And how do you plan to do that?’ Asked Frederick.
‘The farmer’s son showed us a way into the base, there’s a hole in the fence the Americans haven’t found.’
‘Isn’t that a little risky trespassing on a military airbase?’
Atkins shook his head. ‘The risks are minimal if we manage to get hold of evidence.’
‘So when do you plan to break in?’
‘Tonight, just after one o’clock.’
Frederick looked at Atkins, unsure as to how to proceed with the conversation.
‘We could do with an extra witness.’ Barnet said. ‘The more witnesses, the harder it will be for the Americans to cover up the truth.’
Frederick remained silent, he glanced over at Professor Good and Canning, who were instructing the American service men in a game of darts.
Chapter 56
The X-Plane
11:05pm
‘Have you taken leave of your senses?’ Professor Good complained.
Frederick took a deep breath. ‘Look I’ll only accompany them to the hole in the fence.’
‘If you are caught then you could expose us. I thought we had agreed to leave tomorrow, not follow those two idiots on some wild goose chase.’
‘He’s right Ralph.’ Canning added. ‘If you are caught you could expose the committee.’
‘I won’t be exposing anything.’ Frederick put on a defensive posture.
‘Maybe not, but the Americans will want to know what a prominent Cambridge Professor is doing breaking into an American airbase with a couple of flying saucer nut jobs. And you have mentioned you don’t want to draw attention to yourself.’
‘Gentlemen.’ Frederick stated holding up his hand. ‘No one will be getting caught, like I just said I will only be escorting them to the perimeter fence, after that they’re on their own.’
‘Why are you so eager to believe those two?’ Canning asked.
‘Because of the things I have seen. Look I know you two haven’t had the first hand experience that I have but I am telling you if the Americans are testing experimental aircraft on British territory then we need to know.’
Good puffed on his pipe pondering Frederick’s words, he eventually nodded. ‘Ok, but I suggest we contact Malcolm back in London, we need a backup plan just in case your little adventure goes belly up.’
‘Thank you, all I ask is a bit of faith.’ Frederick replied.
Mildenhall Air force base – Suffolk – 12:56am
Tuesday 26th May 1953
Frederick parked the car as near as he dared to the air force base perimeter fence. He managed to find a muddy track leading into a small wood so the car couldn’t be seen from the road.
Atkins and Barnet chatted excitedly as they neared the airbase. ‘This will increase the circulation of the newsletter if we get hold of evidence.’ Atkins said.
‘Why did the farmer’s son tell the newspapers he saw a flying saucer with Martians coming out?’ Frederick asked.
‘He didn’t go to the newspapers.’ Barnet replied.
‘So who did?’
‘We don’t know, all we know he was caught on the base and escorted off. The next thing he knew, The News of the World came calling.’
‘So no one knows who called the newspapers.’
‘No, and that’s what interests us about this story. The minute William told us he didn’t tell any newspapers what he saw we knew there must be something more to the flying saucer story.’
‘But it still doesn’t explain why the News of the World claimed he said that he had seen a flying saucer.’
'We believe that the News of the World was deliberately fed false information, someone on the base was trying to cover their tracks.’ Barnet explained. ‘We attempted to interview the editor but he turned us down. Wasn’t very pleasant either.'
The three men made their way through the wooded area by torchlight, the distant lights of Mildenhall airbase came into view. Because of a full moon and little cloud the visibility was remarkably good. Atkins broke into a jog. ‘Come on the hole is just up here.’
Frederick found himself strangely exhilarated by his actions. Distant memories as a boy flooded his mind. Adventures scrumping apples from the local farmer’s orchard and getting caught. His father looking down at him waving his finger furiously.
When they reached the hole in the fence Atkins and Barnet didn’t hesitate climbing through it. Frederick hung back. Both Good and Canning sat on his moral shoulders warning him about the dangers of getting caught.
Atkins turned and looked at him through the fence. ‘Aren’t you coming?’
Frederick shook his head. ‘I’m afraid I’m going to have to chicken out of this one chaps. I’m not as light on my feet as you two, got a dodgy cricket knee and all that.’
‘Ok suit yourself, we’ll be back shortly.’ Barnet held up the camera he had brought with him. ‘With lots of good pictures we hope.’ With that both men bolted off across the base and despite the full moon soon melted into the darkness. Frederick thought best if he headed back to the car to wait for their return.
2:36am
The thunderous noise shook Frederick from his sleep. He shone the torch onto his watch and cursed Atkins and Barnet. ‘We’ll be back shortly.’ He said to himself impersonating one of them. For a full minute Frederick sat mulling over the situation and surmising that they must have been caught. Eventually curiosity overwhelmed him and he got out of the car taking with him a pair of binoculars, mumbling to himself about how pointless this whole venture had turned out to be.
