The Sixteen Read online

  We had only driven for a short way towards Limassol, when my thoughts were interrupted as the truck stopped abruptly at a crossroads just outside the town and the corporal shouted my name. I jumped out of the back and went to where he was leaning through the cab window.

  ‘OK, Geordie, the camp’s just down that road a bit, you can’t miss it!’ he told me.

  I looked along the deserted track where he pointed. ‘What am I supposed to be doing there?’ I asked.

  ‘How the hell do I know, just report to the gatehouse, it’s orders. Here!’ he said, shoving some papers into my hand. ‘We’ll pick you up here again 1600 hours on Friday. Have fun!’ He banged his hand on the outside of the door and the truck immediately drove off.

  I stood watching for a moment as it speedily disappeared, then turned to walk in the direction he’d pointed and there, to my surprise was a jeep and in it sat Chalky, grinning from ear to ear. I had neither seen nor heard him arrive.

  ‘Hi, Geordie, hop in!’ he said cheerfully.

  ‘Bloody hell! Where did you spring from?’ I asked as he spun the jeep around and we shot along the track.

  ‘Remember, Ken’s little poem, Geordie, “I saw a man who wasn’t there…”? Only believe half of what you see!’ he said, enigmatically referring to something Ken had told me when summing up how

  ‘The Sixteen’ operated. It went like this:

  ‘I saw a man who wasn’t there.

  He wasn’t there again today,

  I wish that man would go away.’

  As I hadn’t been out of the camp very much since I’d arrived in Cyprus, the route Chalky took as we left the main road and headed towards the hills was totally unfamiliar to me. It was mainly unpopulated, the dry and barren, scrubby hills having only an odd tree dotted about here and there, but that was all it had in common with the route Ken had taken.

  Like Ken, Chalky drove at breakneck speed for about half an hour as I clung on, desperately trying to avoid being flung out of the jeep. Gradually I thought that some bits of scenery were beginning to look vaguely familiar and then, as we rounded the base of one of the hills, I realised where we were. Once again, I was at the dilapidated old hut they used for their training purposes but we’d arrived by a totally different route.

  Chalky didn’t check his speed but drove straight up to the building, braking at the very last moment. We skidded to an abrupt halt in a cloud of dust and dirt, mere inches from the rusting old door and scattering several lizards, some of them about a foot long, which had been basking in the sun nearby. As before, the place appeared to be deserted.

  Then Chalky immediately grabbed what was left of the windscreen and to my surprise, vaulted straight over it onto the jeep’s much-dented bonnet.

  ‘Come on, Geordie, don’t just sit there getting a tan! There’s work to be done,’ he laughed over his shoulder, then disappeared inside the building. I quickly followed him in, my eyes taking a couple of seconds to adjust from the darkness in contrast to the glare outside.

  Dynamo and Spot were already training and I stood watching them for a few minutes, totally fascinated, taking in every move they made. It was amazing, and I didn’t want to miss a thing. Their actions were so smooth, so accurate, now I could see why they called it ‘The Machine’. It was incredible to watch, I wanted to be just like them and was determined that nothing was going to stop me!

  From the way they were together, I realised that they knew each other fairly well and I suspected that they had worked together for some time, but I still knew nothing at all about them, only their nicknames. I didn’t know where they normally served or who with (if in fact they did), what their full names were, whether they were married or even what part of Britain they came from because they constantly changed their accents! All I knew was that I, for some reason, had been specially chosen to become the fourth part of this particular team, which in itself was part of ‘The Sixteen’, none of whom I had met yet, other than Ken.

  I stood there watching them, looking around, taking everything in, then Dynamo stopped what he was doing and came over to me.

  ‘Right, Geordie, come and have a seat and a cup of tea and I’ll put you in the picture on how we do things around here.’

  I followed him over to a small old table and did as he suggested.

  ‘As you’ve probably been told,’ he said, smiling, ‘we’re a covert unit, and I mean just that, we’ve been very successful so far and what makes this possible is that only a handful of select people know of our existence. It is these people who make it possible for us to operate, do you understand?’

  I nodded. ‘Yes, of course.’

  ‘Good! Ken told you that as soon as you started your training we would begin to explain what we do and why. Well, as you can see we’re obviously not a dancing club!’ He smiled. ‘We’re a group of sixteen men trained in a specific, unique way who currently operate throughout the Middle East; you could say that this is a training ground for us, but I’ll tell you more about that later. We mostly operate in fours and we were three until now – you are the fourth. Don’t ask how we became three!’ He grinned, stopping me as the words formed on my lips.

  He paused and drank some more of his tea, then stared at me briefly for a moment before continuing quietly.

  ‘You could say that we are assassins, for want of a better word. We carry out the operations that armies and governments can’t be seen to do. We belong to no country, or rather no country will acknowledge our existence, if you know what I mean.’

  Again, I nodded. Although it was what I’d suspected, it still came as a bit of a shock to hear him say it out loud. My mother had told me to join the army to see the world and better myself but I don’t think she had quite meant it in this way!

