Fair Game (24 page)

He sipped his coffee. ‘During the 1990s they tended to stick to their shoreline and only seized vessels close to the Horn of Africa. Usually small freighters, but they seized yachts, fishing boats, whatever they could board. Initially they just robbed the ship, taking money and valuables, sometimes food and equipment. Then they realised that they could ransom the vessels and the crew. Ransoms were usually of the order of tens of thousands of dollars and more often than not they were paid. Once they realised how easy it was, they started to roam farther afield and now anywhere in the Gulf of Aden is fair game. These days there’s no limit to the size of vessel they’re capable of seizing, from massive container ships to supertankers laden with oil. What we’ve seen recently is the pirates heading out to sea in skiffs to seize small freighters or fishing boats which they then sail out into deeper waters so that they can board larger vessels. They have supply ships loaded with food, water and weapons so they can stay at sea for months at a time. They’ve struck as far as eight hundred miles off the Somali coast.’

‘And the ransoms went up, right?’

‘Through the roof,’ said Giles. ‘Last year alone the pirates got more than eighty million dollars. Five million for a single ship isn’t unusual but the shipping companies tend to keep quiet about how much they pay. It’s a major industry now, and even with CTF-150 on patrol, they’re still making millions. The thing is there’s no real incentive for the shipping companies to do anything. The chances of an individual ship being seized are remote. Some thirty thousand ships a year sail through, accounting for eight per cent of world trade and twelve per cent of the world’s oil.’

Shepherd chuckled. ‘You are okay with numbers, after all.’

The captain smiled and jerked a thumb at the computer monitor. ‘I told you, I’ve got a crib sheet,’ he said. ‘But with the pirates taking around seventy or eighty ships a year, the shipping companies know that the chances of one of their ships being taken are small. Considering the billions of dollars of goods and oil that are shipped through every day, they can afford to pay a ransom if and when they have to. Or they can take out insurance. Taken as a whole, the cost of ransoms probably works out at about three thousand dollars per ship. Which in the grand scheme of things is barely a drop in the ocean.’ He grinned. ‘Pun intended. The shipping companies could avoid the area by sailing around Africa, but that would add weeks to any voyage and they’d be stuck with extra fuel and wage costs. They can take out insurance, or they can carry a protection squad. But insurance premiums for piracy are going through the roof and a decent protection squad will cost five thousand dollars a day.’

‘Who pays the ransom?’ asked Shepherd.

‘If the shipping company has taken out insurance then it’s all covered. The insurance company will pass it over to a hostage negotiator and they’ll try to cut the best deal they can and then arrange to pay the money. Always in cash. Any shipowner running his vessels around the Gulf of Aden has to pay an extra premium for the privilege. A ship worth a hundred million dollars a few years ago would pay twenty thousand dollars for insurance from Asia to Europe, but that’s now gone up to a hundred and fifty thousand or so. If the ship isn’t insured then the cost of the ransom will generally be shared between the shipowner and the cargo owner. I think most companies have been waiting to see if CTF-150 will deal with the problem.’

‘And will it?’

Giles shrugged. ‘That’s why I was out there this month, getting a sit-rep for my bosses. The thing is, we’ve got all the technology we need, but at the end of the day we’re sailing around in warships and they’re fishermen in inflatables and skiffs. We can hardly blow them out of the water. And if we do manage to catch them, what do we do with them? The days of clapping them in irons or hanging them from the yardarm are long gone. We took a group of six earlier this year, caught them red handed with Kalashnikovs and RPGs. You know what they did? Demanded to see the captain and said they wanted asylum.’

‘No way,’ said Shepherd.

Giles nodded. ‘They were in international waters on a British ship and they were claiming that they were being persecuted by the government in Somalia. The captain was stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was supposed to hand them over to the Somali authorities but once they had claimed asylum the human rights legislation kicked in.’

‘I guess this never made the papers?’

‘Complete media blackout,’ said Giles. ‘The captain ended up giving them back their weapons, plus extra food and water, and letting them go on their sweet way.’

‘Madness,’ said Shepherd.

‘What was the alternative? Taking them back to the UK so that they could claim housing benefits? We can’t shoot them out of the water because then we become the imperialist bullies that everyone says we are. The only thing we can do is fire a warning shot across their bows, but they’re starting to realise that we’re not going to hit them.’

‘So you can’t stop them taking ships?’

