One week later
The twins were inseparable. They were now twenty five and had never spent more than one night apart. They had joined the army together and had insisted on being posted together. The recruiting sergeant had humoured them and assured them that this would not pose a problem. This was, of course, a lie and resulted in the only night the two had ever spent apart. The extent of the havoc caused by their apparent ‘oversight’ had resulted in the two being reunited the very next evening. That, however, left a question mark over their suitability for the armed forces but they were indulged for the time being, until their mettle could be properly tested.
Any concerns about suitability were dispelled when the two began training. They were natural soldiers and proved to be two of the best killers to enter the service. After two years’ training, they were assigned to a very specialist unit which normally took staff for a maximum of twelve months such was the intensity, both physically and emotionally, of the work. However, the twins had had their service contracts extended three times as no suitable replacements could be found to backfill their now legendary killing abilities.
It was therefore a complete shock when they received their latest orders which were completely different to their usual orders and appeared on the surface to be rather undeserving of their particular talents. Nonetheless, the most important issue had been covered, they were both on the same mission. As usual, they prepared themselves to ship out and move to new barracks.
The new barracks were unknown to anybody on their current base. They were referenced by a three digit number which nobody recognised. They all surmised that it was a new designation. Interestingly, even the base commander did not know where it was. When he had requisitioned their flight details, he had been refused clearance for the final destination and was informed that clearance was only given on a need-to-know basis and he did not need to know. He explained this to the twins who simply shrugged their shoulders and headed back to pack the rest of their belongings.
Their flight left on schedule and after three aircraft changes, they boarded their final flight. By this time, they had no idea where they were as each transfer had taken place on an empty landing strip with no identifiable landmarks. Their final transfer had taken place in the dark and they were so disorientated, they could have been anywhere from the Antarctic to the Arctic or from Asia to America. When they finally landed, all they knew was that they were on a small island and that it had to be South of the equator because the water drained clockwise in the toilet.
With daylight came a few more clues as to their location. The barracks were small and housed around 200 soldiers but it was not until later in the day that the twins realised that this was no ordinary barracks. The barracks were multi national and were full of teams from the world’s Special Forces. They were all specialists in anti-terrorism and hostage rescue. The twins quickly settled into the new regime, alongside the other soldiers. They took part in exercises in the morning and specialist training in the afternoon.
It was not until the evening of their first day that they had a chance to wander around the island. They soon found their objectives’ location and were amazed at the set up of the school. They completed their first reconnaissance, making note of relevant vantage points and blind spots.
Their mission instructions were clear. Their targets would arrive in two weeks by which time a full risk assessment was to be carried out. This would involve a comprehensive reconnaissance of the island and a detailed analysis of the military presence, its capabilities and weaknesses. Once complete, the report was to be sent to a coded address through secret channels with a clear “Eyes Only” designation. On arrival, the targets were to be watched on a twenty-four hour basis and no action taken unless authorised or in situations which required immediate intervention. At all costs, the twins were not to break cover and under no circumstances should they discuss their orders with anybody including the Base Commander.