9:10 AM.
After a ten-minute drive, Detective Sergeant Ethan Cooper pulled up at Circular Quay. Ethan Cooper was forty-one years old. He was born in Warnbro, a suburb of Rockingham in Western Australia. Ethan had a sister, Rebecca Cooper, who was his twin. Ethan studied a Bachelor of Criminology when he joined the Australian Army at the age of 17. He graduated and became an Officer; after serving for five years as an Officer, he was selected to join the Special Air Service Regiment. He was about six foot five with broad shoulders and had an athletically toned torso. In high school, he played on his school’s basketball team and won many championships. He had short hair that was neatly combed and a five o’clock shadow beard. He had sleeve tattoos on both arms and could just be seen out from his tailored shirt. He wore a three-piece business suit and blazer. He also had thin black razor sunglasses. Ethan sat there for a moment and relaxed himself by cracking his neck. He then looked at his military issued spec watch. Ethan had the watch since he’d joined the military; it saved his life while on missions, as it had GPS tracking and a digital compass. He saw that it was coming up to 9:15 and he was running late for his meeting. He then got out of his car, a sleek black Range Rover Sports that was used by most SCU personnel. After locking the vehicle, he crossed the road and headed over to wharf number 4, where his meeting was scheduled. Max was an old friend of his, and he served in the same squad in the Special Air Service Regiment. They’d been on many operations together and were even captured by the enemy at one stage. But Max had some trust issues, as a result of his capture.
Ethan wandered over to the wharf. There were not many people around as most were over at the Opera House attending the Independence Day festival. There were several yachts tied up to the jetty but were vacant. This particular wharf was officially closed as it was undergoing some repairs. Ethan came onto the wharf. He stood there and waited for his contact to show up. He checked his watch and saw that he was one minute late. Max was a very time conscious person, and hated it when things went late. As he stood there, he got a whiff of salt from the water, a smell he’d become quite familiar with. At that, he jumped as a finger touched him on the shoulder. He turned around and Max was standing there. “Jesus, Max. You scared the hell out of me,” said Ethan, as he recovered from the fright.
“Sorry, buddy. I wanted to make sure you weren’t being followed,” said Max.
“What’s going on, Max? Why all the cloak and dagger?” he asked. Max didn’t reply straight away, and looked around.
“Look, I got a tip that a group is plotting an attack today,” he said.
“Yeah, we got that memo. Do you know who’s behind it?” asked Ethan, but Max shook his head.
“No, but I know it’s being carried out by a group of fanatics who are against the idea of the nation becoming a republic,” said Max. “I found out that the group recently took possession of improvised explosive devices.”
“Son of a bitch…Do you know where they are?”
“I managed to get a location on the safe house that was being used by the group. I don’t know if they’re still there, though,” said Max. Ethan paused for a moment. He then looked at his watch again. He saw that it was just after eleven o’clock.
“Alright, fine. Let’s go check it out,” said Ethan. He then started walking back to the car. As he did so, he took out his mobile to dial a number.
“Mick Greer.”
“Hey, it’s me. I might have a lead,” he said, as they headed across the road. “I just met with a contact of mine. He said that the group plotting the attack recently took possession of improvised explosive devices. We’re on our way to check out a possible safe house,” he explained.
“That’s good work, Ethan. Where’s the safe house?”
“I’m not sure, my contact hasn’t given me the address yet,” said Ethan. “It’s in Balmain. 12B Grafton Lane,” said Max, as they got to Ethan’s car.
“Did you get that?”
“Yeah, I’ll get Felicity to send a drone over to do recon,” said Mick. “How far away are you?”
“We’re about ten minutes’ drive. I’ll call you once we search the house,” said Ethan, and hung up. “Let’s go.” Then he and Max climbed into the car, and drove off.
9:32 AM.
Discussions of the new Constitution of the Republic of Australia were finally coming to an end. For the past fifteen minutes or so, Christine Mills had been listening to each Governor speak and voice their opinions about the new system and how it all works. Of course, they’d already had numerous discussions after the referendum went through, but this was to be the final discussion before the Constitution was signed. Christine Mills stood and interrupted the Governor of Queensland who was having a heated debate with the Governor of Victoria. There was much debate about the leadership roles and responsibilities by each of the state’s Governors. “Ladies and gentlemen, I apologize for the interruption, but we are on a tight schedule. We need to head over to the Opera House for the Independence Day festival. I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you all for your continued support in this transition phase,” said Christine. At that, the Governors stood up and started clapping. Then, Joe Parsons came in and he was holding a large A3 sheet of paper. It contained the Constitution of the Republic of Australia. At the bottom of the page was a space for the signatures of each state Governor, and of course, the President of Australia. The Governor of Queensland was the first to sign. As he did so, several photographers took photos of him affixing his name and signature. He shook hands with the President. Next to sign, was the Governor of New South Wales. He scribbled his signature on the document and shook hands with the President. The Governor of Victoria was next in line to sign the document. He was then followed by the Governor of Tasmania. After the Governor of Tasmania, the Governor of South Australia signed the Constitution. Next up was the Governor of Western Australia, who was then followed by the Administrator of the Northern Territory. The last person to sign the Constitution was of course, the President of the Republic of Australia, Christine Mills. After she scribbled her signature on the document, the Governors applauded, and more photos were taken.
9:49 AM.
Detective Sergeant Ethan Cooper and his former colleague, Max, finally arrived in Balmain, a suburb of Sydney. They pulled up a few hundred metres away from Grafton Lane, so they were not detected by the suspects. Ethan and Max got out of the car. As they did so, they withdrew their hand guns. Ethan Cooper had a Glock 19, a standard issue weapon of the Australian Federal Police. Max had a Beretta 92FS. Together, they sprinted down the footpath, in a flanked position. Max was behind Ethan and covered his back. They got to Grafton Lane and slowly made their way down it. Ethan looked up to see a drone hovering overhead. He pressed his finger on his earpiece radio. “This is Alpha One. We’re fifty metres from the target. Any signs of hostiles?” asked Ethan. There was a delay in the response.
