‘I recently had a holiday,’ interrupted Hazim, his mouse hovering over the bike category. The minute hand flicked to 19:00.
‘Yes, and the family are desperate to know how your trip went. Your sister and brother are missing you. Please come over. Your father will be most disappointed if you don’t …’
As his mother ranted on, Hazim selected the category filters: Men’s, Mountain Bikes, Used, 20-inch frame, red colour. Five postings were listed. The last of the bikes was in a terrible state, its frame dented and chipped, the front wheel bent, a pedal missing: starting price $200. No sane person would bid for such an item. Nonetheless, Hazim clicked on the link and the image of the bike popped up with a basic description. The auction was set for a day – twenty-three hours and fifty-eight minutes were remaining. But Hazim had no interest in placing a bid.
‘Are you still listening to me?’
‘Yes, Mother.’
‘So, can you pick up your sister next week?’
‘Of course,’ he replied, groaning as if being put upon by the request, but at the corners of his mouth flickered the faintest of smiles.
Using a specialized download helper, Hazim extracted the image of the bike from the browser to his desktop. Then he dropped the file into an application called Scrub. The program opened up automatically and the bike appeared in a fresh window. The image immediately began to disintegrate.
‘Hazim, promise to join us for dinner tomorrow,’ pleaded his mother. ‘It’s the weekend.’
‘Promise,’ he replied, and put the phone down.
The decrypting program had finished its work. The mangled bike was replaced by two lines of text that had been digitally embedded within the image:
KINGFISHER LANDING 1030, STAFFORD, 3 DAYS.
BEGIN SURVEILLANCE OF EAGLE’S NEST.
‘What’s going on?’ asked Connor as he hurried down the corridor and caught up with Amir and Marc. He’d been in his room packing to go home for the summer holidays when his mobile had pinged with a message from Colonel Black:
Alpha team. Briefing room. ASAP.
‘Maybe he wants to wish us a happy holiday,’ suggested Amir.
‘If only,’ replied Marc. ‘I reckon it’s far more serious than that.’
Jason and Ling joined them and they entered the briefing room. Charley was already there, deep in discussion with the colonel. A nervous anticipation gripped Connor when he caught sight of Charley’s stunned expression. Whatever the colonel had to say, the news had evidently taken her by surprise.
Hurriedly they found their seats. Colonel Black finished talking with Charley and turned to them. His face wore a rare smile.
‘Alpha team’s leave is postponed,’ he announced, not even bothering to soften the blow.
A groan of disappointment escaped Amir’s lips.
The colonel disregarded this and continued, ‘Buddyguard has received a top-priority assignment. And a member of this team has been selected.’
‘Who?’ asked Ling, perching on the edge of her seat in excitement.
The colonel’s steel-grey eyes fell on Connor.
‘Me?’ said Connor, almost breathless. As the realization sank in, he was unsure whether to be thrilled or terrified at the prospect of his first assignment.
‘Yeah, why Connor? He’s the newbie,’ argued Jason, puffing up his chest. ‘Next to Charley, I’m the most experienced. It should be me.’
‘I admire your eagerness, Jason,’ replied Colonel Black tactfully. ‘But, as with every assignment, it’s not simply about an operation being available; it’s about the buddyguard fitting the operation. This assignment is by order of the President of the United States. He chose Connor personally.’
Connor was speechless. Surely he’d misunderstood. ‘He chose me specifically. Why?’
‘That information wasn’t disclosed,’ replied the colonel. ‘It’ll be up to President Mendez to reveal his reasons, if he so wishes.’
‘It’s probably because of your martial arts credentials,’ Charley suggested.
‘Well, it certainly can’t be for anything else!’ mumbled Jason.
Connor let the comment pass, appreciating that Jason was crestfallen at not being chosen himself.
‘So who’s Connor protecting?’ asked Marc.
The colonel looked to Charley to respond.
‘Alicia Rosa Mendez,’ she revealed. ‘The President’s daughter.’
Marc whistled through his teeth in awe. ‘Rather you than me, Connor.’
‘Yeah,’ agreed Ling. ‘You’re going in at the deep end!’
Connor thought there had to be some sort of mistake. ‘They’re right, Colonel. I haven’t even done a test operation yet.’
The colonel looked him in the eye. ‘I won’t lie to you, Connor. This is the highest-profile assignment Buddyguard has ever been involved in. For us, we’re taking a huge gamble. For you, it will be a baptism of fire. But I’ve watched your progress closely. You possess your father’s ability to think on your feet. And, with any luck, his sixth sense to foresee danger too.’
Connor was taken aback by the unexpected comparison to his father. Their course had been so full-on he’d not had the opportunity to talk with the colonel about his father’s past life. But clearly Colonel Black had been noting the similarities. It was a boost to his confidence, but Connor couldn’t help feeling a new pressure on his shoulders of having to live up to the colonel’s high expectations.
‘Operation Hidden Shield will commence forthwith,’ declared Colonel Black. ‘Charley, I want a full profile on the Principal by 0900 hours tomorrow. Amir, prep a Go-bag with all the appropriate tactical kit. Ling, Marc and Jason, you’re responsible for compiling the operation folder. I want maps of all primary locations, threat assessments, sit reps on known hostiles, key personnel and any other relevant information that might help Connor in his task. Connor, come with me for further briefing.’
For a moment, Alpha team sat stock still in their chairs, caught like rabbits in the headlights.
‘What are you waiting for?’ barked the colonel. ‘You have your orders.’
At his command, they rushed to their stations in the briefing room. Alpha team had run through operational planning situations in training on countless occasions. But this time there was an urgency to their actions. This time it was for real.
Connor hardly slept all night. What reason could one of the most powerful leaders in the world have for selecting me to protect his daughter?
His martial arts skills couldn’t be the only justification. Jason was an equal match to him – in fact, Connor had learnt that his rival had once been the Australian Junior Champion. There had to be another reason. But Connor couldn’t think what it was. Aside from his twelve weeks of training, he had no real-world experience of being a buddyguard and this deeply worried him. Connor wondered if it was a case of mistaken identity and that the President actually believed he was choosing someone else.
But the colonel assured him that there’d been no mistake. He was to work alongside the US Secret Service, the Homeland Security department responsible for the protection of the First Family. He would be reporting direct to its head, Dirk Moran, while maintaining a line of communication with Buddyguard in the UK in case he needed additional support. His mission was to ensure the safety of the President’s daughter at all times, particularly those instances when Secret Service agents couldn’t be immediately at hand. The threat level for the operation was deemed to be ‘Category 1 Life-Threatening’.