“Major; I’ll go with that, here is the location of one of the bombs, it’s in white coloured Ford car on Crestfield street opposite Kings cross station, now call you planes off.”
Ten seconds later, both Tornado planes banked away climbing to forty-five thousand feet, “Gauntlet three to tower; returning to base out.”
Crestfield Street
Crestfield Street, Borough of Camden, London
Lat = 51 degrees, 31.8 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.5 minutes West
The liveried Range Rover from the central Garage of the Metropolitan Polices traffic OCU (operational command unit), call sign Charlie Tango five had entered Crestfield Street from the south end at Argyle Street slowly heading north towards Kings cross station.
So far they had found two white Ford motor cars but with a negative result, as they neared the end of the Street they spotted a White Ford car right at the end close to the junction with Euston road fifty yards across from the station entrance.
They had turned all radio communications off, as a precaution to avoid any explosive devices being triggered from radio waves.
Sergeant Stone pulled his vehicle to the left kerb twenty yards down from the suspect car, Police constable Davis climbed out and walked to the white Ford, he looked around the vehicle and checked the interior, and he turned to his colleague Sergeant Stone and gave him the thumbs up.
Thirty minutes later the entire surrounding area had been evacuated including Kings cross railway station.
Sergeant Hobday whom had disarmed the device at Stansted attended the scene and was looking inside the white Ford car at the device; he walked away to the Superintendent in charge, “what have we got sergeant?”
“I would estimate the payload as around five-hundred pounds sir.”
“That sounds like a pretty bad one,” replied the Superintendent.
“That’s putting it mildly sir, it will take out everything including buildings within a quarter mile radius.”
“Can you disarm it?”
“I’ll need to get in the car to verify that; however if I can disarm it we should transport it out of here, may I suggest that we air lift it to a safer location.”
“How long do you need Sergeant?”
“I should be able to confirm this in thirty minutes, sir.”
“Okay Sergeant; I’ll organise a helicopter to be on standby.”
Sergeant Hobday went back to the car; within five minutes he had checked that the cars doors were not booby-trapped and was inside the car with his tools, looking at the device and timer showing nine hours four minutes and thirty-three seconds left.
He was looking at the wires of the timing mechanism; two wires red going to the battery the black connecting to a resistor, then three wires connected together to the device, green, blue and orange.
“H’m; this should be fairly straight forward,” he mused.
He spent another ten minutes checking the device for booby-traps and found none.
He removed his wire cutters from his tool bag and placed them around the green wire, applying gradual pressure the wire broke and immediately the timer stopped at eight hours fifty-two minutes forty-nine seconds.
He left the car and spoke with the Superintendent, forty minutes later the car was being airlifted away from the scene, one hour later the area was re-opened to the public.
‘ICIS’ Saltbox Hill
‘ICIS’ Saltbox Hill Biggin Hill Kent
Lat = 51 degrees, 19.7 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 1.2 minutes East
Strayker had been apprised of the car bomb being disarmed by Commissioner Dawson, Max and Strayker were now speaking with Vince at ICIS.
“What’s the story on Shakira, Vince?”
“We have them located sir, if you would like to come through to the Intel room, GAIL will give us the details.
They entered the large circular room with the vertical column of light from which GAIL’s three-dimensional hologram appeared.
Vince spoke, “Good evening GAIL.”
“Good evening Vince and to both our Visitors, Major Strayker and Colonel Storm.”
Max replied, “Hello GAIL; how’s your tracking on Shakira been developing?”
“Well gentlemen, along with his convoy he has stopped at a place called Muxima fifty miles south of Luanda.”
A large two-meter square Visual display screen appeared on the wall to their left with a satellite image.
“Gentlemen this is Shakira’s location; it is a fort; my records show that it has been rebuilt to its former glory, it is Muxima Fort Angola founded in 1599, built by the Portuguese to defend their access into the interior and to act as the base of the slave trade; situated on the west bank of the Kwanza River.”
Max and Strayker looked at the satellite image, Max spoke, “can you zoom in GAIL,”
The image gradually zoomed into two hundred feet.
It was a circular whitewashed building with red roof tiles situated on a hill.
Max was looking at a whitewashed building at the base of the hill, “GAIL what’s that building at the bottom of the hill?”
“My records show it is a church, and is one of five pilgrimage churches in the Luanda area.”
“Zoom in on the church GAIL,” replied Max.
The image enhanced showed people moving around the church.
“Your analysis on these people GAIL.”
“Pilgrims is my guess,” GAIL remarked.
“So that rules out an air strike; thank you GAIL please give us regular updates on the movements at the fort and church, now if you will excuse us we will retire to the situation room” replied Strayker.
In the situation room both Max and Strayker were looking over the satellite images of the fort.
“What’s your call on this one Max?”
Max paused before answering looking at the images; his military mind was racing towards his plan.
