red light came up, which no doubt was a test to make sure he had com ms with whatever devices were rigged up at the electricity substation that supplied the power to this area. I imagined they'd be using a number of small stand- off charges, something about the size of a Coca Cola can, to penetrate the cast-steel casings. All they'd need to do was make a hole big enough for the coolant to drain out of and the generators would quickly burn themselves out.
Sarah wanted confirmation about the target. She pestered Glen, 'Are you sure that's the building? Are you sure he's in there?' He was already pissed off with her, and told her politely that she might be in overall command but he was the commander on the ground, so shut the fuck up and let him do his job. Good one, Glen, I thought.
We were kneeling around him at the edge of the grove as he made his final checks on the target and confirmed the orders with the rest of us.
There were no changes to the plan. It was Sarah who would give the final Go or No Go now. She nodded at him.
'OK, everybody, here we go.' Glen got his box of tricks and pulled up the antenna the last few inches.
'Standby, standby ...' I heard the click of a button being pressed. There was a delay of about two seconds, then a bright flash in the distance, beyond the glow from the industrial units.
Then, after twenty seconds, there was total darkness as the lights went out in the compound.
Glen was back to enjoying life, despite Sarah's presence. He grinned.
'OK, let's go.'
We moved off at a slow jogging pace along the edge of the trees. Once level with Reg 1 and 2, we turned left over the waste ground and went straight for the fence. They were pulling at the straight line of the cut they'd made, making a big upside-down V for us to get through.
We took advantage of the darkness and sprinted the fifty meters to the target building. There was the odd outburst of hollering and shouting through an open window--nothing frantic; the voices just sounded pissed off that the power had failed, probably halfway through the Syrian version of East Enders. Now and again I saw the glint of flashlights from inside.
We reached the edge of the target building and everybody got against the wall, Glen looking toward the nearest corner. Around that, to the left and next to the shutters, was our entry point. Sarah was between us, catching her breath and trying to keep the noise down.
The other three in the crew were on their knees, nearer the corner. If the door was locked they'd have to blow it. They started to get the prepared charges from their belt kit. I watched as they worked together, slowly unwinding the det cord, which looked like white washing line, but was filled with high explosive.
They stood up with the charge. Everything was nice and slow and controlled.
As they started to move, the door burst open.
Voices were shouting in Arabic from around the corner. The door charge was quickly placed on the ground. I saw hands reach into belt kits.
They would have to remove the threat, but quietly.
The voices got closer and closer and I could hear the sound of flip flops slapping against feet. Two boys rounded the corner wearing sandals, arm in arm, both smoking and still shouting about something, maybe what Grant Mitchell was up to in the Queen Vie.
Two of the Regs climbed aboard them, and almost at once I heard a distinctive buzz and crackle. The boys were getting Tazered good style, at the same time as being dragged out of sight toward us. Tazers are cattle prods for humans. As the two electrodes touch a body, you press a button and 100,000 volts zap through the target. They are a great weapon as you can hold the victim at the same time as you fuck them up big time, without getting zapped by the current yourself.
As the blokes got them down on the floor, I could hear them moaning and groaning under the hands that covered their mouths. They were still being dealt with as Glen put on his NVGs. We did the same.
Glen looked back at Sarah to check we were ready. Following his cue, we moved toward the corner with Sarah still between us. It was now one of those situations that couldn't be stopped. We just had to get on with it.
The fuck-it factor had taken over.
We piled in through the door. A Reg secured the entry point and waited for the other two to join him, dragging the two dazed Syrians. The corridor was dark and silent. In a loud whisper Glen said, 'With me, with me, with me.' We moved like men possessed down the breeze-block passage, the world through our NVGs looking like a light-green negative film.
We turned right, and through the windows to our left I could see the outside of the building; on the other side there were plywood internal doors leading, I guessed, to rooms or offices. The smell of cigarettes, cooking, coffee and the sweat of not too much air conditioning was almost overpowering.
We came to a T-junction. Glen stopped on the left, Sarah right up behind him. I came up level, on the right. I wasn't too sure which way we were heading. Glen would tell me. I looked over and he was moving hisIR flashlight beam, attached to his weapon, to the right.
I cleared the corner, moved forward three or four meters and stood my ground, waiting. I knew Glen would be clearing the other way. I saw his weapon'sIR splash against the walls as he turned toward me, then they both passed on my left. Sarah still had her pistol bolstered and was keeping close to Glen. The floor was tiled or concrete, it was hard to tell which.
All I knew was that there was an echo of footsteps and squeaking rubber as we moved.
Glen stopped and pointed at a door. He took his weapon out of the shoulder, put his back against the wall to the left and reached for the door handle. I moved to the opposite side, weapon still up in the shoulder, ready to make entry. He nodded; I took off my safety and nodded back.
He turned the handle and I moved inside, pushing the door with me.
I was blinded. The NVGs were totally whited out. It was as if someone had let off a flare in front of my face.
Glen shouted, 'The fucking lights are back on!'
I fell on my knees and ripped off the NVGs, blinking hard as I tried to get back some normal vision. I made out movement in the right-hand corner and rolled to the left, trying to make myself a harder target. As my eyes adjusted I saw a middle-aged guy, his head bald apart from wiry side hair. He was curled up against the far wall, his hands protecting his face, flapping even more than I had just been as you do when, just as the lights come on, a man with a weapon bursts in on you. Fuck it; they must have had standby power.
I became aware of bits of electronic machinery PCs, screens and computer stuff all over the place, whirring and crunching now the power had returned.
I lifted my weapon into my shoulder and pointed it at him. He got the message. I called for Sarah.
She came in and confirmed, 'That's him.' She gob bed off in Arabic and he immediately did as he was told, sitting down on the sofa against the other wall, away from the desk with all the machinery on it. He didn't move; his eyes were like saucers, trying to work it all out and listen to Sarah at the same time.
From my bergen, I pulled out six magnesium incendiary devices. All I needed to do was to get them sparked up and we could be on our way.
It was then that Sarah pulled a laptop and some other gear from her bergen and started plugging it in and revving things up, still talking to the Source, referring to the Arabic script displayed on two of the screens. He replied at the speed of sound, trying his best to stay alive.
I was confused. This wasn't in the plan. I tried to keep a calm voice.
'Sarah, what are you doing? Come on, it's time to go.'
Glen stayed outside in the relit corridor, giving protection. I knew he would feel exposed soon and would want to move out. After all, we'd got who we'd come for. I said, 'Sarah, how long's this going to take?'
She was still scrolling down the screen. I was getting pissed off. This wasn't what we were supposed to be here for.
'No idea--just do your job and keep everyone back.'
I needed to underline the problem we faced.
'This is going to turn into a gang-fuck soon, Sarah. Let's just grab him and go.'
She wasn't even looking at me, just hitting one of the keyboards.
