Codename Angel (The Angel Chronicles Book 1) (4 page)

Chapter 6

Brief Encounter

Downham Market
Railway Station – Norfolk – 9:17am

Monday 4
^th
August 1952

After his meeting
with Sir William Ingles Frederick returned to the hotel and waited for Group
Captain Fletcher. The RAF officer had written a full report about his
experiences with unidentified flying objects during wartime bombing missions.
Over the evening meal and drinks Fletcher also went into detail about other
such occurrences he had heard about from other royal air force pilots.

Frederick returned
home the next day, and enjoyed the rest of the weekend with Elizabeth and
Susan. He also found time to type out a short summary of the investigation for Lord
Chambers.

Engrossed in The
Times newspaper Frederick failed to notice the two men approaching his table.
Both men seated themselves opposite; they were dressed in identical grey suits
with trilby style hats.

‘Doctor Ralph
Frederick?’ One of them asked.

Frederick peered over
the top of his newspaper. ‘It’s Professor actually.’

‘I am sorry
Professor.’ the man replied apologetically. ‘My name is Doctor Vincent
Rothschild I am with the East German Academy of Sciences. This is my associate
Doctor Androv Alexis also with the academy.’

Frederick folded his
paper and stared at both men. ‘Really and how is it you know me?’

Rothschild grinned.
‘You are a Nobel Prize winning physicist well known at the academy and well
respected.’

‘I’m honoured, I
didn’t realise you chaps took work of western scientists seriously.’

Rothschild stared
back at Frederick. ‘Politics have no business in scientific research Professor
Frederick. Politicians like to think they can use the scientific community to
forward advances in warfare and political gain. I believe all scientists are
the same the world over, our drive for discovery is a common purpose is it
not.’

Frederick found
himself being impressed by Rothschild’s guile. ‘So what is it that brings you
to this part of the world gentlemen?’

‘We wish to speak to
you about a matter of up most importance Professor.’ Rothschild answered.

Frederick looked at
his watch. ‘Well I’m afraid I’m not going to have time I’m due to board a train
to London shortly.’

‘It is your trip that
we wish to speak to you about.’ Dr Alexis spoke for the first time.

Frederick smiled
politely. ‘I’m afraid my trip to London is of no scientific value gentlemen,
just another tedious day at the office.’

‘We beg to differ
Professor.’ Rothschild said. ‘You see we are very interested in the aspect of
science you are going to discuss with your distinguished colleagues later on
today.’

Frederick started to
feel a little uneasy in the presence of the two men. ‘And what aspect of
science would that be exactly?’

Rothschild looked
around the cafe, a few people were scattered about. A man in a bowler hat and
pinstriped suit reading a copy of the financial times. A couple chatting, too
busy to notice the three men sat in the corner. Two women stood behind the
counter gossiping, glancing disapprovingly every now and then at the couple.
Rothschild turned back towards Frederick. ‘It retains to your discussions about
flying saucers.’

Frederick kept
smiling. ‘Flying saucers? I’m afraid gentlemen I don’t quite follow.’

Rothschild’s attitude
changed. ‘Do not perceive us as being naive Professor, we know about the group
your Prime Minister Winston Churchill has established.’

‘Then I’m afraid Dr
Rothschild you have been misinformed, I’ve no interest in such nonsense. As a
Nobel prize winning physicist I have to keep my feet firmly on the ground.’ The
whistle of an approaching train sounded. Frederick checked his pocket watch. ‘Now
if you’ll excuse me gentlemen I have a train to catch.’

All three men got to
their feet. The man in the bowler hat also stood tucked his paper under his arm
before picking up his briefcase and heading towards the door. The man and woman
stayed seated oblivious of the hustle and bustle of the train station.
Frederick headed out of the door after the pinstripe, followed closely by
Rothschild and Alexis. Frederick tried to distance himself from the two men, he
hurried down the platform. The train was now slowly grinding to a halt, steam
filled the platform making it difficult to see. Frederick grabbed the first
carriage door handle he could find, but Rothschild grabbed his arm firmly.

