‘Where’s Pike and Dana?’ Kevin asked. ‘Can’t they move him?’
James shook his head. ‘Pike’s still on the mainland. Dana’s off with the guide, setting up your equipment for tomorrow morning.’
‘So you’re the only instructor,’ a tough-looking Irish lad called Ronan smirked. ‘There’s seven of us and only one of you…’
‘Grab him,’ Kevin yelled, and before James had a chance to go for his gun, he had a trainee latched on to each arm while another knocked him down from behind with a Karate kick to the back of his knee.
‘Tie him up,’ Ellie squealed. ‘He’s third dan black belt, you can’t let him get loose.’
The seven trainees were a lot smaller than James, but they’d all done combat training and they worked together to pin him to the ground. Within seconds, several trainees had run into the command tent.
‘There’s tons of grub in there,’ Kevin shouted, as he emerged holding a length of climbing rope.
‘You’re all gonna get punished for this,’ James screamed. ‘You’ll all fail training.’
‘We’re showing initiative,’ Ronan giggled, digging his knee into James’ back as he tightened the rope around his wrists. ‘Isn’t that what we’re supposed to do?’
‘It’s true, James,’ Kevin nodded. ‘And besides, CHERUB is always short of agents. There’s no way they’d fail all seven of us.’
‘We’ll see,’ James said, trying to sound cocky even though he knew the youngsters were right. Physically, basic training was as tough as when James had done it three years earlier, but Mr Pike wasn’t especially scary and the trainees got away with stuff you wouldn’t have dared even think about when Mr Large ran the show.
There were a couple of boys who weren’t involved in tying James up and they were clearly worried about getting in trouble. ‘Help me out,’ James begged. ‘I’ll make sure that you get off easy.’
But the two trainees were indecisive: they weren’t the strongest characters within the group and they were outnumbered five to two. Then a shout came up from inside the command tent. ‘I’ve found a cooler box full of chocolate and Coke!’
The trainees’ evening meal had been an evil-smelling bowl of fish-head soup and the thought of chocolate made up the waverers’ minds. James was now lying face-down with grit coating his bloody chest. He tried wriggling, but the trainees had made a decent job of trussing his arms and legs and there was no chance of escape.
‘I can’t believe you’re doing this to me,’ James yelled, as the sounds of a kids’ party erupted from inside the command tent. ‘I’m always looking out for you guys. Don’t expect any favours out of me from now on.’
James heard Ronan’s grubby feet scuffing through the dirt behind him. The boy crouched down and waved the chewed up end of a Snickers bar under his nose.
‘Fancy a bite?’ he chirped.
‘You bloody wait,’ James growled.
‘Temper temper,’ Ronan grinned as he stuffed the remainder of the Snickers bar into his own mouth, before rolling the wrapper into a ball and flicking it in James’ face.
7. POLITICS
It had been twenty-five years since a CHERUB agent had died on a mission. Zara Asker had only been the organisation’s chairwoman for ten months and she’d learned about the worst crisis of her career while sitting in a hospital ward, comforting her three-year-old son Joshua, who’d broken his arm after deciding to jump from the top of the slide at his nursery school.
It was a complex break and Joshua had been kept in overnight, following a minor operation to insert a metal pin. He was tearful and restless, and Zara felt guilty abandoning her own child to go and look after someone else’s. But Joshua had his father Ewart for comfort, and while Joshua would undoubtedly cry for his mum when he got tired, his arm would heal and his cast would be off in a month or so. Gabrielle’s fate was nowhere near as certain.
Zara was flashed by a dozen speed cameras as she took the family Lexus from the car park of the hospital nearest to CHERUB campus to another hospital on the outskirts of Luton. At one point she got pulled over by police while cutting through the crowded traffic, but a glimpse of her high-level security pass earned her an escort of flashing blue lights along the fast lane of the M1.
On top of being worried about Gabrielle, she was dreading the political consequences of what had happened. Only the Prime Minister and the Intelligence Minister know that CHERUB exists. Both had been reassured that cherubs are well trained, closely monitored by mission controllers and that the chances of a cherub being seriously injured or killed are slight.
