Asset Seven Page 10

  ‘Something is coming.’

  Karim wasted no time. He pointed at a clump of large boulders and they ran towards them, skidding on the loose rocks, sacrificing safety for speed. Karim could hear the faint noise for himself now and as they wedged themselves under the cover of the huge boulders, he felt his heart lurch with disappointment. The sound, while faint, was one that could never be confused with anything else. Once heard, never forgotten as the Americans liked to say. Pulling the boy further into the cover of the rock, Karim chided himself for not expecting this sooner. It was inevitable that, at some point, the hunters would request some assistance to give them the advantage over the running man. And the sound that Karim and the boy could hear was certainly a big advantage for the hunters:

  A drone.

  From his knowledge and experience of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, Karim wondered what type of drone they would be facing. He assumed that it would have Thermal Imaging now that night was falling, highlighting him and the boy as glowing figures in the grey and black backdrop to the operator thousands of feet below. Probably armed as well, in the event that the hunters couldn’t get to Karim before he made it across the border. But as he listened to the approaching aircraft, he could tell that it was a khoffash. A bat. The smaller of the Quds UAVs that was used mainly as a delivery mechanism for equipment. Karim frowned as he tried to work out what it could be that was being deposited. Medical equipment? Food, ammunition? In truth, it could be anything but, whatever it was, he knew that it was not good for him and the boy. The drone whined past their location towards the west, in the direction they intended travelling. Karim knew that the hunters were no longer split into two groups after his IED trap and it came to him that whatever the drone was doing might be replacing the capability that had been lost. Cameras? That would make sense, giving the hunters a real-time alert system should Karim be picked up by one. But that seemed hit and miss, relying on Karim to cross directly, or very close to, the camera position.

  His frown deepened then froze as he suddenly realized what had been deployed. Not the unreliable cameras that he’d been thinking of but something far more effective and a serious threat to Karim’s escape: Sensors. Small, sensitive devices that alerted the operator to any sounds or movement within a wide radius. This in turn would provide the ground forces hunting Karim with lock-ons to his position and worst of all, Karim would have no idea that it was happening. The irony of the situation was that one of Karim’s colleagues had stolen this technology from the Americans and it was possible that these small devices would end Karim’s escape and his efforts to help those very people stop an attack on their home soil.

  He had a decision to make. He thought about his options for several seconds before arriving at his conclusion: Speed had to be the priority. He had to make it to RV 2 before dark and get the message out. Then he would worry about the sensors but at least if Vic knew he’d made the RV, there was a chance of some help from his American handler. A small chance, but still a chance. He nudged the boy with his foot.

  ‘I don’t have time to explain but we’re going to move and we’re going to move fast. Do what you did before, and you’ll be fine, but we need to get somewhere very quickly, and we don’t have time to waste. Ready?’

  The boy nodded and Karim wriggled his body out from the cover of the boulder and stood up. When the boy joined him, he indicated with his head towards the darkening sky in the west.

  ‘Let’s go.’

  15

  ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, IRAQ

  Dwight pulled his down jacket on and zipped it up as he addressed Ned and Vic. ‘My guess would be small to intermediate drone. Signature seemed to indicate something of that size. Made four incursions into the mountains in the area of the coordinates I gave you. First site looks close to where the troops and helicopter activity was happening. They’re only rough locations but still, better than nothing.’ He turned and made his way back to his sleeping area leaving the CIA officer and the Delta Master Sergeant to digest the new information. Vic spoke first.

  ‘Four incursions? That’s not a thermal overflight looking for body heat. Think they’ve got spotters guiding the drone into likely areas of cover?’

  Ned shook his head. ‘Nope. That’s the wrong pattern for that as well. My guess would be a depositor; it’s dropping something ahead of the hunter force.’

  ‘Okay, that actually sounds right. What would they drop though? Gotta be a small payload if it’s carrying four of whatever the fuck it is.’

