Chalky and Spot took it in turns to watch through the binoculars as we drew closer to the sh.o.r.e then suddenly Spot nudged the other man.

'Here, Chalky, take a look at this. I can see at least four blokes lounging about on that jetty with weapons. Two of the swine look as though theyve got rifles, and the others are carrying Sten guns. Look! He pa.s.sed the binoculars to Chalky and turned to Dynamo. 'I dont understand why they should be there, its difficult to make out from here if theyre soldiers or not, but it looks as if they could be wearing some type of uniform like khaki jackets, he said as Chalky then pa.s.sed the binoculars along to me.

I was surprised to see that the village was quite busy. I dont know why but, like Dynamo, Id thought there wouldnt be many people about at this time of the morning. It was larger than Id expected too with a lot of small boats dotted around the harbour area and a couple of large cargo boats tied up alongside the jetty.

Lynch had changed our course and we headed past the village on our starboard side towards the small bay to the north.

'That should give ideal cover, he said, pointing to the sandy embankment surrounding the bay. 'No one should see you getting ash.o.r.e from this position.

The remains of a jetty stuck out about thirty to forty yards from the beach. It was an old wooden construction, broken down and in a bit of a state. As we got closer, we could see that it hadnt been used for some time and was literally falling to bits. Lynch threw four bundles of fish on to the deck, half a dozen in each bundle tied together with string.

Chalky picked them up and held them out in front of him, wrinkling his nose.

'And just what exactly are we supposed to do with these? he said. 'I hope this isnt lunch.

Lynch grinned at him. 'Try to look like fishermen.

'Well, were obviously not very successful ones judging by the age of this lot, are we? Chalky joked back, looking at the fish he was still holding up in disgust. 'Where are our rods, then?

Lynch just laughed and steered the boat in as close as possible to the jetty.

'Ill be back here 1700 hours this evening about two hundred yards off this point, so dont be late and keep me waiting, theres good chaps. If you arent here then, Ill be back at 2300 and again at 0500 and so on, you know the drill.

Chalky threw the fish on to what looked like a sound piece of the jetty then jumped off the boat as it moved alongside. I followed closely behind him, but as I landed on the rotten timbers, they gave way beneath us with a loud crash and I began to slip backwards into the water. Chalky grabbed me and hauled me up beside him.

'I hope no one heard that, he muttered. 'Bit early for a bath, isnt it Geordie?

By now, Spot and Dynamo had also jumped off the boat and landed without any problems further along the jetty. They both ran up the slight embankment and looked over the top as Lynch headed the boat back out to sea.

'See you later, he shouted and sped off.

'Its OK, were in the clear, Dynamo said. 'n.o.body from the village could have heard the racket Geordie made, its too far away!

'Its not my flippin fault that the rotten jettys falling to bits, I said indignantly, kicking out at a decayed bit of timber nearby.

From our position, we could see most of the nearby village. It was fairly compact with a main street running through the middle of it. We sat there for about ten minutes taking in the layout of the place and checking to make sure we werent going to b.u.mp into any trouble. Although it was still early and the place seemed pretty quiet and peaceful, there were a lot of people moving about. It was particularly busy by the main jetty where workmen were unloading a couple of large vessels and reloading the cargo on to a nearby truck. The guys with the guns wed seen earlier were nowhere in sight.

'Ok, lets get on with it, Chalky said, taking a map out of his back pocket and laying it on the ground. He glanced at his watch. 'Right its 0655. Were here and the border with Syria is over that way, roughly where those mountains are. He pointed to his left. 'Weve got about nine miles to go, south of where we are now, following that road on the other side of the village.

Following where he pointed, we saw far in the distance to the east a range of snow-capped purple-grey mountains, outlined in the early morning sun.

'The situation is this, Chalky went on. 'Weve got bags of time so we dont have to rush anything, and this village doesnt look as though its going to cause any problems. I think those guys with the rifles might just be acting as local policemen I dont think theyre going to be a problem to us. So well break up into pairs, what do you reckon? Geordie and I will go through the centre of the village, you two go around the outside and well both meet here where the side street meets up with the main road leading to Beirut, he said, pointing to a spot on the map.

'That shouldnt cause us any problems, its only a small place, Spot said.

Dynamo nodded. 'You and Geordie go ahead and well catch up with you in a few minutes; itll look less suspicious that way and we wont draw attention to ourselves.

For all we had bags of time, Chalky immediately stood up and set off down the embankment.

'Come on then, Geordie, he called back to me over his shoulder.

