Read CHERUB: The Recruit Online
Authors: Robert Muchamore
CHERUB: The Recruit (34 page)
‘Think about what would have happened if all those people got killed at Petrocon,’ Mac said. ‘Would Help Earth have attacked somewhere else? What if the anthrax got into the hands of another terrorist group? You’ll never know for certain what would have happened if Fire and World Dunn weren’t caught. The next attack could have been in the middle of a city. Stick some anthrax in a London Underground station and you’d be looking at five thousand dead people. That’s how many lives you and Amy might have saved.’
‘Bungle’s still on the loose though,’ James said.
‘Can I trust you with some information?’ Mac asked.
‘What?’ James said.
‘You’re the only person who knows besides Ewart and myself, so if this gets out I’ll know you leaked it.’
‘I swear,’ James said.
‘MI5 knows where Bungle is,’ Mac said.
‘So why don’t you get him?’
‘They’re tracking him,’ Mac said. ‘Bungle won’t tell us anything if we arrest him, but by letting him wander he might lead us to other members of Help Earth.’
‘What if you lose him?’ James asked.
Mac laughed, ‘You always ask me the question I don’t want to answer.’
‘Have they lost anyone before?’ James asked.
‘Yes,’ Mac said. ‘It won’t happen this time. Bungle can’t stick a finger up his nose without ten people knowing about it.’
‘It makes more sense now you’ve explained it,’ James said. ‘I still feel sorry for all the people who got chucked out of Fort Harmony. They’re a weird lot, but basically they’re OK.’
‘It’s a shame,’ Mac said. ‘But a few families losing their homes is better than thousands of people getting killed.
‘So I want to thank you for doing a brilliant job, James. You made friends with the right people, didn’t break your cover and polished off the mission in half the time we expected.’
‘Thanks,’ James said.
‘I also owe you a massive apology,’ Mac said. ‘You nearly died. We had no idea Help Earth was planning an anthrax attack. If we’d known, we never would have sent someone as inexperienced as you on this mission.’
‘It’s not your fault.’
‘You must have been frightened, but you handled yourself tremendously. You kept a level head and even agreed to return to the mission. I’ve decided to classify your overall performance as outstanding.’
Mac pulled a navy CHERUB T-shirt out of his desk and threw it to James.
‘Wow,’ James said, grinning. ‘When Kerry sees this she’s gonna be so pissed off.’
‘I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that,’ Mac said. ‘But if you use that sort of language in my office again I’ll make you a very unhappy boy.’
‘Sorry,’ James said. ‘Can I put it on?’
‘Don’t be modest on my account,’ Mac said.
James ripped off his Arsenal shirt and pulled the navy CHERUB T-shirt over his head.
*
The kids at CHERUB were allowed to sleep late and wear normal clothes on Sundays. It was still early and nobody was around. James ate breakfast alone in the dining room, with one eye on the television. There was a story about Fort Harmony being destroyed on News 24. They cut to a clip of Michael Dunn waving his fists in the air and vowing he would spend the rest of his life rebuilding Fort Harmony if that was what it took.
Kerry came down in shorts and a denim jacket. She gave James a hug.
‘I was so happy you
finally
got a mission,’ Kerry said. ‘I got back from my third mission on Thursday.’
James loved the way she couldn’t resist mentioning it was her third mission. He wondered how long it would be before she noticed his navy shirt. Bruce came down and joined Kerry at the breakfast buffet.
‘Good mission?’ Bruce asked, as he put his tray on the table next to James.
James acted casual. ‘Mac seemed to think I did OK.’
Kerry sat opposite James. She only had a bran muffin and a couple of bits of fruit.
‘On a diet?’ James asked.
‘I’m trying to eat less greasy stuff,’ Kerry said.
‘Good,’ James said. ‘You’re starting to look a bit fat.’
Bruce burst out laughing and spat half his bacon across the table. Kerry kicked James in the shin.
‘Pig,’ Kerry said.
‘That kick hurt,’ James said. ‘I was only joking.’
‘Did you see me laughing?’ Kerry asked.
James got a punch in the back. ‘Stop being rude to Kerry,’ Lauren said. ‘You should ask her out now you’re back. It’s
so
obvious you two fancy each other.’
