Pathway III 2000 pound bomb

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CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

     The air strike by three RAF Jaguar attack/reconnaissance aircraft each armed with a Pathway III 2000 pound bomb took place at 9 a.m. three days after Bond’s meeting in London with M. It was entirely successful insofar as when the River Mersey was breached whatever superlocusts were in the cavern below were immediately engulfed in the torrent and perished by drowning. However at the precise moment the bombs struck the superlocusts weren’t the only occupants of the cavern. James Bond was in there too.

     Bond had travelled back to Stockport in the early hours of the day for which the air strike was scheduled. Over the past three days M and his staff had moved heaven and earth to organise everything in time.
     It had been decided at Ministry of Defence level that the entire area to a distance of six hundred metres from the target in all directions must be cleared of every living thing.
     The timing was critical, as close to the 9 a.m. air strike as possible – the real fear being that if Goldnojaws got wind of the plan he might precipitate his attack on Stockport earlier than planned, with the consequent loss of countless lives and the probable decimation of much of Stockport.
     From 4 a.m. all traffic attempting to enter Stockport town centre had been re-routed around the town. Most of the people normally found in Stockport at 9 a.m. were office workers and shop workers. The previous evening, just before leaving work for the day, they had been given the following day off on full pay. The Government would foot the bill. Few people lived within the designated danger area, no more than a couple of thousand, the majority of them housed in flats, the remaining few in houses. The occupants, along with their pets, had been moved to safety late the night before. No one was forgotten. Against the Chief Constables private wishes, the top policeman seeing it as an ideal opportunity to get rid of a few of the town’s undesirables, the police force had scoured the streets of the town centre and all the favourite places frequented by the local down-and-outs. Any dossers rooted out had been given a free meal and accommodation for the night accompanied by a stern warning not to return before the following evening. All had complied.