Sting of the Scorpion part 10 "Noose"

I just want to take a couple of lines to thank those of you who've taken the time to visit this hub and let me know what you think about the story, The team are making their way to safety, but every step is fraught with danger and foes face them at every turn, yet so far they've managed to pull things off, are they going to succeed?

Let's join them and see what happens in the next installment.

Jacko did and as soon as the engine started Mac poured the water into the radiator until the radiator was full, then he put the cap back on and closed the hood, “Right boys” he turned to the two still stood there, “That should hold for about thirty miles or so, but the radiator is completely buggered after that, let’s get the hell out of here”

“Boss, get the shit off the road NOW” Mac screamed as they came round the corner, he was watching their backs and had just caught a glimpse of their worst nightmare, Jacko floored the gas and found the first place he could get off the road then floored it as he headed for cover, anything would do. They just made it when a BMP 2 troop carrier came round the bend loaded with troops and guns bristling, it was the lead vehicle in the lead element of a massive convoy. The Iranians were looking for them and they were bringing serious firepower!

Joey and Sandy waited, unable to move in case the villagers saw them, so far they hadn’t and they had no idea just how close to a sudden and unexpected meeting with their maker they came to, they just moved on under the steady track of the Colt and the Kalashnikov in Joey and Sandy’s hands.

“That puts paid to going that way” Joey was looking around for an alternative to where they were headed, the villagers had walked down the path they were intending to take, and it was clear they were looking for something or someone, both the villagers had been carrying AK47s which was pretty much a part of standard dress code in the villages round here, this was Kurdistan region and Kurdistan is a law unto itself!

There was a wooded area west south west of where they were, it seemed to disappear over the hill and possibly joined the forest that was on the other side of the valley, there was a risk it didn’t and they’d be left exposed but they couldn’t carry on the path they were on as the villagers would be back, and there just might be more of them.

“How long you think it’s going to add to the journey?” Sandy asked as she began to follow Joey, she’d learned to trust him in these decisions.

“Not sure” he replied, “I just know we can’t keep on the same path, there’s usually a path in the woods we can follow, one the smugglers use to move from village to village without the authorities knowing about them”

“And you know this because?” she was really curious as there’s been nothing in any of the briefings to show how he knew this!

“You read my file?” It was more a statement saying ‘You should know’ “A couple of years ago I worked training some of the Kurdish militia in Iraq, training in Bomb disposal” he moved through the wood, “Most of the guys I was training had spent time in Iran, some worked as smugglers, bootleggers believe it or not!”

“Bootleggers? This is Iran you know?” she stopped and looked at Joey’s back, ‘really, at times some of the most ridiculous things come out of that boy’s mouth! “It’s not 1930s Kentucky”

“What? You surprised that the Mullahs like their booze?” Joey turned laughing slightly, “It might be banned by Islam” he continued “But they’re just as human as the rest of us, and they love their Johnny Walker red label!”

“You’re a mine of information like this” Sandy half joked back, she was tired and while the verbal duelling had been amusing, and even helped to take her mind off the more pressing fears she couldn’t help liking having her own ‘walking encyclopaedia’ walking through this wood with her.

The movies always show military convoys as seemingly endless lines of trucks and a tank rolling down a road, reality is something different. The vehicles are usually grouped in blocks of four to six called ‘packets’ where each vehicle within the ‘packet’ stay within sight of each other, but there might be as much as two or three miles between each ‘packet’.

The first packet took only about two minutes to roll past, but it was the two most intense and nerve racking minutes they’d had since the mission started, all it would take was for the commander in the BMP to rotate the turret and they were screwed!

“Go, Get the hell out of here” Mac whispered as soon as the last vehicle in that first packet disappeared round the bend, they possibly had seconds before the next would appear. Jacko dropped the vehicle into gear and they drove off down the dirt path they’d turned onto.

