Ken McClure - The Gulf Conspiracy

They headed inland and were discussing radio codes and channels to be used when Walsh, who was walking up ahead, held up his hand and signalled that they get down. They dropped to their knees and remained quiet and motionless while Walsh investigated whatever it was that had caught his attention. He re-appeared as if by magic a few moments later at Mick’s shoulder and whispered, ‘Two blokes camping. They sound like bank clerks.’

Mick nodded and said, ‘We’re crossing the route of the West Highland Way here. We’ll skirt round them.’

The six men made a slight detour to the north to bypass the men who would never realise they had been there and rejoined the path to head inland. It was heavily rutted in parts through use by heavy Forestry Commission vehicles but easy-going compared to what Steven had feared. Trying to make good progress through knee-deep bracken on ground that never seemed to be level, as he remembered from Highland walks in the past, could be soul-destroying. He was to become reacquainted with the feeling when, south of Loch Ard, Mick said it was time to leave the track.

At three in the morning they were in position at a point west of the aqueduct which afforded them a good view of it.

‘Get your head down for a couple of hours,’ said Mick to Steven. ‘I’ll wake you if anything’s going down.’

Steven needed no second invitation. He woke at six, alerted by a burst of static on the radio.

‘Marines are in position in the breather duct one mile south of here,’ said Mick.

‘Good,’ said Steven accepting the glasses which Mick offered him and taking a good look at the aqueduct and the area round about through them. There was a white van parked near the base with ‘Diamond Security’ on its side.

‘We’ll move closer as soon as the civvies clock off,’ said Mick. ‘In the meantime we’ll have a brew... won’t we Terry?’

“Yes boss,” replied Terry who set about making tea.

Mick outlined plans for guarding the aqueduct during the course of the exercise. They would split up to individually cover all possible angles of approach, the exception being Steven who would stay beside Mick in case his advice was needed.

‘How dangerous is this stuff?’ asked one of the men.

‘It won’t kill you,’ replied Steven. ‘But you could end up wishing it had if you get infected. Ideally we want to take it from these three characters before they have a chance to open whatever they’re carrying it in — probably something that looks like a thermos flask.’

‘So don’t go having a fly cuppa, Cluedo,’ said Mick. ‘You might get more than you bargained for.’

The comment served to release the tension that had been building almost imperceptibly.

When it got to seven thirty the men turned their radios to the channel being used by the Territorial Army for the duration of the exercise so that they could listen in to what was going on. At a quarter to eight it started to rain and at five to, Walsh, who’d been keeping watch on the aqueduct, reported, ‘Civvies moving out, Boss.’

Almost at the same time the radio crackled into life and the men heard Major David Innes ask his deployed units to report their position. Mick marked them down on the map as they radioed in. ‘Can’t fault that,’ he murmured.

‘Operation underway gentlemen,’ said Innes. ‘Good luck everyone.’

‘Half a dozen Terries by the aqueduct, Boss,’ said Walsh.

‘Mick took a look at the soldiers who’d been detailed to guard the aqueduct and said, ‘Time we moved in. Anyone who gets himself spotted by a Terry gets my foot up his arse.’

The men made last minute adjustments to their camouflage clothing, a couple of them adding yet more bracken to better the match with their surroundings. They wished each other well before moving out at ten second intervals. Steven and Mick moved south east of the aqueduct and fashioned themselves a hide in a small hollow, which they augmented with a makeshift roof made out of dead wood and leaves from the forest floor.

‘What happens to the flasks when we get them?’ asked Mick.

‘A mobile lab will be in position just outside Aberfoyle on the east side,’ said Steven. ‘They’ll take care of them.

‘The very thought of germ warfare makes my flesh creep,’ said Mick.

‘Can’t say I’m a big fan either,’ said Steven.

Three hours went past slowly in complete radio silence and the small talk had long since run out when Mick let out his breath in a long sigh and murmured, ‘C’mon.’ He looked at his watch and frowned but it was another half hour before he suddenly clapped the earphones, which had been hanging round his neck, to his ears. ‘They’ve got one,’ he told Steven. He slipped the earphones down again and marked the position on his map. ‘Well done the Terries,’ he said. ‘Captured one man and secured the container he was carrying.’

Steven’s facial expression indicated that he was impressed too. He was even more impressed when at one thirty a second terrorist was taken prisoner by the soldiers.

‘Did they get the flask?’ asked Steven.

‘Yup, safe and sound. Who would have thought...’ said Mick, thoughtfully. ‘These guys are good. I take back everything I ever thought about them. They’re doing a cracking job.’

By four in the afternoon both Mick and Steve were getting edgy. Steven was even beginning to think that the third man might have abandoned the mission if he had been aware of the capture of the other two. He was about to say this to Mick when the radio crackled into life again and Mick smiled broadly as he relayed news of the capture of the third man.

‘Bloody hell,’ said Mick. ‘We were a waste of space. The Terries got them all.’

Mick switched the radio back on to speaker mode and Steven heard Innes tell his men that the operation was now over. They had taken all three terrorists prisoner and captured the “biological weapons” they were carrying intact.

‘Well done everyone,’ said Innes before giving out a map reference for the troops to rendezvous at.

‘Time to offer our congratulations, I think,’ said Steven getting to his feet. ‘I take it you have a cover story?’

‘MOD observers,’ said Mick with a smile.

The SAS men met up and marched together to the rendezvous point given out by Innes. They arrived there fifteen minutes later, attracting strange looks from the soldiers already there. Steven sought out Innes, showed him his ID and introduced Mick and his men as MOD observers sent in to monitor the exercise without forewarning. Innes beamed as he was congratulated on the performance of his men. ‘We do our best,’ he said modestly like the captain of the winning team on school sports day.

Steven asked about the containers the terrorists had been carrying.

‘They’re being brought in with the prisoners,’ said Innes. ‘They should be here at any minute.’

Steven used his mobile phone and asked to be patched through to the mobile lab waiting at Aberfoyle. He requested that it make its way down to the rendezvous point.

‘Roger that.’

As he ended the call, Mick came across and told Steven that the men from 45 Commando were asking if was all right to restore the water supply.

‘Tell them, yes,’ said Steven.

‘Here they are,’ said Innes as a long wheelbase Land Rover appeared through the trees. When three soldiers got out unaccompanied, Innes asked where the prisoners were.’

‘You said the operation was over, sir,’ replied the driver, a corporal. ‘They asked to be dropped off about a mile back. They said they’d hidden their vehicle there in the trees. It made more sense than coming in here and then having to get a lift back.’

‘I suppose,’ said Innes.