PART III: The File
Almost three weeks earlier...
Sunday, May 21st, 2017
Blairhoyle, Scotland
09:40 GMT+1 (08:40 GMT May 21st)
The roar of engines drowned out all speech as seven vehicles sped around the two-kilometre grass course.
The course had hairpin turns, gentle curves, high speed straights, and numerous obstacles to be negotiated. On top of that, the course was on a hill, just to add to the skill required to complete the course. However, of the cars out on the course, all had negotiated the course several times, but some were racing. The youngest, thirteen-year-old Craig Montgomery was racing against two fifteen-year-olds: Dakota McFadden and Ewan Lai, a fourteen-year-old: Olivia Kensington, and a seventeen-year-old: Kate Montgomery. They were each driving a Ford Focus equipped with off-road tyres and a roll cage. Chasing them around the course, were Keira and Cassie, both driving four-wheel-drive Ford Mondeos, again equipped with off-road tyres and roll cages. Keira and Cassie were there to get in the way, ramming the younger drivers and sending them spinning off the course. It was all training for advanced driving and the teenagers loved every minute, laughing and joking over the live communications.
While the race went on, five more drivers, thirteen-years-olds: Jake and Charlotte Perrin, Jordan Montgomery, Amber Dawson, and HRH Princess Mary, joined fourteen-year-old Scarlett Radford learning the basics of driving. They were each sitting in a fairly standard Ford Fiesta with a teacher. Jake had drawn Andrew while Charlotte had drawn Sinead. As for Jordan, he had David who would help the amputee to learn to drive an automatic before moving onto a manual to see if Jordan could manage the clutch with his prosthetic leg. Amber sat with Natasha while Scarlett had Cameron. As for Mary, she had the long-suffering Ginny.
So far, they had each learned the basics of their cars and had managed to carefully negotiate a much smaller track located inside the bottom section of the main track.
..._...
Olivia was having the time of her life as she downshifted for the next corner, a hard left, while simultaneously keeping an eye on Craig who was just inches from her rear bumper.
Olivia giggled excitedly as she nudged up on the handbrake to assist her turn, the Ford Focus sliding sideways in a cloud of dust with Craig doing very much the same as he endeavoured to overtake his girlfriend. However, they were both concentrating so hard as they tried to outrace the other, neither noticed a grinning Kate accelerating past and up the slope towards the hairpin bend at the top.
"Bitch!" Olivia exclaimed as she accelerated a little too hard, sending her Focus sliding sideways ahead of Craig who smashed into the side, both cars sliding off the track into bushes as Dakota and Ewan belted past.
..._...
Olivia was livid as she jumped out of her car and pulled off her helmet and neck brace.
Craig pushed open his door and pulled off his own helmet before he stepped out. He was grinning, but he still glared at Olivia. Attracted by the crash, several of those learning to drive in the centre paused to go watch the spectacle. It was obvious that neither teenager was hurt – at least not physically, although it did appear that an ego or two had been badly dented.
"You fucking twat!" Olivia exclaimed. "You fucking smacked into me!"
"You lost control and span out, right in twatting front of me, bitch!" Craig retorted angrily.
As Diana watched, the two pulled off their gloves and they began exchanging blows.
"Shouldn't we...?" Diana began.
"Nah," Natasha said. "Give it a moment..."
As Diana watched, the fight soon had the pair rolling on the ground after Olivia tripped Craig, but then the fight dissolved into lovemaking...
"Ewww!" Diana exclaimed.
"Sickening, isn't it?" Jordan grinned.
"Oh, I don't know," Jake commented.
"It's disgusting, that's what it is," Charlotte grimaced.
The next morning...
Monday, May 22nd
Edinburgh, Scotland
10:03 GMT+1 (09:03 GMT May 22nd)
Jasper was not best pleased with his controller.
