The Angel Conspiracy (The Angel Cronicles Book 2)

by Jason Chapman

  ‘But getting back to the matter in hand Professor.’ Atkins said. ‘We received a number of reports last week about strange lights sighted both in the skies above Lake Windermere and in the lake itself. So we came here three days ago to see if these reports have any merit.’

  ‘And do they?’ Frederick asked.

  Atkins smiled broadly. ‘Indeed they do Professor.’

  ‘When we saw you with your companion early this evening we guessed that the Ministry of defence was also up here looking into the sightings.’ Barnet said.

  Frederick nodded slowly. ‘Well I’m sorry to disappoint you gentlemen but as I said earlier I am up here with my wife.’

  Atkins looked at the single bed Frederick was sat on. ‘The fact that you are in a hotel room with a single bed suggests otherwise.’

  ‘Is your colleague part of your team investigating UFO sightings?’ Barnet asked.

  Frederick sensed frustration rising within him. ‘Whether you believe me or not gentlemen the woman I was with earlier is my wife.’

  Atkins nodded. ‘Ok then Professor if you are not officially investigating any UFO sightings then I’m sure you wouldn’t mind coming with us to the lake to take a look for yourself.’

  Frederick glanced at the clock on the wall. ‘You want me to come with you right now!’ Both men nodded in unison.

  Frederick drew a long breath. He was now wide awake. ‘Ok.’ He sighed. ‘Let’s go.’

  About half an hour later the three men stood on the shores of Lake Windermere. The moon was three quarters full and hung low in a crystal clear sky.

  Atkins shone the torch he was carrying across the surface of the lake. ‘The objects have appeared at exactly the same time every night.’

  ‘They are similar to the object we encountered on Loch Ness.’ Barnet said.

  ‘Forgive me for asking Professor, but if you say that woman is your wife then why are you sleeping in separate rooms?’

  ‘It’s a long story.’ Frederick replied. ‘And one I’m not about to share with you gentlemen.’

  ‘Does she know what you do?’

  ‘Of course she does.’

  ‘We’re not talking about the day job at Cambridge Professor.’ Atkins said.

  Frederick looked at him.

  Atkins smiled and nodded. ‘After our last encounter Professor we took the liberty of looking you up. A renowned Cambridge Professor and a Nobel Prise winner, very impressive. But does your wife know about your job on the side as a government scientist who investigates UFO sightings.’

  Frederick shook his head.

  ‘That’s why you are sleeping in separate rooms isn’t it.’ Barnet said. ‘Something has happened.’

  ‘As I mentioned, I’m not about to share the ins and outs of my personal life with you.’ Frederick said.

  ‘It’s not about sharing details of your personal life, but if what you do is affecting it then you need to do something.’

  ‘What do you think I’m doing here!?’ Frederick snapped.

  ‘Not a very good job by the looks.’ Barnet replied.

  ‘Wait a minute!’ Atkins ordered. ‘Do you feel that?’

  Frederick suddenly felt a static discharge building all around.

  ‘Look!’ Barnet shouted pointing out towards the lake.

  All three men watched as three shimmering lights moved towards the shore. The static discharge became intense. Suddenly the three lights lifted out of the water. Frederick noticed that there was no water displacement. The lakes surface remained perfectly still reflecting the objects like a mirror.

  Atkins rushed to the lakes edge.

  ‘Albert get back!’ Frederick shouted.

  Atkins ignored Frederick’s warning and held his arms up in the air.

  The three objects came to a stop over Atkins. A low humming noise filled the air.

  Frederick suddenly found himself on the runway at Church Fenton a few years earlier.

  ‘What’s he doing?’ He said to Barnet.

  Barnet stared at the scene at the lake’s edge.’

  All of a sudden there was an intense burst of light. Frederick shielded his eyes. The light seemed to linger for a few seconds before dissipating. The objects had disappeared leaving only the moonlight to illuminate the landscape.

  Frederick took a few seconds to compose himself before looking where Atkins had once stood, but he was gone. ‘Albert!’ Frederick called out.

