The 5th Amulet

by SJ Hailey

  ‘Intruders please disembark the aircraft now!’

  ‘I guess they found the man in the guardhouse then.’

  ‘Looks like it, wait till they find out what else we have done.’

  The Duty Officer was still bellowing down Katherine’s ear, not listening for a reply; just that she shut down the engines.

  ‘Hang on boys.’

  Katherine throttled up the engines and the downdraft from the propellers blew the soldiers away in a cloud of dust and debris. The aircraft was not meant to take off in such close proximity to the hangar, or personnel, but Katherine’s intention was to nullify the threat.

  The aircraft lifted off, the soldiers unable to stand, never mind fire on the machine. She climbed away from the base rapidly, all the electronic countermeasures on board fully active. There was no missile firing, nor small arms fire that they expected, so Katherine took the aircraft down to one hundred feet and opened her up. They were travelling at two hundred and seventy miles an hour; with the rotor blades in forward flight they were spinning only fifty feet above the ocean.

  ‘We will be back home in just two hours.’

  ‘Yes, but will we beat Enzi there?’

  ‘And then we have to solve the other problem Dad.’

  ‘What problem is that Jacob?’

  ‘Oh nothing really, just a large satellite that is going to crash into Texas in the next few hours.’

  THIRTY

  Jarrett was still pacing in his office, all plans unravelling due to interference of his backers. They had no patience, and the factors that influenced such delicate situations were not always disclosed to him. It was impossible to plan for every scenario, when you only had half the intel, Iran had shown him that, and cost him a friendship. He needed to extricate himself from blame and connection; unfortunately he would have to sacrifice Uncotto to achieve this. His visitor and the people he represented had no qualms about disposing of Presidents, generals or anyone else who was non-compliant. Of course it was never traceable; there would be a car accident, an overdose, a sudden illness. People would be paid to ensure that any investigation was either impotent, or inconclusive. He knew that should he fail to resolve this situation, he would be certainly be paid a visit by one of their cleaners, his status and office would have no bearing on his treatment.

  After thirty minutes of uninterrupted pacing and processing of multiple scenarios, a throw back to his days in special ops, he sat down. He called his contact instructing him on what action to take, as warned his contact was not compliant, raising multiple objections, Jarrett’s voice stress indicator on his desk showing the true intentions. With confirmation of his concerns Jarrett returned his email to Colonel Briggs, ‘Terminate all, make it appear local disturbance. Destroy any traceable involvement. Advise relocate your operation within next twenty four hours.’

  Surprisingly Briggs responded immediately, ‘Received. Locals in place. Traceable involvement not an issue. Why relocate?’

  Jarrett sent his last message and then deleted the online account, and removed all trace from his computer.

  Briggs was concerned at the events unfolding; he was used to dealing with rapid changes in tactics and situations, but nothing on this scale. He had to initiate and conceal the safe evacuation of an entire base, without alerting the base commander, or the satellites overhead. He had been fortunate that nature had smiled upon him, shone upon him really, sunspot activity. The sun regularly sent wisps of plasma energy drifting across space, these strands of pure energy were millions of miles long containing highly charged particles. While we would not see the effects directly, possibly the northern lights would appear further south than usual but nothing else. The defence and communications industry were very aware, the sun spots potentially knocking out satellites completely. Today they were just blinded, shut down to avoid any damage as the waves of sun debris passed by the Earth. This caused most of the equator to be blind for a few vital hours, they would have to reply on airborne monitoring systems to check on the base. Briggs knew that an E3 AWACS aircraft was based at Manta Air force base in Ecuador, but would take some hours to get within range, even if it had no other priority commitments. This meant he could ramp up his evacuation, and when he checked his phone for email, his timing was impeccable.

  Briggs read the message twice to ensure he had it correct before deleting it, ‘DOD instructed your location terror camp, MOAB authorised.’

  MOAB was the nickname for the GBU 43 Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the mother of all bombs. A thirty foot long, nine point five metric ton device, it could destroy an area up to nine city blocks. Briggs knew that they would have a C130 transport fly high over the island, and drop it out of the back, a parachute and GPS guiding it to target. He had seen these used as part of the US attacks on Iraq in 2003, and did not wish to be on the island when it hit.

  The message had an unfortunate side effect, Jarrett had been mailing both Mastasson and Briggs together, Mastasson was copied in on the message he sent, in his haste and panic he had not checked the addresses correctly. Before he realised his mistake, the message had been sent, he was unaware of Mastasson’s new situation.