  Ned was quiet for several moments before replying. ‘If it was me, I’d probably drop a TUGS screen ahead of the guy I was hunting.’

  Vic cursed and closed his eyes. That would make complete sense, but also bad news for Seven. TUGS, the Tactical Unattended Ground Sensors, were used by Special Forces to relay movement, noise, chemicals and gas signatures back to their controllers. In this case, it was more than likely the Iranians were trying to get a fix on Seven’s location and were using the sensors to narrow that down. Without knowing where they were, this meant that they could also pick up the noise and movement from Vic and the Delta operators on their ingress route. Vic nodded back at Ned.

  ‘That would explain the first incursion into the area of the troop activity; they were dropping the receiver to the hunter force.’

  ‘That’d be my guess too. Getting more interesting by the minute this little caper, huh?’

  Vic laughed. ‘Interesting is a nice way of putting it. What bothers me though, is why haven’t they flooded the entire area with troops? They’ve got the manpower and don’t give a shit if they all survive or not. This is a really small pursuit force for such a hunt, and they must know they run the risk of losing Seven once night kicks in.’

  ‘Must have their reasons Vic. Maybe they want to stay off our radar; keep it low key so that no US platforms pick up on their activity. I mean, they won’t know about our tech capabilities, not to any accurate level anyway, so maybe they’re trying to get this done quietly.’

  Vic shook his head. ‘Nope: Not their way. They must have identified Seven is working for us and so they should be stopping at nothing, nothing, to catch their guy. No, there’s something else at work here but I just can’t work out what it is.’

  The men were quiet for several moments and Vic pulled his zip up on the down jacket, the evening cold of the mountains starting to bite. He exhaled and watched his breath fog in the cooling air. He called over to Dwight.

  ‘What’s the Met for tonight?’

  He watched as Dwight raised his head from the hood of his sleeping bag.

  ‘Clear and cold initially, possible snow later but not too heavy.’

  Vic nodded his thanks. With any luck they would have Seven safe in a FOB by the time the weather changed. He looked at his watch then pulled the Sat-phone from his pocket, checking the screen for any activity but there was still nothing from Seven. He wondered how close the Asset was to RV 2 and imagined Seven scrambling among the peaks and boulders trying to make the RV before nightfall. In his shoes, that’s what Vic would be trying. But night was almost here. Looking around him, Vic noted that it was now difficult to see much beyond the radius of their temporary camp. He left Ned to his rest and walked over to his own area, sitting cross-legged on his sleeping bag while he opened up the lap-top and studied the area around RV 2 once again. He made some rough calculations in his head based on how fast he assessed that Seven could travel in the challenging terrain and how quickly he and the Delta guys could hoof it from their LZ. The contours displayed on the digital mapping system told him that the terrain was steep and littered with all sizes of rock formations, passes and boulder fields. Progress would be slow but slow was better than the alternative of injured or dead operators.

  Vic closed the computer down and crawled into his sleeping bag, zipping it up and feeling the warmth begin to envelope him. He closed his eyes and felt the tiredness seep in, his breathing deepen, and his thoughts run together. He was almost completely asleep
when the buzzing in his thigh pocket brought him crashing back to reality. He tore open the sleeping bag and pulled out the phone, looking at the screen and giving a grunt of triumph. Seven. Vic read the brief message twice before leaping to his feet and yelling.

  ‘Okay, Asset has reached RV 2 and is running gentlemen. Confirmed pursuit by hostiles numbering twenty-plus, a couple of klicks behind. Dwight, get the birds inbound, Ned, let’s run the play one more time then brief the team. The rest of you guys get packed and ready.’

  Without waiting for an acknowledgement, Vic packed his own equipment away and was tightening the straps on his pack just as Ned approached. Both men sat and Vic opened the laptop and ran the Delta operator through the plan for the LZ and the ingress route towards RV 2. Ned nodded, happy with the call and stood, clapping Vic on the shoulder.

