Then there was Athena herself. Colin thought back to each of the occasions they had crossed swords yesterday. Why was she so ‘prickly’ with him? Why did he find it necessary to wind her up as soon as he had a chance? Was it because she was so attractive? Before he had been brought to Larcombe Manor, he would never have rubbed shoulders with someone like her. He would have thought she was a ‘rich bitch’; he didn’t see many of those on the Greenwood and Westbourne estates when he was growing up.
In the few months since he had returned to these shores, apart from a night spent scratching an itch with his landlady in Aberdeen, which had been a liaison best forgotten, the only other woman he had really connected with had been Therese Slater. The lusty barmaid from Manchester was more his style; a great body and she knew how to use it. Colin wished he still had his mobile; for the life of him he couldn’t remember her number.
His daydream was rudely interrupted; one of the guys from the armoury arrived at the double, in his now familiar white t-shirt, black combat trousers and boots.
“Morning Phoenix!” he called out, running on the spot at the bottom of the steps. “Off we go then, we’re ready for your next training session; follow me!”
“Where are we off to?” wheezed Colin as he trailed along in his wake.
“Sounds like you’re unfit Phoenix” the man shouted over his shoulder “in a week or two you’ll be able to have a normal conversation after a six mile run.”
“Six fucking miles!” cried Colin “that’s a bus ride not a bloody run.”
“Try to get your breathing under control Phoenix; you can’t shoot accurately if your chest is heaving like that. We’re putting you through your paces for the rest of the morning, target practice, stripping down and cleaning your weapon; then reassembling the item followed by more practice. Pretty much everything you’ll need in the field when you receive an assignment.”
“Good, that will make a change from all that running, lifting and swimming.”
“I’m glad you think so Phoenix; the only difference tomorrow after breakfast will be the choice of weapon; and then when we’ve exhausted the weapons you’ve been specified as likely to need, we’ll go back to the top and start all over again. No rest for the wicked; or practice makes perfect. Take your pick!”
Colin groaned. Erebus hadn’t warned him his training regime was going to be so extensive. Despite the discomfort he knew awaited him, he was quite looking forward to a spell in the medical centre!
In fact, the next three months passed fairly quickly; Colin grew fitter and stronger, his shooting with several handguns was now deemed ‘excellent’ by his instructors. Several other techniques were drilled into him by personnel engaged in other activities in the ice house facility. He learned how to convincingly portray a different character which was all new to him. It was stressed time and again that the aim was for him to do a job and get out without anyone knowing that it had been done. Colin was used to being invisible and not drawing attention to himself, so some elements of the training came as second nature to him.
Learning advanced computer skills and picking up a couple of foreign languages was another story altogether. It was a long time since those heady days when Colin had achieved an A grade or higher, in every one of those eleven subjects he had taken at the end of Year 11.
He spent many hours in the company of Rusty an SAS veteran who had been in the first intake of the Special Reconnaissance Regiment in ’05 before being shown the door in ’09 after a fight with a superior officer; Rusty taught him to drive like a lunatic, how to fight with concealable weapons, the art of breaking and entering and most frightening of all for Colin, how to use explosives.
Colin was briefed on procedures if he was used on operations overseas; he would have a fake cover identity, or multiple identities; he would be armed and in plain clothes. In other words he would be on his own! There would be no chance of Olympus helping him overtly; the organisation had to be protected at all costs, so if something went tits up, and they weren’t able to pick him up without the foreign security services being aware of it, he would be abandoned.
Rusty didn’t spend a lot of time training Colin in techniques to withstand interrogation; he just shrugged and told him “If you get caught Phoenix, tell them what you know; we’ll change all our codes and so on anyway, so anything you tell them won’t do them any good. In a lot of countries they’ll kill you whether you talk or not, at least that way you won’t lose any fingers.”
Throughout his training he was isolated from Erebus and the others; after he had completed his first session in the ice house he was escorted to the stable block where the crews’ quarters were. All his clothes and other items had been moved from the bedroom he had occupied on his first few nights. The routine was relentless; exercise, skills training, canteen, skills training, canteen, sleep, blessed sleep.
After his stint was completed, he went into the medical centre. Erebus had left instructions that only a minor facial reconstruction was required, which was done and dusted in a fortnight. Colin hadn’t had an eye test for a few years and on examination it was found that he needed glasses. They gave him blue contact lenses, which changed his appearance dramatically and also some clear glass spectacles to wear in the field to assist in masking his true identity.
He hardly recognised the face in the mirror when he got ready to return to the main house for a meeting with Erebus. As he walked across the lawn he wondered; was his first direct action just around the corner? If it was; happy days!
CHAPTER 12
Colin made his way into the main building; he looked around for any sign of Athena or the Three Stooges. All was quiet. As he drew closer to the dining room he heard several people in conversation. He had been awake for an hour or so and had already grabbed a quick snack in the canteen before walking across the lawn in time for his appointment with Erebus.
He knew better than to barge in and see if Erebus was ready to start. Far better to stay in the corridor and wait for the boss to come outside; that way he could listen for any titbits of news to pass back to his colleagues in the stable block; unless, of course, the people in the dining room were discussing him, in which case he would keep schtum!
As he strained to pick up what was being said, Colin heard footsteps nearing the door; it was Erebus.
“Ah there you are old chap” said the old man “let’s go to the orangery for a bit of peace and quiet. We can order a pot of coffee later if you like?”
“That would be great, sir” replied Colin.
The two men walked the rest of the way in a companionable silence. Inside the orangery the décor was as tasteful and understated as in the rest of the house. Erebus looked around the room in admiration, as if he hadn’t been there for some time and was remembering just how wonderful it was.
“You have divided opinion among us Phoenix” said Erebus as he eventually found a seat he seemed to like; Colin sat next to him and wished he had been able to overhear who was for him and who against among the prime movers of the Olympus group.
“That wasn’t my intention Erebus” said Colin.
“Let me say right away Phoenix, that your performance over the past three months has been exemplary. As far as your fitness, both physical and mental, is concerned you have applied yourself to every task thrown at you with commendable effort. You are undoubtedly ready to undertake a direct action operation effective immediately!”