Code of the Eagle - For The Motherland Book 1

Prologue

Acknowledgements

This book came to be through the diligence and hard work of my coauthor LucyMangoXX and I.  Together we managed to bring out an authentic African spy thriller. Enjoy.

Wonderful cover by MermaidsAndStarfish

BOOK 1

As long as villains exist, the world will need heroes. And not all of the valiant men and women who take the mantle to keep our communities safe wear uniforms. Not all of them receive recognition. They slink in the shadows, remaining faceless.

Elephant Laboratories

20 km west of Harare

Dr Roy Mare fished out a white lace handkerchief from his coat pocket and dabbed gingerly at his bloodshot eyes. The bathroom mirror unflatteringly highlighted the bags below the eyes. Lack of sleep and advanced age did not do his appearance any favours. Wrinkles around the eyes and mouth made him look older than his actual fifty-five years of age.

He shrugged at the mirror. Who cared what he looked like anyway? It was not like he had anyone to impress with his looks.

A knot of familiar anger wound itself around his gut.

If only the glass-wearing pen-pushing bureaucrat in the Defence Minister’s office had done his job, Mare's wife would have lived. If the bureaucrat had opened his mail and called the minister, she would have gotten treatment early and she would have been with him today. But the man had been too lazy and Mare's wife had succumbed to heart failure while the cardiologist was waiting for the minister's permission to put her on the VIP treatment method...

But he had avenged her. Oh yes. He had made sure the man suffered…

The public address system crackled to life, interrupting the flow of his thoughts.

“Five minutes before closing. Please make your way to the main gate.”

Dr Mare shook his head. The recorded female voice was more appropriate for a primary school than a highly classified research lab.

Putting on his glasses he made his way to one of the two elevators, swiped his security card and pressed the buttons for the main lab, two floors below ground level.

He stared defiantly at the CCTV camera in the elevator before smirking at it.

Foresight is a great thing, he boasted to himself as he stepped out of the elevator and walked a short distance to a stainless steel door, which had a small plastic box with red light set at shoulder height. Dr Mare removed his glasses and slightly leaned forward, aligning his left eye to the led light. The light turned green and the door hissed open.

By the time the door closed again, he was already in the decontamination cubicle, going through the procedure of removing his coat and shoes in preparation for donning protective lab gear: rubber soled boots that reached his calfs, pale blue coveralls, gloves and solid front head gear. All this airtight personal protective equipment made him feel like he was on a trip to the moon instead of a quick dash to the main lab and back. But still protocols are protocols.

He walked along the ample corridor and stopped at the double-doors, punched an eight digit security code into the panel. There was a click and a hiss as the doors rotated open, ushering the scientist into the lab.