The Wrath of Shakira
Page 14
“You want to see them again?” “Then shut up and drive.”
The van driver nodded.
As they drove out of Swaffam, the van driver began to fear for his life, he had noticed an increase in Police vehicles and it did not take much for him to work out who they were looking for.
Hussein had noticed the van driver’s interest in the Police vehicles, Hussein looked at the driver; “don’t get any ideas I am prepared to kill you and I am not frightened to die myself,” he raised the pistol and shoved it into the ribs of the driver.
“Okay... Okay.” Replied the van driver.
One hour ten minutes later they had just entered the M11 with the service station coming up, Hussein spoke, “pull into the service area.”
The driver took the entry slip road, “park over there on the left out of the way.”
The driver pulled into a bay; “okay I’ve done what you wanted please let me go.”
Hussein quickly scanned the nearby area, “I’m realising you to your god.”
Hussein pushed the barrel of the pistol under the van driver’s armpit, aiming it upwards and squeezed the trigger; the bullet smashed through the van driver’s rib cage cleaving the heart in two; continuing to travel upwards it stopped at the skull.
Hussein again scanned the area for witnesses; the nearest people were over fifty yards away coming in and out of the service entrance with no interest being paid towards the van.
Hussein leaned the van driver’s body against the driver’s side window creating the impression of a driver sleeping; he shoved the pistol back in his waistband and stepped out of the van.
He found what he was looking for within a couple of minutes the truck park; he stood by a payphone box looking for his next driver he didn’t have to wait long a burly bearded man walked over to a thirty-eight tonne articulated truck.
Hussein observed him checking the side curtain ties and limped over to him, he spoke to the driver, “are you heading south?”
The burly truck driver turned looking at this small man,
“beat it, I don’t do hitchhikers.”
Hussein looked around to see the area was clear, reached for the pistol and levelled it at the truck driver, “today you do, now get in on the passenger side and don’t be fooled by my size or gait I will kill you and you won’t be the first today.
The truck driver was taken aback; he raised his hands in a gesture of compliance, “okay; mate just be careful with that gun.”
Five minutes later they were heading south down the M11
It was one-hour thirty minutes later when they entered the North circular road heading south, Hussein spoke, “have you a road map of this area?”
“There’s one above you on the shelf,” the truck driver pointed to a shelf above Hussein.
Hussein located the London A to Z street atlas and quickly found the road they were on, they were just passing the A12 junction.
“I’m nearly finished with you, come of at the next junction A118 and then into the first road on the left.
A few minutes later the truck driver took the slip road down to the A118 and turned left and left again into Mill road.
“Pull over on the left.”
“I can’t park this truck on this road; we’ll have the law on us.”
“You won’t be around long enough to worry about that,” replied Hussein.
The truck driver pulled in to the left a hundred yards down.
“Switch the engine off.”
The engine died and Hussein looked around the area; there was a large car parking area on the left, which was relatively empty, and a few building set back on the right, there was no one around.
Hussein leaned over to the truck driver and gestured with his hand, the truck driver leaned towards Hussein. Hussein drew the pistol from his waistband and quickly put the barrel under the truck driver’s chin firing at the same time, the bullet ripped through the truck drivers jaw exiting out of the skull into the cab’s roof lining with a spray of blood and brain tissue spattered the roof lining.
Hussein quickly looked around outside; it was still quiet.
The cab had curtains that could be pulled around the side windows and front windscreen for use when the driver slept whilst on long journeys.
Hussein pulled the curtains around and quickly looked at the street atlas and located the nearest railway Station Ilford a short distance away.
He climbed down from the passenger side, he limped North up Mill road for two hundred yards going over the railway line he turned right into York road he walked the half-mile to the main entrance for Ilford railway station in Cranbrook road.
Hussein noticed a CCTV camera above the entrance he casually pulled his hood over his head lowering his face as he walked into the entrance, he purchased a ticket to Bethnal Green and located the westbound platform just as the train was entering.
The one hour twenty-one minute journey had one change at Stratford for the onward journey to Camden road station.
Once he alighted at Camden road station he was in the safe house within five minutes, he made a long distance phone call.
OSC London
OSC London
Whitehall Place
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.4 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.5 minutes West
Saturday 2nd July 1988
Max was with Strayker in his office; they had been discussing the mission in Norfolk.
“So Max; we lost five men, one Tornado aircraft and we have eight hostiles also dead with another eight prisoners; any leads Max?”
“The one prisoner Lang has been brought down here to a detention cell; he is being prepped for interrogation that I will conduct when we have finished here sir.”
Strayker’s phone rang, “excuse me Max.”
He picked the phone up “yes put her through.”
“Prime Minister, I have Lieutenant Colonel Max Storm with me.”
