by Andy McNab
The shiny Nokia went into someone's pocket as the helis' noise subsided, and shouts filled the vacuum, mixed with the din of corrugated iron getting banged and the storeroom being ransacked. I bet anything nice and shiny in there was falling straight off the shelves and into their pockets as well.
The clatter of rotors slowed gradually and there was the high-pitched whine of the turbos as both engines closed down.
Carrie and Aaron's comforting sounds to Luz dropped with the noise level as rapid Spanish radio traffic echoed from the storeroom. Everybody else was much quieter in the house now; maybe it had just been the noise of the helis whipping them into a frenzy.
But then came the sound of lighter rotors. My stomach churned and I knew that an already bad day was about to get a whole lot worse. Maybe the reason we hadn't been killed on sight was that Charlie wanted to see to it in person.
THIRTY-FOUR
As the Jet Ranger's rotor blades cut out, I heard the barking of orders and bodies started rushing from the room. Three remained covering us, two nervous young guys, maybe their first time out, and one older, in his early thirties.
Outside on the veranda I could hear a lot of warp speed jabbering. The boys were probably swapping stories about how particularly good they were during the attack. I kept my head turned to the left.
The family were still huddled around the armchair. Carrie was nearest to me as they cuddled and stroked Luz's head. Aaron's eyes burned into her. It was hard to read his expression: it looked to me like pure anger, but then he reached out and stroked her face.
Calmer and more controlled Spanish came from the rear of the house, sounding more cultured than the guys with weapons gob bing off. I tilted my head very slightly and screwed my eyes to the top of their sockets to see what was happening.
Charlie, dressed in a navy tracksuit and white trainers, had three or four others buzzing around him like presidential aides as he strode into the room. He walked towards me, looking as if he had need of nothing, not even oxygen. I felt scared.
There was nothing I could do physically about things at the moment. If I saw the chance to get away I would grab it, but right now I just had to look away from him and wait. Whatever happened, I knew it was likely to be painful.
They came towards me, talking quietly to each other as he was called by one of the bodies still in the computer room, and then there was the squeak of rubber soled trainers on floorboards as the group promptly turned and headed back from where they'd just come.
I glanced up and saw them hunched around the PC as the screen flickered and slowly rolled down the image of the lock as it was refreshed. One was pointing at the picture, talking as if he was giving Charlie a multimedia presentation.
The others nodded and agreed.
I turned my eyes to the armchair. Aaron and Carrie were looking anxiously over Luz's head at the group. Aaron turned and stared back at his wife, his eyes swivelling in their sockets as he leant to kiss a sobbing Luz's hair. The guys were still mumbling on the veranda behind me.
I watched as one of the crew broke away from the PC and came back into the living area. He'd had a change of kit since I stole his Land Cruiser, and now boasted a clean, shiny black tracksuit. His neck was covered with a gauze dressing, held in place by surgical tape, and there was a big smile on his face as he sauntered towards me.
I lowered my eyes, clenched my teeth and tensed up.
He crouched down and cocked his head so we could have eye-to-eye.
"Como esta, amigo?" His prominent Adam's apple bobbed up and down under the blood-spotted gauze.
I nodded.
"Bien, bien."
He gave the thumbs up with a smile.
"Si, good, good."
I kept my body tensed but still nothing happened. He was taking the piss. I couldn't help but smile back as he got to his feet and returned to the crew at the PC, then addressed a few remarks to Charlie, probably telling him I was indeed the same man and maybe confirming to him that I was the only one on the ground earlier.
Charlie seemed very cool about things, not even turning to look at me. Instead he smiled and pinched both cheeks of the
Land Cruiser guy as he handed over the plastic bag carrying my docs. Charlie then went back and muttered to some more of his aides by the screen.
My Land Cruiser friend pulled out my roll of dollars from the bag, before leaving via the storeroom. Seconds later, one of the Hueys sparked up, turbos whining. Some of the lads were being lifted out.
The heli took off, thundering over the roof, as the staff meeting came to an end. They streamed back into the living area, Charlie in the lead, my bag of docs in his hand. He made a beeline towards me. I did my best to bury my face in my shoulder.
His mud-stained trainers stopped a foot or two away from my eyes, so new they didn't even have creases in the nylon yet. I concentrated on my shoulder as he crouched down with a crack of his knees and grabbed my hair. I just went with it: what was the point of resisting?
Our eyes met. His were dark brown and bloodshot, no doubt due to the force of the explosion. His skin was peppered with scabbed-up pockmarks from the shattered glass, and the side of his neck was dressed like that of the guy from the Land Cruiser. But for all that, he didn't look angry, just in command.
He stared at me, his expression impenetrable. I could smell his cologne and hear his steel watch strap jangle as he grabbed my chin with his spare hand.
The palm was soft, and well-manicured fingers pressed into my cheeks. There still was no anger in his eyes, no hint of any emotion whatsoever.
"Why are you people so stupid? All I wanted was some assurance the device wouldn't be used inside Panama. Then you could have had the launch control system. Some form of assurance, that's all." He threw my docs to the floor.
Instead, I have my family threatened ..."
