“How far from the facility, are we?”
“Twelve miles at most. We need to re-think our approach strategy, and fast, Jake.”
“I’ll drop down to ninety feet and look for somewhere to put down. They might just send out choppers and this amphibian is no match for what they’ll send up.” After some distance, Dillon brought the A-25M down on a small loch between two mountain ranges. Gentle, tree covered slopes rose up to meet the sheer cliffs flanking the expanse of deep water. Dillon taxied the amphibian aircraft up onto a secluded beach — the propeller wound down.
Dillon and Tatiana climbed down from the cockpit, while Vince flicked a few switches and armed the aircraft’s anti-tamper defence system, then eased himself down. He carried his laptop in one hand as he walked towards them. “You’re not going to like what I have to tell you.”
Dillon looked at the big Australian, knowingly. “Surprise me.”
Vince opened the laptop and set it down on a large smooth rock. “The route that we need to take is crawling with early warning sensors, most likely set-up by the SAS when they established the training centre up here. These early warning sensors will be linked via Kirill’s mainframe to any number of patrol squads — maybe two or three heavily armed and well trained soldiers in each squad. Now, we might get lucky and just manage to sneak past them, might. But I can’t guarantee that we would get past them — undetected. There is also the strong possibility that if we don’t get through — Kirill and his merry band of computer nerds, might just, not be there. Your main man could vanish.”
“What do you suggest?” Tatiana said.
“Well. It’s something I stumbled upon, just before I left London to come and meet you on Santorini.”
“So what is it?” Dillon mumbled impatiently.
“A special forces weapons and vehicle stash.” Vince looked at both of their uncomprehending expressions for a brief moment; “Don’t look at me as if I’m barking mad, you two. I’m not joking, they have them all over the planet. Ezra was a caretaker of one. They are extensively equipped with all manner of goodies, including; allterrain stealth vehicles. It just depends what your priority is — speed or stealth? Now, I’ve been thinking. I could get us there in the A-25M but we might trigger some of their more sophisticated sensors — just depends what they’ve got!”
Dillon paced up and down the small beach. “Show me on the map.”
Vince brought up a map on the screen — tapped in a command and the screen updated itself; the overlay that covered the original map with modified information. Dillon and Tatiana knelt down on the sand in front of the screen, and Dillon traced his finger over the highlighted terrain.
“Where is the Kirill facility?”
Vince pointed. “Somewhere within this mountain range here,” making a small circular motion with the tip of his finger. “It can’t be that easyto hide, although theydo try. By all accounts it’s a labyrinthine complex hewn out of the mountain rock.”
“Couldn’t we take a less direct route, say, by way of no sensors or anything that is likely to blow us clean out of the sky?”
“It’s possible, but something is already taking place up there. GCHQ has intercepted some chatter taking place between chopper pilots and the facility. In fact, there’s been quite a lot of air movement taking place over the last twenty-four hours. It looks like they’re already shipping out. We could try — but to be honest, Jake, I think we’re going to have to run the gauntlet, or dear old Professor Kirill is going to do a vanishing act. The software I’ve loaded into the aircraft’s processor should keep us partially safe, but don’t go blaming good old Vince, if we run into a little heat.”
“Great. Any other good news?”
“I can re-map the co-ordinates to take us to the special forces’ weapons and vehicle stash; or as near to it as possible. Lucky for us, it’s quite close to a loch.”
“Hmmm.” Dillon scratched at the stubble on his chin, and decided that he needed a shower and a shave. He felt the cold air of the Highlands, touch the back of his neck.
“Okay, let’s head for the stash, and then I’ll go in by vehicle alone, and you can wait at the aircraft with Tatiana — ”
“I’m coming with you, Dillon,” Tatiana said.
“No way, Tats. You’re in no fit state.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are, Dillon. You — do not order me around.”
Their glares locked. Dillon shook his head. “I work better alone.”
“Well, I’m not asking you to wet-nurse me, either. I can do that quite adequately myself. But I’ve not come this far, just to sit on the sideline and simply watch these bastards from afar. I’m going in, Jake, and I’ll either go with you or without you. You can accompany meif you feel up to it — after all, the beating you’ve suffered over the last few days must have slowed down your reflexes a little bit. And remember who got you out of Ezra’s bunker alive… Without me you’d have been just another kill for that Assassin…”
“Whoa, point taken.” Dillon held up his hands. “If you really want to come…” “You should know better than to mess with a fiery woman, Jake.” said Vince.
“Show me on the map exactly where we would have to land; and how far it would be to this special forces depot.” Tatiana pointed at the screen.
“Okay,” Vince enlarged the image on the screen, “The only place for us to land, is this small loch, here.” He indicated a point on the map, “It’s only just long enough for us to land on, but it is doable. From here, it’s only about half a mile to the depot, and another mile to the facility itself.”
Dillon glanced up at a foreboding sky, low thunderous clouds rolled over them, the promise of foul weather to follow. He looked at Tatiana, and then at Vince. “Let’s get on with it, then.”
The A-25M rocked gently on the water at the edge of the loch, hot metal cooling in the light breeze even as they were camouflaging the fuselage with anything they could lay their hands on. Thirty minutes later and they’d covered the half a mile distance to the depot.
They stood, staring up at the wall of rock before them. “Where is it?” asked Tatiana.
“You’re looking at it.”
Tatiana gazed up at the jagged vertical surface of the mountain that now barred their way. The rock was a dark granite grey, scarred, part of a landscape scoured by the severest weather that nature had thrown at it since the beginning of time. It was a sanctuary from the bitterly cold north wind. It was a mountain with a sense of history.
“It’s a wall of solid rock, Vince.”
“No, you’ve got to look harder.”
Special forces depots were dotted all over the globe, and carried equipment specific to the sort of territory in which they were located. Periodically they would be checked and re-stocked by Government officials. On numerous occasions they had made a difference between life and death.
All of these depots were located under the ground or behind rock and even inside disused mine shafts. Monitored via live web cams and linked via a military satellite to a secure server, images end up at an automated monitoring station located in a bunker beneath Whitehall. Any undue change in temperature, or unauthorised movement inside any depot, is instantly relayed back and the nearest military unit dispatched to investigate. Dillon pulled out his Ferran & Cardini smart-phone and held it in the palm of his hand.
“This little beauty has the pre-loaded software to open doors. But if I switch it on again, our position will be immediately given away?”
“That’s true. But if they’re that good, they know where we are, or where we’re going. We just have to concentrate on staying one step ahead. Act, don’t react, yeah?”