Chapter 3: Welcome to Hell
A/N: Hello poppets! I finally posted! W00t! (and I will take this opportunity to rant about how w00t is spelled with zeros not 'o's) I'm sorry about the wait. From this experience I have learned that email does not work:) And then I was away at A.R.E. Construction camp where there are no computers...or internet...or cell reception. But it was awesome and I have a lot of ideas (probably from being in a camp-like environment)!
Now, thank you all for your wonderful reviews. Seriously, I love you all. Because I am a geek, I calculated some current statistics. I thought they were interesting, so I'll share them with you all. First, the percent of reviews per hit for chapter 1 was 2.854 which increased to 6.6 for chapter 2. The average number of words I write for each review I receive is 178 over all. Therefore I should receive 34 reviews for this chapter - lol. I wonder how close it will actually be.
I think I replied to all of your reviews except for the last 3 (because by the time I got them, I was ready to post and since there was basically a unanimous cry for updates, I figured I spend my time posting, not replying:)) So I thank Sun Knight, Crystal Roads, and Draka Nyoki for reviewing. If I missed anyone else, I'm really sorry. Thank you!
A big thank you to Dream who gives me so many good ideas and reads and responds to my rants. Without her, there would probably be no chapter.
And now, onward with the fun-ness!
The next day found Alex on a bus with twenty eight other teenagers. Luckily, and because they’d only been given one chaperone, it allowed them plenty of space to spread out. Alex was sitting with Tom in the very back which Nick and Tom had managed to grab first. As a result, the group had control over the bus’ most highly coveted seats. Emma sat in front of Alex, sprawled out with her ear phones in. She said she was catching up on sleep, so her friends left her alone.
Nick, sitting across from Alex, was engaged in a very intense discussion with Tom about the Iranian embassy siege and the SAS tactics used to diffuse the situation. Alex didn’t really want to join in. It was clear the other two boys were in complete awe of the SAS, something Alex just couldn’t appreciate. It wasn’t that he didn’t think they were skilled – no one knew better then him exactly how tough their training was and how effective their ops were. Rather, he had spent far too much time in close quarters getting to actually know them to be able to hero worship them. In any case, he knew far too much about the SAS (he had trained with them and taken part in a live op, after all) it would have been awkward to make sure he didn’t appear too knowledgeable on the subject.
That knowledge frustrated Alex. It was this kind of thing that really upset
him: that his spying got in the way of his being able to act normally. Even
when he was relaxing with his close friends, he had to be alert and on guard
against any slips, so instead of talking, he sat back and just let the
conversation wash over him. As he did so, his thoughts turned to K unit. He
wondered what they had been up to over the past months. He had gotten that card
from Wolf postmarked
With that, his thoughts turned towards the man. Ben was going to be at the camp. He wondered if K-unit was going to be there as well. Alex didn’t think that an SAS unit would probably return to training often. But then, Smithers had said Ben was probably going to be joining his old unit, and when it came to gossip, Smithers’ information was surpassed by no one.
Alex hoped K-unit wouldn’t be there. They’d never really got on with him and putting up with that on top of making sure he didn’t out himself would be too much. Even after they had both saved each other, the relationship between Alex and Wolf was a tense one. But then again, Alex and Ben hadn’t gotten on until after seeing each other again, so maybe that was how it would be with the others.
Alex’s thoughts were interrupted by Tom saying “Hey Alex, do you mind if Josh and I trade seats, since you two are being such loners?” It was said with a grin, to assure Alex he was just joking.
“Go ahead,” Alex said. Tom quickly switched with Josh and he and Nick soon returned to their conversation. Josh turned to Alex. “So how you holding up?”
“I’m alright, ”Alex said. “ You?”
“Ok,” Josh sighed. “I don’t think we’re ever going to get there. I think we got the worst bus the school has.” He made a face.
Alex laughed. It was true about getting there - they’d been driving for hours. “This bus is certainly a piece of work,” he agreed. It certainly seemed that Brookland had seen fit to requisition one of their most run down buses for the trip, as became clear as the class bounced down the road in the dilapidated old thing. It made sense that they didn’t want to break one of their precious new models on the highly unkempt Welsh country back roads.
