Pep Squad (10 page)

‘Keep moving,' said Miss Kwan, shooing exhausted cadets away from the finish line.

‘This must be a big deal. Look who's here,' said Ben.

Lieutenant Parry and Principal Metsen were making their way across the lawn. Lieutenant Parry was looking less than happy until Principal Metsen drew his attention to the scoreboard. The lieutenant nodded towards Jess and Principal Metsen headed in her direction.

Jess turned to her friends and said, ‘Say something to me, anything.'

‘Here he comes,' said Emily.

‘Miss Leclair,' said Principal Metsen.

‘Hello, sir,' said Jess, turning to face the principal.

‘That's a fine time you did this morning. Definitely a transition-year record. You should be very proud.'

‘Thank you, sir,' said Jess.

Just then a muddy, purple blur barrelled into them, knocking the four of them over.

‘Get off, you idiot,' Ben yelled.

Once Jess had got out of the scrum, she saw their attacker was Matt, sporting a graze on his arm and a cut above his right eye, as well as litres of purple paint and mud.

‘Principal Metsen!' said Matt in alarm, as the principal brushed at some paint on his suit jacket.

‘And you would be …?'

‘Matt Sykes,' mumbled Matt.

‘It's been a long time since someone's caught me unawares like that, particularly on school grounds, so fair play to you.'

Matt looked even more embarrassed.

‘But for the long term, I suggest you take a leaf out of your friend's book here,' continued Principal Metsen, nodding at Jess. ‘I've got my eye on you, Miss Leclair.'

He then went off to join Lieutenant Parry, who was talking to Miss Kwan, sending a shiver down Jess's spine that had nothing to do with the cold water from Emily's T-shirt dripping down her back.

‘What happened to you?' asked Emily, turning to Matt.

‘Let's just say that if Svetlana went for me even half as much as that evil remote-control plane did, I'd be a very happy man,' said Matt, collapsing on the ground. ‘What was Metsen doing here anyway?'

‘Congratulating my roommate for setting a transition-year record on the assault course,' said Emily proudly.

Miss Kwan blew her whistle as the last cadet crossed the finish line.

‘OK, cadets. Hit the showers. Try not to drip too much purple paint inside the abbey.'

The cadets started heading back to the main building.

‘Hang on,' said Emily. ‘Don't you get anything for winning?'

‘What do you want, Jess?' asked Lieutenant Parry, coming up behind them. ‘A medal?'

‘I didn't say anything,' said Jess, feeling incredibly embarrassed.

‘You've actually set the bar pretty high,' said Lieutenant Parry, ‘beating all the higher years. You do realise you have to improve on your time each time you do this?'

‘Are you saying I shouldn't have done so well?' asked Jess.

‘No, I'm saying you did a good job today, and I expect you to work just as hard so you can do even better next time. Remember, the principal's got his eye on you. See you after breakfast.'

The rest of autumn term went by in a flurry of classes, homework and workouts. In Fitness Training Jess noted that her sprint times were improving and she was able to do more repetitions with heavier weights. Plus she was able to keep up with the rest of the class in aerobics. On the rare occasion that she had time to glance in a mirror she had even noticed that her face was showing signs of the athletic look that the teachers and older cadets had.

Their final class of the term was Espionage 101. It was held in the multi-purpose room. Some chairs were set up in the first third of the room, with a room divider hiding whatever was in the remaining part of the room.

Lieutenant Parry was sitting on the teacher's desk in front of the room divider.

‘Breaking and entering. Who can tell me some common tools of the trade?'

‘Crowbar,' said Krivan.

‘Glass cutter,' said Svetlana.

‘Blow torch,' said Matt.

‘Plastic explosive,' said Emily.

‘OK,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘Not bad,
if
you want to make lots of noise and attract attention. May I remind you that you are training to be
secret
agents and secret agents do things quietly. Would any of those methods be undetectable if it were a heavily guarded premises?'

The class sat silently.

‘Didn't think so,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘The best way to enter a heavily guarded building is during business hours, through the front door.'

‘Won't the guards see you?' asked Ben.

‘Absolutely,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘It doesn't matter if they
see
you, as long as they don't see you as a
threat
. How could you do this?'

‘Flirt with guard,' said Svetlana.

Lieutenant Parry held up his hand as the class burst into laughter.

‘Svetlana has a very valid point. Talking your way past the guards, be it by flirting or any other means, is one of the easiest ways. But try to keep your interactions short so they don't have much to remember you by. We'll be doing an interactive homework exercise on that. What else?'

‘Fake ID,' said Aidan.

