“You are amazing. I can’t tell you what this means.”
“I’m sure you’ll tell me soon enough. I’m looking forward to it and it had better be worth the beating and years of pocket money I’m going to lose.”
Tom turned to his new flight crew.
“What’s with the long faces?” asked Tom.
“Oh, I don’t know. Perhaps the thought of flying in the largest commercial aircraft in history piloted by a thirteen year old pilot who has never flown a real plane before, is a bit scary” mused Kano.
“Don’t worry, it’ll be fine,” said Tom reassuring nobody, not even himself.
While Kisho and Kano looked for the flight crew uniforms they needed, Tom received a call from Papa.
“Where are you now?” Tom asked.
“The helicopters have just arrived and we’re about to board.”
“Excellent! And how did you get on with your calls?” asked Tom
Lela’s grandfather rhymed off a list of names and locations.
“I asked Rony to put a couple of mobile phones on the helicopters so we can keep in touch but I guess you already know that, otherwise you wouldn’t have called me!” said Tom ending the call slightly embarrassed.
Tom called Rony, the Malaysian PM’s son and thanked him for arranging the choppers so quickly. Tom then made a number of additional calls to ensure everything else would be in place on time.
Kano and Kisho arrived back in their new Captains’ uniforms, borrowed from staff lockers. They made their way back to the chopper to pick up their equipment. They found some airline trolleys and did their best to hide the small arsenal from the chopper. They then borrowed a van and made their way to the far side of the airport where the A380 stood almost alone under the blaze of floodlights. As they drew up to the aircraft, they noticed a contingent of soldiers guarding the plane.
“Colonel Hibbert, Captain Picard,” said Kano introducing himself to the head of security, laughing to himself at the reference to his favourite Star Trek Captain.
“Ah, we’ve been expecting you. The plane is fuelled and ready to go,” he said. “All rather strange this,” he added.
“What is?” asked Kano as innocently as his nerve allowed.
“Everything,” said Hibbert. “Reports of a non existent gang battle in the terminal alleging that fifteen people are dead and now an A380 is leaving without it’s passengers. I hope people are not concerned about security, my men are the best, you know.”
“Of course they are and I’m sure you’ve heard the reason for the early departure. It’s unavoidable I’m afraid,” replied Kano.
“Well I hope that’s true,” said Hibbert and walked away despondently.
They boarded the aircraft and as Lela, Kisho and Kano gawped at the huge cabin space, Tom turned left and made directly for the cockpit. It was uncanny. Everything was exactly the same as his simulator. This was going to be a piece of cake. Kisho and Kano loaded on their equipment and the ground crew removed the stairways and cleared the ground to allow the aircraft to taxi for take-off.
Fortunately, thanks to the design of the cockpit and the sheer size of aircraft, the ground crew could not see the young pilot at the controls. Kisho sat in the co-pilot’s seat, while Kano and Lela prayed to whatever Gods were listening.
Tom made his way to the head of the runway, Kisho doing all the talking to the control tower. The timing was perfect, the airport was deserted and the passengers who had been due to depart the following morning were tucked up in bed probably dreaming about their trip. Unfortunately for them, they were going to be disappointed. At 2.30 a.m. local time, 12.30 a.m. in London, Tom pushed the throttles to full power. The engines began to whine as the power increased and the plane fought against the airbrakes. As the plane hit full power, Tom released the brakes and the very light monster almost took off prematurely such was the force of the engines on the empty aircraft. The jolt sent them all firmly back in their seats as the plane forged its way along the 14,000 ft runway. Within seconds, the plane had reached its take off speed and they lifted gently into the night sky. Tom was flying!
As he levelled off, he hit the intercom button.
“Sorry about the takeoff. I usually practice that with a full aircraft and this is empty,” announced Tom.
Lela and Kano were in a trance. Tom’s voice was excited but calm and that probably meant that they were not going to die just then. They were ecstatic to be alive, at least until landing. So they cheered, weakly.
