As they entered the plane, there were six seats to the right. They did not look very comfortable. In fact, professional rally car seats looked positively luxurious compared to the moulded contraptions in front of them. To the left was a door which they presumed led to the cockpit. The lack of windows seemed strange and quite disconcerting, almost like being in the barrel of a huge gun.
“This is one of the world’s first working prototypes of the Scramjet,” explained the Colonel to the quizzical faces around him.
“Holy…” Tom received a swipe from his mother before he could finish his expletive.
“A what?” asked Donald.
Tom smiled and just managing to contain his excitement, explained.
“It’s the latest technology in high speed jet flight. They can fly at speeds of between Mach 5 — 15,” he said as he turned to the Colonel to ask a question.
“But I thought they were still at the experimental stage with the X43?”
“That’s exactly what we want people to think. We’ve been working on these beauties for over twenty years. This is one of only two fully operational Scramjets in existence and has been flying for over a year. We use it mainly for surveillance purposes but today it gets a special outing for you guys.”
The colonel paused, everyone bar Tom, was staring at him like he was speaking Russian. He gave up and moved on.
“Now, if you don’t mind, we do have a strict time plan to adhere to. We have to create holes in air traffic to ensure we don’t fly close to any other aircraft. We’ve caused more than a few UFO stories over the last year.”
Donald, Rachel and Saki started to say their farewells to Tom and Lela.
“I’m sorry, I should have said, parents are invited on the trip, we’ll bring you back later,” said the Colonel.
“What do you mean?” asked the three of them at once.
“Mr Mitcham is expecting you to travel with us. I believe he’s waiting for you at the other end,” he explained.
“I’m sorry but I can’t, it’s 6,000 miles away and I have very important meetings tomorrow,” said Donald.
“Dad. This is a SCRAMJET,” he said slowly. “We’ll be there in less than an hour,” said Tom exasperated at his father’s lack of comprehension.
“Less than hour? Now, that’s ridiculous!”
Tom realised at this point that his father did not know what MACH 5 — 15 actually meant. “Dad, this plane flies up to fifteen times the speed of sound which is about fifteen times 760mph which is around eleven thousand miles per hour.”
“Holy…” Rachel swiped Donald this time before he had a chance to finish his expletive.
“Well actually, we top out at MACH 10, we haven’t quite managed to hit 15 yet,” added the Colonel.
Without further delay, the plane left the hangar with five passengers on board. It was airborne in no time at all, rose like a rocket and levelled on the edge of space. The Colonel explained some of the more digestible statistics, such as the acceleration, the fuel burn, its maximum altitude and so on. Tom was fascinated and kept the Colonel busy with questions for the entire journey which lasted all of 52 minutes.
In less than an hour, they had travelled 6,000 miles, crossed two continents and the equator. They touched down in yet another deserted airbase and were met by a beaming Sam Mitcham.
“Unbelievable! Amazing! Thank-you so much! It was fantastic!” said Tom, still on a high while the others were still in a daze, not quite believing they had really travelled the distance.
Sam led them to a waiting car which whisked them off to The Academy, only four miles away.
Donald, Rachel and Saki received a whirlwind tour of what looked like a stunning complex but time was too short to see it properly. They joined Tom and Lela for a quick lunch before being flown home. It was imperative that they left before a stream of private jets began to deposit some other 1858 students. They thanked Sam profusely for his kind gesture and they all, including Saki and Donald, shed a tear as they said goodbye to Tom and Lela. To their surprise, Sam joined Donald, Rachel and Saki on the scramjet. He explained that he was Chairman of the Board of Governors and not the Headmaster. The Headmaster would be arriving shortly and he did not want to undermine him. The scramjet took off and 50 minutes later, they were back on Scottish soil minus their precious cargo who were already making their way to their new bedrooms.
Chapter 26
The twins watched the silver dart pierce the sky. They had never seen anything like it nor heard anything like it. Peculiarly, there was no sound, just the whoosh of the air parting as the dart swooped overhead and landed majestically on the landing strip.
As the doors opened and the passengers disembarked, they realised their “holiday” was over. Their targets had arrived. Round the clock surveillance would commence with immediate effect. They were certain that others would be watching too but their job was the most crucial and most important one.
Within an hour of their landing, Reaper was made aware that the targets were in situ and under surveillance. He was nervous. Not because they had landed but because it was on that day that one of his most daring moves would either pay off or be a complete disaster.
He had recently been made aware of an exceptionally young looking and exceptionally talented Chinese assassin. Pieter had worked with this assassin before and was very complimentary about the talented young Ling. Not only was she a highly trained killer but due to a very rare childhood illness, she had never grown beyond her twelfth birthday. She was now twenty four, had six years’ experience as an assassin and looked no older than the day she turned thirteen. Her eternal youth had given Reaper an idea. She would make an excellent plant as a student at the school. She would be able to gather valuable information as easily as she would be able to kill any encumbrance. Reaper was very pleased with himself, this was a perfect addition to an already brilliant plan.
