Chapter 10
Sunday, March 4th 15:00,
Muscat, Oman.
Olsen sat with Deane in the Land Rover as they followed the British Royal party away from the harbour. The tension between the two had risen to breaking point since their disagreement.
Olsen looked across to his partner. ‘We may not agree on everything, but I recognised that man, and I took a chance to find out more. My instinct told me he was a danger.’
Deane didn’t take his eyes off the traffic ahead and shook his head in disagreement. ‘So, you decided to leave the Prince vulnerable on one side and follow a hunch? When are you going to learn that protocol is the key to this job? You have to follow the rules to stand a chance!’
‘I don’t need another lecture on protocol!’
‘I taught you the rules, but you still need to listen to me.’ He gripped the steering wheel hard and continued. ‘Right now, it’s your attitude that is at the heart of the problem. You’re reckless!’
Olsen always found accepting other people’s opinions difficult. ‘You have your rules and I have mine. I did what I thought was best, no harm came to the Prince after all.’
‘Don’t you remember what I taught you?’ Deane stopped the car in a queue of traffic and looked over to this partner again. ‘Always make sure you know the situation fully before making your move. I agree that you should listen to your instinct, but you put the Prince in danger. That was unacceptable.’ The traffic eased up, and he moved the Land Rover to follow the Royal party of cars into Al Khuwair Street. ‘As I’m sure you know from the schedule, the Prince is going to dine with Stuart Laing, the UK Ambassador this evening. I want you to remain in the car and keep watch over things out here, is that understood?’
Olsen got out of the vehicle and followed his partner. ‘Wait a second, you might need me inside. At least—’
Deane interrupted and locked his fiery blue eyes onto his young charge. ‘You’re not with S.U.C.O. yet. If you want to be with me, you follow my orders. Now do as I say and wait in the car.’ He flicked a switch on his radio. ‘I’m on channel two.’
Olsen slammed the car door shut and sat back in frustration. He wound down the window, shook his head in disagreement and wondered when his so-called partner would ever treat him with the respect, he felt he deserved. Tom still thinks I’m twenty and a junior! Olsen felt the harsh Muscat sun beat down on him as he went over his actions. No matter how he looked at it he felt he had done the right thing and would do it again if he had the chance.
Two hours later, Olsen gave up watching a group of kids further down the street and deemed them no threat. He was about to return his gaze to the other end of the street when a car turned into the street in the rear-view mirror. A rundown Toyota truck slowed down and parked up not far behind his position. Olsen repositioned the rear-view mirror to gain the most effective view. To his surprise, the driver of the truck was the target from the harbour that he had lost and failed to remember. Hardly a coincidence, thought Olsen. A second man was in the truck, but Olsen didn’t recognise him either. He thought about contacting Deane on his radio but decided against it, he didn’t want to hear another patronising comment from his partner. Olsen sat back and watched carefully.
Jozef moved his ponytail behind him and opened the last remaining button on the collar of his grey shirt. With the window already wound down to the maximum, the heat was beginning to frustrate him. The Hungarian brothers were slowly making a name for themselves as terrorists that were capable of any atrocity. As the years had passed, Jozef had become involved with Akira’s movement. Since acquiring the plan of the Royal visit to Oman, he was now hell bent on utilising the information to the full. Nothing less than the death of the Prince and all the people in his party would do. He was desperate to see the mighty Europe become less stable with the death of a member of one of its royal families. His dark green eyes left that of the UK Embassy building and focussed on his non-identical twin brother. ‘Is the device ready, Gyorgy?’
Gyorgy Kiprich looked worried. ‘Yes, Jozef. Are you sure the government agent at the harbour didn’t recognise you? We cannot afford any complications.’
‘It’s highly unlikely. The man couldn’t even find me amongst all those people. Even if he does remember me, it will still prove to be too late. He will die along with everyone else. Are you with me?’ Jozef never doubted his brother’s loyalty and passion for their work but recently Gyorgy had made it clear they should both disappear from the limelight for a while instead of following the Royal party to Oman. Akira had intervened and the Kiprich brothers had followed orders.
‘Of course I am, I just do not want us to take on one operation too many. After Moscow, we should have laid low for a while and resurfaced at a later time. But Akira—’
Jozef placed a hand on his brother’s shoulder and interrupted. ‘I agree, but Akira does not. We have little choice but to obey him, for now at least. When this is done, we will return to Poland and lie low. Now you’re sure the phone is in place with the explosive?’
