Sir Charles Fellows had read the file the Cubans had sent over. He had talked to a Dr. Torres in Cuba and been told Alex was being transferred to medical facilities in the United States. Sir Charles had called up the operations files from MI6. It looked like Alan Blunt had not filed any information about Alex Rider officially on the system. Sir Charles smiled a dangerous smile. Blunt always acted like he was top dog. Sure he got results. He also made monumental fuck ups and Fellows was just about to watch the shit hit the fan. Sir Charles wondered what Mrs. Jones was playing at, using a teenager. John Rider's son at that. Alex Rider would have had training at Brecon. Umm, did the SAS know the teenager was Rider's son? John Rider had been with the regiment during the Falklands war. Unit leader, brave, resourceful and popular before he transferred to MI6 and disappeared, deep undercover in Scorpia. Sir Fellows called for a car. He was going to enjoy this afternoon's unannounced visit to Liverpool Street.
Alan Blunt placed all his current files in his safe as Fellows made his way up to Blunts office. Sir Charles came in unescorted, he looked like the perfect civil servant. Average looking in his fifties, well dressed, good suit. Sir Charles pulled four files from his briefcase after he had sat down. Alan Blunt noted the top file was from Cuban State Security Services. The others from his own filing system, codes for Stormbreaker, Point Blank and Skeleton Key
"So, Alan. How are operations? I hear lots of things are happening to Scorpia. MI5, Special Branch and the CIA liaison have kept me busy lately with Al Queda."
"Yes the Scorpia situation has been on a back burner. Most of our agents are in place in the Middle and Far East at the moment. Jones is in Bangkok at the moment. She should be back by monday."
"Right. Have a read, Alan."
Alan Blunt pulled the top file. "It had already been translated into perfect English."
Alan Blunt read and noted that Alex Rider had survived the incident that had killed the four CIA agents.
Fellows then piped up. "Byrne was visited by Angel Suarez with a copy of that file. Suarez also told him that Alex Rider was tortured personally by a Scorpia operative called Yassen Gregorovich. It was Gregorovich who raped the boy. Personal revenge for John Rider being an MI6 mole."
Sir Charles continued "A 14 year old operative. Disabled during a operation run by an outside agency then left at the tender mercies of terrorists for eleven weeks. The Cubans spent three weeks wringing him dry as well. We are being held up as monsters. If this became public, we would loose all credibility just when we need public support most. I will have to inform the PM. For my sake as well as yours make sure that boy is well looked after. In house if at all possible. If Alex still has ties to SIS we can minimize the possibility of egg on all our faces." Fellows picked up the files and placed them back in his briefcase.
"What do you recommend?" asked a stony faced Blunt.
"Find a family who would be willing to foster Alex. Preferably from your employees. Its your mess, you tidy it up."
Alan Blunt sat and went through his personnel files. Umm, the whiz kid cryptologist had been turned down by social services as a foster parent, too much time spent abroad. Long term partner was an actor, whose father had been in the guards and an equerry to the Queen Mother. Sounds like the right place to start. Offer the cryptologist a place with the tech section. No more fieldwork. Now just to get Rider away from the Americans and Cubans.
Fellows met Colonel Terrance Stephenson at the Army and Navy Club that evening. Stephenson wore the uniform of a paratrooper, but everyone in the service knew he was SAS.
Fellows made small talk over drinks then dropped his bomb shell "Teenager sent over by the Bank to train at Brecon in March. Tell me all you know."
Stephenson had known something was up as there were no casual chats with Sir Charles Fellows. Alan Blunt had obviously been caught doing something even other agents balked at. "Teenage operative. Codename Cub. Sargent thought about 16 or 17, small for his age. Probable MI6 wanted the kid to fit in as cover or for information gathering. General fitness and basic operational training, no firearms, no final parachute jump. Pulled after two weeks. K and L units worked with him during the hostage incident at the school in France. MI6 provided no paperwork, no medical files. No psyche eval. Nothing."
Fellows looked at Stephenson and then added "Alexander John Rider, orphan. 14. Only child of Lt. John Rider, DSC, MC, 2nd battalion paratrooper and SAS, later MI6. Alex has no file in MI6's records. I found one at St. Dominic's. From what I got from Mrs Jones, the boy is a brilliant field agent. Two successful missions, deep cover, with no backup. They lent him out to the CIA Covert Operations. He's been held and tortured by Scorpia for over two months."
The Colonel looked angry. "14 you say. Is the kid sane? In one piece?"
"Alex is doing as well as can be expected. He is now permanently disabled. He was extensively tortured in all ways. I want you to pass that along to everyone at Operations Training, if any other teenagers turn up I expect them to call Social Services right away and tell Blunt to fuck off. I'll keep you posted on Alex's progress, Its early days yet. I spoke to the head psychiatrist at Medical. He said it would be remarkable for him to adapt back into normal life after this."
