***
The B-1R rolled down the runway and loped into the sky, both pilots commenting on how the plane felt notably heavier than it had earlier, something they would have to file in their mission report. Neither could believe that they were back in the air so soon after their previous mission. However, having flown so little over the last few months, the experimental plane had been temperamental at the beginning of its flight testing. So they were more than happy to get to play with the new aircraft again. Their mission brief was already in the system and the computers quickly calculated their optimal route and with over 3,500 miles to target, it automatically requested a tanker to top them up for their return. The plane banked hard and accelerated to its cruising speed of over 1.5 MACH. Time to target flashed up, 3 hours 42 minutes.
***
The sight of the small table sitting on the deserted beach as the moonlight streaked across the water’s surface took Ashley’s breath away. Two burning torches sat either side of the table and completed the picture postcard scene.
“It’s lovely,” said Ashley as Scott offered her a seat.
Scott couldn’t help thinking the same of Ashley but thought it best to keep it to himself.
“Thank you. I’ve always thought this a very special spot,” replied Scott as he pushed Ashley’s seat in behind her.
“It’s like we’re the only two people left in the world,” said Ashley as she looked out across the empty sea.
Scott nodded as he looked at Ashley, his eyes falling as the torch light shone through the thin blouse and clearly outlined her perfect braless breasts beneath the cloth. Ashley turned back towards Scott and caught a bashful Scott’s lowered gaze.
Used to being watched, Ashley was surprised when the thought of Scott’s gaze sent a tingle though her body.
“Well, perhaps we better get started,” suggested Ashley taking a sip of wine.
Scott remembering the point of the meal agreed with an enthusiastic nod.
***
The B-1R, much to the pilot’s surprise, began to reduce its height and slow down as it closed in on the target area. Both checked the computers to try and ascertain what the target was, both had expected an air to air trial similar to the earlier one. However, the drop in height suggested there must have been a target down below, an uninhabited island or a drone ship. Neither however could see anything below other than an island off in the distance but lights were clearly visible so it couldn’t be that.
***
“I was born in a small village in Scotland, my parents were the housekeeper and gamekeeper on a large estate owned by a brilliant young businessman. I was only four when they died.”
“I’m sorry to hear that,” interrupted Scott.
“I’ll come to that,” said Ashley dismissively, before continuing.
“Although I don’t remember much, I do remember how wonderful they were. I was very loved and it seemed their lives revolved around me. Even the businessman doted on me and called me his special little girl. I think it was about a week before my parents died that I met you.”
Scott almost choked on his wine at Ashley’s mention of their childhood meeting.
“We’ve met before?” he spluttered.
“You were only a baby. The businessman had visited unexpectedly with a woman and you were with them. I don’t know who she was but I know everything seemed very tense. The businessman was shouting and screaming at my parents, something he had never done before and even told them they were fired. I’ll never forget it because my mother cried all night when we got home. The next morning, the businessman apologised but things were never the same. You had disappeared and the businessman left, never to return. One week later, a car crash claimed the lives of my parents. I was saved and adopted by the Jones’s. I kept thinking the businessman would come and rescue me, his special little girl, but he never did.”
Scott just stared helplessly at Ashley, as confused as he had ever been. Minutes passed before he spoke,
“So who am I?” asked Scott.
“You were the little baby boy who visited the businessman.”
“But how do you know that?”
“Your birthmark, the small cluster of moles that look like a star, I remember it vividly.”
“But I’m sure lots of people have something similar.”
“Yes but they all don’t look exactly like their father.”
“Who?”
“The businessman. You are the spitting image of him, only perhaps slightly more handsome. But he was definitely your father.”
“So who was he and who was my mother?” asked a frustrated Scott.
“No idea,” replied Ashley shrugging her shoulders.
“I’ve tried to track him down but nobody seems to remember him, it’s almost like his very existence has been wiped from the face of the earth. The estate was destroyed in a fire shortly after my parents died and the locals don’t remember much and no records exist to show who owned it. It’s all very bizarre.”
“Maybe you just dreamt it,” ventured Scott quietly.
“I don’t think so,” replied Ashley pulling the small heart shaped locket from her neck, presenting it to Scott. “Because he made me promise to give you this if I ever saw you again.”
Scott held the locket carefully in his hands and slowly opened it. His heart sank as the locket revealed nothing more than two empty spaces where photos should have been.
“It’s always been like that,” explained Ashley quickly. “But he told me it contained much more than you could see with your eyes.”
“What does that mean?” asked Scott carefully checking every square inch of the locket.
“I had no idea until one day, during a science lesson, when we were using a microscope I thought perhaps...” Ashley took the locket back from Scott, turned it over and pointed to the hallmark stamp. “This wasn’t what it seemed. I magnified it 100 times and discovered the name of a bank and a list of numbers.”
“So what was there?” asked Scott eagerly.
“No idea, I’ve tried a few times but hit a brick wall each time. They won’t discuss the account with anyone but the account holder.”
“Who’s that?”
