Code Name: Camelot (Noah Wolf #1)(42)

Equally fascinating were the amazing number of guns that could be carried right past even the most sophisticated metal detectors, and even be missed by gun-sniffing dogs. Some of them were made of high-strength ceramics, others of plastic, but it was the ammunition that was so surprising. One of Noah’s favorites was a revolver that was essentially a miniature rocket launcher, because the slugs that left its barrel were propelled by a chemical reaction involving hydrogen peroxide and iron. Peroxide rockets had long been used in special cars going after the land speed record, cars that weighed many tons. These little rockets propelled a slug that weighed only a few ounces, and at speeds that outclassed many conventional bullets.

On the firing range, Noah displayed the same incredible talent that had amazed his military instructors, hitting the targets perfectly after only a couple of preliminary shots to get the feel of the weapon. Once he knew the gun, there was almost nothing he couldn’t hit with it, and his ability to move from target to target, seemingly without even looking at them, caused rumors to make their way through the ranks of his classmates. His own personal favorite was the one that said he was an android, a machine designed to look like a human. He thought that was so close to the truth that when a terrified classmate finally asked him about it, he simply smiled and walked away.

The one class he didn’t care a lot for, however, was the one Allison told him was most important. This was the law class, where he learned about all of the ramifications of what he would be doing, and what would happen if he were ever caught. He had always thought that line about how Tom Cruise and his secret agents would be disavowed if they were caught had been just a part of the script, but he knew now that it wasn’t. If he or any of his team should be captured while on foreign soil, there would be no rescue. They were all expendable, despite the fact that small fortunes had been spent on training them, because if the government ever acknowledged sending such people into another country, it would start a war.

Professor McCarty was widely touted as one of the leading experts on the Law of Nations, and he had been engaged over the years to speak at schools all over the world. Noah would’ve been more than happy to let him go back to any of them, preferably somewhere on the other side of the planet, so that Noah wouldn’t have to listen to him anymore. Unfortunately, he was teaching in a small classroom there on the compound, and there was no way out of it.

“One of the most famous cases,” the professor said, “was that of Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of the U2 plane that was shot down over Russia. Mr. Powers was charged with spying, and it took all of the efforts of the State Department and diplomatic corps years to convince the Russian government that the plane had merely strayed off course. Mr. Powers was imprisoned in Russia for almost two years, subjected to intense interrogation that included various kinds of torture, and he eventually confessed to being a spy. In the end, he did finally get to come home, but it should be understood that this is the exception, and not the rule. Had Mr. Powers been captured on the ground, without his U2 spy plane being involved, it is highly doubtful that our government would’ve expended any effort whatsoever on his behalf. You see, it wasn’t Mr. Powers that they were trying to protect. It was the fact that his plane had been shot down exactly where it was, because that’s exactly where they had told him to be. If we had ever admitted that, Russia could have claimed that sending the plane to photograph their cities and military installations constituted espionage, and therefore was an act of war.”

For three hours each day, Noah had to listen to Professor McCarty drone on and on and on. The only benefit was that, as a side effect of his PTSD condition, he had an exceptionally good memory. Almost everything he heard, he could remember at any time he chose. That, at least, saved him from the tedium of having to take notes.

There were other classes he found quite fascinating, however. One of those was the class in chemistry, which was so far beyond the things he had learned in his high school chemistry class that it was like being in another world entirely. While there was some foundation in what he had learned back then, the chemistry he was involved with now revolved around an entirely different kind of chemical reactions. He learned a great deal about how to make explosives, sometimes from common household items, as well as the creation of, uses for and ways to survive an incredible range of poisons.

Then there were the martial arts classes. Some of the things he was learning would have seemed impossible to him not that long before, but the physical training that he was getting was toning and strengthening muscles he hadn’t even known he possessed. If anyone had told him, back when he was a kid in MMA classes, that he would one day be capable of doing a back flip and kicking three separate opponents before landing back on his feet, he would’ve laughed. Suddenly, though, it was a move that he was practicing every day, along with dozens of others he never would have dreamed of.

This training schedule had been rearranged to allow the insertion of his team. Sarah, Neil and Moose were with him in most of his classes, although Neil was excused from the PT class. Being tall, clumsy and skinny, the administrators had decided that his value was in his computer expertise, making them reluctant to risk him suffering any injuries.

Both Moose and Sarah performed well in PT, and Moose managed to stay close to Noah on their daily runs. All three of his teammates were proficient with many weapons, and did well in the weapons class and on the firing ranges, but they simply put in appearances in the chemistry and law classes.