Alex noticed the book lying on Josh’s lap. “Wachta reading?” he asked with casual interest.
Josh’s eyes lit up. Alex remembered that he loved talking about books. “Well it’s called L’étranger in its original version, but this is an English translation called The Stranger. It’s by Albert Camus and it’s really interesting because it’s all about how the universe is indifferent and how life is utterly meaningless.”
Alex raised his brows. “That sounds really depressing.”
Josh laughed. “Yeah, but that’s existentialism for you.”
“Whatever that is,” Alex laughed.
“I’ll explain later,” Josh said wearily, clearly used to having to educate his less cultured fellows. “I really want to finish it, because right now the protagonist is set to be executed for murder.”
“Well, I’ll let you get back to it,” Alex said. Josh began reading, leaving Alex to return to his thoughts.
He rested his head against the window and thought of the rapidly approaching camp. He really didn’t want to be going there. Last time was hell and this time promised to be even worse as at least before he didn’t have to worry about his cover. It was odd really how in this ‘assignment’ of sorts, his ‘real’ identity was his cover. It reminded him of his escapades with the Drevin family. He fervently hoped that this situation would turn out much better. He prayed that for once, his cover would not get blown.
That was another strange thing. When Alex had first started to work for MI6, he had desperately wanted to be able to tell everyone, especially his friends, what was going on. Now, he wasn’t so sure. The change had started for him after he had told Sabina and she hadn’t believed him. That had hurt more than he was willing to admit. Still, he had told Tom after that. No, really it was with Scorpia. That’s when things had gotten so deeply personal. Before, spying was just something Alex did after being coerced into it. After, the experience had changed him so profoundly… well he was only just getting his sense of identity back. He had, after all, turned to the dark side and come back. He had learned the truth about his father. He had nearly died…
The whole world of espionage had suddenly become real in a way it hadn’t been before. Not that he ever took it lightly before - no, it was more the comprehension of what espionage could do to you, especially with seeing the way it destroyed lives. He thought of his mother, with her simple, lonely wedding and her death far too soon after. He thought of Ash who intelligence work had corrupted and hurt so much that he’d killed his best friend. He thought of Yassen, who though he was an assassin had felt such loyalty toward a dead man to get killed himself rather than harming that man’s son. And then he thought of his father, John Rider; a noble man willing to sacrifice his life for his country and for his people. John Rider, his dad, who was now dead at the bottom of the ocean.
It all came down to one simple fact: espionage just got you and those around you killed. He didn’t want his friends to get mixed up in it.
But there was another reason for not telling them: it was something that his peers just couldn’t understand. To know you were going to die, and to accept that for the sake of others… it was beyond their comprehension. No matter what he told them, they’d never truly understand. To them, he’d be a superhero with a cool job. The reality of being scared, helpless, and utterly alone as you looked down a barrel of a gun just didn’t exist for them. He hoped it never would; it was an awful sort of knowledge. But because of that, it was better for them not to know. He didn’t want to be a hero. He needed them to treat him normally.
When he returned from a mission bruised, battered, and broken inside, he needed the steady comfort of normalcy. It was his safety net, the thing that kept him sane. For them to know would mean having his two worlds touch. And he knew he couldn’t handle that. For his sanity, he needed to keep the two parts separate. And now he was going into a situation where is would be ever so easy for them to meet. His identity was far from safe when training with the SAS.
There were so many dangers associated with this venture, it was ludicrous. He hoped the men of the SAS had been briefed that he was undercover. What if someone recognized him and did something stupid like calling him ‘Cub’ or acting like they’d known him before? He would be compromised in an instant. All it took was one slip and it was all over. And his classmates were bound to notice if he was always doing separate work. His friends were not going to accept sick excuses so easily. Chances were, sooner or later, someone would stumble in on something and the whole operation would come crashing down.
His only comfort was that Ben was going to be there. He at least would watch Alex’s back. And there was no need to worry about him compromising Alex’s cover – the man worked for MI6 after all. If he didn’t know how to be covert, there was no hope for the world. And Ben was someone who Alex could trust, and god only knew there were precious few of those. Somewhat reassured by this, Alex shifted in an attempt to get warmer. The bus was a drafty old thing.
