Stan Mason - Stopping World War Three

‘You’re the boss,’ I told him unconditionally. ‘You run the show. I won’t do anything without your agreement. You have my promise on it.’

He left the room and went down to the garage to sort out the equipment. Once again I declined to make myself a cup of coffee and I sat back on the small chair closing my eyes. In normal times, Devon was a complete mess but when the chips were down he was a master in his field of operation. It was fifteen minutes before he returned to the room.

‘Okay, man,’ he said as he entered. ‘It’s all downstairs packed in four canvas bags… and there’s two trampolines.’ He looked at the main map and pointed to an area on it. ‘This is how I see it. We don’t go to the main gate. Our target is the place where the weapons are stored… the research area. That’s where the computer is… the one we want to break into. We park outside the perimeter fence here. If all goes well, we go over the top and walk about a hundred yards to the place. It makes sense to get in and out as quickly as we can,’ With that, he folded the map, put it in his pocket, and walked out.

I followed him as he left and help him put the bags and the trampolines in the car. Then we drove off to the weaponry division. I directed Devon accordingly and we soon found ourselves far away from the main gate outside the electrified fence. He got out of the car and walked up and down a deserted road for three hundred yards before returning.

‘We’re at the back of the complex. There’s no cameras to identify cars along this road,’ he declared happily. ‘We can park here and no one will know anything about it.’

We removed the bags and the trampolines from the boot of the car and set them down by the side of the road. Devon took care to place one of the trampolines a short distant away from the electrified fence and motioned me towards it.

‘How the hell am I going to clear this fence on this stupid thing!’ I remonstrated irately, feeling an element of fear running through me as I could see myself hanging on the top of the fence like a fried piece of toast. ‘I’ll never do it!’

‘Negative thoughts!’ he countered sharply. ‘You’ve gotta get rid of all negative thoughts! This trampoline’s designed for this purpose. It has an angle of forty-five degrees to give you short-distance momentum.

I tried to stand on the contraption but it was too steep, causing me to fall forward. As I picked myself up, Devon clapped his hands together encouraging me to act more positively.

‘Come on, man!’ he called out in a low voice. We ‘aint got time to stand around! It’s all systems go! Get your act together and jump! You come in from behind with a run of about fifteen yards, but make sure your timing’s right. I don’t wanna have to scrape you off. Your feet’s gotta hit the trampoline together and at speed. It’s simple really… a child could do it. A run, a jump and the whoom… you’re over! Don’t forget to lean your body forward when you jump. Not too far forward… just a little. If you do it right, you’ll shoot over the top like a missile.’

There was nothing more I could do than to put my trust in his words. If I failed I would end up as a human barbecue with no more worries in this world. I paced back about fifteen yards and started my run. It was too late to stop now… it was all or nothing! My feet hit the trampoline together and I was catapulted over the fence, clearing it by at least a foot. However Devon hadn’t warned me about the landing. I hit the ground hard… very hard! Fortunately, I had the good sense to somersault forward which broke my fall. I could hardly believe that I was inside the complex. As I turned jubilantly towards the computer expert, a trampoline came flying over the fence to land beside me. This was followed by the four canvas bags with our equipment. Within seconds he was standing beside me opening up the bags so that we could proceed as planned. He put his hand into his pocket and drew out a pair of spectacles that looked familiarly like sun glasses. Then he put them on and peered in all directions

‘Stay exactly where you are!’ he ordered harshly, swivelling in a semi-circle on his haunches with an electronic detector in his hand. ‘I’m defining the location of the electronic beams scanning this area. If you’re worried about the glasses… don’t! They’re designed to help me see them.’ After a short pause, he stood up and started walking towards the target building. ‘Follow me!’ he commanded, ‘but take it slow in case they operate a revolving beam that sweeps in an arc. We don’t wanna get caught out by that old trick. We’ll take these two bags and leave the other two here. I’ll take this one, you take the other.’

We approached the building slowly until he motioned me to stop with a wave of his hand. ‘Lucky we didn’t come in by the main gate. I detect about fifty beams over there.’ He stiffened as we moved forward a little distance. ‘Careful!’ he warned. ‘There are three steps in front leading to the pavement in the foreground of the building. The first is clear. The second is clear. The third has a beam across it. When you get to the second step, jump as high as you can to the pavement. Whatever you do, do not use the third step! I repeat… you must not use the third step! Is that clear?’

I followed his instructions carefully and he moved ahead of me to place a plastic card into the slot of the computer terminal.

‘How can you be sure that’ll work?’ I whispered.

‘If you go to a hotel, the manager has a master key which can be used to open an door in the hotel. Let’s say this card’s a master key for computers. It has characteristics which asks what’s required from the computer and then establishes the information for itself. I think of it as an aunt saying to her young nephew: ‘I’ll give you a kiss if you give me a smile.’ He smiles and she kisses him. Easy!’

At that moment, the steel door swung open and I was about to move forward when he placed a hand firmly on my shoulder. ‘No!’ he cautioned. ‘Not until I tell you!’ He waved the electronic device forwards and backwards in front of him before pointing to an imaginary line across the door about twelve inches high. ‘There’s a beam about a foot high from the floor. It stretches right across the doorway. You’ll have to step over it. Be very careful!’

We entered the building and made our way cautiously down the sloping hallway. We had reached the halfway point when Devon warned me to duck below another beam located at waist-high level. As we approached the terminal required an authorised handprint, Devon removed the spectacles and delved into the bag he had been carrying.

‘What are you going to do?’ I asked in a hushed voice.

‘Whoever used this terminal last had to leave an imprint of his hand on the glass. Fingerprints. Thumbprints. Palmprints. The lot! My task is to take a copy of the handprint that’s already on the glass. Then it can be transferred to a plastic glove and re-used to open the door.’

‘Very clever!’ I commended.

The big problem is that the door has probably a built-in sensor device at its base which continues into the floor below… like having a nail inside your shoe with the sharp end sticking out of the sole so that when you tread on a wooden floor it drives into it. As soon as I lay the handprint on the machine, the door will open cutting off the beam to the sensor device so that it sets off the alarm. I have to prevent that from happening.’

‘What do you intend to do?’ I asked. Intrigued to learn the solution.

‘Hold on!’ he muttered, stiffening like a cat with its back arched. ‘There’s a camera right above us facing the door. When it opens, even if the alarm doesn’t go off, the boys in ‘Block B’ will be able to see us. In your bag there are hoods designed to fit over the camera lens. Let me have the one marked ‘Hall’!’