‘Let go of me this
instance!’ Frederick called out yanking his arm away from Rothschild’s grip. A
train guard further on down the platform heard Frederick’s shout and looked in
their direction.

Rothschild expressed
sincerity. ‘I am sorry Professor, but you seem unwilling to hear what I have to
say. You are an amateur astronomer are you not?’

Frederick was caught
off guard, how is it this man knows so much about him?

Rothschild noted the
expression on Frederick’s face. ‘I have many friends at the Royal Society
Professor who speak very highly of you and have told me much about you and your
research. When you get the chance to peer through a telescope again consider
this. The universe is a mathematical constant. If a star is born, then the
mathematical possibility of the process repeating itself somewhere else is very
high. So why do scientists ignore the possibility that the same is true with
the creation of planets like ours. Can you be one hundred percent certain that
we are alone in this vast universe? That our sun is the only star with a
planetary system.’ Rothschild reached forward and opened the carriage door.
‘Goodbye Professor, our paths will cross again.’ He turned and headed back down
the platform, Frederick stood rooted to the spot, watching the two men melt
into the wave of passengers leaving the train.

‘Excuse me sir, but
the train is about to leave, you must board.’ The station guard said.

Frederick snapped out
of his trance. ‘Yes of course.’ He apologised before stepping onto the railway
carriage. The train whistle pierced the air as the locomotive slowly pulled out
of the station.

Chapter 7

Gathering Storm

The Royal society
London

11:23am

Norman Hinshelwood
sat behind his desk looking down at a document in front of him that Chester
Osborne had handed him minutes earlier.

Hinshelwood shook his
head slowly at what he was reading. He took in a lung full of air then looked
up at Osborne. ‘Are you sure this is true Chester?’

‘I’m one hundred
percent certain.’

Hinshelwood took
another deep breath. ‘We need to speak to Professor Frederick about his
activities. The Royal society will not tolerate such nonsense. It’s a centre
for scientific learning not science fiction.’

‘My thoughts
exactly.’ Osborne added.

‘Leave it with me I
will speak to him as soon as I get the chance.’

Osborne got to his
feet and left the room, satisfied with what he had just done.

Nothing is airtight

Whitehall London

12:42pm

Morris Stanford and
Malcolm Chambers listened as Frederick told them of his encounter at the train
station earlier that morning and also his conversation with Professor Osborne a
few days earlier. ‘Someone already knows of our existence.’ He warned.

Stanford mused over Frederick’s
claim. ‘It’s possible.’

‘How?’

‘You mentioned your
colleague Professor Osborne questioning you about flying saucers, and that
Churchill may have mentioned it to another member of the Royal Society.’

‘Yes Norman
Hinshelwood, but he pales in comparison with this Dr Vincent Rothschild and
Androv Alexis I encountered this morning. I don’t understand how these men
could know we have a meeting today.’

‘That is rather
disturbing.’ Chambers mentioned. ‘Have we vetted committee members thoroughly?’

Stanford nodded. ‘Yes
all committee members are trusted at the highest levels.’

‘Then could there be
a mole at the Royal Society?’ Chambers suggested.

Frederick thought for
a moment. ‘Scientists come and go; many do cross the East German border. People
discuss all matters of science at the society. It’s possible that someone might
have overheard Norman Hinshelwood and Osborne discussing the flying saucer
phenomenon, and carried on that conversation with someone else and so forth.’

‘Chinese whispers.’
Chambers stated.

‘Nevertheless the
possibility that foreign agents may have infiltrated the Royal Society is
disturbing. Most of our best scientists are members, including nuclear
scientists. We have our first atomic tests soon in Western Australia we cannot
allow the Soviets to get their hands on any research material. I’ll have MI6
look over the Royal Society. If foreign agents have crawled into any cracks we
will deal with it.’ Stanford offered.

