'Come on, lets get a move on, Chalky urged. 'Weve got to get out of here and find some transport fast. Were losing too much time.

With some difficulty, I removed the tight smock, tied it around some bits of rock and threw it into the water. Spot and Dynamo stayed to ensure that all of the boat sank and disappeared, while Chalky and I picked up the canvas bags and made our way about a hundred yards along the riverbank to check that it was clear.

There were clumps of small bushes and trees on the steep embankment, which provided us with some cover as we headed towards a slight bend in the river where we came across a stream of sorts running down the embankment. The water was dirty grey in colour and as we got closer, we could see that it had cement in it.

Silently Chalky and I crept up the embankment in case there was anyone at the top and carefully peered over. A large cement mixer stood only yards away and nearby was a truck full of workmen who must have just finished for the day. Two of the men were filling buckets with water from a water tank and throwing this into the cement mixer to wash it out, which had created the small stream of dirty water wed seen. The men in the truck were shouting at them, presumably to hurry them up.

We ducked back below the edge of the embankment.

'Its a b.l.o.o.d.y good job we didnt get here sooner, or we could have walked right into this lot, Chalky whispered. 'Youd better go back and warn the other two.

I swiftly slid back down the embankment leaving him on his own at the top with our bags, keeping an eye on the workmen. Spot was now roughly halfway between the sunken boat and the cement stream; Dynamo was a few yards behind trying to pull his smock off. I gave them the signal to take cover and they both dived into the reeds on the embankment while I quickly scrambled back up to where Id left Chalky. Just as I reached him the two men threw their buckets into the cement mixer then ran towards the waiting truck and climbed aboard as it began to move off.

Turning around I slid back down the hill and gave the 'OK and 'all clear signals to Spot and Dynamo then went back again to where Chalky now stood. Picking up our bags, we began to make our way along the top of the embankment to where we thought the other two would appear.

'Thats a b.l.o.o.d.y shame, we couldve used that truck, Chalky said.

'Theres twenty men on the back of it! I exclaimed.

'Sooo? He grinned at me.

At that moment, we heard the sound of another truck approaching from the same direction the other one had taken, just as Spot came out of the reeds a few yards ahead of us and we quickly ran towards him.

'Wheres Dynamo? Chalky asked as the three of us took cover in the scrub.

'Just ahead of us, Spot replied.

It looked as though the truck was going to drive on and, as it pa.s.sed, I looked out through the bushes and could just make out that it was an army vehicle with a driver and two other soldiers in the back. At which point, Dynamo came crashing out of the bushes bent double as he struggled to pull the smock over his head; it was too small and was stuck on his arms. It appeared as if he hadnt heard the truck drive past. Just then, it stopped and reversed to within a few yards of him. Dynamo froze for a moment and from where we were, it seemed likely that he was looking through the neck of the smock to see what was going on.

We realised that he had heard the truck and come out of the shrubs on purpose; there was no way he would have just come out into the open with that stupid thing stuck over his head.

'Hang back a bit, Spot whispered to Chalky and, leaving our bags with him, we broke cover and began to make our way towards Dynamo.

The two soldiers had now jumped off the back of the truck and were casually walking towards him too, as the driver climbed out of the cab and followed them. They were obviously army personnel but it was hard to believe they were soldiers, as they looked so scruffy. Two of them wore berets and the other had on some type of Arab headdress.

One of the men continued to walk towards Dynamo, smiling at his struggle with the smock and calling out in Arabic, although I had no idea what he was saying. The other two changed direction when they saw Spot and me emerge from the reeds and began to walk towards us. Chalky stayed behind as Spot had suggested, hiding in the reeds with the two bags. Spot and I slowly began to move apart in case we had to use our sashes. These were the only weapons wed be able to use right now, as gunfire would have alerted anyone nearby.

Eventually, Dynamo yanked the smock over his head, straightening up as he dropped it on the ground and grinning at the soldier no more than three feet from him. He touched his left inside elbow joint with his right hand, which was the signal to take these guys out, and we immediately released the safety catches on our sash buckles. We knew then that Dynamo would have already taken the catch off his buckle under the cover of the smock. The soldier stopped smiling and quickly turned to shout a warning to his comrades, while at the same time going for his revolver.

Dynamo reacted instantly and hit his buckle. With a whistling sound the spring on his sash released the weapon so fast and with such power that the man wouldnt have seen a thing. Dynamos first swing severed two of the mans fingers, which went flying through the air together with the gun hed been holding, and then, hitting him again on the back swing he took a big chunk out of the mans leg.

Almost simultaneously, Spot and I released our sashes and took out the remaining two soldiers, who to begin with had been distracted, and then were immediately rooted to the spot by the swiftness and ferocity of Dynamos attack on their colleague.

