‘That’s the only access and it has a reinforced
lock.’
‘What about electronic
communications?’
Bahir indicated a mobile phone on his desk.
‘See for yourself, no signal whatsoever.’
Hazim glanced at the display – the aerial
icon flashed
searching
.
‘I’ve installed a wide range of
electronic jammers,’ Bahirquietly boasted, indicating his
spaghetti junction of wires and boxes on the table. ‘All operating on different
bandwidths. Each jammer has a back-up in case of failure. The system will block against
every cellular network – even the newer phones which hop between different
frequencies.’
Hazim nodded, as if understanding the
complex array of technical equipment before him. ‘What about bugs and
transmitters?’
Bahir snorted in disdain. ‘Useless.
All
radio signals are disrupted.’ He gave an oily smile.
‘I’ve employed subtle jamming too. No distortion or erratic tones – that
would be too easy to detect. Instead any listener will just hear silence, although
everything will seem superficially normal with their equipment.’
‘That’s pretty
impressive,’ said Hazim.
‘Of course it is,’ said Bahir,
returning to his work with a grin.
Hazim coughed politely for Bahir’s
attention. ‘Malik’s also concerned about thermal-imaging scanners. What
should I tell him?’
Without looking up, Bahir pointed to the
ceiling and walls. ‘A combination of aluminium layers and Plexiglas in the
construction will foil any attempts to scan this room for body heat – even if there was
a full-blown fire, they couldn’t detect it.’
‘Right,’ said Hazim. ‘And
what about
our
communications?’
Putting down the soldering iron, Bahir took
off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly irritatedat being interrupted yet again. ‘The reach of the jammers is about nine metres,
so we’ll still be able to operate outside this zone. For internet access,
I’ve piggy-backed the neighbouring property’s telephone line and installed a
re-router.’
‘Isn’t that risky?’ gasped
Hazim. ‘Won’t it reveal our location?’
Bahir gave him a hard stare as if insulted
by the mere suggestion. ‘Not at all. The connection is bounced between a dozen
random servers worldwide, plus it’s protected by a few tricks of my own.
There’ll be no way they can trace the signal back here.’
‘And you’re
absolutely
certain this room is soundproof?’ Hazim asked.
‘On my life. Now let me get on with my
work,’ replied Bahir, replacing his glasses and picking up the soldering iron.
‘For all intents and purposes, this room is invisible to the eyes and ears of the
US government. In essence, it does
not
exist.’
Marc had been right. After a couple of weeks,
Connor’s brain was turning to mush. He had never envisaged the need to know so
much to become a bodyguard. There had been lectures on the law – Common, Civil and
Criminal. How to produce a threat assessment. The basics of operational planning.
Conflict management. Etiquette at formal functions. And even how to get safely in and
out of a car: the technique being to sit backside first, instead of stepping in with one
foot. Then if the car sped away in an emergency you simply lifted your legs – rather
than being dumped unceremoniously on the pavement as the vehicle shot off without
you.
And this was just the start. He still had
ten weeks of
basic
training ahead. On top of that, they were expected to attend
normal lessons too! Maths, history, English and all the other subjects Connor had hoped
to escape by joining Buddyguard. But Colonel Black took all aspects of his
recruits’ training seriously. ‘In all but the most extreme circumstances, a
professional bodyguard uses brain over brawn,’ he explained. ‘And that means
being educated and informed.’
After another marathon day of non-stop lessons
and fitness training, Connor collapsed on the sofa in Alpha team’s common room.
‘When will we get some time off?’ he
lock.’
‘What about electronic
communications?’
Bahir indicated a mobile phone on his desk.
‘See for yourself, no signal whatsoever.’
Hazim glanced at the display – the aerial
icon flashed
searching
.
‘I’ve installed a wide range of
electronic jammers,’ Bahirquietly boasted, indicating his
spaghetti junction of wires and boxes on the table. ‘All operating on different
bandwidths. Each jammer has a back-up in case of failure. The system will block against
every cellular network – even the newer phones which hop between different
frequencies.’
Hazim nodded, as if understanding the
complex array of technical equipment before him. ‘What about bugs and
transmitters?’
Bahir snorted in disdain. ‘Useless.
All
radio signals are disrupted.’ He gave an oily smile.
‘I’ve employed subtle jamming too. No distortion or erratic tones – that
would be too easy to detect. Instead any listener will just hear silence, although
everything will seem superficially normal with their equipment.’
‘That’s pretty
impressive,’ said Hazim.
‘Of course it is,’ said Bahir,
returning to his work with a grin.
Hazim coughed politely for Bahir’s
attention. ‘Malik’s also concerned about thermal-imaging scanners. What
should I tell him?’
Without looking up, Bahir pointed to the
ceiling and walls. ‘A combination of aluminium layers and Plexiglas in the
construction will foil any attempts to scan this room for body heat – even if there was
a full-blown fire, they couldn’t detect it.’
‘Right,’ said Hazim. ‘And
what about
our
communications?’
Putting down the soldering iron, Bahir took
off his glasses and rubbed the bridge of his nose, clearly irritatedat being interrupted yet again. ‘The reach of the jammers is about nine metres,
so we’ll still be able to operate outside this zone. For internet access,
I’ve piggy-backed the neighbouring property’s telephone line and installed a
re-router.’
‘Isn’t that risky?’ gasped
Hazim. ‘Won’t it reveal our location?’
Bahir gave him a hard stare as if insulted
by the mere suggestion. ‘Not at all. The connection is bounced between a dozen
random servers worldwide, plus it’s protected by a few tricks of my own.
There’ll be no way they can trace the signal back here.’
‘And you’re
absolutely
certain this room is soundproof?’ Hazim asked.
‘On my life. Now let me get on with my
work,’ replied Bahir, replacing his glasses and picking up the soldering iron.
‘For all intents and purposes, this room is invisible to the eyes and ears of the
US government. In essence, it does
not
exist.’
Marc had been right. After a couple of weeks,
Connor’s brain was turning to mush. He had never envisaged the need to know so
much to become a bodyguard. There had been lectures on the law – Common, Civil and
Criminal. How to produce a threat assessment. The basics of operational planning.
Conflict management. Etiquette at formal functions. And even how to get safely in and
out of a car: the technique being to sit backside first, instead of stepping in with one
foot. Then if the car sped away in an emergency you simply lifted your legs – rather
than being dumped unceremoniously on the pavement as the vehicle shot off without
you.
And this was just the start. He still had
ten weeks of
basic
training ahead. On top of that, they were expected to attend
normal lessons too! Maths, history, English and all the other subjects Connor had hoped
to escape by joining Buddyguard. But Colonel Black took all aspects of his
recruits’ training seriously. ‘In all but the most extreme circumstances, a
professional bodyguard uses brain over brawn,’ he explained. ‘And that means
being educated and informed.’
After another marathon day of non-stop lessons
and fitness training, Connor collapsed on the sofa in Alpha team’s common room.
‘When will we get some time off?’ he
Similar Books