Max made to leave; Strayker motioned for him to stay.
“Yes Prime Minister.”
Strayker put the call on the intercom, “you are on the speaker Prime Minister.”
“Firstly; I want to congratulate you both and your teams for your sterling work so far, however I am coming under fire from the opposition and other sources with the escalation of violence we have seen in the last few days we need to curtail this fast, what leads have you got?”
“Prime minister; I’ll let Lieutenant Colonel Storm give you the update.”
Max walked over to the Strayker’s table, “Prime Minister; it has been unfortunate that we have seen an escalation to the levels of violence. However, we are optimistic that the prisoner Lang will reveal useful Intel and that we should be able to track down and eliminate Hussein. With all that has happened we can positively link it to Shakira Umbobo the man responsible for the viral devices a few months ago we also have good Intel of his present whereabouts gathered from one of our men who infiltrated his organisation.”
“So what would you suggest Colonel?”
“Hussein can be tracked down by the Police; I would like to suggest a strike on Hussein’s camp in Sumbe Luanda.”
There was a few moments pause until the Prime Minister responded, “do you concur with the Colonels appraisal Strayker?”
“Yes; Prime minister I believe the only way to bring an end to this is to cut off the head of the snake that’s feeding these atrocities on our land.”
“Thank you Colonel for your briefing, I will set up a Another meeting with the Everest member’s and put this to them;
I will leave you to put your strike plan together and to liaise with Police Commissioner Dawson.”
Strayker switched the intercom off, “right Max; interrogate this Lang fellow and prepare the strike plan on Hussein�
� camp.
Sumbe Luanda
Sumbe Luanda
Lat = 11 degrees, 9.6 minutes South
Long = 13 degrees, 52.7 minutes East
Shakira had listened to Hussein’s report and had advised him to get out of the country, he advised him to go to Redhill private airfield in Kent on Monday morning, where one of his Gulfstream’s would be waiting to bring him back to Sumbe.
Shakira was now in contact with his pilot; twenty-minutes later after the conversation with Shakira he was airborne on route to Redhill airfield in Kent.
Shakira was analysing the information from Hussein, it would be prudent he thought; to presume his home would be a possible target especially if Hussein was captured.
He picked a two-way radio up and called Chima his estate foreman, “Chima come up to the house.”
“Yes boss,” replied Chima.
Five minutes later Chima arrived at the main house and met Shakira on the veranda, he was a tall thin man in his sixty’s with a baldhead, he had been with Shakira for several years looking after Shakira’s property.
“I want the estate shut down within the next twelve-hours; as usual all the staff are to go to their homes, I will leave the usual amounts on monies for you to distribute out to the staff and have my belongings packed for the trip to the fort and tell Sango I want to see him.”
“As you say, it shall be done,” replied Chima.
Chima had been used to this aspect of Shakira’s life, and had performed this request on many previous occasions.
He walked away to set the orders in motion.
Sango was walking up to the residence from the barracks compound having been given the order from Chima he was from the town of Malkal in Sudan; he was in his early twenties with short dread-lock hair dressed in baggy army fatigues with a AK-47 slung over his right shoulder.
Shakira was waiting for him on the veranda, as he entered Shakira spoke, “were moving out to the fort immediately, how many men have we here?”
“Forty-three including me baas.”
“How many at the fort?”
“There are seventy-one on site with another twenty-two out on hire to some of your associates baas.”
Shakira did the maths quickly one-hundred and fourteen men, “okay; have the men ready for leaving in the hour and contact the fort to advise them we are on our way and to expect us”... he looked at his watch sixteen twenty-three hours, “Nineteen-hundred hours.”
Sango left and returned to the barracks to issue the orders to leave.
New Scotland Yard
New Scotland Yard London
Lat = 51 degrees, 29.9 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 8.0 minutes West
Sunday 3rd July 1988
The original headquarters of the new London police force were in Whitehall, with an entrance in Great Scotland Yard from which the name originates.
By the late nineteenth century the London police headquarters at Scotland Yard had become increasingly overcrowded, and it was in eighteen-ninety a new headquarters building was opened on the Thames Embankment and was renamed New Scotland Yard.
In nineteen-sixty seven, the headquarters moved again to the present building at the junction with Victoria Street and Broadway.
Strayker was on the seventh floor when he was called into an office where Police Commissioner Dawson was waiting.
Dawson stood up and met Strayker halfway across the room extending his right hand, “Strayker good to see you again even if it’s under dire circumstances.”
“Hello Robert; my sentiment’s exactly.”
“Come have a seat; would you like a cup of tea?”
“Any Earl grade going?”
“The commissioner pressed his intercom, “Mandy we are ready for tea, Earl Grade please.”
