Golden Eights

by Nigel Seed

  “Bloody hell! I could read the washing instructions on the driver’s shirt. That took me by surprise.”

  He leaned down again and checked the track once more. He then turned and checked the second periscope.

  “All clear both ways, but the trains are moving fast so I suggest you get to the space between the tracks a bit quick, before one sneaks up on you.”

  Jim nodded and pressed down on the handle in the wall. It did not budge so he tried heaving it upwards. This time it moved and revealed an irregularly shaped door that had been built to match the brickwork in the tunnel. Despite Ivan’s assurance, he looked both ways before stepping out onto the track and then across to the unusually wide space between the tracks.

  He found he could see both ends of the tunnel at about the same distance each. That meant he had almost a mile to go to reach the open air. He took the mobile phone from his pocket and found that he had no signal this deep into the hill. He turned to call his men to follow him when the first shot cracked past his head.

  He flung himself onto the stones of the roadbed and tried to find a dip to hide in. He lifted his head to see three figures entering the tunnel ahead of him, all carrying weapons. He looked back, over his shoulder, to see another four entering from the other end. Scrabbling into his pockets he retrieved the old Webley revolver and box of ammunition. Breaking the weapon open, he loaded six bullets into the chambers of the pistol and snapped it shut. He lifted his head, to see where his attackers might be and was greeted by another shot that hit the stones close to him and howled off into the darkness of the tunnel roof.

  He was fully aware that the attackers were way out of range of the pistol he carried, but he had nothing else. He raised it and fired three rapid shots towards the people in front of him then rolled over and fired between his feet at the other four behind him. Luckily none of them were experienced in combat and all of them dived for the ground despite being perfectly safe at that range.

  Jim spotted the recess in the tunnel wall. A workman’s refuge, used by rail workers maintaining the tunnel. He jumped up and dived across the track into it, slamming his back against the brick back wall. He took a deep breath, then reloaded his revolver. He did not shout back to his men. They were experienced enough to know what had happened and certainly intelligent enough to know what to do without him yelling and possibly revealing their position.

  He looked across the tunnel. He could see Geordie moving quickly assembling equipment without showing himself in the tunnel. Ivan came into the chamber behind him and tapped him on the shoulder. They were ready. Geordie stood and waved to Jim. Jim waved back. The ex-miner swung a canvas bag round once and lofted it across the tunnel to Jim who grabbed it out of the air. It was a bag of Thompson magazines. Next the weapon itself came flying across the tunnel and Jim snatched it to himself gratefully. This was still not a long range weapon, but it was an improvement on the Webley and the large .45 caliber rounds would make a very satisfying noise in the tunnel.

  The attackers had recovered from their first fright and were now firing at Jim’s alcove, to cover their movements as they approached him. He looked at the bent and twisted bullets that dropped to the ground before him. They were small, probably only 9mm, so they were probably using submachine guns. Not very accurate at this range, but a lucky shot could still ruin his day.

  He looked back to the doorway across the tracks. Ivan gave him a thumbs up signal and Jim replied with the same. He then leaned quickly out of his alcove and fired a long burst of nine rounds along the tunnel, then spun round and emptied the rest of the magazine in the other direction. As expected, the roar of the Thompson was very impressive with the echoes in the tunnel amplifying it mightily. The attackers in both directions flung themselves into whatever cover they could find.

  Geordie took his chance and while the attackers’ heads were down he dived across the first track and hit the ground in a shoulder roll, making sure to protect the Lewis Gun he cradled in his arms. It was the work of a second to cock the old weapon and raise himself to fire it. This was a far more effective weapon. The .303 rounds were lethal to over 1000 yards in the old days and the range here was much less. The first burst of fire hit one of the attackers as he rose to fire and sent him cartwheeling backwards with blood soaking his black clothing. The other two at that end of the tunnel vanished from sight.

