So with a heavy heart and a sickening ball of nausea boiling in his stomach, the captain disengaged the autopilot and brought his plane into a long turn southwards.

The response from air traffic control was immediate. Even over the outback’s vast emptiness, Australia still had radar coverage: the military base at Pine Gap, a hundred and twenty miles from Uluru, was a vital part of the United States’ global communications and intelligence network, and as such was well monitored. ‘IV283, you got a problem up there?’ drawled an Australian voice.

‘Don’t answer him,’ ordered the woman standing behind the captain: Major Wu Shun. ‘Take us down to ten thousand feet.’

The captain did as he was told. The jet straightened, now on a direct heading for Uluru. At its current speed, it would take just over ten minutes to reach its destination.

Wu listened to the increasingly concerned radio messages, but there was nothing the controllers could do. Australia’s air defences were concentrated around its long coastline; no military jets were stationed close enough to intercept the rogue aircraft before it reached its target. Five minutes to go, the 777 now at ten thousand feet – and Uluru itself became visible, a red bump rising above the horizon.

‘Slow to one-twenty knots at ten kilometres out,’ she said, turning to leave. ‘Signal me at one kilometre.’

‘Major,’ the pilot said, ‘the cargo door isn’t designed to be opened in flight! It could seriously affect the handling, even damage the plane—’

‘You’re a trained pilot,’ she cut in. ‘Adapt.’ She exited the cockpit.

Crowded into the small crew section behind it were twelve men. All were members of Wu’s special forces unit. Considering the team’s racial make-up, entirely Han Chinese, China would inevitably be the prime suspect in the highly illegal operation – but proving it had been made as difficult as possible. Their dark clothing was devoid of any insignia or identifying marks; even the tags had been removed. The only forms of identification they carried were – exceptionally good – counterfeit US passports, and all spoke fluent English. If they were captured, it would take the most extreme torture to break them, and all would give their life to protect their country long before that happened.

‘It’s time,’ said Wu. The group went through a hatch into the main hold. It would normally have been packed tightly with cargo containers, but at considerable expense to the plane’s operator, the first two rows had been left empty to give the soldiers clear access – and provide storage space for their equipment. They all rapidly donned low-profile parachutes, then armed up. Even the team’s weapons were the product of American or European manufacturers, bought through a long and complex chain of intermediaries and shorn of serial numbers.

There was one weapon whose origins would be impossible to disguise. But that would only matter if it were captured, and Wu had no intention of letting that happen.