Papa.
“So how do we get past them? We can’t afford to kill any Guineans. That would give them something to arrest Donald for.” Papa was struggling to know what to do.
“Wait a minute. They’re not Guineans, absolutely no way. They’re far too well trained and their kit is state of the art. That is one very expensive private army, mercenaries I would say,” replied Kano.
“How good?” asked Papa.
“As good as I’ve seen. They nearly spotted me!” exclaimed Kano.
“How many?”
“Probably 40 around the perimeter and another 10 at the gates. The strange thing is though, I would swear that the guys on the gate don’t know about the soldiers on the perimeter.”
“My main concern isn’t getting in, it’s getting out with Rachel and Donald,” said Papa who didn’t need to worry about Saki.
“Papa, come in Papa,” called Daniel into the radio.
“Yes Daniel, what’s wrong?” replied Papa into his two-way headset. All the islanders would be able to hear what was said.
“I think you’ve been spotted,” replied Daniel. Papa immediately looked to Kano and Kisho who shook their heads.
“Impossible Daniel. We can see the bad guys and there’s only the sea behind us.”
“Well whoever they are can see Lela. Somebody just mentioned that they could swear that was a girl.”
Papa looked over at Lela. Whoever had spotted them was behind them. Papa had Lela surrounded, just in case, and the only place she was visible was from the sea. He looked around again.
“I’ll call you back Daniel. Keep tracking them.”
Chapter 43
Donald and Saki were pacing in their cell. It was 1.00 a.m. but neither felt like sleeping. It had been a very strange day, something was brewing and a dangerous atmosphere hung in the air. The cell next to theirs which had previously been empty had been filled with four new prisoners who could not have looked more out of place if they had tried. During their afternoon exercise, the mens’ eyes betrayed their training. They were professional soldiers and good ones. They had also brought a number of friends into the prison. Saki had counted at least another six so of them. In addition Donald and Saki had noticed a number of new guards, surprisingly similar in stature and training to the new prisoners.
The tension amongst the prison community was palpable. With no ‘boss’ prisoner to keep the peace, turf wars were being fought and old scores settled. The new prisoners seemed to be taking a great interest in these and somehow getting involved and even stirring an already explosive atmosphere.
It did not take a genius to work out that an attempt was going to be made on their lives, under the cover of a prison riot. Saki knew it and Donald knew it. Fortunately, Rachel didn’t. They could hear shouts already. Things were beginning to happen, it wouldn’t be long. The shouts began to grow both in volume and number.
“What can we do?” asked Donald.
“Nothing. When it starts, we just need to get to Rachel and you stay behind me, OK.”
They didn’t have long to wait, the shouts soon grew to screams as the first bout of fighting began.
Chapter 44
“I see them,” said Kano. “They’re just on the edge of the beach.”
“How many?” asked Papa.
They had all dropped to the ground and were now moving away from the point where they had been spotted. All except for Kano and Kisho, who had moved towards the sea to try to see who was there.
“About fifteen, hold on, they’re coming towards me.” He stopped transmitting. He and Kisho lay still as they watched the soldiers move past them.
The soldiers were all dressed in black covert operations’ gear and had thermal imaging equipment although it appeared they were happy not to use it. They carried a mixture of weapons some with MP5 silenced submachine guns, some with HK416 machine rifles complete with added grenade launchers. Two of the soldiers were equipped with L96A1 sniper rifles and all carried Browning Hi-Power pistols as they moved quietly and swiftly across the sand.
Just as they were passing, Kisho stood up. All fifteen soldiers saw him and instantly levelled their weapons ready to fire.
“Not by strength, by guile,” whispered Kisho. Kano understanding what he was doing, stood up also.
“Who the hell are you mate?” asked one of the soldiers.
“On your side I think. We’re here to get Donald Kennedy out. You?” replied Kisho.
“I can’t say,” replied the soldier smiling, “what unit?” he asked.
“Penarajans,” responded Kisho, knowing these were some of the only men in the British forces who would know what he meant.
“Phew! Thank God you recognised us, or we’d all be dead. We’re the SBS mate. Good to have you onboard,” replied the soldier who was the leader of the team. “How many of you are there?”
“Eight,” replied Kisho.
“Jesus, I’ve never seen more than two of you guys in battle at once and that was a sight to be seen, eight of you guys must be like a bloody tornados hit.”
That was praise indeed. The SBS, the Special Boat Service, was the lesser known of the UK Special Forces and some believed the best. You could only gain entry after three years’ service in the Royal Marines which in itself had a 30 week recruitment procedure seen as the toughest in the world. After volunteering for the SBS, the volunteer would have to pass the SAS selection and it didn’t stop there. They could then choose to join the SAS or continue on to the SBS additional selection procedure. Failure rate was in the 90 % region, leaving only the toughest soldiers to join the small, secretive and extremely capable unit.
“We spotted some soldiers on the way in but there was a young girl with them, so it couldn’t be you guys. Have you seen them?”
“That was us, you spotted our cousin, Lela,” said Kano.
The looks said it all. What the hell were they doing bringing a girl along?
“Trust me,” he said. “She could kick each and every one of your arses, and ours and I don’t mean separately, I mean at once.”
Kisho could see their incredulous looks.
“He’s not kidding, she’s unbelievable, I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The SBS soldiers who had experience of the Penarajans looked at them in awe. The others continued to look at them as though they were mad.
“Kano, Kisho, what’s happening where are you?” called Papa over the radio.
Kisho called back. “We have some help, there’s a squad of SBS soldiers down here.”
“What the hell do they want?”
The SBS soldier overheard him.
“Tell him we come courtesy of the UK Prime Minister, he wants Mr Kennedy released sooner than the Guineans are willing.”
Kisho began to answer. “I heard him,” interrupted Papa. “Are they any good?”
The SBS squad heard the question and waited for Kisho to answer, this should be interesting they thought. How did the Penarajans rate them?
“Very,” replied Kisho knowing Papa’s next question would be easier to answer.
“Ratio?” Papa asked. This was code for their rating of the unit in respect to Penarajans, one Penarajan
