Run With The Brave (13 page)

Ryder kept his focus at the rear of the single file led by Shiron, as they toiled under a clear azure sky through hilly terrain scattered with stands of trees and tussock some 3,000 feet above sea level. At one point they saw, away in the distance, a narrow black ribbon of road snaking across the white patchy landscape. A few vehicles could be seen but no humans were encountered; they gave the road a wide berth. By late afternoon they came to a large lake on their left between sloping mountains running steeply down to its surface. Ryder's view ahead was blocked by rugged mountainside but to his right he could see a river on a plateau below in the distance.

“Lake Karun,” said Afari, walking just in front him. “Reservoir, held back by the Shahid Abbaspour Dam in the narrow gorge on the other side of that.” She pointed to the rising ground ahead.

Fuck! Another bloody major obstacle; country's full of rivers, dams and gorges,
he thought.

“Need to take a look,” he growled and made his way down the slope, followed by the others, to where he could get a view of the dam.

After a short scouring of the sparsely vegetated and rocky landscape, Ryder found a suitable vantage point giving a full view of the dam and its surrounds. From here, concealed in the shade of a boulder outcrop, he focused his glasses on the massive, curved concrete bowl-shaped structure and then the buildings and roadways surrounding below. Vehicles moved on roads sprinkled with a light dusting of snow and people could be seen mingling around the various buildings. On the far side of the dam, three huge concrete spillways plunged some 600 feet down at an angle of 60 degrees to the river, which curved away to the right, with buildings sparsely located on either bank. Further down the river, away in the distance, he could make out two narrow bridges spanning the slow-moving green strip of water. Sweeping glasses towards the narrow crest of the dam he studied the road on top, perhaps 20 feet in width, running the entire length of the curve. At a circular junction-point two-thirds of the way across, the road veered off at a right angle to span the spillways before ending at a concrete wall against the mountain slope on the other side. He swung the glasses back along the top to the side they were on but could not see where it ended due to the slope of mountain blocking his view. The imposing structure rose and connected halfway up the sharply angled mountain and he wondered how access to the dam crest was achieved. Then it dawned –
must be a tunnel!
He turned and focused the glasses on the road behind and below his position. And there it was: a hole in the rock – almost a horizontal slit – where he'd thought the road had petered out. When scanned earlier, this section of mountainside had then been in shadow; now he could clearly see the road disappearing under an overhang which could only mean one thing: a tunnel entrance. Although he was unable to observe an opening in the blind spot on the dam side because of the bulk of the mountain blocking his view, he was more than certain one would be there.

“A tunnel connects to the dam crest from that road down there,” he said, more to himself than to the others. Then turning to Saad, the nearest, and handing him the glasses, he pointed to the bridges in the far distance. “Are there any other closer crossings?”

The Iranian quickly scanned and passed the glasses back. “No,” then he nodded towards the lake. “That reservoir is one of a series of lakes that form part of the Karun River; no bridges, unless you want to go back well to the north-east.”

“Back how far?”

“Thirty – maybe forty miles.”

“That'll take us well out of our way,” said Shiron, disappointment in his voice. “We must stay in a south-easterly direction.”

Ryder ignored him and pointed west beyond the sprawling workshops and power grids on the plain below, “And that way?”

“The nearest crossing is the Karun Number Three Dam, about fifty miles, and close to Masjed Soleiman.”

“Masjed Soleiman?” Hellmann asked.

This time Afari answered, “Big town, population around 250,000.”

“You sure there is no way to avoid this river and continue south?”

“Not unless you want to backtrack north and cross the Zagros at its highest or go 150 miles west to the Iraqi border,” Fehed replied.

After a few moments, “Looks like we'll be taking one of those bridges then,” said Ryder, looking towards the river.

“That'll mean having to thread our way through those buildings and people down there to get to the nearest,” voiced Sicano. “Look how far away that is; it'll take hours and present enormous risks.”

“Nowhere near as risky as the dam,” countered Ryder. “What else can anyone suggest?”

Silence except for the wind whistling across the mountain slope.