After several minutes he reached the spot in which he had left Barnet and Atkins. Frederick looked out a cross the base, and could see the silhouette of a plane on the runway several hundred yards away. The moon reflected off its long slender silver fuselage. There was a flurry of activity around the aircraft. Frederick peered through his binoculars and could see the pilot of the aircraft climbing down a small ladder. The man was dressed in what seemed to be a silver looking boiler suit and wore a very large helmet with what looked like a glass visor covering his entire face with a pipe coming out of the back which was attached to a small cylindrical looking tank mounted on his back. The aircraft itself matched the crude sketch Atkins and Barnet had presented earlier. A long slender body several meters long, with swept back wings and a tail. Frederick’s attention was diverted to shouting coming from the side of the runway. He quickly scanned with his binoculars and spotted the light of a torch dancing furiously in the darkness. Both Atkins and Barnet were sprinting towards Frederick’s position followed closely by several men who were screaming at them to stop. A gunshot rang out in the darkness, and Frederick watched in horror as one of the two men tumbled onto the grass.
It was too dark to see if it was Barnet or Atkins who fell, but the other man had stopped dead in his tracks flinging his hands into the air. It only took a fleeting moment for Frederick to decide he had seen enough. As he turned on his heels a blinding light shone into his face.
‘Do not move!’ A voice ordered.
Chapter 57
Detained
Mildenhall Air force base – 6:57am
Frederick looked around the small room. He rubbed the lower part of his back.
After his apprehension at the perimeter fence of the air base, he had been taken away on a jeep before being hauled onto the back of a US army lorry for a few hours, where two heavily armed military police kept a watchful eye on him.
He had been made to wait for at least half an hour in the small room When the door finally opened to reveal Tom from the guesthouse. Frederick didn’t know whether to feel relieved or apprehensive. It only took a few seconds for the decision to be made for him as agent Frank Cones walked in behind Tom.
Both men sat down opposite Frederick and glared at him for what seemed to be a long time before Tom spoke first. ‘Professor Ralph Frederick, renowned astrophysicist, Nobel Prize winner, university lecturer, father of one and now it would seem a trespasser.’
‘On the contrary Professor we have every right, you may not have been on the airbase but your friends were, and will be charged with spying.’ Agent Cones revealed.
‘That’s preposterous and you know it, they were just there to...’ Frederick found himself stopping in mid sentence.
‘Go on Professor.’ Tom pressed.
‘Where are they? And what happened to the man who was shot?’ Frederick asked.
‘We have them in custody, the man who was shot, Mr Atkins is well enough to answer questions.’
‘I want to see them now.’ Frederick demanded.
‘I’m afraid that’s not possible.’ Cones stated. ‘What I would like to know Professor is what you were doing with these guys snooping about our air base?’
‘We were bird watching?’
‘Really, at two o’clock in the morning.’ Tom said.
Frederick shrugged. ‘We were on the lookout for tawny owls, they’re nocturnal you know.’
‘Cut the bullshit Professor, just tell us what you were looking for.’
‘Why so you can have me on some false allegation, I don’t think so.’ Frederick replied.
‘Ok, then tell us what those two UFO freaks were doing with a camera.’
‘UFO freaks!’ Frederick reacted as if surprised by what Tom had just revealed. ‘They told me they were bird watchers.’
‘I’m glad you think this is funny Professor.’ Tom said in a dark tone. ‘Because if you don’t tell us what you were doing sneaking around in the middle of the night then we will charge you with spying.’
Again Frederick shrugged. ‘But I didn’t see anything so how can you say I was spying, and I’m sure you’ve taken away the camera those chaps had on them, so you have no grounds to hold them either.’
Both Tom and Cones glanced at each other.
‘Exactly what is your role in all this Tom? I’m guessing you’re not a humble pub landlord.’
Tom broke into a smile. ‘Like you Professor I profess my ignorance in all this.’
‘Ok Professor.’ Cones took over. ‘Tell us what you think you saw tonight.’
Frederick shook his head. ‘I don’t quite follow.’
‘We know what those two guys were up to Professor. We know they run some kind of organisation investigating flying saucers. But what we don’t get is what a top UK government scientist is doing with them, and why is it you and your colleagues Professors Good and Canning decided to turn up for a fishing trip in a village that has been the subject of a number of newspaper articles relating to flying saucers.’
‘Like this man.’ Frederick replied looking at Tom. ‘I must profess my ignorance. I still see that you are traipsing all over the country agent Cones, where is your partner Jack Baker?’
Cones was about to continue with his questioning when the door to the interview room opened. Frederick felt relief wash over him at the sight of Malcolm Chambers and Ian Morgan. Cones looked at the base commander who accompanied them.
‘This man is to be released immediately.’ The base commander ordered.
‘We haven’t finished questioning him.’ Cones protested.
‘This interview is over agent Cones.’ Chambers said calmly.
Cones glared at the base commander who nodded silently, he then looked back at Frederick. ‘You’re a lucky man Professor.’
Frederick stood. ‘Thank you gentlemen it’s been a pleasure, now if you don’t mind I’d like to see the other two men you have detained.’
Ian Morgan looked at Frederick and shook his head.
7:23am
As the car sped through the main gates of the air force base Frederick felt like a free man and breathed deeply. Thoughts of Elizabeth and Susan gave him comfort.
‘You’re a bloody lucky man Ralph, we had to tug pretty hard on some diplomatic strings to get you out of there.’ Malcolm Chambers said. ‘You know they were planning to keep you there for a very long time.’
