Алистер Маклин - Time of the Assassins

He nodded and looked around the side of the building at the cell block three hundred yards away. A single light shone above the main entrance, otherwise it looked deserted. At least, it did from the outside.

Tambese disappeared around the side of the building. Sabrina followed. Graham picked up the holdall and went after them. They ducked low as they passed the windows of the barracks and only straightened up when they were clear of the building.

When Tambese reached the cell block he ignored the double doors and went directly to a window at the side of the building. He wasn’t surprised to find it ajar, not on such a humid night. He pressed himself against the wall and peered cautiously into the room. There was a guard on duty. He sat with his back to the window, his feet propped up on a table, reading a newspaper. A radio was playing in the corner of the room. But there was no way of getting in without first cutting through the bars that protected the window. Tambese unslung his Uzi then dropped to one knee and eased the barrel through the opening, lining up the back of the guard’s head in the sights. Sabrina looked away as he pulled the trigger. The guard was punched forward by the momentum of the bullet but as he landed heavily on the floor his foot caught the chair leg, knocking it over. Graham and Sabrina immediately took up positions on either side of the window. Tambese remained on one knee, his Uzi trained on the corridor which led off from the reception area. He doubted the noise would have carried above the music on the radio but they couldn’t afford to take any chances, not when they were so close to their objective.

He waited a couple of minutes then, satisfied the noise hadn’t alerted any of the other guards in the building, he propped his Uzi against the wall and removed the oxyacetylene equipment from the holdall.

Graham and Sabrina took up positions on opposite sides of the cell block as Tambese went to work, cutting through the iron bars across the window. It only took him a few minutes to complete the job then, after replacing the equipment in the holdall, he recalled the others to the window. He clambered through the opening first then took the holdall from Graham and dumped it on the floor.

Graham and Sabrina climbed in after him and as they hid the body under the reception desk Tambese righted the chair and used a cloth he found under the desk to mop up the bloodstains. At least it wouldn’t look suspicious if anyone happened to pass. They would just assume the guard had left the room.

After pulling the blind down over the window, Tambese led the way to a flight of stairs at the end of the corridor. He gestured for them to wait then tiptoed silently to the foot of the stairs and peered cautiously around the side of the wall. The corridor was lined with rows of cell doors. He could see the table and two chairs at the end of the corridor where the guards would have sat. But there were no guards on duty, which he automatically assumed meant there were no prisoners being held on that floor. He beckoned Graham and Sabrina towards him and told them to cover him while he checked the cells. He moved quickly and silently down the corridor, looking into every cell. He was right. They were all empty. He returned to the others and pointed to a second flight of stairs leading down to another floor.

‘How many floors in all?’ Graham whispered.

Tambese held up three fingers then moved stealthily down the stairs, pausing again at the bottom to peer carefully into the corridor. It, too, was deserted. He gestured for Graham and Sabrina to follow him then descended the third flight of stairs and held up a hand as he reached the bottom. He wiped his sweating forehead then pressed himself against the wall, his Uzi held upwards inches from his face, and looked warily round the side of the wall. The two guards sitting at the end of the corridor were engrossed in a game of cards. Tambese glanced at Graham and Sabrina and gave them a thumbs-up sign. They tiptoed down to where he was standing, waiting for his signal. The signal never came. Tambese suddenly stepped out into the corridor and opened fire. Neither guard had a chance to reach for the AK-475 against the wall before the fusillade of bullets cut them down where they sat. Tambese ejected the empty clip and slotted a new one into place before sprinting down the corridor to where the guards lay sprawled beside the overturned table and chairs. Both of them were dead.

‘David, over here,’ said Graham.

Tambese hurried across to where Graham was shining the torch into one of the cells. Remy Mobuto lay motionless on a palliasse in the corner of the cell.

‘Remy?’ Tambese called through the bars. ‘Remy, it’s David. David Tambese.’ He glanced anxiously at Graham when Mobuto remained silent. ‘Remy, can you hear me?’

Silence.

Sabrina appeared behind them. ‘All the other cells are empty.’ Then she noticed the concern on their faces. ‘What is it?’

‘He’s been drugged,’ Graham said grimly, strapping the oxy-acetylene tanks onto his back.

‘You say there are no prisoners in any of the other cells?’ Tambese asked, turning to Sabrina.

She nodded.

‘Which means they’re moving out,’ Tambese concluded. ‘It looks like we got here just in time.’

Graham switched on the blowpipe then dropped to one knee and began cutting through the lock.

‘Moving out?’ Sabrina repeated. ‘You mean they’re preparing to march on Habane?’

‘That’s how I’d interpret it,’ Tambese answered. ‘Why else would they clear the cell block? We had it on good authority that they were holding at least twenty prisoners here yesterday morning.’

‘Where will they have been taken? The garrison you spoke about earlier?’

‘They won’t have been taken anywhere,’ Tambese said, shaking his head.

‘You mean they’ve been executed?’

‘More than likely,’ Tambese replied matter-of-factly. ‘The Security Police will only spare your life if they think you’ll be of some use to them. And when you’ve outlived that usefulness, then they’ll kill you. That’s the way they’ve worked for the last forty-five years, why change now?’

‘I’ve got the lock,’ Graham called out before Sabrina could reply.

Tambese hurried into the cell and checked Mobuto’s pulse.

‘Well?’ Graham asked behind him.

‘It’s steady,’ Tambese replied. ‘I’ll carry him. Mike, you take my Uzi.’

Graham shouldered Tambese’s Uzi. Sabrina replaced the oxyacetylene equipment in the holdall then picked it up and moved back towards the stairs. Graham helped to get Mobuto to his feet then Tambese bent down and draped him over his shoulders. He nodded to Graham then emerged from the cell and followed Sabrina to the stairs. Graham brought up the rear, his Uzi at the ready. When they reached the reception area Tambese gratefully offloaded Mobuto and eased him carefully onto the floor.

‘I’ll take him for a bit,’ Graham offered.

‘No,’ Tambese retorted sharply. He smiled quickly to atone for his outburst. ‘Thanks anyway, Mike, but Remy’s my friend. If anything does happen out there, I’ll be responsible for his safety. I’m sure you understand.’

‘Yeah, sure,’ Graham replied then gestured towards the double doors. ‘Can we get through there?’

‘I certainly hope so,’ Tambese replied. ‘It’ll save a lot of time if we can avoid using the window. Getting him down the manhole is going to be hard enough.’

Sabrina tried the door. It was locked. Graham searched in vain through the dead guard’s pockets for the key. Then he looked through the drawers under the counter. It wasn’t there either. He sighed deeply and shook his head.

‘We’ll have to use the window,’ Sabrina said. ‘We can’t risk shooting off the lock. Even with a silenced weapon, it would still make a lot of noise.’