The A380 was not the only plane to have left Masirah, four of the six available Citation X’s had taken off right behind it. They were to be joined by an Airbus 319CJ, a Scramjet and another Citation X which had taken off from Kota Kinabalu. In total, eight aircraft were aloft that morning for Operation Retribution.
The Airbus 319CJ landed in an airfield just outside Moscow and had four Porsche Cayenne Turbo S’s waiting for it.
The Scramjet had left Kota Kinabalu long after any of the others and landed well before them despite having almost twice the distance to travel. It landed on a secret base just outside Washington and again was met by a row of Porsche Cayenne Turbo S’s.
The final plane from Kota Kinabalu, the Citation X, had a much shorter flight plan. It headed to a remote island in the middle of the Indian Ocean.
The four Citations from Masirah flew in formation for almost 3,000 miles before two broke off and landed in Paris, while the other two made their way across the Channel to London.
At each of the airports, a row of Porsche Cayenne Turbo S’s sat waiting for the islanders. Tom owed the Porsche family a huge favour.
Tom listened to his earpiece as each of the teams checked in at their various locations. Everybody was exactly where they should be with five minutes to spare. Tom could not believe that everything had gone so smoothly.
At exactly 3.30 a.m. Glasgow and London time, 10.30 p.m. in Washington, 4.30 a.m. in Paris and 6.30 a.m. in Moscow, the four hostage sites would be plunged into darkness. At exactly the same time and at each hostage site, the police and army commanders in charge and some of their top men would receive emergency phone calls from their own children. The confusion would create the window required for Operation Retribution.
Reaper screamed at Leo.
“What the hell is happening?! Every one of the schools is in darkness! Check in with your men immediately!”
Leo checked the screen. Only forty four blips were showing. These accounted for thirty seven guards, the comms man, the parents, Mark, himself and Reaper. The other two men were at the airport.
“It’s fine, all accounted for, no extra bodies here.”
Reaper called his men at the airport.
“Has the flight landed?”
“Yes.”
“Can you see the kids yet?”
“No they’ve not come through yet.”
“What do you mean they’ve not come through yet?”
“It’s a big plane and there are still people filtering through.”
“You imbecile! They were in First Class and had no luggage, they should have been off first! Get back here now!”
“Leo! Kill the mother, the kids have screwed us.” Reaper could not believe it.