‘Evening boys,’ a burly campus security guard announced grandly, as the pair stopped running and sensed doom. ‘I’m Briggs and you two are way past your curfew time.’
Since campus appeared on maps as a military facility, the guards on its perimeter drove army-style vehicles and wore military police uniforms.
‘We went swimming in town,’ Daniel said hopefully. ‘There were some girls from that boarding school, and we lost track of time.’
‘Really,’ Briggs said, unconvinced. ‘You could have texted to say you were late. But for some reason your phones were off, so we couldn’t track them. Almost as if you didn’t want us to know where you were.’
‘I …’ Leon stuttered.
‘We …’ Daniel added.
‘You two are in a lot of trouble,’ Briggs said, as his hand beckoned the pair towards the back seat of the Land-Rover. ‘The sooner you start telling the truth about what you’ve been up to, the better the chance that you don’t get kicked out of CHERUB.’
3. TRAUMA
After stepping aside from the stressful post of CHERUB chairman, Zara Asker now had a part-time role dealing with serious disciplinary measures. She yawned as she walked into the security post just inside campus’ main gate and got caught off guard by two faces she’d not seen in years.
‘Older no wiser,’ Kyle Blueman said, as the former CHERUB agent gave Zara a hug. Gabrielle O’Brien was right behind, but Zara did a double-take.
The practicalities of campus life and training make it hard for girls to dress up for anything but special occasions. Gabrielle appeared to be making up for lost time, with elaborate extensions to her plaited hair, heavy make-up and mad heels.
‘You look like a model,’ Zara said. ‘Wow!’
‘It’s weird you’re not chairman any more,’ Kyle noted.
‘My husband is welcome to it,’ Zara said. ‘It’s a twenty-four-seven job. And I’d love to stay and chat, but I have a pair of idiots to crucify.’
Zara dropped the friendly tone as she stepped past the X-ray machines used to examine baggage and down a short hallway to the waiting area where Leon and Daniel had spent the last two hours, nervously awaiting their fate.
‘Office, now,’ Zara snapped, clicking her fingers.
The twins had been allowed to shower and dress in their CHERUB uniforms, complete with navy shirts. Leon felt a shudder as Zara joined Briggs’ brooding presence across a desk top laid out with evidence. Computer printouts of phone messages, three hundred pounds, train tickets to places the boys weren’t supposed to have been …
‘Sit down.’
The twins eyed one another uneasily as they sat on hard plastic chairs. The gloomily lit room had bare concrete walls, a pair of CCTV cameras and a metal door so that it could be used as a cell if necessary.
‘We know what you did,’ Zara began. ‘Every lie you tell will just get you deeper into trouble. What I don’t understand is why you did this. What significance does Nigel Kinney have for you?’
Daniel looked a bit surly. ‘He’s a paedophile. He’s getting what he deserves.’
‘We knew there was a good chance we’d get in trouble,’ Leon added. ‘We’ll take our punishment.’
Briggs thumped on the desk top. ‘We didn’t ask you for a moral justification. You were asked a specific question.’
Zara looked more startled by Briggs’ reaction than the two boys, and gave him a thin-lipped I can handle this look.
‘Kinney?’ Zara said firmly.
Leon looked at Daniel, and got a nod before beginning to explain. ‘We did a mission in Sheffield last year. There was a kid there, Brent Johnson. Nice guy, year younger than us. But he was messed up. Cutting himself, nightmares. He’d been abused by Nigel Kinney and some other guy since he was about ten. Cops didn’t press charges because Brent was too messed up to go through a trial.’
‘Kinney had previous convictions, but you’re not allowed to mention that to a jury,’ Daniel added.
Zara shook her head slowly. ‘So you contacted the Paedophile Hunting Network?’
‘Sure,’ Leon agreed. ‘At first we just got hold of a copy of Kinney’s criminal record and sent it to the paedo hunters, hoping they’d make him a target. But they get a lot of tip-offs and they’re a tiny organisation.’
‘So you agreed to help?’ Briggs asked.
Leon nodded. ‘We hacked Kinney’s office computer and found a site he was using to speak to young boys. So I joined up and started sending him fake messages. Said I was short of cash and would like to meet up.’
