took Claude and the other cab driver with them and the AC 130 Hercules lumbered down the runway. Louise climbed from the roof and took the cruiser towards the end of the runway arriving before the plane and setting two charges for five minutes leaving them in the vehicle. The plane turned to stage and Louise threw in her bag and climbed aboard with the assistance of Wayne. Truman applied full power and Wayne and Stanton manned the GAU 12 Equalizer rotary cannons on either side of the AC 130 fuselage engaging the magazine clip ends with the firing mechanism and cocking the firing pins. The AC 130 lifted from the ground quickly gaining height and headed for the open sea bearing south west.
At seven thousand feet and nine kilometres from the Karachi coast they had struck zero opposition and closed the gun portals and sealed the plane; it turned south west across the Swatch in the Arabian Sea following the coast line towards the Laccadive Sea between Male Island and Sri Lanka reaching a height of twenty five thousand feet. An Apache attack helicopter landed in the grounds of the Karachi British embassy and the pilot was whisked away. Stanton contacted Hurst relaying details of Claude and the second cab driver’s families; they were picked up and whisked away to safety.
Hurst instructed Stanton to head for Singapore but Stanton knew that although his communication was being bounced this only shielded the signal path and not the conversation. Stanton believed Hurst had purposely used the last place he would suggest to go to be obvious in case the conversation was eavesdropped and the time between them and Singapore would give someone time to act.
Stanton had linked the communication systems of the AC 130 to his own satellites and had a clear idea on where he was going. Whilst above Kavaratti Island just before entering the air space of the Laccadive Sea the AC 130 turned south on a heading for coordinates seven degrees eighteen minutes south and seventy-two degrees twenty-four minutes east; Diego Garcia in British Indian Ocean territory.