Assassin (The Billionaire Series) by Murray McDonald

ugly and awkward demeanour, it was the only one in existence.
It was completely invisible to radar, heat seeking missiles and just about any
other missile. Its external skin was built from a non-metallic composite which
could withstand a direct hit from a tank and, most amazingly, could change its
colour like a chameleon. Its shape meant that from a distance of anything over
50 metres, the vehicle literally disappeared into the background. Protruding
from the rear stood its main purpose for being, its missile launch system,
containing the experimental Stealth Strike Missile. This missile was designed
to be undetectable in flight and more importantly would leave no trace of its
existence on hitting its target. It was the ultimate fire and deny weapon.
    The missile system began to rise as the weapon readied itself
to fire. Once in position, Smith checked his watch and looked across to his
firing team, it was nearly time. At any moment they would be notified that the
target was ready.
    “Are we ready gentlemen?” he asked.
    “Yes Sir, we’re locked on the target and ready to fire.”
    “Excellent.”
    His phone buzzed, he answered the call, said nothing and hung
up.
    “Fire,” he said calmly.
    The missile slowly lifted from the tube and smoothly made its
way into the night sky in almost complete silence. A long tube covered the
exhaust area meaning that only those directly under it could see the flames
firing its climb into the sky. It slowly made its way to 5,000 feet at which
point its main system ignited producing a flash of light as the missile
accelerated to over Mach 5. It was the first time Smith had witnessed a launch
of this missile and he was impressed. Not only was it barely visible, it was
inaudible and the delay in acceleration meant that the characteristic boom of a
missile launch simply didn’t happen.
    The missile continued on a trajectory which would take it into
the inner atmosphere where its warhead would bend for a fraction of a second
allowing the propulsion portion of the weapon to power it into a downward
track. This was the most crucial stage. If successful, the propulsion system would
continue ever upwards and burn away in the earth’s outer atmosphere. In the
meantime, the warhead would power downwards, picking up more and more speed.
During its downward journey, the outer core of the missile would also burn off
leaving only the new and undetectable core of the warhead to complete its
deadly mission.
    After the missile had left its launcher, it soon disappeared
from view. Smith and his men continued to stare up at the sky. Although they
couldn’t see it, the missile bent and split as intended and the warhead began
its downward course towards its unsuspecting victims. Smith continued to stare
at the sky watching for any sign of the returning warhead. One thing they had
not been able to do was stop the glow of the warhead on its way back down.
Smith supposed that was why it was still experimental, refinements were still
in development. After a minute or so, a shout came from his left.
    “There it is! Look towards the coast at 11 o’clock.”
    Smith turned his gaze and there it was. It looked like a
shooting star, except that instead of streaking across the sky horizontally, it
was streaking downwards. Smith followed the glow as it fell towards earth and
saw it turn into a bright flash as the missile impacted its target at over Mach
5. Although over a hundred miles away, the ground shook as the explosion ripped
through the ground.
    “Direct hit Sir! Perfect!” shouted one of his men.
    “Excellent,” said Smith picking up his mobile and pushing the
anonymous dial button. Two seconds later and 6,000 miles away a voice answered.
    “Yes?”
    “It’s done, perfect hit,” said Smith
    “Excellent, well done,” replied a very happy Beaumont.

 
 
 
    Chapter 12

 
 
 
 
 
    Tom and Lela were still discussing the missing Tylanni when
Kano came rushing through from the