About two miles further in they came to a crossroads, each track led to a village, there was no real way they could safely get back onto the road in this Landcruiser, there was only one thing for it, they had to chance passing through one of the villages, and that meant they’d need a vehicle when they got to the other side!

The Iranians were setting up roadblocks on the main road, that meant they knew some of the team had gotten out using a vehicle, they probably had the details of the vehicle that was used and it was only a matter of time before they had the resources to start going into the villages and searching from village to village, what was worse was that the villagers themselves would take part in the searching.

The only chance they had was to put as much ground between them and the searchers as they possibly could and to send their pursuers a clear message, “If you want to live then BACK OFF!!”

Gregorovitch was looking pleased with himself, finally things were starting to come together. The fires in the compound were finally under control, the mess that was a Landcruiser and the gates were removed and re-enforcements were beginning to arrive.

The makeshift Command post was down in the village at the foot of the mountain as they began to organize the search for the people responsible, he was looking at the map he’d pinned on the far wall of the building and thinking. ‘Okay, if I was you, what would be my move?’ when one of his commanders burst into the room.

“Sir” he began, “one of the villagers has located where the parachutists landed” he moved forward and looked at the map; “If I may” he lifted a pointer and pointed to the valley to the south of the fortress. “Here sir, about five miles south of the fortress, we found the parachutes just off the main valley and about half a mile from the road here” he indicated the thin red line running east to west, “the road takes them right to the border”

“You’re thinking that they RV’d with the Landcruiser there?” Gregorovitch asked, “And headed for the border”

“I think it should be considered Sir” the officer replied.

“Very well, send a team to check out the road, especially the junction you just indicated, but have the dogs start their search where you found the parachutes, they’d got a three hour start” he took a pack of cigarettes out of his breast pocket, took one out of the pack lit it using his lighter and took a long ‘drag’ before continuing, “that means they’re at least fifteen miles away now, maybe as much as thirty depending on how fit they are!”

“You think sir?” the officer was somewhat younger than he was.

“These aren’t your average mercenaries” Gregorovitch replied, “They’re super fit and superbly trained!” he continued looking at the map; he was thinking just how to beat them. “I want them alive so that we can find out who sent them! And here’s how we’re going to do it!” he took the map from the wall and clearing the table, taking a pencil he marked two spots on the map. “Here’s where the parachutes are” he said, “and here’s where the vehicle was last seen, my guess is the vehicle will continue down this road and meet up with the parachutists somewhere around here.” He pointed to a junction in the road somewhere about thirty miles from Alamut, “From there they’ll strike out for the border using the back roads!”

“So how do we stop them?” the officer was curious and a little dubious as to what the plan might be,

“Simple” Gregorovitch looked up and replied, “We divide and conquer!” he drew circles round the marks, “we keep the two separate and take them down separately! The Iranians have all the roads blocked and roving patrols will keep the mobile team’s heads down so we concentrate on taking down the parachutists!”

“Sounds like a good plan” the other officer liked it.

“I want the Hind to deploy the hounds here” he pointed to the spot where the parachutes had been found, “that way either way they’ve gone we’ll know as the dogs noses don’t lie, and we’ll be able to cover a lot of ground very quickly”

“As soon as we’ve got a direction from the dogs we’ll seal all the roads off down that path, they’ve got about three hours head start, so I think they’ve covered at least twenty miles” He stopped and thought for a moment, then continued. “Let the Iranians go after the vehicle with road blocks and village searches, we’ll concentrate on these two”. He smiled slightly, “and when we catch them, God help them, because I’m going to make them pay, then I’ll extract the information, and then, when we’re finished killing will feel merciful”

Things are moving towards a climax, but the team aren't having it all their own way. Phoenix are starting to mount a search and starting to 'tighten the noose' around Joey and Sandy as they head for the border, will they make it?

We'll have to leave it right there for now, thanks for reading and we'll try and catch up when we hear from the team again.

Lawrence