Stealth (A Stone Barrington Novel)

“This venture into espionage territory makes a refreshing change from the criminal skullduggery Stone usually faces.”— Publishers Weekly “Smooth, easy-reading escapism in the trademark Woods style.”— Booklist Stuart Woods is the author of more than eighty-five novels, including the #1 New York Times -bestselling Stone Barrington series. He is a native of Georgia and began his writing career in the advertising industry. Chiefs , his debut in 1981, won the Edgar Award. An avid sailor and pilot, Woods lives in Florida, Maine, and Connecticut. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. PROLOGUE xa0 xa0 Stone Barrington woke earlier than he should have and was, for a moment, disoriented.xa0 Sunlight was streaming through a two-inch gap in the drawn curtains of the room, and he never slept with curtains drawn.xa0 Except in England. He sat up in bed.xa0 He was, indeed, in England, in the house called Windward Hall that he had owned for some years.xa0 He had landed in the early evening in the Strategic Services Gulfstream 600, on which he had caught a ride from Teterboro, New Jersey.xa0 The company jet was in England or Europe on almst a weekly basis, and the private runway on his land was long enough to accommodate it for landing and takeoff.xa0 It was a convenient way to commute between his New York residence and his house in England.He looked at the bedside clock: a little after six AM.xa0 He fell back onto his pillow, tried for another hour of sleep and failed.xa0 He had come alone to England, so there was no opportunity of an erotic nature to occupy him until the kitchen was open for business, and he was hungry.xa0 He got out of bed and flung open the curtains in the room, then got back into bed with yesterday’s crossword puzzle which he had not finished. He regretted not inviting a companion on this trip, but his mind turned to the beautiful woman whose country house was just across the Beaulieu River from his.xa0 At that moment, his cellphone rang.xa0 “Hello?” “Good morning,” she said with a husky voice.xa0 “I hope I didn’t wake you.” “Good morning, Felicity; I wish you were here to wake me properly.” “I’m nearly there, darling,” she replied, chuckling; just across the river.” “Then come and have breakfast with me.” “I’d like to have you for breakfast, but I have to be in London at 9:30 for an important meeting at the Foreign Ministry.”xa0 Felicity was director of MI-6, the British foreign intelligence service, which came under the purview of the Foreign Minister. “What a pity,” Stone said. “Not to worry; I’ll be down tomorrow afternoon for the weekend.xa0 Why don’t you host a dinner party?” “Well, I didn’t bring any guests with me, so I guess it will just have to be the two of us.” “Tell you what,” she said, “I will assemble the guests forxa0 a table of, say, eight?” “What a good idea; you’re better acquainted with the locals than I.”“Consider it done; I’ll bring the place cards with me, so don’t bother about that.xa0 Shall we say seven for eight?”xa0 In British parlance, this meant dinner at eight, and show up at seven, if you’d like a drink first. “Perfect.xa0 I’ll get the cook to work on a menu and I’ll unearth some good bottles from the cellar.” “I will look forward to it,” She said. “And bring your toothbrush; we’ll make a weekend of it.” “What a good idea!.”xa0 She made a kissing noise and hung up. Stone went back to his crossword, a happier man. xa0 The following evening, dressed in his Royal Yacht Squadron mess kit - essentally, a tuxedo with a short, naval-style jacket and the appropriate insignia - inspected the beautifully set table in the small dining room, then went to the library, where drinks would be served.xa0 It was about three minutes past seven when he heard the doorbell, and a couple of minutes later, Dame Felicity Devonshire entered the library, followed by three couples.xa0 One, he recognized as Felicity’s boss, the foreign minister, Sir Oswald Towne and Lady Towne, AKA Dierdre;xa0xa0 another was a younger man in a proper naval mess kit, sporting quite a lot of braid, and his apparent wife; the third couple looked familiar. “Stone,” Felicity said,xa0xa0 “Of course you know Sir Oswald and Lady Towne - Ozzie and Dierdre.”xa0 They all shook hands.xa0 “And this is Admiral Sir Timothy Barnes, and Lady Barnes, Tim and Kate.” More handshaking.xa0 “Tim is the First Sea Lord,” Felicity added.xa0 Hands were shaken. Stone knew that that post was the Royal Navy equivalent of the American chief of naval operations. “And,” Felicity said, “I don’t know if you’ve met the newly-elected commodore of the Royal Yacht Squadron, Derek Drummond, and his wife, Hildy.”xa0 Drummond was also dressed in a Squadron mess kit, which should have been a clue. “Congratulations on your election,” Stone said, shaking their hands.