Meltdown Read online

  Table of Contents

  By the Same Author

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Glossary

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Chapter 42

  Chapter 43

  Chapter 44

  Chapter 45

  Chapter 46

  Epilogue

  About the Author

  Also By Andy McNab

  Moving into the reception area at the front of the building, Danny and Lee pulled Tasers from their pockets before going through the doors to the main stairs.

  Lee checked that Danny had a firm grip on the Taser before whispering to him, 'You all right?'

  Danny nodded.

  'Good. Don't worry, you'll be OK. You take the one on the right. Be sharp. Don't think, just do.'

  Danny nodded again, his mouth suddenly dry and his hands clammy. He knew why Lee was concerned and anxious to reassure him. He was about to take offensive action for the first time; actually attack another person. Until this moment Danny had always been on the receiving end of an attack, only fighting to escape. This time it would be very different . . .

  Great reviews for Boy Soldier:

  'Highly explosive'

  The Bookseller

  'Exciting insights into SAS secrets and a

  fast-moving plot make this an adrenaline-filled

  and highly addictive read'

  Publishing News

  'Great stuff . . . highly recommended'

  Reading Matters

  www.boy-soldier.co.uk

  Also by Andy McNab and Robert Rigby

  BOY SOLDIER

  PAYBACK

  AVENGER

  Adult titles by Andy McNab

  BRAVO TWO ZERO

  IMMEDIATE ACTION

  AGGRESSOR

  CRISIS FOUR

  CROSSFIRE

  DARK WINTER

  DEEP BLACK

  FIREWALL

  LAST LIGHT

  LIBERATION DAY

  RECOIL

  REMOTE CONTROL

  Also by Robert Rigby

  GOAL!

  The official tie-in novelization of the movie

  GOAL II

  The official tie-in novelization of the movie

  ANDY McNAB and ROBERT RIGBY

  MELTDOWN

  This eBook is copyright material and must not be copied, reproduced, transferred, distributed, leased, licensed or publicly performed or used in any way except as specifically permitted in writing by the publishers, as allowed under the terms and conditions under which it was purchased or as strictly permitted by applicable copyright law. Any unauthorised distribution or use of this text may be a direct infringement of the author's and publisher's rights and those responsible may be liable in law accordingly.

  ISBN 9781407046990

  Version 1.0

  www.randomhouse.co.uk

  MELTDOWN

  A CORGI BOOK 978 0 552 55224 0

  First published in Great Britain by Doubleday,

  an imprint of Random House Children's Books

  A Random House Group Company

  Doubleday edition published 2007

  Corgi edition published 2008

  1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

  Copyright © Andy McNab and Robert Rigby 2007

  The right of Andy McNab and Robert Rigby to be identified as the authors of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

  This electronic book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, resold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser

  ISBN: 9781407046990

  Version 1.0

  Corgi Books are published by Random House Children's Books,

  61-63 Uxbridge Road, London W5 5SA

  www.kidsatrandomhouse.co.uk

  www.rbooks.co.uk

  Addresses for companies within The Random House Group Limited can be found at:

  www.randomhouse.co.uk/offices.htm

  A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

  GLOSSARY

  ACA Alias cover address

  Build-up Training for an operation

  Contact In afire fight with the enemy

  CQB Close quarter battle

  CT team Counter-terrorist team

  CTR Close target recce

  DMP Drug manufacturing plant

  End ex End exercise, but also used to

  end a mission or operation

  ERV Emergency rendezvous

  FAP Final assault position

  FARC Columbian drug traffickers

  FLIR Forward looking infra-red

  FOB Forward operating base

  GCHQ Government Communications

  Headquarters

  Int Intelligence

  IR Infra-red

  K Deniable operator

  Loadie Loadmaster

  A long Any rifle

  Mag A weapons magazine that holds

  the rounds

  Make ready a weapon To put a round (bullet) in the

  chamber, ready to be fired

  MOE Method of entry

  NVGs Night viewing goggles

  On stag On guard

  OP Observation post

  Op sec Operational security

  Pinged When someone is first seen

  Recce Reconnaissance

  The Regiment What SAS soldiers call the

  SAS

  RV Rendezvous (meeting place)

  A short Any pistol

  Sit rep Situation report

  SOP Standard operating procedure

  Stand to Get ready to be attacked

  UAV Unmanned aerial vehicle

  Yankees The team; the good guys

  X-rays Bad guys

  SURVEILLANCE TALK

  Complete Inside any location – a car,

  building, etc.

