The plate of sandwiches had been devoured, the coffee too. King sipped from a glass of water with lime. He’d given up getting tea anywhere else but the rooms. Generic ‘English breakfast tea’ bags and miniature cartons of UHT milk. He was developing a taste for it now.
Rashid said, “The ice hotel is the weak link. It’s not secure, easy to gain access to and only boarded up from the main hotel with planks of wood and plastic sheeting.”
King put down his glass and walked over to the window. It provided a panoramic view of the grounds along the whole front entrance of the hotel. “Then we can boobytrap it,” he said over his shoulder. He turned and pointed to the crates of bear spray and bangers. “Rashid, there’s enough there for a man of your expertise to get a couple of nasty IEDs put together. Bleach, sugar and baking soda in the kitchen. There’s petrol in the storage sheds as well. Nails, nuts and bolts, too,” he paused and smiled. “Just don’t go lighting your hair on fire…”
“Might not be the worst thing,” Marnie smiled.
Rashid sneered at them both, then said, “I’ve brought the funicular up to the top, as well. A handy method of escape, and the seal is tight enough to keep intruders from using it to get close to us.”
“Good thinking,” said Ramsay. “Glad to see you used your head.”
“Did that even work?” Rashid asked, bemused.
“It was a good effort,” said Caroline. “For Neil, at least.”
Rashid shook his head. “Seriously though, I only have five rounds for the rifle, but I can see three sides of the grounds from upstairs. Not simultaneously, but perhaps the staff could act as spotters?”
“There’s the trust issue,” said King. He turned his attention back to the view. He held the AK74 in loosely in his left hand, the three spare magazines were tucked into the pockets of his cargo trousers.
“I can’t watch all the sides anyway, so there’s nothing to lose.”
King shrugged. “Okay, but Huss stays where he is.”
“Agreed,” Ramsay added.
“Entrances?” Caroline asked.
“Five,” King answered. He perched on the window ledge and said, “The front entrance, the ice hotel tunnel, a rear entrance to a courtyard from the kitchen, and from a service area to the same courtyard, and a side exit to the west.”
“More than we can cover. Practically, at least,” Caroline mused. “I think IEDs on the rear exits, as well as the ice hotel. That will leave the two main exits. And IEDs going off will act as a warning to us as well.”
Rashid smiled. He’d had history with Caroline during an assault, back when he had been in deep cover with an ISIS terrorist cell. Caught up in the fluidity of the attack, he had managed to do enough to maintain his cover, but had taken the opportunity to run, aiding an injured terrorist to avoid suspicion from the rest of the cell. He had been the only member of the cell uninjured. Caroline had put up quite a fight.
“Weapons-wise,” Ramsay paused. “Caroline and King have Makarovs and twenty-four rounds a piece?”
“Correct,” said King.
“Rashid has five rounds for the hunting rifle, and there’s the Walther with just one bullet.” He looked at the box containing the bear spray. He reached inside and took out two, gave one to Marnie and held onto one for himself. “I’ll take that Walther,” he said. “One bullet is better than none.”
“Should have bagsied,” Rashid chided.
King took out the Makarov and walked over to Ramsay. “Take this, Neil. I’ll hang on to my Walther. I’ve got the Kalashnikov, and you’ll do better with eight rounds and couple of spare mags.”
“Thanks,” Ramsay said. He hadn’t done any formal training with weapons, but he figured he had the gist of it. He turned it over in his hand.
“It’s made ready,” King said. “Point this end at whoever you want to kill and pull the trigger. Press here to eject the magazine, insert the magazine with the lead pointing forwards, slam it home and pull the slide to chamber a round,” he smiled. “And now you’re all up to speed.”
Ramsay handled it as if it would burn him, kept his finger off the trigger and the muzzle pointed to the floor. “Thanks, Alex.”
King turned back to the windows. “This meeting is over,” he said over his shoulder. He turned and looked at them as he pointed towards the horizon. “I’ve seen the sky look something like that before. The storm is on the way. Only those clouds look darker and angrier than it did before.” He looked at them earnestly. “There’s a truck outside. I’ll find the keys and get it parked against that side entrance. It may be enough to make them consider it a non-starter. Rashid get some IEDs in that ice hotel. Make one for each rear exit, too. After that, get some elevation and take the watch on the front and both sides. Be sure before you shoot anybody. We don’t want to plug some unfortunate person taking shelter from the storm. Neil, use the waitress and the chef as watchers. Tell them to alert Rashid if they spot somebody. Caroline, check our asset is okay, then get her locked up and secured.”
Caroline nodded. “I’ve already given her a change of clothes and some toiletries. She looks exhausted.”
“What about myself and Marnie?” Ramsay asked.
“Marnie, check your communications from GCHQ. Download everything. Neil, you can then destroy the computer. After that, stay with Caroline, who will be fluid between the first floor and the third. Or you can spot for Rashid.”
“What about the manager?” Ramsay asked.
“I’d forgotten about him,” said
