Chapter 13

Commander Thoreau did indeed see McCock and his coterie during those four weeks of leave. They came to the gym to work out. Noting how easily and gracefully they now moved as they practiced their warm up, he chuckled as he recalled their first efforts – he never thought any of those awkward clumsy children could improve. But Aggy was patient and after the first months of fruitless attempts, he changed the programme to old fashioned formal dancing to the shock horror of the regulars. He passed them gradually into individual free dancing – reminding Thoreau of ballet – and then after a year began to instruct them in unarmed combat. Thoreau had asked Aggy about the style of fighting and Aggy had patiently explained that it wasn't a competitive sport. It was unarmed combat – designed to kill or at least disable the opponent as taught over nearly a decade to the young Aggy by a gnarled battered old Sol marine who had retired to Mountserrat and ended up a gym instructor at A&M.

Aggy appeared happy enough as did the coterie. He admitted that he had no idea of what was happening but said not a word about what had happened. Of course Thoreau did not inform Aggy of Sir Laurence's incognito visit. He suspected however that behind the scenes there was controlled chaos.

Said the Second Space Lord to the First Space Lord