The door swung open and the Priest stepped out of the iconic sports car, he stood for the briefest moment, looking straight at the cockpit, and then crossed swiftly with his Bible in hand; long leather overcoat flapping, and climbed up into the helicopter to be greeted by two blank stares.
Well done, you two, for convening so early. It is good to see that
God’s work is going to be carried out with willingness and punctuality.” “Right,” said Alix, casting a glance at Lola. “We were just warming up her engines.”
“And are they warm?” Asked the Priest softly.
“They are now.”
“So what are we waiting for? Onward, Christians! Let us find out the source of this scourge.”
The Apache, engines roaring with power, lurched up from the grass airstrip, rotated through three-hundred and sixty degrees, then shot straight up a thousand feet; it halted, hovering, rotated ninety degrees, then with its short squat nose dipped, hammered forward into the heavy falling rain.
Alix grinned sheepishly. “Sorry! Just getting acquainted with her!”
The rotors thumped overhead as they raced through the downpour.
Lola found herself staring out and down at the bleak landscape below. They passed over towns and villages, vast open spaces of fields and forests; cars moved like ants through streets. In high-streets, shoppers cowered under large umbrellas and rushed between shop awnings for shelter from the heavy rainstorm. A feeling of melancholy came over Lola as she watched these tiny people in their tiny houses with their tiny lives.
“I know exactly what you’re thinking,” said Alix.
“And what might that be?”
“You’re looking at the people — ordinary people going about their daily business, secure in their ignorance. Not aware of world events unfolding around them. They watch the news; believe the propaganda spewed out by the media — like sheep. They have no real concept of what is really going on, of what the stakes are.”
“That’s really quite profound for you, Alix.”
Alix smiled broadly at her, showing remarkably white teeth. “Lola, you’re so philosophical, girl.” Alix said, “It’s not profound, it’s a fact based on my observation of ordinary people.”
“Are you ordinary, Alix?” Asked the Priest casually from the rear of the cabin.
“Hell no. Ordinary is definitely not something I’ve ever done, Priest.”
Lola patted his arm. “Steady tiger. The Priest was only kidding with you, and we both know you’re not ordinary. A little weird sometimes, but definitely not ordinary.”
Alix nodded a big smile across his face.
The Apache banked, heading towards the north east coast of
England; below, cliffs sailed into the distance and they were flying low over the cold hostile grey North Sea one hundred feet below them.
There was tension between Alix and the priest.
“We’re not going any lower,” said the Priest through gritted teeth. “The wave formations will mask us against radar,” said Alix softly, eyes bright in the glow of the instrument panel.
“And what about the possibility of downdraft? It could drag us down at this low altitude and straight into Neptune’s watery embrace.”
said the Priest looking down at the foaming cauldron below. “You can get out any time you like, you insane religious bastard.” “God will protect us, Alix.”
“God will not protect us, Priest. Because he doesn’t really exist -
does he?” Alix gave Lola a sideward glance, and they both knew that he was messing with fire and brimstone.
“You do not know God’s will, as I do.”
“Ok, Priest. Perhaps he does exist. But I’ve never heard or seen him, and I haven’t seen the light, either.”
The Apache dropped closer to the waves; sea spray covered the windscreen and Lola and the Priest stared out wearily, watching the effervescence water, the crests of the white foam against the rolling dark grey liquid.
“Do you know anything about this place we are going to?” asked
Lola, after long moments of silence.
“A little,” replied the Priest slowly, his eyes hooded. “It’s a top secret Government research facility, exclusively used for military computer software development by professor Kirill and his team of nerds, because of its inhospitable location, it was built deep beneath a mountain. The Ministry of Defence is the governing department, but
Kirill only answers to Downing Street. It’s run as a military centre, an impregnable place from which the Government can securely develop weapon’s systems and the like.”
“So how did they discover that Kirill was using the facility for his own end?”
“A lowly level three programmer at the facility overheard a conversation and had the presence of mind to report it back to London. From that point the Ministry had GCHQ monitor every single incoming and outgoing communication by land-line, fax, email and mobile phone.”
“What’s this facility like?”
“Impressive, my child, very impressive. It is built high up on a ridge of a mountain. There are only two ways to reach the place — by air, or by a single car width un-made track. Kirill’s facility is a state of the art fortress; almost impregnable. An elaborate system of tunnels underground travel across and down, deep down- access and ventilation shafts, vast storage rooms, research labs, kitchens, and living modules — all carved from within the rock.”
“Apart from the obvious defences. What’s the security like?” “Heavy! Special Forces trained security personnel patrol the interior of the facility as well as the surrounding terrain. Then there are the laser guided machine-guns, there are at least six of them strategically located, that are controlled by the central facility computer system. This might all seem like the impossible, but God will show us the way…”
Lola shivered.
“This could get messy with lots of bad death.” Alix said matter of factly through his helmet microphone
“What’s new.” said Lola.
“We have no choice.” The Priest said softly.
“They said that Kirill was a raving fanatical mad-man. But given his choice of location, I’m not so sure about that.” Alix said. “He might be mad and he might be a fanatic. But he is still considered the most eminent computer programmer in the world.”
Said the Priest.
Alix nodded.
They remained in silence for the rest of the journey.
GCHQ Transcript 6. Transcript of recent news article. NO FURTHER ACTION REQUIRED.
The Hoover Dam hydro power station was completely shutdown this morning. The shutdown lasted for five minutes, leaving many thousands of inhabitants and businesses without power.
The reactivation occurred as an automated sequence that left technicians and engineers without answers concerning the nature of this apparent security breach. When reactivation occurred, all passwords and security protocols were initiated without supervisor intervention.
This would suggest either a highly complex virus in the facility’s software. Although some early speculation suggests a sophisticated hacker/terrorist involvement. The American Secretary for Technology, Bradley Glover, was unavailable for comment…
Chapter 14
Dillon and Tatiana had a simple breakfast of fruit, bread and cheese brought to their room by one of Ezra’s personal assistants, Spiros, and washed down with strong black coffee. Dillon gestured for Spiros to stay, and the swarthy young Greek man sat on a chair by the window. He poured himself a coffee and grinned over at Dillon. “They say you’re a very dangerous man.”
Dillon shrugged and grinning back, said. “You look quite dangerous yourself.”