This was the first time Id actually hit someone with the sash and on my initial swing, the metal edge buried itself deeply into my targets neck. Bleeding profusely, the man reached up with both hands to grab it just as I managed to tug it free. His fingers were ripped to shreds by a series of small spiked studs set into the surface of the belt near the buckle as it eventually came loose.

Twisting from right to left, I swung the sash across my body in order to bounce it off my left arm and to propel it forward with extra momentum on the return swing. I aimed for the soldiers head just above his right ear, the sash made contact with him, and with a crack his skull split open. He went down at once, blood squirting profusely from the deep gaping wound.

As I looked around I could see that Spot had killed the other guy with one blow and his victim was lying in a pool of blood with part of his jaw missing. I seemed to have put a lot more effort into using the sash than the others who, being more experienced, made it look so easy! The soldiers must have got the shock of their lives having approached what to them would have appeared to be three unarmed men.

Chalky emerged from the reeds and came over to us. 'Ill take care of the truck and get it out of sight while you clean this mess up, he said.

The guy Dynamo hit was now rolling around the ground screaming in agony. Dynamo grabbed hold of him and dragged him into the reeds.

'Geordie, get a hold of this guy and keep him quiet. We need to get the others out of sight. Here, use this. He picked up his discarded smock and threw it towards me and I immediately stuffed part of it into the terrified mans mouth to stop him from yelling.

Grabbing the collar of the soldier Spot killed, Dynamo dragged the body towards the top of the embankment.

'Well need their tunics and berets, he said, sitting the body up against his knees and yanking off the jacket.

While I was struggling with the hostage in the reeds and trying to prevent him from squealing, Spot went over to the guy Id killed who was lying on his face and pulled at the dead mans jacket, which made the arms to come up above the head. Blood was still oozing from the mans wounds and the collar and lapel of his jacket were saturated.

'You certainly made sure of this one, Geordie, old boy, Spot pointed out. 'Theres blood all over the front of this tunic. Never mind, I dont suppose itll be noticeable from a distance but Im not wearing it. Its your kill and your jacket!

Dynamo had thrown the other mans tunic and beret towards the edge of the reeds where Chalky had hidden our bags and now started to drag the body down the embankment. The ground was wet and slippery and the body began to slide, moving faster than he could keep up with. Tripping up, he also began to slide and almost fell into the river, finally ending up with the inert body on top of him. Laughing, he pushed the dead man to one side.

'You nearly got me, you b.a.s.t.a.r.d, you never give up, do you? he said, then ran back up the embankment and grabbed the injured man.

'Geordie, go and see if you can find something to dig a hole for these guys, Ill look after chummy here, he told me. 'Keep your eyes open, there could be more of these swine about!

As I moved off towards the cement mixer, Spot spoke to him in a low voice.

'We could be in a h.e.l.luva mess, here, Dynamo. Theres bound to be a search party sent out to look for these guys when they dont turn up.

'Thats why I didnt get rid of him straight away, I want to know where theyre going and what time they were expected, Dynamo explained.

As I turned, I noticed a pistol lying on the ground. It was a British service revolver a finger lay nearby. Oh G.o.d, I thought, no wonder the guys in agony.

I quickly ran back along the top of the embankment to where the men had been working and looked around. A broken shovel had been thrown under the cement mixer; it was covered with dried up cement and most of the handle was missing but it would do.

Spot and Dynamo were in the bushes kneeling over the soldier and talking to him in Arabic when I got back. Chalky had returned from where hed hidden the truck behind a small group of nearby trees just off the road and was dragging the other body down the embankment. He called up to me: 'Oh youve found something, good! Come down here, its out of the way but itll be easier to bury them, the grounds softer than up there.

I joined him at the rivers edge where we dug three shallow graves in the soft mud; we couldnt dump the bodies into the river as we had nothing to weigh them down with and they might pop up somewhere. As I started to make my way back up the embankment Spot and Dynamo dragged the third soldier down by his feet.

'Geordie, do me a favour will you. There should be a revolver and a couple of fingers lying around up there somewhere, see if you can find them, Dynamo said as he pa.s.sed me.

I went back to the spot where Id seen the gun and finger earlier and picked them up but couldnt find the other finger anywhere. Back down the embankment they were burying the last guy. So I wrapped the gun and his finger in the smock Id stuffed in his mouth and threw them into the river.

'Right, lets get out of here, Spot said. 'We should make good time now weve got a truck. That guy told us they were heading to another camp about eighty miles north east of here. If he was telling the truth, its going to be a while before anyone realises that theyre missing.

