Chimera Code (Jake Dillon Adventure Thriller Series) (29 page)

“I wish I hadn’t asked.”
“We are taking a great risk going into that area by air - over land
would be much safer, but would take too long to get there.” Vince
said.
“He’s right, of course.” Dillon’s words were casual.
“But you both agree. It’s a risk we must take?”
Dillon stood up and looked back at both of them, saying. “Of
course. If we don’t do this thing. Well, the alternative doesn’t bare
thinking about, does it?”
Vince poured out more tea, which they all drank sweet and
without milk. Steam swirled off the open pan and Dillon felt suddenly
at peace. The aches and pains - which he had grown accustomed to
- had lessened and he felt almost comfortable, almost his old self...
He could not put his finger on the reason for this sudden surgeof
good feeling, but the beauty of the Scottish Highlands had something
to do with it, and the feeling that he was about to do something life
changing - boded well with him. They were no longer the
hunted
, but
the hunter... He had already changed the way he was thinking in his
mind, was now thinking like a predator, the one who was now in
control.
It might only be limited control, but now he was calling the shots.
Use these Assassins to do your dirty work, he thought. I’ll kill
everyone of them.
Let’s see what explanations and answers you have, Professor
Kirill.
Let’s see what song you sing.

An hour later and Dillon and the others had restored the beach,
as if they had never been there, and climbed back into the cramped
cabin of the A-25M.

Dillon warmed up the engine, then eased the amphibious
aircraft out into the deeper water and used the entire length of the
loch to take-off. Pushing the throttle forward he increased the speed,
and was soon skimming over the surface of the water. As the aircraft
neared the far end of the loch, Dillon pulled back on the control
column and they lifted smoothly up into the air. As they were gaining
height he had to bank hard over the left to miss the sheer cliffs of
the mountain range looming up before them. The aircraft’s fuselage
shuddered under the extreme pressure of the manoeuvre, and as the
A-25M levelled out, the valley landscape was there just two hundred
feet below them.

Dillon eased back the airspeed, Tatiana looked out of her
window, Vince had his laptop open, hacking into the mainframe at
Kirill’s facility. As they droned over the rugged terrain, Dillon - now
fully awake, alert and seeming more like his old self after an hour
or so of rest, only occasionally winced at the stabs of pain within
his battered body. He slid down his helmet’s visor, at the same time
activating the flight-information display. The terrain ahead of the
small amphibious aircraft sprang to life and Dillon gasped at the
digital image.

