by Andy McNab
‘They alive?’
Ethan dropped to Rick’s side. He was beginning to stir.
‘Yeah,’ he said, helping Rick sit up.
A voice cracked through on the chat-net. It was Luke.
‘This isn’t going quite according to plan. We’re pinned down with gunfire!’
‘Come on,’ said Johnny, ‘we gotta go. Now!’
Rick stared up at Ethan. His eyes were bloodshot and his face was nothing but a bruise. He could barely see through the tears streaming down his cheeks.
‘Don’t … kill me … please …’ he stuttered.
Another call came through from Luke. ‘We need some help here, guys. Move it!’
Ethan could feel Rick shivering and he knew it was from fear as much as the cold, plus the adrenaline from the fight.
‘I’m not going to kill you,’ he said. ‘You’re safe now. Nothing else will happen to you, I promise.’
‘But those men … they made us fight. Told us they’d shoot us if we didn’t.’
‘You don’t need to worry now,’ said Ethan, thankful that even though that instructor had recognized him, Rick was still too much in shock from what he’d experienced to register just who was in front of him now. ‘Someone will be here soon to take you home.’
‘I want to go home now,’ said Rick, almost talking to himself. ‘I need to. I should never have walked out. Things got out of hand …’
‘You will,’ said Ethan, choking down the anger inside at what had been done, not just to Rick, but to all the boys who’d ended up here. ‘You just need to wait here, OK? You’ll be safe. Someone will come and get you. Do you understand?’
Rick nodded weakly.
Ethan looked at the one who’d obviously won the fight. ‘You – go out through that door, go down a few doors and you’ll find a staff room. There should be some coats and stuff hanging on the wall. Bring them back here and keep warm. Understand?’
The boy nodded and stumbled out of the cage.
Johnny turned to the other door to follow the rest of the team. ‘So, Eth; who shall we rescue next?’
‘Luke, I think,’ said Ethan, following on behind. ‘What was that about being pinned down?’
‘We’ll find out when we get there,’ said Johnny. ‘Come on!’
From the room with the cage, Ethan and Johnny found themselves running down a steep staircase, which ended at a short, wide corridor. In the far wall was a door. They both heard the gunfire coming from behind it before they arrived.
Johnny called through on the chat-net. ‘The cavalry’s here, people! Sit rep?’
‘We’re to the right of the door as you come in,’ came Luke in reply. ‘He’s trying to get the boat moving and failing. And we can’t move because he’s got us pinned down.’
‘Oh, so that’s what all those bangs are,’ said Johnny.
‘Shut up and do something!’ hissed Kat’s voice, in place of Luke’s.
‘Flash-bangs?’ said Johnny, with a wink at Ethan. ‘The rest of you, heads down, eyes closed and cover your ears!’
Ethan nodded and pulled one from a black pouch attached to his belt. ‘After three …’
28
‘Three!’
Ethan burst through the door, saw the boat floating away from the jetty and lobbed the grenade at it. Then he hit the deck. The flash-bang landed on the boat before blasting out white light and an ear-bursting noise.
Ethan was on his feet and saw the instructor he’d been forced to call Chief. Though still armed, he was dazed from the flash-bang and was stumbling around the boat.
Remembering everything he’d gone through at the hands of this man and his minions, and what had just happened to Rick, Ethan charged forward. He leaped across the increasing expanse of water between the boat and the jetty and crashed into Chief, knocking the pistol from his hand to clatter across the boat deck and sending them both to the floor.
Ethan could hear the boat’s engine ticking over and felt the sway of the craft in the water. He was suddenly back to when he’d met Rick, trapped in that suffocating darkness in the bottom of a boat, probably this same bloody boat, drenched in sea water and the stench of diesel.
Ethan pulled himself to his feet and saw that the boat was now too far away from the jetty for him to jump off. He made ready for an attack, but his legs were kicked from under him. As he landed on the deck, he saw Chief coming at him and rolled out of the way as a heavy boot came at his head like it was a football. He was on his feet and ready as another attack came, this time a flurry of punches that he managed to defend himself against with his forearms, more by instinct than anything else. A couple of punches made it through, cracking him in the mouth, drawing blood.
