A round of applause interrupted The Chairman but Beaumont only managed to join in half-heartedly.
“We have two operations left to complete. The first within the next 48 hours and the last, 3 days later.”
“Mr Chairman, are we not worried that the first operation will interfere with the second one? That is, our illustrious world leaders will scuttle underground again?” asked one of the silhouettes.
“Yes we’ve considered that point and feel the second operation will not be put at risk by the first. In fact, it may help to ensure that everybody attends the venue for the second meeting. I believe a number of gentlemen here will also be in attendance. It should be a fun day,” replied The Chairman triumphantly.
Beaumont could not help but think that The Chairman was speaking as though he would be there himself. How could he be? But then again, how would Beaumont know? He had absolutely no idea who he was. The next question hit Beaumont hard, especially as he recognised the President’s voice, despite the digitisation.
“I’m surprised we’ve not purchased Alba, it would seem a shame to have lain the blame at its owner’s door and not taken advantage of the company’s all time low value. I would imagine the value will go through the roof when our next operation reveals Kennedy’s innocence.”
“Yes, we’ve tried but it appears that the young Mr Kennedy does not wish to sell,” replied The Chairman angrily.
Beaumont shifted nervously in his seat, he knew very well that the President would only have asked if instructed to.
“Is that correct Number Four? Have we still failed in our bid to secure Alba?”
The Committee did not discuss failures, it was an unwritten rule. The Chairman was humiliating Member Number Four for all to see.
“I’m afraid so,” answered Beaumont. “It appears that we have missed the opportunity to secure the company at a significant discount.”
“Perhaps another effort before the next operation commences? Afterall, we have forty eight hours before the world finds out that Donald Kennedy was an innocent man. An increased offer perhaps? Or one a fourteen year old with a vulnerable sister can’t refuse?” suggested another member.
“Excellent idea,” replied The Chairman. “I’ll leave that in your capable hands. Now, the next item on the agenda is…”
Beaumont couldn’t believe what a stitch up he had just received. He obviously had forty eight hours to prove himself and devise a new operation, in the middle of the ocean, on a heavily fortified island, thousands of miles away.
When would they learn not to underestimate him? He had not recalled his resources, his men were still in place and had everything they needed to get to the girl. It was too late to kill the boy. By the end of the weekend, Donald Kennedy would be an innocent man. All he had to do was capture the girl and use the sale of Alba as the ransom.
Chapter 66
It had been a long and tiring week. Although the trip to Machu Picchu had been amazing, a sixteen thousand mile round trip, in just over thirty six hours, had taken its toll. They had arrived just after lunch on Tuesday and went straight to their classes. It was Tom and Lela’s first real week back and they both found it a struggle. Catching up with what they had missed as well as keeping up with the new work was not easy.
The Friday evening meeting could not come quickly enough and it appeared everybody had been busy. In front of them were files upon files of information received as a result of the group’s questions.
“Well guys it looks like we have our work cut out for us,” said Tom surveying the mountain of paper in front of him.
“Somewhere in there may be the link that leads us to the bad guys. Where should we start…Zach?”
“Well I’ve got good news and bad news, first the good news. I think we’ve tracked down the meteor. It appears there is an experimental missile which, how can I put this simply, is fired into space and falls to earth gaining energy as it falls. It hits at such a speed that it magnifies any explosive potential ten fold and its own materials cease to exist. Sorry that’s not quite true. Its materials are of a similar composition to paper. Unless you know exactly what you’re looking for, you’d never know.”
“So who has bought it?” asked Tom.
“Nobody, it’s still experimental. However, the facility which makes the missiles was broken into about a month ago. It appears that somebody may have stolen one.”
“But who would know they exist? I mean, it’s not common knowledge is it?” asked Tom.
“No but the person I spoke to knows about it and now so do all the people around this table. That’s how easy it is for people to find out. It could be anybody.”
“So that was the bad news, what’s the good news?” asked Tom expectantly.
“Sorry that was the good news. The bad news is about the Migs. Whoever got them to Equatorial Guinea knew what they were doing. They just suddenly appeared. One day they weren’t there, the next day they were.”
“What does that mean?” asked Tom who was beginning to become downheartened, the easy links were disappearing fast.
“It means that whoever got them there knew to avoid satellites and radars,” replied Zach.
“So what about now, where are they?” asked Tom following the logic that they must have gone back to where they came from.
“You were right. They’re sitting at the bottom of the Ocean, two new heat sources are showing up on satellite imagery off the Equatorial Guinea coast. They match those of the Mig 29s. Whoever we’re up against just trashed $60 million to cover their tracks. $60 million.” Zach emphasised the number, he needed to let everybody understand what and who they were up against.
“What about countries missing two Mig 29s?” asked Daniel.
“We’ve looked at that. As far as we can tell, every single Mig has been accounted for. Although there is the potential that our numbers are inaccurate and more were produced than we thought.”
“Likelihood?” asked Daniel.
“Very low, in fact bordering on negligible. We watched every one of those babies roll out of the plants when they were built.”
“OK, so we know there was a missile and we know there were planes but we have no way of finding either. Both are dead ends?” asked Tom confirming the bad news.
“I’m afraid so, yes,” responded Zach.
“Let’s not rule them out yet. I have some resources still looking into both of these,” said Daniel. The Mossad, although one of the smaller intelligence networks, never failed to punch well above its weight.
“Ok, good. Anything else Zach?” asked Tom, keen to move on.
“I’m afraid not. All the other bits and pieces seem to be dead ends too,” he said dejectedly.
“Who wants to go next?” Tom asked half heartedly, he really thought the Migs would have been the link.
The table remained quiet, everybody else had just got the background info on the victims of the assassinations and their subsequent successors. On their own, they were as helpful as Zach’s. Everybody’s except Daniel’s.
“I have a couple of things.” He paused as everybody looked at him expectantly. “I have information which suggests that the explosions on Alba One and on Zach’s father’s plane were identical. Both planes, on reaching a height of 12,000 feet, suddenly plummeted to the ground. Of course we can’t do checks on Alba One, it’s at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. However, we’ve managed to check Zach’s father’s plane and it had been tampered with.”
“But nobody else has found anything, how can your guys know this?” asked Zach.
“Let’s just say what happened to those jets is not dissimilar to a technique we are acquainted with. The damage caused to the part of the plane in question could be caused during a crash but it’s unlikely. As to access to the plane, that’s confidential.”
“My dad was a target?” asked Zach stunned.
