Marlon called. "Do I park opposite the road over the railway bridge or do
I turn right?" I checked the time. "Marlon, it's 11:40. I said we'd meet up at 12:30. I'm still
on the bloody A1."
First Tom called in sick (too much boozing and late nights he said). Now Marlon
was ridiculously early. I still had the M25 and M3 to navigate and was anxious I wouldn't be held up. Part of the
M25 was closed, the variable speed limits were on along the notorious Heathrow stretch, and the M3
was covered in average speed cameras for roadworks. The fact that I bumped into the muddy Fleet Pond
car park at 12:40 was something of a miracle. Marlon was fine with the delay: he’d spent his time
adding a new illuminated gear knob to his gear stick.
I’d known Marlon since I invited him along to Aquila in 2004. He'd then become utterly obsessed with
Cane Hill and spent a fruitless amount of time trying to tempt me back. However, his stories
of being caught by security did nothing to inspire me to visit the place: “Tell your mate Simon Cornwell
that he's going to get done!” I was impressed by Marlon's perseverance and his stories kept me
up-to-date with Cane Hill. But I was now working on the wider picture, and casting my net further,
and in time Marlon too starting exploring further afield.
We took off, across the woods and fields to the perimeter fence of Pyestock. This made a nice change
as our previous explorations involved Marlon showing me around. Now, he was going to experience a new
site for the first time. But I was determined to make it difficult. "I don't want to go in our normal way"
I suggested, thinking that our previous infiltration point to the north was perhaps a little too obvious.
"I want to find the way everyone else uses."
My thinking quickly yielded results and we were soon on the site. The buildings were much closer, we were
away from the Sigma and QinetiQ buildings still in use, and our
ridiculous fifty yard dash was gone. In fact, it was the easiest infiltration yet. I could see the
Air House in the distance, but all the buildings
blocking our way were new. Time to get to work.