Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves

Also by Matthew Reilly

CONTEST
ICE STATION
TEMPLE
AREA 7
SCARECROW
HOVER CAR RACER
HELL ISLAND
SEVEN ANCIENT WONDERS
THE SIX SACRED STONES
THE FIVE GREATEST WARRIORS

This is a work of fiction. Characters, institutions and organisations mentioned in this novel are either the product of the author’s imagination or, if real, used fictitiously without any intent to describe actual conduct.

First published 2011 in Macmillan by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Limited
1 Market Street, Sydney

Copyright © Karanadon Entertainment Pty Ltd 2011
The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, scanning or by any information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

National Library of Australia
Cataloguing-in-Publication data:

Reilly, Matthew, 1974–

Scarecrow and the army of thieves / Matthew Reilly.

9781742610283 (hbk).
9781742610870 (pbk).

A823.3

Typeset in 11/14 pt Sabon by Post Pre-press Group
Printed in Australia by McPherson’s Printing Group
Illustrations by Laurie Whiddon, Map Illustrations

Papers used by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd are natural, recyclable products made from wood grown in sustainable forests. The manufacturing processes conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin.

These electronic editions published in 2011 by Pan Macmillan Australia Pty Ltd
1 Market Street, Sydney 2000

Copyright © Karanadon Entertainment Pty Ltd 2011

The moral right of the author has been asserted.

All rights reserved. This publication (or any part of it) may not be reproduced or transmitted, copied, stored, distributed or otherwise made available by any person or entity (including Google, Amazon or similar organisations), in any form (electronic, digital, optical, mechanical) or by any means (photocopying, recording, scanning or otherwise) without prior written permission from the publisher.

This ebook may not include illustrations and/or photographs that may have been in the print edition.

Scarecrow and the Army of Thieves

Matthew Reilly

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To my loyal readers,
this one’s for you

CONTENTS

Cover

Also by Matthew Reilly

Copyright page

Dedication

Epigraph

DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY BACKGROUND REPORT

PROLOGUE

FIRST PHASE

SECOND PHASE

THIRD PHASE

FOURTH PHASE

FIFTH PHASE

SIXTH PHASE

FINAL PHASE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

AN INTERVIEW WITH MATTHEW REILLY

SO ENERGETIC ARE THESE ACTIONS AND SO STRANGELY DO SUCH POWERFUL DISCHARGES BEHAVE THAT I HAVE OFTEN EXPERIENCED THE FEAR THAT THE ATMOSPHERE MIGHT BE IGNITED . . .

Nikola Tesla, inventor

MORE: WHAT WOULD YOU DO? CUT A GREAT ROAD THROUGH THE LAW TO GET AFTER THE DEVIL?

ROPER: I’D CUT DOWN EVERY LAW IN ENGLAND TO DO THAT!

MORE: OH? AND WHEN THE LAST LAW WAS DOWN, AND THE DEVIL TURNED ROUND ON YOU—WHERE WOULD YOU HIDE?

Robert Bolt,

A Man for All Seasons

HISTORY IS MOVING PRETTY QUICKLY THESE DAYS AND THE HEROES AND VILLAINS KEEP ON CHANGING PARTS.

James Bond in
Casino Royale
,

written by Ian Fleming

DEFENSE INTELLIGENCE AGENCY

BACKGROUND REPORT

CLASSIFICATION: TOP SECRET/EYES ONLY
AUTHOR: RETTER, MARIANNE (D-6)
SUBJECT: THE ‘ARMY OF THIEVES’

INCIDENT 1: 9/9
THE CHILEAN PRISON BREAKOUT

The first incident occurred on September 9 and it involved the mass breakout of one hundred prisoners from a maximum-security military prison at Valparaiso, Chile.

Shortly before dawn, a small force of heavily armed men attacked the prison using military tactics and suppressed weapons. The operation took less than thirty minutes. All of the prison’s guards were killed.

Among the prisoners released were twelve former high-ranking members of the Comando de Vengadores de Mártires, the ‘Avengers of the Martyrs’, a right-wing paramilitary group that performed abductions and assassinations for the Pinochet regime.

On their departure, the attackers left a message on the gates of the prison:

THE ARMY OF THIEVES IS RISING!

It had been painted in the dead guards’ blood.

INCIDENT 2: 10/10
THE THEFT OF THE ‘OKHOTSK’

One month and one day later, on October 10, a Russian cargo freighter, the OKHOTSK, was seized by persons unknown off the west coast of Africa.

According to its cargo manifest, the ship was carrying timber, fuel and building supplies destined for Zimbabwe and its seizure was initially believed to be the work of west African pirates. But then the Russians sent half of their Atlantic fleet to find the ship.

