Codename Angel
Jason Chapman
Book 1: The Angel Chronicles
© Jason Chapman
2012 – 2021
7th Edition
All rights
reserved
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Quality
declaration
Please
note, this book has been written in UK English. US English and UK English
differ slightly.
I have
taken every care to produce a quality item. As an independent author, it is
hard to find people who will edit for a fair price. Most editors and proof-readers
cost thousands of pounds. Way beyond the budget of most struggling indie
authors. As a result, independent authors are often criticised for producing
sloppy work. Packed with mistakes and a poor use of grammar. It can be an
uphill struggle against reviewers who ignore the storylines and concentrate on
missing full stops or speech marks. I am constantly updating my books, reading
through them. Making sure you the reader enjoy the stories I write.
There are
many indie authors who work hard to perfect their craft. Producing exciting
stories for an ever-hungry reading public. It comes down to two choices. Chase
the dream, or give up because you simply can’t afford it.
Prologue
Ripley –
North Yorkshire – 10:56pm
Friday
27th June 1952
The crystal
clear night sky shimmered overhead.
The car
drove slowly along the deserted country road.
Brian Jones
glanced up and marvelled at the stars that filled the sky. The surrounding
landscape consisted of gentle slopes that gave an impressive view of the Milky
Way from horizon to horizon. Jones hummed to the voice of Vera Lynn drifting
out of the radio.
He had
received a telephone call from his mother in Knaresborough who had sounded very
distressed. Jones' father, a World War One veteran had taken a bad fall down
the stairs and had not been able to get up. Unable to leave his heavily
pregnant wife Jones had no choice but to wake her and bring her along.
Edith Jones
was in no mood for Vera Lynn. She reached forward and turned the radio control
knob until it clicked off. ‘This is the fourth time in less than two weeks your
mother has asked for help. I’m getting fed up Brian. Why can’t Mr Quince next
door deal with it?’
Jones
reached forward and turned the radio back on. ‘Do you mind I was listening to
that.’ He stared at the road ahead. ‘Sweetheart, you know how mum is. She won’t
knock on his door this time of night.’
‘So instead
she decides to pull us out of bloody bed.’ Edith looked down and gently
massaged her stomach. ‘She does know I’m due to give birth in just over two
weeks, doesn’t she?’
‘Don’t be
like this Edith. You know how dad is with his injury.’
‘Too bloody
right I do. I seem to remember Doctor Jordon telling him to use the spare room
downstairs instead of risking another fall. Plus, you’ve been going on about
converting it into a bedroom for ages.’
‘I promise
I will sort that room out this weekend so mum and dad can use it as a
downstairs bedroom.’ Jones’ offered.
‘When this
baby is born Brian, we will have to move to Leeds. Dad promised you a job as
clerk at the factory.’
‘Don’t keep
going on about that, you know I’m happy where I am. Mr Adams needs me and Sir
Ingles has promised to give me a wage increase. This time next year I’ll be
earning ten shillings a week.’
‘I don’t
care Brian we have to move for the baby’s sake. We can’t live in the middle of
nowhere forever.’
‘But what
about mum and dad? I can’t just abandon them.’
‘For god’s
sake Brian we’re not moving to the other side of the world.' Edith rolled her
eyes. 'It’s only twenty miles away. We’ll take the baby up there every other
weekend.’
A car
approached on the opposite side of the road. Jones squinted at the headlights
as it sped by. ‘Listen, I know I promised you we’d move. I’ll speak with Mr
Adams tomorrow but I know he will try and convince me to stay.’
‘I just
said I don’t care Brian. Besides it’s more money at the factory than what Sir
Ingles has offered. We’ll be able to put a deposit on that house.’
‘Courtesy
of your dad.’ Jones mocked. ‘We’ll end up owing him for the rest of our lives.’
Edith
glared at her husband unimpressed by his tone. ‘No we won’t, dad says we can
repay him slowly.’
The car
radio started to crackle replacing Vera Lynn with static.
Jones
reached forward to tune in the radio station.