‘What about the so
called American journalists who interviewed Jones?’ Frederick asked.

‘Probably CIA but I
can’t be sure.’ Stanford replied. ‘With all these flying saucer reports, they
probably want to know if the Soviets are testing anything over Western Europe.’

Frederick shook his head.
‘We may as well publish details of our meetings in The Times, since every
intelligence agency know we exist. Not to mention what will happen if this gets
back to the Royal Society. Norman Hinshelwood will want my head on a silver
platter if he finds out I’ve been running around looking into little green men.
The sooner this investigation is over the better.’

‘Nothing is
airtight.’ Stanford remarked. ‘There will always be leaks; the only thing we
can do is control the amount of information leaking out.’

So who’s for lunch?’
Chambers said changing the mood.

Chapter 8

Gathering of Angels

Highclare House –
Surrey – 4:34pm

Professor Frederick
looked at the nine other men sat around the large oak table. The room was
filled with a pungent smell of cigar, pipe and cigarette smoke which lingered
in the air.

‘I would like to
thank you all for attending this meeting today. Although I can understand your
apprehension given the memo you have in front of you.’

All of the men looked
down at the short memo that Frederick had prepared.

Unidentified Flying
Objects

For a number of years
reports have been circulating concerning Unidentified Flying Objects or as they
are more commonly known by the press, flying saucers. Both the public in the
United Kingdom and throughout the British Empire and highly trained military
personnel have reported seeing strange objects in our skies.

Unidentified flying
objects were reported after the war in the summer of 1946. There were a large
number of sightings over several European countries including Sweden, Finland,
Norway, East Germany and France. These UFOs came in all shapes and sizes, but
the cigar shaped UFO and the disc shaped UFO were the most common description given.

The USA has also had
its share of UFO sightings in recent years. In June of 1947 a civilian pilot
reported seeing nine UFOs flying at incredible speeds in Washington State over
Mount Rainer. As recently as June of this year UFO reports have continued to
flood in to various defence agencies all over the globe.

To ascertain as to
whether or not these flying saucers or UFOs represent a threat to the security
of the United Kingdom a committee of highly trained scientific and military personnel
has been established. Its function to investigate these flying saucer
observations and reach a logical conclusion as to what they could be. Listed
below are possible explanations for such Unidentified flying objects.

Known astronomical or
meteorological phenomena.

Mistaken
identification of conventional aircraft, balloons, birds, etc.

Optical illusions and
psychological delusions.

Deliberate hoaxes.

The following
individuals have been picked to chair this committee.

Professor Ralph
Frederick, Cambridge University.

Sir Malcolm Chambers,
the War office.

Sir Morris Stanford,
Head of British Intelligence.

Air Marshall Sir Ian
Morgan, Director of Intelligence Air Ministry.

First Sea Lord
Admiral Anthony Berkshire, the Royal Navy.

Sir Harold Bates,
former scientific advisor to Lord Chamberlin.

Dr Alan Good,
Cambridge University.

Professor Richard
Wilks, Astronomer Royal, the Royal Observatory Greenwich.

Dr Arthur Lloyd,
Oxford University, Physician to His Royal Highness George VI.

Professor Norman
Canning, Bletchley Park.

Frederick drew a
breath. ‘So gentlemen, opinions please.’

‘It’s absolute
nonsense!’ Admiral Berkshire scoffed. ‘All this talk about flying saucers and
men from Mars, sounds like something that H.G Wells fellow would write.’

‘Flying saucers are
certainly a popular subject with the press.’ Air Marshal Ian Morgan replied.
‘Our RAF boys were reporting objects in the skies over Germany during the war.’

‘Yes foo fighters,
but that doesn’t mean they’re from Mars, we still don’t know the full story
regarding German research projects.’ Berkshire added.

‘You may be right
Anthony.’ Frederick replied. ‘But we still have all these eye witness accounts
that cannot be easily explained away.’ He turned to Sir Morris Stanford. ‘The
Prime Minister thinks it could be the Russians or American’s testing some kind
of new aircraft.’