From the information he and Dynamo had managed to get out of the soldier, we knew that they werent expected back at their camp until the following day, thats if the information was reliable. It meant that we had the truck until daybreak the following morning and by then we should be long gone, if luck was on our side.

Checking the truck out, we discovered four five-gallon drums in the back so we topped up the tank, as we didnt want to take any chances with the fuel. Luckily the tank was already pretty full, which meant that hopefully we might have enough to be able to use the truck to get back to our pick-up point.

Dynamo, Spot and I put on the three tunics, which were similar to my own khaki uniform; however, they were all a bit on the small side, uncomfortable and tight. Nevertheless, we managed to squeeze into them. None of us wanted to try wearing the headdress but Dynamo and Spot were now both wearing the berets.

As there was only room for three in the cab, someone was going to have to ride on the back of the truck.

'You look the most like an Arab, Spot, Dynamo said. 'Itll have to be you. Besides, your beret fits! Ill drive. He jumped into the drivers seat. 'Come on you lot, get in, we havent got all day.

As Chalky and I climbed into the cab alongside him, Dynamo crinkled his nose in disgust. 'What the h.e.l.l have you been eating, Geordie? he laughed.

I searched about in the pockets of the tunic and discovered some disgusting kind of dried meat, which I promptly threw out of the window.

'You shouldve kept that, its probably a local delicacy, grilled camel dung or something, Chalky sn.i.g.g.e.red.

Spot sniffed. 'Phew! Ill brave it out on the back and get all the fresh air, then, he said and quickly climbed on.

We were making good time, we had roughly five hours and about sixty miles to go but we still had to find the garrison building. Dynamo put his foot down and we shot off.

Spot leant over the cab and poked his head through the gun turret.

'Take it easy, old boy, he said. 'Have you seen the time? We want to get there for nightfall.

'Yes, youre right. That should give us ample time to locate the garrison, Dynamo said and slowed to a steadier speed.

We could see a long way into the distance along the mainly deserted road; most of the activity seemed to be on the other side of the river, in small boats.

As we drove along Chalky and I searched the cab for anything that might come in useful and he discovered a brand new oil filter still in its box under his seat.

'Thats bound to come in handy, he said and stuck it into his holdall 'What the h.e.l.l are you going to use that for? I asked him.

'Its brand new, we could use it as a silencer for our pistols.

I looked at him and shook my head in disbelief, thinking he was winding me up.

'Yeah, thats right, Geordie, Dynamo said to my amazement just as Spot stuck his head through the gun turret in the top of the cab.

'Watch out lads, this could be trouble, theres a truck full of troops heading straight towards us! he said, warning us of the approaching vehicle.

Wed been travelling for approximately an hour and had just climbed a slight rise; Spot being higher than us on the back could obviously see further along the road. We didnt know what to expect but the truck merely drove straight past us, the driver flashing his lights in acknowledgement.

A couple of miles further along the road and the city skyline became clearly visible on the horizon. Id thought that Beirut looked big, but it was nothing compared to this place, which looked ma.s.sive. The outlines of the taller buildings and minarets were strange and wonderful shapes.

We pa.s.sed an old guy walking along the road towards the city. He was dressed in long dark traditional-style clothes leading a string of several heavily laden camels the weirdest creatures Id ever seen. It was like something out of a fairy tale.

The traffic on the road increased now and everything, whether it was a truck, car, bus, scooter, bike or cart, was laden with either goods, packs or people. The whole place was crawling with troops and civilians; people were everywhere you looked, just like a hornets nest. The smell was horrendous, a mixture of poor drainage and sewers, rotting vegetation, strange foods and camel dung!

On the outskirts, as in Beirut, a lot of the place looked to have been thrown together but as we drove further many of the streets widened and were lined with well-built and balconied buildings, many of them ornately decorated.

Chalky and I had been studying a map along the way and had marked a bridge across the river that we needed to locate. Once over this we should be only about half a mile away from our target. Our other landmark was a huge mosque, the Citadel, which was surrounded by a high wall and looked like a fort or castle.

'We have to find a place to leave the truck as close to the target area as possible, Ive got a sneaky feeling that well be leaving in a hurry! Dynamo wryly commented. 'We could have half of the Egyptian army chasing us, so we need to get out of the city as quickly as possible. Is there anywhere near the target area where we could leave it?

We were caught up in the heavy city traffic now and travelling fairly slowly along a wide road running parallel to the river. No one took any notice of us, there were dozens of army lorries around much the same as ours we were merely one of many.

'This map isnt much help, Chalky grumbled. 'But theres a lot of side streets around that area and a few of them seem to lead directly to a square which looks as if its only maybe a couple of hundred yards away from the target area, and the bridge we need to find cant be more than half a mile away now.

