Magnetic Attraction: An Ella Portman Adventure

By Kevin Wiley

Ella Portman is an ASIO covert operative on a mission to stop a North Korean plot, with the help of a local cell of terrorists, to steal a military stealth drone and use it to attack Australia or the United States or their southern neighbour. The situation is unclear as the chase begins. As more information is gathered, the Australian and United States governments co-operate to prevent what is looking more and more like a Korean peninsula, and possibly a global, conflict emerging.

Amid assassination attempts and gunfights, it is found that the actions of a group of financially powerful megalomaniacs are at work. These people, who think it is simple to create a diversion and attack their neighbour and the world, will stand by and do nothing once they are in power, and it sets the world on a knife's edge. Ella is left in the desert to die with her two call-girl friends as her investigations lead to evidence of an underground secret superconductor mining operation in Queensland.

The chase goes from Southern Queensland and the freeing of a kidnapped family with the help of a failed pioneer aviation flight across Western Australia and the Pine Gap joint Australia-U.S. base to the Northern territories and across the sea to East Timor and into a shipwrecking Typhoon.

With an attack imminent and tensions around the world mounting, a strange twist takes place.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Jan 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228849117

Kevin Wiley

I was born and raised in New Zealand and always found that reading was a way to learn. Moving to Australia and Melbourne and working for several computer organisations, I found my family in sports but peace in books still. I spent nearly thirty years playing rugby, basketball, golf and black-belt aikido. All these help to enhance the athletic ability of Ella Portman as she lays her body on the line for her country, battling those who would bring us harm. After many attempts at writing I finally made good on a promise to a friend of many years to take some of her international adventures and turn them into great action stories. So far she is thrilled with the first story about her and excited to see at least two more that are under preparation.

Book preview

Chapter 1: 1936

North East Queensland

A kestrel was gliding riding a spiralling thermal as it cruised across the sparkling blue sky its eyes piercing the air looking towards the ground for prey it may fancy to supply a meal. The grace of its arching wingspan and the control it seemed to exert as it effortlessly circled over the sunburnt plains, these were the beautiful things of soaring high that had attracted Kitty to flying. As soon as she could get a license she looked to get her own aircraft and it was pure poetry in motion, played out in the breath taking sky above.

Townsville North Queensland March 1936 was hot with an off shore breeze bringing a cooling wind from the north east to try and offset the stifling humidity that seemed to make breathing more of a chore than a necessity. A large crowd had gathered at the local airstrip occupied by the local flying club which along with local businesses and an international gasoline supplier AMOCO had combined to sponsor Kitty Lane in her quest to fly across the continent from Townsville to Perth a huge distance of over 7000 kilometres within the space of 2 weeks.

Kitty Lane was only 24 years old but had been flying for several years building up her hours, though well known in her local area and northern Queensland she was ready to announce herself on the national stage. Standing at 5ft 10in high tall for most women of the time with an attractive figure that Kitty tended to flout a bit in tight jeans and flowing blouse. She had bright auburn hair a pretty face with engaging green eyes and a bright smile which cheered everyone who met her.

Kitty turned to her family and said "Well I guess this is it I’ve managed to get sponsors on board that have paid for my airplane, food and gas I have people waiting to refuel me at 10 places across the country and it’s a beautiful day with following winds to help me.

It’s time to get in and get this show on the road. Kitty was then lead to a small stage where the flying club president introduced her to the crowd to rousing cheers and cries of good luck and our prayers are with you and God speed Kitty "rang out. Kitty thanked the crowd for seeing her off and thanked her sponsors for all their efforts and hoped to greet everyone again in a few weeks for her next adventure.

Waving again she moved to her aircraft a nice shiny silver Fairchild F24 with a modified engine that increased the power from 124hp to 152hp giving her a cruising speed of in excess of 110 Miles per hour which should take a day or two off the trip.

Starting the plane Kitty taxied into the wind waved again to her family and supporters then opened the throttle and started down the grass runway where the heavy aircraft slowly clawed its way into the air under the weight of the range extending long range fuel tanks. With a dip of the wings Kitty set course south-westerly towards her first fuel stop 600Km across the tropical bush land. Kitty gained height and set her sights on the Great Dividing Range that was her next obstacle on her way to Winton where she would top off her fuel tanks for the flight to Birdsville.

