'Whats that got to do with shouting?

'Well, he said, leaning back in his chair and crossing one leg over the other. 'Lets put it this way, Geordie. Not having the ability to cope with a situation results in a lack of confidence and this in turn leads to fear and then panic. Shouting and swearing acts as a subst.i.tute for courage; it gives false courage. People who are trained under those conditions dont know any better and resort to shouting and swearing themselves because that is all they know; it generally means that they have something to cover up and that something is usually fear. They use it in the hope that because it scares them they believe it will scare others or the enemy.

'If you have the confidence, but mostly the ability and skills, to deal with any situation, then you control that situation. And because you are in command of that situation, then you have no fear and you need nothing to back you up. For most of them out there, without gunfire they have nothing to back them up. So I think that speaks for itself doesnt it, Geordie? Besides, old boy, swearing is best kept for when you bash your thumb with a hammer, dont you think?

He paused smiling, then drained his cup. 'One other thing, we dont need either gung-ho brawn or educated idiots in our unit. The sort of people we have here are like-minded and quick thinking, athletic and persistent. They have the ability to learn quickly and act as an integral part of a team and, most importantly, have common sense. We dont drink, have never drunk, we dont need it because we dont have a problem, so we can do without the Dutch courage! We always need to be in control. We have no room here for armchair commandos, he said, then laughed and winked before continuing: 'Yeah, of course, we knew youd say yes! Weve already got a d.a.m.n good idea of how youre going to turn out! Remember that with us, Geordie, youre part of a team of highly skilled men, not just a number. You might not feel that yet but, judging by what weve seen so far, you soon will once youve completed your training. Nowhere in the world are soldiers trained like this, you can be sure of that! This is what gives us the edge and as long as our skills are unknown to others, we will always have that edge!

'We have to be trained in these particular skills because were on our own. Im afraid no one will ever come to our rescue. You see, because our operations are covert and most take us right into the heart of enemy territory, we can have no backup from other forces. No one will come to our aid if we were to get into difficulties, how could they? Remember we do not exist!

'No matter what country we may have to go into we try to dress, and look, as much like the locals as we possibly can, we dont go in uniform, armed to the teeth with huge packs on our backs. For a start, I rather think that might defeat the object of the exercise and give us away, dont you? He laughed, shaking his head. 'And, if you are carrying a rifle or a backpack, not only do you stand out like a sore thumb but you lose the ability to move quickly, they make you clumsy. Besides, there is just no way you can carry enough ammo with you for a rifle so, once youve used up what you can carry, its totally useless to you. No, that kind of stuff is best left with an army on the battlefield, not for the kind of jobs we do. Whatever we want we locate in the region were in, so we either buy it, or find it and "borrow" it!

'That is why it is vital that we have only the kind of people who can quickly and clearly a.s.sess a situation, weigh up the various options and adapt easily to a totally different set of circ.u.mstances.

He got up from the table and helped himself to more tea. 'Want another? But before I could answer, hed filled my cup too and sat down again.

'Right, where were we, oh yes! There is nothing new in the idea of operating in disguise, the main problem is getting caught under those circ.u.mstances, as obviously we would be cla.s.sed as spies and shot. More than likely, after being tortured to find out why we were there. These are the facts, Geordie.

'If for some reason we were to find ourselves in the position of possibly being discovered, if it looked as though that were inevitable, we would simply take control of the situation and allow it to happen.

'By not being dressed as soldiers or carrying any visible weapons, we lessen the possibility of being fired on immediately. They are more likely to approach you, warily of course, if you look like them. They will probably want to know what you are up to first and it is then, when they get close enough to realise that you are not what you first appeared to be, that your life is at its greatest risk.

'Being dressed like the enemy enables us to get very close to them, to move among them even, but the problem with this is that on close inspection, especially in an Arab country, it becomes obvious very quickly that we are not who we seem to be. It is at this point that we must immediately decide what action to take. The people in this area in particular, are extremely excitable, they panic easily and are very trigger-happy. We cannot afford to take any chances, they could shoot us straight away, and as we have no way of knowing this, we must take them out. Are you with me so far?

'Yes, I understand. It was all becoming clearer to me now; Dynamo was answering a lot of the questions Id been dying to ask.

He pushed back his chair and lightly sprang to his feet. 'You still have a lot to learn, Geordie, and theres no time like the present, so lets get started. Follow me!

I did as he asked and we went over to where Spot and Chalky had continued to practise while we talked. Dynamo pointed towards them.