  ‘So, Geordie,’ he continued, ‘to all intents and purposes, you’re still just a private in the Pioneer Corps, nobody is ever going to believe otherwise and that’s exactly how we want it. No matter what you do with us, or how successful we are, there will be no recognition of it. If anything should happen to go badly wrong on any of our operations…’ he paused briefly and looked at me very directly, ‘and I think you know what I mean by that, old boy!’

  ‘Yes, I think so. No one would acknowledge me, I’d be classed as a deserter or something, is that it?’

  ‘Yes, something like that. Remember, because this is important: this unit does not exist, we do not exist, and you do not exist.’ He paused again for a moment then continued: ‘You can still back out, it’s not too late,’ he warned, leaning forward and resting his arms on the table. ‘But once we’ve trained you, I’m afraid that’s it, so this is the point of no return. What’s it going to be?’

  ‘Back out? Not on your life! I wouldn’t miss this for the world!’ I said emphatically. ‘I’m certainly going nowhere with the outfit I’m in, just digging flaming holes, pitching tents and being screamed at for the rest of my time here.’

  ‘OK, then, but there is something else you need to consider. We’re not going to put you through all of this training for nothing. We’ll need you to become a regular, so you’ll have to think about signing on for at least another three years. Don’t worry too much about it at the moment, we’ll tell you when.’

  I hadn’t expected that. ‘If I do, would I be able to get some leave to go home and see my family?’ I asked.

  ‘Yes, of course you would, don’t worry about that now though, we’d arrange that later on.’

  ‘Dynamo?’ I interrupted him. ‘Before I start on this training, can I ask you something?’

  ‘Yeah, sure, what do you want to know?’

  ‘You all knew what I would say before I said it didn’t you? You knew I wouldn’t say no after what I saw that day?’

  ‘Yes, of course! It’s like I said, we know you, Geordie, and we know all about you, even more than you know about yourself! We wouldn’t have gone even this far if we thought there was the slightest chance that you would back out. I know it must seem confusing to you ri
ght now but it will all become clear through time, just wait and see.’

  As we talked, Spot and Chalky were now training nearby and it struck me just how indistinguishable from one another they were. It was impossible to differentiate the actions of the two men now training from those of Spot and Dynamo when I’d arrived. They all seemed to thrive on what they did and appeared to have limitless amounts of energy.

  Dynamo was talking again. ‘This is what it is all about. We take the seemingly impossible and make it possible and we do most of it by using the equipment you have already seen. We’ve been doing this type of operation for a long time now and as I said no one has any idea that we exist and that’s how we intend it to stay, and that’s how it’s going to be! Anything else before we get on?’

  ‘Well, yes, just one more thing. I’ve never once heard any of you guys raise your voices, yell or swear at one another like they do all the time back at camp. Why’s that?’

  ‘It’s simple, we don’t need to be bullied into what we do, and we do it willingly and with pride. Besides we have nothing to fear, that’s why.’

  ‘What’s that got to do with shouting?’

  ‘Well,’ he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over the other. ‘Let’s put it this way, Geordie. Not having the ability to cope with a situation results in a lack of confidence and this in turn leads to fear and then panic. Shouting and swearing acts as a substitute for courage; it gives false courage. People who are trained under those conditions don’t know any better and resort to shouting and swearing themselves because that is all they know; it generally means that they have something to cover up and that something is usually fear. They use it in the hope that because it scares them they believe it will scare others or the enemy.

  ‘If you have the confidence, but mostly the ability and skills, to deal with any situation, then you control that situation. And because you are in command of that situation, then you have no fear and you need nothing to back you up. For most of them out there, without gunfire they have nothing to back them up. So I think that speaks for itself doesn’t it, Geordie? Besides, old boy, swearing is best kept for when you bash your thumb with a hammer, don’t you think?’

  He paused smiling, then drained his cup. ‘One other thing, we don’t need either gung-ho brawn or educated idiots in our unit. The sort of people we have here are like-minded and quick thinking, athletic and persistent. They have the ability to learn quickly and act as an integral part of a team and, most importantly, have common sense. We don’t drink, have never drunk, we don’t need it because we don’t have a problem, so we can do without the Dutch courage! We always need to be in control. We have no room here for armchair commandos,’ he said, then laughed and winked before continuing:

  ‘Yeah, of course, we knew you’d say yes! We’ve already got a damn good idea of how you’re going to turn out! Remember that with us, Geordie, you’re part of a team of highly skilled men, not just a number. You might not feel that yet but, judging by what we’ve seen so far, you soon will once you’ve completed your training. Nowhere in the world are soldiers trained like this, you can be sure of that! This is what gives us the edge and as long as our skills are unknown to others, we will always have that edge!

  ‘We have to be trained in these particular skills because we’re on our own. I’m afraid no one will ever come to our rescue. You see, because our operations are covert and most take us right into the heart of enemy territory, we can have no backup from other forces. No one will come to our aid if we were to get into difficulties, how could they? Remember we do not exist!

