A Question of Balance: Daughter of a Fisherman (Book Two)

By Ellen Elizabeth

After a plan is discovered to sink the QE2, Mary Higgins, MI6 security agent is sent on board to assist in the defence and meets up with Bob Taylor security chief.
David, after receiving information from a Mossad colleague searches for the whereabouts of a mysterious midget corpse in a Cairo hospital and gains the trust of a beautiful mortuary assistant and she tells him of her suspicions.

• Language: English
• Publisher: XinXii
• Release date: Jun 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9783969311691

Book preview

A Question of Balance.

By

Ellen Dudley.

Copyright © 2016 Ellen Dudley.

Copyright © 2016 Ellen Elizabeth Dudley.

Contact: [e-mail]

The author or authors assert their moral right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act, 1988, to be identified as the author or authors of this work.

All Rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, copied, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written consent of both the copyright holder, and the above publisher of this book, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

ISBN: 978-3-96931-169-1

Verlag GD Publishing Ltd. & Co KG, Berlin

E-Book Distribution: XinXii

www.xinxii.com

Table of Contents

Chapter one.

Chapter two

Chapter Three.

Chapter Four.

Chapter Five

Chapter Six.

Chapter Seven.

Chapter Eight.

Chapter Nine.

Chapter Ten.

Chapter Eleven.

Chapter Twelve.

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen.

Chapter Fifteen.

Chapter fifteen.

Chapter sixteen.

Chapter seventeen.

Chapter eighteen.

Chapter nineteen.

Chapter twenty.

Chapter one.

Egypt.

An Opel Hybrid-electro jeep whined its way along the well-used desert road pursuing its own long shadow. Two small gloved hands gripped the steering wheel as the jeep bucked and shook over the badly-repaired surface.

Slowing down some as it passed through a small village situated in the Egyptian desert it slowed down more as it neared a small white-painted building on the outskirts.

A tiny lizard waited immobile in the shadow of the lone building for its approaching meal, a desert scorpion hurrying towards him to escape the heat of the sun’s rays. The only other visible creatures at that early time of day were a pack of mangy dogs hunting for scraps in the dirt.

The dust-covered jeep pulled in close to the building that stood some way off from the village, its brakes squeaking. The lizard, half a metre away from the front wheel remained frozen. A small figure dressed in Arab clothing clambered down from the jeep. As he did so, his thick-soled desert boot stepped onto a scorpion scurrying over the stony ground squashing it. He looked down in disgust and scraped the remains off the boot sole in the dirt and brushed the dust off his aba.

He walked round to the rear of the 4X4, opened the vehicles door, and took out his rucksack. As he locked his vehicle with his remote a white dog with a black paw came up and sniffed at him; he turned and lashed out with his foot, the dog jumped to one side and barked its defiance.

A sudden gust of wind disturbed the litter on the village streets, deserted due to the midday heat. Somewhere a cock crowed feebly and a baby cried out hungrily. The dog barked once again and departed.

Opposite the tiny building, lying on its side some ten metres from the road lay the wreck of a burnt out oil transporter, a relic from the Israeli-Egypt six-day war.

The lizard remained in the shadows, patiently waiting.

The figure looked around him in derision; he walked to the front of the building, unlocked the door, and entered.

On entering the one-roomed building, he closed and locked the door. He threw his rucksack onto a chair next to his bed and removed his outer clothing. He ran his hand over his shaven head the back of which displayed a black, spider tattoo, then he lay down on his bed on his side, facing the wall and fell asleep immediately.

*

Mahmud Abbas, an Israeli of Arab extract, stood by a roadside cafe on the outskirts of a small town called Al Qasumi on the Israeli side of the Egyptian border smoking a cigarette. He was wearing an Armani suit over a white silk shirt. He pulled the cuff back to expose his gold watch; he noted the time and gazed to his left down the road. In the small town it was midday.

He saw in the distance, through the heat haze, a tiny speck, a vehicle, approaching along the almost deserted road. He took a silk handkerchief from his breast pocket and dabbed the perspiration from his brow, and then wiped the dust from his expensive, hand-made shoes.

He threw his half-finished cigarette into the dirt as a white Mercedes Sprint approached. Dust billowed out behind the vehicle. Mahmud held out his hand and the vehicle pulled up beside him. He opened the van’s door, his cousin Haji was at the wheel, grinning at him. He was ten years younger, well built with big bones, the right kind of muscle when Mahmud needed it. As usual his denim shirt was stained with sweat, his Levi’s dirty and he still wore the Nikes that had seen better days.

