Aluko entered the hut and found Helen, equally as naked, in the bed. Confused, she jumped from the bed, hit him on the head with a thick piece of wood and kneed him firmly between his legs.
‘Helen?’ Aluko groaned in agony. Almost bent double, he held on to the arm of an old wooden chair for support.
‘Yes.’
‘Helen, you know me. I am Aluko. There is a helicopter three hundred metres from here. We need to go now.’
‘Abacha?’ she said, slightly shocked at the intensity of the moment. ‘What if he comes back?’
‘He will not trouble us.’
‘Why?’
‘He’s dead.’
‘Oh!’ It was all she could say. Savage, barbaric as he was, he had treated her well. She could not like him; she could not hate him. She was only sad.
‘We need to go,’ urged Aluko.
‘The girls in the next hut, they are my friends.’
‘We will try to bring them, but we do not have much time. We need to exit the camp before the shooting starts.’
‘Shooting?’
‘Shooting. I am not alone.’
They had barely left the hut when the first shots were fired. One of the Boko Haram fighters had not been dispatched successfully. Regaining partial consciousness, he had raised the alarm. The insurgents were slow to respond, but respond they did. They began randomly rushing around, shooting anyone that seemed suspicious. They even killed a few of their own men by mistake.
‘Protect the women at all costs!’ the young captain shouted before he was hit by a bullet in the leg and collapsed to the ground. In agony and incapacitated, he continued to issue commands and shoot with his pistol. His bravery was profound, his desire to protect the women, admirable, his death as a result of the rapid fire from a semi-automatic rifle, tragic.
The battle would continue for thirty minutes before the commandos gained the upper hand. It was not a one-sided battle; the insurgents gave as good as they received. Five of the commandos were killed, and over fifty Boko Haram fighters died. Mohammad Murtada, the insurgent’s leader had craftily slipped out the back of the camp when the first shot was fired. He had been lucky – the most he received was a bullet graze to his right leg.
The commandos, devoid of compassion, and upset over the death of their captain, systematically eliminated all the captured fighters, but only after they had extracted as much information as they could. It had been a bloodbath.
The information extracted excited the Nigerian army soldiers. ‘Major, we know where there are another two camps,’ Lieutenant Oni said over the satellite phone as the battle at the camp came to a conclusion.
‘Why isn’t Captain Mukhtar phoning me?’ Major Osuji asked based as he was back in Maiduguri.
‘I have assumed command, sir. Captain Mukhtar has died in battle.’
‘I am sorry to hear that. He was a good man.’
‘We all thought so as well. He will be sadly missed. He fought bravely.’
‘Did we achieve our aim?’
‘We did, sir. We are aware of two other camps? We want to move on them now.’
‘Do you have enough men?’
‘No, I would ask for the remainder of our men at the airfield to join us.’
‘Are there women at the other camps?’
‘It is believed so.’
‘You have my permission,’ Major Osuji said. ‘Conduct your approach to the camps as you have just done. We don’t want more women than necessary to be killed.’
‘That will not be possible,’ the Lieutenant. ‘They will know about the battle here and will be preparing to disperse. We need to go in with full force.’
‘Understood. Permission granted. I will also dispatch another eight hundred men by road in the next sixty minutes to support your operations. Please ensure I have the locations as soon as possible.’
‘Thank you, sir. I will send coordinates as requested.’
The raid at the primary camp had resulted in seventy-eight women being rescued, along with three babies. Ten of the women were pregnant, all were heavily traumatised. It was clear that a number of women had been killed in the crossfire but, given the intensity of the battle, the numbers were less than expected.
The exit from the camp, the run through the surrounding bush, was hectic and completed without delay. Helen, barely able to stand up for the last one hundred metres, was held between two commandos and virtually dragged along. Her legs were scratched and bleeding, but otherwise she was unharmed.
I am free, she thought. What about Kate?
It was five minutes later when Aluko contacted Harry. It was only then that he realised he had been shot, adrenaline suppressing the pain.
‘Target secured plus nine,’ he said as the helicopter carrying him and Helen lifted off from the ground.
‘Casualties?’
‘Four of our men. I’ve taken a bullet in the shoulder. The commandos, similar number.’
‘Collateral damage?’
‘You’ll need to ask Major Osuji. We ran out of there as fast as we could. We missed the action.’
‘Not all of it. You took a bullet.’
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘We’re in the air,’ said Harry. ‘Be prepared for the reception committee at the airport. Bob McDonald’s jet landed sixty minutes ago. Helen’s parents are here as well.’
‘Have you told them we are coming?’
‘No need. We could see them celebrating the moment our three helicopters lifted off the apron. That was the signal that you had been successful.’
Aluko was to miss the welcome, the congratulations. By the time the helicopter landed, he was unconscious due to blood loss. He was to survive.
It was Helen who had acted as his guardian angel on the trip down. She applied bandages as she could, nursed him in her arms, kept talking to him. She did not want her saviour succumbing to death. By the time they landed, she was covered in blood. Her parents virtually collapsed on the ground at the sight of her. They, not her, needed Bob’s medical team. All she needed and wanted was a hot shower and a cup of tea.