Not after he was specifically warned off assisting Commander Lawrence when the man was in trouble, not to mention the fallout after the team sent to rescue him had been captured and tortured. For the moment, relations between Vengeance and HMG were 'strained' to say the least. Then, his controller had had the gall to drop a shitty mission in his lap. One which promised to dredge up some decidedly nasty memories for his entire family.
"We have a task for you."
"A task?"
"We need you to recover an item."
"An item?"
"Yes, Commander. It is an item with which you are intimately familiar, and one which has caused your family, and another, much turmoil."
Jasper's expression darkened as he remembered that very night, a little over one year before, when his only daughter was murdered, and that very same night Olivia and Jessica had lost their parents – both girls being shot in the process. That night had never been discussed within the family and nobody had ever brought the subject up.
"Where?"
"London."
"London!"
"London."
"Full scale assault or surgical strike?"
"Try not to make the front pages, there's a good fellow."
A short while later...
Ashley House
12:42 GMT+1 (11:42 GMT May 22nd)
Jasper was not pleased with the assignment – he knew that some old memories were going to be dug up whether he liked it or not.
However, orders were orders, and there was very little room for manoeuvre. Therefore, that afternoon, Jasper had sat down with Cameron, Natasha, and Keira to discuss the forthcoming operation. Cassie was not present as she would not be taking part.
"Okay, guys, we have a mission. We need to recover a confidential file from within a building belonging to a foreign power. That file must be recovered, preferably without making the front pages, or causing an international incident. The mission will take place in London."
"London!"
That had been the general response to the initial briefing and Jasper and simply nodded.
"Whose building are we invading, anyway?" Cameron asked.
"We believe it to belong to North Korea," Jasper replied.
"North Korea?" Keira asked.
"You 'believe it to belong'?" Natasha queried, looking for clarification.
"Yes," Jasper replied uneasily.
"Great!" Keira growled. "What is my participation?"
"We want you to take Twilight as backup."
"Over central London? I got my arse chewed the last time I upset ATC."
"We've put procedures in place," Jasper assured the concerned pilot. "We will give you a transponder code which will shut them up. There is a small chance that egressing over the ground will not be possible, so you will evacuate the team from the rooftop, if necessary. However, the primary plan is to get in and out, during the hours of darkness, or there might just be a problem."
"Who are we sending in?" Cameron asked.
"We think it would be a good mission for Polaris to command – as it would be her first time back out there," Jasper replied. "Considering it's only a North Korean safehouse, we could also send Pyrrha and Aegea – it would be a good experience for them both."
"The mission's expected to be that easy?" Keira asked dubiously.
"We believe so," Jasper responded. "There will, of course, be full back up from the ground – Stripe will command the ground extraction team with Ajax, Arbiter, Harrier, and Forager. Scorpion will command the air extraction team with Goshawk and Overrun. The support team will be commanded by Q with Insidious. Additional support will be provided by Drift and Crimson along with Rigour and Belle. To back up the retrieval team, we will try out the new guys: Noxa, Custos, and Necis."
The group went on to discuss the layout of the North Korean safehouse and other important points of the impending mission.
That evening...
East Mayfield
19:32 GMT+1 (18:32 GMT May 22nd)
Harper grinned as she welcomed Cameron and Natasha into the house.
"Hi, guys!" Blake said as he waved the pair into the living room.
Diana waved from the sofa where she was reading a girly magazine. Harper sat down beside Diana, pulled her legs up and waited expectantly while the adults sorted themselves out and sat themselves down.
"Harper, we would like you to lead the next mission," Natasha said.
Harper's mouth dropped open in surprise at the suggestion that a mere ten-year-old might be put in command of a Vengeance mission.
"We also want Diana to go on the mission," Cameron added.
"Huh!" Diana asked, peering over her magazine.
"Diana?" Harper asked.
"Yes, Harper, Diana. We have a retrieval mission for you to command. You will go in with Diana and Scarlett. You will be backed up by the rest of Vengeance, including air support provided by your sister."
Harper frowned and looked up at Keira.
"Did you know?"
