condensed master
Will Bonner Scared to look back he turned right on to the main road, and headed in what he thought would be the direction of the Queen of Sheba's Wells. Once there, he could get transport back to the ship. He was now going downhill, and his feet felt as though they were not touching the ground, making it difficult to run faster without stumbling. Suddenly, the lights of a vehicle coming over the hill bore down on him, and he guessed that Omah and his men had caught up with him. Will stopped for a second or two, the terrain around him on either side of the road was rocky and barren without any cover, leaving him completely exposed. The horn of the vehicle shattered the still night and Will could now hear the engine noise, coupled with the rattling of wheels and body metal. He calculated that he may be able to lose them, and escape into the rocky outcrops, which the vehicle would not be able to negotiate, so he took off at right angles to the road, but the going was painfully slow over the uneven ground. The horn sounded again this time followed by gunfire. My God, they're shooting at me! But he heard no bullets and felt no pain in his body. He could still hear the vehicle approaching, and making a fatal mistake he turned to see how far it was behind. Missing his footing he fell on the rocky ground and rolled over. Getting up on his hands and knees he looked around for even the slightest cover, but there was none. For the first time he could hear excited voices, quite close. In despair, he collapsed to the ground terrified, waiting for what he thought would be the same fate as the victim of the previous shooting. The voices were only yards away now, the tone was commanding, and in Arabic. He could hear no footsteps, indicating that they had stopped, and there appeared to be two men, one on either side of him. Rolling over, and bringing himself into a sitting position, Will stared through the darkness in their direction. More shouted commands, and Will made no further moves as they came closer. At first, he could not recognize the dim shapes as they approached, but very soon he could not mistake their uniform. They were Adenese police carrying Lee Enfield .303 army rifles which were pointing at him. Will never thought it possible, he knew he was in a very dangerous position, but felt relieved in some way. If he made no movements he would probably be alright, so he remained passive. It was a typical "out of the frying pan 38
The Reluctant Agent A Compelling Story of Espionage into the fire" situation, but there was no comparison with his previous predicament. One of the policemen moved behind him and the other motioned Will to stand. The man behind him then proceeded to search for weapons, then pulling his arms backwards he felt the handcuffs snap over his wrists. All three walked slowly back to what Will now knew to be the police wagon. Throughout the whole period, since escaping from the house, he had seen no one other than these police. The area seemed to be deserted. Throwing him unceremoniously into the back of the vehicle, and locking the steel door behind him, they proceeded to drive down the hill. Looking out of the window, it seemed only a few minutes before the entrance to the Queen of Sheba's Wells appeared. What confounded bad luck thought Will. If I'd had the grace of another fifteen minutes I would have made it! Because of the rough ride, and not having the use of his arms to steady himself, Will found it necessary to sit on the floor and wrap his legs around one of the seat supports to prevent being buffeted from one side of the wagon to the other. Through the small meshed open window to the driver's compartment over the noise of the engine, he could hear the rapid chatter of the policemen's voices, interposed occasionally with laughter, and once again he experienced that same feeling of relief that he had on the rocky outcrop some fifteen minutes earlier. In complete contradiction to his predicament, he actually felt safe enclosed within the walls of his mobile prison. More laughter emanated from the front and Will felt himself breaking into a nervous smile. Within minutes the wagon pulled up, and he assumed that they had probably arrived at a police station on the outskirts of Aden. The building was typical of a government structure in that part of the world. Arches everywhere, opening into cloistered yards, surrounded with rooms. Will was pushed every few paces to keep him on the move. He had partially torn the sole from his right shoe, making it awkward to walk, the sharp stones had penetrated, cutting his toes. Glancing down to make sure that he lifted his foot by just the right amount to prevent tripping, he noticed that his clothes were torn, especially around the legs, blood had oozed out in patches around the tears, and also on to the sole of his shoe. Opening one of the doors he was given a final push, and he found himself in a small bare room, lit by a single electric light bulb hanging from the ceiling. A long 39
