Secret of the Oil: Prequel to the Donavan Chronicles

by Tom Haase

  Al-Hanbali walked over and gazed out of the window. He felt a little tired. It was time for the afternoon rest. The terrain viewed from his window in the rear of the house was a rolling tabletop of sandy dunes. The ground just outside the rear of the house fell away at a steep angle into a small ravine about one hundred meters away. From there it rose to a dune top about two hundred and twenty meters further on. On his left there was a hard surface road, most of the time partially covered with sand, and the pavement followed the topography of the land, passing by the entrance to his compound on the way to higher ground to his rear. Tewfik looked to his left. In the distance, coming over the far rise, he could make out three vehicles. Unusual, he thought, to have a convoy like that out here, especially at this time of day. Faisal wouldn’t be here for hours.

  “Basam, I think we have company coming. We need to be on guard. Tell the men to be prepared in case it is the Americans.”

  “The Americans couldn’t track us here. I’ll still alert the outside guard,” Basam said.

  “Wait a minute. They are stopping down in the valley about two hundred meters from here. If it were Faisal, the directions I gave him were specific. There would be no reason for him to stop there,” Tewfik said as he went to the table to view the monitors. “Go. Get the men up and alert the guard. I don’t like this,” al-Hanbali ordered.

  Basam went out to alert the outside guard to observe the vehicles that had stopped on the road and for him to stay out of sight until they determined what was going on. He yelled at the others to get their weapons ready.

  Tewfik waited for Basam to return. “Brother, can we zoom the cameras in that area where those men are grouped?”

  Basam played on the keyboard and the picture zoomed in on the cars. It was now certain that the cars had stopped and the doors were opening. The pictures on the monitor were clear. The first ones out of the cars had weapons in their hands. Tewfik stared in disbelief. What was going on? Who was this? Could it be the Americans again? No. He could see this wasn’t an American unit by the way they deployed.

  “Something is wrong. I think those men are going to attack us. There is no other reason for their actions.” Basam moved the camera to zoom in on one man. It was Faisal. Tewfik could see his face clearly on the monitor’s screen.

  “The bastard is after the weapons,” al-Hanbali shouted. “He has betrayed us. He wants them for himself. I should’ve guessed.”

  “Tewfik, they must think we are all resting,” Basam said. “The bastards really are going to attack us.”

  “We’ll surprise them. Get all the men to go quietly to the rooftop positions. Have them stay out of sight from the rear of the house. I don’t think he’ll know about the workshop and will probably concentrate on the house.”

  Basam started for the door and Tewfik called after him, “Also, I want you to send someone to the workshop to guard Yuri and the weapons, just in case.”

  Going into the front room of the house, Basam yelled, “Get your weapons. Go to the roof. Do not be seen from the rear of the house. Cover the area in front of the main door. Now move it.”

  The men rushed as quickly and as quietly as they could into excellent firing positions by climbing onto the roof of the house and of the adjacent building while staying out of sight. From those positions they could cover the front of the house.

  In less than four minutes, the defenders had scrambled into well-hidden positions. A killing zone in front of the house was established. Now the weapons they could bring to bear, combined with the claymores, ensured a death trap for anyone caught in that area.

  The men remained on the rooftops in the prone position; they stayed motionless. Tewfik knew this required them to exhibit extreme self-control in the stifling direct rays of the afternoon sun. The sweat started to roll down their faces. They wiped it away to keep their vision sharp. They had to be ready to fire accurately into the kill zone. The desert regions of Saudi Arabia were certainly not hospitable places in the middle of the afternoon reaching scorching temperatures.

  On reentering the control room, Basam said, “Okay, I have everyone in position. We can wait to see what he does by monitoring his moves.”

  Al-Hanbali did not look up but continued to monitor the screens. He watched as the screen showed the group in the ravine spread out and start in a circular formation to come up the hill. Two members of the attacking group set up firing positions for what looked like Rocket Propelled Grenades. He could see they were taking advantage of the supposed blind spot at the back of the house. The alarm sounded on the computer when the first man broke the laser of the intrusion alert system.

