Tom and Lela had been the first to arrive at The Academy and after their whistle-stop tour and dropping off their parents at the scramjet, they went back to their block. Although ‘block’ failed to adequately describe what looked more like a luxury condominium. It was lovely. Each block was quite small and with only 24 student rooms in each, they were perfect. The blocks were spread across the grounds, seventy in total, ten blocks for each year. Tom and Lela’s was smack bang in the centre of the school and seemed to be where the blocks for the seven different years converged. Being first to arrive, Tom and Lela headed straight for the third floor, right at the top.. As they reached the corner room, they agreed to toss for it and Lela won. They opened their doors and walked in, their rooms were massive with separate sleeping and seating areas. They also, as Tom quickly discovered, had everything they could wish for and more.
The richest and most powerful parents had obviously decided that The Academy would be an excellent test market and each had tried to outdo the other. Each room was full of the next generation of games consoles, music and entertainment systems. They were so new that they were not yet available in the shops and all had a small questionnaire which the students were asked to complete should they have the opportunity or want to give the likes of Mr Sony or Mr Microsoft their feedback. Tom had brought a selection of his latest PS3 and Xbox360 games and just hoped the newer systems were backward compatible. However, he soon realised that that wasn’t an issue, any game he wanted downloaded in an instant via the latest internet broadband technology.
Tom had brought a lot of his own gadgets with him which now seemed quite redundant. He had been concerned about access to the internet for his Whatjet. com business and had brought along the latest satellite wireless technology which operated at what he had thought was an amazing 100MB speed. However, it now seemed that that was about a thousandth of what was available to him in his room. He had also brought a satellite phone, reckoning his mobile phone reception would be dodgy in the middle of the Ocean off the coast of Africa but the signal was perfect on his normal mobile. However, he really did like the look of the amazing next generation iphone handset which was waiting for him.
Lela rushed in after ten minutes of checking out her room.
“So what do you think?” she asked expectantly.
They had not had a chance to discuss anything since they had arrived.
“It’s amazing, unbelievable! Don’t you think?”
“God yeah, I can’t think of anything they haven’t thought, can you?” she said, jumping up and down with excitement.
“What about the classrooms, how amazing are they?” he said.
Tom was very impressed with the ultra hi-tech classrooms. Desks were replaced with electronic notepads, seats were made of plush leather and where a blackboard would normally be was an enormous electronic touch screen. He had touched one of the notepads and it immediately sprung to life, the screen flashing ‘Welcome Tom’ before flashing to his own home page. The notepad had recognised hi fingerprint! A tab at the top of the screen indicated Timetable. Tom clicked on it, he was desperate to know what subjects they had. The screen went blank and Tom waited for the timetable to appear but all that appeared was a message ‘not available until Monday 8.00 a.m.’
“I know! And everything else, the Marina, the golf course, the restaurants and there’s even a Dojo, although I think I’ll stick to my room for training,” said Lela.
Her training would continue despite her 6,000 mile and 3 hour time difference. Saki had arranged for a video conference unit for Lela to take with her for her lessons. However, as with Tom’s gadgets, it wasn’t needed. Each room was already fitted with the facility.
Tom was dubious about the restaurants. Lunch had been amazing but they were feeding an ex-President on that day so he reserved judgement until the next day.
“Let’s see what slop they serve up when he’s not there,” he suggested.
They both walked out onto the balcony as they heard the first plane arrive. It was soon followed by the next which heralded the start of what would be an almost constant flow of small jets as the students arrived from around the globe.
Tom and Lela watched as a trail of small carts snaked along the road from the airport to the school and back again. All students, without exception, gazed in awe as they stepped out off the carts into The Academy. From the reception area, the back-drop was breathtaking. The crystal waters of the ocean lapped the pristine beaches which blended into the school’s manicured lawns. It really was a stunning sight, the school was, as one student commented, like something out of a high class holiday brochure. It was hard to believe they were at school at all.