I let the weight of my head rest in his hands, my eyelids drooping as he shook me about some more.
"So I comply and take the rest of your money, you then assure me everything is fine, just business. But still you try to kill my family. Do you know who I am?
What I can do to you, all of you people?"
He held me, looking at me, his eyes giving nothing.
"You are going to use Sunburn against a ship in the Miraflores that's the target, isn't it?" He shook me again.
"Why you are doing it, I don't care. But it will bring the US back that I care about a great deal."
As my face moved from side to side I caught glimpses of my passport and wallet, discarded in their plastic on the floor by the bookshelves, and both Aaron and Carrie, still covering Luz on the armchair, their faces red and set with fear.
Charlie brought his mouth to my ear and whispered, "I want to know where the missile is, and when the attack will take place. If not, well, some of my people here are only a few years older than that one in the chair and, like all young men, eager to display their manhood ... That's fair, isn't it? You set the rules children are now fair game, aren't they?"
He kept my head in his hands, waiting for my reply. I looked into his eyes and they told me what I needed to know: that none of us was going to leave here alive, no matter what we said or did.
It was Aaron who broke the silence, with a scoff: "He's just the hired help."
His voice was strong and authoritative.
"He was sent here to make you hand over the guidance system, that's all. He doesn't know a thing. None of us know where Sunburn is, but I can get on line at eight thirty tonight and find out. I'll do it just let these three go."
I studied Charlie's face as he stared at Aaron. It was a good try on Aaron's part, but a bit naive.
Carrie went ballistic.
"No, no what are you doing?" She begged Charlie, still hovering above me.
"Please, he-' Aaron cut in at once.
"Shut up. I've had enough, it's got to end. It's got to stop now!"
Charlie released my head and I let it fall to the floorboards, the right si
de of my face taking the hit. He wasn't too keen to have my hair grease on his hands and bent down to wipe it on my shirt before walking over to the coffee table.
Aaron followed him with his eyes.
"Eight thirty I can't do anything until then. That's when I can make contact and find out eight thirty. Just let them go." He stroked Luz's hair.
Charlie muttered instructions to the people around him as he walked towards the kitchen area, not acknowledging me as he passed.
Aaron and Carrie obviously understood what was going on and started to rise with Luz as two guards crossed the floor. Carrie still tried to talk sense into Aaron. What are you doing? You know he'll just-' He was tough with her.
"Shut up! Just shut up!" He kissed her on the lips.
"I
love you. Stay strong." Then he bent down and kissed Luz, before the guards dragged him towards the computer room.
"Remember, Nick," he laughed, 'once a Viking, always a Viking. Some things never change."
He disappeared, jabbering some kind of explanation or apology in Spanish to the men who pulled at his arms.
The mozzie screen squeaked open behind me and commands were shouted at the boys on the veranda. The other two had already been herded into Luz's bedroom, and the door was closed.
Charlie had been inspecting the coffee pot and now checked the mugs. He obviously decided the blend was crap, or the mugs weren't clean enough, so he came back towards me and hunkered down once more, bending his head to connect his eyes with mine.
"Sunday London you were there?"
My gaze remained locked on his. It was like two kids playing stare as I kept my mouth firmly shut.
He shrugged.
"It doesn't matter, not now. What does is the Sunburn1 want it back. Do you know how much you have paid for it?"
I had to blink now, but I remained locked on. Fuck him, we were all dead anyway.
"Twelve million United States dollars. I'm thinking of reselling it good business, I think." He stood, to the cracking of knees once again. He paused and took breath.
"It seems the war down south will escalate quite soon. I should imagine PARC would very much appreciate the opportunity to buy Sunburn, to prepare, let's say, for when the Americans send a carrier fleet to support its troops." He smiled.
"After all, the Russians designed the missile with just one target in mind: the American aircraft carrier."
I was pushed towards Luz's bedroom and opened the door to see both of them lying on the bed in a huddle. Carrie was stroking Luz's hair;
she looked up in terror as the door creaked open, her expression only changing when she saw it was me.
The door slammed shut. I moved over to the bed and sat down beside them with my finger to my lips. We've got to get out of here before these kids get organized."
She looked down at her daughter, kissed her head, and spoke in whispers. What's he doing? He knows nothing. George won't say a-' "I don't know, sssh ..."
I was only just beginning to understand what Aaron was doing, but I wasn't going to tell her.
I got up and went to the window, which was protected by a wire-mesh mozzie screen on the outside. The windows, side-hinged types that opened inwards, were caked with faded, flaking cream paint. The hinges had long since lost their coat, with luck through use. The mozzie screen was held in place by wooden pegs that swivelled on screws.
I looked out and studied the treeline two hundred metres away as Luz sparked up behind me. Is Dad coming?"
Carrie soothed her.
"For sure, baby, soon."
The ground outside was littered with freshly broken terra cotta tiles from the roof. There was intermittent chat and the odd laugh coming from the veranda to my left.
I inspected the window, my mind still very much on Aaron. He wasn't as naive as I'd thought.
"Once a Viking, always a Viking." They slash, they burn, they pillage. They never change. He'd told me that. He'd come to the same conclusion as I had. No way was Charlie letting us out of here alive.
