The Gargoyle Trilogy

Chapter 9

Copenhagen Kastup Airport

Copenhagen Kastup AirportCopenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen, DenmarkFirst Officer Susan shook Morgan’s shoulder as he slept soundly in his chair.

“Bob,” she said softly. “We’re preparing for landing.”

Morgan opened his eyes, and the attractive pilot’s surprised expression greeted him. He forgot for a moment he still wore his new eye prosthetic.

“Good morning,” Morgan replied as he slipped on his glasses. “Looks like I now only have eyes for you,” he added with a smirk.

Susan smiled and shook her head at the pun. “We’ll be touching down in twenty minutes. Local time is 10 PM.”

“Nice, thank you.” Morgan adjusted the time on his Seamaster.

The Cessna landed and taxied to a private hangar. Once the aircraft came to a halt, Susan and the Captain opened the door and lowered the steps while Morgan headed aft to grab his luggage. Once at the door, Morgan pulled his garment bag from the front closet and turned to the flight crew.

“Thanks for the smooth flight, folks. I’m looking forward to the return trip.”

“You have my number?” Susan asked with a gleam in her eye.

“I’ll be sure to call you when I’m ready to leave, or perhaps for other reasons,” Morgan added with a smirk.

Morgan descended the ladder and walked around the front of the aircraft. Past the starboard wing, Morgan caught sight of a striking dark-skinned woman, hopefully his Agency contact.

“Good evening, Mr. Curry.” She used his cover name. “I’m Ms. Nyo with the firm’s Danish office. Welcome to Copenhagen.”

“Good evening to you, Ms. Nyo,” Morgan said. “Please lead on.”

The pair walked towards the rear of the hangar. They exited via the back door and Morgan saw something that made his jaw drop.

Gleaming under one of the hangar’s external lights stood a brand-new McLaren Artura. The sleek, 671 horsepower, plug-in hybrid, mid-engined super car, was painted in an amazing Burton blue. It looked fast even standing still. He walked around it with a look of astonishment.

Hooked a shipmate up indeed. Thanks Chop!

Hooked a shipmate up indeed. Thanks ChopThe interior had dark gray leather seats with a dark gray leather-covered dashboard.

Dove grey interior with Flux green accents, Joe has exquisite taste.

Dove grey interior with Flux green accents, Joe has exquisite tasteLooking up, he saw Ms. Nyo smiling with something in her out stretched hand.

“We knew you would love it, sir. Here’s the key fob.”

He took the fob in his hand with a sense of awe. He pressed the McLaren logo in the fob’s center, the Artura’s lights flashed, and it unlocked with a chirp. He pressed the lower portion of the fob that opened the car’s front trunk. He placed the trolley bag in the truck and closed it. He placed the attaché case behind the seats and draped the garment bag across the passenger seat. He turned towards Ms. Nyo.

“You’ve made my year,” Morgan said.

“Good luck with your business trip.” Ms. Nyo turned to leave.

Morgan opened the Artura’s dihedral door and climbed inside carefully. He noticed an envelope with his name on it sitting on the center console. He opened the envelope and read the email printout inside.

Gargoyle,

Gargoyle,Here’s the vehicle I spoke of, hope you’re liking it. I think it fits with your cover identity. The windows are coated in a bullet-resistant film which can withstand small arms fire up to 7.62 millimeter NATO with a double coating on the windshield and rear glass, just in case. There are protected storage areas in the doors for your weapons. Otherwise, it’s a standard McLaren, as much as a McLaren can be described as ‘standard.’ Please be careful with it and return it in one piece, we’d like to use it again for future operations. Have fun!

Here’s the vehicle I spoke of, hope you’re liking it. I think it fits with your cover identity. The windows are coated in a bullet-resistant film which can withstand small arms fire up to 7.62 millimeter NATO with a double coating on the windshield and rear glass, just in case. There are protected storage areas in the doors for your weapons. Otherwise, it’s a standard McLaren, as much as a McLaren can be described as ‘standard.’ Please be careful with it and return it in one piece, we’d like to use it again for future operations. Have fun!Chop

Chop“Love you too, Chop.” Morgan said aloud. The envelope contained a stack of local currency, so he tucked the envelope into his jacket’s inside pocket. He turned on the car’s accessories and entered his hotel’s location into the McLaren’s on board navigation system via its Android Auto interface. He lowered both windows before pressing the brake pedal and starting the engine.