We entered the village along what appeared to be the main street and pa.s.sed some of the old people wed observed from the embankment but none of them took any notice of us. The whole area was a complete shambles with boxes and litter lying all over the place. For all it was still early there was quite a bit of activity going on and a lot of people sitting around outside some of the buildings these may have been shops or cafes but they all looked to be either shuttered or boarded up. Most of the buildings were single-storey concrete affairs but there were a few relatively large constructions of two or three floors.

It wasnt a very large place, only about half a mile long, and we walked through it quickly, pa.s.sing several side streets lined with square-looking houses and buildings and a few stationary old cars. As we neared the pre-arranged meeting place, we saw Spot and Dynamo coming towards the same junction from our left.

'What a dump, Dynamo said as they caught up with us. 'How can anyone live in a place like that? The poor sods havent got much, have they?

'Whose bright idea was it to carry these stinking things? Spot said in disgust, throwing the fish he was carrying into a nearby gutter.

'Phooh, yeah, youre right, Chalky said and we dumped ours too. 'I think Lynch was having a bit of a laugh, there.

We headed south along the fairly wide main road. In lots of places the concrete was cracked and holed and it was badly in need of repair. We saw very little traffic. Just a few pickups and the odd car or truck went by and a guy on a bike, but he just kept his head down and pedalled on.

As we walked, we discussed our contingency arrangements should I fail to fulfil the mission as planned. Obviously, we would need to go ahead and take the target out together with his two guards, as they posed the most immediate threat, and then make our escape in any ensuing confusion. Wed then head towards the busy port area, pretending to attempt to escape by boat, but would actually double back to the crowded main area of the city where we could lie low until dark. The military would probably continue to look in the area we first headed and not expect to find us back in the city centre. Dressed like the locals as we were, we would be able to blend in more there than if we headed straight out on to the open road.

Obviously, such a delay would mean that transport was imperative for us to make an escape. In order to do this, our best option would then be to head out towards the main road and try to get a military vehicle and some uniforms to help us get out of the city and back to the village: military vehicles would not generally be stopped at roadblocks or checkpoints. However, we didnt plan in too much detail; if we needed to change our original idea we would simply play it by ear, making use of whatever was available around us at the time.

We walked for about four miles with the sea on our right and although still early in the day, it was already very hot and sweat was pouring from us. Hearing a truck approach us from behind just as we began to climb up a steep hill, we kept our heads down until it pa.s.sed by and continued on its way. It was an old vehicle and as it reached the brow of the hill, it began to struggle and gradually slowed down until it was barely moving.

As wed kept up a steady walking pace after it pa.s.sed us, wed now almost caught up with it and were actually beginning to overtake it. Just then, another truck appeared over the brow of the hill travelling in the opposite direction, loaded with workmen and armed troops. Chalky, who was leading the way, quickly indicated to us to fall back behind the slow truck and use it for cover. It didnt look as though the old truck was going to make it so I kept my head down and started to give it a push and the other three joined in. By this time, the truck with the troops had driven by without giving us a second glance and headed off towards the village wed just walked from.

The slow-moving vehicle was loaded down with crates of fruit and apples and as it eventually climbed over the brow of the hill Dynamo jumped on to the back, smashed open one of the crates and threw each of us an apple.

'Heres lunch lads, he said, laughing.

The truck began to pick up speed as he jumped off and the driver beeped his horn in acknowledgement of our help. Dynamo waved back at him, a half-eaten apple in his hand, then suddenly the truck stopped, the pa.s.senger door opened and a man climbed out. Immediately we stuffed the apples up our shirtfronts like naughty schoolboys, as the man called out something in Arabic. Dynamo walked towards him and they had a brief conversation before the guy got back in the truck and it drove off.

Dynamo turned to us with a huge grin on his face and bit into his apple. 'I thought we might have a spot of bother there for nicking the old boys apples but he very kindly offered us a lift into town, chaps, which was jolly decent of him, dont you think? Naturally I had to decline his offer, he said, as we all burst into helpless laughter.

From the top of the hill, we could see the skyline of Beirut in the distance, about five miles away, its buildings outlined against the sea where a couple of large ships were heading towards the coast. We sat for a few moments eating our apples watching the distant city. It looked ma.s.sive to me, the biggest place Id seen in my life so far. I couldnt believe that we were actually going to walk right into this place and kill someone in broad daylight.

The outlines of the buildings were totally strange to me with round roofs and towers and funny spires unlike anything Id seen before. Dynamo told me they were called mosques and minarets.