With Ling’s services secured, Reaper attended to the more difficult task, identifying a student she could replace. Following a telephone conversation with his client, Reaper was sent a list of possible targets. After two days of analysis, Pieter, Leo and Reaper agreed on the most suitable candidate.
The operation was to be a simple one but at the same time very expensive. It was imperative that the family of the swapped student knew nothing of the swap until the main mission was well underway. They knew that there would be no opportunity to snatch the student before they departed nor any chance once they landed. They would, therefore, have to intercept the student’s plane and replace the student during the flight. This would involve a significant amount of equipment and exceptional timing.
It was imperative that nobody knew anything was amiss. Therefore, the plan involved two Mig29s, an old Soviet spy plane and a secret island in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to the student’s flight path.
The student’s flight would take off as normal and as it neared the secret island, the spy plane would electronically jam communications and the two Migs would force it to land. The original crew and the student would disembark to be replaced by Reaper’s crew and the impostor. The flight would then resume its course to The Academy. It was imperative that the real student remain alive in case any messages were required to be sent to their parents. The original crew would not be so lucky. After the impostor was dropped at the school, the plane would return for them on the secret island, they would be forced to take off and return to their original airport. Of course, they would never make it beyond the electronic jamming, as they would be shot down in the middle of the Ocean. Being a small private plane, little fuss would be made over the crash.
Reapers phone buzzed.
“Hello?” he answered.
“The switch is done and the exercise complete,” said Pieter.
“Any issues?”
“None. It was perfect. The crew of the plane will never be found. The rescuers think it went down 300 miles from where it actually did. I think we owe our Russian friends an extra bonus for
that piece of genius. They ripped the black box out of the plane and dropped it 300 miles away in the deepest waters they could find. Nothing in the world can go that deep.”
“Excellent. Make sure they receive their bonus before you complete your mission,” said Reaper callously.
“Of course.”
That night, Pieter rewarded the Russians with a case of Vodka and double their original fee. The next morning, Pieter bid the Russian pilots farewell and then shot them dead. They would not be telling this story to anyone but their ancestors.
Ling assumed her new persona and went to work. Through his client, Reaper had managed to ensure that Ling would share the same block as Tom and Lela. It was up to Ling to befriend them and ensure she remained at their side.
Chapter 27
Tom and Lela had been the first to arrive at The Academy and after their whistle-stop tour and dropping off their parents at the scramjet, they went back to their block. Although ‘block’ failed to adequately describe what looked more like a luxury condominium. It was lovely. Each block was quite small and with only 24 student rooms in each, they were perfect. The blocks were spread across the grounds, seventy in total, ten blocks for each year. Tom and Lela’s was smack bang in the centre of the school and seemed to be where the blocks for the seven different years converged. Being first to arrive, Tom and Lela headed straight for the third floor, right at the top.. As they reached the corner room, they agreed to toss for it and Lela won. They opened their doors and walked in, their rooms were massive with separate sleeping and seating areas. They also, as Tom quickly discovered, had everything they could wish for and more.
The richest and most powerful parents had obviously decided that The Academy would be an excellent test market and each had tried to outdo the other. Each room was full of the next generation of games consoles, music and entertainment systems. They were so new that they were not yet available in the shops and all had a small questionnaire which the students were asked to complete should they have the opportunity or want to give the likes of Mr Sony or Mr Microsoft their feedback. Tom had brought a selection of his latest PS3 and Xbox360 games and just hoped the newer systems were backward compatible. However, he soon realised that that wasn’t an issue, any game he wanted downloaded in an instant via the latest internet broadband technology.
Tom had brought a lot of his own gadgets with him which now seemed quite redundant. He had been concerned about access to the internet for his Whatjet. com business and had brought along the latest satellite wireless technology which operated at what he had thought was an amazing 100MB speed. However, it now seemed that that was about a thousandth of what was available to him in his room. He had also brought a satellite phone, reckoning his mobile phone reception would be dodgy in the middle of the Ocean off the coast of Africa but the signal was perfect on his normal mobile. However, he really did like the look of the amazing next generation iphone handset which was waiting for him.
Lela rushed in after ten minutes of checking out her room.
“So what do you think?” she asked expectantly.
They had not had a chance to discuss anything since they had arrived.
“It’s amazing, unbelievable! Don’t you think?”
“God yeah, I can’t think of anything they haven’t thought, can you?” she said, jumping up and down with excitement.
“What about the classrooms, how amazing are they?” he said.
Tom was very impressed with the ultra hi-tech classrooms. Desks were replaced with electronic notepads, seats were made of plush leather and where a blackboard would normally be was an enormous electronic touch screen. He had touched one of the notepads and it immediately sprung to life, the screen flashing ‘Welcome Tom’ before flashing to his own home page. The notepad had recognised hi fingerprint! A tab at the top of the screen indicated Timetable. Tom clicked on it, he was desperate to know what subjects they had. The screen went blank and Tom waited for the timetable to appear but all that appeared was a message ‘not available until Monday 8.00 a.m.’
