by Jack Higgins
'I learned a long time ago not to be surprised at anything in our line of work, Sean. It'll be terrible for Holley when we tell him the man who's been his partner's best friend since youth, is what he is. Do you think there's any chance Malik has gone the same way?'
'No, I honestly don't, for all sorts of reasons,' Dillon said. 'The most important thing here is that we've been sold a pup. Clearly, the purpose of our being here isn't to try to get our hands on Shamrock.'
Miller nodded. 'The whole thing has been a ruse to get us here so we could be executed. They were probably hoping that Ferguson and Billy would come along for the ride, too. So there's no Shamrock waiting with Hamza on Diva Island.'
'That's the crazy thing,' Dillon told him. 'It seems Shamrock actually did come in on a plane shortly before we did. He landed at some place called Fasa on the other side of the Khufra. Hamza and his daughter picked him up and he's with them now at Diva. Hamza has been in touch with Hakim, and everyone is very puzzled.'
'And why would that be?' Miller asked.
'It seems he talks like a Brit, but is disguised as a Tuareg, wearing dark blue robes, face veil, the lot!' Dillon smiled wolfishly. 'Wouldn't you say that's a trifle bizarre?'
'I could say a lot more than that,' Miller said. 'What's our next move?'
'To get back to the Evening Star and check in with Holley, who's going to get a bit of a shock. If Hakim is with him, have your AK handy, just in case.' Dillon picked up the weapons bag. 'Let's get moving.'
They left the Falcon, he locked the airstair door again and walked along the beach to the jetty, Nadim and his four men following. Hakim's boat, Fortuna, had five policemen lounging around it, smoking and passing a jug of wine from hand to hand. The second launch, Evening Star, was tied up at a point where the river was swallowed up in a wall of fifteen-foot reeds.
There was a small hut to one side, a large door open to reveal a range of army cots. Two policemen lounged there, smoking in slung hammocks. Nadim and his men joined them and, as Dillon and Miller went on board, Holley and Hakim appeared together, walking along the beach from the Cafe Bleu.
'Ah, there you are,' Hakim called. 'We thought we'd lost you.'
'No chance,' Dillon replied. 'Come and have a nightcap. I've brought a bottle of whisky from the plane, unless it would give you a problem.'
'Not at all, a delightful idea, and over a long life I have discovered that one thing is absolutely for certain. Allah is merciful and understanding of the frailties of men.'
'Excellent,' Dillon said. 'So come on board. Let's go below. The midges are beginning to bite.'
'But of course,' Hakim said amiably.
They went down to the saloon, sat on the benches on either side of the table, and Dillon put four glasses down and poured. He picked one up and toasted them. 'To friendship.'
'To friendship,' Hakim answered.
'Good, I'm glad we've got that over with.' Dillon took out the Walther and put it on the table. 'What would you say that is?'
Hakim laughed. 'A Walther PPK, the new silenced version.'
'Exactly,' Dillon told him. 'And the automatic AK47 which Major Miller is holding across his knees is also silenced, a rare model. He could open a porthole, stick the barrel out and have a very fair chance of knocking off Sergeant Nadim and those six men before they knew what hit them.'
'I'm sure he could, but why would he do such a thing?'
Holley said, 'Come on, Sean, the grenade was bad enough, but this is going a bit too far.'
'Really?' Dillon carried on in excellent Arabic. 'As you can see, we haven't been honest with you. Even Major Miller speaks some Arabic. Your men have been loose-tongued, discussing in our hearing how they would murder the stupid Englishmen. Of course, they got that wrong, as I'm Irish.'
Holley turned to the Colonel and said in Arabic, 'Tell me this is not true.'
Dillon poured himself another whisky. 'He's our man in Algiers as far as Al Qaeda and the Preacher are concerned. Nadim and his boys have all taken the oath at his hands. They were talking about it as we were walking to the Falcon.' Hakim's face had turned ghostly pale; he was consumed with uncertainty about what was going to happen next. Dillon added, 'It would seem obvious to me, Daniel, that he's been using his friendship with your partner, Hamid Malik, to no good purpose. This whole thing was an Al Qaeda sting, a ruse to draw us all in for summary execution.'
