The back doors of the ambulance opened and the paramedics helped Irfan into the vehicle. The doors closed and the ambulance moved further up the street. In the ambulance Irfan’s arms and legs were being secured, his mouth taped and the backpack removed.
Karim and Arshad should have made up the distance between themselves and Irfan and seen what was happening; even with them having to cross the busy street. However Teams 2 and 3 had neutralised them in much the same manner and they were both lying stunned on the pavement. The driver and his mate left the ambulance and helped the agents get the two terrorists into the back. They were dealt with just like Irfan, trussed up like a turkey for Christmas dinner. All three bombers were now out of the game!
The teams reported their progress to Rusty and Brad and the ambulance headed as far away from the crowds in Oxford Street as possible. They needed to get the bombs made safe before half past one. The advantage of having so many skills at your disposal when working for an outfit like Olympus was that ingenious solutions for tricky situations were commonplace.
The ambulance carried all the usual medical paraphernalia you would expect, but on one wall there was a microwave oven sealed with additional metal tape on the edges to provide a Faraday cage as near as made no difference. The cell phones had been rapidly removed from the backpack bombs and wrapped in aluminium foil, effectively cutting off communication. When the terrorists called their target phones and expected to detonate the bombs their call would not be received. If the science bit worked!
The three men underground had spread out and were covering as much of the upper levels of the station as they could. They were on the alert for the arrival of the remaining two terrorists; all three pairs of eyes were trained in the direction from which incoming passengers would emerge.
Rusty could just see Colin on the far side of the busy concourse and gave him the thumbs up to indicate that the first part of the mission had been a success. It was now twenty past one.
Colin breathed a sigh of relief; those three young men wouldn’t be bringing their version of ‘Death in the Afternoon’ to Oxford Circus today! Where were the other two though?
Habeeb and Zunairah were making their way separately towards the surface. They had arrived from Victoria a few minutes earlier. Everything was going smoothly; they would soon see Irfan, Karim and Arshad. Together the five of them would cause mayhem and fear in the centre of the capital city.
For the two students who had steadfastly refused to become westernized, despite having been born and brought up in the UK, it was politics rather than any religious fanaticism that drove them.
It was they who had recruited the other three at college. They persuaded the three students that they were discriminated against by the society they thought had nurtured them, and although they grew up in Britain, they were not considered British by many. They exploited their Muslim identity crisis and helped them develop a more radical interpretation of Jihad, encouraging them to embrace activism as a way to combat the alienation they felt and seek revenge for the injustices that young Muslims suffered in Britain. They had been vulnerable subjects and followed their mentors like lambs to the slaughter.
Habeeb and Zunairah emerged from the underground and positioned themselves in their appointed places. They looked across the concourse for their colleagues; there was no sign of them! What was keeping them? It was almost twenty eight minutes past one!
Colin saw Habeeb first. He swiftly scanned the same side of the building for the girl. There she was! He called Rusty immediately.
“I’ve got eyes on them both Rusty! We’ve got a problem mate; they’re both carrying backpacks. There were five bombers not three!”
Rusty signalled to Brad to move closer to where Colin is standing. The three men were now poised, ready to react as soon as they saw any movement from either terrorist to use a mobile phone. Because he couldn’t see Irfan and the others Habeeb hesitated; should he make his call or should he wait a little longer?
Brad called his men from Teams 1 and 2; they were on standby in the entrance hall of the station; the ambulance crew hadn’t needed everyone in the vehicle while they transferred their prisoners to a safe place. Six ex SAS men were ample for three lads. Brad learned that the ambulance was on the return journey and two paramedics plus Team 3 were standing guard over the three would be bombers.
The area was teeming with people rushing to and fro; Rusty decided to take out Habeeb Rehman first. He ordered Team 1 to create a disturbance; something to distract the terrorist. The sound of someone shouting about a lost wallet could suddenly be heard over the general hubbub, a scuffle broke out a few yards away from the male terrorist. Rusty had used the ploy to cover the ground between them quickly and was on top of Habeeb in seconds. He had taken him down, before he had time to blink.
Zunairah was looking left and right; she couldn’t see Habeeb! Where were the others? It was time. She got her mobile phone out of her purse.
Colin was still watching her. Someone strode across his eye line. He recognised that walk! It was Athena! She had a couple of shopping bags and a large bunch of flowers and was heading for the entrance to the trains!
“Athena” he shouted “down now! Hug the ground!”
She spins around and sees Colin; she can’t work out why he’s there in London, but the urgency in his voice convinces her that she’s in danger. She darts around the nearest corner and crouches down by the wall, with her hands over head.
Zunairah starts to dial. She looks directly at Colin who is now moving towards her, dozens of people are pushing and shoving at him as panic starts to take hold. Women are screaming; children are in danger of being trampled underfoot. A small crowd are showing an unhealthy interest in Rusty as he frogmarches the disorientated Habeeb out of the station with one of his team.
Colin draws his pistol as he gets nearer to Zunairah; her phone is ringing out but nothing is happening. The eyes that are staring at him from the narrow slit of the niqab are full of hatred. She dials again. Colin is a foot from her now; he raises the gun and shoots her between the eyes. As she slumps to the floor Colin sees Brad with one of the paramedics running towards them. The paramedic has a stretcher.
Colin lets them scoop up the dead girl and rush her away. He follows them after he has grabbed Athena by the arm. She was cowering down, clearly frightened and traumatised after her past experiences. Colin thought she looked as if she was trying to say something to him, but she was struck dumb with shock.
One minute later the ambulance is pulling away from the station into the busy traffic. Colin is on board. Zunairah’s body is on one side; Habeeb is tied up securely on the other. Rusty is guarding him.
“Where are the others?” asked Colin.
“Brad and the rest of the team members are making their way to where we have stashed the terrorists. They are using the transport they came down in from Milton Keynes” replied Rusty “ Olympus think of everything, you know that mate; we dropped the other three off at a safe house near St George’s Fields. It’s about ten minutes drive.”
“Go on Rusty; say it.”
“What the fuck were you thinking?”
“Until you called me in on this caper, my whole concentration for the past couple of days has been on keeping Athena safe; Erebus wants her around to carry on Olympus after he’s gone. I didn’t think; I just yelled out.”
Athena stared at him; realisation suddenly dawning.
“You’ve been following me!”
“Only following orders” he replied sheepishly.
Rusty looked at the two of them and wondered if he might have missed something; Phoenix had a thing for her! Who would have thought! He decided to change the subject; they had better get back on track regarding the terrorist cell.