After an hour Kitty had climbed to 5500 feet and could clearly see the Great Dividing Range coming up ahead stretching as far to the south into South East Queensland as she could see. Turning to the north Kitty saw the ranges extended as far north as she could see and pushed up towards Cape York Peninsular.

Taking a sip of water and eating a pre-made sandwich Kitty relaxed and thought what a great life she had chosen and how beautiful everything was from up at this height with puffy little clouds showing on the horizon. Her engine was running smoothly and fuel consumption was good she had a tail wind still pushing her towards Winton which she would reach in another four hours where refuelling would take place and she could take a comfort stop and maybe even a short nap to keep her alert.

Gazing to the west Kitty saw the start of the great deserts that covered much of the centre of this large continent and thought quietly that this is not a place to be stranded. She gave a little shiver then came back to the job at hand.

With Winton in sight Kitty checked her map of the area and located the town airstrip. Banking to her right she levelled the airplane out in approach and made a nice smooth landing into the wind and taxied over to the aero Clubrooms where a fuel tanker was waiting for her. Taking a quiet nap while refuelling was taking place Kitty arose to some fresh coffee and a meat pie with sauce just what was needed to get her awake.

Feeling refreshed she again boarded her airplane and checked weather conditions for the next leg from Winton to Birdsville and was disturbed to find that low cloud was filtering in and light rain expected during the evening. However it was still expected to be clear at the stated time of arrival so Kitty was reasonably happy the way things were going.

With a wave of her hand Kitty opened up the throttle and started down the runaway ready to embrace the next leg of her great adventure. After a long run the heavy aircraft again took to the air and Kitty set course towards the south west and Birdsville. She relaxed and prepared to settle in for the next seven hours with the sun still high in the sky and shinning down on her like an old friend. Time slowly wound on as the droning of the engine had an almost hypnotic effect on Kitty. A cup of coffee from her thermos and another sandwich from her pack helped pass the loneliness as she went about the business of piloting her aircraft while taking in the sight of the large brownish orange expanse of land in front of her.

Kitty Lane looked out the cockpit windows of her Fairchild F24 single engine monoplane at the growing density of the closing cloud and adjusted her height to try and stay below the ceiling so she could keep eyes on fixed ground points to assist her navigation. Her airspeed was indicated at 109 mph but she had sensed a light head wind so her navigation was based on a ground speed of 82 mph in a south-westerly direction. Even with the long-range fuel tanks fitted Kitty knew that fuel would become an issue soon if she didn’t pick up the radio transmission from her refuelling base at Birdsville.

She had been flying steadily for nearly 11 hours now and was approaching the limits of her endurance. Following her take off from Townsville she was to track southwest toward the South Australian border near Birdsville. Somewhere off to her left should be Magnetic Mountain but with the closing weather she was unable to sight it. The mountain was more like a very high hill climbed to just over two thousand feet so she didn’t want to make a mistake and be too low and run into it.

This was the first leg of her historical East to West navigation of the continent in under a week and would show all of Australia that Kitty was an aviator to be reckoned with and may influence prospective investors to put money up for an attempt at a Sydney to San Francisco via Hawaii trans pacific crossing which would propel her into the big time of aviation.

Chapter 2: 1936

Disaster South West Queensland

All this dreaming was good but first she needed to make her rendezvous with the refuelling truck but the closing storm was really effecting her navigation. Checking her compass she saw west was more to her right but it didn’t seem correct. With the sun hidden by cloud and appearing more straight if not a little to the left. Another look out the Perspex only showed more red earth stretching to the horizon.

Looking at the compass just showed the needle spinning across an arc of 45 degrees something was causing it to spin wildly it didn’t make any sense there was nothing out here she thought would cause such an effect.

Kitty without realising was now under the strange disastrous spell cast by Magnetic Mountain.

Panic was starting to rear its nasty head as Kitty realised her fuel would be gone soon and no sign of Birdsville. The cloud was closing in every minute. Soon Kitty would have to land as flying would be difficult in such weather. A quick try of the radio got nothing but static although occasionally Kitty heard sprinklings of words suddenly she heard someone calling her call sign VHAKL.

Kitty tried to respond but only got messages saying weather closing in and the lights are on at the air field. Could she be near enough to see them? Looking around all she could see now was darkness closing and her compass still spinning crazily around.

