Reaper had also been shocked at the level of detail in the mission brief and the inclusion of highly classified documents, some were even stamped top secret. Reaper was no closer to knowing who his client was but a picture of a very well connected, powerful and manipulative figure was slowly coming into focus. Reaper was certain of one thing. If he failed, he was dead. The mission had a lot riding on it, it was now a life or death exercise.
Reaper had travelled to Scotland to see the Estate for himself. His pack had contained press clippings of the botched kidnapping as well as detailed schematics of the security system. The more he looked into it, the more he could not understand why Conor and his idiots had done what they had done. The place was impregnable, even with a couple of M1 tanks, Reaper would fail to get to the Kennedys.
He had rented a small secluded cottage twenty miles from the Estate and planned to base his operation from there. He had travelled back to the cottage that night and was still struggling to see how he was going to pull it off. He had a number of set criteria for a successful mission. It was not going to be easy.
It was three in the morning when the plan came to him in bed. His subconscious mind had looked beyond the small time operation he had been considering. He leapt up and was soon writing out the plan and how it could work. He had it! It was perfect and huge! Nothing like it had ever been done before. It would cost millions and he needed lots of men but he had the money and the time to put it in place. He checked his watch, it was 4.00 a.m. He had phone calls to make and it was daylight across the other side of the world.
Chapter 23
One week later
The twins were inseparable. They were now twenty five and had never spent more than one night apart. They had joined the army together and had insisted on being posted together. The recruiting sergeant had humoured them and assured them that this would not pose a problem. This was, of course, a lie and resulted in the only night the two had ever spent apart. The extent of the havoc caused by their apparent ‘oversight’ had resulted in the two being reunited the very next evening. That, however, left a question mark over their suitability for the armed forces but they were indulged for the time being, until their mettle could be properly tested.
Any concerns about suitability were dispelled when the two began training. They were natural soldiers and proved to be two of the best killers to enter the service. After two years’ training, they were assigned to a very specialist unit which normally took staff for a maximum of twelve months such was the intensity, both physically and emotionally, of the work. However, the twins had had their service contracts extended three times as no suitable replacements could be found to backfill their now legendary killing abilities.
It was therefore a complete shock when they received their latest orders which were completely different to their usual orders and appeared on the surface to be rather undeserving of their particular talents. Nonetheless, the most important issue had been covered, they were both on the same mission. As usual, they prepared themselves to ship out and move to new barracks.
The new barracks were unknown to anybody on their current base. They were referenced by a three digit number which nobody recognised. They all surmised that it was a new designation. Interestingly, even the base commander did not know where it was. When he had requisitioned their flight details, he had been refused clearance for the final destination and was informed that clearance was only given on a need-to-know basis and he did not need to know. He explained this to the twins who simply shrugged their shoulders and headed back to pack the rest of their belongings.
Their flight left on schedule and after three aircraft changes, they boarded their final flight. By this time, they had no idea where they were as each transfer had taken place on an empty landing strip with no identifiable landmarks. Their final transfer had taken place in the dark and they were so disorientated, they could have been anywhere from the Antarctic to the Arctic or from Asia to America. When they finally landed, all they knew was that they were on a small island and that it had to be South of the equator because the water drained clockwise in the toilet.
With daylight came a few more clues as to their location. The barracks were small and housed around 200 soldiers but it was not until later in the day that the twins realised that this was no ordinary barracks. The barracks were multi national and were full of teams from the world’s Special Forces. They were all specialists in anti- terrorism and hostage rescue. The twins quickly settled into the new regime, alongside the other soldiers. They took part in exercises in the morning and specialist training in the afternoon.
It was not until the evening of their first day that they had a chance to wander around the island. They soon found their objectives’ location and were amazed at the set up of the school. They completed their first reconnaissance, making note of relevant vantage points and blind spots.
Their mission instructions were clear. Their targets would arrive in two weeks by which time a full risk assessment was to be carried out. This would involve a comprehensive reconnaissance of the island and a detailed analysis of the military presence, its capabilities and weaknesses. Once complete, the report was to be sent to a coded address through secret channels with a clear “Eyes Only” designation. On arrival, the targets were to be watched on a twenty-four hour basis and no action taken unless authorised or in situations which required immediate intervention. At all costs, the twins were not to break cover and under no circumstances should they discuss their orders with anybody including the Base Commander.
Chapter 24
One week later
The plan was brutal but brilliant and all the pieces were slowly moving into position. Reaper had nearly 300 operatives involved in an operation which would cause major disruption across the world. His client didn’t care how he completed the mission nor whom he recruited, so long as the objective were achieved within the deadline, in just under six weeks.
He had tracked down operatives whom he considered to be almost as talented as him. His twenty million dollar expenses were soon spent but as promised, his client made more funds available. Within an hour of asking, a further twenty million dollars had been deposited into Reaper’s expense account.
Having exhausted the elite mercenary market, Reaper moved onto what he considered the lowest of the low, the terrorist market. He needed their involvement for a very specific part of the plan. To those people, money was secondary. Their primary driver was to hit at the heart of their most hated enemy, whoever that might be. On the up side, this reduced the monies required to entice them. Bang for buck, they were significantly cheaper than the money-grabbing mercenaries.
Reaper also recruited a number of the world’s most corrupt specialists in the field of weaponry, logistics, computers and communications. By the end of the week, he’d recruited the most blood thirsty and despicable group of individuals and he was loving every minute.
Reaper’s cottage in Scotland was turned into a communications hub connecting him to five camps he had set up around the world. Each section of his small army made its way to their appointed camp. They were each unaware that any other section existed and it was imperative that that remained the case. Reaper did not care about religious nor political differences. In truth, he felt that far too much energy and blood had been wasted in their name. He therefore had no qualms in recruiting warring factions and so the terrorist groups included religious fanatics, racial and political extremists from across the world. However, putting them in one location would have caused a war in itself. He had therefore carefully planned the composition of each training camp. If they ever found out that they were working together, on the same mission, for the same side, he would be a very dead man.
One of the five camps would house the mercenaries who would comprise his elite team. They were kept aside for the most difficult and important work and were based with him, in Scotland. The terrorists were his cannon fodder and as long as they completed their simple tasks, he did not care what happened to them.
Reaper carefully selected 50 terrorists for each of the four other camps by taking into account their beliefs, allegiances and any other confrontational issues. One camp was located in Idaho and was designated Team Idaho and accordingly, he created Team Zimbabwe, Team Colombia and Team Syria.