- Page 1 and 2: The Reluctant Agent A Compelling St
- Page 3: I dedicate this book to my wife Dor
- Page 7: Will and Dorothy sat overlooking Ni
- Page 10 and 11: Will Bonner It was a relief to get
- Page 12 and 13: Will Bonner Taking a well used pipe
- Page 14 and 15: Will Bonner close that Will could f
- Page 16 and 17: Will Bonner a second blow between h
- Page 18 and 19: Will Bonner food so he just lay the
- Page 20 and 21: Will Bonner convoy returned, the ab
- Page 22 and 23: Will Bonner mines that were just be
- Page 24 and 25: Will Bonner only served to direct e
- Page 26 and 27: Will Bonner dark Will had no diffic
- Page 28 and 29: Will Bonner Will looked astern to s
- Page 30 and 31: Will Bonner envisaged, and he hated
- Page 32 and 33: Will Bonner be long before he would
- Page 34 and 35: Will Bonner stumpy legs to operate
- Page 36 and 37: Will Bonner Omah seated himself beh
- Page 40 and 41: Will Bonner thin mirror, hanging on
- Page 42 and 43: Will Bonner Omah, was no doubt a we
- Page 44 and 45: Will Bonner The Inspector floundere
- Page 46 and 47: Will Bonner The voyage across the I
- Page 48 and 49: Will Bonner them away. Between watc
- Page 50 and 51: Will Bonner where one might choose
- Page 52 and 53: Will Bonner mind that this man woul
- Page 54 and 55: Will Bonner Will's mind was racing
- Page 56 and 57: Will Bonner The following day he ha
- Page 58 and 59: Will Bonner "How can I help you, Sa
- Page 60 and 61: Will Bonner "I can arrange for some
- Page 62 and 63: Will Bonner Changing his clothes he
- Page 64 and 65: Will Bonner Will pulled himself tog
- Page 66 and 67: Will Bonner sight of the cabin stew
- Page 68 and 69: Will Bonner "They sure are an odd t
- Page 70 and 71: Will Bonner It was all over, but he
- Page 72 and 73: Will Bonner Will watched as Wes wal
- Page 74 and 75: Will Bonner Will was trying his har
- Page 76 and 77: Will Bonner interruption throughout
- Page 78 and 79: Will Bonner their scrutiny, but a r
- Page 80 and 81: Will Bonner of the pier into the co
- Page 82 and 83: Will Bonner covered with pine needl
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- Page 86 and 87: Will Bonner making a menacing movem
Will Bonner<br />
Scared to look back he turned right on to the main road, and headed in what<br />
he thought would be the direction of the Queen of Sheba's Wells. Once there, he<br />
could get transport back to the ship.<br />
He was now going downhill, and his feet felt as though they were not touching<br />
the ground, making it difficult to run faster without stumbling. Suddenly, the lights<br />
of a vehicle coming over the hill bore down on him, and he guessed that Omah and<br />
his men had caught up with him.<br />
Will stopped for a second or two, the terrain around him on either side of the<br />
road was rocky and barren without any cover, leaving him completely exposed.<br />
The horn of the vehicle shattered the still night and Will could now hear the engine<br />
noise, coupled with the rattling of wheels and body metal. He calculated that he<br />
may be able to lose them, and escape into the rocky outcrops, which the vehicle<br />
would not be able to negotiate, so he took off at right angles to the road, but the<br />
going was painfully slow over the uneven ground.<br />
The horn sounded again this time followed by gunfire. My God, they're<br />
shooting at me! But he heard no bullets and felt no pain in his body. He could still<br />
hear the vehicle approaching, and making a fatal mistake he turned to see how far<br />
it was behind. Missing his footing he fell on the rocky ground and rolled over.<br />
Getting up on his hands and knees he looked around for even the slightest cover,<br />
but there was none.<br />
For the first time he could hear excited voices, quite close. In despair, he<br />
collapsed to the ground terrified, waiting for what he thought would be the same<br />
fate as the victim of the previous shooting. The voices were only yards away now,<br />
the tone was commanding, and in Arabic. He could hear no footsteps, indicating<br />
that they had stopped, and there appeared to be two men, one on either side of<br />
him.<br />
Rolling over, and bringing himself into a sitting position, Will stared through the<br />
darkness in their direction. More shouted commands, and Will made no further<br />
moves as they came closer. At first, he could not recognize the dim shapes as they<br />
approached, but very soon he could not mistake their uniform.<br />
They were Adenese police carrying Lee Enfield .303 army rifles which were<br />
pointing at him. Will never thought it possible, he knew he was in a very dangerous<br />
position, but felt relieved in some way. If he made no movements he would<br />
probably be alright, so he remained passive. It was a typical "out of the frying pan<br />
38
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