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  Lewis gave the all clear and took point, leading the team towards the target a mile away across the sand. Without even a cursory recce this was the most dangerous time. Noise travelled uninterrupted for miles in the desert and the chance of compromise was high. Reaching a natural sand berm at about the hundred meter point Davies and Snow, as CHARLIE team, took up their positions, scanning the target through night scopes. Given the ‘go ahead’, in the green haze, Snow watched ALPHA and BRAVO continue towards their target. BRAVO moved silently in the dead ground past ONE and reached their position at TWO. As ALPHA took up their position, there was movement through Snow’s scope and two armed figures appeared outside ONE, the ends of their cigarettes flaring.

  “Stop. Stop. CHARLIE has two X-Rays at ONE.”

  More light flares streamed out from under makeshift blinds at the window but the two X-Rays constituted the only immediate threat.

  “I have.” Davies applied first pressure to the trigger of his high powered rifle. In a matter of milliseconds both X-Rays could be taken out.

  A door opened, NVGs and scopes flared wildly, Snow screwed up his eyes. A third X-Ray exited ONE, turned left and urinated into the desert. Snow again relayed what he could hear via the comms network. Lewis with Loney, team ‘BRAVO’, looked through the ‘thermo’ at TWO. Inside the building he made out five heat sources, three were standing. An X-Ray outside ONE dropped his cigarette and stared in the direction of BRAVO. He moved forwards, inclined his head and squinted into the desert, he shouted in Arabic and waved his AK. The second X-Ray now brought his weapon to bear on the same piece of desert. Loney and Lewis pushed themselves flat behind a low dune and dared not breathe. The AK went down as the second X-Ray slapped the first on the back. Both X-Rays turned, walked back to ONE and became unsighted inside.

  Now aiming the thermo at TWO, BRAVO relayed to ALPHA what they could see. At distance the image was not clear but a further possible three heat sources could be seen. Two seemed to be seated whilst a third stood over them. Lewis cursed. He now had two targets with an equal chance of holding the Yankees. “CHARLIE. Update.”

  “X-Ray one and two still unsighted. X-Ray three is pissing for Saudi.”

  Snow smiled in the darkness, Davies was professional but this did not stop him from cracking a joke. Snow trained his night scope on TWO. A figure appeared at the window. “Window TWO. X-Ray.”

  “I have.” Davies changed targets.

  Lewis studied ONE again, squinted his eyes involuntarily to focus. Two of the heat sources were static, lying on the ground. One was now standing up and three more seemed to be in a different room. “Stand by…Stand by…”

  There was a shout in Arabic. White light flared in Snow’s night sight as the door of TWO was thrown open. An AK opened up. Without tracer, the rounds flew invisibly through the desert air. Crosshairs fixed on the centre mass of the X-Ray even before he left the doorway Davies applied second pressure to the trigger of his rifle. The X-Ray was propelled backwards into TWO. It had gone noisy. A muzzle flash from the window as another X-Ray opened up. Davies shot again. There was a yell and the firing stopped.

  “Go…Go… Go!” Lewis gave the order for the assault.

  Another X-Ray, weapon up, charged through the open door of TWO shouting and firing wildly into the desert. He was cut down by rounds from ALPHA.

  As CHARLIE gave covering fire ALPHA took up positions at either side of the door before tossing in flash bangs and then bomb bursting into the building.

  “Clear!”

  Inside the first room was empty, they quickly moved down the corridor into the second. A robed figure cowered in the corner and babbled in Arabic. He had something in his hand ….a grenade.

  “Grenade!” An ALPHA member delivered a double tap into the X-Ray’s centre mass before retreating back into the first room. In the confined space, the explosion sounded like thunder and brought down half the exterior wall. Ears ringing and covered in cement dust ALPHA pushed on before declaring the target ‘Secure’.

  Hearing this over the network, Snow trained his scope on ONE. Flashes erupted from both windows of the single story building. Lewis swore. He was pinned down.

  The comms hissed, as Snow spoke. “Two X rays at the windows of ONE”

  The crack of high velocity rounds pierced the air inches from his head. Shit. Snow flattened himself into the sand. “They have NVGs!! Repeat X-Ray in ONE has NVG.”