"Yes, I did," Keira replied.
Harper growled but she nodded, nonetheless.
"I accept. I enjoy wearing the suit and I'm ready to go back out."
"You've grown up over the past few months and you've proven that you can command," Cameron stated.
"She's grown a good few inches, too," Keira said proudly.
"Around the middle, I think," Diana commented as she pointed at Harper's exposed tummy.
Keira laughed as a scowling Harper pulled down her pyjama top.
"Not funny, Diana," Harper responded.
"You have until Thursday morning to train your team. Vengeance deploys to London on Thursday morning and there will be a reconnaissance of the target that evening. You go in, Friday night, with your Zeta friends as close backup. It will be a recovery mission without leaving too much evidence behind. Harper, you will train your team to use non-lethal weapons for the takedown. Ideally, you will not make any contact with the opposition. However, there will be teams on the ground and, as I mentioned earlier, Keira will be loitering to pull you out from the rooftops," Natasha explained.
"You ready for this, Diana?" Harper asked.
Diana looked back at Harper, "Am I?"
"Yes, you are."
Diana grinned back.
"Does Scarlett know?" Harper asked.
"Yes, she does," Cameron stated.
The following evening...
Tuesday, May 23rd
Vengeance Training Facility
20:55 GMT+1 (19:55 GMT May 23rd)
Harper was working the girls hard.
Scarlett was happily pounding the crap out of a punchbag while Diana was perfecting her kicks with the assistance of Jordan. The two amputees were proving that simply missing a leg – or two – should not prevent either one of them from being a cutting-edge vigilante. Indeed, Diana was a force to be reckoned with as nobody wanted to be struck by her carbon-fibre 'training' legs – they 'fucking hurt', Craig had admitted the first time he had been on the receiving end of one of them. Diana had been concerned that she would not be able to fight to the required standard. She had also been concerned that she would not be able to keep up with her fellow vigilantes. She was scared that she might be relegated to some support role.
It was that fear which had kept the young girl going. She had, with the assistance of Lucius Fox, learnt to run again – fast! Yes, she lurched a bit, but she could build up a good pace using her training blades which were also light enough for Diana to kickout with. Her self-esteem had risen to previously unattainable levels with the help of Blake, Keira, and Harper. Not only was she just as mobile as any other youngster – sort of – she had been able to return to a fairly normal life – sort of. Four months of intensive training meant that Diana could run, kick, punch, and shoot, just as well as Scarlett could – sort of. Maybe it was the attention of the boy, Cory, at school. That had also been a reason to push ahead. The boy had quickly figured out that Diana was an amputee – he had, however, been shocked to learn that she was a double amputee. Diana had thought that that would be that, but no, Cory had become a part of her life.
Harper had learnt – the hard way as usual – that Diana had fangs. The first visit by Cory to their home had resulted in Harper being grounded for a week. However, it had not been the grounding which had stung, it had been Diana's attack once Cory had departed at the end of the visit. Two punches was all it had taken for Harper to be put down on the ground, instantly regretting teasing Diana for having a boyfriend. That story had spread like wildfire – thanks to Keira – and Diana was seen as more of a bad-ass than just an annoyance. Even Scarlett had deigned to be friends with Diana and the pair often trained together.
As they were, that evening.
..._...
"Okay, you sorry bitches!" Harper lectured. "You are mine for the next few days and we have a lot of work to do. We shall be Alpha Team."
Scarlett and Diana both exchanged worried glances as they continued to train. Harper then looked over at her friends – Rylee, Simon, and Tanya – who were busy sparring together.
"As for those sorry bitches," Harper continued, glaring at her Zeta friends and initially ignoring the annoyed cough from Simon. "You three will be Bravo Team. Oh, sorry, Simon, it's just that Rylee is bitchy enough for two people."
Rylee scowled.
"On that subject, Rylee," Harper continued. "I am in command; are you okay with taking orders from me?"