Tom set the co-ordinates on the auto pilot, sat back and relaxed. In just under eight hours, they would reach their destination, Masirah a small island off the coast of Oman and home to the Royal Oman Air Force. A phone call to Zafir, the son of the Sultan of Oman had resulted in the provision of a secluded airbase. It was perfect for landing a ‘borrowed’ super jumbo and was just within the fuel limits of the small jets which were flying in from Kota Kinabalu.
Tom’s plan, Operation Retribution, was now well underway.
Part Five
Chapter 58
The islanders’ Citation Xs landed before the A380 and taxied into a far corner of the airbase just as the A380 made its final approach. It was 12.30 p.m. local time and 8.30 a.m. in Glasgow.
Kano and Lela were terrified. The last eight hours had been uneventful but overshadowed by the prospect of landing. Lela could not think beyond the simulator disasters which had involved many dramatic landings, most of which had been fatal. In her state of panic, she had decided to share these stories with Kano to try to ease her own stress levels. They didn’t and only resulted in terrorising Kano further.
Kisho looked across at Tom. Although not an airline pilot, he was a flyer and as far as he could tell, everything was fine. He had heard that the bigger the plane, the easier the landing. This had something to do with the cushion of air which formed under the huge frame of the aircraft as it came in to land. This flight would prove the theory, or not.
Tom could not believe how easy it had been so far. The plane had brought them there itself and if the airport systems had allowed, it would have landed for them too. He thought to himself that he should have gone for a landing at the main commercial airport where the auto landing back-up was available. However, that would have brought other problems, such as having to explain the unexpected appearance of the world’s most notable airplane at a major international airport.
The descent so far had been straightforward, slow and steady. As they got closer to the ground, Kisho called out the altitude, “300, 200, 100…” Before the plane was about to make contact with the ground, Tom flared up its nose and the plane landed effortlessly. The air cushion had done its job. The back wheels were followed closely by the front wheels and as the weight of the aircraft was in their favour they quickly came to a stop. As the front wheels touched down, Tom hit the Intercom button, ever the professional.
“Welcome to Oman, Ladies and Gentleman, the local time is 12.30 p.m. and the outside temperature is a lovely twenty four degrees centigrade. Thank you for flying Tom Kennedy Airlines, we hope you enjoyed your flight and will choose to fly with us again soon.” He had been rehearsing that in his head for hours.
Tom was almost deafened by the screams of joy from the seats behind him in the main cabin. Kano and Lela had been in each other’s arms hanging on for dear life as they had come into the final approach. Until Tom spoke, they had not even realised that they had landed, such was the quality of his touchdown. Both were amazed and screamed with sheer delight.
They taxied to the area which had been set aside for them and once the stairway was attached, they disembarked and went off to find the islanders who should be waiting in the hangar. Tom walked into the hangar and was impressed. His contacts, once again, had not let him down. In the ten hours since he had made the calls, a mass of equipment and intelligence had poured into the hangar. Tom was certain that because everything had been organised by a network of children and nothing had been done through official channels, it
was very unlikely that the terrorists would have been informed of their actions.
In one corner of the hangar were a number of charts displayed on the wall. These were schematic diagrams required for Operation Retribution. In another corner, were the weapons generously supplied by Zach and his network. They had obtained the latest and best weaponry available. In another corner, a communications centre had been established to enable up-to-the-minute news from around the world. In the fourth corner, was a bank of bunk beds and a large seating area full of islanders. There were also rows of tables filled with food. Tom was amazed and phoned Zafir to thank him again for all of his help.
Lela’s grandfather went over to hug the four of them. Kano and Kisho then spotted the food, made their excuses and headed towards the tables.
“It’s so good to see you Papa!” Lela said to her grandfather, as she hugged him.
“Now, now, Lela. Your father will be fine, don’t worry. These people have messed with the wrong family. Tom, let’s go through that plan of yours, over there with charts. Kano, Kisho, stop stuffing your faces and come here.”