Over the next six hours, their block filled up quickly as its new inhabitants arrived. Tom and Lela recognised most of their neighbours as they arrived. There weren’t many rich or powerful children they hadn’t met at some time. There were only five students who were unknown to them. One was from Russia and named Oleg. His father had become one of the top 100 wealthiest people in just two years. Two were from China, their fathers had made billions from the recent economic boom in China. Mia, was the daughter of a wealthy Chinese recluse and Chen was the son of a high profile socialite from Hong Kong. Thabo, was the son of the President of Botswana, one of the most economically stable African countries. And finally, Mingmei, the daughter of a technology mogul from Taiwan.
As Lela had the corner room which also happened to be the best room in their year block, her room became the ad-hoc meeting area and before long, twenty-two students had gravitated towards it and taken up residence. Tom calculated that they were short of two residents for their block and as he made his way to the door, the 23 ^rd and 24 ^th residents walked in. Tom couldn’t believe it, two of his very best friends had just arrived, Ahmad and the UK PM’s son Tristan, both of whom he had not seen since his birthday and the attempted kidnapping.
“Are you both in this block?” he asked hopefully.
“Yep, we’re your new neighbours,” replied Tristan excitedly.
“Fantastic, that’s so cool?” he turned to Lela. “Look Lela, Trist and Ahmad are in our block.”
Lela walked over to join them. Ahmad began to smile inanely.
“For God’s sake Ahmad you’re almost as bad as Trist, calm down,” whispered Tom.
“After what she did that night there is no other woman for me,” he whispered back.
Tom couldn’t reply, Lela arrived to greet them.
“Hi guys,” she said giving them each a huge hug, much to their delight.
“I’m so glad you’re both here, it’s going to be soooo cool,” said Tom. “I wasn’t sure if you would both get invites, I knew Trist would but…”
Tristan interrupted him and saved Tom’s embarrassment, “I already asked…”
“Only less subtly” interjected Ahmad. “I’m actually a Prince and my father the UK Ambassador, is second in line to the throne.”
“You kept that quiet Your Highness” said Lela curtsying.
“And that’s exactly why, it’s just Ahmad, please,” he said, blushing.
“Is that a royal command, Your Highness?” joked Tom.
“Very funny, please, enough.”
“OK, OK,” said Tom, “We’re only joking.”
Tristan excused himself. He’d spotted some girls in the room.
“Sorry guys but I see some new talent — see ya’s.”
They were used to him, he was girl mad. In fact, neither Tom nor Ahmad could remember a conversation with Tristan, in the last year, which hadn’t made reference to one girl or another.
Tom spent the rest of the evening catching up with his old friends and getting to know the new ones. Had their respective parents been in attendance, it would have been a very impressive party indeed. In total, the wealth in the room would have exceeded $250 billion, with Tom’s father making up the largest portion. They would have had the most powerful armies in the world at their fingertips particularly with the son of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff and the daughter of the head of NATO. There were five children whose parents were the elected heads of their nations and numerous members of royalty. Technologically, they would have control of almost every major electronic corporation in the world. All in all, they (or rather their parents) were a pretty powerful bunch.
Of course, the assembling of these particular students had not been accidental. Careful planning had ensured that those who were most vulnerable to terrorist threats were concentrated in one small area. All the students in Tom and Lela’s block and the six blocks next to them had been deliberately placed there. There was one ‘special security’ block per year. Between them, they housed the children of the world’s most influential and powerful families. That part of the planning had been top secret and other than the Headmaster and the Board of Governors, only the Special Forces Base Commander was aware of the heightened security he was expected to impose on those seven blocks.
Tom and Lela played host to their neighbours all evening. They eventually said goodnight to the last of their guests at around midnight. It appeared that there were no set rules for bedtime.
“So what do you think?” Tom asked Lela.
“Very, very cool. You?”
“Unbelievably awesome!”
“They’re all so nice, especially Mia. We’ve got so much in common.”