‘Very good,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘In fact, a whole division of P.E.P. Squad specialises in creating fake IDs for all types of missions. And I believe you've already been doing some work on facial prosthetics. They're also useful if you need to impersonate someone who has access to a restricted area you need to penetrate. What about smuggling materials in? Specifically through a mag and bag?'

‘What is mag and bag?' asked Svetlana.

‘The type of thing they have at airports where you walk through a magnetic arch and have your bag X-rayed,' said Lieutenant Parry, sliding back the room divider at the front of the class to show such a structure. ‘How would you smuggle something through this, Jess?'

‘Um …' said Jess, thinking quickly. ‘Have a note from a doctor saying you've got a plate in your head if you want to smuggle in something metallic?'

‘Which would be fine if the metallic thing you were smuggling was actually in your head. Most security details also run you over with a hand-held device and do pat-down searches,' said the lieutenant.

‘Get your equipment from P.E.P. Squad research labs so it won't show up in an X-ray?' suggested Ben.

‘We do that as often as possible,' laughed Lieutenant Parry. ‘In fact, we invented ceramic knives. But there are some things that just can't be made out of undetectable materials.'

‘Disguise it as something made of the same material,' said Lauren. ‘Like placing something metallic in the frame of a wheelchair.'

‘Very good,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘The wheelchair is also a good idea, as it's too bulky for most X-ray machines.'

‘How about throwing it over the top or round the side, so it doesn't actually pass through the detector?' suggested Krivan.

‘Excellent idea, although notoriously difficult to do undetected in practice,' said Lieutenant Parry, ‘unless of course you have an accomplice who is very good at distracting the guards while you attempt the manoeuvre.'

‘No problem,' said Svetlana, smiling smugly.

‘Which leads us to the second part of our lesson. Lock picking,' said Lieutenant Parry, pressing a button so a room divider near the back of the room retracted to reveal twenty-four doors with multiple locks on them, incongruously arranged in a semicircle around a motorcycle.

‘This is quite old school,' continued the lieutenant, ‘but not every facility you need to penetrate will rely on electronic doors with card readers. Whether it's breaking into a room or a filing cabinet or a suspect's house, the basic principles of opening a keyed lock are the same.'

‘What's the motorcycle for?' asked Krivan.

‘A special treat for those who finish early. Sometimes when you're on a mission, it may be necessary to “appropriate” a vehicle to escape,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘Once you've penetrated a building and acquired the information you need, it's sometimes necessary to make a quick and unconventional getaway. A motorcycle is a great option, as it's fast and highly manoeuvrable.

‘But back to lock picking. I like to think of it as an art form. You can generally pick any conventional lock with two long, thin pieces of metal. Take this hair grip for example.'

Jess watched intently as Lieutenant Parry prised open the hair grip and demonstrated how to pick each of the five locks.

‘And voilà! It's open,' said Lieutenant Parry, opening the door. ‘The locks on your doors are graded. The ones at the bottom are the easiest to pick. As you go higher, they get a little more complicated. Your task is to open all five locks, and when you've finished you can have a go at the motorcycle ignition.'

Jess thought she was making good progress with the locks and had just opened the third one when the roar of the motorcycle engine took her completely by surprise. Krivan revved the motor before turning it off.

‘Piece of cake,' he said.

‘Show off,' muttered Ben a little too loudly as he struggled with the fifth lock.

The final Saturday of term was reserved for parent–teacher interviews. Each cadet was assigned a time slot with their parents and mentor. Jess's interview was one of the last to be scheduled, at 2 p.m.

She was waiting in the abbey foyer when her parents' car rolled up the drive. After three months away from home she felt an urge to bolt out to them, but managed to remain calm and seated until they came into the abbey.

‘Jessica!' squealed Mrs Leclair, running over to her and enveloping her in a tight hug. ‘I've missed you so much.'

Jess was so glad to breathe in the homely smell of her mother that she didn't even mind that other cadets were watching.

‘I've missed you too, Mum,' she squeaked. Mrs Leclair was squeezing her too tightly for her to talk properly.

‘How are you, Jessica?' asked her dad, leaning around her mum and kissing her on the cheek.

Mrs Leclair let go and held Jess at arm's length.

‘My goodness – what have you been doing?' exclaimed Mrs Leclair.

‘What do you mean?' said Jess, slightly alarmed.

‘You're all, I don't know, kind of sinewy. And look at those cheekbones. You're all grown up!'

‘Dr and Mrs Leclair, I presume?' said Lieutenant Parry, shaking hands with them. ‘Pleased to meet you. Come this way.'