Kano and Kisho jumped to his side. When the islanders’ leader spoke, everybody obeyed.
The next hour was spent poring over the charts while they waited for the rest of the islanders to arrive from their various army postings around the world. At 2.00 p.m. local time and 10.00 a.m. Glasgow time, the last plane expected at Masirah landed, it was a small private jet from Cyprus. As Papa called the islanders to order, Tom’s phone rang.
“It’s him,” he announced to the group around him.
Silence descended on the hangar.
“Hello?” Tom answered.
“Hello Tom. How are we getting on?” said Reaper.
Tom thought quickly on his feet, checking his watch.
“Good thanks. We’ve just finished at the High Commission and are on our way back to the airport.”
“So you got your travel papers?”
“No problem at all. I had some cash and greased some palms.”
“Good boy. Now just make sure you get on that plane and get here in plenty of time. Mummy’s counting on you,” said Reaper as he ended the call.
Tom turned to his audience.
“I’m so going to enjoy wiping the smile off of that git’s face.”
The first group came forward for their briefing with Tom. He plugged his handheld PC into a large overhead projector. At first, the islanders were confused by the picture in front of them. However, once Tom explained that each of the blips related to a person and that they were looking at a 3D image of the Estate, they were very impressed. When he instructed the system to identify Saki, his mother and father, they were truly amazed as they watched the green blips make their way between the study and the lounge. Tom noticed that the total number of intruders was now forty three. The handheld PC was perfect for the attack and Tom had requested a few more. These, of course, had been duly supplied and a box of twenty were ready to be configured. This was more than enough. Tom explained the plan to the team and began configuring the handheld PCs.
Papa, Kano and Kisho took over and briefed the next two teams. A further two teams were still in the air and a sophisticated communications system supplied by Zach allowed the final two briefings to take place mid air.
Chapter 59
Donald had hardly slept all night. For the first time in weeks, the deal was not what had kept him awake. He could not stop watching the hostage scenes around the world and concluded that his deal was responsible for the atrocities. He could imagine exactly what each of the parents were going through as he was in the same situation. Rachel had taken some sleeping pills. The bruise on her face from the earlier slap was still growing and the pain had been intense. She had refused to take the sleeping pills at first and then only agreed when Donald had promised to do likewise. He had pretended to swallow his but spat them out when Rachel was not looking.
Donald spent the night trying to work out what he could do. He knew that the minute he pulled out of the IBC deal, some horrific accident would ensure that none of the family would live to disclose the real reason for pulling out. Although Rachel had not realised that, Donald knew that Saki had and was absolutely certain that Tom would have. Donald had over 4,000 children on his conscience but could not help focussing on only two, Tom and Lela.
Saki was in the room next door. He had slept little, although knowing what was to come on Monday at noon, he knew he needed to be alert and had power napped as much as his brain would allow. His two babies were in danger and he was not there to protect them. That was his job and he had failed. The reports from Kano and Kisho should have alerted him sooner that something was wrong but neither he nor Donald had picked up on the signals when reading through the reports. However, one thing did pray on his mind. How had anybody managed to get Tom and Lela away from the twins? They were the best. He could not believe that they had failed him. Nonetheless, Donald had heard Tom on the phone and at the gate. It just did not make sense.
Donald knocked on Saki’s door and entered.
“How are you doing, Saki?”
“Not good, you?”
“Same.”
“Donald, I just can’t get it out of my head. I can’t believe the twins would let us down. Are you sure they have the kids?”
“Yes. I wish I was wrong but he had Tom on the phone and let me speak to him very briefly. I keep replaying the moment in my mind but all I come up with is that they must have them.”
Saki looked at the TV feed.
“Still no demands from the kidnappers. That’s very strange, it’s been over two days now.”
