“Chief…? Colonel March is here…” “Thanks Abby, show him straight in…”
I quickly checked myself and had a brief look in the mirror… It wasn’t everyday a Royal Marine Colonel wanted to specifically talk to me…
“Colonel, good of you to take the time to visit us…”
“Nonsense Chief, this could be of consequence plus your section’s efforts so far indicated you’d prefer the intelligence sooner rather than later…”
“Iain, please… I’ll assemble everyone…”
March lowered his voice…
“Er, maybe not… Perhaps just a few of your senior team…? Robin I already know, of course…”
I immediately caught on; the leather wallet he had brought was still in his hand, clutched rather than held. He didn’t want to let it go. It clearly contained live intelligence which wasn’t “out” yet, nor had it reached our lively minds on the second floor either…
“Very well…”
I made the calls and lead the introductions… Colonel March stood and addressed us…
“Ash-Shihr is a coastal town in Hadhramaut, which is situated in southern Yemen on the Arabian Sea. Our interest is the Ash Shihr Oil Terminal and the surrounding shipping companies; they are all situated south east of the capitol, Sanaa.
“Over the past twelve months there has been increasing threats made toward European owned supertankers, their merchant marine staff and their cargo… due to this a, er, investigative team was put together which also included the French and the Germans…”
I interrupted… “The Germans…?”
“Yes… Many of their so called retired Red Army Faction members still have close ties in the region. The BND have extensive files which we, and the French, have been using for reference…”
Sarah joined in…
“Maybe it’s the reason Niklas Meier has been so supportive and cooperative…?”
“Probably… Personally I know that he has been instructed by his masters to assist, especially when Verena Bezold wandered across your radar…”
“So…That corroborates one of our theories…” “Really…?”
“Yes… We’ve always been of the opinion that the visits weren’t social but rather Backpack was instructed to visit her to pass or receive information… Niklas has all the INTEL we collected…”
“That makes sense… How good is your history on the area…?”
“Just the usual… We receive the Intelligence Estimates from downstairs, although I think ours are washed, thoroughly. Most of our “take” dates back to ’91 when they threw their weight behind Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait. Iraq had been taken off our watch list so we could assist them with their Iran altercations… They were rapidly placed back on it after that…”
Robin had made this point with a not too subtle hint of irony… “Right, maybe a little background for the group then…?”
Nods all around…
“Many western terrorist groups have found Yemen a great source of indirect funding, weapons training and of course guidance in the construction of many differing types of improvised explosive device, since the late sixties when Communist forces from the north overran the south and forced them to integrate…”
Robin shifted in his seat, the history lesson was interesting to us but he had once been head of the Middle East desk and he was aware of more pressing matters:
“Alex, what exactly do you have for us…?”
“The reason we are there, whether as a ground force or covert incursion is of course due to the agreement we signed together with other western countries and the United States, to protect Saudi Arabia, the Gulf of Aden etc. etc.”
We knew this already. Judging by some of the faces in the room, one or two others were becoming impatient too… The Colonel continued…
“Since ’91 and their Iraqi backing, their economy has been leaking like a sieve allowing untold amounts of corrupt funds to prop them up or pass through without question. The civil war last year has only compounded the problem.
The Yemeni army, with our assistance has been successful in capturing and interrogating known sympathisers and one thing is certain. A new system is forming, not so much as an organised terrorist movement but more of a rivalling belief system… It’s vast and covers many countries, judging by the Intelligence Estimates…”
March stopped and picked up his coffee; we could see he was clearly concerned by these discoveries… He glanced briefly at the leather wallet…
“We are certain that the campaign you are all attempting to thwart has been funded in this way…
Another look at the wallet…
“ What I have brought with me also further indicates a great deal more in the way of funding has changed hands, recently too…”
“Has Military Intelligence discovered why…?”
“No… Not the motivation, although there are many theories in the political arena… We also have estimates which indicate that this particular campaign is motivated more for observation… The devices are secondary to their overall plan, which is to see, as a nation, how we respond…”
“Where does the money originate Colonel…?
“Iain, it’s not just money; it’s tonnes of arms and explosive material too. We believe the port is moving the ordnance on container vessels whose destinations are worldwide. Many of the workforces are complicit, like I said; this new modern belief system is insidious…”
“Do your chaps actually believe it could rise to be a political movement in its own right: self-sustaining…?”
“I have been led to believe that it is what our military advisers will say to the PM, yes…”
“Jesus…!”