“Well sir, it would have to be done at night to avoid the pilgrims at the church, I would suggest an airborne assault with the drop zone here.”
Max pointed to the land on the east side of the Cuanza River, “this looks like grassland ideal for a night drop, we can drop in here and yomp about six miles to the river, this looks like a bridge half a mile south of the fort.”
“We will use this to cross, it will probably be guarded so we will eliminate any guards and move onto the fort. Taking the whole bloody lot out, I’ll finalize the assault before we are airborne.”
“Okay Max; all that is needed now is +to update the Prime Minister for the go ahead from EVEREST; I’ll set that up now.”
Downing Street
Downing Street London
Lat = 51 degrees, 30.2 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 7.7 minutes West
The cabinet room in number ten had the Everest board seated around the oval table; present were the heads of the Secret Intelligence Service’s MI5 and MI6 the heads of the three armed services, Strayker and the Prime Minister.
Strayker had just finished his briefing to them. “any comments of questions?”
Sir David Stevens’ head of the land forces spoke, “have we contacted the Angola government about this matter?”
“No contact will be made to the Angolan government Sir, as you can appreciate it is a corrupt government and any chance of a successful raid will be inhibited by contacting them,” replied Strayker.
Strayker fixed eyes with each of the individuals in turn.
The Prime Minister spoke; “I think it is time we voted on this and rid ourselves of this terrorist threat once and for all, shall we?”
There were no votes against the action.
“Thank you all for your continued support gentlemen; now it is over to Major.
”Rest assured; this will be the final chapter in Shakira’s life and his followers,” replied Strayker.
North Weald
North Weald Epping Essex
Lat = 51 degrees, 43 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 9.3 minutes East
On the west side of the airfield stood one of the original 1927 hangers, it was twenty-one fifteen hours, inside Max Storm had just put the final touches to the assault plan on the fort at Muxima; the twenty-four OCS troops had prepped their weapons and equipment.
Max called them over to a large board on a wall with a satellite image of the fort.
“This gentleman is our target, Fort Muxima in Angola, as you can see it is more or less circular in shape with three buildings within it and alongside a river, and we will be parachuting in here.”
Max pointed to the drop zone with a snooker cues, “we will going for a night drop, the drop zone is level grass veldt six miles east of the fort, we will yomp to this bridge half a mile south of the fort and take out any guards that may be positioned there. We will deploy as six four-man teams for the assault on the fort, all weapons will use suppressors, your orders are to kill all combatants, team one will secure the bridge, I want four snipers in team two positioned around the perimeter to take out any guards on the walls, as you can see there is only one way in and out up the ramp this will work to our advantage, they will be trapped like rats inside. Teams three and four will enter the fort followed by teams five and six thirty seconds later. There are three buildings within the compound, teams three, four and five will enter these buildings and deal with the occupants. Team six will secure the entrance; once we have eliminated all hostiles we will regroup at the bridge and head back to the drop zone for extraction, any questions?”
No one raised any, “right familiarise yourself with the fort layout, remember it will be dark I have been advised we should have a clear sky with a half-moon tomorrow night, our transport will be at O-seven hundred tomorrow morning.”
Max motioned for Roy Smith to follow him outside the daylight had just surrendered itself to the darkness on this warm summers evening, Max spoke, “any observations on the plan Roy?”
“None at all sir; as usual it is simple but lethal.”
“Tomorrows raid will put pay to Shakira and his reign of terror on this planet,” replied Max.
“With your permission sir I will turn in now; it’s going to be a long day tomorrow.”
Max looked at his watch, twenty-two ten hours, “okay Roy give the order to the men to hit the sheets.
North Weald
North Weald Epping Essex
Lat = 51 degrees, 43 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 9.3 minutes East
The next morning
Tuesday 5th July 1988
Everyone was up at O-six hundred having had a full English breakfast they had completed their final weapons and equipment inspections and were now checking their parachutes.
Each member of the team was fully conversant with this process; they had their chutes out on the hanger floor checking that all the lines were free from tangles before folding the canopy ready to be put into the chute bag Twelve miles north and at an altitude of two thousand feet the Hercules C130 call sign Ascot 530 from 47 squadron RAF Lyneham was beginning its descent; the pilot switched the radio frequency to 123.525, “North Weald traffic control this is Ascot 530 requesting clearance for landing over.”
“Ascot 530 you are clear to land on runway 02/20 be advised we have a southerly head wind of 15 knots over.”
“Roger that traffic control, runway 02/20 and 15 knots southerly head wind, out.”
The Co-pilot checked the airspeed showing one-hundred knots and operated the undercarriage switch, a few seconds later the light came on to confirm the undercarriage was locked, he adjusted the trim to achieve half-flaps and a three degrees glide slope, at one mile the altimeter was showing six hundred feet, as the runway threshold was crossed, the pilot adjusted the power to idle achieving sixty-five knots he reduced the power further and pulled back on the yolk to keep the aircraft level; the Hercules came down with a minor bump, now the pilot applied the brakes bringing the craft to a stop.