'Some guy goes up there a couple of times a day and screams his b.l.o.o.d.y head off and the rest of the daft sods fall on their knees, he told me, laughing as we set off once more towards the city.

It was blisteringly hot under the cloudless sky. The road was dry and stony and our feet kicked up little clouds of dust as we walked, and our boots and trouser legs were caked with the sand and dirt. Just past an old burnt-out rusting car, a stream of water ran down towards the road. This flow probably should have gone underneath the highway through a nearby pipe we could see, but this was badly cracked and broken, allowing the water to take the route across the ground. It was probably a sewer and it stunk; the stench was indescribable. The foul liquid was covered with swarms of flies and insects which flew up into the air as we ran past with our hands covering our mouths, noses and eyes.

'Filthy b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, Chalky said. 'G.o.d knows whats lurking and fermenting in that lot.

Dynamo turned to me again. 'By the way, Geordie, have you got that needle handy?

'Yeah, just a second. I looked at my sash and pushed the buckle up but couldnt find the spot where Id hidden the wire. 'b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, I think Ive lost it! I cant feel it! I said, frantically feeling along the bottom.

'Hang on, Geordie, Chalky said, running his hand around my back underneath the sash. 'I think Ive found it its worked its way around to the back. Just a moment.

He tried to push the needle back towards the front of my sash but it seemed to be stuck, so he took out his boot-knife and put a small nick into the belt to get at it and ease it out.

'Right were laughing, Ive got it so we dont need to call the operation off! he joked and slapped me on the back.

I was so relieved: I thought that it might have dropped out when I fell onto the boat, even though I was sure that Id put it in a secure place. Taking the small piece of wood out of my pocket, I fixed the needle to it and, holding the wooden handle in my hand, I hid it up my shirtsleeve.

Wed now reached the outskirts of Beirut; the place was a total shambles, like a shanty town. Gradually the number of buildings we saw began to increase, but they were mainly ramshackle affairs and badly in need of repair. The streets were full of old cars that had been stripped and burned out. I looked around me in amazement. Little kids ran around half clothed with nothing on their feet and women, mainly dressed in traditional clothes with their heads covered, carried large cardboard boxes and had loads balanced on top of their heads. Some of the older men wore long traditional garments and most of them had some kind of headgear but, in general, they were dressed in more western-style clothes: suits or shirts and trousers. They didnt seem to be doing very much, just sitting around.

Groups of young men hung about on every street corner, almost all of them carrying weapons of some sort, mainly pistols, but we saw others with Sten guns and old .303 Lee Enfield rifles. They were dressed in various types of pseudo-army gear and appeared to be stopping people, searching cars and vehicles.

'Best to get off the main streets now, I think, Chalky said.

He turned down a stinking, filthy alleyway and we began to criss-cross through a maze of back streets and alleys, working our way towards our target area using a map of the city Chalky carried, which he told me theyd been studying for over a week. Lines of drab washing hung everywhere, litter and rubbish was piled up in corners with mangy dogs or cats rummaging through it. There seemed to be very little vegetation anywhere. The buildings were close together, tall blocks of flats with washing, clothes and rugs hanging from every balcony. Just about every street had water gushing across it: the sewage pipes must have been in a terrible state. People bustled around, there were cars and trucks, and vehicles of every description, the din was deafening.

Most of the shops were windowless with just long tables inside and at the front. Many of these had cloth-covered bundles of meat laid on them and strangely shaped and coloured poloni-type sausages hung from the ceilings. Other shops had tables on which stood pottery, lamps, bottles or small rugs. The air was filled with strong, strange, mostly nauseating smells: unusual foods being cooked, the stench of decaying sewage and poor drainage, and all of these were mixed together with the pall of exhaust fumes. We walked through it all, completely unnoticed. It felt so weird.

Gradually the streets began to widen and the tall buildings, many of them now obviously office blocks, were clearly in a better state of repair. As we neared the main area of the city, the crush of people grew ever larger, the noise even louder and over everything hung an almost tangible feeling of tension. None of these people looked happy, none of them smiled.

Chalky indicated for us to casually group together outside a shop selling tobacco and cigarettes.

'Were almost at our target area, the building he works in is around here somewhere, Im sure its at the end of this street, he said in a low voice. 'I think it would be better if we split up into twos and worked our way down either side of the road.

Spot nudged my arm and I followed him around the corner into a wide busy street.

'Geordie, what do you feel like? he asked quietly.

'I feel a bit strange but pretty excited, I whispered back. 'What an awful miserable place though, and I thought Byker was a dump!