Zara was going to be in for a grilling when they found out that one of her agents was on life support following a knife fight between rival drug gangs. But she was confronted with a more basic drama when she stepped past the two police officers stationed at the entrance to the intensive care unit in case of trouble between the rival gangs.
Mission controller Chloe Blake and her assistant Maureen Evans stood up and hugged Zara as she entered a waiting area between two intensive-care rooms. Chloe had been a full mission controller for less than a year and Maureen was a Trinidadian ex-cherub who’d only been appointed as Chloe’s assistant after leaving university the previous October.
Zara respected them both, but knew questions would be raised about whether two of CHERUB’s least experienced mission controllers should have been allowed to handle a high-risk mission.
Michael stood at the end of the room, staring out of a dirty window and trying his best not to cry. A tear broke free as Zara kissed him on the cheek and rubbed his back. Michael was much younger than his big sisters and to avoid splitting his family he’d joined CHERUB at just three years of age. Zara could remember him riding around campus on a tiny pushbike with stabilisers, back when she’d first been appointed as an assistant mission controller.
‘What’s the medical situation?’ Zara asked, as she let Michael go.
Chloe answered. ‘Gabrielle’s in a sterile room to prevent infection. She’s under sedation and her breathing is being supported mechanically. They’ve given her clotting agents to stem the bleeding.’
‘How are they describing her condition?’
‘Critical but stable. The doctor has been checking in every half an hour and the surgeon came by forty minutes ago. She said they’ve stemmed most of the external bleeding, but that the knife went in deep and is still lodged in Gabrielle’s back.
‘Five Runts were also seriously injured. At the moment a boy who took a shotgun blast in the back is in surgery, but as soon as he’s out of theatre they’re going to wheel in Gabrielle and try removing the knife. The trauma surgeon said they won’t know how severe her injuries are until they open her up.’
‘Sounds grim,’ Zara said, as she swept her hand through her hair and looked around anxiously. ‘Is it safe to speak here?’
‘As long as you’re quiet,’ Chloe nodded. ‘There’s tight security around the hospital. The police think that some of Major Dee’s men could come by the hospital and try to finish the job.’
‘Major Dee has previous on that score,’ Maureen explained. ‘In 2005 a witness who’d agreed to testify against him on an attempted murder beef was shot in her hospital bed.’
Zara shook her head in disbelief. ‘The ethics committee can’t have realised that this gang war was so hot when they authorised the mission.’
Chloe twisted her trainer awkwardly as she addressed her boss. ‘I wrote the risk assessment, Zara. I’ll tender my resignation if you ask me to.’
‘Chloe, you’re an excellent mission controller,’ Zara said reassuringly. ‘I’m sure it won’t come to that.’
Michael turned away from the window and spoke. He was only fifteen, but he was taller than the three women and his voice carried a certain authority. ‘The Runts have declared war on the Slasher Boys, which nobody could have predicted. You can’t blame Chloe.’
‘I appreciate that, Michael,’ Zara said. ‘I’m not blaming anyone.’
‘You’re not going to pull the plug on the mission, are you?’ he asked.
Zara seemed uncertain. ‘The circumstances make it very difficult—’
‘You can’t,’ Michael interrupted. ‘We’ve been at this for two months and Major Dee is really starting to put faith in us. Besides, after today there’s no way I’m going back to campus before these gangs are hammered.’
‘Keep your voice down, Michael,’ Chloe said anxiously, as the policeman at the entrance poked his head between the doors.
‘Sorry,’ Michael whispered. ‘I’m messed up right now.’
‘I know,’ Zara said soothingly. ‘You’ve had a stressful day, Michael. But I can’t lie to you. Gabrielle is seriously injured; she might die. I’ll have to speak with the ethics committee and the Intelligence Minister and they’re likely to say that the mission is too dangerous.’
Michael groaned. ‘But we’re cherubs. We go into our missions with the best training. We understand all of the risks and we accept them.’
