Trials in Walls of Ivy (Triskelion Trilogy Book 1) (8 page)

I watched him break into a jog, keeping pace with the huge dog. Every face turned to watch as the pair ran along the path and disappeared around the bend.

I sank back into my chair and laughed at myself. What had I just agreed to?

“Shit, there’s been another one. Not far from here this time.” Owen shouted, as I entered the kitchen.

He held his empty mug up toward me without raising his head from the newspaper. I took it and placed it next to mine, waiting for the kettle to boil.

“It was bigger this time too. Took out nearly three buildings. No report on casualties yet.”

“Do they know who’s doing it?” I asked, as I slotted bread for the two of us in the toaster.

“They’re presuming some new terrorist group. But, no-one’s come forward to claim responsibility yet. There’s too many possible groups to narrow it down.”

I passed him his re-filled mug and sat opposite him. “How many bombs is that now? Two?”

“Three. Getting bigger each time, too. This one was somewhere in the Lake District; looks like it was set right in the middle of a residential area.”

“Oh no, I hope it didn’t get houses.”

“It doesn’t say. Just says it got buildings. According to this report, they’re still trying to get access. Let’s face it, it could be a while. They’re not exactly easily accessible streets in that area.”

I nodded, remembering my one trip to the Lakes when I was younger. It was beautiful. Winding narrow lanes, lined with dry stone walls. Behind every bend brought either a lush green mountain or glistening lake water. It was a place of beauty. Whoever this bomber was, whatever their motive, bombing the Lakes showed they knew the connotations of hitting such a picturesque place. They wanted to disturb the quiet peace of nature. They wanted to show they could turn people’s dreams into nightmares.

Owen pointed toward the counter. “Burning.”

I leaped to my feet to rescue the toast. “You know,
you
could make breakfast at some point.”

He put the paper down and grinned. “I talk, you toast. Why change a beautiful thing?”

I put the plate in the middle of the table. “Yeah, yeah. So talk, what’re you on with?” I grabbed the jam jar and sat back down.

“Just the usual inscription and firewall bypassing stuff. You?”

I huffed dramatically. “Another test.”

Owen grinned and playfully jumped up and down in his seat. “Ooh goody. What do I get to hack this time?”

“Who said anything about hacking? I don’t even know what I’m doing yet.”

“How can you not know? You’ve been given the test haven’t you?”

I handed him the envelope. I had been carrying it around with me since I left my bed, unable to stop glaring at it, like it would somehow reveal what I was supposed to do.

“I have to choose a mystery to solve.”

“Awesome!” He shouted, and yanked the paper free. He read it through and returned to his giddy state. “This is so awesome. You could do anything with this. You have to have me in your team again.”

“If I have a team, I would love for you to be on it. But, first I need to find something to research.” I gulped my coffee, wishing I had a bigger mug.

“Lochness monster?” Owen said. “The true identity of the tooth fairy?”

I laughed and nearly gagged on my toast. “Yeah, can see that going down well. No, it has to be something that involves everything we do here. It has to stand out. You heard what Llamp said, not everyone gets through. We have to do something which’ll keep us here.”

“Like hacking.” He cheered, pumping his fist.

I glared at him over my mug and he huffed back.

“Fine. Something boring and serious. Spoil sport.”

“It’ll have to involve finding evidence and piecing theories together.”

“Something that will take all of us to solve. You know we’ve got to keep Bree, Ash and Jay in the group.”

My chest tightened at the thought of doing any kind of test without them.

“I think Bree would kill you if you didn’t.”

I watched a bird out of the window, tapping my chin as I considered possible mysteries.

“I’ve got six weeks to do it in, so they obviously expect it to be in-depth.” I turned to look Owen in the eyes. “What could I possibly research which involves everything we do and is big enough to stand out?”

“Something current, which will capture Llamp’s attention. Having something current will help with my superior hacking skills too.”

“I’m serious, Owen.”

“So am I. If we go for something current, I can hack almost any system. Almost every organisation in the country does everything digital, which means, we can get access to pretty much anything we need.”

I filled the kettle again without thinking. Was private information really so easy to find? And, what about the laws we would be breaking? I laughed at the thought of Llamp’s face if I gave not wanting to break the law, as an excuse for not getting information. Use all means available. I knew that included stretching the laws of privacy, of confidentiality, to breaking point. We were training to be the best. The Consummate, as she put it. We were training to be undercover agents, not law abiders.

“You really think you can get into any system? Undetected?”

He sighed. “Most. Not all. So long as we don’t look into something where lots of money is stored and involved, we should be fine. Money always means higher security.”

I let out a long sigh, audible through the still kitchen. “So, the big question: what should we research?”

Our eyes fell to the paper. The head line stood out like a beacon, calling us to attention. The answer was right there. The evidence to discover, the urgency of the mystery, this was more than enough to study.

“The bombings?” Owen said, a mixture of awe and nerves in his tone.

My heart thumped. “I know, it’s big, but we’re being marked on the work we do, not the result. We don’t have to actually find the bomber, just research possibilities.”

I couldn’t hold back the excitement. The bombings were current. They were a mystery which involved research. There could be leg work for my Wolves, surveillance for Jay, it had everything. I had a target. Given, it was a terrifying and overwhelming target. But, it was my target, and it was solid.

*   *   *

It was after lunch when I arrived at my only lesson of the day. I had been dreading this since I had seen it sprawled across my time table:
Physical Training
. I had gone months here without the need to join a gym. Why the hell they felt the need to add one now was beyond me. I was supposed to be doing sociology and psychology, the workings of the mind, manipulation and intelligence; that was my area. Why did I need to do P.E.? Wasn’t that all forgotten with school?

