— Chapter Thirteen —
The vehicle came to a stop within the brightly illuminated control centre, Mophi beckoned to the mercenaries who shoved their three prisoners out of the vehicle and ordered them to stand in line. Pon surveyed the area and noticed rooms, partitioned sections, Hi-tech monitoring and testing equipment and several desks, arranged around the large, open centre. Several technicians and the remaining mercenary’s appeared to be busy monitoring the security and environmental screens. Akhim and Mophi walked up to a large office and entered carrying Pons bag. Three mercenaries trained their rifles on the three captives, while the others three went over to their comrades and started bragging how easy the job had been. They then walked over to the far side of the centre and into their quarters to finish the last of the alcohol, pack their belongings for their imminent journey home and do a final check on the explosives that would destroy the centre.
Spock and Stu stood in silence looking around the control room, which appeared to them like a low budget ‘set’ from an early James Bond movie. The centre had a dank, fusty smell. The lads watched Mophi and Akhim enter Grimes office Pons attention however was on another room, where he had gotten a whiff of Kim’s sweet scent mixed with other odours, man and fish. He also noticed an earthy, dried blood smell lingering from another room. Pon noticed that the other mercenaries in the control centre were only lightly armed with M9 side arms, unlike the ones that guarded them who carried Bullpup rifles. Pon weighed up his options now he knew what numbers they had and the weaponry they’d possessed. Although he realised they were outnumbered and outgunned he knew the information he was gleaning now would come in useful later when his secret ally arrived, who he figured wasn’t that far behind.
Akhim and Mophi came out of Grimes office and walked back over to the group. He barked orders to the mercenaries and they stood back lowering their weapons, Mophi then went over and pushed his face against Spock’s
“Soon, my friend” he threatened, “you will die slow and painfully” Spock stared at the larger and more powerful Mophi and he grinned.
“Yeah right,” said Spock and head butted Mophi on his nose.
Mophi yelped, covered his broken bloody nose with one hand, and slapped Spock with the other. Pon became nervous in case Spock would lose his cool and snap his partially cut bonds. Spock however just stood proudly upright looking at the damage to Mophi’s nose, Akhim again stepped in to calm Mophi down.
The prisoners were then shoved about 100 yards until they were outside the door of Grimes office. Spock mentioned how he’d appeared to have upset the Arab, again. Stu imagined entering the office and seeing a man with a silly Russian accent with a fat, white cat purring on his lap. Pon, the Tinju warrior, focused on their options to mount an offensive. They entered Grime’s large office.
Grimes sat behind a large desk. Several large plasma screens were positioned on various walls. Some gave information from CCTV’s cameras placed in several locations in and around the centre, others showed satellite images and live feeds to and from Mohammed and one 52” screen behind Grimes, showed the recording of Kim and Ca.
The prisoners were shoved in front of Grimes desk and three mercenaries took up positions behind Stu, Spock and Pon, aiming rifles at their heads.
The contents of Pons bag was laid out neatly in front of Grimes, his jeans, T-shirt, his small bottles and powders, along with the parcel from Bangkok which had been opened and the holy relic now placed on top of the wrapping.
Grimes noticed Pon’s shocked expression as he watched his wife kiss and canoodle with Ca. He knew this affected him deeply as he’d presumed it would, but he still hadn’t finished having his fun with the monk before he died. Grimes thought it would make him more subservient and easier to handle.
Grimes looked at the three. He noticed the blood on Spock’s forehead and Mophi nursing his bloody nose and realised what must have happened. He sniggered and glanced over to the table in the corner, which had been laid out with beers, wines and spirits, including the single bottle of a certain brand of beer with the lethal dose of poison that he’d prepared for Mophi, for when this stage was over, and they celebrated.
He let the room linger in silence before he spoke in order for them to watch his film show.
After several minutes he spoke to the three.
“Good afternoon gentleman, I have been expecting you”
Spock and Stu’s focused on Pon, who watched the images on the screen, much to the delight of Grimes who couldn’t resist taunting the upset Pon and said,
“Your wife seems to be getting on well with her captor, doesn’t she?”
Pon looked, but outwardly refused to show any emotion.