  Jim was firing short bursts from the Thompson at the larger group of attackers. They were fast learners it seemed and they had realized that they were outside the effective range of the old sub machine gun. They kept up a wary fire and continued to move forward carefully, making use of the sparse cover in the tunnel.

  Geordie raised the Lewis to fire at the second group when one of them got lucky. A round struck the sergeant in the left shoulder. He fell back to the ground in agony. That was Ivan’s cue to leap from cover holding one of the very accurate Lee Enfield rifles. He took a kneeling position and spotted the man who had shot Geordie. He was punching the air in a victory celebration as the .303 round from Ivan’s rifle struck him full in the chest and stopped his joy permanently.

  Ivan leapt across the track and went down beside his friend. He checked the wound and thrust a handkerchief into it to stem the bleeding. He looked across Geordie’s back to Jim.

  “Through and through, boss. Painful, but it looks like it missed the serious bits.”

  Jim was relieved and gave Ivan a thumbs up just as another of the attackers got lucky. A burst of fire sent blindly down the tunnel ripped into the back of Ivan’s calf muscle, carving a long gouge that spouted blood across the stones. The pain was intense. Ivan was not going to be firing carefully aimed shots anytime soon.

  Chapter 68

  Jim lay as low as he could to peep around the stonework to assess the situation. Two of the enemy were down and appeared to be dead. That still left him with five attackers to deal with. The question was, how effective would they be? Would their confidence have been shaken by losing two men? He could see no movement in either direction, but doubted they had withdrawn yet.

  His men lay in a gulley of stones between the rail tracks. The change of track gauge all those years ago had given them a fairly safe place to be, provided they kept their heads down. He could see that Geordie was attempting to stem the bleeding from Ivan’s calf despite his own wound. Jim checked the tunnel again and ducked back quickly as another train came flying through on the track nearest to him. As it passed he rolled over and looked behind it, in time to see three attackers rise up and move forward.

  A long burst from the Thompson sent them to ground again. But his question was answered; they had not given up. Geordie looked across at him from where he had finished helping Ivan and nodded. The two men had exchanged weapons as the Lewis was easier for Ivan to use without moving his leg. He moved the machine gun into place and fired a burst along the tunnel that emptied the drum magazine and sent the empty brass shell casings pinging off the rail tracks. While he was changing the magazine, Geordie brought the Lee Enfield to his shoulder and fired at a movement in one of the safety alcoves.

  Jim heard the sharp intake of breath. The powerful recoil from the rifle had jarred the wound in the sergeant’s other shoulder. He saw Geordie’s head go down as he dealt with the pain.

  Geordie looked over his shoulder to Ivan “You ready?” Ivan nodded.

  “You OK, boss?”

  “I am. How’s the shoulder?”

  “Stings a bit. Can you two lay down some fire? I need to move in three, two, one. Now!”

  The Lewis Gun roared in the confines of the tunnel and the Thompson sang its own song. The two old weapons spraying bullets in both directions. With the attackers diving for cover Geordie leapt across the track and back into the hidden base. He disappeared from view.

  After the burst of fire Jim and Ivan lay quietly waiting for their next chance. There was a sudden burst of indiscriminate fire from the London end of the tunnel and Jim saw two figures leap up and start to run forward. H
e waited until they were a few yards closer then fired a carefully aim burst of three rounds at the nearest man. The attacker was slammed against the brick wall of the tunnel by the heavy bullets from the Thompson and slowly slid down to the rail bed. He was out of the fight and it looked like he was probably out of luck.

  Jim carried on watching and waiting for his next opportunity. He saw a movement and fired again, but with no result. He then realized that the remaining two men were squirming their way back out towards the tunnel entrance. They had had enough and were giving up. Over his shoulder Jim could see no movement from the second group that were being covered by Ivan.

  Geordie reappeared in the doorway of the base on the opposite side of the tunnel. He was now carrying the .22 sniper rifle. The small caliber weapon would have far less recoil than the other weapons, so he could use it accurately with minimum pain. He stayed inside the cover of the doorway and waited for his targets to appear.