'This is not basic unarmed combat, Geordie, it is a science! Let me explain. You, or rather we, have to have the ability to get out of any scenario in which we might find ourselves and this type of combat, in conjunction with our weapons, is what makes that possible. The four of us have to work together in such a way that if we are confronted with one, two, or even ten, armed men we know we have the ability to take them out. But to do that we have to draw them in, we need for them to be only inches away to execute what we need to do.

'What makes this possible is that we have the element of surprise, we will not be dressed like soldiers, we will not appear to be armed ten heavily armed men surrounding four unarmed men would feel under no threat and totally in control of the situation. They will relax and have no idea that the four men they think are their prisoners actually have the ability to dispose of them all. Still with me? he asked, but raised his hand to silence me before I could interrupt by asking questions.

I nodded and he went on: 'Although we might allow ourselves to appear to be captured, and let our "captors" believe they have the upper hand, we cant afford, under any circ.u.mstances, to allow ourselves to be tied up. Once that happens they might start beating you or just blow your b.l.o.o.d.y brains out and we cant take the risk of that happening. If it appears that this is what is about to take place, then that is the point when we take them out. There is no other option, we cannot allow them to get rough or physically damage us in any way because once hit you become weakened and can lose the ability to fight back.

'So, any indication that one of them might be going to get violent, or make a move to use a rifle b.u.t.t, punch, hit or kick us then that is the time we take them out. And what makes this possible is The Machine. Its all about controlling a situation that appears to be controlled by someone else remember its one thing to be surrounded by just a few men but that situation can only get worse and the next thing you know youre in prison or surrounded by an army.

'The full range of moves that we are going to teach you cover every form of attack whether this is with knives, batons, rifles, pistols, revolvers whatever. I know this will seem totally impossible to you right now. But for example, take someone coming at you with a knife, he said, picking up a nearby bayonet. 'If the guy tries to slash your face then suddenly changes direction and aims for your stomach instead, you have no way of knowing that is what he intends to do until he actually moves. His whole action takes merely a fraction of a second, but your recognition of what he is about to do takes a fraction of a second longer, by that time your guts will be hanging out!

To demonstrate what he was saying, Dynamo swiftly brought the bayonet in his right hand up towards the left side of my face. Instinctively, I raised my hands to prevent him and leaned backwards away from the blade. But I was too late the bayonet was already touching my cheek.

'What will give you the edge and make it possible for you to counter his attack is knowing what he is going to do before he actually does it. This you will learn in time. But by antic.i.p.ating every move it is possible for him to make with a knife, you then have the knowledge to stop him. You must begin to learn to know your enemy, how he operates, what he is likely to do in a given situation. You will learn how to recognise from the moves he makes whether he is carrying a knife or a gun, and act accordingly.

Dynamo smiled. 'The moves you are about to learn will give you the ability to cover the whole area of your body which is vulnerable to his attack, at one and the same time. It will also give you the ability to turn his attack to your advantage, disarming and disabling him and then using his weapon against him. Judging by what we have seen so far you have the ability to learn the moves so quickly that its only going to take a matter of weeks rather than months for you to get to grips with this, which is just as well as we need you to be up to scratch as soon as possible.

'Chalky! he called out. 'Take that bayonet and attack me with it in a slashing movement to the left-hand side of my body, either to my face or wherever you want. So that I can demonstrate to Geordie the exact move that stops it.

Chalky picked up the bayonet and swiftly did just as Dynamo asked. Dynamos reactions were unbelievable, he appeared to antic.i.p.ate Chalkys move before it was made. Dynamos movements seemed almost robotic, yet were carried out with the most incredible speed and precision. He stopped the attack Chalky had aimed at his stomach not his face, with a move that enabled him to block the knife blow from Chalkys right hand in such an unusual way that he ended up standing behind Chalky, who by now he had disarmed.

'That is how it is done! he said. 'The reason I did it in this way was to show you how it then becomes possible to use the disarmed person as a shield if there is more than one attacker. In time, we will show you how it is possible to use The Machine to take out other attackers at the same time before they have realised exactly what has happened. Of course, I knew what Chalky was going to do, because I asked him to do it, but I didnt know where he was going to attack me, or exactly when. But even if he had changed his mind and attacked in a totally different manner, I, or rather The Machine, would have stopped it.

