Arthur went back to the warehouse early the next morning and waited to see if he would get the opportunity to get inside somehow. He hoped he could overcome a guard and get in that way. But the worked closely together in groups of three. Leaving no opportunity of a surprise attack. Then at nine o'clock the same car as he had followed the night before pulled up empty except for the driver. The target, Arthur still had no idea who he was, exited the building and stood taking to two other men, he was carrying the briefcase he had with him the night before. It was clear to Arthur that he was leaving. Arthur got back to his car and drove to the main road, hoping to follow the other car when it left the area.
The car came out of the side road it had the driver and the target inside. Arthur followed at a discrete distance. Following the car for several miles until it left the town going north. Ten miles outside of the city the car pulled into a garage to fill up. Arthur parked up and casually walked towards the garage. Both men were away from the car, he saw them go to the toilets at the side of the garage. They were obviously confident to leave the car unattended. It was clear to Arthur he wouldn't be able to follow in his own car and remain undetected, the traffic as getting to light, so as the attendant refuelled the car, his back luckily facing Arthur, he carefully got into the boot. Making himself comfortable and at the same time made sure he could open the truck from the inside, he placed him pen as close to the parcel shelf as he could hoping to be able to listen in once more. He was playing a risky game but hoped it would pay off. Having spoken to Morgause the night before he knew just how much was riding on his mission. Arthur also took the precaution of activating the tracker in his pocket.
As the car started up and pulled away Arthur checked the compass on his watch, they were continuing north. Arthur was getting cramped they had been driving for over six hours and by his reckoning they were approaching the Syrian border. When they eventually stopped Arthur carefully opened the boot lid a centimetre and peaked out. Sure enough there were border guards. He closed the boot once more and tried to stretch his legs in case he needed to move quickly. To his amazement the car was not searched in any way and was passed through the border with only very basic if any checks. Arthur was now in Syria! This could prove interesting. At least London would know where he was as long as the tracker kept working. It was another three hours before they stopped.
Arthur waited until he was as sure as he could be that there was no one in the car and got out. He was in a dark building, looking around he could see it was an almost empty underground garage. He spent the next half an hour working all the cricks out of his body and stretching, he was glad that at least the car was a big one had he hadn't been folded in half for the journey. Making his way round the garage he found a lift and a sign as well as a stair case. It appeared he was in the underground basement of a hotel in Hamah. Going up the stairs he found himself in a heavily bombed area of the city. The hotel was not much more than a shell. Moving carefully away from the area he decided to was to heavily patrolled to much in the dark so made his way back to the garage. Settling down to get what sleep he could. Early next morning he heard footsteps coming down the stairs so he quickly got back into the boot deciding if it was his target he didn't want to be left behind.
Just as the boot shut and he had settled down once more he felt the car move as people got in. Listening once more before the engine started he found they were heading to Aleppo. It seemed they were meeting someone there. Arthur settled down knowing he had a further two or three hours before they arrived.
Three hours later Arthur felt the car pull up and the engine stop, as soon as he heard the car doors shut he carefully opened the lid a crack. He was parked in a busy street. It was going to be hard to get out without being seen. Not only that but he was in clearly European clothes, luckily not a suit but jeans and t shirt. They were at least dusty and dirty form sleeping on the garage floor overnight so didn't stand out to much. Arthur waited and then a donkey drawn cart full of sacks drew up beside and Arthur took his chance and got out. A small child crouched at the side of the road saw him but no one else seemed to notice. Arthur started to walk away to the nearest shell damaged building hoping to be able to take stock of the situation. Once there he grabbed a cloth of a washing line to cover his blonde hair and grabbed a handful of dust from the ground and smeared his face to hide his skin tone. Now all he needed to do was try and find out where the target had gone to.
As Arthur was assessing the situation a shell landed nearby and the building shook. Arthur couldn't help but curse that he'd ended up in a war zone in one of the most anti British territories in the word at this moment in time. But he was here to do a job and at least he spoke several Arabic languages so could make himself understood if necessary. Heading to a market he mingled with the crowds and looked around before spotting his target. So he went towards him to see him handing over an envelope very similar to the one Arthur had rescued from the vivarium. Once it was handed over Arthur decided to follow the new owner in the hopes he was on the right track, he wouldn't know until it was in his hand and checked.
As the new owner a man of Arabic descent walked through the town Arthur got closer until he was able to jump him as he walked past an alley way. Arthur hit him over the head with his gun and walked away. He opened the envelope and removed a USB stick and placed it in his pocket. As he did so a shot rang out and Arthur felt a sharp and agonising pain in his right shoulder, he had been shot. Arthur started to run between the bombed out buildings looking for a place to hide knowing he didn't have long before he passed out. He ducked into a doorway and sank to his knees.
Merlin has just taken the chance to grab something to eat as the theatre was cleaned from the previous case when he heard his name called it was Bayard.
"Merlin theatre now an emergency adult male a bad gunshot wound to the shoulder bleeding profusely looks like an artery"
The meal forgotten Merlin ran back into theatre and grabbed a pair of sterile gloves and going straight to the man looked at the wound and plunging his fingers into the wound called for a clamp and clamped off the bleeder it was the suprascaplar Artery. "Get him on the table now and get me two units of O group blood now, we'll need more."
Merlin turned a scrubbed up as quickly as he could before getting surgery started, Merlin was already looking at the wound and doing what he could as the anaesthetist was getting the patient under. In record time Merlin was investigating the wound and repairing the large artery before looking at the rest of the damage. The bullet had the patient's scapula nicking the artery before smashing into the flesh and surrounding structures. Merlin called for his loupes, surgical magnifying glasses for microsurgery. Not only did he repair the artery but also two major nerves, the radial and musculocutaneous. As well as the tissues and removal of several bone chips the bullet hit as it travelled through the shoulder.
Several hours later he stood up having just closed the wound. "That's all I can do for now"
The anaesthetist looked at Merlin with respect "That's more than most could have done, where did you do your microsurgery?"
"Queens in London. I got a stint in during my training on a plastic ward." Merlin replied. "Haven't used it much since, who is this guy anyway?"
The anaesthetist looked at his notes "John Doe brought in by the family of one of your ex patients found him in the house they're using over the street. European. Good looking Gut early thirties I'd say, sort of recognise him from somewhere."
Merlin looked at his patients face for the first time and blanched "I know him, well I've met him before he was a big donor at the London fund raiser I went to just before I came out, Lord Arthur Pendragon. What the hell is he doing here?"
"Don't know but he should be thankful you were because you may have saved his arm."