“Mum, what is it? I’m in class,” said Tom.
“Are you OK?”
“Of course I am.”
Lela was having a similar conversation with Saki.
“Mum, the nearest school being hijacked is over 5,000 miles away, of course we’re fine.”
“What’s happening at the school?”
“Mr Sakamoto has just come on to tell us all what’s happened and that we shouldn’t be concerned. We’re in the safest place in the world although it sounds like the special forces on the island may have to go and help out. He said that four schools have been taken and over 200 armed terrorists are holding hostage a total of around four thousand students. So it’s likely that the skills on this base will be needed.”
“Yes, sounds like it. But you and Lela are OK?”
“Yes Mum, I’ll call you later and let you know what’s happening.” Tom ended the call.
Reaper watched the TV feeds. Paris, London, Washington and Moscow were in chaos. Their most illustrious schools, housing their most illustrious students were under his control. Everything had worked exactly as planned. The extremists had been enticed with money and specific targets. In London, Paris, Moscow and Washington the terrorists had sought sons and daughters of their arch enemies. The plan had worked well, perhaps a little too well as one of the terrorists had shot the son of a prominent British MP on sight.
Reaper did not care about any of the specific targets. All the schools were taken and across the world, the headlines read that four thousand children were in mortal danger. The fact that only top schools were involved was not an accident. The schools had been selected long before the targets. In fact, most of what the terrorists had been told about their targets had been untrue.
All of Reaper’s Team Leaders were now on their own. Communications were cut as soon as the first objectives were achieved. Reaper could not afford for any link to be made back to him. His lieutenants knew their orders. They were to control and maintain their positions for the following forty eight hours. By that time, Reaper’s second objective would have been achieved and the Lieutenants would be free to leave the terrorists to their own devices.
“What’s happening now?” Lela asked Tom who was still looking out of the window.
“It looks like the soldiers are moving out. They’re all running towards the helicopters and leaving,” he responded.
“What, all of them?”
“I don’t know, but a good portion of them.”
The twins were still suffering from their bug although the effects were beginning to wear off. However, it had been sufficiently severe to stop them from being shipped out with the rest of the team which had been sent to Paris to help the C.O.S. (Commandement des Operations Speciales), the French special forces. With reports of over fifty terrorists at each location and around four thousand students in danger, teams were being sent to all locations. Four teams were sent to Paris. Four teams were sent to assist the Russian Spetnatz, four teams were sent to help the British SAS and four teams went to assist the American FBI’s HRT (Hostage Rescue Team).
In total, 160 men were shipped off the island, leaving forty men to guard the base. Thirty of them had only stayed behind because of their gastric bug. The doctor had tracked down the source of the bug to a specific batch of canteens which contained contaminated water. He had cleared the rest of the camp for active duty as only those who had drunk the water would be affected.
The twins had now been out of contact with their targets for over twenty four hours. They agreed that one of them should go back on station to resume surveillance. They could not afford any further delay as it was imperative that their reports be filed as soon as possible.
Reaper realised, to his horror, that he had miscalculated one part of his plan. The water-borne bug which had been given to his operatives had resulted in an information black-out from the Special Forces’ base at The Academy for eighteen hours. He had underestimated how debilitating the virus would be. The information began to flow again and Reaper’s second objective was achieved significantly earlier than he had expected. The Special Forces base was down to 20 % of its manpower and Reaper controlled almost 75 % of those. And of course, updates continued to come in from Ling.
The outcry around the world was unprecedented. The shocking scenes of dead children at two of the locations, including the death of a prominent MP’s son in London, had stunned the world. The TV stations were broadcasting developments from each location, around the clock. All other television programmes were cancelled. People could think of nothing else as they watched, helpless, the unfolding scenes of children being held by heavily armed gunmen. These gunmen had already killed and were clearly capable of killing again. They had neither identified themselves nor their cause. Reaper had decided that for the first forty eight hours, no contact would be made with the authorities. That would keep them guessing and increase their anxiety. The tactic had obviously worked as the specialist multi-national teams were already moving into action.