Jon grinned at the idea. “Don’t worry,” he replied, “Let’s get this attack over and done with and then we can talk about getting you home. Unless there are any unforeseen problems, I imagine you’ll be back in the next couple of days. We’ve been having a lot of meetings about the recovery plan and the changes we’ll need to make to it, and I think some people may still want your opinion on certain aspects before you leave.”
He paused to stretch before going on.
“We’ve also had a requisition demand from the engineers at your place, so we’ll try to combine their supply run with returning you home.
“It’s strange you should mention your holiday camp idea. I’ve only just come from a meeting in which one of our psychologists presented a paper and gave a talk about how, in his opinion, people are becoming too used to the conditions down here. He believes this could, potentially, cause problems when we try to move them above ground again. He’s recommending a re-education programme of sorts, to remind people that the base was only ever intended to be temporary, and that we all face a lot of hard work in the future.”
Jerry spoke up, “I can see what your psychologist is on about. This place has taken people in and offered them safety and security. Some of them may find it very difficult to leave if they’ve already experienced the terror of trying to survive. I wouldn’t mind having a word with this expert of yours to see what he plans to do.”
“No problem, Jerry, I’ll get the two of you together tomorrow. He wasn’t just referring to our new arrivals, though. He was also talking about all the original personnel. Look around us,” he said, waving to all the people who were relaxing, chatting and laughing in the bar.
“I suspect I’ll have to start issuing orders for most of these men and women to get out there and help with the recovery plan, to work hard, day in day out, living in basic accommodation with an uncertain food supply. I guess it would only be human nature to think about this place and the people left behind with a hint of envy. Yes, if you look at it logically, it’s the only course of action to take to survive in the long term. But when has envy and jealousy had anything to do with logic?”
Pausing, he added quietly, “I may have to deal with a mutiny as well as trying to get the country back on its feet.”
Jon looked away for a moment, then looked at Jerry.
His face, for the first time, full of anguish. “You know what, Jerry, occasionally, when it’s all getting to me down here, I do wonder if I would have been better off making my way to your house and just concentrating on helping my own family to survive.”
Jerry reached forward and grabbed his arm, “Bruv, you don’t mean that. You’re the right man for this job. You don’t have the kind of ego that wants to take over the world, you’ve only ever wanted to help people. You always looked after me when we were growing up. If anyone can do this, you can.”
Jon took a few moments to compose himself. “Sorry, Jerry,” he said tiredly,
“It’s been a very long day! And I’m pretty much at the top of the tree here, and I don’t really have much chance to offload onto anyone. The loneliness of command and all that …” He smiled at his brother, “and now that you’ve turned up, you’ve given me a load more work to do. I mean, we were quite happy hiding in our bunker, watching the end of the world through our monitors and then YOU get on the radio and now we have to save everyone.”
Laughing, and recognising that it was a good time to give the brothers some time alone to catch up, I made my excuses, and spotting Captain Hardy and Lieutenant Turner at the bar, I went to join them.
Prior to turning in for the night, (I wanted to be up bright and early in time to observe Captain Berry’s attack), I spent a pleasant hour or so in the company of Ian and Barry.
Thinking about what Jon had said about the issues he might potentially face from his own officers and men, at one point I steered the conversation towards what I thought we would need to do to ensure our ongoing survival. I didn’t mention the official plan, as I wasn’t sure if they knew about it.
Their reaction was reassuringly positive. They knew that they wouldn’t be able to stay in the bunker forever, and hoped that at some point they would be able to leave. They were both intelligent young men and understood the need for crops to be planted and harvested, if we were to stand any chance of feeding ourselves in the long term. They also understood that it would probably involve a lot of physical labour. According to them, most of the men were keen to get out there and start doing something. I was heartened by their positivity and made a mental note to have a quiet word with Jon. Hopefully this would put his mind at rest and give him one less thing to worry about.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
By the time I arrived at the control centre at 6:30 in the morning, it was already a hive of activity. One of Jon’s aides showed me to a chair in front of an unused row of monitors, and asked me to stay there, as it would be the best place to observe what was taking place, without hindering any of the soldiers in their duties. Jerry joined me about five minutes later.
A large screen at the front of the control centre was showing the live feed from the UAV circling Gumin’s compound. As it was still dark, the camera on the UAV was set to night vision mode. As the camera zoomed in and out and the operator responded to requests to look at specific points, a clearer picture of the complex began to emerge. Captain Berry’s convoy was situated about half a mile from the front gate of Gumin’s industrial unit and they were sheltering behind a row of buildings. He had four armoured vehicles and two lorries at his disposal.
The screen also showed the locations of the men he had sent in as observers and snipers. Whenever they came into view on the screen, a blue icon appeared beside them, indicating who they were. The known positions of the guards in the compound were represented by red icons, and as soon they moved, their icon tracked them. It was not unlike some of the video games I’d seen my son play.