  Barnet was rooted to the spot staring at the sky with a strange smile on his face.

  ‘Fred!’ Frederick barked looking at a bemused Barnet who was still gawping skywards.

  Frederick marched towards him. ‘Fred, where the hell is Albert?’

  Barnet pointed towards the heavens. ‘With them.’ He replied.

  Frederick looked up at the star filled sky. ‘What do you mean with them?’

  ‘He was taken.’ Barnet said.

  Frederick looked back towards the lake’s edge. ‘Taken, taken where exactly?’

  Barnet shook his head. ‘Albert is special.’

  ‘Special.’ Frederick shook his head. ‘Special how?’

  Barnet didn’t answer, he continued to stare into the heavens.

  Frederick marched down towards the shoreline of the lake. He walked for a few hundred yards before turning back. ‘Albert!’ He called out at the top of his voice. ‘Albert where are you?’

  ‘It’s no good Professor he is gone.’ Barnet said.

  Frederick marched back towards where Barnet was standing. ‘Impossible!’

  Barnet shook his head slowly. ‘Despite all you have seen Professor.’

  Frederick glared at him. ‘You were expecting this weren’t you.’

  Barnet nodded. ‘It was no coincidence we were on Loch Ness a few years ago either.’

  Frederick stepped back. ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Albert is special.’

  ‘You’ve already said that. How is he special?’

  ‘We do not know.’ Barnet said. ‘All we know is that Albert makes up part of a group of people who are attracted to flying saucer hotspots.’

  Frederick turned away and walked back towards the lake. The last few minutes ran through his head. The intense burst of light and Atkins being taken. Frederick stared out towards the horizon and noticed that daylight was starting to appear. He looked at his watch and in the moonlight saw that a number of hours had passed. ‘We’ve lost time.’ He said to himself.

  Barnet continued to stare at the sky.

  ‘Did you hear me we’ve lost time, several hours have passed.’

  Barnet nodded. ‘Yes I know.’ He said before turning and heading back to the village.

  ‘You’ve experienced phenomenon before.’

  ‘Three or four times, every time I have been with Albert. Do not worry Professor Albert will show up they don’t usually hold him for long. The only thing left to do is wait it out.’

  ‘Wait it out!’ Frederick exclaimed. ‘Your friend is missing and you remain clam.’

  ‘I just said to you Professor this kind of thing has happened before. Albert is part of another UFO group called the Alien Abduction Society. There are dozens of members throughout the United Kingdom who experience missing time.’

  Frederick looked at the horizon.

  ‘Albert always comes back, its just a matter of time.’ Barnett said.

  Chapter 83

  5:03am

  Frederick almost fell through his hotel room door, all he wanted to do now was sleep. He looked at his watch again and saw that he only had three hours before meeting Elizabeth.

  ‘Good morning Professor Frederick.’ A voice greeted.

  Frederick looked towards the bed and saw Elizabeth with two other men. She looked both confused and terrified.

  ‘I trust your little adventure last night was fruitful.’

  ‘Are you ok?’ He asked Elizabeth.

  She nodded slowly staring at her husband.

  ‘Your wife is very charming Professor.’
The lead man said.

  ‘Who the hell are you?’

  ‘Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Dr Pavel Vladimir.’

  Frederick glanced at the two other men.

  ‘I am with the Russian science institute.’

  ‘From the looks of you I’d say you were KGB.’ Frederick said.

  Vladimir smiled. ‘Like you Professor Frederick I have to answer to the powers that be.’

  ‘So what is it you want?’

  ‘What I want Professor Frederick is an answer to what happened to you last night.’

  ‘I don’t understand.’ Frederick replied.

  ‘Then let me enlighten you. Last night you accompanied two men down to the lake where you had a most unusual encounter. All three of you disappeared and several hours you turn up again. I would very much like to know what happened.’

  ‘Ralph what’s he talking about?’ Elizabeth asked.

  Frederick glanced at her before looking back at Vladimir.

  The hotel room door suddenly opened and Barnet was frog marched through by another man.

  ‘Welcome Mr Barnet.’ Vladimir greeted. ‘And where is your friend Mr Atkins?’