  ‘No matter what country we may have to go into we try to dress, and look, as much like the locals as we possibly can, we don’t go in uniform, armed to the teeth with huge packs on our backs. For a start, I rather think that might defeat the object of the exercise and give us away, don’t you?’ He laughed, shaking his head. ‘And, if you are carrying a rifle or a backpack, not only do you stand out like a sore thumb but you lose the ability to move quickly, they make you clumsy. Besides, there is just no way you can carry enough ammo with you for a rifle so, once you’ve used up what you can carry, it’s totally useless to you. No, that kind of stuff is best left with an army on the battlefield, not for the kind of jobs we do. Whatever we want we locate in the region we’re in, so we either buy it, or find it and “borrow” it!

  ‘That is why it is vital that we have only the kind of people who can quickly and clearly assess a situation, weigh up the various options and adapt easily to a totally different set of circumstances.’

  He got up from the table and helped himself to more tea. ‘Want another?’ But before I could answer, he’d filled my cup too and sat down again.

  ‘Right, where were we, oh yes! There is nothing new in the idea of operating in disguise, the main problem is getting caught under those circumstances, as obviously we would be classed as spies and shot. More than likely, after being tortured to find out why we were there. These are the facts, Geordie.

  ‘If for some reason we were to find ourselves in the position of possibly being discovered, if it looked as though that were inevitable, we would simply take control of the situation and allow it to happen.

  ‘By not being dressed as soldiers or carrying any visible weapons, we lessen the possibility of being fired on immediately. They are more likely to approach you, warily of course, if you look like them. They will probably want to know what you are up to first and it is then, when they get close enough to realise that you are not what you first appeared to be, that your life is at its greatest risk.

  ‘Being dressed like the enemy enables us to get very close to them, to move among them even, but the problem with this is that on close inspection, especially in an Arab country, it becomes obvious very quickly that we are not who we seem to be. It is at this point that we must immediately decide what action to take. The people in this area in particular, are extremely excitable, they panic easily and are very trigger-happy. We cannot afford to take any chances, they could shoot us straight away, and as we have no way of knowing this, we must take them out. Are you with me so far?’

  ‘Yes, I understand.’ It was all becoming clearer to me now; Dynamo was answering a lot of the questions I’d been dying to ask.

  He pushed back his chair and lightly sprang to his feet. ‘You still have a lot to learn, Geordie, and there’s no time like the present, so let’s get started. Follow me!’

  I did as he asked and we went over to where Spot and Chalky had continued to practise while we talked. Dynamo pointed towards them.

  ‘This is not basic unarmed combat, Geordie, it is a science! Let me explain. You, or rather we, have to have the ability to get out of any scenario in which we might find ourselves and this type of combat, in conjunction with our weapons, is what makes that possible. The four of us have to work together in such a way that if we are confronted with one, two, or even ten, armed men we know we have the ability to take them out. But to do that we have to draw them in, we need for them to be only inches away to execute what we need to do.

  ‘What makes this possible is that we have the element of surprise, we will not be dressed like soldiers, we will not appear to be armed – ten heavily armed men surrounding four unarmed men would feel under no threat and totally in control of the situation. They will relax and have no idea that the four men they think are their prisoners actually have the ability to dispose of them all. Still with me?’ he asked, but raised his hand to silence me before I could interrupt by asking questions.

  I nodded and he went on: ‘Although we might allow ourselves to appear to be captured, and let our “captors” believe they have the upper hand, we can’t afford, under any circumstances, to allow ourselves to be tied up. Once that happens they might start beating you or just blow your bloody brains out and we can’t take the risk of that happening. If it appears that this is what is about to take place, then that is the point when we take them out. There is no other option, we cannot allow th
em to get rough or physically damage us in any way because once hit you become weakened and can lose the ability to fight back.

  ‘So, any indication that one of them might be going to get violent, or make a move to use a rifle butt, punch, hit or kick us then that is the time we take them out. And what makes this possible is The Machine. It’s all about controlling a situation that appears to be controlled by someone else – remember it’s one thing to be surrounded by just a few men but that situation can only get worse and the next thing you know you’re in prison or surrounded by an army.

  ‘The full range of moves that we are going to teach you cover every form of attack whether this is with knives, batons, rifles, pistols, revolvers whatever. I know this will seem totally impossible to you right now. But for example, take someone coming at you with a knife,’ he said, picking up a nearby bayonet. ‘If the guy tries to slash your face then suddenly changes direction and aims for your stomach instead, you have no way of knowing that is what he intends to do until he actually moves. His whole action takes merely a fraction of a second, but your recognition of what he is about to do takes a fraction of a second longer, by that time your guts will be hanging out!’

  To demonstrate what he was saying, Dynamo swiftly brought the bayonet in his right hand up towards the left side of my face. Instinctively, I raised my hands to prevent him and leaned backwards away from the blade. But I was too late – the bayonet was already touching my cheek.

  ‘What will give you the edge and make it possible for you to counter his attack is knowing what he is going to do before he actually does it. This you will learn in time. But by anticipating every move it is possible for him to make with a knife, you then have the knowledge to stop him. You must begin to learn to know your enemy, how he operates, what he is likely to do in a given situation. You will learn how to recognise from the moves he makes whether he is carrying a knife or a gun, and act accordingly.’