Blackout - By Tom Barber Page 0,42

me to handle. He claimed that he was passing it to me because he wanted to give me an opportunity to see what I could do, more responsibility, to see how I handled the pressure, etc. But even at the time I knew that was all bullshit. The fact is, no one else wanted it. It should have been a military job, but for some reason that I never discovered, no one would touch it, all making up long and elaborate excuses as to why it wasn’t possible. So it got passed down and I ended up being the schmuck who was too junior to say no. If I did, I would have been transferred straight out of there and stuck behind a desk. My career would effectively have been over before it had begun.’

There was another pause.

‘What was the operation, sir?’ Porter asked.

Cobb flicked his gaze at Jackson, who stood watching him silently, his arms folded. The American nodded and Cobb continued.

‘Three soldiers from NATO ground forces had been kidnapped. One of ours, a British Army infantry Corporal, and two United States Marines. Intelligence reports said that they were being held somewhere in the Drenica Valley, a long gully in central Kosovo where a lot of the fighting took place. It was my job to find them and get them out. NATO had forces on the ground, but we had extensive access to undercover operatives, drones, bugs and wire-taps.’ He paused. ‘I was working on this alone with a carefully selected team of six. No one aside from the absolute minimum knew about it. My boss said that we couldn’t risk any kind of leaks. If the press became aware of the situation, it could compromise the safety of the hostages. There would be ransom demands and possibly filmed executions.’

He nodded.

‘Soon enough the team under my supervision found the three men by using a drone. It was just as they said. They were being held captive by a group of eight soldiers. I relayed this to my senior officer and he ordered me to organise the rescue operation, which was strange too.’

‘Why?’ Chalky asked.

‘At MI6, they use covert and undercover operatives, secretive tactics, similar to the work the CIA does. We weren't a military hit-and-run squad and definitely not a rescue team. But nevertheless, he ordered me to handle it, and put me in touch with an American agent from the CIA to assist me. That happened to be Agent Jackson here.’

The four ARU officers looked over at the American, who nodded, his expression unreadable, his arms folded. Cobb continued.

‘Given that two of the hostages were US Marines and that it was a NATO operation, Agent Jackson wanted American soldiers in the rescue team, as well as our own,’ he said. ‘Consequently, it ended up being a six-man squad, two teams of three. Captain Charlie Adams of the British Army in charge, Sergeant Derek Spears of the United States Rangers his second-in-command. And the official name for the unofficial rescue was Operation Blackout.’

He paused.

‘The rescue operation would be performed by foot,' he continued. 'The captives were being held at a remote camp far away from both the Serb and KLA ground forces, out in the valleys towards Bosnia. We couldn’t use aircraft near their citadel. RPGs and bazookas were one of the most commonly used weapons in the war and we didn’t want to risk taking a hit. So the plan was to drop the team four miles to the east. They would infiltrate at night, move in, rescue the three hostages, then head back to the extraction point where it was safe to fly and for us to pick all nine of them up. We had to wait on the weather, and once it was in our favour, we were ready. Jackson and I were working together from a command post inside MI6, co-ordinating the operation. And on a Thursday night in late March in 1999, Operation Blackout was a go.’

He paused and nodded.

‘They abseiled in and the helicopter left without drawing fire or any attention. These were good men, you know, really good. They were under strict orders not to shoot to kill unless absolutely necessary. The team worked their way inside the perimeter under Captain Adams’ leadership. None of the enemy had a clue they were there, right under their noses. They moved right through the KLA camp, to the hut where the three hostages were being held. They got them out and headed back the