“OK” I said “Do we have a plan for the Man?"
The all replied yes
"Each of us needs to make an equipment list, not only of what is suitable for us to work as employees or contractors for the forestry commission, but for any eventuality that our own mission requires. And no Lachie, we can’t have a Tank"!
We handed the plan to 'The Man' and he agreed that it was workable and went off to make the arrangements between The Forestry and whatever department of Agriculture they came under. No doubt it would come down to the promise of funding from one branch of the Government to another. I would expect the lie from ministry of defence, to be that SIS would be conducting some form of secret exercise. This was a common enough practice.
So we were given another hour to create a list for all that was needed for a genuine logging site. We also created lists to suit our own personal specialist fields. We set to it. Team Seven had three of its original members and two new members. We had been tasked, according to 'The Man' with one of the most important and sensitive operations that they had undertaken since Iraq.
ACT 22
My personal equipment was easy. I wanted Cash and lots of it, a full field Medical Kit, along with the latest NBC kit, and from the sound of the job we had to do; I also wanted SST kits for all the team. My list seemed to be the shortest and should have been the easiest list to fulfil. I was told that they had some stuff I wanted but would get the rest shipped to me in the next twenty-four hours.
Lachie's list was pretty damn impressive though, He wanted. Two eight wheeled ATV Argo’s, Four Snowmobiles, One Snow cat, One Bulldozer Fitted with a heavy duty winch, One 100k Generator. Three Portakabins, two fitted out as Dormitories with toilet and cooking facilities the other to be set up as a split unit for Jane and Abdalla’s equipment, Four Husqvarna 36” Chainsaws. He also wanted tools and engine spares.
Jane wanted five High Gain five side band CB radios. 5 secure Motorola hand held radios complete with throat microphones with ear pieces and Base set. Then she wanted a portable radio mast along with full set of Parabolic Microphones, twelve low light cameras, with a set of Video Monitors. On top of that she desired satellite dish receivers and two secure laptop computers.
Abdalla wanted side arms along with rifles and pump action shotguns for all of us. This on top of the four AS50’s with the new prototype electronic self-correcting optical sights from BAE that he had already brought with him. Not forgetting enough ordnance, for his personal war. This was all to go along with the latest Nomex suits and Night vision goggles. He also wanted GEMTECH suppressors for all firearms. I was not aware they made them for shotguns. But apparently they do. Full combat body armour, He also asked for KA-BAR Knives for all.
Hans requested survival equipment. A helicopter capable of carrying heavy loads, along with adequate cash in used notes for us to spend locally as well paid independent Forestry contractors. Rather than the wads of new notes, that they wanted us to have. (I had not thought it through, like he had) The Forestry Commission often sub contracted for remote regions where ‘Men were Men and Trees were scared’. As it was common practice, most of the equipment was moved in as close as possible by low loader and a locally contracted firm were asked to bring the equipment to site in locked containers. Lachie used the same forestry roads that had originally been cut to allow for the Highland Forest to be planted some thirty years prior. All the heavy plant equipment actually belonged to the forestry commission with the exception of the Bulldozer which had been leased from an Inverness plant hire firm, had been brought in on a container ship to Scrabster and then trucked down on a series of low loaders. Some of the forestry roads required re-cutting in places but this was not a problem for the monster Bulldozer that Lachie would take off and then fix the road and then he would re-load it back on to the low loader until we reached the required location. Once all the stuff was offloaded and set into position the Low loaders drove off leaving us in peace and quiet. Every piece of forestry and plant equipment bore the Forestry Commission logo on its side. The first thing that was set up was the 100Kw Perkins Generator, which we connected up to the Portakabins. The Helicopter was slid out on its rails from its own shipping container. And Hans who was a fully qualified Chopper pilot set about, swinging the fold back rotors into place. All other motorised vehicles were then taken out from their containers and fuelled up using diesel from the barrels that had been delivered with them. There were also extra barrels of fuel for the chopper. Fortunately, ‘The Man’ had enough sense to make sure all the equipment was already road worn, as nothing screams fake, like brand new and shiny equipment on a site. The Radios