Holding the microphone Kitty called This is VHAKL Kitty calling can anyone hear me I’m lost in cloud near Magnetic Mountain my compass is going crazy and I can’t get a bearing from the sun could someone please give me a direction I think I’m still flying south-west please help my fuel is almost out.

Suddenly out her side window a large land mass reared up Kitty reacted instinctively and turned sharply away levelling off thinking that must have been Magnetic Mountain checking her altitude she saw that she had lost all height and spatial awareness as again panic started rising in her throat.

Kitty again used the radio to call for help saying she had just passed Magnetic Mountain on her starboard side and was continuing south-west but with fuel almost gone.

Forcing herself to calm down Kitty tried to set course past the mountain hoping to pick up the radio contact and also the lights showing her the way to Birdsville but all she could see was darkness. While Kitty had trained with instrument flying this was the first real time when all depended on her instruments so again forcing calmness she looked at her fuel gauge which was hard left on empty.

Things would get worse even as Kitty absorbed this information as the engine coughed then went silent as the aircraft suddenly lost height gliding downwards with Kitty gently managing the controls checking speed and keeping the wings level hoping that when land came up it was smooth enough for her to land safely.

Almost as the thought was formed the aircraft suddenly lurched as it contacted the ground with the wheels dragging off at an angle and the fuselage ploughing straight ahead before pulling up at a line of rocks. Barely conscious Kitty felt the aircraft come to a halt.

Struggling she tried to drag herself out of the cockpit but found her leg was trapped by the twisted metal and from the pain felt like it was broken as well.

Kitty struggled further but was unable to free up the leg and her strength was fading rapidly. She was unable to reach the first aid kit or get access to her food or water. She continued to pull at the shattered leg and finally dragged herself clear of the seat. She looked around and saw her food and drink bag was outside the aircraft. Pulling herself towards the tear in the fuselage Kitty fell out onto the hard hot earth losing consciousness again. During the night she woke and weakly struggled to drink water but slowly she succumbed as darkness and silence resumed its watch and all was peaceful again. Gaining consciousness again Kitty worried about the wrecked aircraft might catch fire and grabbing a small tarpaulin from the cockpit pulled her body away from the plane and clear of the thick bush and rocks where the Fairchild had come to rest. In the distance Kitty could see a nice shade tree that would protect her from both rain and sun so she slowly moved in the direction of the tree. Eventually getting to the tree she wrapping the tarpaulin around the branches as a wind break and felt the whiteness of it would be seen from miles away.

Finally Kitty was able to take time to rest and try and recover waiting for help to arrive.

Birdsville airport control tower was listening for Kitty to respond to their call when they heard This is VHAKL Kitty …noise… me I’m lost in cloud near Magnetic Mountain my compass …. crazy and I can’t get …noise… sun could someone please …noise…. I’m still flying south-west please help my fuel is ….noise……. The controller called the refuel crew and told them what he had heard he then tried to call Kitty back and after repeated calls got the garbled message passed magnetic ……. out … fuel … gone

The controller at Birdsville immediately looked up his map and placed Magnetic Mountain one hundred and eighty kilometres north-east and past Windorah the next town. He felt that from the transmission Kitty would be just east of the mountain by only a kilometre or two. He called some local towns’ people and the local policeman alerting them to the disaster and eliciting their immediate support for a search party.

The group assembled at the town hall which was admittedly also doubling as the local watering hole and proceeded towards the mountain ready to begin searching at first light.

The convoy of vehicles travelled through the night then tracked up towards the Mountain. They then spread out in a line moving up to the left side of the mountain. After searching for three hours with no luck there were suddenly three rifle shots which rang out from the left side of the search group. All vehicles made for the spot of the shooter and were able to make out the tarpaulin Kitty had put around the tree indicating where she had crawled to and come to a halt. Hurrying to the tree the Controller and a doctor lent into the tarpaulin and removed Kitty’s still body and laid it onto the ground where an examination indicated a very feint pulse. Wiping her face with a cold cloth the doctor felt Kitty stir and gave her water to drink. She was placed in the back of the Doctors car for travel to Birdsville where further treatment could be rendered.

Thinking of looking for the wreck of the aircraft the airport controller felt there would not be enough of the plane left to salvage so wrote in his crash report that the wreck be left behind where it had crashed and it was soon forgotten about and eventually over grown with scrub and bushes.

Back at the hospital Kitty was in a critical condition and lapsed into a coma which lasted for several days.

