Murray McDonald - Assassin

“Thanks, I’ll talk to you soon.” Tom ended the call.

“Washington it is then,” said Donald, sending the instructions to the bridge.

Everybody felt a rumble as the engines were pushed to full power and the bow of the huge yacht lifted as she accelerated first to thirty knots and then a second drive system was engaged taking the yacht to over 45 knots.

It was time to go to bed. They would be in Washington, 1800 miles away, in less than two days.

The rest of that Sunday and most of the Monday were spent resting and working through the information to try to find what or who was behind everything. Daniel’s guys had drawn a blank at the phone company which was bizarre. The number had been used to make calls and receive calls but the phone company’s records showed the number had never existed. Zach had picked this up now, there were only a few people with the power to have non-existent numbers.

It was Monday evening when everybody noticed the ship slowing down, back to less than half speed.

“What’s happening?” Tom asked his father.

Donald didn’t answer, he just pointed to the sky. Four helicopters were flying towards them. Before Tom had a chance to ask who they were, the first helicopter touched down on the stern pad while the second touched down on the bow pad. Ten men jumped off each one and ran towards Papa who was standing, in the centre of the boat, with his arms up. The two helicopters took off but were immediately replaced by another two. With another seventeen men deposited, they also took off and flew back towards the coast. Before they were even out of sight, the boat was already back up to full speed.

Tom looked at the men and recognised all of them. He had known them all his life. They were more islanders. Papa and Saki had obviously called in reinforcements. They didn’t know what they were up against but if somebody was going to launch an attack on 150 marines, they were certain to have a fairly impressive force.

The islanders were delighted to see that Saki, Donald and Rachel were alive and well and after a very warm greeting, they made their way below deck to get some rest. They had been flying for the best part of a day.

Donald looked at Tom.

“Well that evens it up a bit, don’t you think?” he said jovially.

“Depends. Whoever they are plan to take out 150 Marines.”

“Hmm true, if they use gas or chemicals, we’re buggered,” thought Donald.

“Dad, perhaps we should contact the President?” said Tom who was increasingly concerned about what they may be up against.

“It’s too risky, he’ll never believe you and if I call, I’ll be back in the mix for the assassinations and if anything does happen, it’s all my fault again,” he replied. “And if that’s not enough, we don’t know who we can trust. Whoever is involved is very well connected.”

“True,” said Tom.

“We’ve got twenty four hours, let’s see what happens between now and then. If it looks like the best option, we’ll contact him. If we go making crazy claims just now without a shred of evidence, we’ll be laughed at and only tip off the bad guys,” said Donald.

“Fair enough,” said Tom, although he had a very bad feeling.

The line of trucks snaked down the road. The Humvee at the front drew to a halt at the main gates. A guard approached the jeep and noticed the high ranking officer in the passenger seat and saluted.

“Good evening Colonel, how can I help you Sir?”

“Son, you can just open that gate and let me and my boys through.”

“May I see your orders Colonel?”

“No you may not son but your Commander may. You see, these here orders are classified Top Secret. Son, I doubt if you qualify to see top secret documents, do you?”

“No Sir, I’ll call the Commander right away.”

The guard hurried over to his gate-post and made a call. Two minutes later, the Commanding Officer arrived and after a brief conversation with the guard, he approached the jeep.

“Good evening Colonel, how can I help you?” The Commanding Officer saluted his superior.

“Good evening Commander, you have been redeployed. You and your Company are to report back to Washington asap. My men and I will assume your duties with immediate effect.”

The Commander was stunned.

“I’m sorry Sir, there must be some mistake. This facility is and always has been guarded by Marine Barracks Corp. Do you mind if I make some calls before handing over to you?”

“Of course, just don’t be too long. It’s been a long day.”

The Commander checked the orders with his Colonel who went ballistic and phoned everybody he could conceive of until he reached the Commandant of the Marine Corps, the most senior man. He listened carefully as the Colonel explained the situation. The Commandant explained that he was, in effect, powerless. The order had obviously come directly from the Secretary of Defence and only General Powers had the power to countermand him but he was still in a coma. Also, he struggled to argue with the logic. With everything that was happening, Delta Force guarding Camp David wasn’t a bad thing. Afterall, they were specialist in hostage situations.

The Commander returned to the Colonel’s jeep.

“Give us half an hour and we’ll be out of your way Sir.”

“Excellent, my men will wait here.” Both men saluted each other.

An hour later, Marine Barracks Corps were replaced with 150 Delta Force soldiers and for the first time in its history, Camp David was not being protected by the Marines.

The news of Delta Force replacing the Marines at Camp David came through to Zach the following morning. If anybody so much as breathed the words ‘Camp David’ within the military, Zach was to be told immediately. This took some of the pressure off Donald and Tom. The White House were obviously aware of the increased threat or they wouldn’t have sent Delta Force to Camp David.

By lunchtime, the Beautiful Lady was docked in the Washington navy yard, not far from the White House. Zach had secured them a berth and arranged for security to keep them safe from prying eyes. With only five hours until the meeting at Camp David, things were not looking good. Nothing new had come to light. They were no further forward.

They all continued to pore over the detail of everything they had. Tom and Zach were in constant contact with Daniel and the group at The Academy. They just needed a lucky break. Saki wasn’t taking any chances. The Penarajans were scrutinising the plans of Camp David supplied by Zach. Helicopters were standing by at Reagan International Airport, just five minutes away. Everything was ready, they just didn’t have a clue what to do.

“Mr President, all of your guests for this evening’s dinner have now arrived in Washington. Within the hour, they’ll all be at Camp David,” announced the President’s secretary through the intercom.

“Thank you, please have Marine One ready at five,” he replied.

Beaumont, sitting across from the President, hit the speaker button and dialled The Chairman.

“Gentlemen?”

“Good afternoon Sir,” replied Beaumont. “Just a call to let you know that everybody has arrived as scheduled.”

“Good, I take it this evening’s operation will be a great success,” he surmised.

“We do not anticipate any issues Sir.”

“Excellent. Well, enjoy your meal and tomorrow will see the dawn of a new world. A new Empire begins tomorrow gentlemen, greater than has ever been seen before.” The Chairman hung up.

Both Beaumont and the President looked at each other.

“He’s just excited,” remarked the President commenting on The Chairman’s reference to a new empire.