were set up and the CB Mast raised along with the Storno Ariel attached. Abdalla set up an armoury in one of the now empty containers, Lachie had also commandeered one of the other now empty ones, for a mechanical workshop. I busied myself setting up the accommodation then checked out my medical kit. Most of it was there. It had taken almost three days to get all the equipment into location. This had also included a piece in the Northern Times Newspaper, about the area now reaping the rewards of a renewable forest from a project that had started three decades previously. They likewise had Moray Firth Radio, Grampian TV and BBC STV, do radio and television broadcasts of the equipment being ferried into place and an overshot of our site prior to the unloading of our equipment. This was to legitimise our presence in the place. ‘The Man’ had obviously pulled some strings. So we were on the ground and the first order was set it all up. Then we had to cut a line right to the boundary fence with Altnabreac. Over the next two days Lachie and I felled several hundred trees, whilst behind us Jane and Hans set up mikes and cameras along with sensors that were set at a height of four feet from the ground. These were tiny and unless you actually knew it was there, then you would not see them. We set the CB Radios up on FM Channel 16 and used that for chatting on anything to do with our tree felling operation. The Storno’s would be used for anything of a more covert nature. Then we settled into shifts of being foresters and watching the people at Altnabreac. They had only shown interest in us on the first day and it seemed they had accepted us as bona fide workers for the Forestry Commission. The next test was for Hans to go shooting rabbits along the edge of the forest. In order to see what would happen when gunfire was heard by them. It brought out one man, who came to check Hans out. He seemed satisfied that Hans was shooting rabbits for the butcher in Halkirk in order to gain some extra black market money, whilst also working for the Forestry Commission. Hans had offered as pair of rabbits to the man, who had accepted them. Hans likewise noticed that the man was not wearing hill boots but was sporting HAIX Gortex Military boots. This was not as suspicious as the protuberance across the chest towards the left hand side of his green Bomber Jacket. We knew that this was a time sensitive operation and we needed to learn more about the nine men at Altnabreac. It was essential that we find out who they were, as well as who they were truly working for. From the microphones we knew that eight of the men there, were mercenaries. The other man we knew nothing about apart from he was not the boss, they were waiting for something or someone to be delivered but without a set date. They kept themselves pretty much indoors. Han’s did a deliberate fly over with the chopper, on the pretext of picking up some more diesel barrels from Scrabster. They showed no interest in the chopper and our own on-board system showed they did not have Radar. Hans used an open radio channel to talk to Wick Air Traffic Control. He flew back with four, full barrels of diesel. Again he took the direct line over them. Then he landed back with us at the logging camp. Effectively everything we did was open and above board. We had black drapes inside the container that we used as an armoury but this was deliberately blind-sided by other equipment and for the greater part of time with its doors closed and locked. Lachie would leave the ‘Tool Shed’ workshop open. We would take the Snowmobiles out and plant lines of new trees to replace the ones we had cut down. I knew this was common practice when clearing forests, that new forests would be automatically replanted as a renewable source. Occasionally we would go into Halkirk using one of the Argo’s, for Hans to sell Rabbits or Venison to the butcher. We shot a Stag, and deliberately sent one snowmobile back to fetch the Snow cat. This served a dual purpose. One was to show that we had it to use in our ‘work,’ the other reason was Lachie had fitted an acoustic dampener to the exhaust. He had tested it inside our campsite and then intentionally switched it off, while out as he raced over the heather to collect the Stag. The difference was amazing. In normal mode you could hear it almost a mile away, with a simulated blown exhaust. However, with Lachie's modification, you would have to be close to hear the engine. He had replaced the Metal tracks with rubber ones, this had further reduced the noise. The stag had actually been shot from almost a mile away by Abdalla with a suppressed 50cal and they never even came out to see. I would say that it sounded like a small bore shotgun being fired from a distance of twenty-five to thirty feet. So it was a huge improvement on the noise inside the shooting range. This again was dual purpose as he had fitted the BAE sights of the same as we saw when on the indoor