I stood by the side of the enormous hall, feeling out of place in my tracksuit. The room was filled with mats, cones and strange looking square pads. I heard a high pitched laugh and looked with annoyance to see Spring, flicking her hair like she was on an imaginary catwalk. She was surrounded by a gang of eager looking girls. All with a wide grin spread across their flawless faces. They pointed at people waiting with me in the group, their shrill laughs ricocheting off the hall walls. I turned my back on them and tried to block out the sounds of their ridiculous blabber. That girl seriously got my back up.

“Moles,” a man shouted, from the door. He was wearing a blue tracksuit with a whistle around his neck. “Make a line.” He held out his arm to indicate position.

We all scrambled to comply.

“They call me Tooth.” He grinned. It looked painful. “The time has come for your training to step up. You work in intelligence. That’s all well and good. But, every Consummate agent must be able to defend themselves. Every agent must have the strength to stand, run and fight.” He looked at each of us in turn. “Know this, I am not only here to be your physical training instructor, but your life trainer. Here, you will learn stamina; you will endure more than you ever have. Here, you will rise to your potential, then surpass it.” He placed his fists on his hips as he appraised us. “Now, I want ten laps of the perimeter. Go.”

We froze, rooted to the spot. I looked to the guy beside me; he looked as lost as I did. Panicked whispering broke out along the line. People shuffled in every direction, without moving more than a step out of place.

“You all need me to hold your hand?”

I gulped, swallowing my nerves. My shaking hand rose above my head, like a scared child. He nodded to me pointedly.

“The perimeter of where, Mr Tooth?” I asked.

“Just Tooth, will do.” He walked to the hall door and held it open. “The perimeter of the campus, of course. I’ll expect you all back in an hour.”

My breath shuddered. The entire university perimeter? This place was huge.

I left the hall in place with the group and kept pace. It wasn’t long before we separated into fitness levels. Thanks to my years of body boarding, I wasn’t in the last group, but I wasn’t in the lead either. That was held by a group of six athletic looking girls. They talked to each other as they ran. I could hardly breathe and we were only on the second lap. I forced myself to keep breathing, keep moving forward. We passed the labs, lecture theatres and coffee shop, again and again. Three times I passed Spring and her groupies. They were sprawled under a tree, hidden at the far end of campus.

At around the seventh lap, all thought had left me. I didn’t know how far I had gone or how many laps were left to go. I clung to one of the middle group and nearly cried with happiness when they began heading in the direction of the hall.  It was well into the afternoon when we collapsed on the floor panting, none of us able to speak. A student dressed in a black tracksuit passed me a bottle of water. I tried to indicate my thanks with a nod, but it was barely noticeable. The sound of crashing filled the room as more exhausted students staggered through the door and collapsed beside us.

“One hour. Then back here for training,” Tooth shouted, from the centre of the room. He was grinning, enjoying the sight of us wheezing.

Spring stumbled up from the floor. I hadn’t noticed her as I got back. I noticed now, that she had been laid out having her legs massaged by one of the guys in our group.

“Back for more?” She demanded.

Tooth stepped toward her, smiling intently. “Too fragile for a little hard work, are we?” He glanced over at a group of students in black track suits. They all laughed in response. I was shocked to see Bree and Ash with them.

“No, just knackered after all that running.” Spring held her head high, clearly not wanting to appear weak.

I laughed to myself. She probably didn’t do a single lap, never mind ten.

“Precisely why I am being decent enough to give you an hour.” He turned and walked away before she could respond.

I returned to the hall after gorging myself in the dining room. One thing this uni was reliable for was good food. I hesitated when I saw what was lined up and waiting for us. Crash mats were equally positioned throughout the room. By each mat, a student from the Wolf department stood with their hands behind their backs. I spied Bree waving at me enthusiastically from her mat.

“Moles, remove your shoes and take a mat to face your partner,” Tooth shouted, from behind.

We scrambled to get our shoes off as one. I threw mine unceremoniously on the pile and turned to join Bree. I made two steps forward before someone beat me to her. Being so small, she was one of the first to be partnered. My eyes raked the room desperately. I spotted another girl who didn’t look too menacing and headed toward her. Again, a student ran over and stood at her mat. There was no one left. I stood in the centre of the hall, slowly scanning the room. Every mat had two occupants. At least I thought they did, until I saw his mat. No wonder nobody wanted to partner with him. Ash was ridiculously tall and broad.

“Problem?” Tooth shouted to me. He held out his hand to indicate I take position with Ash.

I stumbled forward to stand opposite him, my toes in line with the edge of the mat. He winked at me, grinning. I couldn’t return the smile. I was glad I was at least partnered with someone I knew, but Ash? He might as well be called Jupiter: the largest body in orbit.

Tooth positioned himself in the centre of the mats. “Moles, this is day one in your physical training. Here you will learn that intellect alone will not be enough to protect you when you are in the field. When you leave here you will have the basic ability to defend yourself, the stamina to push yourself and the physical presence to command your position. It is here you will become Consummate.”

Ash rolled his eyes. “So serious,” he whispered.

“Lesson one in self-defence: falling. If you cannot fall correctly, then you cannot fight. Begin.” He blew on his whistle and watched as each of the Wolves took a step forward.

I looked to Ash and he beckoned me forward with his finger. Talking had erupted all around as the Wolves began to instruct their partners.

“You joining me or not?” Ash asked. He leaned over and took my wrist, pulling me toward him.

I snapped my hand back. “What are you doing?” The panic in my voice was embarrassing. I held my hands up to my chest, taking a step back off the mat.

“Don’t worry, Roz. Be glad you have me as a partner.” He held out his hand and waited for me to step back into place. “Honestly, what are you worried about?”