The twins watched the silver dart pierce the sky. They had never seen anything like it nor heard anything like it. Peculiarly, there was no sound, just the whoosh of the air parting as the dart swooped overhead and landed majestically on the landing strip.
As the doors opened and the passengers disembarked, they realised their “holiday” was over. Their targets had arrived. Round the clock surveillance would commence with immediate effect. They were certain that others would be watching too but their job was the most crucial and most important one.
Within an hour of their landing, Reaper was made aware that the targets were in situ and under surveillance. He was nervous. Not because they had landed but because it was on that day that one of his most daring moves would either pay off or be a complete disaster.
He had recently been made aware of an exceptionally young looking and exceptionally talented Chinese assassin. Pieter had worked with this assassin before and was very complimentary about the talented young Ling. Not only was she a highly trained killer but due to a very rare childhood illness, she had never grown beyond her twelfth birthday. She was now twenty four, had six years’ experience as an assassin and looked no older than the day she turned thirteen. Her eternal youth had given Reaper an idea. She would make an excellent plant as a student at the school. She would be able to gather valuable information as easily as she would be able to kill any encumbrance. Reaper was very pleased with himself, this was a perfect addition to an already brilliant plan.
With Ling’s services secured, Reaper attended to the more difficult task, identifying a student she could replace. Following a telephone conversation with his client, Reaper was sent a list of possible targets. After two days of analysis, Pieter, Leo and Reaper agreed on the most suitable candidate.
The operation was to be a simple one but at the same time very expensive. It was imperative that the family of the swapped student knew nothing of the swap until the main mission was well underway. They knew that there would be no opportunity to snatch the student before they departed nor any chance once they landed. They would, therefore, have to intercept the student’s plane and replace the student during the flight. This would involve a significant amount of equipment and exceptional timing.
It was imperative that nobody knew anything was amiss. Therefore, the plan involved two Mig29s, an old Soviet spy plane and a secret island in the middle of the Indian Ocean close to the student’s flight path.
The student’s flight would take off as normal and as it neared the secret island, the spy plane would electronically jam communications and the two Migs would force it to land. The original crew and the student would disembark to be replaced by Reaper’s crew and the impostor. The flight would then resume its course to The Academy. It was imperative that the real student remain alive in case any messages were required to be sent to their parents. The original crew would not be so lucky. After the impostor was dropped at the school, the plane would return for them on the secret island, they would be forced to take off and return to their original airport. Of course, they would never make it beyond the electronic jamming, as they would be shot down in the middle of the Ocean. Being a small private plane, little fuss would be made over the crash.
Reapers phone buzzed.
“Hello?” he answered.
“The switch is done and the exercise complete,” said Pieter.
“Any issues?”
“None. It was perfect. The crew of the plane will never be found. The rescuers think it went down 300 miles from where it actually did. I think we owe our Russian friends an extra bonus for that piece of genius. They ripped the black box out of the plane and dropped it 300 miles away in the deepest waters they could find. Nothing in the world can go that deep.”
“Excellent. Make sure they receive their bonus before you complete your mission,” said Reaper callously.
“Of course.”
That night, Pieter rewarded the Russians with a case of Vodka and double their original fee. The next morning, Pieter bid the Russian pilots farewell and then shot them dead. They would not be telling this story to anyone but their ancestors.
Ling assumed her new persona and went to work. Through his client, Reaper had managed to ensure that Ling would share the same block as Tom and Lela. It was up to Ling to befriend them and ensure she remained at their side.