Spiros closed his eyes.
Using the tips of his fingers he signified a cross in front of him, opened his eyes and looked straight into the eyes of the figure stood in front of him.
And then the game was over.
The Russian built A-25M flying boat swayed rhythmically on its mooring, in Gialos Bay on the southernmost tip of Santorini. Dillon had spotted the three seater amphibian aircraft when they had first arrived on the island. It was still moored just off the shore in exactly the same spot where it had been then, and now this was there way of getting off the island and their route to safety — quickly…
Vince Sharp was seated on the pebble beach, gaze locked on the open water between Nea Kameni Island and Gialos Bay. He watched the wake of thesmall craft cutting a direct line towards him; away from a billowing thick black plume of smoke rising up into the brilliant blue sky. He frowned, deep furrows appearing across his forehead, as he listened to the sound of the powerful outboard of the craft getting closer.
Dillon went round the aircraft once to take a look at it, and then skilfully beached the rib about six feet away from where the Australian was standing.
Dillon jumped down from the rib and went across to Vince Sharp. “You made it. Thank the heavens, you’re a sight for sore eyes, and I can honestly say that I’ve never been so glad to see an overweight Australian in all my life. How are you my old friend?” Dillon said, genuinely pleased to see his friend.
“Ditto — but to be honest, chap. When I got your email, I went straight to the partners who put me on a private jet and a priority clearance all the way from the UK. Thought I wouldn’t make it in time, to be honest with you. The chatter I was intercepting between Ezra and GCHQ did not make good listening. I’m very surprised to see you both still alive.” Vince sat back down onto the beach. “Got the seaplane, I see. Did you manage the modifications that
I asked for?”
“Yes, and a few more for good measure. Now listen up, people.
The 6-cylinder engine has been tweaked, increasing the cruising speed of 150MPH to 200MPH, but with this, came the need to double the capacity of the fuel-tanks. The bonus there is that we’ve also increased the range that it will now achieve, which originally was around a thousand miles and is now up to around eighteen hundred miles.”
Vince stood up and pointed at the aircraft. “Under each wing you have forward and rear firing machine guns, and at the tip of each wing you have a single stinger missile launcher. Inside the cabin you have all of the standard kit, with the addition of a monitor screen and a HIDSS helmet linked to all of the weapons, as well as three cameras, one mounted forward in the nose-cone of the fuselage, there’s another above just forward of the engine mount, and a third mounted at the rear in the tip of the fuselage. All three cameras are equipped with night-vision and heat seeking modes. And that’s about it really. Oh, I mustn’t forget the last modification you asked for — and I can tell you, Jake. Adding a forth seat in an already cramped cockpit was a feat in itself. But why the extra seat?”
“Because there will be four of us leaving this island.” “Four?”
“Ezra is the forth. That is if we can find him…”
“Surely, if he’s still alive he will have gone to ground, wouldn’t he?” Vince said gently.
“Maybe he is dead. But, I don’t think so, he’s as wily as a fox, knows this island like the back of his hand, and could lose himself for days underground within that network of tunnels under his facility”
Tatiana said walking down to the water’s edge.
“What about the enemy?” Vince said.
“We’ve lost them for the moment, but I’ve no doubt that we’ll be seeing them again. So, I think it’s time to get the hell out of here.”
Dillon said, and walked off down the beach to join Tats. “You okay?” “Yeah, fine thanks. Although, this shoulder is killing me and my head aches like it’s going to explode. But otherwise, I’m fine.” They all waded out to the aircraft with Vince getting aboard first, followed by Tatiana and then Dillon climbed the ladder and settled himself into the pilot’s seat.
Dillon wasted no time in bringing the A-25M on-line, the single prop spun-up, soon reaching idling speed. Dillon flicked a switch; his HIDSS helmet sprang to life and he went through a quick familiarisation routine, before releasing the mooring line and powering the amphibian craft out into deep water. He turned the nose around into the light breeze, pushed the throttle forward; and a moment later they were skimming over the water at one-hundred miles per hour. The engine roared as the aircraft leaped up into the air and sped across the clear blue sky, sun glinting off of the single variable pitch propeller. The virtual screen on Dillon’s visor lit-up with proximity missile warnings, as they circled Ezra’s villa and the secret facility onethousand feet below. The engine howled with power as the A-25M skirted the villa and olive groves where Dillon could clearly see the damage caused by the Assassins’ attack.
Dillon told Tatiana to watch the camera monitor screen for any unwelcome guests.
“Doesn’t appear to be much going on down there now,” said
Dillon. “The defence systems are still armed; even though it looks quiet enough; I’m not getting any closer, just in case there are Assassins inside the control room and they’ve re-booted the mainframe.” “What if they are in the control room?” Vince said, dabbing the sweat from his brow with a dubious looking handkerchief. “Ground-to-air missiles. Ezra had them all over the place, and they’re all showing a status of being armed and dangerous.” He took the aircraft lower; they swept wide around the olive groves. A lone Assassin glanced up as they flew over. A stream of bullets from its Uzi SMG followed but the A-25M was moving far too swiftly. The aircraft banked over hard to the right, and levelled out at three hundred feet as it raced towards the cliffs, disappearing over the brow towards the water below. Dillon headed out towards the Sea of
Crete, before lifting his visor and turning to Tatiana, said. “So what do you want to do?”
“Make another pass, but come in from the north side of the island; Ezra must be down there somewhere. If anyone can get out alive, it’s Ezra.” They flew over the deep blue water of the Aegean
Sea, keeping low and close to the island’s eastern coast-line. Returning low over the arid land from the north, sweeping as low as Dillon dared with ground-to-air missiles in the vicinity. The A-25M circled the villa grounds and olive groves several more times. There was no sign of Ezra, nor any other members of his staff for that matter. “I’m switching the cameras to heat seeking mode. Keep a close eye on your monitor screen.”
“What am I looking for?”
“If there’s anything alive down there, it will show up red on the screen.”
The next moment, Tatiana shouted from the rear of the cramped cabin. “Dillon, you’d better drop your visor and take a look this.” Dillon gazed at his virtual screen inside the HIDSS helmet. “Hell streuth. Why do they not give up.”
“I think we can assume that Assassins are in control down there.”
Vince said, and then added. “If they are, then those missiles could be extremely hazardous to our health.”
“I agree. So what do we do now?” Said Tatiana. “I know Ezra is my uncle, but he’s very adept at looking after himself.”
“I’ve got something on the forward camera.” Dillon swept round in a wide arc once more.
“What is it?”
“Three figures. Running away from one of the olive groves…” “Try and get closer next time, Dillon. Let’s see who it is.” The A-25M banked, flying straight towards the glinting sunlight.
Like a bullet it hurtled across the sky and then suddenly dropped, gliding in a descending arc towards a dirt track ran parallel to the cliff top, the deep red colour of the volcanic rock stood out against the deep blue of the sea far below.