  Al-Hanbali clenched his fists until his palm bled. Why had he not seen this coming? Stupid. Why had he been so blind as to let the Hezbollah fanatics in on the plan? Fatimah’s attempt to coordinate the various elements of Al-Qaeda, Hezbollah, and his cell was a horrible mistake. How could they have brought in these madmen? And he had agreed. Dumb!

  He picked up the phone and dialed Faisal. On the third ring, the man answered.

  “Faisal, when will you be here? I have to plan for the journey to Ras Tanura.”

  “It will be at eight with my two men,” said Faisal, giving the agreed upon time.

  Al-Hanbali terminated the call. Now he had positive confirmation of the intent of the Hezbollah/PLO leader.

  Now he knew what he had to do. The budding cooperative effort with the Palestinian organization had come to naught. These traitors were only interested in their own agenda. The destruction of Israel was not as important to al-Hanbali as the destruction of the western economy that supported Israel. The objectives of the two groups were at odds.

  “Come on, Basam. Let’s get out of here now. We don’t want to be in the house when they attack,” al-Hanbali said.

  “Right behind you.”

  There was no question that Faisal was coming to attack him. He must strike Faisal first.

  CHAPTER 26

  STRIKE TEAM ONE

  AL-HANBALI’S COMPOUND

  2:05 PM – 28 OCTOBER

  Bridget followed the three vehicles for two miles. She kept a close eye on the dust cloud ahead and stayed back far enough to be out of their sight. As she reached the bottom of one gulley, she saw that the plume of dust coming from the road ahead had stopped. Bridget slowed down, waited a minute, and confirmed the absence of the telltale dust. She pulled her vehicle to the side of the road, stopped, and got out. It was blindingly hot outside of the air conditioned SUV. Matt’s vehicle was approaching from behind and she waved him down.

  "I think they stopped somewhere over the crest of that dune just to our front,” Bridget reported. “There’s no dust trail going over the top of the next hill. I can see a few buildings on the left side of the road on a hill. I suggest that we go up there and take a look and see what's going on."

  "Okay, just a sec while I get my binoculars. Have you heard from the guys?" Matt asked.

  "Yes. They’ll be here in about thirty minutes using the main roads. We can do a reconnaissance before they get here," Bridget said.

  Together Matt and Bridget climbed, stopping short of the top of the hill, being sure to keep their heads low. They crawled the last few yards and peered over the sandy crest.

  “God, it’s sweltering out here,” Matt said.

  “Yeah. Here’s some water. You’d think most sane people would be inside taking a rest at this time of day,” Bridget added, while handing him a plastic bottle of water.

  On the road ahead of them to their right, the three cars they’d followed were parked on the side and men were getting out—all armed. One was giving directions, moving the others into a semicircular tight formation; it looked as if they were going to conduct an assault against the buildings on the top of the hill. Through his binoculars Matt could clearly see the face of the leader.

  "I think we just found the bastard's hide out. That is definitely our boy Faisal giving instructions to his men down there. It looks like these Hezbollah cree
ps beat us to it and they’re preparing to assault the house. I think that would definitely make it al-Hanbali’s place. We don’t have enough firepower to do anything right now. But if they are going to have a firefight, we might be able to take out what's left over after the killing stops."

  "I'll go back to the vehicle and call the others to bring them up to date on our situation. Are you going to call the center?" Bridget asked.

  Matt nodded.

  She crawled backwards and started down the hill towards the SUVs.

  Matt punched in the numbers on his satellite phone and got directly through to Lieutenant Commander McDonald. “We have eyes on the compound that I am sure al-Hanbali is using. Right now it looks like the Hezbollah boys, under our friend Faisal, are going to attack the compound. How’s that for a twist? I guess they’re going to try and take the weapons. What do you make of that?”

