Bear Grylls - Ghost Flight

‘So – what did he tell you?’ Jaeger rasped.

‘Two weeks ago, a group of Eastern Europeans turned up in Cuba. They started throwing money around and partying like crazy. Nothing so unusual. But two things came to the notice of my contact. One, they were mercenaries. Two, they had a woman they were holding captive.’ Defiance blazed in Narov’s eyes. ‘That woman – she is Brazilian. And her last name – it is Santos.’

Jaeger’s eyes searched Narov’s features for a long moment. Oddly, as part of her complex psychological make-up, she seemed incapable of telling a lie. She could play a part to perfection, but with someone she trusted the truth would invariably out.

‘Okay,’ he growled, ‘screw how you found them.’ His gaze went back to the image on his iPad screen. ‘First we find Leticia, and then…’

A look had come into Jaeger’s eyes – one of ice-cold, steely calm. He had his team, he had a lead – and more importantly, he had the world and his family to save.

He turned back to Narov. ‘Pack your bags. We’re going on a journey.’

‘We are,’ Narov confirmed. ‘You: Will Jaeger. And me. It’s time we went hunting.’

Facing Up

Facing the Frozen Ocean

Born Survivor

Great Outdoor Adventures

Living Wild

To My Sons

Mud, Sweat and Tears

A Survival Guide for Life

True Grit

Your Life – Train For It

Extreme Food

Gold of the Gods

Way of the Wolf

Sands of the Scorpion

Tracks of the Tiger

Claws of the Crocodile

Rage of the Rhino

Strike of the Shark

Special thanks to the following: literary agents at PFD Caroline Michel, Annabel Merullo and Tim Binding for their unfaltering support and perceptive comments on early drafts. Thanks to Laura Williams, Associate Agent at PFD, as ever for all her Herculean efforts. To Jon Wood, Jemima Forrester and all at my publisher, Orion – Susan Lamb, Sophie Painter, Malcolm Edwards, Mark Rusher, Gaby Young and everyone on ‘Team Grylls’.

To Hamish de Bretton-Gordon OBE MD CBRN, Avon Protection, for his advice and expert input on chemical, biological and nuclear weapons and defence and protection measures. To Chris Daniels, and all at Hybrid Air Vehicles, for their insight and guidance on all things Airlander. To Dr Jacqueline Borg, foremost expert on brain-related disorders, including ASD. To Anne and Paul Sherrat, for their incisive advice and criticism on all things Nazi and Eastern Bloc.

And the final, biggest thank you, of course, to Damien Lewis for helping build on what we discovered together in my grandfather’s war chest, marked ‘Top Secret’. Bringing those documents to life in the way you have is pure brilliance.

My grandfather, Brigadier William Edward Harvey Grylls, OBE, 15/19th King’s Royal Hussars – and Commanding Officer of Target Force, the covert unit established at Winston Churchill’s request towards the end of WW2. The unit was one of the most clandestine bands of operators ever assembled by the War Office, and it was predominantly charged with tracking down and protecting secret technologies, weapons, scientists and high-ranking Nazi officials, to serve the Allied cause against the world’s new superpower and enemy, the Soviets.

No one in our family had any idea of his covert role as Commanding Officer of T Force until many years after his death and the release of information under the Official Secrets Act seventy-year rule – a process of discovery that inspired the writing of this book.

My grandfather was a man of few words, but I remember him so fondly from when I was a child growing up. Pipe smoking, enigmatic, dry humoured and loved by those he led.

To me, though, he was always just Grandpa Ted.

First published in Great Britain in 2015 by Orion Books.

This ebook first published in 2015 by Orion Books.

Copyright © Bear Grylls 2015

The right of Bear Grylls to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All the characters in this book, with the exception of those already in the public domain, are fictitious, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means without the prior permission in writing of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published without a similar condition, including this condition, being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978 1 4091 5684 0

Orion Books

The Orion Publishing Group Ltd

Carmelite House

50 Victoria Embankment

London EC4Y 0DZ

An Hachette UK Company

www.orionbooks.co.uk