right on time.?
That are they doing??Kyle asked.
Tnformation leaked out that Malarek is having a vanload of monkeys delivered today,?Viv explained.
James was mystified. Thy not do that in the week, when theret hardly any protestors around??
Tom and Viv had met James briefly, but George didn't have a clue who he was. Now old are you, kid??he asked.
Mourteen.?
George laughed. And you saw through the policet clever ruse.?
Ney,?Viv said, closing in on George, subtly using his physique to intimidate him. Thy not tell these dudes whatt happening and invite them along, Georgie boy? They're sound. I mean, their mumt bunked up with Ryan Quinn for godt sake.?
So, Viv,?George said furiously as he glanced at his watch, Tou don't pick up a couple of strays ten minutes before a professionally planned operation. Thatt how we all end up getting nicked.?
Tou're so full of your big man cloak and dagger mumbo-jumbo dog crap,?Viv sneered. Brofessional operation! My knob is more professional than you.?
George looked at his watch again. Te don't have time for this,?he said furiously. Ao on then, tell your new chums. But this is the last time I'll hooking up with you, Viv. Youre got no discipline. You're a ruddy joke.?
Euck my arse,?Viv sneered back, before he put Kyle and James in the picture:
Ten days back, information miraculously leaked out that a vanload of monkeys is being delivered to Malarek in an unmarked van at around four this afternoon. The Zebra Alliance committee took one look and decided that the information was bogus.
The police want to get us all angry, pack the area with manpower and then steam in and nick as many of us as they can in one swoop. What the police don't know is that the drunks up by the gate are under orders to let that van drive through without making a squeak.?
Lust to make the cops look stupid.?Kyle nodded, smiling because he thought he understood.
T guess that would make the cops look a little bit stupid,?Viv laughed. But you see, the roads are narrow round here and the cops have to park their cars and vans a fair way away. So while they're up by the entrance facing off three vanloads of frightfully well-behaved students, we're gonna jump out of the bushes and do a bit of remodelling on their cars.?
Kyle nodded in appreciation of the scheme, while James burst out laughing.
Eweet,?James said. Let me at the buggers ?IEl trash a cop car.?
Thatt the spirit, kid,?Viv said, enthusiastically swiping James across the back.
George screwed up his face like he knew this was a bad idea, but nodded reluctantly.
Tom turned and looked at Kyle. Eo, are you in, or what??
Eounds kind of insane,?Kyle grinned, But IEl try anything once.?
MK,?George said wearily. Te are so bloody late, wer better run.?
12. REMODELLING
James found it hard not to laugh as George sprinted gracelessly through the rapeseed, scrawny limbs flailing about and his camouflage jacket billowing behind like a superherot cape.
They cut across two fields, clambered over a metal gate and ended up on the verge of the main road that led from the motorway. There were empty cop cars, minibuses and vans parked up every few metres. In places they blocked the traffic down to a single lane, creating mini jams for the fleeing protestors.
Now many do you reckon there are??James asked, awed by the scale of the police presence as he ran alongside Tom.
Couple of hundred cops and seventy or eighty vehicles, Ir guess. You need at least two officers for every arrest you plan to make.?
Tou ever been nicked??James asked.
Tom smiled. Eix times. On marches, direct actions and stuff. You??
This was one of those moments in an undercover mission where you have to make something up on the fly. Sah,?James said. Tou been up in court??
Been fined a couple of times for criminal damage. Nothing massive, but Viv got a six-month suspended for trashing a butchert shop.?
Cool,?James grinned, making a mental note to mention Tom and Vivt criminal history to Zara when they got back to the cottage.
Theyr reached a break in the hedgerows and a gravel path leading towards a dilapidated barn. George led them inside, passing through a large entrance whose decrepit doors had rotted off their hinges.
About fifteen Alliance members milled around, illuminated by sunbeams penetrating missing sections of the roof. They were mostly young, two-thirds male and dressed in dark clothes and hoodies. Some were pierced and tattooed, but the majority were people your pass in the street without batting an eye.
George hurried anxiously towards a