'So no Shamrock?' Holley said.
'Oh, yes, he landed in a plane on the far side of the Khufra, shortly before we got in, at a place called Fasa. He's with Hamza on Diva now, a puzzle to everyone. He speaks like a Brit and is disguised as a Tuareg.'
'You bloody sod,' Holley said to Hakim. 'I should kill you myself.'
'Don't let's be hasty,' Dillon said. 'He still has his uses.' He picked up the Walther and cocked it. 'If I shot you now, Nadim wouldn't hear a thing, so be sensible. Who is the Preacher?'
'The most powerful man in Europe. If I did know his name, which I don't, and told you, there would be no place to hide. He's the Preacher, a voice on the phone. It's impossible to trace the source of his calls.'
'There's no such thing as impossible,' Dillon told him.
'I thought that, too, and had experts try.' Hakim tried to make it sound convincing. 'They all failed.'
'You bastard,' Holley said bitterly. 'All Malik's years of friendship meant nothing to you.'
'Osama bin Laden meant more.' There were tears in Hakim's eyes. 'You must see this, Daniel. He is the greatest hope for the Arab world since the Prophet himself.'
'Strange,' Holley said. 'All I see are the never-ending bombs, the bodies in the streets.'
'Okay, let's move on from that and discuss what's going to happen.' Dillon was still holding the cocked Walther and smiled amiably at Hakim. 'I am prepared to kill you at any given moment. Your friends outside won't hear a thing. The only way you stay alive is by doing exactly as you're told.'
'So what do you want?'
'We'll go on deck and you tell Nadim you've changed your plans. You've decided to take command here on Evening Star and he can follow in Fortuna. Tell him to leave his six men as arranged. It might puzzle him if you didn't. Tell him you want to handle the situation yourself; say that you might go in earlier, but stress that he keep half an hour behind you.'
'And what do you intend to do?'
'Why, push our way through to Diva and get our hands on Shamrock.' Hakim frowned slightly. Dillon put the muzzle of the Walther between Hakim's eyes. 'This is your moment of truth. I could kill you now, and I'll certainly kill you on deck if you don't do as I say. Once we start on that, Major Miller will start spraying your men, and you know how destructive the automatic version of the AK47 is.'
'Only too well,' Hakim said bitterly. 'So let's get it over with.'
'When you speak to him, make it in Arabic,' Dillon said. 'That way I can hear exactly what he's saying about me without him realizing. Another thing.' He held out his hand. 'Your mobile phone.'
Hakim took it from his breast pocket, put it on the table, turned and went up the companionway, Dillon and Miller following. There were strange birds calling, cicadas, the voices of the marsh and the croaking of bullfrogs. The men were playing cards beside a coal brazier, two armed guards by the prow of the launch, a small fire glowing. Nadim was watching and smoking, and turned as they appeared, and Hakim called him over. He told him exactly what Dillon had told him to say.
'You think this wise, Colonel, exposing yourself in such a way? These people need handling with care, especially Dillon. I wish you would allow me to dispose of them for you. What is to be gained by this farce concerning the man Shamrock? What is he here for? It was not necessary.'
'He wants to have a hand in the killing,' Hakim said, 'so obey me in this. Make the change now, and have one of the men bring me my night robe and toilet bag from the Fortuna.'
Nadim glanced at Dillon, his expression giving nothing away, then turned, moved to the fire. He outlined the change of plan, then we
nt into the hut. He came out five minutes later with his peaked cap on, carrying a holdall, and walked to the Fortuna at the far end of the jetty.
'We'll wait for someone to bring those things you wanted,' Dillon said. 'Have a cigarette, it will calm your nerves.'
Hakim did as he was told and offered one to Daniel, who said, 'Never again. I don't trust myself not to kill you now.'
The policemen playing cards retreated inside and made ready for bed, leaving just the two on guard. An orderly came running along the jetty, saluted Hakim, handed over the robe and toilet bag, and retreated.
'Time to go below,' Dillon said. 'You lead the way.'
