Red Hawk Rising

an office off the reception, with the door slightly open, was Hamilton, wearing a white medical coat. He heard the conversation and managed to see the faces of the Russians. Hamilton recognised one of them as a member of the KGB but with a different title and official duties at the embassy. He looked out of the window onto the car park and saw the Russians drive away. A few minutes later a car drew up and he saw two of his colleagues get out. He went out to meet them and brought them up to date on the situation. The two MI5 men then left the hospital and walked down the road towards the centre of town. En route they saw two cars parked and recognised Hamilton’s description of the Russians’ car and its occupants. Three men were in the second car and a fourth leaning at the door of the first car and talking with its occupants. Fifteen minutes later the two MI5 men returned to the hospital and reported their observations to Hamilton. “I think we need to do something and not let the other side take the initiative.” He went out to see Sergeant Murphy and asked to use the radio to talk to Flying Officer Crombie. Afterwards, Hamilton went to see Major Garasov and find out how he was progressing.

At midday there was a shift change of the RAF teams and Flight Sergeant Bradley and team came on duty. Sergeant Murphy and his team gathered outside and they exchanged information. Sergeant Murphy and his team drove off in the truck and headed for Loch Morlich.

It was 1:00 p.m. and the two Russian diplomatic representatives returned to the hospital and were met by the doctor. He invited them to his office and explained to them that there was concern for Major Garasov’s condition and he was being transferred to the hospital in Inverness where he could receive better treatment. It would also be possible to fly him to Edinburgh from there if that was necessary. The Russian Embassy would be invited to send one of their own medical people to observe the treatment and offer any helpful advice. The doctor then asked the men where they could be contacted so that they could be kept informed. He said that they expected to make the transfer in about an hour’s time. They thanked the doctor and the leader of the two said that he would consult with the embassy and speak to the doctor again. As the two men were leaving, a walking patient seemed to trip and bumped into the second of the two Russians. Recovering his balance, he apologised profusely but the Russian angrily left.

An hour later, an ambulance drew up outside the emergency department and the ambulance men went inside with the ambulance stretcher. Ten minutes later they emerged with a heavily-bandaged man on a stretcher and a male nurse carrying a drip attached to the patient. The stretcher was manoeuvred into the ambulance and the nurse went back into the hospital. Five minutes later he emerged carrying a case and climbed into the back of the ambulance. The two ambulance men shut the rear doors and then climbed into the ambulance cab and drove away. A man dressed in country clothes was sitting on a seat in the hospital grounds and observed the whole episode. As the ambulance left, he got up and strolled off. At the same time, the Russian Embassy staff received a telephone call from the hospital to say that Major Garasov had left in an ambulance for Inverness. The speaker said that he was calling on behalf of the doctor and was told by the embassy member that their people would follow the ambulance to Inverness and see Major Garasov there.

The radio in the ambulance buzzed and the ambulance man received the call. He was told from the hospital that the two Russian embassy men would be following them and a description of the car was given to him. “Thank you. We will keep a watch for it. Over” the ambulance man replied. The driver gave him a meaningful look and turned back to the road to give it his full concentration. They drove north past Kinveachy and the road became more winding. As they approached the bridge over a tributary of the River Dulnain they saw a vehicle pulled up on the bridge with its bonnet up. One man was leaning over the engine while another waved the ambulance down. The driver of the ambulance pulled up and asked, “What’s your problem? Can we help?”

“We might have distributor problems but are not sure. Can you take a look?”

“Aye,” came the reply. “Me mate will check it for you. He’s a bit of a mechanic. We need to hurry though. We have to get a patient to Inverness Hospital in a hurry.” The ambulance driver’s mate climbed out of the cab and started towards the broken-down vehicle.

The man that had waved them down walked closer to the cab of the ambulance. As he got near, he pulled a handgun out from his jacket and said, “Get out of the cab and open the rear. We want to see the patient that you have in the ambulance.” At the same, the man leaning over the car engine straightened up and pointed a gun at the ambulance driver’s mate.

“No need to pull a gun on us,” said the ambulance driver in a loud voice. At the same time, he pressed a button under the dash without the man with a gun seeing him do so. “Just don’t disturb the patient. He’s a pretty sick man.”

“We’ll be the judge of that,” replied the man with the gun. The driver got out of the ambulance cab and walked towards the rear of the ambulance. As he was doing so, a car with four men in pulled up a few feet away from the rear