CHERUB: Brigands M.C. - Robert Muchamore Page 0,34
late breakfast. The space was big enough to seat three hundred around its maple-topped tables. There were serving areas and trays for mealtimes, but agents and staff came and went at odd hours so fresh cooked food could be ordered at any time, day or night.
Hands were cold after the ride in the open cart, so Lauren and Zara warmed themselves with soup and freshly baked bread, while Dante went for a hot turkey and bacon baguette which he opened up and drenched with three sachets of ketchup.
Dante was keen to join CHERUB, Lauren less so.
‘Training and fighting in mud,’ she said warily as she broke off a piece of warm bread. ‘I’m not a skirts-and-glitter type, but that training looked mental.’
‘It’s tough,’ Dante nodded. ‘But when your brother finishes basic training he’s gonna be rock hard. Like, he can just walk into a room and beat the crap out of anyone he wants to.’
‘James is training to defend himself, Dante,’ Zara smiled. ‘And Lauren, we’re not suggesting that you make an absolute commitment to becoming an agent today. I’d suggest that you agree to move here on a trial basis and see how you settle in. You’ll start off with regular lessons, along with beginners’ fitness training and combat programmes. You’re not the first girl who’s seen what goes on here and baulked, but once you’ve settled in and made friends I expect you’ll be much more relaxed about it. And if you decide not to stay, we’ll find you a foster home and you can still be near your brother.’
‘If I join, what happens about Holly?’ Dante asked.
‘Holly can grow up on campus,’ Zara explained. ‘We have an excellent nursery unit and you’ll be able to see her every day. At four we’ll start her off with some combat and language training. At ten, she’ll be able to make her own decision about entering basic training and becoming an agent.’
‘What if one of us doesn’t pass basic training?’ Lauren asked. ‘Or if my brother doesn’t pass?’
Zara shifted awkwardly in her chair. ‘Sometimes it takes two or three attempts, but it’s rare for someone to fail basic training completely. We can’t plan for every possible outcome, but we have had situations where one sibling has become a CHERUB agent while another lives with a foster family near to campus.
‘What I must stress is that no CHERUB agent is ever forced to do anything against their will. You can quit a training exercise, quit a mission or even leave campus and decide to lead a normal life if that’s what you choose.’
Lauren was reassured by this. Dante was delighted that he’d be able to live alongside Holly again, and although it would be nine years into the future he liked the idea that one day she’d have the opportunity to become a highly trained spy too.
‘So you both want to take the next step and go for the ability tests and medical?’ Zara asked.
‘I guess,’ Lauren said.
Dante’s mouth was crammed with food, but he nodded eagerly.
*
After giving the new recruits half an hour for their food to settle Zara took them to the campus medical centre where they stripped down to their underwear. A grey-haired German doctor named Kessler gave them a full body x-ray, a dental x-ray and then took blood samples.
Doctor Kessler assured them that the muscle biopsy wouldn’t hurt that much and called them both whiners as a spring-loaded tube punched through their skin and sucked out a tiny lump of their thigh muscles.
‘The tissue will be examined under a microscope,’ Kessler explained. ‘Your training will be tailored to your body composition. We’ll know what your bodies are capable of. So we won’t push you too hard, but also we’ll know if you’re slacking off.’
Kessler led them into a space equipped with a pair of treadmills and a variety of high-tech gadgets designed to test vision, reflexes and co-ordination.
Dante and Lauren began an unofficial competition. They were evenly matched: Dante the stronger, while Lauren better at technical tasks such as being asked to balance on one leg while holding a glass brimming with water and to shoot as many mini footballs as possible through a basketball hoop in one minute.
The final test was the most gruelling: thirty minutes on a treadmill while strapped to a heart monitor and with oxygen masks over their faces. The machine was programmed to alter speed and climb depending upon their level of exhaustion. Kessler told them to push through the pain