Hakim did as he was told. In the saloon, Dillon took the toilet bag from him and emptied it while Miller checked the robe.
'Did you really think I might have a spare in there?' Hakim asked.
'Plenty of people do,' Dillon said. 'Now go and get your head down for a while and behave yourself.'
Hakim went and settled himself in a bunk in one of the stern cabins, and Dillon and his friends had a drink and discussed the plans. 'I'd like to see us move out at a different time than Hakim arranged,' he said.
'That was four o'clock in the morning,' Miller pointed out. 'Any earlier, it would be dark.'
'Would you think there was any kind of chance of slipping away without those six policemen?' Dillon asked.
Holley said, 'We could dispose of the sentries easily enough. There's that long pole on deck for punting the boat when in difficulty in the reeds, so you could float the boat some distance away before turning the engine.'
'And that would be enough to wake the dead.' Holley shook his head. 'That's no good at all. When we did the low approach in the plane, there were a few other boats further upstream from here. I think I'd better go for a walk and take Hakim with me. You two stay and keep the sentries happy.' Ali Hakim, instructed to come for a stroll and smoke a cigarette, did as he was told, and Holley found what he was looking for a hundred and fifty yards along a path beside the river. A shack with the door padlocked and a small jetty just above the water. There were two plastic orange inflatables with both outboard motors and oars. Each inflatable was capable of carrying five or six people. Holley had brought a lantern from the launch and examined them closely.
'Who owns these?'
'The coastguard service, but they hardly ever come. Local people frequently use them illegally, that's why you can smell the petrol. I've travelled in them myself.'
Holley gave him the lantern. 'Check them out.'
Hakim did. 'As I thought, somebody's been using them: both tanks are quite full. It's a push-button engine. Shall I show you?'
'I'll take your word for it. Let's go back.'
They sat at the table in the saloon and discussed it. Holley said, 'That would be the way to do it as far as I can see. It would be suicide to keep to Hakim's time. Omar Hamza would blow us out of the water. With these boats, you can cut the engine and approach with oars.'
'Just the two sentries to dispose of,' Miller said.
'No problem in that,' Holley said. 'And I've been thinking about the earlier start. The sky's clear and there's a lot of light from that half-moon. I say we go.'
'That's it then,' Dillon said. 'Back to your bunk, Hakim. I suggest we all get some shut-eye. Three o'clock it is.' Earlier on Diva, Justin, Hamza and Fatima had been drinking coffee when Hamza received a call. 'This is Sergeant Nadim. How is everything?'
'We are ready and waiting, but I haven't heard from Hakim and his phone isn't answering.'
'I suppose he could be sleeping.'
'It's certainly an early start.'
'Perhaps earlier than you think. He changed plans a couple of hours ago. Told me he was going to take command of our lead boat, Evening Star, and relegated me to Fortuna.
'Why did he do that?' Hamza asked.
'I've no idea. He's acting it up with our friends. I think he's enjoying himself, but that's playing with fire. He even said he might want to go in even earlier.'
'Than four o'clock? He must be mad. It will be dark, for one thing.'
'Yes, but getting lighter. I thought I'd better speak to you, as I know your strange friend is anxious to deal with them.'
'To a certain extent, that's true.'
'Wouldn't it be ironic if he got knocked off himself? This Dillon man is a maniac.'
'Well, that should make it interesting,' Hamza said. 'If Shamrock gets his way, there won't be much left for you and me. I'll see you in the morning.'
'What was that all about?' Fatima asked.
Hamza told them, and Justin yawned and said, 'I suppose I'd better get a couple of hours' sleep. What about you, Omar?'
'Gave up sleeping years ago in the Legion. They taught you how to do that. I only doze.'
'Was the Legion everything they say?'
'And more. Muslims, Jews and Christians and every colour under the sun and every race. Everyone was equal. Nothing like it anywhere else in the world. You'd have to go back two thousand years to the Roman legions to find anything similar.'
'I guess I missed out on that one.'
'What about you?'
'Grenadiers and SAS.'
'A formidable combination. You should do well in the morning. I'll see you then.' He went in his room and closed the door.