'And this is the posh bit! He grinned.

We pushed our way through the crowds, trying to keep up with Dynamo and Chalky on the other side of the road, without looking conspicuous. About halfway down the street Dynamo waved us over.

'This is it lads, he said confidently, checking his watch. 'Were early so Chalky and I will check this place out. You two go that way and check the area out, see if there is any transport about we might be able to use if all h.e.l.l breaks loose we might need some quickly. Dont go too far away though. Well meet back here in half an hour at 1100.

Spot and I walked back to the other side of the street and looked around for a while. We needed to familiarise ourselves with the immediate area as part of our contingency plan, should I fail. We checked up some of the narrow side streets to see if they could be used as exits in case something went wrong. There were cars and trucks everywhere but most of them were ancient.

'Theres plenty of old bangers around, Spot, but I cant see us speeding off in any of them, I remarked.

'We could probably run faster than most of these, he agreed.

Returning to the main street, we saw four or five young guys coming straight towards us. Each of them was armed with a semi-automatic rifle hanging from a shoulder strap and they all carried a pistol in a holster at their waists. We both stopped and turned to look into the nearby shops. The guys stared blankly at us then walked straight past, their guns pointed down, their fingers in the straps.

Spot and I looked at one another and grinned then made our way to meet up with Dynamo and Chalky as arranged.

'This is definitely it, Dynamo said quietly. 'The cafe is about three hundred yards down the street from his office building.

'Ill tell you what, I said. 'We spotted a shop selling rugs about a hundred yards before you get to the cafe on the same side. Ill hang around there and hope he crosses the road before then. If he doesnt Ill just have to get him later when he comes back.

'He could be in there for ages, Spot pointed out.

'Well, Ill just have to wait and hope he doesnt take too long for his lunch break.

'Ill stand nearer the building and signal to you when he comes out, Geordie, Dynamo said. 'Chalky, you stand across the road in front of me and Spot can wait near the cafe Ill follow him when he comes out.

Dynamo went over to the building and Chalky moved off to the other side of the street as arranged, while Spot and I began walking along the road towards the cafe. The whole area was packed with people, the majority of them in traditional clothes, especially the women, but to my surprise, there also appeared to be a lot of foreigners in the area, tourists I supposed. The majority of the younger men were dressed like us so we blended in relatively easily. Swarms of scruffy little kids hung around the tourists, begging.

We reached the carpet shop and Spot continued to walk on towards the cafe while I stopped. I could see Chalky still walking down the other side of the street. The idea was, that as the guy got closer to me the others would also move nearer just in case something went wrong and I needed backup.

I joined the crowd of people looking at the carpets, which the shop owner had stacked around his shop and laid out on a table in front of it. I was dripping with sweat as I concentrated hard on the rugs in front of me, pretending that I was interested in buying one while actually looking over towards Dynamo and waiting for his signal. My mind was racing as I tried to work out a way in which to distract the target while I jabbed him.

The owner of the shop was a toothless old guy, dressed traditionally, his skin deeply wrinkled and creased. He was babbling away at me, trying to get my attention, but as I couldnt understand a word of what he said and didnt want him to get a good look at my face in case he saw my blue eyes, I just kept shaking my head and waving him away with my hand.

I was growing impatient and looked at my watch: it was 1245, only minutes had gone by but it felt like hours to me.

Where is this guy, I thought? Why the h.e.l.l hasnt he come out yet?

The needle up my shirtsleeve was jabbing me in the arm and, although I wasnt nervous, I just wanted to get this over with and get out of the place. I was still sweating profusely and unconsciously wiped my hand across my forehead to remove some of the drips of perspiration. The old man kept on staring and jabbering away to me, pointing at his rugs and I now had the added problem of one of the beggar kids clinging to my trouser leg and shaking it to get my attention. I tried to push him away but he was a persistent little blighter. It was a nightmare. Eventually the kid realised he was getting nowhere with me and to my relief, transferred his attention to a woman tourist standing next to me.

Feeling something sticky on my fingertips, I looked down and saw to my horror the dark stain of my make-up and I realised that it must have come off when I wiped my forehead. There was a mirror behind the shopkeeper and I tried to look into it to see how much damage Id done but the old guy kept getting in the way as he yammered on at me. I smiled at him and moved a few yards away all the time glancing across at Dynamo.

