to cover the murders of the Kennedys.
Another ten of his men were stationed at the prison’s main entrance. He didn’t want anybody getting in or out until the job was done.
Unbeknownst to Smith, Jones and his men, had also arrived that afternoon. Their plane had been escorted to a private hangar by a very bribeable customs official who chose to ignore the heavily armed men in favour of a large pile of cash. Jones’ orders were clear. He was not to let anything go wrong, if Smith failed he was to make sure that the Kennedys died. He placed his men around the perimeter of the prison, thereby throwing an additional cordon around Smith’s men. He had also left a couple of men back at the airport. Having been forced to land Alba One was still there and was effectively abandoned. Jones organised a little modification for it, as a precautionary measure.
If nothing else happened that night, the Kennedys were going to die.
Chapter 42
As they began their descent, Kisho began to feel nervous about the reception they would receive. Afterall, they were about to land in a country whose President had arrested the Kennedys for mass murder.
“Have you thought about how we’re going to cover our arrival?” asked Kisho.
“I’ve thought of everything, don’t worry, just leave it to me,” said Tom.
Two minutes later, Tom opened up the mic. to talk to the control tower at Malabo airport.
“Malabo Tower, this is Gulfstream One, can you please clear us for landing.”
“Gulfstream One, we have no notification of your arrival at Malabo, can you please confirm your airport of origin and the purpose of travel to Equatorial Guinea.”
“Malabo Tower, I would not like to be in whosever shoes has messed this one up. Our Origin was Savannah Georgia and our purpose of travel is to deliver your President’s shiny new jet. Next you’re going to tell me that a hangar’s not been made available.”
Panic ensued below them as Tom had predicted. The tower staff contacted the ground staff who quickly emptied a hangar. With no idea how big the plane was, they just emptied the biggest one available. The manager of the control tower took over the communication with the Guinean President’s new plane.
“Gulfstream One, of course you are cleared to land, runway 22 and apologies for my subordinate, he will of course be disciplined for his stupidity.”
“Thank you Malabo Tower, I’m glad we sorted that out. I didn’t want to have to fly back to Georgia tonight,” replied Tom.
“Very impressive!” said Kisho. “But you do realise that when we land we’re screwed. The Alba logo and G- TOM1 are hardly going to look presidential.”
“Hmm good point. We’ll just have to see what happens. Anyway, time to land,” said Tom cutting the discussion short as they made their final approach. They soon landed and followed an escort to the hangar set aside for them. As they came to a stop and the doors to the hangar closed behind them, Kisho opened the door to the plane and waited for the electronic staircase to unfold. The Airport Manager arrived, obviously called out of bed, for the arrival of the important new jet.
“Hi,” said Kisho expecting them to shoot him on sight for the lies Tom had told.
“Good evening Sir,” replied the manager. “What a beautiful jet for our President.”
Kisho was baffled until he followed the Manager’s gaze and looked along the side of the plane. The Equatorial Guinea flag and new tail registration looked back at him. He also noticed half a seal next to the door and assumed correctly it would be the President’s seal. Kisho kicked Tom who was standing right behind him, just out of the Manager’s view.
“May I come up and have a look?” asked the Manager.
“Impossible, I’m sorry,” responded a very stern Kisho. “The President himself has not yet seen the aircraft, I couldn’t possibly allow anybody on board before him. I’m sure you understand this protocol.”
“Of course,” replied the Manager. “I apologise for my impertinence.”
“No problem, don’t worry, the minute the President has seen it, I’m sure we can give an important man like you a proper tour,” he added in conspiratorial tone.
“Thank you, that would be a great honour.”
Tom nudged Kisho and whispered in his ear what he needed to do next.
“Now if you don’t mind, we have some things we need to prepare for the President’s visit and they must remain private until the unveiling. You know, decorations and things. A couple of jeeps from the Palace will be here shortly. Could you make sure they get straight through to us? And also ensure that we have no prying eyes?”
“Of course, consider it done,” replied the Manager who then turned around and left the hangar while barking orders to his subordinates to ensure the President’s men were not disturbed.
Tom made a call giving the green light for the trucks to arrive.
Ten minutes later, the doors of the hangar parted briefly and two completely blacked out Lincoln Navigators sped in. The drivers introduced themselves as friends of ‘young Rolf’ and were at their disposal for whatever they needed. Tom really wanted to ask what Rolf was up to, it seemed these guys worked for him and not his father.
The plane’s passengers emptied into the two large jeeps, five jumping into each one. They kept Rolf’s drivers but the two men who had accompanied the drivers jumped out and boarded the plane. They would ensure that nobody came snooping while the others were away. Tom wondered whether they would crack his safe while he was away, they certainly looked the type.
Two minutes later, they were on the main road and covering the 8 mile run to the prison very quickly when suddenly, the lead jeep stopped, pulling to a skid at the side of the road.
Papa jumped out and walked back to the second jeep which had similarly ground to halt.
“OK, everybody out, we go across ground from here.”
“But we’re still over a mile away,” protested Tom.
“Everybody but you two that is,” said Papa pointing to Tom and Daniel.
“No, wait a minute, I have to come, I’m not staying here…” Tom looked at Papa’s face and realised that it wasn’t up for debate. He stopped arguing, he had already gone too far. Papa’s instructions were not to be questioned.
“Lela, you can stay or come, you won’t hold us back,” said Papa. Lela looked across at Tom. She didn’t like the fact that she could go and he couldn’t. Tom nodded his approval.
“I’ll come, thank you.”
“What about me?” asked Daniel. “I feel all dressed up with nowhere to go.” He was as disappointed as Tom.
“I want you to use that fancy communication kit you brought and see if you can listen into the guards and let us know what they’re up to.”
“Cool. No problem,” said Daniel.
The islanders jogged off into the night, disappearing immediately, despite the moonlight.
“Where did they go?” asked Daniel.
“They’re there, it’s just they don’t want you to see them,” said Tom.
“Who the hell are they anyway?”
“That, my friend, is a very long story but right now you should be listening into your device.”
Daniel took the hint and quickly set up his kit and began to scan through frequencies and bandwidths that could carry voices. Digitised, encrypted or not, his little piece of kit could hear just about anything within a three mile range.
Lela and the islanders quickly covered the ground to the prison. Dressed in black and using their surroundings for cover, they were almost invisible. As they neared the prison, they stopped. Breaking in wasn’t going to be their first problem. Just reaching the prison was. The prison perimeter was surrounded by soldiers, heavily armed and very professional. Kano and Kisho had scouted ahead and came back with the bad news.
“It’s going to be difficult, they’ve taken up excellent positions and they’re very well equipped,” said Kano to