James and Kerry blushed. Lauren got her breakfast and sat next to Kerry.
Callum and Connor sat at the next table a few minutes later. James hadn’t seen them together since Callum restarted basic training.
‘Which one of you is Callum?’ James asked.
Callum raised a finger.
‘You passed basic training now?’ James asked.
‘Got back from Malaysia on Tuesday,’ Callum said. ‘Slept for twenty hours solid.’
‘Bet you’re glad that’s out the way,’ James said.
‘You know that navy T-shirt you’re wearing is a CHERUB shirt?’ Callum said.
James was pleased someone had finally noticed.
‘Yes,’ he said casually.
‘You’d better take it off, James,’ Bruce said. ‘Kids work really hard to earn them. They’ll kill you if they catch you wearing it.’
‘It’s my shirt,’ James said. ‘I did earn it.’
Kerry laughed. ‘Yeah, James, and I’m the Queen of China.’
‘Don’t believe me then,’ James said.
Bruce sounded a bit desperate. ‘I’m serious, James. People get angry when you wear a shirt without earning it. Take it off. They’ll stuff your head down the toilet or something.’
‘I’d pay money to see him bog-washed,’ Lauren giggled. ‘Leave it on.’
‘I’m not taking it off,’ James said. ‘It’s mine.’
‘You’re such an idiot,’ Kerry said. ‘Don’t say we didn’t warn you when we’re scraping you off the floor.’
Amy came in. She had Arif and Paul with her. The three of them rushed over to James.
‘Too late now,’ Bruce said. ‘You’re dead.’
James was worried. He wasn’t sure if Amy knew Mac had awarded him the navy shirt. He stood up from the table and turned to face Amy. Paul and Arif looked intimidating, muscles everywhere.
Amy wrapped James in her arms.
‘Congratulations,’ Amy said. ‘You really deserve that shirt. You were brilliant.’
Amy let go. Paul and Arif shook James’ hand.
‘I can’t believe you’re that wimp we had to keep throwing in the diving pool,’ Arif said.
James looked back at his friends sitting around the table. They all looked amazed. Lauren jumped up and hugged her brother. Kerry’s mouth was open so wide you could have shoved a tennis ball in it without touching a tooth. James couldn’t help smiling.
It was beautiful.
RONALD ONIONS (UNCLE RON) has had difficulty adjusting to life behind bars. He received two broken arms during a fight with a fellow inmate. He is scheduled to be released in 2012.
GLADYS DUNN used the money from her second book to buy a farm in Spain. She lives on the land with her son JOSHUA DUNN, who makes curry, stew or paella every day for the thirty former Fort Harmony residents who joined them. Gladys jokingly refers to her farm as ‘
Fort Harmony 2
,
but warmer and without the mud
.’
CATHY DUNN sold the Land Cruiser, purchased a round-the-world air ticket and went backpacking in Australia.
SEBASTIAN DUNN was released from police custody without charge. The stabbing of the policeman was classified as an accident. The policeman returned to duty a few months later.
Sebastian now lives in a cottage in Craddogh with his mother and brother CLARK DUNN. Sebastian and Clark have denied links to a number of cats that have disappeared since their arrival in the village.
FIRE & WORLD DUNN were tried and convicted at the Old Bailey in London. They were each sentenced to life in prison. The Judge recommended they serve a minimum of twenty-five years.
As SCARGILL DUNN was only seventeen and had no previous criminal convictions, he was sentenced to only four years in a young offenders’ prison. With early release for good behaviour he could be out within two years. He has begun studying for A-level exams and hopes to go to university after he is released.
Police suspect ELEANOR EVANS is a member of Help Earth who helped to plan the anthrax attacks on Petrocon 2004. No evidence was found and she was released from custody without charge. She now lives in Brighton with her mother, her son GREGORY EVANS and her newly born daughter Tiffany.
BRIAN ‘BUNGLE’ EVANS slipped M15 surveillance after a few weeks. He is now one of the world’s most wanted men. Police in Britain, the United States, France and Venezuela all wish to question him about terrorist activity.
JOANNA RIBBLE was disappointed that Ross Leigh didn’t write or call. She now has a new boyfriend. James kept her paper aeroplane and the photograph of the tree where they first kissed.
