Chapter 5

Travis wanted to see Andrew on the Monday and so he went to Travis’ classroom after school.

“Come in Andrew. Two things I want to discuss, Duke of Edinburgh & the CCF. How are you progressing on your Gold Award?”

“I should complete the requirements before Christmas sir. I am going to organise a camping trip during the October break for the four day three night requirement. I completed the residential course requirement by attendance at Chatham in the summer. The other requirements are all or nearly all complete, I need to fill out the log book. Volunteering and skill are done for sure, I just need to figure out the swimming requirement with having missed some weeks over the summer. After the camping trip I should be done. I will be able to submit before the end of November.”

“Excellent. Start last, finish first, well done Andrew. Any ideas for the camping trip?”

“No clue sir. Close but not crazy close. Not as far as Cultybraggan but further than Dreghorn.”

“Yes, that sounds about right. Okay well let me know if I can assist in any way. The other matter is I got a letter of commendation about you from the Royal Engineers camp. Seems you asked questions that no one had asked in 30 years. Both the Captain you initially spoke to, and the Major running the camp, made a point of commending you to the HQ staff. Of course they did this after having to explain why they were concerned about defensive blast protection for military establishments. The Royal Engineers are very keen for you to sign up. This is a significant achievement Andrew. They know that you are off to university but they will liaise with the OTC at whichever university you chose and ensure that you are given Engineering options during the OTC training, lots of practical experience. Their hope is that you will sign up as a regular officer when you graduate.”

Andrew made all the right noises to Travis without committing to anything and thought about it on the walk to his Grandma’s flat. The blast protection issue interested him and he was pleased that it had got him a commendation as opposed to being ignored for being a 17 year old geek. He also needed to think about the Duke of Edinburgh Award camping trip. Who should he ask and where would they go? As Andrew sat and played rummy with his Grandma and Auntie Vi he thought about all the things that were going well in his life. Yes there was a bunch of stuff that was up in the air, but no more than usual. He was on the verge of making significant money and was still worrying about small shit. It was at moments like those where he had to give himself a mental smack. What the hell did he have to worry about? Physics?

And yes, he did have to figure out a project for CSYS Physics. There was an oral examination on this project at the end of the year as part of the overall grading. Andrew had initially figured he couldn’t do anything with explosives but the more he thought about it the more he wondered if it was possible. So he went and spoke to Travis who because of the commendation understood Andrew’s interest and thought there was no harm in asking. So Travis contacted Army HQ Scotland and also the Royal Engineer HQ in Chatham. Would the Sappers provide a safe environment for a pupil to test the impact of explosives on various materials? After a bunch of phone calls, and a delay so long that Andrew had to look at doing an alternate project, it was approved. He would provide the test materials, brick, sand, wood etc. and they would provide the explosives and safely control the explosions on one of the ranges outside Edinburgh. Andrew would not be allowed to handle the explosive material but would observe the firing and be allowed to take the destroyed samples away.

Andrew was ecstatic. He built six models with various materials and then did two variations on each of the materials. Each of the models was the size of two shoeboxes, and so he needed Travis to drive the school minivan to transport 18 separately mounted models out to the Castlelaw range. A sergeant and two privates were there with the tiny charges. There was a lot of time spent setting everything up correctly but eventually everything was set. The pieces of explosives were tiny, barely bigger than the last joint of Andrew’s pinky finger. The 18 micro explosions were fired separately and the Sappers checked after each one was fired. The first charge was placed beside the material and then fired. The second charge was placed against an augmented material and then fired and the third charge was carefully placed so as to do the maximum damage.

The wood was shredded regardless of what Andrew had done. The slab of stone shattered in the first and third tests but only split in the second test. The bags of stone were the same, in fact the shrapnel effect seemed worse although the second test was better than the other two. Sand bags were the best so far, with all three providing some resistance. The final two tests were different thicknesses of steel. Andrew had asked the engineers to use double the charge on the first of the two tests which split the steel in tests one and three, and four times the charge on the final test with two plates of steel spot welded together. He had before and after pictures of all 18 models, a full roll of 36 film.

That summary description took until February to plan, build, organise, and execute but Andrew was able to get meaningful results and demonstrate the physics and engineering of the initial and then augmented tests. The Royal Engineer connection and his curiosity the previous June paid off big time. Andrew got Travis to countersign a letter he wrote in thanks for the support. Andrew knew his project was a great success as a result of the assistance of the Royal Engineers and the CCF.

The augmentation that he performed on the second test was playing around with different materials, layering material and looking at the impact of design on the test material. Other than the wood, the second tests were all more robust than the plain material used in the first test. However, they all failed when the charge was packed against the wall rather than just place beside it. There was a good deal of fancy maths that Andrew spent a lot of his time on. There was published material on blast effects and the associated maths but the change in outcome based on a barrier or a different shape had him working hard at maths for the first time in years. There was nothing ground-breaking in what Andrew was doing but it continued his growing interest in engineering solutions to problems. He had the theory as well the practical experiments all lined up by the end of April ready for submission.

All the while Andrew was planning on blowing things up, life was carrying on. Pete ran the CCF Army section with a light touch and it was a happy platoon. The two of them kept the bullshit to a minimum, Andrew was the planner and Pete was the leader, it worked very well. The platoon discipline was high and Travis noted it and complimented Pete for running a good section.