'There are ten to fifteen different ways to stop that particular move, Chalky said. 'Which would enable Dynamo to be in the position he would want to be in if for some reason he was surrounded. It would make no difference whether the attacker was using a gun or a knife. But the really clever stuff is in knowing how to keep your enemy from shooting you straight away, getting him to come close enough to you without alarming him, which then enables you to take him and any others out.

Dynamos actions had really impressed me, what hed done was brilliant and I was itching to get started.

'One final thing to remember, Geordie, he said. 'We go in and do the jobs that others cannot be seen to be doing. We succeed where the regular army have failed, or we help them to achieve their objectives without them actually being aware of it, but we do it in such a way that no one country is seen to be responsible for any outcome. When we eliminate someone we have to be able to get back out, so, rather than drawing attention to ourselves and having the whole country chasing after us, we try, wherever possible, to make our jobs look like accidents or suicides. We work in total and utter secrecy. Think about it, that is the whole definition of the word covert!

'Right, I can see by your face that you understand what Ive been talking about and I know that you want to get on with it, so lets get cracking.

Chalky took me over to a nearby table on which stood one of the canvas bags. He took out two boot-knives, a sash and an MK1.

'This is it, Geordie. Youre going to have to get used to wearing these so you must train with them on all the time. Youll find that all of these weapons coincide with the movements of The Machine. Now youre dressed to kill, lets teach you to kill!

The training was incredibly intense. From first thing in the morning to last thing at night we would spend about four to five hours solidly going over something then have a short break, followed by another four to five hours. Although it was stiflingly hot and uncomfortable in the old hut, I just didnt want to stop. That was the strange thing about it: the more I learned the more I wanted to know, it was addictive. At last, I was really beginning to understand what they meant by The Machine; it was already in me and was raring to go.

No matter which of them I was actively training with at any one time, their moves were always precisely the same, completely identical. It was uncanny! Although by this time I had only learnt about seventy moves, I could feel something happening to me as we repeated things over and over, not only to get them right but also to ensure that they became like second nature. Following one particularly long session with Spot, I stopped for a moment to wipe the sweat pouring from my brow.

I was doing exactly what they were doing, it was weird! Even though I knew they had planted The Machine moves into me, it felt like I had been born with this. I could feel something happening to me as we repeated things over and over.

'Had enough? Spot asked. 'Do you want a break?

'No way! I replied.

Spot grinned. 'Youve got the bug, I remember when it first hit me I didnt want to stop either. Its a strange feeling, isnt it? Powerful, as though you could walk over anyone? Yeah, I remember it well, Geordie. You feel good now, but wait until you know everything, youll feel incredible. Youll probably end up like Dynamo and well have to tie you down for a few days! He laughed.

'It gets as bad as that, does it? I said, laughing back at him.

'Youd better believe it, you dont know what youve let yourself in for!

'What exactly do you mean?

'Well, I dont want to put you off- '-I dont think youll be able to do that, I interrupted him.

'OK, then. I remember the first job I did, he went on. 'Afterwards, when we got back, I felt really strange for a while, sort of guilty, knowing that Id killed someone but at the same time totally thrilled that Id done it, and done it well. I think weve all experienced the same thing, but by the time Id done my second job, something else seemed to have taken over. Its a bit difficult to explain but I guess its got something to do with the excitement that builds up inside of you when you have to go into a hostile country where you know they hate your guts and would have absolutely no qualms about blowing your brains out. You get this huge rush of adrenalin through your body. Going in disguise into a heavily guarded area under their very noses and carrying out the operation, a.s.sa.s.sination or whatever, knowing the serious consequences of what youre doing and coming out again without a scratch, its unbelievable!

Spot looked thoughtful for a brief moment then continued: 'The bit I really enjoy is the unknown, the element of surprise, especially when they think its impossible to break their security, you know? To get to our destination and find that its not exactly like the photos weve seen, having to change our plans there and then. Its having the ability to work out any problems we may encounter, right under their very noses, to make what seems impossible, possible thats what gives me a kick! The things youll learn will never fail you. Do you see?

I nodded. His enthusiasm was totally infectious.

'You see, we come from the place they least expect, somewhere theyd never dream anyone would even attempt, and because of that it sometimes feels as though were almost cheating in some way. You could almost feel sorry for the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Its having that edge that gives you a buzz, that and the fact that usually were already on our way home before they even discover whats happened. There was this one job we did, I cant say where, but we got word back that they were suspicious about the sudden death of a guard and some valuable doc.u.ments going missing. They werent certain exactly what had taken place but the word came back via intelligence that someone thought theyd seen something but couldnt be sure. Thats when Ken came up with that little saying of his, "There was a man who wasnt there, he wasnt there again today, I wish that man would go away".

