“If I may, Sir, I need facilities and experts to process the data we have discovered and that cannot be done here. I need to take all the information to Porton Down, immediately, Sir.”
“Indeed Major, make your own arrangements. The Air Commodore will facilitate your transport, yes?”
“Yes Sir, thank you, Sir.” The relief in Major Rees’s voice is plain to hear. Whether that is from a professional standpoint or because he will be leaving Heathrow that may now be compromised, is another matter.
Operation Denial has entered a new phase, one that could threaten its very existence. Winters is sure of that as he heads over to the comms stations in the command room. It was Josh who tried to phone him, his phone screen tells him as he walks. As soon as he has the task of trying to get communication with Terminal 4 active, Winters will phone him back and try to get his transport out of here arranged.
Chapter 10
Lance Corporal Broad and Private Penn descend the stairs, arriving at the ground floor of the Terminal 5 building, all too quickly for their liking. As they have come down lower, the smell of burning has increased, as has the sound of explosions. Now standing in the tight conclave at the bottom of the stairwell with only a fire exit door between them and the outside, they both look nervously at each other. Neither of them in any rush to push the steel opening mechanism that runs across the width of the door.
“I don’t fancy this one bit,” Private Penn says.
“Look, Colin, you heard the Lieutenant; no heroics, we just got to see what’s going on.”
“It sounds like a war zone out there, who knows what the fuck is going on? Lambs to the slaughter, that’s what this is. And where are we supposed to get a vehicle from?”
“Calm down, Colin, let’s have a lookout and see how it looks, okay?”
“Okay, let’s get on with it and thanks for roping me into this, mate. My mum will kill you if anything happens to me.”
“You reckon? She likes me more than you,” Broad tells him, trying to smile.
“Funny fucker,” Colin says. The two young mates look at each other as Broad’s hand goes to push the release.
The fire exit door clicks open and the sound of chaos rushes in to fill the small area. The sounds are instantly followed by acrid smoke which fills their lungs, making them both cough.
“Bloody hell, mate, is the air any better out there?” Colin asks as Broad sticks his head around the door.
“Not really, smoke is everywhere, but the coast is clear.”
“What do you mean, the coast is clear? What were you expecting to see?” Colin asks.
“I dunno; come on, let’s go,” Broad replies.
The two men exit underneath the departure lounge. Parked up airplanes of different sizes are parked along the front of the building a short distance in front of them with their air gates protruding out from the building above. If it weren’t for the strong smell of smoke, you could be fooled into thinking none of the airplanes is moving because they are grounded due to fog. A thick haze of smoke hangs in the air and wafts around the airplanes’ landing gear and the various service vehicles scattered around and parked up.
“How we going to get back in if this door closes?” Colin asks, reluctant to release the door.
“Jam something into it so it stays off the latch,” Broad tells him.
“It’s like a ghost town; where is everyone?” Colin asks when he finishes fiddling with the door.
“Doesn’t look like any of these planes are military. They look like abandoned civilian ones,” Broad points out.
“It’s fuckin’ creepy, like the apocalypse has happened,” Colin says.
“Maybe it has happened, mate, maybe it has?” Broad answers.
“Well, there is plenty of transport here to choose from. Wonder if they need keys?”
“Let’s check that baggage cart out,” Broad says, pointing to a small white truck with cages attached to the back, nearby.
Broad goes over and opens the door with Colin close behind.
“We’re in business; the keys are in it, get in.”
“Hold on. Let me see if I can detach the cages.” Colin goes to the back of the cab to have a look. “The pin is stuck.”
“Stop messing around, and get in,” Broad tells Colin as he turns on the cart's engine. “I always wanted a go in one of these,” he tells Colin as he gets in the passenger side.
“Me too, I’ll drive it on the way back, okay?”
“I’ll think about it,” Broad says.
“You’d better after getting me into this.”
“Come on, mate, you wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”
The cart jerks forward as Broad puts his foot on the accelerator.
“Do you know where you’re going?” Colin asks.
“No, not really. What you reckon, shall I follow the sound of the explosions or possibly the light from the fire? Knobhead,” Broad laughs.
“Alright, I was only asking; you’re the boss, wanker.”
The cart moves steadily forward as it bounces over the lumps and bumps of the concrete taxiways in front of the Terminal 5 building. The empty cages attached to the cart behind, bang and rattle over each imperfection in the concrete. Broad resists the temptation to slam his foot to the floor to see what the cart will do, to get the mission over with and get back inside to the relative safety. The smoke haze is thick, and they could easily run into some abandoned piece of equipment—or worse, an airplane.
“Joking aside, Terminal 4 is on the other side of the runway, and I don’t fancy crossing the runway. Don’t want a jumbo landing on us,” Colin points out.
“I seriously doubt we will need to get that close; we are going to stay at a safe distance,” Broad answers.
The cart makes good progress and soon, they are nearing the end of the massive Terminal 5 building on their
