18th Jan 1992
King, the group commander, signalled to his team to stay where they were as he moved forward looking for any form of cover. Two wooden buildings were visible, dead ahead, with a clump of trees to their left. The buildings were definitely too risky, since he could not predict what he might find there. They could be deserted, occupied by civilians or, what he feared most, hiding an Iraqi patrol. He did not really fancy the trees either, but they were easily the lesser of two evils. The team would have to travel a hundred metres across open country to reach them.
He crawled a further ten metres before deciding that he really had no choice but to use his field glasses and pray that nobody would pick up the glint from the sun on them. The first thing that he saw as he focussed on one of the buildings was a light, four-wheel-drive truck with a rear-mounted machine gun, heading straight towards him. A second truck followed, not far behind. He turned to signal to his team, but they were all on the ground and behind the best cover that they could find. Both trucks kept coming directly towards them.
King prayed that this would not be third time unlucky. On the two previous occasions when his team had been surprised, it had been by lone, advanced, Iraqi scouts. Each had been killed silently before being able to alert his patrol; the first by a karate blow from Bird and the second from having his throat cut by Viper. Could his luck hold another time? The Iraqi patrol kept coming at them and was getting far too close for comfort. They must have seen us, he reasoned as he prepared to fire.
His team had practised this situation many times before. They would wait neither for an order nor for the enemy to fire first. One spread of fire from a machine gun could disable all of them. He knew that each of them would weigh up the situation and respond correctly; otherwise they would not have been selected for this mission. As he was taking aim, the first truck exploded before his eyes. Thank heaven for the accuracy of Tiger’s shooting. The second truck swerved, coming to an abrupt halt. Simultaneously six Iraqi soldiers jumped out, fired their weapons and hit the ground. These guys were not conscripts; they knew exactly what they were doing. Even so, King and his group responded too quickly for them. The second round of firing from the Iraqis was much less intense, but directed solely towards him.
Chapter 2 – Returning home
King was drifting in and out of consciousness on the floor of the truck, which was now being driven by Tiger. Bird was cradling his head, while Digger and Viper were making sure that his leg did not move. They had constructed a makeshift splint with something; he neither knew nor cared what it was. The pain was now dull, almost certainly from the affect of morphine administered via the syringe that lay on the floor.
Even under these extreme circumstances, none of the team spoke. The order had been given at the start of the mission. The team was to operate in complete silence and not to exchange any personal details. They were not even to see each others faces, so they all wore masks. That way, if any of them was to be captured, they could not give away any information about the others, even under the influence of drugs. This was a volunteer-only mission and they all knew the consequences of capture; they would be on their own. They wore military camouflage dress, but without rank, regimental identity or even a maker’s label. London and Washington would deny their existence. It had been stressed to all of them that, if they could not keep up then they would be abandoned. All five of his team were putting their lives at risk to keep him with them. Even in his semi-conscious state he realised this and was grateful for it. He pledged to himself that he would repay this act of mercy.
He awoke next to find himself in a cave with the rest of the team. Bird put a cup to his lips, gently pouring in some warm soup. It tasted good, reviving him enough to become fully conscious and take in his surroundings. He knew that the pain-killing affect of the morphine was wearing off, because his leg hurt like hell. Bird showed him a map, pointing to a spot very close to the Turkish border and indicating that they were going to wait until nightfall and then attempt to cross. Until then they were going to rest up, out of sight. Although it was being conducted in complete silence, there was activity all around him. A signal from the lookout caused them all to stop and lie down. He could hear the vehicles from an Iraqi patrol and they were too close for comfort. The noise got louder and then, to his relief, began to fade away. They had escaped detection this time, but he knew that their luck would not hold for long.
It was two hours until dark and they had to make their break for the Turkish border that night. He indicated to Bird that the team should leave him and save themselves. Bird called the team together, passing on his instructions silently. All the team, as one, shook their heads. Tiger made it clear that they intended to carry him across. His heart leapt with the thought of freedom. He knew that they were risking themselves for him, but knew also that they would not abandon him. If all went well then they would be out of danger in three to four hours. This thought was tinged with sadness as he realised that he would probably never see this wonderful team again.
No way, he thought, as he conceived a plan to stay in contact. He took out the pack of cards that had been so much a part of his life over the previous three days. He separated the court cards, giving one to each of his team. He could not speak, but he made it clear that he wanted each one to keep the card safe, such that they could identify themselves to each other if they ever met again. The cards that he chose were, he thought, highly appropriate. Taking the hearts first, he gave the knave to Tiger and the queen to Bird. From the spades he chose knave for Digger and queen for Broadsword. For Viper he selected the knave of diamonds. He kept the king, queen and knave of clubs for himself, tore up the remaining kings and the queen of diamonds and put the rest of the cards back in his pocket.
As darkness fell the group was ready. King was given a wad of bandaging to bite on for a journey that all knew was going to be extremely painful. Bird led the way, escorting Digger, who was carrying King. The other three protected their rear. They could see the Turkish border ahead, marked by barbed wire fences on both sides, with a crossing point patrolled by guards from each country. They knew that they had no choice but to take on the Iraqi border control. Viper took over the carriage of King as Bird and Digger went ahead for a silent kill. The other three headed forward behind them. Bird and Digger reached the border post together, each silently, taking out a guard
Out of the night an alarm sounded and searchlights began sweeping the area. Bird and Digger had dealt with the guards at the border post, but they had been surprised by an Iraqi patrol that was now spraying the area with bullets.
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