  Barnet didn’t answer.

  ‘We’ have all the time in the world gentlemen and we can use very persuasive methods to obtain the information we want.’ Vladimir walked over to Elizabeth and stroked her head.

  Frederick lunged forward but stopped as one of Vladimir’s companions produced a gun.

  ‘I will ask you one more time Professor, where is Mr Atkins?’

  Frederick’s heart raced, he stared at the Russian standing next to his wife.

  ‘Mr Atkins has vanished.’

  ‘Vanished?’ Vladimir said.

  Frederick nodded. ‘We searched the lake but found no sign of him.’

  ‘I see.’ Vladimir looked at Barnet. ‘Is Professor Frederick telling the truth?’

  Barnet nodded slowly.

  Vladimir looked at the two men and nodded. Frederick, Elizabeth and Barnet were escorted out of the hotel. A van stood outside and all three were hauled inside.

  ‘Exactly what are you planning to do with us?’ Frederick demanded to know.

  Vladimir stood at the back doors and lit a cigarette. ‘For now Professor Frederick you will be detained.’

  ‘How long exactly?’

  ‘Until this evening.’ Vladimir replied. ‘We wish to see if our friends will turn up again.’

  ‘You realise there’s nothing you can do if they do turn up. These beings, creatures or whatever you wish to call them can do anything they want.’

  ‘You may be right Professor but my superiors want answers.’ Vladimir said.

  Frederick was about to say something else but the doors slammed.

  ‘Ralph what’s going on?’ Elizabeth asked. ‘Who are these people?’ She looked at Barnet.

  ‘I’m sorry sweetheart.’ Frederick replied. ‘It’s a very long story.’ He looked at Barnet.

  ‘Explain to me more about how Albert is special, you said he is part of a group of people who are drawn to flying saucer hotspots?’

  Barnet took a deep breath. ‘Albert is what some of us call an abductee.’

  ‘Abductee?’

  Barnett nodded. ‘People who have been specially chosen by beings from another world Professor. Albert has been taken many times before, since as far back as he can remember. When we first set up our group Albert confided in me regarding his experiences. At first I didn’t believe him, until investigating a UFO sighting in Worcestershire. We were out late at night skywatching, Albert was taken before my very eyes. He was returned a few hours later. After his experience we set about looking for other people who have had similar experiences. It was then we discovered that there were dozens of people who have been taken.’

  ‘What do these creatures want with him?’

  ‘He doesn’t know, every so often he is drawn to places, like Loch Ness and Lake Windermere where he has experiences with UFOs.’

  ‘Last night when he was taken, what happened to us?’

  Barnet shook his head. ‘I do not know but I have experienced missing time before. It’s almost as if we are frozen in time. The creatures who take Albert have no interest in ordinary people.’

  Frederick thought about what Barnet was saying to him and events he witnessed over the last few years.

  Barnet stared at him. ‘Surely you must have encountered people who claimed to have been abducted by creatures from another world.’

  Frederick glanced at Elizabeth and eventually nodded. ‘One of the first cases I investigated relating to UFOs was concerning a woman in North Yorkshire who had vanished for a few days before mysteriously turning up. I thought it was a hoax at first but then a series of events made me believe otherwise.’

  Elizabeth finally spoke. ‘Is that what your meeting with Churchill was about a few years back?’

  Frederick nodded, all of a sudden he didn’t care about the secrecy surrounding what he had been doing over the last few years. ‘I was assigned to head a group codenamed Angel.’

  ‘So it’s true, the government have known about UFOs all along.’

  Frederick nodded. ‘Mr Barnet the only reason I am revealing information to you now is because this has become personal.’ He looked at Elizabeth. ‘If you only knew how many times I wanted to tell you.’

  Elizabeth looked back and smiled at her husband.

  For the first time in weeks Frederick felt hopeful that a reunion with his wife and children could be possible.

  ‘So why do you think the Russians have turned up?’ Barnet asked.

  Frederick shook his head. ‘I have encountered the Russians on a number of occasions including Loch Ness. It’s obvious that their government have a vested interest in flying saucers.’