“Team A is going in to secure the children,” announced one of the officers. The tension in the room mounted, and it all seemed slightly surreal, as we watched two of Captain Berry’s men move from their positions, cut a hole in the fence surrounding the site, and then creep through into the compound and crouch down outside a building.
The speaker on the radio they were using was broadcasting to the entire room, and I could hear one of the soldiers at another desk keeping the soldiers on the ground updated on the position of the guards.
The camera zoomed in on the two soldiers. The icon next to one of them indicated that he was Private Horine. I remembered him as the man who’d told me to reload after I’d shot the men who’d attacked us on Christmas Day.
As we watched, the speaker broadcast, “Entering now.” We all seemed to hold our breath as he entered the building and disappeared from view. The other soldier stayed outside, guarding the door.
One minute later, Private Horine spoke again, “Guard eliminated. Children secure.” We all breathed sighs of relief.
The soldier on the ground turned, re-entered the building and disappeared from view.
I heard a soldier speaking a few desks along from us and her voice broadcast over the speaker, “Stay in position. We will advise of anyone approaching.”
Captain Berry’s voice came through next, “Preparing to move. It will be light enough in five minutes.”
Not much happened for the next few minutes, apart from continual updates on the positions of the enemy guards.
After five minutes, Captain Berry carried out a radio check with each of his observers and with the UAV operator. All confirmed that nothing had changed and all was still looking good.
“Moving into position …”
It was light enough now for the cameras to switch to normal daytime mode. The screen changed from a flat monochrome to full colour high definition.
We watched as three of the armoured vehicles drove out from the building they had been sheltering behind and slowly approached the security gates.
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sp; “In position. Looks like we haven’t been spotted yet. Is the UAV ready for flyby?”
“Affirmative, ready to go,” confirmed the UAV operator.
The camera angle changed as it descended. There was silence for a moment. It was difficult to believe that the vehicles had reached the gates without being noticed. The guards were clearly very careless.
“Team A, get ready. We’re about to wake them up.”
The four snipers still surrounding the building, and the two inside guarding the children, all confirmed their readiness.
Captain Berry broke the silence. “This is Captain Berry of her Majesty’s Armed Forces. Gumin, we know you’re in there. We’ve been watching you for days.”
In the heavy silence that followed, the camera of the UAV zoomed in on the front of the warehouse. For a long minute, nothing happened, and then four men holding what appeared to be guns, ran out of the building and threw themselves down behind a car.
“Sniper One. I have a clear shot.”
“Sniper Two. I have a clear shot.”
Captain Berry spoke over the open radio channel, “Shoot if they point any weapons towards us.”
The men crouching behind the car kept standing up, looking towards the gate and then turning towards the warehouse.
They were either reporting back about what they could see, or they were receiving orders from whoever was inside.
Sitting in the control room and watching what was happening was a very strange experience. We had live video and audio feeds so that we could see what was going on, but we could only hear the radio conversations.
You almost felt cheated that you couldn’t hear what the other side was saying. We were watching in the third person, observing real life as if it was a video game.
“Sniper One. I can hear shouting, but I can’t make it out.”
One of the men hiding behind the car suddenly stood and aimed his weapon at the gate, where Captain Berry and his armoured vehicles were currently waiting. The radio remained silent but we watched as the man fell to the ground and lay at a strange angle. The person beside him also collapsed.
The remaining two must have realised that they were being shot at because they turned and began to run back to the safety of the warehouse.
Neither of them managed more than two steps before they too were lying motionless on the ground. The picture was clear enough to show the red stains spreading out from the bodies.
We watched, as one by one, the other sentries were eliminated.
A calm voice announced over the radio, “Sniper One. All clear, no more targets.”
This was closely followed by, “Sniper Two. All clear.”
A minute later, Captain Berry spoke again.
“Do not fire upon us, I repeat, do not fire upon us. Anybody pointing a weapon at us will be killed. I’m now addressing anyone who’s taken shelter here. We know that you’ve probably been forced into doing some terrible things for the sake of your families. We understand that, and you will not be blamed for your actions. You now have a choice.”
“In ten minutes, if Gumin has not been handed over to us, dead or alive, we will open fire. If you hand him over, you will be treated fairly. If you do nothing, we will destroy the building you are sheltering in. You have ten minutes.”
Captain Berry now addressed the UAV operator, “Do the flyby now if possible please.”
It was difficult to know what height the UAV was at because the camera kept zooming in and out. Our attention shifted to the UAV operator, as she spoke over the radio. She was sitting just a few metres away from us so we could hear what she was saying directly, as well as listening to her through the speaker.
“Descending to three hundred feet. Camera locked to front view.”
