Burning Angels

74

A Boeing 747-400 cruises at around 40,000 feet of altitude. To jump from such a height – some 11,000 feet higher than Mount Everest – and survive requires some seriously high-tech equipment, not to mention training.

Those at the cutting edge of special forces have developed a whole new paradigm for such jumps, designated HAPLSS; the High Altitude Parachutist Life Support System.

At 40,000 feet, the atmosphere is so thin you have to breathe off an air bottle, or you suffocate to death rapidly. But unless the right combination of gases is used, the jumper can suffer altitude decompression sickness, more commonly known as ‘the bends’ – what scuba divers suffer when ascending from depth.

During a normal high-altitude jump, from around 30,000 feet, terminal velocity – the maximum speed of your free fall – is some 320 k.p.h. But the thinner the air, the faster you plummet. Jumping from 40,000 feet, terminal velocity would be around 440 k.p.h.

If Jaeger and his team tried to pull their chutes at that kind of speed, either they’d suffer serious injury as a result of the impact, or they’d experience a canopy explosion. The chute would deploy out of its pack and all they’d likely hear would be a series of cracks as the cells tore open, leaving a patchwork of shredded silk flapping uselessly above them.

In short, if they pulled their chutes at anything above 35,000 feet, and at terminal velocity, they’d be unlikely to make it down alive. Hence the standard operating procedure with HAPLSS was to free-fall a good 20,000 feet, until the thicker air slowed their fall.

Jaeger had insisted on having eyes-in-the-sky over the target; an air asset standing permanent watch over Plague Island. Accordingly, Peter Miles had made contact with Hybrid Air Vehicles, the operators of the Airlander 50 – the world’s largest aircraft.

A modern-day airship, the Airlander was helium-filled – as opposed to hydrogen – so totally inert. Unlike the Zeppelins of First World War renown, she wouldn’t be exploding into a ball of flame any time soon. Four hundred feet long and two hundred wide, she was designed for performing persistent wide area surveillance – keeping long-term watch over specific targets – and was equipped with state-of-the-art radar and infrared scanners.

With a 105-knot cruise speed and a 2,320 nautical mile range, she was capable of making the flight to the coast of East Africa. As an added bonus, her crew and Jaeger and his team had worked together closely on their previous mission to the Amazon.

Once over the coast of East Africa, the Airlander would remain in continuous orbit for the duration of the mission. She didn’t need to be directly over Little Mafia Island to keep watch; she could perform her duties from as much as seventy kilometres away.

She also had great cover in case she came to Kammler’s attention. Beneath the waters of this part of the Indian Ocean there lay some of the world’s richest gas reserves. The Chinese – in the form of China National Offshore Oil Corporation – were surveying several concessions in the area. Officially, the Airlander was there at the behest of CNOOC, carrying out an aerial survey function.

The Airlander had arrived over Little Mafia Island some thirty-six hours previously. Since then she’d beamed back scores of surveillance photos. The jungle appeared almost unbroken – apart from the one dirt airstrip, which was only long enough to accommodate a Buffalo or similar aircraft.

Wherever Kammler had sited his monkey houses, labs and accommodation facilities, they appeared to be craftily hidden – either positioned under thick jungle canopy, or underground. That promised to make the team’s mission doubly challenging, and that in turn made the Airlander’s extra capabilities all the more welcome.

The Airlander 50 dispatched to East Africa was actually a top-secret developmental version of the aircraft. Aft of the flight pod slung below the massive bulbous hull was a cargo bay, one normally reserved for whatever heavy loads the airship might be carrying. But this Airlander was a little different. She was an airborne aircraft carrier and gun platform, with a seriously lethal capability. Two British Taranis drones – an ultra-high-tech stealth warplane – were parked within the cargo bay, which doubled as a well-equipped flight deck.

With a wingspan of ten metres, and just a fraction longer in length, the Taranis – named after the Celtic god of thunder – was a third the size of the American Reaper drone. And with a speed of Mach 1 – some 767 m.p.h. – it was twice as swift in the air. With two internal missile bays, the Taranis packed a serious punch, plus the sleek stealth technology made the drone all but invisible to any enemy.

The inspiration behind converting the Airlander to such a carrier function was a pre-Second World War airship, the USS Macon, the world’s first – and until now only – flying aircraft carrier. Using technology that was now many decades old, the Macon had a series of trapezes slung beneath her cigar-shaped hull. Sparrowhawk biplanes had been able to fly under the airship and hook themselves up to these trapezes, after which the airship had been able to winch them in.

Inspired by the Macon, the Airlander 50 also carried an AW-159 Wildcat helicopter – a fast and highly manoeuvrable British chopper capable of carrying eight troops. The rationale behind bringing the Wildcat was that she would be able to pull Jaeger and his team out of Little Mafia Island once their mission was complete.

And at that stage Jaeger fervently hoped they would be eight in total – Ruth and Luke having joined them.

He was certain that his wife and son were being held on the island. In fact he had proof that that was the case, although he’d not mentioned it to any of the others. It was something he wasn’t prepared to share. There was too much at stake, and he didn’t want to risk anyone deterring him from his primary mission.

The photograph that Kammler had emailed him had shown Ruth and Luke kneeling in a cage. Across one side of that cage had been stamped a faded name: Katavi Reserve Primates.

Jaeger – the Hunter – was closing in.