"Sure we"

"Josh, my lover. You ain't seen nuthin' yet."

On the first day of preparation, Josh cleared the lounge floor as he had with Richard, then he faced Suzanne in the centre of the room, and told her to put her hands out in front of her, keeping elbows bent. Placing his wrists against hers, he pressed gently.

"So, here's the game. As I move my hands, you keep your wrists pressed against mine."

"You said you were going to teach me how to fight."

"Trust me. Here we go."

He began moving his hands independently of each other, in slow motion at first. An observer would have seen a kind of tai-chi waltz, initially with feet static, then with slow footwork as he began to move and Suzanne reacted. There was no need to tell her to pivot rather than backstep: with this low intensity, the reaction was natural, coming from a place of calmness.

"This doesn't seem much like"

"Let me up the pace a little."

His hand pressure became harder as well as faster, increasing by increments so she kept pace. And then his hand motion became more directed, left and right still moving independently, but occasionally curving or thrusting toward her face or ribs, liver or spleen. All the while, her wrists remained glued to his, absorbing and redirecting the force vectors, protecting the vulnerable parts of her anatomy.

Finally, he called a break.

"That's amazing." Suzanne was breathing. "Suddenly, it clicked, and I understood what we were doing."

"Wax on, wax off."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Never mind. Do you do much dancing? Because you handle your bodyweight pretty well."

"Yoga," she said. "I do a bit of yoga."

"Hmm. You know the Salute to the Sun?"

"Of course, but I'm surprised you do, Josh c.u.mberland."

"All right, we'll stretch and get warm with that, followed by some Indian wrestling exercises that sort of come from yoga. Then we'll chi sao chi sao a bit more." a bit more."

"Chi sao?"

"With the wrists, sticking 'em together. Chinese term. The Okinawans call it kakie kakie."

"All right. What else are we doing today?"

"How about I show you how to break a person's neck?"

"Oh, goody."

On the third day of preparation, it was nearly noon when Suzanne turned from the coffee machine and stood with hands on hips.

"Josh? Weren't your friends supposed to be here an hour ago?"

Leaning against a wall cupboard, Josh answered, "The RV was your place, right here, at eleven hundred. Fifty-seven minutes ago."

"RV?".

"Rendezvous. I believe that's a French word, cherie."

"Ouais. I had the impression your punctuality was a professional habit."

"We're never late for an RV. On operations, a few minutes late can mean disaster, so we learn to be on time."

"But fifty-seven minutes late, and you don't look worried, Josh."

"I'm not."

"I don't"

At that moment a shape unfolded itself from behind the couch, and another rotated around a corner from the bedroom door.

"Merde! Qui etes-vous? Espece deJosh? Who are they?" Who are they?"

Suzanne backed up against the cooker.

This handsome reprobate is Tony." Josh gestured. "And the lady over there is Hannah."

"I..." Suzanne's hand was at her throat. "That's not... How long have they been there?"

"Since 11 o'clock," said Hannah. "Like your boyfriend says, we're never late for an RV."

"Merde," murmured Suzanne.

"Sacred blue," said Josh. "Cause I'm too polite to say s.h.i.t."

"You know, you're sensitive and intelligent and overwhelmingly observant"

"Ta lots."

"and there's a part of you that's incredibly creepy. Did you know that? All of you?"

Tony advanced, holding out his hand. "Sorry. Professional habit. I'm really pleased to meet you, Dr d.u.c.h.esne."

Behind him, Hannah said: "I'm looking forward to hearing about Josh's creepy part. Is it as small as everyone says it is?"

Suzanne giggled and Tony laughed, failing to shake hands; then the four were in hysterics like schoolkids.

"Even smaller," said Suzanne eventually, and set them off again.

On the fourth day of preparation, Suzanne taught Josh, Tony and Hannah how to put each other into trance. They took it in turns, two sitting at right angles to each other, while the third observed.