‘Then we got the paedo hunters to set up the final sting,’ Daniel added.
‘I’ll take whatever punishment,’ Leon said. ‘But I’m not ashamed of what we did.’
‘You can’t be vigilantes,’ Briggs growled. ‘CHERUB has bigger fish to fry and you risked organisational security by making unauthorised access to police records.’
Zara gave Briggs another calm down look. ‘Guys,’ she began. ‘I have four children and the idea that anyone who wants to harm them is out there makes me sick. Online grooming is a serious and growing problem and everyone should be more aware of it. But you are CHERUB agents. Our targets are major terror groups, drug cartels, people smugglers, weapons dealers. We’re not in the business of getting revenge for one wronged child. You’ve broken dozens of rules.’
‘When news about this gets out on campus, you’ll probably be regarded as some kind of heroes by your fellow agents,’ Briggs added. ‘If we don’t hit you hard, who knows where it’ll lead?’
Leon and Daniel allowed slight smirks at the thought that they’d be considered heroes.
‘Don’t you dare smile,’ Zara said, wagging a finger. ‘Although I’m in charge of matters of severe breaches of discipline, I have to follow guidelines laid down by the ethics committee. Under those guidelines, you have breached so many rules that the case for permanent exclusion from CHERUB is absolute.’
Zara paused to let this sink in. The twins avoided eye contact with each other and Leon’s breath juddered, like he was going to cry.
‘However,’ Zara said. ‘I do have slight wiggle room in cases where agents act out based on traumatic events they’ve seen while on missions. And I suppose you could argue that you were upset after encountering Brent Johnson and that is the reason why you acted the way you did.
‘So, I’m going to give you two choices. The first is that you’re discharged honourably from CHERUB. You can live with a member of staff near to campus, so you’ll still get to see your brothers Theo and Ryan.’
Leon’s jaw dropped. ‘I thought you said there was wiggle room …’
‘Let me finish,’ Zara said firmly. ‘Your second choice will be to remain on CHERUB campus, but you’ll face severe sanctions. Namely, two months of heavy drill and ditch digging, followed by a further two months during which you’ll be suspended from missions.’
The twins gasped. ‘Two months of heavy drill!’ Leon blurted.
‘I never heard of anyone getting more than two weeks,’ Daniel added.
‘You’ll also be expected to tell none of your friends what you’re being punished for,’ Briggs added. ‘Not even your brothers.’
‘No cherub is ever forced to undergo punishment,’ Zara said. ‘You can quit now, you can quit at any time.’
Leon looked across at Daniel. ‘I got twenty-four hours’ heavy drill that time I drank all the cider and puked in French class. It was full on. I’m not sure I could hack two months.’
Daniel had never been made to do heavy drill. ‘Worse than basic training?’
‘Way worse,’ Leon said.
Zara stood up and signalled Briggs to do the same. Then glanced at her watch.
‘Quit CHERUB, or two months’ punishment. I’ll give you ten minutes to make up your mind.’
Zara and Briggs headed out. The twins jolted as Briggs locked them in with a metallic clank. As the boys looked at one another, Daniel eyed a picture of Nigel Kinney on the desk.
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‘We always knew there was a good chance we’d get caught,’ Daniel said sadly. ‘Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, just being an ordinary kid.’
Leon nodded. ‘There are so many hot girls at that Catholic school down the road.’
Daniel looked up at one of the cameras. ‘They can probably hear what we’re saying.’
‘But on the other hand,’ Leon said, as he flicked his cheek anxiously. ‘We’ve got the whole rest of our lives to be ordinary.’
4. MAGGOTS
CHERUB campus was Sunday-morning quiet as a blonde twenty-two-year-old stepped up to a set of doors, dressed in tight-fitting cords and tatty Converse. She leaned forward, staring into a black square with a green light flashing above it. After a moment, a screen beneath the panel lit up with Lauren Adams, access granted.