Gyorgy didn’t like speaking about Akira, who seemed to him to be power personified. None of them knew any of his background or history and that scared Gyorgy the most. He knew his place and was well aware that the threat from Akira was to not only the Western world but the Kiprich twins as well. He regained his focus and tried to control his fears. ‘I put it there myself. When we reach our flat and the signal is sent to the phone, it will cause the explosives in the boot to detonate. The UK Embassy along with this so-called Prince will be no more. The death of a Royal will destabilize Europe.’
Jozef smiled.
‘When shall we go?’
Jozef turned the key in the ignition and the engine came to life. He drove past the UK Embassy and parked the car a few hundred yards away outside the National Museum of Oman.
Olsen had watched everything from his position in the Land Rover. For the entire time, he had tried his best to match the face with a name but still wasn’t able to do so. All of his senses, his instincts, told him the man was a danger to the Royal party and himself. From across the street, the UK Embassy proudly stood not far from its US equivalent. Further down the road stood the museum and the Beach Hotel. In between these two buildings, Olsen saw the parked Toyota truck. He kept his eyes on the two men as they left the vehicle and walked further down the road away from the embassies. Aside from the car, he noticed the smug attitude that personified the two men. Both were smiling as they crossed the street.
Almost against his will, his mind wandered away from Oman and back to Iraq from eight years earlier. He was just a boy and on his first assignment, with his mentor and friend, Thomas Deane. They had been watching several Iraqi intelligence officers who had placed innocent Iraqis in areas of weapons storage. If a coalition attacked, the innocents had no chance. Olsen’s mind remembered Deane’s chilling words of experience; ‘Terrorists are smug and driven people. To commit murder and believe they won’t be caught breeds arrogance. It’s up to you to spot those traits and stop them.’
Olsen came back to the present and moved the rear-view mirror, but the two suspects turned into a side road and faded from sight. Tapping his fingers on the dashboard, he ran over the situation in his mind. He pulled out his radio from his waistband and thought about contacting Deane again. He wasn’t able to decide whether Deane would lecture him once again or back his instinct. He opened the door but then closed it again in frustration. His partner’s words came into his mind again, this time from only a couple of hours ago as they had both approached the Embassy in the car. ‘Always make sure you know the situation fully before making your move!’ He opened the door again, and this time he stepped out and began to walk to the parked car near the museum and hotel. The potential consequences continued to circle in his head. Olsen had already made up his mind to disobey orders. That car is a threat to the British Royal party, I’ll inspect it and then search for the two men! he told himself. Before he reached the vehicle, the familiar voice of Deane filtered through on his radio.
‘Be advised the Royal party is about to exit the Embassy. Assume your position on the left-hand side. Watch and protect!’
Jozef looked at the schedule he had acquired from Hal Burton and then peered through the binoculars again. The man he recognised from the harbour had stopped walking towards the car and was now just standing in the middle of the quiet road staring at their Toyota truck. Jozef bit his lip and waited for the government agent to make a move. ‘The Royal party will be coming out in a moment, he won’t even think of going to our vehicle now. These men follow procedures, they never break them.’ A smile broke out over his features. ‘We don’t have procedures.’ He moved his extended vision over to the doors of the UK Embassy, which had just opened. Several men in suits appeared, and they flanked the Royal Prince on both sides.
From the corner of the barren room emerged Akira, who stepped out of the shadows and into the sunlight that streamed in through the windows. He wore a sand-coloured robe, with a hood that covered his head and obscured his face. Despite the sunshine, his glare seemed to reflect the positive glow as his dark eyes focussed entirely on the street ahead and the imminent death he had envisioned. Death was all that Akira could see and all that he wanted. His mind, awash with memories and the voice of his long-dead wife, cleared slightly as the moment came closer. He moved behind the Kiprich brothers and spoke in a commanding tone to Jozef. ‘Contact your men on the street. Inform them to move against Deane first, make sure that is abundantly clear.’ He spat out the words with so much anger, no one could doubt how he felt.
That didn’t stop Jozef from questioning the order. ‘What about the Prince? That is our goal, our priority.’