Zara sighed. If you asked a hundred CHERUB agents they’d all say the same thing about risks being a part of their job. But adults instinctively dislike the idea of putting kids in danger, and if Gabrielle died, the government would call CHERUB’s very existence into question.
8. PRIDE
The island had a ragged network of dirt roads, most of which had been carved out by illegal logging operations who’d stripped hardwood from the island’s interior. After setting out the canoes and safety equipment for the trainees’ morning raft trip, Dana returned the local guide to the outskirts of his village.
As she pulled away from the settlement she received a call on the satellite phone. Mr Pike had landed on the beach and didn’t fancy the five-kilometre trek back to camp, so Dana set off across the island to collect him.
The Land Cruiser was designed for rough terrain, but the roads were nothing more than shrunken gaps between trees and in places tropical storms had washed the soil away, leaving a layer of volcanic rock that set the wheels spinning and sent great jolts up her spine.
The canopy of trees blocked out the moonlight, and even inside the air-conditioned Land Cruiser Dana felt uncomfortable. She was relieved when she broke on to open sand and flashed her headlights at Mr Pike, who’d dragged a large dinghy up the beach.
‘How’s Jo?’ Dana asked, as she helped Mr Pike to lash his dinghy to the top of the car.
‘Upset, obviously,’ Pike said, as he threw an elasticised rope across the hull for Dana to knot around the roof bar.
‘Where is she?’
‘She’s at the hospital, but it’s not exactly state of the art. It’s damp and dingy and Jo freaked when she saw a lizard climbing up the wall. But the doctor spoke good English and the nurses who did the plaster were really nice. I thought it was better to leave her there to get some sleep, rather than make her cross back to the island in the boat.’
‘Is she safe?’
Pike nodded. ‘She’s in a children’s ward. It’s all families with kids.’
By this time the boat was secured and Dana pointed towards the driving seat. ‘Shall I?’
‘Sure,’ Pike nodded. ‘You drove down here, so you know the terrain better than I do.’
Dana was pleased to have a companion in the passenger seat as she fired up the big diesel engine and set off.
‘God I’m knackered,’ Mr Pike said, stretching into a yawn as they hit a bump in the road.
‘Snap,’ Dana nodded. ‘I’m not sure if training is more tiring for the instructors or the trainees. James must be shattered after that twenty-K hike.’
‘I think I’ll be sending him home with Jo in the morning.’
Dana looked surprised. ‘Can’t someone from the MI5 team at the embassy pick her up?’
‘Could do,’ Pike nodded. ‘But we’ve got four staff, two guides and only seven trainees left. I thought about sending you back with her, but you’re our best swimmer and I want you on hand in the motor launch tomorrow in case one of those canoes gets in trouble when they hit choppy water.’
‘Fair enough, I guess,’ Dana said.
Dana was the best swimmer, but she was no fan of jungle life and envious that James would be getting back to home comforts four days early.
‘Hopefully this will be the last time we have to ask agents to help out with basic training,’ Pike said. ‘Kazakov is rough around the edges, but he’s basically sound. Miss Smoke is due back from maternity leave and we’ve got another new instructor starting in a fortnight.’
‘Sounds good,’ Dana said. ‘But what about Mr Large? I heard he’s recovered from his heart attack.’
‘I believe so,’ Pike said awkwardly.
‘Do you have a problem with Mr Large?’
Pike shrugged. ‘I’ve got no personal grudge, but he was my boss. Then he got demoted – partly because I stood up to him and made a complaint – and now I’m his boss, which makes our relationship pretty awkward.’
‘Suppose it must do.’
Branches lashed the car as Dana flung the steering wheel around sharply to make a tight turn. ‘But he’s got that disciplinary hearing for being drunk on duty. Maybe Zara won’t reinstate him …’
‘Maybe,’ Pike yawned. ‘Maybe, maybe, maybe. Right now all I care about is getting back to camp and dreaming some dreams.’
Dana nodded, as she caught on to his yawn. ‘We’re only a few minutes out.’
Despite the jarring surface, Mr Pike had somehow dozed off by the time they reached camp. Dana considered leaving him, but he’d wake up stiff, and even at night the interior of the Land Cruiser would become stifling once the air conditioning was switched off.