Ethan knew he was out of his depth. He wasn’t just fighting an instructor, he was up against the one who probably trained them all in the first place.
A combination of kicks and punches came. Ethan side-stepped to his left and in the same motion drove in with a left jab. It caught Chief on his chin. But all it did was anger him rather than do any damage and once again Ethan was on the defensive, trying more to stay out of trouble than anything else.
Kat’s voice came over the chat-net. ‘Ethan, we’ve got a problem.’
‘No shit!’ yelled Ethan as a punch narrowly missed crushing his windpipe into his spine. But he knew Kat couldn’t hear him – he was in no position to squeeze the throat mics to communicate with the rest of the team, and the sound of the engine would have drowned out his voice.
‘We can’t do anything with the bomb. The only way to disarm it is with a key. And I’ll bet you can guess who has it.’
Ethan barely had time to register what Kat had said when a sharp kick caught him in the stomach, winding him and sending him down coughing and spluttering like an engine refusing to start. He pushed himself to his feet again; he knew getting caught on the floor would be the end of him.
The next thing he felt was a sharp jab in his back that made him snap up straight.
‘Who are you?’
Ethan said nothing. Another jab in his back. He stole a look over his shoulder to see that Chief was now back in possession of the pistol and had it in his right hand. Ethan calmed himself down. He had to get out of this. Natalya’s training was about to get a serious testing.
‘I asked you a question – where is your tongue?’
Another jab.
With a twist clockwise, Ethan whipped round to bring his chest up against the outside of Chief’s right arm. He gripped it hard against his own chest, and then punched hard. He could feel Chief struggling against the grip he had on the arm holding the pistol, but he was unable to do anything as Ethan refused to stop his attack. He saw blood, but that just drove him on and he landed more punches.
Chief was yelling, his arm falling weak now, unable to hold up against the attack.
Ethan switched to the pistol and broke it out of Chief’s hand. The sheer violence of the movement not only broke Chief’s finger, but wrenched his arm round so quickly that he had no choice but to follow it. He landed on the ground, cracking the side of his head hard on the boat deck. The movement also caused Ethan to lose hold of the pistol. Before he had a chance to recover, it slipped from his hands and bounced out of the boat into the water below.
Ethan heard Chief getting to his feet. He didn’t look in great shape; his right eye was swollen shut, his ear mashed and cuts and bruises covered his face and neck. Ethan could hardly believe he’d done so much damage so quickly, or that Chief was up and coming back for more.
‘You fight well,’ said Chief, wiping the blood from his face. ‘Guts and instinct and every defence into an attack. Krav Maga, yes?’
Ethan didn’t reply; he’d spotted something on the boat deck just where Chief had landed. It was a key on the end of a chain, and seeing as the boat engine was running, he guessed it had to be the one for the bomb.
‘Ethan!’ came Kat’s voice, sounding more desperate, ‘If this timer’s correct, we’ve only
got five minutes before this thing goes off. And we really don’t want to be here for that, OK?’
Ethan squeezed his throat mic. ‘I’m doing the best I can!’
The next voice to come on the chat-net was calm and cool. ‘Ethan. It is Natalya. You can beat him. He is more experienced, yes, but you just need to use what he throws at you against him, yes? You have the element of surprise; he does not know how skilled you are. Now finish it.’
Yes he does, thought Ethan. He’s just gone and bloody well guessed it …
As if on cue, Chief attacked, first with a flash of punches, then a kick aimed at Ethan’s knee. Ethan saw it coming and allowed his knee to crumple as it connected, sending him to roll across the floor towards the key. But as his fingers went to slip around it, Chief got there first, hoofing Ethan across the deck of the boat like a rugby ball, before picking up the key and slipping the chain over his head.
Coughing, exhausted, Ethan gripped the side of the boat and pulled himself back onto his feet. His muscles were burning and his legs felt as though they were about to collapse like wet straws. And his reactions were slowing.
