Alpha Squad: Boot Camp

Chapter Four

Chapter FourOf all the people in the entire country, he had to be here. The guy from the service station.

Janine had tried to maintain her composure while she welcomed her new recruits and encouraged them to introduce themselves. But on the inside, she was in turmoil.

Now that she was on her own again in her sparsely furnished office, she could barely contain herself anymore.

Bloody great.

"Can I get you anything, Ma'am?" Private Callahan asked as she stuck her head in the door.

Janine looked up, and in a rare moment of weakness, she waved her assistant into the room for as much of a heart-to-heart as a woman in her position could afford.

"Take a seat, Callahan."

The petite woman hesitated for a moment, then did as she was told. They had come across each other briefly on other assignments, but the two of them had never worked closely together. Certainly not enough to build up any kind of rapport or trust.

"You've been briefed by General Stone?" Janine asked.

"Yes, Major," the private answered.

"And what were his orders to you? Bear in mind I'm your superior on this team…"

The woman blinked a couple of times, as though Janine's question had surprised her. It wasn't normal to ask such candid questions of course, but these were not normal circumstances. If she was going to do this job and do it well, Janine needed to know if she could rely on the private going forward.

"I was told I should support you to the best of my abilities. Whatever you need, Ma'am."

Good answer, one which covered all kinds of potential sins. Although General Stone's briefing with Janine herself had been anything but standard, she still expected him to respect the normal order of things. He would not have told Private Callahan the plan; she was too low on the military food chain to be involved. Plus, the fewer people who knew, the better.

"Permission to speak freely, private. What do you make of our recruits?"

Private Callahan pressed her lips together, her eyes darting skittishly toward the open door.

Janine nodded at her, prompting her to jump up and close the door carefully.

"Ma'am, I have some reservations."

Janine folded her hands and looked down at the various files strewn across her desk. She had reservations herself.

"Specifically?"

"Well, Captain Bentley is used to being in command, so he might have a learning curve ahead of him."

Janine nodded. "Agreed. Anyone else who stands out?"

"The King brothers, Ma'am…" Private Callahan stared at Janine with wide eyes, presumably while trying to formulate a tactful response.

"The younger one has a history of troublesome behavior. Police were involved a number of times while he was still a juvenile. Nothing we couldn't train out of him, but the older one, Eric…"

"Yes?"

"Again, someone who is used to being in more of a leadership role himself. And he's so big and strong… I have to wonder how well he will do. Their lack of formal law enforcement background is also worrying."

Janine nodded again, ignoring the inappropriate tone the private had used. He was huge, there was no denying that. Six and a half feet according to his file, although he looked taller in person. And a bear shifter. She should have guessed when she first came across the man that there was something superhuman going on with him. He was out of this world.

Focus, Janine!

"I suppose we will find out soon enough how well these guys respond to the training, Ma'am."

"Yes we will, starting tomorrow. Thank you, Callahan. Dismissed!" Janine picked up a notepad from the far side of her desk and a pen. As soon as the private had left her office, closing the door behind her again, Janine breathed a sigh of relief.

If she was going to survive this infernal assignment, she had to stay on task. And the first job was to formulate a training schedule for this group of misfits. No matter what General Stone had ordered, she still had to give the impression that she was giving these guys a real shot after all.

Janine started by preparing a standard chart to evaluate the recruits. Beside each name, she added some columns representing traits she would grade each trainee on, including physical and mental aptitude, attitude, and ability to follow orders. When she was done, she put her pen down and stared at the chart. If she graded these men the way she normally would, she did not expect any of them to even pass, never mind perform well on paper.

Whether on purpose or otherwise, General Stone might just get his way automatically. The selection process, or lack thereof, which had resulted in this bunch of recruits, had already ensured as much. Alpha Squad would fail at the first hurdle, it was inevitable.

"Wake up, cadets!" Janine nodded at Private Callahan to flip the light switch in the dorm room, which revealed all her recruits in various stages of drowsiness.

The first to jump up was the former SAS guy, predictably. They trained tardiness right out of those guys.

Within moments of Janine's initial call, Craig Bentley stood to attention in front of his bed. All the while, the younger man in the top bunk, Ben Cooper, got up on his elbows and blinked against the light.

"What time is it?" he mumbled.

Janine tapped her foot impatiently. "It's time to start your training, that's what time it is!"

The solitary man at the end of the dorm joined Craig Bentley in the center of the room, copying his stance. "Ready, Ma'am."

Janine shook her head as she stole a glance at the two brothers from East London, who seemed to find it most difficult to wake up. Perhaps animal stereotypes applied to shifter people as well. Did bear shifters hibernate like real-life bears did? If the weather turned, perhaps she'd find out first hand.

