– Max, we think all the IEDs will be on the same circuit. There will likely be a battery pack somewhere, but we’re going to presume that will be too difficult to access. The targets are probably keeping watch on it anyway. Your best bet is to cut a main cable. Can you see two cables circling the room? One of them is the main cable. The other will have spurs leading off to each individual device. You need to identify the right one, then cut it using the blade hidden in the heel of your shoe.

Again Max didn’t reply. The Chinese girl was still watching him. Why was she doing that? Why couldn’t she just look in the other direction? Max glanced at the cables circling the room. Angel was right: there were two. One was red, the other black. From his position at the back of the hall, he couldn’t tell which was the main cable and which was the spur cable. He tried to look over the heads of the crouching kids blocking his view but it was no good. He would have to get closer.

He looked at the stage. The others were still in the same position, under surveillance by T1. They could do nothing to help. If he stood up and walked towards one of the devices, he’d instantly attract attention. And to remove the blade from his heel in full view of everyone would be reckless. He needed a plan. He glanced in the direction of the toilet block. There was nobody queuing right now, but Max was faintly aware that a couple of kids had just gone in. He raised a hand. T6 approached him. ‘What?’ he demanded in a low, harsh voice.

‘I need to go,’ Max said, pointing at the toilet door.

The gunman pulled him to his feet, gripping his arm hard with strong, gloved hands. ‘Wait outside,’ he said. He pushed him towards the door. Max almost tripped over a couple of other kids. He winced – his ankle was still a little sore from the paracord incident – but regained his footing and waited outside the toilet door.

He felt as if everyone in the hall was watching him. He wasn’t far wrong. The other recruits were looking in his direction, and he didn’t dare catch their eyes. But he’d caused a disturbance when he stood up. Now most of the hostages and even the targets and decoys were looking his way. He cursed silently. How could he examine the cables when everybody was watching him?