However, as I looked back at the nearby rugs an idea began to formulate in my mind. I went back to the shop and began to pick them up. I realised that I could use one of them to 'accidentally b.u.mp into the target and to cover up my action with the needle. I selected one about three feet long and not too heavy, it would be ideal. I had difficulty in hanging on to it as the old guy kept trying to take it from me to open it up and show me what it looked like and a woman tourist wanted to pick it up to buy.

Just then, I glanced across at Dynamo and saw him give me the thumbs-up signal the target was out of the building at last and on the move. I stood on my tiptoes trying to see above the crush of people in the street and quickly spotted him. His armed escorts were slightly ahead of him, pushing people out of his way as he strode arrogantly through the crowds, dressed as wed been informed he would be in a lightweight pale-coloured suit and wearing a white Panama hat. He was scowling and looked to me to be in a foul mood.

Suddenly he stepped out into the middle of the street and began to cross it, leaving his two guards to catch him up, which meant that they were now behind him. Brilliant, I thought, he was coming straight for me. I could see Dynamo also slightly behind him; everything seemed to be going to plan. Then, just as suddenly as hed crossed the street, the man changed direction again, turned up a side street and disappeared from view, closely followed by his escorts.

I threw the rug back on to the table and quickly began to walk towards the alleyway hed gone into. The plan would have to change. I was about fifteen yards away from the alley when one of the guards came back out of the side street, quickly followed by the target and the other soldier and began to walk towards me. I immediately doubled back towards the carpet shop and grabbed up the rug. The first soldier was shoving people out of the way again and the target was very near. The old man was jabbering at me and I reached into my pocket and threw all of the Lebanese money Id been given at him, hoping it was enough to shut him up. It went everywhere and he began to scramble about, collecting it up.

The first soldier pushed past me and I swung around to my right in between him and the target and pushed the rug up into the mans face. Dropping his cigarette, he shot both of his hands up in front of him to get rid of the obstruction. Using the 'Machine action that Id practised so many times, in a flash I pierced his chest but didnt feel a thing and thought I must have missed him, as the guy only stopped briefly, then pushed the carpet out of his face and strode off. Immediately, the guard behind him shoved me out of the way into the street and moved off too.

I looked down at the needle but couldnt see anything on it. I saw Dynamo on the other side of the street staring over at me with both arms raised as though to say: 'Well, what happened? I shrugged my shoulders I knew Id hit the guy in the right place but he was still walking towards the cafe.

Next I turned to see what was happening but the street was crowded and I couldnt see very much. The old guy was rabbiting away at me again, trying to give me some money Id obviously paid him too much for the rug. I shook my head and pushed his hand away. I still couldnt see what was going on, so I stood on a pile of his rugs to look over the top of the people in the street. I could now see the targets white hat as he reached the cafe, then suddenly he disappeared and I heard a loud crash as he fell. It had worked!

There was a huge commotion around the cafe, as everyone in the street seemed to dash over to it all at once. I turned to Dynamo and gave him the thumbs-up signal as the old guy yammered at me yet again pointing to his rugs, which I thought was a bit rich when Id just overpaid him for one of the crummy things!

I quickly moved away, still carrying the small rug, and had started to walk across to the other side of the road towards Dynamo, when I spotted the little beggar kid sitting on the edge of the curb. I needed to dump the rug, so I shoved it into his arms as I pa.s.sed. At first, he looked stunned, and then he stood up and began to struggle off with it. He was a skinny, little thing and the carpet was taller than he was; it probably weighed twice as much as him too!

Dynamo slapped me on the back, a huge grin on his face. 'You did it, well done lad! You certainly hit the target! But I dont think you should have been so generous, that poor little sod will probably get into trouble for nicking that rug! He laughed. 'Come on lets go, wheres Spot? he asked Chalky, who had just arrived behind me.

'What on earth were you doing with that carpet, Geordie? Chalky wanted to know.

'Lets get away from here and Ill tell you on the way, I said by way of an answer. I just wanted to get out of the place as quickly as possible. 'Where is Spot?

'Hes still over there beside the cafe, isnt he? Chalky said, turning to look down the street just as Spot came dashing over to us.

'You got him, Geordie, brilliant! he burst out.

'Where the h.e.l.l have you been? Dynamo asked.

'You should have seen it, Spot said excitedly. 'At first the guy seemed perfectly OK and I thought you hadnt done it, Geordie, and then he just dropped like a sack of potatoes over the table and chairs. Completely ruined a perfectly good meal, too!

'Come on, lets get away from here before anyone notices us, Dynamo warned and moved off towards a nearby alleyway. 'Itd be daft to be spotted now, wouldnt it?