"I'll meet you all outside in ten minutes. No exceptions!" Janine marched out of the room with Callahan closely on her heels.

"That could have gone better," Janine mumbled.

"It's only the first morning," Callahan responded, in a similarly muted tone.

She was right—it was only the first day—but these guys seemingly had no clue what lay ahead.

Janine still found herself shaking her head as she made her way through the hallway and into her office to pick up her clipboard and stopwatch. She also grabbed a coat from the rack in the corner—mornings in the area could be harsh and unpredictable, and she did not expect to be able to head back indoors for quite some time.

Before long, she and Callahan found themselves out on the rather unimpressive grounds next to the parking lot. She had mentally mapped out a trail for everyone to follow this morning, so that she could get a baseline of their fitness levels. They all looked fit enough, but you could never really tell with new recruits until you put them to the test.

It did not take long for the first of the lot to come out. Unsurprisingly, the SAS man, Bentley, led the way, along with the most unlikely of the lot: Eric King.

Janine held her breath as she looked squarely at the two of them. Must not show weakness. I am in charge.

Within minutes, the remaining recruits had made it outside as well, though they did not look happy about waking so early. Janine decided to ignore the sorry state of their uniforms for the moment; that could be addressed another day.

"So kind of you to join me. Let's not waste any more time. We'll start with a run around the compound. From this point over here, follow the track around the old tank toward the tree line beyond the old hangar, around the western side of the fence and back here." Janine raised the stopwatch. "And yes, I will be timing you. On three, Callahan!"

Janine waited as the private counted to three and pressed the button. What she saw took her breath away.

The former SAS guy started strong, as expected, but the three shifters left him in a cloud of dust within moments of the countdown. It was still dark out, so Janine had trouble focusing on their movements. She could barely even see who was leading the race. One of the pack had made it to the trees and was coming back already, while the other human, Cooper—the youngest of the squad—had only reached halfway.

Janine put a comment on his grade sheet to that effect; there was no need to wait for the end of the race to know that he would be last.

Barely a minute later, the first two recruits stopped in front of Janine, prompting her to record their times. It was Thomas Blackwood and Eric King, with Adam following half a minute later. Unbelievable, how fast these guys were, especially considering their size.

"Very good," Janine mumbled as she watched Bentley approach the ground as well.

He stopped and eyed the shifters darkly. Clearly, he'd come into this thinking that his background would give him an edge over everyone else.

"Good job, Bentley," Janine said, only to be met by a similar displeased look.

She didn't let it bother her. He'd been fast for a human, but when it came to running, even the most highly trained man could not beat a wolf or a bear.

They waited for another couple of minutes until Cooper finally arrived too, panting heavily as he stopped, resting his hands on his thighs.

"Cooper, you made it," Janine remarked, scribbling his terrible time onto the mark sheet. "I think you should work on your stamina daily from now on. I wouldn't want you to lag behind if we're deployed together."

He looked up and made a face. "I didn't see you run with us. Perhaps I won't be the one lagging."

Janine straightened herself. "We've had this discussion before on how to address me. Seeing as you need to build up your fitness, push-ups will do you good. Let's start with twenty."

Cooper frowned.

"Did you not hear me? Get on the ground right now!"

"It's muddy!" he complained, then looked up at Janine again. "Ma'am."

"That's nothing compared to what's coming. I wasn't asking! Do it or you're off the team!"

He sighed and did as he was told. Someone else snorted in amusement.

"You laugh and you're joining him!" Janine warned.

The resulting silence was deafening.

Janine shook her head and made yet another comment behind Cooper's name. Serious problem with authority.

"While Cooper completes his pushups, the rest of you will set up the obstacle course. You know the drill, Bentley, you're in charge!" Janine ordered.

She guided everyone toward the old hangar, all the while trying to locate the correct key in the big bunch that covered the entire training grounds. As soon as she had opened the rusty door, she stood by and watched Bentley take the lead. Finally, the gruff man seemed to be in his element, shouting instructions at the three shifters.

She took note of the man's tone and overall demeanor throughout. This task, as well as putting Bentley in charge of it, was yet another test, of course.

Meanwhile, Cooper joined the group and was instantly put to work by Bentley as well. Callahan had pointed out Bentley and the two bear shifters as the biggest potential liabilities on the team, but as the sun finally rose above the hills surrounding the camp, those three seemed much more comfortable than Cooper. Janine was going to have to take him aside for a word later. His attitude left a lot to be desired.

It was only eleven as she caught herself paying a lot more attention to this odd one out on the team, rather than the rest of them. It seemed she was willing to do anything but to spend too much time scrutinizing Eric for fear of getting distracted. This was something she would have to work on for herself, just not today.