  Before ALPHA could reply there was a scream and a hiss of static. “I’m hit. Repeat I’m Hit!” Loney’s voice was raspy.

  “BRAVO we are on our way” ALPHA would now skirt the target. Lewis covered his face as a round passed through the ‘thermo’ showering him in glass and broken optics. He rolled to his right and leopard crawled towards Loney. The injured trooper lay on his back, and was breathing raggedly. Under fire and without cover there was nothing Lewis could do.

  “X-Ray neutralised.” Davies’ voice.

  “Cover me.” Snow got to his feet and ran at a crouch towards ONE.

  Davies let off rounds at ONE as Snow zig zagged as best he could in the sand. He landed next to Lewis with a thud.

  “I told you to stay back!”

  “I did.” Snow looked on as Lewis inspected Loney. His eyes rolled up into his head as his boss injected him with morphine.

  Lewis took Loney’s MPK 5 and handed it to Snow. “On me.”

  Snow nodded his assent.

  “All call signs. BRAVO to assault TWO. Covering fire.”

  “Have that.” Davies let fly with another round.

  “Roger.” ALPHA now replied.

  Under a shield of rounds Snow and Lewis ran at the target, throwing themselves against the wall on each side of the main entrance. Lewis held up his fingers, 3…2…1...he hurled a flash bang into the dark interior. Both men firmly pressed fingers into their ears and shut their eyes. As with the earlier assault, night turned to day. Two lifeless bodies were illuminated. Now opening their eyes Snow and Lewis entered the room, tracing an arc with their weapons searching every corner.

  “Clear” Lewis hissed. The room was long and narrow with three doors leading off. Snow nodded as Lewis indicated right. They moved to the farthermost door and once again stood on each side.

  The pair waited and listened, there was a strange silence broken only by a feint scraping somewhere beyond. Very carefully Lewis pressed his hand against the bottom of the door, it moved almost imperceptibly before being restrained by the lock. When stealth was needed, a mirror or a mini fibre optic cable could be pushed either underneath or through the lock but now with the element of surprise gone, speed was what was needed. Lewis reached inside his ops waistcoat and retrieved a small shaped charge. He carefully placed it on the lock before mouthing the word ‘ready?’

  The explosion tore through the door closely followed by Lewis. The room was empty save for a hole in the floor and a sink. Silence fell again broken only by ALPHA informing them that there were no more visible X-Rays.

  An explosion sounded as a dull thud. Fox pulled against his bonds looking for the littlest amount of give. Lying almost nose to nose against the corpse of Lordy his anger was willing him to break free. Salah, ‘the sadist’, as Fox had called him, stood in the corner. He had taken great delight in the sight of Lordy’s body convulse with electrical current. There was a wild look in his eye and he was staring at the door. His two most trusted men were now by his side, the last three remaining servants of Allah.

  A second explosion shook the room and Fox braced himself. If they were going to kill him, now was his only chance. Yet Salah remained still and a smile started to crease the grimy face underneath the straggly beard.

  “They will speak of me for generations!” The words were in English but the accent thick. He moved towards the video camera and pressed the record button on the Sony covering both Fox and the door.

  With sudden realisation of what he had in mind Fox found a new strength and managed to move his hands. There was a noise at the door
and now the Arab brought up his AK. Fox’s hands snapped free and he rolled towards the still upturned metal table. Incensed, Salah’s trigger finger jerked and the barrel of the AK, on fully automatic spat a storm of lead. 7.62mm rounds impacted the table and bounced off at obscene angles. Fox curled into the foetal position, holding his hands to his face.

  Within seconds the magazine emptied and there was a frantic series of clicks as Salah’s finger hopelessly pressed against the trigger. As the door to his cell was blown off of its hinges, Fox shut his eyes, his training taking over. Through his eyelids the room suddenly became bright. Lewis and Snow exploded into the room hitting the two X-Rays with multiple rounds.

  Salah, stunned by the flash bang fell to cover behind the table inches from Fox, his Kalashnikov tumbling away. From somewhere inside the need for revenge took over and Fox heard himself yell.

