Red Hawk Rising

of his head and, despite his balaclava and hood, it was hard enough to make him black out. Andy fell to the ground unconscious. Anton Verasin momentarily stood over him, the claw hammer in his hand. He had seen the brief clash between his boss and this airman. Noting that the airman was unconscious, he looked over the rim and could just see Captain Garasov, lying injured. He climbed down to his boss. Garasov saw who it was and said that his left thigh was broken and that he wouldn’t be able to walk. Verasin said, “We have to get away from here. Our only hope is to move now and stay in the cloud where they can’t see us.” He helped Captain Garasov to stand up, moved to his left side and Verasin put his right arm round Garasov’s back and Garasov’s left arm around his shoulder. Slowly, he picked their way through the rocky surface to a lower level where the ground was less uneven. Garasov bit his lip with the pain until it bled. They both knew that they must be as quiet as possible. Verasin paused for a minute to allow his boss a brief respite from the pain, then they moved forward again. He kept doing this and they gradually moved away from the area.

Up on the rim, Andy was slowly coming out of his unconscious state. Tim Hart found him and got him to a sitting position. “Hang on Andy. When you can stand, we’ll go back to the others.” Meanwhile Flying Officer McEwan and his team had moved quickly along the lower slopes of Cairn Toul where the going was much easier. He directed two of his men to race ahead towards the Corrour Bothy and then swing up the track towards Buidheanach of Cairn Toul. He and his other man would angle up the slope and pick up the footprints of the two Russians. The Russians would then be in a pincer movement.

“Don’t be frightened to use your side-arms. They must be stopped,” he directed them. The two pairs split up and moved forward. Ten minutes later, Flying Officer McEwan and partner picked up the tracks and hurriedly followed them. Fifteen minutes later they saw two figures ahead in the mist. Only their movement made them visible against the snow. Drawing closer, Flying Officer McEwan paused and, drawing his revolver, dropped to one knee and took aim. He fired a volley of shots at the legs and saw one Russian stumble and fall. The other man tried to help him up but the weight of the ECM unit on his back made it too difficult. As he turned and straightened up he saw two men with guns almost on them. Behind him was a shout in English and he knew that it was no use running. Both Russians looked at each other and nodded. Then they each bit into the cyanide capsule in their hollowed-out tooth. It was soon all over. The RAF team moved in and recovered the ECM unit.

In a safe location on the western side of Cairn Toul, Captain Garasov and Verasin rested and waited for darkness. Garasov swore that one day he would kill the man who caused his broken thigh and so much pain.

CHAPTER 2

It is mid-September in 1960 and the scene moves to London. Air Vice-Marshal (AVM) Denby looked out of the window of his office at Air Ministry in London and sighed. He was head of the ‘Defensive Weapons Development Programme’ that was responsible for the evaluation of new weapons such as the Surface to Air Missile Systems. A lesser known role was that of being the head of the RAF’s internal Intelligence Security Unit, or ISU for short. The current headache was with No. 28 JSTU (Joint Service Trials Unit), evaluating a new Surface to Air Missile (or SAM for short) system. The project was behind schedule but if it hadn’t been for the keenness of his RAF personnel working at the factories, it would have been further behind. The problem appeared to lie with the trade unions and the strikes and other tactics that appeared to be aimed at delaying its development. Added to this, some vital technical information related to it appeared to be in the hands of the Russians already. There was a serious leak in security somewhere. Air Vice-Marshal Denby was confident that his RAF personnel on the project were not part of the problem. He needed to do more than rely on MI5 (Military Intelligence 5, responsible for internal security in Britain). Each of his operatives in ISU was a regular serviceman performing normal duties on the surface but carrying out assignments that protected the RAF. He got up from his desk and stood looking out of the window and thinking of strategies. After a few minutes, Denby pulled a list of his operatives out of a desk drawer and scrutinised the names. Then he buzzed for his secretary, Miss Jennifer Younger-Haig. She was a thirty-two-year-old brunette with the looks and figure of a film star. Still single, she came from a military family of Scottish descent and spoke with a slight burr of a Scottish accent despite the year at finishing school. The lady was intensely loyal to her boss and was more of a personal assistant than a secretary. She knocked and entered the Air Vice-Marshal’s office. “Jennifer, I’m wearing the ISU hat. I want Corporal Hill posted from Woomera to 28 JSTU with effect 19th September. That’s in a week’s time and he is to have priority transport — put him on a QANTAS flight, if necessary. Disembarkation leave postponed so he is to report for duty immediately. He is to go directly to RAF West Sanby where the trials will be held. The publican in West Sanby is ex-RAF and owes us a favour. Get Squadron Leader MacCrae at Lutterworth to contact him and pull in