rifle range. He had seen the stag, as a tiny animal on the side of a hill around three quarters of a mile from where he lay in the heather. He had then pointed at the target pressed a couple of buttons on the side of the scope. The Electronic Telescopic Sight had worked out humidity and wind, along with the rise and drop of the bullets arc. So it was just a question of getting the animal on the zoom-able sights. When Abdalla pressed another small button on the fancy gizmo, the result being that the Stag had filled the entire four-inch screen. So you just put the dot where you wanted to hit. Abdalla said a novice could use the AS50 with this BAE Sight and beat the best snipers in the world. It was a game changer in sniper terms. Never before had he hit a target at nearly a mile with a suppressed rifle. This Sight even allowed for that as well. When I saw the stag, as we brought it back it was a perfect shoulder shot. Lachie cleaned and skinned the beast. Then removed one of the haunches and gave it to the man next door, who we had seen occasionally by the fence line. Once again he accepted the offer of fresh shot meat and even offered some cigarettes for it. The brand was not known to us ‘Noblesse’ they turned out to be an Israeli brand which just caused even more questions to which nobody had any answers. We already knew Jon was out of the game. Could there be more MOSAD agents in on this? Lachie accepted them even though none of us smoked. The rest of the venison was sold to the local butcher in Halkirk along with several rabbits. It was ordinary activity up here for folks to do a little poaching on the ground they were clearing, then to sell the meat, on to the local game dealers. This made us look just that bit more genuine to any locals that may have taken an interest in our being there. Life went on fairly normally for us over the next couple of days. We felled trees, planted new ones and did a little game shooting. We used our tracked Snow Cat and Snow Mobiles as much as we could. Then what we had been waiting for suddenly happened. All the microphones that we had laid paid dividends. The overheard conversation that we had managed to capture had indicated that their boss would be arriving tomorrow. We needed to have a plan of action. The first thing we had to do was to contact ‘The Man,’ who we knew was at the Brora radio station. Not wanting to have any of our radio chat listened into ourselves, we decided that the best course of action would be to send Jane, to go and see him personally. Jane took the battered Forestry Commission Land Rover which was fitted with one of our CB Radios. We chatted to her while she was in range, in the same way as any group of men would with a single woman as part of their crew, throwing in male, female
banter. We then set about making sure that we would be ready for any eventuality. As part of our forestry cover, we really had felled hundreds of trees and laid the trunks in multiple piles along the edge of the forest line near the fence. This not only provided extra cover for our camp. Just in case we were being spied on but again once again it legitimised our cover story. It would be about four hours before Jane returned. We had to assume that they would have nine men there as well as their boss. This would give them, ten men plus a minimum of one other, if he came by helicopter. This would leave them with double the manpower that we had. Whilst Jane was away there was sudden activity at their camp. The three Range Rovers that they had, filled with men and suddenly started up and shot off down the road, back towards civilisation. We counted the men and that left their base empty. It would totally have blown our cover if we had followed them. What it did do though, was to give us a chance to look inside the property, where they were staying.
ACT 23
Hans said that he would go over to the property and see if he could get a camera and microphone inside their building and quickly take as many pictures as he could if at all possible. The idea was that we could then pass on further info to 'The Man' and then could make a command decision. Hans kitted up and I took him to the property border on the back of one of our Snow Mobiles. It would be a long crawl for him to their compound, but Hans was up to it. We switched all our Storno's to the same channel and like us, Hans was wearing a throat mike with a transmit button and earpiece to hear. I stayed on our side of the fence. I used an axe to sned, some of the thinner branches from the trees that we had felled over the previous days. It once again, gave me reason to be there and also I had line of sight to their base along with long distance line of sight to the road that led to both of our properties. I watched as Hans slithered over and through the wet heather.
"How’s it going Hans?"
"It’s going OK Thank you for asking, but if you prefer, I could come back and watch and you could do the crawling in this black mud!"