‘Wakey wakey,’ Dana said, as she gave Mr Pike a nudge.
Dana led the way from the Land Cruiser and through a steep patch of undergrowth towards the clearing where they’d made camp. The fire was smouldering and all seemed peaceful until she stepped into the command tent and saw Kazakov asleep on the floor with a pillow under his head and James lying face-down, covered in grit with his arms and legs tied together.
‘MUFF-MUF!’ James yelled, which only served to prove that it’s impossible to say anything when you’ve got a rag crammed in your mouth.
‘What happened?’ Dana gasped, as she crouched in front of James and started pulling out the sock. ‘Was it bandits? Did they rob us? Where are the trainees?’
‘It was those little sods who did this,’ James shouted, as Dana began untying his wrists.
By this time Mr Pike had stepped in and pinched Mr Kazakov’s cheek to bring him around. As Kazakov sat up, rubbing his aching head, Dana fetched some bottled water and James did his best to explain what had happened.
Dana couldn’t help seeing the funny side. ‘Well I guess we’ve spent ninety-six days training them to work as a team and seize the initiative.’
‘Don’t laugh,’ James spluttered, as he swished the dryness out of his mouth. ‘It’s a total breakdown of authority. They’ve got to be punished …’
Mr Kazakov nodded. ‘They should all be sent home in disgrace.’
Mr Pike still looked like a man who wanted his bed more than anything else. ‘Don’t be daft, Kazakov. If I get back to campus and tell the chairwoman and mission control staff that every single recruit failed training I’ll get my head chewed off.’
‘And they were showing initiative,’ Dana added.
‘Stop taking their side,’ James said angrily. ‘I bet you wouldn’t be talking like that if you’d just spent an hour and a half tied up on the ground with cockroaches trying to crawl up your nose.’
‘I wouldn’t have been stupid enough to let myself get outwitted by a bunch of ten-and eleven-year-olds,’ Dana grinned.
James gritted his teeth. ‘I think the canister hitting Kazakov was an accident, and they took me by surprise.’
‘Everyone, calm down,’ Mr Pike said irritably. ‘We can’t have trainees assaulting instructors with smoke canisters and tying them up. It sets a dangero
us precedent.’
‘It’s not like they planned it,’ Dana interrupted. ‘They acted on the spur of the moment.’
‘They’ve got to be given a clear warning,’ Pike continued. ‘Who were the ringleaders?’
‘Kevin Sumner and Ronan Walsh,’ James said.
‘Snitch,’ Dana tutted.
‘Right,’ Mr Pike said. ‘If you two want to get your own back, go and drag them out of their tents. You can punish them, but I want them in a fit state to continue training in the morning.’
‘Loud and clear, boss,’ Kazakov said. ‘Come on James, bring the rifles.’
Dana scowled at James as he followed Kazakov out of the command tent and across to the trainees.
‘And no bloody yelling,’ Pike yelled after them. ‘I want my sleep.’
‘What are we doing to them?’ James asked, as he strode briskly around the smouldering fire behind Kazakov.
‘Follow my lead,’ Kazakov ordered as he unzipped Kevin’s tent. ‘You get Ronan.’
The smell of feet and musty kit invaded James’ nose as he crawled inside Ronan and Ellie’s tent and shook the stocky eleven-year-old awake.
‘All right mate?’ James said cockily. ‘Guess who just got untied!’
‘Bring your kit,’ Kazakov yelled, as he dragged Kevin from his tent by his ankle.
It took a couple of minutes for the two trainees to put on their boots and cram all of their kit inside their packs.
‘Stand to attention,’ Mr Kazakov whispered, eyeballing the trainees menacingly.
Kevin and Ronan stood in the dirt with their boots together, stomachs in, chests out and arms rigid at their sides.
‘I only hit you by accident,’ Kevin said sleepily.
‘Really?’ Kazakov nodded. ‘And I suppose you tied James up by accident too?’
‘You’re idiots,’ James added. ‘Why risk getting punished or flung out of training when you’re so close to getting your grey T-shirts?’