  “Stand down! Stand down! British National! This one’s mine!!”

  Fox rolled clear of the table and slowly stood, his hands raised. Two assault rifles were trained on him. Fox met Snow’s eyes. “Aidan, he’s mine!”

  There was the briefest moment of silence as the two SAS assaulters took in the lifeless orange jump suited body of Lordy. A glint of steel, Salah leapt up and screamed, his left hand like a claw, his right holding a knife. Lewis finger quivered, as instinct told him to drill the remaining X-Ray, but Snow pushed his muzzle aside. The blade slashed forward wildly at Fox who calmly stepped back and into the centre of the room.

  “As I thought, you are no more than a boy. A true warrior would not need to use a knife.” Fox spat the Arabic at Salah with disdain.

  The Arab froze as his eyes widened at hearing the infidel speak the language of the Prophet. “You dare speak Arabic…”

  Fox stepped forward and kicked him between the legs. As Salah doubled up, Fox grabbed the hand holding the knife and threw him to the floor. Following him down, knee to chest pinning him. He held the knife at the boy’s throat. “Too easy. Has Allah really sent a woman to fight me?”

  Fox drew the knife across the neck cutting through the outer layers of flesh, causing pain but not yet death. Fox stepped away as Salah wailed, hands frantically holding his bloody neck.

  “Fox! That’s enough!” Lewis moved forward.

  Fox pointed with the blade. “Thanks for saving me and all that, but you can piss off now.”

  Snow moved in between the pair and stared at the cold blue eyes of Fox. Snow said nothing, knew nothing he could say would make any difference.

  “One minute.”

  “What?” Lewis was shocked.

  Snow grabbed Lewis’ arm and hustled him back to the door. He had seen that look in Fox’s eyes before. “We give him one minute.”

  Fox shut the door, Salah was on his knees. Fox dropped the knife took a step forward and kicked the boy in the face. Salah fell back, blood flew from his nose and there was a sickening crack as his head hit the concrete floor. Fox pulled him up to his feet by the hair and looked into his bloodshot eyes.

  “You are a piece of pig shit. No fornicating with virgins for you in paradise.”

  The mouth of the once cocky Arab quivered. “I am a servant of Allah…you infidels will all die…” He swung wildly, hitting Fox in the kidney.

  Fox grunted, did not release his grip rather hit him in the face with his right fist, his left still holding his greasy hair. The nose broke.

  “Once I’ve killed you I’m going to take your body to the nearest farm and feed you back to the pigs.”

  Suddenly real fear flashed in the Arab’s eyes. To die for Allah was glorious but he would not be accepted into paradise if his body had been defiled. Fox hit him again and his lower lip spilt, his front tooth was pushed through the upper. Fox felt the body go limp as he passed out. Dragging him towards the bucket still half filled with water, Fox thrust the youth’s head under the surface. Arms suddenly flailed and legs kicked, feet beating an obscene beat rhythm on the concrete floor. Fox stepped back and let the boy roll onto his back choking.

  “You killed my friend and you were going to kill me. Now what should I do? Should I kill you and then feed you to the pigs or should I break your all your limbs and then throw you into their pen?”

  “No, no please….”

  Fox laughed and switched back to English. “You ignorant piece of shit. Did you stop when Lordy was begging you?”

  “I am a servant of Allah…there is but one God...Allah...”

  Fox’s laughter rose. “You thank your god for living like an animal in the desert? For the glory of, shitting in the sand and screwing camels? I’ve known plenty of Muslims, men I was proud to call friends. You are not a Muslim. You’re nothing but a brainwashed camel shagger. Now get up. Get up”

  Salah slowly pushed himself to his feet. Blood streamed from his mouth and nose, his hair now plastered against his scalp made him look even more pathetic. Fox pointed towards the chair. “Sit. If you don’t want me to turn you into pig food you are going to speak into the camera and apologise to the family of the man you murdered. You are then going to tell the camera everything you know about your boss.”

  Snow leant against an exterior wall, the let-down after the adrenaline of battle suddenly overcoming him. He stared at the sky and shivered, the first rays of morning sun would not arrive above the horizon for several hours yet. Lewis took a gulp from his flask to wash away the cordite tainted sand.