"Take it slow. Keep below the windows they may have cameras set up inside, and if you see anyone there, then get yourself back here quick"
"Andy, this is what I do for a living that is why I volunteered to do it. I will give you a call when I get to the house OK?"
"Sure Hans, Lachie has you covered with the 50cal from the big log pile beside me. But if you see ANYTHING, call it in please"
"Will do Andy"
I walked across to where Lachie was hidden under a bunch of branches and evergreen foliage, and then sat down on a tree stump with my back to their camp. I poured a cup of coffee from my Thermos and took a sip.
"Can you see him Lachie?"
From about four feet, just to the right of me and from below his hide, he whispered to me
"It getting fucking cold here and I can’t even snag a coffee."
"You are right about the cold Lachie. I can see snow coming, at the moment it’s just on the mountain tops in the distance. So we will probably get rain here before we get the snow. I thought those Nomex Suits were supposed to keep out the wet?"
"They do keep out most of the wet but they don't keep the cold out. We are going to have to build a small fire somewhere near me Andy as my breath will start to show from below all this scrub. BUT do not let my hide catch fire. I mean that in both senses, as in my shooting hide and my backside hide"
"I know mate it’s a dirty job and someone has to do it. However as a Rock Ape you are far better qualified than me"
"Fucking Funny!" he snorted at me.
"How close is Hans to their gaff?"
Lachlan swung his AS50 around and pressed a button on the side of the sights, and made a slight readjustment to his position under the branches of his hide.
"He's about forty five yards out and heading towards the back windows, Andy"
I looked towards the area where Lachie had said. I knew he was out there, but he had used bits of heather along with clumps of grass stuck into the outer mesh of his camouflage suit, which he was wearing over his Nomex. I knew he was also wearing body armour, and had a reasonable sized backpack on. As such he was quite bulky. I looked hard but could not see him. Then I saw a clump of heather move near a piece of ground that had more grass than heather on it. He made it to the edge of the house and snuck around the side being careful to stay underneath the window.
"Can you give me a running commentary of what he is doing please Lachie?"
"Well it’s a really close call between him and the sheep but it looks like he has them beaten by a nose!"
"Funny!"
"OK He has the goose neck fibre optics out of his pack, and now he has the snake up to the edge of the window. He has it down and is moving over to the side window.............Repeated the same process..........now he is beside the outbuildings..............Putting the snake under the door..................moving back to open ground..........SHIT! FUCK!........Their Range Rovers are back They have used a side track over the hills......................................Christ Andy, he is going to get caught in the open if he does not move fast........He has made it to a ditch and is down and out of sight."
"That was my fault Andy I should have known about that old sheep track. Where is Hans?"
"He is still in the ditch I think"
"You THINK? Lachie can’t you see him with the Scope?"
Lachie pressed some more buttons on the scope
"I have switched it to in infrared I can’t see him clear but I think I can see a slight heat source where he entered the ditch, He is stuck there for the moment he can’t risk being seen. There would be no believable excuse of why he would be outside their gaff with all that video spy shit. I think he left mini cams and bugs but I can’t be sure."
"OK Lachie. There is nothing we can do for Hans at the moment without showing our hand. Take a look at the folks getting out of the Range Rovers."
The three Range Rovers were at the small car park at the front of the building. I could see men getting out but from where I was working and pretending not to be interested in them I could not identify any of the men. Some of whom were clad in black military style boiler suits. There was one man in civilian clothes along with a woman who was walking with him. Two of the men stayed outside the house as the rest went in. One man went to the outbuildings. He unlocked and opened the door and appeared to say something to the other man. He then closed and locked that door and walked back towards the main building, He saw me and waved so I waved back and then went back to snedding branches. All of this time trying to keep my head down, even though I was wearing a safety helmet and protective goggles. I deliberately turned my back on him and took a slip stone and pretended to sharpen my axe.
I radioed to Hans
"Are you OK Hans?"
I got no reply apart from a double click of the radio system. We had agreed if you could not talk to do just that. Three clicks would mean he was in danger, but with just the two I assumed that he was just staying quiet as not wanting to give up his position.