‘Your goal doesn’t interest me. If the Prince dies, then so be it, but my priority is Thomas Deane. See to it.’
‘Exactly why are we focussing on a British agent and not a prince of the British Royal family? This Deane is just another one of their men.’ He stared at Akira with disbelief. ‘We agreed to target the Prince, which was the point of this whole operation!’
Akira took a step closer. ‘Just another agent…you really have no idea what you’re talking about. I have no interest in the Prince or anyone else for that matter. I simply want to see Thomas Deane’s dead body lying down there in the middle of the street in a pool of blood. I crave it…I need it.’ His eyes were on fire with rage, and it was enough to make Jozef sweat. ‘Until that happens, you need to remind yourself of your importance to me and acknowledge that it is you that is replaceable.’
Jozef broke away from Akira’s gaze of death. Not for one moment did he think about asking another question though he was fascinated as to why a British agent was so important. He gave a nod to his brother, who spoke into a nearby radio.
Akira leaned forward and waited for the moment. His eyes burned with intensity.
Olsen reluctantly turned away from the car and began to jog towards the security contingent, to take his place on the left-hand side of the Royal party. He looked around his position and couldn’t help but look again at the car that had been left in such a high-profile area.
The next few seconds changed everything.
Olsen ducked down as bullet fire rained onto the area in a torrent of noise. An MI6 agent in the lead position of the party began to call out instructions to the rest of the team but clasped at his chest in pain and fell to the ground. The radio in Olsen’s ear was filled with Deane’s voice who had started to issue orders to try to maintain control. Olsen himself felt a moment of panic but then his training took over. The cold metal of the gun in his hand gave him confidence and his first shot took down one of the attackers. He assessed the threat quickly and counted twelve attackers, six on each side of the party. With a security contingent of eight, they were outnumbered.
Deane’s voice came over the radio again, but this time it sounded agitated. ‘Stay with the Prince at all times. Cover him back to the Embassy. Move!’
Olsen heard the command but had already made up his mind. He fired several more shots, but only some of them found their targets. The shots gave him time, and he turned away from the Royal party and sprinted straight towards the Toyota truck.
Deane’s voice, for the first time full of emotion, came over the radio. ‘Sam! Stay where you are. Repeat! Do not deviate from your position!’
Olsen remembered the image of the smug looking men walking away from the car, and he was now convinced the attack was all part of a greater plan. Upon reaching the truck, he crouched down and used it as cover. He fired from his gun again and took down the remaining attackers on his side. Occasional bullets caused sparks to fly as they hit the truck, but Olsen had given himself time to take a gamble. He ducked instinctively as another shot came too close for comfort, flipped open his Samsung Galaxy S3 mobile phone and quickly tapped several keys. Menu screens flashed past at lightning speed on the display as he loaded an app. Olsen set the phone to scramble any incoming signals and placed it on the driver’s seat as he ducked again, this time choosing to return fire before inspecting the contents of the vehicle. With the phone in place, Olsen knew it would interfere with any signals sent to the area if there was an incendiary device in play.
Jozef turned around to his brother and shouted at full voice as another two of his men perished under fire. ‘Try it again!’ The truck refused to detonate, and Jozef rushed over and took the activator. He pressed the appropriate buttons, but the display informed him of an error. Through the binoculars, he saw the dark-haired government agent at the driver’s door and screwed his face up in a look of pure rage. ‘Keep trying, Gyorgy, keep trying!’
Gyorgy looked frantic as he checked the detonation device several times, baffled as to why their plan was failing.
Akira moved to the side of the window and studied the fearsome faces of the Kiprich twins. As he gazed outwards to the chaotic gun battle below, he focused on Deane who had taken cover with the Prince near the Embassy. ‘The detonator?’ he asked quietly.
Gyorgy tried the device again, but nothing happened.
Akira gritted his teeth and adjusted his robe. Once again Deane was proving his worth to the West and still, he would not lie down and die. He could hear Madeline giving him more encouragement but at that moment even her sweet voice couldn’t stem his disappointment. ‘Keep trying. Get down there yourself and kill that man if you have to. I will meet you at our agreed location.’ He looked at the Kiprich brothers with disdain. ‘Do not be late.’ With that, Akira made his way to the door and was already on his way to the Trucial Coast. One day he would see his wish come true, it would just take more time and more meticulous planning.