  Foxtrot Walking

  Held Stopped but intending to move

  on – i.e. at traffic lights

  Mobile Driving

  Net The radio frequency the team

  talk on

  Roger OK or understood

  Stand by! Stand by! Informs the team something is

  happening

  Static Stopped

  The trigger Informs the team that the target

  is on the move

  PROLOGUE

  Glasgow

  The thirty-minute team made the best use of the shadows as they approached their entry points and prepared for the attack. Close by
on the river Clyde, two tugs passed in opposite directions, their stubby bows pushing through the inky-black water.

  The four snipers were giving cover with their 7.62mm suppressed longs from fire positions 200 metres from the target building, a single-storey warehouse. They watched all sides and the roof, ready to give warning instantly if they saw movement from within the target that would compromise the assault team as they made their entry.

  Sniper one could see all four entry points and the assault groups moving in on them. He was giving constant updates to the entire team and the team commander, who was at the rear of the target with his signaller. He was the link between the team, the heli and London.

  'Sierra One has no change. No light, no movement'

  Three of the four assault groups reached their entry points, and each MOE man carefully began attaching two 10×15cm pads of explosive to the doors by their adhesive undersides. The brick-sized rubber door-entry charges were stuck close to the door hinges inside the frame.

  'Sierra One. No change.'

  The calm, reassuring words gave the team confidence: everything was OK and someone had eyes on them as they continued with their work.

  They couldn't afford to cock up. Bringing in special forces to take action against non-terrorist targets on UK soil is a big deal, and permission for such action can only come from the very highest level.

  The terrifying extent of the Meltdown crisis, with its threat to national and international security, had been kept from all but a very few. The mission to seek out and destroy the drug factory was urgent but it had to remain totally secret.

  So when intelligence came in giving the location of a suspected DMP, immediate action had to be taken. The PM was consulted and asked for permission to 'stand to' the SAS counter-terrorist team from their base in Hereford. He gave the go-ahead.

  The members of a thirty-minute team have to be able to reach camp within half an hour of being paged. As soon as the messages came through, just like volunteer firemen, they stopped whatever they were doing and got on the road.

  At the same time a Chinook helicopter took off from its RAF base to pick up the team. By the time the guys had arrived at the camp and come into the crew room, where their gear was packed and waiting, the commanders were already writing down instructions on white marker boards.

  The most important piece of information about the job appeared in big red capital letters:

  HELI PICK-UP

  COVERT OP UK

  The team knew instantly that it was a civvies clothes job, in boots and jeans, and that once the job was done, it would never exist on any database; they would act as if it had never happened.

  Within thirty minutes the team, along with two Range Rovers, was airborne in the Chinook. Each member was armed with an MP5-SD, the suppressed version of the machine gun, and wore earphones and a mic so that their commander could relay orders for the attack as they flew north.

  The Chinook landed three miles from the target area, on a desolate stretch of mudflats downstream. The wagons were swiftly unloaded, and within minutes the team was on its way to an area of abandoned warehouses and dockyards.

  The whole operation to get the team to the target had taken less than four hours, and now three of the four groups were ready to attack, with sniper one keeping the commentary going.

  'Sierra One has Red One, Two and Three ready.'

  Red Four was taking the entry point furthest from their start position; slowly they crawled under the final window to reach the fire-escape door where they were going to make entry.