  THIRTY ONE

  Briggs read his email deleting all records. He made some calls arranging transport, implying to all it was an exercise and it was not to be disclosed to anyone. He had to get all the transport here and away in a three hour window, after The General was off base. The Unit Zero 3 teams were advised that they were practising an evacuation exercise, and to get all their gear ready. The teams loyal to The General were sent to a bunker below, and told to await orders, they were to practise securing and defending the compound, and plan strategy. This would keep them occupied while he worked above ground.

  He knew that the US would have checked satellite surveillance prior to a strike. They could look like a terror training camp, so the threat of the air strike was very real. The covered dock had two tunnels coming from the main complex to allow covert loading or cargo and men, this was his main asset. The priority was not arms, but data, the mass of intelligence and insurance information was paramount to his survival. All transmittable information was sent to their secure data storage facility in the Cayman Islands, an electronic vault with encrypted transmissions even the DOD could not crack. They sent burst transmissions, compressed packets of data to avoid detection, but today it was like a machine gun of encoded bribery. The only weapons he did not want to take were the chemical and biological, he set the safety devices in the lab to automatic, and left the scientists to their fate. He had been politely questioned by a few men about the evacuation proceedings, and answered them politely to avoid raising suspicion, but he was still concerned that word would get to The General. He went to his office to attend to the issue.

  He found The General unconscious on the floor, checked for a pulse, unfortunately found one. Even though The General was a traitor to their cause, he could not kill him, not like this, no matter how strong the temptation. He realised someone had drugged him, The General was groggy, but becoming more conscious, ‘Sir, can you hear me, who did this?’

  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 y
ou 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

  New York City.

  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.

  Briggs checked the display, still counting down. The keypad was smashed; he could not stop the countdown. Mastasson’s secretary ran in, ‘Colonel Briggs there is an urgent call for The General, but I cannot find him.’

  ‘I’ll take it. Why don’t you get down to the dock now.’

  ‘The General told me to stay.’

  ‘Well he isn’t here, so trust me, run to the dock.’

  As the secretary went down the emergency exit Briggs took the call.

  ‘Briggs Where is The General?’

  ‘Mr Jarrett, I don’t know. Probably saw your email.’

  ‘Yes I did not realise….’

  ‘That does not matter now. I have ten minutes to leave so what do you need?’

  ‘The location of an Albert Perfidy, one of your operatives. He is about to assassinate a president.’

  ‘Not ours I hope.’

  ‘No the President of Mabalia. Do you know where he is, or a contact number?’

&
nbsp; ‘If he is on mission, you will not find or stop him. Moreover, we have no one of that name here. You do know what perfidy means?’

  ‘Is this the time to get cryptic Briggs?’

  ‘It means faithlessness or treachery. Least he has a sense of humour.’

  ‘Are you going to help me Briggs! A man’s life is at stake!’

  ‘It always is Jarrett, and today it is mine.’

  He threw the phone down and started to double time to the dock. His experience had already calculated the scenarios and outcomes, and it all came down to one simple fact. Survival.

  Mastasson smiled and chuckled to himself. Laurent heard the laughter in his helmet and dared to ask him, ‘why are you so happy?’

  ‘Because my dear Laurent, I have enough money and bonds to fund a large war in the trunks behind us. You have the connections to transport artefacts and anything else I may acquire in Ecuador, and the Isla Joya Verde will be burnt to ashes in minutes.’

  ‘How do you know this?’

  ‘First, Briggs has sold me out, and knows that an air strike is about to be carried out on the island. Second I have set the self-destruct sequence to destroy all evidence of the bases existence and purpose and as a bonus kill Briggs. The US will have nothing to identify after their raid.’

  Briggs knew what was coming, he contacted as many of his soldiers as possible and told them to get to transports. He had only five minutes before the doors in the buildings began to automatically lock. Once that happened he knew that anyone left inside was dead, they just did not realise yet.

  Jarrett was desperate now, he had to stop Alfred and save Uncotto, not to spite The Consortium, because it was the right thing to do. He felt that Uncotto was right in the action he was taking for his country, and that his personal deals with The Consortium had clouded his judgement. Jarrett was agitated now, Uncotto had informed him of the use of the solar device he sought and that he was not convinced that Enzi had found it or intended to hand it over once he had. With Enzi’s diplomatic status officially revoked and a warrant applied for in his country of origin, he no longer appeared a suitable candidate for Presidency. The Consortium was well connected and informed, but could not have knowledge of this yet, and Jarrett was reluctant to share. He had the advantage, he could change his fate, use the Mabalia situation to apply pressure on The Consortium. He had no contact information. They preferred that, face to face meetings usually to avoid interception. He did know that he would be contacted in two hours for an update; then he could reveal his coup. Now he had to stop Alfred or stop Uncotto reaching the heliport.