  ‘And the Americans?’

  ‘They have a group called Majestic which at the moment oversees operations which the Angel Committee is part of.’

  ‘Majestic.’ Barnet shook his head. ‘We have been corresponding with UFO investigators in the States but there has been no mention of anything called Majestic.’

  ‘It was set up in 1947 in the wake of a flying saucer crash.’

  Barnet’s eyes widened. ‘Are you saying the US government have the remains of a flying saucer?’

  Frederick nodded. ‘If you scratch beneath the surface Mr Barnet you discover all kinds of things.’ At that moment Frederick glanced at his wife and decided to reveal everything. For the next few hours he talked about his experiences working with the Angel Committee and under the watchful eyes of Majestic. He explained about the mystery woman he had been photographed with. But there was one thing he did miss out, the image that Janus had planted in his mind.

  Barnet sat mesmerised by what he was being told.

  Chapter 84

  Lake Windermere – 11:23pm

  The Van doors flung open and all three were hauled out of the van. Frederick gulped in the fresh air. He felt weak with hunger.

  Vladimir approached the group. He looked up into the clear night sky. ‘No sign of our friends yet. Disappointing I must say.’

  ‘What exactly were you expecting?’ Frederick said.

  ‘It doesn’t matter the only thing left to do now is cover our tracks.’

  Frederick looked towards the lake’s edge and saw that one of the men was preparing a boat. Dread suddenly replaced hunger. Frederick knew he had to maintain his nerve for the sake of Elizabeth. ‘Exactly how did you know I would be up here at Lake Windermere?’

  ‘Actually Professor I didn’t.’ Vladimir replied. ‘The fact that our paths have crossed are purely accidental.’

  ‘But you’re here investigating UFO activity.’

  The Russian nodded. ‘Indeed we are, however we were here because of this man and his partner. We know that they have had experiences with beings from another world.’ Vladimir looked at Barnet.

  ‘And how is it you know that?’

  Vladimir smiled and
reached into his inside pocket. ‘What is that?’ Barnet asked staring at the object Vladimir held.

  ‘I see the device you stole from Jacob Barnes is being put to good use.’ Frederick said recalling the incident in the London pub.

  One of Vladimir’s men stepped forward pointing his gun.

  ‘Please get on the boat.’ Vladimir instructed.

  Frederick stood his ground.

  ‘If you prefer I could shoot all of you starting with your wife.’

  ‘You plan to murder us anyway.’ Barnett said. ‘What’s the difference if you shoot us here or on the lake.’

  Frederick was about to move when a surge of static electricity crackled all around them.

  ‘Look!’ Elizabeth cried out looking skywards.

  Everyone looked up and spotted a glowing craft which descended rapidly.

  Frederick seized his chance he lunged at Vladimir snatching the device out of his hand.

  Vladimir pointed his gun at Elizabeth, but before he could fire an intense burst of light emanated from the craft.

  Frederick shielded his eyes.

  After a few seconds the darkness returned. Frederick looked around and saw that the Russians had completely vanished.

  ‘What just happened?’ Elizabeth asked.

  Frederick looked skyward shaking his head slowly. ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘Albert!’ Barnet called out rushing towards a figure laying on the ground.

  Albert Atkins opened his eyes.

  ‘Are you ok?’ Barnet said.

  Atkins took a few long breaths before answering. ‘Yes I think so, have I had another incident?’

  Barnett smiled and helped Atkins to his feet.

  Elizabeth stared at the sky mesmerised by what she had just witnessed. She then looked at her husband and smiled.

  ‘I wanted to tell you.’ Frederick said. ‘I wanted to tell you everything, but I have sworn an oath of secrecy not to reveal any of what I have witnessed.

  Elizabeth ran up to Frederick flinging her arms around him and kissing him passionately. ‘Nothing matters now Ralph but us and the children. We’ll head back tomorrow and I’ll explain to dad that I’ll be coming home.’

  Barnet and Atkins approached. ‘I don’t understand what happened to the Russians?’ Barnet asked looking about.