“Ascot 530 you are cleared to taxi to the hanger apron on the west side of the airfield, over.”
“Roger that tower, thank you and out.”
Max had heard the Four Allison T56-A-15 turboprops of the Hercules as it landed nearby; he came out of the hanger and watched as the ninety-seven foot long aircraft with a one hundred and thirty two foot wingspan taxied towards the hanger.
The pilot brought the Hercules to a stop having turned the aircraft around ready to leave, he operated the rear cargo door lever and the enormous door lowered to the ground, he then cut all four engines and the thirteen foot diameter propellers decelerated and a minute later were stationary.
The ground crew attended the Hercules chocking the wheels and a fuel tanker arrived to top up the fuel tanks for the long flight ahead.
Max had returned to the hanger and gave the order to board the Hercules.
Thirty minutes later at 0-eight nine hours the Hercules was airborne, on a south, south easterly course, heading one hundred and sixty-four point eight degrees; out towards the English channel, the navigator had plotted the course of four thousand one hundred and thirty eight miles with a flight time of twelve hours thirty-one minutes flying at three-hundred and thirty six miles per hour, and at the maximum service ceiling of twenty-three thousand fee.
They would liaise with an RAF Victor refueling tanker from fifty-five squadron for a single air to air refuel as they entered Niger airspace, having also factored this in flight refuel they should arrive at the drop zone at twenty one-four hours local time.
‘ICIS’ Saltbox Hill
‘ICIS’ Saltbox Hill Biggin Hill Kent
Lat = 51 degrees, 19.7 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 1.2 minutes East
GAIL had been monitoring the Gulfstream’s flight, having stopped with a technical problem at Jos airport Nigeria, it was now one hundred miles north of Luanda, and also on the monitor was the Hercules just entering French airspace she connected her Comm’s to Strayker at OSC,
Strayker picked up the phone, “Major as instructed; I am advising you that Hussein is now one hundred nautical miles north of Luanda, the plane landed in Jos airport Nigeria for several hours with a technical problem being reported.”
“Patch me through to the aircraft GAIL.”
A few seconds later the Gulfstream’s pilot was responding, “This is “Delta two, Alpha, Romeo, Bravo, over.”
“This is Major Strayker put me on with your passenger Hussein.”
“One moment,” replied the pilot.
Hussein spoke, “Hello Major.”
“Hussein we have kept our part of the bargain, tell us where the other two devices are.”
“That you have Major and you are an honourable man, however losing all my men at the army surplus depot must not go unpunished, I’ll tell you where one is located,
the other shall we say is compensation for my fellow brothers in arms.”
“You bastard Hussein,” replied Strayker.
“You’re probably right Major, I never knew who my father was.”
“We will hunt you down Hussein, mark my words.”
“I would expect nothing else from you Major, the location of the one bomb is; seventy-six Bethnal green road, you have one-hour and fifty-six minutes to disarm it, good-bye Major,” with that Hussein broke the communication link.
Strayker spoke to GAIL, “Alert the Police of the location of the bomb GAIL.”
“It’s being done as we speak sir.”
Luanda Airport
Luanda Airport
Lat = 8 degrees, 50.8 minutes South
Long = 13 de
grees, 14.3 minutes East
To Muxima For
Lat = 9 degrees, 33.0 minutes South
Long = 13 degrees, 55.0 minutes East
Thirty minutes after the conversation with Strayker, Hussein was travelling out of Luanda in a hired vehicle along Av Deolinda Rodrigues on route to Muxima Fort sixty-five miles away; he arrived fifty-nine minutes later and was greeted by Shakira.
Shakira embraced him, “Welcome my brother come into the shade and tell me the news from London.”
They both walked into the fort and entered one of the red tiled buildings; Shakira poured them both a mint tea.
Hussein spoke for ten minutes briefly re-counting the battle at the army surplus depot to his flight out of England.
Shakira spoke, “You have done well brother, what time is the bomb going off?”
Hussein looked at his watch, “twenty-seven minutes.”
“What size is it?”
“Around four-hundred pounds and located next to the gas mains of the house,” replied Hussein.
“That should make the news,” responded Shakira.
“Now you must tell me all you know about this Special Forces unit the English have.”
Seventy Six Bethnal Green Road
Seventy Six Bethnal Green Road London E2
Lat = 51 degrees, 31.6 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 4.0 minutes West
And
Safe House Three
7 Greenland Road Camden town London NW1
Lat = 51 degrees, 32.4 minutes North
Long = 0 degrees, 8.4 minutes West
Tuesday 5th July 1988
The Wrath of Shakira Page 16