“So you should be, the amount of favours I had to call in to get
it.”
Data started to roll down both sides of the visor; images fed
from the fuselage mounted camera’s appeared in separate boxes that
Dillon could enlarge with the slightest movement of his eye. Symbols
appeared and potential hazardous terrain highlighted with different
colours. Dillon noted the weapons-system tracker in the top left
corner and he licked his lips nervously.
“How much control do I have here, Vince?”
“None. Not until I log you into the flight-programme from my
laptop.”
“And if you don’t log me into it?”
“Well, then I control all of the weapons-systems from back
here.”
“Good. Let’s leave it like that, then.”
“Okay. If you say so, Jake. But is there any particular reason
why?”
“Because I say so. Trust me on this, I’ll fly, you keep your eyes
glued to that screen of yours.”
“What’s the flashing red light on the left-hand side of my visor?”
“That, is definitely not good. In fact, way bad news. Air-defence
warning signal - Stinger missiles, machine guns - the full monty, mate.”
“How far from the facility, are we?”
“Twelve miles at most. We need to re-think our approach
strategy, and fast, Jake.”
“I’ll drop down to ninety feet and look for somewhere to put
down. They might just send out choppers and this amphibian is no
match for what they’ll send up.” After some distance, Dillon brought
the A-25M down on a small loch between two mountain ranges.
Gentle, tree covered slopes rose up to meet the sheer cliffs flanking
the expanse of deep water. Dillon taxied the amphibian aircraft up
onto a secluded beach - the propeller wound down.
Dillon and Tatiana climbed down from the cockpit, while Vince
flicked a few switches and armed the aircraft’s anti-tamper defence
system, then eased himself down. He carried his laptop in one hand
as he walked towards them. “You’re not going to like what I have to
tell you.”
Dillon looked at the big Australian, knowingly. “Surprise me.”
Vince opened the laptop and set it down on a large smooth
rock. “The route that we need to take is crawling with early warning
sensors, most likely set-up by the SAS when they established the
training centre up here. These early warning sensors will be linked
via Kirill’s mainframe to any number of patrol squads - maybe two or
three heavily armed and well trained soldiers in each squad. Now, we
might get lucky and just manage to sneak past them, might. But I can’t
guarantee that we would get past them -
undetected
. There is also the
strong possibility that if we don’t get through - Kirill and his merry
band of computer nerds, might just, not be there. Your main man
could vanish.”
“What do you suggest?” Tatiana said.
“Well. It’s something I stumbled upon, just before I left London
to come and meet you on Santorini.”
“So what is it?” Dillon mumbled impatiently.
“A special forces weapons and vehicle stash.” Vince looked at
both of their uncomprehending expressions for a brief moment;
“Don’t look at me as if I’m barking mad, you two. I’m not joking,
they have them all over the planet. Ezra was a caretaker of one. They
are extensively equipped with all manner of goodies, including; allterrain stealth vehicles. It just depends what your priority is - speed
or stealth? Now, I’ve been thinking. I could get us there in the A-25M
but we might trigger some of their more sophisticated sensors - just
depends what they’ve got!”
Dillon paced up and down the small beach. “Show me on the
map.”
Vince brought up a map on the screen - tapped in a command
and the screen updated itself; the overlay that covered the original
map with modified information. Dillon and Tatiana knelt down on
the sand in front of the screen, and Dillon traced his finger over the
highlighted terrain.
“Where is the Kirill facility?”
Vince pointed. “Somewhere within this mountain range here,”
making a small circular motion with the tip of his finger. “It can’t be
that easyto hide, although theydo try. By all accounts it’s a labyrinthine
complex hewn out of the mountain rock.”
“Couldn’t we take a less direct route, say, by way of no sensors or
anything that is likely to blow us clean out of the sky?”
“It’s possible, but something is already taking place up there.
GCHQ has intercepted some chatter taking place between chopper
pilots and the facility. In fact, there’s been quite a lot of air movement
taking place over the last twenty-four hours. It looks like they’re
already shipping out. We could try - but to be honest, Jake, I think
we’re going to have to run the gauntlet, or dear old Professor Kirill is
going to do a vanishing act. The software I’ve loaded into the aircraft’s
processor should keep us partially safe, but don’t go blaming good old
Vince, if we run into a little heat.”
“Great. Any other good news?”
“I can re-map the co-ordinates to take us to the special forces’
weapons and vehicle stash; or as near to it as possible. Lucky for us,
it’s quite close to a loch.”
“Hmmm.” Dillon scratched at the stubble on his chin, and
decided that he needed a shower and a shave. He felt the cold air of
the Highlands, touch the back of his neck.
“Okay, let’s head for the stash, and then I’ll go in by vehicle
alone, and you can wait at the aircraft with Tatiana -”
“I’m coming with you, Dillon,” Tatiana said.
“No way, Tats. You’re in no fit state.”
“Who the fuck do you think you are, Dillon. You - do not order
me around.”
Their glares locked. Dillon shook his head. “I work better alone.”
“Well, I’m not asking you to wet-nurse me, either. I can do that
quite adequately myself. But I’ve not come this far, just to sit on the
sideline and simply watch these bastards from afar. I’m going in, Jake,
and I’ll either go with you or without you.
You
can accompany
me
if
you feel up to it - after all, the beating you’ve suffered over the last few
days must have slowed down your reflexes a little bit. And remember
who got you out of Ezra’s bunker alive... Without me you’d have been
just another kill for that Assassin...”
“Whoa, point taken.” Dillon held up his hands. “If you really
want to come...” “You should know better than to mess with a fiery
woman, Jake.” said Vince.
“Show me on the map exactly where we would have to land; and
how far it would be to this special forces depot.” Tatiana pointed at
the screen.
“Okay,” Vince enlarged the image on the screen, “The only place
for us to land, is this small loch, here.” He indicated a point on the
map, “It’s only just long enough for us to land on, but it is doable.
From here, it’s only about half a mile to the depot, and another mile
to the facility itself.”
Dillon glanced up at a foreboding sky, low thunderous clouds
rolled over them, the promise of foul weather to follow. He looked at
Tatiana, and then at Vince. “Let’s get on with it, then.”