Rylee nodded, just as Harper had expected – the girl was too professional to behave otherwise.
"I trust you, Harper," she replied. "But you get me killed and I will fucking haunt you for all eternity!"
"Nice!" Harper grinned.
Simon just rolled his eyes and exchanged a look with Tanya.
Two days later...
Thursday, May 25th
Blairhoyle, Scotland
07:55 GMT+1 (06:55 GMT May 25th)
The goodbyes were particularly difficult.
One group was going into action while the other group was going away. Nobody liked to miss out on a mission, and those not going would worry about those who were going. They all knew that there was a chance that people would not come back from a mission. They all accepted it, despite not dwelling on it. They all knew that they had chosen a particularly dangerous profession, the Predators especially. However, the Predators had grown up living with death, so they tended not to spend time dwelling upon the darker side of their profession.
Naomi, Kaitlin, Charlotte, and Jake waved goodbye to their friends before they headed back inside to finish their own preparations.
Thursday, May 25th
Safehouse VL
London, England
17:55 GMT+1 (16:55 GMT May 25th)
They arrived at the safehouse, late on Thursday afternoon.
As was usual when a mission loomed, the childish behaviour vanished the very moment they left the vehicles and they began to focus their young minds for battle. For the two main ground teams, there was a reconnaissance to be completed. Each team gathered and prepared themselves. Weapons were issued and inspected, communications devices were issued and tested. Everyone went over the game plan whether they knew it or not. For several, it was all very new and for two, at least, a little disconcerting.
Still, they all left the building dressed in civilian attire and ready to do their best.
Alpha Team: Polaris, Pyrrha, and Aegea.
Bravo Team: Noxa, Custos, and Necis.
Echo Team: Stripe, Ajax, Arbiter, Harrier, and Forager.
Romeo Team: Scorpion, Goshawk, and Overrun.
Sierra Team: Q, Insidious, and Viridian.
Yankee Team: Drift and Crimson with Rigour and Belle.
19:30 GMT+1 (18:30 GMT May 25th)
Eric and his team climbed aboard a large long-wheelbase Ford Transit van which was equipped as a geek's home from home.
The entire rear of the vehicle was fully equipped with surveillance equipment as well as weaponry and ballistic armour. With a roar, the diesel engine hauled the van off down the road where the white van blended in amongst the hundreds of other very similar vehicles negotiating the busy streets of London.
As for the others, they split up. Alpha and Bravo teams made for Paddington Station and thence the Underground. Echo and Romeo teams grabbed a cab each and made for Victoria station while Cameron and Natasha strolled through Hyde Park. They were joined by a young girl with short dark brown hair who simply appeared to tag along with the two adults. As Cameron hailed a cab just down the road from the Royal Albert Hall, a fourth person appeared, this one a tall female with a hood covering her hair and most of her face.
Electra grinned broadly as she gazed into the eyes of Mary who grinned back at her friend as she sat with her back to the driver on a drop-down seat.
St James's Park, London
20:18 GMT+1 (19:18 GMT May 25th)
Dusk was looming as the teams began to infiltrate the streets around the target.
Alpha Team strolled in from the north, having left the Underground at Piccadilly Circus and walked down Waterloo Place before crossing over the very busy Pall Mall and stopping at Carlton Gardens. Bravo Team came in from the south across The Mall, entering Carlton Gardens via the stone steps which led up from The Mall. They loitered beside a non-descript white transit van which appeared to be parked up and empty, a sign on the side suggesting that the van belonged to an electrician. Echo Team came in from the direction of St James's Palace, walking down Pall Mall slowly and making lots of noise as they did so, just like any kids.
All was coming together, very nicely.
DYNAMO
20:33 GMT+1 (19:33 GMT May 25th)
"Comms check!" Q announced into the microphone of his headset.
"Alpha Team present and correct."
"Bravo Team in position and correct."
"Echo Team present and correct, apart from Arbiter who almost got knocked down by a Deliveroo driver! I think she pissed herself!"