“I know! And everything else, the Marina, the golf course, the restaurants and there’s even a Dojo, although I think I’ll stick to my room for training,” said Lela.
Her training would continue despite her 6,000 mile and 3 hour time difference. Saki had arranged for a video conference unit for Lela to take with her for her lessons. However, as with Tom’s gadgets, it wasn’t needed. Each room was already fitted with the facility.
Tom was dubious about the restaurants. Lunch had been amazing but they were feeding an ex-President on that day so he reserved judgement until the next day.
“Let’s see what slop they serve up when he’s not there,” he suggested.
They both walked out onto the balcony as they heard the first plane arrive. It was soon followed by the next which heralded the start of what would be an almost constant flow of small jets as the students arrived from around the globe.
Tom and Lela watched as a trail of small carts snaked along the road from the airport to the school and back again. All students, without exception, gazed in awe as they stepped out off the carts into The Academy. From the reception area, the back-drop was breathtaking. The crystal waters of the ocean lapped the pristine beaches which blended into the school’s manicured lawns. It really was a stunning sight, the school was, as one student commented, like something out of a high class holiday brochure. It was hard to believe they were at school at all.
Over the next six hours, their block filled up quickly as its new inhabitants arrived. Tom and Lela recognised most of their neighbours as they arrived. There weren’t many rich or powerful children they hadn’t met at some time. There were only five students who were unknown to them. One was from Russia and named Oleg. His father had become one of the top 100 wealthiest people in just two years. Two were from China, their fathers had made billions from the recent economic boom in China. Mia, was the daughter of a wealthy Chinese recluse and Chen was the son of a high profile socialite from Hong Kong. Thabo, was the son of the President of Botswana, one of the most economically stable African countries. And finally, Mingmei, the daughter of a technology mogul from Taiwan.
As Lela had the corner room which also happened to be the best room in their year block, her room became the ad-hoc meeting area and before long, twenty-two students had gravitated towards it and taken up residence. Tom calculated that they were short of two residents for their block and as he made his way to the door, the 23 ^rd and 24 ^th residents walked in. Tom couldn’t believe it, two of his very best friends had just arrived, Ahmad and the UK PM’s son Tristan, both of whom he had not seen since his birthday and the attempted kidnapping.
“Are you both in this block?” he asked hopefully.
“Yep, we’re your new neighbours,” replied Tristan excitedly.
“Fantastic, that’s so cool?” he turned to Lela. “Look Lela, Trist and Ahmad are in our block.”
Lela walked over to join them. Ahmad began to smile inanely.
“For God’s sake Ahmad you’re almost as bad as Trist, calm down,” whispered Tom.
“After what she did that night there is no other woman for me,” he whispered back.
Tom couldn’t reply, Lela arrived to greet them.
“Hi guys,” she said giving them each a huge hug, much to their delight.
“I’m so glad you’re both here, it’s going to be soooo cool,” said Tom. “I wasn’t sure if you would both get invites, I knew Trist would but…”
Tristan interrupted him and saved Tom’s embarrassment, “I already asked…”
“Only less subtly” interjected Ahmad. “I’m actually a Prince and my father the UK Ambassador, is second in line to the throne.”
“You kept that quiet Your Highness” said Lela curtsying.
“And that’s exactly why, it’s just Ahmad, please,” he said, blushing.
“Is that a royal command, Your Highness?” joked Tom.
“Very funny, please, enough.”
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“OK, OK,” said Tom, “We’re only joking.”
Tristan excused himself. He’d spotted some girls in the room.
“Sorry guys but I see some new talent — see ya’s.”
They were used to him, he was girl mad. In fact, neither Tom nor Ahmad could remember a conversation with Tristan, in the last year, which hadn’t made reference to one girl or another.
Tom spent the rest of the evening catching up with his old friends and getting to know the new ones. Had their respective parents been in attendance, it would have been a very impressive party indeed. In total, the wealth in the room would have exceeded $250 billion, with Tom’s father making up the largest portion. They would have had the most powerful armies in the world at their fingertips particularly with the son of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the daughter of the head of NATO. There were five children whose parents were the elected heads of their nations and numerous members of royalty. Technologically, they would have control of almost every major electronic corporation in the world. All in all, they (or rather their parents) were a pretty powerful bunch.
Of course, the assembling of these particular students had not been accidental. Careful planning had ensured that those who were most vulnerable to terrorist threats were concentrated in one small area. All the students in Tom and Lela’s block and the six blocks next to them had been deliberately placed there. There was one ‘special security’ block per year. Between them, they housed the children of the world’s most influential and powerful families. That part of the planning had been top secret and other than the Headmaster and the Board of Governors, only the Special Forces Base Commander was aware of the heightened security he was expected to impose on those seven blocks.
Tom and Lela played host to their neighbours all evening. They eventually said goodnight to the last of their guests at around midnight. It appeared that there were no set rules for bedtime.
“So what do you think?” Tom asked Lela.
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