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  Alpha had arrived just as Delta was being struck by Saki. Alpha had seen some amazing things in his time but nothing compared to the power of the kick delivered to Delta. Alpha then noticed Charlie lying in an impossibly contorted position; he was clearly dead. Alpha raised his Heckler amp; Koch MP5SD silenced sub machine gun.

  “What the hell are you doing?” whispered Bravo, grabbing the barrel of the gun. “This is supposed to be a clean kill.”

  “They’re both dead! Charlie and Delta are dead! The Kennedys are still alive. If we don’t kill them, Zulu will kill us!”

  “OK, OK, you’re right. Just don’t make too much noise. We’ll need to clear up before we leave,” said Bravo as he released his hold on the gun.

  Alpha raised the gun and aimed. As he couldn’t see Rachel, he assumed the body in the bed was her. It certainly wasn’t Donald as he had just burst into the room.

  Donald was looking at Saki when he noticed a small movement through the window. It was dark outside and the men were dressed in black. However, the gun’s nozzle, glinting in the moonlight, caught Donald’s eye and he instinctively dived towards it.

  Donald was too slow. The bullet left the gun and began its deadly course towards Tylanni. Saki had reacted to Donald’s warning and also moved towards Alpha but spotting Bravo behind him, he recalculated his movements to deal with both targets.

  Although Donald had failed to reach Alpha, he hadn’t failed to reach the bullet that grazed his hip causing it to deviate from its intended destination, Tylanni’s heart. Nonetheless, after grazing Donald, the bullet continued to hurtle towards Tylanni and hit her in the leg instead.

  Saki was not faster than a bullet but he was quicker than the man who pulled the trigger. As the first bullet left the gun and Alpha prepared to pull the trigger again, Saki struck. A double kick landed squarely on Alpha’s jaw rendering him unconscious. Bravo reached for his gun but had moved less than a millimetre when Saki delivered a blow to the back of his neck which ensured he would move nothing more than his lips for the rest of his life.

  Donald watched as Saki then landed deliberately next to the unconscious Alpha. He saw him deliver a slight but distinct blow to the head, putting Alpha into a permanent vegetative state. Death was too good for the man who had shot his wife.

  Chapter 7

  All attention turned to Tylanni and Donald. Donald brushed off his injury as nothing more than a flesh wound. Rachel quickly recovered and jumped to Tylanni’s side. The bullet had gone straight through her thigh and fortunately missed the femoral artery. However, she had lost a lot of blood which weakened her considerably. Rachel stemmed the blood flow while Donald made some calls.

  Within ten minutes, a major rescue operation was underway. Donald was a personal friend of the Malaysian King and so no expense was spared on their rescue. A helicopter rushed Tylanni and the rest of the group to the best hospital in Sabah. The chiefs of police and the military were tasked with hunting down and finding any further assailants. Over 200 crack troops were ordered to protect Donald, Rachel, Saki and Tylanni.

  On arrival at the hospital, Tylanni was rushed to Intensive Care where it became apparent that an emergency operation was needed to deliver the baby. Saki and Donald were again left alone. As Saki paced up and down Donald’s room he began to talk, he needed to do something, the more he talked the more Donald’s jaw dropped.

  “I should probably explain,” started Saki, “our islanders speak English as their first language because we were colonised and saved by the British many, many years ago. A British doctor saved us from a plague that would have surely wiped us out. As a result our leader at the time swore allegiance to Britain and as such we are governed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth.”

  Despite the questions flying around that he was desperate to ask, Donald stayed quiet, he needed to let Saki talk.

  “We have dual nationality, British and Malay, due to a long standing agreement between both monarchs. We are descended from an ancient warrior tribe, who had sole responsibility for the protection of a powerful emperor but through a great betrayal our emperor was murdered and our tribe almost extinguished. A few managed to escape and eventually found a home on our island, Penaraja, named in their honour and translates to, ‘Emperors Guard’.”

  “We are a simple people who believe in the teachings and ways of our ancestors and as such continue to train as our ancestors before us, we train from birth, just as our ancestors, in an ancient martial art and at the age of eighteen we join the British forces.”

