The Enemy Within

Chapter 4

Just then he hears the tell tale sounds of stealthy footsteps crunching on the gravel outside. He peeps out of the window and immediately pulls back, ""Damn it... they must have had someone in the area."

The computer beeps as the download is completed and he hits a couple of keys and all the data turns into gibberish on the screen. He grabs the flash drive and stuffs it into his pocket. He dives through the open toilet door and then out the unzipped tent window into the open desert beyond.

The commandos burst through the tent flaps to find only the open laptop. They fan out in search of Alan and one of them shouts, pointing to the open flap of the toilet window. They immediately turn around and charge out, leaving the tech ops to handle the now useless laptop.They vault over the barricades around the camp and head out into the desert where they can see a speck in the distance.

Alan runs out to the massive dunes that dot the desert landscape. As he clambers up a huge dune, he hears shots ringing out behind him. There are puffs of sand thrown up at his sides. He clambers on with the extra speed borne out of the sheer will to live.

He reaches the top of the massive dune and looks around wildly. Below is a huge 40-foot drop in the sand below. He turns and sees the men running towards him – shouting at him to stop or they will shoot. He turns back and prepares to jump just as a shot is fired. Alan falls forward headlong into the 40-foot dune drop.

A Mahindra Thar open-top safari jeep is bouncing around the desert dunes - one of the many tourist cars on a sunset joyride. Four men and a driver cum guide are enjoying the sunset in the desert.

The driver – Mr. Bakshi – is a 50-year-old proud Rajasthani, dressed in a traditional Rajasthani outfit, complete with a colourful turban, and he is giving a running commentary on the sights the tourists can expect to see on the sunset safari.

The four men in the car with him look to be from different origins across the globe and are listening to him in rapt attention, while trying to look around at the same time.

"This is one of the finest sights you will ever see, gentlemen!" Bakshi beams at all of them. "A glorious desert sunset and then later, the spectacular desert night sky... A sight that has to be seen to be believed."

Suddenly one of the tourists points to his right and exclaims, "Hey what the heck is that?"

All the men turn towards the right. On a massive dune there they see a man tumbling down. Bakshi immediately turns his car towards the fallen man.

The car approaches as Alan tumbles down the sand dune. The car skids to a halt and all five men jump out and go running towards Alan.

One man reaches him first. He bends over Alan and checks his pulse. He bends over to check his breathing. Just then the others catch up – they all crowd around looking worried.

The man who reached him first stammers in a British accent, "G.. G... Good Lord, he's dead. Looks like he's been shot!"

Another man speaks in English but with a European accent, "We need to call the police – immediately!" He pulls out his phone.

The four tourists turn to look at Bakshi who is visibly shaken up at the sight of the dead man.

He screams at them, "Stop, Sir! This is a border area... please don't touch the body, don't touch anything! Please come with me. We need to call the Border Security Force..."

All the men rush into the car and the car speeds away.

The 4 commandos pursuing Alan reach the top of the dune. They see nothing except Alan's body sprawled at the bottom of the dune and a safari jeep in the distance. They rush down and check the body. They conduct a thorough search of his person but find nothing. One man pulls out a satellite phone and speaks urgently – "Sir, we managed to get the double agent – he is terminated.... the tech team are trying to recover data from his laptop."

He listens for a moment and nods, "Yes Sir, we will ensure there are no traces of the operation."