The trip was taking forever. Alex was really starting to get uncomfortable. He was glad that the last time he’d been brought here he’d been out cold and not had to sit through the tortuous journey. The kids in the rest of the bus were starting to get more and more unruly. The MI6 appointed chaperone was not even attempting to keep them under control. He looked totally annoyed with having to be there.
Bored, Alex tuned back into the conversation Tom and Nick were having. It seemed they had moved on to general awe of the SAS. He distinctly overheard Tom say “They’re so good! I can’t wait to meet them!”
Privately, Alex thought that his classmates, including Tom, were in for a rude awakening when they reached the camp. The SAS did not play nice and was certainly not going to welcome the addition of 29 school children. Alex felt bad for the rest of his peers in a way; they had no idea what they were getting into when their parents signed those forms.
When the bus finally came to a stop, the entire class had stood up, pushing and shoving to be the first ones off. Peering through one of the windows, Alex could tell that they had not reached the training camp, and was wondering what was going on. His pulse sped up as he realized that this could very well be an attack. But the man chaperoning seemed completely unconcerned, acting as if he expected this to happen. Then a man in military fatigues climbed on to the bus.
“RIGHT,
Once outside, Alex went to stand by his friends and looked around, realizing that they were on the grounds of the manor where he had been brought close to a year ago. His classmates pointed excitedly at the building, obviously thinking that was going to be their accommodations for the next fortnight. Alex snorted at their ignorance. The manor was only for the leading Mi6 personnel who came to oversee training. ‘And for teenagers those same personnel had tranquilized and were planning on blackmailing into being spies’ Alex added with black humor.
The SAS man had surveyed the babbling mass of children before him for several minutes with obvious disdain. Alex noted that he had never met this man before. He was standing with three other men who Alex assumed were his unit. He was probably the leader. Faced with a mass of unruly children who showed no signs of giving him their attention, the man finally snapped.
“SHUT UP!”
The voice cut through the chatter. Alex watched as his classmates jumped and turned to face the man. They looked almost shocked, as if they were never yelled at before.
“That’s better,” the man said in a quieter, but still deadly voice. “Now, we’ve still got a few miles to go before we get to base. We’ll be taking jeeps.” Noticing the confused glances some of the kids were shooting at the manor, the man smiled evilly. “You didn’t think you were staying here did you?” He let out a short bark of laughter at the thought. Several kids flinched at the sound. “Oh no, I assure you, where you’re going is far more…earthy.”
Then his face turned angry again. “Get on the jeeps! Keep your mouths shut and your hands to yourself.” Still in shock, the kids hurried to obey. Alex sighed. This was only the beginning.
A few hours later, Alex stood in the center of the camp. Their guide unit had abandoned them to find their superiors. The class was milling about and the noise level was beginning to rise again. The students whispered excitedly to each other, commenting on the rough buildings and on what to expect.
Alex stood with Tom and co. He zoned out of the conversation, preferring instead to look around. Straining to see through the dismal drizzle that seemed to be a permanent fixture of the location, he saw a group of tents on the outskirts of the camp. Looking curiously, he wondered what they were for – they hadn’t been there on his last visit. He supposed they could be for some sort of exercise – there was always some sort of training going on.
“…don’t you, Alex?” Alex was startled out of his thoughts by his name. “Huh?” he said, realizing that Tom had asked him a question.
“I was asking whether you thought this rain would clear up soon,” Tom replied. He made a face. “This won’t be any fun if we get wet the whole time.”
Alex severely doubted that there would be any fun to be had, rain or no. But not wanting to crush his best friend, he replied, “Yeah, it’ll probably clear up.” What he omitted from that statement was that it would probably clear up for few hours before starting right up again. Wet was a state inherent to the area. Tom, satisfied, turned back to the others and Alex fell back into his own thoughts.
A short while later, a figure emerged from the mess and strode towards the gaggle of teenagers. Alex squinted at him through what was now a steady rain. With every step the man took, the feeling of dread at the pit of Alex’s stomach increased. Perhaps it was the way he walked, or perhaps it was the way he held himself, but there was something decidedly familiar man, the sort of something that comes from seeing him day and night for two weeks, through exhaustion, hunger, and pain.
