Lion, Tiger, Bear | 231 Parkes-Jackson on ancient history every morning at nine precisely, then youll brush up on small arms, short and especially long-range, wireless, overland and aerial navigation, aeronautical engineering, and lastly some bloody physics. I want all of you proficiently cross-trained on every single weapon and piece of gear, especially the sniper rifles, 500 rounds per person, bullseyes, all. This is a complex and demanding mission. No intoxicants whatsoever. Do we make ourselves perfectly clear? demanded the admiral. Yes sir, they chorused. August 14 An angry Welsh sergeant-major stood over them at the desert firing range. Breathe steady, damn your souls! I want dead center, black-boy. You lot too, you blazin fuckin she-hes, cycle them bolts. Smooth trigger fingers. Combat conditions! He threw sand and rocks at them while another soldier fired in the air over and over. Aim dead on, you swarthy gash-lickers! Windage, height, ranges set, crosshairs on. Gwafa advanced with the heavy BAR on his hip, firing automatic five-round bursts at man-sized targets with a Malian yell. Then it was his turn on the sniper rifle. The Sergeant-major yelled: Thats not good enough, not by a long yard. Another million rounds until you three prick-tasters make it right! Bea ejected a .30-06 shell and loaded another stripper clip. Thinking of her training years ago in Scotland, she whispered to Alice: All this seems eerily familiar. Ill bet, whispered Alice as she struggled to lift the BAR. Four days later at 7 p.m., Bea trotted up the stairs at The Anubis Hotel, and with her key that he gave her, opened the door to Bernies suite. She and Alice had taken turns sleeping in his room, that was the order given. Now narcotic-free, Bernie would be more lucid, but so far he hadnt uttered a word to anyone. He was half asleep in polka dot pajamas, the radio on low playing jazz. International newspapers covered the bed and a tray of food from the night before sat on a table beside him, flies buzzing. He wore a silk paisley eye mask on top of his reading glasses, the frame of which peeked out. The rumble of cars, lorries, and people could be heard from the open windows, and a ceiling fan whirred on high setting, but