Sergeant Dixon stood to attention with the other corp Sergeants and the unit commanders currently on base. Colonel Stephenson was making them all sweat. Stephenson had been sent the full operational file for Cub, newly completed by Mrs Jones of MI6 personally, even including all the info from the Cubans and his continued medical file from the US Naval Hospital. "I'm just waiting for Majors Cohen and Pritchard." Let them all think it's a full psyche review. No one liked talking to the shrinks it was just a fact of life in this business. The MO and Psychiatrist arrived.
"At ease everyone, this is going to be painful." The colonel sat down and looked through his current memos, before starting "A full and comprehensive review of operational training procedures is required ASAP. This comes from the PM's office by way of SIS. We, the SAS, participated in one of Alan Blunt's dirty tricks and now we have been called to account for it. We all know Blunt is a grade A bastard, now we are all child abusing creeps as well". Stephenson heard one of the unit commanders say double o nothing under his breath.
"Yes, Wolf. Cub or as you put it Double o nothing has come back to haunt us. That child is 14 and will for the rest of his life be receiving a full in service pension benefits for being permanently disabled during an operation. Most unusual, if he had been an adult caught and injured during one of Blunts highly illegal operations, everyone would have denying he existed with no benefits what so ever. However Cub, was lent out to the Yanks and Scorpia got their hands on him. Imagine it. Tortured physically, mentally, emotionally and then sexually for weeks. Something the kid has had no training to deal with". The colonel paused to let that information sink in. The Colonel saw Wolf almost loose composure.
"So we are going to review our procedures. No operative will ever be accepted into training here without a full file, personnel, medical and psychological. I do not care is any of the creeps at SIS say it's a favour. No paperwork no acceptance. No operative is to pass unless they have passed training to our satisfaction. No operative is to be accepted who is under 18. And for the record, Cub is a teenage boy. A fourteen year old. He was blackmailed by Alan Blunt after the death of his uncle, who happened to die during one of Blunts highly illegal operations. That kid arrived here grieving for the only family he knew and was abused here. Yes gentlemen. It was child abuse. AND IT WILL NEVER HAPPEN AGAIN. AM I CLEAR".
"Yes Sir!."
"Right. Full operations review will start tomorrow and I want all reports on our lack of procedures and any recommendations on my desk by Monday. By next Friday I want a new cross checked, water tight training plan and paper trail for all the monkeys SIS send us. We will corroborate all their medicals or psyche profiles. So, before any operative trains here they are cleared as fit by us. Just in case they try and fool us with forgeries. Do not trust SIS. Not after this. Ok gentlemen, Dismissed."
Sergeant Dixon came to the front after the room cleared. "Cub was John Rider's boy wasn't he."
"Yes Sergeant. You knew John Rider?"
"Yes I met him in 1987 after his extraction from Scorpia. I was just on guard duty at the safe house. He was a good man, told me his wife had just had a kid. Cub looks just like him."
"Scorpia did a real number on Alex. The Cuban Psychiatrist thought the kid would be a nutcase after they found him. God, Harry. Look at he photos the cubans sent over. The Colonel pulled out the file. Large colour photos showed almost every part of Alex's body covered in welts, bruises, burns, scrapes and gashes. My son is fifteen. He's all football, girls and awful music. Alex has no one. He's been in hospital for five weeks. God help him."
"So who tortured him."
"Scorpia operative called Yassen Gregorovich. That bastard is now no. 1 on the SAS hit list."
"Is Alex at St Dominics?" asked the Sargent.
"No still in the US. Naval Hospital in DC. He might stay over there. Everyone is making damn sure the kid gets the best placement and treatment from now on."
"So how is he disabled. Spinal fracture?" Dixon asked thinking of the kid that had never backed down and been cheeky with it, even when hazed and bullied almost continually by his team mates.
"No double amputee. Lost his feet, poor kid. He wanted to be a professional footballer."
Sergeant Dixon walked over to a visibly upset Wolf smoking outside. Wolf got more details about Cub from Sargent Dixon. Wolf felt like a complete bastard. He slowly walked back to barracks. He'd told Snake and Eagle about meeting Cub in France. How the hell was he going to break the news Cub was 14, disabled and a bloody basket case, thanks to MI6 and the CIA. Lynx who had transferred in to replace Fox thought Cub was an urban myth. Before he knew it Wolf was at the barrack block.
"What shit has hit the fan to have all non emergency operations and training be put on hold."
"Full operations and training procedures review starting at 8 tomorrow. I guess you'll all be twiddling you're thumbs. I've got news about Cub. His dad was SAS."
"Was?"
"Died in 1987. Cub was 3 months old."
Snake did the maths. "Cub's 14. You told us he was part of that MI6 job you did in April. Thats so fucking wrong!"
"Yeah tell me about it." the shock over how young Cub actually was had just sunk in.
"He's died hasn't he?" asked a withdrawn and thoughtful Eagle.
"No. Death would have been kinder. Cub was captured by Scorpia in July. He now in hospital in Washington recovering."
"Jesus. Scorpia?" Snake had heard of that bunch of bastards.
"Yep." replied Wolf tersely.
"Is he OK?" asked Eagle.
"No. He survived. But Cub is a long way from OK."