I was expecting some resistance from the windows, but they gave quite easily and opened towards me with just one pull. Immediately closing them again, I went over to the bed.
"Here's what we're going to do. We're going to get out through the window and get ourselves into the trees."
Luz had been looking at her mother but her head jerked towards me. Tears streaked her face. What about Dad?"
'I'll come back for him later. There's no time for this. We've got to go right now."
Luz looked up at her mother and silently implored her.
"We can't," Carrie said. We can't leave him. What will happen when they find us gone? If we stay put and don't antagonize anyone, we'll be all right. We don't know anything, why should they harm us?"
The whine of the turbos on the Jet Ranger started up and the rotors were soon turning. I waited until they reached full revs before putting my mouth to Carrie's ear.
"Aaron knows we're all dead whatever happens even if George does tell him the location. You understand? We all die."
The heli took off as her head fell on to Luz's. I followed to keep contact with her ear.
"He's buying me time to save you two. We must go now, for Luz's sake, and for Aaron's. It's what he wants."
Her shoulders heaved with sadness as she hugged her daughter.
"Mom?"
The tears were infectious. Both of them were sobbing now into each other's hair as the noise of the Jet Ranger disappeared over the canopy.
THIRTY-FIVE
There was still more than an hour to go till last light but I had made my decision. We had to get out of here as soon as we physically could.
Mumbling and laughter still drifted from the front of the house, as if to remind me of the risk we'd be taking. If somebody was on stag at the edge of the veranda, we'd be in full view for the entire two hundred metres. It would take us at least ninety seconds to make that distance over muddy ground, and that's a very long time for an M-16 to have you in its sights.
But who knew what the next hour held? The three of us could be split up and moved to separate rooms, killed, or even put into the remaining Huey and flown out. We had no control over that, and by waiting could end up squandering the chance Aaron had given us.
As I looked through the glass and mesh, it was easy enough to confirm our route half right towards the dead ground, then into the treeline. We'd be moving at an angle away from the front of the house and the veranda, but there'd come a point where we cleared the corner at the back and were in the Huey's line of sight. Would there still be people aboard? Maybe the pilot carrying out his checks? There was no right or wrong about the decision to go now. These things are not a science: if we died, I'd have been wrong; if we lived, I'd have been right.
Once absorbed by the wall of green we'd be relatively safe; we'd just have to contend with a night out on the jungle floor, then spend the next day moving through the canopy towards the dead valley, navigating by paralleling the track.
We'd cross the tree graveyard at night, hiding under the dead wood in the day, until we made Chepo. From there, who knew? I'd worry about that then. As for Aaron, I doubted that he'd last much past eight thirty.
Carrie and Luz were still comforting each other on the bed. I went over to them and, with Britney on the wall overseeing events, whispered, "We're going to go for the trees."
Luz looked at her mother for reassurance.
"The thing to remember is that we must spread out when we're running, OK? That way it's harder to be seen."
Carrie looked up from her child and frowned. She knew that wasn't the reason.
She knew a single burst from an M-16 could kill all three of us, and if we were spread out, we'd be that bit harder to hit.
Luz tugged at her mother's arm.
"What about Daddy?"
I could see Carrie fighting back the tears and put my hand on her shoulder.
"I'll come back for him, Luz, don't worry. He wanted
me to get you two into the jungle first. He wants to know you're safe."
She nodded reluctantly, and we heard more mumblings from the veranda and boots the other side of the door. Going immediately was the right thing to do.
"If we get split up," I said quietly, "I want you two to carry on into the trees without me, then make your way towards the far right corner and wait for me there." To Luz I added, "Don't come out if anyone calls for you, even if it's your dad it'll just be a trick. Just my voice, OK? Once you're safe, I'll come back for him."
I'd cross that bridge when I came to it, but for now a lie was necessary to keep them quiet so I could get on with what he was sacrificing himself for.
"Ready?"
Both heads nodded. I looked at Luz.
"Me first, then you, all right?"
I moved back to the window and out of whisper range. Carrie followed, looking out to the treeline, listening to the laughter out front.
They're outside, on the deck, Nick, isn't it-' "No time, not interested."
"But how are we going to get to the trees without-' "Just get her ready."
She was right. How were we going to make it? I didn't know. All I did know was that there wasn't any time for fancy plans, even if I could think of one. We just had to get on with it. We were dead anyway, so anything else was a bonus.
Pulling open the windows let the sounds of crickets and the boys on the veranda trickle into the room. I thought of the Beirut hostage who could have escaped within the first few days of capture when a toilet window was left open. But he didn't take the chance, didn't seize the moment. He had to live with his regret for the next three years.
My mind went into auto-drive, just getting on with the job. Fuck 'em, fuck the noise outside, fuck the Huey. I was almost wanting them to see us.
The wooden pegs squeaked as I swivelled them to release the mozzie screen. It rattled in its frame as I pushed it free. I froze, waiting for the murmuring on the veranda to change into shouts. It didn't happen. I pushed again and this time the screen came away. Slowly and carefully, I lowered it towards the ground. Boots banged about on the decking and the front door slammed as I felt the screen touch the mud and broken tiles.