acquisition.
Over 6,000 miles away, the twins were making their final preparations. Their targets would be arriving soon and their orders stated that the targets should never be out of their sights. They had spent the last three weeks planning for their arrival. They had dug out camouflaged hidey holes everywhere to ensure that their surveillance of the targets would remain a secret.
Reaper sat in the cottage looking over his plan for the thousandth time. That day would see the start of the next phase of the operation. He had secured the services of the twenty five soldiers he wanted on the island. This was in addition to the four already recruited by his client. Intelligence had already been flowing in from the island and target surveillance would soon be received for the first time.
Tom finished packing his hand luggage and made his way down to what would be their last family breakfast for a while.
“Morning,” he said as he entered the kitchen and was met with a half hearted response. The mood was subdued, everyone was upset at the prospect of not seeing each other for some time. Tom broke the silence, the 10.00 a.m. departure was playing on his mind.
“Dad, why are we leaving so late? We won’t land at the school until after midnight local time, it doesn’t make any sense.”
“I agree, but Sam Mitcham was very clear that these were the timings. He wouldn’t let us use our own plane, for security reasons. So I’m afraid it will be a late arrival.”
“Well I just hope they know what they’re doing. I would’ve left at 6.00 a.m. and been there for dinner but hey,” he had resigned himself to the schedule but still thought it was strange.
“Come on Tom, it’ll be fun no matter what,” said Lela.
“Yeah, yeah, I know.”
“Can we travel in the helicopter with them?” asked Saki.
“I don’t see why not,” replied Donald.
The talk around the table was drowned out by the sound of helicopter blades whirling on the lawn, whipping up the fallen autumn leaves.
“That’s weird,” said Tom.
“What’s weird?” asked Rachel.
“It’s a US helicopter,” he replied as he watched the monitor display the helicopter landing on the helipad.
“It’ll just be because Sam Mitcham arranged it,” said Donald. “Come on, eat up and let’s go.”
They finished their breakfast and headed to the helipad. Their luggage had been picked up the previous night and sent on ahead. They boarded the helicopter, Tom explaining the type and key performance statistics as they buckled into their seats.
What happened next surprised every one of them. Instead of heading South East to the airport, they headed South West.
“This is not the normal route to the airport, where are we going?” asked Donald as he tapped the pilot on the shoulder.
“I’m afraid that’s classified Sir,” came the response.
“Where are we going Dad?” asked Tom.
“I don’t know but don’t worry, I’m sure everything’s fine.”
Saki, overhearing the conversation, moved to the front of the helicopter and asked the Pilot again where they were heading. The pilot sensed that Saki was not an individual to be messed with and so added more detail to his previously obtuse response.
Saki made his way back and informed the family.
“We’re heading to an airfield that used to be called RAF Machrihanisch. It’s now used during the week as an airport for commercial flights. However, during the night and at weekends, it remains a military base.”
“Why are we going there?” asked Tom.
“He says it’s because they need the long runway. It’s supposedly one of the longest runways in the UK.”
“OK,” said Tom, confused. Glasgow could handle every type of aircraft in production including the A380.
They landed next to a hangar in what appeared to be a deserted airport. As soon as they got out of the helicopter, it took off immediately, dipped its nose and raced off into the distance.
“Donald, what the hell’s going on?” asked Rachel, becoming increasingly concerned.
“I’ve got no idea,” said Donald who looked across at Saki who was poised and ready for whatever came at them.
Thirty seconds later, a Colonel appeared from the hangar.
“Good morning,” he said.
“Good morning. What the hell’s going on here?” snapped Donald.
“A little treat, courtesy of our former president, Mr Mitcham, with the blessing of our current President of course,” responded the Colonel.
Met with quizzical looks, he thought it best to move the group inside.
“Perhaps it would be easier to explain inside,” he said as he motioned them into the hangar.
As they walked into the hangar, none of them were ready for what they were about to see. In the centre of the hangar, stood an airplane but it was no ordinary airplane. They had seen nothing like it. Its wings were so swept back that it looked like a rocket lying on its side. The fuselage was made of a metal so shiny that it looked like a cylindrical mirror. There were no windows and apparently no openings except for two tiny portholes at the front.
“What is it?” asked Saki.
“I think I know,” said Tom hardly able to contain his excitement.
“If you make your way on board, you’ll see,” said the Colonel.
“How do we get aboard?” asked Donald.
Instead of answering, the Colonel nodded in the direction of the aircraft and an invisible seal opened and a door and steps dropped to the ground.
As they entered the plane, there were six seats to the right. They did not look very comfortable. In fact, professional rally car seats looked positively luxurious compared to the moulded contraptions in front of them. To the left was a door which they presumed led to the cockpit. The lack of windows seemed strange and quite disconcerting, almost like being in the barrel of a huge gun.
“This is one of the world’s first working prototypes of the Scramjet,” explained the Colonel to the quizzical faces around him.
“Holy…” Tom received a swipe from his mother before he could finish his expletive.
“A what?” asked Donald.
Tom smiled and just managing to contain his excitement, explained.
“It’s the latest technology in high speed jet flight. They can fly at speeds of between Mach 5 — 15,” he said as he turned to the Colonel to ask a question.
“But I thought they were still at the experimental stage with the X43?”
“That’s exactly what we want people to think. We’ve been working on these beauties for over twenty years. This is one of only two fully operational Scramjets in existence and has been flying for over a year. We use it mainly for surveillance purposes but today it gets a special outing for you guys.”
The colonel paused, everyone bar Tom, was staring at him like he was speaking Russian. He gave up and moved on.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we do have a strict time plan to adhere to. We have to create holes in air traffic to ensure we don’t fly close to any other aircraft. We’ve caused more than a few UFO stories over the last year.”
Donald, Rachel and Saki started to say their farewells to Tom and Lela.
“I’m sorry, I should have said, parents are invited on the trip, we’ll bring you back later,” said the Colonel.
“What do you mean?” asked the three of them at once.