"I fucking did not!"
"Romeo Team checking in – orbiting three miles out," Scorpion called from aboard TWILIGHT.
"Yankee Team good to go!"
"All stations, you have twenty minutes – execute!" Q said.
..._...
As Viridian watched the screens mounted on the bulkhead before him, he recognised his friends as they went about their reconnaissance, checking for potential problems which had not been identified in their briefing packets supplied by MI5.
Each team were stealthily placing small cameras at strategic locations around the area as they closed the building, which was their ultimate target. The building had eight stories and then a rooftop garden. There were many balconies and only the central section extended up to the full height. Being a safehouse, there was very little actual security activity, however, the eagle-eyed Predators were easily able to clock the make-work being done by otherwise innocent-looking people. There was a streetsweeper working a little late – the earpiece gave him away. A lady out walking her chihuahua appeared to move too slowly and the dog seemed very tired like it had been out walking for quite a while.
However, at precisely 20:45, the shifts changed, as per their briefing documentation, and the lady with the miniature dog was replaced by a man with an Alsatian. The streetsweeper vanished to be replaced by two people, a man and a woman, who simply walked around, chatting together, with the occasional kiss thrown in. Viridian had identified that all three were armed, thanks to the high-definition cameras mounted on the van.
Once the twenty-minute time was up, the teams vacated the area like they had never been.
..._...
There was very little chatter as the teams made for different Underground stations than the ones used to arrive.
Most were thinking through what they had seen and were remembering everything which pertained to their part in the mission planned for the following night. It was a complex mission, but simple to execute if all played their part.
Far above, Scorpion had scoped out the roof and the approaches that she would have to make to avoid any obstacles which on a dark night amongst the many bright lights which would do their best to dazzle and disorient the pilot into colliding with something aircraft destroying. Once her flight was complete, TWILIGHT was put away at the London City Airport until the following evening.
It was late – almost 11 o'clock by the time all had returned safely to the safehouse.
Safehouse VL
23:30 GMT+1 (22:30 GMT May 25th)
Second Floor
The three girls of Alpha Team were sharing a room together.
There was uneasiness as the three tried to sleep. Actually, Harper was having no trouble sleeping as nothing they were doing was any different to that which she had trained for over many years. It was Diana who was struggling the most and Scarlett was not exactly over the moon with current events.
"What if I screw up?" Diana asked.
"To paraphrase Hit Girl," Harper said as she lay in her bed, staring at the ceiling. "If you think you going to screw up, then you're going to screw up."
"Well, I'm boned!" Diana muttered.
"Fucking hell!" Harper protested as she rolled over and hung over the edge of the bunk bed, glaring down at Diana. "You're going to be fine, for fuck's sake!"
"How do you know?"
"Because I fucking know, okay?"
"Not really," Diana persisted.
Harper took a deep breath before continuing.
"Yes, this is your first mission for Vengeance, but if neither of you were ready, then I would not take you. I know I've considered getting Scarlett killed, and this would be a great opportunity, but that's all in the past."
"Gee, thanks!" Scarlett commented out of the darkness.
"You both have skills which I need, and this mission has little danger attached to it. We're backed up beyond reason and there is very little which can go wrong. Diana – you speak Korean and that will be very handy where we are going. Talking of which, what possessed you to learn Korean?"
"I was learning it before my accident and I was doing well, too, I think. I wanted to learn something different, I suppose. There are some differences between South Korean written text and that used by North Korea, but I think I've got the basics down; I'll be able to read signs etcetera."
"Scarlett – you can fight, and you have a good sense of danger – I need that for my team," Harper added.
"So, what happens if all goes to shit?" Scarlett asked.
"Then Rylee will kill anyone in our way . . . won't you, Rylee?"
"How'd you know I was here?" Rylee hissed out of the darkness over by the door.
"I lived with you for months, Rylee," Harper pointed out. "I know you too well."
"Okay," Rylee conceded. "Yes, Harper is right; I will be there with my team to keep you all safe."
