One Shot Kill - Robert Muchamore Page 0,42
guidance system, here in the nose.’
Boo chalked a big white X on the nose of her crudely drawn bomb.
‘The notebook Rosie recovered suggests that much of the work on the guidance system for this new weapon is being undertaken by a group of French scientists. They’re currently being forced to work against their will in an underground bunker west of Rennes. Our job is to stop these highly-skilled scientists doing their job.’
Luc smiled as he raised an invisible sniper rifle. ‘So we’ve been training so that we can hide in the bushes and blow their heads apart when they come up for exercise, or whatever. Sounds like a good laugh. You can count me in!’
Paul looked uncomfortable, while Marc shook his head before jumping at a chance to prove Luc wrong.
‘Don’t be a moron, Luc,’ Marc said. ‘If we wanted the scientists dead we’d just plant a massive bomb and blow the place sky high.’
‘Don’t call me a moron,’ Luc growled. ‘I’m not the one who slept in the woods and stinks like a tramp.’
‘All right,’ Henderson shouted, as he slammed the big ruler against the blackboard. ‘You two are going exactly the right way about earning that flogging I promised. But Marc’s assessment is basically correct. You’ve been training for a sneak raid on the bunker. The reason sniper skills are required is that besides the research lab and a dozen scientists, Rosie Clarke has confirmed that the bunker is being used as a storage depot for Luftwaffe bombs. You’ll need to shoot straight, because if this raid turns into a fire fight, there’s a good chance that a stray bullet will set off enough bombs to blow up a small town.’
‘Why put important scientists in such a risky location?’ Paul asked.
‘We questioned this too,’ Boo answered. ‘The first reason we can think of is that bunkers with rooms large enough to hide a laboratory are rare. There are probably less than a dozen similar bunkers in France, and while there are many large bunkers in Germany, the level of Allied bombing means that space inside them is always going to be desperately short.
‘The second reason is political. As you can see from the photographs, the base is patrolled and run by the Luftwaffe, who use it to store their bombs. But according to our sources in Denmark, the FZG-76 project is classified as long-range artillery. Its development is controlled and funded by the German Army.’
‘So the Luftwaffe and the army are like a couple of kids fighting over a shared bedroom,’ Sam said.
Boo smiled and nodded. ‘That’s what we suspect.’
Henderson pointed to the photographs before speaking. ‘Rosie Clarke has befriended a couple of lads who know the area around the bunker well. With their help, she’s made an excellent job of photographing the base and studying security and movements in and out over the past few weeks. She estimates that the base is manned by a team of around ten elderly Luftwaffe guards, plus five soldiers who guard the scientists.
‘The resistance in Paris have sent Rosie a wireless operator, who has been in daily communication with us. She’s using a small team to keep the bunker under surveillance, and our picture of bunker operations is improving all the time.’
‘So how exactly do we attack?’ Paul asked. ‘I can’t see more than a couple of guards in any of those pictures. Which means the rest of them will be underground.’
‘The details of our plan will be refined over the next few days, as Rosie feeds us more information,’ Henderson explained. ‘At this stage, I want you four to concentrate one hundred per cent on mastering your sniper skills. On the last day of the course, Sergeant Goldberg will conduct a final test. The two boys who score highest will be picked for the mission.’
Marc and Luc eyed each other warily. Marc was the best sniper and Sam the weakest, but second and third places were a toss up between Paul and Luc.
Sam raised his hand warily, and posed the question on everyone’s mind. ‘Captain, what happens if the two boys who finish top don’t get along?’
‘Candidates in this unit will be picked for missions based solely on their abilities,’ Henderson said curtly. ‘Anyone who is incapable of putting personal differences aside for the duration of a critical mission has no place inside Espionage Research Unit B.’
CHAPTER TWENTY
Four days later.
The lads began their penultimate day of sniper training on the USAF shooting range. The paper targets were now set at