'He said that to me when I first came here, I said, remembering.

'Well, Geordie, it sort of sums us up, if you know what I mean. Its a bit like the feeling when someone has been in your room, they may not have touched anything but you just know someone has been there, dont you? Or when someone has left the house ten minutes before you get home, you can tell that they havent been gone very long.

I nodded, knowing exactly what he meant.

Suddenly he nudged me. 'Hey, Geordie, you know that break you didnt want, well Ive just spent half an hour explaining things to you so youve had it whether you wanted it or not. Come on, lets get on with it!

And so, my training continued with them. It was great, I was learning how to move and think and be completely different. Sometimes I spent a complete week with them, returning to camp only for the weekend, then Id be back with them again the following week. Other times I would only train for a couple of days then spend the next two weeks back at camp. They never gave me specific times or dates when I could expect to be picked up and it appeared that n.o.body in my unit suspected a thing.

Whoever was covering my back was doing a first-cla.s.s job, but they were undoubtedly helped by the apparent lack of organisation that was prevalent in the army system. Once you were given your orders and instructed to report to another camp, n.o.body seemed to care much as long as you got back when you were supposed to and that any paperwork you had was all in order.

In the beginning, they would often ask me to do something, watch me then smile or laugh and walk away shaking their heads and I thought that I must be doing it all wrong, or that they were taking the Mickey. Puzzled, I collared Chalky.

'What are you all laughing at? I asked him, looking down at my trousers to see if something was wrong. 'Whats so funny?

'Nothing, Geordie! Slow down a bit thats all, youre putting us to shame! he said. 'No, honestly, Im only joking, but youre learning this a h.e.l.l of a lot quicker than we did!

'Yes, youll soon be ready, Dynamo added.

'Ready for what? I wanted to know.

'Youll find out soon enough, a job could pop up at any time and you are ready for that. At the speed youre going, youll be ready to do some initiative tests pretty soon!

'Initiative test? I thought Id already done that?

'No, these tests are used to see how quick youre going to be at picking things up, a.s.sessing situations, learning river crossings and the like, he told me.

I was relieved to know that they were merely laughing with genuine surprise at the speed with which I was learning and how quickly I cottoned on to complex things that others would possibly find difficult to fathom. They didnt have to encourage me but nevertheless it was great to be praised for once in my life. I was totally surprised at how quickly I was learning and could remember with comparative ease what they showed me. Not for the first time, I wondered how anyone could have possibly known that I would have this kind of ability when I hadnt even known it myself!

Although the implant of The Machine made it relatively easy, it was only after a couple of days that there came a moment when it just all clicked into place. Until then, my actions hadnt seemed to have any real power to them at first, but then I just felt everything come together, the moves and combinations, the weapons, the boot-knives and the sash.

The aim was to turn me into some kind of fighting machine, but at first, I just couldnt understand how these actions could possibly achieve that; they were the most unorthodox movements I had ever seen. I even thought for a while that perhaps they were exaggerating.

And the power I was developing learning the moves was incredible and the way in which I was now able to move was quite unbelievable. They were right, there was no other way of describing it, I was acting like some kind of machine!

Everything was gradually becoming clearer to me and I now knew that I had the ability without using my fists, or indeed any punching or kicking actions, to kill or do some serious damage with relative ease, breaking a mans neck or limbs was simple to do. My actions were so powerful yet required so very little effort and used such small amounts of energy that I was never left exhausted. It was utterly incredible!

To be able to take a few men out without having to resort to gunfire or explosives it would have to be done like this. I couldnt imagine any other way of doing it so successfully.

Whoever had designed and worked out this method of combat really knew what it was all about. The whole system was quite ingenious. All of the equipment became an extension of your body, with everything designed to connect and slot together so smoothly like the pieces of a jigsaw, and the boot-knives and sash were there to fill in any gaps.

When I started training with the sash, that wonderful piece of equipment, I was utterly amazed at what I could do. Although I hadnt learnt all of the moves yet and only had turnips in front of me as targets, it was still incredible what I was able to achieve. It fitted in completely with everything I had learned so far and extended my range, thereby enabling me to take out anyone I couldnt reach with my hands. I could see the total surprise an attacker would get, they wouldnt stand a chance and Id be able to rip them to pieces in seconds.