A long
stretch of road lay ahead, climbing a gentle slope ending in a bend at the top
of a hill.
‘It’ll be
so much better for the baby, and they have some modern shops now in Leeds. We
can go shopping every Saturday.’ Edith sounded excited at the prospect of
moving to a bustling city. ‘Within three years you could be earning double what
you’re being paid now. And you know there’s a job for life at the steelworks.
Those types of places will never shut down. You said last week Mr Adams is
retiring next year. So there’s no point in keeping you on.’
Jones
ignored his wife and kept turning the dial on the radio but the static grew
louder. ‘Bloody radio I was enjoying that music.’
All of a
sudden the car headlights blinked out. The road ahead became pitch black.
Jones
pushed the brake pedal and the car came to a gentle halt. The engine spluttered
and then died. ‘I don’t bloody believe this!’ He shouted clenching his fist and
hitting the steering wheel.
‘I thought
Frank gave this car a service last week.’ Edith complained.
‘He did.’
Jones seethed. ‘I gave him two bloody shillings.’ He turned the key in the
ignition but nothing happened. ‘You wait till I see him tomorrow.’ He tried the
ignition again but still the car wouldn’t start.
‘Well we
can’t sit here all night long.’ Edith pointed out.
Jones
produced a box of matches and got out of the car.
Edith
looked out of the window into the star filled sky.
A shooting
star streaked across the heavens.
‘It’s a
shame there’s no moon or I’d consider walking, it’s quite warm.’
‘I don’t
think so, not in your condition.’ Jones remarked striking a match across the
box.
Although
there was no breeze the flame from the match emitted almost no light.
Jones
stepped back. ‘I can’t find the problem. It’s like the car has died.’ He
glanced up the road considering Edith’s suggestion.
A bright
light appeared around the bend at the top of the hill.
‘It’s ok
love there’s another car coming. They’ll be able to take you to mum and dads.’
Jones stepped out into the middle of the road waving his arms in the air.
The light
kept coming and showed no sign of stopping. Jones also noted it was moving
fast, perhaps a little too fast for a car.
The light
showed no sign it had seen Jones who moved to the side of the road. The light
then started to grow in size becoming more intense.
‘Brian, get
in the car!’ Edith called out glaring at the oncoming light.
Jones put
his hand over his eyes to block out some of the glare of the approaching light.
‘Just a second sweetheart.’
‘Brian come
on!’ Edith called out again with more urgency. A familiar fear she was unable
to explain began to grow from within.
The light
was now a few dozen yards away. It lifted off the road before starting to slow.
‘Brian
please get back in the car, I’m scared!’ Edith’s fear peaked as she stared at
the approaching object.
The object
was now twice the width of the country road. It moved slowly over the car
bathing a wide area in a soft blue light.
Jones stood
rooted to the spot looking upwards at the intense light.
A
low-pitched humming noise filled the air.
Jones could
sense the hairs on his arms tingling from a static discharge.
‘Brian please!’
Edith started to cry. ‘Get in the car!’
There was a
sudden intense flash of brilliant white light and then instantaneously the road
plunged into blackness again.
Jones
rubbed his eyes.
The car
engine suddenly jumped back to life. The headlights came back on. The static on
the radio cleared and Vera Lynn played.
Jones took
several seconds to process what he had just witnessed before running back to
the car and getting in. ‘Did you see that love. It was bloody amazing.’
The
passenger seat was now empty.
Jones
climbed back out of the car. ‘Edith sweetheart stop mucking around.’ He walked
to the front of the car and peered down the road. ‘Edith, where are you? Look
I’m sorry ok.’ Jones looked up into the clear sky.
A tiny
point of light moved across the star filled heavens then in an instant it
accelerated away.
Jones
screamed at the top of his voice. ‘Edith!’
Chapter
1
Downing
Street – London – 11:28am
Monday
28th July 1952
Professor
Ralph Frederick adjusted his bow tie as he waited patiently outside the Prime
Minister’s office. He waved his hand through his short brown hair. His wife
Elizabeth had gone out of her way to make sure he looked his best that morning.