  “That is a new dimension. I’ll get it to the general ASAP,” McDonald said.

  “We are on the high ground to the west of the compound. We can observe the whole scene. They seem to be dallying around before going up the hill and they don’t seem to know that the men who went up on top of the roofs of the compound have been alerted to Faisal’s presence. I can see them from up here on this high ground, but they have no way of knowing the men in the compound seem to be expecting the attack. Here are my coordinates to get me some overhead.”

  McDonald said he would give a call back in a few minutes after he talked to the General.

  ****

  As soon as he hung up, Glenwood made the call.

  “General, Matt says he has the terrorists under observation and they are going to be attacked by another terrorist group that just appeared on the scene. It’s led by the Hezbollah leader, Faisal.”

  "The situation has dramatically changed. Does it look like this attack by Faisal is going to take place before we can do anything?" the general asked.

  "I’ll ask him. What do you want me to tell him to do?"

  "There doesn’t appear to be a thing he can do in the present situation, especially if the attack is imminent. For the moment, just have him observe. I want him to report anything that happens and prepare to intercept any vehicles that try to leave that location. If the situation is as he paints, I assume that there will be some type of firefight, and then the winner will have the bombs."

  ****

  Five minutes after Matt’s initial call to the center, McDonald returned the call and relayed what the general had ordered. The general’s instructions were specific. Matt’s greatest concern at this point was that the situation could escalate out of his control. He didn’t have the manpower or firepower to take on both sides.

  He watched the defenders in the compound as they arranged their positions on top of the roofs. The attackers down in the valley were clueless about this development. It appeared from the placement of the men on the roofs that they expected the attack to come on the blind side of the house. It was clear to Matt that they were preparing some form of ambush.

  Matt saw Faisal signal to his men. The attackers started to move up the incline toward the main house, spreading out in a skirmish line. They were a rag-tag group devoid of any semblance of military discipline. It had taken at least twenty minutes for them to get ready to start the assault.

  "Hey, Captain, what we got here?" inquired Sergeant Peter O'Leary, as he crawled up beside Matt.

  "It looks like those guys going up the hill are trying to do a surprise attack on that compound up there. I think the attackers are Faisal’s band of cutthroats and the defenders are al-Hanbali and his henchmen. The only thing is al-Hanbali seems to know that they're coming and is preparing to ambush them."

  "What you want us to do?" Lucien asked as he joined the huddled group concealed below the crest of the hill. Gary just listened.

  "The general gave me specific orders to get those weapons. I don’t think we can do that right now, but maybe after the shooting stops. I want the three of you to drive down the road as if nothing has happened and get on the other side of the compound. We know what's behind us, but we have no idea what's over there. Go and secure the road. Bridget and I’ll stay here.”

  The three soldiers returned to their vehicle and drove toward the compound. Faisal’s group could obviously see the truck as they passed by the attackers starting up the hill behind the main house. Reaching the far hill, completely out of sight of al-Hanbali’s men, the three soldiers set up positions to cover the road and to observe the compound. Lucien took his 50-caliber rifle and positioned himself on a small knoll to cover the road. Peter and Gary covered the frontal approach to their position. The team could observe both directions and cover them by fire.

  After he observed his men set off for the other side of the compound and then set up their positions, Matt dialed the center. In a few seconds, the Brigadier came on the line.

  “What’s your current situation?”

  “The assault on the main house is starting. I can only observe. I’ve sent the rest of the team on the other side in case anyone attempts to get away by road. I won’t try anything till this is over. Then I’ll make a new assessment of the situation. I hope they whittle one another down to where I can take action.”

  He waited for her response.

  * * * *

  Mary Jean recalled the conversation she had just concluded with the Directors of DIA and NSA on a conference call.

  “Mary Jean what in the hell are you doing with that team of yours in Saudi Arabia?” the Director of DIA, Lieutenant General Raymond Hill, USAF, asked.