As she was coming out of the coma Kitty was delirious and in fever for several days she kept talking about the compass spinning and unable to get a direction the world seemed to be going around and around.

None of the nursing staff or doctors were able to understand what she was saying and when pressed later as she recovered couldn’t recall what it was all about so no one spoke of it again.

Kitty made a good recovery after spending nearly a month in hospital but her left leg was permanently crippled leaving her with a limp on her shortened leg and only fond memories of flying high in the sky and competing with the world to be the best distance aviator of the time and of her fledgling flying career. Occasionally she would wonder what had happened to the wreck and years later went looking for it with her family while holidaying but never found any trace of it.

Chapter 3

Present Day Ayers Rock

Rain had been heavy all morning a very seasonal occurrence that could become torrential at times and cause the nearby Todd river bed which is normally dry all the way through to Alice Springs to become a roaring torrent and run for days as a wide dangerous river. But today would not be one of those torrential days as there were signs already that the clouds were breaking in the west and normal heat would resume.

Ayers Rock or locally known as Uluru the great monolith in central Australia towered above the flat red landscape like a giant deep red spaceship showing brightly in the late afternoon sun as the rare clouds and drizzle that had draped her sides receded to the south east and finally let it be seen in all its splendour as soft steam evaporated in the suddenly hot sun. Steam was now rising from the monolith as the hot afternoon sun beat a steady stream onto the dark red rock drying it out quickly and replacing the airy cool with a savage beating heat.

A group of tourists had been allowed to climb to the summit by the local Elders and guardians of the ancient lands surrounding the monolith including the hotel complex attached to the Rock. The tour group had walked around the summit area and looked out over the great red land stretching in all directions as far as the eyes could see giving an impression of very small people on an extremely large land. The red tinge to the land according to the guide who had seen the group ascend the Rock was due to the very high Iron oxide content in the soil which saw Australia as one of the world’s highest exporters of Iron ore along with Russia and the United States.

The tour group appeared to have broken into pairs as they made their way back to the pathway that led down to ground level again.

Adele yelped as she slipped on the damp rock path and scraped her leg coming down the steep path from Ayers Rock summit where she and her fellow travellers had spent the last four hours exploring within the confined areas what was truly a magnificent natural phenomenon.

The view from the summit was absolutely fantastic particularly when the low cloud and drizzle lifted and the great red land seemed to go on in all directions forever to the horizon leaving you feeling quite alone in a very large land thought Adele.

Lying on the red earth Adele was imagining what life had brought her here as a Call Girl for a high class Melbourne brothel in the company of 2 other girls recruited to accompany a group of businessmen as companions for a private jet charter around South and Western Australia then back to Melbourne. Adele was thinking that her mother would just die if she knew what path Adele was on at the moment. With a little laugh to herself she focused on her fellow travelling girls.

Her fellow girls were following behind her with Sheree dressed in walking shoes cut off jeans and a pale green blouse was a willowy red head pretty face with bright green eyes and a buxom figure that attracted many admiring looks with her fun loving personality. Next was Talya also wearing walking shoes catchy drill shorts and puppy motive tee shirt was a sultry five feet five inches athletic dark haired beauty with smouldering brown eyes bringing up the rear.

Adele was wearing stretch cargo pants and cinnamon coloured blouse was five feet ten inches tall and very athletic in appearance with a tanned eye catching figure and honey blonde hair that went half way down her back. She had a very pretty bordering on classical face that many who saw her described as quite beautiful and she got more than her fair of attention from possible lovers. Willingness for finding lovers would seem to have arranged by some providence to place her in her current high class escort situation on a dream trip to entertain a group of businessmen on a private jet journey around Australia.

A hand reached down to offer Adele help to get up. Looking up she stared into the eyes of Jac Wusan who had become friendly towards her since the start of the trip forming a closer bond as the other girls Talya and Sheree had with Joe Wei and Su Sansu.

Taking the offered hand Adele said Thank you kind sir made it to her feet thinking Jac had interesting eyes as she saw his six foot slender body dressed in relaxing Chinos pants and a loose fitting pink cotton shirt and head topped with an English cheese cutter light cloth hat. Looking backwards Adele again thought how beautiful the huge red rock was at sunset and what a lovely trip it had been so far. The wild bush near the base of Uluru was teeming with wildlife and the call of native birds like the Kookaburras and the Cockatoos were hypnotic both in the variety and volume of the sound. Every now and then a wild bird call signalled the arrival of a group of large pink Galahs cockatoos.