“Why are you doing this?” asked Stu “We’ve done nothing to you”
“My good fellow it’s not me, it’s my employer, I would never hurt my fellow Englishmen, not even northerners” smirked Grimes
All three stared at this unassuming man [without a fat white cat] and listened while he enlightened them about Mohammed and what they had been accused, sentenced, and were about to be punished for.
Stu beseeching Grimes about having that the facts all wrong, but all Grimes would say that if his benefactor says they were correct, as far as he was concerned that was fact.
Grimes got great pleasure from this as the longer they grovelled the better he felt and gave Pon more time to watch his wife.
Now incensed, Pon broke into the conversation,
“We have done as instructed, now stop talking bollocks and let me see my wife.”
Akhim looked at Pon, this was the only time he had heard Pon speak since they had arrived and the voice didn’t sound the same as the one he had heard on the phone over the last few days, however he ignored this as Grimes spoke
“All in good time” he said, taken aback by Pons statement “let's see if what you’ve brought us is authentic.”
He slid the holy box in front of him, inspected it and compared it with some diagrams. He pressed a ruby on the front.
Spock and Stu looked horrified, expecting sand and Nick’s crowns to spill out, followed by their guts in a hail of bullets. They looked at each other and closed their eyes. Silence fell on the room as the box popped open. Grimes gave out an instruction to Akhim to take a sample and test that it was genuine. Bewildered, Spock and Stu slowly squinted and then fully opened their eyes.
Grimes spooned a tiny amount of the black ash out of the box. Spock and Stu looked befuddled at each other, shrugged their shoulders and watched.
Akhim came forward with a gelatine-coated Petri dish and placed the sample inside, he then walked outside to several machines and placed the dish inside a carbon dater, when that machine had completed its specific function. He moved the sample to a different tester.
Grimes placed the box in a machine on his desk for a spectral analysis on the stones.
“This will only take a few minutes gentlemen” he informed them and added, “Let’s check on your wife shall we?”
Grimes sniggered as he looked at the screen behind him and pressed a button. The video feed stopped and the screen now showed the live images from the CCTV camera in Kim’s room.
Kim heard the commotion when the amphibious vehicle arrived. She and Ca listened against the door of the room. Kim then heard a familiar voice, Spock; she had definitely heard Spock before she heard Mophi yelling.
“Damn” she thought,
“If Spock’s here that means Stu and Pon are also here. Why have they risked their lives, that bastard Englishman said they weren’t coming”
She looked at Ca and told him she was sorry but she must try to help her husband, Ca agreed and looked around for something they could use to escape, or make a weapon. Ca then discovered the hidden camera behind an air conditioning vent.
They were horrified that they were being spied upon. Ca covered the vent with his shirt.
Grimes’s look of happy expectation turned to disappointment as the screen the he expected to show some steamy action between Kim and Ca, now showed only red cotton. He ordered one of the mercenaries to go to check it out. ‘The odds were now coming down,’ thought Pon as the mercenary left the room.
Akhim returned to the room as two of the screens lit up with data. The box’s gemstones immediately flashed positive on the spectrometer, which meant the stones were genuine rubies, and sapphires of mid range quality, as expected.
Grimes and Akhim studied the data from the other screens and waited on the third. The third screen stayed blank and then flashed up stating ‘sample contaminated re supply’
Grimes and Akhim looked at each other. Mohammed’s instructions had been very specific on the amount of material he would allow to be removed and that small quota had already been used.
They considered their options, the other tests, albeit not the most significant, had came back 75% positive.
“We can accept this” said Grimes “and we can supply a result if need be” he whispered to Akhim
Akhim agreed, “Let’s get it over with and go home”
Grimes and Akhim looked at Mophi still nursing his nose and eyeing up the table full of spirits, champagne and Vietnamese beers, also his separate bottle of beer that Grimes had brought with him from Hanoi, especially for Mophi, it was his favourite and a hard brand to find in Vietnam. Grimes and Akhim nodded to each other and Grimes turned off the third screen. They knew Mophi never comprehended the technical parts and Grimes said to him.
“Everything positive Mophi and the tests confirmed”
Mophi smiled and stared at the back of Spocks head, replied.
