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but there was something about him that made Alex think twice before speaking. You don’t rise up the ranks of the SAS unless you’re exceptionally tough—and there was certainly steel behind that smile.
    “Anything else you want to know?”
    “No thanks, Colonel.”
    The two of them shook hands. “I’ve asked some of the boys to look after you,” Abbott said. “They’ve been looking forward to meeting you. Just let me know if anyone gives you a hard time.”
    When Alex had been training with the SAS in the Brecon Beacons in Wales, a hard time is exactly what he had been given. But from the moment he left the bungalow, he saw that things were going to be different here. There were half a dozen young soldiers waiting for him on the other side, and they all seemed to be easygoing and eager to introduce themselves. Maybe his reputation had gone ahead of him, but he could see right away that the Australian special forces were going to be the complete opposite of their British counterparts.
    “It’s great to meet you, Alex.” The man who was speaking was about nineteen and incredibly fit, with a green T-shirt stretched tight over finely chiseled pectorals and arms that filled his sleeves. “I’m Scooter. This is Texas, X-Ray, and Sparks.” At first Alex thought they were using code names. But he quickly realized that they were actually just nicknames. All the other men were in their early twenties and equally fit. “We’re just heading for lunch,” Scooter went on. “You want to join us?”
    “Thanks.” Alex hadn’t been given any breakfast, and his stomach was still empty from the day before.
    They moved off as a pack. Nobody had even commented on his age. There was clearly no secret who he was. Alex began to feel a little more relaxed. Maybe a day or two here wouldn’t be so bad.
    From inside the office, Colonel Mike Abbott watched them go. He had an uneasy feeling in his stomach. He was married with three children, and the oldest was only a few years younger than the boy he had just met. He had been impressed. After all he had been through, Alex had a sort of inner calm. Abbott didn’t doubt that he could look after himself.
    But even so…
    He glanced again at the orders that he had received just a few hours ago. It was madness. What was being suggested was simply out of the question. Except that there was no question about it. He had been told exactly what he had to do.
    And what if Alex was crippled? What if he was killed?
    Not his problem.
    The thought didn’t comfort him one bit. In twenty years, Mike Abbott had never questioned his commanding officers, but it was with a sense of anger and disbelief that he picked up the telephone and began to issue the instructions for the night ahead.

4
    NO PICNIC
    A LEX WAS WORN OUT after all his traveling, and that afternoon he went back to his room and slept. When he was woken up—by the sound of knocking—the day was already drawing to a close. He went over to the door and opened it. The young soldier who had introduced himself as Scooter was standing there. Sparks was with him, holding a cooler.
    “How are you doing?” Scooter asked. “We wondered if you’d like to come with us.”
    “Where are you going?” Alex asked.
    “A picnic on the beach. We’ll set up a barbecue. Maybe swim.” Scooter gestured at the compound behind him. There was nobody in sight. “There’s a big exercise tonight, but we aren’t part of it, and the colonel thought you might like to see a bit of the ocean before you leave.”
    The last three words caught Alex’s attention. “Am I leaving?”
    “Tomorrow morning. That’s what I’ve heard. So how about it?”
    “Sure…” Alex had nothing else to do that evening. He didn’t particularly want to watch TV on his own.
    “Great. We’ll pick you up in ten minutes.”
    The two men walked off, and it was only much later, when he was ten thousand miles away, that Alex would remember the moment and the way they had