"Lachie?"
"Yes mate?"
"See anything of interest?"
"If I told you, you would not believe me, or you would lose it big time and start ranting. We need to all talk back in the camp and I mean as soon as we can get Hans out of there!!!"
I waited until the sun started to set and then made off for the camp. The rain has started to come down as sleet as I walked back. Lachie and Hans would have to wait for the dark of night. About an Hour later Lachie arrived and he was followed about fifteen minutes later by Hans. Who got to the camp at almost the same time as Jane did.
ACT 24
"We need to talk folks" said Lachie
We all sat around the table in our Portakabin. The mood was serious, both Lachie and Hans had indicated that they had information for us. I had expected a lot of info to come our way from Jane but she let the others go first.
"When the folks over there came back, I saw a well organised team who all had proper military training. These guys are nothing like Mervin. That is not even the worst news. The guy in civvies that came out of the second Range Rover is none other than our own man 'The Suit'"
"What?" Said Jane
"You have to be shitting me mate" I said
"I am one hundred percent positive, I had him full face in that fancy scope! No doubt about it at all. He was there willingly there was not a hint of him being under duress. He was happy and chatting and if I am brutally honest I got the feeling that he was actually in charge. There was also a woman and she was clad in one their black Military style boiler suits"
Lachie finished and pick up his coffee and leaned back on his chair while all of this sunk into us.
Hans spoke next.
"The main house seemed normal and I did not see anything of great interest. Also I don't think they have any security system set up. I kept a good lookout for cameras or their own microphones nothing. Not even a trip wire. They seem to be quite comfortable here. The outbuilding however, I am sure that they have someone held captive in there. I could see what I thought was a human shape tied up. I did not have a time to deploy a mini cam in or near it. I only just made it to the ditch before they arrived back. I thought you said I had about two hours? Anyway I have set two mini cams up; one is by the back window and one by the side. I have set up several mikes around the place as tufts of grass. That said I think we are going to be screwed on them, if it snows heavy. I have set up the video to show you what I saw. So take a look and see what you think. Perhaps I have missed seeing something."
Jane stood up and then turned towards us
"I also have more bad news for you 'The Man' has said that they have multiple moles within their organisation. Some of whom have been there for years. They knew some of their identities and have been deliberately making them potato diggers. That is to say they are doing what the folks in Ireland used to do, to the SAS back in the 1970's. The Irish would intentionally leak information that guns or bombs were hidden in a field, when in fact there was nothing there. But the British Army along with the RUC would come along and dig the entire field up. They would find nothing and the Irish would have the field ready dug to plant their potatoes. So these internal spies that we know about are being purposely given access to useless information. That said we know that there are others who we have not yet identified who hold positions high up in the Security Services"
"Told you Security Services is an oxymoron" said Lachie
Jane sipped her coffee and continued unabated by Lachie's quip.
"We, that is you, are to continue with your mission to observe and only IF you see some sort of device, then you are to take down the men at Altnabreac"
"If 'The Suit' is there and sees anyone of us then we are scuppered. So we are supposed to observe and not be seen, yet all those men down there have seen our faces at some point and if they describe us to ‘The Suit' then we will be screwed. How in the name of fuck are we supposed to continue?"
"I am sorry Andy; I can only tell you what I have been told. You are now to work completely out with the Black Door Department"
"Just what the fuck does that mean Jane?"
"It means that all paperwork, about you men here has been destroyed along with any computer files linking you to the SIS. It means you are on your own. This has been done for your own safety and that of your families and your friends. I will take verbal reports to my boss and he will pass them back to me. Again these will only be verbal with nothing on file or paper. Andy, this operation has gone totally Black. You will not get more supplies nor will you get more funding or equipment. What you have is what you have."
Lachie knocked his chair over in his haste to stand up.
"Jane, correct me if I am wrong, but you are saying that none of us here exist on paper anywhere and that no one will come to our rescue if the shit hits the fan? And we get no more supplies of toilet paper either!!"