“Good, soon the killing can begin”
“So much for being honourable and letting us go as promised” spat Stu
Mophi laughed and went to stand between Stu and Spock Akhim stood alongside the seated Grimes as they waited for one screen to come to life. The display went blue with the words ‘awaiting satellite link’. After a few seconds the screen started to show a blurred image, which focused to a clear image of a smiling Mohammed with his head resting on a pillow
“Good morning Mohammed” said Grimes, knowing the local time was 4 hours behind Saudi time, still late morning.
Akhim and Mophi greeted Mohammed in Arabic and praised Allah.
Grimes had the cameras in the room placed at specific locations, so Mohammed could see everything through split screens. They waited a few seconds while a weak looking Mohammed stared at each individual view and gave instructions to someone to zoom in on the relic.
“Is it genuine Akhim?” he asked in Arabic
“Yes it is” said Akhim
Mohammed smiled and took a breath from an oxygen mask.
He looked at the section on his screen at Pon, Stu Spock, with Mophi looking over their shoulders.
“Are these the three infidels?” he asked, now looking agitated.
“Yes sir” said Mophi smiling
“You know what to do,” he said
“Yes sir” said Mophi
“Get it over wi...” Mohammed never finished his sentence as his head lolled sideways surgically gloved hands and white coated doctors came rushing into view, scrambling around as beeps and sirens wailed from the machines in Mohammed’s room.
“What’s happening?” shouted Grimes at the screen
There was pandemonium in the hospital room as the doctors worked frantically on the motionless Mohammed.
“Looks like your boss is about to pop his clogs” sneered Spock into Mophi’s ear
Mohammed suddenly opened his eyes and the doctors stood back. Everything became surreal as Mohammed eyes glazed over and he looked at peace.
Grimes, Akhim and Mophi stared at Mohammed on the screen
Pon nudged Spock and then snapped themselves free from their plastic bonds.
They couldn’t believe their luck by this unexpected diversion, so now they would try their next stupid pre planned diversion. Spock let rip a thunderous fart. The mercenaries looked at Spock, not hearing the light thudding sound from the floor between Pons legs, or noticing his stealthy footwork as he recovered his Glave.
Mohammed stared into space for a few seconds and then with eyes wide open he let out a death ruttle. And then it was over!
“No, No!” yelled Grimes, as he stared at the screen and the serene scene as the doctors proceeded to last offices, preparing the body. Some holy men came into view, and a hand filled the screen before it went blank.
“Now” shouted Pon as he sprung the blades out of his Glave and flipped into the air to get into a clear space, and then let fly his Glave.
Spock brought his fist up and back- fisted Mophi on his already painful nose, he leant his shoulder into Mophi’s chest and with Mophi off balance shoved him backwards into one of the mercenaries, knocking him down. Another mercenary moved to get a clear shot and immediately dropped his weapon as the razor sharp Glave’s blade pierced into his eye, went through his eye socket and lodged in his brain, killing him instantly.
Mophi’s faculties quickly returned and he stood up and lunged at Spock grabbing his throat and pushing him back against a wall. Spock had never been manhandled like this and he realised he had underestimated Mophi’s strength and flayed out trying to catch him with a punch.
Pon removed his Glave from the dead man’s eye and noticed the other mercenary getting back up.
Grimes stood and gawked at the blank monitor in shock and disbelief and Stu pummelled way on Akhim’s face.
When all the action started, Akhim had been focused on the events unfolding in Saudi. He then witnessed the fracas going on behind him, and drew his pistol. Stu saw this and dived across the table landing head first into Akhim’s chest, knocking the gun out of his hand and the wind out of chest. Stu grabbed Akhim’s shirt and gave him a hard Glaswegian kiss, head butt to the bridge of his nose. Then with all the pent up crap he had been through in the last few days, and like a man on fire, he pummelled the little Arab to the floor and continued the beating. Stopping to catch his breath he then picked up Akhim’s gun and pistol whipped the Arab until unconscious. Still pissed, he pulled the still shocked and oblivious Grimes off his chair and started to give him a good bashing.
Spock had a problem he had been shoved against the wall and held off the ground by his throat by a grinning, powerful, Mophi.
“I Knew you would be easy” growled Mophi
Spocks flailing stopped as he felt himself losing consciousness. He then felt Mophi’s grip ease, and then release as Mophi stepped back with a shocked expression, and then his face scrunched up in agony.