“They won’t tell me but I guess you or your father!”
“So that’s it, the only link to my past is an empty locket,” Scott stood and taking the locket from Ashley walked to the sea’s edge. For a second he contemplated just throwing the locket as far out to sea as he could but before he could do anything, Ashley was beside him and holding his arm. He turned and looking deep into her eyes held her like he had never held anyone before. The intimacy of their embrace was overwhelming, a tear ran down Scott’s cheek as he nestled his head against Ashley’s.
The tear rolled and dropped onto Ashley’s shoulder. She turned her head as he turned to her and their mouths met. Before either could control the moment, their mouths parted and both eagerly accepted each other. Tongues entwined and made it clear both wanted more. Hands strayed and within minutes both lay naked in the sands, the water lapping at their bodies.
Scott’s hand ran down the length of Ashley’s body, his fingers brushing the baby soft skin, firm succulent breasts and erect nipples. A tremor passed through Ashley’s body as the anticipation of what was to come rushed through her body. The fingers carried on down and brushed over her flat toned stomach and down towards her neatly trimmed bikini line. Scott lightly brushed past before quickly moving down her thigh. The disappointment of his deviation evident in her deep moan as they kissed. Noting the urgency, he retraced his route and found her ready and waiting, her legs parting slightly as his hand moved towards her. The wetness of the salt water did not mask her own wetness. Her hand felt for him and urged him towards her parting legs.
He thrust into her, her head sweeping backwards as she caught her breath, her hands clawing at his back as she struggled to contain the tremors surging through every nerve ending in her body. Ashley had had sex before but nothing li
ke this. She almost always felt awkward and clumsy but not here, on a beach with almost a complete stranger, it felt like the most natural thing she had ever done.
Scott’s taught muscular body thrust and thrust but the gentleness of the strokes seemed in contrast to the force being used, almost similar to the waves that seemed to lap against them despite the obvious power of the sea. With every stroke, they moved closer and closer to the inevitable explosion. Scott, sensing the final countdown, pulled Ashley closer. A powerful woman, she had never felt more vulnerable nor more secure in her life, nor had she ever fallen so quickly for a man. As her orgasm came, her body spasmed as the shockwaves of pleasure rocked her and continued as Scott exploded inside her, sending another wave rocketing through her.
Scott lay looking into her eyes as they stayed anchored together, neither wanting to break the moment. Neither wanting to broach how it happened and certainly not wanting to admit it was a mistake. Neither believed it was but it would take one of them to say it wasn’t and neither was brave enough.
***
Both pilots looked on in horror as the plane suddenly jerked upwards. The only visual target in front of them was the inhabited island and whatever bomb had just been ejected by the weapons system was huge. The plane had lightened dramatically since its drop and before they could see what had happened the bomber turned sharply and accelerated back to Mach 1.5.
The bomb was actually two bombs, two MOAB’s which was an acronym for Massive Ordnance Air Bomb or more colloquially the Mother Of All Bombs, each weighing a massive 21,700 lbs. and delivering the equivalent of 11 tons of TNT each. The blast was further enhanced by its detonation 30 feet above the ground, clearing a huge swathe of ground. Those not incinerated by the blast were as likely to be suffocated by the vacuum-like aftermath as the oxygen was literally sucked from the air.
Twenty seven seconds after their release, the two bombs exploded over the island one to the north and one to the south. The flash of the explosion lit up the sky for miles around, although the blast effects were felt only locally. The over ground explosion ensured that only those who witnessed the flash would ever know an explosion had taken place. As with its predecessor, the daisy cutter, designed to clear ground for helicopter landing sites, the MOAB left no crater or obvious sign of detonation and more importantly no tremors would travel through the earths crust alerting scientists across the world.
The two pilots could only assume a terrible mistake had been made, both had tried to stop the release but the system did not allow manual override. It seemed the future of warfare protected against human error not system error. They radioed in their concerns and were told not to worry, they must have been mistaken. The island was most definitely uninhabited and were reminded of their mission brief, no radio contact no matter what. With fuel running low and over a thousand miles to land, they started to slow in anticipation of their imminent inflight refuelling. A refuelling that had been cancelled when they called in their concerns, no tanker would meet them and one of the USAF’s newest and most expensive planes would crash helplessly into the ocean miles from anywhere. Even if the pilots ejected, they were outside helicopter range and hundreds of miles from any shipping lanes. The sharks would have them long before the first airplane could pinpoint their location.
***
At twelve twenty three a.m. local time, the islanders lives ended, their bodies incinerated in the 2700ºC heat of the blast. Nobody suffered. One second they were laughing and joking, the next they simply didn’t exist. Their flesh and bones disappeared into the wave of superheated air, scattering their ashes across the island.
Part Three
Chapter 38
Ernst clicked on the link in the email and waited as his screen changed to an almost totally black screen. Only small orange pixels stopped him thinking his computer had inadvertently shut down. He checked his watch. According to the mail, something should happen at around 11.23 a.m. local time, in only a few seconds. The KH-13 satellite was the latest increment in the keyhole programme under the control of the NRO, National Reconnaissance Office and to all intents and purposes did not exist.