"Promise?" Diana pushed.
"Yes, Diana, I promise," Rylee said as reassuringly as she could.
To Harper's surprise, Diana turned over and was soon asleep. Scarlett soon followed as Rylee slunk back to her own bedroom leaving Harper to lie in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. She was a little worried about leading the mission, but she trusted that she had only been given the task as those in charge knew that she was perfectly capable of completing the mission successfully. Part of her was worried about Diana, but again, she knew that Diana was very skilled and that despite the girl's nervousness, Diana would rise to the occasion.
Harper turned over and very soon the youngster found herself fast asleep.
..._...
Rylee crept back into her bedroom where she found Tanya snoring quietly.
Simon looked up as the brand new twelve-year-old entered. Though they had only been together for three months, they had become inseparable, just as they had been before they had lost one another. Only, things had changed. Rylee had become softer, in parts at least, but harder when sparring. Another thing which Simon had noticed, was that Rylee was showing a new side to herself – jealousy. If another girl dared to speak to Simon or deigned to come within six feet of the boy, Simon would see Rylee's anger build until the other girl slunk away. As for the softer side, that was demonstrated by the girl pulling off her T-shirt and slipping into bed with Simon, completely naked.
Simon was not exactly complaining, and Tanya just ignored the both of them. Rylee said she slept better when she was wrapped in Simon's arms. The boy allowed Rylee to do what she wanted – it was easier that way – and he would often find Rylee pulling his arms around her body. At times, though, Rylee would sometimes rest his hands-on places that Simon saw as 'forbidden'. However, Simon had grown used to touching Rylee's 'bumps', as he called them, but he was a little unsure when Rylee rested one of his hands somewhere else on her body. Simon figured it was just Rylee and puberty.
The boy smiled happily as he fell asleep with his Rylee.
Downstairs
The adults were chatting in the living room.
Keira had just returned from putting TWILIGHT to bed and she eagerly sat down in a comfortable chair to enjoy a cold beer before she headed up to bed.
"We all set?" David asked as he swallowed a mouthful of beer, a half empty bottle held in his right hand.
"I think so," Jasper replied before he took a swig from his own bottle.
"All seems in order," Cameron confirmed.
"Everyone is performing beyond expectations," Natasha announced, "especially the new kids."
"That's good to know," Lynn replied as she sipped a glass of white wine.
"I can't think of anything else we can do to protect them," Jasper said. "If we're not ready, then I have no idea what else we can do."
"We're ready, and so are the teams," Trevor announced.
"To the teams!" Keira announced as she held up her beer.
There followed the resounding clink of glass upon glass as everyone toasted the teams' success.
The next day...
Friday, May 26th
Safehouse VL
07:35 GMT+1 (06:35 GMT May 26th)
As was usual, there was a mad rush for the toilets.
The safehouse had seven toilets, over four floors, all of which were occupied as an annoyed, and increasingly desperate, Olivia dropped down from the second floor all the way to the lower ground floor.
"You bitch!" Olivia exclaimed as she found a grinning Mary already installed in the tiny room off the utility room.
"You snooze, you lose!" Mary grinned.
"Aaargh!" Olivia exclaimed as she decided that she was so desperate that she shrugged off her knickers and made use of the shower located beside Mary who laughed.
"Now, that is disgusting," the Princess commented.
"When you got to go, you got to go," Olivia reasoned.
"True!"
..._...
Elsewhere in the capacious property, Harper was showering and preparing herself, mentally and physically, for the day ahead.
As she washed, her hands and eyes took in the scars which were dotted around her torso. They were a stark reminder of what could happen should everything go to hell in a basket. Harper had experienced torture and captivity, first-hand, and she had no desire to experience it again. Neither did she want any of her friends to endure anything like what she had experienced. However, they were at war, and war had both casualties and consequences, Harper knew. Still, as commander of the mission, that was her responsibility to worry about, not her team's. She was not worried about her Zeta friends; they could all look after themselves with ease. It was Diana and Scarlett who worried Harper. Harper knew what it felt like to be scared to death and to feel totally helpless because you had no idea what to do. Therefore, she was determined to ensure that her team was perfect and ready, mentally, as well as physically.
