Chapter 8

Yelka:

Riding Oscar back to The Lodge, two up with our packs, was tedious. About a hundred and forty miles at speeds never exceeding fifty miles an hour, and usually less. But frequent stops for breaks and snacks, and wonderful countryside, made it tolerable, and we arrived in time for an evening meal. As we were finishing, the major caught my attention.

“Miss Smallbridge, report to my office at oh nine hundred, please.” He then turned to Matches. “Sergeant Bryant ... I’d like to see you at oh nine thirty, please.”

We both acknowledged with ‘Yes, sir,’ of course, before going to the bar for a beer before bed. I, for one, was disappointed that there’d be no sex before sleep! Just not possible in the recruit accommodation. However, a day on Oscar with a pillion passenger and a pint of good beer ensured that after packing away my gear, I slept like a log.

Waking to an alarm wasn’t exactly a shock, but a few days out of the routine did have an effect. It didn’t stop me finishing my run in my usual time. The shower welcome, as always, and a substantial breakfast. I was wondering why the Major wanted to see me. And Matches, too, but I was fairly confident I hadn’t done anything amiss.

On the dot of nine I marched into his office. “Recruit Smallbridge reporting as ordered, sir!” I didn’t salute, just hoped that my version of ‘attention’ was good enough.

But he smiled. “Relax, Yelka. Take a seat.”

I did as I was told, wondering.

“You’ve done very well, Yelka. I’ve had excellent reports about you. This is just to let you know that your recruit assessment is over. You are now a probationer operative and in six months or so I expect you’ll be a full operative. You don’t have any rank in the Reserves, of course, but you will be treated here as if you were a Lieutenant. There’s one question I have, though, if I may?”

“Certainly, sir.”

“Not wishing to intrude, I am wondering if there is anything I need to know between you and Sergeant Bryant. Don’t worry you’re doing anything out of line, it’s purely a practical enquiry.”

Oh! How do I handle this? “Sir, we’re good friends. Matches ... Sergeant Bryant...” I hesitated, made a decision, “we’re very good friends. I’m willing to travel with him as a couple if he’s willing also. I’m not sure if our skills mix would make that appropriate.”

I thought I detected a slight smile on the Major’s face, detectable mainly in his eyes. “I see,” he said. “I’ll bear that in mind. Thank you, Lieutenant. Dismissed.”

I stood, stiffened straight, and left the room, heading for the range. There, I greeted the range-master. “Sergeant Norris.”

He grinned at me. “Lieutenant! Congratulations!”

“Thank you. It hasn’t quite sunk in, yet. It was a surprise.”

“Well, while it’s sinking in, you can help me if you will.”

“Certainly, Sergeant. How may I help?”

“I have a new recruit, a young woman. Like yourself, she hasn’t been through the military, but she’s like Lieutenant White – very good with IT. Possibly even better. However, she’s terrified of firearms. While she probably won’t be going into the field, our people all must have basic weapons skills. I think you may be better as an instructor than I am. Actually, I think you’ll find Sergeant Johnson will be asking the same thing of you in unarmed combat.”

“I see...” I thought for a moment. “Do we have air-guns?”

His grin widened. “Yes, we do.”

“Perhaps you could have a couple ready for me in half an hour or so?” He nodded, “What’s this girl’s name?”

“Recruit Bellamy. Sylvia Bellamy. You’ll find her in the IT section with Lieutenant White, but Ginger’s expecting you to collect her.”

I nodded and left, heading for Ginger’s domain. I tapped on the door and opened it without waiting for a response, knowing that Ginger might well not notice the sound in a room of humming electronics, especially if using headphones.

She was standing over a young woman who was seated at a desktop computer, but looked around as I entered. “Well hello, Lieutenant! Congratulations!”

“You know already?”

“Sure! The only thing around here which travels faster than good news is bad news. Come in, come in.”

I walked over and saw that the screen was a mass of script indicating coding, something I find it hard to get my head round. The girl was in the process of pointing to something on the screen and saying something to Ginger, but finished and turned to see what the interruption was.

“Recruit Bellamy,” Ginger said, “this is Lieutenant Smallbridge. I was told to expect her to take you away for some specialist instruction.”

“Yes, Ma’am. Right now?”

“Yes, Sylvia, right now. I think I can cope with what we were discussing.”

“Oh! Yes, of course, Ginger. I mean, Lieutenant.”

Ginger laughed. “First names are okay in here, at least in private. Go on. Work hard and I expect I’ll get you back in due course.”

The girl stood and stepped up to me. “Ma’am?”