“Thank you, Stone; it’s good to see an American member here.” the commodore replied. xa0 “It’s good to be here,” Stone said.” Geoffrey, the butler, served champagne and cocktails, and there was chat among the guests and their hosts. “Do you have a place in the neighborhood?” Stone asked Tim Barnes. “No, I had to come down from London for the launching of a new submarine; Ozzie and Dierdre were staying with Felicity, and she asked us to join them, so my barge brought us from Portsmouth to her dock on the Beaulieu. “What does an admiral’s barge consist of these days?” Stone asked. “A very comfortable Nelson motorboat of forty feet; it suitable for a weekend place.” Felicity joined them.xa0 “Tim has also just come from a visit to our Station Two, in the Scottish Highlands.xa0 He was kind enough to give me a lift back in a naval aircraft.” “Why does MI-6 have a station so far north?” Stone asked. “Station Two is our training facility for new recruits to the service,” she said.xa0 “I drove up there last week for my own inspection, but I was called back to London and had to leave my car there and fly back.” “Is this the Aston Martin DB 11?” “It is, and I miss it already.” “How will you get it back from Scotland?” “A good question; would you like to drive it back?” “That’s a very tempting thought,” Stone said.xa0 “I’ve never driven that car.” The foreign minister joined them in time to hear that exchange.xa0 “You look like a fit fellow,” he said to Stone.xa0 You might enjoy a taste of the training up there.”“Good idea,” Tim said.xa0 “The place is run by an old chum of mine, a colonel in the Royal Marines.xa0 “I’d be happy to give him a call and tell him not to be too hard on you.” “Is this a sort of boot camp, then?” Stone asked, intrigued. “The first two weeks are very much a boot camp,” Tim replied.xa0 “Lots of hikes and runs, weapons training, hand to hand fighting, that sort of thing.xa0 The next two months are all the secret stuff: codes; tradecraft, communications: all the James Bond stuff.” “They’re in the first week of training now,” Felicity said.xa0 “You could join them for the second week, then drive the car back.” She turned to the FM: “Stone is a consultant to our colleages at Langley, so he’s a family member, in a way.xa0 He’s also been of help to us on occasion.” “Then I don’t see why he shouldn’t have a bit of fun at our expense,” the FM said.xa0 “Send me an authorization to sign - and, of course a release for his signature, absolving us from any liability for serious injury or an early death.” “You make it sound like such fun,” Stone said, “but . . . “ ”Nonsense,” the FM chortled, clapping him on the back.xa0 “It’s all decided and authorized.” xa0 They were called in to dinner, and Stone put the thought of a Highland vacation out of his mind.xa0 He noticed that Felicity left the table to use her phone for a few minutes, but that often happened.xa0 She returned to the table.xa0 “Good news,” she said “We’re flying some equipment and a few people up to Station Two tomorrow, and the aircraft will pick you up at your airstrip at seven o’clock tomorrow morning.” Stone choked on his wine. “I envy you the experience,” the FM said.xa0 “Just the sort of romp I’d have enjoyed in my youth.” “I’m not all that young,” Stone said, and everyone laughed heartily. xa0 xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0xa0 1A xa0 xa0 xa0 Stone woke up with a warm hand cradling his genitals.xa0 He checked the narrow opening in the curtains: still dark outside. “Ah, you’re awake,” Felicity said, climbing on top of him. “What time is it?” “Five AM,” she said.xa0 “You’ve time for love, breakfast and packing.xa0 We’re starting with love.” They spent half an hour on love, then Stone dove into a shower.xa0 When he came out, Felicity was dressed. “I’ll call Stan to help you with the boat,” he said. “Not to worry; my car is picking me up here in about three-quarters of an hour.”“Call down for breakfast,” he said.xa0 “Just press the button marked Kitchen.xa0 I’ll have the usual; you have whatever you like.xa0 He grabbed a large leather duffle, and began stuffing things into it. “Oh,” Felicity said, “just pack what you’ll need for the return drive; Station Two will provide you with everything else.”xa0 She picked up the phone and ordered breakfast. xa0 At 7 AM Stone stood at the hangar on his airstrip and watched the airplane turn final.xa0 To his surprise, it was a Dakota, the British name for the American DC-3 or C-47.xa0 It touched down lightly ran down half the runway, then turned 180 Degrees and stopped where he stood.xa0 He walked toward the airplane, propeller was whipping his clothes around him. The rear door opened, and a man in fatigues, what the Brits called, ‘battle dress,’ clapped his hands together and held them out to receive Stone’s duffle.xa0 Stone climbed the ladder and was directed forward past other luggage, each with a green canvas object secured to it.xa0 There were no proper seats, so he set himself down on a sort of canvas bench, affixed to the airplane’s bare metal.xa0 There was no insulation. He got into his seat harness up front, just aft of the cockpit, which gave him a good view of the pilot and his controls.xa0 The rear door was closed, the ladder stowed, and the pilot, advanced the throttles slightly applied right brake and sputn the airplane around.xa0 He then shoved the throttles all the way forward, and the airplane left the ground in what seemed to Stone an amazingly short time. He was handed a set of ear protectors, like a headset without the wiring, and he gratefully put them on.xa0 There was no point in trying to speak to his companions, because the engine noise was too great, and they were wearing the same earmuffs he wore.The man next to him handed him a copy of the International New York Times - yesterday’s, as it happened, and in the next hour and a half he’d read every word of it.xa0 They were somewhere over the Midlands, at 8,000 feet, on top of a cloud layer.xa0 He started on the crossword, which was challenging enough to engage him for