Johnny O'Brien - Day of the Assassins

“The future?” Jack finished Zadok’s sentence.

“Yes — Jack. Exactly.”

“On his second visit, he brought plans.”

“What plans?”

“Some of the others — Princip, Ilic, Apis, Grabez, Cabrinovic — had an idea to organise a major blow to the oppressors.”

“You mean the planned assassination of Franz Ferdinand when he visits Sarajevo — the day after tomorrow?”

“Yes — this was what was finally decided. And the plans are now in place. But the English teacher suggested that we split into two groups. We should operate separately to Princip, just in case one of the groups was infiltrated. Dani, Vaso, Goran and I would form the second group. It was a good idea.” His face darkened, “But then we heard that Vaso and Goran were captured at Schonbrunn, and Dani… killed.” Anna flinched at the memory and Zadok held her hand gently over the table.

“Were there any more visits by the English teacher?” Jack asked.

“Yes — one last time — only two months ago. He said we needed a base, near Sarajevo.”

“This place?”

“Yes — a ruin now of course, and no one comes up in these hills.”

“And help?”

Zadok looked at Jack and Angus and smiled, “You two of course…”

Angus looked at Jack again with a worried expression on his face.

“Did, er, the English teacher… well, was he specific about the kind of help that we would provide?”

“No. He had to leave urgently. It was always the case… on each visit he would arrive quite suddenly and then… just disappear. I think it was his way of not arousing the suspicions of the authorities. He just said that near the time, 28th June, the date of the planned assassination, he would send help.” Zadok smiled knowingly, “We now know what he meant. He sent you. Two boys and an uncle — the professor. He must have thought that nobody would suspect you.” He paused and got to his feet, “And now you are here, you can tell us how it all works…”

“How all what works?”

Zadok smiled, “The English teacher has planned well. He has only given you the minimum amount of information you require and no more. This is so that if you fall into the hands of the authorities and are questioned or tortured… the plan will still be kept secret. Come… I will show you, and then you can explain.”

Zadok led them from the table, leaving the empty plates. They followed him down the cloister and past the old chapel. They took the path through the old orchard at the back of the gardens to what looked like some garden sheds. Zadok took a giant key and unlocked an old oak door. The air inside was dry and dusty. Zadok lit a small lamp and the contents of the shed were revealed in shadowy outline. At one end there was a large cupboard. Zadok took another key and turned. The cupboard door creaked open to reveal its extraordinary contents in the flickering lamplight.

Angus and Jack couldn’t believe what they saw.

What they saw before them was a rack of six assault rifles — but they didn’t look like rifles from the First World War.

“What are they?” Jack asked.

“L85A2s,” Angus replied matter-of-factly.

“What?”

“British army assault rifles. Not the old SA80s, either.”

“So they’re modern?”

“Bang up to date. British standard. Accurate to 400 metres. Ninety-five point six per cent reliability rating. Probably the best standard assault rifle in the world.”

Jack shook his head, “And you call me a boffin.”

Zadok opened a second cabinet. It was a veritable arsenal. There were two grenade launchers, two boxes of hand grenades and several ammunition clips.

“You’ve got enough stuff here to wage a small war… not just kill some archduke with a funny hat…”

“The English teacher has been generous… we are behind the times here, I think, we had no idea such weapons existed… and over here…” Zadok moved to the far end of the room and with an extravagant flourish swept away a mangy dust cover.

Angus’s jaw dropped, “Unbelievable…”

“What are they?”

Angus lowered his voice reverentially, “Jack — before you stand two Harley-Davidson MT350Es. American army issue, Rotax engines — four stroke, 30 bhp, 160 kg, 80 mph top end, 255 mm ground clearance…” He turned to Jack. It was as if he was having some sort of religious experience, “Jack… they’ve even got gun carriers…”

“So…” Zadok said, scarcely able to control his excitement, “The English teacher said you would know…”

“Know what?” Jack asked.

“How it all works.”

Angus smiled, eyeing the bikes, “Oh yes, Mr Zadok, we know how it works all right.”

“Excellent. The English teacher said this equipment is all modern English designs, the very latest and very best. I am not a military man, so I am afraid I have no idea where to start. But I suggest that Anna and I leave you here to check everything is in working order. Then you will be prepared to carry out the English teacher’s instructions. Anna and I will make preparations for the journey to Sarajevo. We should leave after nightfall.”

Anna and Zadok left them alone in the dingy outbuilding with its extraordinary array of twenty-first century firepower.

Angus turned to Jack as soon as they had gone, “I hope you know what’s going on — ’cos I don’t.”

Jack was concentrating hard, “So Pendelshape made three visits. Probably in quick succession. On the final trip, he brought all this stuff with him and set up this arms cache.”

“But why?”

“It’s just as we said, Angus. Pendelshape and Dad’s plan was never to help the assassins. Anna and Zadok still don’t know it, but the real plan is to betray them. They were going to stop the assassination.”

“But why do they need all this… kit?”

Jack shrugged, “Kind of makes sense. The bikes to get to Sarajevo easily and quickly. The weapons need to be good and reliable — just in case anything goes wrong. Remember, there are several potential assassins from the other cell that make their way to Sarajevo… and a whole network of supporters. I guess Dad and Pendelshape needed to be sure if it turned ugly they would be ready. Remember, they might need to hold out without a time signal for quite a while. And not only that…”

“What?”

“Well — Pendelshape and Dad knew that they might not only have to take on the other assassins. They were probably more worried about…”

“VIGIL.”

“Right. They couldn’t be sure that VIGIL, the Rector and Inchquin, would not find out about their plan, and maybe even spring a trap for them in Sarajevo. So all this stuff,” he waved around at the equipment, “was just in case they ran into difficulties. One thing’s for sure, Pendelshape and Dad were taking a big risk bringing all this stuff back here.”

“Why?”

“Like the Rector said, making any intervention in history may have unforeseen consequences. I would have thought that bringing some of this modern kit back here, even though it is hidden in these ruins, would be a risk. Someone might find them…” Jack’s mind raced ahead, “it could trigger anything… the Austrian army, or, or German army, if they got hold of one of those guns, or one of the bikes… they wouldn’t understand what they were at first, but they might work out a way to copy them or something…”

“Could give them an edge… a military edge.”

“Yeah — these guys are not stupid. If they got hold of all this, then maybe they could win the war. The whole of history would change. We’d be living in a very different future. Did they really think about all these possibilities when they did the computer modelling of how the future might change?”