Chapter 15
Straker had left Mary in bed. The trip to Norfolk would take several hours hard driving, particularly as he had to collect Squadron Leader Johns from the former Air Ministry at Adastral House. With Johns as liaison officer, Straker did not expect any difficulty with the RAF.
The three-hour drive would also serve a second purpose; the talent scouts had already identified that Johns showed potential. For a start, he was due to finish his RAF service within the next eighteen months and had already proved his leadership and technical abilities. He'd also written a very interesting report on sightings of Unidentified Flying Objects in United Kingdom airspace. It was that which had piqued the talent scouts' interest in the first place. Straker would take the opportunity to sound him out during the drive.
Slowly, consciousness returned. Catherine looked down once more. Of Tim, there was no sign, save for the silly top hat she'd found in an old trunk and which he insisted on wearing. She looked further outwards. Eventually, In the distance, she could make out two figures dragging a scarecrow between them.
With a start, she realised the figures, both dressed in red, were familiar and that the figure she had taken to be a scarecrow was none other than her beloved Tim, his lifeless body dragged by the spacemen towards the small copse where she and Tim had seen the flying saucer.
She staggered back into the building, gasping for breath. She reached out to steady herself. Her fingers closed about a smooth, cold object, lodged amidst the rafters. The pulled and the object came away in her hand.
It was a transparent cylinder, about a foot long, filled with a pale green liquid that seemed to glow gently.
Moments later, she became aware of a whirring noise which grew louder and higher. She looked out of the window. The glittering dome of a UFO rose slowly from behind the copse. As she watched, the alien craft swooped up and away into the early-morning sky. Within moments, it had disappeared from view.
Fear gripped her; what if the alien craft came back? She snatched up the cylinder. It was obviously important to the spacemen. Gripped by a firm resolve to get away, she half climbed, half fell down the ladder from the hayloft. Pausing in the doorway, she looked around. There was nobody in sight. Grasping the cylinder firmly, she ran.
Favourable tail winds meant that the airliner arrived ten minutes early. Faint puffs of blue smoke marked the tyres' contact with the concrete as the aircraft touched down on the runway. As soon as the nose wheel made contact, the pilot applied the brakes and engaged the thrust reversers. Having slowed to a sedate twenty miles per hour, the aircraft left the runway, turned onto the taxiway and rolled to its designated stand where the ground crew was waiting.
As Ford and the other passengers disembarked, the hold was emptied of luggage. As the baggage handlers worked, ground crew connected ground power and fuel supplies to prepare the aircraft for its return trip.
Ford collected his luggage and looked round for the taxi rank. A placard caught his eye; 'Keith Ford'. Someone was waiting for him. He walked over to the stranger. "Mr Ford?
"Yes?"
Ford regarded the man; Slightly shorter than he, with an olive complexion. As was the fashion amongst Turkish men, he sported a fine moustache. His teeth flashed white as he smiled and offered his hand "Mehmed Emcan, TRT." Ford grasped the outstretched hand, recognizing the initials of the Turkish state broadcasting company.
"Your Mr Turnbull contacted us and asked us to offer you every assistance."
"Well, " Replied Ford, "I'd like to get to the site of the Earthquake, so if you could find me a taxi…"
The Turk put his head back and laughed. "Taxi? I can do far better than that Mr Ford. Come with me"
He led the baffled Ford through the terminal and into the General Aviation area, finally emerging into the sunshine where a Turkish Army Bell Iroquois helicopter was waiting on the apron. Officially designated the Helicopter, Utility, 1 or HU-1 the aircraft had soon been christened the 'Huey'
"It is carrying medical supplies." Emcan explained.. Capable of carrying three stretchers side-by-side, the aircraft's interior had been stripped of all but two of its rear seats. The load space was filled with boxes
The two men climbed aboard and strapped into the two vacant seats as the engines spooled up. Within minutes, the aircraft had lifted off and set course for Salihli.
The wind soughed through the trees. In a clearing in the centre of the forest, a consciousness stirred. It opened its eyes and looked up into the azure sky. Finally, the figure sat up. A young man, in his early twenties looked around him. He seemed to be sitting next to a shallow depression in the ground. A normal person would have been filled with curiosity, wanting to know how he came to be here.
The young medical student, who had dropped out of medical school just before graduation was no more; his personality had been extinguished by the fall from the farmhouse roof, the night before.
The Aliens hadn't cared about any of this. They had merely seen a tool to be used, able to continue long after the Earth's atmosphere had forced their departure. Skilfully, they had repaired the physical injuries then reprogrammed the human's mind with one simple goal; to retrieve and install the missing piece of the device currently resting uselessly in the basement of the farmhouse. To that end, they had enhanced his senses and preserved most of his memory, excising all traces of his life before medical school. Although he remembered that his name was Tim Redman, it no longer had any particular meaning for him.
He also knew that the girl was the key to retrieving the device. He stood, raised his head as if sniffing the air then started to walk.
Within minutes, the clearing was deserted once more; save for a shallow depression in the earth and a rather battered top hat.
Catherine emerged from the woodland onto a country lane. Still running, she reached a bridge spanning a canal. Her hand ached from gripping the alien cylinder so tightly. On an impulse, she leant over the side of the bridge and hurled it with all her strength towards the deep dark water. The cylinder glittered in the sunshine as it tumbled, end over end, through the air…
…To land with a clatter in a box of junk on the roof of the houseboat moored just below the bridge. Panicking, she ran.
"Quite Honestly, Colonel, I don't really understand why you're here." Fairfax twirled his moustache as he regarded his visitors. It was not unheard of for NATO officers to visit RAF stations but this appeared to be no ordinary liaison visit; the American Officer was holding a copy of Waterman's recent After Action Report. Apparently, the Colonel had a number of questions.
Fairfax, as per standing instructions had been ordered to offer every co-operation
"With the sighting this close to Lakenheath, The US Government takes an interest." Replied Straker.
Although notionally an RAF base, Lakenheath in neighbouring Suffolk, as one of the main US Air Force Strategic Bomber bases, was effectively US Sovereign territory. From there, strikes could be launched against invading Warsaw Pact forces. Indeed, with the increased international tension, preparations were being made for just such an eventuality.
"I'd like to see Lieutenant Waterman." Said Straker.
"Certainly" replied Fairfax.
Hickmott knocked on Halliday's office door.
"Come in"
Hickmott entered the office. At the far end of the building it had windows in two of the walls. One window showed the road outside, the other, a stand of oak trees and beyond them, the Darent valley, far below.
Halliday was sitting at a large oak desk, reading a document.
He looked up as Hickmott entered.
"Yes, Bill?"
That strange gun that came in from Norfolk…"
"Oh, yes, I was just reading your report. A remarkable weapon. Never seen anything like it."
"No, sir"
"From the performance, I'd say there's probably not another like it in the whole of Western Europe."
"That's just it, sir. I've just seen its twin – it came from RAE Farnborough. Apparently, they received a whole lot of stuff from some RAF boys up in Norfolk, so they sent the weapon up to us. I've got John Boorman putting it upon the test stand now."
"I think I'd like to see this weapon."
"That's what I thought sir."
"Well, lead on."