Murray McDonald - Kidnap

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.

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.”