  Ivan spotted movement from the two attackers left in front of him and fired the Lewis Gun. The scream from the left of the tunnel indicated he had not wasted his ammunition. Jim could see the attackers, in their black fatigues, making a hasty exit, one of them limping badly and clutching his thigh.

  “Hold your fire, gents. They’ve given up,” said Jim stepping out of his alcove and crossing to Ivan. His leg had been badly chewed by the round that had plowed along his calf. Geordie’s emergency dressing needed to be replaced quickly to stem the blood. He helped the Sergeant Major to his feet. With Ivan leaning on him, he helped the injured man to hop back into the base.

  Geordie helped Jim to lay Ivan face down on the stone floor and went to find something to dress the wound. Jim went back to the door and checked the train tunnel both ways. The light from the ends of the tunnel showed it was clear except for the three black clad bodies that still lay there. Geordie returned with a handful of military field dressing pads and set to work on Ivan’s leg.

  “You two stay in here. I’m going to walk out of the tunnel and see if I can get a signal on this phone. Now that our playmates have buggered off. I’ll have an ambulance here in no time.”

  Ivan looked up “Take the Thompson, sir, just in case.”

  “Good idea. No point taking any chances. Be back shortly.”

  The two injured men forced grins and both said, “But don’t call me shorty.”

  Jim stepped out and across the track to where the Thompson lay. He was always amazed at the resilience of British soldiers in adversity. He checked the weapon, loaded a full magazine and put a spare in his jacket pocket. The distance to the outside was marginally shorter towards the city of Bath so he set off that way. He stopped as he came to the black clad body lying crumpled by the track. There was no sign of life, but he picked up the Sterling submachine gun from beside the body and tossed it across the tunnel.

  He made his way to the tunnel entrance and stepped out. He checked, but could see no sign of the people who had tried to kill him and his team. He leaned the Thompson against the banking and took the phone from his pocket. He opened it up and was glad to see there was a good signal.

  The sound of a weapon being cocked was unmistakable and he froze. He raised his head to see one of the attackers rising from behind a bush on the culvert bank. The heavy-duty pistol he held easily compensated for the slight build of the man. Jim stood very still as the man approached. All he could see were the two shining eyes behind the black ski mask.

  The black clad figure stopped about eight feet away from him. Too far for him to dive and try to disarm him. They stood and looked at each other. The barrel of the pistol looked like the top of a beer keg to Jim at that moment. The man raised his left hand and pulled the mask over his head, releasing a cascade of auburn hair over her shoulders.

  “Helen?”

  “Hello, Jim.”

  “Helen?”

  “Yes, Jim, Helen.”

  He shook his head. “But what? I don’t understand.”

  “Oh dear, you really are a romantic fool aren’t you? I’ve been planning this for weeks. With the help of my ex-husband, of course.”

  “Your ex-husband?”

  “That’s right, Terry Jennings. He runs one of the most professional criminal groups in South London. That’s where the guns and the foot soldiers came from”

  “So it was you set up the robbery on the motorway? I was convinced it was Sir Richard.”

  “That slimy fool? No, that was me. We were just about to jump you at Cave Castle as well, but then you popped out of the toilet and said the place was empty. My team were just about to burst into the woods to take you down. A good job they did their final check beforehand.”

  It dawned on him. “That’s when you had to take a sudden call about your granddad. The phone call at Castleton and that trip to see your girlfriend for coffee and gossip was…”

  “Was to tell Terry about that gold bar you so kindly loaned me. He got quite excited by that.”

  “But, how did you know we were here? I never told you, or anybody else, that we were in these tunnels.”

  “I took your phone during one of our romantic breaks in London. You were snoring. After scoring ‘A’ for effort by the way. And I put it back after we had fitted a GPS locator chip in it. Plus of course, we followed you back here after our little holiday, just as we have for the last few weeks.”

