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lying-up point with a forward OP. The OP would have the main runway under constant surveillance.
    "Taffy, you'll be on the gimpy with him." He jerked his head at Guy. "Doug, you'll carry the signal kit."
    I waited. Then, That it?" I said. "What about Tom and me?"
    Andy shook his head. "I told the OC we could do this with just the four of us."
    Anger shot through me in a hot rush. "Fuck you!" I told him. "You can't run a proper OP on enemy ground with just four men."
    Andy smiled at me grimly. "That's the decision. You'll just have to lump it."
    Unexpectedly Doug backed me up. "Why not take Mark instead of the Rupert? What's the use of an officer on a mission?"
    "Because we need him to sign the claims cheque for equipment," Andy said, and Doug grinned at the joke.
    All this was making me madder than ever. I jumped up with my fists balled. "You bastard!" I screamed in Andy's face. "You treat me like a kid because you're scared I'm better than you."
    Andy was on his feet in an instant. "Let's see you try it then, little brother." We glared at one another, hatred flushing our faces. I was taller than Andy but he had the weight. I was quicker though, with a longer reach, and if I could get the first blow in ... It was just like the start of all the fights we'd had as kids, when he would thump me for daring to defy him.
    But Guy shouldered his way between us. "Knock it off," he snapped, 'the pair of you. This is a briefing. It's no time for stupid squabbling."
    Andy's eyes were hard with rage. But Guy was right. This was no time for a fight and the CO would be pissed off if he got to hear of it. With an effort Andy relaxed his fists. "You do as you're told, boy," he spat between clenched teeth. "You had your fun today. Now it's someone else's turn."
    I turned away and looked at Tom, sitting quietly on his bunk. He was the best man in the squad, and everyone knew it. "You're crazy leaving Tom out because you're so fucking jealous you can't bring yourself to take me along. If you won't see reason, I'll go to the OC myself," I shouted, storming out.
    "That's right," Andy jeered after me. "And while you're at it, put in for a commission, why don't you?"
    Up on the deck I breathed in the cold air, shaking with anger and humiliation. It was as though Andy was determined to frustrate my attempts to prove myself a soldier and a member of the Regiment. He wanted to keep me always in his shadow.
    Carrying my grievance to the OC was an empty threat, and we both knew it. No officer would override the decision of a senior NCO in charge of a patrol on selection. Andy had chosen his three team members to accompany him, and that was that. As far as he was concerned I could spend the war kicking my heels.
    I saw the four of them trooping up the stairs, making their way aft to the Portakabin for the OC's briefing. Fuck them, I thought. In my anger I was hoping they'd all get cut up by the Argies and serve them bloody right. Tom and I would stay behind and get drunk. That was something we were good at.
    Tom was unfazed at being left behind. "There'll be plenty more battles," he observed. He'd scar fed us a can of lager each from the mess, and we cracked them open. I took a deep slug and sat back, feeling my anger slowly ebb away. I envied Tom his placid outlook. He hadn't much education but he never let it worry him. He just took life as it came, one day at a time. He had done a lot of fighting but he would probably never make better than corporal and he was quite content with that. He lived simply. In his quarters in Hereford there was no furniture; his family sat around on the floor watching television and drinking beer, and they were happy too. I wished I could be more like him.
    We had just finished and were crumpling our cans when Taffy stuck his head round the door. "Change of plan," he grinned. "The OC wants you in the cabin pronto. They're upping the team to six and you buggers are coming with us."
    CHAPTER FOUR
    The OC's office wasn't much