“Cross on top of the dam; it'll be quicker,” offered Kellar.

“And far more dangerous,” Ryder shot.

Brady, scanning the dam and the facilities beyond, lowered his glasses and asked Ryder, the two Israelis and the other two Americans to join him out of earshot of the three Iranians. When a short distance away from the cluster of boulders he came out straight with what he had to say. “We came here to blow a dam, why not this one?”

Ryder was taken aback, “With respect, Sergeant—”

“Hey,” the American cut in. “Let's not get too formal here; call me Jed.”

“Okay,
Jed,
we don't have anywhere near enough punch to take out this dam and you well know it. What little we do have I assumed would be used on this so-called missile base we're sacrificing so fucking much to find.”

“Hang fire a minute, Frank. I wasn't referring to the dam itself, but to that power-grid enclosure.” He pointed to the other side of the dam. “With what we have at least we can knock out a few pylons and maybe a transformer or two.”

“Jed's right,” Kellar backed.

Ryder raised his glasses and took a long look, running lenses over a fenced tangle of steel pylons, cables and a number of large transformers just beyond a cluster of single-storey buildings situated above the top level of the spillways. A road, parallel to the power-grid enclosure, was partly cut into the mountainside and terminated alongside the buildings against a concrete parapet wall. The road looked to be about 15 feet higher than the road which spanned the spillways butting into the other side of the parapet.

“If we do enough damage to disrupt the region's power supply, even for a short time,” pressed Brady, “that for me would, at least, be some compensation for failing the original mission.”

“Yeah, I agree,” added Sicano.

Ryder let the glasses drop. He was in two minds. What the American voiced was true but the risks involved crossing the dam and placing charges in the grid enclosure were extremely high; would they be so bold if they knew one of the group was a traitor? Less risk to take the long way to the nearest bridge. But, then again, if they managed to succeed they could at least justify what they had suffered so far would not have been all in vain. He turned to the Israelis. “What about you?”

“If we locate a base we'll need the Semtex; we should take a bridge,” said Shiron, resolutely.

“It's almost a third of a mile across the top of that dam,” Hellmann added. “Even if we get to the other side without discovery, how the fuck are we going to scale that sheer concrete wall with the gear? No, I'm with Yari; take a bridge.”

Ryder guessed getting onto the dam itself direct from where they now hid would be a task in itself and scaling the steep slope down to the crest without ropes was out of the question. That left only the tunnel – a veritable trap. He came to a decision, not sure if it was the influence of the Americans, or perhaps subconsciously wanting the traitor to show his hand; even compensation, maybe, for what he regarded as a wild-goose chase attempting to locate a missile base, but – if the truth be known – he was trained to sabotage and kill. It was ingrained. “We'll cross the dam and take out a piece of that grid.”

Shiron made to protest, but before he could, Ryder fired, “I know. I know what you're going to say,” holding up a hand, his previous thoughts about not wanting to cross the dam now definitely gone. “To go the bridge way could take over a day to skirt the complex, if not more. We could be over the dam and on the other side in less than thirty minutes, including through the tunnel, at the same time giving the bastards a bloody nose.”

“Yeah, but at least we have more chance of staying alive going the long way,” Shiron countered.

Ryder was not going to back down; his voice hardened. “The choice has been made. If you want us to help find your base, then this is the way we go. Take it or leave it.”

“We'll leave it,” Shiron shot back.

“Fine with me,” Ryder replied, a little surprised, knowing without the Israelis no way could they locate a base.

“Wait!” It was Hellmann. “How you going to scale that wall?” he said, in an attempt to diffuse the situation.

Shiron fixed him sharply. “Hold it, Corporal.”

Hellmann did, and began to shift uneasily.

The question told Ryder that the corporal was in favour of the dam. Maybe he had been a bit hasty putting the Israeli sergeant on the spot. He decided to give it another go. “Look, you're Sayeret Mat'kal, and Unit 269 at that,” he said in a conciliatory tone. “This is an opportunity for you to get even, if not for yourselves, then for Israel. Think about it: there may not be a missile base and what we're doing could well be all for nothing; at least inflicting some damage to the power grid could compensate in a small way.”