‘We can scare them off, that’s about it. And if they do take a ship, there’s not much we can do. Our orders are not to try to retake the vessel.’

‘Because?’

‘Because of the risk to our forces and the risk of losing hostages. We can’t be seen to be responsible for any casualties. And the simple fact is that ninety-nine times out of a hundred the hostages are released in good health once the ransom’s been paid. The Russians and the French have sent in their special forces to release ships and we could do the same with the SAS and SBS if the powers-that-be wanted us to.’

Shepherd sighed. He hadn’t realised that the country’s armed forces had become as politically correct as its law enforcement agencies. ‘So we just wait for the ships to be released, is that it?’

Giles nodded. ‘There’s a whole industry geared up for the ransom business,’ he said. ‘The cash is raised and flown out, usually to Kenya first and then into Somalia. From there it’s more often than not flown out to the ship and dropped using special parachutes. The pirates divide up the cash and leave, usually in several groups heading in several directions. And like I said, generally the hostages aren’t harmed. There have been some killings and a few rapes but they’re the exception. The pirates talk tough but really they know that they gain nothing by killing hostages.’

‘And the pirates, do we know who they are?’

‘We’ve got a lot of photographs and video, and some intelligence,’ said the captain. ‘There are up to a thousand or so men involved, mainly from the Puntland region in north-eastern Somalia, which is where the fishing industry was concentrated. There are at least six major gangs and several dozen other smaller ad hoc groups.’

‘Can you run the photographs by me, and any details you have?’

‘Are you planning to go out there?’ asked the captain.

‘Looks that way,’ said Shepherd.

‘Well, I can guarantee you won’t be bored,’ said Giles. He gestured at his side of the desk. ‘Pull your chair over here and I’ll show you what we’ve got.’

‘So you’re telling me that the fragrant Charlotte Button has authorised an off-the-books operation?’ said Martin O’Brien. He sipped his lager. ‘I must have woken up in some alternative reality this morning.’

‘I was as surprised as you,’ said Shepherd.

‘Remember when you went AWOL in Dubai and Iraq?’

Shepherd nodded. ‘The Riot Act was read,’ he said.

‘So now we’re in a pot calling the kettle black situation.’

Shepherd raised his glass of Jameson’s and soda. ‘We are indeed,’ he said, and stretched out his legs. They were sitting in the Dancers Bar in the atrium of the Hilton Hotel close to Heathrow Airport’s Terminal Four. ‘And she even asked for you by name.’

O’Brien’s eyebrows headed skywards. ‘Now I know I’m dreaming,’ he said. He looked at his watch, a Rolex Submariner with a black bezel. ‘My flight’s in an hour,’ he said, ‘and I’m guessing you need a decision now?’

‘It’s a rush job,’ said Shepherd. ‘I’ll understand if you can’t do it.’

O’Brien ran a hand over his shaved head. ‘The job I’m on is management, mainly. I’ve a good team and they can practically run themselves.’

‘Bodyguarding?’

‘Taking care of a Russian oligarch who’s moved to Cyprus. He made a lot of enemies in Moscow and thinks they’re out to get him. I think he’s paranoid but his money’s good.’

‘Can you get away?’

‘Sure,’ said O’Brien. ‘He’s getting on my nerves anyway.’ He nodded. ‘I’m up for it. Basically you need an extraction team, right?’

Shepherd nodded. ‘Ten guys. Maybe twelve.’

‘And Charlie’s OK with all this? Because it won’t be cheap.’

‘She says she’ll find the money from the operation she’s running.’

‘We’ll need some sort of fixer in Somalia, someone who speaks the language.’

‘Can you get people?’

‘Sure. But it’ll take a few days and I’ll have to be out there. Probably set up in Nairobi. I’ll need a few Kenyans on board.’

‘What about the Bradford boys?’

‘Jack’s on leave, I think he’s in Bristol. Billy’s out in Iraq but they’re both on short-term contracts so I’m pretty sure I can sign them up. Let me put my thinking cap on. What about kit?’

‘Buy what you need. Give me a bank account number and I’ll see about getting funds transferred.’

‘That’s going to leave a trail.’

Shepherd grinned. ‘Charlie’s with Five now, not SOCA. She’s got access to all sorts of offshore accounts.’

‘What about intel?’

‘I’ll be your conduit while I’m in London. If I leave, we’ll fix up someone else. You’ll have everything we have, satellite imagery, phone taps, money movements, surveillance pictures.’