  Donald couldn’t help himself, “what you join the British army, I mean I’ve heard of the Ghurkas but the Penr…Penarajans, never.”

  “We don’t have a specialist unit as such, we just go straight into the SAS or SBS, you know the British special forces.”

  “You need to train for that though, go through selection, have a few years experience.”

  Saki laughed, “Did you not hear me, we train from birth, by the time we’re twelve we could pass selection. At any one time there are about ten Penarajans across the two services. Why do you think the British Special Forces has such a great reputation,” added Saki with a wink.

  Before Donald could respond Rachel rushed in and informed Saki he was the proud father of a beautiful baby girl. She explained that they were still concerned for Tylanni as she remained very weak. However, Tylanni, despite her condition, demanded to see Saki and their new daughter. She held her baby daughter in her arms and they named her Lela. An hour later, with Lela and Saki still with her, Tylanni passed away.

  Chapter 8

  Present day

  Following Tylanni’s death, Saki made two pledges. The first related to Donald saving his daughter’s life. He would be forever indebted to the Kennedys and, in the tradition of his ancestors, he would become their permanent guardian. Donald’s act of heroism, diving in front of a bullet which would have killed Tylanni and the unborn Lela, had been a truly selfless act. Donald and Rachel argued that, had it not been for Saki, they would all be dead. It was they, who owed Saki their eternal gratitude. Saki, however, was adamant and there was no dissuading him. Saki would protect them with his life, if required. Anything less would be a disgrace and a dishonour to his people and their traditions.

  To resolve the issue, Donald went to Penaraja to speak to Saki’s father, Papa, the island’s elder and leader, to ask for his help in relieving Saki of what Donald thought to be misguided honour. Papa, however, took great exception to Donald’s suggestion that his son’s honour was misguided. He explained to Donald that honour was the very foundation of their society and that throughout history many wars had started because of a fundamental lack of honour. By the end of the lecture, Donald not only had the personal protection of Saki, but Papa decreed that Saki’s debt was the island’s debt also. So, should the Kennedys ever need them, the islanders were at their service.

  Donald had gone to Penaraja to release the debt of one islander but instead gained the debt of over 300. Donald, an outstanding negotiator, had been outflanked and put firmly in his place by the South Seas Island Chief, Papa.

  Having accepted Papa’s decree, Donald and Rachel welcomed Saki and Lela into their family with open arms. With no need for surnames on Penaraja, Donald insisted that, as they were now part of his family, they should take the family name and so Saki and Lela became Saki Kennedy and Lela Kennedy. Rachel loved looking after baby Lela and was keen to have another child to keep Lela company. Soon enough, a bouncing baby boy arrived, just after Lela’s first birthday. He was named Tom. Complications during the birth meant that Tom would be her only child but when the news was broken to Rachel, she simply replied.

  “Not to worry, I have a son and a daughter, I could not wish for more.”

  Over the next thirteen years, the two families bonded as one and Tom and Lela were raised as brother and sister. Saki never let the children out of his sight and by default, became their nanny, bodyguard, chauffeur and martial arts trainer, but that, to his dismay, wa
s only for Lela.

  Lela, as was the Penarajan tradition, had started training shortly after birth. Such was the complexity and intricacy of the movements required to master their martial art, babies’ muscles and joints were manipulated from an early age resulting in a dexterity and strength far greater than normal. The art was the first pure martial art which, over the centuries, has been diluted by other cultures into modern martial arts such as Kung Fu, Karate, Jujitsu and Tai Chi. Only the Penarajans, with their intense training, had maintained the extraordinarily powerful pure art. Lela had proven over the years to be an extraordinary student, surprising even Saki by the intensity with which she practised and perfected her skills. After Tom’s birth, Saki had tried to obtain approval from Papa to start Tom’s training. Unfortunately, the island law was very clear. The teaching of their martial art was forbidden to anybody not born to an islander. Saki was forced to accept this as to dishonour his ancestors was unthinkable.