The snaking mission control building on CHERUB campus had recently undergone refurbishment, with new floorboards and modern art. The heart of the building was a small control room aglow with computer screens. From here, the sixty or so CHERUB agents and their adult controllers who are on a mission at any given time can call in an emergency, request backup, equipment or a link to specialists whose skills range from hacking an encrypted file to making sure that a traffic light turns red when it needs to. Branching off were three smaller control rooms, which were manned during the critical phases of CHERUB’s individual missions.
After passing through, Lauren entered a broad corridor, with securely locked offices on one side and full-height glass overlooking forest on the other. Halfway along, a boy and a girl looked nervous in their grey CHERUB shirts, yet to hit their teens and about to get briefed on their first mission.
The last office had a sign Lauren found slightly ludicrous: James Adams – Mission Controller.
Before Lauren could knock, a stocky seventeen-year-old in a black CHERUB shirt opened the door and almost crashed into her with an armful of papers. After an exchange of sorries, Lauren stepped into a plush corner office, with bookshelves, trendy walnut desk and a pair of leather sofas either side of a coffee table.
The view, down a gentle slope over golden trees, was spectacular. Unfortunately, James Adams let down the ambience, dressed in gym clothes, one holed sock propped on his desk and surrounded by coffee mugs, box files and mounds of paper. He was on the phone, so he gave Lauren a thumbs-up and pointed her wordlessly towards a couch.
‘John …’ James told the phone. ‘She’s a sixteen-year-old girl and her whole wardrobe got smoked in the fire at the end of the mission. I just told her to get what she needed … I realise I should have set a budget, John. But how was I supposed to know she was going to go to London and spend eight hundred pounds on shoes?’
Lauren smirked as she slid a backpack down her arms, settling on the only part of the couch that wasn’t covered in files. As James continued talking, the black-shirt girl came back in with a roll of thick orange bags, which Lauren knew were for stuff that had to be incinerated on campus.
‘I’m Fu Ning,’ the girl told Lauren quietly, as James continued on the phone. ‘You must be his sister, Lauren.’
Lauren nodded. ‘My brother must be a pain to work for.’
Ning smiled. ‘He’s cool, just disorganised.’
James was continuing his conversation with his boss. ‘Birmingham?’ James said. ‘I know about the recruitment. I told you Thursday in the team meeting, I’ve got Leon and Daniel Sharma lined up for that job … What? … Are you serious? How can they not be available for missions? … I need those two guys. I’ll give Zara a call and try to twist her arm. If it’s not too serious she might let me have them back … Right, I’ll be here until noon I guess. Speak in a bit.’
James sounded frazzled as he put down his phone.
‘Working hard?’ Lauren asked, as James stood and gave her a hug.
‘Sunday morning,’ James said, as the pair embraced. ‘I should be in bed with Kerry. The hours she works, and the hours I work, we barely see each other.’
‘What was that about shoes?’
‘God,’ James said, smacking his forehead as Ning broke out in a huge smile. ‘I was on a mission, girl gets all her clothes burned. She’s really upset, so I’m like don’t worry, take a nice shopping trip to London and get whatever you need. I fixed up a debit card and she spent four and a half grand. Totally destroyed the mission budget. John Jones is furious.’
‘You told a sixteen-year-old girl to go to London and buy whatever she wanted?’ Lauren scoffed.
‘She’s a great kid,’ James protested, as Ning and Lauren struggled to contain their laughter. ‘I’ve never seen her wear anything other than joggers and a hoodie. I didn’t expect her to do that.’
Lauren smirked. ‘It’s almost as if someone trained her to manipulate adults and get what she wanted.’
‘Fair point,’ James said, shaking his head. ‘So what’s up in your world? Still racing cars?’
‘Team’s all set up for the new season,’ Lauren said. ‘Rat put up some seed funding, but now we’re fully funded through sponsorship, unless I crash too many cars.’
‘When’s your season start?’
‘Still got four months.’
‘Scared?’
Lauren nodded. ‘It’s a jump. I had a hundred and twenty horsepower in the single-seater formula. This is a saloon car, topping out at five hundred.’
‘Try not to get killed,’ James suggested.
Lauren grinned. ‘You know me, James. I’m not the kind of person who wants to be stuck at a desk behind a mountain of paperwork.’
‘Up yours!’ James said, giving his sister a playful dig in the ribs.