Our investigations have revealed that the OKHOTSK was actually carrying a large weapons shipment intended for sale to three embargoed African regimes. Its cargo was:

The freighter was manned by a ten-man squad of Spetsnaz special forces troops.

This last fact makes it extremely unlikely that the OKHOTSK was taken by African pirates. African pirates are usually poor fishermen who attack commercial vessels for the purpose of securing ransoms; at the first sign of any military presence on a ship they invariably flee.

On the contrary, the force of men that took the OKHOTSK knew exactly what was on it and were skilled enough to defeat a team of crack Russian paratroopers to get it.

To this day, the OKHOTSK has not been found.

INCIDENT 3: 11/11
A ROBBERY OVER GREECE

In the early hours of November 11, an unmarked German Gulfstream jet carrying nine billion euros from Germany to Greece disappeared from the skies above northern Greece.

The plane’s cargo of hard currency was intended for use in the latest stage of Greece’s financial bailout.

The wreckage of the plane was discovered the following morning. One crew member was missing, the other three had all been shot in the head at close range.

The money was gone.

Painted on the interior walls of the plane was the same symbol seen at the Chilean military jail: a circle with an ‘A’ inside it plus the taunt: ‘THE ARMY OF THIEVES WAS HERE!’

INCIDENT 4: 12/12
ATTACK ON A MARINE BASE
Helmand Province, Afghanistan

In the early hours of December 12, a large and heavily armed force of over one hundred men attacked a remote United States Marine Corps staging and supply base in southern Afghanistan.

The force attacked with precision, skill and overwhelming violence, killing all of the twenty-two engineers and maintenance staff stationed at the isolated base.

The attackers’ objective, it seems, was not the murder of US service personnel. They were after the aircraft kept at the base.

The attackers took four AH-1 Cobra attack helicopters plus two Marine Corps V-22 Osprey ‘Warbird’ gunships (one of which contained eight crates of brand-new USMC cold-weather Arctic/mountain warfare clothing intended for US forces fighting in Afghanistan over the winter).

The attackers painted on the walls of a tent: ‘SEASON’S GREETINGS, YANKEE SCUM! FROM THE ARMY OF THIEVES!’ plus the ‘A’ symbol.

INCIDENT 5: 1/1
A SECOND BREAKOUT
Darfur, Sudan

Soon after midnight on January 1, a temporary UN prison camp in the Darfur region of Sudan was raided by a force of armed and masked men.

102 prisoners variously described as ‘revolutionary fighters, Islamic militants and narco-mercenaries’ from several African nations were freed from the prison and spirited away. All but two of the camp’s UN guards were killed.

The two surviving guards reported that the raiding force used a variety of Russian-made assault weapons and two American Cobra attack helicopters. The raiders departed with their large number of escapees in two V-22 Osprey gunships with US Marine Corps markings.

Before they left, they spray-painted a message on one of the prison’s walls: ‘THE ARMY OF THIEVES JUST GOT STRONGER …’

INCIDENT 6: 2/2
APARTMENT BOMB IN MOSCOW

The spectacular destruction of a twenty-story luxury apartment building in Moscow on February 2 has been well documented in the media.

What was not revealed to the media was the graffiti found covering every wall of the destroyed building’s adjoining parking lot: hundreds of A’s in circles had been spray-painted there.

INCIDENT 7: 3/3
THE TORTURE OF AN AMERICAN OFFICIAL
Washington, D.C., USA

Shortly after midnight on March 3, a small group of unidentified men raided the Georgetown home of the former US Secretary of Defense, killed his two bodyguards and kidnapped the ageing Secretary.

The Secretary was found – alive – by two early-morning hikers in Rock Creek Park, bound to a torture device.

He had been waterboarded.

Carved into the skin of his chest was the following symbol:

During his subsequent debriefing, the Secretary exhibited symptoms of severe shock. He continually shouted: ‘Beware the Army of Thieves! Beware the Army of Thieves!’

CONCLUSIONS

The seven incidents outlined above describe in somewhat grim detail the rise of a new non-state entity calling itself the ‘Army of Thieves’.

Where it is based and who comprises it are not known.

What is known is this: it is a force of militarily-trained individuals that over the last seven months has obtained for itself a considerable supply of weapons, finance and manpower.

It does not, as yet, show any religious or cultural motivations for its aggressive acts. We do not yet know what is driving this rogue ‘Army’.

But it wants us to notice it.

It has carried out one operation a month, every month, for the last seven months, in accordance with a pattern where the number of the day and the month are the same. Clearly, it wants us to see this pattern, and we should be aware of it, because tomorrow is April 4 …