The whole system was just so unbelievably cleverly worked out, it was obvious why it had to be kept such a secret, why in fact they operated in the way they did. It was just the kind of knowledge that you didnt want to be made known to just anyone. Although I seriously doubted whether any of the guys I knew would ever be able to pick up anything like these techniques; it had taken most of them weeks just to get to grips with marching up and down!

I thought taking a handgun, rifle or whatever, from someone who had no qualms about killing you, was pretty clever stuff. But to have the ability to prevent that person from shooting you just by your actions alone, and then to be able to make him do what you wanted him to do by those same actions, that was something else.

Now I could easily prevent a group of attackers from opening fire on me when I took out one of their pals, by moving in such a way that if they did use their guns theyd actually end up shooting each other. This was just another aspect of my training, learning the art of how to completely control a situation and any action resulting from it.

It was amazing how the four of us worked together as a group. Having the ability to know where the others were all the time meant that we could each coincide our moves and keep out of the others way. And, because Id mastered moving my head at one with my body as I turned, I now had the ability to constantly look around me so that I was always aware of the direction an attack might come from, which also enabled me to use my peripheral vision to its maximum efficiency.

I learned how to decide who I should attack first if surrounded. By walking backwards into my chosen victim, I would surprise him and encourage him to attack my back. Thereby controlling the situation, so that I could then move into the position I needed to be in to attack someone else, or to draw another person into attacking me, using the first person as a shield if necessary. And by doing so, I would always remain in complete control of the whole situation. By constantly moving in this way I was able to monitor 360 degrees around me at any one time. Anyone I touched was taken out, or disabled, thus eliminating the risk of having them attack me again. Anyone out of my direct reach could be taken care of by using the sash.

It was a marvellous system, as skilful and as complex as a chess game.

CHAPTER 7.

READY FOR ACTION.

Once I became proficient with the combat moves of The Machine they began to instruct me in the specialised ways of retrieving lines, using a variety of different types of arrowheads in order to cross ravines and seemingly impa.s.sable rivers. During one of these sessions, Dynamo decided that the time had also come for me to carry out some initiative tests.

'OK. Something has come up, Geordie, and youve got to grips with The Machine and the weapon training a lot faster than we expected. Its just as well, as weve said before we never know when we might be called on to do a job and we need to be at full strength; there are just a few more things we have to show you. As you know, we always choose difficult crossing areas where we know no one without our skills and knowledge would be able to follow us across. Do you remember when I mentioned to you a while ago that we would be putting you through some initiative tests to see how quick youre going to be at learning river crossings and the like?

I nodded.

'Well, were going to do some today. You see, Geordie, its one thing to learn the moves of The Machine but we also need to know how youre thinking, so this is what I want you to do, he told me, grinning. 'But if you dont do this in less than half an hour, you wont get any tea for the rest of the day.

'Come on. I laughed, knowing that he was teasing me about the amount of tea that I drank and that I was always ready for a cuppa. 'What do you want me to do?

He pointed to the other end of the building. 'Look over there. Do you see that egg on top of that piece of wood?

'Yes, sure! About forty feet away from me, a short piece of wood about one to one-and-a-half inches thick and about six feet long, stood on its edge with an egg precariously balanced on top of it. It was obvious that the slightest movement would cause the egg to fall and break.

'OK. Well, wait here for a moment.

I did as he asked and stood looking at the egg, wondering just what he had in mind, thinking it must be some kind of a joke.

Dynamo came back carrying a ball of string together with a dog-clip (as explained earlier, this was a karabiner, a metal loop with a spring-loaded gate, used for connecting ropes when mountaineering) and a small piece of wood.

'Dont move, Geordie, he said, and taking the piece of wood, scratched a circle around me in the dirt.

'The object of the exercise is to take the egg off the top of that piece of wood, without breaking it of course, and get it back here within this circle. At no time must the egg touch the ground, you mustnt move out of the circle at all and no one has to help you in any way. Heres a ball of string and a dog-clip. Ill give you five minutes to pick up anything else you can find lying around which might be of use to you. Do you understand?

'This isnt some kind of wind-up is it?

'No its not! This is serious, old boy, and your time starts now!

There wasnt very much lying around the area except for the old oil tin that we used as a dustbin and inside it all I found was a cardboard box, which had been torn, squashed and thrown away.

Better than nothing, I thought, although Id no idea at that stage what possible use it could be, but there just didnt seem to be anything else around. Id no sooner picked it up, when Dynamo said, 'Thats it, times up, get in the circle.

'Youve got to be joking, I said. 'Ive only got this piece of cardboard.