  Saki’s second pledge was much simpler. He would avenge Tylanni’s death. Not a day had gone by when Saki did not think about Tylanni and he knew that he would love no other woman. He was aware of the mysterious Zulu, whose description had been given to him by the man called Bravo, the only assassin still capable of speech. Saki looked forward to the day he would face the giant man and stare into those intensely cold eyes.

  Part Two

  Chapter 9

  Two weeks later

  “ Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear To — om, Happy birthday to you…? ”

  Tom was a very heavy sleeper. Waking up in the morning was a daily ritual which took a long time. The four looked down at the sleeping mass. It hadn’t moved. They looked at each other and began the chorus again, only much louder.

  “Errrh, wh….what is it? What’s happening?” came a muffled voice from under the duvet.

  “It’s time to wake up, it’s your Birthday!! You’re thirteen!!” shouted his father.

  The words slowly sank in. He was thirteen. It was his birthday. He pulled the duvet back and looked up at the four grinning faces staring back at him, his mother, father, Saki and Lela.

  They all rushed forward and gave him hugs and kisses as they wished him a happy birthday.

  “Thanks,” said Tom as he recovered from the tuneless wake up call.

  “Come on, open your pressies!” said Lela, pointing to the pile of gifts on the end of his bed.

  “Coooo-oool”! “Fantastic!” “Tha — anks” was all that was heard for the following ten minutes as he opened each of the presents. Along with the usual suspects, albums, games, books and clothes, Tom received a bracelet from Saki which had been made especially for him on Penaraja. Saki explained that a similar bracelet was historically worn by emperors hundreds of years earlier and that the person wearing the bracelet was protected by a very powerful force. Tom wasted no time in securing the bracelet to his wrist.

  “There’s just one more present,” said Donald.

  Tom looked up with a quizzical look. Everything he had wanted or could have asked for was in front of him. What else could there be?

  “Here,” said Donald, handing Tom what looked like a remote control.

  Tom looked at the small remote with only two buttons.

  “What is it?” he asked.

  “It’s a surprise,” replied Donald mysteriously.

  Tom looked around his bedroom, hoping to find a receiver for the signal but could not see anything. He pressed the button marked 1. Nothing happened. He pressed Button 2. Nothing happened. He looked up at the sniggering audience.

  “Can I at least have a clue?” he asked.

  “OK,” replied Lela. “You’re very cold.”

  Tom looked at Lela as he got up and walked around his room.

  “Still very cold,” said Lela.

  He walked into the hallway.

  “Warmer,” she said.

  He continued down the hallway, past the elevator door and towards the games room. Nobody followed.

  “Getting colder,” called out Donald from Tom’s doorway.

  Tom walked back to the elevator door.

  “Warmer,” said Lela.

  Tom pressed the call button and the elevator doors opened. He stepped in and was quickly joined by the others. His finger hovered over the First Floor button.

  “Cold,” said Lela.

  He moved his finger down to the Ground Floor button.

  “Slightly warmer,” said Lela.

  His finger moved to the Basement button.

  “Very warm,” said Lela smiling.

  He pressed the button and the doors soon opened onto the vast basement complex beneath the Kennedy Estate. The estate itself covered over 20 square miles of Scottish countryside on the banks of Loch Lomond and was a mere twenty minutes by helicopter from Glasgow, the Global HQ of Alba International, his father’s company

  Donald had purchased the estate on his return from honeymoon fourteen years earlier. The events leading to Tylanni’s death had unleashed a fanatical obsession about security which, over the years, had only increased as his family and wealth had grown.

  The corridor they stepped into was almost identical to the one they had left behind, richly decorated and carpeted. The only difference was the lack of natural light, unsurprising at fifty feet below ground level.

  Tom, still in his pyjamas, looked at his father for more clues. There were miles of tunnels which linked all the buildings on the estate as well as numerous garages, housing his father’s collection of cars. They had also installed a number of emergency bunkers and a fifty seat state-of-the art cinema. His father just smiled back. He wasn’t going to give anything away.