Its relentless eye watched everything, through any weather, day or night and was able to read the tiniest of details down to the serial numbers on dollar bills, it missed nothing. Its orbit had been diverted earlier in the day using its inbuilt rocket boosters, at exactly 11.20 p.m., the island had come into view and would remain so for the next ten minutes. Only people receiving the email would have access to the pictures. Even the NRO were blacked out from their own satellite feed. Unknown to them, the power failure message was one issued by the NSA agents who had taken control of the feed on behalf of Ernst.
Ernst stared at the screen while keeping an eye on the clock, it was now 11.24, nothing had happened, the picture had not changed. After another ten seconds he was contemplating making a call when his screen almost blinded him, the intensity of the flash had not lessened on its 9000 mile journey through cyberspace. By the time Ernst had recovered, he was sure the flash had broken his screen as the previous darkness had returned minus the orange pixels.
He picked up the phone.
“What happened?” he demanded.
“Total and complete devastation. We’ve just run a heartbeat check, everything on that island is dead,” replied Hunter proudly from the Unit’s headquarters.
“What the hell is a heartbeat check?” asked Ernst, more confused.
“The satellite can pick up rhythms. We just checked the island and not one rhythm matching a heart rate has been found.”
“But there’s no fire?” questioned Ernst looking at his screen
“The bomb effectively blows itself out, the flash draws in oxygen and once burnt leaves an inert mix of air that quite literally extinguishes the fire.”
“So he’s dead.”
“Everything on that island is dead! And I mean everything,” replied Hunter emphatically.
Chapter 39
Both stared in disbelief across the sea at the darkness of the island. Silence had descended but neither knew, as their ears were still pounding from the shockwave, what had hit the smaller island over a mile away. Ashley grabbed Scott’s arm and pulled him towards the small boat that had transported them from the main island to their seclusion and safety on the smaller island. Both were still naked, their clothes strewn across the island from the blast. Scott knew nobody had survived. He had seen enough death to know what the body could take. The heat and blast had reached them over a mile away, even half submerged in the water. As they lay in their post coital clutch, they had felt the searing heat and the power of the blast. Scott was not in any rush to get back to the main island. He knew nothing awaited him there. His current life like his past was now history.
“We need to check,” explained Ashley. She too knew it was pointless but they had to check anyway.
“I know,” nodded Scott. “We need to check,” he added robotically.
Ashley grabbed whatever clothes she could find and handed Scott his shorts. Placing her dress over her head, she climbed into the boat. Scott rowed with purpose, the anger rising with every stroke, the power of the strokes building, pushing them closer and closer to the main island. Within ten minutes of the explosion and three minutes after the satellite had dipped behind the horizon, Scott and Ashley landed on the deathly quiet beach.
The devastation was complete, the palm trees had been reduced to smoking stumps. The earth was scorched and the inhabitants of the island had simply vanished. Only the charred remains of their huts gave any indication of life on the island.
Scott dropped to his knees and struggled to gasp for air, the enormity of the situation finally hitting him. Ashley tried to comfort him but nothing she could say or do would help with the despair that Scott felt. Everybody he had ever loved had perished and he knew it was his fault. Something about his past was making somebody do anything in their power to kill him. If he hadn’t come home, his Papa, his cousins, his fri
ends would still be alive.
Scott stood and turned back towards the small boat, grabbing Ashley’s hand as he walked and directing her into the forward seat. Scott sat in the middle seat and began to row, the island staying in his view as he rowed towards the mainland.
Ashley realised Scott wanted silence but wondered where they were going. It had taken over an hour by helicopter to get to the island. They must have been at least a hundred miles from the mainland.
“Where are we going?” she asked softly.
Scott didn’t miss a stroke as he responded.
“War!”
Chapter 40
Ernst switched his screen off and for the first time in two days relaxed. The nightmare was over. Whatever the target had on Transcon was gone, vapourised in a cloud of superheated flames. After a few seconds, he picked himself up and walked across to Freeman’s office, ignoring the secretary’s protestations that he was on the phone to the President of Russia. He barged in. Freeman, holding a phone to his ear, struggled to hide his contempt as Ernst strode towards him.
“What the hell are you doing Max?” he asked covering the mouthpiece.
Ernst ignored the question and cut off the caller, leaving Freeman holding a dead phone.
“He’s dead!”
Freeman who was struggling to contain his temper, instantly smiled.
“Excellent, have you called anyone else yet?”
“Nope, I thought you’d want to let them know.”
“Thanks, oh and can you phone Yuri back to apologise. I got cut off, I’ll call him later,” asked Freeman as Ernst left the room.
“Will do.”
As the door closed, Freeman picked up the phone and dialled *1234. The combination dialled his four other partners, connecting him securely to their personal mobiles wherever they were. Even the NSA with all their supercomputers couldn’t listen in.
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