Eventually, the man reached the group. The teens, unaware, continued their chatter aimlessly. It could now be seen that he was an extremely fit black man, who had a decidedly dangerous air about him. Of course, Alex could have already told anyone this. This man was his old training officer, a sergeant he had known only as Sir and who had made his life hell for two weeks. Great, just great, Alex thought. Someone at MI6 must have been having fun getting his group assigned to this man.
“Attention!”
The word cut through the chatter like a knife through butter. The class jumped for the second time that day. Alex nearly stood at attention. It had been so ingrained into his body to listen to that voice. Just barely he caught himself. It would be too suspicious if he was the only one to respond correctly. The other students quieted down, turning to face the man.
The sergeant stood frowning at them for a good while. Alex could see him growing more and more angry with the crowd of fidgeting adolescents in front of him. He must have been less than pleased to learn he was to be training more 14 year olds. He had been thoroughly unhappy with having to train Alex the last time. Alex wondered if the man had been briefed to expect him.
Very subtly the sergeant was searching the crowd. Alex doubted anyone but him had noticed, but then he was trained for such things. When he finally got to Alex, he locked eyes with him. Alex noted there was no surprise in the gaze, just a weary sort of acceptance. Yes, the man had known about him. As if the emphasize this, the sergeant gave the tiniest of nods. Alex twitched his lips in a slight smile in acknowledgment.
The Sergeant looked to the rest of the group and began to speak.
“Listen up. This is an SAS training camp. You’re here because the government has decided that you should be trained. This isn’t a summer camp. This isn’t daycare. This is real.” He paused for a moment. “You’re here along side soldiers. If they talk, you listen. If they tell you to do something, you do it. Don’t expect to be welcomed. They don’t want you here. I don’t want you here.” He glared at the crowd, as if it was their fault.
“Selection is going on right now and I need to focus on the real attendees of this camp. I don’t have time to baby-sit you lot. Stay out of the way. See those tents over there? Stay away from them. That’s where the new recruits are. Don’t interfere with them, ever.” Well, at least that answered Alex’s question of what the tents were for.
“There’s to be no messing about here, no disobedience. This isn’t a game. Because of why you’re here, I can’t bin you. I can make your life a living hell. Do you understand me?” There was no reply. The man flew into a rage. “When I ask you a question, you answer ‘yes sir’!”
“Now, DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”
There was a chorus of ‘yes sirs’.
The sergeant nodded. “Better.
“The mess hall is there and the bathrooms are there.” He coldly indicated the relevant buildings. “Normally girls aren’t allowed in the SAS. Temporary bathrooms have been erected over there. But other then that, you’ll have to deal.” The scowl became even more pronounced. Alex wondered if the man just didn’t like the so called ‘fairer sex’ or if it was the change in rules that was pissing him off. “You’ll be staying in the barracks, off to your left, divided up into boys and girls. These huts are for real members of the SAS.” This was new to Alex. The last time he’d been here, he had stayed in one of the huts alongside K-unit. “Because I don’t have time to baby-sit you, I’ve divided you up under 4 veteran units. Each unit will be responsible for 2 groups of 4 students. Your groups are posted on the side of the barracks. You’ll be coded by color. You’ll find out your unit later. Any questions?”
There was silence. Then timidly one girl raised her hand. Alex noticed it was Charlotte Hale, one of the smartest girls in his year. The sergeant barked gruffly, “What?”
“Um sir,” she stammered. “There’s 29 of us, so won’t someone be by himself if we’re in four person groups?”
The sergeant glared. “Yes. Who is Alex Rider?”
The class turned to stare at Alex, whispering heatedly. Alex said quietly but clearly, “I am.”
The man looked directly at him, face giving away nothing. “Right. We’ve been notified that you are still recovering from an illness. You’re to train separately so as to not strain you too much.” It was said in a slightly patronizing tone. Alex didn’t rise to the bait, simply nodding his understanding. He had been expecting nothing less.
The sergeant returned to addressing the whole group. “You have just enough time to find your groups and change before dinner. Pick up your kit and go to your barrack.” He surveyed the crowd in front of him and smiled thinly. “Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to hell.”