  ‘Okay, Agency man. Let’s do this.’ He walked over to the remainder of the team who had gathered near Dwight’s sleeping area and were talking in low voices as the comms operator ordered the helicopters inbound. Ned briefed the team and ran through some basic contingencies in the event that something went wrong. He had no doubt that it would; no plan ever survives contact with the enemy, but he and his guys had the skills and the experience to adapt to any circumstance, regardless of how poor the odds in their favor. He finished by ordering a comms check and joined the team as they confirmed and checked their radios were working and connected with each other. Dwight held up both hands with fingers splayed and Ned nodded. Ten minutes to choppers. He looked around to make sure Vic had seen it and saw the CIA officer wave in acknowledgement.

  As the rest of his team made their final preparations, Ned checked the power level on his NVGs and was happy that there was more than enough to last through the night. He and his team were using the older model GPs; the Ground Panoramic Night Vision Goggles that had been in service for several years now. He remembered when these four-monocular devices had been cutting edge technology and the amazing difference he’d noticed when he’d used them on missions in Somalia and Libya. Now, you could buy them from Amazon or eBay if you had thirty thousand bucks to blow. But that was why his team were using them; plausible deniability. If they were dropped or taken from an injured or dead Delta, the US government would point out that anyone could have bought this equipment and allow the finger of suspicion to drift towards the Israelis who wouldn’t be above carrying out this type of operation. He ran through a series of further checks on his weapons and ammunition, testing the security of the suppressors on his carbine and pistol, studying the pins on the grenades, heeling the rear of his magazines with his hand to ensure the rounds were seated fully in order to minimize the likelihood of a stoppage. He stood, put on his helmet and fitted the NVGs on the bracket, pulling down the alien-like tubes and adjusting the relief to his eyes. He had just completed this when the muted sound of the helicopters reached him. Ned turned to face the direction from where the noise was emanating but saw nothing in the darkening sky. He knew they’d be close; the heavily modified Black Hawks emitting far less noise than their conventional model. Grabbing his gear, he loaded up and began walking towards the Landing Zone they had nominated for the lift. The rest of the team were already making their way there and he could see Steve and Ryan, the guys who’d pulled security at the LZ, talking on their radios, updating the pilots. The choppers were louder now, and Ned looked up to see Vic had fallen into step with him as they climbed the small, rocky slope to the LZ. Neither man spoke, each content with his own thoughts. When they reached the small plateau, Vic split from him and walked over to the line of men kneeling in the cover of the rocks, all watching the area around them for any sign of activity. Ned carried out a head count to ensure everyone was present before he joined his own group. Through his earpiece he heard the pilot talking to Dwight and confirming that he had them visual. The Night Stalkers were the only pilots who routinely flew in darkness using NVGs and they did it well. The noise was much louder now as the first bird descended and Ned braced himself for the rotor wash and debris shower that was imminent. He felt the blast of air and dirt shove him from behind and a brief moment later, a reduction in noise as the rotor speed was slowed. Through his radio he heard Randy give the order for Team One to mount up and several moments later a message from Randy telling him that Team One was complete and airborne. Ned acknowledged and was showered with dust and small stones once again as the Black Hawk took off. He knew it would move away and act as mutual support for the next chopper which he could already hear starting its own descent. Another debris shower then he heard the call from the crew that they were clear. Ned sent out his own call and stood, turning towards the helicopter and falling in as last man, his team jogging towards the beckoning crew member stood just outside the open doorway. Ned waited until his whole team had boarded then pulled himself in, dropping his main pack at his feet and grabbing a seat. The door was closed, and the helicopter began to lift, gaining some altitude before turning away from the face of the mountain and contouring along the valley.

