“We’re in a different time zone,” Magnus said. “Back in Huatulco, it’s noon. But here, it’s almost six o’clock.”
“How can it be different times in different places?” she asked.
Sabine gritted her teeth. “Oh, for God’s sake!”
“I can’t help it if I don’t know this stuff!”
“Sabine, will you attempt for five minutes to imagine you spent your entire life in a small town under military occupation without access to a proper education?” he said in exasperation, and then to Pilar, “It’s because the earth is very large and rotates on its axis. That’s what causes day and night, you see? Whether or not where you are is facing the sun, or turning its face away.”
“Oh, okay.” Pilar smiled at him. “You’re a good teacher, Magnus.”
He smiled back at her. “Thank you.”
They drove into the delightful Scottish countryside—Sabine at the wheel, Loup and Pilar in the backseat, gazing out the windows in awe. The drive took them to a big stone manor house sitting in front of an oak forest.
“Wow, that’s practically a castle!” Loup said.
Magnus laughed. “Hardly. Perhaps you will have a chance to see a real castle. There are several very fine ones in the area. But I think you will find this quite comfortable.”
A tall, very fit young man came out to greet them.
“This is Ben Rogers,” Magnus introduced him. “For the next six weeks, he’ll be one of your trainers. His job is to ensure you’re able to complete the basic fitness course in the allotted time limit. If you succeed, you’ll move on to the next phase of your training.”
“Fitness course?” Pilar asked.
“Five-K run and the obstacle course,” Ben Rogers said in a curt tone. Planting his hands on his hips, he looked them both up and down. “You the geemo?” he asked Loup.
“Geemo?”
“GMO.”
“Yeah, I guess.”
Magnus tapped his chin in thought. “We’re going to have to find a better marketing term,” he murmured to himself.
Ben Rogers turned his gaze on Pilar. “That must make you the excess baggage.”
She colored. “That’s not very nice.”
He shrugged. “I take my job seriously. Don’t expect me to be happy to be saddled with some flighty bird that makes it harder for no good reason.”
Loup scowled.
“You insisted on this,” Magnus reminded them. “Mr. Rogers will do his best whether he likes it or not. I expect you to do the same.”
Pilar sighed.
Inside the manor, Magnus introduced them to a pleasant-looking woman named Adelaide. “You might say she is our chatelaine,” he said, laughing at his own joke. Neither of the girls got it. “Ah… manager. If you need anything, you may ask Adelaide. She’ll show you to your rooms.” He paused. “Do you prefer one or two rooms?”
“Do you want your own room, baby?” Pilar asked.
“Oh, for God’s sake!” Sabine said in disgust. “She’s not a child. Why do you insist on calling her that all the time?”
“I dunno.” She blinked. “I guess I just like to. Loup doesn’t mind, do you?”
“No,” Loup said. “I don’t even notice most of the time.”
“It’s just an endearment, Sabine,” Magnus said wearily.
“It’s inane!”
“I don’t particularly care.” He glanced at Pilar. “Though I would prefer you don’t do it on the job. So. One room?” They nodded. “Very good.” He consulted his watch. “All right, we’ll be off. Rest assured that you’re in very capable hands here.”
“You’re not staying?” Loup asked.
“No.” Magnus smiled. “I have business to attend to. But I’ll be receiving reports and checking on your progress. I wish you both the best of luck. We’re very eager to have you on our team.”
Sabine muttered darkly.
“Jesus.” Pilar eyed her. “Does the way that I fucking breathe annoy you?”
“No.” Sabine gave her a poisonous smile. “Just the fact that you do.”
“Nice.”
After they left, Adelaide led the girls to a bedroom on the second floor, Ben Rogers following with their luggage. The room was warm and cozy, overlooking the back of the grounds.
“It’s cute, anyway.” Pilar peered out the window and turned pale. “Holy shit! What’s that?”
“Obstacle course,” Rogers said with cheerful malice.
Loup joined Pilar. Between the forest and the manor was a long line of ladders, walls, pits, bars, and ropes, all looming in the twilight. “Huh.”
“You’ll be spending a lot of time on it,” he predicted.
“Oh, give the poor things time to catch their breath,” Adelaide scolded him. “Girls, breakfast’s at seven, lunch at noon, and dinner at six. The kitchen’s kept plates warm for you tonight. Anyone hungry?”