Stanford thought for
a brief moment. ‘It’s possible we have operatives in Moscow monitoring the
Soviet nuclear weapons program. We’ve managed to recruit a few people from
inside the Kremlin, but the intelligence we’re getting off them is sketchy at
best. Talk of research labs in Siberia, as well as massive factories manned by
slave labour, POW’s and political enemies of Stalin. We’ve yet to hear anything
about experimental aircraft. The Soviets have a ring of steel around any
information regarding research and development of any kind. They’re still
gloating over MacLean and Burgess at the moment, but we’ll keep digging,
something is bound to come up.’

Frederick nodded.
‘What about the Americans?’

‘Our lads in
Washington have drawn a blank over rumours that the Yanks have one of these
flying saucers. If they do have one, then they’re not sharing. The Americans
seem to be preoccupied with hunting down foreign agents on their soil. However
we have been able to gather intelligence on a research project being set up at
the moment.’ He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a folded piece of
paper that he slid across the table towards Frederick. ‘Something known as
Project Blue Book, apparently it’s an air force operation, headed by a
Professor J Allen Hynek. The Yanks have had two earlier projects, Project Sign
and Project Grudge. Blue Book is their third investigation into the flying
saucer phenomena. We also have reports that the Americans have a storage and
research facility out where they’re testing their atomic bombs. Somewhere in
the middle of the Nevada Desert.’

Frederick nodded.
‘Makes sense deter any curious sightseers.’

‘What about the
Germans?’ Dr Alan Good asked. ‘I agree with Anthony, they were pretty advanced
in their development of aircraft during the war. Could it have been something
they built and is now being tested by the Russians or the Americans?’

‘It’s probably the
best explanation.’ Sir Malcolm Chambers answered. ‘Both the Russians and
Americans raided top secret German laboratories during the war and dismantled
many aircraft in development before shipping them back to their homelands for
study. We had some luck in obtaining a few bits and bobs ourselves. The
Americans managed to get hold of most of the scientists who developed the V2
rocket. They’re now happily assisting the Yanks in new rocket research and
development. But again the Yanks aren’t sharing much. We don’t know how many
scientists were rounded up.’

‘So these flying
saucer sightings could be rockets.’ Frederick speculated.

Chambers nodded.
‘It’s possible yes.’

‘How far advanced are
we with our rocket research?’ Ian Morgan asked.

Professor Norman
Canning spoke. ‘We are coming along with research at Boscombe Down, we’ve
managed to fire off a couple of test rockets. But I’m afraid we’re still behind
what the Americans are achieving. We’re looking at moving our rocket research
project to our nuclear research site out in Australia.’

‘What are the
practical applications for these new rockets?’ Chambers asked.

‘The sky’s the limit,
they could be used to carry a warhead of significant proportions eliminating
the need for conventional aircraft to drop bombs. You have to hand it to the
Germans they were way ahead of us during the war. The Americans are also
developing an aircraft program called the X series, which spawned from the
prototype they built which broke the sound barrier in forty seven. Our
aeronautical experts believe that the Yanks will have aircraft which will be
able to fly to the edge of space by 1960, perhaps even higher. We are gathering
more intelligence on this but like I said they’re not sharing anything.’

Frederick nodded
taking in what Canning was telling him, he glanced around the room. ‘Well
gentlemen it seems that we have our work cut out for us. Has anyone else any
theories on what these flying saucers could be?’

Professor Richard
Wilks started to speak. ‘I don’t mean to throw a spanner in the works here
gentlemen.’ Everyone looked at him. ‘But there’s one possibility we haven’t
discussed yet. What if these unidentified flying objects are not man made?’

Frederick fixed his
stare on Wilks. ‘Not man made?’

Wilks nodded. ‘Most
of you have made up your minds that it’s either the Russians or Yanks testing
new aircraft. But none of you are willing to propose the idea that these so
called flying saucers could be from elsewhere.’