“I know. It’s all linked. They don’t care about anything but the deal,” said Donald. “It’s all I can think about. Four thousand children in danger because of me.” Donald became tearful.
“No! Four thousand children in danger because of them, not you!” Saki was adamant. “This is not your fault, you’ve done nothing wrong and don’t forget that!”
“I know you’re right but I can’t help thinking ‘what if…,’” said Donald. “Anyway I need to finish the final drafts by this evening. I better get on with it and check in with the anal retentive.”
Donald was referring to Mark who was driving him mad, checking every alteration in case there was some hidden code in the way he had crossed something out or had added a word.
Reaper’s phone rang. It was the client.
“What’s the latest?”
“They boarded the flight at 5.00 p.m. in South Africa. There was a half hour delay and so they’re due to land at 3.00 a.m. They should be here by 4.00 a.m. which gives us plenty of time.”
“How do you know they definitely boarded, if you’ve got nobody on the ground?”
“My communications man dialled into the airline’s system and checked, firstly that they’d checked in and secondly that they’d boarded. That kid has some system in his room.”
“OK and how’s Kennedy progressing with the deal?”
“Fine, our guy says they’ll be finished by tonight and he’s been extremely well behaved.”
“Watch him. He’s a very clever man and knows what’s going to happen. He won’t go down without a fight.”
“Don’t worry, he’s not prepared to lose his son,” replied Reaper confidently.
“Do not underestimate him.” The phone went dead, no goodbyes, no pleasantries.
Chapter 60
Tom finished configuring the handhelds and used one of them to dial into his computer to check the AlbAir system. Tom’s system had access to each one of his father’s business systems and there were hundreds of them. His father knew nothing of this but Tom liked to keep an eye on the inheritance. He would need to give Kirstie, the daughter of the AlbAir CEO, a big thank you when he saw her next. As promised, she had ensured that Tom and Lela had checked in at 2.00 p.m. and boarded at 4.45 p.m. She had also arranged for the half hour delay. On arrival at Glasgow, the plane would be asked to stay in a
holding pattern for thirty minutes despite empty skies and an empty runway. She would ensure that the plane would land no earlier than 3.30 a.m., as agreed.
The terrorists would be feeling quite safe in the knowledge that Tom and Lela were on the plane and on their way towards them. Tom had considered whether announcing the crash of the plane would be better. In that way, they would never be expected back. However, when Tom mentioned it to Lela, she pointed out that it might cause “just a little” distress among the other passengers’ families and that he shouldn’t be so ridiculous. Tom agreed and went for the delay instead.
He then went to check on the teams who had amalgamated into a mass of bodies relaxing and sleeping while they could. It was going to be a long night. Lela had crashed out on one of the bunks and it was then that Tom realised how little sleep he had had in the last thirty six hours. He lay down on the bunk next to Lela and fell into a deep sleep. Two hours later, the buzzer woke them all up. It was time to go.
One of the ground crew came running in to find Tom. There was a problem. One of the Citation X’s had a mechanical fault. Tom thought this wasn’t a problem. They could just double up in one of the other Citation X’s. However, it was pointed out this was not an option. The distance was already at the extreme end of the Citation X’s range and any additional loading would result in their having to refuel. The time involved in refuelling was not an option, a finite window existed for what they needed to achieve.
There was no other option. Tom looked across the runway at the monster A380. Kano and Lela followed his gaze and winced.
“Not again,” they whispered in unison.
“OK. Can you fuel up the 380, please,” said Tom to the ground crew.
The flying arrangements were quickly rearranged and the teams boarded the A380 for the final leg of the journey. Tom took the Captain’s seat, input their destination and then made a quick phone call to arrange additional transport at the other end. He then made corrections for the weight of the plane and prepared for take-off. Kisho, his First Officer, assisted with the final checks as Tom taxied onto the runway. Moments later, they were airborne and Lela and Kano applauded an extremely smooth take off. It did not, however, reassure them enough to stop them praying for a safe landing.
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