"Remember to synchronise your voice with their physiology," said Suzanne. "And use tonal marking as I told you."

Hannah was the best with voice control, leading Tony into a deeply altered state.

"That was amazing," he said when he came out of it.

"It's a slow process, this trance induction," said Josh. "I mean, there might be uses in preparing your mates for a contact a firefight and for the post-traumatic stuff. But you can't sit an enemy down and talk them down like that."

"If you think of them as an enemy," answered Suzanne, "you'll never lead them into trance. Hannah, did you realise that you were going into an altered state along with Tony? Actually, ahead of him?"

"Er... Yeah. My vision went a little weird, yet I was totally focused."

"Exactly."

"But Josh is right, "said Hannah. "It takes a while, doesn't it?"

Yet there were other approaches to combat than fast and hard. Josh remembered the single aikido cla.s.s he had trained in, where most of the people practised exaggerated sweeping attacks, and when grabbed, they went with the flow of every technique instead of wrenching away. Few looked as if they could stop an angry ten year-old; but the instructor had forearms like a bear, and an att.i.tude that was implacable. He stepped straight into the centre of rotation when his students attacked the concept of irimi irimi, entering the heart of the whirlwind and slammed them in all directions.

It was strange that he thought of aikido with its wristgrabbing techniques, because just then Suzanne reached for Tony's hand as though about to shake it, but when Tony started to respond she twisted his hand, pushed it against his face and said one word: "Sleep."

Tony's head rocked back and he was under.

"Holy f.u.c.king s.h.i.t," said Hannah.

Josh looked at her; she stared at Josh. In the automatic ch.o.r.eography of amazement, they all turned to Suzanne.

And you thought I I was scary. was scary.

On the seventh day, Vikram came to visit, wearing a thin raincoat and mild disguise. Tony had taken the disguise kit back to the Docklands apartment, and this was the result. Suzanne led him inside.

"I thought you were just going to materialise like a ninja," she said. "Isn't that what you guys do?"

"Not me. I'm a tech-head." Vikram grinned. "And a mere mortal."

"But he's OK, all the same," said Josh. "So what goodies have you brought us?"

Vikram opened his coat. "I feel like a flasher."

"But I like what you've got, darling," Josh told him. "A rather beautiful pair."

Under each armpit hung a small, neat handgun."I thought you said..." Suzanne stopped. "Something about gunpowder being detectable, wasn't it?"

"That's right." Vikram removed his coat, then struggled out of the shoulder holsters. "These electromag babies are strictly illegal. All ceramics and superconductors, no gunpowder involved. You'll want to use them only if necessary."

"We're going to be in front of cameras," said Josh. "I don't want viewers having any reason to think of special forces."

"Uh-huh. Cop hold of these." Vikram gave Josh the weapons, then turned back to his raincoat and pulled open the lining. "Here's your shirts, neatly folded. Hannah guessed your size, Suzanne."

"That's nice. Dark blue, not black?"

"So you could pa.s.s for an innocent person and still hide in the shadows." Vikram held up the shirt by the shoulders. "See those nice b.u.t.tons?"

"Sure."

"They're fake. Josh?"

Josh took hold of the shirt-front and ripped it open, accompanied by the sound of Velcro.

"Very stylish," said Suzanne. "But what's the point?"

"You'll wear the shoulder holster under the shirt," answered Josh. "If you need to use it, you'll tear open the shirt and whip out the gun."

"Oh."

"So wear a bra," said Josh. "Unless you really want to distract them."

"I'll never remember how to do that. Not under pressure."

"Sure you will." Josh smiled at her. "I'll teach you."

On the eighth day, Tony returned. Josh got him to hold up an impact pad on each hand as a target, while Suzanne whipped palm strikes and punches into them, using plenty of hip twist.

"Whoa," said Tony. "That's what I call power."

"She's doing all right." Josh winked at Suzanne. "Really good."

"Thanks to my teacher here."