The Israelis glanced at one another as if something was on their minds they could not say.

After a prolonged silence Shiron spoke, “How much Semtex do we have?”

Ryder looked at Kellar.

“Enough to knock out a trani or two with some left over to maybe put a little dent in a missile base should we find one.”

“Okay, we will join you,” Shiron said abruptly and stared hard at Ryder. “I trust, Frank, we won't be making a habit of sidetracking our mission again?”

He nodded, but it really was out of his hands. He wondered what was going on in the thoughts of the person who hid the note; would he, or she, somehow make an attempt to foil what they had in mind now or later?

“To answer your question about the wall, Corporal,” said Ryder, “we'll use the sergeant here,” he eyed Kellar and the American gave a weak grin. “He'll hoist you on to his shoulders then push you up so you can grab the parapet and clamber over; the others will follow, helped by you once you're at the top. We're only talking of about 15 feet.”

“What about him?” Shiron glanced at Brady. “Roping up that wall with shoulder like it is, won't be easy.”

“Don't worry about me, Sergeant; it's healing good,” Brady came back, fixing the Israeli with a cold stare. “Climbing that wall is nuthin' compared to what we all might have to face if we find that base you're looking for.”

“And the gear?” pressed Shiron.

“We'll pass it up once you're at the top then finally pull ‘Bear' up himself,” Ryder answered.

“Could be cameras in the tunnel,” Shiron wouldn't let go.

“If there is then we'll take ‘em out,” Ryder countered.

“What happens if we're blown on the dam or, for that matter, in the tunnel?” pushed the Israeli sergeant.

“Then we're all fucked, is the short answer,” Ryder replied sharply, annoyed at the Israeli's stubbornness. “But, remember, we've been up against worse: the lake, the bridge, not to mention the quake which started all this.” He raised his glasses to look at the crest. “There's nobody on the dam now and in fact, I've seen nobody, not even a vehicle, all the time looking.”

“That goes for me, too,” offered Brady.

“We'll go in darkness, keep to the deeper shadows. With a little luck we should make it,” said Ryder, hoping he would be right.

They returned to the boulder, told the others what they intended and waited for nightfall. In the meantime, Kellar made up several explosive charges in preparation for quick placement, carefully stowing them in a backpack. Ryder reached over. “I'll take two of those,” he said to the American. “To place at the tunnel entrance as insurance.”

* * *

In the fast-fading light, Ryder and the others made their way, single file down to the tunnel entrance on the mountainside facing away from the dam. The night sky was clear, displaying a plethora of stars accompanied by a half-moon. Lights twinkled at the base of the dam and in the buildings spread out on the plain below. He had kept a constant watch for the remainder of the daylight hours and saw no movement whatsoever on the dam itself. Although he could not see what was in the blind spot where it met the mountain down to his left, he could make out several floodlights on poles spaced evenly across what he could see of the crest, and this concerned him. As darkness grew, however, the floodlights remained off. Instead, three red beacon lights came on, spaced along the rim on the reservoir side, leaving the entire dam top in shadow; much to his relief.

The eight men and Afari reached the road and cautiously approached the tunnel. Ryder told Shiron to lead and he went to the rear to keep an eye on the others. From what he could make out, he guessed the tunnel to be some 18 feet high at the apex and 36 feet wide at the base in the form of a ragged half-circle, hewn out of solid rock in a crude fashion. The rugged appearance looked menacing in the dimming light. The file entered the tunnel and kept close to the uneven walls. A string of loosely-looped naked light-bulbs ran down the centre, well apart, casting a gloomy light over the jagged black and brown surfaces. Ryder looked for cameras but could see none, at least around the entrance, and hoped this indicated that none were inside. Removing the two Semtex charges from his backpack, he concealed them in a crevice each side of the opening, set the detonator timers for two hours, and trusted the resulting blast would not only collapse the entrance itself, but would also bring down enough rock to block it completely. Satisfied he'd placed the explosives where they would do the most damage Ryder made his way quickly down the tunnel and shortly caught up the others.