"You done, yet?" Tanya demanded as she waited her turn for the shower.
"I'm getting there, jeez!" Harper responded as she quickly rinsed herself off.
Tanya laughed at the scowling Harper as the younger girl grabbed a towel and left the bathroom.
..._...
Naturally, breakfast was a chaotic affair with many hungry adults and youngsters to be fed.
Cameron, David, and Trevor were cooking up literal tray loads of bacon, sausages, fried eggs, fried bread, plum tomatoes, and fried mushrooms. All of that was served with lashings of HP Sauce and Ketchup. Gallons of tea were produced by Lynne while Keira and Jasper supervised the less-civilised members of society.
"No!" Keira called out. "Rylee, Harper – do I need to come over there and bang your stupid heads together?"
Rylee and Harper swiftly (and wisely) dropped the knives which they were using to play fight and went back to their food.
"I don't know either one of them," Simon pointed out as he grinned at Rylee and Harper.
"Craig!" Jasper warned. "Olivia is old enough to feed herself; she does not need sausages pushed into her mouth."
"Ewan . . . leave the Princess to eat, please," Lynne called out. "Mary, that is thoroughly disgusting!"
"I give up with her," Ginny groaned. "She's a little hussy!"
"At least I don't go around snogging boys," Mary retorted, "like Electra does."
There was a clatter as Electra dropped her knife and her face exploded into a pink red warmth.
"Oh," Olivia grinned as she looked over at the mortified ten-year-old girl. "Do tell."
"There is nothing to tell," Electra responded forcefully. "Unlike Princess Bitchy, I don't kiss and tell."
Olivia's attention turned to Mary with a questioning expression.
"It was just a quick kiss, alright..."
Mary looked and sounded like she wanted the floor to open up beneath her.
"You bragged about it for weeks," Electra reminded her friend.
"It's not my fault Ewan has nice lips . . . oops!"
All eyes then turned to Ewan who cringed at the expression Ginny gave him.
"She came onto me – I just responded," Ewan said quickly, and Ginny's eyes focussed on the young Princess.
"Ginny, I'm still a fucking virgin, okay!" Mary said before Ginny could say anything. "Don't worry, there'll be no sordid Sun or Daily Mirror headlines: 'PRINCESS MARY FUCKS BOY' or 'MARY BONED', okay!"
There was a lot of laughter as Mary just slumped down in her chair and ate her breakfast.
"She has a good vocabulary," Jasper pointed out to Ginny.
"Don't I know it!" the exasperated protection officer growled before she spoke loudly. "Any boy who puts his dick anywhere near Mary's apparatus gets a bullet in his head."
"Apparatus?" Mary enquired.
"Your cunt – that hairy bit between your legs," Kate elaborated.
"I know what she meant!" Mary shouted back angrily, ignoring the laughter.
Ginny grinned as she went back to her own breakfast, leaving Mary and Kate to bicker.
..._...
Not surprisingly, Diana and Scarlett were very quiet over breakfast.
They both laughed at Electra and Mary, then ignored the sniping between Kate and Mary. Neither had slept perfectly and both were very worried about what lay ahead, despite what Harper and Rylee had said the night before. As the two girls lazily pushed mushrooms around their plates, they were surrounded by Harper, Tanya, Rylee, and Simon.
"Hi, guys!" Simon said in greeting.
To the four Predators, it was obvious what was eating up Diana and Scarlett. It was time to get them focussed on the mission and not on their conscience which was busy conjuring up nasty possibilities and endings for the night's operation. The four youngsters had been taught, long before, how to file away those thoughts so as to not dwell on them.
"You two finished?" Tanya asked. "Good."