The crowd turned and began to mill off over to where kit was being distributed. “Rider, stay behind so we can discuss your special needs.” Alex had been expecting this and moved towards the sergeant. Josh and Emma gave him sympathetic smiles before walking off. Nick squeezed his shoulder awkwardly. “Sorry, mate.” Tom sent him a significant look that clearly said he didn’t believe a word of the sergeant’s excuse. Alex had never gotten an opportunity to tell him about MI6’s master plan. He knew he was going to have a lot of explaining to do soon.
As the last of the students left, the sergeant turned to him. “Cub,” he nodded gruffly. “I was told to expect you.”
Not sure how to act or what to say, Alex settled on a nod.
The sergeant sighed. “I didn’t expect you to be back here so soon.”
“Neither did I sir,” Alex said dryly, “but they had other ideas.” There was no need to clarify who ‘they’ was – both man and boy were far too clear.
The sergeant shook his head. “I’ll never understand you Special Ops types. I don’t suppose you could have left the annoying school children behind.” He sighed again before switching attitudes to survey Alex critically. “I’ve been told to have you trained.”
Alex nodded. That was the whole point of coming to the camp.
“There are a few specific things they’ve requested you do, but mostly you’ll just be training as an SAS soldier,” the Sergeant explained. “Have you done any training with MI6 since you left here?”
Alex thought for a moment. He had worked with Scorpia and trained on Malagosto, but he’d rather not share that. He still was avoiding thinking about the circumstances of that. So he shrugged uncomfortably. “Not really,” he hedged.
The Sergeant was on him in an instant, shouting “What do you mean, not really? Answer the question and address me as Sir!”
Alex was suddenly reminded of why he had intensely disliked the man. “No sir,” he replied grudgingly. After all, he hadn’t been training for MI6.
The man nodded and continued as if nothing had happened. “Right. You’re in shape?”
Alex nodded. “Relatively, sir. I’ve been out of the field for a few weeks, but I’ve been playing football.”
“Good,” the Sergeant answered. “Your unit will be training you separate from the others, with your ‘illness’ as an excuse. For group activities, you’ll just have to maintain your cover.”
Alex nodded his understanding. “Yes sir.”
“Dismissed,” the Sergeant barked. Alex walked away over to pick up his kit and then made his way to the barracks, following the direction he had seen his classmates going in earlier.
The barracks were built behind a screen of woodland, which is why Alex had never noticed them before. He didn’t even bother looking at the list since he knew he was by himself, instead moving to the barracks labeled ‘Boys’.
Inside was utter chaos. Boys were everywhere, shouting and laughing, with their stuff sprawled out across the room. Alex spotted Tom, who waved him over to a far corner where he was standing with Nick and Josh.
“Hey, Alex,” Tom said. “We saved you a bunk.” Alex grinned his thanks and set his stuff on the bed. He turned back towards his friends who were standing there, watching him expectantly. “What?” he asked.
“How’d it go?” Nick asked impatiently.
Alex shrugged. “Alright. He basically said that I’d be training separately doing less strenuous stuff since they don’t want me to relapse or anything. Pretty much what I told you guys yesterday.” He ignored the look of disbelief Tom was sending him. That could wait for later.
Nick looked at him sympathetically. “That sucks, mate”
“Yeah. It’ll be okay,” Alex said.
“At least you’ll be doing easier stuff,” Josh said encouragingly.
Alex nodded. If only they knew what he was really going to be doing.
Nick shuddered, as usual making a joke when things got awkward, “I wouldn’t want to be by myself with those SAS guys. Seriously, what is their problem?
Alex laughed. “I think they’re just jealous because we’ve actually been near civilization recently. So what groups are you in?”
“You didn’t look?” Tom asked.
“Nah,” Alex replied. “I forgot.”
“Oh, well, we’re all together, with Emma. Lucky, huh?” Tom said.
“Yeah,” Alex said. Privately he thought that it was very possible that the groups were anything but random. Like Alan Blunt once said, where others saw coincidence, he saw conspiracy. It was a good motto for any one doing spy work.
“We’d better change into uniform before someone comes in and yells at us,” Alex said.
