The General’s adrenaline blasted him awake, he instinctively grabbed Briggs by the throat running him into the wall, until he focussed and realised who he was, ‘Where are they? Where are they?’
Briggs stepped back confused as The General babbled, ‘Where are who sir?’
‘Mathias was here, didn’t you see him? He took it, he took them all!’
The General was spinning, a confused puppet with tangled strings, ‘They got in, they took them.’
Briggs was even more concerned now, ‘What did they take? And Mathias, you mean Archer Mathias?’
‘Not just Archer, his father Jacob, my old friend!’
‘Why would they come here sir?’
‘To take them, to give them to those savages!’
‘Take what?’
‘THE AMULETS! You fool, the bloody amulets!’
‘What amulets? Is this the project you were hiding from me?’
‘Hiding from you? You are not enlightened enough to see my vision Briggs! I will have it all! I will be giving orders instead of taking them. No more shoe shine boy for me!’
The General was still spinning, whatever drug he had been given, still affecting him.
‘Sir, I am sure we can resolve this, where are the Amulets?’
‘Mathias has them, but Enzi will get them, they are both going to the same place.’
‘Sir, Enzi has already left, how could he stop them?’
‘He has enough men to ensure that anyone who has the amulets will die!’
‘Why would you put our years of hard work setting up this place, for some relics?’
‘Because Briggs, those relics will give me the status of a superpower! I will be giving Jarrett orders!’
Briggs saw the bigger picture now, Jarrett had used The General and Enzi to acquire this power, whatever it was, for the United States to control. Jarrett had not allowed for The General being disloyal and wanting to control it himself, he was no longer the obedient servant. The drug-induced nature of The General’s mind appeared to give him a new found level of honesty and openness, which Briggs exploited.
‘What about Enzi, how does he fit in?’
‘Oh he is a pawn, he will be a puppet president.’
‘Really and that is motivating him?’
‘No, no, I told him, he retrieves this device and I will get him the Presidency, course that is a lie.’
‘Why a lie?’
‘Because if Uncotto capitulates to the demands for development of his country, they will not need Enzi.’
‘So Enzi is a fall back?’
‘Yep, a patsy, a pawn, a puppet….’
‘Okay, I understand. Why don’t you rest here now, and I will take care of this for you.’
‘Would you Briggs, that’s lovely of you, thanks. I do feel a bit tired.’
The General dropped into his high back chair, the springs absorbing the impact. His body was desperately confused, embracing the drugs and attempting to disperse them simultaneously.
Briggs had his opportunity, with The General incapacitated and Enzi off chasing relics, he could ramp up his evacuation. He checked with the information Jarrett had sent him, the bird dedicated to monitoring the base would be offline in thirty minutes, he had hours then before the next satellite arrived, due to the sunspot activity.
He sent the coded message to comms for Thorpe. The newly promoted Sergeant looked at his handheld pager a single line of text on the screen, visible only to him from the thin strip display. The low-level flight of the seaplane rhythmically bouncing his body in the padded seat, ‘Trojan is go.’
Thorpe deleted the message; he knew what to do, and to destroy all traces of his involvement.
THIRTY TWO
The Consortium’s only recourse was to arrange for an accident for the President of Mabalia. Albert Perfidy was not an official representative of the Department of Energy; he was knowledgeable on the data required for that position. He researched all his roles efficiently and thoroughly, to ensure success in any insertion he was involved with. This one was commissioned by The Consortium, and his work in Unit Zero 3 had been exemplary, for which he had been rewarded financially by The General. His phone buzzed and the call he had expected connected.
‘Are you in place?’
‘The situation is ready, I had already planned for this eventuality you should have no concerns.’
‘I have many concerns, and why did you plan for this eventuality?’
‘I always keep my options open and that of my clients, I am paid for my flexibility.’
‘You need to remove the issue of the African gentleman, is that understood?’
‘Clearly, Sir.’
‘Right, I will speak to you later.’
‘Are the funds transferred to my accounts?’
‘Yes, completed as before.’
‘Goodbye sir. Watch the news at six for an update.’
Albert waited for the water taxi on the East River. The Consortium had just authorised the assassination of a president, and would ensure someone else took the blame.
Mastasson was starting to recover now. He called up two soldiers and handed large loaded cases to them, they emptied the remaining contents of his safe into them. He had enough money to start again, anywhere he wished. His computer was useless a virus had been entered into the system and had already destroyed all their communication links and data transmission services. He had been informed that it was now going to work on the data storage facility; he knew it was pointless attempting to stop it.
In a way the virus had done him a favour, destroying beyond repair any evidence of his involvements dealings over the past years. All he had to do now was remove the physical evidence, destroy all the assets on the ground. He attempted to summon the lift to his private hangar, but it did not respond, ‘Bloody Jacob.’
He stormed out of his office, ignoring his secretary, ‘General there is an urgent call for you from a Mr Jarrett.’
He began walking down the corridor, catching up to the soldiers with his money, ‘Put them in my assault helicopter please boys.’
The soldiers were surprised by his informality, but followed their orders, placing the two substantial cases into the cargo compartment of the Alligator Helicopter. Laurent was already aboard, not daring to further annoy or rile The General.
Mastasson thanked the two soldiers and then shot both of them in the head, so quickly they did not have time to draw their weapons, ‘I do not want anyone knowing what I have.’
Laurent was shaking as Mastasson climbed aboard the chopper and started the engines, ‘You need not worry Laurent, I will not kill you.’
Laurent was not convinced.
Briggs watched the events in the compound; he would take The General’s private helicopter shortly and leave for his new beginning. He went to check nothing else had been taken from the office, and noticed a woman’s voice coming from a cupboard in the corner.
‘Fifteen minutes to completion.’
He walked across crouching down to see why she was in the cupboard, pushing the door gently open, he realised with dread what she was.
Mastasson took off, the heavily armed helicopter lurched upwards, nose down, rapidly increasing speed out to sea. Mastasson’s helicopter was a KA52 Alligator, a Russian military attack helicopter, the pilot and co-pilot sat side by side with glass in front and above them. The twin three bladed rotor blades eliminated the need for a vulnerable tail rotor, and twin engines with infrared suppressors allowed high speed infiltration of targets and the ability to avoid missile lock when required. Two stubby wings held the munitions, rocket pods and antitank missiles, as well as two large calibre machine guns on the belly. Both men wore pressurised helmets and suits, the internal displays showing both the vital flight information. Mastasson knew that when he found Jacob and any of his people, only smoke and body parts would remain.