‘It’s not
every day you get to meet with the Prime Minister Ralph. You have to put on a
show here.’ She tugged on his tie.
‘Careful
Liz darling, I need to be able to breathe when I meet with him.’
‘I wonder
what he wants to speak to you about? Perhaps you’re in line for the top job at
the Royal Society.’ Elizabeth said excitedly.
‘Norman
already has that job remember love. Besides you act as if this were the first
time I have met with Mr Churchill. I was on his scientific advisory council
during the war.’ He winked at her playfully.
‘Yes I
remember, the result being our marriage.’ Elizabeth finished his bow and kissed
her husband on the tip of his nose. ‘Say hello for me and Susan please.’
Fresh out
of Cambridge, Frederick was handpicked to work at Bletchley Park. He had
demonstrated a remarkable gift for being able to understand complex mathematics
and coded sequences. As the German army began its relentless march across
Europe Frederick was assigned to a government scientific advisory team. When
the Enigma Machine was captured Frederick and Alan Turing had played a key part
in breaking the Nazi device which had blighted British shipping.
In July
1940 while on official business to the War Office, Frederick encountered
Elizabeth Greenwood. One of the Prime Minister’s cabinet secretarial staff.
After several weeks Frederick plucked up the courage to ask her out to an
evening at the cinema. Unfortunately, due to the Third Reich’s merciless
bombing, Ralph and Elizabeth spent most of the night in an air raid shelter.
Tragically
Frederick’s parents were unable to make it to one of the many shelters set up
around London and were killed that night.
They were
married in October 1941 but were unable to enjoy a honeymoon due to wartime
restrictions. After the war, Frederick surprised his wife with a trip to Paris.
Our long-awaited honeymoon as he called it.
The
Fredericks lived 38 Miles outside Cambridge on the Norfolk Cambridgeshire
border in a village called Emneth. In September 1947 Elizabeth gave birth to a
baby girl they named Susan.
In 1949
Frederick returned to Cambridge to work on a gravitational wave theory. He
wrote a lengthy paper that went on to earn him a Nobel Prise in physics in
1951.
Frederick
was finishing up for the weekend at Cambridge, when an unexpected telegram from
London landed on his desk.
Office
of the Prime Minister.
Winston
Churchill.
Requesting
an audience with Ralph Frederick. Professor of Astrophysics Cambridge
University. Regarding matter of a scientific nature.
Monday
28th July 11:30am
Frederick
paused before knocking on the door of the Prime Minister’s office. There was a
short pause before a voice beckoned him in.
Winston
Churchill was staring at a newspaper as Frederick approached the large reading
desk and stood patiently.
The Prime
Minister looked up. ‘Sit down please Professor.’
Frederick
sat in a chair opposite.
Churchill
handed Frederick the newspaper he was reading pointing out an article. ‘What do
you make of that?’
Frederick
reached into his inside jacket pocket pulling out a pair of turtle shell
reading glasses. He peered at the newspaper article. ‘Flying saucer kidnapped
my wife.’ Frederick smirked as he read the article. ‘It looks like another
silly story about flying saucers sir.’
‘Yes,
that’s what I thought.’ The Prime Minister answered abruptly. He put a large
cigar to his lips and lit it. He got to his feet and stepped out from behind
his desk. ‘Unfortunately, these stories about flying saucers and men from Mars
seem to be all the range these days.’
‘Surely
Prime Minister you don’t think there’s any truth to these stories. It sounds as
if the press have nothing better to do. It’s all a load of codswallop if you
ask me.’
‘I don’t
know what to think.’ Churchill said taking a drag from his cigar. ‘We have been
inundated by these reports in the newspapers. Even our military pilots are
reporting strange objects in our airspace.’
‘I’m sure
many of these so called flying saucer sightings have a rational explanation.’
Frederick said with confidence.