Chapter 25
As the three Aérospatiale SA 330 Pumas of the Nigerian Air Force crossed into Chadian airspace, they were met by two Mil Mi-24 helicopters of the Chadian Air Force. After identification protocols had been formalised, they proceeded in close formation to the international airport in N’Djamena. Major Osuji had made a call to their military once Harry and the commandos had lifted off from Maiduguri, to inform them of the expected time of the border crossing.
‘There has been a development,’ Phil said over the radio to Harry in the lead helicopter.
‘What is it, Phil?’
‘The jet from the Middle East landed about an hour ago. It seems clear they are serious about taking Kate.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘They have brought some additional support. They look like mercenaries and they look professional.’
‘How many are there?’
‘I’ve seen five so far, and they are well-armed.’
‘Where are they now?’
‘They are just about to head off to the compound. At least, that would be the assumption.’
‘Can you get Kate out now?’
‘Not without a gun battle. There was a French doctor at the compound a few days ago. I never saw him leave.’
‘What do we know about him?’ Harry asked.
‘A dishevelled character by all accounts. Mustapha thinks he may have been brought in to check Kate.’
‘Understood, virginity intact,’ said Harry.
‘That would be the assumption. The Sheikh knows you’re coming.’ Phil said
‘How did he find out so quickly?’
‘It’s on the news. Three camps of Boko Haram have been attacked by the Nigerian military. It mentions a large number of women being freed. He must have put two and two together.’
‘What has been his reaction?’ asked Harry.
‘He’
s brought in additional security for the compound. At least ten locals and they look solid as well.’
‘So, we’re going to have to fight our way in?’
‘It looks that way,’ Phil said.
‘What about Kate and the other women?’
‘Still in the compound, although now we can’t just walk in and take them.’
‘It may have been easier if you had taken Kate that night you went into the compound,’ said Harry.
‘That’s speculation.’
‘True, let’s discuss the current situation.’
‘Mustapha is following the Arabs from the airport,’ said Phil. ‘I am outside the compound.’
‘The vehicles we need. Where are they?’
‘Close to the airport, but now they’ll see you coming in. They’re bound to inform those on the way to pick up Kate.’
‘There’s not much we can do. We are committed to the airport. If we divert, it may give them enough time to grab Kate and exit the country,’ Harry said.
‘How long to touchdown?’
‘Thirty minutes.’
‘We better move fast once you arrive.’
‘Can you take out any of the guards at the compound prior to our arrival?
‘Not before you arrive,’ said Phil. ‘That would be a clear signal that a rescue was imminent. Once you land and are seen, then I will try to take out two or three. I won’t be able to get them all.’
‘Reduce a few. It may help.’
***
The Prince, safely ensconced in Saudi Arabia reacted with alarm at the developing news. ‘I am determined to have that woman.’
‘That is why we asked to bring additional support to secure her for you,’ Abdullah Al Balushi, his lead agent, said. ‘With such a prize, and the deviousness of Sheikh Idriss, we contemplated all possibilities.’
‘The news from Nigeria was unexpected. But, with the people you so graciously supplied, we are ensured of success,’ Saleh Al Hasani, the second of the Prince’s agents, said.
‘Don’t aim to suck up to me. I do not appreciate sycophants.’
‘What about the Sheikh? It is clear that he has deceived us and that he was conducting an auction,’ Abdullah asked.
‘Why do you ask me? You know what happens to people who act in such a manner.’
‘His death will be swift.’
‘If you don’t bring me the girl intact, then you both can stay there and join the Sheikh in Jahannam, in Hell. Do I make myself clear?’
‘We will ensure the virgin is with you tomorrow,’ replied Abdullah.
The additional security that they had brought was not for a fight with the army of any country. It had been insurance in case the Idris Deubet attempted to double deal and had decided to ship the virgin off to her father, or to move her to another location in a bid to secure additional ransom money.
The three helicopters carrying Harry and the commandos landed on time. They were clearly marked as military, and they were no more than three hundred metres from the Prince’s jet. Their landing and the subsequent disembarking of a number of heavily armed soldiers could only mean one thing to those watching from across the apron: they had come to rescue the woman.
‘We need to hurry up,’ Abdullah said to Adeel, the lead mercenary. ‘Those helicopters mean trouble.’
‘We came here to deal with a Chadian Sheikh, not fight the Nigerian and Chadian military,’ Adeel replied. A tough and aggressive fighter from Libya, he had supported Gadhafi. When the dictatorship was doomed, obviously going to lose, he skipped the country and joined a mercenary organisation. Any conflict in the Middle East, any ideology – he did not care, as long as the money was good and the fighting minimal. Fighting against the armed forces of any country was risky, and he did not intend to get himself killed.
‘You took the Prince’s money. It is now time for you to justify his generous payment.’ Abdullah reminded him.
