The Big Breach - Index of

The Big Breach; From Top Secret to Maximum SecurityCompliments of http://www.192.comhundreds of similar valleys in rugged central Bosnia, but there wassomething not quite right about it. The road was narrower and thevalley contours steeper than those on the map. `Jim, are you sure thisis the right road?'`Yeah,' Jim replied casually from behind the wheel. `Know it like meown bell-end.' Jim was grinning like a kid on a bouncy castle. Nothingever bothered him. He was a big chunky guy, but serious about hisfitness. Down at Divulje he was out running and lifting weights everyday. But I wasn't too sure he knew his body parts as well as he thoughthe did.Jim lifted on the throttle and changed down a gear, the V8 enginegrowling as it slowed the heavily laden vehicle. The headlights hadpicked up a tree trunk, the size of a telegraph pole, which had fallenacross the narrow road and we drew to a stop in front of it. `Must havebeen the storm last night,' Jim announced cheerfully. Without furtherado he hopped down from the vehicle and, as if he was trying out for a`world's strongest man' competition, picked up the trunk, staggeredwith it in his arms for a few yards up the road and threw it in theditch.I glanced in the mirror to see the familiar lights of Jon and Baz'sunderpowered Land Rover crawling up the hill behind us. Reaching downto the stereo I flicked off Jim's tape and grabbed the Motorola frombehind the instrument binnacle. `Baz, do you reckon this is the rightroad?' I asked.There was a pause while he consulted Jon, before the Motorola hissedback. `Keep yer keks on. Just round the next corner we should come tothat burnt-out Scroat village.' Baz sounded confident and as he haddone the trip three times with Roberts I trusted his judgement. I putthe Motorola down just as Jim clambered back into the vehicle, slappinghis hands together to brush away the bark and leaves adhering to them.He clunked the vehicle into first gear and pulled away.Round the next corner there was no burnt-out Croatian village, justanother fallen tree, much bigger than the first. Beyond that, I couldsee another, then another. Undaunted, Jim prepared to jump out of thevehicle to move them, but I grabbed his arm. `No, this isn't right,' Isaid. This was not the work of a storm. The trees had been laid acrossthe road for a purpose. `Baz, Jon, turn round immediately, we've takena wrong turn,' I ordered down the Motorola.Jim detected the urgency in my voice, and had already launched theDiscovery into a three point turn. He'd just got it pointing the otherway when Baz squawked on the Motorola `Hey Rich, we've got trouble.'The comms-wagon was about 100 metres down the road, halfway through thethree-point turn. With no power steering Jon must have been cursingtrying to get the heavy vehicle turned round, and he'd been too slow toget away from the militiamen. Two were standing over the bonnet,pointing their AK47s directly through the windscreen at Baz. Two morewere at the driver's door, perhaps talking to Jon or, worse, trying toforce it open. More were at the rear door, peering in through thewindow at the computers and communication equipment and pulling at thepage- 115 - To purchase the original limited edition hardback version of this bookplease call 08000 192 192 or go to http://www.192.com