Churchill
pointed at a piece of paper on his desk. ‘I’m sending a memo to Lord Cherwell
at the Air Ministry to look into this nonsense. Henry Tizard has had a team
working on this flying saucer problem since the summer of nineteen fifty.’
Frederick
looked across the desk at the memo.
What
does all this stuff about flying saucers amount to? What can it mean? What is
the truth? Let me have a report at your convenience.
w.c
28th
July 1952
‘Well if
anyone can get results on this it’s Henry.’ Frederick remarked thoughtfully.
The Prime
Minister shook his head. ‘I’m only doing it to quash any public interest on
this matter. The sooner people have an answer the better. Stop any more
ridiculous stories from being fed to the public. I don’t want them thinking we
are not in control of our airspace. Besides, I’m not happy with the progress
Tizard and his team have made. They’ve had two years and have yet to produce
anything solid. They’ve had some limited communication with the Americans on
this matter but the Yanks are keeping tight lipped.’
‘Do you
think the Americans could be withholding information?’
Churchill
nodded. ‘I wouldn’t be surprised.’
‘If I may
Prime Minister. I’m a bit puzzled as to why I have been summoned here today if
you already have Henry working on the issue.’
Churchill
walked back over to his desk and sat down. ‘I want you to conduct a separate
investigation away from the prying eyes of the press. Henry’s group has
attracted unwanted attention. I believe there could be a leak.’
‘Then you
do think there’s more to this.’
‘The war
has been over seven years. Yet as a result of Hitler and his Nazi rabble there
have been major advances in technology. Talk of rocket ships into space and
cities on the moon are becoming more common. Added to that we are in the midst
of this cold war and we have no idea what the Russians are up to. Both America
and Russia are building these atomic bombs at an alarming rate. Tensions in
Korea are becoming more volatile every day and we are caught smack bang in the
middle of it all.’ The Prime Minister shook his head. ‘I don’t like it one
bit.’
‘Do you
think the Russians or the Americans could be behind some of these flying saucer
sightings?’ Frederick suggested.
‘That’s
what I want you to find out Ralph. I want to know if it’s either the Soviets or
the Yanks.’
‘I will
give it my full attention Prime Minister. However, if I may be so bold as to
ask. It’s one thing not to trust the Russians. But America, aren’t we their
closest ally?’
‘You know
what the Americans are like.’ Churchill said with a mocking tone. ‘It’s like you
just said, they may be holding out on us. Besides there have been rumours
coming out of America since the late forties. They might even have captured one
of these so-called flying saucers. I have spoken to President Truman on this
matter but he hasn’t been very forthcoming.’ Churchill puffed on his cigar. ‘We
need to get started immediately so I am giving you a free rein on this Ralph. I
want regular reports on your progress. I want you to use all methods to find
out more about these dammed flying saucers. The sooner we get this matter
wrapped up the better.’
‘Of course
Prime Minister.’
‘You are a
Cambridge man are you not?’
‘Yes sir. I
studied there and now teach at Trinity College.’
‘Former
member of the Cambridge Apostles and now an Angel.’
‘Uh, well.’
Frederick stumbled over his words.
Churchill
waved his hand grinning. ‘It’s alright Professor your secret is safe with me.
My former private secretary Edward Marsh was a member. He did a little digging
around for me the other day. I thought it might be useful if former Apostles
made up this group given your code of secrecy.’
‘That is a
very good idea sir.’
‘Good, as
from now you are to head up the science division of The Angel Committee. I have
contacted Malcolm Chambers and said you would meet with him an hour from now. I
am confident you will be able to find suitable people for your team.’
‘I will
keep you informed at every turning point Prime Minister.’
‘So, how’s
Elizabeth and Susan?’ Churchill asked changing the subject.
‘They are
very well. Elizabeth sends her regards.’
‘Fine woman
you married there Ralph. Proud to have her as a member of staff during the
war.’
‘Thank you
Prime Minister. If there is nothing else to discuss I will get on with the
matter in hand.’
Churchill
gave a dismissive nod. ‘Carry on Professor.’
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