“Landing! We rushed here to see the bloody plane land!! Are you nuts, I thought my watch was broken. We’ve got nearly two hours ‘til we leave!”
As they realised the misunderstanding, Thabo calmed down and they chatted happily as they waited for the plane to land. Tom was pleased to have some company. He would have been lonely sitting there in the dark on his own. At 9.30 p.m. the airfield started to come to life as ground crew arrived and office lights were switched on. The plane was close.
“Tom, I keep meaning to ask and it’s been bugging me for a while, why did your dad land in Equatorial Guinea in the first place?” Thabo asked cautiously, he didn’t want to upset Tom but the question had been praying on his mind. Why would anybody land in a country which was accusing them of 2,500 murders?
“He was forced to land,” replied Tom.
“Forced them to land? How?” asked Thabo.
“Thabo, they were forced to land. What’s the issue? They didn’t want to land there, they just didn’t have any choice.”
“I understand what ‘forced to land’ means Tom. I just don’t know how a country with nothing more than a couple of small executive jets in its air force, could have forced them to land, that’s all,” said Thabo.
Tom stopped looking into the sky and spun round to look at Thabo.
“What do you mean by executive jets, exactly?”
“Just small Gulfstreams, you know, civilian planes. Not fighters,” he emphasised.
“But my dad was forced down by two Mig 29s,” replied Tom. “This could be exactly the breakthrough we were looking for. Are you absolutely sure?” he asked.
“Positive,” replied Thabo.
“Ok, we need to get Zach and Daniel onto this asap. You also need to dig a lot deeper to find out everything we can about the dead Guinean President, he was obviously playing along with these guys, until they screwed him.” Tom was so engrossed in working through the possibilities that Thabo had to tell him the plane was about to touch down.
Tom turned and watched as the plane landed. Its huge engines announced that it was most definitely the new Boeing 777-200LR, the longest-range commercial aircraft available. Tom watched as the large plane thundered down the runway and came to a stop beside them. The plane was entirely white except for the large UN flag on its tail.
The plane was not a UN plane but bore its flag, after months of meetings and arguments. It had originally been decided that the new plane, the result of the fundraising letter, would bear The Academy’s flag. It was only when one of the students mentioned that they thought the school was supposed to be secret that the debate had ensued. Eventually, they came to the decision, with the agreement of the Secretary General of the UN, to fly it under their flag.
The fundraising letter had sparked off a keep-up-with-the Jones’ type of competition amongst the students’ parents who vied to prove they were the most generous. Two or three parents had even offered to purchase a jet outright. They were politely informed that their generosity was much appreciated but that the level of donation had been so high that The Academy was already in the process of sourcing a jet. Naturally, Tom managed to influence the fund raising committee towards the new long range Boeing which was about to complete its trials. With three additional fuel tanks, it could fly almost 11,000 miles non-stop with 300 passengers on board. However, The Academy’s plane would only have 70 seats, thereby increasing its range further still. The school purchased the jet, set up a fund to cover its running costs and returned the balance of donations to the parents. They each received over half of what they had donated along with a note thanking them for their generosity. It was another example of just how extraordinary The Academy really was. A request for a few school trips had resulted in a donation from the parents of around half a billion dollars.
Tom and Thabo managed to get a sneak preview inside the plane. The captain of the plane was proud to show off his new baby. As ever, no expense had been spared. The inside was luxurious and had three sections. The front had fifty first class seats which could be folded down completely flat. That section, Tom explained to Thabo, was for students and teachers. Only two classes would ever travel at once, any more would be a threat to security. Next came the kitchen and dining area which were very spacious and included an area with large sofas where students could chill out during the flight. A door at the back of that section led to the rear portion of the plane which contained a further twenty seats and a large solid steel door at the end. Before Thabo had a chance to ask what it was for, a team of Special Forces soldiers filed past them, unlocked it and started loading their arsenal of weapons and ammunition.
“This is where the soldiers sit,” explained Tom.
“Not taking any chances then, forty kids…twenty soldiers, bloody hell.”
“Yeah, they like to make sure we’re safe. The plane’s also got a few defensive extras, electronic counter- measures, Chaff to confuse missiles and other bits and pieces which are too classified for us to know about. But, it’s supposedly got a laser which can knock out an incoming missile but who knows, all I really know is that it’s had the full works,” said Tom.
“Cool,” whistled Thabo, very pleased he had arrived early.
“Let’s go and find Zach,” suggested Tom. They needed to get out the soldiers’ way and Tom was keen to start tracking down the Migs.
Zach arrived just before 10.30 p.m. and was very excited by the new lead. He suggested Daniel be brought in. They called him. He was going on a different trip the following week to the Great Wall of China. After they finished giving him the latest information, they boarded the plane and at exactly 11.00 p.m., the new Academy plane lifted off with 40 students, 4 teachers and 20 Special Forces bodyguards for its 8,000 mile journey to Peru.
8,000 miles away, the sniper was walking through the ruins at Machu Picchu. He was looking for the best spot to undertake his mission and like the man next to him, was taking little interest in the ruins themselves. It didn’t take him long to find the perfect position which looked down across the entire ruins and gave him every opportunity to hit his target.
He looked again at the itinerary. The helicopters from Cuzco, the main airport, would arrive just after dawn and would leave after lunch, plenty of time.
McDonald, Murray
Assassin (The Billionaire Series)
Chapter 64
It was a very long flight but that was why they had timed it for an 11.00 p.m. departure. Two hours into the flight, silence descended as the students fell asleep. Ten hours later, they began to stir. With only 2 hours left to go before they landed, they showered and breakfasted. Before they knew it, they were landing at Velazco Astete Airport in Cuzco, Peru. A fleet of helicopters awaited their arrival to ferry them the 65 miles to the ruins.
Just as dawn broke over the Andes, the helicopters landed at a clearing near Machu Picchu. It was spectacular, the first rays of sun lighting up the ancient city, deserted for over 500 years.
“Wow!” exclaimed Lela.
“Unbelievable,” said Tom.
The class had spent the previous few weeks studying the history of Machu Picchu, its structure, location and the fact that it had been lost for hundreds of years. Unfortunately, Tom and Lela had missed all of it but it did not take any of the magic away from their first sight of the structures. They also received a running commentary from their classmates of what to look out for and before long had caught up through first hand experience with what their classmates had learnt from books.
Fifteen soldiers accompanied them and on landing, had fanned out to check for any immediate threats. With none noted, the all-clear was given for the students to disembark. The soldiers now stood on guard duty and would search any visitor who wished to visit the ruins while they were there. However, plans had been put in place to limit visitor numbers during the morning. All local buses and trains which ferried visitors to the site incurred technical
