21. Polar Bear's Family

It was three days later when Dad delivered the results. We had been doing more running with Dad and the sergeant. Aunt Ben and Uncle Tamara had already left. They had been there and then they weren't. We had all wondered where they had gone. I wondered if they had gone home or if they were once again on a mission. I hoped that they'd be okay. They were getting on a bit in years. Not that I'd ever tell Aunt Tamara that (she'd probably castrate me). Dad had given me a look at the start of the run.

'Right Polar Bear, Tiger that was too slow drop and give me ten,' Dad ordered. 'Everyone else dismissed.'

Polar Bear and I groaned. It wasn't even as though we had been particularly slow. Boar had been much slower. I glared at my father for forcing us to do this unfairly. Dad didn't seem overly bothered. He did seem to be inspecting Polar Bear for some reason as though trying to see something more than what was there. Polar Bear and I did our press ups. Really I thought ten press ups wasn't that bad. The sergeant would usually give us fifty and that was if he was feeling faintly kind.

After we were done we stood up. Polar Bear stood to attention. I followed his lead although my stance was slightly mocking. I felt it was really odd having to stand to attention to my own father. It reminded me of when we were younger and would watch the Sound of Music. Well at least I could say that about my Dad; he didn't run his home like he ran his training sessions. He may encourage our training but he didn't force us to do it but with our DNA it was too hard wired into us not to. That brought me to thinking about Polar Bear.

How long did a DNA test take to make? Was it possible that Dad had the results? That would explain why he had kept us behind when we weren't that slow. I wondered if Dad had found anything. He was looking at Polar Bear again as though expecting to see something else there but for the life of me I could not work out what. Had they met before last year's training sessions? Did Dad know something of Polar Bear's parents? Had Dad worked with Polar Bear's parents? Had Dad worked against Polar Bear's parents?

'At ease,' Dad said.

We both relaxed slightly but we were wary about speaking out of turn in front of Dad. I glanced at Polar Bear who was scowling at nothing in particular. But that was Polar Bear's normal stance on things. I thought I saw a flicker of confusion in his glacial blue eyes but I might have imagined it. Dad did something that neither of us expected him to do. He smiled. I had a feeling that Polar Bear didn't even know that my father could smile. Oh yes he'd seen him smirk at the sergeant but never an honest smile.

'I got the results,' Dad said.

'The DNA test?' I asked.

'Precisely,' Dad said.

'Did you ever see another girl when you were hurt?' asked Dad.

'No, sir,' responded Polar Bear.

'I just wondered,' Dad murmured. 'Okay I'll tell you the story – what I know of it –but I don't know a lot.'

'Yes, sir,' Polar Bear said.

'It occurred before I was in MI6,' Dad said. 'When you and I were both children,' Dad explained to Polar Bear. 'You'd have been about two whilst I would be about ten.'

'Right,' I said confused.

'The then Deputy Head of MI6 who would later become the Head of MI6 was a woman called Tulip Marigold Jones.'

'How did you know her?' I asked.

'She was the deputy when I was first recruited,' Dad said. 'I certainly preferred her to our boss.'

'The one who forced you to work for him?' I asked.

'Forced?' asked Polar Bear sounding shocked.

'Strange as it may seem to you I was originally blackmailed,' Dad explained.

Polar Bear looked shocked, 'didn't you want to fight for your country?'

'At the age of fourteen most kids are worrying about exams, girls and what's on at the cinema,' Dad said. 'Not bombs, terrorists and torture.'

'I wasn't,' growled Polar Bear.

Dad gave him a sympathetic look, 'you were different because of what happened between the ages of two and six.'

Polar Bear flinched slightly, 'do you know who did it?' he asked.

'Personally, no,' he said. 'But it was a terrorist organisation of some sort.'

'How do you know?' I asked.

'Well as I was saying this woman Mrs Jones I was talking about,' Dad said. 'She was married with a husband – one Alan Jones – had two kids a daughter, Hettie, and a son who was eight years older, Richard.'

'Right,' I said still confused.

'I don't know how much the husband knew about Mrs Jones' job,' Dad admitted.

'Like us,' I said.

Dad nodded, 'except your mother knew what I did. Heck I met her on a job.'

'And she still married you despite the danger?' I asked.

'I know,' Dad shook his head. 'I was the one who kept saying it was a really bad idea that she could get killed and trying to scare her away. But she was one stubborn woman,' Dad smiled.

'Tiger,' growled Polar Bear. 'As much as I love reminiscing what does this have to do with me?'

Dad sighed, 'I don't know the full details but from what I've managed to work out whilst Mrs Jones and Alan Jones who was a Chemistry teacher I believe.'

'Where were the kids?' I asked.

'Richard was with an elderly aunt of Alan Jones' I believe,' Dad shrugged. 'And Hettie was at school. Anyways the elderly aunt had fallen asleep whilst Richard was sleeping too. She woke up and Richard was no longer there. The school had already phoned the Jones' to alert them that Hattie too had gone missing from the playground at around the same time. It's the reason I was worried about having kids and bringing you into my dangerous world.'

'Why did you?' I asked. 'Not that I'm complaining or anything.'