"That is about it Lachie I am sorry I really am"
“Yet ‘The Suit’ chose our team, and he is the Bad Guy?”
“The Suit may have chosen your team, but he does not know where you are located or what part you have in this. Obviously he did know you were discharged. From the RAF, we leaked this morning that you were both killed in an explosion at Ben Graim Beg, in an effort to buy us some time.”
“Jane you keep saying US but so far it has just been Lachie and me, they have been trying to kill. Working for ‘The Man’ is a dangerous occupation. If ‘The Suit’ is the bad guy, why not just take him out”
“Because Andy we need to get back the stolen material first. So in another move to protect you and your families, none of you exist on paper”
"What about me" Hans said.
"There is no record of you ever entering the country Hans and the same applies to you Abdalla"
"So what happens if we stop whatever these people are doing and then, take them all down? Do things go back to normal? Do Abdalla and I get to have our identities back and go home?"
"I don't know" Jane replied and sat down and then she continued
"I know none of you chose to do this and you are no longer officially part of Black Door, because Black Door also no longer exists. But I do know that this is an important mission. One which I believe could prove devastating to this country if we do not stop whatever is going on."
"What is going on" I asked
"The truth is we are not really sure. Everything is compartmentalised in the Black Door ops, within SIS. No one really has the full picture. So in light of all the leaks that seem to have happened, no section is talking to another. Because most of Black Door people are in assumed identities no one wants to come forward and give up information. As they, don't want to give up their identities. Also they fear that because there are so many leaks that there will be a witch hunt. They do not wish themselves to be seen as leaking information, albeit internal. So the person you refer to as 'The Man' has stated that WE, as I am included in this, no longer exist within SIS. Worse is the chance that someone within one of the security services, might now tag you as part of whatever the men in Altnabreac are up too"
"What does all that mumbo jumbo mean?" asked Lachie.
"I am afraid it means that they might send a Wet Work team after you by mistake"
"What the fuck is a wet work team" I asked
"It is a team of killers sent to make you not exist in real life" It was Hans who had said this
"So Jane, who knows we are here?"
"For now, just 'The Man" and myself and I am staying here. So apart from the folks in this room, just the one man knows where we are"
"Well that's great news then" Lachie said, as he leaned on the backrest of the chair that he had now picked up from the floor. Then he continued
"Now I know who to kill, if someone other than the folks over there comes for me"
"This can’t be right" I said to no one on particular and then to Jane.
"We are supposed to be the good guys, and yet we might be tagged as the bad guys because the SIS can’t pull their zippers up after the go for a piss. Furthermore, because their internal departments will not share operational information, we are the only team on the ground and we are not even trained covert operatives, of an organisation that does not even fucking exist?"
"I am sorry boys; that is about the truth of it. I only report to and get orders from one man"
“Jane don’t you see the problem here? ‘The Suit’ is with them and he chose us, that is Lachie, Hans and me. Abdalla along with you came in later for this operation. He knows we are up here in the highlands. I am sure he knows we did not die in whatever plan he had for us. It will not take a rocket scientist to figure out who, what and where we are. He will probably know who we are from the descriptions his men will have given of us. I don’t know about the rest of you but I have no intentions of waiting for them to try to kill me again. We don't even know who is in charge here with us. You say we take orders from ‘The Man’ and that he then asks you to pass them on to us. Yet there is no one on the ground here making direct decisions and now, you want us to plan and execute orders without structure. You will know if you are military that there has to be order on the battlefield. Now I don’t mind taking orders. But we have to know, what is actually going on and don’t give us that compartmentalised shit. We probably have about one perhaps two hours, before they figure out that we are not foresters but a team sent to spy on them. When they figure that out then they are going to come for us. So you need to grow a pair of balls and tell us what you want us to do. Do we run? Or do we fight? If we run, we go now. If we fight, we need a real plan now.”
ACT 25
Jane did not really look like a true Military person, and she probably had not done basic military training. But she was a spook and they most likely had some form of training. She was young a