  “How do you know Fox won’t kill him?”

  “I don’t.”

  Lewis passed him the flask “I hope you know what you’re doing Snow.”

  “Haven’t got a clue. Thanks for everything.” He held out his hand.

  Lewis took it in a tight grip. “Don’t thank me. I may need your help when I leave the Regiment.”

  “Believe me, you don’t want my help.”

  Lewis looked around at the carnage they had created. “Maybe you’re right.”

  Fox appeared. “Tied him to the chair, he’s gonna sing like a prize canary.”

  Snow noted the half grin on Fox’s blood specked face. “You ok?”

  Fox grabbed the flask. “Fine, as rain boy. Their boss was here, I saw his face. He made a video of us. He said he was off to give further instructions to the ‘brothers’. We’ve gotta move fast.”

  “Hang on. I’m here to get you both out then get you debriefed.”

  “We don’t have time.”

  “Orders are orders.” The sound of the RAF chopper tasked with extracting the team hit their ears. “Stay put.” Lewis joined the rest of the team who were standing by Loney.

  “What did their leader look like?”

  Fox described him. “…and a nonchalant nobber to boot.”

  “Sounds like the bastard I saw kill a hostage.”

  “Shit.” In the moonlight Fox for the first time noticed the state of Snow. “What the hell happened to you?”

  Snow shook his head and winced, he’d almost forgotten about his whiplash. “You think you’ve had a bad day?”

  Snow brought Paddy up to date with what had happened since he’d been kidnapped. Glaister’s body found in the dessert, the ambush and abduction of the missioners, the execution of Thacker, the tailing of the Bedouin and finally the hostage rescue.

  Fox nodded thoughtfully. “So they sent the ice-cream boys in to rescue me. What the hell is going on?”

  Lewis approached, sat phone at his ear. “Yes sir I understand, I’ll put him on.” He offered the handset to Snow.

  “Aidan, It’s Jack. Can you give me a sit rep?”

  “Fox is alive but we lost the other hostage, dead before we got here. One assaulter down, all X-Rays eliminated except the one who tortured Fox. He’s going to give us some Intel. Fox saw their leader; sounds like the same Arab I saw execute Thacker.”

  “These attacks were well planned. Did the group use any name?”

  “I didn’t hear one. I’ll ask Fox. Paddy, do you know what the X-Rays called themselves, did they have a name?”

/>   Fox looked skyward, to recover his memory. “The Warriors of Mecca.“

  Snow relayed the Intel to Patchem.

  “Probably a name of convenience. Anything else you can tell me now before I debrief you?”

  “The leader has a video of Fox and was en-route to a meet with a group he called ‘the brothers’. Could be another cell? “

  “O.K. I’ll look into that. Now get on that helo and I’ll see you both in Bahrain.”

  The line went dead. “Patchem’s debriefing us personally in Bahrain.”

  “I could think of worse places.”

  Lewis laughed. “You haven’t seen the Bahraini barracks!”

  “Loney?” Snow became serious.

  Lewis looked down. “He’ll make it, just.”

  Knightsbridge, London, United Kingdom

  Knight kicked off her slippers and popped her feet on the leather pouf. Swirling the tumbler of single malt, before taking a long and slow mouthful, she shivered slightly as the whisky fierily slid down her throat. The stress of the day started to leave her body to be replaced by a growing sense of tired contentment. BBC, Sky News, ITN, CNN and Al Jazeera had all led with the same story – the successful rescue of Eleven British Hostages held by Al-Qaeda in Saudi Arabia. The Saudi Interior Ministry spokesman, General Mansur al-Amin, had stated the kidnappers were "linked directly to that deviant group,” the term used by the Saudi authorities to refer to Al-Qaeda, “and had attempted to launch terrorist attacks within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.” The reports piggy backed on the footage released by the state run TV channel ‘al-Ekhbaria’, which showed various types of weaponry, said to have been buried in the desert and discovered by Saudi Special Forces after the hostage rescue. This included plastic explosives, ammunition cartridges, handguns and rifles wrapped in plastic sheeting. Al-Amin then continued to praise the Saudi police and military.