Chief came in again, and even though Ethan got his hands up to protect his face and the side of his head, a left-hand hook caught him hard and dropped him to the floor. Ethan felt like he’d been slammed by a tree; he could see bright stars twinkling in front of him. He tried to get up, hadn’t the energy, fell back down.
Chief approached and Ethan pushed himself away, slipping across the boat deck.
‘Do not run from the inevitable. You have fought well, so accept your fate like a true warrior. Come!’
Ethan felt a huge fist grip the top of his head and wrench at his hair, pulling him up to his feet. It felt like his scalp was being ripped off and he yelled out in pain.
Chief leaned in close, bending down next to Ethan’s ear. ‘I am afraid this might hurt a little …’
Ethan shot a look up at Chief and saw him raising his fist to bring it down into his face. And he knew that after that first blow knocked him senseless, Chief would finish him off for good. There would be no waking up.
Ethan dug deep for every last bit of energy he had left. Then, as Chief smiled in anticipation of the killing blow, Ethan launched his foot between Chief’s legs. He wasn’t sure about range or direction, he just hoped it was hard enough to have an effect.
It was. And it did.
Chief roared and Ethan felt his grip on his hair slacken. Taking the advantage, Ethan reached up and grabbed Chief’s arm, bending the thumb in hard till it snapped like a chicken leg. As Chief roared even louder, Ethan went in with two kicks, then used the weight of his body to twist the arm. Chief went with it and toppled forward out of the boat with a yell.
As the heavy man tumbled towards the water, the chain round his neck swung in a wide arc. Somehow Ethan managed to catch hold of the key. He yanked hard. The chain snapped and Ethan had the key in his hand! He flung it onto the stone jetty, but in the process felt himself topple forward.
Coughing and spluttering, Ethan resurfaced in the water, but only in time to see Chief pull himself into the boat and at last get it moving. The darkness seemed to then suck him out of the dock through an arch in the wall and into the night.
‘Ethan? Grab my arm!’
Sweat and sea water blinding him, Ethan thrashed out wildly to find the hand of whoever it was calling him. Panic caught hold as he felt his energy going and he knew he was about to slip under the water. Then he felt himself heaved up and onto the jetty, coughing and spluttering, his whole body screaming pain.
Ethan opened his eyes to see Kat smiling at him. ‘You did it,’ she said. ‘The bomb’s out of action. Now all we need to do is get up top and call Sam in to pick us up. You able to stand?’
A few minutes later, having run out onto the top of the fortress, Ethan watched Sam bring the helicopter in. They’d all picked up their rigs and as soon as he’d touched down they clambered into the back. Sam took off immediately.
‘Job done?’
‘As always,’ said Johnny, responding to Sam’s voice on the chat-net. ‘And with a not unsurprising dash of style and panache. You know, I sometimes think people get into crime just so that they can meet me.’
‘The Regiment will be here in minutes. Well done, team. Job well done.’
Ethan, like the rest, squeezed his throat mic and said, ‘Thanks,’ but it was relief above all that he felt rather than pride. He was knackered, bruised and bloodied, and he’d barely got away with his life.
It was all he could do to stop himself crying.
29
‘Drink?’
Ethan took the can from Johnny, who was standing next to him in the kitchen of the flat wearing a rubber face mask of President Kennedy. He snapped the ring pull, drank deep.
‘I was going to ask if you wanted a glass, but I guess not.’
Ethan took it anyway, and emptied the can into it.
‘How are you doing?’
‘All right,’ said Ethan, though he was still in agony every morning when he got out of bed. He’d spent the last few weeks either exercising or getting beaten up. It had certainly taken its toll.
It was only a week since the job had finished and he and the rest of the Raiders were all round at Johnny’s flat, not just to celebrate Ethan’s moving in, but also another completed mission.
It hadn’t exactly gone smoothly. They’d got the intel for Gabe, and the UKSF had busted the place wide open, rescuing the boys still there. Ethan had heard as well that Rick had been sent back to his very relieved parents. But it wasn’t a total success – and that bugged him. And as for his experience in the cage; he hadn’t had a decent night’s sleep since they’d returned. Nightmare images still woke him up in a cold sweat.
‘You’re a tough bastard, you know that?’ said Johnny.
