People Trafficker (24 page)

“No Sir Peter, the whole point of such an exercise is to work on your wits, we don’t mollycoddle our troops.”

“Are the guards with her armed?” the General asked.

“No General, they all carry guns as part of their equipment, but they will have no live ammunition.”

“In that case, Colonel, you’d better get every troop out there you’ve got, including helicopters, to find them. Without weapons she’s very vulnerable.”

“I’ll do that right away, General.”

The General replaced the handset. “Do you think they will struggle to find her, Sir Peter?”

“It’ll be interesting. But if you want the truth, she’ll use the same tactic she used in the Lebanon and travel at night, laying deliberately low in the day. You will need to use imaging detection to overcome that. But if she suspects that might be used, there are ways in which she can even avoid that equipment.”

With this agreed they finished the short break and moved on. Gareth positioned himself to lie and wait. It wasn’t long to wait as sure enough, the men following began to move as well.

“This is really weird, it’s as if they have some sort of homing beacon,”
Gareth thought to himself.

Karen and Terry settled down on a ridge nearly half a mile in front of Gareth. The bracken was thick and afforded very good cover at the same time as allowing them to watch what was going on with field glasses.

Further down the valley Gareth was relishing the annoyance for the group’s leader, when in less than a hundred yards they would be caught. The fools were walking directly towards him.

Gareth jumped up from his hiding place, at the same time pointing his gun directly at one of the soldiers. “You are caught, and out of the search. I want your tag,” he demanded.

The man grinned. “Are you for real? Is your gun actually loaded with live rounds?”

Gareth frowned. “No of course they’re not, this is an exercise, but the rules say you’re caught, so hand me your tags.”

The man turned and called out to the leader. “Hey, Stewart, I’ve been rumbled, looks like we’re caught.”

Stewart and the other man joined him.

“Okay it’s a fair cop, mate, we may as well come with you and the others,” Stewart said as he approached.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to do that. You just go back to the camp via the road,” Gareth answered.

“Well that’s not what the Sergeant said,” Stewart replied looking confused. “He told us to stick with you lot. Anyway you’ve got the points for a capture so why worry?”

Gareth stood for a short time, and then shrugged. “Well it didn’t happen last time I was on the moor, it’s probably best if we go and see the Lieutenant, she’ll decide what to do.”

Fifteen minutes later Gareth, with the three men, was stood in front of Karen. Gareth had told her what they’d said.

I don’t understand that idea,” Karen said after some thought. “No one said we had to keep the prisoners we caught. God, if we keep on catching them I could be trying to hide a bloody army, and that would be impossible.”

“Well are we coming or staying?” Stewart asked.

Karen shrugged. “I suppose you’d better come. But we avoid anymore we see, is that clear?”

The three men looked at each other, with a hint of a smile on Stewart’s face. “Whatever you say, Lieutenant, you’re in charge.”

They all set off together, Sam looked at one of the weapons the men were carrying. “That looks like one of those CR-21 assault rifles used by the Afghans, why are we issuing those?”

Stewart cut in before the other two could say anything. “All the other weapons are out, so we were given these from the store. It just completes the pack, no one’s got ammunition so they may as well have given us wooden ones. Anyway which way are we heading?”

“South-west, then we turn south before going directly east to come up at the far side of the camp,” Gareth replied.

“That’s stupid; you’ll hit the wetlands way before that. I know a far better way and they’ll never find us.”

They all stopped and Karen looked at him with scepticism. “You mean you know a way direct to your mates, so we all get captured?”

He looked at her with a hurt expression. “No, it’s just that I’ve done this a few times and found a brilliant way. You can please yourself but it’ll get bloody boggy, so you’ll be forced to turn earlier and walk directly into your searchers.”

“Show me?” she demanded.

Stewart took her map and she watched as he moved his finger over the map indicating a line a good twenty miles further but bringing them in well north of the camp.

“So what do you think? It’s too far over for them to expect you to actually be there, besides we hit a road six miles from camp, there’s a pub and twice I’ve got a lift and didn’t have to walk.”

“It looks good, Lieutenant,” Terry urged with Gareth also adding his enthusiasm.

While Karen couldn’t help agreeing that it was a far better route than hers, she had really wanted to do the exercise without help from someone who’d already been on the moor. For her it was a learning curve to see if she could lead. Although the weather was becoming worse by the minute, so it was no longer a bit of an adventure but fast becoming a hard slog.

“Okay, why not, all we want to do is get back to some hot food,” she said after a last look at the map.

“I’d prefer the bar to the food,” Gareth added.

“You would,” Terry replied.

“Either way, let’s go shall we?” Karen cut in before it became a large conversation.