There was a kind of silence except for the marsh sounds, and it hung heavy between Fatima and Justin. She said calmly, 'Would you like to make love to me?'
He gave her one of his dazzling smiles. 'I'm not really in the market for that.'
'Are you of the other persuasion sexually?'
'Good heavens, no.'
'I see, so I am not attractive to you?'
'You are immensely attractive, Fatima. It's just that I wouldn't be good enough for you.'
'Do you mean in bed?'
'That's only about one per cent of any relationship. I'm not good enough for you or any woman: I'm a bad man. I spoil things and that includes relationships. I have a very, very wonderful mother and I spoil it for her, too.'
'I think that's the saddest thing I ever heard,' Fatima told him.
'I'm inclined to agree with you.'
She walked out and he sat there for a while, then pulled his rucksack over, produced his AK47, took it apart then put it together again effortlessly. Dillon came out of a catnap and found Holley standing by the other bunk, his face – beneath the crumpled jungle hat – already darkened. 'Come on, Sean, ready to go.'
He moved out, Dillon pulled on his hat, grabbed his weapons bag and AK47 and followed him into the saloon, where he found Miller already geared up. Hakim was sitting, waiting, and Holley was slinging his weapons bag across his body to the left. He picked up his AK47 in his right hand.
Dillon took some camouflage cream from a tin on the table and rubbed it on his face. 'What about the sentries?'
'I've taken care of that,' Holley told him. 'Shot them both.'
Hakim looked sick as Dillon said, 'That's all right then. Let's get out of here.'
They left the launch very quietly, everything still in the darkened shack, and moved along the path of the marsh in line, Dillon leading the way, Hakim next, then Miller, with Holley at the rear. When they reached the boats, they examined them quickly.
'I think we should take both,' Dillon said. 'Holley and Hakim in one because of that "special relationship", and Miller and me in the other. It means we've got backup.'
'I'll buy that,' Holley said. 'We'll row for a couple of hundred yards before starting the engines and, with luck, they can coast along on a very low rumble.'
'And remember the mobile phone,' Miller said. 'It'll be useful in this kind of terrain if you stray.' He said to Hakim, 'Get the oars out then, you bastard, and show us what you can do.'
The Colonel did as he was told. They led the way and Dillon and Miller followed, the Irishman at the oars. The reeds were alive with life in the pale moonlight as they floated past, wings beating and muted cries as they disturbed the birds.
After a while, Dillon said, 'I've had enough of this, so I'm shipping my oars and starting up.' His thumb on the button produced a gratifying growl, which he turned down until it balanced out to a pleasant throbbing. Hakim achieved the same results and they nosed into a sort of small lagoon, the reeds towering above them, the half-moon still glowing in a dark sky that was already clearing. They floated there together.
'Where are we?' Holley asked Hakim. 'How far to Diva?'
'Perhaps a mile,' Hakim told him, and pointed. 'From here, think twelve o'clock as you look ahead, and Diva is ten o'clock.'
Way behind them in the distance, there was the sound of an engine. 'It's one of the launches,' Hakim said and stood up.
There was the crack of a rifle quite close by and he was struck in the left side of his chest, spun round and went into the water. Holley reached over and got him by the collar and half turned the boat, towing Hakim behind.
'Get out of it, for God's sake, and into the reeds as quickly as you can,' he called. He crashed the boat through, came to a halt, switched off the engine and realized he was alone, except for Hakim in the water. So often in life, the most careful plans are disrupted for the simplest of reasons – in this case it was due to a police officer named Abu, one of those sleeping in the shack. Awakened by a bad stomachache, he had taken a torch and visited the outside latrine. He had noticed the absence of the two sentries and, on investigation, had found one of them in the water between Evening Star and the jetty. The further discovery that there was no one on the launch had sent him on the run to alert Nadim. The Sergeant's more thorough check had discovered the second sentry also in the water.
It seemed absurd to deduce from what had happened that Ali Hakim had been party to the murder of two of his own men, and the only plausible explanation was that the others had been responsible. As a quick search failed to discover Hakim's body, Nadim could only conclude that Dillon and his friends had taken him with them. But what for? He called Omar Hamza on his mobile.