Mahmud drawled, Did you get everything?

Haji removed his Ray-Bans and flashed his teeth; he jerked his thumb to the rear of the vehicle. Everything you wished for, Cousin.

With relief evident in his features, Mahmud walked round to the rear and opened the door. As he hoped he would, he saw the boxes containing the high explosives, the olive-green cases containing anti-tank weapons, the AK47’s, and the cases of ammunition.

He closed the door, walked back to the front of the van and climbed in. He closed the door, sat beside the driver, and slapped him affectionately on the shoulder. Good, well done cousin, now drive on.

Mahmud took out his mobile as Haji engaged the automatic gear lever and drove off. He tipped out a number and waited, and then he heard a familiar voice and said, Hello Basu my friend, we have the merchandise and will be in Hejab at the usual place awaiting your arrival, see you soon.

He replaced the mobile in his jacket pocket. Haji looked at him, he appeared a little apprehensive. Was that Dirin, Basu Dirin? I hope he comes up with the full amount this time. He paused and a look of anxiety altered his features. Hey, he doesn’t suspect me of shagging his youngest sister does he?

Mahmud grinned. Why should he, you haven’t been have you?

Haji grinned too and said, Of course not, what do you take me for?

They left the town behind them and after a while, they turned off the road to avoid the border patrols and crossed the desert into Egypt.

After arriving back on the roadway, they ran into a cloud of dust. They drove on and saw the cause of the turbulence; an Iroquois helicopter of the Israeli Air Force hovering in the centre of the desert road.

Haji braked almost to a stop. Mahmud shouted at him, Drive on you fool. He will move.

Haji sat frozen at the wheel.

Mahmud rammed the heel of his shoe twice down onto Haji’s foot covering the accelerator, causing him to wince and the van to shoot forward towards the aircraft.

Inside the helicopter, Major Shaul Mufatz, took evasive action and rose above the van. He gave chase matching his speed to that of the Mercedes two hundred metres to his right. His co-pilot and gunner, Shev Gurion switched on his weaponry. Just get in a little closer and I will show you how to stop a moving vehicle from a helicopter.

Shaul smiled. No, we have to bring them in alive, anyway, he might be waiting for us to get in closer, he could have a 47’ loaded and ready, just fire a couple of bursts in front of him, show him we mean business.

Shev responded eagerly and fired a burst from the traversable Gatlin canon slung underneath the helicopter fuselage. Three canon shells impacted on the tarmac and exploded ten meters in front of the speeding vehicle. The Mercedes kept on going swerving from side to side.

Haji looked anxiously in the helicopters direction. His hands were tight on the wheel, his knuckles showing whitely, more afraid after the warning shots. He looked at his cousin anxiously.

Mahmud returned his look showing composure hoping to calm him.

In the distance Haji could see their destination, a small village half hidden in the desert haze. He asked, We are nearly there, what do we do now?

Mahmud looked at the helicopter now only a hundred meters away he turned to Haji and smiled. He has no right to follow us here, keep on driving; we can always turn back when he gives up. He was startled again as the cannon mounted under the helicopters nose flamed once more, a short burst nearer to the front of the van.

In the helicopter, Gurion turned to the pilot. This isn’t working. I think if I just clip the van then they will be expecting the next rounds to be even closer.

The pilot looked at him for a few seconds then said, Okay, but just one round.

The gunner grinned and took aim, he fired one round, this time closer, in fact too close as the projectile hit the front wheel, shredding the tyre and shattering the brake disc.

The speeding van went into a long, sliding skid, spinning full circle. Haji screamed, struggling to regain control.

Mahmud froze in fear as the van careered off the road, crashed frontal into the wreck of the oil tanker, bounced off and came to rest, pointing in the direction it had come.

Haji whimpered and Mahmud tried to pick himself up off the floor as they lay crumpled together in the wreck, injured, bleeding, in pain.

The helicopter, having veered off, approached slowly and circled the damaged vehicle.

Suddenly, the rear of the vehicle exploded in a giant fireball. The helicopter, hit by the blast was knocked to one side with Mofatz fighting the controls.

The explosion flattened a small building on the opposite side of the road. A jeep parked near to it flew through the air, and crashed into a small grove of trees where it burned fiercely.

The occupants of a row of buildings, damaged and set on fire in the explosion, ran out onto the street. On seeing the helicopter they shouted raising their fists in anger.

A tiny lizard lying protected behind the