Spock noticed a flash of orange slide out from between Mophi’s legs. The Arab crumpled to his knees, clutching onto the place where his testacies had hung, moments earlier. Spock rubbed his neck and looked down at the rolling gonads ‘Nasty’ he thought as blood flowed through the clasped hands of Mophi.
Mophi, still on his knees, whimpered as he looked at Spock who thumped him solidly on his jaw, which relieved him of his pain and sent him into slumber land.
Pon had swiftly dispatched the remaining mercenary with his speed nerve point kicks and punches the mercenary didn’t realise he was dead until he hit the floor. Pon recovered his Glave from the eye of his first kill and then slid between Mophi’s legs and castrated him.
Pon went over to Grimes’s desk and observed the carnage that Stu had caused. Stu had beaten Grimes unconscious and he and Akhim sprawled out next to each other, with an angry Stu standing over them, hoping for more action.
Spock joined Pon and Stu at Grimes’s desk, he saw the two laid out figures and praised his usually placid old friend. Then turned to Pon and said.
“I told you your tail would come in useful one day.”
Pon had concealed his Glave under his tail, so if any of you thought it came out of his ar**, . . . Shame on you.
With Mophi, Akhim and Grimes taken care of, their next problem was how to escape with Kim. There were still eight, armed mercenaries out there.
“The only advantage we have is the element of surprise, so we may have time to devise a plan, they don’t know what’s happened in here, yet” Pon informed them.
That lucky break quickly disappeared as the door opened and the armed mercenary that Grimes had sent to check on Kim and Ca returned. Pon heard him approach a split second earlier/
The man pushed open the door with his rifle shouldered. He was met face to face with Pon who tried to pull him into the room. The mercenary, taken aback, jerked the trigger sending a hail of bullets into the floor. Pon slashed his Glave at the man’s throat and kicked him outside closing the door. They’d just lost their element of surprise as the blood gurgling mercenary stumbled outside, which had alerted the others, before he dropped down clutching his open throat.
A hale of small arms fire came within minutes as the remaining mercenaries opened fire. Spock, Stu and Pon shoved the large table over and sheltered behind it to get protection as the 9mm rounds pierced the walls and lodged in the table.
From inside Grimes’s office they could hear more shouting and weapons firing from outside as the other mercenaries joined the affray. Then came a moments silence as one of them shouted to cease fire, and then shouted for Mophi, but reply came.
The mercenaries shouted among one another, and there became constant ranting from the Vietnamese technicians, now trying to flee through the Cu Chi tunnels exit. They triggered alarms that sent the control centre’s sirens wailing out intruder alerts. A mercenary dragged a few technicians back at gunpoint and the alarms were disarmed and silenced.
Stu and Spock peered over the upturned desk and looked through the bullet holes in the walls. Most of the monitors were now riddled with bullets and smashed, apart from one showing the helicopter area.
Grimes and Akhim still lay prone behind the desk. Stu knew that the 9mm had only a short killing range so for now, they would be okay, however the bullpups higher calibre could penetrate the table, and them. Stu saw the two dead mercenaries’ rifles and decided to sneak out to get them. Spock noticed something else that might come in useful, so he moved along the desk and out towards his target.
Pon noticed the thin walls were only gypsum with a gap filled with polystyrene for noise reduction. He looked through the bullet holes into the control room. There appeared to be a lot of activity with mercenaries moving about to get into better positioned. Pon crawled to the sidewall adjacent to Kim’s room and tested the strength of the wall.
Stu had managed to grab both of the weapons in the office and had returned behind Grimes desk. Spock grabbed what he had been after and returned.
Akhim regained consciousness, although played possum and while the lads were preoccupied, he watched the outside, monitor and their departing helicopter. ‘Damn’ he thought, ‘they must have heard the commotion and panicked.’ The lads had bound both him and Grimes, so he decided to stay motionless and wait for any opportunity. One man outside shouted.
“You are outgunned and outnumbered, if you come out now you will be allowed to live, we can leave together, we have no quarrel with you, our job is over,”
They never had chance to respond as a new wave of panic started outside and bullets again started to fly.