When I looked at the screen it felt as if I was sitting in the cockpit of an aeroplane. The angle changed as the UAV banked, and we could see that it was now flying quite low, on a straight course.
I was surprised at how slowly it seemed to be flying. Further ahead I could see vehicles in the road, then a few seconds later I could make them out as armoured vehicles.
I heard Jon, who was standing behind the UAV operator’s desk, say, “As slow as you can please, Sergeant Anderson.”
“Yes, Sir. This is about as slow as it will go. With the missiles on the wings I have to maintain a higher airspeed.”
The UAV passed over the armoured vehicles and the camera focused on the front of the warehouse. Faces could be seen looking through the windows.
The UAV operator spoke again into her microphone, “Captain Berry, I’ll do one more pass and then gain altitude and return to over-watch position.”
We watched the screen as the UAV made a tight banking turn and passed back over Captain Berry. Then the camera turned up towards the sky as it climbed back to its normal altitude. The camera swivelled downwards to continue its surveillance.
Sniper Three reported in, “I can hear a lot of noise coming from inside.” He paused for a second. “Gunshots from inside.”
The other snipers confirmed that they were all hearing shouts and occasional gunshots from inside the building.
Suddenly, on the screen, a group of people burst from the front of the building. They were bending over and running, while trying to hold their hands up in the air.
“Sniper Two. They’re all unarmed and they have children with them.”
Captain Berry’s voice came back over the speaker. He was on the loudspeaker again and he ordered them all to stop and lie down. Most of them obeyed immediately. One turned and ran towards the perimeter fence. He fell to the ground as one of the snipers shot him.
Everything became very confused, as multiple reports came in simultaneously over the radio. We could see more groups of people spilling out of the building. Most of them immediately threw themselves down, as instructed by the loudspeaker.
One or two foolishly raised a weapon towards the armoured vehicles or tried to run away. The end result was always the same, another body lying on the floor either dead or dying, as the blood ebbed away beneath them in a spreading stain.
Reports were still coming in of shouts and the occasional flurry of shots from inside the building. Paul’s plan was obviously working. Gumin’s former subjects were clearly rising up against him and were trying to either kill or capture him.
At the rear of the building, Sniper Four reported an attempted break out by a number of armed men. He managed to shoot three of them before they made it back to the shelter of the building. The UAV’s camera was concentrating on the front of the building, so when the camera panned to the rear, all we could see were bodies lying on the grass.
Looking up, I saw Jon walking over to us. “Do we know what’s going on?” I asked.
“You’re seeing and hearing everything we are. I think Berry’s plan is working but your guess is as good as mine as to what’s going on inside.”
As the camera zoomed in on the people who were still lying on the ground outside the building, you could see that the majority were women, and had their arms flung protectively across the smaller figures of the children next to them.
“Jon, as most of the people on the ground look like women or children, you have to assume that the men are inside trying to carry out our instructions. But without any weapons, they’re going to get slaughtered in there. Can’t we do anything to help them?” I asked.
Jon stared at the screen and thought for a moment. “Yes, we should, but it’s not as easy as it sounds. Captain Berry will have to enter a building with no clear idea of the tactical situation. He won’t be able to tell friend from foe. It’s got disaster written all over it.
But then again,” he reasoned, “his men are superbly trained and are used to thinking on their feet and adapting to a changing situation. And those inside are only trying to follow our orders ...” He seemed to come to a decision, “I agree that we should try something.”
Before Jon could radio in, Captain Berry’s voice came over the l
oud speaker. “Colonel Moore, I think it’s reached a stalemate. I’m going to Plan Two.”
Jon picked up the handset and replied, “Agreed. Proceed with Plan Two.”
Glancing at me and Jerry, he said, “Plan two is the alternative scenario we prepared for. He’ll force entry into the compound and, depending on what’s happening, he’ll proceed with the mission to eliminate Gumin.”
Smiling wryly, he added, “Did you think he spent all that time working on it to come up with only one plan?”
Paul issued orders for one of the lorries to approach. It arrived a minute later and followed him as he drove the lead armoured vehicle through the gate, flattening it in the process.
As his men disembarked from the armoured vehicles and the lorry, we heard him instructing the people on the ground, via the loudspeaker, to lie still. They would be handcuffed, but this was for their own protection, and they were not to panic.
I had watched something like this once, in a programme I had seen about the Special Forces. The standard procedure in any hostage situation was to treat everyone as a suspect and secure them. They couldn’t afford to assume that they were all innocent, and it avoided any risk of being attacked by someone who was posing as one of the hostages.
We watched, fascinated, as his men spread out slowly and approached the building, methodically putting plasticuffs on the people lying on the ground. Paul must have issued an order not to secure any young children because they were left untouched. Touchingly, many of the smaller figures had now draped themselves across the larger ones, as if attempting to protect them in their turn.
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