“Robert; the prime minister has asked me to liaise with you over the capture of Ali Hussein.”
“The one responsible for all this recent carnage!” replied Dawson.
“Certainly the main man behind the recent attacks, however not the architect behind it.”
They were interrupted by the knock on the door with Dawson’s secretary entering with a tray; she placed it on the side of the desk and discreetly left the room.
The commissioner poured two cups of tea passing one over to Strayker with the milk and sugar.
Dawson sat back down, “you were saying about the main architect.”
Strayker took a sip of the tea, “yes; the man behind this is named Shakira Umbobo, currently in Angola.”
Dawson sipped his tea, “why has he targeted us?”
“To answer that Robert we have to go back three months, you will be familiar with the devices left on Westminster Bridge, which were subsequently identified to have a lethal toxic nerve gas.”
“Yes; I also know from sources that your command took out the terrorists at their base in Africa.”
“That is true, however what was never made public was the leader Shakira Umbobo was wounded and escaped, we have been trying to track him down since then.”
“So this is his revenge from that attack.”
“Yes it would be safe to presume that Robert”.
“You have stated that you now know of his whereabouts.”
“I’ve had one of my team tracking him for the past three months and we only found his location a couple of days ago.”
“So are you going to nail this bugger now Strayker?”
“Plans are being drawn up for the raid as we speak, as soon as we get the go ahead the strike will be implemented.”
Dawson paused as he finished his, “so that leaves us with this Hussein fellow!”
Strayker passed Dawson a manila envelope that contained a photo of Hussein taken when he was captive in Afghanistan.
Dawson studied it; “any leads that we could use?”
“I think it is safe to say that he no longer has any resources to call on in this country, he will certainly have spoken to Shakira and will be about to flee probably by aircraft that will be sent by Shakira.”
Dawson stood up, walked to the window, and looked down at the traffic whilst thinking, Strayker finished his tea.
Dawson turned around a few minutes later, “my plan is to have the media post this mug-shot over the airwaves with a reward to encourage people to turn him in, however if he is already taken flight it will no doubt be a private airfield that he uses, I’ll have an all ports alert sent to include private airfields, especially in the London area and south east, leave it with me if he is still in the country I’ll have him.”
“Spoken like a true warrior Robert; if he does happen to slip through your net he will no doubt run to Shakira and my command will have him there.”
“Hopefully this country can get back to some sort of normality,” replied Dawson.
“Amen to that Robert,” Strayker replied.
As Strayker, left New Scotland Yard Commissioner Dawson had called an urgent briefing with some of his senior officers.
Within an hour Hussein’s face was all over the media with a twenty-five thousand pounds reward on offer and a warning not to approach as this man is highly dangerous, the teleprinter machines in the communications room on the ninth floor were posting the All Points bulletins APB’s to all ports, with Hussein’s picture.
The Ten-man team of PT-17 firearms officers had been alerted and put on standby at Lippets hill the home of the Metropolitan Police’s Air Support Unit (ASU).
A UHL-60A Black Hawk helicopter was on the Heli-pad ready to deploy the PT-17 unit.
OSC London
OSC London
Whitehall Place
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.4 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.5 minutes West
Monday 4th July 1988
M
ax had completed the interrogation on Lang.
Strayker had just walked in, “any information worth using Max?”
“Nothing sir; it would appear this Lang was a foot soldier and had been converted to this radical regime, the only information he could give us; is that he believes there are no more individuals left from this organization.”
“Well Hussein is now the Police’s problem; how are we doing on the strike implementation?”
“I have had Vas draw up a layout of Shakira’s camp in the operations room; would you care to join me so I can run it by you?”
“Yes I will Max; give me ten-minutes to speak with the Prime Minister.”
Max went to the operations room where Vas had completed the sketch of Shakira’s camp where Roy Smith was also present.
Max studied the sketch along with satellite images sent over from ICIS.
A few minutes later Strayker entered, the room along with Roy and Max sat down, as Vas began the briefing on the camp layout.
Vas had a wooden pointer in his hand and pointed to the sketch, “As you can see, the camp backs onto a small mountain range to the east that encircles it completely, the main house faces onto the Atlantic Ocean and is on an elevated plateau. Between the house and the mountains there are three barrack blocks each capable of accommodating up to fifty men. To the south is a large building which I presume is for stores and next to it is another building that houses transportation.”
Vas paused for a few seconds, “on the north side is a training area with firing ranges and assault course, there is only one road in and out coming from the south side that leads into the town three-quarters of a mile away,” Vas stopped his briefing.
Max spoke, “how many men were at the camp when you were there?”
“I counted at least thirty but would say there were some more that I did not see,” replied Vas.
Strayker spoke next, “how well is the camp fortified?”