“Me,” Loup said. “I usually am.”
“Do you, ah, have any special dietary needs?” she asked. She clarified at Loup’s blank look, “Do you eat regular food, dear? Forgive me, I should have inquired about it earlier.”
“Yeah,” Loup said wearily. “Regular food. Just a lot of it.”
She beckoned. “Come along, then. We’ll get you fixed right up. You can stow your things later.”
“I’ll see you tomorrow after lunch,” Rogers said. “Back of the manor, one o’clock sharp. Addie’ll see you’ve got togs.”
“Togs?”
“Clothing, dear,” Adelaide said.
“So we get to sleep in tomorrow?” Pilar asked hopefully.
Rogers laughed. “Hardly! You’ll be meeting with Clive bright and early. He likes ’em all nice and jet-lagged. Part of the technique.”
“Technique?”
“You’ll see.”
“Mr. Clive will be expecting you at eight o’clock tomorrow morning in the gymnasium,” Adelaide confirmed. “Just you set your alarm clock. Now come along and have a nibble.”
They ate warmed-over roast beef and potatoes in the kitchen.
“Loup?” Pilar asked in a tentative voice. “How far is five… K?”
“I don’t know,” she said, filling a heaping forkful. “I only ever ran in miles.”
Pilar toyed with the food on her plate, looking worried. “Loup, I’m not sure I can do this. What if we made a mistake?”
“Then we’ll leave,” Loup said promptly. “But, Pilar, you haven’t even tried yet.”
She sighed. “I know. I’m just beginning to think this was a bad idea. And I don’t know if we even can leave. Magnus said he’d buy me a ticket to Huatulco or wherever, but he never said anything about you.”
“You’re just tired.”
“You know what’s weird?” Pilar glanced out the windows. “I’m not. I’m wide-awake. It’s dark out and I’m not even tired.”
Loup smiled. “That’s not exactly a bad thing, Pilar.”
She brightened. “Ooh, true.”
In the morning it was a different story. The old-fashioned telephone in their bedroom rang and rang, insistent. Pilar murmured and grumbled in her disrupted sleep, shoving Loup. “You go, baby. Please?”
“Okay, okay!” Loup stumbled out of bed. “Yeah, hi. Yeah, you’re right. We forgot to set it. Okay. Thanks, Adelaide.”
“What?” Pilar gave her a bleary glance.
“Breakfast.” Loup yawned. “Gymnasium.”
“Now?”
“Yeah, now.”
They put on the clothing Adelaide had provided for them: black track pants and matching jackets with the Global Security logo on the breast, black tank tops with a larger version of the logo. They’d been provided with seven identical outfits. Loup eyed Pilar, who was putting her hair in a ponytail.
“What?”
“Nothing. I never saw you wear anything like that before.”
“Do I look stupid?”
“Pilar, you’d look good wearing a plastic bag.”
She yawned and sat on the bed to tie her shoes. “You do. You look like a cute little corporate ninja. With a serious case of sex hair,” she added. “You might want to run a comb through that mess, baby.”
“Oh, fuck.”
Pilar rubbed her eyes. “What time do you think it is in Huatulco?”
Loup, working on her hair, glanced at the clock. “About one thirty in the morning.”
“This is gonna suck.”
“Uh-huh.”
Still half-asleep, they stumbled downstairs to the kitchen and forced down black coffee, scrambled eggs, and sausage.
“Wow,” Pilar said. “You’re not even hungry!”
“I’m not even awake!”
“All right, dears!” Adelaide appeared in the doorway, bright and cheerful. “Mr. Clive’s waiting for you in the gymnasium. Step lively!”
She led them briskly through the manor to a huge room that looked like it might have been a banquet hall once. Now it was filled with gleaming exercise equipment, weight benches, and punching bags. A short, compact man with a bald head was awaiting them on an empty mat, and there were a handful of other people using the equipment—Ben Rogers and several other youngish men.
“Here they are, Mr. Clive!” Adelaide said cheerily.
“Huh.” He folded his muscular arms over his chest and regarded the sleepy-eyed pair. “Which one of you…?” His gaze settled on Loup. “You, right? You don’t look like so much. And you’re shorter than I expected.”
She stifled a yawn. “Sorry, sir. Can’t help my height. And I’m not at my best today.”