Spock and Stu ducked behind the desk. Stu cocked the rifle ready to return fire but no bullets came their way. Stu gingerly peered over the table and through the odd hole in the wall. The mercenaries appeared to be firing erratically in all directions.
“What’s going on?” asked Spock?
“No idea?” replied Stu
Pon knew. It must be his ally joining the fray, which gave him his opportunity. He got to his feet, sliced a mark with his Glave and then smashed through the flimsy wall with his fists and feet, making a hole, large enough for him to get through.
Pon dived into Kim’s detention room, the noise of gunshots covering his movements.
Several moments later, there was silence again outside as a mercenary hollered for a ceasefire.
After a few tense moments, they heard more shouting and movement outside. Stu and Spock tried to see what was happening, but only saw flashes of people passing the bullet holes. This activity went on for about five minutes, Stu and Spock assumed they had been trying recover the dead mercenary outside as they heard men shouting instructions at one another about finding the person who had just killed two mercenaries. Then they heard a familiar voice above the rest.
Stu and Spock looked over the desk to the far wall where Mophi had been lying unconscious. Now, all that remained were severed gonads, a piece of bloody trouser material and a slimy blood trail where Mophi had slid along the floor leading to the now ajar door.
“The bugger’s escaped,” said Stu.
Pon entered into Kim’s room like a leaping panther and rolled onto the floor, landing beside Kim. Kim and Ca looked frightened as they witnessed his violent entry.
“Pon” she cried and held him. Ca and Kim had the sense to remove the mattress and use that and the wooden bed as a shield. Pon hugged and kissed his wife and gave Ca a menacing look, and moved Kim over in order to kill him. Kim gripped onto Pon, sobbing uncontrollably with relief and delight to see her husband. Pon felt the same, and for now, just being reunited with Kim was enough, and seeing that Ca appeared defenceless, he decided to wait until they were out of danger. Pon glared curiously at Ca. He became confused as had seen his face already that day.
The shouting and confusion outside eased as Mophi started to control and organise his men. He lay in the centre of the control room surrounded by barricades of tables and equipment that had been arranged by the mercenaries
Two mercenaries had been caught on the peripheries by the commando squad leader and dispatched with a neuron toxin, venom covered dart, shot into their temples.
Pon ensured Kim was safe and then he and Ca used the calm to make the defences as solid as possible by tipping over all furniture to barricade the door and walls.
Kim saw a side of Pon that she had never witnessed before as he set about the wall and burst through into the next room, which he had picked up the earthy, smelling individuals. Pon knew that it must be the surviving commando’s from Lee’s unit. Ca noticed Pon wasn’t the mild mannered man that Kim had described, and he suddenly became very nervous.
Although Mophi was a loutish, intimidating bully, he was previously a great soldier and had always led his squads into well-planned and executed successful operations. His specialty had been urban warfare. He knew roughly, what these foe’s strengths were, and their biggest weakness, Position, they were pinned in like fish in a barrel.
Mophi lay in the middle of the assembled barricades in excruciating pain, he knew his unit had no leadership qualities or escape plan, but being in pain felt better than being dead.
He armed the remaining technicians, ordered them into position, and told them if they tried to run, he would shoot them. He had heard all the banging and commotion from Kim’s room and knew they would be setting barricades, which he was not concerned about, as Bullpup rifles would make short work of shredding their defences. His focus concentrated on the lone insurgent, and his own escape. He knew that he had to get the detonator for the explosives set to blow up the centre, which was in Grimes’s office.
A sudden explosion from the small kitchenette in the rear of the centre interrupted his thoughts. The technicians panicked and started firing their pistols wildly. The mercenaries crouched into firing positions and Mophi croaked for them to stop shooting. The firing ceased and an armed mercenary nervously went to check out the cause of the explosion.
The diversion had worked and the squad leader broke the lock off the door and rolled into the room containing his surviving men. He felt a sharp blade touching his throat and a crouched Pon greeted him. Pon removed his Glave, nodded and smiled then leant over him and pushed the door closed. The leader went over to check his battered and badly beaten soldiers.
The mercenary returned and reported about the microwave oven exploding and how the place stank of sulphur.
Mophi acknowledged the information and smiled to himself. ‘Bullet in the microwave, a diversion’, he thought but since no more of his team had been attacked he could only assume that it had been done so for the lone attacker could join the others.