'Wheres the square once we get over the bridge? Dynamo asked.

'Once over the other side, we need to turn right and drive for about quarter of a mile further into the city, Chalky answered. 'When we get that far Ill direct you, theres too many side streets and judging by what Ive seen so far, I dont think some of them will be able to take the width of this truck, so well have to play it by ear.

The streets were now very heavily congested and we were almost at a standstill, there appeared to be some sort of hold-up further ahead of us. The smell of exhaust fumes was stifling and everywhere was noise and commotion vehicle engines, honking horns and the babble of thousands of people.

'Must be rush hour! Chalky commented.

'Do you see all of those army lorries on the other side of the river? Dynamo asked. 'They all seem to be heading in the same direction you reckon we need to take, Chalky. Maybe we should follow them and see where they go?

'Youre right, that square is over that way and the garrison is somewhere close by, Chalky agreed.

'What else do we have on the target? I asked them.

'Were never told exactly who the target is or what he does, and we dont want to know just as long as we have a photograph so we know what he looks like. But my guess is that hes a senior Russian military advisor or an Aide a.s.sisting the Egyptian government. So hes got a lot on his plate, Chalky told me. 'He must be under a lot of pressure. Weve been told he works very late so lets hope he sticks to his routine. But it doesnt matter if hes a bus conductor hes got to go.

'h.e.l.l be under high security, Dynamo added, 'but most of that should be around the grounds of the building. I imagine that h.e.l.l feel pretty safe up on the top floor and wont be expecting anything. Judging by the photographs weve seen, getting into the building without being detected could be a bit of a swine, never mind getting out, and we need to find a way of doing it without alerting this lot! Dynamo gestured towards the ma.s.s of vehicles in front of us, which included several army lorries. 'Obviously we have to get in and out without making a sound, so dont forget that oil filter, Chalky, we might just need it.

Wed crawled forwards for roughly ten minutes when Spot stuck his head through the opening again.

'Hey, you lot! he called out. 'Look over there up this side street, there just ahead behind that building. Its the bridge, lads!

Just ahead of us about three hundred yards away was the bridge we were looking for.

'Thats the one, Chalky said, checking the map.

As we slowly approached it, we noticed some kind of activity on the other side where a group of soldiers were struggling to push a truck out of the way to the side of the road. Suddenly, one of them began to walk directly towards us, waving his arms and looking straight into the cab.

'Oh h.e.l.l, hes coming straight to my side of the truck, thats all we need, I cant speak a word of Arabic. Shall I just throw the body in the river? I joked quietly to Chalky.

He nudged me in the ribs. 'Ssshh, dont say a word.

I just sat there staring at the soldier who, when he got no response from me, made his way to the drivers side of the truck. From ahead of us one of his mates shouted something over to him and he climbed on to the running board to looked down the road in the direction of the obstruction.

Dynamo fastened the top of the tunic he was wearing to avoid the soldier spotting his white shirt underneath.

'Pretend youre a workman, he whispered to Chalky who was sitting in the middle and the only one not wearing an army-style tunic.

'How the h.e.l.l do you pretend to be a workman? Chalky hissed back. 'What happens if someone twigs it, they cant be that stupid surely, one of them must notice somethings not quite right? What with Geordie and his blue eyes and blood on his jacket and me dressed like this, I should have been the one the back of the truck.

'Yeah, probably, remember those workmen getting on the back of army trucks when we were in the boat? Well, if they do notice something theres going to be an awful lot of bodies floating down the river, Dynamo said, giggling. He wound the window down and stuck his head out, which prevented the soldier from seeing right into the cab and noticing our trousers or the bloodstained tunic I was wearing.

Just then, the guy ducked his head down next to the window and, pointing ahead of him, shouted something to Dynamo, who replied in Arabic and began to move the truck forward. When we crossed the bridge and reached the broken-down truck the soldier jumped off the running board and waved us on.

The noisy streets were busy with groups of armed troops and people everywhere but n.o.body seemed to take any notice of us. We drove along wide tree-lined avenues, edged with large white buildings and the occasional minaret for roughly a quarter of a mile, as strange and unusual smells wafted into the cab.

'We cant be more than a few hundred yards from where we need to be, Chalky pointed out. 'Look, you can just see the top of the Citadel over there. We need to turn right somewhere around here. Dynamo, see if you can get down one of these side streets, they should lead us to the square I was on about.

'Wheres the Citadel? I cant see it, I asked him, looking about me.

'Why dont you ask that old bloke over there? Dynamo joked, pointing to some old beggar sitting on the pavement who was obviously blind. Chalky and I cracked up.