Mount Asteria

Chapter Thirty Two

Laura straightened her skirt self-conciously. Next to her, Daniel was fiddling with his tie. They wanted to look their best. It wasn't every day you got to sit in and watch a capture mission with the British defence minister and general of the armed forces. It was in no small part thanks to Daniel that she was here. Having connections so high up in the British government came in handy.

"Our targets." A middle-aged man dressed in a stiff suit and subdued tie handed them each a file marked classified. "Not everything we know is in there. We can't stretch quite that far. Even the minister would need special authorisation to view the rest."

Laura nodded. At Mount Asteria the students were granted certificates of clearance as they progressed, certificates which were accepted by most Western intelligence services. The catch being, of course, that once you committed to a particular organisation, it was difficult to change.

 "They're wanted for terrorist plots in various locations across Europe. They've been in Pakistan for the past four months. We've finally tracked them down. We have intelligence that they are in this building here" - he pointed to a house on the screen - "but we are waiting for confirmation."

"From?"

"From military HQ."

Laura sifted through the briefing document she had been given, analysing the information. She could not contribute, only watch – those were strict orders – but one day soon she could be sitting here, making the decisions. Though this was only a capture mission, it could one day be a choice between life and death. Inwardly, she shivered. That was the one point with which she had always struggled. The knowledge that if she chose a career in the military or in the defence ministry or secret services she could be sitting in one of those chairs, where the general, defence minister and attorney general sat now, deciding the fate of people hundreds and thousands of kilometers away. It was a career that many Knightsbridge and Mount Asteria graduates had chosen, she knew. It was a career her father had chosen. It was a career her mother had chosen.

Suddenly feeling faint, she picked up the glass of water next to her and sipped from it carefully. Her mother had promised to tell her everything one day. Everything about her work in Lebanon and Kashmir, which she could not tell Laura until she had been cleared by "the people up top", as she had called them. Laura had never even learned the name of who her mother worked for. She was sure her father knew, but he wouldn't talk to her about that. She might never know.

"You know," Daniel said to her softly, "it's odd to think that this sort of stuff is such a big part of government here – however quiet – while Ireland is so-"

"Neutral?" Laura supplied.

He nodded.

"Drones and spy missions and guns are one way to save the world. Development aid and peacekeepers are another."

He rolled his eyes. "Okay, I get it. Ireland are the good guys. The golden child of international relations."

"Well, I wouldn't go that far."

Daniel chuckled. She smiled, feeling a little more at ease. Daniel's presence was always a comfort to her. She watched as he took out his phone and began typing on it.

"Hestia's in Knightsbridge today," he explained. "They're finishing up rehearsals for their play."

"That's in two weeks, right? After midterm?"

"Yeah. Should be interesting. I like The Importance of Being Earnest."

"Remember when we did Juno and the Paycock?" she laughed quietly, still acutely aware that three of the most important people in Britain were sitting a few metres away.

Daniel rolled his eyes. "That was not the highlight of my school career."

"It wasn't that bad."

"Year after year it is proven that you can do many things with twenty of the world's most impressive sixteen year-olds. But putting on a play is not one of them."

Chuckling, she checked her watch and saw that it was almost nine o'clock. They would be starting soon. And sure enough, just as she was about to tell Daniel this, the screen opposite the table woke, displaying live footage of Mingora.

"So it begins," Daniel said under his breath. She nodded and braced herself.