  The MOE man moved to the right-hand side of the door and started to place the charges as the other three got into the assault position. Number one was just thirty centimetres away from the charges, with numbers two and three pressing up behind him. They had to be packed close together so that everyone was through the door as soon as possible to take on the x-rays inside.

  The MOE man started to unroll the firing cable from the charges so that he could stand on the lefthand side of the door. He attached the electrical firing device to the cable and nodded to number one.

  Only one thing remained to be done before the attack could begin. The final group's number two pulled the pin on an aerosol-can-sized 'flash-bang'. It was a grenade that exploded with blinding flashes and bangs, designed to attack the human eardrum and eyes so that its victims collapsed on the ground in agonizing pain. The assault groups had to go in at the same time as the flash-bang kicked off or they would lose the initiative. They had trained with the grenades over a long period of time and were now almost unaffected by flash-bangs.

  The number two pushed his arm forward so that the flash-bang was in front of his number one's face; he knew everyone behind him was ready to go.

  Sniper one could see that the final group was in position.

  'Sierra One has Red Four ready. All groups ready.'

  The team commander wasn't about to waste any more time or risk compromise by the third party or however many x-rays were inside the target.

  'Hello all stations, I have control. Stand by! Stand by! Go!'

  The four MOE guys pushed their buttons: earshattering explosions instantly blew away the doors. The teams stood their ground as wooden splinters were thrown into the air by the force of the charge, and the number twos threw in their flashbangs as the number ones barged their way into the target.

  The torches on the extra-thick suppressed barrels of their MP5s penetrated the smoke and brick dust as flashes and bangs sent shock waves through their bodies, and the rest of the team followed them in. They kept their mouths open to stop their eardrums from bursting as the pressure waves from the flashbangs filled the building; meanwhile their eyes hunted out targets.

  There were none. Not a single x-ray.

  And there was no sign of any manufacturing plant – the building looked completely empty.

  Then, as Red Four moved further into the haze and the flash-bangs stopped, their number one came across a dead body. Well dead.

  The guy looked as though he was in his early twenties. He lay flat on his back in a pool of blood which had burst from his mouth, eyes and ears. His face was bloated and contorted into a twisted mask of agony and fear.

  Number one reached into his pocket and pulled out a camera. He took some photos of the bloodsoaked body, then grabbed it and began to drag it from the building.

  Within seconds, news of the failed attack had been relayed to London and a decision was taken.

  It was time for a complete change of tactics.

  CLASSIFIED – CLASSIFIED – CLASSIFIED

  OPERATION MELTDOWN – FORMATION OF

  MELTDOWN 'TASK FORCE'

  Background and current situation

  Meltdown (also known as an 'M' or a 'Melt'): chemical/designer drug first appeared in UK and Europe spring 2006. Known to have been created and manufactured in UK. The tablets (marked with a distinctive 'M') are being manufactured and distributed at an alarmingly quick rate: manufacturing site(s) and distribution method(s) unknown.

  Effects

  Without doubt, and for numerous reasons, this is potentially the most dangerous chemical drug ever created. Apparently called Meltdown because slowing of the heartbeat leads to a gradual feeling of relaxation, tranquillity and complete well-being. However, prolonged use appears to cause completely opposite effect: uncontrollable rage and extreme violent behaviour. The drug is highly addictive. Laboratory tests indicate that Meltdown causes breakdown of brain tissue and 'meltdown' of internal organs. Autopsy on the only known death (male, aged 23 years) directly attributed to continued use of Meltdown appears to confirm all indications. The victim, an army dropout of known previous A1 health, suffered brain tissue destruction, extensive damage to liver and kidneys, and abnormal enlargement of heart muscle. Autopsy report concludes that at the moment of death the victim's heart literally 'burst'. Full autopsy report attached (Doc: MD0/574688C).

  Chemical make-up, formula and manufacture

  While o
ur scientists have identified the chemical 'ingredients', to date the specific formula and manufacturing method remain completely elusive. In layman's terms, the simplest analogy is with Coca-Cola, in that we know what is in Meltdown but we do not know how, or by what process it is constructed.