The two girls were dragged to their feet and taken down to the armoury. There, both teams drew their weapons – every blade, bullet, magazine, and firearm which they thought they might need for the night's operation. They then sat down in the living room – Rylee and Tanya sitting on the floor while Simon, Harper, Scarlett, and Diana sat on chairs. Together, the six of them were to go through each and every weapon, beginning with the firearms. First, the firearms were laid out on a thick sheet of opaque plastic to protect the living room carpet, and Simon checked off the weapons.
"Three Diemaco C8-CQB assault rifles, each with four thirty-round magazines. Four Walther PPQ M2 Navy SD pistols, each with four fifteen-round magazines. Three SIG Sauer P238 Compact pistols, each with four seven-round extended magazines. One Kel-Tec PF-9 pistol with two seven-round magazines."
Every weapon was stripped down to its component parts before every part was visually inspected by two sets of eyes and cleaned – even though none of the weapons had been fired, and therefore, did not need cleaning. Diana took extra care with her weapons to the point that Harper became impatient with the older girl.
"Look, the mission is today, not next sodding week!"
"Sorry!" Diana responded, looking somewhat downcast.
"Ignore her," Tanya said. "She's just bitchy."
"Tell me about it!" Diana and Scarlett both said together.
Harper glared over at the two girls as they laughed at her expense.
..._...
Once the firearms were clean, and they had been reassembled, each magazine was loaded with the correct size and type of ammunition.
Each assault rifle and pistol, apart from the Kel-Tec, was fitted with a suppressor to try and add some stealth to the mission – the last thing they wanted was to engage in an audible gun fight in central London. Once the firearms were ready and put to one side, the bladed weapons were checked, polished, and sharpened, before they were laid out neatly beside the firearms.
There were quite a few. Six combat knives were arrayed, side-by-side, the carbon steel blades varying from six-inches to eight-inches in length. Fifty-four ceramic throwing knives came next, all finely balanced and ultra-sharp. Arranged neatly in a line, just below the throwing knives, were eight two-foot long tactical wakizashi machetes. Each eighteen-inch blade was manufactured from carbon steel and beyond deadly. Just as deadly were the two five-foot long carbon fibre bō-staffs, each of which came apart to form a pair of individual fifteen-inch-bladed swords which could then be joined at the hilt to form a vicious and deadly double-bladed bō-staff.
Once everything was laid out, every item was checked again . . . and again. There was to be no margin for error. Every piece of equipment had to work first time, every time, no matter what. Lives depended on how well the rounds were stripped off the top of a magazine and inserted into a breech block. Lives depended on how well the action of the firearm cycled to eject the spent cartridge and seek another round. Lives depended on the ability of the blades to cause mortal injury on an enemy before the enemy could cause mortal injury to the vigilante. Nothing was left to chance. The veteran fighters helped the rookies to ensure that they had prepared their weapons correctly.
Rylee hated to admit it – to herself at least - but Harper had done an amazing job of training Diana and Scarlett. Despite Rylee's feelings for Harper, so long ago, the girl had proved that she was just as good – strike that – almost as good as her, Rylee thought with a grin.
It was approaching lunchtime by the time the final item had been cleaned, checked, and laid out.
..._...
Lunch was a buffet affair with each person helping themselves before returning to whatever task they were in the middle of.
As Diana crammed a burger into her mouth, Harper and Rylee surveyed the array of deadly weaponry spread out across the living room floor. Scarlett was stunned by the amount of death arranged so neatly, not to mention knowing that she was to be carrying a sixth of it.
"Well done, everyone," Harper said. "Good to see that Rylee's not lost her touch."
Rylee just grinned.
"Once you've eaten, I want you all to go get some shuteye for the next two hours - no arguments or messing about. We awake at sixteen hundred and we gear-up at seventeen hundred," Harper went on.
They each followed instructions and by two that afternoon, all six were fast asleep, as were many others as they mentally and physically prepared themselves for a busy night.