Quite short, but I have a mock tomorrow so I'm meant to be revising. Thank you for all your reviews, I'm glad you're interesting and I'm so sorry that the last chapter was so short - I didn't have a lot of time yesterday but I wanted to get something posted. I was a bit worried after I'd posted it that it looked like it would be similar to "The Quiz" (go read it, it's good :D) but I know where it's going now, and it's definitely going to be different :)
"What do you mean, exam time table?" Tariq asked nervously as the man from HR handed out sheets of paper to them all.
"We have a list of exams that you will have on each day. Some will be straight-forward written examinations whilst others will be practical."
"Languages paper?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "In what languages?"
The HR man laughed. "I think you mean which." Lucas's face fell. "It will encompass a variety of languages and language related skills, from recognised the languages being written or spoken, to guessing at a rough translation."
"Surely that puts some of us at a disadvantage?" Ros asked, barely glancing at the timetable.
"Yes, it does mean that the field officers are at a slight disadvantage in some sections of the test, but the desk officers will be disadvantaged in others," the HR man smirked. "And just to impress on you the seriousness of these tests, MI5 are looking for employees that are versatile and able to work in as many areas as possible, even areas that are not their specialist areas. Any questions? No?" He quickly left the room, giving them no opportunity to complain or argue back.
All stared at the papers they had been given in disbelief.
"We've apparently got a test in the Echo Bravo safe house in three hours time on the general history and aims of MI5," Tariq said numbly.
"I thought I'd never have an exam week after the A-Level exams," Lucas said miserably. "They can't really be serious about throwing us out of MI5 if we don't do well."
"Maybe," Ros mused. "Ruth, can you do some digging, see what the situation is with these. They've been trying to cut staff recently, maybe they've been rolling this out through out the service, to see who they can drop and then they'll bring in replacements from other sections. That way they reduce staffing without dramatically impacting on the intelligence gained. And for the mean time, I'd recommend reading up on MI5 history." Everyone agreed reluctantly to Ros's plan, all choosing to go their separate ways to swot up.