  “Sir, I have sent over to you the scenario we were given after NSA translated the encrypted text. I moved our closest asset into the area to intercept. It is only a small team and the Saudis have no knowledge of their presence. I want to get that bomb and take the terrorists out before the bomb can leave that area. I don’t want the Saudis involved because of the complications that would generate, and I don’t want those weapons on American soil.”

  “I called the National Security Advisor, who was not in,” interjected Admiral Kidd, “and I’m waiting on him to return my call.”

  “You mean you haven’t informed the President about these terrorists with atom bombs in their possession?” the Director of DIA queried. “For fuck sake,” he bellowed into the phone and the phone then went silent for a few seconds. “No, on second thought, I sense a scheme here. I suppose you are delaying by that tactic, giving Mary Jean’s team time to complete the mission and nip it in the bud. Is that it?” No one answered him. “If that is your purpose, then I think I have no choice. I’ll support your decision, at least for now. I’ll have to keep the Secretary informed.”

  “I’ll use whatever assets I need to get it done,” said Mary Jean.

  “Keep both of us informed. I would hate to retire early over this. I figure that by tomorrow morning I’ll be obligated to call the President on this matter and to let the Director of National Intelligence in on this whole scenario if something doesn’t break before then,” the Director of NSA said as he ended the call.

  * * * *

  At last, Mary Jean coughed into the phone, and mumbled an, “Excuse me.” Matt heard this comment as he waited with his hand thumping on his knee. The general was not talking, so he bided his time. Finally, she spoke, “Matt, there is nothing you can do while this assault is going down. When it’s over, we’ll make a plan for our next move. We’re under pressure from above to get the weapons. Call me with the results of the attack. Have your team ready to act. Out.”

  CHAPTER 27

  FAISAL’S ATTACK ON AL-HANBALI’S COMPOUND

  3:45 PM – 28 OCTOBER

  Faisal thought the plan to steal the atomic weapons from al-Hanbali was simple. All he had to do was sneak up the hill behind the house, take out any guards, use the RPG’s to blast the interior of the house, kill the defenders inside, and take possession of the bombs. He deliberately arrived early at the compound hoping to catch them in an afternoon rest per
iod. He looked around as he got out of the car. There was no one in sight, no movement anywhere. He had caught them just as planned. His men were undetected and in position on the blind side of the house with no apparent security measures to give them away. Faisal realized he had taken too long to get his men in the positions he wanted—at least twenty minutes had passed since their arrival. Any further delay and he would lose the surprise he counted on. He ordered his men to start up the hill.

  They made unimpeded progress to a point halfway up. There he turned around to check that the two with the RPGs were in position and signaled them to get ready. Faisal waved his hands warning the men to move away from the direct line of fire of the rocket propelled grenades.

  When all were ready, the rockets streaked toward the house. In less than a second, the missiles went through the two windows on the back of the house and exploded.

  One rocket entered the control room where all the security controls were. The explosion destroyed everything in the room. The second rocket detonated in an empty room. The force of the detonations shattered all the windows in the house. A large fireball burst out from the front windows and rolled up the front façade of the house.

  “Move. Get going. We have to get up there before they can react,” Faisal shouted. His heart was pounding with excitement and he gasped for breath. He kept yelling for his men to move forward. They fired indiscriminately and at no visible targets, only the building. They reached the top of the hill in a disorganized formation and converged haphazardly on the front of the house, weapons pointed at the entrance door. One of the men started firing into the house and the others followed his lead. They emptied their magazines and started to reload.

  * * * *

  From his position on top of the adjacent building, al-Hanbali watched this pathetic attempt on his house. He could see that the attacker had failed to do any reconnaissance before launching this half-assed attack. If they had, the attack would have come from the higher ground behind him and not up a hill. No wonder the Israeli Army had inflicted so many casualties against these amateurs.