“Negative, Alpha One. No hostiles on site,” said Felicity Meyers. She was the one who was controlling the drone. It was hovering over the address. Ethan and Max headed over to the address; it was a medium-sized storage unit split into two separate ones. As they got to the roller door, they were accompanied by six counterterrorist officers, wearing tactical gear and armed with assault rifles. One of them had a tactical shield to deflect gun fire. The officers came over to Ethan and Max. One of them snapped off the padlock with a pair of bolt cutters. Once that was done, Max and Ethan pulled up the roller door. It was a long rectangular shaped storage unit; there was not much inside apart from several wooden boxes. However, in the centre of the unit, there was a large rectangular container. Its lid was off, and Ethan and Max slowly approached it. They shone their torches over it revealing the box was empty.
“Son of a bitch, it’s empty,” said Max.
“Are you sure this was the right address, Max?” asked Ethan.
“I’m positive, Ethan. This is where my contact said the weapons would be. Someone obviously got here first,” he said. Ethan didn’t say anything at first. He sighed and then got out his phone to dial a number.
“Mick Greer.”
“It’s me. We just searched the safe house. The weapons aren’t here,” said Ethan.
“Damn. Which means the terrorists are already in possession of the explosives,” said Mick. Ethan didn’t say anything after that.
“Detective Cooper!” one of the officers called out.
“Hold on.” Ethan went over to where two officers were standing. They had their torches aimed at a picture on the wall. Ethan looked at it and he was shocked by what he saw. “My God…We’ve got a problem,” he said.
“What is it, Ethan?”
“There’s a photo on the wall in the storage unit…It’s a photo of the Sydney Opera House,” he said.
10:55 AM.
There were literally hundreds of people at the Sydney Opera House. They were all standing around the main steps where a staging area had been set up for the President of Australia to give her speech. Helicopters were flying overhead and captured breathtaking shots. A giant Australian flag was hung off the Sydney Harbour Bridge, of course, it was the new Australian republic flag, which was chosen by a separate referendum. Music was playing as people waited for the arrival of the President of Australia. A news reporter was standing near the entrance and was giving a live update on the event, stating that it was an overwhelming experience. Just then, the black Range Rover Vogue arrived on time. It was carrying the President of Australia, Christine Mills. People were screaming with excitement as they waved their own flags. A body-guard opened the rear door. Seconds later, Christine Mills emerged. The crowd erupted as she started waving at everyone. She had a big smile on her face and began walked towards the stage. Of course, the crowds were blocked off by security fences, but that didn’t stop Christine from mixing with her supporters. She shook hands with dozens of people, the whole time she walked towards the stage. After about five minutes of shaking hands, and getting photos taken, she finally made her way up to the centre stage. She was then greeted by the Premier of New South Wales. “Ladies and gentlemen…I’d like to welcome to the stage, the first President of the Republic of Australia, our very own Australian head of state…Christine Mills!” said the Premier.
The crowds erupted with applause and continued shouting and whistling. Christine shook hands with the Premier, and she gave him a kiss on the cheek. She stepped up to the podium and stood there for a few moments as the crowd continued to go wild. She could barely get a word in. At last, they all started to settle down.
“Fellow Australians!” she said. Again, the crowd cheered and whistled. “Thank you all for coming out here on such a beautiful day,” she began. “I can’t begin to tell you how proud and honoured I am to be here today,” she added. Joe Parsons was standing to the left of the stage, and watched on as Christine spoke. “I was humbled, and certainly proud to be offered the opportunity to serve you, the Australian people, as your first head of state,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it when I heard the referendum to become a republic was a complete success…I was especially proud and privileged to give this speech on this day, January 26th, marking the anniversary of the 1788 arrival of the First Fleet of British ships at Port Jackson, and the raising of the flag of Great Britain at Sydney Cove.” The crowd was captivated by the President’s speech. “I would like to take this opportunity to show how grateful I am to be the first President of Australia…To be the first citizen to hold the highest office in all the land, and to be witness to the birth of a new era in history!” she shouted. More cheers and whistles were made. Joe knew that Christine was wrapping up her speech. As he stood there listening, Joe felt his phone vibrating. He quickly took it out to answer the incoming call.
“Joe Parsons!” he shouted, holding one finger against his ear. It was quite loud trying to hear who was on the other end.
“Mr. Parsons, this is Detective Chief Inspector Mick Greer, Serious Crimes Unit,” said Mick.
“What’s going on, Mick?”
“I’m calling to alert you to a situation. We’ve just found evidence that suggests the Opera House is the target for a terrorist attack,” he said. Joe’s eyes widened.
“Say that again, Mr. Greer?”
“I said, we found evidence the Opera House is the target for a terrorist attack…We believe terrorists managed to plant an explosive device inside the Opera House. We’ve got tactical police en-route to search the premises, but you need to evacuate the President, now,” said Mick.
“Mr. Greer, the President is on stage giving her speech, I can’t just drag her off,” he said.
“Sir, a bomb is about to go off. Hundreds of lives are at stake. You need to get her out of there, now!” he shouted. Joe stood there, and hesitated. He then looked back at Christine, who was standing there smiling and waving.
“How long do we have?” asked Joe.
“It could go off any second, Mr. Parsons. You need to act, right now. Get her out of there!” Joe hung up the phone. Joe paused for a moment and then quickly went into action.
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