  “But why?”

  “Are you serious? There’s tons of gold bullion to be had. I could live in luxury on a Caribbean Island for the rest of my life. Did you think living with you on an Army base would compare to that? How sweet.”

  The small blue box for the engagement ring, in his trouser pocket, pressed into his leg. Mocking him, as his carefully constructed future world collapsed.

  “So what now?”

  Helen raised the heavy automatic pistol and pointed it at his face. “Sorry Jim. Nothing personal, it’s just business.”

  He watched, horribly fascinated, as her finger tightened on the trigger. The world seemed to have slowed around him while all his hopes and dreams crumbled.

  He felt a pluck at his sleeve as she screamed and her arm flew up. The pistol fired as she spun away from him and fell to the ground.

  She lay panting with blood pouring through her fingers from the wound that had appeared in her right upper arm. Jim dazedly stepped over her and picked up the pistol from where it had fallen. He stared down at her.

  “Jesus! You were really going to do it. Did I mean so little to you? I had even picked out an engagement ring for you. I thought we had something special together.”

  She looked up. “So what happens now? Are you going to shoot me?”

  “You know I couldn’t do that, even after this.”

  He stood in silence for a moment trying to come to terms with the changed situation. He glanced down the tunnel and saw Geordie walking towards him. He was still carrying the sniper rifle that had saved Jim’s life. He looked back at Helen lying on the ground.

  “I take it you had an escape plan in place?”

  “Of course.”

  “Then you’d better use it before I call the police. Get out of here before my lads arrive.”

  “Help me up.”

  “Help yourself. You’re wasting time and by the way, you now owe me one.”

  “You learn to hate quickly don’t you?” she said, as she struggled upright and turned to climb the embankment behind her. She paused and looked back at him “I’m sorry about this you know? Maybe I’ll make it up to you one day.”

  Jim watched as she climbed out of sight behind bushes. A moment later he heard a powerful car engine start and accelerate away.

  He looked at Geordie who was still at least two hundred meters away. Then returned to the phone he still had in his hand. He called the emergency services and then waited for his sergeant to join him.

  “Sorry about the crap shot, boss. You were standing between me and that guy. I could only see his arm after he raised the pistol.”

  “P
retty damn good shot at that distance, even if you did put a hole in my sleeve. At least you put the bastard off shooting me. A shame he managed to get away. But that’s a problem for the police later. Speaking of which, I’d better get them up here with the ambulance. The explanations are going to take a while.”

  He made the second phone call then turned to Geordie. He looked him in the eye and smiled.

  “I reckon you just saved my life there so all sins forgotten eh?”

  Chapter 69

  Jim pushed open the door of the private ward where his two men were sharing a room. As he got inside he saw that Sam was sitting by Geordie’s bedside holding her husband’s hand. Across the room a smiling Reverend Sarah was looking down at Ivan as he sat in a chair by the window.

  “Hi, boss,” said Geordie. “So what did the Prime Minister have to say?”

  “Funny thing. I tried to arrange an appointment to brief him but he refused to see me. The gratitude of politicians, eh?”

  “That’s a bit off isn’t it? After all we have recovered for him.”

  “It is. But Sir Richard was very grateful. Very relieved to have all his property back after seventy years missing.”

  “Well then, sir,” said Ivan, “where does that leave us going forward?”

  “As far as I am concerned if the PM doesn’t even want to talk to me then he obviously has no more use for us as his special team. I have been on the phone to the Commander Royal Engineers and he has agreed to let us go back to the Army. He has given me an engineer field squadron and you two are coming with me. If that suits you?”

  “Do we get to choose which regiment?”

  “The Army hasn’t changed that much. We go where we are told, but at least it will be a proper unit and not some headquarters desk job.”

  Sam stood up. “Is Helen not with you? I was looking forward to meeting her.”

  Jim shook his head. “No, I’m afraid Helen won’t be joining us, ever.”