KYLE BLUEMAN returned from his eighteenth mission and finally got his navy CHERUB shirt. He was reportedly ‘
upset
’ that James got his navy shirt before him. Kyle reckons James only got the navy shirt because Mac felt sorry for him when he got anthrax.
BRUCE NORRIS & KERRY CHANG frequently remind James that although he earned a navy shirt, they have both done more missions than him and can easily kick his butt any time he starts to get cocky.
AMY COLLINS hopes to complete a couple more missions before she leaves CHERUB and goes to university.
LAUREN ADAMS (formerly LAUREN ONIONS) is enjoying life at CHERUB. She starts basic training shortly after her tenth birthday in September 2004.
JAMES ADAMS (formerly JAMES CHOKE) got his Karate black belt shortly after returning from his mission. His exuberant celebrations ended badly and his punishment was one month cleaning up in the CHERUB kitchen every night after dinner.
He is currently preparing for his second mission.
1941 | In the middle of the Second World War, Charles Henderson, a British agent working in occupied France, sent a report to his headquarters in London. It was full of praise for the way the French Resistance used children to sneak past Nazi checkpoints and wangle information out of German soldiers. |
1942 | Henderson formed a small undercover detachment of children, under the command of British Military Intelligence. Henderson’s Boys were all thirteen or fourteen years old, mostly French refugees. They were given basic espionage training before being parachuted into occupied France. The boys gathered vital intelligence in the run-up to the D-Day invasions of 1944. |
1946 | Henderson’s Boys disbanded at the end of the war. Most of them returned to France. Their existence has never been officially acknowledged. |
1951 | For its first five years, CHERUB struggled along with limited resources. Its fortunes changed following its first major success: two agents uncovered a ring of Russian spies who were stealing information on the British nuclear weapons programme. |
1954 | Two CHERUB agents, Jason Lennox and Johan Urminski, were killed while operating undercover in East Germany. Nobody knows how the boys died. The government considered shutting CHERUB down, but there were now over seventy active CHERUB agents performing vital missions around the world. (1) (2) (3) |
1956 | Although many believed that girls would be unsuitable for intelligence work, CHERUB admitted five girls as an experiment. They were a huge success. The number of girls in CHERUB was upped to twenty the following year. Within ten years, the number of girls and boys was equal. |
1957 | CHERUB introduced its system of coloured T-shirts. |
1960 | Following several successes, CHERUB was allowed to expand again, this time to 130 students. The farmland surrounding headquarters was purchased and fenced off, about a third of the area that is now known as CHERUB Campus. |
1967 | Katherine Field became the third CHERUB agent to die on an operation. She was bitten by a snake on a mission in India. She reached hospital within half an hour, but tragically the snake species was wrongly identified and Katherine was given the wrong anti-venom. |
1973 | Over the years, CHERUB had become a hotchpotch of small buildings. Construction began on a new nine-storey headquarters. |
1977 | All cherubs are either orphans, or children who have been abandoned by their family. Max Weaver was one of the first CHERUB agents. He made a fortune building office blocks in London and New York. When he died in 1977, aged just forty-one, without a wife or children, Max Weaver left his fortune for the benefit of the children at CHERUB. |
1982 | Thomas Webb was killed by a landmine on the Falkland Islands, becoming the fourth CHERUB agent to die on a mission. He was one of nine agents used in various roles during the Falklands conflict. |
1986 | The government gave CHERUB permission to expand up to four hundred pupils. Despite this, numbers have stalled some way below this. CHERUB requires intelligent, physically robust agents, who have no family ties. Children who meet all these admission criteria are extremely hard to find. |
1990 | CHERUB purchased additional land, expanding both the size and security of campus. Campus is marked on all British maps as an army firing range. Surrounding roads are routed so that there is only one road on to campus. The perimeter walls cannot be seen from nearby roads. Helicopters are banned from the area and aeroplanes must stay above ten thousand metres. Anyone breaching the CHERUB perimeter faces life imprisonment under the State Secrets Act. |
1996 | CHERUB celebrated its fiftieth anniversary with the opening of a diving pool and indoor shooting range. |