“Another component, one which we also find disturbing-since the reunification of Germany and the fall of the Soviet Union, there are more than enough highly skilled individuals willing to sell themselves to the highest bidder. We aren’t just talking about specialists either, we are looking at military hierarchy, personnel no longer required in the previous vast Soviet armies willing to be bought and ready to train groups in the methods of warfare and, of course counter terrorism…
Returning to your question…? The funding doesn’t originate from one source, it’s numerous deposits worldwide from untraceable accounts, shell companies and dummy corporations, these sums then pass through countries such as Afghanistan, Pakistan, Yemen and sometimes Iran too…”
“Aye and many countries which were once part of the southern Soviet Union; who now in terms of western intelligence gathering capabilities, are very dark places…?”
“Precisely Charlie…”
Colonel March patted his leather wallet…
“I won’t explain how or where we came across these documents; however, I will confirm that no one other than me outside Military Intelligence has viewed them. These of course are copies of our originals. I trust you all understand the gravity of my visit…?
Robin stood and walked to the man he had known for more than twenty years…
“Alex, rest assured the source will never be mentioned far less divulged from this office…”
A somewhat relieved Colonel replied… “Yes Robin, I was confident of that…”
I had an idea…
“Colonel…? Two things… Firstly, your visit today will officially be remarked as a courtesy call. We’ve been showing you around due to your cooperation in airlifting Norman to Casement… Secondly, when the inevitable questions do begin to arise regarding our new found intelligence…? Well, we’ve boxes of stuff from the house in Romford, who’s to say that the farmhouses haven’t yielded riches also…?”
“Very good… It will be my official line too…”
We all stood.
“Colonel, Thankyou for this… A calculated risk, I know but, a risk none the less… We appreciate it…”
“Section chief your team are very close to them, the operations of yesterday have proved this…If Compass required further assistance, I’m assured t
he request would be looked at favourably.”
Robin showed him to the lift foyer personally… “Norman…?”
“Yes boss…?”
I handed him the tan leather wallet March had left behind…
“Take this, barricade yourself in your office and go through it. It is your sole task for the near future short of a nuclear device found in Hyde Park… No one else sees it. No one else touches it, not even Chris and Charlie… I’ll brief them on what you give me. Understood…?”
“Understood…”
*****
Morris and Riddell had enjoyed a leisurely morning, so far. They had known of Marward’s fate since the first news bulletins had shown the Gordano service area on the morning TV news channels, noticing specific government vehicles in screen shots had answered their unspoken questions.
For the pair, good old fashioned self-preservation had now begun to take over. Yes they would initiate the device however; the new mobile cellphone technology available to them would allow them to be a good distance from the blast area. The days of remaining close to a device after arming were soon to become a thing of the past. Alarmingly Riddell was becoming increasingly motivated by the new technology and the possibilities available to him…
Morris was now at the other end of the spectrum. He’d had enough; he’d given the struggle the best part of twenty five years,
mostly to campaigns he believed in under the IRA constitution. This current campaign was different, there would be no political advantage for the Provo’s in this. Indeed, he was now aware of the fact that the concept had been conceived on foreign shores by men whose cultural, religious and political beliefs were light years from what the IRA constitution upheld. Essentially he had become nothing more than a mercenary, a concept he found wholly distasteful. He felt his services had been little more than prostituted out to the highest bidder.
He was also fully aware of McQueen’s psychological needs and how she could easily be manipulated to sate her particular passions; “Busby” equally so. Being completely hard line had meant that no consideration could be given to a ceasefire, for him the campaign must continue by any means possible. The previously unheard of access to wealth, ordnance and technology these new “friends” offered him, was manna from heaven… He was increasingly concerned that Riddell was of the same mould and that his welfare would be secondary.
Morris concluded that discretion would be the better part of valour. As arranged he would drop Riddell off at the Swansea terminal, he would only then decide on his own destination. He was convinced that if he discussed his ideas with Riddell, he would certainly not be long for this world.
“Come on Frank, time we were leaving. Your ferry is at 1230 so initiate detonation any time after 1145.”
Riddell stayed silent as he switched off the small TV and collected his bag. No words were exchanged between the two as they returned the room key to the woman at reception and then walked out into the morning sunshine.
*****
Harraghy and McCauley had also been watching the morning news with great interest:
“Jimmy I’m glad Pat was taken out. Rob said that he’d become a wreck, completely lost it. Operationally I think we’re still safe…”
“It won’t hurt to move things around a little though, change the route for instance…?”
“What’ve you got in mind…?” “Slow and circuitous.”