  More in frustration than in the belief that anything would happen, Tom hit button ‘1’ again. A noise to his right alerted him to something moving. As he turned towards the noise, a panel opened in the wall, revealing a dark space. Tom felt around the edges for some kind of light switch but there was nothing.

  “Try the second button?” suggested Lela excitedly.

  He moved into the centre of the opening and pressed the second button. The dark hole exploded into light as giant lamps lit the void. In the centre of a large hangar stood a white structure with four hydraulic legs, a staircase and a walkway.

  Tom was speechless. He just stared open mouthed at the brilliant white structure.

  “Well, what do you think?” asked Donald as he watched Tom’s face.

  Tom couldn’t stop staring at the structure.

  “It’s un — believa — ble…I mean WOW! Unbelievable!! A simulator!!! You got me a simulator!!! I can’t believe it!!!”

  Tom loved flying and everything to do with it. He didn’t need to be told anything about the structure in front of him, he knew everything about it. He was staring at a CAE simulator for the new Airbus A380, the largest commercial jet ever built. AlbAir, his father’s airline had just completed a deal for thirty A380s and Alba International had purchased one for Donald which Tom had already christened ‘Alba One’.

  “Go on then, get flying!” said Donald pointing Tom in the direction of the staircase.

  Tom didn’t need to be asked twice.

  “Come on Lela, come with me!” he shouted as he sprinted up the stairs. As she followed apprehensively, Tom was already bursting into the cockpit where he found the final part of his birthday present. The Captain’s seat was occupied. The test pilot from the A380’s inaugural test flight was waiting to give him his first lesson. Captain Jacques Rosay would be spending the next few weeks teaching Tom everything he knew.

  Chapter 10

  Conor Murphy surveyed the plans and scratched his head. He just couldn’t see how they would do it. He had accepted what he had thought was a simple job. $1 million to snatch a couple of kids. The client didn’t care what happened to them, he just wanted them out of the way on the 12 ^ th August. What he did to them after that, was up to him. Ransom them and give them back, ransom them and kill them, whatever Conor wanted
was fine, as long as, on the 11 ^ th August they were in Conor’s custody. He couldn’t believe it. Somebody was bankrolling him to kidnap the children of the third richest man in the world and he could keep whatever ransom payment he could get.

  Conor checked his watch. He had less than 36 hours to go. Two weeks earlier, he thought he’d have plenty of time. However, he had since seen the security system which protected the Kennedy Estate. It was unbelievable. They had every conceivable device and many he was not aware even existed. Donald Kennedy was obviously a very paranoid man.

  Conor and his eight man crew had committed just about every crime imaginable. They had been the IRA’s top team before the peace agreement. They were extremely violent and highly respected terrorists. But all that had now passed and they were struggling to adapt to peace time. When Conor had called them to gauge their interest in the job, they had jumped at the chance. The prospect of getting rich beyond their wildest dreams certainly didn’t hinder their decision.

  The previous two weeks had been spent planning how to snatch the kids and this had not gone well. Their preferred option of sneaking in and stealing the children during the night was quickly ruled out. On seeing the estate for the first time, they knew they had a problem. Eight foot walls were topped with razor wire and sensors were everywhere. The surveillance cameras which covered every inch of wall were not like any they had seen before. They had the usual infrared bulbs either side but a strange spherical device hung underneath. Ryan was their technical whiz and after a few days of searching had finally discovered that this device was a scanner which detected body heat, movement and smell. Ryan had managed to get a copy of the system’s specifications which detailed its capabilities. It was designed to detect any foreign object in the vicinity, scan its body mass and dimensions, including facial structure and body odour. Anything outwith its programmed parameters would trigger an alarm. Ryan explained in plain English that unless their physical details were programmed into the system, they would trip the alarm as the scanners were everywhere. Only wildlife and specific individuals would be accepted into the grounds. The system could even differentiate between the male and female of a species. He also explained that the system had not gone beyond the experimental phase because the project had been scrapped. Conor perked up at the thought of some design fault but was disappointed to learn that the system had only been scrapped because it was not economically viable. It was so perfect, nobody could have afforded it. They realised that ‘sneak and grab’ was definitely not an option.