Lieutenant Parry escorted them to his office. It was one of Jess's favourite rooms in the abbey. She, Emily and the twins had spent many hours there on Sunday afternoons discussing training, the other cadets and the staff, and musing about their futures. Despite its neat and professional appearance, the office had a very welcoming feel, a reflection of the man who occupied it.

Jess walked in and took her normal chair, furthest from the fire. Her parents sat to her right and Lieutenant Parry to her left. As Lieutenant Parry opened his mouth to speak there was a knock at the door.

‘Come in,' said Lieutenant Parry.

Principal Metsen poked his head around the door.

‘I'm not too late, am I?' he said.

‘No, we're just getting started,' said Lieutenant Parry, with a tight-lipped smile.

‘Dr Leclair, Mrs Leclair, lovely to see you again,' said Principal Metsen, shaking hands with Jess's parents.

All of a sudden, Lieutenant Parry's office didn't feel like a safe haven any more. Jess's parents shot each other a look and the lieutenant must have spotted the anxious expression on Jess's face.

‘Principal Metsen, you don't usually–'

‘Please, you can call me Vladimir,' interrupted Principal Metsen, smiling at Jess's parents, although there was something about his smile that struck Jess as smug, which made her feel decidedly uneasy.

‘
Vladimir
, you don't usually sit in on our parent–teacher interviews,' continued Lieutenant Parry, his voice sounding strained.

‘But I wanted to tell Jess's parents personally how well she is doing,' said Principal Metsen. ‘She achieved the best ever score on our placement test and has been outperforming her classmates across the board. You should be very proud.'

‘Jessica, you never even hinted at this,' said Mrs Leclair proudly.

‘A student of her calibre wouldn't,' continued Principal Metsen. ‘But I will be keeping a close eye on her progress for the rest of the year. Now, I won't gatecrash any further. Have a safe trip home and rest up well on your holiday, Jess. Next term's going to be even tougher.'

And with that Principal Metsen left. Lieutenant Parry stared after him thoughtfully for a moment, then turned back to Jess's parents, refusing to meet Jess's eye. ‘Well, Vladimir kind of stole my thunder,' he said, passing them a small booklet. ‘Here is Jess's term 1 report. As you can see, she got straight As …'

As he continued talking Jess leant over to see the report. Chinese, Russian and Espionage 101 weren't listed. ‘… apart from a B+ for Art. Her theory is sound, but she needs to work a bit harder on her practical skills. Otherwise, spectacular results. All her teachers, myself included, say she's a delight to have in the classroom. She's made a lot of friends and contributes well to group activities.'

‘Well done, Jess,' said Mrs Leclair, patting her on the knee, while her father nodded at her.

‘I am Jess's mentor here at the school,' said Lieutenant Parry. ‘We have weekly informal get-togethers with three other students: her roommate Emily and Ben and Matt Sykes, also transition-year students. I like to think it's like a little family away from home. So I dare say I know Jess better than any of the other staff. She shows a mature approach to her studies and gets on very well with her peers. Is there anything you'd like to ask me?'

‘Yes,' said Mrs Leclair. ‘We haven't had a lot of opportunity to get to know Jess's friends or their parents. I understand that for the first term it's important for the children to get used to boarding school without too many reminders of home, but I was wondering if there's any opportunity for us to get more involved in the school community?'

Lieutenant Parry didn't even blink.

‘We like to offer the same opportunities to all parents, but unfortunately, due to our geographic position, it's a substantial drive from Dublin, which puts couples such as yourselves at a disadvantage. We also have quite a few international students, so you can imagine the effort it would take for their parents to come here.'

‘But surely–'

Lieutenant Parry pressed on.

‘We do have a school-wide event for parents just before the Easter holidays, which we call Presentation Day. Student work is on display, all the food is prepared by the Home Economics class and we have performances by the Drama, Dance and Music classes of the various years. There is a prize-giving ceremony for the top students of each year, and the day culminates with the performance of the school musical. You are, of course, invited to attend and should get a chance to meet the other students and their parents then.'

Jess could tell that her mother wanted to say more but Lieutenant Parry continued.

‘You do make a valid point, though. I'll tell you what. I'll put your suggestion to the school board in the form of proposing a parent mixer on the parent–teacher interview day for autumn term next year. It's too late for this year, unfortunately, but how does that sound?'

Mrs Leclair perked up. ‘Sounds good,' she said.

‘Is there anything further you'd like to discuss regarding Jess's progress?'

‘I think this report speaks for itself,' said Dr Leclair.

‘Well then, I wish you all a wonderful Christmas and look forward to seeing you refreshed for next term, Jess.'

‘Thank you, Lieu–
Mr
Parry,' said Jess.

‘He seems like a good chap to have as a mentor,' said Dr Leclair after they'd left the office.