Admiral Berkshire
could barely stop himself from laughing. ‘Surely you’re not suggesting these
flying saucers are actually from Mars.’

‘I have read some of
these reports that we have been receiving from our pilots. I have to admit some
of them do make you think. The Germans did indeed develop advanced aircraft
during the war, but some of these witness reports go beyond what the Nazis were
capable of.’

‘Why don’t you share
your thoughts with us Richard.’ Frederick invited.

‘There are a few
astronomers including myself who believe that the planets in our solar system
are not a unique phenomenon in our universe.’

‘Explain.’ Morris
Stanford said.

‘It’s possible that
there are stars like our own sun which may have planets similar to the ones in
our solar system. Planets capable of supporting life.’

‘Do you realise what
you are saying?’ Berkshire snorted.

‘Yes I do, and I’m
more than willing to stick to my theories.’ Wilks shifted in his chair. ‘As
technology and science progress in unison we discover more about our universe.
With every new telescope built we are able to look further out into space which
reveals more of itself. Now I doubt whether it will happen in my lifetime but
perhaps by the end of the twentieth century we may have telescopes powerful
enough to detect other planets orbiting distant stars. Once upon a time we
believed that the Earth was the centre of the universe, and that everything
revolved around us. As time went by we discovered new things about the universe
around us. We have come a long way in understanding the cosmos. We know that we
are not the centre of the universe, but inhabit a tiny spec in our Milky Way
galaxy. Thanks to developing technology we also know there are other galaxies
out there.’

‘Rubbish, pure
fantasy.’ Berkshire continued to taunt.

Wilks glared at him.
‘You’ve made it obviously clear Anthony that you are unwilling to believe in
anything that might challenge your faith.’

Berkshire nodded.

Wilks looked around
the table at all the others. ‘With the exception of Professor Frederick and me
most of you are over sixty. Half a century ago we were just beginning to
explore the possibility of powered flight. Fifty years later we have jet
propelled aircraft, rockets more than capable of penetrating the boundaries of
space. We’ve developed communication arrays that can transmit across the
planet. Mankind has invented new technology such as television and terrible
weaponry capable of killing tens of thousands in an instant. Now you tell me
Anthony, if we would have had the same conversation fifty two years ago would
you have been as quick to dismiss such ideas?’

Berkshire took a deep
breath and stared across the room.

‘I’m sorry if the
thought of men from Mars makes you feel uncomfortable. But we cannot rule out
the possibility that these flying saucers might come from somewhere other than
Russia or America.’

Frederick leaned
forward clasping his hands in front of him. ‘Ok, for arguments sake just
suppose that these flying saucers originate from somewhere outside our own
solar system. What means of propulsion would they use to get here?’

Wilks shook his head.
‘This is an area of science we cannot even begin to imagine. The distances
between galaxies are incalculable. They are so vast that even light takes years
from their star to reach us. Perhaps one day we might be able to harness the
power of our atomic bombs to create a propulsion system capable of great
speeds. But at our current level of advancement we are decades from developing
such technology, perhaps well into the next century.’

‘Speaking of
advancement.’ Dr Alan Good said. ‘If what you say is true, how far advanced
would another civilisation be compared to our own? Fifty years, one hundred
years maybe?’

‘Perhaps.’ Wilks
answered shakily. ‘Perhaps more.’

‘How much more?’ Good
continued.

‘Maybe a hundred to a
thousand years.’

‘A hundred to one
thousand years!’ Dr Good gasped.

‘This is all
speculation of course.’ Wilks explained.

‘You say that these
flying saucers could originate from elsewhere in our galaxy.’ Dr Arthur Lloyd
stated.

Wilks nodded.

‘The Nearest star is
Proxima Centauri about 4.2 light years away. Even if these flying saucers could
travel at the speed of light they would take over four years to get here. Even
a more intelligent species would see that as a problem.’