Page 142 of King’s Ransom

It was dotted with old grey gun emplacements—thick and sturdy concrete structures known as ‘batteries’—that had been built before World War II for coastal defence. But advances in weaponry had made them obsolete almost as soon as they were finished.

Now the whole peninsula was an enormous national park called the Gateway National Recreation Area, with broad beaches, camping grounds and biking and hiking trails that were open to the public.

‘Tell me,’ I said, ‘have you ever had to do an autorotation landing?’ Given Murph’s considerable experience as a chopper pilot, I figured it was possible he’d done one.

‘Yeah, once. In the service.’

‘Do they really work?’

‘Yeah, they work, but not from any kind of height. I did mine from four hundred feet after my engine stalled. It was a hard landing on muddy ground, but my crew and passengers walked away from it. The key is to get your nose up and your rotor blades level as you start to fall, then it works, kind of. That said, I wouldn’t want to do it again.’

I nodded.

I still didn’t like flying in choppers.

We continued on, zooming low over the sandy peninsula.

After a time, we came to its landward end, a broad green area that was a mix of thick forest and swamps.

Beyond a wall of trees, I saw a vast open grassy plain with an absolutely gigantic hangar in one corner.

Attached to the hangar was an observation tower of some kind. It looked like an air traffic control tower. The huge grassy area was pockmarked with mounds, bunkers and bowl-shaped depressions.

‘Here we are,’ Murph said. ‘The old 218 proving ground and artillery range. Back in the day, that big ole hangar once housed a zeppelin, like the Hindenberg. Now, Mr King uses it to house his attack drones.’

Murph keyed his radio. ‘Spiderhawk Base, this is Kingdom One. I’m a mile out and inbound with Mr King’s guest, Dr Speedman.’

‘Copy that, Kingdom One,’ a voice replied over the radio. ‘The boss is here waiting for you. Base, out.’

Murph clicked off the radio.

‘Sheesh, you must be special,’ he said. ‘The boss is waiting for you and he don’t wait for anyone.’

We began our descent, sweeping in low over the field toward the massive hangar.

As we came closer to it, I saw a huge sign on the hangar’s front face.

It read ‘spiderhawk systems’.

King’s military drone company.

The moment our chopper touched down, three figures stepped out of the hangar to meet us, two men and a woman.

Aristo King, Merritt Garrett and Mia Kimura.

‘Dr Speedman!’ Aristo King shook my hand vigorously as I stepped out of the chopper. ‘It’s so nice to finally meet you. I really should’ve done this sooner, given all your heroics at the tower last week. Merritt told me about everything you did, including saving Alexei and attempting to save Ajax. I’m so sorry we haven’t met properly till now. Can I call you Sam?’

‘Sure.’

‘Sam, thank you,’ he said firmly and intently. ‘Thank you. Now, come this way.’ He started walking quickly toward the hangar, the moment over.

For a man who’d been kidnapped barely a week before and lost a child, he was remarkably chipper and energetic. It seemed that even a day as crazy as December 21 was but a speedbump on his inexorable march into the glorious future he was creating. Either that or he had an ego the size of Jupiter, which may also have been true.

Or it was all an act.

‘Hey, pal.’ Merritt Garrett grasped my hand as King headed off. Garrett was wearing black cargo pants and a fitted black shell jacket with Spiderhawk Systems embroidered on the chest. ‘Thanks for coming at such short notice.’

‘No problem,’ I said.