Wild big red kangaroos hopped about the open spaces and the nearby gum trees were teaming with other Yellow Crested Cockatoo families that stripped the trees bare in feeding frenzies.

All in all the flora and fauna was quiet captivating as it was so near you could reach out and hand feed the animals.

Walking back to the waiting four wheel drive and looking back at the rock slowly fading to dark Adele wondered what was going to happen in the near future with the trip only two days in and so much more on promise with dinner awaiting back at the hotel.

The drive back to Alice Springs was short and the girls relaxed in the luxury SUV thinking of the day and looking forward to the coming supper and fun into the night. Adele, Talya and Sheree left the guys and went to their room to shower and dress themselves up ready to join the men for dinner and hopefully a bit of romance later. After each waiting their turn for a shower all were ready to go dressed in very light weight summer blouses’ and short summer skirts and definitely ready for a Margarita and maybe a glass or two of wine with dinner. The girls excitingly talked about how fantastic the trip they had been hired as escorts for a trip of a lifetime even.

Dinner was made up of a very nice locally grown vegetable soup followed by a lovely fillet pastry covered Barramundi fillets freshly flown in from Darwin and accompanied with a crisp fresh garden salad. This was later followed by a very sweet Tiramisu for dessert and all this was served with a lovely Oyster Bay Sauvignon Blanc from New Zealand and enjoyed by all. During dinner small talk took place with most of them talking about the day’s trip up to the summit of Uluru and the walk around and back down to the plains level again. A quiet Port was ordered to finish off the dinner.

After some more talking of the trip and dinner Jac yawned and said he was tired and he would retire early. Adele ask if he wished her to join him but was told not tonight perhaps later they could get together so she retired to the room she shared with the other girls and was not surprised when Sheree called in to get her things saying she and Talya would be sleeping with the boys.

What are you doing still in your room tonight aren’t you going to sleep with Jac tonight? asked Sheree.

I’m not sure what is happening Jac has decided to retire alone it doesn’t seem normal I thought he liked me he certainly gave that impression I guess I just need to wait and see, after all we get paid the same whether there is sex or not but still! replied Adele. Then she lay back on the bed wondering how this assignment would end.

Chapter 4

Ayers Rock

After lying on the bed for a short time Adele decided to go downstairs to the hotel café bar and have a drink. While she was sipping her drink secluded away at the back of the bar Adele as having some doubts about the role she was now playing thinking what her family would think if they knew that she was doing escorting in Alice Springs. While reflecting her choices Adele saw Jac come downstairs and slowly look around to see if anyone was following him.

Wondering why Jac was trying to leave unobserved Adele’s natural curiosity made her wait till he left then she slipped out of the bar and crept towards the lobby still wondering what had prompted the late night excursion. Spotting Jac leaving the hotel Adele quickly found some unlit areas and proceeded to tail Jac at distance slipping from shadow to shadow like a ghost. Towards the city park via the main street they went until Jac stopped and waited in a shaded area out of sight obviously expecting somebody to show up soon he proceeded to light up a large Cuban cigar and settled in to wait quietly whistling to himself. After 15 minutes a darkened form showed up near the park and proceeded to the point where Jac was waiting.

They greeted each other like old friends and as they talked Adele manoeuvred to get closer so she could hear the conversation.

Unaware that he had been followed Jac greeted Al Sinkosa as the old friend and colleague that he was asking after him and family. Jac then asked how his flight was from Darwin. Al explained how he had stopped to refuel on the way to Alice Springs and had refuelled again at the airport so should be fine for the trip to Geraldton with only one stop for fuel. Al then said How come I have to get the data here at Alice Springs then fly it over to Geraldton?

Jac replied We need to cover our tracks so no one will connect me with the break in and I will take the data to Darwin for modification while you fly back to the mining facility in Queensland and prepare the convoy of trucks with the pure ore for shipping north where you will then meet me in Darwin.

Jac produced a map which he gave to Al explaining that he had paid ‘a down on his luck’ guard at the base to pinpoint the places of interest for him as a tourist. Whether the guard believed him or not was of no consequence Jac was to make the final payment later that night. Explaining where and what he wanted from Al he then told him to continue on to Pine Gap and secure a copy of the required Drone software that would let him fly and take over the drone and also the software that