another hour and a half.xa0 The airplane began a descent, and suddenly, all the passengers were on their feet, strapping on backpacks.xa0 A sergeant handed Stone one and helped him get into it.xa0 Hexa0 got close to Stone’s ear and lifted a muff.xa0 “Ever jumped before?” he yelled. Stone shook his head.xa0 “What are you talking about?” he shouted back, but the man couldn’t hear him.xa0 Stone could hear him shouting, though.xa0 The man took a length of nylon line from behind Stone’s shoulder and clipped one end of it to a steel cable running the length of the cabin.xa0 “Static line,” he shouted.xa0 “Count to ten; if your chute doesn’t open by the time you’re finished, pull this.”xa0 He held up a triangular piece of tubing, took Stone’s arm and moved it out and up from his body.xa0 “Rip cord,” he said. “Wait a minute!” Stone shouted, but the group of men started shuffling aft, and the sergeant grabbed Stone’s arm and marched him along, snatching the muffs from his ears.xa0 There was a red light over the open rear door, and as he watched it went out, and a green light came on.xa0 People began to jump out of the airplane.xa0 As Stone approached the open door he craned his neck to get a look outside, and as he did the sergeant pushed him through the door.xa0 “Noooooooo,” Stone yelled as he fell into the daylight.xa0 Immediately, he felt a hard jerk, and he looked up to see his parachute billowing.Suddenly, it was quiet, as the airplane flew away, turning.xa0 There was no wind, and Stone could hear a dog barking somewhere on the ground.xa0 The parachutes of those who had jumped before him were stretched out into a line, and looking down, from what he estimated was a thousand feet or so, he saw a mostly bare, green landscape, with a tree here and there. He knew from old movies that he could pull on the straps holding him to alter his direction, but he seemed aligned with everyone else, so he didn’t see any point in experimenting.xa0 He began to think about how he was going to handle the landing.xa0 The others had their feet together, so he kept his that way. As he neared the ground he seemed to be going faster and faster as it rose to meet him, then his feet struck the ground and he fell, rolling over.xa0 The chute settled over him, blocking his view of everything. “Get out of there,” someone shouted and pulled at the nylon.xa0 Stone got to his feet and figured out how to release the harness, then he was standing and, amazingly, alive.xa0 A man was gathering up his parachute. Another man tugged at his sleeve and pointed up.xa0 Stone looked to see several chutes floating down.xa0 “That’s your luggage,” the man said.xa0 Stone was surprised that he wasn’t shouting, but speaking fairly normally.xa0 “It will be taken by truck to your quarters.” “How do I get there?” Stone asked. “You run,” the man said; follow the others, and don’t get lost; because you might never be seen again.”xa0 He pointed Stone in the right direction and gave him a shove.xa0 Stone was wearing a pair of high-topped thickly-soled walking shoes that he used on pavement, and they worked fairly well.xa0 He began jogging along, unbuttoning his jacket as he warmed up. xa0 Half an hour later the group pulled up at a gate in a high, chain-link fence with coils of razor wire at the top.xa0 Stone wondered if that was meant to keep people out or, perhaps, in.xa0 He was pleased to see that he wasn’t breathing any harder than the other men in the party.xa0 They were herded through the gat and into a quonset hut, with its semicircular roofline.xa0 Inside there were folding chairs, and people were getting out of their warmer clothing and mopping their brows.xa0 Stone followed the line, just as he had done since they jumped, making him the last to sit down. A man wearing a military sweater with epaulets came into the hut and walked to the front of the room.xa0 “Listen up,” he said.xa0 “I am Captain Moffat; you no longer have names; you are designated. . . “ he pointed at Stone, then down he line . . “Alpha, Beta, Charley, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot, Golf, Hotel.xa0 While you are at Station Two you will not tell anyone your former name, nor anything about yourself.xa0 Does anyone not understand that?”xa0 He waited for a moment and was met by silence.xa0 “Your luggage has been placed in your quarters, and your designation will be on the door.xa0 Clothing conforming to your height, weight and measurements will also have been placed in your quarters.xa0 Wear only what you are issued.” He switched on a light, illuminating a screen on which there was a drawing.xa0 “This is a map of Station Two: memorize it.xa0 If you are slow and stupid, you will be given a map.xa0 Would anyone like a map?” No one spoke. Stone started memorizing the map, which wasn’t complicated: headquarters, living quarters, dining hall, gymnasium and workout facilities, supply; clinic, armory, motor pool. “The weapons carried by staff and guards are loaded with live ammunition.xa0 Try very hard not to give anyone a reason to shoot at you.xa0 Now, get up and follow the sergeant to the dining hall; eat; go to your quarters and remain there until you are awakened at dawn.xa0 Upon your awakening, at six A.M.,xa0 you have thirty minutes to shower, dress and get to the dining hall.xa0 You will have thirty minutes to eat.xa0 After that, it gets easier: all you have to do is exactly what you are told.xa0 Get out.” They got out. Read more