As the aircraft began its descent over London, Dave gazed out of the window at the sprawling metropolis revealing itself through wispy clouds. He followed the contours of the unmistakable River Thames meandering snake-like though the iconic landmarks epitomising England’s capital city. Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and St Paul’s Cathedral, ancient monuments to a rich, cultural past − Canary Wharf, the Gherkin and the London Eye − equally iconic but a contemporary homage to a very different societal structure. Seeing the familiar sites of the city he called home made the events of the past few days seem like a fading nightmare, becoming less real with every passing moment. Before he could reflect on this further his thoughts were interrupted by the voice of his escort who sat beside him. Until now the Security Service representative, whom he now knew as Agent Lawrence, or less formally, James, had said very little the whole flight. The man, a tall, skinny redhead with spiky hair and milky-white skin, had opted instead to writing reports between catnaps and in-flight meals. Now, has the Boeing 747 made its final approach into Heathrow Airport, he informed Dave of what would be expected of him when they arrived at their destination. Dave learned from the agent there was to be a debrief of his experiences in China. They were to be joined by two of his colleagues from the Intelligence Service the following day. This did not surprise Dave but what did surprise him was where this was set to take place. It seemed their immediate destination from the airport was the city of Oxford.
Their exit from the airport was swift as they cleared immigration through the diplomatic channel. They had no luggage to collect in the baggage hall. It took no time at all to reach the final set of automatic doors leading into the public domain. Dave smiled inwardly as he read the big white letters on the green background above the door − “Nothing to Declare”. He considered using this declaration when he got to Oxford but doubted it would go down too well. Beyond the doors stood a mixed crowd of people waiting for loved ones, colleagues and clients. Dave scanned the crowd, looking to see if there was anyone he recognised or if there was any indication of someone there to greet them. The agent headed straight for the terminal exit, leading him through a set of revolving doors and out into a cool, fresh, English morning. Dave squinted at the natural light as he raised his face to the sky, letting the sun wash over him, cleansing the vestiges of the recent ordeal from his body. He felt completely relaxed for the first time in many days and could have stayed in that position for much longer, but a hand on his shoulder snapped him out of his trance. A car had pulled up at the curb in front of them and Agent Lawrence was indicating he should approach it. Has he did so, a man got out of the driver’s side and walked over to greet them. After a brief handshake with his colleague and a cursory nod towards Dave, the driver reached over to open the back door of the car to let them in before climbing back into the driver’s seat. He informed them they were headed to a hotel in Oxford where they could relax and catch up on some sleep before attending the debrief scheduled for the next day. As the car pulled away, Dave looked through the window at the revolving doors they had exited through just moments before. His attention was drawn toward a smiling couple leaving the arrivals hall hand in hand. The man was a tall, rugged-looking guy with tanned skin, shoulder-length blond hair and a beard. His partner was a petite, Asian woman with peroxide blonde hair peeking from underneath a white headscarf. She was wearing dark glasses which she removed as she scanned the pickup area looking for someone or something. For a moment, their eyes met and Dave’s stomach churned as he thought he recognised the deathly stare. The woman waved at someone beyond them and her expression changed, leaving him doubting what he thought he had seen. He shrugged it off and leaned back into the soft leather car seats as the car drove slowly away from the airport.
Lin Lee watched the car pull away. She had just stared straight into the face of David Milton. She would need to be more cautious. All it would take is one more encounter like this in Oxford and he would blow their cover. She did not see dealing with him as too big a challenge but it would have to be sooner rather than later. Having successfully navigated airport security in both Beijing and London her confidence was starting to rise. She and Bruce had travelled from China as Mr and Mrs Campbell. Bruce was an oil worker and she was the devoted wife he had met while working in Houston, Texas. Having grown up there with a family that adopted her, she had become more curious about her true origins and had been travelling around Beijing to try to find her real parents. Unfortunately, their trip had been unsuccessful so as compensation her husband was treating her to a vacation in England. She had always wanted to visit the colleges of Oxford University so that is where they were heading first. They did not yet have a fully formulated plan for the real purpose of their visit. She had not stopped to think much about the implications for what they were about to destroy. From what she understood the technology was designed to allow people to travel across vast distances of space. She had also learned the process of this travel could somehow cure illnesses. For a moment she considered the value such a machine would have to the survival of the human race. She compared this to the value to herself for destroying it as requested by the Chairman. Altruism was not an emotion she entertained so she pushed it aside and returned her thoughts to David Milton. Seeing him gave her a sense of urgency to get the task done. But first they needed a plan and they needed it quickly.