Chapter 20 – The Bloke
John couldn't believe his "luck". Thomas Fellowes was to be a member of his unit
"Fellowes…uh…Welcome" John swallowed hard trying not to show his shock and displeasure at Robert's choice.
"Aye, Sergeant. Just like a bad penny, I keep showing up. The Colonel convinced me that it was my duty to accept his choice of me to fill-in for the late, but not lamented, Private Doogan."
"Did he now?" Bates gaze shifted back and forth between Robert and Thomas. Was Colonel Crawley serious? He knew that John detested Fellowes. In his mind, the private was the antithesis of what a good soldier should be. Robert had said it himself about Fellowes …"Does not play well with others…"
Observing the immediate tension between the two men, Colonel Crawley decided to take the easiest route to lessen the friction.
"You can go now, private. I have some matters I need to discuss with the sergeant. I'm sure the two of you can get together later in the day. Bates will bring you up to speed on his unit's targets and immediate objectives
As soon as Thomas left the room, John's head swiveled sharply in Robert's direction. Reading Bate's thoughts, the colonel spoke up.
"He simply is the best candidate for the job, Sergeant. Thomas is the strongest soldier left to choose from. He's smart, an above average fighter and a marksman, and also, let's face it, an excellent sneak. And to add to all those positives, the group that he was initially assigned to would have been the last to have entered the Transvaal."
"We can easily add someone from the next class of mission recruits to Fellowes old unit. The next round of trained soldiers will be arriving here within the month. His unit had not been scheduled for deployment for another 6 weeks. So you see, Sergeant Bates, I really had no choice in the matter. Thomas is most qualified."
Inwardly, John found the thought of working side by side with Fellowes to be beyond repellent, bordering on the nauseating. But he had to admit that Robert had explained the reason for his choice of Thomas, quite logically. It made perfect sense that the private would be the one added to John's squad.
"I understand sir." Bates hoped that Robert hadn't heard the disgusted tone in his response. "Private Fellowes will be an excellent addition to our team." John paused then took a big breath. "With your permission, I'd like to leave now and have a chat with Thomas, bring him up to speed concerning the Boer militia group we will be infiltrating."
"Yes, of course, Sergeant. I was just going to recommend you do just that. Fellowes is a smart bloke, I'm sure he'll quickly commit to memory everything he needs to know about the Veldhuis militia group and family." Robert paused and then continued, "And just remember Bates, you are both professionals, and the success of this mission takes precedence over any petty misgivings you have towards any member of your unit. I expect you to put aside any personal disagreements you may have with Fellowes. Have I made myself clear?"
Bates inwardly bristled at Robert's admonishment. Of course the success of the mission was most important and of course he would not allow his personal feelings towards Thomas to compromise that success. For Colonel Crawley to bring it up did not speak very highly of his knowledge of the type of man and soldier, Bates was. It made him doubt whether Robert knew him at all.
Keeping his thoughts to himself, Bates saluted his superior officer.
"Very good, sir…And I do understand."
John left the colonel's room and set-off to find Thomas. He headed further below deck where the enlisted men were billeted in search of Fellowes. Bates had to admit that he didn't like Thomas' character, but he recognized the many valuable skills the man possessed. Skills that would help them embed themselves with the Boer family and ultimately lead to their victory over the various commando and militia groups in the area.
Entering the enlisted men's level, John's ears, eyes, and nose were assaulted by a cacophony of sounds, sights and smells. The latter especially was to be expected after over a 14 day ocean voyage, with a lot of the men not bothering to avail themselves of the showers located below deck.
Tempers were growing short and John noticed small fist fights, shoving, and swearing taking place within the periphery of the cavernous room. Land couldn't come too soon for these soldiers. They needed to save that aggression for the enemy and not take it out on their comrades in arms.
Spying a member of Thomas' old unit, John approached the solder and inquired as to Fellowes whereabouts.
"I seen him heading up to the promenade deck, sergeant. Said he wanted to get a bit of fresh air."
John thanked the private for the information and headed upstairs. Once outside he glanced up and down the deck and saw Thomas about 10 meters to his left, leaning against the railing with the ever present cigarette hanging from his lips. He was just about to call out to the man, when Fellowes flipped the cigarette into the ocean and turned towards John. A slow, slight smile crossed Thomas' lips.
"Sergeant Bates. Frankly, I'm surprised it took you this long to seek me out, what with the colonel appointing me to your squad as a permanent replacement for Doogan" He paused regarding Bates warily. "Since your appearance is neither pleasant nor is it a surprise, let's get to the point, shall we? "
John in turn, eyed Fellowes suspiciously. His dislike for Thomas while not immediate, had not taken long to develop. It happened early while undergoing training for their mission at Sandhurst. Fellowes was a standout from the beginning. Above average with a gun or rifle, and while not the biggest or strongest of the volunteers, he was more than capable of defending himself and taking down a much larger opponent if reduced to hand to hand combat.