The A-25M rocked gently on the water at the edge of the loch,
hot metal cooling in the light breeze even as they were camouflaging
the fuselage with anything they could lay their hands on. Thirty
minutes later and they’d covered the half a mile distance to the depot.

They stood, staring up at the wall of rock before them.
“Where is it?” asked Tatiana.
“You’re looking at it.”
Tatiana gazed up at the jagged vertical surface of the mountain

that now barred their way. The rock was a dark granite grey, scarred,
part of a landscape scoured by the severest weather that nature had
thrown at it since the beginning of time. It was a sanctuary from the
bitterly cold north wind. It was a mountain with a sense of history.

“It’s a wall of solid rock, Vince.”
“No, you’ve got to look harder.”
Special forces depots were dotted all over the globe, and carried

equipment specific to the sort of territory in which they were located.
Periodically they would be checked and re-stocked by Government
officials. On numerous occasions they had made a difference between
life and death.

All of these depots were located under the ground or behind
rock and even inside disused mine shafts. Monitored via live web cams
and linked via a military satellite to a secure server, images end up at an
automated monitoring station located in a bunker beneath Whitehall.
Any undue change in temperature, or unauthorised movement inside
any depot, is instantly relayed back and the nearest military unit
dispatched to investigate.

“This little beauty has the pre-loaded software to open doors.
But if I switch it on again, our position will be immediately given
away?”

“That’s true. But if they’re that good, they know where we are,
or where we’re going. We just have to concentrate on staying one step
ahead. Act, don’t react, yeah?”

Dillon switched on the handset and accessed the application.
It
blipped
. There came a release of compressed air from somewhere
behind the rock and, raining debris from above, a huge circular section
of the mountain side suddenly shifted - sliding back into the rock,
allowing access to a deep dark interior.

Dillon and Tatiana moved forward; Vince watched them walk
into the gloom from the entrance; after a moment he also moved
inside, went forward and found the nearest bench, where he placed his
burner and proceeded with the ritual of getting a brew on.

They stooped, peering into the gloom lit by triggered emergency
lighting set into the side walls on both sides of the wide access tunnel.
“Let’s see what little goodies are stashed here.”
They descended the ramp; against one wall was an array of
weapons, from mini machine pistols to sniper rifles and even a couple
of Stinger missile launchers. All weapons were neatly lined up in racks
and protected behind glass screens. Ammunition sat in wooden crates
in one corner, and there were several large metal containers, the type
used on freight ships. Dillon moved forward and pulled open the
doors of the first container.
Tatiana frowned.
“A quad bike?”
“It’s more than that,” said Dillon, a hidden sense of joy in his
voice. “It’s modified for these conditions - this machine has a much
more powerful motor, more torque, and an array of extra special
modifications and upgrades. It’s a dream machine, Tats.”
“I would have preferred a four-wheel-drive with a nice warm
cabin.”
“Sounds cosy, but these things are best for running over this
rough terrain - as long as you know how to handle one. This quad will
eat whatever is thrown at it; look at the tyres! Just wait till we get this
baby out there.”
He walked into the container and sat on the quad bike, hand
tracing the contours of the fuel tank. His gaze roving around the
machine as he got off and stood back. The engine was much more
powerful than the standard one fitted, with its curious design and
powerful output. He tapped the enlarged fuel tank. “Full and raring to
go; all we have to do is turn the key and fire her up.”
“What modifications does it have?”
Dillon pointed to a place just below the twin headlights; four,
small bore barrels poked forward. “Mounted sub-machine guns with
ammunition on four drums stored either side of the fuel tank up
front. Mounted on the handlebars is a GPS sat-nav, sat-phone, and
data panel for all of the gizmos. It has a stealth exhaust system, and
this baby will run silent - silent and deadly. And special mudguards
which stop all the shit from flying everywhere and over us.”
Dillon moved around the large machine, before getting back on
and firing it up, true to his word, there was nothing more than a gentle
purr. “If anything can get us to Kirill’s facility over land, then this is
it.”
Tatiana shook her head. “The mental scars are still there from
the last time I rode on the back of a bike with you.”
Dillon grinned boyishly at her. “Don’t worry, luv - this ride will
be much, much worse.”