  Ned listened to the updates from the pilots as they coordinated their journey and looked for any signs of problems ahead. It wasn’t a long flight to the Iranian LZ, but he could sense a tenseness in the voices of the flyers, the curt replies and minimal radio traffic a sure sign of men utterly focused on the mission. And Ned couldn’t blame them. Who would want to be a Black Hawk pilot captured by the Iranians while on a secret CIA mission? No, in their shoes, Ned knew he’d also be pretty tense. When Vic had identified the LZ, Ned had been impressed. With such little choice available, the CIA man had found a halfway decent spot that put a lump of mountain between them and the Iranians that should cover the noise of the choppers as they landed. The pilots had agreed it looked like the best option available but had also advised that if the teams came running out hot, it might be the only spot that they could use as the extraction LZ. Nobody liked this; it was always prudent to use a different LZ for extraction than the one you used for ingress. Your enemy could have watched you land there and just be waiting until you returned, ambushing men and machines and destroying any realistic chance of escape. But sometimes you just had to work with what you had. And this was certainly one of those times. He looked up from his reverie as a call came from the lead helicopter: They’d just entered Iranian airspace.

  He knew from the planning that they had around fifteen more minutes until the LZ and felt the adrenaline coursing around his body. He never lost this; that excitement when he and his guys crossed the line into enemy territory, reliant on nothing more than their own abilities and judgements to make it out alive. The thought took him back to other countries, other borders, other enemies, and again, the question came to Ned about how much longer he could keep this up. He was almost forty-two years old and while still strong and fit, injuries took longer to heal, more of the younger guys were pushing his ass in the gym and he knew that if he wanted any semblance of a relationship with his daughters, he couldn’t keep disappearing for months on end.

  His train of thought was interrupted by the two-minute call from the pilot. Ned looked up to check his guys had heard the message and watched as they gave the thumbs-up in acknowledgement. They began adjusting packs, tac-vests, straps and weapons and in no time at all, the helicopter dropped in a rapid descent towards the LZ. Ned leaned forward as the crew member opened the door, the frigid air blasting him and the noise of the rotors unnaturally loud. He pulled down the tubes of the NVGs, his world now the familiar green-hued panorama that he’d experienced on so many other operations. The supporting helicopter confirmed that the LZ looked clear and Ned’s helicopter dropped even quicker, his stomach rising as the pilot descended as fast as he could safely achieve it to get them on the ground and away before the enemy could react. The crew member was leaning out of the door and relaying the distance to the ground to the pilots in a flurry of rapid speech as the bird continued to drop. Ned tensed himself just in time as the helicopter hit the ground a little harder than he’d expected
, bounced, then settled, the crew member out the door and giving the command to disembark.

  Ned and his team clambered out of the static helicopter and jogged a small distance from the bird where they lay among the rocks and took up positions, ready to defend the choppers against anyone who came to investigate. He heard his helicopter depart and the second team arrive, the dust and wind blast showering his back. The second helicopter departed seconds later, and Ned waited, the silence absolute after the noise of the helicopters. He stood and walked over to where Vic was propped up behind a rock, covering an area to his front. On hearing Ned’s approach, he looked up, smiling as the identity of his visitor became clear through the green filter of his NVGs. Ned extended a hand and pulled Vic up before giving him a huge grin.

  ‘Welcome to Iran, Agency man.’

  16

  ZAGROS MOUNTAINS, IRAN

  Zana waited while the operator studied the glow of the screen in front of him. After almost a minute of silence, the younger man looked up at the General.

  ‘All mice are deployed and functional, sir.’

  Zana nodded and indicated that the operator should take his place back in the section. He was pleased that all of the three sensors, or mice as they were affectionately called, had survived their drop-offs and were working, sending their signals back to the operator. Zana knew it was only a matter of time before the small devices started picking up the movements of the traitor Ardavan. As he made his way back into the file of men, Colonel Hashemi fell in step with him.

  ‘General, I must insist that you allow me to call my superiors and update them with our current situation. We cannot keep them out of this any longer or we will both be killed for treason.’