STANLOW OIL REFINERY
Nasser al-Masri checked the dive computer that was on his wrist. It was like a big digital watch that told the length of time that the diver had spent underwater, and the depth that the diver had reached. There was also a compass incorporated into the programme. Underwater navigation is very difficult especially in strange waters where there are no recognisable landmarks beneath the surface to guide you. Nasser had been submerged for twenty-minutes and was using the Diver Propulsion Vehicle to speed him across the River Mersey toward the Stanlow Oil Refinery. The waters of the Mersey were dark green and his visibility was just three-feet in front of him. It would make him harder for enemy divers to locate, but it made his passage slow, and he had just twenty-minutes of oxygen left before he would need to start surfacing in stages to avoid decompression sickness. Nasser could hear the propellers of small craft passing above him and then fading into the distance. He knew that they were the motor patrol boats that he had seen trawling the river before he entered the water.
Nasser knew that he had just one chance to destroy his target and he would be under intense fire from the moment that he was located. His journey was hampered by the weapons that he had to carry with him on his underwater journey. Strapped to his thigh he had a British made Scorpion machine pistol, and it was fitted with a suppressor permanently, and was capable of firing short distances underwater. The magazine was waterproof, bulky and held sixty-two 9mm rounds. He could not carry any extra ammunition; once the sixty-two high velocity bullets were gone he would be at the mercy of the British security services.
His main weapon of destruction was an RPG-29. The plan was to reach the riverbank submerged, and then try to get close enough to fire his Rocket-Propelled Grenade at one of the huge petrol storage tanks.
The RPG-29 that Nasser had was far more accurate and deadly than its predecessor. It also had a self-destruct timing device, which meant it could be fired from long distances and timed to explode. It was sealed inside a watertight carry-case protected from the murky waters of the River Mersey. The weapon had one grenade fitted, ready to fire, and in the case was a spare grenade to reload the weapon with. Nasser would need around forty seconds from leaving the water to being set to launch his first Rocket-Propelled Grenade. Under the intense fire that would be waiting for him, he knew that his chances were slim to say the least.
Nasser heard the sound of a propeller belonging to a motor patrol boat closing in on his position. This time instead of fading into the distance it maintained its location directly above him. He realised that the ship`s sonar must have located the battery powered engine of his DPV. Nasser checked his computer again and he estimated that he was five hundred yards from the shore. He checked his compass to make sure he was heading west. Once he had plotted west he released the DPV. He launched the small machine into the opposite direction sending it buzzing off alone beneath the waves heading east.
Nasser swam away from the DPV in the direction of the riverbank. His weapons suddenly felt incredibly heavy without the use of the DPV. The engine noise from above drifted slowly away in the other direction. They were following the underwater machine which was barely out of Nasser`s vision. Suddenly the water around the small machine seemed to explode into a seething mass of foam and bubbles. The motor patrol boat had relayed the position of the DPV engine to the control centre at the old school in Woolton. The location was then passed to an armed remote helicopter drone that was already positioned above. The drone immediately opened fire on the position with an American made rotating air cannon. The air cannon looked similar to a Gatling gun that were used in cowboy films from the 70`s. The cannon`s sixteen-barrels rotate at high speed powered by compressed air, unleashing a lethal barrage of high velocity bullets at the rate of one hundred bullets per second. The effect was devastating and the DPV was shattered into a thousand pieces in just seconds.
Nasser reeled away from the wreckage and dragged his heavy load along the riverbed toward the shore. He caught a glimpse of two small silver objects glinting in the gloom. They seemed to be descending slowly from the surface toward the area were the DPV had been destroyed. The two anti-personnel concussion grenades exploded in a blinding flash. The blast wave ripped Nasser`s face mask from his head and somersaulted him through the murky water. He reached for his mask and pulled it back over his face. He tipped his head backward toward the surface and exhaled through his nostrils to remove the water from the mask. He settled himself by breathing slowly and deeply. He regained his composure and thought that it could only be two hundred yards from the riverbank now. He checked his oxygen capacity gauge and assessed that he had approximately ten-minutes of breathable air remaining.
In the gloom ahead Nasser saw air bubbles rising toward the surface, sunlight reflecting from them as they headed toward it. He knew that there was an enemy diver close by. Nasser stopped swimming and looked around scanning a full circle. He saw the glimpse of a scuba tank in the dark water and he laid the RPG down to rest on the riverbed. He removed the Scorpion machine pistol from its leg holster and remained still, trying to reserve as much precious oxygen as he could.
The noise of another propeller closed in above his position. The shadowy silhouette of a Special Boat Service diver appeared and then disappeared just as quickly in the murky green water. Nasser unleashed a spray of bullets in a deadly arc from his Scorpion machine pistol. A five inch stainless steel bolt whizzed past Nasser`s face fired from an APS underwater assault rifle. A second steel bolt was on target and penetrated his dry suit. The hot metal stuck into his right calf. Water rushed into his suit and mixed with the gushing blood, his body temperature dropped dramatically as the ice cold water covered his exposed flesh. The suit had been breached and his body could not last any length of time underwater at that temperature. Nasser knew he had just minutes to survive at this depth. He swam as hard as his injured leg would allow him. He recovered the RPG from the riverbed and pressed on. There could only be a hundred-yards to cover now and the river was becoming shallower making it easier for him to make progress.
The dead body of an SBS diver floated into view. His facemask had been shattered by Nasser`s bullets and red liquid filled the mask. Nasser ripped the respirator from the dead diver`s air tank and a huge plume of bubbles escaped rushing to the surface. He moved away from the lifeless body as quickly as he could. The rush of bubbles hit the surface and the location was transmitted immediately to the old school. The coordinates were electronically sent to the unmanned drones, and it unleashed a sustained attack on the position of the bubbles with its lethal air cannons. The body of the dead SBS man was shredded into mincemeat in seconds.
Nasser was now just five feet below the surface of the river, where the motor patrol boats couldn’t sail this close to the riverbank because of the dangerous shallows and mudflats. Nasser could see the silhouette of a remote drone in the air above him. He aimed his Scorpion machine pistol and fired a volley of shots at the wasp like machine from underwater, and the high calibre bullets shattered two of the rotor blades and the drone started to spiral out of control. Smoke poured from the rear of the stricken craft as it plunged toward the river. The drone crashed onto the bridge of one of the motor patrol boats scattering debris in all directions. The patrol boat suddenly exploded in a fireball that climbed sixty-feet up into the air.
Nasser was waist deep now and running for his life across the salt marshes. The thick mudflats were covered in indigenous river grasses that offered Nasser little cover. He ran in a zigzag pattern trying to avoid enemy fire. Nasser crouched low in the ankle deep water and opened the carry-case for his RPG-29. A Special Boat Service diver had followed Nasser out of the water and opened fire at him with his underwater assault rifle. The stainless steel bolts had no range or accuracy out of the water and the bolts whistled past Nasser`s position. He placed the RPG-29 onto his shoulder and aimed at the row of huge white storage tanks.
Nasser saw a muzzle flash coming from the top of one of the white metal structures. He squeezed the trigger and released his Rocket Propelled Grenade with a loud whooshing sound as it speeded off toward the petrol tanks. As the grenade sped away it passed the high velocity bullet from trooper Bob Duncan`s sniper rifle coming the other way.
Nasser never knew if he had hit his target or not. Trooper Duncan had sent his bullet expertly through Nasser`s forehead leaving an ugly round hole the size of a walnut. The exit wound was more the size of a coconut and Nasser`s brains sprayed the salt marshes around him for more than ten yards.