The next morning, as they were all eating breakfast around the Garrison table, Treville yelled down to D'Artagnan to come up to his office.
That got a few raised eyebrows.
A few minutes later, D'Artagnan descended the stairs two at a time, looking like the cat that ate the canary.
"What was that all about?" Porthos asked.
"I have a mission!" D'Artagnan replied happily.
"Delivering some missive to a fair royal maiden?" one of the other Musketeers said, with a small trace of mockery in his tone.
"Not exactly," was the boy's response.
Before any other questions could be asked, Treville yelled from the top of the stairs, "Athos! Porthos! Aramis! My office."
When Treville began charting out the movements of a criminal called Vadim, and his current thoughts as to how get ahead of any plans the man might have to utilize the multiple barrels of gunpowder he had apparently been able to procure, all three Musketeers sat in rapt attention.
Treville's plan involved someone going undercover in the jail that the captured man was scheduled to be transferred to soon, in order to ingratiate himself to the criminal and extract the needed intelligence necessary to thwart any devious plans the man might have with the deadly gunpowder. Even behind bars, the concern was that the connection between Vadim and the gunpowder should be monitored closely, as well as what Vadim might be planning to do with the explosives. Theories at the moment ranged from an execution of the King and Queen, to creating unrest in support of the city's poor.
So far everything made sense to the three men, and indeed each had been on similar missions before, often together.
It was only after Treville began to mention that the mission shouldn't involve a veteran Musketeer, or anyone who might be deemed one, that the three men began to make the connection between D'Artagnan's visit to the Captain's office preceding them.
"I mentioned to D'Artagnan that I had a mission for him, if he agreed to do it. He accepted, even before I explained a word about the mission. After I did, however, he still seemed extremely excited and asked when he could begin."
For reasons he could not understand, Athos momentarily found it hard to catch a breath.
Aramis and Porthos shared a surprised smile when Athos said, "Just a moment, Captain. D'Artagnan is barely recovering from near death as a result of this whole Gaudet episode; he's now to risk his life again by trying to ingratiate himself with a known criminal?"
Treville replied, "Vadim isn't scheduled to be transferred here until Tuesday. That's another week. And Aramis has reported that the boy is almost one-hundred percent ready now. Correct, Aramis?"
"Yes, correct, Captain," Aramis said, earning a glare from Athos. Aramis would have squirmed at the look, but was too amused.
Athos said, "But this isn't only about physical prowess- this is about cunning, and having the ability to lie to get into Vadim's good graces, correct? This boy has no experience in anything close to such a mission!"
"So you will have a week to train him in how he should approach such a task. He should pretend to be someone in tune with whatever plan or scheme that Vadim lets on he may be planning," Treville offered. "Then, we will create an opportunity for him to report back on whatever he may have learned. I will have one guard on the inside who will be keyed into things to watch over him in case anything untoward occurs."
"Apologies, but I will not be party to any training, Captain. To do so would be to ratify my agreement that this is a good idea, which I strongly do not agree with. If you will excuse me," Athos said gruffly. He then got up and walked out.
That left the three men staring at one another.
"I believe he's worried about the boy," Aramis offered.
Suddenly, Athos reappeared.
"You have one guard on the inside who will be watching him?"
"Yes," Treville said, momentarily startled by Athos' reappearance.
"Day shift?"
"Yes."
"So no one to watch out for him overnight?"
"No," Treville admitted.
"Perfect. So as long as anyone trying to harm or abuse him does so during daylight hours, we are good, because if they do so overnight, all alone with no one there, he is left to his own devices. So that plan should work out just perfectly."
Porthos said, "Wait. What do you mean by abuse? Do you mean rape?"
Aramis almost audibly gasped. "Well, I did not when Athos said it, but thank you for now adding that scenario to our heads!"
Athos remained quiet but also appeared to be shaken a bit; but he kept his usual cool demeanor in place as best he could.
Treville quickly interjected, "I am trying to get him to not be in the general population, so that may become less likely…"
Athos' mind, however, was now reeling. "A boy who looks like that- what if- and what if, after a time, he changes his mind and wants out? There will be no one he can signal to release him."
"There are risks, and I made D'Artagnan well aware of them."
"He sees the excitement and romance in the mission, and isn't seriously contemplating the very real risks. Plus, as it has been recently pointed out to me, there may be an element of him- attempting to impress. It's the exploitation of the gullible, Captain."
"And a multiple amount of gunpowder barrels arriving in Paris, connected to a known criminal, is a very serious affair, one worth a little risk." There was a growing edge to the Captain's voice.
"Very little risk to us, however, correct, Captain? If D'Artagnan gets himself killed, no skin off our regiment; hell, he is barely a Musketeer recruit yet, correct? How very convenient."
Porthos and Aramis were getting very uncomfortable in the confrontational tone the conversation was taking, and they both were noticeably squirming in their seats.
"You profess to be concerned for this boy's welfare; however you refuse to train him, in order to minimize the very scenarios that concern you. Make up your mind, Athos. I am finished discussing this with you. You are all dismissed."
As they descended the Garrison stairs, Porthos said, "So change your mind and help us prepare the boy as best-"
Athos yelled, "I will not sanction this mission! We will figure out an alternate approach within this week that we can propose to Treville."
Aramis said, "Well, I for one will not delay in doing what I can to prepare D'Artagnan, on the very possible reality that we may not come up with any alternatives. We owe it to the boy-"
Again, Athos interjected. "Do what you wish. I will not be party to any of it."
D'Artagnan greeted them as they approached the Garrison table.
"So the Captain filled you in?" He grinned, excited and happy.
Athos' anger flared.
"About this foolishness? Yes, he did. And you aren't equipped with the tools required to pull this off."
"So you'll train me!" D'Artagnan smiled.
"Train you to get yourself killed? I think not. You may work with these two, but as far as I'm concerned, I have made my reservations about the entire affair known to the Captain. If you'll excuse me," and with that, Athos walked away.
"Athos, but I have ques-", the boy began, but Athos did not break his walk away from them all.