42

CAMP RUSSELL, TARIN KOWT

Mark Hoff took a sip of the Nescafé that had been given to him moments earlier by General Towers. Sitting behind the previous CO’s desk, he looked around the office and couldn’t help but notice the speed at which his predecessor must have left. An open bottle of Evian still sat on the desk, half full, amid a pile of scattered official papers. The computer was on and the screen saver was requesting the Defence Restricted Network access code; in the corner of the room a drawer was open; and a couple of maps had been tossed unceremoniously onto the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

‘It turns out this phone is a gold mine, sir,’ Sam Long was saying. The intelligence officer was sitting on the leather couch opposite the general. The general was looking over the report that had been completed by Sam’s team as he sipped his own coffee, and was showing genuine interest in the findings.

‘How’s that then, Sam?’ asked Mark. He swept the official papers into a single pile and straightened them.

‘Well, it seems that Faisal Khan was very good at deleting both his messages and the register of calls made and received, so on the face of it the phone would appear empty. However, these Nokias have a trash cache that has to be emptied as well. It’s a pretty simple process, but one that Faisal seems not to have known about.’

‘So there’s some intelligence value to the phone then?’ said Mark.

‘Some! I’d say there’s more than just some, sir – every message sent and received and every phone number ever to call this phone or be called by it is now on my computer. It links together most of the Taliban network across Afghanistan, including Objective Rapier and all his associates, it identifies the human network spies who are working for both sides and it identifies individuals in Quetta, Egypt and Syria who are operating with the Taliban.’

General Towers looked at Mark and then back at Sam. ‘How do we move forward from here then, Sam?’

‘Well, sir, we’ve narrowed down the areas where Faisal has been working, and we know the people he has influence with. I think if we offered the right amount of cash the human intelligence network would give him up. He’s on the run; I say we pick him up – send SAS to snatch him.’

‘I don’t know about that, Sam; the SAS troop are bouncing all over Afghanistan with Delta Force looking for those two journalists who’ve gone missing. I doubt they have the capacity to do this as well.’ The general looked across at Mark. ‘What’s your take on it, Mark?’

‘I agree with Sam’s assessment, sir,’ said Mark. ‘I think if we lift this Faisal character we might be able to target a much larger portion of the network; it might also lead us straight to Rapier. It sounds like he’s had a foot in each camp for a while and it’s only a matter of time before one of those camps snatches him – better that it’s us. I think sending in a whole troop would be overkill though. Better to do this discreetly: a pair of operators, plainclothes, supported by a platoon acting as a Quick Reaction Force should the operators need it.’

‘A platoon? Sounds like you have Rix and his men in your sights for this, Mark.’

‘Rix is highly capable, sir – one of my best. Rix and his platoon sergeant can nab Khan, I’m sure of that.’

‘Yes, it’s a shame that the previous CO didn’t share your faith in them.’

‘There’s just a couple more things, sir,’ Sam interjected. The two superior officers turned to him. ‘There’s the case of Matt’s interpreter and the two missing uniforms.’

‘Indeed, Sam.’ The general nodded. ‘We can’t arrest Nadeem Karne just yet as it will most probably alarm Faisal Khan.’

‘Agreed, sir, we should get to him after Khan. We can loan him across to SAS for a few days, on the low down, so that we know whatever Rix is doing is going to be a secret,’ suggested Hoff.

‘And as to the uniforms, sir,’ continued Sam, ‘the results of the tests on those samples Rix and his men brought back were rather alarming. Faisal and his men certainly had a sophisticated weapon with those uniforms. Five kilograms of Semtex woven into the cotton fabric.’ He whistled.

‘It would have been devastating if those had ever seen the light of day as part of a wider, more orchestrated plan,’ Hoff agreed.

‘Rix probably changed the course of history with that find; I was as surprised as anyone else when I saw the lab results.’ Sam opened his notebook to look back over his previous entry. ‘The problem is, if Faisal is in possession of the last two we might lose the snatch team altogether – and it’s almost certain that he does or did have them.’

‘Yes, I agree, Sam . . . and that’s why we’re not sending in the SAS.’ The general turned and looked straight at Mark. ‘Isn’t that right, Mark?’ The general’s tone was even.

Mark shifted uncomfortably in his seat. ‘It’s a consideration, sir, of course.’

‘I’m no fool, Mark,’ the general reminded him.

‘No, sir, and I didn’t take you as one.’

‘You were an SAS troop commander, isn’t that right, Mark?’ The general wore a small smile now.

‘Yes, sir.’

‘And now you find yourself in the unenviable position of being the replacement CO of the Special Operations Task Group more than three-quarters of the way through the rotation.’ General Towers stood up and rolled his shoulders as if to reinforce his point.

‘I’m not sure what you mean, sir.’

‘Of course you do, Mark; risk mitigation is the name of the game at this point in your career.’ The general let the comment sit for a moment without elaborating.

‘We need to lift Faisal, but more importantly we need those two last uniforms off the street. If Faisal delivers them to the right person then we have no way of knowing who they will hit or when they will strike. Anyway, you get settled in here, Mark, get your head around the mess that was left behind, and try to make some sense of the current operating environment. I’ll brief Rix personally. Sam, you get your network searching for Faisal and keep me updated.’

‘Yes, sir, we’re already on it.’

As if on cue, General Towers opened the door to find Sam’s intelligence corporal lurking in the corridor outside.

‘Oh, g’day, sir, is Sam in there?’ The corporal poked his head through the doorway and looked around.

‘I’m right here, Frankie. What’s up, mate?’ Sam got up from the sofa. ‘This is Corporal Franks,’ he added for the benefit of Mark and General Towers.

‘We found your boy, Faisal, sir.’ Corporal Franks smiled at Sam and nodded his head towards Mark, who had risen from behind his desk and was walking over to join the others near the door.

‘Really?’ said Sam. ‘Good timing.’

‘One of the network was telling us about the raid on the motorcycle shop. He was looking for compensation and complaining that the commandos blew it sky-high. He told us that Abdul Rahman had fled to Kabul and that Faisal was with him when they left.’

‘Great, he’s in Kabul – it shouldn’t take a couple of men too long to find him,’ Mark Hoff observed sarcastically.

‘Wait, sir, there’s more. The informant said that Rahman’s brother is a university lecturer in Kabul. Well, we have some sources in the university. The brother was overheard telling a colleague that Abdul and a friend are staying with him for a few days.’

‘Bingo!’ said Sam. ‘Nice work, Frankie. I’ll get the target packs together, General Towers. We should be able to brief Rix in about three hours, if that suits you.’

‘Very good, Sam, I’ll meet you in the conference room.’

The intelligence officers were heading for the door when something occurred to Mark. ‘Corporal Franks?’ he said.

‘Yes, sir?’

‘Out of interest, what exactly does Abdul Rahman’s brother lecture in? Do you know his speciality?’

‘Finance, sir. I think he’s like an accountant or something.’

‘Right, I see. So he’s a university lecturer and is still alive even though his brother is the friend of a high-ranking Taliban. That’s fascinating. Maybe that’s also worth asking Faisal about, Sam.’