‘Martial arts expert, fluent in four languages, photographic memory and pretty good at thinking on her feet,’ Angel said. ‘Oh, and she saved everybody’s lives today. She was orphaned three years ago, I’m sorry to say, but I reckon she’s just what we’re looking for, don’t you? Why don’t you all take her to get something to eat? Martha’s waiting for you in the dining room.’

‘Hope she likes stew,’ Woody muttered. The others laughed and headed across the parade ground towards Lili.

‘Hold on, Max,’ Angel said.

‘Er, can it wait?’ Max was eager to join the others.

‘We wanted to tell you something. I don’t know if Hector told you anything about the history of the SFC?’

‘He kind of mentioned it.’

‘Well, we were part of the first cadet team.’

‘The two surviving members?’ Max said, remembering what Hector had told him.

They nodded solemnly. ‘Your dad trained us up,’ Woody said. ‘So we knew him well. He’d have been proud of what you did today.’

‘Thanks,’ Max said. ‘I appreciate it. Look, I …’ He glanced over at the other cadets, who were crowding around Lili.

‘Off you go, mate,’ Woody said. ‘Enjoy tonight. Tomorrow the hard work starts.’

‘Yeah,’ Max said. ‘Hector mentioned something about that too.’

‘I thought he might have done.’

Max hurried over to the others. They were a team now, and he wanted to be part of it. But as he left the two Watchers, he overheard Angel talking to her companion. There was an emotional catch in her voice.

‘Special Forces Cadets, all present and correct,’ she said.

Chris Ryan

Chris Ryan was born in 1961 in a village near Newcastle. At the age of sixteen he attached himself unofficially to ‘C’ Squadron of 23rd Special Air Service, the territorial regiment based at Prudhoe, in Northumberland. Over the next seven years he covered hundreds of miles of moor and mountain on training exercises.

In 1984 he joined 22nd SAS, the regular Regiment, and completed three tours which took him to many parts of the world on operations and exercises. He also worked extensively in the counter-terrorist field, serving as an assaulter, sniper and finally Sniper Team Commander on the Special Projects team.

Chris was part of the SAS eight-man team chosen for the famous Bravo Two Zero mission during the 1991 Gulf War. He was the only member of the unit to escape from Iraq, where three of his colleagues were killed and four captured. This was the longest escape and evasion in the history of the SAS, and for this he was awarded the Military Medal. Chris wrote about his experiences in his book The One That Got Away, which was adapted for screen and became an immediate bestseller.

Since then he has written four other books of non-fiction, over twenty bestselling novels and three series of children’s books. Chris’s novels have gone on inspire the Sky One series Strike Back.