Thomas reveled in taunting and putting down his opponents. Hidden by his tendency to speak colloquially, Fellowes was also quite intelligent, which he didn't mind lording over the rest of the soldiers. Maybe that's when/why Bates mistrusted and failed to warm up to him initially. To put it succinctly, Thomas Fellowes was a bully.. As graceless in victory as he was in defeat.
"Can't very well discuss strategies and plans out here in the open, private. Why don't you come by my room this afternoon, say 2pm and I'll get you up to speed. Does that work for you?"
"Well, that's normally when I take my nap as I needs me beauty sleep, Sergeant Bates. But seeing as its you asking… I'll forgo it." Thomas' voice dripped with sarcasm.
"That's awfully big of you, Fellowes. I'll be sure to mention your enormous sacrifice for the cause to the Colonel when I meet with him this evening," John replied. Bates took some small pleasure in showing that he could give as well as get in a battle of words. He turned and went down the stairs to the deck his room was located. He grabbed a book on military strategy entitled "On War", by the Prussian General Carl von Clausewitz. It was dry reading, but Bates was hardly in the mood to delve into the poetry of Yeats for now.
As agreed, Thomas appeared at Bates cabin at the appointed time.
"I'll try and make this as quick and painless as possible," John wanted this meeting to be as brief as he could make it. He was very disciplined when it came to the correct way to act as military personnel. But he doubted even his stoic self-control would hold up if he had to spend much time in the presence of Thomas Fellowes. The man made his skin crawl. Bates reminded himself that Thomas was Colonel Crawley's appointment, and as his superior, John was bound to accept Robert's choice.
John started brusquely. "We've had the same training, Fellowes, so I don't need to go over that part of our mission. Our objective is to infiltrate a Boer militia group. We need to ingratiate ourselves with the lead commando, and once we have gained his trust we're to draw the group into an ambush.
Colonel Crawley will be leading the attack squad. Once the Boer group arrives at the ambush point, we are to retreat to the rear and contain any commandos trying to escape the trap.
"Stop 'em by any means available, Sergeant?" Fellowes tilted his head and looked askance at John, awaiting his reply.
"Orders are to stop them. We'd prefer to capture them alive, be able to interrogate them and gain additional insight into the strength and location of other commando groups, but we don't want any to escape and warn the other Boer soldiers. So, yes, Thomas… by any means necessary."
"Good," smirked Thomas. "All's fair in love and war, right Sergeant Bates?"
Something about the self-satisfied smile that crossed Fellowes face as he spoke, caused a chill to run up John's back. He ignored Thomas question and continued on with the briefing.
"The milita group we will be joining is headed by a local farmer, Josef Veldhuis. His farm was destroyed a year ago, but he was able to escape along with his family. It's rare to have an entire family serve in a Boer unit, but apparently he did not want his wife and daughter to surrender and be interred in our refugee camps. His wife's name is Trina, and they have a daughter, Marta. She was engaged to a farmer who was killed over a year ago.
"A farmer's daughter, you say?"
Bates couldn't imagine why the presence of a young woman would be of interest to Fellowes. It was pretty well known amongst the men that Thomas was definitely not a "ladies" man. He wasn't fooling John pretending interest in Marta.
"What's it to you?" Bates inquired. His interest was slightly piqued as to why Thomas even commented.
"Nothing, Sergeant.. not one thing. I was just engaging in some idle chit chat…"
John huffed in exasperation. "Do you have any questions, Fellowes? The rest of the mission will be revealed to you on a need to know basis. As the information is passed on to me, I'll update you and the rest of the team. We have a couple of "runners" in place, who will relay messages back and forth between us and HQ."
"Don't trust us, Sergeant?"
"Hardly, Thomas. It has to do with security. Should one of us be called out and discovered as a spy… it's best for all concerned that we know very little concerning the final plans until the last minute."
Thomas nodded his understanding of the message hidden in Bates' reply. If any one of them was discovered as a spy the Boers would do their best to extract the plans from their prisoner. The forms that their "persuasion" would take could prove excruciating for the exposed British spy. , Should they be broken it would be best if they knew nothing to relay to their enemy.
"And on that cheery note, I'll leave you now, Sergeant. I feel the need for a smoke. Care to join me?"
John was surprised at Thomas' invite, but declined to join him on the promenade deck.
He sat back down on his bunk, running his hands through his hair. It suddenly hit him that tomorrow they would be landing at Cape Town and the day after, if all went according to plan, they would be embedded in the Veldhuis Militia.
That night John tossed and turned in his bed. He was waking up every couple of hours, unable to immediately fall back to sleep. His mind was racing and he could feel the adrenalin coursing through his veins. He couldn't believe that the time had arrived for his team to begin their mission.
As they approached the pier, the next morning, John found himself shaking slightly in anticipation. This was it. As soon as they docked they were to report to headquarters and receive their first set of instructions.
A couple of decks above, Colonel Robert Crawley was gazing off his balcony, His excitement mirroring the feelings of his former batman.
Tomorrow would be the start of an exciting adventure. An adventure that would deeply affect both of their lives in ways they couldn't possibly imagine…