Agreeing, they moved to their bunks to do so. Having had far too much practice, Alex quickly and effortlessly slipped into the camouflage. Turning around, he saw that his friends, along with the rest of the class, were having a lot more trouble.
Nick, partly through trying to fasten the uniform, stopped and stared when he saw Alex. “How’d you do that?” he asked disbelievingly. Josh, hearing him, turned to look at him also.
Crap. He’d forgotten about being inconspicuous and unknowledgeable. Stupid, stupid, stupid! They hadn’t even been there a day and he’d slipped up already. He thought frantically for an excuse.
Tom once again came to his rescue. “Haha, Alex. You remembered from that time you were an army man for Halloween?”
Alex laughed nervously along with him. “Yeah, amazing isn’t it?” Nick seemed to buy that. Josh however gave him a piercing look, as if to say he knew Alex wasn’t telling them everything, but dropped it and Alex relaxed. Crisis adverted. But he was going to have to be more careful in the future. He couldn’t afford to completely miss something that basic. And Josh was already suspicious.
“Hey Alex,” Josh asked, “Do you think you could help the rest of us?”
“Sure,” Alex replied. The damage was already done, so it wasn’t like he could pretend he didn’t know how.
Twenty minutes later Alex had managed to help the rest of the class into the uniforms. It seemed MI6 had learned a few things since Alex had been there last and the uniforms were actually closer to the size of a teenager. They didn’t fit perfectly, but at least they weren’t nearly as uncomfortable as his old one, and for that Alex was grateful.
He had just finished that task when the door banged open and the Sergeant walked in. Noting the general chaos, he whistled sharply and the class quieted. “That kind of disorder is never to happen again!” he yelled. “Do you understand?”
There was a general chorus of “Yes, sir.” He nodded, as if pacified. “Now it’s time to meet your leaders.” He gave them a wolfish grin, which most disconcertingly seemed to be directed right at Alex. Then he turned and walked out briskly.
Alex followed along behind with his class. He was having very bad feelings about who those leaders would be. Now that it came to it, he was very nervous to find out if he would have to be working with K-unit again.
He wasn’t disappointed. There, standing along with three other units, was K-unit in all of their glory: Wolf, Snake, Eagle, and, of course, Ben, or Fox. All 4 men were scowling furiously. Apparently they didn’t appreciate being tasked with baby-sitting. Wolf looked as formidable as ever, Snake was wearing a very disapproving sort of glare, and Eagle just seemed pissed off. Alex was glad to see Ben looking much better than when he’d last seen him. His arm appeared to be healing fine. Ben looked up to meet his gaze and winked, before returning his face to its stony glare.
The Sergeant began talking. “This is N-unit, J-unit, D-unit, and K-unit. They’ll be training you while you’re here. From now until you leave, consider them God(i).” He glared at each one to make sure this was clear. “Now, your units. You already know your colors.”
At this Tom leaned over. “Seeing as you didn’t bother to look,” he ribbed gently, “you’re black and we’re white.” Alex shot him a smile in thanks.
The sergeant continued, “Once you’ve been called, go along with your unit.
They’ll address you and then dismiss you to dinner.” He began calling off the
groups. “Groups Red and
Alex inwardly groaned. Someone at MI6 was taking great care to make his life as hellish as possible. He was going to be under K-unit, with his friends - bloody brilliant.
Alex followed behind Tom, Emma, Nick and Josh as they moved over to stand in front of K-unit. Alex stuck to the back – he wanted to delay the wonderful reunion bound to take place as long as possible. It didn’t work though, and eventually the group of friends reached the unit and stopped. For a moment, no one acknowledged them. Alex took the opportunity to surreptitiously observe his old team up close.
K-unit looked as intimidating as they had when he’d first met them. Even Nick and Tom, who had before been so enthusiastic, seemed to be cowed by the stony faced men. Eagle, glaring into the ground, didn’t even seem to notice their approach. Ben looked stoically pissed-off, though Alex could see in his eyes that he didn’t really mind the whole situation. Snake and Wolf were observing Alex’s friends one by one.