‘I just didn’t like the idea of dying,’ said Ethan. ‘I’m hardly Bruce Lee.’
‘Pity,’ said Johnny, ‘because what we really need more than anything on this team is a ninja.’
Kat called through from the lounge. ‘Johnny? Ethan? The film’s about to start. It’s Bodhi time!’
‘Remind me why we’re watching Point Break,’ asked Ethan.
‘Because it’s one of the greatest action movies ever made. And it’s my favourite film,’ Johnny replied.
‘Oh, that explains it then. And do you always dress as one of the characters for every movie you watch, or just this one?’
‘Just this one!’ said Johnny. ‘And after Point Break, I’ve got Roadhouse, Die Hard, Rambo 4 …’
‘You’re sick, you know that?’
‘But happy, and that’s what’s important.’
Kat called them again.
‘Come on,’ said Johnny. ‘Don’t want to miss any of it, do we?’
‘Guess not,’ said Ethan and followed Johnny through to the lounge. He squeezed in between Kat and Natalya and took another chug from his glass.
‘You look very serious,’ said Kat. ‘What’s bothering you?’
‘The same thing that should be bothering us all,’ said Natalya. ‘That it wasn’t a clean job. That it wasn’t as it should be? I am right, Ethan, yes?’
Ethan nodded. They were supposed to be covert operators, sneaky, but instead everything had kicked off big time. They’d bust the cage fighting, saved the lads and Gabe was more than happy with the intel they’d bagged from the server. But Mr X had escaped, as had the Chief, and that had pissed off everyone. Wherever they were, wherever they’d gone, no one had a clue. They were ghosts and that was bad.
Johnny stood up. ‘I think we need a toast to get us going,’ he said. ‘On your feet.’
‘Shut up, Johnny,’ said Kat.
‘No. Come on – up! We need this party more than anything and it’s my job to ensure we all enjoy it. So we’re not yet perfect. So the bad guys got away. There’ll be another time. And we can now get back to practising for the competitions. In just a few months we’ll be
bringing medals home by the dozen!’
Ethan joined the rest in getting to his feet. It was good to hear the mention of the competitions. In the haze since coming back, he hadn’t really given it much thought. He’d caught up with his mum and Jo, checked they were OK. And they were, not least because his dad had been arrested. They’d bought his story about being away practising and said how much they were looking forward to coming over and seeing him in the flat. It was all so normal, so everyday; and it was completely at odds with everything Ethan and the rest had just gone through. The idea of getting back into skydiving, focusing only on that, felt good. It was the kind of medicine that he knew for sure had a good chance of sorting him out and clearing his head.
‘Right, everyone,’ said Johnny slipping easily into the role of master of ceremonies, ‘raise your glasses or cans or whatever it is you’ve got in your hands.’
As they all did so, Kat asked, ‘What’s the toast?’
‘Actually I just want to do this.’ Johnny whipped round to face Luke and snapped open his can. It exploded. Luke disappeared in a fountain of raging fizz. It drenched him in a second. As Luke stood there, doing a very good impression of a drowned spaniel, Johnny said, ‘There, now doesn’t that feel better? Everyone? Luke?’
Ethan couldn’t help himself. With all that he’d gone through, seeing Luke utterly drenched seemed so completely ridiculous that he just burst out laughing.
‘Thanks, Ethan,’ said Luke. ‘Nice to know that you care.’
‘Here,’ said Johnny, and handed Luke a fresh can.
Luke promptly emptied it all over Johnny. And at that laughter took over and the whole team collapsed back into their chairs, tears in their eyes.
As Johnny started the movie Ethan got up to go and get another drink. He made his way to the bathroom where the bath itself was filled with ice and cans. He was half tempted to jump in.
Pulling a can out, plus a few extras for everyone else, he headed back. As he went to sit down, Kat beamed at him and he realized it was a smile he could quite easily live with seeing again and again and again. There was nothing he could do to get away from it; she was stunning. He felt sure Sam wouldn’t want them getting involved with each other in case it somehow jeopardized operations but he was beginning to wonder how to avoid the inevitable – or if he wanted to avoid it!