I shook my head slightly. “It’s Yelka, at least in private. I was a recruit myself until this morning. I’ve been asked to take you under my wing for the time being. Your IT skills are not in question, but to work here you must also be competent and fit in other areas too. So you’ll be with me for some time until you can keep up with the usual rate of training. Specifically, firearms. But looking at you, I suspect your fitness isn’t of the best.”

“No, Ma’ ... Yelka. I never was much interested, except in computers. I’m scared of the guns, and I can’t finish the daily run. I’m ... well ... I’m just not ... I’m scared.”

“Well, Sylvia ... it’s okay to call you that? Or do you have a preferred name?”

“I don’t mind Sylvia, but I’ve been ‘Syl’, and ‘Lanky’, but some of my friends call me ‘Vee’.”

“Well, you are tall, and you are very slim, but personally if I were you, I’d prefer ‘Vee’. You may get another tag in time, but you have to earn that.”

The girl smiled, and it transformed a very ordinary face into a beautiful one. “I agree, um, Yelka.” But then she frowned slightly. “Yelka ... that’s unusual?”

I decided that she was just curious, and anyway I needed to establish a good working relationship. “I was born in Russia, Vee. My given name is Yelena, which in Russia is abbreviated to ‘Yelka’.”

“Oh! I did wonder about your accent. It’s not pronounced, but it’s there. It’s ... charming.”

We’d been walking as we talked. I stopped. “Do you drink, Vee?”

“Not much. Tea, or Coke. I’ve started to get used to coffee.”

“You don’t like beer? They have a good one here.”

The girl shivered perceptibly. “Sorry, no.”

I laughed. “It is an acquired taste, so we’ll leave that for now. I, for one, am ready for some coffee.” I set off towards the dining room. She followed.

“So, what gives?” Sylvia sounded actually curious, rather than anything negative.

“Firstly, Vee, did you volunteer to come here, or were you invited?”

“Bit of both. I was looking for somewhere to work on the fringes of IT, where what I did might make a difference.”

“Okay. Look, there’s a requirement in the company that every member has a basic grasp of defensive skills. Coming in here, cold, is tough. I was lucky, in that I had some training in physical fitness and fighting before arriving here, and the skills I had were enough to earn an invitation. You have undoubted skills in IT, but that isn’t enough – you may end up in a situation where your lack of skills and fitness could kill you and probably several others. To be hard on you, either grit your teeth and buckle down on the things you’re frightened of, or dislike, or opt out and save everyone a lot of trouble.”

“What’s it to you?”

“For one thing, I could be at risk if I have to go into the field with you. For another, I don’t want to see my colleagues wasting time on you. I’m willing to help if you’re willing to work.”

She didn’t respond immediately, but frowned in thought. I didn’t press, just enjoyed the coffee. She nodded slightly before looking me in the eyes. “What do I do?”

“Work with me for a week. Show me that you’re pushing yourself, and I will bring you along without breaking you.”

“And after a week?”

“I’ll continue to help if you’ve shown that you’re willing. It’ll take a lot more than a week, but in seven days I’ll know if you can make it.”

“Then I’ll do it. I’ll put everything I have into it. I will.”

“Then enjoy the coffee and we’ll make a start on the firearms.”

Is there any need to detail the training? Vee took to the air-guns well, and that eased the way into using the more potent weapons. Within a week, she was able to accept tuition from the Armourer – and, in fact, from Matches – and working with her in the little gym, it took a couple of weeks before she was ready to run with everyone else, and about the same time before she was comfortable with Sergeant Johnson. That was necessary, because as an Operative, even if probationary, I needed to be available outside The Lodge.

Being an Operative had another consequence; I moved out of the ‘girls dorm’, and into a ‘Single Operative’ room. I thus had privacy and my own bathroom. In turn, that meant that Matches and I could enjoy each other and even sleep together. Matches also was elevated to Probationer Operative grade. His usual station was the range, of course, as assistant to Sergeant Norris. Matches grinned as he told me, “Sergeant Norris wants to get into the field himself, but that’s been impractical in the past. The Major is resisting, but, I think, will give in eventually.”

What I didn’t expect was being paired with Vee operationally. I mean, it’s not unusual for a recruit to be paired with an operative for a mission, but I was so new to the role, and I hadn’t considered a two-woman team. It was on the surface a straightforward reconnaissance outing, though to Greece initially. We were to travel as tourists, cousins, and possibly rendezvous with a team when in country. Before we went, though, a long weekend. Vee rode behind me on Oscar, back to Woodside Lodge. We sailed, with Lena, used the firing range, ate Mama Sally’s cooking (and Lena’s) and listened to Sofia’s piano playing. I slept with Lena, as always. Before we slept, we talked, as we did so often.