All too soon, Wolf locked eyes with him. To Alex’s surprise, shock flashed across the man’s face as he recognized Alex ever so quickly before his features settled into an even fiercer glare than before, if that was possible. Wolf ever so subtly nudged Snake, who also looked over. Snake’s reaction was also shock, though less obvious than his teammate’s – a flash in his eyes and a stiffening of his body. Eagle, sensing something was happening, looked up at his teammates and followed their gazes to Alex. His reaction was much the same as Wolf’s, a flash of surprise.
By now Alex was thoroughly confused. It was like they hadn’t known he was coming… but Ben had known for sure. Why didn’t the others know?
Alex looked over at Ben in confusion. It was then that he realized the man was avidly drinking in his teammates’ reactions with a wicked glint in his eyes. Ben had obviously decided to have a bit of fun with his mates. Inwardly Alex sighed. At least the others had been sensible enough not to blow his cover. Glancing at his friends, he was glad to see that they were too intimidated by the SAS men to have noticed the covert exchange going on around them. While such occurrences were glaringly obvious to Alex, his peers were utterly oblivious. Or so it seemed.
Wolf, seemingly recovered from his surprise, addressed them curtly, glaring ferociously.
“Right, so we’re K-unit, your…leaders. That’s Fox, Eagle, Snake,” he indicated each man, “and I’m Wolf. I’m the unit commander, so I’m in charge.” The statement was almost unnecessary; Wolf exuded command. No matter how bad relations were between Alex and Wolf, Alex had understood from the beginning that Wolf was a natural leader and a damn good one at that.
“You’re to obey us at all times,” Wolf continued. “I don’t want any messing about or any problems. I’m not here to be nice; I’m here to keep you alive. No idiotic, immature behavior or you will face the consequences. Understood?” Alex’s friends nodded fervently.
Fox at this point took up the lecture. “Now, tell us your name and your age,” he said in a more relaxed tone than Wolf’s. He nodded at Tom to start.
“Tom Harris, um, 14” Tom said nervously.
Fox moved on to Josh.
“Josh Evans, 15” Josh said, quietly but clearly.
“Emma White, 14”
“Nick Hall, 15”
Lastly, Fox looked to Alex. Alex noted that the rest of K-unit looked over to him intently waiting for his answer. He realized, with some amusement, that no one but Ben, and maybe Wolf, knew his name. “Alex Rider, 14” he said clearly. Snake, Wolf, and Eagle all started in surprise. Inwardly Alex laughed. Apparently they never really knew his age.
Recovering, Wolf continued, “Right. Training starts tomorrow. We’ll be assessing you then. You four are a group and you’ll be working together. Rider, we’ve been told that you’re sick.” Only Alex caught the sarcasm in the man’s voice. “We’ll be training you separately, but don’t think that we’ll go any easier.” His eyes bore into Alex. “Snake here is the unit medic. Tell him if you get yourself seriously injured. I don’t mean if you get a boo boo and want to run crying to mommy. But if you really get hurt, don’t be stupid and say nothing.”
“It’s dinner time now. You’ll get more instructions later. Dismissed.”
They had begun moving towards the mess hall, when Ben called out, “Rider, stay back. We need to discuss your health.”
Alex turned, waving goodbye to his friends, to walk back to where K-unit was standing. Eagle stared at him in visible disbelief. Snake appeared to be surveying him critically. Wolf was glaring at him furiously.
They waited until the others were out of earshot, then Wolf began.
“Cub, what the hell are you doing here?” he asked, his voice low and dangerous.
Alex stared at him for a moment, unsure of what to say. It was apparent that no one but Ben had known he was coming.
“Well?” Wolf prodded, temper flaring.
Alex settled on telling the simple truth. “I’m here with my class, because Scorpia wants me dead and is threatening them too. I thought you knew, but…”
He turned to look at Ben and saw the wicked grin on the man’s face.
“Ben,” Alex said slowly, ignoring the second bout of shock that flashed across the men’s’ faces at his use of Fox’s name, “Why didn’t you tell them?”
i Ender’s Game, anyone?
So, there you have it. I hope it was worth the wait:)
Let me know what you think. I really appreciate it!
And I'll try to get the next chapter out sooner than this one. After all, I'm excited to write the fun stuff! Go K-unit!
JK Mafia