McCauley lifted the map from the sofa and joined Harraghy at the dinner table…
“If we head north along the A449 then turn west onto the A5 at Cannock we can stay on it until just north of Nuneaton were we head straight down the A444 to junction 3 of the M6… It’s only ten minutes to the services from there.”
Harraghy could see that McCauley had been giving it a lot of thought… He looked more closely before adding,
“We would also mingle with the heavy traffic from the road construction around Tamworth too… You said “we”-are you planning on following me…?”
“I am. If it gets a little lively you can ditch the truck and we’d be gone and still have the capability of detonating…”
Harraghy jerked his head in the direction of the sheds… “What of those two…?”
“Well, I think in light of what we’ve seen on the TV and what happened in Kent and Essex, covering our arses is now the key. Don’t you…? Besides, you know what was said about the new boys and as for the Yank: God knows what motivates him. I certainly don’t…”
“True enough. Ok finish your plan; we’ll leave when you think fit. I have a feeling that the police search teams are going to be heading this way and by what was left of Pat, they’re passed taking prisoners…”
Chapter Twenty Nine
Riddell sat in the sun on the stern of the passenger ferry. He opened his bought ham salad sandwich and placed it beside his coffee on the seat next to him. Retrieving his cellphone, he pressed the red power button and as he patiently waited for it to scroll through its start-up process, he took a bite from his sandwich; he then dialled an eleven digit number and pressed the green button.
The time was 1216…
The thunderclap sound reverberated across the railway tunnel mouth and echoed as it passed along the rail lines dissipating across the open fields. The newly gravelled access track now had a scorched black five foot by ten foot crater were the small van had recently been abandoned. When the initial smoke had cleared, the debris and destruction were clear to see…
The left-side brick face of the tunnel entrance had simply disappeared, leaving a mass of earth like an open wound twenty feet deep and just as wide, which was in danger of collapsing and filling the newly made crater. The roof of the entrance had suffered minor damage only although the superficial outer cladding was hanging precariously ready to fall across both tracks…
The sections of the down track closest to the blast had gone, partly melted by heat and partly uprooted and blown through the air like missiles to form part of the falling hazard. Track ballast had been pulverised to sand and in the immediate vicinity of the blast, heated to such intensity as to be turned to glass. The larger areas of stone had been propelled through the air like shells from an artillery barrage, cutting down and destroying everything in its unstoppable path. Trees had been severed and were now blackened and burning with fences reduced to nothing more than matchsticks.
Further away from the centre of the detonation, track lines lay bent and twisted, now scrap and useless. Due to its close proximity, track signal number N164 no longer existed, vaporised along with the thin sheet steel of the vans rear body. The only three remaining vehicle parts which showed signs of their automotive origins were the engine block, now upturned and burning on the opposite embankment, a front suspension strut complete with disc brake assembly which was now deeply imbedded in the tunnel wall nearly ten feet from the entrance and a small remaining chassis section, now twisted and smouldering which had come to rest ten yards back from the epicentre, straddling both up and down lines exiting the tunnel.
The whole area was now littered with small fires producing numerous plumes of thick, black acrid smoke which were now beginning to rise and envelope the road above.
*****
Paul Houghton acknowledged the signal bell in the cab of his Class 43 HST Intercity 125. He immediately released the speed actuator lever in his right hand and began to apply the brake with his left. This was normal operating procedure as the approaching tunnel speed limit was 75 mph. As he rounded the curve he noticed in the distance that signal B118 was showing a yellow light, informing him that the down line through the tunnel was occupied. He slowed further, the illuminated needle on the forward console indicated 45mph then 30… Houghton had concluded that signal N164 would be red meaning he would need to stop. Ultimately this action saved his life and arguably many others; if he had continued at speed his 70 tonne power car would have been slammed head on by the heat blast and shock wave produced by the VBIED.
He was totally perplexe
d by what happened next. Both his signal bell and horn sounded simultaneously and repeatedly. Unknown to him, at the same time the Electronic Axle Counter Evaluators in the line side Relay Room based at Severn Tunnel Junction began to go haywire, as did Tunnel Control based at the Newport Signal Box. As the slowing express train passed the next track magnet the HST’s emergency braking system was automatically activated.
The driver reached for his fluorescent orange bib, climbed from his cab and walked to the nearest track side telephone… The line was dead… As he crossed the rail lines to try the up line telephone, he placed his operating clips in position, this would cause a short circuit, making sure Bristol was aware that this section of track was occupied…
“This is the driver of 1B14, the Automatic Warning System has applied my brakes also B118 is now showing red.”
Bearings: The Compass Trilogy Part One Page 32