‘And for the extraction, are we going for the whole crew or just the girl?’

Shepherd chuckled. ‘I can just imagine what the press’ll say if she gets rescued and everyone else gets left behind. It’s a three-musketeers job. All for one and one for all.’

‘And what about getting into Somalia?’

‘Good question.’

‘It would mean a decent-sized plane or two helicopters. And if we go the chopper route we’ll need two pilots and two mechanics.’

‘Not necessarily,’ said Shepherd. ‘It depends where they’re being held. If they’re close to the sea you can take them out by sea. A fast boat, and straight out to one of the Royal Navy’s, God bless ’em. Or get them to the Somali government forces. Maybe even let them take the credit.’

O’Brien nodded thoughtfully. ‘Might work,’ he said. ‘But we’d have to be sure of whoever we hand them over to. It’d be a nightmare if the government gave them back to the pirates.’

‘The government hate the pirates. There won’t be a problem.’

‘We’re going to need weapons – the pirates have everything from AK-47s to RPGs.’

‘You’ll have to arrange your own supplies, but you’ll have the money. Nothing traceable to the UK, obviously.’

‘That’s not a problem, Africa’s awash with ordnance.’ He leaned towards Shepherd. ‘What are the chances that we’ll go in?’ he said. ‘The ransom’s definitely not being paid, is that right?’

‘Not specifically for the crew of the yacht. Neither the owner nor the builder will stump up the cash and the government can’t be seen to be negotiating with the pirates just because one of the crew is the PM’s god-daughter. I think Charlie’s hoping that the pirates will accept one payment for two groups.’

‘Which ship have they taken?’

Shepherd chuckled. ‘They haven’t yet.’

‘Bloody hell, Spider, this is seat of the pants stuff, isn’t it?’

‘We’ve got the pirates under surveillance and we’re pretty sure they’re ready to move. When they do, Charlie’s going to put me on the ship.’

O’Brien laughed. ‘They do like to put you in the firing line, don’t they?’

‘Yeah, well, in Plan A I was just there to make sure that nobody gets hurt. Charlie’s Plan B is a bit more complicated.’

‘I bet,’ said O’Brien.

‘She thinks we can track them from the freighter to their base. Then if the ransom negotiations don’t pan out you go on in and pull them out.’

‘There’ll be casualties,’ said O’Brien. ‘It could get very messy.’

‘You’re always the pessimist, Martin.’

‘Just so you know, Spider. If the shit hits the fan, I’m guessing that Charlie is going to wash her hands of us all.’

‘She’ll have our backs.’

O’Brien raised his glass. ‘She’s a bureaucrat, she’ll cover her own arse first.’

‘I trust her,’ said Shepherd. ‘And like I said, it could all turn out well. We’ll send in negotiators and they’ll try to do a deal for all the hostages they’ve got. The ship they’ll be targeting will be worth hundreds of millions and the shipping company will be keen to pay. The price of a few sailors should get lost along the way.’

‘But with my pessimist’s hat on, I’ve got to point out that if we have to go in, people are going to get hurt.’

‘I don’t think anyone’s going to cry over a few dead pirates,’ said Shepherd. ‘They’ve been a thorn in the Somali government’s side for years. But hopefully it won’t come to that.’

‘We still haven’t decided on choppers or a plane.’

‘I’d go for fixed wing. But keep your options open until we know exactly what we’re going to be doing.’

O’Brien looked at his watch again. ‘I’ve got to head off,’ he said. He stood up and the two men hugged. O’Brien patted Shepherd on the back. ‘Be careful, pal,’ he said.

‘Always,’ said Shepherd.

Shepherd phoned Katra from the train and she was waiting at Hereford station with the CRV. They drove to Liam’s school, where he was standing outside, looking at his watch. He scowled when he saw the CRV but grinned when he saw that Shepherd was in the front passenger seat.

‘Sorry we’re late. Katra had to pick me up,’ said Shepherd as Liam climbed into the back seat.

‘How long are you back for?’

‘Not sure. A few days. Maybe longer.’

‘Great,’ said Liam. ‘Can we go to McDonald’s?’

‘I don’t see why not? Unless Katra has cooked.’

Katra grinned. ‘McDonald’s is fine,’ she said.

‘McDonald’s it is. Even though your old dad prefers Burger King.’

‘You’re not old, Dad,’ said Liam.

‘No need for flattery, kid, I’ve already agreed to McDonald’s.’