'Your mother reminded me that I had been born into a spy family,' chuckled Dad. 'True I reminded her that I had been blackmailed into MI6 at fourteen. It was many years of arguing before she convinced me to have kids.'

'What does this have to do with me, sir?' asked Polar Bear.

'Right, yes, Polar Bear,' Dad smiled. 'The police and the secret services all looked for the Jones children but they were never found. Until now they were presumed to be dead.'

'What does this have to do with Polar Bear dad?' I asked.

'Well as I said we thought they were dead until we checked your DNA against our records and found that yours matched Mrs Jones',' Dad said.

Polar Bear's eyes widened, 'so I'm the boy.'

'Well your DNA, your past and your age all match,' Dad said. 'You don't look much like your mother I have to say,' Dad admitted. 'Maybe something in the jaw structure,' Dad mused.

'Are they alive?' Polar Bear asked. 'My parents?'

'Your father killed himself a few years after,' Dad sighed.

Polar Bear flinched, 'why?' pain was in his face.

'Your mother and he had divorced after loosing you and your sister. It often happens when something of this nature happens to the children; the mother blames the father and the father blames the mother,' Dad said. 'Add in that your mother had thrown herself into her work in a desperate attempt to find you two. Your father couldn't deal with it anymore I would expect.'

'Is my mother still alive?' Polar Bear asked eyes still glittering at the news of his father.

'Your mother has been planning on retiring in four years,' Dad said.

'And you'll take over right?' I asked.

'Tiger,' growled Dad.

'Oh sorry,' I said realising I wasn't supposed to give away that.

'Will I meet her?' Polar Bear asked. He seemed to be having a hard time adjusting.

'Your mother's very keen on meeting you,' Dad said. 'And we are now looking for a girl who in the same year you were found was fourteen with the same injuries as you have.'

'My sister, sir?' asked Polar Bear.

'Exactly,' Dad smiled.

/

A few days later we were relaxing after a day's training. Dad had left a few days earlier. He had said goodbye to me. I wondered if we would ever meet up again on the field. That would certainly be an experience, being your own father's back up. Polar Bear was once again scowling up at the tent. He had been even quieter since Dad had told him about his parents. Not that I blamed him, it must be quite a shock to have all that dumped on your plate. It seemed that I was not the only one affected by having a parent in MI6.

Bat was reading a manual on motorbikes again. How many times could you read the same manual without getting bored? Dog was reading a Sherlock Holmes novel – The Hound of the Baskervilles. I was spinning an old yoyo in my hands. That was when the sergeant came in looking exceptionally unhappy about something if his scowl deeper than normal and dark glare was anything to go by. The four of us dropped our things and stood to attention quicker than usual not wanting to annoy the sergeant when he was in this kind of mood.

'Polar Bear, Tiger,' bit out the sergeant in clipped tones. 'To my office. Now,' ordered the sergeant.

'Yes, sergeant,' the two of us replied.

Polar Bear and I shared a look. Polar Bear was still scowling but compared to the sergeant it looked like a rabbit trying to scare you. I wondered what we were supposed to have done. Were we being binned? Was I finally getting a lecture for the counter terrorism lesson? No because if I was then the sergeant would do it in front of the others to humiliate us. Then what was going on? Polar Bear and I followed into the sergeant's office. The sergeant looked unhappy at what was going on so this clearly wasn't his idea.

There was an old woman in her sixties maybe with silver, badly cut hair and black eyes which were the same shape as Polar Bear. The woman's face had the same shape as Polar Bear. I looked between them. The woman looked delighted to see Polar Bear. I saw a younger woman who was around my dad's age with dirty blonde hair like Polar Bear and black eyes like the woman. Again she had the same shaped face. I worked it out. This must be the Mrs Jones that Dad had spoke of and the younger woman must be Polar Bear's sister – Hettie.

'Sergeant you are dismissed,' Mrs Jones said.

'Yes ma'am,' nodded the sergeant not looking happy about being kicked out of his own office but obviously having to obey the Head of MI6. Mrs Jones then looked at me, 'I have to thank you Tiger for finally finding my son and allowing us to find my daughter.'

'No problem, Ma'am,' I replied.

'Dismissed,' Mrs Jones said to me.

I was kind of disappointed as I had been eager to hear what the mother, son and daughter might say. Polar Bear came back looking much happier. Over the next few weeks Polar Bear and I became very close. Then selection came Polar Bear was one of the five team leaders who made it through. I was relieved, I just hoped that I too got in. Dog too made the final selection. Bat, however, did not. I looked at Polar Bear who seemed to be trying not to look too pleased. I rolled my eyes, honestly, would those two ever change?

Then there came the sharpshooters. I felt very nervous. I hadn't felt like this since high school. Then I got in as well. I joined Dog and Polar Bear. Raven replaced Bat, even though he was young Polar Bear seemed tolerate him far better than he had done Bat. The four of us went on many missions together. I had heard from Dad that Bat had ended up working in a department of MI6 although not field work. Dad took over from Polar Bear's mother and life went on with spies and soldiers and assassins and terrorists filling our lives.

The End

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