Frederick nodded. ‘I appreciate you coming to my rescue but I’m more concerned for those two chaps who were caught on the airbase.’
‘I’m afraid there’s not much we can do.’ Ian Morgan revealed. ‘The Americans are free to hold them as long as they want.’
‘But they’ll be charged with spying.’
Chambers shook his head. ‘No, they’ll be released eventually, the American’s won’t want any kind of publicity over this, especially what they’re testing at that base.’
‘I saw something, didn’t look like any aircraft I have seen before.’ Frederick said.
‘You did see something Ralph, and that’s what the Yanks were so upset about.’ Morgan said. ‘It seems they’re testing a top secret spy plane, and flying it over Soviet territory.’
‘Spy plane?’
‘Yes, it’s a later model of the Bell X-1 that broke the sound barrier in forty seven. However this plane is capable of flying much faster and has an altitude of well over a hundred thousand feet.’
‘That’s what one of the Flying saucer activists claimed last night.’ Frederick explained. ‘I don’t understand how they are able to fly top secret spying missions from the UK mainland. Does the Prime Minister know about this?’
‘He does now.’ Chambers said. ‘And I can tell you the old man was furious. He had a rather heated discussion with the new President Eisenhower, that’s how we managed to pull you out of there. Ike didn’t want to expose what was going on at that base.’
‘I don’t understand what that chap Tom was doing there from the guesthouse?’
‘He’s CIA, recruited out of MIT, this little spy plane project of theirs is a CIA run operation.’
‘So the CIA are testing aircraft at Mildenhall.’ Frederick commented. ‘I wonder what else they haven’t told us. And what was Frank Cones doing there, from what we learnt in January He only investigates UFO sightings.’
‘We’ve learnt that this Frank Cones and Jack Baker are part of Project Blue Book, but since they’re CIA to I suspect that they’re on loan to oversee this operation.’
Frederick thought for a moment. ‘Cones could be responsible for feeding information to the News of The World.’ He suggested.
The car sped on.
Chapter 58
Special Relationship
Highclare House – Surrey – 3:09pm
Friday 29th May 1953
‘Has the old man taken leave of his senses?’ Professor Good Protested. ‘Why should we trust the Americans, especially with what we have learned about Mildenhall and the incident during Operation Mainbrace last year? Not to mention this agent Frank Cones running all over the place. And to top it all off those UFO investigators who are still being held at Mildenhall.’
‘I’m sure that most of us are reluctant to side with the Americans on this matter Alan.’ Chambers explained. ‘But the Prime Minister is adamant that we team up with the Yanks. And quite frankly I’m inclined to agree with him. On the flipside I think the Yanks are running damage control after the events at Mildenhall.’
‘So how exactly will this alliance benefit our committee?’ Frederick asked.
‘From what the Prime minister told me President Eisenhower is eager to combine resources so that both groups will learn more about the UFO phenomenon. It also gives us the opportunity to find out what the Americans know. Apparently Eisenhower has pledged full disclosure on all materials the Americans have collected over the past decade on flying saucers. This is an opportunity we cannot ignore gentlemen. The Prime Minister states that it will help cement our special relationship.’
‘It will also give us the opportunity to know the inner workings of the CIA.’ Morris Stanford said. ‘I for one am interested to know more about this Agent Cones.’
‘Nevertheless we must be cautio
us.’ Professor Wilks said. ‘We must limit the information we share with them.’
‘Well that will be easy considering we’ve very little information to share in the first place.’ Chambers explained. ‘I am very interested to know if the rumours that the Americans have captured one of these flying saucers is true.’
‘When do we meet with the Americans?’ Frederick asked.
‘They’re flying in tomorrow, so our first meeting is scheduled for Monday.’ Chambers replied.
‘Has the Prime Minister given any more details about who these Americans are?’ Norman Canning enquired.
Chambers shook his head. ‘For now everything is being kept under wraps. I can tell you that whoever they are, they will be flying in under assumed names. The Americans seem to be obsessed with the spread of communism lately so they’re taking no chances.’
The Kremlin – Moscow – 4:46pm
Saturday 30th May 1953
Igor Lakatos was starting to get impatient with Kremlin security. Since he had entered the building he had been stopped on every floor and had been asked to present his papers. For a seemingly long while the soldier scrutinised his identification papers before glaring at him and handing them back. Lakatos snatched his papers away from the guard and hurried down the corridor which was filled with many people. He had to say excuse me a dozen times before he got to his destination.
He stood at a large oak door for a few moments looking at the name plate and realising that only a few months earlier comrade Stalin’s name had been on the very door he was about to walk through. Finally Lakatos knocked loudly and waited for a few moments before it opened.
Ivan Volkart stared at Lakatos before asking what was so important to be disturbing Comrade Bulganin.
‘I must speak with our new president immediately.’
Volkart took a deep breath and opened the door wider for Lakatos to step inside. ‘Comrade Bulganin is extremely busy at the moment comrade Lakatos, so if you tell me what is so important I will be happy to pass on any information.’
Codename Angel (The Angel Chronicles Book 1) Page 19