‘We will go to the compound with you and fetch the woman, but we will not fight the military,’ replied Adeel.
‘We go now, and with luck it should not take more than two hours to be back here at the airfield. Let us hope we can leave then.’
‘Why don’t we leave now and forget the woman?’ Adeel said.
‘You do not know the vengeance of the Prince.’
‘What do I care about him? It is my life that is important to me, not his need to get his leg over a Western woman.’
‘It is the Western woman that is responsible for your payment. If we fail to return with her, he will ensure that you, as well as I, will not survive to see another full moon. Do I make myself clear?’ said Abdullah.
‘Do not threaten me. Neither you nor your precious Prince can harm me,’ Adeel arrogantly responded.
‘Do you not know of the reputation of the Prince, the wealth that he commands? Do you really believe he would not find you?’
‘We must leave now. Your debating can wait for later,’ Saleh interjected.
The four Toyota trucks and the Sheikh’s personal Land Cruiser were out of the airport and heading down Rue de la Gendarmerie within three minutes. Their progress had been swift, but the traffic, they still had twelve kilometres to travel, had slowed. It was mid-morning and the traffic was reaching its peak.
***
‘They’re heading your way,’ Harry said.
‘Where are you? Are you on the road?’ Phil asked.
‘Not yet. The vehicles are not here. I am being told five minutes.’
‘How the hell did that happen?’ said Phil angrily. ‘I can’t hold off all those coming for Kate.’
‘I realise that. You’ll just have to engage in some delaying tactics.’
‘I’ll get Mustapha on it.’
‘Fine, let’s do that. When we’re fifteen minutes from you, you can start reducing the numbers at the compound.’
‘Agreed. We are still going to have a gun battle, though.’
The vehicles that Phil had organised had been stuck in traffic; it had been a miscalculation on his part. Meanwhile, Harry ascertained the situation at the airport.
‘We need to ensure the private jet cannot leave,’ he said to the pilot of the helicopter that had accompanied them from the border to the airport.
‘They are requesting their plane to be refuelled,’ replied Captain Mornadji Déby. ‘They will find that our people are remarkably slow today.’
‘You’ve spoken to the crew of the fuel tanker?’
‘Yes. It seemed an appropriate course of action.’
‘Thanks. Great thinking, but if we are slow in refuelling, they may just leave and fly east to the Sudan. They’ll pick up fuel there, no questions asked, as long as they throw enough money around.
‘We could impede their access to the runway.’ the Chadian captain said.
‘Let’s do that, a few trucks in the way, something similar.’
‘Consider it done.’
While the plan to halt the departure of the Prince’s jet was being discussed, the promised vehicles arrived. They were now thirty minutes behind the Prince’s people, and they still had to battle the traffic outside the airport.
‘We’re just leaving,’ Harry said to Phil.
‘This is not what we planned.’ Phil sounded agitated. ‘There’s no way you can get here in time, and I just don’t see how we can hold them off.’
‘Did you get any more men to help?’
‘Mustapha organised five locals, but they’re just rent-a-gun.’
‘They’ll not be much use in a serious fight,’ Harry said.
‘If the Prince’s people are professional, they’ll be close to useless,’ replied Phil.
‘There’s not much we can do at this moment. Just see what Mustapha can do to slow the Prince’s people down.’
‘He has already organised a few interesting diversions. Not sure if it will hold them up for very long, though.’
‘Update me when I get there. See if he can hold them up for at least twenty min
utes.’
‘How are you going to get here in twenty minutes? The Prince’s men set out thirty minutes ago and they’re not here yet.’
‘We’re getting a full police escort.’
‘How did you arrange that?’
‘The pilot from one of the helicopters that escorted us in, his cousin is in charge of the police station at the airport.’
‘Everyone is related to everyone else here,’ said Phil.
‘In this case, it is to our advantage,’ Harry replied.
‘There’s been a car accident up the road from here. It’s probably Mustapha. It looks like chaos.’
‘That means they’ve arrived, and we’re only just clearing the airport.’
‘I will not be able to hold them if they get to the compound before you do.’
‘Do what you can,’ said Harry.
‘In that case, I’ll start reducing the numbers.’
‘Any reduction will help.’
‘It won’t help much.’
‘Can Mustapha get any more help?’
‘He tried, but we had very short notice. We thought it was going to be a relatively straightforward operation to take the compound.’
‘We assumed the Prince would just send his two agents with the money, and the Sheikh would have grabbed Kate and taken her out to the airport,’ said Harry. ‘Their bringing in heavies has changed the scenario.
‘We’ve miscalculated,’ Phil realised they had made a serious mistake. It had seemed a simple exercise to grab Kate – just poison a couple of dogs and remove four guards at the most. Now they had fifteen armed men to deal with, and most of them were disciplined and well-trained.
‘We did not miscalculate,’ replied Harry. ‘I have some very professional soldiers with me. It’s unfortunate that they’re in the wrong place at this time.’
Terrorist: Three Book Boxed Set Page 90