Katherine tried the door, and cautiously entered, no music was playing, and no cooking smells that may have distracted Anita from her approach. Katherine knew that Anita had terminal cancer, and had been diagnosed some months before. The reason for her visit was she had a break in work, and it had been some months since she had seen her friend, she missed her. With no one showing in the lounge or kitchen, Katherine moved towards the bedroom, smelling Aloe Vera, which she knew Anita did not use, strange but Katherine dismissed it.
She pushed open the bedroom door and she saw her, lying still on the bed.
‘Anita, it’s Katherine.’
No response. Was she sound asleep? Katherine tried to rouse Anita, no response. Fearing the worst, she felt for a pulse on her neck, and found none, but Anita was still warm.
Katherine sat on the bed, just looking at her old friend, wondering why she had died alone, when so many people cared about her. She picked up the phone by the bed, and dialled the local sheriff, he answered and Katherine told him what she had found.
‘Do you know where Jacob is?’
‘He left word that he was going to the Arctic two weeks ago, Anita knew. He gave me a number to contact him at, should I need to.’
‘You better call him. I will wait here.’
Katherine stayed until the circus of Police and coroner had finished, confirming heart failure as cause of death. There was no inquest, no autopsy, the local doctor confirmed cause of death. Anita had many friends who cared for her as much in death as life.
Katherine called Archer’s base to give them the news, and a message was sent to Jacob on his ship. They all met at the funeral a week later. She had dealt with death; caused many deaths during her career, but nothing had ever affected her like this.
Archer was stunned by his father’s revelation, ‘so you lied to protect me?’
‘Yes you could not deny what you did not know. Your mother wanted it that way; I have a message from her I have been keeping for you. Do you want to see it?’
‘Yes Dad that would be good, but later, when this is finished.’
‘Okay, so we’re okay?’
‘Yeah, we’re fine, just wished you had explained before. You never give me enough credit.’
‘I wish I had, I didn’t think you would talk to me because of it.’
‘And yet I didn’t talk to you because you did not tell me. See how wrong you can be?’
‘Yeah sorry Archer, I should have trusted you.’
Katherine had been listening, while putting on her kit, ‘So the smell in the house that day, the Aloe, that was you?’
‘Yes, sorry I had to deceive everyone.’
‘It’s okay Jacob, we understand why. Now boys, down to business, five minutes to jump point.’
The three of them were going to perform a high altitude low opening, or HALO jump. This was to avoid detection from radar, or visually from the ground, as a normal parachute decent would. Katherine secured everything in the cockpit, and began to depressurise the cabin, all three of them now wearing oxygen masks and helmets. The plane had begun increasing altitude ten minutes ago, and was now at twenty five thousand feet. Katherine gave final instructions, ’Now Jacob, I know you have done this before, but not recently, your parachute will open automatically at a preset height. If you pass out the ground won’t kill you.’
‘Good to know Katherine, anything else?’
‘At this altitude you will reach the ground in about two minutes, just stay focussed, don’t enjoy the ride too much.’
‘Now you are spoiling my fun.’
‘At this speed if you hit the ground, you will bounce out of the hole that you will make.’
‘You know it sound dangerous when you put it like that.’
Katherine gave him a hug, ‘Take care both, see you on the ground.’
The aircraft had begun to depressurise, and then the escape hatch slid open in the bottom of the cabin, rarefied air rushed in as the Global Surveyor cruised five miles up. The temperature would freeze an unprotected person to death; if the lack of oxygen didn’t give them hypoxia first. Archer dropped out the aircraft, feet first his back towards the front of the plane, once he was clear, Jacob left about twenty seconds behind him. The wind slammed him in the chest like a paving slab, the small white H shaped plane disappeared at speed as he fell away.
Jacob regained his calm, and as his body slowed he levelled out turning from his back to face the ground. He controlled his speed and descent with his limbs, moving his arms back to his side and angling downwards flipping over and re-directing his natural fall. They were above the clouds and only the GPS display on his visor showed where his target was, now just three miles below. The protection afforded by his suit and helmet reduced the sensation of speed, his suit was ruffling as he reached terminal velocity. He could see Archer in front and below him, and caught him up, one hundred twenty miles an hour straight down helped. Archer had likened it to standing on top of a passenger train at full speed, then trying to jump off and stop.
Both men saw each other, the helmets giving excellent visibility, neither responding using the radio. They descended through the clouds at twelve thousand feet, and emerged into the rain falling from them. The rainstorm was intense, blowing in from the Pacific onto the coast, perfect. The rain combined with their high altitude low opening approach should give them access to all areas, without the need for an invite. Below their target came into view, both men adjusted their approach to land on the least inhabited section of the island. Jacob moved away from Archer, giving them both room to open their chutes, the altimeter on the visor display now flashing red as they passed two thousand feet.
The area they were aiming for was behind a small peak in the northern part of the island, a thousand foot lump of rock. There had been a fire from a lightning strike a few weeks ago, the back of the hill and forest below burnt, no trees for about quarter of a mile. Jacob saw the hill come into view, and as he passed the summit, his chute opened. The mechanism activating perfectly, his head thrown back as expected, he checked his chute and then steered towards the forest clearing Katherine had marked on the GPS. He pulled down on both cords; braking the chute and landing with knees bent, turning and rapidly pulling his chute into his body.
Archer was just fifty feet away on the far side, already stashing his chute and walking over to greet his Dad. Their kit landed just moments later, though not as gracefully, with a thud the self-guiding cargo chute landed in the centre of the clearing. Katherine had dropped it from the underbelly of the aircraft, it had fallen and guided itself to the target. The pod attached was only one foot wide and four feet long, so would not show up on the radar network the island used.
‘Okay Archer, let’s get the gear, Katherine said she will bailout on the return leg in thirty minutes.’
‘Dad, welcome to Isla Joya Verde. Let’s find The General.’
TWENTY EIGHT
Arthur Jarrett’s private office was austere, the dark wood, imposing nineteenth century antique desk, leather chairs, more reminiscent of a gentleman’s smoking club than a twenty first century office. Amongst the mahogany and detailed woodwork were all the tools a modern public official required, laptop, PDA, secure phone, counter-surveillance hardware, bulletproof windows. As the Under Secretary for International Defence his position was privileged and tenuous, the many conflicts around the globe all of interest to the United States of America and all fraught with political mines. So wide was the nations influence and importance that his workload only allowed five hours of sleep a night, a weekend off was a rarity.