“Ooooooooo, that’s nice!” Morgan said as the sounds of the car’s exhaust filled the cabin.

Smooth! Much smoother than my Corvette, not as visceral.

Smooth! Much smoother than my Corvette, not as visceralHe paired his electronics to the car’s Bluetooth system, selected his ‘Driving Tunes’ playlist, and pressed the random play button. A familiar base line began to thump through the car’s Bowers and Wilkins speakers.

“Hmmm, ‘In the Air Tonight,’ appropriate,” Morgan said.

He put the Artura in gear and took off from the hangar.

Morgan drove carefully as he left the airport property, using the Artura’s front nose lift system to go over the all too numerous speed bumps. Finally, he reached the public roads where he let the car loose as he headed towards Copenhagen’s city center. The navigation system recommended two possible routes, so Morgan chose the longer one. He told himself it was for a surveillance detection purposes. But in reality, he just wanted extra time to drive such a remarkable machine and explore its unusual quirks and features.

He turned left onto the E20 motorway and accelerated quickly to the posted speed limit of 130 kilometers per hour. No sense being pulled over by the local police. As he traveled west along the E20, Morgan checked his mirrors and didn’t notice anyone following him, yet. He decided he would not drive a surveillance detection route like he learned at the Farm since his cover was as a tech company executive, but he would keep an eye out just in case.

The motorway made a gentle sweeping right hand turn as Morgan exited the E20 and merged onto an access road followed quickly by a left exit onto the Sjaellandsbroen where the terrain became urban. When he turned right onto the Scandiagade, he noticed an Audi A4 falling in behind him. It wasn’t too close, but also not too far away for someone trying to tail him.

Since he wasn’t supposed to be looking for a tail, Morgan didn’t immediately try to lose him. Instead, he intentionally missed the left turn onto the Bernstorffsgade and proceeded into the parking lot of the Copenhagen Marriott hotel. With Queen’s ‘Don’t Stop Me Now’ coming out the stereo, he drove towards the hotel’s entrance slowly while keeping an eye on the Audi. Once he watched the Audi continue down the Kalvebod Brygge, Morgan floored it past the hotel entrance and the confused parking valets. He turned right onto the Kalvebod Brygge, made a U-turn, and turned right onto the Bernstorffsgade and onward towards his hotel.

A flight of two French Air Force Mirage 2000D fighter-bombers flew through the night sky over Mali. Operating from their base in the Malian capital of Bamako, their mission was as simple as it was imperative, find the location of the JNIM forces that attacked Gao and destroy them. French losses in the campaign were mounting, and the political leadership in Paris wanted payback, yesterday.

Each of the two delta-winged aircraft carried two, GBU-12 laser-guided bombs, two R550 Magic air-to-air missile, and a Forward Looking Infra-Red camera pod with laser targeting capability. The Mirages flew at 35,000 feet. High enough to avoid the Man Portable Air Defense missiles and anti-aircraft artillery the JNIM insurgents used with great effect during the attacks in Gao and other places.

The flight leader, Commandant Élisabeth ‘le Couguar’ Garreau keyed her microphone.

“You awake there, Magicien?”

Magicien“Oui, Couguar. Wide awake despite the other night’s activities.”

OuiCommandant Garreau laughed to herself. She watched Sous-lieutenant Roméo Arceneaux two nights ago down at the Sheraton Bamako Hotel’s bar living up to his call sign as all his efforts to secure female company led to all the women around him disappearing. She, on the other hand, lived up to her call sign, bestowed on her by her American Navy colleagues at NATO headquarters, in finding a younger man with whom to spend her evening. The sound of her aircraft’s threat receiver shook her back to reality.

Sous-lieutenant“Roméo!”

“I have it too…”

“Evasive!”

The two Mirages banked right, dove, and fired chaff and flares in an attempt to escape the oncoming threat. However, their efforts were in vain as the four Russian-built S-400 surface-to-air missiles chased them down. The first aircraft stuck was Lieutenant Arceneaux’s. The direct hit turned the aircraft into a fireball, killing the young lieutenant instantly.

Commandant Garreau dodged the first missile that targeted at her aircraft, its flares, and chaff seducing the missile away from her. Her luck ran out with the second one. It struck her starboard wing, forcing the aircraft into an irrecoverable flat spin. She fought valiantly to regain control, but the damage was too severe. As aerodynamic forces began to tear her aircraft apart, Élisabeth had one final thought.

How?

How