“I know, they’re all great. Chen was nice, really laid back and I can’t believe Tristan and Ahmad are here, that’s just brilliant!”
“Anyway, I’m exhausted, I think we should get to bed. I’ve got a funny feeling that tomorrow is going to be a very busy day,” said Lela, yawning.
Tom took the hint and made his way to his room. Before going to sleep, he decided to read his briefing pack which informed him that lessons would start each morning at 8.00 a.m., Monday to Friday. There would be a mid-morning break at 10.00 a.m. and lunch was between 12.15 p.m. and 1.30 p.m.. The afternoon session would end at 4.30 p.m.. Saturday consisted of a half day sports session which started at 10.00 a.m. and finished at 2.00 p.m.. Sunday was a free day of leisure but Tom had a funny feeling that probably meant homework. The briefing pack went into detail about restaurant times, extra curricular activities and the facilities available. There was also a copy of the ‘School Rules’ which seemed surprisingly brief:
“ All students should behave as would be expected of young ladies and gentleman of their standing. Failure to do so at any time will result in instant expulsion.”
Tom couldn’t work out whether this was a good thing or a bad thing. It was surprisingly concise.
The briefing pack also informed him that he didn’t need the vast array of alarm clocks which his mother had packed for him. Tom did not wake easily and no single alarm clock could ever wake him. This had worried his mother and so Tom was equipped with four alarm clocks which, after rigorous testing and experimentation, had proved to be effective. The first alarm was subtle, tugging at his subconscious. The next was slightly louder with a gentle tone to slowly penetrate his consciousness. The next was louder and would persevere to the point of full alertness. The next could wake the dead and terrorised anyone nearby. Tom’s father said that anyone who remembered the war would run to their bomb shelter if they heard “that bloody thing” go off. Tom hated the final alarm, it really was brutal and that was the point. After hearing it twice, his brain forced him to wake-up by the third alarm to avoid the last one going off. His mother had cracked it.
However, after all the experimentation, it would all be redundant. The school operated its own alarm system to ensure the students were woken up at 7.00 a.m. Tom was relieved and didn’t bother setting his complicated series of clocks and went straight to sleep.
Ling made contact with Reaper. She had worried that she may find it difficult to maintain the charade of her new role but, to her surprise, she found it very easy. Nobody had suspected a thing. She booted up the small mobile device and sent off her encrypted report. This was going to be the easiest $1 million she had ever made.
The twins, on the other hand, were concerned. Although they had spent three weeks preparing the area for surveillance, they had hoped that their targets would not pick one of the seven super secure blocks. Their hopes were shattered and their vantage points severely restricted due to the presence of extra security which was surprisingly covert. The twins stumbled across a number of hidden and occupied security look-outs on their search for vantage points, pleading ignorance as they made their apologies. Whoever was in charge of security was not only affording this area of the school substantially more protection than the rest, but they did not want anybody to know about it.
The twins tapped into the base’s surveillance camera network and were able to call up individual cameras on every square inch of the island. Although these covered their blind-spots, including the back entrance to their targets’ block, this did not quell their concerns. Cameras were all well and good but were no substitute for human eyes. They filed their report, moved into position and began their surveillance of the building.
Reaper was ecstatic. His secure mobile mail retrieval system was pinging every few minutes as sit-reps (situation reports) flooded in. The one which excited him most was the note from Ling. She had infiltrated the school beautifully and had spent the evening with the targets. The Ling angle was perfect. Had he thought of it earlier, he could have saved time haggling with greedy soldiers and just used Ling. He then reminded himself, however, that it was always good to have a fall-back plan.
In less than four weeks, the action phase would begin. The feedback from each of the camps was excellent. The terrorists had been provided with photographs of the targets and told various false stories about them to incite their bigoted and fanatical hatred. This tactic had worked predictably well, perhaps too well. Reaper’s Team Leaders informed him that such was the terrorists’ hatred for the children, it was going to take a monumental effort to stop them from shooting the children on sight.