‘Stupid move’ thought Mophi as he looked at the broken lock on the door. ‘Now they are all fish in my barrel.’
He sat back against his barricade holding his injured part and instructed a technician to get him some ice and a field medical kit. The man returned several moments later and whilst he placed the ice on his still bleeding crotch he opened an Omnopon Syrette and injected himself, then removed a first field dressing and gingerly applied the gauze padded section to his bloody and gonad vacant area. He lay back as the narcotic analgesia took effect
Stu and Spock could see into Kim’s room and a little way into the soldier’s compartment. Stu taught Spock how to use the bullpups he’d recovered.
“Take the safety off, point it that way and squeeze the trigger” Stu instructed, as he pointed over the desk towards Mophi’s position, he showed Spock the safety catch, which he applied in case the big lad got trigger happy and set the gun in the rapid fire position and primed the chamber.
Grimes and Akhim still appeared unconscious. They had been bound using Grimes jacket and belt and leant up against the wall. Akhim still played possum as he didn’t fancy another beating off Stu.
Spock had grabbed the beer that he’d seen on the now overturned tables, which had been his earlier mission Spock recovered six bottles of nectar and also found where his and Stu’s bags had been unceremoniously dumped.
Grimes regained consciousness. He nudged Akhim who responded by opening his eyes and turned to face him. The lads didn’t notice as they had been sorting out the beer stash. Grimes gave a reassuring look to Akhim then at the bottle Stu held. Grimes had seen that it was the bottle he had laced with Thalium, earmarked for Mophi, it was the only bottle of that particular brand, to avoid any mix-ups. He had also noticed something else lodged under the corner of the table. The bejewelled Buddha’s tooth’ treasure.
“All’s not lost” he whispered to Akhim “If Mophi can get the situation back under control, we can ransom the box back to Thailand and still come out of this in profit”
He then felt a dull thud, and glass smash on his head as Stu hit him with the laced bottle of beer.
Spock looked at Stu with the broken neck of the bottle in his hand.
“Arrogant bastard, causing us all this grief” growled Stu, as he looked at Grimes bloodied head
Spock, about to mention to his still angry friend about wasting good beer, noticed the bottle neck and label.
“Heineken!” said Spock, knowing that Stu hated that beer and to justify his action more, Stu mentioned.
“And it was a flip off top and as we don’t have an opener, I thought I would give it to that smug southern Jessie”
Akhim went back to playing possum. Grimes whimpered as Thalium flavoured beer, mixed with his blood, oozed down his face, the lads settled back into siege mode and took a swig from their screw off capped Saigon beer. Spock had noticed Grimes looking toward the end of the desk and then he crawled towards the edge and saw the contents of Pons bag strewn between the mangle of computers, monitors and papers. He then saw the gold, jewelled box glistening under the corner of the desk; Spock slid the relic out and went over to show Stu.
“What do you think happened here?” he asked Stu showing him the box “I expected to see Nicks’ crowns and sand come spilling out”
“Me too, I’ve no idea” declared Stu, surveying the box and instructing Spock.
“Put it in your pocket we can ask the mad monk later if we ever get out of here alive”
They sat back against the desk, drank their beer and waiting.
‘That’s the second time today I’ve seen that face, although this is a younger version,’ thought Pon as he looked at the commando tending to men. Pon again noticed the strange footwear of the soldier, introduced to him by Lee as Captain, Ca Tho: Special Forces 911.
The two captured commandos had been badly beaten and with their bones broken they could hardly move.
Pon and the Captain realised the soldiers would be of little use in any attack so they made barricades with the bed and furniture and Captain Ca gave them a pistol to defend themselves. Pon then turned his attention to Kim’s room and told Ca that he wanted to be with his wife and then try to affect an escape plan along with Spock and Stu. The Captain agreed and they both dived and rolled silently and separately through the hole Pon had made.
Mophi knew that the pounding and bone breaking thrashing that he and his men had given the two soldiers would put them out of action, so he knew they were unserviceable, useless and out of the equation.
He thought that he had plenty of time and looked around the centre to weigh up his options, he was in no hurry.
Pon and Captain Ca landed within a split second of each other next to Ca and Kim behind the barricade. Pon went to Kim, nudged Ca