The Head was struggling to find additional teachers with either the time or the willingness to help coach the hockey teams. So Andrew ended up with a mother helping him, Veronica Martin’s mother who he had met at Suzanne’s in the summer. She did not try to take over in any way and was basically around on Thursday afternoons and Saturdays to chaperone the team. After a while Andrew forgot she was there as she never interfered. He had been assigned the 2^nd eleven to coach which was a mixture of 5^th and 6^th years who had reached as high as they were going to and some talented 4^th years that hadn’t quite got the skill, experience or strength to make the 1^st eleven just yet. Andrew was honest with the returning players and told them he was going to coach to their strengths but not run them ragged and challenge them. He was going to coach the 4^th years much more intensely and really challenge them. He let everyone know this as he did not want divisions within the team. He had no idea if the older players appreciated the honesty but the group remained happy. There was some squawking from the newer players at first but Andrew kept training them hard. They needed to be stronger to crack the 1^st eleven so he really pushed them in the tackle drills. The tackle dummy was Andrew himself and they were never going to go up against someone 6’5” and weighing 15 stone. If they could hold their own against him then they were going to find their opponent on the pitch easy in comparison. The 2^nd eleven were always the last group to finish training on a Thursday evening and Andrew would see McIntosh and Hendricks watch him with the 15 players as they finished up.

“You don’t go easy on them do you Andrew?”

This was McIntosh.

“If they can cope with me then the opposition will be a breeze.”

“What were you doing at the end? They seemed completely engaged in a tackle drill.”

He looked a bit guilty.

“I said that if any of them could defeat me in the tackle drill then I would do five push ups with that person sitting on my back. I couldn’t believe it when Mrs. Martin borrowed a stick to try as well. It was close with two of them but my honour is intact. It got them energised at the end of practice and I figured sitting on my back was sufficiently anodyne that no one could complain. It will be a huge boost for whoever finally defeats me.”

“As long as Mrs. Martin is there then it is fine.”

Ms. McIntosh was blithely unconcerned about this.

“I may have you come over for the tackle drill with the 1^sts and see how they do.”

After last year’s unpleasantness Andrew was hoping for a quiet year when it came to his interactions with the parents, and would let Mrs. Martin run interference if anyone had concerns. Fat chance. This time it was a father complaining about his coaching methods. He waddled up after the second game of the season, typical private school parent, expecting to be held in awe for deigning to talk to the coach. Hmmm.

“You need to explain your coaching. I am not happy with the way that Stacy is playing and how you are using her in the game.”

No hello, introductions, manners, nothing. Now Andrew was a big guy, tall and broad shouldered. The player’s nickname for him was the gentle giant but some people just rubbed him the wrong way. He guessed it went back the issues he had with authority figures in his fourth year but Stacy McCardle’s dad just got under his skin.

“I have no idea who you are, since you appear to have no manners and haven’t introduced yourself, and it would not be appropriate to talk about any of the players to a stranger. Good day.”

Andrew turned and walked away, listening to fatty huff and puff behind him. Mrs. Martin found him 10 minutes later, her eyes sparkling.

“Did you really tell Colin McCardle that he had no manners? Oh, wonderful. I am sorry that I missed it.”

Well she didn’t seem upset about it.

“I don’t know who I was talking to. Some fat bloke waddled up and started demanded that I explain my coaching. I told him that since I didn’t know who he was that it wouldn’t be appropriate to talk to him.”

Andrew shrugged. Of course, at morning break there was a note for him in the common room to go and see the Head, so much more civilised than being hauled out of class but the same end result. He had to tell the story to the Head, who struggled to stop smirking as Andrew recounted the brief interaction. Andrew stood there waiting for his response.

“You did everything right Andrew. It is a shame Mrs. Martin was not there to stop him from haranguing you. I have had dealings with Mr. McCardle before and he can be brusque.”

What a nice word brusque is, covers everything from terse to full blown arsehole.

“Putting aside his lack of manners sir, how am I expected to answer the questions he raised? He questioned the way I was coaching and the way I was using Stacy in the game. Do I tell him it is none of his concern? I have to tell you, I have absolutely no interest in having to defend everything to him.”

“Let me talk to Ms. McIntosh about this Andrew. I think I will attend the game on Saturday just to keep an eye on him.”

Apparently when you are helping the school out of a staffing shortage, they treat you a whole lot better when someone complains. Once again though Andrew had to deal with an arsehole father who wouldn’t let it go. Despite the headmaster being at the game Colin McCardle was used to getting his own way. Once more Andrew was moved to the 1^st eleven with Mrs. Martin continuing to work with him and McIntosh swapped down to coach the 2^nd eleven. No one was happy about this, least of all Andrew. The idiot dad had spoiled the whole of the second term last year and now barely a third of the way through the first term the same shit was happening again. After practice one Thursday in early October Andrew asked to speak to his two fellow coaches after they were changed.

“I think I am going to stop coaching as soon as you can find a replacement for me, and at the end of the term at the latest.”

The two of them knew that Andrew was unhappy with the situation but were taken aback at his announcement.

“Is it that bad Andrew? You know that we need you.”

“It has taken the joy out of it. I was here over the summer with some of the players, it was originally just going to be Suzanne and I getting some exercise but we played for three or four weeks and had 10 plus players at some of the sessions. I loved getting the responsibility for the team and helping the players improve. And now I have all this crap again. Sandra’s dad last year and now Stacy’s dad this year. They are bullies and I do not like bullies.”

Hendricks and McIntosh looked at each other.

“Can we appeal to you, from the perspective of the team? I am not sure that we will have a 3^rd eleven if you don’t stay on Andrew.”