Crisis Four Read Online Free Page B

to make myself a harder target. As my eyes adjusted I saw a middle-aged guy, his head bald apart from wiry side hair. He was curled up against the far wall, his hands protecting his face, flapping even more than I had just been – as you do when, just as the lights come on, a man with a weapon bursts in on you. Fuck it; they must have had standby power.
    I became aware of bits of electronic machinery – PCs, screens and computer stuff all over the place, whirring and crunching now the power had returned.
    I lifted my weapon into my shoulder and pointed it at him. He got the message. I called for Sarah.
    She came in and confirmed, ‘That’s him.’ She gobbed off in Arabic and he immediately did as he was told, sitting down on the sofa against the other wall, away from the desk with all the machinery on it. He didn’t move; his eyes were like saucers, trying to work it all out and listen to Sarah at the same time.
    From my bergen, I pulled out six magnesium incendiary devices. All I needed to do was to get them sparked up and we could be on our way.
    It was then that Sarah pulled a laptop and some other gear from her bergen and started plugging it in and revving things up, still talking to the Source, referring to the Arabic script displayed on two of the screens. He replied at the speed of sound, trying his best to stay alive.
    I was confused. This wasn’t in the plan. I tried to keep a calm voice. ‘Sarah, what are you doing? Come on, it’s time to go.’
    Glen stayed outside in the relit corridor, giving protection. I knew he would feel exposed soon and would want to move out. After all, we’d got who we’d come for. I said, ‘Sarah, how long’s this going to take?’
    She was still scrolling down the screen. I was getting pissed off. This wasn’t what we were supposed to be here for.
    ‘No idea – just do your job and keep everyone back.’
    I needed to underline the problem we faced. ‘This is going to turn into a gang-fuck soon, Sarah. Let’s just grab him and go.’
    She wasn’t even looking at me, just hitting one of the keyboards.
    The Source sat tight, looking as confused as I felt.
    Glen was starting to get agitated. He stuck his head back into the room. ‘How much longer?’
    She said, ‘What’s with you people? Wait.’
    Sarah seemed gripped by the information she had before her. I walked towards her, trying to be the good guy. ‘Sarah, we’ve got to go. If not, we’re in a world of shit.’ I grabbed her arm, but she pulled away and glared at me. I said, ‘I don’t understand the problem. We have the Source, so let’s grab him and go.’
    We were inches apart, so close I could feel her breath on my face as she spoke. ‘There is more to do, Nick,’ she said, slowly and quietly. ‘You don’t know the full brief.’
    I felt ridiculous. Very near the bottom of the food chain as usual, I’d obviously been shown only one piece of a much bigger jigsaw puzzle. They’d justify it in terms of ‘need to know’ or ‘op sec’, but the real reason was that people like me and Glen simply weren’t trusted.
    Just as I took a step back the silence was broken by shouting, then the distinctive signature of AKs on auto, their heavy calibre 7.62 short rounds flying around outside the building.
    ‘Shit… don’t move!’ Glen shouted into the room. We had gone noisy: not good. He left us and ran down the corridor. I closed the door.
    I could hear the lighter sound of Car 15s returning fire, and lots of shouting, from our guys as well as the Syrians. It didn’t matter that the Syrians could hear us shouting in English – there was now so much gunfire and confusion that it was irrelevant – much more important was to get the communications right.
    I tried to sound calm. ‘Sarah, time to go.’
    She turned her back on me and carried on working. Our new friend on the sofa was getting more worried by the minute. I knew just how he felt. There was another exchange of fire outside.
    ‘Fuck this,