Lauren grabbed James’ arm and tripped him on to the couch, but he had to run for the phone before things could escalate.
‘James Adams speaking … You need what? Well can’t you get some of the carers down at The Village to round up a bunch of kids? … Why is this even a mission control problem? … OK, fine, I’ll do it.’
James slammed the phone down and looked so stressed that Lauren took pity and pulled a sarcastic comment.
‘Five hundred and fifty boxes of mission control files in the basement of the main building,’ James explained. ‘They were supposed to be moved a week ago, but it got held up by the asbestos removal team and apparently John Jones forgot. So, are you girls up for some heavy lifting?’
Barefoot, dressed only in shorts and T-shirts, Leon led his twin by a couple of paces, weighted down by a huge pack and with a stocky Aussie instructor named Capstick in his ear.
‘Faster, Sharma,’ Capstick roared. ‘If you’re not at the top of this hill in one minute, I will take you down to the bottom. I will put another ten-kilo weight in your sack and I will make you run this whole circuit again from scratch.’
Daniel’s instructor was no less intimidating. ‘Too slow, cupcake,’ Instructor Smoke yelled, kicking him in the back of the legs and sending him sprawling before skimming her boot through a puddle and spraying his face with mud. ‘On your feet, stat!’
Leon glanced back.
‘Don’t look at him,’ Capstick roared. ‘Move your butt.’
Daniel tried to pull himself up, but he’d been drilled since sunup, with planks, push-ups and a half-hour standing with the heavy pack held high above his head. There was no strength in his arms.
‘I can’t,’ Daniel moaned, as he noticed blood between his toes.
‘What’s the matter?’ Instructor Smoke demanded. ‘Nothing wrong with a bit of blood. What do you want, a kiss better? Get on your damned feet.’
Daniel tried, but his arms gave out again.
‘UPPPP!’ Smoke ordered, as she lost patience and yanked Daniel to his feet by the strap of his backpack. ‘Now shift before I kick you down again.’
Leon had reached the top of the hill and groaned with relief as he dumped the pack on the ground before doubling up, gasping.
‘On your knees, both of you,’ Capstick shouted, when Daniel finally stumbled to the top of the hill. ‘Ha
nds on heads.’
The ground was muddy, so the position wasn’t too hard on the knees. Both boys gasped, while Daniel was now feeling the pain in his foot. The two instructors moved right into the boys’ faces and started a verbal barrage.
‘You are pathetic.’
‘Maggots!’
‘You bring shame to the CHERUB T-shirt, maggots.’
‘Wrecked on day one. Do you really think you can take sixty days of this?’
‘Why put yourself through the misery? You can’t beat us, maggots.’
‘Quit now. Go live the easy life. Geography homework and a girl with nice long legs.’
‘Are you crying, Daniel? Is that a tear in your eye?’
‘No sir,’ Daniel lied.
‘You wanna quit, maggots?’ Smoke roared.
‘No ma’am,’ the twins shouted.
The two instructors stepped back, smiling at one another.
‘You boys stay right there on your knees,’ Capstick demanded. ‘Keep hands behind your heads. Don’t speak, don’t move.’
‘We’ll be back in two hours,’ Smoke added. ‘If you’re very lucky, we might bring you some food.’
5. BOXES
Lauren Adams got a twinge of nostalgia as she crossed leaf-strewn grass towards CHERUB campus’ seven-storey main building. The dishes and aerials that had adorned the roof were gone, the outer cladding removed, leaving a concrete skeleton and a dolls-house-like view into bedrooms and offices stripped of everything that wasn’t screwed to a wall.
The ground-floor canteen made her particularly sad, remembering the sense of excitement when you came out of lessons and looked forward to seeing the gang. Everyone sitting around the tables, teasing and gossiping. Food fights. Early breakfasts with Rat when she first got the sense that she was falling for him …
‘OK,’ James said, as he stopped walking and turned around. Lauren was taken by the calm authority in her brother’s tone. A teacher’s voice. ‘Listen up.’
Besides James, Lauren and Ning, a dozen teenaged CHERUB agents were in tow. They were a mix of reluctant volunteers and kids on punishment.