By the time darkness came the weather had worsened. Winds were gusting at around fifty miles an hour and the rain was virtually horizontal. The driving rain was stinging their faces, all of them thankful for the waterproofs they were wearing. Karen decided to call a halt and bunk down. It was pointless fighting the weather so they settled down among a few scrub bushes trying to keep warm.

Karen was sat between Terry and Gareth chewing a biscuit. The three men were some distance away, in another banked area, also trying to keep out of the worst of the wind. Every part of her body was beginning to shake uncontrollably. Karen knew by her symptoms she was close to hypothermia, but decided she should say nothing and try to add some light conversation to an otherwise appalling night.

“God I wasn’t built for this; I should be in Spain sunning myself on the beach wearing nothing more than the tiniest and sexiest bikini you could imagine,” Karen began. “As it is I’m freezing my butt off on some god awful moor in the middle of the night.”

Terry laughed. “Well you should get some real food down yourself and put a bit of weight on. Fat keeps you warm so they say. Mind you thinking about it, then you’d not want to sit on the beach looking like a beached whale.”

“Yeah, looking like stick insects is more for you men rather than choice. I’d rather have the stodgy puddings and be the whale,” she retorted.

“But you look good as a stick insect and if you stop whingeing I might even join you on the beach,” Gareth said joining in the conversation.

She turned her head and looked at him. “Oh yes, who invited you to my beach? I have to think of my street cred you know.”

Gareth looked across at her. “What about my street cred, say your choice of bikini colour clashed with my really cool bathing costume?”

Karen grinned. “Then you’d have to get rid of it wouldn’t you.”

“Why me; why not you?”

“I’m a girl, my fashion sense is perfect,” she replied indignantly.

“What fashion sense, have you looked at yourself today?” Terry asked laughing.

“Yes well, the less said about this getup the better. I’m bloody sure they dress you like this just to give the officers a laugh,” she replied.

“You are an officer, besides before the night’s out you’ll be glad you have the trench coat and waterproof over trousers,” Terry said.

“Oh… I forgot that little point. Anyway I don’t feel very much like an officer. I’m so cold and tired,” she answered despondently.

They all fell silent for a time.

Terry looked across at Gareth, and then slipped his arm round her shoulder. “If you’re really that cold, Karen,” he whispered in her ear. “Unfasten your water proof and you can snuggle up to me.”

“I’d like that,” she replied unfastening her heavy coat. Terry did the same and soon they were snuggled close to each other, Terry’s waterproof wrapped round her.

“Feeling a little warmer now?” he asked.

“Yes, much, thank you.”

“Then it’s time you got some sleep. I’ll take the first watch, Terry the second, then you see us through till dawn.”

Karen did as he asked, drawing her waterproof coat and baseball cap down even lower on her head before closing her eyes. He pulled her closer to his body. He could feel the girl shaking, now realising just how close she really must have been to hypothermia, but there was nothing they could do. With no communication, and such bad weather they just had to sit it out.

Two hours before daybreak, Karen had taken over the watch and moved away from the other sleeping soldiers to sit on a mound looking out across the dark moor. She’d slept well and if she hadn’t woken when she did, they would have left her, rather than let her take a watch. She’d also been a little put out when the captured soldiers had refused to do a watch.

“After all,”
Stewart had said, “
we’re prisoners, so you could hardly ask a prisoner to keep watch?”

Karen could see his point, but tonight in her mind was exceptional weather conditions and it was only an exercise after all. But it wasn’t worth arguing the point and that was why she’d agreed and broken the night up into three-hour watches, just for the three of them.

For the last week she’d considered asking the General if she could actually join the army. The life seemed good - although the training since she’d arrived had been hard, it wouldn’t always be like that, besides most of the lads were her sort, she felt at ease with them in the Social Club and on the camp. However, she realised if that was to happen she’d lose her mythical rank and she couldn’t quite accept having to start at the bottom. She was brought out of her thoughts when Stewart came up to her.

“It’s time we moved on,” he said with some authority.

“I decide that, besides, the other lads, unlike you lot, have been on watch all night so they should have more rest.”

He moved closer. “I don’t think you understand, Karen. We’re not soldiers playing your stupid war games - we’re here to collect you. But before you even think about screaming out for help, unlike your guns, without ammunition, ours have. Now that leaves you with a dilemma. Decide to wake them, try to resist and we kill them where they sleep. So it’s your choice, come quietly and they live, object they die, but you still come with us anyway? So what’s it going to be?”

There was nothing to be said. Karen didn’t want the lads to die on her account. “Okay I’ll come with you, but you don’t kill the lads. They’re nothing to do with this.”